Caroline gasped as Klaus took a step aside to let her in the house.
"Welcome to my house Caroline" he said with a wide smile. "I hope you enjoy your stay."
Caroline didn't comment on that. She felt like muttering a silent screw you under her breath but decided against it when she saw the expectant expression on Klaus' face.
"Don't provoke him." She thought. "Just let him get bored with you."
"I'll give you a little tour, but first. Let's eat." Klaus said after a second.
Caroline sighed. "I'm not-"
"But you must be at least a bit peckish. I mean the last meal we shared was merely enough now." He winked.
Caroline knew she should have felt guilty when he mentioned the death of her classmate, but a part of her shamefully remembered the taste and involuntarily nodded with relief in return.
Klaus watched her face carefully. "What would you like then?" he asked softly, his voice made her shiver. She hoped he hadn't realized it, maybe he'd think it was just the hunger. What else could it be?
"I'm...I don't have a preference exactly." Play along Caroline. Be nice to him. Bore him out of his mind. "Whatever you like is fine with me." She added.
Klaus cocked an eyebrow.
"Suddenly very compliant, aren't you? Come here, love."
She took a step towards him. He brushed her hair from her face.
"I like blondes." He said softly.
Caroline swallowed. "I don't-"
"Wait here." Klaus said.
Caroline nodded slowly. She looked around.
"You may sit if you want, please make yourself at home." Klaus smiled warmly. "Afterall, you're going to stay here for a while."
Caroline didn't meet his eyes. Don't challenge him.
Klaus left the room and Caroline turned around, studying the details. It was a very tastefully decorated, beautiful house. Almost elegant in every detail, she noticed. Walls were covered with beautiful, colorful paintings. She was astonished. If a person's home reflected their inner world, Klaus would almost seem...Caroline shook her head. He was a pscyho with a good taste, so what? Of course he'd decorate his house with expensive, beautiful furniture. Show off, she muttered.
"Bored?" Klaus' said behind her.
Caroline turned to face him. He was smiling kindly, as if she was merely a guest he was more than happy to assist.
"No." Caroline said. "I thought you said we were eating?" she asked. Klaus chuckled.
"We will. The girls are getting ready. I don't like to rush things. But considering the only mentor you had was Stefan and remembering the way you ate, I realize you share his manners."
"Oh, I'm sorry." She said. "I didn't know I had to watch my manners while I chewed on a stranger's neck."
Klaus laughed. "Back to being yourself. I like this Caroline better."
Of course...she wanted to kick herself as she rolled her eyes.
"Don't play games with me." He said, leaning in closer. "Don't think you can manipulate me."
Caroline looked at him.
"I wouldn't dare." She said dryly.
Klaus smiled.
"Oh, I think you would. But it's fun for me. Just as long as you know you can't win."
"Good to know." Caroline scoffed.
"I'd just hate to disappoint you Caroline, seems like you've had enough of that." He said playfully.
Caroline closed her eyes. "Whatever you think you know about me-"
"Shh love, not in front of our guests." He said, bringing a finger to her lips. "You don't want to make them feel neglected."
Caroline saw two young women walk in, dressed beautifully. She heard their hearts beating fast, as if they were anticipating the moment.
Caroline opened her eyes in a room she didn't know. She felt well fed, well rested, absolutely peaceful in every single way. Something smelled so beautiful, she opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling.
Of course... Klaus' house.
It had been days now and almost everyday was the same thing. He'd bring her people to kill. She'd drink from them and try to stop herself from taking their lives. Of course that didn't change anything. They would end up dead anyway. Klaus made sure of that.
She was forbidden to see anyone. He'd let her speak to Bonnie on phone who'd told everyone she was safe and her mother apparently thought she was out of town for a little getaway with Tyler, who by the way was supposedly training under the care of Rebekah, Klaus' annoying sister.
Caroline slowly felt herself get heavier as memories returned.
A couple of hours ago she had fed on two young women. And she had done so relentlessly. She swallowed. Her heart could probably burst out of her chest now that she remembered just how it felt. She closed her eyes. She could remember the warmth, the endless comfort and the blood filling her. She wanted to cry, the relief was so good, so beautiful, she had never felt more comforted than she did while feeding. Klaus had been right. And she hated it. She hated she did this. What else could she do though? Could she fight him? It seemed the only way to deal with him was play by his rules as he said. And she hated that too.
Caroline now understood how it must have been for Stefan. She felt her heart sink at the thought of her friend. Klaus had mentioned that he was "looking after" Elena...where was she? Was she okay? God, she hated feeling so helpless. But that wasn't true...she didn't feel helpless, not now. Not when she was feeding either.
She felt stronger. Damon had told her many times how feeding on human blood kept them stronger. But she also felt...she also felt less like herself and more like the vampire. Closer to the darkness that waited for her with open arms.
Just like Klaus.
She wondered what it felt for Klaus. To be so enraptured in the darkness, to hold power over it, to own it, it even seemed.
She shook her head and closed her eyes again, lying on her side, trying to think and comprehend just how bad it all was.
She had killed those girls, both of them. She hadn't thought she had it in her. But after...after the first one it'd been so simple. Human lives were so vulnerable, so fragile afterall.
Just like that, those bodies had fallen to the floor.
And this time she hadn't even cried or protested.
She wanted to pray, wanted to talk to whoever was there that could help her. To help her stay the same Caroline, to help her have the strength to stay away the next time, to help her not kill again. Of course if it wasn't for Klaus, she'd be doing a good job controlling her impulses like before.
And she had only killed someone by accident when she turned.
But now Klaus owned her, she knew this. She knew he enjoyed this. She had no one to save her from him, no one capable of saving her and...and she was his to play with as he pleased.
If it meant that she killed thousands, she knew he'd be more than willing to force her to do that.
But when Caroline had the strongest urge to pray, it was because she knew, and she feared that she wouldn't need to be forced after a while.
Klaus heard her move. She had to be up, he could hear her heartbeat getting faster. Had to be her conscience. But hadn't he taken care of that? Compelling her to kill the girls earlier had been more than exhilarating for him, it was almost better than watching Stefan kill and deal with his guilt at the same time.
No, Caroline was something else. Just as precious as Stefan. But she,...she intrigued him on a different level.
Looking into her eyes as she said she wouldn't kill anyone else...watching her determined morality excited him. It made him feel even more eager to have her for himself.
Yes, he wanted her for himself. He wanted to know everything about her there was to know. He wanted to brush her golden locks away from her face. He wanted to taste her blood red lips again. And without hurry.
He wanted to do much more to her than he'd do without her permission. He really wanted her, he decided. What's more, he wanted her to want him back.
"You're going to kill them, Caroline." He'd said as he held her gently by the sunny curls. He whispered against her lips, pulling her face closer, his eyes boring into hers. "You. will. kill. them."
Caroline had protested two more times, silent pleas at best. And it had almost broken Klaus' heart. But he'd smiled, and caressed her hair away, and then her soft beautiful cheeks. "Do it, love." He'd said, compelling her this time. "Do it because you want to. And enjoy it, this- is what you need." His eyes and thumb had lingered on her bottom lip for a second before he'd looked at her eyes again.
"Do you understand?"
Caroline'd nodded dreamily. "Yes."
"Do it." Klaus'd said. Waiting for her to move towards the girls, some kind of thirst evident in his eyes, his lips had parted as if breathless and he'd watched her.
He knew now he'd never seen anything quite as beautiful. And it almost made him feel-...
He'd desired she wouldn't need compulsion.
He shook his head. Surely she could learn. She'd know what pleased her and what was good.
He could teach her about her own nature. Their nature.
He realized how his plans for her had changed slightly. He had every intention of playing with her before he brought her to his house. And now he almost expected her to join him, be his new mate.
He laughed at himself. Loneliness did that to people, monsters, hybrids. He smiled to the memory of her looking down with guilt after she'd finished feeding. Her mouth was a beautiful shade of crimson and blood was dripping down from her small chin.
She'd looked so childish, so innocent...so tempting.
He'd kissed her again. And this time there was no protests, no objections, no whinings.
She'd just let him.
Of course he couldn't be sure what that meant. Not to her, not to himself even. He knew he'd just wanted to do it. Repeatedly.
Ever since he'd first seen her.
He remembered the way she'd dared him at school, telling him they could just have sex and get it over with. But he wanted more than that. He wanted to talk to her, touch her, play with her, affect her in a way...or every way possible... just be around her. He'd liked it. He'd liked the way she looked at him when she seemed less defensive just as much as the time she challenged him fearlessly, her violent fire tempted him just as her gentle warmth attracted him. He decided he'd enjoyed them both.
Now, her dead heart beating in his ear, he knew she was awake and that she didn't remember being compelled. She naturally had to be feeling guilty now. He'd let her deal with that rightaway. He wanted that feeling out of their way as soon as possible. Because if things went according to his desire...his way...he'd need her to be more of the vampire she could be and less of the teenage girl who denied who she was.
He walked towards the door of her room. He knew she could hear him so he took his time. When he pushed the door gently and looked at her lying on the bed, he felt himself feel excited again. Her presence had began to make him feel anxious, as if he depended on some sort of reaction on her part. Why hadn't she opened her eyes? Why wasn't she asking questions? Why wasn't she attacking him again yet?
When Caroline opened her eyes and saw Klaus, for a split second she felt a feeling of relief she couldn't understand. Then it was replaced by a momentary fear and then...repulsion.
"What do you want?" she said turning her back to him.
Klaus stayed silent for a few seconds before he sat beside her on the bed. With him suddenly appearing right next to her she gasped. "I did what you asked." She said. "I fed, please go away now."
Klaus smiled softly. "Can't do that."
"Why not?" Caroline asked. "You want me to kill children next? Or maybe babies? Is that our next level?" she said through her teeth.
Klaus tilted his head to the side. "I don't eat kids."
Caroline closed her eyes. "I'm sending you the mental image of a medal right now."
Klaus chuckled and squinted, blinking one eye. "How do I receive it? Like this?" He closed both eyes and pretended to receive the medal.
"Thank you, love. That's lovely." He said pretending to wear it.
Caroline stared at him and then sighed. "You're not...please don't."
Klaus brought his index finger on her upper arm and caressed the skin there.
Caroline gasped.
"You don't need to jump out of your skin, love... I was just remembering you offer." He said, offering a wicked smile.
"What offer?" Caroline said pushing away his finger.
"You don't remember?" Klaus asked with mock offence.
Caroline let out a incredulous laugh. "You can not be serious. I'm not having sex with you. That was a -one time- offer to get you off my back and honestly, I didn't really think you'd be pathetic enough to make a deal on it."
Klaus grabbed both of her arms and pinned them on the bed.
"Call me pathetic again, I dare you."
Caroline swallowed.
"You honestly think I could ever really tolerate you touching me?" she said but she regretted it the moment she asked it.
Klaus watched her lips. "But you did let me touch you, kiss you, over and over again." He said, cocking an eyebrow.
Caroline wanted to look away but she found herself unable to pull away from his piercing gaze.
"And let me tell you..."Klaus leaned in closer, whispering in her ear now. "I think you're enjoying it more than you let on, love."
Caroline struggled but of course couldn't shake off his grip.
Klaus slowly let her go.
"Like I had a choice." She said.
Klaus pursed his lips.
"Keep telling yourself that." He smiled as he got up from the bed.
"Now, get up and pack." He said cheerfully.
Caroline looked at him with fear. He couldn't possibly ask her to leave town with him.
"We can't-" she said, "I can't leave town."
Klaus sighed. "It's only for a little while. I already delayed my plans for you. Trust me, we'll only meet up with a few friends of mine and will be back in no time. You won't even have the chance to miss your little old town."
"What friends?" Caroline didn't like the sound of that. Did he mean more originals?
"A few potential hybrids." Klaus smiled. "Just as special as your ex boyfriend, all of them."
Caroline closed her eyes with exasperation. "Do I have to come with you? Can't I just wait for you and your hybrid army here?" She asked.
Klaus seemed to consider only for a split second before he said, "No. I need my girl by my side. Surely you understand."
She glared at him.
"Come on Caroline, don't be like that." He said with a wide grin. "You haven't left the house for days." He said disapprovingly.
"All thanks to you." Caroline said.
"Well, this is an opportunity for us to bond." He leaned over her, his face merely inches away.
Caroline forced a smile. "I think we've had enough bonding for a life time."
Klaus chuckled.
"Pack. We're leaving in an hour." With that he left the room.
Caroline forced herself not to swear or throw a table lamp behind him. She silently folded her arms and tried to gather her senses.
"Just do whatever he wants, let him tire of you." She thought to herself.
The problem was this tactic didn't really seem to be working just yet.
She sighed.
What were the chances of his soon to be hybrid babies going insane and tearing him into pieces?
"Not much," her mind responded. "Not much."
A/N: Thank you for being patient with updates because I hardly get to write lately. I'd been feeling down about writing anything let alone a fanfic which would be good enough to publish in my opinion. I hope you like this chapter though it was shorter than I planned. I was originally going to make this move forward a lot -and I mean A LOT- faster but that wouldn't make sense just yet. So to keep it realistic I kept it simple. As you can see things are moving somewhat in harmony with the series. Always glad to know you guys like my work and if you do please let me know, because I'm writing this for you as well as for myself.
In the next chapter - which will hopefully be a lot longer- Caroline will be in a more vulnerable state to say the least, and she will make a few choices. Klaus will surprise himself and Caroline. Something something something lots of spoilers- I'm gonna cut it short now because I don't want to ruin it. Don't forget to review!