Disclaimer: I don't own TVD.

About damn time I updated, right? I know, I know. I hadn't started the chapter two weeks ago to update-then last weekend I forgot to pay my stupid wi-fi bill. But here it is! Chapter 9, although I'm not sure if I should continue as it is or if I should maybe revamp the story? Eh, let me know by dropping a review! Please? Pretty please? They do motivate me :}

Enjoy!

Caroline was dreaming.

It was a quaint dream-the kind that soothed a soul instead of exciting it. There was a slight cloud overcast that dimmed the sky a light gray and the wind was blowing slightly. From the corners of her eyes she could see her blonde hair dance ever so slightly in the wind. It was the most peaceful thing that she had ever felt.

Just as she was beginning to succumb to the peace, the scene shifted and suddenly there was a golden sunset. But what really threw her off was that Klaus was lying next to her on the soft grass.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered softly and slowly. She watched his blue eyes scrutinize her.

"This is your dream, Caroline. Why don't you tell me?"

There was a pause before she breathed out slowly. "How is it that I feel so...so attached to you despite barely knowing who you are?" she licked her lips. "After everything that Elena and Bonnie have told me about you, I should be afraid. If anything, I should hate you for all the harm you've done to my friends. To other people."

"But?" he challenged, a small smirk forming on his lips.

"But I don't hate you. If anything, I'm just more intrigued," she confessed. "Is that wrong?"

The Klaus in her dream sighed. "Absolutely not." He shifted, his hand reaching slowly out to touch hers. It was a simple touch, almost feather-like.

Caroline smiled small. In her dreams everything made sense when it came to him. There was no awkwardness or intimidation that only reality could set in. In here she could tell him- tell him about all the times she had dreamt of him. Of how they were almost like a puzzle, fitting together to tell a story...

There was a large gust of wind and suddenly, her dream shifted into something much more sinister. She was no longer lying on the grass in a meadow-instead she found herself standing on a stone platform, a storm brewing in the night sky. The wind was fierce against her body and she clenched her hands into fists.

She wasn't alone. Garnet was there, murmuring something in gibberish and Devin was holding down Klaus. Caroline's eyes widened as she saw that he was obviously severely wounded. Blood trickled from his mouth and there was a sharp pain in her chest at the sight of him injured so badly.

"Accept your true fate, Caroline." Garnet's voice echoed harshly. But Caroline wasn't turning away from Klaus' gaze just yet. He seemed to be waiting for her to do something; anything to stop this madness. "Complete the ritual. Be with me."

Caroline finally shifted to look at Garnet's smirking face. Her dark eyes pierced Caroline's soft green ones. She was holding a silver dagger. As Caroline robotically reached out to take it, she heard Klaus shout.

"Caroline! Stop! You're stronger than this," he rasped, coughing up more blood as Devin applied more force to his neck.

She looked back to him gently and for the first time since her nightmare began, felt something slippery on her hands. Looking down she immediately felt sick to her stomach. Her hands were bathed in crimson.

Blood.

"Stop!" Caroline shouted, bolting into a sitting position in her bed. It was the first night back in her own house and as much as she had hoped for one good night's rest, it looked like the universe had other plans for her.

She let out a strangled breath, her shaking hands wiping her sweaty forehead. Immediately she removed her hands from her face as if they were covered in acid, checking tentatively to make sure that it had all been just a dream.

Good lord. Get it together, Caroline. she shoved her covers aside, the chilly pre-dawn air causing goosebumps on her bare legs. She silently cursed herself for wearing shorts as she made her way downstairs and to her kitchen. By the looks of it, her mother had already left early for her day shift, meaning that it left Caroline all alone in a big, empty house.

As she got herself a glass of water, her mind drifted back to the horrific nightmare. They'd been clearer now that she had been opened up to the supernatural. However, that also meant that they were much scarier and albeit, that much more confusing to her. Caroline honestly didn't know how to handle it all. She was barely getting the hang of training, much less playing some important role in the whole scheme of things.

She bit her lip, chewing it slightly as she thought about other things, like Klaus. They had definitely spent more and more time together as he tried to somewhat educate her on the supernatural world. So far she was getting to understand things, well, when she payed attention that is. Sometimes her teenage mind would wander when Caroline would stare at his lips for too long or the way-

Stop! she intercepted, feeling ashamed for even thinking of him in such a way. This was Klaus she was talking about- a thousand year old hybrid who would probably taunt her for thinking about him in that way. He probably thought she was a silly little naive girl. A mortal. A burden.

It's not helping anyone if you keep throwing yourself pity parties, Caroline rallied, moving her stiff body to the living room couch. She sat down idly and stared at the pictures on the wall. It made her sad now to see old photos of how her family used to be before the sickness, before her parents decided they didn't want to try anymore.

What kind of couple does that? Get married, have kids, then decide one day that they just don't love each other anymore? It amazed Caroline what could go on through their heads the moment they decide to just give up. To stop fighting for each other just because the road got difficult.

You're one to preach. Look at your track record, her conscience countered. She sighed, shaking her head.

Yes, she had made her own mistakes in the past. Careless mistakes for the naive girl, she continued to think. She should have never had a fling with Tyler Lockwood. As much as she tried to see the bright side of things with him, he always treated her like crap. Sure, he might have cared about her at some point but how much?

Not enough, apparently.

Her mind drifted to shameful moments in her life that she wished she could take back when she smelled the smoke. Bolting up on her feet, her eyes widened slightly at the flickers of bright red and orange emanating from her kitchen. She immediately went into panic mode as she moved to locate the fire extinguisher.

When she failed to find it, she moved to go to the faucet but flames were already beginning to grow bigger, engulfing the surrounding area. Her heart hammered. How could this have happened? Nothing in the kitchen had been on... There weren't candles or wires for a fire to happen.

Remembering when Bonnie had told her about control, she stretched out her hand in a sad attempt to bring down the flames. But the more she tried, the more they seemed to grow hungrier and hungrier.

Okay, now would be a good time to call 911. Or, you know, leave! she thought quickly, coughing violently before giving up on her magic, backtracking to the front door as she retrieved her car keys.

Rummaging across her body, she cursed herself for leaving her phone inside. But the smoke was getting thicker and she didn't want to risk causing permanent damage to herself when she was already delirious. Moving quickly, she climbed into her car, her eyes watching flames in her house as she gripped the steering wheel.

I can't even put out a damn fire, how am I suppose to defeat Garnet? Caroline shut her eyes tightly, wishing and praying the nightmare would just end.

After what seemed like forever, she reopened them, releasing her deadly grip in her steering wheel. She hadn't even gotten to turn the engine on before she had reached her peak. Taking a deep breath, she glanced at what should have been a house engulfed in flames. Instead, she sat there staring at her house. It looked as if nothing had ever happened at all.

Puzzled, she cautiously opened her car door and walked through her front door. There were no traces of smoke and as she entered the kitchen once more, her eyebrows knit together in utter confusion. Where there should have been burn marks there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

As if the fire hadn't happened at all. Then she looked closer.

They were faint lines- lines that seemed stained onto the counter top as opposed to being drawn on. Her hear skipped a beat as she took a closer look at the lines- no, letters. They were letters. Once she could make out what it was, she gasped, her shaking hand covering her mouth.

"No, no, no..." she murmured in a state of complete fear. She quickly went back to the living room to retrieve her phone and dialed the only number she could even think of in that one moment.

"What happened?" Klaus demanded as he stood outside of Caroline's house. He hadn't been invited in yet which only frustrated him all the more. "Caroline." he stated, watching as the shaking blonde gave him an apologetic look before inviting him in.

The other witch, Bonnie, sighed. "She said she saw a fire but when she came back inside, it was gone and instead, there was this," she motioned to the counter where the terrifying message resided.

Klaus tentatively stepped forward, his head tilting slightly as he read the message.

HE'S NEXT.

"Excuse me if I don't react the way you have but to whom is this thing referring to?" Klaus questioned, raising an expectant eyebrow at the witch.

Bonnie sighed but Caroline spoke in her place. "My dad. I'm sure of it- he's the one who's the most vulnerable."

He groaned inwardly. "I suppose it makes sense. Everyone in this bloody town knows about him so it's no surprise that Garnet would as well."

Caroline shook her head. "But it's me that she wants. Why would she threaten to hurt him?"

"Collateral damage. If you refuse to do what she wants, then she kills him. Simple, really." he stated blandly. He could see her panicky green eyes and shook his head. "Rest assured, no harm will come to you father, Caroline."

Bonnie glanced between the both of them as they seemed to lock eyes momentarily.

"I won't let him get hurt," he repeated. She must know already, right? That he would do anything for her to remain safe?

Caroline nodded, breaking their connection as she turned to Bonnie. "I don't think it's such a good idea that I stay alone. Can I stay with you?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Yeah, of course." She uncrossed her arms, looking between Klaus and Caroline again. "I'll just, uh, go start the car."

Caroline waited until Bonnie was outside to look back at Klaus. "I need to talk to you."

He nodded, waiting.

"Is there a possibility that my nightmares are accurate visions into, you know, the future?"

Klaus gave her a strange look. "Well, technically. That's the whole gist with witches, their dreams tell them things. Why do you ask?"

"Because just last night I had one where-" she gulped. "Where you die."

Something flickered in his eyes. "That's impossible. I'm the Original Hybrid. I can't be killed so easily, Caroline."

"I know- but in my dream, it looked like..."

Like I was the reason why Devin was about to kill you.

"It looked like what, Caroline?" he asked again. He saw her eyes as they wavered under his own stare.

"Nothing- You're probably right, it must have been a fluke dream or something. Nevermind," she uncrossed her arms and sighed, glancing once more at the creepy message on the counter-top before walking out.

Klaus watched as she left, wishing he could have gathered up the courage to just tell her. Tell her everything that he had begun to feel just by being near her. He couldn't, of course. He couldn't because it would frighten her and draw her further away from him. Technically speaking, she barely knew him. Why would she suddenly want something more? Why would she suddenly feel anything towards him in the first place?

"The child is weak. She will not be ready for the fight when it comes," a thick voice resounded into the empty space.

There was a murmur of mixed voices, all talking at once. Suddenly, one of the softer ones spoke briefly, "Give the girl a chance to prove herself. She will not disappoint."

"Were we correct in doing this? In giving her such power? If her will is weak, she will be useless. This is a battle we cannot afford to lose, Helena."

"I realize this." the female voice stated. She might be an Elder but she still felt sympathy towards the mortal girl. It was similar to how a mother might feel for her child. After all, Helena had been one of the few that had decided that this would be the child. Why?

Perhaps it had been something she had seen in the girl's future. Something stronger than physical bindings.

Helena had seen a girl who was willing to fight for everything she believed in. A young girl who loved with everything that she was.

She will come to the right state of mind soon enough, she thought silently.

"Give her time. She will bring forth salvation."

The smell of coffee filled the Mystic Grill's seating area as Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena slid into a booth. They had decided it would be best to play hookie from school.

"How are you?" Elena asked softly, her worried eyes landing on Caroline's tired and distressed face.

"Like this could all be a complicated dream." Caroline stated blandly. The waitress came to take their orders and then left quickly once again. "I just, I'm sure what I should be doing anymore. I saw that fire in my house... Suddenly nothing happened?"

"It could have just been Garnet playing mind tricks on you," Bonnie suggested.

Caroline shrugged. "I don't know- shouldn't I be stronger than this? Everybody seems to keep talking about how strong and dangerous I am but I'm so weak."

"It just takes a while for you to tap into your full powers." Bonnie reassured.

"Yeah, Bonnie told me that it took her a while to exercise her powers to where they are now," Elena said.

The waitress handed them their coffee then left again. Caroline closed her eyes and took in the comforting smell of the beverage.

"How's training with the narcissistic Klaus?" Elena asked.

Caroline looked up to her friend. She knew that Elena hated him with everything that she was but he hadn't made any attempt to harm her in weeks. That's why it was a bit of a surprise that Elena would want to talk about him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Elena restated. "That you've spent quite a bit of time with him-alone. In his house. For hours."

"If you're implying that I like him then you're wrong. It's not like that with him," Caroline said calmly. Well, she didn't want it to be that way right now. Not without having known him long enough. Besides, he was like a thousand years old. Whenever they were alone together, she always had to watch what would come out of her mouth, afraid it might be something a stupid kid would say. He was so much smarter than her- it was intimidating.

"I'm just saying, there's no need to get defensive."

"Well, he isn't completely unpleasant." Caroline answered. "He tries to be nice... At least when he's with me. It's not like he threatens to kill me every other minute. Besides, all we talk about is supernatural stuff. He's just trying to make sure I know what's what."

Elena shrugged. "I guess. It's just... Weird. I mean, the guy did kill me. Not to mention how many countless innocents he's slaughtered over the centuries."

Bonnie cleared her throat. "Okay, how about we change the subject, yes?"

"Are you telling me that you were the one who made up the whole Sun and the Moon Curse?" Caroline asked, baffled. She squinted a little from how bright the sun was.

Klaus nodded, getting slight amusement from recalling his previous misdemeanors. "Elijah had been the one to remind me many centuries ago but yes, I was the one that wrote that down. I was in search of the moonstone. I needed allies who would want the same thing. I had promised to break their curse as long as they helped me find it."

"How did you get witches to help you?"

"Back then it wasn't difficult to convince a witch to aid in a worthy cause. Some were drawn to darkness. Others just wanted a way to exercise their powers."

Caroline let out a breath, an idea popping into her head. She'd been practicing her levitating since Bonnie had taken her to the Falls. That's why she had decided that they move their history lessons to the waterfalls today. Once they crossed the wooden bridge and into an opening of trees, she smiled.

"Okay, can I show you something that I've been working on?"

Klaus looked around to make sure there weren't any other humans around. "Sure."

Caroline smiled and closed her eyes, concentrating just like she had practiced. She could feel nature all around her. It tingled in the tips of her fingers and she felt a flow of energy circulating like a current in her body. Moving her palm up slowly, she opened her eyes and beamed at the result. This time it hadn't been just the leaves around her that levitated up in the air, now droplets of water surrounded them as well. The longer she practiced the stronger her field of range got.

But that wasn't all that she could do now. If she cleared her mind, she found that she could temporarily manipulate the weather. She closed her eyes again and thought of the opposite of a warm sunny day.

Klaus watched as Caroline shut her eyes, looking intently. She looked so free. There was suddenly sharp gusts of wind and he looked overhead at the now darkening sky. His eyebrows arched as he watched just exactly this one witch could do in such a short amount of time. While he was proud that she could do this now, a bit of him was worried just how far into magic she could succumb to.

He'd known from a few cases that if a witch lost the thing that kept her grounded, she could give herself over to the power. And while he'd been all about gaining power back before breaking his curse, now he wondered why. It wasn't like he had any agenda other than to keep the world as it was. After all, what was the point in living forever if the world ended?

He happened to like earth just the way it was right now. This was why he cared about stopping Garnet and Devin. It seemed like no matter how hard he tried to kill them, they just wouldn't stay dead. There was always some stupid naive follower that would try to resurrect them. It hadn't been until Caroline that he had kept them on the Otherside. Now they were slowly preparing to unleash hell on earth.

The breeze halted and Caroline opened her eyes. They were full of excitement as she managed a small smile.

"It gets easier every time I do it," she spoke softly. Her soft eyes landed on him and he felt the corners of his lips turn upward slightly.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he asked.

Caroline shook her head. "Right now it's the only thing that feels good- the rest of the time that I'm not practicing I spend it worrying about my dad's health. About how if I don't keep trying and I don't get stronger, I'll probably fall on my ass when I have to face Garnet."

Klaus nodded. "I have a feeling you'll know what to do when that time comes. Instinct usually takes over when it comes to life or death."

Her eyes darkened slightly, the mood shifting from light to dark in a split second. "Is that how it usually is with you?" the statement came out sharper than she'd originally intended because she already knew he was a killer. Everybody told her and they never seemed to mind about the constant reminders.

Klaus sighed, his gaze moving away from Caroline. "You have to understand that every single time I killed someone it was for a purpose. I didn't blindly murder them despite what your friends might think."

She bit lip. "Have you ever felt guilty?"

He looked back to her. "For killing someone?"

Caroline nodded.

"I did feel slight remorse back when I first became a vampire. But over the years the predatorial instinct takes over and you no longer feel it- it fades with time the more you grow accustomed to it."

"I don't think I could ever kill anyone." Caroline stated. "Despite how mad I could get I don't believe I have it in me to actually end somebody's life."

His shoulders were rigid as she said it. No matter how much he tried to get her to trust him completely, she was still caught up in his past actions. She was still afraid of him.

"I won't hurt you, if that's what you're getting at." he said.

Her eyes looked up to him quickly, the blue in them shining. "I'm not scared about you hurting me," she gulped. "I'm scared of what I could do to you," she said, thinking back to the dream she'd had of him dying. Every nightmare- everything she saw seemed to open up her view of him. She knew that Bonnie hated him and that Elena despised him but she couldn't ever imagine hating him. He hadn't done anything to her. She's barely known him but being around him felt right; like a missing piece to a puzzle.

He tilted his head in confusion. What was she getting at, then, if not her fear of him? "I don't understand."

She sighed, her eyes sad. "Me neither."

And that's it for chapter 9. Yay, or nay?

Let me know ;)

-Fanatic4Fiction