The next day was overcast, matching Caroline's mood. She hadn't slept well. Her mind had been full of torture and pain, the sizzle of skin as it met sun, her screams as she was stabbed by sharp wooden stakes. Klaus had seen her face twist in pain as she slept, could hear her fast, breathless gasps. He had wanted to wake her, perhaps enter her mind and comfort her, but he knew Caroline. He knew that she would rather face things alone than be helped by him, a fact that left him feeling bitter and helpless.
They had hunted together that day, stalking a herd of deer. At first she had been hesitant, but figured that he had seen her at her worst, may as well just add this to the list. She grinned when she noticed the shift in Klaus's stance from normal to animalistic hunter, feeling her adrenaline soar. She knew that he probably didn't need to feed right now, he would probably find some girl and drain once he got home, but she didn't really care. All she cared about feeding the fire in her throat.
She had drained three deer's dry. At first she had avoided eye contact with Klaus, embarrassed by her red eyes, the fangs that were designed for killing. Once she had fed, he grabbed her arm, forcing her to look at his yellow eyes. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, you know" he said. Caroline ducked her head, with the adrenaline still pumping in her veins, she couldn't be close to him, couldn't stand all the things she wanted, but wouldn't ever have.
They ran far that day, not caring about the rain that soaked their bodies. The forest around them seemed to be poised for something, the silence was too foreboding. No birds flew, no insects moved. It gave Caroline the chills. If Bonnie was here, she'd be all witchy saying 'something bad is coming.' Klaus, with instincts honed after centuries of being hunted, slowed down. "It's probably nothing, right?" she asked, hoping that he'd agree. "I'm not sure" he replied, frowning slightly. They were still half a day away from Mystic Falls. "Hey, perhaps we could steal a car or something, and get drive the last leg" Caroline suggested. Klaus motioned for her to be silent, his hybrid ears picking up on something that her vampire ears obviously didn't.
As soon as the foreboding atmosphere had arrived, it fled, leaving the sky clear and the forest around them lush and green. Klaus, however was like a caged wolf, his entire body bristling with nervous energy, eyes always skimming the forest floor, the sky, the trees, his brows furrowed. As the hours wore on, he finally started to relax, instead of ignoring Caroline's desperate attempts at conversation, he started answering.
"Beethoven or Picasso?" "Picasso, all the way, although he wasn't altogether happy when I started dating his sister" Klaus looked at her. She rolled her eyes.
She started recognising landmarks, the old farmhouse that lay decrepit in a field of wild roses, the lake where she used to swim in at summer. She could feel herself getting more and more anxious the closer she got to Mystic Falls, could sense all the drama and misery that awaited her in this suffocatingly small town. Very soon she would have to put back her mask back on, once again become Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls and head cheerleader.
She passed a small meadow that had apples hanging from its branches. Feeling daring, she jumped the fence and climbed the tree, trying to get to the very top ones. "What are you doing?" Klaus asked, looking at her like she had gone insane. "Eating apples, what are you doing?" she replied, a cheeky grin appearing on her face. In a flash, Klaus had joined her in the treetop, his legs suddenly pressed against hers.
"You know, if I didn't know better, Miss Forbes, I'd say you were dawdling" he said, his accent punctuating each one of his words, instantly turning a simple statement into a question with a million different answers. Instead of answering, Caroline bit into an apple, enjoying the taste.
All too soon, they arrived on the fringes of town, still partially inside the forest. The sounds of the forest were mingling with the sounds of humanity, the roar of cars, the smell of tarmac. Caroline hovered, unwilling to leave the peace that had surrounded her for the last few days. She was about to tell Klaus her goodbyes, until she noticed how still he was, the look on his face as if he pondered the meaning of existence itself. She sat down on a small knoll, and together, for a while they just watched the world pass by.