Day #5

Bonnie awoke with a gasp, shooting up out of bed with a cold sweat. She felt her hands trembling and she glanced up at her arms, checking for burn marks or discoloured veins. She found none, her skin was perfectly normal.

Pushing her sweaty bangs off of her forehead, she tried to steady her breathing. What a horrible nightmare…

"How are you feeling?"

She jumped with a gasp, adjusting her eyes to the dark to spot Alaric sitting solemnly in a chair in the corner of her room. "Alaric? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"We were worried when you didn't wake up so I volunteered to keep an eye on you until you did." He came to sit next to her, offering a glass of water that she drank gratefully.

Finally, she came to the realization that the horrible dream she just had was in fact, not a dream. Her eyes widened and she cried out, "Caroline!"

"She's okay now. He backed down after Elena swore that there wouldn't be any more tricks. He bit her, but he healed her. She's okay."

Bonnie was trying to adjust, but she was finding it hard to wrap her head around everything. "How long was I out?" She asked.

"Just two days." Alaric said.

Panicked, she jumped out of bed. "Two days!? I wasted two days laying around in bed? Have you guys come up with anything at all?"

Alaric placed two hands on her shoulders and guided her back to the bed. "You need to rest. Those witches that Klaus has are no joke. You were possessed and he told us to stop playing. You almost died, Bonnie. Frankly, I'm surprised you woke up so early. Just stay in bed today, please. I promise that we have a plan."

Skeptical, but too tired to argue, she crawled back into bed. As she closed her eyes, she couldn't help but wonder what the plan was.

At the same time, Elena was pulling up to an unfamiliar house. Damon sat next to her in the passenger seat, but she willed him to stay there. "She's a witch, or was, I don't know. But I doubt she'll take kindly to a vampire just waltzing into her house. I'll be fine." She soothed. "Stay in the car."

Damon didn't like it, but he knew that she was right, so he waited in silence as she got out of the car, brooding with narrowed eyes.

The person who answered the door when she knocked definitely wasn't Abby. He was a younger boy, maybe a little older than her. "Can I help you?" He asked.

"Sorry, I must have the wrong house…" Elena trailed off.

He stopped her before she could turn around and leave. "Who are you looking for?"

"Abby Bennett-Wilson?" She asked hesitantly. A woman appeared behind the boy, her face a mask of calm. "That's me. Who's asking?"

Suddenly nervous, Elena took a breath. "I'm not sure if you know who I am, but my name is Elena Gilbert."

Recognition lit up both of their eyes and suddenly she was hit on the back of her head. "Get the vampire," is the last thing she heard before she met total blackness.

Klaus was getting fed up. "Caroline, you're being foolish. Open the door." He said between clenched teeth. She had barricaded herself in the bathroom two days ago, after she had woke up and remembered that he had bit her, and refused to come out. "You're going to desiccate from starvation, sweetheart. You need blood. Come out."

Silence followed his request as usual. She hadn't spoken to him in two days, either. He knocked hard with his fist. "I don't care! Go away!" She cried.

A small sense of relief at finally hearing her voice swept through him. "Suit yourself then, love." He said, and finally did what he should have done two days ago. Squaring his shoulders, he rammed right into the door, sending it flying and splintering into the room and revealing a shocked Caroline. Wordlessly, he handed her a blood bag and she snatched it from his hands.

I don't know why you didn't just do that earlier." She snapped. "What was the point of begging me to come out?"

He shrugged. "I wanted to see if I could convince you to come out myself. Obviously, I failed." She stared at him in silence for a minute and then ripped the bag open with her teeth, sucking up the liquid. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she was starving. "Are you still mad at me?" Klaus asked.

Her answer was a menacing glare and a curt, "Obviously."

He rolled his eyes with a huff and sat next to her, trying to ignore that she flinched. "Caroline, I had to do it. I couldn't let your friends think they could get away with breaking my rules. I was always going to heal you."

"Were you?" She snapped. "What happens if they didn't back down? What about then?" She was met with silence. "Exactly. You would have just let me die."

"No, I wouldn't have." He blurted out before he could stop himself. "I was never going to let you die, Caroline. The thought didn't even cross my mind!"

Caroline pushed her brows together. "That doesn't make any sense. Why wouldn't you?"

Klaus was struggling, debating on whether or not he should say anything. Finally, for once, he decided to be honest. "Because I like you, Caroline, more than I should."

She was stunned. Did Klaus, the biggest and baddest original vampire, the most ruthless and unfeeling person in the world, just admit to having feelings for her? Suspiciously, she narrowed her eyes. "What are you trying to pull?"

Klaus laughed once without humor. "Is it really that hard to believe?"

"Yes!" She exclaimed.

"Why?" He demanded.

Throwing her hands up in exasperation, she said, "I don't know! Because you're Klaus! You don't care about anyone!"

Klaus's calm voice sounded almost like a whisper next to her loud proclamation. "Well, I care about you. You don't have to believe it and you don't have to like it, but I do."

Caroline started to panic as he leaned in. She was positive that he was going to kiss her, yet she couldn't move away. What the hell was she doing?

And then his cell phone rang shrilly and she couldn't decide whether she was disappointed or relieved.

He broke away to look at the caller ID, gave Caroline a long look and then disappeared from her sight. She strained her ears, but she couldn't hear him at all. He must be far from the house.

She stood up and kicked the broken pieces of wood.

Why did he make it so damn hard to just hate him?

"What?" Klaus growled more forcefully than necessary when he answered the phone. Whoever it was should prepare for his wrath, because they couldn't have interrupted him at a worse time. "You better make this quick before I hang up."

"I have the Bennett witch."

Klaus raised his eyebrows a bit in surprise at the efficiency of his hybrid. "And the doppelganger?"

"Mother Witch says the boy has her tied up, along with the Salvatore brother." His hybrid, Johan, answered promptly.

"Ah, my traitorous partner in crime, Stefan." Klaus said, amused.

A bit of static crossed over the phone line, but Klaus' hearing had no trouble picking up what his hybrid said. "Not Stefan, the dark haired sarcastic one."

Klaus didn't usually get thrown for a loop very often, but he had to admit, he was a bit stunned for the moment. Recovering quickly, he hid his surprise. "Damon. Hmm, then where is the other rogue Salvatore brother?"

"I'm not sure but I hope-" and then he was cut off and the tearing of flesh filled the phone

"Johan!" Klaus roared into the phone.

It was quiet. "Hello, Klaus." Stefan said slowly. "I hope you don't think you're getting these coffins back so easily. You'll never get them back if I can help it."

"Fine then," Klaus said uneasily, trying to hide the fact that he was starting to feel overpowered. "Then you and your friends will never see Caroline again."

"Well it's a good thing for me that I no longer care about Caroline, I guess. And I guess it's another point for me that you're so busy playing the whole hostage strategy that you're miles away from Mystic Falls and I have access to both your coffins, including the locked one, and an ongoing Bennett bloodline. So I guess we will see how long your supposed leverage lasts once I unlock that secret you've been hiding." He could hear the smirk on Stefan's face and his rage started to boil. "Goodbye Klaus. I'm assuming that I'll be seeing you soon."

Click.

Klaus snarled and hurled his fist through one of the windows of the mansion, watching the cuts heal up. He stormed downstairs in a rage to Caroline, who cowered against the wall. "Please don't bite me again." She whispered pitifully.

The little known feeling of remorse made Klaus stop in his tracks for the moment. Leave it to Caroline to bring him back into reality. "I won't bite you sweetheart. However…" He trailed off, gently grabbing her face with his hand and bringing her eyes up to meet his. "We're going on a little trip, love. I could leave you behind, but what fun would that be? So, I want you to do as I say when we are gone. Under no circumstances will you disobey me, understood?"

Caroline stared numbly back at him. "I understand." She repeated back in a robotic voice.

Klaus was satisfied. "Good. Now come on love, time to go. We have a long journey ahead of us." He held his hand out towards her.

Snapping out of her compulsion trance, she glared at him and stormed past him, bumping his outstretched hand in spite. "As if," she muttered with his previous allure nothing but a distant memory. "Where are we going anyway?"

They both buckled into the car and Klaus finally turned to answer her. "We're going back to Mystic Falls." He said, and then he jabbed a vervain syringe into her neck. She slumped towards him and as her head rested on his arm, he couldn't help but be amazed at how beautiful she was, even unconscious. Before he could stop himself, he touched his lips to the top of her head, inhaled her smell, and then pressed down lightly. "What are you doing to me, Caroline?" He muttered.

God, she smelled amazing.

He shook himself out of his trace, nudged her over to lean against the door and then started up the car. He didn't expect to be going back to Mystic Falls so soon and his love and hate relationship with the small town started to flare up.

After a quick call to his witches, asking them to meet him in Mystic Falls to set up another safe house for him and Caroline, he continued on his solitary drive. Glancing up in the rear view mirror, he finally remembered that he had a daggered Rebecca lying in the trunk of his car.

He made a mental note not to forget about her body, in case one of the nosy Salvatore brothers found her and used her against him. Klaus had lived a thousand years and fought many enemies, but a pissed off Rebecca never failed to be a challenge.

As he reminisced about his enemies, he took a side glance at Caroline, with her smooth skin and golden curls. He had never had a weakness before, when it came to dealing with his enemies and as he looked on at the baby vampire next to him, he knew that she would be his first and only weakness.

When Caroline awoke groggily, she was surprisingly in bed. It was another bed like the one she had in her cell, except for it was inside of a giant suite complete with a wardrobe, attached bathroom and a giant walk in closet.

On the table next to the bed, there was a note.

My dear Caroline,

In the closet you will find an outfit handpicked for you. We have a party to attend tonight, so try to look your best, which I assure you will be no challenge. Do not leave the house without me.

Klaus

Caroline scoffed at the note, threw open the door and then walked down the stairs. Did Klaus actually think that she was going to listen to him? She threw open the front door, ready to walk out and find her friends, when her muscles froze up and she stopped mid step.

"What the hell?" She muttered, jerking her body around, trying to pass through the door. An amused Klaus appeared behind her. "What did you do? Why can't I leave?"

Klaus smiled. Instead of answering her, he just looked at her and said, "Caroline, go upstairs and get ready."

Without a second thought, her body started walking up the stairs in the direction of her room. Her mouth fell open in shock. "You compelled me? Are you serious right now?"

He just shrugged. "Better than keeping you locked up, isn't it? I figured you'd enjoy being able to see your friends."

"I guess it'd be too much to hope that you're letting me go?"

Another smile, this time a bit forced. "I guess we will see how tonight goes. Please, get ready. We're expected to be at the Salvatore house in exactly one hour."

Caroline, of course, went to go get ready. As she was lingering under the hot water in the shower, she couldn't help but think that tonight was an open invitation for things to go horribly, horribly wrong.

Usually Caroline loved being right, but tonight she wished that she could have just been wrong.

Klaus felt oddly proud to have Caroline holding on to his arm as they exited his car, even though he had compelled her there. "Do not speak to anyone unless I tell you it's okay. Do you understand?" He murmured in a low voice.

Caroline responded dully. "Okay."

He let his eyes linger up and down her body which was covered with a tight blue dress, all the way up her neck which was completely exposed with her hair all pinned up in curls. If Klaus had a heart, he swore it would have stopped. "You look absolutely lovely." When he was met with a blank stare, he chuckled. "You know that it's okay to respond to me, right?"

"I know, I just don't want to." Caroline snapped, turning her head away from him.

Klaus smiled fondly. "I adore you."

She rolled her eyes. "Sure, because kidnapping and compelling me is sure proving that."

He chuckled. "You really don't take well to being collateral damage, do you sweetheart?" He asked.

"Collateral damage means that I'm not important." She said stonily.

Finally, Klaus got a peek at the insecurity that was Caroline. "I think you have this all wrong, love. You're very important to me."

She finally sighed. "Can we just get this over with? I don't really want to have a heart to heart, not here and not now." He just nodded instead of saying anything, knowing that she was right. However, he did notice her grip his arm a little bit tighter.

Klaus rang the bell and as an afterthought, he whispered to Caroline, "Stay by my side."

Damon opened the door with a sour look on his face, which changed to horribly disguised shock as he caught sight of Caroline. Clearly, he wasn't expecting her. "Caroline…" He said without thinking and then turned to Klaus, trying to cover it up. "Evil hybrid."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Ever the charmer Damon, however your arrogance will be your demise, I assure you." He started to walk and Caroline hung to his arm, walking hesitantly behind him after giving Damon a long, hard look.

Damon shut the door behind him, following the odd pair. He had become slightly attached to the blonde after she had been unofficially adopted into his dysfunctional family and that moment, after seeing Caroline's blank stare, he swore he was going to get her away from Klaus before he managed to screw her up somehow.

He just hoped that their plan didn't get her killed tonight out of spite. Shaking away his thoughts, he followed them into the dining room where Elena sat next to Bonnie on one side of the table, Alaric somewhere in the middle and then Stefan on the far end. He knew Tyler was pacing somewhere in the woods outside as backup in case something happened, but they all knew it was smarter for him not to be there.

Damon knew they made the right decision when he saw how Caroline hung off of Klaus' every word. He was almost positive that she was compelled, but even though, he knew it would have killed Tyler to see her like that.

He watched quietly as Elena stood up with a gasp. "Caroline!" She exclaimed, getting ready to run over. Damon was ready to stop her, but Bonnie was smart enough to grab her arm and sit her down.

The two of them neared the table and then they stopped. "Go ahead love, why don't you sit down?" Klaus whispered to Caroline. She sat down immediately and gave Bonnie and Elena the same blank stare that she had given Damon.

Caroline hated being passive, cold and vague towards her friends, but it was like she was unable to show emotion or ask for help. She knew that Klaus had compelled her, but she wasn't aware to what state until that moment. It was like her body was under a spell, and it was killing her.

The seven of them sat in an awkward silence for a minute, before Klaus finally said, "So what are we eating today? Or shall I say who?" His face lifted up into a crooked smirk.

Stefan stared stonily at him, his stare almost as blank as Caroline's except for it was by choice. "We're waiting on another guest." He said with a matter of fact tone.

"Oh?" Klaus asked with false interest. "And who might that be?"

"Me," said a voice from out of nowhere.

The voice had no meaning to Caroline, but Klaus's face lit up in a horrible recognition. "Mikael," he said in a deadpanned voice.

A man appeared at the top of the stairs, hands at his side. "Hello, son." He emphasized. All of a sudden, before she could even blink, he was standing in front of Caroline and shoving a stake through her chest.

All she could do was scream.