Author's Note: Hello readers! Thank you so much for your amazing reviews and alerts, I'm so glad you're all willing to put up with the confusion to get to the story. Apologies for not being able to reply to your reviews (this thing called university got in the way, it's really annoying), but I'll be getting to that as soon as this is posted. In the meantime, enjoy the chapter-and remember, if it doesn't make sense, that's intentional, and not a plot hole. Mostly.

Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Julie Plec and co.

Reality is never as bad as a nightmare, as the mental tortures we inflict on ourselves
-Sammy Davis Jr.

Your nightmares follow you like a shadow, forever
-Aleksandar Hemon

For an eighteen year old, Caroline had been through a lot. She'd been killed by the girl who looked like her best friend and woken up as a creature previously thought to be the purview of guilty-pleasure teenage novels. She'd engaged in crazy wars with supernatural beings intent on breaking curses and finding cures and somehow, throughout torture and mayhem and every single fucking thing that had been thrown at her, she had persevered. She was Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls, Vampire Barbie, and she could handle anything.

She wasn't too sure she could handle this, however.

The town square remained stubbornly deserted, and the silence that had been so unnerving was back in full force. For some reason though, Caroline was now completely aware of it. The entire day her mind had been muddy, she had been imagining conversations with her dead father and forgetting just what stage of her life she was in, but now she realized she had absolutely perfect clarity. She knew who and where she was, and as she replayed the events of the day, they all came back, crystal clear. Nothing made sense – somebody or something was seriously screwing with her. The only upside was the feeling that a fog was lifting, similar to the feeling of awareness when compulsion was lifted.

And where there was compulsion, there was usually an Original.

Klaus stood in front of her, alternating between watching her and searching the world around them. He looked about as on edge as she was, but for the moment, she wasn't about to just assume that this didn't tie back to him somehow. To be fair though, he wasn't gloating or teasing or being his usual smug self – in fact he looked as frazzled as she felt. She suspected he was waiting for another outburst, and frankly, she was more than happy to deliver.

"How can you not know what's happening?!" she asked heatedly. "You're Klaus, you're a thousand years old, you're 'The Original Hybrid', when something insane happens in this town, you're involved!"

Klaus gritted his teeth, trying to keep his wits together, dragging a hand over his face. He didn't want to hurt Caroline. He knew that, really. But this entire scenario was grating on his last nerve, and her panicking wasn't helping.

"As flattered as I am that you hold my expertise in such high regard," he said, internally smirking at her eye-roll, "I'll repeat myself: this wasn't me. I didn't do this, but rest assured, when I find out just who is responsible I will be more than happy to put a thousand years of experience to good use."

His voice had lowered to growl he reserved for instilling fear in any living creature that dared cross his path but Caroline just scoffed. At least now she believed that he was telling the truth and this wasn't down to him – but that didn't rule out the option that someone was doing this because of him.

"I still think this is related to you somehow," Caroline muttered darkly, crossing her arms.

Klaus bristled at her accusation. "Look here love, I understand that you aren't having a pleasant time but I'll thank you not to willfully attack me when you have no proof!" He took a step away from her, carefully appraising her defensive stance. She did genuinely appear afraid, but this wouldn't be the first time someone had used her in a scheme to lower his defenses.

"Tell me, Caroline," he said, stalking closer to her, "how do I know this isn't on you? How do I know this is some ploy you and your friends aren't pulling the strings, trying to catch me or kill me or-"

"Seriously?!" she interjected, running her hand through her hair in frustration. "You think this is me?! Do you honestly think that I would let myself go through this too?!" With that off her chest, she turned back to the bench she'd been sitting down and sat down, resuming her hunched position and holding her head between her hands. Trying to ease the growing tension she massaged her temples, but no luck. Through all of this, she was acutely aware of Klaus watching her, and for a moment she wondered why he was still with her, why he hadn't gone away.

(Not that she was about to admit it out loud, but she was sort of glad he was there with her. All things considered, he was a friendly face right now, though it's possible that's the weirdest thing to happen all day.)

Klaus struggled between leaving and staying. On one hand, he wanted to run, track down whomever was causing this and rip them limb from limb. On the other hand, seeing Caroline looking so defeated was tugging at his conscience. Not that he had caused this particular predicament, but he didn't like seeing her in pain.

(Even though he's caused her enough pain for her immortal lifetime.)

Whatever was happening, she was the only one who seemed to be going through it too. And with no obvious enemy in sight, then maybe an ally wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Besides, this was Caroline – he'd be a damned fool to willfully deny himself of her company. Warily, so as not to earn more of her ire, he walked over to her and took a seat next to her on the bench. Not as close as he would like to be, but close enough that he could smell her lavender shampoo. Hesitantly, he laid a hand on her shoulder.

Caroline jumped when she felt his hand, and snapped her head up to meet his wary gaze. It struck her that he was just as lost in this as she was. And she knew that she should do something about his hand on her shoulder and his close proximity…except she didn't mind it nearly as much as she knew she should have. In fact, it felt nice. Really nice. The first bit of comfort she'd felt since she woke up that morning.

(Dear God, Klaus was comforting her. Had everything gone to hell in one day?)

Gulping down a breath of air, she felt her headache recede a little. She wondered if that was solely due to Klaus' presence, but she'd debate that later, right now she just wanted to know what the hell was happening to them. Klaus looked guarded, but he wasn't snapping at her, so maybe it was time to be a big girl and work this out.

"Truce?" she asked quietly.

"Of course," he said, squeezing her shoulder gently. They sat in an awkward silence for a moment before Klaus took a good look around them. "How should I acquit myself?" he asked with a rueful smile.

"What are you – oh, right…" Caroline realized what he was getting at; he had been referring to that night when he had followed her out of the Grill, daring her to take a chance on him. That night seemed like it had been ages ago, but here they were again, under the stars…

Wait – something was wrong there.

"Klaus," she said, her voice slightly panicked, "did it suddenly just become night?"

Klaus frowned, staring up at the starry sky before realizing that she was right – a few seconds ago it had been the middle of the day, and now it looked like time had jumped forward several hours. In fact, if he had to guess he'd say that this night resembled the one he'd just been thinking of perfectly. This was where he had sat next to Caroline, asking her about her hopes and dreams, the place where he had felt the phantom pang of the stake as her friends had tried to kill his brother. But he shook that thought off. That was not something he wanted to relive. Not now, when everything else was turned on its head.

"Let's just try to remain calm, shall we?" asked Klaus, working to keep his tone placid. Caroline was starting to hyperventilate again, but after a few deep breaths, she managed to get herself in check, and she nodded wearily.

"Right, calm – I can do calm," she muttered, more for her own benefit than for his. "Maybe we should just…compare notes? I woke up this morning and it was like I'd been taken to the freaking twilight zone!"

"Well that was today," said Klaus, thinking over her words, "what happened last night?"

"Last night?" Caroline racked her brain, bringing the memory back. "Last night I think I was with…Elena. And Bonnie? No, that's not right – we were talking about Bonnie, I was really worried about her." Caroline shut her eyes and massaged her temples. "I left the boarding house and I went home and then…and then…" she trailed off, realizing that everything after that was a void.

"Ugh, I can't remember a thing after that!" she yelled, frustrated beyond belief. She was a vampire, she didn't get holes in her memory anymore, she hated the thought of being weak and vulnerable to whomever wanted to screw with her – it reminded her of all that had happened when she was human.

(She couldn't be that weak little human girl. Not again. )

"Caroline, love, just…relax, we'll be fine."

"Oh, you're so sure about that, are you?" she asked, slightly hysteric as she stood up from the bench and started to pace in front of him, her fists clenching by her side.

Klaus was no better off than she was, but right now, one of them needed to keep a clear head. Swallowing down his own confusion, he fought to remain as tranquil as possible.

"We're going to be fine, sweetheart, why don't you just sit down? "

Caroline stopped her frantic movements and looked down at him. Somehow, he managed to get through her trepidation. She knew she was being ridiculous, so with a resigned sigh, she dropped into the seat opposite him, and propped an elbow on the table, picking up a fry off her plate and idly twirling it between her fingers.

"Well, I guess I might as well get some comfort food while I panic," she said, popping the fry in her mouth.

Klaus smiled, glad that he had gotten her to calm down. There was no mistaking the small swell of pride that he was actually capable of providing comfort to her. But just as suddenly, the warm feeling evaporated.

"Caroline," he asked slowly, not wanting to spook her, "when did we get inside the Grill?"

Caroline dropped the fry she had picked up and whirled her head around. The Grill looked completely normal, the diners were back chatting amongst themselves and her and Klaus sat at a table in the center of the restaurant. "We walked in," she said, not believing the words even as she said them. "We were outside, and you wanted me to calm down so we came in here and ordered food – didn't we?"

But Klaus remained skeptical, fighting to recall every second of memory. "We were outside just now, sitting on that bench not a second ago. I told you to take a seat…and then we were here."

Caroline took a few meditative breaths, searching her brain for every piece of advice ever given to her about how to remain calm in a stressful situation. None of it helped.

"Oh my god," she muttered, gripping the edge of the table. "Oh my god, what the fuck is happening?"

Klaus clenched and unclenched his fists, laying his palms flat on the table. "Relax, love, let me just think about what I was doing before all of this."

"Yeah, why aren't you in New Orleans?" asked Caroline, not sure why that little detail managed to make its way through the myriad of everything else that was going on.

(She also wasn't sure what to make of the fact that whenever she thought about Klaus supposedly being in New Orleans, she felt weirdly discontented.)

"That's the thing; I was in New Orleans, just last night. And I had been walking through the Quarter, there was this witch…she knew something was going to happen…" Klaus trailed off, trying to recall every detail about the woman who had spoken to him last night.

"A witch?" asked Caroline. "There's a witch behind all of this?"

"That's just it, I have no idea," Klaus replied, though a possibility struck him. "This might be one of Marcel's schemes," he spat, hating the thought.

"Who's Marcel?" asked Caroline. If this was another world domination plot that she managed to become collateral damage in, she would scream.

"Marcel was my protégé, turned enemy. He's currently ruling New Orleans under the misconception that he is king, which is utter nonsense, I was in the process of planning my takeover of the-"

Caroline held up a hand to stop him, "Okay, I don't need the battle plans," she said with a roll of her eyes. "If Marcel is so concerned with you, why would he do anything to me, he doesn't even know who I am!"

Klaus remained silent, but the obvious answer hung in the air. If by some slim chance Marcel had managed to find out about his time in Mystic Falls then there was always the possibility that he had realized who Caroline was…and who she was to him. She was one of his few weaknesses, after all. He managed to keep in his growl, not wanting to alert Caroline to the scope of danger she might be in, but his worry grew. No matter how much he wished Caroline could be by his side as he took New Orleans, he didn't want her anywhere near this.

Deciding to change the subject, he focused on their current predicament. "Let's just figure out what's going on now and how to get out of this, hmm?" he asked, hoping he could keep her mind off whatever new enemies she might have inadvertently picked up because of him. "Today's been weird for both of us – what happened to you? Think the day through."

Caroline focused on his voice, wondering how he managed to remain so cool under pressure. The last thing she needed to do right now was make herself look like a hysterical baby vampire who couldn't control her emotions, so she decided to take a leaf from his book and pull herself together.

"I got up, I got ready for school – for some reason, I thought I was still going to school, weird right?" Klaus nodded along and she continued. "I went downstairs and I saw my mom and my dad – my dad was there. And he was alive, and it was like nothing had changed, everything was so normal… and then I realized that everything was wrong." Her voice dropped off on the last word, and for the first time she felt the weight of how much she had wanted that vision, or hallucination, or whatever the hell it had been, to be real.

Klaus noticed the flash of grief that crossed her face and wanted to say something to reassure her but before he could, she shook off the sadness.

"Anyway, so after I realized my dad shouldn't have been there, they were both gone. Just like that. I thought I had imagined it or something, I had already forgotten most of it. I was halfway to school before I remembered that I had graduated, so I came here. But, nobody could see me, and then, they just disappeared. And that's when I saw you." She finished her story and then looked up at him expectantly. "Alright, your turn."

Klaus processed her story before turning his attention to his own. "I was in my studio, painting. That's the first thing I remembered from today. Looking back, I don't remember starting it, I don't even remember getting to Mystic Falls. But I thought nothing of it – not even when Kol showed up."

"Kol?! How could he be-"

"Well that's the thing, isn't it love?" Klaus asked, leaning back in his chair. "How were my brother and your father, both of whom are very dead, able to show up and have conversations with us? As it happens, I did realize what was wrong with that scenario, and Kol disappeared, like your father did. I came across my other siblings, but they were just as confusing. So I walked into town, and remembered where I was last night. Then everybody in this bloody town just vanished…except for you."

Letting out a simultaneous breath, Klaus and Caroline both sat in silence, both quietly regarding each other. Klaus noted that both he and Caroline had had similar days. They had seen their families together, happy and harmonious. He was the one who had once told her that they were the same, but it was only now that he was realizing just how deep their commonalities ran.

Caroline remained uncharacteristically silent, her mind grasping at straws to remember every detail of what had happened that morning. Now that she knew something was going on, she could recall more if she concentrated. All she could focus on was how nice her dad had been, how happy and carefree…but how could she have thought it was real? Last time she checked, her father hated who she was.

"Penny for your thoughts, sweetheart?"

"My dad – I was just thinking about him." She lifted her head suddenly, realizing that there was music floating through the air.

Sweet Caroline,
Good times never seemed so good…

For the first time since he had seen her that day, Klaus watched a smile spread across Caroline's face.

"This was my dad's favourite song," she said, her voice laced with nostalgia. "It's where he got my name. He used to sing it to me when I was a kid. And then he-" She stopped suddenly, her face paling and eyes going as wide as saucers.

Klaus frowned, leaning forward over the table. "Caroline, love? What's wrong?"

"My Dad. He's right over there."

Klaus whipped his head around, only to meet the cold stare of Bill Forbes. He had never met the man himself, but he knew the bare details of the story. Caroline had buried her dad with no regrets, but their relationship was rocky at best. Now he wondered just how rocky it had been.

Caroline shrank back in her seat as her father's incensed glare landed on her. In that stare she felt every bit of disappointment, every bit of contempt he had held for her. Futilely she tried to remember the last conversation they had had together, when they had made peace before he passed away – but she couldn't bring the conversation to mind no matter how hard she tried. He didn't look at all like he was at peace – he looked angrier than she had ever seen him. And then she knew why.

If her father hated the kind of vampire she was, then there was no telling what he thought about Klaus. And seeing them together…it didn't matter that it none of it made sense. All she knew was that she needed to get out.

Klaus caught on to her distress and tried to get her attention back on him. "Love, I don't know what's going on, but please just pay attention to me, just…"

But his platitudes couldn't stop the tense stare down occurring between father and daughter. In a second, Caroline pushed up from the table and ran out of the restaurant. None of the other patrons batted an eyelash, but Klaus didn't even have time to try and make sense of it. Turning back, he found Bill Forbes had disappeared into thin air and would have tried to figure out what the hell was going on, but he had more pressing matters. He flashed from the table and ran out the front doors after Caroline.

On the pavement outside the Grill, Caroline was pacing, taking deep breaths. She snapped her head up when Klaus stood in front of her, and gently, the hybrid placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Look at me, Caroline, pay attention to me. If there is one thing I can relate to, it's having your father hate you, so I know what this feels like, but please, love, you have got to calm down."

Caroline looked up at him for a moment. He was completely earnest, committed to helping her regain control. She needed to pull herself together; she had to help him figure out what was going on. Drawing in a deep breath, she nodded resolutely. "I'm fine," she said, her voice surprisingly steady. "I'll be fine.

Klaus heaved an internal sigh of relief, but he didn't back away from her. Truthfully, he was feeling more rattled than he led on, but he knew he needed to keep it together for her sake, there was no use for both of them to lose their heads. It nagged at him though, the fear she reacted with to seeing her father. A sour relationship was one thing, but to be scared…he knew what it meant to be scared of your own father. And frankly, he didn't like the implications.

"He won't hurt you," Klaus said with resolve. He was taking a chance, but something in her eyes told him he was on the right path. "I'm not going to let him hurt you, you're safe."

"Careful boy – you don't want to make promises you won't be able to keep."

Klaus' jerked away from Caroline, spinning on his heel to find the last person in the world he ever wanted to see.

'Not here, not now.'

"Hello father," he spat. For whatever ungodly reason, Mikael stood there, as sneering and contemptuous as he had been the last time he had taunted his bastard son. He didn't know if Mikael was a ghost, or an apparition, but he was in no mood to deal with this, and neither, he suspected, was Caroline.

As soon as his own thoughts hit upon the blonde, Mikael seemed to notice her as well, peering at her, a cruel smirk twisting his face. "She won't last, you know. And you won't be able to save her – but then, you're well acquainted with disappointing people, aren't you?

Klaus growled and ran forward, but his father was gone before he could touch him. Behind him, Caroline stood on defense, looking around and expecting Mikael to jump her any second.

"Klaus, where'd he go?!" she asked, panic coming back.

Klaus was on edge but he took his place next to her again. "God knows where he is but I doubt he could do much damage, trust me on that."

She shot him a small, grateful smile before a voice interrupted the moment. "Really, Caroline? You trust him? I thought I taught you better than that." Caroline whipped around to find her own father standing behind her, and she didn't miss how angry he was or the stake in his hand.

"Daddy…please, why are you doing this?" she asked, a little desperately. "You were proud of me, remember? You told me how strong I was."

"Caroline, how could I be proud of a vampire?" His voice was as cold as steel. He began to advance towards her and Caroline had the distinct impression that all the air was being sucked out of her lungs. Regardless of the fact that she was outside, it felt like the walls were closing in and her father was getting closer and closer…

Dimly, she registered Klaus standing next to her, pleading with her to look at him, pay attention to him. But she just couldn't look away from her father and she knew that she had to move, fast. So, she turned and ran.

The image of Bill Forbes disappeared along with his daughter, and Klaus swore loudly, preparing to run after her, but he hadn't made it two feet before Mikael was back, standing before him with an infuriatingly smug look on his face.

"So quick to run off, Niklaus? Stay and chat – or can you not face the father you killed?"

Klaus snarled, knowing that Mikael was doing everything in his power to rile him up. But if he was ever to figure out what the bloody hell was going on then he had to keep his head. And that meant he couldn't give in to his father's jibes.

"Believe me father, if it were an option I would commune with you every single day, simply to remind you that I won."

Mikael barely bat an eyelash, he simply clasped his hands behind his back and strode forward. "You won? Are you sure about that? Tell me Niklaus, how many brief moments of happiness did you have before realizing it wasn't enough? Did you find your army to live up to your expectations?" He broke off his questioning, choosing instead to laugh in his son's face, the sound cold and cruel. Klaus stood his ground, but for one fleeting, pathetic moment, he felt a shiver run down his spine.

"Say what you like, the fact remains that I ran a stake through your heart!" Klaus narrowed his eyes, looking Mikael over critically. "Tell me, what are you? A ghost? Hallucination?" He took a step forward, preparing to attack. "Tell me now, who is doing this to us?"

"My God, have you really not figured it out?" asked Mikael in disbelief. "You're losing your touch, boy." He laughed again, before turning and staring down the road, the direction Caroline had gone. "Perhaps it's not all you – perhaps the girl clouds your judgment."

Klaus stiffened. His sudden tenseness did not go unnoticed.

"Relax Niklaus, has one girl really twisted your character so? Maybe I will kill her – it would do you a favour."

Klaus growled, flashing forward to grab Mikael but the man was gone again, reappearing a few feet away.

"My my, you've really grown attached, haven't you? But you have to know, the chances of her ever returning your affections are nonexistent. So what does it matter if I end her life?"

Breathing heavily, Klaus fought to keep his thoughts on the enemy in front of him. He could hear nothing of Caroline, and he wondered how far she had run and whether her father was still after her. If Mikael turned his attentions to her as well, he wasn't sure what horrors he would try to inflict on her.

Klaus couldn't let that happen.

"Listen carefully, old man – you are nothing more than a figment, be it one of my own imagination or a trick of my enemies. You have no power here!" Klaus' voice had risen to a roar, and only now did Mikael appear to be fazed.

"No power?" he hissed. "Tell me, how can you be so sure I have no power, when you have no idea where 'here' is?" He moved so fast that Klaus almost didn't even see him attack, but he managed to brace himself as Mikael wrapped a hand around his throat.

Grasping Mikael's wrist, Klaus managed to wrench it away from his neck and twist it, breaking the bone in an instant. Pure fury surged through him, and his vision swam with red. He had finished this fight. He had defeated the bastard, why was he being forced to go through this again? He didn't get more time to think about this as Mikael yelled in anger, and pulled out a long, thin object from his jacket. It was a moment before Klaus realized what it was – a white oak stake.

"Impossible!" Klaus yelled, just as Mikael ran forward. He managed to wrap his hand around the stake just as it was poised to sink into his chest and pierce his heart.

"Give in boy," spat Mikael, putting all his strength into pushing the stake forward. "Give in and realize that there is no way to win this. You'll never be good enough. Not for anybody, and especially not for her."

Klaus gripped the stake tighter, determined not to lose, not to him, not like this. Through his hatred came a burst of clarity. This wasn't real – none of this could be real.

"This isn't real," he muttered, with effort.

"Give in," taunted Mikael.

"This can't be real," Klaus spat, feeling his strength swell.

"Give in," said Mikael, and that was enough to push Klaus over the edge.

"YOU. ARE. DEAD!' Klaus roared and pushed the stake away and Mikael with it. He stood in the middle of a deserted street, looking everywhere for his father, but whatever apparition had stood before him, it was gone now, completely.

The truth nagged at him, there was an answer to all of this that should have been obvious, and it danced at the edge of his mind. But before he could grasp it, he heard a female scream coming from the distance.

"Caroline!"

She wasn't sure how far she had run, or for how long. All she knew was that she'd left the town center a long time ago and made her way into the woods where branches snapped under her feet and leaves whipped past her face.

"Stop running Caroline! You're only making it worse for yourself!" Her father's voice sounded close behind her, and for a fleeting moment, Caroline wondered how he was able to keep up with her, but that thought soon got lost under the constant mantra of 'keep running.'

She wished she could have stopped and tried to talk to her father, but some instinctive part of her knew that it would only end badly. If she gave him a chance, he would kill her. The thought broke her heart and deep down she knew it made no sense, but all she could do was run deeper and deeper into the forest.

Caroline skidded to a stop in a small clearing, frantically looking around for her father. There was nobody with her, and she couldn't hear or smell another living soul for miles. Maybe it was over. Maybe she was finally safe.

"Why did you run, Caroline?"

Maybe she was wrong.

She faced her father down as he stepped out from the tree line around the clearing, wondering how the hell she had missed him a second ago. He remained steely, his hand still gripping the stake, and he took a few steps forward, readying to attack.

Caroline gulped, torn between standing her ground and running. On one hand, every fiber of her being was yelling at her to move as fast as possible, but a small part of her, the part that craved affection was telling her that this is her father and they parted on good terms.

At least, she thought they did.

"Are you a ghost?" she asked nervously. Maybe the veil was down again, maybe somebody had summoned him, all she knew was that he seemed to have a singular mission in mind.

"Haven't you figured out where you are, Caroline?" he asked skeptically. "Well I guess it doesn't matter – just give in, Caroline, it'll be over soon."

"No! Dad, what is the matter with you?!" Just like that, her fear had turned to anger. "How could you do this to me again, after everything that happened?! You told me that you were proud of me, you told me-"

"That doesn't matter Caroline!" he yelled and she flinched back. "You're a vampire. You're a monster. I should have tried harder to fix you when I had the chance."

"No…" Caroline whispered, fighting to keep tears at bay. She wasn't going to allow herself to be weak. If this had to happen, she was putting up a fight.

"You can't fight me, Dad," she said, trying to sound strong. "I'm a vampire, I'm stronger than you – I'm not a little girl anymore."

Bill's frown deepened, and Caroline swore she could actually feel the disappointment rolling off him. "You know Caroline, I'm not the only one who's ever tried to stop you."

"What are you…"

"Remember us, Caroline?" The familiar line and familiar voice caused ice to run through Caroline's veins and she snapped her head around to meet the angry gazes of twelve dead witches, the entire coven she had killed to save Bonnie's life. They advanced slowly, fanning out to form a line on her right. Her father stood before her and she was starting to think she was seriously outnumbered.

"What's the matter sweet pea? In over your head?"

Caroline fought back a gasp at the sight of Brady, the werewolf who had once locked her in a cage and tortured her, walking through the trees on her left, flanked by Jules and the other members of their werewolf pack.

"No freaking way, you're all dead!" she yelled out, terror rising.

Simultaneously, every single enemy in that clearing laughed, united in their mockery of her. She didn't know how to believe any of this was happening; this was something out of her very worst nightmares. They circled her completely now, and she knew that she was well and properly trapped.

"You're all dead," she repeated, hoping that the more she said it, the more this would all make sense. "You're all supposed to be dead!"

"And here we are, Caroline. Dead because of you, or your friends," said her dad, coming forward again, but for the first time that night, he looked sympathetic. "I know it's hard being a vampire, sweetie. Just give in, let me kill you. Then you won't be able to hurt anyone else."

For one moment, she wondered if it would be easier to just listen to her father. But then that moment was shattered by an enraged shout.

"Caroline!" Klaus broke through the tree line and in the second she met his eyes, she was brought out of her shock and knew she had to fight, fast. But before she could manage to move far, she felt a searing pain through her skull and crashed to her knees, holding her head. Her vision went blurry, and she could just make out Klaus fighting the werewolves, tearing through them like butter. She wanted to get up, to help him, but the entire coven was channeling their powers.

"Relax, Caroline. It's going to be over soon." Her father's voice was gentle as he crouched down next to her and he brushed her hair behind her ear. She almost believed he was trying to comfort her.

And that's when he plunged the stake in her heart.

"NO!" Klaus dropped the werewolf he had by the throat and focused instead on the figure of Caroline crumpled on the ground, a stake protruding from her chest. He flashed over to her side immediately, picking her up and cradling her against his chest. Everybody else had vanished – the witches, the werewolves, her father, they were all gone.

But Klaus had no time to think about any of that, all he knew was that Caroline was immobile in his arms. He was wracked with anger and desperation, thinking through every possible way this wasn't happening, but the piece of wood through her heart wasn't disappearing like every other nightmare had that night. "Come on love, wake up, please," he muttered desperately, knowing that it was ultimately futile.

"Klaus?!"

(Well, maybe futility had taken a holiday.)

Caroline's eyes had snapped open and she tried to sit up, Klaus backing away slightly and letting her. He flinched at the shriek she gave upon seeing the stake still embedded in her chest.

"What the fuck?!" she asked, panic. "Where are they, where's my dad, the witches, where are-"

"Caroline, relax, they're gone," said Klaus quickly, grabbing her shoulders and turning her to face him. "It's just us here."

"Oh, okay," she muttered in relief, turning her attention to the piece of wood in her chest. With a hesitant look at Klaus, she grasped it and yanked it out, gasping in pain, but otherwise fine.

"How is this happening, Klaus?" she asked him, staring at the piece of wood in her hands that was covered in her blood. "How did I just survive a fucking stake to the heart?!"

"Really love, I don't know that you should be complaining," Klaus replied, filled with pure relief. She was alive, she was fine. Whatever happened now, he was holding on to that, no matter how enraged she was.

"Not complain?! Are you kidding me?" she yelled, flashing to her feet, Klaus following. "This entire day has been like something from the Twilight Zone, I've been seeing dead people, I've been staked – this is like some sort of nightmare come to life and-"

Klaus jolted as he realized what she was saying.

'…like some sort of nightmare come to life.'

"That's it, Caroline," he said, every piece of today falling together to show him the whole picture. "That's what's happening here."

"What do you mean?" she asked wearily, feeling exhaustion catching up to her. Klaus held her shoulders, squeezing them lightly, and after all that had just happened, she's finding the gesture surprisingly reassuring. "Do you know what's going on?"

Klaus nodded grimly. "I think I do. Caroline – I think we're dreaming."

And that's a wrap for now! At least they know what's going on, and hopefully you're all still following along. Leave a review and let me know what you think, or if you have any questions! Thank you so much for reading, and I'll see you at the next chapter!

(Feel free to follow me on tumblr at hummingbirds-and-champagne, and leave me a note telling me that procrastinating on my term papers by writing this fic is a totally responsible life choice.)