Chapter 9: Give Me a Reason Part 2
Shout-out to the reviewers: Pinkgem22, brighteyescoldheart and Klaroline-teenwolf!
Caroline rushed to the window and saw Marcel's vampires dragging five witches through the streets. Sophie was one of them.
Klaus followed Caroline's line of vision. Through the window, he could see Marcel's procession comprised of about a dozen of Marcel's vampires, including several members of his trusted circle, and at least six witches. Klaus stepped closer and peered down at them. He instantly spotted Sophie, Fabienne, Xavier, Elisabette, Louis and Patricia. Fear ran down his spine, something he rarely felt. Before Caroline could as much as comment, Klaus started to stride out of the room. Caroline was almost as worried as Klaus was and followed him. He stopped her. "Stay here," he said firmly.
"You can't expect me to sit here and do nothing!" Caroline protested. She tried to push the door but Klaus slammed it back.
"You won't help me if you go out there and you sure as hell won't be helping them." Without another word he flashed out, closing the door behind him. Within seconds, he arrived in the street, where a group of vampires had gathered as soon as dusk had fallen. The witches were pushed down onto the cobbles, kneeling as if heading to their execution. Out of the corner of his eye, Klaus could see Marcel pacing up and down grandly. He acted as if he owned the place and Klaus knew that all this bravado meant that he was about to put on a show, one that was sure to end with unnecessary blood spilt.
"My friends," he said into a microphone one of his cronies handed him. "We have gathered here today because we yet again face a problem with the witches who will not submit to me. Worst still, these witches have plotted my death and the downfall of the regime we have worked so diligently to put into place, with none other than my dear friend Klaus." There were gasps from the crowd as Marcel spotted him and lead him into the circle. Klaus almost scoffed at the absurdity of it all. After all, Marcel was no threat to him. He was simply an upstart that needed to be taught some manners. Still, Klaus was careful not to betray himself and reluctantly embraced Marcel as if they were really mates.
Marcel patted his shoulder as a father would pat a son's. He continued his tirade. "But we can't really blame Niklaus, can we? They were in fact threatening his child, his only heir." This was met with even more gasps. Some even laughed, obviously not understanding how Klaus could possibly be able to procreate. Marcel sauntered to one of the witches quietly sitting on the floor before him. "Elisabette, my darling, would you repeat what you told me?"
Sophie raised her head, panic shining in her eyes. Elisabette had been one of the only witches that had known about her plan to get rid of Marcel ever since the beginning. She was one of the older witches who remembered what life was like the last time the Originals were in New Orleans. Jane-Anne had been certain that she would help the cause. As it turned out, she wasn't to be trusted. Elisabette spoke slowly, her hard, cold voice made heavier by her strong Creole accent. "A few months ago, the Deveraux sisters discovered that a young werewolf was pregnant with the child of the Original hybrid, Niklaus Mikaelson. They bound the child by magic so that they controlled its life and that of its mother. Klaus was informed through the Petrova doppelganger and when he arrived here, a small group of witches blackmailed him into agreeing to plot against Marcel."
"Hear that? They agreed to plot against me! They threatened a baby! The good news is that the Klaus' baby is now free of their grasp. Congratulations, my brother," Marcel said. He looked at him expectantly.
Klaus was still for a moment as relief washed over him. His daughter would no longer have to pay for his actions. Then his gaze fell on the hand Marcel held out for him to shake and he realized that this was no great favour. This was a test. Marcel wasn't capable of killing an Original but he was sure that as long as he had witches on his side, Marcel would have of coursed transferred Sophie's control to himself. His baby's life depended on his loyalty to Marcel. Without hesitating, he turned and shook the open hand firmly, pressing a grin onto his face. "Thank you, mate."
"Anytime," Marcel answered carelessly. "You've seen how I end these trials. However, I wouldn't want to deprive the Hybrid of his revenge." Marcel's left hand man handed Klaus a short dagger with what looked like diamonds encrusted onto the blade.
Klaus took it. He strode towards the spot where the witches sat and grabbed Sophie's neck to pull her up. Sophie's eyes were filled with grief as they fell on the weapon he was brandishing. Her chin was up in pride but she couldn't make the tears that were rolling down her cheeks stop. With one fell swoop, Klaus thrust the dagger into her abdomen and then up into her heart. A moment later, she crumpled onto the floor before him. As he withdrew the knife from the girl, he glanced up at the window of the loft. Caroline was nowhere to be seen.
As Caroline had watched the display, every one of Marcel's words had made her blood coil with disgust and fear. She wasn't stupid. Behind the big smile and the attitude were threats. But Klaus let it slide. He wasn't doing anything, just standing there, mouth agape. Caroline could barely restrain herself from running downstairs and shaking him. It was all she could do to keep her breathing level as the news of Klaus' baby was broadcast to the entire supernatural population of New Orleans. Then her eye fell on the glittering dagger. She panicked as he approached Sophie. Without thinking, she flung the door open but before she reached the street, she heard the witch's body slam onto the ground.
Before she could scream, a hand clamped onto her mouth. Hayley held as her body lurched in horror. Caroline was almost unaware of her presence until the werewolf's tears slid onto her hair. It took two more minutes before the five witches all lay dead. Caroline couldn't look. Her shoulders sagging, she went back to her room and locked the door.
The first thing Klaus heard when he returned home was Caroline's sobs. He glanced at Hayley, who was sitting at the counter, hugging herself and staring at the whisky bottle which she couldn't use to soothe her hurt because of the body growing in her abdomen. "What is everybody so bloody upset about?" Klaus barked at her.
Hayley broke contact with the bottle and turned to him. "You murdered Sophie. They were friends and you killed her."
"I think Caroline's been taking a lesson in double-standards from the doppelganger," he said, grabbing the open bottle of alcohol. "She's killed twelve witches and I kill one and she turns on the waterworks." Hayley laughed bitterly but was taken aback as Klaus looked straight into her eyes. He murmured, "You know that I did it for the baby, don't you? If I hadn't you would be dead by now."
Hayley nodded. "I know," she replied. "But I don't think Caroline does. I'll leave you now." She left just as Elijah walked in.
"Why are the bodies of five witches lying dead in the middle of Bourbon Street?" he interrogated Klaus.
"I killed Sophie. Marcel killed the rest," Klaus said coldly. Ignoring his brother, he knocked on Caroline's door. There was no answer. Of course, it wasn't as if Caroline's door was any match for him but kicking it down probably wouldn't win him any points with Caroline. "Come on, love," he called, "Open the door. We need to talk."
"About what? I'm busy packing. I don't think I can live with a murderer!" There was an awful lot of noising coming from inside the room as Caroline thrust her suitcase onto the bed and then shoved her clothes into it.
Klaus cleared her throat. "Isn't that a tad bit hypocritical, love? After all, you killed not one, but twelve."
"That's not clever, Niklaus," said Elijah from the couch.
However, Klaus' comment did make Caroline finally open the door. "Don't you dare say that that was the same thing. Those witches were about to kill Bonnie!" she protested.
"I was trying to protect my daughter!"
"Sophie didn't want to kill her, Marcel did. You were being a coward!" She slammed the door back in Klaus' face. Instead of going back to packing, Caroline curled on her bed, pressing her knees up beneath her chin.
Klaus was right; she had killed just like he had. What had hurt so much about this last time, though? She knew why he'd done it and it was hard for her to blame him when she knew he'd simply been protecting his family. But the thing was that Klaus was a murderer. There was a reason why he'd been cast as the villain from the moment he stepped into town. He'd done countless amounts of horrible things and yet she always seemed to forgive him. Enough was enough, Caroline decided. If she stayed a moment longer with Klaus, she felt sure that she would turn out to be just as horrible.
She stared at her suitcase, willing it to give her the strength to leave because it was hard for her. She'd kissed Klaus. More than that, she'd kissed Klaus after he'd almost bled a human girl dry. What did that say about her? And when she'd kissed him, it had been as if she could see their future together. Just then, Caroline admitted something to herself, she liked Klaus. She might even be in love with him, she didn't know.
But they'd never have a chance. She couldn't be with someone who hurt people like that because one day, he would hurt her. This honesty with herself gave her enough courage to pick herself off and brush away her tears. Caroline grabbed the suitcase and strutted out of the room. Klaus looked up as she waltzed past him. "Caroline," he started. But she ignored him. He kept calling her name. She walked up to Elijah and gave him her copy of the house keys and a note before saying, "Goodbye, Elijah."
She left the building. Klaus cursed then followed after her, calling over and over "Caroline, Caroline," growing more and more irritated every time. Finally he grabbed her waist and forced her to look at him. "Caroline, you can't leave because of what Marcel made me do."
Caroline's eyes flashed with anger. "Marcel didn't make you do anything. You're the Original Hybrid, for crap's sake!" She took a deep breath to calm herself. "I can't live with someone with no morals."
"Wake up, sweetheart," Klaus said harshly, "Morals aren't necessary to people like us. They cloud our judgement. You're not in high school anymore, love; you can't afford to be that naive."
"I certainly can't if you're around, which is why I'm leaving," she replied, walking briskly away from Bourbon.
"And what about us?" he asked, his eyes meeting hers. That coldness was replaced with a kind of desperate intensity.
Caroline scoffed into his face. "There is no 'us', Klaus. There can never be an 'us'. I can't handle it."
She left him on the street corner, watching as she yet again walked away.
Elijah woke up at three in the morning when he heard one of the crystal shot glasses break on the living room wall. He stumbled out of bed and went to see what his brother was up to. He found the floor littered with shards of glass. Klaus' face was red with anger and a vein on his temple was throbbing.
"What is it, brother?" Elijah said.
One by one, Klaus continued to throw glasses at the wall and fireplace. "Caroline left. She's gone. She couldn't 'handle' me." He reached out for another glass but found none. "Damn it!"
"I am aware Caroline left, Niklaus. You ignored her lack of presence when we lived in Mystic Falls. Why are you so upset?" he asked patiently.
"How could I be so stupid as to fall in love with a woman who not only was already involved, but also who would never consider giving me a chance?" Klaus said bitterly.
Elijah looked thoughtful. "It was the same with Tatia, I believe."
Klaus grabbed the vase and threw it emphatically. He gritted his teeth. "That's my problem, isn't it? Nobody will ever accept me. Not Mikael or Esther, not any of my siblings and most definitely not Caroline Forbes."
Caroline waited until she was a block away from Klaus to call a cab. As it pulled up, Caroline caught sight of a bonfire on Bourbon. The bodies of the witches had been set on fire. She closed her eyes and didn't open them until the car stopped in front of the airport. She had to wait for four hours before a plane arrived and by the time she got home, it was well into the morning.
She went straight to the Salvatore Boarding House. If there was anything she was looking forward to from her return, it was seeing her friends again. When she opened the door, she saw chaos looming before her eyes. On one side of the room, Elena was sitting on the couch sobbing her eyes out as Damon looked daggers at Jeremy, while, on the other side of the room, Mr. Bennett and Abby gripped each other tightly, something Caroline hadn't seen since elementary school. Just outside of the doorway, Matt and Rebekah stood together. Matt seemed as if he might puke and Rebekah seemed just as shocked as Caroline probably did.
Caroline planted her suitcase onto the floor and asked, "What the hell is going on?"
It was Matt who answered her. It sounded as if he had a hard time breathing. "Bonnie's dead."
I'm actually pretty happy with the way this chapter turned out but I'd still really love it if you could please, please review and tell me what you think.
It will probably be a couple of weeks before I update again.
-Brianne