Chapter 16: It's In Their Hands Now

Hugs and kisses go out to Amy (Guest), SittingOnTheEdgeOfTheUniverse, jessnicole, sandiw1875, and Klaroline-teenwolf for their wonderful reviews.

Enjoy!

A couple of days after Caroline, Rebekah and Klaus had returned to New Orleans, Klaus began to feel as if things were finally just about getting back to normal. Rebekah had stopped pining after Matt and draining every tourist that passed her door while Caroline had a new project: the Historical Society Gala. She'd interviewed with the New Orleans Historical Society weeks ago and Klaus assumed that they'd taken one look at her resumé and not only hired her on the spot but put her in charge of one of their most important events, which seemed totally reasonable to anyone who knew her. Unfortunately for him, that meant she was now gone for most of the day and, when she was home, she was always on her phone.

The downside was that the Historical Society's generous benefactor was none other than Marcel. The first time she'd run into him, she'd excused herself and had dashed home to cry. But other than that, Caroline appeared to be returning to her ordinary, bubbly and utterly fascinating self. More than that, she was actually enjoying herself, at least, that's what Klaus saw.

The dynamics in the apartment had, at first, been extremely awkward. Not only had Rebekah moved in but also Hayley, who was nervous about being home alone so into her pregnancy (she was in her third trimester). Neither of them had wanted to sleep in Elijah's room so they'd taken up the two guest rooms, 'forcing' Caroline to move in with Klaus. Both Hayley and Caroline had never gotten on great with Rebekah so breakfast was either silent or filled with snarky comments. To make matters worse, Hayley was pretty horny and when her eyes practically popped out of her skull when she'd seen Klaus shirtless, Caroline had stopped speaking to her.

Things had gotten better, though, when Hayley began to prepare the baby's nursery and Rebekah and Caroline couldn't help but pitch in. Now, Klaus would often wake up to an empty bed and the girls gossiping in the kitchen. This was both a blessing and a curse - he missed having Caroline all to himself.

All in all, things were going well with Caroline. Just last night, they'd celebrated their two week anniversary as a couple with dinner and a romantic film which Caroline had picked out. The only problem was the orientation packet for the University of Richmond sitting on the far corner of the kitchen counter...

Caroline opened her eyes just as the sun was thinking of rising on the day of the long-awaited Gala. She stared up at the ceiling, which Klaus had painted in the 19th century to look like the Northern Lights. She focused wholly on the event that would unfold that evening.

Eventually, she turned so that she could gaze directly at Klaus' closed eyelids. There wasn't a wrinkle on his face nor a frown line to harshen it. His short lashes caressed his cheek innocently. He looked like a little boy, so unperturbed by life's twists and turns. Caroline wondered how many others had ever seen him like this, as Nik instead of Klaus Mikaelson the Original. It was for his sake that she'd put on a brave face, a façade. It was a lie to spare him.

When she'd returned from MysticFalls, she felt as if the very city had turned against her, like she was an outsider in enemy territory. For awhile, it had been calming to be around humans. But that stopped when Marcel became part of it. He walked with little care and with much bravado, as if he hadn't killed hundreds of innocents: Tyler, Sophie, the other witches; he'd killed them all and he didn't even have the decency to be ashamed of himself. And when she met his eyes, she saw her own reflection in his irises and knew that if something didn't change, she would be just another name on his list of victims.

Every night, as she closed her eyes, she pictured her death at his hands: drained of blood, werewolf bite, torn off head, torn out heart. As the days wore on, it got worse. She imagined Klaus dying at her side, then Hayley and the baby, Elena, Stefan, even her mom. Each night, she tried to tell herself that she was being irrational, but the nightmares continued.

Something needed to change. And so she'd decided to kill herself, without endangering any lives but hers. She'd decided to do it tonight.

When the full force of the sun shone through the windows into their room, Caroline prepared herself for the day, slipping on a shirt and blouse and combing her hair out so it glittered in the meagre light. Finally, she slipped a simple but sharp wooden stake and a needle of vervain into her bag. She kissed Klaus on the forehead before slipping out of the door and into the street.

Caroline slid into her spaghetti-strapped blue silk dress that afternoon and waited patiently as Klaus did up his shirt buttons and began to zip the dress up. He stopped halfway up her back and kissed the bare, exposed skin at the nape of her neck. She moaned softly before swatting him away. He resumed his task and then turned her around to capture her lips with his. "I've missed you," he murmured between kisses.

Caroline raised her eyebrows. "Oh? Have I really been that absent?"

He grinned. "No. But if I had my way, you'd be next to me all day, every day. I'm a very selfish man, Caroline."

"Your way sounds nice," she said wistfully. Then, coming back down to earth, she shooed him away so she could do her makeup and hair.

The day had gone well so far. Setting up the tables and chairs as well as her decorations had been simple thanks to all the charts she'd made. Also, Marcel hadn't been there all day so Caroline had easily managed to stash the vervain and stake, which she'd never have been able to carry in just her clutch. All was going smoothly but, still, she wasn't looking forward to that night.

When Caroline had firmly fixed all her hair in a low bun, the door opened to reveal Rebekah in a short magenta dress and dramatic eye makeup. "My brother's threatening to leave if you aren't ready yet."

Caroline hurried to apply her lip gloss and hurried out of the door. Klaus was standing by the kitchen's island looking extremely dapper in his black suit. She kissed his cheek, whispering conspiratorially into his ear, "I wouldn't be so slow if a certain someone hadn't distracted me."

Klaus chuckled before replying, "And who would that be?" The perfect gentleman, he offered her his arm and the three of them walked out into the city.

The venue of the Gala was a historic plantation on the north-eastern border of the French Quarter so it was a bit of a hike for most girls in high heels, even those with vampire powers. Caroline was just about to complain when she saw the twinkling lights of the Leroy Plantation. It looked magical with the lamps in every window and on every table and the ivy and vine on the front of the house. The normally bright green lawn was almost peach in colour thanks to the setting sun and it was adorned with men in classic tuxedos and ladies in cocktail dresses wearing glittering jewels. It looked stunning even to her, who'd designed the event. As Klaus murmured words of praise, she was greeted by the Chairman of the Historical Society. "Caroline!" Mrs. Weaver called, waving as she strode her way. "Caroline, dear, the house looks beautiful and the auction is sure to raise enough money to cover all of next year's expenses and more! I have to admit, I had my doubts when Adelaide told me she'd put someone so young in charge but you pulled it off without a hitch."

Caroline was positively glowing with delight. "Thank you, Mrs. Weaver!"

"No, thank you, dear-" Mrs. Weaver was cut off as Marcel joined their party. Caroline could feel Klaus tense beside her and she subconsciously clenched her jaw. Marcel must have noticed the animosity but he ignored it and smiled at Mrs. Weaver, who was totally unaware of the confrontation right in front of her. "Marcel, it's so nice to see you. You've met Caroline, I'm sure, but I think you don't know Mr. Mikaelson."

"On the contrary, ma'am," said Marcel, "We're old friends. Would you mind if I borrowed Caroline for a minute?" He held out his hand to Caroline but Klaus moved to block it. Caroline tried as best as possible to show him that it was okay and, rather unsteadily, she took the Marcel's hand.

It would be an understatement to say she was scared. She was petrified. It seemed as if her bones had turned to ice and the ground beneath her was engulfing her in fire. But this was the moment she'd been waiting for. She continued to walk in front of Marcel, leading him directly to the powder blue parlour in the centre of the house. Her eyes flew directly to the cabinet behind a small side table. As naturally as possible, she moved towards it, opening the doors to get the cognac stored there.

"Quite a stash, there!" laughed Marcel.

Caroline sounded annoyed as she said, "I needed something to get through to the totally incompetent staff."

"Would you mind if I had some, as well?"

She huffed loudly but, with her back turned to Marcel, she grinned, pouring another glass with a second bottle, though he couldn't see the switch. She carried both drinks to Marcel. This was the tricky bit, hoping that he would take the glass closest to himself instead of hers. When, after what seemed like centuries, she could hardly contain a breath of relief. She toasted, "To the Quarter!"

"The Quarter," Marcel repeated. At the same instant, they both took a swig.

It barely took him a second to start coughing loudly. Quickly, Caroline grabbed the vervain syringe from behind an embroidered pillow and forcefully shoved it into Marcel's gut before finding the stake hidden under the bookcase. Marcel was gasping for air, tears of exhaustion and frustration rolling down his cheeks and specks of sweat appeared on his forehead and arms. He was suffering badly. Caroline looked away, steeling herself the make the final blow.

"Why?" Marcel croaked from the ground where he had fallen.

Still turned away, she breathed, "You killed the witches and Tyler and countless of others. You've hurt Klaus and his family and you're a tyrant to the city you hold claim to. I need to end it." With resolution, she bent onto her knees and held up the stake above Marcel's heart.

"Darlin', if you end others' suffering, you'll just begin your own. You're a force for good, aren't you?" He said this as if he was accusing her, instead of begging for his life, though there was a great deal of fatigue in his voice. "Have you even killed before?"

Caroline's face began to break, thinking of those who'd lost her life at her hands. She nodded.

"Have you ever meant to kill anyone?" Marcel specified, eyes connecting with hers. Reluctantly, she shook her head. "This will destroy you!"

She was crying now, right over the body of the one she meant to kill. Every moment, she expected him to regain his strength and grab her. He didn't and it broke her heart. For a moment, she froze. Finally, Klaus' face slid into her brain. So good of a thought was this that Caroline hardly felt herself slide the dagger into Marcel.

Klaus had been staring at the door of the plantation house since Marcel and Caroline had disappeared inside. Rebekah appeared directly in front of him, holding a flute of champagne. "She'll be fine," she reassured him noncommittally. She was too busy checking out a bunch of boys gathered around a sculpture.

A moment later, she was proved right as Caroline stepped lithely down from the porch. A frown cluttered her face and her face was red, though the reason remained a mystery to him. When she saw them, she ironed on an uncomfortably smile. "Hi."

"How are you," Klaus asked earnestly.

Caroline waved away his concern. "I'm fine. I'm just a little tired, that's all. Actually, if you don't mind, I'd like to go home."

"Of course, I'll get my jacket." Caroline was about to tell him that she'd be fine alone but she decided it was useless. Besides, she wanted him with her tonight.

After they'd both said 'Goodnight' to Rebekah and members of the committee, they left. They indulged themselves in vampire speed since they took the backstreets, which were almost completely empty at that time of night.

When they arrived home, Klaus took her hand and walked her to his studio, sitting her on a stool in front of the canvas. "May I paint you?" he asked.

She grinned. "Of course. But wait." Caroline got up and fetched the full-length mirror from the corner of the room. "I want to be painted with you."

So Klaus set to work, dipping his paintbrush into the yellows to try and capture the sunlight in her hair. His phone rang and he ignored it but when it rang again, he picked it up. "What?" he said gruffly.

It was Rebekah. There seemed to be quite a lot of noise in the background. "Klaus, Marcel is dead."

"What?"

"Marcel is dead. I think Caroline killed him."

The words sent shockwaves through Klaus' spine. He ended the call and turned to Caroline. "What did you do?!" he shouted, until he was mere inches from her face.

Caroline rose and answered him equally in defiance and fear, "I ended it."

His eyes widened and filled with an emotion she rarely saw in him: fright. His mind flooded with questions but one drew him more than the others. "Why?"

"He'd hurt too many people. He needed to be stopped."

"I was going to stop him. I can't protect you from this, love, you know that. Why would you risk your life to end his?" Before Caroline answered, he realized, "You wanted to avenge Tyler."

"That's not true!" Caroline exclaimed, indignation giving her the strength to defend her. "I was so scared, I was going out of my mind. After Tyler and the witches, I was afraid he might hurt you or Hayley or the baby or even me. And, more than Marcel, the city felt like it was against me.

Klaus scoffed. "You haven't helped your situation in New Orleans by killing Marcel," he told her.

"Maybe so. But I thought that, now that Marcel is gone, we could leave."

"I can't leave now that the entire Quarter is spinning out of control!" Warily, he took her hand and said, "Maybe it would be best if you left New Orleans. Go to college, live your life. Maybe it's not our time."

This seemed to startle Caroline. She began to cry, hug gasps of air flooding her lungs. She gripped his arm hard. "No, Klaus! Please! I need you!"

"It's for the best."

"No!" she repeated. "I'm sorry! I'll stay and take the consequences... I'm sorry!" Her eyes were bloodshot, desperate. Everything about her seemed wild and out of control, very un-Caroline.

Klaus understood then that it was his fault. He'd put her in this situation and, for both their sakes, he needed to get her out of it. His own heartbeat softened in decisiveness, as did hers. Then his eyes captured hers and his pupils shrank. "You will leave New Orleans and never come back. You will go and live your life free of the fear that haunts you here and free of me. In one hour, you will be out of the Quarter," he compelled. Finally, he broke eye contact. She blinked, slightly confused. When she opened her eyes, he was gone.

She screamed in frustration. He was gone!

I felt horrible writing that last part out but it seemed to make sense. Both Klaus and Caroline are incredibly scared at this point, Klaus for Caroline, and the Caroline of losing any more people. Caroline feels as if Klaus is the only person she has left and it's a real blow to have him break up with her like that.

Thank you for reading! Please review, follow and favourite. The final part of Stranger will be out next week!

Brianne