Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Diaries or Phantom of the Opera.

Chapter 7

'You'll learn to see, to find the man behind the monster

This repulsive carcass

Who seems a beast but, secretly, dreams of beauty'

"You little viper. Now you cannot ever be free," Klaus snarled as he paced in front of Caroline in agitation, much like a predator before the kill. From what she'd seen, she knew he was capable of doing it. He could break her without a second's notice.

"No," she whispered with a small shake of her head and wide eyes. She wanted nothing more than to run. She wanted to be free from this monster's clutches more than anything.

Klaus stopped his pacing and looked down at Caroline where she lay huddled at his feet. He narrowed his eyes at her expression. "No?" he repeated as if he was astounded that she had the audacity to deny him. "I think you'll find you aren't in any position to make the rules, love."

"But…but you said you weren't going to kill me," Caroline whimpered. "You said I was safe."

"Did I ever allude to your death? I simply said you could not be free."

"Please. No, don't resign me to a life stuck down here! I'd rather die if that's the case," Caroline cried. "I'll do whatever you ask," she said in a much smaller voice.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that, love. Not now that you know my secret you'd be blabbing it all about the opera house. I can't risk exposure, for obvious reasons," he snarled.

Silence hung between them for a few minutes while the monster in front of her continued to seethe. Swallowing, she looked down at the mask she was still holding tightly in her grasp. Caroline sat up and, with a deep breath, looked up into Klaus' face with pleading eyes and held out her hand.

Klaus felt the smooth material of the mask brush against his skin and his eyes traveled downwards to see it being held out to him, Caroline's small hand gripping it tightly as she looked up at him imploringly.

"I'll keep your secret. I promise."

His eyes narrowed once more. It was a trick. It had to be. No one had ever, willingly, given him their loyalty. Klaus knew better than to place his trust in her but his conscience was telling him otherwise. He wanted to trust her.

Caroline's expression began to fall the longer Klaus stood, unmoving, over her. She bit her bottom lip as he continued to study her, a battle raging on inside him. She unwillingly found herself thinking about what pitiful situation had caused the raging trust issues the man above her seemed to possess.

"You can trust me," she snapped, suddenly annoyed with him, pulling the mask back out of his reach. "I swear I won't say anything. There's more about you and this 'Phantom' I can't trust than there is about you trusting me."

Once again, his conscience began to nag at him. She was right. He had been watching her from the shadows for some time now, realizing her potential and investing in her obvious and overlooked talent. Klaus had chosen Caroline from the hand of cards he had been dealt. He needed a new muse to continue his games. He had started with a slow seduction; playing with her through her childish belief in this enigma she called 'the angel of music'. It was all part of a scheme, of course. Not that Caroline knew that.

It was a minor detail, really. Why should the young girl so full of life be aware of being seduced into madness? She had only been collateral damage in Klaus' eyes.

Not to mention, the fear he had instilled in Katerina had become too real and with Elijah now in the picture, Klaus couldn't take any risks. He needed a new, fresh plaything.

But, one of the things he had immediately noticed about young Caroline Forbes was how pure her love and loyalty were. She was completely unmarred by the darkness that inhabited his soul. She had trusted his made-up persona immediately and without question. And in the deepest recesses of his being, Klaus admired that.

"How can I acquit myself?" he asked.

"Give me a reason to trust you," she countered with a haughty rise of her chin.

Klaus growled in frustration. He didn't want to admit what his original plan had been to her. He was ashamed of how willing he had been to put out the light radiating from her. If she thought poorly of him now, what would she think of him if he told her she had originally been his prey?

"Can you even dare to look?" he asked quietly, turning away from her and willing his face to change once more. Klaus flashed his fangs at her in a nonthreatening way, his yellow eyes gazing at her intently.

Caroline took a deep breath and nodded and Klaus was kneeling in front of her suddenly, his eyes back to blue. She tried to instinctively move away from him but his large hand fastened around her wrist and tugged gently to keep her in place.

"I want you to remember," he said, looking into her blue-green orbs, his own pupils dilating.

Caroline pulled her brows together at the odd gesture but, suddenly, a memory was pulled from the recesses of her mind.

She smirked at Elena before disappearing into the darkness.

"Caroline!" the brunette called after her.

Giggling, Caroline didn't stop to wait for her friend. She would catch-up eventually. She knew, despite her brave exterior, Elena was petrified of the stories that flew through the members of the Opera like rumors did a small town. Caroline knew Elena wouldn't be brave enough to stand in the dark by herself but the blonde wasn't completely heartless. She continued to laugh so Elena had something to follow to safety before Caroline would jump out and scare her.

"Caroline this isn't funny!" Elena called again just as Caroline began to search for a hiding spot in the curtains.

With a playful smile, Caroline moved quickly, pushing through curtains to get to hiding before Elena caught up to her. She reached her destination between the curtains and the back wall where the set masters traversed to and fro during performances and rehearsals.

Raising a hand to stifle a laugh, Caroline backed into something solid. Thinking it was a crewmember, she turned to apologize but was met by the face of a stranger.

Her eyes grew wide as she took in his appearance. His eyes turned from yellow to blue before her eyes and Caroline opened her mouth to scream. A large hand covered her mouth and stifled the shrill cry. Her eyes widened as she realized that blood littered his chin and, out of fear, she began to struggle in the man's grasp.

"Shh," Klaus whispered harshly, holding her tighter to his body to stop her struggling.

Somewhere else back stage, Elena screamed and Klaus knew he didn't have much time. Katerina's abandoned body had been found. He shifted the girl in his arms so she was forced to look into his eyes.

"You won't remember this encounter," he whispered hastily, speaking with blood-stained teeth. "Rest assured we will meet again soon, my lovely," he sneered, an evil glint in his eyes. "But for now, you mustn't remember this. Your friend is screaming, go to her."

And then she was all alone, running back towards Elena.

Caroline shook her head and blinked at Klaus in realization before her mind tugged again and she was lost in another memory.

This time she was with Tyler the night of her first performance as Prima Dona.

The two of them had ventured outside and were walking along the road, having decided against the carriage to enjoy the fresh night air. The streets were quiet, not a soul but Tyler and Caroline wandering along them, the full moon shining brightly in the sky.

It was then she heard the growl.

"What was that?" she asked, snapping her head in the direction of the sound, blonde curls flying.

Tyler laughed. "It's probably a dog, Care. Come on, I need to get you home," he said, tugging on her arm.

But then, out of the shadows of a nearby alleyway, a large dog pounced, tackling them to the ground.

The next thing Caroline knew, the large dog was stalking in front of her, preparing to pounce. She looked to Tyler for help but he was sprawled out on the other side of what Caroline was sure was a wolf. The animal pounced and Caroline closed her eyes, realizing she didn't have a chance but the impact never came. Someone lifted her up and the next thing she knew, she was standing in front of the home she shared with Isobel and Elena. Caroline looked up into the blue eyes of her savior.

There was something familiar about his sharp appearance, his sandy blonde curls but Caroline couldn't place it.

She opened her mouth to ask a million questions, thank him but he beat her to it. With a hand on each of her shoulders, the familiar stranger peered into her blue-green eyes and Caroline felt compelled to stare back into his just as intensely.

"You had a bit too much to drink and the alcohol played tricks on your mind. The boy walked you home without incident. You'll wake up in the morning with no recollection of any of this."

"What was that?!" Caroline exclaimed when the memory ended.

"That," Klaus snapped back, "was Compulsion. I can use it to take memories away from you, to make you do whatever I wish. It's a mind game…rather useful if you ask me."

"What kind of sick being uses something like that?"

"I do, obviously," he drawled, pushing his walls back up to hide his emotions from her.

"How dare you infiltrate my mind!"

"I'd have rather not had you running around Paris exposing the supernatural world, sweetheart. In fact, you should be thanking me. I saved your life."

"From what, exactly?"

"Our lovely patron, Mason Lockwood. He's a werewolf and he was going to rip you to shreds had I not interfered."

Caroline was taken aback for a moment. "A werewolf?"

"Yes, love. A werewolf."

"I don't see why it mattered to you. It's obvious you don't really have a high regard for human life with the way you treat Katerina."

"Minor details. The reason will only make you despise me more than you already do."

"What are you?"

"Me? Oh, I'm a different kind of monster. I've got a little vampire…a little wolf. A hybrid."

Caroline pulled her eyebrows together as she processed it all. She swallowed and looked up at Klaus once more. "You mentioned killing a hybrid last night…to save me."

"Well, my plan almost blew up in my face once already. I'd rather not see it happen again."

"What plan?" Caroline demanded.

Klaus groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. He still couldn't figure out why he felt the need to tell her everything, to be honest with her. Part of him wished she had remained collateral damage but the damned patron's nephew had to get involved.

"I originally planned to replace Katerina with you. I was growing rather bored with that wench as she was becoming rather infuriating and difficult to deal with. So, I chose you. Invested in your talent and planned a way for you take over Katerina's position. Granted, with my brother's interest in the opera, it didn't happen the way I intended it to, but it was no matter until you got involved with the mutts. My plan nearly blew up in my face, twice now."

"You mean…last night…?"

"I tried to take out the infuriating child who's jeopardized all of this to make his uncle back off and you got caught in the crossfire, love. I saved your life, yet again."

"How? I thought I was dying. I was dying."

"Vampire blood has special healing qualities. I forced mine down your throat."

"So…I'm a hundred percent okay?" Klaus gave her a short nod. "Why bring me here, then? Why not take me back home like you did before?"

"If you die with my blood in your system, you become a vampire and given the crowd you've begun to run around with, I'd rather that not happen, love. Would you?" Klaus asked, pulling his eyebrows together and cocked his head inquisitively. Caroline looked to the ground and didn't answer; she didn't want to become a monster like him. "That's what I thought. So, make yourself comfortable, love. You're here until my blood passes out of your system. I dearly hope it doesn't take to long. I left a mess in plain sight and my brother is sure to be on top of it. I don't need him getting suspicious."

"So, Monsieur Elijah's…he's a…a vampire?"

"Yes. My brother and I are the oldest vampires in the world. Part of the Original family."

"You say that like I should be impressed."

"It'd do you well to keep in mind who I am. I've built quite the reputation and I'm not known for my patience, Caroline."

"Says the guy who keeps saving someone whose collateral damage," Caroline quipped, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why?"

"I fancy you. Is that so hard to believe?"

"Yes!" she scoffed.

"Why? You…you're beautiful. You're strong. You're full of light. I've found that I enjoy you."

The snarky response Caroline had prepared lodged in her throat as her mouth opened in a silent gasp. She looked up at the monster in front of her, the man who had planned to endanger her life for his own amusement but she couldn't make the malice and disbelief light her blue orbs on fire. Instead, she just peered at him shyly. No one had told her that before.

The silence fell between them for a few moments as Caroline sat and stood up. Klaus stood motionless in front of her, peering at her through soft blue eyes curiously. Caroline could feel his breath on her face as she slowly turned the mask over in her hands. Unable to handle the intense eye contact anymore, Caroline's gaze fell to the mask.

"Is Tyler…is he like you? A hybrid?" Caroline asked quietly.

"No. His family carries the werewolf gene. He made a kill the other night and that's what triggers the curse."

"That's why his eyes turned yellow."

Klaus nodded, watching her as she looked down.

She took a half step back and looked up into Klaus' eyes once more. Biting her lip, Caroline held the mask out to him. The hybrid looked down at the white accessory and back up at the girl in front of him questioningly.

"I'll keep your secret. I promise."

With a nod, he gently took the mask out of her hand, briefly covering her small one with his large one.

A/N: eh. guys...I tried.

this chapter was honestly a bitch to write...Caroline really didn't want to cooperate and that aggravated Klaus and it was just a giant clusterfuck. I'm still not very thrilled with how it turned out...but. it is what it is, I guess.

if you have a minute, drop a review? pretty please? I love to hear from y'all:) even if all you do is tell me how I fail as an author for making you suffer through this long and boring chapter.

thanks for reading, friends! I appreciate it:)