Chapter 3 - Acquaintances

Hey guys. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Sorry it's not up to scratch. Admittedly this was sort of rushed due to my busy schedule. But I've wrote a lot since this chapter and i can't wait for you to see what i have in store for Chapter 4!

Caroline felt guilty for leaving Camille - especially when she was kind enough to offer to show her around. It was nice having someone to talk too.

Caroline always had good self control. But she didn't trust herself sometimes, so she always found it easier to remove herself from the situation.

As she walked along the sidewalk back towards her hotel room she rummaged through her bag looking for her keys when suddenly she bumped into a large figure.

"Oh, sorry," she apologised, looking up.

The man in front of her smiled a toothy grin and shook his head. Caroline took the quick time to observe him. He was tall, dark and rather handsome wearing dark jeans and a brown suede jacket with his hands shoved in his pocket.

"No harm done," he murmured in a deep sultry voice.

Caroline smiled lightly and carried on walking. She looked back to see him glance at her before he rounded the corner.

His face looked sort of familiar. She was pretty sure she had seen him earlier in when she was walking towards the bar to meet Camille. Then again, New Orleans wasn't exactly the biggest place. It was always likely you were going to see the same person more than once.

Finally reaching her hotel Caroline let her-self in and threw her keys down on the side table next to the door.

She wasn't really sure what she should do now. She didn't particularly feel like going out anymore, especially when she had no one to go with since she bailed on Cami.

Deciding on a night in, Caroline flopped down on the bed and shifted to grab her cell phone from her back pocket.

There was a text from Elena. She had sent her a picture of herself sitting on a sun lounger on the beach drinking some sort of fancy cocktail. Caroline smiled, glad that she was happy – even if it was with Damon.

Just on my second cocktail, loving life!

Although I do miss you and Bon' like crazy.

Jeremy also told me you were in New Orleans . . .

Have you run into him yet?

Caroline frowned at the text she sent along with the picture. It was obvious she was referring to Klaus.

She had specifically told Bonnie not to tell anyone – including Jeremy – about where she was. She knew everyone would jump to conclusions as to why she was here. Now that Elena knows that means Damon knows too.

She was quite surprised she hadn't received a snide text or phone call from him.

I'm not here because of Klaus, Elena.

I'm here because i want to see the City.

And no I haven't seen him or any of them.

I'm not even sure they're here anymore.

It annoyed her that Bonnie would tell Jeremy when she told her not too. Yeah, she knew they were together but did that mean they have to tell each other everything – no! She would be having words with her later.

Caroline didn't even wait five minute before she received another text from, Elena.

Why are you getting all defensive? :S

I was just asking and believe it or not I'm just looking out for you.

But I'm pretty sure they're still there.

He rang Stefan not too long ago apparently.

Her heart dropped when she read the last two lines. So Klaus was most likely still in town, so why hadn't she seen him? And what the hell was he doing ringing Stefan, and why hadn't Stefan told her about it? But then again, why would he? It's not like she had anything to do with Klaus.

Sighing heavily, Caroline sent Elena a quick short text saying she would talk to her later. Besides, she really didn't feel like going into conversation about Klaus with her.

It always seemed to go one way whenever he was brought up in conversation - which was usually when Elena was pissed off. She would always use the Klaus card to make her feel bad.

That was when her relationship with Elena began to crumble.

Of course they were still friends and she missed her a lot. But she was sick of always putting herself second to Elena. It was always her feelings first – which annoyed her.

Yes, Elena had been through a lot, but they all had. It wasn't just her anymore and she got sick of trying to redeem her past mistakes.

So they simply just drifted apart. But Caroline was okay with that and she was pretty sure Elena was too.

Scrolling through her phone again, she went through her contacts and clicked on his name. Something she found herself doing a lot since she came here.

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't curious to know what he was up too – to know what he had been doing since he left her that day.

Probably causing trouble, as usual, she thought.

Truthfully, she loved the attention she got from Klaus. He looked at her liked everyone else looked at Elena. He was sweet and charming to her - always made her feel good when no one else would. Admittedly, it was also a turn on for her knowing that he was the most powerful being on earth and he wanted her, not Elena.

It was just lust that she felt for him.

He's your first love – intend o be your last, was what he said to her. He was so persistent when it came to showing his affection towards her, so it shocked her when he actually kept his promise to stay away. Since then she had always wondered whether everything he said to her was just a ploy to get into her pants.

She knew she shouldn't care, but the thought never settled well with her. In fact, it made her stomach churn.

For the first time since she had arrived in New Orleans she actually contemplated ringing him, but eventually her overbearing thoughts convinced her not too.

Would he even be happy to hear from her? It had been a few years after all. Maybe he had forgotten all about her.

"Oh for heaven's sake Caroline!" she snapped throwing her phone to the bottom of the bed.

She shouldn't even be thinking about all of this anyway. She had told Elena she wasn't here to see Klaus and that was the truth.

Deciding a night it wasn't the best idea, Caroline got up, turned off the TV and walked towards the door. She needed a drink.

However, as she opened the door she was stood face to face with man she saw earlier.

"Hi there," he smirked with a glint in his eye, "I'm Marcel."

Caroline frowned and took a step back as he entered her hotel room. Who the hell was this guy?

"Hey, you can't just walk in here," Caroline snapped.

She watched as he walked around her room, eyeing everything he walked passed – like he was looking for something.

"You're new to town, right?" he asked, ignoring her comment, "I saw you with Camille earlier. You two know each other?"

Caroline folded her arms and cocked her head, "What is it to you?"

Marcel chuckled and gave her a pointed look, "Oh, someone's got an attitude."

Caroline just scoffed, making him laugh harder.

But then his expression suddenly shifted, his eyes narrowing in her direction making her cower slightly.

"I don't take kindly to new faces in town, especially the ones that are sniffing around my friends," he muttered.

"Excuse-"

His large hand was suddenly wrapped around her neck. She choked and gagged when he squeezed her throat.

"Let m-me go," she managed, kicking her feet.

"No can do. I'm gonna need you to come with me."

Caroline didn't even have time to respond before she felt something jam into her neck making her vision blurry before everything went black.

Until next time. I hope you enjoyed it!