A/n: Thanks again for all the reviews I've been getting, you guys are awesome! Chapter three, are you ready?
Back Again
Chapter 3: Hey There… Again.
Caroline sat in the back seat of Klaus's red Ferrari FF while Rebekah took the passenger seat on their way to the Salvatore's house. After Rebekah made her announcement at the mansion, Klaus had kicked himself into action, declaring that they needed to meet up with Damon, Stefan, Alaric, Elena and Bonnie to hear all the details and plan a course of action. Caroline had no choice but to follow the two of them into the 4 car garage, and climb into the car without a word. As much as she hated that she was getting wrapped up in Mystic Falls' drama once again, she couldn't deny that she felt a thrill of excitement from the action. Before coming home, the only excitement she had in her life was when one of the frats or sororities threw a particularly big party, or planned a particularly risky prank. Being back in Mystic Falls made her realize how childish and ridiculous that all was, and it was invigorating to be at the cusp of real action again.
Klaus sped through the woods, taking turns at high speeds that would have made someone who actually was living want to faint. Caroline thanked her lucky stars that she was immortal, and that if Klaus lost control, she'd likely be able to walk away from the accident without a scratch.
With Klaus's high speed, it took the group only a few short minutes to reach the Salvatore's place, and as they pulled up the circular drive, Caroline felt her stomach drop once again. I really need to get over this nervousness thing, she thought to herself angrily. Yet, it was hard for her not to be nervous at the prospect of seeing her high school friends again. She didn't know how'd they react upon seeing her, or how much things had changed between the since she's left.
The three walked up the path to the door, and Rebekah knocked on the antique knocker just two times before the door was opened by Stefan Salvatore. Caroline was at the back of the trio so Stefan didn't see her at first, and directed his comment only towards the Mikaelson siblings.
"I knew you'd be coming soon, come on in" Stefan said somewhat resignedly as he moved aside to allow them to file inside. When Klaus and Rebekah had passed Stefan, he finally realized that they had a third person in their party, and exclaimed excitedly,
"Caroline! It's so good to see you! The girls will be happy to see you!" He pulled her in for a quick hug, and turned to yell up stairs, "Elena, Bonnie, come on down. Klaus, Rebekah, and a special someone is here…"
Caroline looked up in the direction Stefan had yelled in time to see a two brunette heads poke over the railing. The girls at the top of the stairs both squealed in delight and ran down the stairs to give catch Caroline up in another group hug. The three of them, together again, just as if Caroline had never left.
"Oh god, it has been way too long!" Elena said breathlessly when the three broke apart.
"We've missed you!" Bonnie added in.
"I know, I've missed you guys so much too," Caroline answered. She couldn't stop smiling, and her eyes threatened to spill over with the tears that had suddenly filled them.
Before the girls had a chance to say much more, Damon, who had sauntered into the room with Alaric while the girls were distracted said, "Sorry to break up the little reunion, girls, but we do have something kind of important to talk about."
"We'll catch up later," Elena assured Caroline, as the three girls looped their arms together and followed them men into the living room.
Caroline was a little annoyed that she didn't get to talk to Bonnie and Elena very much, but she knew that they'd have plenty of time to talk later. For now, she'd just have to focus on the newest threat to Mystic falls. She was nervous to hear the news, but relieved that she'd finally be able to know what was going on.
Once everyone was seated, Klaus began.
"I'm going to start from the beginning, so that Caroline can be brought up to speed, and I can go ahead and fill in a few holes for the rest of you." Caroline gave him a grateful nod. "A few weeks ago, a new vampire came to Mystic Falls, Daniel. He came to us injured, and we found him feasting on girls in the alley behind The Grill. It was obvious that he was recovering from some very bad wounds. When we detained him and began to question him, he told us that his wounds had been caused by a woman, and that she had compelled him to go to Mystic Falls. We had been hearing rumors about this powerful woman who was taking pleasure in torturing men, so when Daniel arrived we decided that it was time to look into things. Alaric and Damon decided to head to Brazil, where Daniel was from, to see what they could learn.
Rebekah was at the mayor's house and when she got home, she told me that this woman was in Mystic Falls now too, and that she had already killed two men, a homicide that they were working on keeping covered up for the time being. Now, that's all I've got," Klaus finished. "Damon? Alaric? Care to tell us why we have a new murderer in Mystic Falls?"
Damon and Alaric looked at each other somewhat guiltily, and it was Damon who decided to stand up from his perch next to Bonnie to address the group.
"Well, like Klaus said, we went off to Brazil to see what we could find. When we got there, there were plenty of rumors floating around about the woman, for sure. We floated around from town to town following false leads until one night when we got to a little city called Natal. A vampire in Rio De Janeiro had told us that the woman we were looking for was there, but to be careful; She hates men, and every man who went to her ended up dead. We found her at a run-down pub, and damn was she beautiful." He winked at them. "Every man in the pub had eyes only for her, and she was soaking up the attention, looking at the men like they were all delicious pieces of meat ready to be eaten. We decided that we might as well talk to her-"
"Damon decided that we should talk to her, he means. I voted for sitting back and observing for a few nights before we attempted to make contact" Alaric broke in.
"Yea, yea, I decided that we should talk to her. What better way to get information that from the source, right? Anyway, she was very tight-lipped when it came to giving away anything about her. She didn't even act interested, or fall for any bit of my natural charm." Damon feigned a look of disbelief, "It wasn't until Alaric let slip that we were from mystic falls that she acted interested at all."
"You told her that you were from Mystic Falls?" Klaus asked harshly, as everyone's turned to face a very red-faced Alaric.
"It was hard not to… she was just so alluring, and we'd had a bit to drink. It just kind of slipped out,"
"Okay, back to the matter at hand," Damon said, hoping to help out his friend and get the conversation back on track. "She found out that we were from Mystic Falls and started to ask a tons of questions, especially asking if it was true that the Original Family was living there. Seems as if the little man eater had a particular interest in you, Klaus. When she started to get too enthusiastic, we decided to head home even though we didn't get very much information out of her. We did get a name though... Keilyn Watkins. Ring a bell, anyone? "
When he heard the name, Klaus sank into the armchair closest to him and dropped his head into his hands. He knew exactly who the woman was, as well as the reason for Daniels' presence in Mystic Falls… he was there as a message.
Flashback:
It was a soft summer night, and Klaus was feeling pretty great. His whole family was asleep already after a long day of work, and he was going to be able to meet up with Jolissa much earlier than he initially thought that he would. The thought of being with her again made him quicken his pace until he was almost running toward the creek; the place where the two of them always met. By the creek was a large tree that they would often climb up in and spend long hours sitting in the branches, looking at all the land around them, and imagining a time when the two of them could run off to some far off village and be together. They could be together in the open rather than always sneaking around, and have a home together as a proper married couple. Klaus cherished these meetings; they were the only time when the two of them could briefly escape from reality, and the fact that Klaus was already betrothed to another. Klaus arrived at their spot to see that Jolissa was already there and waiting for him, sitting on the ground while resting her back against the solid tree trunk.
She looked so beautiful with her hair free and curling loosely around her shoulders, still in her nicest gown that she had worn to a town meeting earlier that day. Klaus couldn't hold himself back anymore, and he broke out in a flat out run, pulling Jolissa into his up into arms and into a passionate kiss as soon as he reached her. It felt so good to have her resting in his arms that he was able to forget about everything other than the two of them.
The two broke apart only when they heard a sharp intake of breath and a primal yell from behind them, in the direction of the village. Klaus turned to find Keilyn, his betrothed, standing just 10 feet away with a horrified and furious expression on her face.
"You!" she screeched, lunging forward to grab Jolissa by the hair. "Get away now!"
"Keilyn, stop!" Klaus yelled back, inserting himself between the two and freeing Jolissa from Keilyn's grasp. "Jolissa, run back to the village." He commanded, wanting Jolissa to get home to safety before Keilyn decided to do any more harm.
Jolissa did as she was told, glancing over her shoulder as she left to throw Klaus a worried expression. Klaus knew how she felt, the chances of them running away together has just decreased dramatically now that Keilyn found them.
When Klaus finally looked up and met Keilyn's eyes, he was faced with the wrath of an angry woman.
"I knew that you had been up to something recently" she told him in a steady voice. "You've been acting strange and distracted. You hardly even look at me anymore. Now I know why… It's because you've been with another woman! You fool!"
"It's because I love her!" was all Klaus could say in return.
"You love her?" Keilyn snorted, her eyes blazing. "You know nothing of love. I loved you, and we were supposed to get married. You make me want to kill you, just wait!" With that, she turned, shaking, and walked back to the village, leaving a stunned Klaus in her wake.
A/n: Hope you loved it! More to come… Please review!