A/N: I'm so, so sorry for taking so long to update, and I'm not even going to try and make any excuses for how long it took me. Please forgive me, and I hope you amazing readers love this chapter! P.S. Thanks to blbblesmonster, tearzofthestarz, and I Love All Books TVD Klaroline for reviewing my last chapter, as well as all you sweet people whom favorite or followed me! You guys are the best!
Chapter 7: Hello, Keilyn
Caroline turned to Klaus, knowing that he would take the lead. When she caught his eye, she saw his look of horror become covered by a hard mask of determination.
And just like that, Klaus was gone, darting out the back door of the bar with his vampire speed and leaving three stunned people in his wake.
What?! How can he leave us like this? Caroline thought, confused by Klaus' sudden disappearance. We need him!
However, before the little group had a chance to react, Klaus was back at Caroline's side, gripping a polished wooden stake in his right hand.
"Okay ladies and gent, obviously we're going to need to amend our plan a little bit seeing as the situation is not one that we were prepared for. Caroline, you'll hide with this stake, in the bathroom." He waved the stake casually in his hand, waving in the general direction of the restrooms, "Bonnie, you are to assist Caroline in any way that she needs you too. Damon, you sit at that stool" he pointed at a stool on the far end of the long bar, close to the wall, and slightly obscured from view by a large support column, " and be prepared to step in and help me if it looks like I'm in need of a some vampire strength assistance. I hope it won't come to that, but I want us to be ready just in case. I will remain here to deal with Keilyn, and keep her distracted until Caroline is able to sneak up from behind and stab her with the stake."
The group all nodded or murmured their support, getting ready to assume their positions. As Caroline stood up and reached for her purse from the back of her stool, she felt Klaus grab her arm and spin her so that the two were standing face to face.
"Caroline," he said, looking her straight in the eyes with gentleness in his features, "I believe you can do this, we can do this together. I won't let her hurt you." Caroline barely managed a little nod and a weak smile before she followed Bonnie away.
Keilyn walked into the bar, followed by two tough but dazed looking men. She bypassed the tables of already-drooling men, and sashayed directly up to Klaus, only stopping a foot or two in front of him.
"Niklaus, what a pleasure it is to se you again, my dear. You don't know how much I've been looking forward to this."
"The pleasure is all mine, I'm sure" Klaus responded with his characteristic slightly sarcastic tone, successfully hiding the fact that he had been dreading her arrival.
"What are you doing in this depressing town anyway? It's filled with boring humans, and not at all the type of place I'd imagined you to be hiding in. It made my search quite tough until those men ran into me in Brazil…"
"I'm not hiding, Keilyn. I have a life here, and quite enjoy the community"
"Enjoy the community? I'd have thought you'd be done with small towns where it's impossible to keep secrets after you left our childhood village in such a disgraced state… Surely there must be another reason why you're here."
"I had a hunch you would bring that up eventually"
"Bring what up, or shared past" Keilyn shook her head indignantly, "You and your family left me alone, in our village. I woke up all by myself, confused, with a burning hatred driving me to kill all the men in the village that I didn't understand. I drank from each and every one of them until there wasn't a sip of blood let. By the time that I was able to slightly calm down, and realize what I had done, the women in the town were all coming at me frightened with knives and pitchforks. The women that I had cooked with and collected winterberries with every year since I was old enough to carry a basket had all turned on me and saw me as a monster. I became an outcast to everyone I had ever loved, and was made to flee the village. How can you expect me to have forgotten about that? Now is time for me to have my revenge on you for making me into this awful being that I am today."
"Keilyn, you know that I am truly sorry for what I and my mother did to you. It was not gentlemanly for me to be with Jolissa behind your back, and it was not fair of my mother to turn you for me without any consideration of what you wanted your future to be like. Please let us just talk about this, and put the past behind us." Klaus calmly responded.
"You see, Klaus," Keilyn answered as she started to circle Klaus, whispering in his ears, "I can't leave what happened in the past. My hatred for you is the strongest feeling that I have, and it is not until I have killed you that I can even begin to imagine moving on."
Caroline felt completely lost, closeted in the bathroom without being able to see what was going on. All she could do was tightly grip Bonnie's arm and listen with her vampire hearing and wait for her opportunity to strike. When she heard Klaus and Keilyn's conversation become more tense as Keilyn reminisced about their shared past, Caroline decided that their talk might not be going on much longer and it was time for her to join them.
Caroline emerged from the bathroom, gripping the stake firmly in her right hand, Bonnie following directly in her wake. Bonnie would do what she could to help protect Caroline, even though she didn't know how useful her powers would be against such a strong vampire. Caroline's heart was pounding so fast that she was afraid it would jump out of her chest, so she tried to take a few solid, deep breaths before she entered the main room of the bar
When she turned the corner, Caroline paused for a second to take in the scene she was faced with. She was standing about 15 yards from Keilyn's back, so she had no clue what her facial expression was. The two men that she had come in with were leaning casually on the bar on the end closest to the entrance; obviously cutting off everyone's escape. Klaus was facing Caroline, and his whole body was rigid ad tense. His gave no indication that he noticed her presence besides the minute widening of his clear, blue eyes.
Keilyn was completely engrossed in whatever she was discussing with Klaus. This was her chance.
Before she could give herself the opportunity to think, Caroline launched herself forward and cocked back her arm, ready to stab. She was never able to make contact though, because as she brought her arm forward, Keilyn spun and caught Caroline's wrist in her own hand, stopping Caroline mid-swing.
Caroline stiffened in surprise and attempted to free herself from Keilyn's vice-like grip, but couldn't. The pressure was so extreme that Caroline felt as if she was wearing a bracelet made out of two tons of bricks.
"Who the hell are you?" Keilyn asked Caroline angrily as she finally released Caroline's wrist and pushed her backwards violently. Keilyn glanced down at the stake that she was now had possession of with a puzzled look on her face. " And why the hell are you attempting to kill me?"
Caroline looked to Klaus for guidance, not knowing how to respond.
"She's with me," Klaus said, stepping forward to stand protectively beside her.
"Of course," Keilyn answered, also taking a step toward the two with a hint of hurt blending with the anger in her voice. " You couldn't stop yourself, could you? You always had to have a slutty blonde by your side, and she is just the newest version of Jolissa. I can't believe I ever had any type of feelings for you… No matter," she now had a wicked grin on her lips which was the complete opposite of the angry frown that she had sported for the past few minutes, "This'll just make killing you so much more entertaining and satisfying…"
With that final proclamation, Keilyn closed the remaining space between them, and struck out hard, her closed fist connecting with the side of Caroline's face with a resounding Crack, effectively knocking Caroline to the ground and keeping her out of the fight for the time being. Next, Keilyn turned on Klaus where her blow was met by a solid resistance as her opponent this time was prepared for the attack.
Klaus battled with Keilyn, each matching the other hit for hit. The two original vampires were equally matched in strength, Keilyn's hatred for Klaus making up for the advantage of his additional werewolf muscle.
While the two were occupied with each other, Caroline was able to recover and was joined by Damon and Bonnie, the little group standing at the edge of the space that Klaus and Keilyn were fighting in, not knowing how they could help. They were worried if they tried to haphazardly join in the fray, they would all just get in one another's way and not get anything accomplished.
Caroline looked up from the fight and noticed that Keilyn's lackeys were also deciding what they should do to help, both men gesturing at the fighting figures and talking quickly.
"Damon, Bonnie!" Caroline half-whispered, breaking the couple out of the trance-like state they had fallen into while watching the enthralling fight and capturing their attention. "Look!" she pointed at the men, "You two go over and deal with those men. They look as if they're getting ready to join the fight at any minute."
"Good idea," Damon agreed, "But what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to try and help Klaus."
Bonnie and Damon skirted the battlefield, heading toward the Keilyn's men, leaving Caroline rooted in place, attempting to come up with a plan.
That's when she saw it. Keilyn had dropped the stake at some point during her struggle with Klaus, and it was lying just a few yards away. Caroline decided that it was time for round two of trying to stab Keilyn while she was distracted with Klaus.
Moving as fast as she possibly could, so that she had a better chance of succeeding this time, Caroline scooped up the stake and jumped toward Keilyn, ready to strike. However, once again, the original vampire was too fast for her-even as she was distracted by Klaus- and she caught Caroline in the air, grasping her in a tight headlock and attempting to muscle the stake out of Caroline's hands with her free hand.
Klaus, momentarily forgotten by Keilyn, grabbed Keilyn's arm, attempting to free Caroline. Keilyn would not surrender Caroline, and grasped her throat even tighter to ensure that Klaus could not help her escape, still struggling with Caroline for possession of the stake.
Finally, Keilyn removed the stake from Caroline's hands, which was a triumph for Keilyn only until Caroline used her now-free hands to help Klaus free herself, and quickly tumbled out of Keilyn's grasp, backwards onto Klaus, making the pair fall on the ground.
Keilyn was not deterred by Caroline's newfound freedom, and lounged forward, ready to stake Caroline, while emitting an odd growling sound.
Before Keilyn could make contact with Caroline, Klaus rolled on top of her, reversing their positions so that he became the one exposed to Keilyn.
The stake found it's home in Klaus's lower back, missing his heart because of the maneuver he had pulled. Klaus went limp, badly injured, but not dead. Caroline was stunned by Klaus's selfless protection, and shifted under the additional weight, attempting to pull the stake out of Klaus's back, but Keilyn swatted her hand away.
"No, let him suffer. He deserves it"
"No he doesn't" called out Damon who left Keilyn's little friends limp on the ground, and walked over to swiftly pull out the stake before retreating to the back of the bar, creating a greater distance between Keilyn and the stake so that she wouldn't have a chance to use it again.
Keilyn and Caroline both watched as Klaus slowly began to regain his strength while Bonnie came up from behind Keilyn, using her distraction to give Keilyn a aneurism. Her spell did not have the same amount of effect on Keilyn as it did on normal vampires, but it was still enough for Caroline and Klaus (even in his recovering state) to pin her down.
"Damon, toss us the stake, would you?" Klaus called out as he held out his hand to receive it, all the while keeping his gaze intent on Keilyn. Bonnie stopped the attack on Keilyn's brain, but stayed close by incase she was needed.
Damon tossed the stake into Klaus's waiting hand. Caroline looked over to Klaus, crouched next to her, and watched as his arm vibrated in place, betraying the silent battle that was going on inside of Klaus. Caroline imagined that part of him wanted to stab the woman and get the killing over with, while another part of him felt guilty and responsible for the position that they were all in.
Klaus sat back on his heels, his arm falling to his side. It was obvious that his remorse had won, and that he did not have the drive to kill Keilyn.
Keilyn took advantage of Klaus's conflict to scramble away from the pair, wearily eyeing Bonnie. Keilyn stood up when she had reached her injured minions, and called out to the group while making no move for another attack.
"I told you that I would kill you and the one you loved, and I am one to keep my word. You two might want to be on the look out. Next time we meet, you won't have all your little friends here to protect you... Next time, you won't survive." Keilyn snarled viciously. With those parting words, Keilyn turned on her heel and nonchalantly strolled out of the bar.
Once the heavy, wooden door closed behind Keilyn, Caroline felt Klaus' arms tighten around her and she was finally able to slightly relax, knowing that she'd be safe while she was with him. Although Keilyn's threat made her insides freeze, she felt a little better knowing that Klaus would be there to protect her.
After a few seconds of shocked silence, the noise level began to rise in the bar and Klaus slowly released his hold on Caroline. Bonnie immediately took his place, wrapping Caroline up in a reassuring and relieved hug followed by a pat on the back from Damon.
"Wow," Damon said, making the word come out as a sigh.
"Yea, wow is right" Caroline agreed, mirroring his exhausted tone. The confrontation with Keilyn had left them all tired and on-edge.
The group all took seats back at the bar wearily, each processing what had just happened. Caroline was already tired of dealing with Keilyn. They all thought that they'd be rid of her after just one round of 'battle', yet she just got away, and with more threats to boot! This was so far from what she had expected when she had invited Klaus out for a friendly drink that a small giggle escaped her lips from the humor of it all. She couldn't believe that her biggest fear for the evening was that she wouldn't be able to keep up a conversation with Klaus. Now, she'd welcome a stilted, awkward conversation over a drink or two followed by a hasty excuse for her to go home early rather than meeting Keilyn.
The tired group remained silent, waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive.
A/N: Hope you liked the extra long chapter! As always, please don't forget to review!
P.S. Get excited for some Karoline action in the next chapter!
Response to the guest user: It's not that they couldn't kill Keilyn, it was that Klaus (the other original vampire present) was conflicted in his emotions, and therefore not committed to the kill. Reminder… Damon, Stefan, Elijah and Bonnie couldn't kill Klaus before, so why should it be so easy to kill Keilyn?