Saved By The Devil

Chapter 6

"Klaus, just stop this. Stop this. You're hurting my arm." Caroline yanked herself free from his grasp, standing back against the hallway wall, crossing her arms. "You need to talk to me."

"I don't need to tell you anything!"

Angered frustration licked up through his veins like livid hot coals, but he immediately regretted it. Caroline's face pinched with hurt, and she turned away. God, Caroline… He wanted to touch her, to tell her he didn't mean it…. but no. No. He refused to care. It was Mikael. Mikael did this. Forcing a pained, chopped breath, he twisted his head to the side, letting the emotion he had been expressing the entire day, to slip from his senses. He would not be weak.

Stepping forward, his voice dropped eerily calm. "Listen to me, very carefully, love," he said, lifting his brows, as his finger caught the curve of her chin, bringing her gaze back to him. "I am over a thousand years old. My family are the original vampires, from which the entire line came to be. I know a thing or two. If I say we need to leave. It would be wise to listen. Are we clear?"

The sound of Caroline's shaky breath hit his ears, and with her eyes wide, she nodded tightly, swallowing.

"Now that's a good girl," Klaus said, tilting his head to the side, as he watched her. She was afraid, and perhaps a little bit shocked at his demeanor, but he didn't care. He knew better, and he wasn't going to let her get killed, or allow Mikael to use her to get to him. He would NOT be played a fool. Dropping hold on her chin, he extended his hand, palm up. "Join me?"

Shaking, Caroline slowly placed her hand in his. "You're… you're an original vampire?"

"I'm full of surprises, love," he said, yet there was no amusement in his tone. "I will teach you more later. Come. I'm not going to hurt you. I've told you as such, and I think you've seen evidence enough to prove my words free of falsity."

She nodded again. "I trust you," she said, even though faint specs of tears, from nervousness, rose in her eyes.

He wouldn't look at her. He closed his fingers around hers, and started down the hall. "You need more blood," he said, annoyed… annoyed that for some reason, the tears bothered him, that it all did. That was exactly what his father wanted. "It will make you feel stronger. Your perception will change."

"My perception of what?" she asked.

"Everything."

The hotel fell away from behind them, as they drove out along the vast stretching highway out of Petersburg. Klaus kept his gaze on the road, not her, afraid that if he did, his wall might break, and he couldn't risk that, not now.

"Klaus?" she finally spoke, her words soft, beside him. Everything in him bristled, ready for anything, her wish to leave him, her accusing words, and judgments. He was ready, and he would not feel. "Are you okay?"

Numbness shot up through him, as the twist of pain burned his chest, and his lower lip fell hard. The road, …the road was all he saw, and his fingers dug into the flesh of the steering wheel. "Don't say things like that."

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?"

"Just don't." You don't know me. I should have never done anything with you.

"Fine," she said, throwing her arms down. "You know what? I don't care. You have some serious issues," she stated through her teeth. "You say you don't want to hurt me… I don't care what you are, or if you're a gazillion years old. This sucks!"

"Caroline…"

"Let me out at the next gas station. I'll find a cab, and go home."

"What?" he said, flicking his gaze to her. "Don't be absurd."

"Absurd?! I'll tell you what's absurd, Klaus. Every time I try to care about you, or get close to you, you push me away! I've already been somebody's play thing. I'm not going to be yours."

Klaus slammed on the break, and the tires ripped up across the road, as the car swerved, jumping up over the small curb, to the side of the road. He turned in his seat to face her, one hand on the dash. "Well that's what I like about you, sweetheart," he spat, a tint of venom in his words. How could she possibly think that?!

"Ugh!" she growled, spinning away from him, to fiddle with the door handle.

"What are you doing?"

"Leaving." She pushed the door wide, stepping one foot out onto the grass.

In a blur of speed, Klaus moved in front of her, his arms, blocking her doorway, and his chest gripped with panic.

"You're emotional, love, and need to feed." His gaze flicked over her, before resting back on her rather furious expression. In other circumstance, he might have found it adorable, but Mikael was on the loose, and he wouldn't have any of it.

"I'm not a prisoner, Klaus."

"Of course not," he said, dropping his arms, to extend them outward as if in offering. "But your senses and emotions are overly heightened right now. You're upset, and understandably so." He lowered his voice. "I am not the enemy, Caroline. I, am not him, nor am I your friends who take you for granted, and never truly see you for who you are. I understand you, Caroline. I want to help you, and show you everything you could possibly dream of. I can make you strong, make all of this you feel, and resent, the anger, go away. All you have to do is ask." He stepped back. "I won't keep you here. I'm not the bad guy."

Caroline dropped her head, running her hands up through her hair, before meeting his gaze. "I'm so confused right now."

"Hey," he said, squatting down in front of where she sat on the edge of the doorway. He took her hand in his, his other finding the smooth edge of her cheek. "It's all right, love. Let me help you. I want to."

Caroline sniffed, her eyes on his, and then nodded, running her hand across her nose in an attempt to regain composure.

"That's my girl," he whispered, a small smile lifting the corner of his lip. "Come on. There's a small diner up the road from here. It's nothing glamorous, but I'm sure we could find something to eat there." Worry creased her forehead. "Trust me," he said. "Remember who we are. Is it wrong for a lion to eat a mouse? Perceptions will change, Caroline. There's nothing evil about it. It's the natural order of things. Come now. We need to go."

He brushed his lips to her warm forehead, closing his eyes for a moment, before moving from her, to slip back into the driver's side seat, behind the wheel. With a deep breath, Caroline shut her door, and he pulled them back out, onto the road.

The sound of the bell chimed over the doorway as they entered the small, pub, rich with the scent of coffee, and smoke. He let Caroline go in front of him, as he casually slipped his hands to the waist of her jeans, and he leaned over her shoulder to her ear. "Anywhere you want, love," he whispered.

Her breath caught at his proximity, and he smiled, flicking his gaze up to the other patrons who decided to look on with curiosity.

Stare, and I'll bash your face in.

"Can I offer you two a seat?" the only waitress/hostess on duty asked, heading over from her spot by the bar.

He nodded to Caroline, and she spoke up. "Um.. anywhere is fine. Thank you." She forced a tight smile.

"Don't be afraid," Klaus whispered against her ear, hearing the nervousness in her voice, as he edged her forward to follow the woman.

The waitress set the menus down on a small side booth, and he took a seat across from Caroline; his gaze unmoving from hers.

"Can I get you anything to drink?"

A dark smile toyed at his features, and he could hear Caroline's undead heart begin to increase in rhythm.

"Yes, I think my girlfriend would." He smirked, without looking away. "She's famished. Aren't you, love?"

He watched Caroline swallow hard, and the color slightly paled from her cheeks. Her gaze fell, desperate on his, as if to save her…. and he would. She was so innocent, naive'. That would change.

Klaus grabbed the waitress' wrists, and just before she screamed, he moved his gaze to hers, his irises dilating. "You will not make a sound. You will not fight this," he spoke, looking back at Caroline with a low burning smile. "Compulsion, love. Now it's your turn to fight back," he said, knowing exactly what he was doing; breeding power from her most vulnerable human moments. "You are now above them all, Caroline. You know who I am, and you are with me." You are mine.

The waitress' lips trembled, and he pulled her arm across the table toward Caroline. He ran his finger down the woman's upturned, beautifully ripe vein. "Come on, love. She's yours. Drink."

A soft whimper came from Caroline, her mortal judgments still annoyingly in the way. Her heart beat sang in his ears, and his own teeth itched to slip down. Her gaze heated on the pulsing, blue tap, and he saw her body squirm with the rising want building its way to the surface.

"Let go, sweetheart" he urged, in whisper, unable to look away from his incredible little creature.

Fuck, he wanted her.

Caroline's veins darkened under her eyes, and then she leaned down, and bit into the girl's flesh. Her body arched into her inhaled take, as the blood took her newborn self into a delicious frenzy.

Klaus smiled, and then picked up the girl's other wrist, letting his own teeth slip down. A tear fell from the waitress' chin, just before he sank his fangs down.

"Mm.." He closed his eyes, as the warm, rush of fresh blood moved over his tongue, and he swallowed, feeling the teasing pull from Caroline on the other vein. He flicked his gaze hers, and her eyes met his with an almost toying smile. He could feel her through the vein, and he grabbed at her, as she teased back; dark excitement rising through his core.

His breath deepened.

"What the hell is going on here?!" a male voice sounded beside him. In a lick of agitated fury, Klaus let go of the woman, moving in vampire speed up from the booth, behind him. He grabbed the man by the back of the hair, and slammed his face down into the table, just as the pub erupted in screams.

Klaus' features darkened, and his eyes burned gold, as he turned around to face the room. "What's the matter, loves?" he yelled out, opening his arms wide in mocked gesture. Blood dripped from his chin, as he grinned. "Run. RUN." He chuckled. "I dare you."

Tables and chairs toppled to the hard floor, as the customers jumped up, in an attempt to flee for the door. The crescendo of pulses, fear, and cries resounded through his blood driven veins like enflamed ecstasy, and he smiled, nearly drunk from it.

He went to move to the door, when to his surprise, Caroline shot out, in front of it. Her hair tussled about her face, as her own prior drink dripped from her exposed teeth. With a short breath, a tilted smile burned across his features, as he stood, for a moment, in absolute glorified awe.

A man went to grab her out of the way, and with a hiss, she grabbed the man's head, and with a twist, snapped his neck, toppling him to the floor. Her chest rose and fell with adrenaline he could smell from there, and her veins darkened even further under her eyes.

"I want them, Klaus," she said with rushed breath. "I want all of them."

Thanks for reading everyone! Please feel free to leave comments, thoughts, questions etc. I love, love feedback. It helps me know if I'm going in the right direction. ;) Thanks, again!