8 November 2018

London, England

"I was thinking we could go on a little trip for your spring break," he said, looking up from his sketch book.

"And go where?" Caroline asked as she turned from her communications textbook to face him.

"Somewhere warm, as I've heard is the custom...maybe Barbados?" he proposed.

"Klaus I can't just go to Barbados for sporting break!" she exclaimed, but a small smile broke out onto her face nonetheless.

"Why not?"

"I'm supposed to be a poor college student. Poor college students do not get to go to Barbados for spring break!"

"But you are not a poor college student," he pointed out.

She rolled her eyes at him. "I know, but how am I going to explain a trip like that to my friends? Holly's struggling to scrape enough money together to get to Miami. If I told her I was going to Barbados she'd flip."

He could tell she wanted to spend spring break somewhere other than Nashville by the way she lit up at the mention of Barbados, but he knew her friends and the whole "college experience" she insisted on having was important to her. He also knew that spring break was a quintessential part of that experience from the numerous movies based on college life that Caroline had made him watch when she received her acceptance letter to Vanderbilt. He wanted her to have that experience.

"Why don't you go with your friends to Miami?" he suggested. Caroline raised her eyebrows, clearly not expecting that response. "I'll get a hotel room for you and Holly and whoever else you'd like to take."

Caroline got up from her chair at her desk and joined him on her bed, sitting down next to him. "But why?"

"I know Holly will watch out for you."

"No, the hotel…spring break, why would you do that?" she asked.

"Because it's important to you, and I want you to be happy Caroline," he replied honestly.

She threw her arms around his neck, pressing get body against his, "Thank you."

Klaus opened his eyes, fighting down the disappointment that came with the realization that Caroline wasn't in his arms, it was just a memory. He glanced at the clock beside his bed. It was very very early morning; he had gotten no sleep at all since laying down last night, consumed with memories of her. Memories of when they were happy, when he was happy.

He couldn't close his eyes knowing that his traitorous mind would just conjure more images and memories of her. Instead he walked out into the hallway and down to the kitchen where they kept a few blood bags. Normally he detested drinking out of them but he noticed the way Elijah, Rebekah, and Kol all watched him like he was going to go mad any second and if drinking a couple blood bags helped him regain his freedom, then he would do it.

He was just about to head back upstairs to his room when he heard the front door creak open. He remained still as the front door opened, and two pairs of footsteps clumsily made their way inside the mansion. One pair of footsteps belonged to Kol, always stomping around like he own the house, but the other was female, evident by the heels clicking against the floor.

The girl had the audacity to giggle and Klaus could hear Kol shushing her. They walked down the hallway, into the sitting room if his judgment was correct. He slipped out of the kitchen and ducked into his study, without any noise.

"I'll be right back with your drink, okay?" he heard Kol murmur to the girl. The girl replied with a little laugh and he heard Kol walk out of the room, leaving her alone.

Klaus waited for the sound of glasses being placed on the counter and a bottle being opened before he walked across the hall. The girl was sitting with her back to him, half lying on the sofa, oblivious to the creature watching her. He sped around and crouched down so he was eye-level with her.

She opened her eyes but before she could utter a sound, Klaus gazed into her eyes and held her attention. "You will make no noise, you will stay perfectly still," he commanded her. She slowly closed her eyes and opened them, the only sign she had understood.

Klaus let his fangs elongate and sunk his teeth into the girl's neck, relishing the taste of her sweet blood as it flowed into his mouth. It was euphoric, nothing compared to the feeling of fresh blood pouring down his throat. He greedily sucked the blood from her vein, feeling her weaken in his grasp.

"What are you doing?" a voice interrupted his feeding.

Klaus ignored Kol's question and continued to feed from the girl's neck.

Suddenly he felt Kol's hands on his shoulder, pulling him away from his meal. As Kol pulled him away, Klaus didn't retract his fangs, tearing the girl's throat open. What little blood was left in her system was sent pouring out of the gaping hole. Klaus fell back onto the floor, licking his lips.

"What have you done?" Kol asked as he held his hands against the girl's bleeding neck as if he could heal the damage with just his hands.

"I was just enjoying the snack you brought me," Klaus told him, smirking from his position on the floor.

"She wasn't a snack," Kol snapped as he bit into his wrist and placed it against her lips. The girl made no movement.

"She's already dead," Klaus said as he stood up.

"Because of you!" Kol yelled, shoving Klaus up against the wall, his hands around his neck.

"Not the first, not the last," Klaus replied nonchalantly.

"Like Caroline," Kol shot back, squeezing tighter.

Klaus narrowed his eyes at his younger brother, "Do not mention her."
"Why not? She's better off without you."

Klaus shoved Kol away from him. "Maybe she was, but she didn't regret being with me. I made her happy."

"So happy she died," Kol spat, knowing just how to push his buttons.

Klaus grabbed Kol and threw him across the room where he crashed into the wall, damaging the bookshelves he landed on. "Don't," Klaus warned him. "Don't you dare. Do you think there's a day that goes by that I don't regret not reaching her two seconds sooner? I could have saved her. I wouldn't have had to watch her die right in front of me." Klaus paced in the middle of the room, "Or maybe I should have just left her alone, never gotten to know how brilliant she was...I would have never led her to her death." He turned to Kol whose expression had softened slightly. Before Kol could try and say anything, Klaus strode out of the room and headed back to his bedroom.

He threw himself onto his bed and closed his eyes, the memory of that night haunting him.

"Klaus, something is wrong," Rebekah exclaimed as she burst into his room.

"What is it?" Klaus asked as he placed the book he was reading on the small table next to his chair.

"I don't know. There are witches and werewolves gathering in the forest, Elijah isn't sure what is happening," she informed him, wringing her hands together.

Klaus rose from his chair and noticed Caroline rising from her seat as well. "Caroline, you need to stay here," he told her.

Caroline shook her head, "No, I'm coming with. I can help."

Klaus closed the distance between them and placed his hands on her arms. "Caroline, remember the hunter. Nothing can happen to you, I won't allow it."

"I know you won't," she replied with a smile and slipped out of his grip. She met Rebekah at the door. "Let's go," she called to him.

He didn't want her to go. The brush with the hunter still had him on edge more so than he would admit. He knew if he didn't allow her to join them she would sneak out of the house somehow anyways. He walked past her, deciding it was best not to say anything at all, they couldn't afford an argument at the moment if there was a fight brewing. He led the two blondes down stairs and outside in record time.

"Where?" he asked, turning to Rebekah to clarify where the gathering was happening.

"Follow me," she replied and sped off in the direction of the woods. Klaus kept up with Rebekah and Caroline only trailed after them by a little, her speed not able to match the Originals'.

Rebekah led them deep into the forest, leaping over fallen branches and speeding past the babbling creek Caroline liked to explore.

Suddenly, she stopped in a little clearing and Klaus and Caroline spread out, listening for their attackers.

"I don't hear anything," Klaus said as he glanced over at Rebekah.

Then he heard the sound of footsteps, his body tensing, ready to attack. He turned towards the sound only to see Elijah, Stefan, Damon, and Elena break through the tree line and into the clearing. Klaus looked towards Rebekah for an explanation.

"Elijah thought it best to have backup," Rebekah explained.

Then, it was if everything happened at once.

He saw the werewolves coming at him and he ran to attack them, only to have them somehow move out of his reach before he could plunge his hand into their chest. He looked around and saw a witch walking towards Caroline with a stake. Caroline was unaware of the witch, her attention occupied by the werewolf that was trying to rip out her throat. He sped over to the werewolf who immediately disappeared. He reached out for Caroline, only to see the tip of the stake poke through her chest. Her eyes turned wide as she crumpled to the ground.

He froze and looked down, Caroline was lying on the ground before him, grey and lifeless.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, "Come brother, they've all gone," Elijah said as he pulled him away.

He wanted to yell, to plant his feet in the ground and demand that everything just stop for a moment so he could process what had just happened, but he let Elijah pull him away. It was a dream, it had to be. He watched as Stefan picked up Caroline's body and sped off.

What was happening?

"Caroline…" he managed to say, stopping his movements for a second and looking at the spot where he had seen Stefan disappear with her body.

"It's not safe here, we'll discuss it at home," Elijah assured him and tugged on his arm.

Klaus felt his legs moving in compliance and something wet traveling down his cheek as he let his brother lead him away.

9 November 2018

London, England

Elijah strolled into the clearing and knew immediately why he had been called. Before him were seven dead vampires. Their bodies were laid in a straight line, side by side, shoulders and arms of one body touching the next.

Being hundreds of years old Elijah had sent many different messages to various groups of people and supernaturals. Death was meant as a deterrent, it instilled a certain kind of fear in whoever the message was meant for.

As he approached the bodies he noticed that the middle vampire was a female, judging by her black skirt and pink top, and was separated from the bodies on either by a few inches, just enough to make her stand out. The hunter's stake protruding from her heart signified she was somehow important. None of the other vampires had been staked, they had simply had their necks snapped. Elijah looked at her face but could not discern her identity, her face having burned in the sunlight, but her hair…it was golden blonde…much like Caroline's. Fear gripped his heart, fearing for a moment that it was Caroline but his sources in Nashville had not said anything about Caroline being removed from her home. This was not Caroline.

He turned his attention to the other dead vampires. Most of their bodies had burned in the sunlight; the stench of burnt flesh was overwhelming to his sensitive vampiric senses. There were two bodies that remained un-charred, obviously they had some sort of daylight jewelry made for them. He made a mental note to look into whomever was making daylight jewelry for vampires without his knowledge; vampires who could walk in the sun usually caused more trouble and he had no need for more trouble than was already on his plate.

He walked back to the feet of the middle vampire once again. This was a message not to him, but to Niklaus. Niklaus had killed exactly seven people since the incident in the pub two days ago: a couple who drove past their home, a girl Kol had foolishly invited over, and four people last night when Rebekah and Kol took him out for drinks. The hunter was watching him: a vampiric body for each human life Niklaus had taken. But the hunter had upped the stakes, somehow he knew about Caroline. This hunter was cunning, stealthy and incredibly dangerous which meant it was only a matter of time before Caroline herself became the hunter's next victim in his quest to destroy Klaus.

Elijah walked into the foyer of their house and immediately noticed the two suitcases that rested against the wall. Before he could walk further into the house, Rebekah came bounding down the stairs her navy blue purse clutched in her hands.

"Hey Elijah" Rebekah said casually him as she walked towards the suitcases.

And where are you off to?" he asked, arching his eyebrow.

Rebekah toyed with the purse in her hands for a moment, clearly stalling.

"Rebekah I am not in the mood for games today," Elijah warned her.

"I'm going to Nashville to check up on Caroline, she started to remember," Rebekah blurted out then took a step backwards, away from him.

Elijah leaned back against their front door. He wasn't expecting this. Caroline wasn't supposed to remember, but if she was she was in even more danger than she was without her memories. If the hunter managed to capture Caroline, he would torture her for information about Niklaus. If she truly had no memories of him the hunter might be convinced he had the wrong vampire and give her a quick and painless death, but Caroline with her memories would not be able to lie and say she had no knowledge of Niklaus. Even if she didn't know any current information the hunter would assume she did and would torture her to no end. Caroline had to be protected.

Elijah nodded, "That would be wise."

"What? You're not upset?" Rebekah asked, clearly surprised by his reaction.

"I was just at the clearing a couple of miles east, the hunter left a message for Niklaus."
"A message? How do you know it's for Klaus?"

Elijah lowered his voice so only Rebekah could hear him as he explained. "There were seven dead vampires. And as you recall, Niklaus has killed exactly seven times since Wednesday. But there was also a blonde vampire, the only one who died by a stake to the heart. I think the hunter knows about Caroline."

"No," Rebekah breathed. "How?"

Elijah shook his head, "I don't know but Caroline is in danger and if anything were to really happen to her Niklaus would find a way to end himself."

"So what should I do?"

"Go to Nashville and watch over Caroline. Make sure nothing happens to her."
"What about her memories? Stefan said she's remembered a few things but she doesn't remember Klaus."

"She doesn't remember everything? That's good. Try to keep it that way. I will contact Bonnie and see if she has any information about the spell and why it is wearing off," Elijah informed her.

"Okay," Rebekah agreed. She grabbed her suitcases and started rolling them towards the door. "How do I stop her from remembering though?"

"Don't mention Niklaus?" Elijah suggested as he pulled the door open for her.

Rebekah rolled her eyes and walked out.

A/N: All your reviews and input made me want to cry. You have no idea how much I appreciate them. And I also put in that little memory at the beginning for all you who seem to want more Klaroline memories.

Kol was a bit nasty, wasn't he? I think Kol & Klaus' relationship is kinda like me and my brother's. We fight like all the time, never say anything nice to each other and the more nasty it is the better. Though I do truly love him and if anyone else other than me was mean to him I'd punch him in the face. Only I can be super mean to him. (And just so I don't confuse you, Kol does know that Caroline is alive. He's just knows what happened and can use it to make Klaus mad...so he does.)

I'm really sick right now (rotavirus, which really really sucks), so I apologize if this isn't all that great.