10 November 2018

London, England

"Come on Klaus, we're not getting any younger," Kol prodded, trying to get Klaus to go shopping with him.

"You're worse than Bekah," Klaus replied, ignoring Kol's pathetic excuse for a joke.

"You ruined my favorite shirt the other night, you owe me a new one," Kol pouted.

"Fine," Klaus relented with a huff, letting Kol know that he would rather be doing anything but. Kol let out a little cry of triumph as he led them down the streets of London, scanning the streets for the perfect store. When he found the one he was looking for, he immediately ran inside.

They had barely stepped inside when a young girl greeted them.

"Hello, is there anything I can help you with today?"

Immediately, a smile crept upon Kol's lips and he answered as he slid up to the girl's side, "Why yes, I'm in need of some new shirts. My favorite one was ruined the other night in a scuffle," he threw a glare at Klaus. "What would you suggest?"

The girl blushed. "Well we just got some new shirts in and they're really soft. I can show you…" she said as she trailed off in the direction of the men's section.

Kol shot Klaus a grin and took off in the direction of the salesgirl. Klaus looked around in the shop, there were only a few patrons milling about the store picking out weirdly patterned clothing. Kol and the girl were around the corner of the shop discussing what colors would look best on him and Klaus resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

But he was alone.

He relished the idea of being truly free for a few hours while Kol flirted with the salesgirl. It would take him at least an hour to stop staring in the mirror and notice his absence. He could be halfway to Scotland by then if he wanted.

He quickly slipped outside the store and down the busy street, enjoying his newfound freedom. It felt like it had been a lifetime since he had been alone without one of his siblings breathing down his neck.

But with each stranger that he passed, each heartbeat that thrummed in his ear, he could feel his hunger growing. The same thrill ran through him as it always did of grabbing any one of the pathetic humans that surrounded him and drinking until he was sated. It had been too long since he had fed fresh from the vein. Not since Kol's little snack the other night.

Klaus continued on his aimless journey when a flash of brown hair caught his eye. He paused on the sidewalk and watched as she ducked down an alley, pulling her scarf from around her neck and unbuttoning her coat buttons. Perfect.

He moved effortlessly through the crowd and down the alley where the girl was cursing as she shoved her phone into the pocket of her black pants.

Klaus felt his fangs elongate at the thought of what he was about to do. He moved next to the girl and shoved her up against the rough exposed brick wall of the alley way.

"Do not move, do not make a sound," he commanded, staring into the girl's eyes.

"I won't move, I won't make a sound," the girl repeated monotonously though her eyes scanned his face, clearly afraid of what was about to happen.

Klaus wasted no time in shoving her brown hair to the side and sunk his fangs into her neck. She tensed slightly in his arms but made no other movement. Her blood flowed past his lips and into his mouth. He savored the taste as her blood pumped into his mouth, driven by her erratically beating heart.

Suddenly a sharp pain tore through Klaus' body and he quickly dropped the girl on the ground and spun around to see his attacker as he simultaneously pulled the stake from his side, noting the intricate carvings: The Five.

Another stake impaled itself in his chest right below his heart. "You missed," he growled as he tried to tug at the stake.

"Did I?" a voice replied from above. Klaus looked towards the voice to see his attacker hunched on a fire escape behind some sort of bin.

"You missed my heart," Klaus retorted as he pulled out the stake and threw it on the ground. He shifted his stance and was annoyed to feel pieces of the stake had splintered off and were still lodged in his chest.

"I wanted you conscious for this talk. Original or not, you would have been out for a few," the man replied easily from his spot.

"Good so you know who I am," Klaus grinned as he crossed his arms over his chest, "and that I can kill you easily no matter where you are. Now, why don't you come down and have this little chat that you've tried so hard to get my attention for?"

"You can't kill me, I'm one of the Five," the man stated as he got up from his spot and began making his way down to the alley.

Klaus let out a small laugh, "I've killed five of you before, I know what awaits me if I do, and I am unafraid."

Klaus' words temporary made the hunter freeze in his steps but he shook it off just as quickly and continued down the alley. He stopped when he was a few paces from Klaus, close enough to talk but with enough distance between them that he might stand a small chance if Klaus attacked him.

"Go ahead and kill me if you'd like to suffer the hunter's curse," the hunter shrugged nonchalantly, his former confidence restored, "but first, tell me why you left your precious Caroline unprotected all alone in Nashville?"

Klaus froze at the mention of her name, his eyes narrowing. "You'll have to do better than that mate," Klaus said lowly. "You can't use her against me anymore. No one can…Now what is it that you want? Tell me before I rip your head from your shoulders."

A smile slowly spread across the hunter's face. "So it's true? You believe Caroline to be dead?"

"Caroline is dead, I saw her die with my own eyes" Klaus growled, growing angry. The hunter was playing him. He could feel the control of the conversation quickly slipping through his fingers. What did he know that he didn't?

"Really?" the hunter asked with a raised eyebrow "with your own eyes? Well then, I guess the then the young blonde girl attending Vanderbilt University and living with the Salvatores in Nashville that I saw with my own eyes is not Caroline Forbes…"

Caroline is alive.

In an instant Klaus had the hunter up against the brick of the alleyway his arm across the hunter's throat, letting him fight for each breath against the smooth plane of Klaus' arm. "What are you talking about?"

"Sss-she's…ah…aalive…in…N-Nashville," the hunter managed to choke out under Klaus' wrath. Klaus eased up the pressure a bit and he continued, "We have Bonnie B-Bennett. She told us that she made you believe Caroline was dead but she's really alive. You honestly didn't know?"

"She's not alive," Klaus repeated, shaking the man in his grip. "She would have come for me, she would have found me." She would not leave me alone.

The hunter moaned as his head clashed with the brick violently. "Bonnie-she did some sort of spell."

Klaus pushed the hunter further into the wall, the brick crumbling into pieces around his body. "What did she do?" he demanded to know.

"I don't know, just a spell, we didn't care, didn't ask her. We had to find you, to stop you from making more vampires," the hunter explained as pain coursed through his body. "I don't know what you're planning but we're onto you."

"Making vampires?" Klaus mused, his grip easing on the hunter. He hadn't made any vampires since before Caroline had…not died? There were too many conflicting thoughts in his head and he tried to focus on the hunter in front of him.

"Over twenty people were turned in Barcelona two months ago, another thirty in Orleans, and more in Namur. You're building an army in Europe."

"It's not me," Klaus informed him with a growl, this was too much. No one was stupid enough to make that many vampires without them finding out…unless they were an Original…Elijah.

The vampires…Caroline…it was him.

An uncontrollable amount of anger coursed through his veins at the realization that his brother had somehow played a role in taking Caroline from him, in deceiving him so thoroughly and building an army behind his back.

Klaus suddenly stepped back and let go of the hunter who half-collapsed in the alleyway panting hard, trying to catch his breath. "Sorry I can't stay to continue this, but I'm due for a chat with my brother," Klaus smirked and flashed out of the alleyway.

Klaus dug the pieces of the hunter's stake out of his chest as he flashed home, dropping the splinters like a bloody bread trail to his home.

As the house came into his view, he thought about his pending discussion with Elijah and managed to arrive at the doorstep in seconds. He threw open the front doors, "ELIJAH!" he shouted, and walked into the foyer waiting for his traitorous brother.

"Yes Niklaus?" Elijah's voice called from the study.

Klaus wasted no time and flashed into the study where Elijah stood, closing his laptop.

The sight of his brother and knowing his crimes only fueled Klaus' anger. It was only a second after he laid on him before Elijah's throat was pinned underneath Klaus' hands against the dark green of the study wall.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? WHERE IS CAROLINE?" Klaus yelled in his brother's face.

Elijah opened his mouth to reply but Klaus picked his brother up and slammed him back into the wall, plaster cracking as he roared. "DO NOT LIE TO ME ELIJAH."

Elijah made no motion to speak and Klaus was sickened by the sight of his brother's face, by sharing the same space as him. He retreated across the room to distance himself from Elijah, letting him drop to his feet with a small thud.

Elijah remained silent for moment as he straightened the sleeves of his suit jacket. Then, he asked, "How did you find out?"

"Does it matter?" Klaus retorted, his eyes sliding back to his statuesque brother. Elijah said nothing and Klaus knew he wouldn't say anything until he told him how he found out. "A hunter told me," Klaus spat. "The same one who attacked me the other night, I presume."

"I'm sorry you had to find out like this," Elijah replied, hands clasped in front of his body.

Elijah's words stirred the anger that was starting to settle right back up. "SORRY I HAD TO FIND OUT LIKE THIS? WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?" Klaus roared stepping closer to Elijah, balling his hands into fists before they could inflict damage that would prevent him from finding his answers.

"I thought it would ensure her safety," Elijah answered, lifting his hand to rest it on Klaus' shoulder but Klaus roughly shoved his hand away. "After Leonel the hunter, I thought to take precautions…"

Klaus narrowed his eyes at the mention of the former member of the five, his body tensing at the memory of Caroline being kidnapped on her way to the restaurant during their trip to Atlanta.

The sounds of Caroline's screams echoed through the deserted row of homes making Klaus immediately more terrified and furious.

He raced through the deserted street, his hearing focused on Caroline's moans and whimpers of pain until he reached the house where the sounds were the loudest. He barged through the rotting front door and easily found his way into the basement where Caroline was hung from the ceiling by her wrists by vervain-soaked ropes, her skin gone, displaying only the delicate white bone of her wrist. Her toes barely scraped the floor and he could only imagine the pain she was in from her position, the weight of her body hung on her wrists, arms and shoulders. She had to be exhausted. The multitude of blood stains that littered her body was disgusting, dried blood and dirt cloaked the top and jeans she had worn out that morning, making it impossible to discern the pattern from her top from the pattern of her blood. Caroline's hair was matted and streaked with blood and some black substance; her head hung low, worn out from the torture they had been inflicting upon her.

"You know nothing," Klaus spat. "I saved her."

"Yes but you're also the reason why she was taken," Elijah reminded him.

Klaus grasped onto the back of the chair closest to him, his knuckles turning white and his nails tearing holes into the fabric. He hated being reminded that he was the reason that Caroline was always in danger, that the hunter purposefully took her because he wanted Klaus.

Elijah looked at him and managed to catch Klaus' stare, "I'm afraid you may have to do it again."

Klaus' eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What are you talking about Elijah?"

"Rebekah called just before you arrived. The spell Bonnie performed on Caroline….it appears to be weakening. Caroline has started to remember some of her past with you. She was quite angry with Stefan and staked him before she took off, to find you. She is alone, and with only some of her memories…Caroline is an easy target."

A feeling of terror set over Klaus' shoulders. Caroline was alone trying to find him. The hunters already knew who Caroline was…if they knew that she was looking for him, what would they do to her?

"She wouldn't be in danger if it weren't for you," Klaus accused his brother. "If anything happens to her I will shove the white oak stake into your heart myself, Elijah."

Elijah nodded his head, accepting Klaus' conditions, knowing he had earned them.

"I will deal with you later, I have to go find Caroline," Klaus said and sped out of their home.

A/N: Sorry I suck and took so long to update. If it weren't for the reviews asking me when this was being published it probably would have been longer, it was just such a pain to write.