Number 7, here we go!=D

I didn't have much time to reread the text, so I am sorry for every mistake I missed! I hope there aren't too many!

Caroline blinked a few times but closed her eyes again and turned around, snuggling deeper into the cushions. She didn't want to stand up. She didn't feel up to it so she hid her face in the big fluffy pillow taking a deep breath through the nose.

The smell was so delicious and comforting that she had to breathe it in yet another time trying to memorize it as much as possible. She felt warm and calm and revelled into the comfortable feeling.

Warmth…when had been the last time that she had felt like this?

She couldn't remember.
Everything felt cold since she had turned her humanity off.

Remembrance…suddenly she jerked up and sat upright on the bed.

Klaus!

She looked around but the bed was empty. Her breathing became ragged as the panic rose up inside her, but she swallowed and tried to suppress the feeling. Caroline pressed her fingers onto her temple in order to stay focused and calm down

"It's all right!" She mumbled. "Don't be ridiculous! As if you couldn't survive without him! Ha! When the hell did that happen!?" She breathed deeply in and out and her nerves calmed down.

As she listened to the silence around her she could make out some noises that came out of the kitchen and her guts finally settled down again. Caroline sighed and fell back onto the pillow.

But then she was wide aware again.

Silence…what!?

For a moment she was shocked, but then she heard it again. There was a faint buzzing in her head, but nothing more than that. It was too silent for her to actually make out the words. This was a good sign, wasn't it?

Maybe Klaus was right. Maybe they would really leave her alone eventually…

A shiver went through her body, but it didn't feel as cold as it had the days before.

Slowly she made her way over to the bathroom and cast a hesitated look into the mirror.

Her skin was pale, but it looked tighter and smoother than yesterday. There were no wrinkles around her eyes anymore and her eyes were darker than before. As if they had gained a deeper colour.

She touched her cheek and realized that her skin definitely didn't feel as cold anymore as before.

Maybe she was becoming better.

And Klaus had helped her.

She had slept so peacefully, without any bad dreams. Just plain relaxing sleep. There had been a calming warm blackness surrounding her. Caroline pondered about the night while she shrugged out of her clothes and into the shower. She had even felt safe, very safe. Her skin tingled as the warm water hit her. It flowed over her body, washing all the anxiety away for a short moment. Again she wondered who he was.

He had almost kissed her last night. At least, it had seemed like he wanted to and he had never disguised his interest in her, but last night he had suddenly retreated.

Why?

She stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself stepping in front of the mirror again.

Had she wanted him to kiss her?

Basket case Caroline who went nuts because she lost control! You are damaged good, darling, just admit it! Too much drama! Too many problems! Second choice, remember?

The voices in her head whispered.

Small wonder he retreated. Maybe he already left you alone.

She blinked against the tears in her eyes and swallowed them.

Klaus had heard the shower running and felt relieved. Caroline needed a moment of peace and a hot shower was a good remedy. Just then the phone started ringing.

He glanced at the display and grinned. As always, perfect timing, brother.

"Big brother, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call this early?"

"Good morning Niklaus. I just wanted to check on you? Is everything all right?"

"You wanted to check on me? Elijah…"

There was a chuckle at the end of the line. "Well, not only on you. On behalf of Caroline's friends who are all a bit worried about her leaving with you I shall ask how she is doing."

Klaus sighed, of course no one trusted him with her. "Tell them she still has every one of her limps."

"Given the circumstances you won't mind me rephrasing that I hope."

"Fell free to do whatever you think is best."

"Now, tell me Niklaus, how is she holding up?"

"Do I hear concern in your voice, brother?" Klaus frowned.

"Yes, Niklaus. I have had quite a few talks with her lately and I do feel attached to her." Klaus clenched his jaw. What? When did that happen? He was silently processing what he had just heard, trying to decide whether it was a good thing that Caroline bonded with his notorious brother or not.

"Brother?" Elijah asked when there was no response.

"I told you she was fine! She's strong she will make it!"

"Oh I am pretty sure of that. Given the fact that she is with you does emphasize that."

"What?" Klaus wasn't sure what his brother was implying.

"You have attached yourself to her as well, brother, even if you deny it. I know you better than anyone else. She won't come to any harm with you around."

Klaus swallowed and considered the words on his tongue for a second. In her current state he wasn't sure if her could offer her as much protection as she needed. "Elijah…" Elijah patiently waited for him to continue. "She hears the voices in her head and very dominantly that is. Last night, she even screamed at them." There was a tinge of something in Klaus' voice that made Elijah smile despite the bad news. There it was again, a glimpse of the man he had once been.

"I see…make sure she feeds regularly. She won't want to for the voices will tell her to starve, because they want her to repay her deeds."

"What if it is already too late?"

"Patience, Niklaus, has never been one of your merits. Just don't let her alone too often, loneliness makes them grow stronger for she has no choice but listen to them, but of course you know that."Elijah added for he knew his brother wouldn't want to thank him or give anyone the impression that there was something in the universe he was not familiar with, especially when it came to turning off ones humanity. Everyone expected Klaus to have turned it of millions of time.

"Yeah, of course I did. Any news on the pack?" He heard her descend the stairs then.

"They are brooding."

"Hm. Well, I'll call you again."

"My regards to Miss Forbes."

As she made her way downstairs she smelt pancakes and coffee. The table was set and he was dressed in clean clothes which made her wonder when he had left her last night. The thought was strangely uncomfortable.

She entered the kitchen just as he had hung up on someone.

"Good morning, sweetheart."

The corners of her mouth rose a bit. He noticed the changes about her almost immediately.

Her skin had become better again though it was still very luscious. Then she walked a bit taller and there was something about her eyes. They looked more focused, more aware and not so empty anymore.

"How do you feel?"

She shrugged. "A bit better, I think." He motioned for her to sit down and said: "That's good. I am almost ready here." He flipped a pancake over in the pan and Caroline suppressed a grin which he noticed, but didn't comment.

"Do you want some blood this morning?"

Caroline denied. "No, thanks I am fine." When Klaus had his back to her he rolled his eyes and then he spiked her coffee with it.

He smiled as he put it along with the pancakes onto the table and sat down opposite of her.

"How about the voices in your head?" He asked softly making her raise her eyes from the coffee that had some kind of weird after taste. "They are still there, but not as mean as last night and until now not that loud either."

Klaus smiled satisfied.: "Very well. I just talked to Elijah and he sends his regards."

Caroline looked a bit surprised but then a smile tugged at her lips and her eyes flashed briefly.

She smiled more often today which pleased him but that she smiled at news from Elijah felt kind of weird. It had a sour after taste to him.

"How is he?"

"Fine." He said curtly. "You have formed quite an attachment, haven't you?" He squinted at her and it made Caroline wonder if there was any problem with that. Niklaus felt somehow tensed and edgy, and even more so when he figured that he didn't really know where the feeling suddenly came from. He had a suspicion though and it didn't make it any better…

"We have gotten to know each other a bit and yes, I like him."

He ate in silence while she sipped her coffee tasting it thoroughly on her tongue. "What's with the coffee?"

"Nothing." He snapped. "Probably just better quality than you are used to."

Caroline's face fell and he felt immediately sorry.

Get a grip, Niklaus! What the hell is wrong with you!?

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"No, it's fine." She took another bite before she pushed the plate away. "I am not hungry. Excuse me, I don't feel well, I think I am gonna get some air." She stood up and walked outside onto the patio.

Klaus could have kicked himself. "Damn it!" He cursed.

Caroline walked over the meadow for some metres before she sat down into the grass. Her head pulsed and she wondered if vampires could have headaches.

It was silent outside of her, while inside the voices started mumbling again.

Told you so! Inferior! You are so naive Caroline!

At least they didn't threaten her anymore.

Stop believing in the good!

However, they stopped as Klaus approached her.

"Caroline, I am sorry. I don't know why I snapped at you. I didn't mean to!" He stood behind her.

"Don't worry." She mumbled.

Klaus sighed and something told him that it would have been easier when she would have been mad at him which she obviously wasn't. There was just unhappiness in her voice and it sounded so broken that it reminded him of sheer and simple hopelessness. Klaus shook the uneasy feeling of himself and offered Caroline his hand: "Would you mind taking a walk? I would like to show you something."

She looked up at him. "What is it?"

He grinned. "A surprise sweetheart." There was this twinkle in his eyes again she had noticed yesterday.

So she let him pull her up.

The forest was so dense that it let hardly any light through the leaves. However, dull the light was everything around them seemed to be in harmony today. There were birds chirping in the air and a squirrel jumped from tree to tree.

"This was once a place where people prayed to God and made sacrifices. For the Indians it was a holy place, because one of them claimed to have seen a white deer in these woods. He considered it to be a sign of God and so it became a pilgrim's place." Caroline listened painting everything that had once been in front of her eyes. The Indians, the deer, the pilgrims and the sacrifices. It was as if she was seeing them in front of her eyes.

"Some of them were quite cruel, for they did not only sacrifice their animals." Klaus went on.

"Have you seen it yourself?"

"I have actually." He admitted and looked at a tree from which he had once seen a human hung. The boy had not been older than probably 14 years.

"What about the deer? Did it exist?" Caroline interrupted his thoughts for which he felt glad.

"Of course it did." He chuckled. "You'll find them in zoos nowadays, called albinos. Nothing holy about it." Klaus winked at her and it made Caroline smile before she went on listening fascinated to Klaus' story about the area. For the first time she realized how old he really was and how many wonderful things he had seen besides the bad he had done.

There were always two sides of a medal and for the first time she thought that she had really understood what that phrase meant. Klaus had not only seen history, he had made it.

"It's not far now." He interrupted her ponderings and his voice became very soft when he went on. "I have told you about the humming bird once, do you remember?"

She did! The only moment he had ever wished to be human again. How could she ever forget that moment? "Of course."

"It was here that I had seen it."

Caroline was silent and the place felt more magical than it had before.

Around the next corner of the small path they had taken there was a lake glittering prettily in the sunlight. Its surface was smooth and the bend was surrounded with sea weed. She could make out swans swimming in the sun and the light made them look almost golden. The water was sparkling like thousands of rainbows. There were water lilies in the middle of it surrounded by dragonflies.

Caroline gasped which made Klaus smile again.

"Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful!"

"Hardly anyone knows about it. This is the real sacred place. According to legend there are mermaids living in there." As her eyes wandered over the water she thought she had seen a fish tale and she smiled. Klaus' peeked at her and eyes widened as he saw the flicker of light I her eyes.

He couldn't help it as a wide grin spread over his face.

They went to sit down at the shore. "Have you seen them?" She grinned and Klaus laughed.

"Oh believe me you wouldn't want to meet them. They are pretty mean things." He winked and Caroline pouted. "But I thought…"

"Sweetheart, you shouldn't believe everything Disney tells you, just like vampires don't sparkle, mermaids are not nice!"

She chuckled and Klaus smiled brightly at the sound of it. He liked it, the way it sounded like tiny jingling bells.

"So, you don't think the swan over there is an enchanted princess?" She teased.

"I highly doubt that, but you might want to find yourself a frog and try your luck." He joked back.

She smiled. "But then again it would be just a prince and not necessarily my dream prince or soul mate, would it?"

"Oh, Miss Forbes is aiming for something higher than a prince, well good luck with that. I suggest you might want to start looking for that frog now, it could take some time to find what you are looking for." Caroline answered with a chuckle that died ever so soon. For a while they just stared at the sunlight playing with the rings the water striders made.

"Do think there is something like that?" Caroline asked very quietly as if she was afraid to vocalise it.

"What? Soul mates? Never encountered mine then. I have seen vampires with very strong bonds between them, but soul mates? I don't know. Doesn't that require for us to have a soul?"

"Don't you think so?"

"Well, love, sorry to break the news to you, but we are actually dead and we drink the so called life binding essence of humans."

She kept looking at the sparkling water. "Well, I still hope we have one."

He looked at her profile, studying her face. "I am fairly sure you have one." He said and Caroline shot him a surprised look. She smiled lightly and just looked at him with bright eyes. Suddenly he felt queasy under her stare.

"What?"

She just shrugged. "I am trying to figure out if you have one."

He chuckled nervously, because he didn't know how else he should react to this. Klaus certainly didn't believe in this whole business and even if with everything he had done and he would still do no one could ever believe him capable of having a soul. It was ridiculous t think that. "Seriously? And what does your judgement tell you?"

"I am not sure yet, but I believe you do."

He gulped at the soft look of her eyes. Ridiculous!

Caroline was the only one who could say something so stupid and still sounding more than sincere. "Maybe we should head back."

They walked in silence for a while until Klaus suddenly burst out laughing.

Caroline looked at him as if he had gone mad, but he didn't seem to care. He smiled and put a finger onto his lips before he motioned her to listen.

Caroline struggled to listen to whatever he had heard. So that Caroline could focus better Klaus didn't make any sound and seemed to have even stopped breathing. After some seconds she could make out some faint noises.

There was a sort of rustling and moaning. Klaus chuckled and had to suppress his laughter so Caroline could concentrate on her hearing sense.

"Jack…this is kind of…ah…creepy…" Caroline frowned. There was another moan and a smacking sound. Then a giggle and another moan and groan merged into each other. Her mouth dropped as she realized what she was listening to.

"Oh come on babe, there is no one around for miles! Besides it is kind of thrilling, admit it."

"But…ahhh…I feel…exposed…Oh my god, don't stop!"

Klaus laughed again while Caroline's head was bright red.

"Oh babe…ah, yes. Go on…harder…"

Klaus was laughing so hard at Caroline's dumfounded face that he had to gasp for air. The longer she watched him the more she actually felt its contagiousness. A little nervous laugh escaped her throat before she finally grabbed his arm: "Come on, move. Give them some privacy!"

"Spoil spot, they are just reaching their climax!"

"God, are you dirty!"

He let himself be pulled along by Caroline and smirked. "My friends just call me Klaus, sweetheart." She rolled her eyes.

"Don't you wanna go and give them a little fright?" He grinned and cocked his eyebrows.

Caroline gasped. "While they are…? No!" She pushed his shoulder, but he cocked his eyebrows again and his grin really was contagious.

At first they were just some kind of half scoffing half strangled mumbles, but then it turned into a real chuckles and Caroline's bell-like laughter filled the air around them.

The sound was ringing bells in his ears and it just made him want to stay in this moment.

He chuckled and looked at her challenging. There was the flicker of light again and he imagined that it lasted a little longer than it had before. Giving him hope that maybe it wasn't too late yet.

"No, Klaus! No way! Come on!" She dragged him further on into the direction of the house while he hung back and leaned against her grip as if he wanted to run back the minute she released him.

"Love, you are spoiling my fun!"

"I am saving innocent people from the big bad hybrid."

"Innocent? That didn't sound innocent to me, back there. And besides, I wouldn't have eaten them…just exposing them to embarrassment, but then again you might be right and the effect is better when we come back later tonight when it's dark." He grinned.

Caroline shook her head but she was smiling. "Besides I have already reached my goal."

"Oh really? And pray tell me what was that?"

They had reached the outskirts of the meadow that led up to the house.

"You smiled, that was fun enough for today." She stopped dead in her tracks but Klaus just kept on heading for the house.

When he had reached the patio door he asked at a normal volume, because he knew she could hear him perfectly: "Are you coming or do you want to stay down there?"

Caroline shook her head at herself and walked up to the house.

In the evening Caroline witnessed another peculiar scene as she walked into the kitchen. Klaus was busy preparing dinner. The radio was on and he hummed very quietly to the tune.

"I like this song." Caroline said but without much enthusiasm. She wasn't there yet.

He grinned at her and started to sing alone which made Caroline throw a chair cushion at him.

"Oh my god, don't ruin my song!" Klaus laughed and caught the cushion easily at vampire speed before it could hit anything. Then his face turned serious: "Do you think it wise to throw things at the big bad hybrid?"

Caroline pursed her lips and crossed her arms in front of her chest: "I think it is justified to throw things at people who can't sing!"

With a blank expression he stared at her for another ten seconds and Caroline shifted her weighed from one foot at the other starting to become nervous and wondering if he was really angry now.

But then a grin spread on his face and he shook his head at himself. She amazed him for never backing down, even now with her emotional imbalance, which was a good sign to him. She was on recovery road.

"So, you think you are better than I am, don't you?"

"Oh no, I don't think so." She stepped closer until she stood on the other side of the kitchen island. "I know that I am."

He smirked. "I dare you."

Caroline swallowed and suddenly retreated. "I…" Klaus quickly put a hand on top of hers.

"Whenever you are ready of course." He looked at the glass of red wine that stood next to him. "Want some?" Caroline relaxed again and smiled. How did he understand that so quickly?

She nodded. "Yes."

"How about blood?"

Her smile faded and she hesitated.

"Caroline! You need to feed! You need your strength now."

"Why do you care?"

"I want you to get out of this unscathed."

She squinted. "How do know all of this when you never turned your humanity off? Why?"

His features hardened and he put some more physical distance between them. Caroline however kept her eyes locked to his very softly asking him to open up.

Klaus hesitated and she could practically see how his brain worked behind his forehead, probably considering every option he had. Finally he drew a deep breath: "Okay, I'll tell you." Her eyes widened in surprise for she hadn't expected him to tell her. "If you drink a blood bag!" He added then and Caroline's mood fell a little. She didn't know if she could, if they would let her. She shuddered as she remembered how dominant they had been last night. What if it got worse this night?

Klaus looked at her and waited for her response: "You can mix it into the red wine, I don't mind, but you drink I tell, that's my deal."

She bit her lip and thought about it, listening to the voices in her head that denied her any drop of blood, but after a while she nodded.

You will regret it Caroline! He doesn't care if the blood makes you worse! He doesn't care if you suffer! No one does!

She winced and Klaus eyes flickered from the wine to her. "Don't listen to them!"

Her mouth opened and she wanted to say something, maybe deny it, but then she just closed it again.

He poured her a glass of half blood and half wine.

She took it and he motioned her to go into the living room. When they had made themselves comfortable on the couch she looked at him expectantly, but Klaus nodded at her glass first.

"Drink."

She pulled a face but slowly grabbed the glass and took a hesitant small sip.

"Sweetheart, we both know that you can do better than that!"

She sighed and took another sip and she had to admit that the blood soothed her nerves immensely despite the screams in her head.

You are doomed vampire! You will end up all alone!

She could feel every drop run through her dead dried body. Klaus smiled at how she enjoyed it and then she looked at him: "Wait!" She took another sip letting the liquid linger in her mouth, tasting it thoroughly. "Did you spike my drinks since we are here!?"

He scoffed: "Don't be ridiculous, love. Why would I do that?" He drank a bit himself.

But Caroline knew he had. She had suddenly recognized the combination of the blood with something else although it had been very faint last night in her wine and this morning in her coffee. There was a sudden warmth spreading inside of her and she didn't know if it was the blood in her system or something else. Maybe the small chance that he could care for her more than she had thought.

She quickly chased the thought away. "Now, Klaus…what had happened?"

He rubbed his neck and leaned backwards taking a deep breath:

"It…well…back when we were still human I…there was…this girl…" He stuttered and Caroline understood that this wasn't easy for him.

She took another swig and one corner of his mouth twitched.

"I fancied her a lot, she and Tatia were the most beautiful girls in the village. However, back then feelings weren't of much importance. You married someone because it was customary. The women bore the children and cared for them. The men did the rest. This girl, Laelia, she was very pretty and maybe even beautiful. I think everyone from the village who wasn't already in love with Tatia has laid eyes on her instead, so to speak. It was a never ending wooing and competition that got me into pretty much trouble with Mikael.
Elijah always had to cover for me and he always did but Mikael found out never the less.
I suspect Kol to have told him, but I never found out. When we were turned into vampires and our emotions got heightened it became almost unbearable to see her every day. Smell her scent and hear her pounding heart like drum loud beats in your ears."

He focused on something invisible and even Caroline was totally caught up in his story, but her eyes never left his face.

"It was as if I could feel her blood pump through her body. I was afraid to hurt her though and that's why I kept my distance. It was hard to resist any human being, but it was worse with her. Her blood was calling me like a siren. Kol however didn't really care about our new boundaries. He just loved his new existence and rummaged violently through the forests at night. We fought every night about it. He was about to expose us all, but he just didn't care. I was so mad at him that night…no I wasn't just mad I was loathing him. Elijah had tried to calm me down but I couldn't be calmed. I just snapped his neck and left. And then I heard her. She was humming, hanging up the laundry behind her hut that was the last one in front of the forest. She saw me staring at her and called out to me. Her blood rushed so loudly through her veins that I couldn't think clearly. All I heard was her blood and all I saw was red.

I flashed her off into the forest. She shrieked as I pressed her against a tree. Then I saw her scared eyes and somehow it made me back off. I apologised and couldn't believe that I had just exposed myself. Laelia just stared at me totally bewildered before she got curious. She asked me what that was and I told her. I just told her everything, despite her frightened face and I just kissed her then and I felt an electric shock seize my body when she responded the kiss.
I don't know why I did it, probably because there was nothing else I could have done. I was angry and I needed an outlet. I told her that I fancied her and that she would be safe with me.

Her face showed nothing but bewilderment at first, but she somehow still managed to smile. The most beautiful smile I had ever seen back then. The savage fear somehow left her eyes and until today I don't know why she wasn't scared anymore. I wish she had been scared. I kissed her again and the kiss deepened and her blood rushed through her veins and her heartbeat sped up. She moaned and writhed as I pushed her into the tree again. My own body heated up as well and demanded more. There was this sound of her heart beat and it became louder and louder. I fell into some sort of trance because the only thing I heard was her blood and the rush that had seized my body. Devouring. Passion. Lust. Anger. And Hunger.

She asked me to stop but I couldn't. She scratched herself on the tree stump. A tiny little scratch, just one single drop of blood. My fangs dropped and I bit her, her scream pierced my eardrum, but I couldn't stop."

He closed his eyes for a brief moment as he relieved everything. Caroline had put a hand in front of her mouth. Klaus stared at the wall again and his eyes were staring to redden ever so lightly.

"I drained her until the last single drop. I felt high and so alive. Until the blood rush was over and I found myself in the middle of the night under a tree with my beloved's dead body in my arms. She was the first human I had killed that I felt somehow emotionally connected to. I freaked. I tried to turn her. But it was too late. I had lost control and I punished myself for it. I have never encountered anyone else like her and to turn off my humanity felt like an act of cowardice.

My family fell apart that night and left into every direction then and I thought it was my punishment. I had told them to be strong and yet I wasn't. I failed them and I couldn't keep them. I had failed my little brother Henrick before."
The following silence was heavy and lingered in the air around them. Caroline didn't dare to even breathe.

He blinked the tears away and was back with her in the present. It was dark outside and he glanced at his reflection in the window pane. Caroline stared at him and tried to hide her shock.

Klaus stood up and was about to leave the room when Caroline whispered: "I am sorry Klaus." He shrugged: "We are vampires. It happens. Drink your blood!" And with that he was gone.

Thanks so much for your support!