Thank you VERY VERY much everybody for the nice reviews and all the story alert, it really means a lot to me ! I hope you're gonna like this chapter at least as much as the first one...

A special thanks to Amanda, my beta reader who is doing a great job by helping me with the grammar thing ! English is not my first language and sometimes it's hard for me.

And of course, I don't own anything in The Vampire Diaries...

After seven days of peaceful, hybrid-free silence, Caroline found a white card on her pillow, on top of a big silver box.

Sweetheart, if you are still wondering about the meaning of existence, keep looking at this.

In the box, there was a gorgeous reproduction of the "Mona Lisa" from Leonardo de Vinci. In the bottom of the box, Caroline found several beautiful books about the greatest museums in the world.

One week later, she found a new card in the same place as the last, on top of a similar silver box.

Sweetheart, if you are still wondering about the meaning of existence, keep listening to this.

In the box, there was an antique gramophone with a pile of discs. Mozart, Brahms, Beethoven, Liszt, Bach and Haydn. In the bottom of the box, Caroline found several thick, elaborate volumes about the greatest operas in the world. She was sensing a pattern.

As she'd anticipated, the next week found her holding a now familiar card from her pillow, where it had been placed on top of a metallic package.

Sweetheart, if you are still wondering about the meaning of existence, keep reading these.

In the box, there were four old, worn books : Hamlet by Shakespeare, The Ice People by Barjavel, Dante's Inferno, and The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe.

By looking at the books, Caroline found out that each one was a first edition.

One week later, as she had for almost a month, she found another card on her pillow, on top of a much smaller silver box.

Sweetheart, if you are still wondering about the meaning of existence, keep dreaming of these.

In the box, there was a pile of pictures:

Chichen Itza, Mexico

Petra Tou Romiou, Cyprus

The Astronomical Clock, Prague

The Palace of Versailles, France

The Colosseum, Italy

The Great Sphinx of Giza, Egypt

The Sahara desert, Tunisia

Petra, Jordan

Ushuaia, Argentine

The fifth and final week, Caroline found a similar setup.

Sweetheart, if you are still wondering what genuine beauty looks like, keep looking at this.

In the box, there was a drawing of her.

The last one gift overwhelmed Caroline. She had been growing more and more confused with each gift, and her mind was a total mess. She hadn't seen Klaus since their conversation in her classroom, but she found herself even more confused by the gifts than by actually seeing him. She had been trying not to think about the silver boxes with their cryptic messages. She had been trying to convince herself that Klaus was just playing another sick mind game with her, but she couldn't help but see some sincerity in the gifts.

The last one was just too much for her addled brain, and she knew she had to confront him again.

Unbeknownst to Caroline, Klaus had been watching every time she had opened a new gift. He had found a nice spot in front of Caroline's window, and had seen the young girl becoming more and more confused over the past month. But, he also had seen that in some way, she had been touched by the gifts. He couldn't have said exactly why he was doing all these things for her. Caroline was kind of fascinating to him. She intrigued him with her youth, her doubts about being a vampire, her beauty, her boldness. It was pretty difficult, after all these centuries, for him to find something or someone to hold his interest, but Caroline had a unique effect on him. Seeing her struggle every day with her vampire nature and with her worries reminded him some periods of his own lifetime, and he felt a kind of connection with her because of this.

He saw the look on her face when she discovered the last gift, and he knew that the beautiful young lady was ready to pay him a little visit.

Caroline stood in front of the mansion, her stomach feeling pretty tight. She had to gather all her courage to actually knock on the door. Less than three seconds later, the door was opened and she was welcomed by a cheerful Klaus.

"Hello sweetheart, I was waiting for you" he said playfully.

"What's the deal with all the gifts?" she blurted.

"Really sweetheart, you have to learn being a little less rude" Klaus reprimanded.

Caroline was not on the mood for playing games and the confusion she was feeling towards Klaus just turned into anger.

"Could you stop with the lecture, and just answer me? What are you doing with me? What do you expect from me? What do you want from me that you're playing with me like this?" she asked loudly.

"That's an awful lot of questions." noticed Klaus, "Maybe you should come in, so we can talk about it".

Without waiting for her answer, he turned his back on her and started to walk inside the mansion. Caroline hesitated two seconds. She was being reckless, and she knew it. Nobody knew she was there, and she was totally alone with the devil himself, thinking about following him willingly inside his house. But Caroline being Caroline, her need for answers was stronger than anything else, and she followed him.

He led her in the living room, which was kind of nice actually. A fireplace, a big couch, some armchairs, a table, a few chairs. Simple furniture, but beautiful and chosen with distinguished taste.

Klaus sat in an armchair, and invited Caroline to do the same, but she stubbornly stayed on her feet.

"So, now we are inside, are you gonna answer? What are you doing with me?"

Klaus sighed. "Like usual, right to the point…" he commented.

"I don't see the need to talk to you more than is necessary" Caroline answered coldly.

Klaus frowned. "You could be a little bit nicer with me you know. I gave you some beautiful presents, and I haven't even received a 'thank-you'."

Caroline just stared at him incredulously. "Are you serious? Are you expecting thanks from me? Thanks for what, exactly? For toying with me? For playing with my mind?"

"Have you ever considered that maybe it wasn't a game, and that I was being honest with you?" asked Klaus, his voice turning icy.

"No" she said sharply.

"So you really do think that low of me?" he asked softly.

Caroline flinched. His words reminded her vividly of the night he saved her, and the beginning of all the confusion. She gave him the same answer she had then.

"Yes"

Klaus didn't' respond, and suddenly Caroline couldn't stand it anymore. She had accumulated too much confusion, too many questions, too much frustration over the past weeks and she just blew up.

"Why shouldn't I think that low of you? Since I've known you, you have ruined my life and the lives of all the people I know! You killed Jenna, you killed Elena, you turned Stefan into a ripper, you tried to use me in the sacrifice, you killed my boyfriend and turned him into a hybrid, and you asked him to bite me. Why shouldn't I think that low of you? Why, why, why?"

Caroline was yelling now, unable to control herself anymore, but Klaus was not the kind of a man you could just yell at without consequences.

Before Caroline could even see him move, he had violently thrown her against the wall. Her back hit it so hard that a few bit of plaster fell down and she collapsed on the floor. One second later, he had taken her by the throat to put her back on her feet, and he was pinning her against the wall.

"You shut up, now." Klaus shouted. "How dare you talk to me like this? Are you forgetting who you are speaking to?" He still had his hands around her throat, and she was struggling to free herself even if she knew it was hopeless.

"It's the truth" she managed to choke out." I'm only telling the truth. You did all those things. How could I be ever be grateful to you for anything?"

"Because I want you to be, and I always get what I want. I will compel you if I need to, but you will be grateful believe me." Klaus was still shouting and the pure terror that Caroline felt edged into fury, and she started yelling back.

"That is your idea of how to make friends? Really? Compelling people? Making them stay with you because you scare them? Making them do what you want because they fear you? No wonder you need the hybrids to save you from being alone. Why would anyone want to stay around someone like you?"

Klaus slapped her right in the face. He put his full strength into the slap, and he hit her with the back of his hand. Caroline flew across the room and crossed through the opposite wall under the force of the assault. She fell violently on the floor, crying out in pain. Klaus was on her in a blur, and once again in took her by the throat to put her back on her feet. He slapped her again, sending her back into the living room by crashing her body through another part of the wall. Caroline screamed again and he grabbed her roughly by the wrist to throw her against the wall and press her to it. Caroline's face was covered in blood and she was aching all over. What she was feeling now was beyond terror. He was going to torture her and then kill her. How could he be the same man than gave her those beautiful gifts? Caroline looked at him, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Please" she whispered, "please stop"

"Why would I stop? You hate me, you want me dead, you don't even try to believe me when I say I'm sincere with you" Klaus spat in her face. "Why can't you see me as anything but a monster?"

"Because it's the only side of you I've ever seen" whispered Caroline, her voice breaking.

Klaus looked at her; the blood on her face, the cuts and the bruises all over her body, the tears covering her cheeks, and the desperation in her voice. And in seeing it, something inside of him broke down. He didn't know what it was, he didn't know why it happened, but he felt it. Suddenly, he couldn't stand to see Caroline shaking, crying and hurt anymore. Hurt because of him. Without a word, he raised her from the floor by putting one arm behind her back and the other one under her knees. He carried her to the couch where he sat, and he pulled her on his lap, her head resting against his chest.

Caroline didn't have the time to process what was happening. One second he was slapping her and one second she was in his arms? She was more confused than ever, but weirdly, the strong arms around her felt very secure and comforting. Too disoriented to think she just leaned in the soothing embrace and cried even more.

Klaus was disgusted with himself. He had been trying to earn her trust for weeks now, and all he was able to do was throw her into walls. But her words had hit a particularly sensitive spot, and he had lost it. Feeling her crying in his arms was unbearable. He tightened his embrace around her tiny frame, and with his other hand he slowly raised her face toward him. With extremely gentle movements, he wiped the tears and the blood from her face.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, truly sorry. I didn't' mean to hurt you… but your words were excruciatingly true. More so than I could handle." he whispered, with a little desperation in his voice.

Caroline couldn't think anymore. What was happening? She was in the arms of the man who had just violently abused her, and she felt safe? She carefully examined his face, and she saw something she had never seen in him before...

Vulnerability...

Sadness...

Remorse..

Humanity...

Thank you very much for reading. I'd really love to know what you think about this chapter :-)