Disclaimer: I own nothing. Plot is mine though, so don't go stealing it.

AN: I am sooooooo sorry! I had a major block and just couldn't write anything worthwhile. But here it is, if somebody is still reading this. Hope you'll enjoy this.

Thanks for all the people who reviewed and followed and favorited. You guys are awesome!

Chapter Five - With the moon I run far from the carnage of the fiery sun

His lips met hers. They were soft against her mouth and she sank into the feeling. It was not the first time she had been kissed, but her first time had felt nothing like this. This was consuming. She didn't want to stop. She couldn't stop. Not even if her head was telling her to.

His tongue caressed against her lower lip. Caroline didn't think. It was like her body was making all the decisions for her. Her lips parted. She let out a soft moan against his mouth. This she had definitely not done before. Her stomach was full of butterflied. His hands were on the small of her back, making her shiver. She had never felt so good in her life. She felt out of this world. It was unreal.

His lips parted with hers, making her miss the new sensation immediately. But as his mouth left hers, she seemed to gain her senses again. All reason came rushing back. His hands were still on her back, and suddenly she realized that she had just been kissing a man who had only hours before drained a woman's life with the same lips. Now they were red for kissing her, but she had just seen them red with blood. It made Caroline shiver, this time with disgust.

She pushed his chest to get away from his embrace. Caroline could not deny herself that his hands still felt good. But she was not a mere animal, she could think past her instincts. She had to.

"Don't you dare to run from me for the third time," his soft voice whispered too close to her ear. He hadn't moved even an inch from her push.

"You told me to run the first time," Caroline answered, not able to face his gaze.

"It was for your own good. You were supposed to stay away from me, but you didn't. You came back. And now I don't want you running away from me."

Caroline didn't know where she got the courage, but before she noticed she was talking back to him.

"Well, I like running away from you. You're not the boss of me," she said and faced his eyes without a blink. His stern face was now beaming gleefully.

"You aren't afraid of me anymore, love?" Caroline didn't know how to answer. When she thought about it, she hadn't been afraid of him for some time now. If she had been, she would have never gone to the Inn after the encounter with her father. On some level she knew he wouldn't hurt her. But not being afraid of him did not mean that she wasn't disgusted by him. He was a killer. He was hundreds of years old, and Caroline couldn't even fathom the amount of people he had killed.

"No, I am not afraid. For some reason I know I won't be your dinner. But I know others will," she said quietly, not trying to get away from him anymore. Perhaps he was right. Running from him would be futile. It was better to face him right away than run.

"No, you won't be my dinner. Not that I wouldn't object to a little taste," he said, still wearing his signature smirk. Damn him and his handsome face.

"And then you wonder why I want to run from you. Do you understand how disgusting it is to touch someone who just killed an innocent girl. How is she different from me? She looked only a few years older than me. Why is she your breakfast, but I am your dinner quest?" Nik shook his head.

"You weren't that disgusted a minute ago. I know you are attracted to me, love. And don't bother lying. I'm a vampire, and let me tell you, I am an expert with smells. I can tell when you are afraid, same goes for lust."

Caroline tried hard not to blush. She didn't even want to think about all the things he had smelled on her. She had found him handsome from the very first time they met. But this was not the time to be embarrassed.

"Yes, I find you attractive. What of it? You may be attractive, but you are still a killer."

Nik smiled as she admitted her feelings. But that did not matter, it could not matter. Caroline was better than this. She could control her impulses, she didn't have a choice.

"I don't deny that I am killer. Actually, I am probably one of the worst vampires you will ever meat. You don't know the half of it Caroline. You really should have run when I told you so. I will bring you nothing but trouble, believe me."

Caroline could not quite understand what he was telling her. Yes, he had tried to make her stay away, but he had been more than willing to help her when she turned up at the Inn. That didn't seem like something you did if you wanted to make someone stay away from you.

"I have nowhere else to go anymore," she said, sorrow in her voice. Her life had been flipped upside down the night she left her home. She had left her abusive father and was now living with a homicidal vampire. She had finally understood that she really didn't have anywhere to go. If she went to live with relatives, her father would come collect her in no time. If she just left, she would probably starve to death. As a woman, she had very limited opportunities to get work. And even if she got work, it might not be enough to buy housing and food.

She had said goodbye to her future life as a dutiful wife and mother. But to what she had said hello to? To a life as a vampire? Caroline was not mean. Well, she could be really mean, but she wasn't violent. She couldn't kill people. She had morals. Unlike the unbelievably attractive centuries old vampire with whom she had just been locking lips with.

How had she come here? Life seemed so random to Caroline. If she hadn't stepped to the Inn with Elena that one faithful night, she would have never met Nik. She would still be at home, taking her father's beatings. She would live the life she always expected to. But why did that seem so awful, and her current situation so much better? How could she prefer the company of a vampire to her fellow humans?

The answer was very simple. She knew he would never hurt her.

Nik looked at her with a sad expression on his face. He took a deep breath and tucked a lock of Caroline's hair behind her ear.

"I wouldn't want you to go away, Caroline. But you should. You aren't safe with me. There are people who want me dead. Anyone who is with me is in danger. And you are a human. Do you even realize how fragile you are?" his hand stroked his face. It sent shivers down her spine. Nothing in him really disgusted her. How could she not make herself hate him even when she knew that he was a killer?

"You need to let me go," she said with a stern voice. He stepped back.

"Do you realize that you are a killer? Don't you understand how I feel standing here, as a human? Just this morning I saw two girls here, getting their life drained out of them. It could have easily been me!" Caroline yelled frustrated.

"I am what I am, Caroline. I have been this way for over 900 years and I will never change. I kill humans, I kill vampires. If someone gets in my way, I kill them. If someone insults me, I will probably kill them. So why would I not kill for food? I didn't see you having any trouble eating the lamb. You realize that used to be a baby sheep?"

"You were a human once! How can you compare humans to sheep?"

"When you are a vampire, you realize how different vampires and humans are. Yes, I can sympathize with humans, but I can also sympathize with the poor lamb. But surviving for almost a millennium requires killing. I will never deny what I am. Killing to a vampire comes as naturally as breathing for you. I won't apologize for what I am."

"Then why are you kissing me and not ripping my throat open?!" Caroline shouted and threw her hands in the air. Nik didn't move, just looked her pace around. He sighed.

"To be honest, love, I don't know. When I first laid eyes on you, I wanted to eat you. But even then I knew you were special. I wanted to take my time with you. Taste you over and over again. But as you can see, you are not dead and my fangs haven't gone even close to piercing your precious skin. If I had the answer, I would tell you. I fancy you, Caroline."

She stared at him for a long time. "You fancy me? What does that even mean? You make me run away, then you practically save me, and now you are kissing me? What is it that you want from me?"

Why would a man like him fancy her? Never had men picked her over her friends. Nik had met Elena and Bonnie, but she was here, not them. She was never the first choice.

"Nothing. I just want you." The grey in his eyes was too piercing, forcing Caroline to look away.

"I think I'm going to bed," Caroline muttered, unable to carry on with this conversation.

"Good night, love. Sleep tight."

"Good night, Nik," she answered and could not help but to smile back at him.

The whole night Caroline had struggled. Her feelings were getting the best of her. When she thought of the situation objectively with reason, she knew she should take her things and go. But when she forgot about reason, she couldn't think any reasons why she shouldn't stay. He made her feel safe. She liked him on some odd level. And the life he offered was something that you only come across once a life time. Caroline wasn't even sure if he would change her or not. Last time the subject had been discussed, he had made her watch him kill someone. His reaction had been so major that Caroline wasn't sure he would ever change her. But the change was still there, and he had brought up it last night. He hadn't asked if she still wanted to be a vampire, but he hadn't gone off killing people either.

For a long time after the faithful night at the Inn Caroline had thought that she did not want to be a vampire and that she never truly had wanted to. But now that she was here with him, she couldn't help but to think about being like him. Nik kept telling her that vampires killed, that it was their nature, but Caroline was sure she could control it. She wouldn't just turn into a mindless beast. If Nik could choose not to kill her, certainly she could decide not to kill anyone. Humans could survive if you only took a little of their blood.

She really wanted it. Perhaps she would live to see sixty if she was lucky. But humans were plagued with illnesses and women often died in childbirth. Caroline wanted to see the world. There was so much to explore that the forty years she probably had left would not be enough. She needed more time. And she wanted the eternal youth. But most of all, the power. For so long she had felt powerless.

She had made a decision. If the opportunity arose, she would go for it.

The telephone rang. Klaus sighed and put down the paintbrush. The portrait was taking shape. So far he was pleased with it, but when it would be finished, he would not be pleased with it. It had been the case with dozens of coal drawings. He had been unable to capture Caroline's beauty.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Nik, listen. Kol has been seen at the Inn," Rebekah's voice said from the other side of the line. Klaus cursed and reached for his jacket.

"Is he still there?"

"According to the glamoured bartender, he is still there, but I think we should hurry."

"I will be at your place in five minutes, be ready to go. There is already one open case in the Chicago police. It won't take Mikael long to find us if he keeps this up."

"I know, Nik. Just hurry. I'm sorry."

"You can say that again when he is safely daggered in one of coffins."

Caroline hadn't left her room all day. She had been pondering about her situation and what she should do with it. She had wanted to call her friends, but couldn't bring herself to do that yet. She could only imagine their disappointed faces. Breakfast and lunch had been delivered to her room by a maid, but dinner time was getting closer and Caroline thought it would be very rude to just sit in her room alone. She dressed a bit more casually than she had yesterday, since she had not been really invited to dine with her host.

The apartment was quiet, more so than usually. She wandered into the dining room, finding it empty. No one had even set the table. Was she alone?

Footsteps echoed in the hallway outside the dining room. Caroline automatically assumed that it would be Nik. The only people she had seen in this apartment were Nik, his scary friend and the unfortunate girls. And the steps were definitely male. They were heavy. Caroline made herself lose the smile that had been starting to form on her lips. The door opened.

A stranger stepped into the dining room. His smile was blinding and he was very handsome.

"You look very dashing, my darling. I could just eat you up," he said with the wide smile still on his lips. Caroline frowned. She had never seen this man, and something told her that he wasn't supposed to be here.

"Who are you?" she asked and took a few steps back, towards the door. Something about him made her feel very anxious.

"I am Kol Mikaelson. And I am very hungry." His face transformed. Caroline could hear a scream, her own scream, before everything went black.

AN: Any thoughts? I really like reviews (: So please review if you have a minute, I always welcome any kind of critique.