Disclaimer: I own nothing.
AN: Sorry for the long wait! I hope this will make up for it.
Thanks for all the people who followed and favorited this story or me. And a special thanks to those who took the time to review! I appreciate every single one of them.
Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 11 – And I hear you calling in the dead of night
He was there. And his presence always meant pain. Caroline was frozen in the hallway, hearing the steps echo in the darkness. She couldn't move. Pain was coming, and she was not strong enough to run.
"Are you a whore, Caroline?" her father's voice echoed. He came into view, and his face was twisted with ugly laughter. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. He laid his hands on her. The plows and the kicks, beating her into submission.
"You deserve to be punished," his voice whispered. That voice. It was pain. Her bones were breaking, and the crackling of them was the only sound in vacant house. She went limp. Dead. But she rose, and she was more than she had been before. More than a fragile little girl. Her face was twisted too, her eyes gleaming red. The face of a monster. And she grabbed him, breaking every bone in him. Pain to the man who was pain himself.
"Monster," he whispered with his last breath.
She woke up with a scream. She was safely in her bed, but she could still feel his hands on her. Caroline shuddered. Nightmares were nothing new to her, and they would probably never leave her, but this time it had been different. She had been weak, but she became strong. She took control. The dream left a nasty feeling in the back of her mind. He had always been a monster to her. Her own father. And now she was becoming the monster.
Caroline slowly got up from the bed and walked around her room. She had made her decision. She was to become a vampire, and she swore to herself that she would never become a monster. She would not make an innocent suffer like she had suffered, like she still suffered in her dreams.
The hour was early, but she dragged herself out of the room anyway to clear her thoughts, but when she opened the door, she found Nik standing there.
"I heard you scream," he muttered. He twisted his hands awkwardly, as if he wasn't sure what to do with them.
"It was just a dream," she sighed and wrapped her arms around her waist. He nodded, quiet for a while.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Caroline gazed into his eyes. They were sincere, he really wanted to know, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it. Then she remembered Rebekah's stories. He had been her, all those centuries ago. He had been put down by a parent too.
"It's my father. Even if I escaped him, he won't leave me alone in my dreams."
Nik was silent for a while and then took her arm, leading her back to her bedroom. They both sat on the edge of Caroline's bed. He didn't let go of her arm, and she liked the feeling of his skin against hers.
"He can't hurt you anymore, Caroline," Nik said quietly, gazing at her face. Caroline nodded and put her hand above his. His presence had a soothing impact on her. The nasty feeling was still there in the back of her head, but she was already less anxious.
"I know. I just can't seem to shake him." He nodded and they both stared out of the window at the rising sun.
"I know Rebekah told you about me, when I was human," he suddenly said, still not looking back at her. His jaw became tense and Caroline found herself wanting to reach out and touch his face.
"I'm sorry if you didn't want me to know that." He shook his head and looked at her, his face relaxed.
"I would have liked to tell you myself, but there's nothing to be done about that now. What I'm trying to say is that I understand Caroline." She nodded. Nik had been there, the helpless child who was constantly put down, mocked and degraded. She could still see it in his face. After all these centuries, it still weighed him down.
"It never goes away, does it?" she whispered, suddenly squeezing his hand as hard as she could.
"Not entirely. But you will get past it, Caroline."
"I don't see how," Caroline said her voice thick with tears.
"Time may not heal, but it helps to forget. In a few decades he will be gone. For good." Thinking about her father's death should have made Caroline sad, but it made her feel less anxious. She would be rid of him. And she swore to herself, that she would never see him again.
"How could he do this to me?" She didn't even bother to wipe the tears from her face. Nik felt safe. He was everything she had wanted to find. She didn't need to hide herself. He saw her for what she was. And that made Caroline's chest burst with joy. Nik brought his hands to her face and wiped away the tears away.
"I don't know, Caroline. The worst things happen to people who have done nothing to deserve it. I'm so sorry you had to be one of those people." She couldn't contain herself anymore, so she wrapped her arms around him, and he returned the favor.
"I'm sorry you had to be one of those people too," she whispered in his ear. The seconds ticked by and Caroline never wanted to let him go. It felt to her that all she had to do was never to let him go and she would be happy forever. Nik's hand brushed her curls, and their chests rose together as they breathed. The sun was up, and Caroline caught herself wishing that she could start every day like this, wrapped in his arms.
Elijah Mikaelson was exhausted, and that was something that couldn't be said about him often. Five days on a ship and then hours in a train. He got off from the train in the busy Chicago station and couldn't help but to feel as old as he was.
Ten years. Ten years he had been in a box, put there by the woman he loved more than his life. Katerina.
Elijah rubbed his forehead and hailed a cab. He did not want to go see Niklaus, but he didn't have a choice. It had been more than four hundred years. He had left with Katerina, only to lose her. She always swore she loved him, swore it over and over. And she had convinced him that they needed to go their separate ways once in a while so that Niklaus would be less likely to track them down. It had made sense. And what were a couple of decades away from your one true love when her life was on the line? Nothing. Elijah would have done anything for her. Anything. He had abandoned his family, everything.
Then she rewarded his love with a decade in a box. Now he was just a shell of the man he was before. Betrayal. It hurt worse than anything. Elijah got off the cab, into the blazing sun, fixed his hat and was ready to face his brother.
They had developed an easy routine these past few days. Klaus would paint. Her, most of the time. And she would sit on the sofa, a shawl draped around her shoulders as she would read, sometimes silently, sometimes aloud to him when she found a particular passage of the book funny. At times she would look up from the book, gaze at him and his painting, sigh as she saw herself on the canvas again. And Klaus loved it. The easy way that they acted, like they had known each other for years. Sometimes a voice in his head told him that he was becoming domestic, and it mocked him for it. But he pushed those thoughts away, since he couldn't think anything better than to spend these lazy spring days with her, discussing art and literature with her. To steal the occasional kiss from her sweet lips and feel how a shiver went down her spine when he caressed her.
Klaus knew they could not go on like this forever. The reality would come knocking, but right now, he allowed this for himself, for her. She deserved to be happy, to smile every day, to laugh and joke. Every time when Klaus though how she hadn't had that every day of her life broke him a little. To see her now, laying on the couch, twirling a strand of hair around her finger, biting her lip and humming occasionally as she read her book made Klaus want to keep her like this forever. Every second he spent with her made it more clear to him. He could never let go of her. If he did, it would surely break him.
She frowned and he couldn't help but to sneak up behind her, rest his chin on her shoulder and sniff in the intoxicating scent that was purely her.
"What are you reading?" he whispered in her ear. A smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Wuthering Heights," she replied, marked her spot and closed the book. She turned back to look at him. In one swift move he was sitting right next to her, caressing her hand with his.
"Why would you read that? They are all just a bunch of idiots," Klaus snickered as he saw Caroline shiver under his touch. He loved seeing her like this.
"You may be right, but it just captures my interest. Heathcliff loves her so much," she murmured, her eyes on their joined hands.
"Maybe. But look where that got him. First he had to see her married to another man, have his child and then watch her die." She just shook her head, lifted her feet up on the sofa, now leaning her body against his. She reopened the book and sighed as she read about Heathcliff cursing Cathy on her grave.
"Why do you read these romantic stories where everything ends badly?" Yesterday it had been Romeo and Juliet open in her lap. They had argued about it. Caroline thought it to be the greatest tragedy, and Klaus just thought they were a couple of fools who mistook lust for love.
"Because they have what everyone wants from life, the one true love, the passion, everything. And then life hits them right into the chest and takes everything away from them. That's life. You don't get a happy ending. The only thing you can wish for is to get some love and happiness before it all comes crashing down."
"You deserve a happy ending," he murmured, his fingers casually grazing through her hair. She let out a joyful laugh.
"Sometimes you just say these things and I forget that you are a very old cynical vampire who eats innocent people for lunch."
"I'm being serious. You deserve everything that is good in life and wonder what on earth you are doing here with me."
"Well, I do like to live in luxury, so why would I leave?" Caroline grinned wickedly.
"I knew there had to be a reason," he grinned right back at her. Caroline grabbed his hand and placed a small kiss on the back of it.
"I really don't have anywhere else to go, but that's not why stayed, Nik. I'm here with you because I don't want to leave. I don't want to be away from you."
Klaus grabbed her chin, turning her face so he could place a sweet openmouthed kiss on her lips. Caroline smiled at him as he pulled away and returned to her book once again. Klaus looked at his painting. It was Caroline. Her face hidden behind a book. He wanted to continue, but her weight against him felt too good to move. Minutes ticked by in silence until Caroline let out a laugh.
"What's so funny, love?"
"The night we first danced, Elena was going on and on how I should get myself a boyfriend. I don't think this is what she had in mind," she chuckled. Klaus couldn't help but to smile.
"Is that what I am?" He asked laughing.
"I don't know what you are, or what this is." They both fell quiet.
"This can be whatever we want it to be, love." She nodded.
"Let's just be us."
"That sounds good." Klaus wrapped his arms around her, holding her back to his chest.
There was a knock on the door. It was one of the maids.
"There is a man at the door who claims to be your brother." Klaus sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"Let him in." Caroline watched as Nik got of the sofa, and saw his face turning from the happy smile to a thoughtful frown.
He had told Caroline earlier that his other brother, Elijah, was about to come to town and he was expecting a visit. It sounded bad, and now that she was looking at Nik, she could tell that it was worse than what she had thought. This man here was not Nik. Not the man who had been laughing with her on the sofa, teasing her about her taste of literature. This was the cold vampire she had seen so many night ago, the man who killed innocents, the man who craved for blood. This was Klaus.
The door opened and a tall dark-haired man stepped in, dressed in s sharp suit, his hat in his hand. He was handsome, but did not look much like Klaus. He looked more like Kol, like Nik and Rebekah looked like each other.
"Niklaus. It's been too long." The men did not move closer to each other, only eyed each other from the opposite corners of the study.
"Elijah. Four hundred and thirty-one years if I recall," Nik said, his voice colder than the night he had forced Caroline to watch him kill the girl.
It was baffling. When Caroline spent time with Nik, he was a man. Not just any man, but still, a man. And moments like these reminded her how old he actually was, how not human he really was. To not have seen one's own brother in four hundred years…
"Yes, I think you are quite right," Elijah said, and an awkward silence fell into the room. Caroline felt like she was prying on something.
"Should I leave?" she asked as quietly as she managed, making both men to turn their eyes from each other to her. Nik shook his head.
"No, you can stay, love." Elijah eyed her curiously, and then turned to look at his brother.
"Aren't you going to introduce me to the lady?"
"She already knows who you are," Nik said coldly. Caroline sighed, unsure what to do, but got up from the sofa nevertheless and offered her hand to Elijah. From the corner of her eye she saw Nik tense, but he didn't try to stop her.
"I'm Caroline, it's nice to meet you," she said as she shook his hand. He smiled at her warmly.
"The pleasure is all mine." Unlike Kol, he was content with only getting her name, and did not try to question why his brother let a human be a part of their first meeting in centuries.
"I believe you came to tell me something." Nik wasn't any more relaxed than he had been when Elijah had walked in. Caroline wanted to go to him, to touch his arm, to see his tenseness disappear, but something in his face stopped her.
"Yes. As you may know, I have been spending considerable time with Katerina these past centuries." Nik rolled his eyes, poured himself some whiskey and turned his back on his brother, his eyes resting on the unfinished painting of Caroline.
"Go on." Elijah cleared his throat, his eyes sweeping through the room, his gaze fixating on the painting above the fire place. It was of her too, the one from that night. She looked so scared.
"Katerina convinced me that the best way to stay out of your radar was not to spend all of our time together. I agreed. It was smart. If you found me, you would find her. I never suspected her, but I should have." Nik snorted, still refusing to look at his brother.
"I now realize that she was always searching for a way to get you off her back. And ten years ago she had found what she was looking for. She had found one dagger, ash from the white oak tree, and before I knew it, I was daggered in a box. A week ago a boy came and pulled the dagger from my heart. He gave me a note and his blood. She had sent him of course."
"What did the note say?" Nik murmured.
"Dear Elijah. I hope you will find it in you to forgive me. I do love you, but I do not love you more than my own life. You will understand that this was necessary. I have no intentions being chased around the world by your brother for the end of days. I'm really doing this for us. When you read this, I will be thousands of miles away, and if things go as planned, you will have been dead to the world only a few years. If you know what's good for you, you will go to your brother when you wake up. Tell him I have something he wants. Something that would be very harmful for him, for all of your siblings. And I am willing to trade my freedom for it. Or I could just give it to Mikael. Your move, Klaus. All my love, Katerina." Elijah tucked the piece of paper back to his pocket. Caroline's heart broke for him. He clearly still loved her so much, and to be betrayed like that by the one you loved…
"Do you know what it is, this thing she has?" Elijah shook his head at his question.
"But I'm guessing we find out soon enough. I'm willing to bet she's here in Chicago, or somewhere close." A silence fell between the brothers once again.
"Nik, I hope that you find it in yourself to forgive me. I know that after Tatia we were never in the best of terms, but I do regret that I wrecked our relationship further and chose Katerina before you. I see now that I should not have done that. Please, brother. I ask for you to forgive me." Nik finally turned around to look at his brother.
"Forever and always. That's what we said, brother."
"You must understand, I love her. Loved her."
"I don't have to understand anything. You betrayed me!" he shouted the last words. A shiver ran through Caroline's spine. She didn't like seeing him like this. She knew the beast was right under his skin. She knew, but sometimes she could not believe it.
"Kol told me everything, Niklaus. How you have changed. How Caroline changed you."
"Don't you dare talk about her! She is nothing like Katerina."
"But I never saw Katerina for what she truly was. For that I am sorry. I was blinded by love. And I hope that you will see that. I wish that our family could be together after all these years. I would love nothing more than to sit down with you and Rebekah and Kol."
"You should leave now," Nik growled.
"Very well. I will give you a few days, but then we will have to discuss this issue at hand. I hope we can be civil about it." Elijah said his good byes to Caroline and left.
Nik was still standing, trembling with anger. Caroline didn't know what to do. She had never seen him like this.
"I'm sorry you had to see that. But I trust myself more to not to do anything stupid when you're here with me," he whispered and finally turned his eyes to her.
"It's okay, Nik," she said and reached for his hand. He allowed her to take it and took a seat next to her.
"I was so angry for him, for ruining my plans to break the curse. But that's not the worst thing. He left us. Me, Rebekah and Kol. For some viscous woman. Forever and always. That's what he promised. Love is a vampire's greatest weakness," he mumbled and leaned his head against Caroline's shoulder. She hated to see him suffer, but she was also glad. He was letting her in.
"Nik, we can't choose who we love. We may try not to love, but life doesn't really work like that. We're not alone in this world, and sometimes life just takes us where it wants, it doesn't ask if we want it or not. I understand that you feel betrayed, but it's not your brother's fault he fell in love with the wrong woman."
Suddenly he was up on his feet, so quickly that Caroline didn't even see him move at all.
"You know nothing, Caroline. You don't know my brother, you don't know me," he suddenly said, with such venom in his voice. It was felt like someone had stabbed a knife in her heart. Caroline felt like crying, but as she often did, she disguised her hurt as anger.
"What do you think I have been trying to do these past weeks?! Do you think I'm here because it's fun? I'm here because I feel something for you, and I want to figure it all out. I try to be compassioned, to understand you, who you are and how you came to be like this. I overlook the fact that you're a ruthless killer. I ignore the fact that I have never ever been as scared as I was that night when you killed that girl. Ever. Do you realize that I feared you more than I feared my father, and here I am, trying to get to know you, to show you that I care! And what do you give me? You turn on me when I try to help. Thanks a lot, Klaus."
Caroline saw his face twist from anger to regret, but she didn't care. She was mad, so so mad.
"Caroline, please –" he started, but she'd had it. She turned her back on him and he did not try to stop her. She could feel his eyes on her back as she walked away from him. Tears filled her eyes. She heard a glass crushing to a wall.
Is this how it ends, Caroline wondered to herself as she locked her bedroom door and sat on the floor, the tears running down her face.
AN: So, what did you think? This was supposed to be fluffy, and look what happened. Oh well. Please leave a review! :)