Chapter 53

Homecoming

"What can I get you, sir?" an elderly florist asked politely.

"31 red roses, please," Klaus replied giving the woman a charming smile.

"Yes, sir, right away."

Klaus looked around in a small flower shop when the woman started to gather the roses.

"Is it your anniversary?" she asked.

"No, I have been away for 31 days, so I want to give my wife something nice."

The woman looked impressed.

"Well, your wife is a very lucky woman."

"No, I'm the lucky one."

He could barely wait to get home; there was so much he wanted to tell to Anna. And he was certain that she would like his surprise.

"Thank you," he said when the woman handed him the flowers and headed to his black SUV. His sister was in the backseat with Stefan.

"Oh," she said mockingly when she saw the flowers. "My brother, the big old softy."

"You should look in the trunk," Stefan said. "There's a small library there."

"Nothing is too good for my Anna," Klaus replied simply and sat on the driver's seat.

"I can't believe that she has stayed with you," Rebekah snorted.

"Me neither," Stefan added. "I mean, I have spent a month with you and I already want to stake myself."

Rebekah laughed.

"There you have it, Nik."

Klaus rolled his eyes and started the car. One reason why he had taken Stefan with him was to present him to Bekah as a peace offering and it seemed to be working. The other reason was that he hadn't wanted such talent to be wasted. The ripper playing nice with humans and going to high school… What a joke. That certainly wasn't the Stefan Salvatore he remembered. Not that it mattered, now when the doppelganger was dead, Stefan and Bekah could pick up where they had left off and everything would be like the good old times. Klaus was sure that Anna would be happy to see Bekah and he could concentrate on finding out why he couldn't create more hybrids. Rebekah picked up some of her new clothes from the shopping bags and admired them.

"I don't really understand this modern fashion but I believe I am starting to like it."

"How nice, since those clothes cost a fortune," Klaus replied, earning a scowl from his sister.

"You ran a dagger through my heart so shut up."

Klaus smiled, it was good to have his sister back. His brothers on the other hand… He hadn't decided what to do with them yet. He looked at the rearview-mirror and noticed that Stefan seemed even tenser than usually. Was he still pouting because Klaus had killed the doppelganger? Well, he would certainly get over that after refreshing his memories with Bekah. He couldn't really understand why Stefan was trying to hold on to that pathetic life he have had in that one-pony town. And that annoying brother of his just didn't give up. Well, if Damon Salvatore knew what was good for him, he would stay the hell away from Klaus' sight; he was done giving him free passes. Young vampires had a habit of being annoying, but the older Salvatore was reaching some kind of record.

Thankfully his thoughts turned quickly to Anna, he couldn't wait taking her to their bedroom, he had bought her some sexy lingerie he wanted her to wear for him tonight. He didn't want her to wear these modern clothes, jeans, tops, short skirts etc. Well, of course she could wear as revealing clothes as she wanted when they were alone, but there were certain parts of her body that only belonged to him. Sometimes she complained about that, but he wasn't going to change his mind about this. Even though he loved her and gave her almost anything she asked, he was quite old-fashioned concerning to marriage. It was a husband's duty to take care of his wife and protect her and wife's duty to show obedience to her husband; that was the way things had been for centuries. There were many things about this modern time that annoyed him, but those things would stay out of his household. Anna was happy, he was sure of it.

He stopped the car in front of an iron gate and typed the security code. The gate opened automatically and he drove in. The first thing he saw was Anna's little spaniel, Daisy, who was running around the yard. Anna had had all kinds of dogs along the years and Klaus hadn't really like any of them, this one was a spoiled diva who growled at him when he didn't allow the little nuisance to sleep in their bed. No doubt the animal had slept next to Anna every single night when he had been gone. To his surprise, the dog ran to him yelping miserably as soon as he opened the car door.

"What…" he muttered and looked around. It seemed that the dog had been outside for a while.

"How cute," Rebekah said and petted the dog. "Anna still likes these things?"

Klaus didn't say anything; he had a very bad feeling. He zoomed inside only to notice that there wasn't anyone in the house.

"Anna!"

He went to her library and the master bedroom but she wasn't there.

"Anna!"

"Sir?"

Klaus turned around when he heard Vincent's voice.

"What is going on here?" he asked tensely. "Where's Anna?"

The younger vampire looked terrible.

"I…I don't know, sir."

Klaus grabbed his throat and pushed him against the wall.

"What the hell do you mean you don't know?" he shouted furiously.

Vincent tried to speak but he couldn't since Klaus' hand was pressing his throat. It took a moment before he managed to calm down enough in order to take a step back. Vincent almost fell down and started to cough.

"Someone took her… I went to take a long walk with Daisy and when I came back, almost all the guards were dead. Dead dead."

No… This couldn't be happening.

"When was this?" Klaus asked callously.

"5 hours ago."

Klaus clenched his fists.

"And you didn't inform me because…?"

Vincent swallowed.

"Jackson, Cam and few others are tracking the people who took her, there were at least three of them and Kyra is gathering few other witches. We…we knew that you are on your way, so we decided that I will stay here to explain the situation to you. I take full responsibility of my failure and accept any punishment you find suitable."

The younger vampire seemed surprisingly calm; there was no fear in his eyes, only distress. He was worried about Anna… Klaus gritted his teeth and stared at him for a while, Vincent didn't turn his eyes away.

"I will spare your life, for now, but you better pray that Anna is unharmed when I find her," Klaus finally said.

Vincent simply nodded.

"I will do what ever I have to in order to find her," he said quietly.

"What's going on, Nik?" Rebekah asked. She was holding Daisy in her arms; Stefan was few steps behind her.

"Someone took Anna," Klaus replied callously. "Now who would be that foolish…" His eyes turned to Stefan. "What do you think?"

Stefan crossed his arms and looked at him calmly.

"I have no idea."

Klaus' eyes narrowed.

"Really?"

He moved in front of Stefan in a fraction of a second and broke his neck.

"What the hell, Nik?" Rebekah shouted when Stefan fell on the floor.

"He'll be fine, get him in the car."

She huffed and shoved the dog in Vincent's arms.

"Why?"

Seeing Klaus' ice-cold anger made Rebekah to instinctively take a step back.

"Because, my dear sister, we are going to take a little trip. I believe I know exactly where to look for Anna."