She was still upstairs when Klaus had returned later.
Klaus considered going upstairs to try and talk to her, wondering if he should instruct her to stay upstairs. He didn´t think she´d want to be present for the surely-awkward-to-be dinner with Stefan and Rebekah. They hadn´t really talked, not since she´s moved in. Caroline, for one, still hadn´t spoken. And, oh, how he secretly longed to see her smile again. He, on the other hand, couldn´t get the right words out. Of course, Klaus knew he should talk to her. If only it was that easy.
So instead he opted to check up on his latest house guest. "You´re feeling alright mate... are the shackles to tight?." Footsteps drew him out of his sadistic musings. "Welcome home, sister." He said, looking up. His eyes found Rebekah, followed by Stefan. And behind them, meekly looking around the corner of the door was... "Caroline?".
Part of him cursed himself. Every time the girl finally ventures out of her room, it´s ill-timed. First the funeral, than the near-run-in with Haley, now this. The others briefly glanced around, their eyes filled with shock, wonder and an eerie combination of guilt and pity. Rebekah was the first to move on and adress her Nik, while Stefan on the other hand never managed to return to his comfortable pose. He couldn´t stop staring at his friend.
"Is this a trick? How do you know, he´s one of the Five?." Rebekah spat out. "Where is his bloody tattoo?."
"Oh, the tattoos aren´t visible on this one like they were on the last.", Klaus explained, causing Caroline to slowly, not like a predator but like a ghost, move forward, to finally take a close-up look at her fellow prisoner. Klaus struggled to remain confident towards the other three people in the room while dreading the thought of her being so close to the hunter. His hand itched to pull her away, knowing she´d hate for him to touch her, he opted for a compromise.
As bravely as he could, he ventured to the dining room. "Let´s eat."
The others followed. Caroline didn´t. Her eyes fixed on the hunter. "Who the hell are you?" Connor asked, looking into what he deemed to have been the saddest vampire eyes he´d ever seen.
"Love". Her head shot up at the soft voice. "Have dinner with us." he asked. With sagged shoulders and a barely audible sigh, she obeyed.
Rebekah and Stefan knew the deal. Original negotiations always consisted of several courses, hurtful words and young, compelled girls and escort uniforms. Caroline, on the other hand was new to this. Klaus had pondered briefly over whether to send the human away and make this dinner more normal for her sake, but he also remembered that he needed to stop wrapping her in cotton candy all the time. She´d never readjust to her old self, if he kept enabling her to stay out of the dark zones surrounding his life. So dinner went on as per usual. He pretended to ignore her cringing when he sent the compelled girl away to fetch the next course. "Thank you my lovely." he said, looking after the compliant human. "I could kiss the council for burning up all the vervain in town, they made my life so much easier." he commented with a huge smile. And he was right, the absence of vervain in town did make lots of things easier, for all of them. Not just compelling himself ready-to-be-drained hostesses for a private dinner party. Everything was so much more manageable.
He shot a pointed look at his sister. "Rebekah, love, eat your vedgies." and after checking up on Caroline´s plate, he added. "You too, sweetheart."
Both girls only glared at him, but one also added voice to her thoughts. "I´m not eating until you apologize."
"For which indiscretion? There have been so many." he sighed amusedly. Part of him refusing to apologize because of the way Elena´s blood had been dripping off Caroline´s curls. Part of him refused simply because he could.
"You broke my neck." Rebekah said pointedly.
"You threw away Elena´s blood so I can't make any more hybrids." her brother returned.
"Cause you took me for granted." the sister answered with an eye roll. He had taken her for granted like, in an odd way, he took everyone for granted.
"That´s what big brothers do, sweetheart."
They were interrupted by bored voice. "Let me just name the million other people I´d rather be having dinner with right now." Stefan shot a look at Caroline, thinking that neither of them should have to witness this.
Klaus threw his hands in the air. "Urgh, fine." and leaning back in his chair, he added. "I´m sorry. I often forget how delicate you are." He looked at his sister. "Forgive me?". Both men turned towards the other Original.
"I take it under consideration, though maybe you should think of repeating that speech to Caroline." she spat, not really caring about the girl at the moment, but wanting to hurt her brother for a tiny second. As if she´d been showered in ice-cold water, Caroline stopped eating. She´d spent the past ramblings, cutting her stake, chewing and cutting mostly. Now shé´d stopped.
"Okay... " Stefan let out in an attempt to salvage the situation. He could tell Caroline felt like faltering further, though he wasn´t sure what room she had left for that. "Why don´t you tell me about Rebekah´s hunter" he said, turning towards Klaus.
Klaus eyes angrily went back to Stefan. "Right. Alexander."
And so the Originals told their story. Caroline had resumed eating and listening, Stefan had abandoned every thought of food.
"So...that´s what this is about. A weapon." Stefan summarized.
"Not just any weapon." Rebekah added, causing Klaus to move forward in his chair. "Rebekah, love, don´t get ahead of the story."
"How is a weapon the answer to all my prayers?". The originals shot each other pointed looks at that question. "Okay, why don´t we just skip through the theatrics and get right to the point?" Stefan sighed in defeat.
"Not quite yet." Klaus smirked. "Because in order to find this weapon we need to solve the puzzle, which seems to have disappeared."
"What puzzle?" He looked at Klaus, who only raised an eye brow. "The tattoo." he added, answering his own question. "What is it?"
"A map." was all Klaus said. "Leading us to its treasure."
The tension was interrupted by Rebekah. "A fat lot of good a tattoo is gonna do if we can´t see it."
Klaus only smiled. "We can´t, but someone else can." he turned towards their hostess. "Why don´t you tell the hybrid to bring him in, love?". As the girl left, he explained. "You see the hunter was so eager to get to the bottom of his mystery tattoos that he mentioned there was only one other person who can see them."
As if on cue, a hybrid dragged in Jeremy. The next thing audible was the clinging sound of Caroline dropping her silverware as both, her and Stefan, flashed towards the boy. Only, Klaus was faster. "I wouldn´t." he said simply and strongly. "Lucky for us, young Jeremy here is a bit of an artist." he continued, giving the younger Gilbert a pat on the shoulder. Jeremy looked all but comfortable, but responded darkly. "I´m not helping you with anything."
In a flash, the hybrid had removed Jeremy's ring and threw it towards a gleeful Klaus. "Oh, I´m afraid you are." he promised ominously.
Stefan only looked on in calm anger and pondered over ways to leave Elena's brother out of this mess. Eventually though, he returned towards the table, admitting temporary defeat. It was Caroline that wordlessly refused to back down. As she tried to snatch the ring out of Klaus´s grasp though, Klaus quickly caught her hand.
"Love, it´s not polite to steal." he added softly before placing the ring her palm, wrapping her delicate fingers around it. "You have my word, for as long as Jeremy complies, he won´t be harmed, and when it´s all over, you can return the ring to him personally. Now, I think you still have to finish your dinner." His voice was gentle, like he was talking to a confused child. The girl looked confusedly down at her palm, feeling her skin pressed against the ring, before looking up at Klaus in fear. Fear of betraying Jeremy, fear for Jeremy, fear of Klaus. He could see the stubbornness return to her eyes, but it was mixed with grief. "Ssh... love, I promise, it´ll all end well." At that she shot an apologetic nod towards the boy, who returned it with a look of understanding.
Then she went back towards finishing her dinner. After Jeremy was settled in with Connor and drawing material, they eventually all returned to the table. Caroline seemed removed from the conversation, not just vocally, but the way she was seemingly engrossed in her food, it seemed as though she gave no care to Rebekah´s sad romance, the five or anything. Klaus kept on watching her intently, uncomfortably noting that even when his sister finally made the big reveal, she still did not react.
"A cure. He said there was a cure."
With that Klaus considered dinner time to be over, as he got up and stormed into the adjacent room. Followed by a very confused Stefan and a gloomy Rebekah. Only Caroline remained behind, she could still hear them talking, for whatever reason that sufficed.
"There is no cure for vampirisim."
"He´s telling the truth, Stefan."
"Then why wouldn´t you have searched for it, found it?" Stefan demanded to know, watching his host help himself to a glass of whiskey.
"Because when the hunters threw their final breath that night, the marks disappeared from their bodies, the map was gone, the Brotherhood of the Five extinct." he answered in boredom. "For over 900 years there was not a whisper of another hunter until our friend in there showed up in town." he added, pointing one of the two glasses he was holding towards Connor`s prison.
"Well, not that we have the map what do we do next?" Rebekah asked leaning against the doorframe.
Klaus answered simply. "WE don´t do anything." before he walked back to Caroline, placing the second glass in front of her. She barely acknowledged him. Passing Rebekah on his way back to a refill, he added. "You can´t be trusted little sister. You´ll be blabbing this secret to the first boy who calls you pretty." He chuckled mercilessly. "It´s pathetic, really, isn´t it? How she continues to hand her heart to any man who shows her a hint of affection. You´d think she would have learned by now from the endless cycle of disappointment and deception..." he ranted.
"But I haven´t." Rebekah screeched. "Instead I stayed with you and let you leech every moment of happiness from my life. You know, at least I fared better than Finn. Klaus left him daggered because he was tired of his judgment." She explained to Stefan.
Klaus walked up to her. "Now Finn was a dullard. He´s more interesting lying in a box.".
"You want the cure for Elena, don´t you? So you can go back to mass-producing your hybrids. That´s why you´ve brought Stefan in, because you knew he´d help you even though he hates your guts. You know where you can shove your cure..." With that, she turned to leave, pausing right behind Caroline.
"You know, he´ll do the same to you." she whispered into the girl's ear. "Only, when he´s done with you, there won´t be the option of daggering you away." Rebekah had flashed out of the building before Klaus had even made it to the table. He studied Caroline´s face, as she calmly and emotionlessly continued eating, thickly swallowing her food.
"I hope you got what you wanted out of her before you chased her off." Stefan remarked quietly.
"She never would have told me what I needed to know. But she´ll tell you."
"What do you need me to find out?" Stefan felt like he had once more signed a deal with the devil.
"The map is useless without the tool to decipher it."
"The sword." Stefan nodded.
"She knows where it is. And you´re gonna get her to tell you. You have a chance to save Elena from the very thing that is going to destroy her. You can call it a deal with the table if you like." he laughed evilly. "But you know you won´t walk away from it." Just like Caroline hadn´t. They were interrupted by the sound of a fork being dropped, the breeze of someone flashing away and the quiet shutting of an upstairs door. Caroline had finished her dinner. Her glass was empty, too.
When he returned hours later, his sisters final words haunted him. "No one will ever sit around a table and tell stories about a man who couldn´t love." As ridiculous as her last sentiment appeared to him, he couldn´t seem to shake it.
He´d have to Italy in a few hours, his private plane was being prepared, he´d only have to go to his room, collect a change of clothes and leave. He had texted Elijah, telling him the truth about most things, including daggering Rebekah. His brother had been displeased, but had promised to stay and watch over Caroline until he came back. It was more out of a sense of duty towards their broken house guest, and he would leave once Klaus was back to play jailor. Kol had already left, Klaus had sent him on a goose chase out of town towards finding their sister. So for now, for these few hours him and her were alone in the gigantic house.
"A man who couldn´t love." Rebekah´s words stung his ears. Growlingly, he grabbed to clean glasses and the whiskey tumblr, and slowly made his way to Caroline´s room.
She was sitting on her bed, wrapped in her white cotton comforter. He wondered if she´d even moved since she´d escaped here. Probably not, he mused. She shivered as he sat on the bed beside her. He carefully poured her a glass first, which he placed in her hands, then he poured one for himself.
He had decided not to mention Rebekah´s fate. At Elijah´s suggestion. She shouldn´t have been present at that blasted dinner then, she didn´t need to know the gory details now. Briefly he had feared for her safety, when Kol had gone off after Rebekah. Elijah only said: "He won´t." Cementing what they both had been feeling for quite some time, ever since her first dinner, since the night she threw her whine in Kol´s face, ever since she had marked them all with her disgust, she had joined them. Had become yet another reluctant family member, simply because Klaus' actions had marked her. Broken her into a being that could only exist in this family. You don´t kill family, no matter how odd the connection. They´d never tell her to, they knew she´d shatter completely under the weight of such a heavy curse. At least, at the moment she would.
"I have to travel to Italy for a few days, love." he explained. She nodded.
"I have instructed Elijah to watch over you and see you to school. If you need anything, my hybrids are instructed to take care of you." She nodded, slightly dismissively.
"Though, if you care to join me, you´d be welcome." he added, hope in his timbre. The thought of being the first to show her the world catering to his desires. At that, she didn´t nod, instead her head shot up in a quiet fear that startled him.
"I take that as a no." he mused. "It´s fine, love. Don´t worry, you´ll see it when you´re ready." Hopefully with him.
Slowly, he got off her bed, approaching her whitewood vanity. She´d taken one picture of Tyler out of her first drawer. It showed them, laughing and smiling. Trying his best to sound casual, he commented: "You really miss him, don´t you?"He picked up the frame and examined the picture, studied her happiness. Like studying a goal. "I know you tried to see Mayor Lockwood the other day. Don´t worry, I ... don´t mind. I just wonder what it is that you´re looking for there. He´s gone. You know that, right?" he asked tenderly, trying not to upset her, but needing answers.
The tear running down her cheek answered his question. He placed the picture back onto the vanity. "Do me a favor love, ... You´re free to go and chase after whatever it is that you´re looking for anytime you want, but please, wait with that until I am back. That´s all I am asking." He couldn´t risk her going there, running into Haley. He didn´t want her to know until he knew how to handle that information. He wasn´t sure how much more disappointment she´d take.
Timidly, she took a sip from her glass. And then another, and another. Until it was empty.
"Do we have a deal, Caroline?" Klaus asked. She took the bottle from him, and filled her glass. After another sip, she finally nodded.
That night, he didn´t sketch her. They just kept sitting in a certain, awkward distance on her bed. And they kept drinking till the tumbler was finished. When he finally left, sighing at the fact that the alcohol had not loosened her amiss tongue, he turned on her doorstep. "For what it´s worth, I truly hope my sister was wrong about your fate."
The sincerity in his voice, and also in his demeanor burned through her as she meekly crawled under her blanket to hide from the world and all its lovelessness. He took that as an "Okay.", though, knowing that was as responsive as she´d get tonight.
On his way across the ocean he found himself restlessly wishing, he could have taken her along after all.