~ Endorphins
Every breath i take is heavy with the thought of you
The moment I awake I'm chasing signs
Never give up, I never give up
It's never enough, it's never enough
Your not the one that's scared that the sun wont shine on me
-Sub Focus feat. Alex Clare
Ch 6
Caroline didn't really know what was going to happen at the diner. For all she knew she could be walking into a scene straight from a horror movie. Actually scratch that, more like a scene from her past. The ones that were filled with bloody bodies or corpses everywhere. But she didn't walk into something like that. It was relatively normal looking. Except for the Original hybrid sitting in a booth in the middle of the quaint establishment like he belonged there. He was dressed in his usual casual fashion, a plain long sleeved shirt and jeans. It felt odd to be acting in such a...human manner, meeting someone for a coffee and hopefully no other abnormalities that her life was usually peppered with.
Caroline smoothed her tank top a bit and headed to his booth. She had decided for simple, a dark tank top and jeans. She was hoping for a blended in look to her appearance. He had already caught sight of her, giving her one of his dazzling smiles. Has he ever smiled like that at anyone else? She wondered as she glided in to the booth. She ordered a coffee. As the waitress walked away she set her eyes on Klaus, "Okay, I'm here. What did you want?"
The man smiled, closed his eyes briefly, shook his head and chuckled. He picked his head back up, keeping the smile on his face, "Now, what if I told you that I didn't come here to acquire anything form you, love? What if all I wanted was to have a decent conversation with you?" One of his eyebrows raised up as if to punctuate his question.
She looked at him with a bit of confusion, "That's it? No, 'I need you for something'? Nothing at all?" So I guess he did mean for it to be a date? Well I have too many things to do than sit here and converse with him. "If that's all, I have other things to do than just sit here. I'm really busy, you know?"
"No, I don't," his demeanor suddenly took a more serious note. His face darkened a bit, sending small warning signals to her brain. Caroline don't piss him off. He's got a point, can you blame him? Yes I can! He's caused too many headaches for his own good. That's not very fair...
She sighed, "Fair enough," she shrugged and gave in, "I'm working on the school's paper, I belong to two clubs- which I also coordinate all the meetings and the fundraisers for, I'm making straight A's and I have 2 plays and a monologue coming up in a my theater classes. I'm still rooming with Elena and you've met my other roommate. There now you know how busy I am." She finished just when her cup of coffee arrived.
Klaus grimaced but replaced it with a cool look, "Yes, I've met your roommate."
The way he put it made Caroline feel guilty, she was being so unfair to him. She felt like she was back in Mystic Falls with the gang and they were picking on the new boy in town. Did he really deserve the cold shoulder? She sighed. Her heart always got the better of her, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be so short. It's just...you've caught me off guard. I'm not used to just talking to you."
He grimaced, "Yes, well- not much time for talking when you're public enemy number one." He sipped on his coffee. And suddenly Caroline felt guilty. Every time she had pushed him away was because she thought it was for the best and against her better judgement she did just that. She never wanted to be that person that took everyone at face value, to assume based on how they were in the past they would do the same in the future. A wave of confusion hit her. Was she going to break the mold she had been living in for years? Or was she going to take the road frequently traveled? Caroline realized that the moment she was in right then may be a very crucial moment in her life. A fork in the road.
"Something wrong, love?"
His voice took her out of her inner turmoil before she could come to a conclusion. "Oh it's nothing, just have a lot on my mind."
"Any room for me in there?" He flashed his signature dazzling smile at her. A brief moment of...panic? Was that panic she felt? Yes, it was like a sharp panic. Since he returned, every time he surprised her, she got the sensation of panic. Caroline filed that into the file marked 'Confusing' that started to occupy her thoughts.
She managed a quick eye roll before she decided civility would be better than arguing, "Klaus." She said in a tone that said, 'could we not do this right now'. But before he could interrupt her she continued, "You were saying you wanted to have a conversation?"
"Right." He smiled broadly again, "I'm here on some family matters. And since it just so happened that it had to be this campus out of the thousands on the face of the earth, I thought it would be very foolhardy of me not to take advantage of the situation to the fullest extent." He leaned back in his seat in an aloof manner.
"How resourceful?" Her eyes bore sarcasm for him. "And how did you find out about the gallery?"
He shrugged slightly, "Simple really, I asked around. You'd be amazed at how much college students observe. And when I found out who your new roommate was I decided to dig deeper. It was only a matter of time before I found out about her project. I was the first person at the gallery." His eyes bore into hers. His posture changed, he had leaned in closer to her. His eyes, they were like crashing waves. "And I didn't hesitate to solidify a deal with her for it." He leaned back again, suddenly, the air of someone with too much time on their hands to care about what they did with the day.
Caroline stared. Simply looked at him. Did she want to deal with this? Too late she supposed. He was here in front of her. A quick conversation couldn't hurt her. "Okay then, I guess that answers that." It was done. That topic was over. "What made you go to New Orleans? Like the exact reason, why go all the way down to Louisiana?"
Klaus seemed taken aback from her sudden questions. He smirked, "I got word that some witches thought they could kill me. Naturally, I had to remedy that. But when I got down there it was all a facade. The funny thing was they used a one night stand to do it. They claimed that I was going to be a father." Caroline's eyes widened a fraction. "But I saw through their fabrication. In the end it was for the best, thanks to them I now have my kingdom back."
"How sad..." Her voice was sincere. It slipped out on accident.
"Sad?" Klaus had a genuine look of puzzlement now.
"I just meant it was sad...that you weren't going to be a father. I could see how being a hybrid would make it more likely that you could- but still..." Her words weren't clicking for him. "What I mean is that a lot of people would've wanted that, people that can't have that or had it taken away from them."
"Given my lineage, I don't think I would've been a very good father."
"Are you just saying that because of the relationship with your own father?"
"He was never a good role model."
"Neither was mine."
They sat in silence for several moments. Both heatedly staring at the other.
He broke the silence first, "Are you saying all this because you wish that you could have a child?"
She inhaled sharply. That wasn't what she had meant...or was it? When she was younger, and much more naive, she had wanted that life. She wanted to be a soccer mom and leader of pta meetings, to heal boo-boos and cry on their wedding day. But she couldn't have that. She might have been able to at one time, but not anymore. She had closed that part of her life years ago. There was no going back now. "I have a different life now, and bearing children isn't a part of that now." Her voice was cool as ice and hard as steel. She didn't let her emotions escape her this time.
A look crossed Klaus' face. She couldn't read it entirely. Regret? Sadness? Anger? She had no idea what it was supposed to be. Eyes now down cast, she took a quick sip of her coffee and sat it back down. She looked up again when the waitress came back to refill their mugs. She caught Klaus' eyes before she had time to look down again. They were hard, as if they were back to being enemies, or Lord knew what anymore.
"Care to change the subject?" His voice was as hard as his eyes.
"Sure, why exactly did you leave your kingdom? I know you said family but I haven't seen your siblings around here. Whitmore College isn't really a happening place."
"And that is where you're wrong, love." The smile was back. This man was all mystery, he saw everything a few steps ahead when others could only guess what was in the darkness of the future.
She sighed, "Enlighten me," it was tough to bend to his will. But she knew something was up on campus. And if the original hybrid knew what it was, she wanted to find out too.
"Gladly," he said in a sort of purr, or at least that's what it sounded like to her. She suppressed her eye roll. "After my reign was solidified once more, a new problem formed. A drug started running rampant through my streets. It's a funny thing really, it has more of an effect on vampires than it does on humans-"
"Vampires? How does it effect us?"
"Well if you let me finish, love, I might be able to tell you." She pursed her lips and waited for him to finish his story. "As I was saying, humans use the drug and pass it to vampires. It's been tricky to find the source until we got word that it originated from Virginia. Why do you think that everything interesting happens in Virginia?"
She ignored his question and asked another question, "What are the effects? What's happening to Vampires? What does the drug look like?"
His eyebrow rose up, "Just full of questions aren't we?" This time she rolled her eyes freely. "For starters, the effects range from unconscious actions to crippling pain. And the drug itself is a dark purple pill. Humans take it and then hallucinate that they are vampires. They will attempt to bite humans or punch through a wall. But the effects are so random that for the longest time we thought it was several new drugs on the streets."
This sent a chill through Caroline, "So the effects are different each time? They're never the same?"
"Precisely. I've seen a vampire collapse on the ground in pain and another, without a daylight ring, walk right out into the sun and perish."
"And humans?"
"As previously stated, they act inhuman." He grimaced. "My sister left New Orleans in search of the drug. She informed me that the trail had stopped here but I haven't heard from her since." His eyes darkened. He had slumped over, hands clasped around his mug, staring at the dark liquid inside it. She felt a pang of sympathy for him. He was worried and it didn't take much to notice. His eyes had snapped up, first to take in their clasped hands and then to look at Caroline. Her breath hitched a fraction, she couldn't really tell what she was feeling anymore.
Instinctively she reached out and grabbed his hand. She gave it a soft squeeze, "Hey, she's probably fine. Other than you and your brother, I don't think I know anyone stronger than her. Or more capable of holding her own." She quickly squeezed it again and then released it, moving back to her original upright position. "You shouldn't worry about it. She's probably found another lead." She shrugged. She felt odd. Like she wasn't herself.
She glanced back up at Klaus. He had a sort of surprised yet stern look on his face. She was about to say something, anything to break the silence, when he spoke up.
"Thank you," it was sincere, she could hear it in his voice and tell by his body language. "Not many people would spare me such a kindness, and yet time and time again you will." He looked torn between gratefulness and amazement. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "Never forget that light, it can illuminate any darkness."
She was very aware of her breathing now, short and rapid, in-out- in-out. She took great measures to slow it down. "You're welcome," it was feeble she supposed compared to what he had just said, but she didn't exactly know what else to say.
As if on que their waitress popped back in with a cheery, "Can I get you anything else?" To which Klaus waved at her to leave and Caroline gave her a polite refusal.
Klaus looked at the blonde vampire in front of him for a long time. He finally spoke up, "Well Caroline, this is the part where you say something in an offhanded effort to leave and I say something that will no doubt infuriate you." He waited.
But the mood had gotten quite serious, something Caroline wasn't too used to dealing with- at least when Klaus was concerned. Everything in her told her that she should go along with it. And then she was reminded that her life was different now, and that meant she didn't have to abide by the rules she had placed for herself long ago. "You're going back to New Orleans." She didn't pose it as a question, she knew he was going. There was nothing here. No signs. She couldn't tell how she knew, it just hit her. She was finding that she knew him better than she had previously thought. And that was scaring her.
He didn't say anything, just looked at her. As if waiting to be proven right. A small nod escaped him. Almost imperceptible.
Instinctively she got up. And without warning, she walked to his side, leaned down, and gave him a small peck on his cheek. She quickly stood back up and backed up a half step. She placed a hand full of small bills on the table for her coffee. She didn't know why she did it just that it felt like she had to. "Stay out of trouble in the Big Easy. I don't want to find out that's it's been burnt to the ground in a mysterious fire or something crazy like that. It's on my list of places to see in my lifetime." She smirked, hoping to appear as laid back as he did all the time. "Till next time." She started to leave the diner.
"Do you always go to raves?"
That stopped her for a bit. Of course when she was trying to say good bye he'd try and stop her. She looked back. He was still seated. She rolled her eyes. "It's a new thing, trying to broaden my horizons, you know," she said over her shoulder as she left the diner. She got half way through the parking lot before she felt a hand on her arm twisting her around. Her yell was swallowed by a mouth covering hers. A hand snaked up to the back of her head while another grabbed her waist. She was engulfed by his essence. His smell, his taste, the feeling of his stubble against her skin. She got lost in it. Forgot to fight against him. Her hands didn't know where to go so they remained crushed in between their bodies, resting against his chest. Her heart had found it's way into her throat, or was it even in her body anymore? But it was over before she realized it had even started. She breathed in shakily, surprised couldn't quite describe what she was feeling. Scared? Angry? Overjoyed? What the hell was going on with her? He was still holding her though, that she was sure of. His face was inches away from hers.
"Come with me to New Orleans."
"No." She said it quickly almost interrupting his sentence to say it. It wasn't harsh. It came across like she was answering some mundane question about the weather. But he let her go as if she had spit in his face. "I didn't mean it like that, Klaus. I've got things I'm doing here. Classes, work, clubs, it's a lot of stuff just to drop all of a sudden." He stared at her, waiting for the ultimate end all to their conversation. She rolled her eyes, God she did that a lot around him, "Hey! You knew this already," she tried to hint about the last time she told him all this. He looked like he was getting ready to leave without hearing the rest of what she was going to say, "But," she watched his reaction, "Spring break is next week and I wanted to go somewhere different than everyone else. Moxie invited me to her house but I didn't give her an answer yet so...I might need a place to crash if I just so happen to find myself in Louisiana."
His grin was wide and toothy, a kid that had just gotten the toy of their 5 minute fueled dream. And Caroline had no idea what she was signing herself up for. Things have gotten so confusing since that stupid painting. She was slowly becoming a different Caroline all together and she still couldn't tell if she liked it or not.
