Tyler snarled and lunged at her. Caroline squealed and closed her eyes, suddenly terrified of how he might retaliate. Sure, if he bit her, Klaus could heal her, but there was no guarantee that she wouldn't get him mad enough to rip her head off. And that Klaus couldn't heal.

To her surprise, pain didn't come, instead she felt his lips on hers, his hands tangling in her hair. She moaned against his mouth and of their own accord her hands grabbed at his shirt and she was kissing him back.

And it felt good. It felt just like it used to before…

Until Hayley popped into her head. Hayley and Tyler, their naked bodies entwined. Caroline pushed him away in disgust.

"What the hell are you doing?" She snapped, wiping her mouth and spiting on the ground.

"Showing you that it's not true." Tyler said. "You didn't sleep with Klaus. I don't believe you."

"Well, duh, that's because I lied!" Caroline huffed and crossed her arms. "But that doesn't change the fact that you forfeited the right to kiss me or object to who I sleep with the minute you slept with that were-skank."

"You don't understand, Care." Tyler protested. He took a step toward her, his voice and actions so much gentler now. He could be so gentle and good to her, and her heart ached for that version of him. But he was also rash and inconsiderate. He never put her first, not once. The one time he'd put her first was when he rescued her from the town counsel, but it turned out not to even be him. Once again it was Klaus. Klaus saved her when Tyler bit her accidentally, he rescued her from Alaric, and he came for her when the town counsel abducted her. Klaus might have a terrible track record in other areas, but he had a tendency to always come through for her when she needed him.

But Tyler… When he'd found his were-buddies torturing her, even after she'd helped him through his transformation, he didn't do a single thing to help her. And then, after she'd been like a really good girlfriend, he went and slept with Hayley.

"I don't understand?" Caroline asked sharply, "Please explain to me what exactly I don't understand? Did you not cheat on me? Did you not lie to me?"

He grabbed her hand, "I love you."

She yanked her hand away from him, "You don't get to say that to me. Not anymore."

"Please, Care." He whispered. "I was out there trying to break the sire bond so that I could come back to you. You can't imagine what it's like changing a hundred times in a row. Hayley was the only reason I got through it."

"So that's your excuse? You break your sire bond to Klaus and what? Found yourself sired to Hayley, so obviously you had to sleep with her?"

"No," he said, "Care, I just meant that it was a mistake…"

"Sired to Hayley." Caroline repeated. She wasn't quite sure what she was thinking, but it felt as though something was clicking into place. Sire bond. Devotion. Blue dress. Red dress. "Oh my god."

Elena was sired to Damon.

"I have to go." Caroline said and ran away at vamp speed.


Klaus fished his buzzing phone out of his pocket, he was startled to see Caroline's Forbes name on the caller ID. Startled, he couldn't help but smile a bit at the fact that she was calling him. He'd sent her away and she was reaching out to him.

He glanced at his brother, who was expertly extracting information from the teacher and the wolf girl. Kol really was a master at that sort of thing. Klaus preferred the chase, which was why he allowed Katerina to elude him for five hundred years. It was more satisfying to know that she was forever looking over her shoulder, waiting for death.

But Kol, Kol was a master of pain. He knew how to torment, how to drive a person mad. Often it proved a little too theatrical for Klaus's taste, but no one was better at getting answers.

"I assume you can handle this?" Klaus asked his brother. Kol just smiled. Klaus answered his phone, "Caroline Forbes, to what do I owe this exquisite pleasure?"

The professor let out a blood curdling scream.

"Do I want to know what's going on over there, where ever you are?" Caroline asked.

"Probably not." Klaus replied.

"Whatever." He heard her sigh heavily. He could only imagine the exasperation written on her beautiful face.

"What do you need, sweetheart?" Klaus pressed. "You see, I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment."

"Elena." Caroline said. "What you were hinting at earlier. You think she's sired to Damon, don't you."

Clever girl. Klaus's lips curled in delight. Not only was she like a walking work of art, but in that beautiful head of hers was such a quick brain. Klaus couldn't imagine what the rest of those teenage morons would do without her. He looked forward to making them find out.

"If you're asking me, then surely you've already drawn your own conclusion." Klaus said. "Admit it, you just wanted an excuse to hear my voice." He heard her wince. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just a bad idea to vamp speed barefoot through the woods." She said. "Splinters. " She paused. "But I'm right, though, right? Elena is sired to Damon. I know it's like one in a million, but I'm right."

"That would be my guess." Klaus confirmed. "Good night, Caroline."

He ended the call and turned back to the hostages.

"So where were we?"


Caroline skidded to a stop on the gravel driveway in front of the Salvatore boarding house. The house looked dark despite the light from several of the windows. Stefan's classic, whatever type of car it was (Caroline really didn't care), was parked in front of the house. Caroline walked past the car but stopped short when she saw Stefan slumped on the ground at the front door his head hung dejectedly.

"Stefan?" She said. He looked up at her. "Stefan, what's wrong?"

"Listen." He said.

She furrowed her brow in confusion, but then she focused her hearing and her eyes widened in shock.

"They're…"

"Don't say it." Stefan begged.

Caroline bit her lip. She wanted to blurt out that Elena was sired. That it wasn't her fault she was acting this way. But she couldn't form the words. Instead, she walked to the door and slid down to the ground beside her friend. She took his hand and squeezed it.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered.

He nodded.

She rested her head on his shoulder and he rubbed circles on her hand with his thumb.

"You're not wearing shoes." Stefan noticed.

"Yeah, I ran here." She said. "Didn't figure my high heels would survive the trip, and they're really cute, so sacrifices had to be made."

"You're wonderful, Caroline." Stefan breathed into her hair.

Caroline smiled against his suit coat. "So are you."

"Wait." Stefan leaned away from her, forcing her to lift her head off his shoulder. "Why did you run here?"

Caroline stared at him, wide-eyed, trying to formulate her thoughts. "You're not going to like it."

"Caroline?"

"So you dropped me off and Tyler was waiting for me." Caroline said. Stefan paled, concerned. "We got in a fight, but something he said reminded me of something Klaus said earlier about the way Elena's been acting."

"And?" Stefan prompted.

"And, I think she's sired," Caroline said, slowly, "to Damon."


"Silas?" Kol recoiled at the name. "The cure is buried with Silas?"

"Yes," Shane said, wearily, slumping against the duct tape that lashed him to the chair.

"Then I say to hell with the cure." Kol said, backing away from the Professor. He turned to his brother. "If we know what's good for us, we'll leave it buried."

"It may have slipped your notice, but I'm not the only one looking for the cure." Klaus said.

"Then we kill everyone who knows anything and wash our hands of the whole matter." Kol said, picking up an ancient looking weapon from a shelf and moving toward the professor.

Klaus frowned and grabbed his brother's arm, "Hold on for a moment."

"You're rushing head long into danger, Nick." Kol said, sounding desperate and panicked. "Just because you're the resident big bad, doesn't mean there isn't something far worse out there."

"What are you so concerned about, little brother?" Klaus said, glancing at the bound professor, his curiosity peaked.

Kol sighed and took a deep breath.

"A few hundred years ago I ran across a group that worshiped Silas." Kol said. "They believed that he would rise again and when he did he would trigger the end of all time. If you're so worried about something that could end us, brother, I'd be more worried about him than the cure."

Klaus nodded, mulling over Kol's words. He could do as his brother said, slaughter everyone who knew anything about the cure. Melt down the sword. Forget about all of it. But it would cost him his deal with Caroline and it wouldn't even guarantee that this immortal his brother feared would stay buried.

"All right, so waking this Silas would be bad." Klaus said.

"Very."

"So then we find the cure and use it to put down Silas so we can be sure he never rises." Klaus said. "Two birds, one stone."

"No." Shane protested. Klaus walked over to the professor and snapped his neck with a clean, swift jerk.

"Ah, that's better." Klaus smiled. "I found him rather weasely, didn't you?"

The Bennet witch screamed into her duct tape gag and the pretty werewolf watched him with wide eyed horror.

"I don't think this is wise," Kol said, "what if we fail?"

"When I want something," Klaus smirked, "I find a way to make it happen. You should know that better than most." Klaus pulled out a dagger and rolled it over slowly in his hand, "So tell me, brother, are you with me, or are you standing in my way?"