A/N: I really struggled with the beginning of this chapter. I just wanted to send them back in their bed but the story must go on. In the end this turned out to be on of the longest chapters I have ever written. And one with some seriously important revelations. Please enjoy!

Caroline woke up again a few hours later. She was alone in the huge bed although she could hear the water running in the adjacent bathroom. She rolled on her back and stretched her arms over her head. She was utterly content where she was right now. All thoughts of her memory loss had left her last night and she was not willing to let them come back just right now. She still had no idea what was between her and Klaus nor what had been but in this particular moment she couldn't care less for any of it.

The water stopped running and Caroline heard Klaus climb out of the shower. Immediately her imagenation started running wild. Water pearling from his stomach, while he was drying his hair with one of the white towels she had spotted earlier his eyes slightly closed. Only thinking about it made her want him again. She looked at the clock on her right side. It was already eleven in the morning. As much as she would like to stay in bed with him for the rest of the day it was probably not the plan for today. Just when she had decided to get up and to go to her room to get dressed he walked out of the bathroom. Just like in Berlin he was simply wearing a towel around his hips that hung deliciously low.

"Good morning, love." He said grinning.

She swallowed shortly. "Good morning. Are you coming back to bed?" She patted the empty sheets next to her giving him her most smoldering look.

He laughed happily but shook his head. "If I got into that bed with you now we would not be leaving it for as long as we could stand."

"So?" She grinned and winked at him.

"So, we have some work to do today. But" and he was suddenly standing next to the bed and was lowering herself above her "when we come back I will keep you here for a very long time." He kissed her lightly on the lips. "Now, get up and put on clothes. We have a lot of work today." He lifted up and turned around to his wardrobe. Caroline slung the linen around her and went to her room. He was probably right but already the thought of the night was arousing her. Oh, the perks of being a vampire. She really wished that she could simply ignore her memory loss problem.

After she had showered and gotten dressed she gulped down quickly two blood bags while he was waiting for her to get ready. She wasn't exactly sure where they were going. She had thought that there were only so many catacombs in Rome but Klaus had corrected her. Apparently the whole city was undermined with catacombs some of them dating back more than two thousand years. They were going down into the Catacombs of San Callisto from there they were going to find their way to the chamber they were looking for. Caroline had printed out a map that they had found on Clarissa's tablet. With the help of Klaus human acquaintance they had located the matching place in Rome. The catacombs that were shown on the map were not free for public access. Even an archaeologist had to get a special permission from the Catholic Church that ruled over the different catacombs within the walls of the city. But Klaus was not going to ask for permission. They were going to enter the catacombs in a legal way by the entry near the Via Appia Antiqua and would find their way from there.

While they were standing in line for the catacombs, Klaus couldn't believe he was really waiting and paying but Caroline had insisted. To shorten the time waiting she asked: "Have you ever been down there?"

He shook his head: "No, why would I? The burials of early Christians have never been exactly my field of expertise. Neither have any other form of burial been. It is simply not something that interests me." Caroline could hear the smirk in his voice and the lack of interest he had in regard to human traditions and customs.

"So you have no idea what we should expect?"

"Bones, skulls and probably a lot of stones and dust."

She realized he was not going to give her a satisfying answer so she turned around to find a tourist guide. There was a young Italian man who was handing out leaflets to tourists explaining the catacombs to them. Caroline went straight to him with Klaus' gaze following her every step.

She smiled at the tourist guide. "Hi, I was just wondering if you could help me."

He smiled back at her and ignored the elderly women he had just talked to who clearly had some more questions about the safety of the catacombs. "I hope so. What is it that you need help with?" He asked her in slightly accentuated English.

"I am here with my friend" she could immediately feel that Klaus had moved closer " and I have to admit we are not very well informed about what will await us down there. Maybe you could give us a bit of an insight on that." She gave him another brilliant smile which he returned.

"Of course I can do that. Have you ever been to any catacomb before?"

"No, I haven't." Caroline answered truthfully.

"I have." The young Italian jumped when he noticed Klaus who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and was now staring at the guide as if he would love nothing more than to tear him into tiny bleeding pieces.

"Well, they are ancient graves that were built nearly two thousand years ago. In the Catacombs of San Callisto many of the earliest second to fourth century popes were buried. Unfortunately they have been moved over the centuries but there is still a very impressive art collection of early Christian fresci and other paintings."

Caroline nodded. "That sounds very interesting."

The young man was obviously trying to impress her and added in a more mysterious voice. "The early Christians also used this catacombs for their secret meetings. They hid from the persecution of the Roman empire."

Klaus made a snorting noise. "That theory is already been proven wrong. There were no secret hiding holes that the Christians used. At least not in the catacombs which are not very practical to hide in. Just in case you were wondering." He gave the young man a cold mocking grin.

While they went back to where they had waited Caroline scolded Klaus. "That was absolutely unnecessary. He was really scared of you." Klaus seemed absolutely unimpressed by her argument: "He had it coming. And honestly people will always be afraid of me. Most people sense when something is as extraordinary as I am."

"But you don't have to rub it under their noses, do you?"

"Honestly Caroline, part of being a vampire is rubbing it under people's noses that you are special and they are not. It is one of the many great things of being the way we are." He snuck his hand around her waist and pulled her closer to him. He leaned his head towards her ear and snickered. "Although I am pretty sure you were already special when you were still mortal." Caroline rolled her eyes at him but still could not hide a smile. "You are such a suck-up sometimes." He actually laughed at her remark. "Only to you, love. Only to you!"

Finally they reached the end of the line. They followed a group of young Australians into the cave. There were two siblings in front of them that were constantly bickering with each other.

They went down a massive amount of stairs until finally reaching the deepest level of the caves. The tour guide in front of the group explained some of the history of the place but Caroline was barely listening. She was capitaved by the place but it wasn't an entirely positive feeling. She had never been at a place where death was so imminent yet where she herself had felt so wrong. It was like every nerve in her body was telling her to leave this place because she didn't belong here. She turned around to Klaus but he seemed completely unaffected. Maybe he was simply immune to the lures of the catacombs. Still she had to ask: "Can you feel that?" She had whispered so low that only he was able to hear it.

"Feel what?" He asked confused

"This feeling of being absolutely unwelcome and being pushed to leave this place as soon as possible." Caroline shuddered.

"I can't feel anything. But this is a good sign. This means that we are on the right way."

She wasn't so sure about that but she trusted him. He had experienced so much more in his life than she had. He was probably right about this. She nodded and they quickly followed the group that had been walking ahead. After a few minutes they turned left and after a few steps Caroline felt that the pressure was lowering on her.

She took a deep unnecessary breath. "It is weirdly better here. The air around here feels much less hostile." She tried to explain in lack of a better word. He nodded and turned his head around. He looked behind them but she could not see what he was looking for.

They were moving forward now and Caroline felt better from minute to minute. After a while she started feeling normal until they turned two more corners and were walking again towards the source of that feeling. After a short time she felt a shiver ripple through her body. She grabbed Klaus hand to hold herself steady for a second. He squeezed it. She was glad when they reached another crossway and the group turned left. She was about to follow them when Klaus held her arm.

"I think we have to go towards your feeling. It seems to be vampire repellent but it will lead us directly towards the source." She starred at him with her eyes wide open. "I am not sure I can do this. It is already very unpleasant as if something is trying to control my mind to turn around."

He took her by the shoulders and turned her around so she would look into his face. "Caroline, I am here with you. Nothing can happen to you. If you say it is too much we can always turn around. I promise you." She knew he would protect her from anything. So she nodded slowly but determined.

The group was long gone and had left them behind. With one last glance behind them Klaus slipped under the tape forbidding anyone to enter. He was holding her hand strongly in his and so Caroline followed him hesitating only slightly.

Although she had thought they had already arrived at the lowest level they went down another staircase. The lower they went the higher was the pressure in Caroline's head. Finally arriving at a flat floor she looked around. In this part of the catacombs there were still some skulls and bones that lay lifeless on the alcoves. Caroline was not scared of the. She knew they were dead just like her but she was much stronger than they were ever going to be again. But the steadily increasing feeling of being unwelcome scared her. Klaus went ahead towards the only existing corridor and against her feelings Caroline followed him. He was still holding her hand which gave her a certain amount of confidence. After a few minutes of further walking they had reached a parting of ways. Even with their heightened senses they could not look very far down into the corridors.

Klaus turned to her: "Which one shall we take?"

She shrugged: "I have no idea. How should I know?"

"Which one feels better?"

She suddenly realized what he meant. They would follow the corridor that made her feel less comfortable. Although everything in her was working against that decision she went down the left corridor first. After a few steps she felt the pressure decreasing. She would have loved to go further down that road but made herself turn around and return to Klaus. She motioned with her hand down the other corridor. He took her hand again and went down the path on their right. To her it was starting to get difficult to even take a breath or take the next step. Her feet had grown heavy and her head was buzzing. Shivers ran down her spine and just didn't stop. After a few more steps she started shaking. Klaus was clutching her hand stronger and kept going. Her airways felt like they were on fire. Her head was buzzing. She started to see dark marks on her eyes. Everything was spinning. Still she kept walking. She only made it another five steps before she had to stop. "I can't. I can't go further. It hurts. It hurts so much." Her knees were giving out underneath her. She sank down her hand still clutching his. Suddenly being mortal sounded like a great idea. Just to get away from the feeling. She started to crawl back the way they had come.

Klaus pulled her closer to him and bowed down to where she was kneeling on the floor: "Caroline, you are stronger than this. I know you can do this. It is for you! This the only way to get your memories back. Please, get up." She let herself be pulled upwards by his strong grip. He kissed her lightly on the lips. "Please, go on." She made a pathetic whining noise that he did not understand but she started walking again. Every step was more difficult than the one before. She struggled every second and she was happy that she didn't have to breathe because it became absolutely impossible for her. It was like her heart had decided to only pump her blood in half the normal tempo through her body but had grown about three times its size at the same time. Her chest was hurting and so was nearly every other muscle in her body. Her head felt weirdly empty and heavy at the same time as if there was only iron in it but no real brain. She could not think straight anymore and her vision was now disappearing completely every few seconds. She stopped again. "Klaus!" She half whispered half screamed. He stopped again and turned around. He could see her misery but was not feeling any of it. He wished he was able to share her pain.

"Caroline, be strong. I know you can do this!" He tried to beg her but she shook her head and let her body slide to the floor again. He kneeled in front of her and looked at her. "Caroline, please!" She shook her head again and let her chin fall to her chest. He took a deep breath and put his hand under her chin. He lifted her head up and looked her in the eyes. Despite the heaviness in her mind she immediately knew what he was going to do. How could he! But when his pupils started dilating and he spoke to her she lost every thought of her anger.

"Caroline, calm down. You will not feel uncomfortable anymore. You will feel better but you will still guide me. I am sorry that I have to do this but it is the only way for us to get closer to the solution. I never wanted you to get hurt. You have to believe me. I am sorry for doing this. I promise I will make it up to you. Now please, get up!"

Caroline got up without uttering a word. She was half aware of what had just happened but was not able to be mad about it. Deep down she knew that she did not want to do what she was doing right now but his will was stronger than hers. She started walking again and this time he followed her. After a few minutes it became clear that he would not have been able to find his way without her. There were many crossroads and places were the way was divided. They went through small halls with more than one exit or entry. She always felt which way to go although she could not tell anymore how she was doing it. She knew that she felt weaker but his will in her kept her going.

They had walked for a while when she suddenly stopped. They were standing in front of a wall. Caroline nodded towards the wall. "The feeling gets stronger here." She said with a small voice that was nearly not audible. Klaus looked at the wall. The catacombs in room were built of volcanic stones that were easily breakable. He mounted his hand into a fist and knocked against the wall with all his power. To his surprise he went straight through the wall. It was merely one inch thick and he was easily able to make the hole bigger. The air coming through the hole smelt old and stale as if it had been the same air for thousands of years. After a minute the hole was big enough for him to climb through. He motioned Caroline to follow him. It was pitch dark inside. Even their vampire seeing was no help to them. The small amount of greyish light that was coming through the newly made hole was not strong enough to illuminate the room.

All of the sudden a bright light lit up the room. There seemed to be a fire in the middle of the room but it was flying above the ground. Caroline blinked and tried to look through the fire. She could make out only shades but there was definitely someone with them in this room. As fast as the fire had started it diminished again. It scattered around the room and turned into little fire islands.

Now they were finally able to see what could only be guessed before. On the other side of the room stood a woman. She was wearing a long dark dress and had flaming red hair that seemed to come alive in the flickering light. Her eyes were closed and her face was in an expression of pain although Caroline could not see what caused that pain. Then she saw that her hands and feet were tied to the wall with what seemed like the medieval version of handcuffs.

Klaus was staring at the woman as well. He did not understand this. He had expected some kind of artifact or a sign that would help them but not a helpless woman. Although looking at the fires he suspected she was not as helpless as she looked.

Suddenly the woman began to speak. Her voice was very female and had once probably been like pure silk but was now hoarse as if she hadn't used it in a while. "What are you doing here immortals? How did you get here?"

Klaus ignored her questions: "Who are you?"

She laughed a raspy laugh. "You have found me but you don't know who I am? Then why did you come looking for me?"

"We are looking for a cure."

"A cure for immortality? Why would you want that?"

"No," Klaus said loudly, "we are not looking for a cure for immortality. But our enemies are looking for it to destroy us."

She stayed silent for a while. "I can sense that you are old. Not as old as I am maybe not even half my age but you seem to be more knowledgeable than most. A cure for immortality is not something you should be wishing for as an immortal being. It can poison your thoughts and make you weak."

"I am not looking for a cure for immortality. Now tell me, who you are!" Klaus demanded.

She laughed again her throaty laugh. "You are in no position to demand anything from me. But I will tell you anyway because you are the first being that I have seen in many centuries. I was once a witch just like many others but my name is long forgotten. I was born in Jerusalem over two thousand years ago. I could tell you stories about these times that would cause uproar in the whole human world. I was naturally very powerful and came from a long lineage of witches. My ancestors helped built many of the seven world wonders of the ancient cultures. They watched Babylon rise and fall, the Egyptians fight for dominance and the Greeks invent democracy. My gift was a sight into the past and into the near future. But I was greedy. I wanted to have all the knowledge of my ancestors. So I cast a spell that used a human blood sacrifice. It helped to feel the life energy of every person. I could tell when they were nearing their death date and when fate was going to capture them. My sisters were terribly angry with me and banned me into a tower for five years. But what is five years if you have the knowledge of hundreds of generations of witches. I became more powerful than any of my sisters in those years and when they finally let me out it was only in fear of what would happen if they didn't. I had perfected my magic during those first dark years, so they were too afraid to even try to overpower me. I lived a long life and cast a spell before I died. I had found a young witch who was talented and after I died I slipped into her body. Her soul went into the oblivion instead of mine. That was the first time but I kept going. Every time my body grew old I went looking for a new witch with a long life span. I should have known that this one was going to be my downfall. The years I was able to feel in her were longer than I had ever experienced. But I was proud and thought I could use it to my advantage. But after a few generations my fellow witches had become suspicious. Maybe I didn't kill one of the witches' souls whose bodies I used entirely or someone started noticing the same patterns in my actions. Finally they figured out what I had done and they called me an abomination of our race. They brought me down here and made sure I would neither escape nor age as long as I was down here. They founded an order that looked after me and told me about how the world was changing. That is how I learnt of the new race of vampires and of their fight with the werewolves. I assume you are a vampire?" She asked.

"Yes, I am the oldest vampire. My family is the original vampire family."

"Interesting, you see, I have never met a vampire before. I have indeed never met any creature that was not a witch since I have been imprisoned here. They made sure of that. Is it true that only a stake through your heart can kill you?" She asked curiously but before he could answer her she dismissed the topic. "But you just walked in here and looked absolutely fine. On the contrary to your young friend, if I may say so. I can hardly feel her life force." Klaus whirled around to look at Caroline. She had fallen to the floor where she had rested her head against the wall and had her eyes closed.

"Caroline, no!" He stormed over to her. She was not dead but she was barely conscious. He looked between her and the witch that still had her eyes closed. It was difficult to tell from the distance but she seemed to be smiling.

"What is happening to her?"

"She may not be able to feel it any more but the spell the witches cast is slowly killing her. You pushed her to hard. She is not going to survive much longer."

He looked at Caroline. "Please, just fight a little bit longer."

He turned back to the witch.

"Tell me how to defeat someone who wants to raise the dead."

"Who does he want to raise?"

"Silas, the oldest immortal being."

Even the witch seemed frightened for a short moment. "You can't let him do that. He is going to destroy everything. The witches have bound me here forever but I am still one of them. He wants revenge for what was done to him. None of them will survive and the balance of the world will be lost. You cannot let that happen. You have to stop that person. The ritual they would have to use will spill too much blood. The balance can never be restored. They will have to sacrifice twelve of each race. You have to stop them!

Klaus nodded. "How can I get her memories back?"

"I can't help you. Only the witch who cursed her can do that spell. But I can tell her that the witch who cursed her is from my lineage. The last name that I know of that my people had were Marand but that is over three hundred years ago. They stopped coming here a long time ago." She hesitated as if she wanted to add something but then said. "You have to leave now if you want to save her. She is fading. I can feel her force slipping away from her. You can't help me and I can't give you any more information. I am bound by witch spell. If you ever come across a witch of my lineage tell her I am here and I am asking for forgiveness. "

Klaus scooped Caroline up in his arms. Before he stormed out he turned around. "Thank you." Then he was gone. He was faster than the wind and remembered perfectly the way they had come. Caroline was not moving in his arms but he could still feel a tiny bit of her life force left in her. He finally arrived at the crossing where they had left the group. He let them slide to the floor, held her in his arms and looked at her. She was still not moving.

"Caroline, come back. Please, I am sorry for what I had to do. It was not right. But I can't lose you now that I just have you back." But it didn't matter as much as he pleaded and begged Caroline did not move or showed any other sign of life. He saw a small water drop fall on her face and realized that he was crying. He had not cried for anybody in a very long time. He hugged her closer and stroked her back, hoping that she would awake from the touch.

The noises that came from the corridor to his left where distracting him. The two Australian siblings had obviously also left the group and where now exploring the catacombs on their own. They only saw him coming when he was already too close for them to run. The last thing the saw in their short lives was his vampire face maddened with pain and self-hatred.

A/N: Now, I need some serious feedback here. Was this good or bad or too many things happening or too different from the show? I am still watching it so some parts may be influenced by it others are not. Love to hear your opinion. Love, Santavica