A/N: I'm updating this one quicker than usual because I was kind of mean with the ending last chapter and felt guilty. So enjoy!

And as always a big huge thanks to Miranda for betaing this monstrosity.

I don't just want to take your breath away. I want to rip it from your mouth and keep it locked away between my teeth. You can only have it back if you kiss me again—Meggie Royer

Everything was a mess.

Caroline remembered what it had been like running from Tyler when he'd been a wolf. The fear that he'd catch up and the worry of what that would do to his mind if he did end up killing his friends. She felt the same way now with Klaus, wondering what it would do to him if he came out of his wolf stupor to find her and Vincent dead by his teeth. She knew he'd find a way to make the witches pay but considering all he'd done so far to keep her alive, she wouldn't be surprised if the witches were right.

If he managed to kill her and she went to the Other Side, Klaus would just help Silas in order to bring her back. Maybe the thought of Mikael and Esther returning would be enough of a deterrent but she wasn't sure any longer. If Klaus switched sides and helped bring the veil down the world was screwed because Caroline knew nothing would stop him until he did get his way. Even if the others somehow managed to destroy Silas, Klaus might just keep working to get her back, and the hell that Zelda had told them about might still reign and all of it would be for nothing.

The ground beneath her gave way and she nearly fell through, Vincent grabbing her before she could, hauling her back onto firm ground.

"Careful. Watch your footing out here," Vincent told her, redirecting her path through the woods. "And don't go that way."

She glanced over at him as they ran. Flashing their way through the woods had become harder the further away they went, like they were running against a current that was trying to drag them down. Caroline was pretty sure they were only going at a human pace now and that wasn't good. Most likely it had to do with the witches. No doubt Klaus had completed the transformation into a wolf and now the witches needed to give him an opportunity to catch them.

As if on cue a howl cut through the air, causing Caroline to shiver as she tried to run faster, pushing her legs to move. "Why can't I go that way?" she asked, needing reasons, not ready to trust him.

"A trap for vampires. I'm a bit paranoid. There are some all over these woods but there are more in that direction as it comes from the mountains and is less visible to the naked eye," Vincent informed her and she nodded, making a mental note not to go that way. "How long do you think it will take for him to catch up to us?"

"I don't know." Not long. It hadn't taken Tyler long to catch up to Matt and her before and Klaus was a hybrid, no doubt he was faster even in wolf form. "I doubt it'll be all that long."

She was pretty sure she could hear the sound of the wolf running in their direction, paws hitting the underbrush as it moved swiftly through the underbrush. "Why would they think that killing you would have Klaus switch sides, Caroline," Vincent asked and she shook her head, not wanting to answer that question.

Answering it gave way to too many possibilities, it opened doors she wasn't ready to have opened, allowed Klaus another opportunity to wheedle his way inside of her and she couldn't allow that. He'd already gained so much ground already. "I don't know," she murmured, refusing to look at Vincent when he glanced her way.

"We both know that's a lie," Vincent told her, grabbing her arm and coming to a stop which forced her to do so as well. Her arm ached from the sudden loss of momentum and she was surprised it hadn't pulled her arm out of the socket. "Why do they think that, Caroline?"

She shrugged, glancing around the forest. "I really don't think we have time for a chat, Vincent." They needed to keep running because the wolf was going to catch up with them soon if they didn't. "We need to move."

"Not until I know why they think that." His grip on her arm tightened and she wasn't sure she could use the element of surprise to flip him off her in that moment. His strength was significantly more than her own, fingers biting into her skin.

"Why does it matter? It's not going to stop him from finding us and ripping us apart!" And that was going to happen a lot sooner if they didn't start moving again. "Plus they're your witches. Like shouldn't you have freaking known that they were working for Silas?" How the hell had the guy missed that?

Vincent scowled at that and from the weariness in his gaze she had a feeling he'd been duped as well, seemed like Silas' followers were pretty good at doing that to others. "There has to be a reason for them to believe he'd fight for your return. That he'd chance Mikael coming back after centuries of running from that monster and finally being done with him," Vincent replied and Caroline couldn't look at him.

"He's…" He likes me didn't work. Liking someone didn't lead to what he'd done for her or in her name. Obsession maybe but she didn't think it was that. Or maybe it was but she knew it was more than that for Klaus even if he'd never come out and said the words, even if she didn't allow herself to think the words. If she didn't then it wasn't real and she desperately needed it not to be real. "He's in love with me."

Or at least he thought that he was in love and that frightened her to the very core. Klaus couldn't be in love with her because that meant he'd never give up. Caroline also knew if someone could love then there was good in them, that they could be saved. Even if it might take centuries for that to ever happen. Even if she didn't really know what it was he'd be saved from.

Love changed the entire game, admitting it out loud made it real and she wasn't ready for that to be real. Not yet. Maybe not ever. She didn't know. What did it mean to be loved by an immortal? By someone who had traveled the world for one thousand years, taking what he wanted, when he wanted it? By someone who was feared by most who knew his name? By someone who did such terrible things? Caroline didn't have any answers for any of her questions, didn't even want to try and contemplate them either. But the words were out there, she'd admitted it to Vincent and to herself and she knew that nothing would ever be the same.

If she survived.

She was going to survive.

Vincent seemed shocked by the statement and Caroline couldn't blame him for that. Klaus being in love wasn't something she could see most people believing to be a possibility, not when he thought love was a weakness and it was kind of obvious how he usually dealt with weaknesses in his life. Yet there she was, still alive and thriving.

He was staring at her, as if he was trying to evaluate her words against everything he knew to be true, against all he'd witnessed in the last few hours, and she didn't like how he had that same damn penetrating stare that Klaus had. It had to be an ancient vampire thing. She was certain of it.

"Take this," Vincent told her pulling a long gold chain off from under his shirt. Attached to the end was a key. He murmured something in a language she didn't know as he handed it to her. It burned at the touch for a moment before the sensation disappeared. "It'll open the vault to get the bones you will need."

"What are you talking about? We have to keep running." Bones and keys could all wait for later. They needed to worry about getting away from Klaus.

"I consider this my penance for having withheld information for all those years," Vincent replied and Caroline watched him take a step back toward where they had come. "Run, Caroline, run as fast and as hard as you can. I will try to lead him away from you."

"What? No!" she cried out as he headed back toward the house. She raked her hands through her hair, willing what had just happened not to be true, before looping the chain around her neck and starting back off into the woods.

She didn't hear anything at all for a number of minutes and she thought maybe Vincent had succeeded, maybe he'd gotten Klaus off her path and was heading somewhere the wolf wouldn't be able to get him either.

But then Vincent's screams pierced the air and Caroline tried to shut them out, knowing he was most likely being ripped into and eaten alive. She tripped over the underbrush and tried to catch herself but only tumbled down the small hill. Pushing herself up she heard the wolf howl again and could swear it was closer than before. Maybe Vincent would be okay. Maybe he'd survive his wounds and when Klaus was back to normal they could get the cure into him and…Vincent's voice cut through the air again, his scream causing her to press her hands to her ears because the intensity. It cut off mid-yell and all hope Caroline had was quickly dashed.

And then she was falling, the ground she'd been running on giving way under her, sending her falling into the water in the hole.

She plunged into it, swallowing a large amount and tried to scream as she bobbed to the surface, her throat and entire body on fire. It had to be vervain, nothing else could cause this much pain. When Alaric had made her inhale the stuff it had felt like tiny razor blades in her throat but swallowing it was so much worse. She felt like her insides were being ripped to shreds, her skin blistering as she thrashed in the water, trying to find a way out.

Caroline could vaguely remember Stefan in the well, how bad off he'd seemed, and how he'd needed blood afterward, how he hadn't been able to move. There was no one around for miles, no one but Klaus and he was a wolf, intent on killing her. She hadn't even heard any animals while she was running.

But none of that would even matter if she couldn't get out of the water. She didn't have a clue how long she could survive in it, didn't really want to contemplate being in the water any longer than necessary. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess and she tried not to worry about them, tried to bite through the fire that seemed to be torching her from the inside out as well as the outside in.

Finally, Caroline spotted some rocks on one side and with some effort she managed to get herself onto one of them and then crawled out onto the grass, collapsing against the ground. Her clothes were soaked with vervain, she was pretty sure some of the damn flower was twisted in her hair. Every inch inside and outside of her was in pain and she tried to breathe through it, to calm her body down enough so she could rip away at least some of her dress and she could keep moving. She needed to get away before Klaus found her but she had barely been able to drag herself out of the water, how was she supposed to escape a hungry wolf?

Caroline froze at the sound of snarling behind her and shut her eyes, silently crying because she didn't need to look to know he was there. The wolf growled low in his throat, the sound causing her to cry out which only made her throat hurt more. She thought of her mom, living in Tuscany, how she'd never be able to release her from the compulsion now. Maybe that was for the best? Her mother would live out a normal life, die a normal death years down the road. Maybe it'd be better if she didn't remember she had a daughter.

Except she was selfish and wanted her mother to remember her, needed for that to happen again one day.

The wolf started circling her and Caroline tried to push herself up again, to move at least an inch but she didn't have the strength.

This wasn't supposed to be how it went. Caroline wasn't supposed to die at Klaus' hands. This wasn't supposed to be how her forever ended but she was at the wolf's mercy now and part of her hoped he'd be quick about it while the other tried to figure out a way to fight, to survive.

Bonnie was trying to listen to what Kol and Lucy were telling her, tried to pay attention to only the two of them, but it was difficult to do so with Eddie sitting beside her. She could feel each time he flinched, each time he clenched his fists, no doubt fighting down the urge to leap across the Diner table and rip out Kol's heart. She remembered how difficult it had been for Jeremy to control himself once the urges were firmly in place and really there was little reason for her to try and keep the new Hunter from doing what he wanted.

She didn't care about Kol Mikaelson. There was no reason for her to protect him. If anything, his annoying presence almost made her want to egg on her new friend to do his duty.

But Lucy said he couldn't, that the spirits wanted them all working together, and unfortunately when the spirits had responded to Bonnie they had told her the same thing. So for now at least it looked like they all had to at least try to get along. "Okay, I get that we don't want this Silas guy to rise. End of the freaking world or whatever," Eddie started, leg jittering against her own as he picked up the coffee he'd ordered. "But what does that have to do with what I've become? Why me? Why did this happen to me?"

"If you're going to run around always looking for the whys you'll end up insane, mate," Kol replied, and Bonnie wanted nothing more than to throw her own coffee at the vampire. How was that answer supposed to help? He must have saw her irritated look because he honed in on her in seconds, all bright smiles and a look she could only describe as 'crazy eyes'. He kind of had that look perfected. "What? Do you think we'll ever know the full story of all that's happened? I've lived a thousand years and I couldn't tell you every little detail of every minute of those years. And not just because I was locked away in a box for part of the time."

"Locked away in a box?" Eddie asked, and Bonnie tried to center herself, to not let her newly reacquired powers a chance to go out of control, but it was really trying at the moment.

"My brother has trust issues. He was partial to locking us away when we got to be a bit too unruly for his liking," Kol replied with a shrug. "But my reasoning is all the same. You'll never know all of the whys. You're a Hunter because you need to be. Because nature enjoys its twisted games at trying to keep a balance. Allows its witches to create what it considers to be an abomination and then goes and creates something that wants to kill it."

"We're not sure if the whole Hunter thing is blood related or if there's some other factor in play. All we know is you were predestined to have a chance to become activated. No guarantee it would happen in your lifetime, it all depends on the Hunters before you, but you had the potential," Lucy interrupted, trying to get the conversation back on track.

Like Jeremy had been a potential, though Bonnie found it odd that he hadn't realized that until so late in life. Though that probably had to do with the fact that they'd never met a Hunter until recently.

One of the other Coven members waved for Lucy and she sighed heavily before excusing herself from the conversation and heading over to see what was needed.

"So I'm like a Slayer?" Eddie asked, shaking his head at all of them. "This isn't 90s television. And I'm a guy." He pointed at Kol. "And they don't burst into dust."

"Slayer?" Kol asked, clearly not getting the reference.

"We'll catch you up on your lost television years later," Bonnie muttered, refocusing her attention on Eddie. "We can't give any whys, Eddie. We just know what we need to do now. What you need to do now."

"You need me to kill people," Eddie murmured, shoulders slumped as he stared down into his coffee.

It wasn't that Bonnie wanted to ask him to do that, but it was needed. It was the only way to finish the map that would lead them to finishing everything. One way or another someone was going to finish the map. She wouldn't put it past Valerie to already have set out looking for another Hunter if she wasn't still on their trail. Lucy had said her own Coven was looking for another one as well.

"Not people," Bonnie told him. "Vampires." They weren't people, not anymore. Not all of them. They would find ones who acted more like the Original family than her friends and kill those ones. That would be her ideal at least. She had a feeling it wouldn't turn out that way though.

"They were people once," Eddie sighed, leaning back against the booth.

"They're something far better now," Kol replied, waving him off. "I actually know of a little vampire community nearby. They're old though so you might need a little witchy power back up to help with containing them. Wouldn't want any of them slipping away when you could be using them to complete your mark." He looked over at Bonnie again, grinning. "And since the littlest Bennett got her powers back we'll have more than enough juju to accomplish keeping them put."

"Why are you helping us pick out who to kill anyway?" Bonnie demanded, crossing her arms as she leaned back as well. "And don't sell me some bullshit about liking the world as your little smorgasbord."

Kol leaned forward, a nasty gleam in his eye. "I made them. Funny how they didn't even try to get me undaggered," he started, and Bonnie shook her head at that. No doubt Kol knew that even trying to undagger him would have resulted in their deaths. "They had their hundred years. Time to pay penance. I never liked this lot much anyway. I'll just pop on over there with Killer here and the Coven if you're not in the mood and we'll get this taken care of in no time."

"He's not going anywhere with you," Bonnie replied, not about to let Eddie out of her sight and definitely not so he could go out with the Original. Though it might be fun to watch Eddie stake him.

"It'd be me and an entire Coven of witches. We'll hardly be alone together," Kol pointed out, motioning back to where the other witches were sitting, including her mother. The vampire.

She didn't trust them. Not like she would need to in order to allow Eddie to go off with them without her. She'd promised she would help him and she wasn't going to unwittingly break another of those. She'd already failed so many of her friends, she couldn't fail him as well.

"Then I guess you'll be coming along if you don't trust anyone else with him," Kol continued, and she didn't like the wink he gave her. "We'll have such fun on our road trip, little witch." He rose before she could respond. "I think I'll go get my own bite to eat now."

He was gone before she could even administer a spell to stop him and Bonnie glared at the empty space, hearing Eddie sigh beside her. This wasn't going at all how she expected. She really wished the spirits weren't determined for them all to work together. Going against them again would have severe consequences and she didn't want to face any of those unless it was really needed. Getting rid of the headache that was Kol Mikaelson wasn't worth the loss of her magic all over again.

Lucy slipped back into the booth. "I know, he's pompous and annoying and I've no clue how he's going to react to anything," she started, and Bonnie wondered if any of that was supposed to help her feel better about the situation. If so, it was seriously missing its mark. "But he was the one who ended the Silas following a few centuries back. So as aggravating as Kol's presence is, as much as his methods are questionable, he knows what he's doing and he wants Silas destroyed as much as the rest of us."

"I don't trust him," Bonnie replied and Eddie nodded at that, agreeing with her.

"Neither do I. I think trusting him would be a very stupid thing to do. But at least we're stuck with him and not Klaus," Lucy told them, and Bonnie had to agree with that. Being stuck with that madman would have made everything ten times worse. "I just hope your friend is strong enough to survive being with him."

Bonnie frowned, wondering what Lucy was referring to. "My friend?"

"Caroline," Lucy replied, and Bonnie felt as if her heart had stopped beating, as if she'd stopped breathing in that moment.

"I need you to fill me in on everything right now, Lucy. Don't leave a single thing out," Bonnie told her, unable to help the terrible sense of dread that spread through her when she found out Caroline was with Klaus.

She had already known nothing would be the same for her friends but knowing Caroline was out there with Klaus had her worried more than anything else. She knew what he was like, she'd seen the way he watched her friend, knew that each time they pushed the two of them together for distraction would come back to bite them in the ass. All she could do now was hope that her friend would come out of it all unscathed, that Caroline wouldn't lose who she was and let the Hybrid destroy her. Even if Bonnie wasn't quite sure any of them could survive what was to come without being destroyed in some way.

Tyler was reworking the chore schedule, trying to liven it up a little for those who hadn't been tasked with heading out to find a Hunter or get more supplies from the nearest town. There was water to get, firewood to find, cleaning of clothes, and so much more that needed to be doled out in a way where everyone did some of it, even him. He wouldn't allow anyone to think they were better than the other, wouldn't let that kind of hostility start to breed into the pack. They were a family and families were supposed to help one another, provide for one another, and he'd make sure that's what they continued to do.

His attention was redirected when one of the wolves on border patrol headed his way, looking entirely too gruff and uncertain. Tyler didn't like the look at all, had a feeling it spelled trouble. "What's wrong?" he asked, handing off the duty list to another to start handing out as he headed over to the man.

"New wolf. Says she knows you," Larry told him, nodding his head back, and Tyler looked over the man's shoulder to see who he was talking about.

Hayley.

His eyes narrowed, fury beginning to overwhelm him at the sight of the woman standing there, trying to look contrite. Was she seriously there, in his woods, with his pack, acting as though they were old friends? At one time it might have been that way, back before she'd betrayed the other hybrids, before she betrayed him. He understood it to a degree, her need for family, he had the same need. But she had infiltrated his group, earned his trust, earned all of their trusts only to lead them helplessly to their slaughter.

Any friendship he'd held toward her was long gone, burned out at the sight of his former pack lying dead on the forest floor. "You're not welcome here," Tyler stated as he walked toward her, reeling in the urge to hit her, his voice hard. He liked the way she flinched at it, but the regret in her eyes made him hate her even more.

It was too late for regret.

"Be sensible, Tyler," Jules started and he shut his eyes for a moment, needing her and Mason to disappear, not wanting their opinion in this. "She's a wolf. She worked with Shane. She'll be able to help us."

He didn't care. He didn't want Hayley's help. Not anymore. Not when she could so easily turn against the pack at a moment's notice and he needed to protect them. They were his family now and he wouldn't let Hayley use them for her own gain.

"Tyler," Hayley started, and he didn't want to hear her lies, to hear her spin what she had done in a way to make him pity her. He had none of that left. Not for her. "I was only trying to—"

"No," he growled out, unsure if he was pleased that she had stepped back or not.

He knew the rest of the pack was watching them, no doubt wondering what was happening and who she was. "You shouldn't have come here, Hayley," he told her, grabbing her arm and marching her toward the border of his packs' area. "Step foot on my land again, come near me or mine again, and I will have no problem exacting justice on you for all your crimes."

She opened her mouth to counter that and his grip tightened on her arm, eyes flashing dangerously. "I know you haven't been with any packs for all that long. But do you want me to tell them what you did?" he asked, watching her eyes widen with fear. "Do you know what happens to a wolf who betrays her own?"

"I just wanted a family," Hayley replied, her voice broken in a way his had been before. He was only just now beginning to live again, to really have a purpose, and maybe she'd find her own again one day, but not with him. Not anywhere near him.

"You had one," Tyler reminded, shoving her away. "You're one who decided to get them killed. Hope it was worth it."

"There wasn't any other way, Tyler," Hayley shouted, and the saddest part was that he thought she truly believed that. He wondered exactly how broken she was? How she could have gone from helping him in the Appalachians to leading Klaus to their friends' slaughter? Was any of it real, that camaraderie they had shared? He wasn't sure any longer. It really didn't matter if it had been real at one point, it was long gone now.

"There were plenty of other ways and the fact you can't see that only strengthens my not wanting you anywhere near me or mine," Tyler replied, pointing toward the path that led back to the main road.

"I could help you with the Hunter. I know you've got one coming to you. I'll tell you everything that Shane told me about them," Hayley tried, and if it had been weeks before Tyler might have hesitated, might have accepted that help.

Not now though. Not when he had men, women and children looking to him for leadership. Not when he'd endured countless nightmares of his dead friends calling out to him for help as Klaus slaughtered them. Not when he thought of his mother and how she was lost to him forever.

"Save your words, Hayley, I don't want to hear them." He turned to leave but she grabbed his arm and he wheeled back around, eyes flashing again, pleased this time when she stepped back.

"I can help, Tyler. Just give me another chance," she urged, her voice and eyes pleading with him. He wondered if his mother had looked at Klaus like that before he drowned her.

"I'll never trust a thing you tell me again, Hayley," Tyler told her, nodding toward the road again. "Now leave before I make you."

He turned around, done with listening to her and headed back to continue working on the duty chart. Tyler could hear her sob before he heard her footsteps fading off into the distance. He felt no regret as he sat back down, taking the paper back to work on. There were some questioning glances his way for a moment but they were quickly gone. The pack trusted him to look out for them, to do what was best, and he wasn't about to break that trust. Especially not by putting his faith in the wrong people again.

He'd already learned from the mistake. He didn't need to learn it twice.

The man was back, the one who had been following her across the country, the one who's neck she had snapped that one time and thought she'd gotten her point across. She would allow no one to get in the way of her mission. She couldn't allow anyone to do so, not when that was now her sole purpose in life. Find the witches, give them blood, kill them and force them to turn. A nifty little trick to destroy magic for a while, to weaken a blood line, even if she didn't really understand why she was doing so.

All she knew was that he wanted it done and she would do whatever he wanted.

Nothing else made sense any longer and the harder she tried to latch onto anything else aside from her mission, the easier everything slipped away from her. She didn't even remember her name any longer. She looked in the motel mirrors and couldn't quite make out her features. Everything was a blur if it didn't have to do with her new goal in life or feeding so that she could continue on killing.

"Elena," the man called out, voice pleading with her to listen.

There was so much emotion in that one word. Was it supposed to mean something to her? Was it a name? Was it her name? She tried to latch onto, tried to hear what else the man said, his voice laced with regret, with something good, something called love.

She vaguely remembered love. A mother's embrace. Her father's laughter. Her brother's smile. It was all there waiting just out of reach for her to try and grab onto. But each time she did, each time she tried to remember those faces, to remember that all-encompassing feeling, pain shot through her, and she immediately stopped. Now all that she could associate with that emotion was being hurt, feeling like her mind was being sliced opened and everything eradicated from it. A searing pain that went all the way down to her toes, making her want to drive the emotion far from her mind, from her heart.

It wasn't allowed to touch her anymore.

She wouldn't let it.

"Elena, please, it's Damon. Let me get you out of here," the man tried again, now standing in front of her, and she stared up at him, taking in his pleading look.

His hands were on her face, cupping her chin, brushing her hair. All things that should have been soothing but that she had come to associate with razors scraping across her skin. He looked so lost, so vulnerable in that moment, like everything about him revolved around her.

"I'm going to fix this, Elena," Damon promised, and she tilted her head to the side, wondering what he'd fix. "I'll fix you. Everything will be better. You'll be happy again."

Happy.

At one time she might have associated that with something good, it wouldn't have meant more torture in her head, in her body. It wouldn't have come to mean more pain than she knew how to deal with. She didn't want happy. She didn't deserve it any longer.

So she did the only thing she could do, the one thing the voices in her head kept urging for her to do. She put him out of his misery.

It was easy. Hand plunging into his chest, the shock on his face as she ripped her hand back, taking his heart with her would be etched into her mind for all eternity. His body fell to the ground and she dropped the heart, wiping the blood off on her clothes before stepping away from the mess she'd made.

The witch she'd needed to obtain had gotten away so it served this Damon right for getting in the way. He really should have heeded all of the warnings and stayed away. Besides, now love wouldn't hurt him anymore either. Really she'd done him a favor.

She headed out of the building and back into the dark street, trying to track down the witch who'd escaped, listening to the directions she was being given.

It didn't matter that somewhere deep inside a part of her was screaming over and over again for the man who was dead. Didn't matter that part of her was lashing out at the cage Damon had unwittingly helped make for her all of those weeks ago when his use of the sire bond had fractured her mind into so many pieces that she'd been so easily manipulated. That by the time she realized that something was wrong it was too late to fight her way back and regain control.

Her face might have been that of Elena Gilbert's but the last part of her mind blinked out of existence, too distraught to hold on any longer. Her last shimmer of hope lying dead in a house by her own hand. All that was left was a walking shell, ready to continue to do her master's bidding.

Running as the wolf should have equaled freedom. That's what it had back when he'd done it nearly a year ago, roaming the woods of Mystic Falls after he'd broken the damn curse. No cares in the world as he ran, fed, and slept. None of the responsibilities that were always on his shoulders, or the worries that were constantly in his head, no waiting for the next betrayal to be thrust his way. It had just been him and the woods.

There was none of that freedom now, his mind constantly being barraged, manipulated to hunt down the girl. He'd know her scent anywhere, his blood pumping through her veins a lovely little tether that allowed him to hone into her location even easier. But instinct didn't want him to tear her apart like it had the other vampire, the one he vaguely remembered while in his wolf form but couldn't quite put any importance to. It was the voices urging him along, trying to force his hand, to work his mind the way they wanted that wanted her dead.

He snarled in victory at having found her, snapping at the moaning girl on the forest floor. It would be so easy to step an inch forward and bite into that pretty skin. Except it wasn't pretty any longer. It was red and blotchy, looking as though it had been burned. Her fear should have been an aphrodisiac, the voices in his head were trying to spur him into looking at it that way, to make her fear him even further.

But he didn't like her whimpers of pain, did not like that fear in her eyes as she tried to push herself up and away from him, only to collapse onto the ground again. Tears were running freely down her face, and while her voice was barely audible he heard her say his name.

"Klaus."

Even with how raw she sounded there was so much emotion wrapped up in that one tiny word as he stalked around her, growling as he moved. He snapped at a leg, watching her flinch back even though he'd not been close enough to make contact. He could see her searching for something to use against him but there was nothing in the grass, nothing for her to grab onto and throw. She only had her body and if she got too close all it would take was one bite before her clock started to run out faster than it already was.

Weakness.

The thought reverberated in his head, taunting him as he circled the girl. Such a young thing, so vulnerable, easily killed. Perhaps it would be better for it to be by his hands. Life ended before she was forced to endure more torture. His enemies could be incredibly creative.

Really, he'd be doing her a favor.

A quick bite and she'd be done for. Tear into her chest, rip out her heart and it'd be over in an instant. He'd be left with the what-ifs but he'd learned long ago that those were easy enough to discard with distance and time. She'd become a memory, no doubt he'd forget her when enough decades had passed, her beauty living on forever in his drawings.

Forever immortal. Unblemished. His.

"Are you…" she paused, head rolling back slightly as she tried to fight the pain. "Going to kill me?"

Something snapped inside of him at her words, reminding him of that night months ago when he'd first waked into her bedroom. That vulnerability mixed with honesty that he'd found so intriguing and couldn't seem to get out of his mind.

Caroline.

He stepped even closer, despising the terror that filled the air around them and bent down, nuzzling her cheek, trying to show he meant her no harm. That only seemed to make her cry harder though and he didn't like that, hated that she was frightened. The vervain hurt him as well, bit into his fur, but he wanted to offer her some comfort. He licked at her face, ignoring the pain it caused him as he tried to make the redness go away, to help her feel better, growling when it only caused her to whimper in pain.

The voices redoubled their efforts, pushing at him, trying to force him to give into instinct that he didn't want to feel around her, that he didn't feel in her presence without their constant assault on his mind.

Klaus forced the voice out of his head and pushed his body to limits he hadn't ever tried before, crashing through the magic that had forced him to transform, not caring that pain rippled through him, trying to tempt him to stop, trying to force him to remain in his wolf form and kill the girl in front of him.

He was Klaus, the Original Hybrid, and he was not about to let anyone control his life ever again. Least of all some witches in Romania who would be dead by sunrise if he had any say in the matter. And he would have quite a bit of say in that matter. His mother had bound his wolf side, forced it out of his reach for far too long and he'd be damned if he allowed another witch to use that same part of him to hurt her.

Klaus broke through their magic, limbs cracking, muscle stretching as his body twisted and shifted. He cried out as he transformed back into his normal visage, his entire body tense and rippling with fury.

Caroline's pained moan caught his attention and he reached for her, hissing at the vervain still all over her body. He couldn't let the clothes dry on her, didn't want her to have them attached to her skin. "You're going to be okay, sweetheart," he assured, grimacing as he brushed her hair off her forehead.

He needed to get the vervain off of her and the two of them far away from the witches, knowing the Coven would try and force his hand again if they remained where they were. He scooped her up in his arms, hissing at the pain and focused his hearing, listening for the sound of running water. It didn't take him long to hear it and he headed off in that direction, holding her close to his chest, hating that each movement only seemed to bring her more pain. At least she was alive unlike…

Oh Vincent.

He would deal with that knowledge later and insure the witches paid for that death. Klaus laid Caroline on the bank of the river and looked down at her, frowning slightly. "I am sorry for this," he murmured, and ripped at her clothes, gritting his teeth as she cried out in pain as the vervain soaked clothing slid against her skin as he discarded it. Leaving it on her to dry would only cause her more pain in the long run.

He reached for the necklace around her neck, ready to yank it off but her hand caught his. "No." Her voice was barely audible and he knew it had taken her a lot to get that out so he left it on, wondering when she had gotten it. She hadn't had it on earlier in the evening.

Vincent. It most likely had to do with him.

Klaus scooped her up once she was completely naked and headed into the water, thankful it was at least waist high on him. He lowered Caroline and himself into it, letting the water wash away the vervain that had coated her skin. "Close your eyes, Caroline," he instructed, waiting for her to do so as he dunked them under, threading his fingers through her hair to get it out of there as well.

He pressed her face to his neck as they rose, knowing she'd ingested some, and from the way her skin was still so raw he knew she needed more than the vervain to simply be washed off. "Drink," he murmured, thankful she didn't fight him on that, closing his eyes as her fangs pricked his skin, pleasure coasting through him as she started to feed.

Klaus continued to wash the vervain out of her hair, holding her close as he watched her skin heal, as he felt it return to its usual smoothness against his body. He wondered how she would react once she realized they were both naked in the water, wondered how she would argue with him for that, and what she might call him for stripping her as he did. Klaus pressed his lips to the crown of her head as she continued to drink, enjoying the few minutes of silence between them, thankful his nightmares hadn't become reality.

She stopped feeding but didn't move right away and Klaus didn't want to let her go yet. He might not have been one to offer comfort much, but he needed her there in his arms in that moment, needed the proof that she was alive, that he hadn't killed her.

When Caroline pulled back finally to look at him, Klaus steeled himself for the verbal onslaught, for her to lash out with her words as he so often did with his hands. He never expected her lips to press against his own, for one of her hands to cup the back of his neck, holding tightly onto him, almost as if she was afraid he would disappear. It took him a few seconds to register what was happening before he kissed her back, deepening it, and pulled her flush against his body.

He could feel every inch of her, the swell of her breasts pressed against his chest, his fingers digging into her hips as he held her just as tightly as she held him. He didn't dare allow his hands to roam, no matter how much he wanted to do so, afraid she would snap out of whatever stupor she had to be in for her to imitate kissing him.

He'd kissed her before in Tyler's body and had thought she'd been a superb kisser then, but that assessment was only supported more as he did it in his own. He claimed her mouth for himself, seeking to plunder it, to know all the secrets that might be revealed from his lips against her, teeth nipping her bottom lip but not breaking skin. Klaus put everything into the kiss, holding nothing back because he knew Caroline would snap out of this moment at any second and he needed to be able to hold onto this memory, for it might be all he had until she was with him. Until she choose him.

He meant to show her everything he could offer her right then and there, delighted when her hand curled tighter around his neck, the other sliding into his hair. Every time she stopped, leaned back just a little to create a fraction of space between them he followed her, mouth seeking hers, refusing to be parted for long. She didn't push him away, gave as good as she got, hips bucking into his own though Klaus didn't think she realized she was even doing that.

He backed her up against one of the boulders in the water, her legs coming to wrap around his waist as his hands moved from her hips to grasp her ass, pulling her closer still. Her hands moved from his neck to his shoulders, down his back, and he couldn't resist any longer, letting a hand snake between their bodies to cup her breasts.

She whimpered at that, head pressing back against the rock and Klaus grinned, kissing and nipping his way along her jawline and neck. She let out a choked sob then and Klaus stopped, pulling back slightly to look at her face. Tears were welled up in her eyes and she moved, pressing her face into his neck again, arms wrapping tightly around him as her whole body shook. He could hear her quiet sobs, feel her tears against his neck, and it tugged at his heart in ways he didn't even realize was still possible.

Klaus stilled his movements, uncertain what to do at first, still not used to offering another comfort. He ran his hand down her back, rested his chin on top of her head as he held her still, letting her take whatever strength she needed from him in that moment, too astonished that she was seeking comfort from him to do anything but hold onto her.

"I didn't want to die," she murmured, voice breaking and he closed his eyes at that, reminded again of that night in her bedroom. "I want to see the world. I want to see my mom again. I don't want my life to be only what I did in Mystic Falls."

She was meant for so much more than that small town life and Klaus truly hoped she was really seeing that now. He knew she had started to glimpse it with his talk of far off places, with his offers, and what little she had seen so far on their journey, but he wanted her to finally realize that she deserved more than she allowed herself to have. Even if nearly dying by his hand wasn't quite how he wanted her to open up her eyes and make those realizations.

They needed to get moving, he knew that, but Klaus was selfish and didn't want this moment between them to end, wanted it to stretch on forever in front of them and the rest of the world be damned. There was little doubt in Klaus' mind that once Caroline was over her shock and realized what she had done that she would put even more distance between them. Perhaps he should have stopped the kiss, but he couldn't reject her, couldn't dismiss what he wanted so badly from her after he'd nearly lost her at his own hands.

"I want to help you," she continued, cheek against his shoulder, still shaking slightly but it seemed the tears had stopped. He wondered what she meant for a moment before she continued. "When you go back to take them down, to kill them, I want to help."

Klaus smiled at that, lips pressed to her brow, enjoying the fierceness in her voice. Part of him wanted to keep her well away from it, to make sure she was safe and out of their reach, but he couldn't deny her this revenge. "Then you shall help me," Klaus murmured, drawing his fingers through her hair.

They needed to get moving. No doubt the witches would be searching for them, trying to force their little scenario to play out and Klaus had no intention of allowing that to happen. "Is there any chance that Vincent is alive?" she asked and Klaus frowned at that, unsure if the vampire would have been able to survive the attack. He'd done a rather thorough job with the attack while in wolf form but he hadn't ripped Vincent's heart out so it was possible he was simply dying because of the bite, and that would be easy enough to cure.

"Perhaps," Klaus told her, though he wondered if the amount of bites he'd given the other vampire had sped up the venom coursing through his veins.

He threaded his fingers through her hair, filing away every inch of scenery around him, intending to put it to canvas as soon as possible, wanting to sear it all into his mind, never to be forgotten.

"We need to find him then," Caroline started, and Klaus sighed at that. "He went back the way we'd been running to give me a better chance, Klaus."

He pressed his lips together, internal war going on in his head, his pride not wanting him to give Vincent another chance, not after how he'd hid information from him for all those years. He couldn't discount the reasons why the boy had done so or the fact he'd apparently tried to help Caroline. Of course that had him questioning why Vincent had done so. Did he realize her importance? He had to have done so and Klaus didn't like that added vulnerability, even if he knew that eventually the world might learn of her importance to him.

"I'm going back for him even if you're not," she continued, and Klaus grinned at the fierceness in her voice again, not surprised that she finally pulled away from him, eyes narrowed and anger radiating off of her. He wondered if Caroline had any idea how attractive he found her in that moment, how hard it was to keep the beast inside from claiming her in more ways than one.

Especially now that she'd given him proof that his feelings weren't completely one sided. No one kissed someone as she had him without feeling actual emotions behind it.

The sound of someone walking in the distance broke Klaus' thoughts , branches snapping under footsteps, and Klaus' eyes narrowed as he honed his hearing and smell to try and deduce who was near. Caroline tensed in the water and Klaus was delighted to see that she was doing the same as him, head cocked to the side, trying to figure out if whoever nearby was a threat or not.

Good. She was learning.

"Human." There was the possibility that they were witches though and Klaus was not about to chance that, leaving the water before Caroline could say a word.

He was on the intruders in an instant, their startled looks quickly lacing with terror as they took in the sight of him. Two men simply out to hunt game by the looks of it. Simply human and easy enough to kill. He didn't hesitate, tossing one of men into a nearby tree and heard his neck snap, heartbeat ceasing. He grabbed the other one, tearing into his neck, needing to replenish the blood that he'd allowed Caroline to take, knowing he'd need even more if there was a chance to heal Vincent.

The sound of underbrush breaking behind him had Klaus spinning around, fangs bared and ready to attack, stopping when he realized it was Caroline. She was staring at him, eyes wide at all he had done in such a short amount of time. He would not apologize for this, for taking what was needed.

She looked away from him and the man dying in his arms, her gaze falling on the already dead one. "We need our strength, don't we?" she muttered, seemingly more to herself than for him.

"Preferably, yes," Klaus replied, fangs sinking back into the man, continuing to drain him dry. He arched a brow as Caroline walked over to the other man, kneeling down beside him.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, and then her fangs were in the dead man, and Klaus grinned against his own victim's throat, watching her feed, the fact she was naked while doing it adding another level of eroticism to it all.

She pulled back, blood smeared against her mouth, looking back up at him, her eyes so dark that he barely could make out any color in them. Beautiful. She looked away again and he watched the shiver that ran through her, pleased to see how much his gaze could affect her, before he watched Caroline start to strip the man, taking the shirt and pants for herself. Klaus followed suit once he'd drained his victim dry, knowing it was for the best, though he was disappointed to see all of her lovely curves suddenly disappear in all of that fabric.

"Will they be found here?" she asked, looking over at him as she rose to her feet.

Klaus nodded toward the underbrush, pointing out how it seemed to have been trampled on ample times, branches of the trees in the area already twisted at angles to get them off the path. "This is their usual route so I'd say they would be if we were to leave them here."

"Good," Caroline replied, tightening the belt as much as she could to hold the pants against her waist. "Their families shouldn't wonder forever about what happened to them."

He'd much prefer that to actually be the case. For the wildlife of the region to destroy any instance of the men, to scour the remains throughout the woods so that no one would be able to piece together what happened. He really didn't feel in the mood for moving the bodies though, not with all that needed to be done. Hopefully the native wolves would be able to do their own damage before anyone stumbled across the men's path.

"Let's go see if Vincent is still among the living."

Caroline nodded, appearing relieved for a moment that they would be doing that before her eyes narrowed and Klaus quite liked when she did that and the anger wasn't directed at him. "And then we deal with the witches."

Klaus stepped toward her, cupping her face in his hands, pleased that she didn't flinch away even if she did suck in a breath at that, looking unsure of how to react for a moment. "Oh yes, sweetheart. And then we deal with the witches."