Chapter 2

A/N: SORRY FOR THE WAIT GUYS! I've been losing my Klaroline inspiration ever since this Steroline stuff has started and don't even get me started on Aurora. :'( #KLAROLINEISETERNAL

Caroline didn't know how many days had passed exactly since she had been locked but she knew one thing, for sure.

She was starving.

She hadn't eaten a thing since Klaus had caught her. He had dragged her straight home (his home, of course) and locked her in the basement. The special thing about the basement was that there was a special room built downstairs for her.

For her punishment.

It was a tiny, pure white room with no windows or opening of any sort except two doors. One which led to the even more cramped bathroom and the other was the way out but it didn't have a doorknob on the inside. Only one of the outside.

For his control.

As much as she hated it, she knew there was no way out of this. She just had to endure the punishments he sent her way long enough to find a way out of this hellhole again. But she had to be honest with herself, this was only the beginning. She had no idea what he would do next but she was sure it would be something sinisterly dramatic.

She honestly blamed herself for all this. She should've seen the signs, the warnings that everyone gave her when she first started going out with him.

No. It wasn't her fault.

Who would've guessed that her overprotective, possessive and angry boyfriend would turn out to be a freaking drug dealing, murderer?

She sighed out loud and let her head loll to the side tiredly as she breathed heavily and tried to stop her eyelids from drooping. Her head rested against the wall as she hugged her knees tighter to her chest and tried to keep her strength together.

She just hoped that Elijah and the others would find her soon. She didn't know if she could take it any longer. All this torture and then his mind games in which he tried to manipulate her into thinking that it was her fault for leaving him when it wasn't.

She knew she could count of Elijah, Kol and Rebekah but she also knew that if Klaus wanted, he could kill her and be done with it, without anyone even knowing.

Just when she thought that she could close her eyes and rest for a moment, the door opened and in walked the devil himself, immaculately dressed in his usual grey Henley and dark jeans. The door closed behind him and he dragged over a chair to the corner where she was huddled against the wall and settled himself in it, watching her with a smirk.

"Sweetheart" he greeted. His voice too jovial for any sort of sane person.

Caroline barely spared him a glance, choosing to close her eyes and let the wall support her weight. "Asshole" she muttered under her breath.

She heard him chuckling before he moved his hand to skim across the soft skin of her cheek. Using the last remains of energy in her, she scoffed and moved away from his touch.

Fuming at her stubbornness, Klaus leaned forward balancing his elbows on his knees as he tried to force her to look at him. "Why do you fight me, sweetheart? You know that there's no way out of this. Just accept the truth- he was cut off when she suddenly coughed up a bitter laugh.

"Accept it?" she asked, incredulously. "Accept what?" she sneered at him, hatefully glaring him. "This forced, fake relationship we have going on?" she questioned angrily, not caring even if he banged her head against the wall. She needed to vent.

"You know well enough, this isn't forced. You want me as much as I want you" he hissed, forcefully jerking her chin towards him. His breath hitting her face as hard as her words, which were as sharp as daggers. "Correct me if I'm wrong, love, but you were the one who approached me and then promised that you would always stay by my side" he reminded her, cruelly not caring his fingers left bruises on her face.

"That was before I knew who you were" she tried to defend herself meekly, knowing that he would always win their arguments. No matter what. "You lied to me- she started, feeling a tiny spark in her as she felt her own anger rising.

He cut her off, before she could continue her ranting though, effectively blocking out all her arguments. "And you betrayed me, leaving in the middle of the night like a little thief" he said, looking at her with stern eyes that blazed with anger and fury.

"You wouldn't have let me go any other way!" she argued back, struggling to get out of his hold. She couldn't bear to look him in the eye as she remembered the day their relationship actually took its first fall.

The night was silent except for the occasional roar of the thunder outside the window and the crackling of the fire burning in the inglenook.

Klaus lifted his head and kept his eyes trained on Caroline who was sobbing, quietly, in the corner of the room with her arms wrapped around herself. She had been in the same state since the last twelve hours. But he was thankful that she had grown out of her screaming phase.

Ever since the truth of his work had been revealed to her, she had cried, screamed and raged at him in every way possible. Chucking the vase at him, calling him a liar and a manipulator and he had easily listened to her, bearing everything but enough was enough now.

He was quickly getting irritated by her behavior.

"Caroline, get up and wash your face. Enough of this crying" he ordered, in a cold and harsh manner.

Caroline hiccupped slightly and looked up from her arms to glare him, vehemently.

With a loud sigh, he shook his head and rolled his eyes. "I've been enduring your dramatic out lash since yesterday. It's quite enough now, I believe" he said, sternly, which only served to fuel her anger.

She scoffed at his words and kept the scowl on her face, as she replied him with her most bitter tone. "Excuse me for being upset when I just found out that you're a killer!" she accused him vehemently.

At that he shook his head. "Don't you think you're being a tad overdramatic sweetheart?" he asked, almost wincing when he saw her hurl a shoe at his direction. He easily caught it, though, but it was a rather harsh blow to his self esteem and ego.

"Caroline!" he growled out in warning.

"Klaus!" she spat back, in revulsion, as she helplessly tried to stop the angry tears from rolling down her cheeks.

"You're testing my patience, love…" his voice was low and threatening. While to others it might seem like he was calm but she knew better. It was exactly the calm before the storm.

Standing up suddenly, she glared him. "I don't give a fuck about your patience" she hissed at him, feeling anger course through her veins. "I'm through with this…" she said, determined to leave but all she took was one step towards the door when she found herself in front of the wall, with her back colliding with the hard surface making her groan.

She looked down to see her wrist in Klaus' tight grip. "Let go- her demand was cut off by him.

"Utter one more word about leaving and I will make you regret ever even thinking about it" he growled lowly next to her ear, bunching her hair in his other hand. "You are mine. When you gave yourself to me that night, you submitted to me out of your own free will. It's too late to change your mind now" he whispered in her ear menacingly. "It will be better for you, if you get this nonsense out of your head that you'll be getting out of here anytime soon" he advised her and then let go of her hair, rubbing only a lock of it between his forefinger and thumb.

"You… you can't do that!" Caroline spluttered in panic as she gazed at his dark eyes which were only filled with gloom and a certain coldness that sent shivers down her back.

He smiled at her tenderly and stroked her cheek. "Yes I can sweetheart" he cooed her, enjoying how innocent she looked with the confusion settled in her eyes. "Besides, where will you go if you leave me?" he asked, almost tauntingly reminding her again and again that she didn't have anyone. "Your mother is dead" he reminded her cruelly, as if she could ever forget. "She is gone and you have no one but me" he added, like adding salt to her wound.

There was silence in the room as Caroline let the words sink in. He was right. Where would she go? She had nothing. No one!

Her mother was gone and her dad had never really been interested in her or her life having walked out too early. She had her friends but how long could they really risk their lives for her? Not that she wanted them to do it, anyway.

When she turned to look at him, her eyes shone with desperation and anguish. Tears leaked down her eyes so easily that it seemed like he had really broken her. "I HATE YOU!" she yelled loudly as she pounded her fists repeatedly against his hard chest as he brought her into his embrace.

Klaus hardly felt her tiny fists punching him so he simply let her vent out her frustration and energy until she got tired and then he picked her up like a rag doll and deposited her on the bed, carefully. Tucking her into the covers, he bent down and placed a lingering kiss on her forehead. "Sleep, sweetheart. You have to be up early tomorrow. Rebekah's coming" he told her in a soft voice which she barely heard instead replaying his words in her head.

'You have no one but me'

"Things could've been so different if you had only cooperated back then" Klaus said, snapping both of them out of their memories.

His loud, accusatory sigh made Caroline do a double take on his words. "You wanted me to cooperate on what? On you being- her angry rant was again cut off by him.

"On being me?" he asked, incredulously. "This is me Caroline! You accepted me. I told you that once you gave yourself to me, there would be no going back" he interjected in an accusatory tone, reprimanding her.

"Well you should've told me the truth before making me, promise that" she argued back, trying to prove her point.

At that, he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back into the chair. "So had I told you that I wasn't as honest about my profession – at which Caroline scoffed loudly but he ignored her and carried on – would you have left me?" He questioned with his eyes wide open. Just as she opened her mouth to answer, he continued on and added the one doubt in her mind which had her frozen. "Would you have fallen out of love with me?" he asked, almost tauntingly.

Caroline opened and closed her mouth, unable to answer him. She knew she could leave him but could she actually fall out of love with him? Even though, he was the true monster, the closest thing present to a devil.

Taking her silence as her answer, Klaus sat down right in front of her and caressed her cheek, tenderly. "Why make this any harder than it needs to be?" he asked softly, taking advantage of her shocked, delirious state. "I hate punishing you like this. I know you're hurting right now but you can make it all end." At the end of that statement, Caroline looked towards him with hopeful eyes which were glistening with desperation.

"All you have to do is ask, love"

Without even thinking twice, Caroline answered him in a swift move. "I don't want to stay here. Please" she whimpered, knowing that if she stayed here any longer, she would go crazy.

The evil, dimpled smile that he gave her in return made her almost take back her words. Almost.

The clicking of heels made both the brothers stop. They shared a look before sighing loudly. "Yes Bekah? To what do we owe this lovely visit of yours?" the younger one asked sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.

The blonde in question glared her brother and went to stand next to her older brother. "With the time you spend with Elijah, one would think you would've learned some manners by now Kol" Rebekah mocked, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Enough. Both of you" Elijah said, tiredly but his firm voice had them both obeying.

"I'm here to ask why we're not doing anything for Caroline. Stefan said that Nik is closer to her than ever- her rambling was cut off by Kol.

"Newsflash for you and your lover boy sister. Caroline's already been found. She's with Nik in the compound" he informed her, pissed at Stefan who wasn't apparently as well informed as they all thought.

Rebekah gaped at his words but then planted her hands firmly on her hips. "What?" she questioned, in shock. "Why are we standing here then? We need to leave for New Orleans. You know that he will kill her"

Kol bristled at that. "Like hell he will"

"Children" Elijah admonished calmly. "He will do no such thing. He cares for her too much to do so" he ensured them, confidently. "Regardless, we are heading to New Orleans tomorrow morning. No need to worry. We'll have her with us when we get back- his sentence was cut off by Rebekah who glared them.

"If you lot think I'm not going with you, you have another thing coming" she sneered, rolling her eyes.

Elijah sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's not safe" he told her, seriously.

"Nik would never hurt me" Rebekah replied self-assuredly. No matter how hurt or angry her brother was he would never really hurt her. She was sure of that.

"Suit yourself, darling, but if anything happens at the end of the day, we won't be held responsible" Kol chimed in, shrugging as he made his way towards the door. "And be sure to tell Stefan that he's not getting paid for lacking around. Caroline's been caught since three days. If we'd only left it to him, she'd be dead right now" he commented casually but Elijah and Rebekah both could detect the worry and unease in his voice.

They didn't know why but Kol and Caroline had always shared a more special bond than anyone else. Even though, their feelings weren't romantic in nature yet the closeness in their relationship was sometimes unsettling.

"I can take care of myself." Rebekah responded, not giving the slightest bit of attention to her younger brother. "Well, I'll be here in the morning. I have to get some stuff for our journey" she told them, bafflingly.

Elijah frowned at that. "What could be so important?" he asked, shaking his head.

"Clothes, of course! I doubt Caroline has worn or even seen the latest edition of Gucci" she gushed, shaking her head in disappointment and disapproval. "Poor thing" she muttered, pitying the other blonde.

"Yes. Being on the run does that to you" Kol piped in, sarcastically earning himself a hard nudge as Rebekah pushed past him.

"I'll see you both tomorrow" she mumbled bossily before stuttering away in her high heels.

Elijah and Kol sighed loudly, shaking their heads in disappointment. They should've known better than to think that they would be able to keep their baby sister here as they went to play the role of hero.

When Caroline had said that she didn't want to stay downstairs in that punishing room, she didn't mean that she wanted to say in Klaus' room either. But apparently, it was one or the other. So when he had led her back to their room, she hadn't found the energy in herself to protest. She'd let him put her to bed like a little girl and she'd also let him tuck her in bed.

Even though, he was a monster most of the times, he had taken the hint and left her alone. For which she was immensely grateful. She'd immediately fell asleep, snuggling deeper into the comfort of the warm covers.

Hours later, she had woken up to a knock on the door. She only had the chance to sit up straight in bed before two maids inside and behind them was Klaus who entered with a rather smug smirk on his face.

"Good morning, sweetheart"

His cold voice made shivers run down her spine.

So he was back to being 'clueless' Klaus again.

"You've been asleep for quite some time" he said as he made his way to sit next to her on the edge of the bed as one of the maids set a tray of breakfast on the bedside table and the other opened the curtains to let the light in. "I came in earlier with food but you were sleeping soundly like a baby" he continued on as he brought his hand to her face and stroked her cheek, tenderly.

She pulled away from him and scrambled back only to have her back collide with the headboard of the bed.

"Now, sweetheart, don't be like that" he mocked, shaking his finger at her.

Caroline held out her hands in front of him. "Don't touch me" she hissed at him, glaring him.

"Are we back to this again?" Klaus asked, dryly, shaking his head to show his disapproval.

She chose to ignore him and not answer him this time. Klaus, for once, didn't try to force an answer out of her and gestured for the maids to leave.

"Miami was an interesting place for you to settle in" he said, casually as he lay down on the bed. "I never thought you would like the heat" he commented looking up at the ceiling of their bedroom.

She chose not to answer him again and continued to stare outside the window longingly. She could see the new installments of mental bars there but she chose not to let that make her feel like a caged animal.

Following her gaze, he saw her sight stuck on the bars and smirked. "That's a new addition I made to our room, considering your last attempt" he informed her as if she didn't know. "Don't worry. You can still open the windows to get plenty of air" he added, as if rubbing salt on her wounds.

"I wouldn't call it an attempt since I was successful last time" she retorted back, unable to help herself.

The way his eyes darkened, she knew she probably shouldn't have said that. "You took a job at the school" he said, ignoring his instinct to strangle her for bringing up her escape.

"I liked it" she murmured, absentmindedly, as she thought back to how much she enjoyed working with the children.

Klaus eyed the wistful smile on her face and he almost took back his decision to punish her at the hint of the smile on her face but then he remembered that she was smiling because she was away from him. Because she had left him.

She needed to remember that she belonged to him.

"I never knew you liked working with children…" he remarked, observing her every reaction.

Whatever trance she was in broke as his words registered in her mind. She turned to give him a cold glare, before scoffing. "You never did let me work so you obviously wouldn't know" she said back sarcastically.

"You didn't need to work, sweetheart. You have all the money in the world" he said, gesturing around to the room but in general the luxury of their life. "Besides I'm not sure if it was the work that attracted you there" he remarked vaguely making her look at him suspiciously.

Klaus smirked, enjoying the confusion on her face. It made her look so innocent. Far too innocent for him, in fact.

"You loved the children, didn't you?" he asked, not quite asking since he knew it was true. He'd seen how happy she was working with them. "Don't worry, love. I may be a horrible man but hurting children is a bit far for me too" he joked but Caroline didn't laugh.

She didn't understand where this conversation was going until his next words.

"We could have them too, you know" he said almost shyly looking up at her through his lashes. "Kids, I mean" he elaborated, placing his hand on her knee. "We should have kids" he reinstated, adding his own dominance to his earlier statement.

Caroline's eyes flew out of their sockets at his suggestion and at once she backed away from him. She only made it off the bed and two steps away when Klaus easily caught her by her arm.

"LET GO OF ME!" she shouted desperately as she started struggling against him. "Let go" she repeated as he brought her closer and wrapped his hands around her wrists, pulling her to him.

Klaus smirked at the reaction he finally got from her and tugged her closer to him. Once she was in his grip, he wrapped one arm around her waist and grasped her hair in the other making her gasp. "I'm starting to think that it's a great idea" he murmured pulling her hair harshly, making her cry out in pain. "At least if we have a child or two, you wouldn't be able to run and seeing you heavy with my child would just be another added benefit" he chuckled before smashing his lips to hers.

The kiss was only a portrayal of dominance and power play.

"If you do this, I'll never forgive you for this" Caroline cried out, as he dragged her back towards the center of the room and tossed her onto the bed. "Please stop!" she said, as she tried to back away on the bed.

Klaus stalked towards her, like a lion stalking its prey, and removed his shirt in the process, tossing it somewhere in the room. "You haven't left me much of a choice here, sweetheart" he said as he grasped her ankle and pulled her towards him on the bed.

He quickly ran his hands up and down her legs, relishing the feel of her soft skin. He almost rolled his eyes as he felt her hands tugging his own away.

The hard way, it is, then.

He grasped both her wrists in one hand and secured them together tightly with a piece of cloth lying on the bedside table and tied her hands above her head to the headboard of the bed.

"Ahh! Stop!" She screamed at him, thrashing her legs around trying to get him to let her go but her weak form was hardly an inconvenience for him. He easily went his way up her body and slid the straps of her dress down her shoulders.

He brought them down till her upper arms but didn't remove her dress any further, letting it stay there, just barely covering her chest.

"Scream louder, love" Klaus encouraged smugly. "I want the whole world to know that you belong to me. That I own you" he hissed, narrowing his eyes at her.

He swooped down to kiss her but she turned her head at the last moment and his lips landed on her cheek, tasting her salty tears. Finding her avoiding his touch only made him angrier and harsher.

"So this is what it has come to?" he snarled as her cries echoed in the room. "You don't want me to touch you?" he asked, as he looked at her crying face. When she didn't answer him, he grasped her face in his hands and squeezed her cheeks together painfully. "ANSWER ME!" he roared angrily.

"No. I don't!" she cried out from the pain and also from the humiliation she was facing. "I don't want your touch. I don't want anything to do with you anymore!" she snapped at him, feeling the tears running down her cheeks and dripping to her chest. "You're an animal and that's all you'll ever be" she shouted out in her anger without realizing the effect her words would have on him.

Klaus let go of her and stood still, silently absorbing the pain and out lash of her words.

Caroline didn't know for how long, minutes or hours she wasn't sure, he stayed quiet and there was an eerie silence in the room. The sounds were of her quiet sobs and his heavy breathing. After what felt like eternity, there was the sound of rustling and suddenly, he was in her face again.

She flinched away, unconsciously, but he grabbed her face in his hand harshly while pulling her golden locks in his fist.

"You know, I've been kind, forgiving, even. For you" he whispered harshly, deliberately rubbing his coarse stubble against her cheek. "But you don't deserve it. You don't deserve any of my leniencies!" he spat at her, narrowing his eyes at her.

In one swift move, he hard-pressed her back on the bed with a violent push before standing up and fixing his clothes, as if he hadn't just shoved her like an animal.

"Rest all you want for tonight, Caroline" he spoke in a cold, calculating manner. "From tomorrow your hell starts and then days of our life from before your pitiful attempt will seem like absolute heaven" he sneered before walking out of the room and shutting the door with a loud smack, leaving her tied and utterly terrified to her core.