Caroline ran her fingers through her own blonde hair as she stepped out of the taxi that had dropped her off in the French Quarter. She had been there five years earlier and without much thought she found the hotel, where she had lived the last time.
"Caroline, dear!" Marie exclaimed as soon as she saw the blonde vampire stand in front of the wooden counter. The small lobby looked like it did five years earlier and the same could almost said for Marie, who only sounded like she had aged.
"Marie." Caroline said with a bright smile and allowed the old lady to take Caroline's hand in hers for a moment. There was something about the way Marie looked at her that made her feel like they had known each other for ages even though it only had been about a week.
"How long has it been?" Marie asked as she let go of Caroline's hand dug out the key for room 3B from the drawer.
"Five years. How's everything?" Caroline replied and took the key that Marie offered her. The old lady sent her an unreadable look and Caroline had to stop herself from finding out what it meant herself by taking a peep inside Marie's mind.
"And you still look as beautiful as the first time we met." Marie said and Caroline couldn't help but feeling flattered. She had been complimented on her looks the last five years, but it wasn't always her own face or body. "But I suppose you would like to know how everyone is doing?"
Caroline stared at Marie for a long moment, unable to understand why Marie had chosen to emphasize the word 'everyone' and more or less change her question. Caroline had hardly made any friends the last time she was there and she didn't remember telling Marie much about them.
"I guess. How is Marcel?" she then asked in an attempt to please her host. She had met the king of New Orleans and he had flirted shamelessly with her. She hadn't exactly enjoyed it, but for some reason she couldn't remember why she had gone along with it. And then there was the blonde bartender Caroline had made her acquaintances with, but she doubted that Camille even remembered her.
"Marcel is dead." Marie informed her with a confused look on her face. Was Caroline missing something or was Marie just being weird?
"Oh. How?" the blonde asked, not feeling particularly sorry about the news. He had actually been kind of a dick. Why was it that she had hung out with him again?
"Klaus Mikaelson killed him almost five years ago. Not long after you left, dear." Caroline was informed and received another strange look. By pure reflex, she ran a hand over her hair, thinking that a loose strand of hair might be the reason for Marie's staring. "You haven't talked to him all these years?"
"Well, it's kind of hard considering he is dead." Caroline joked, laughing with uncertainty. She had some special skills, but talking to the dead was not one of them. Marie opened her mouth to speak, but then seemed to change her mind and sent Caroline a small smile instead.
"By the way, you wouldn't know where to find Klaus Mikaelson without really finding him?" Caroline then asked, breaking the weird silence that had fallen between them.
She had a small plan in mind that needed to be executed before she faced the original hybrid. Caroline would spend an evening spying on him, while he was busy picking up women or something like that. Caroline had to find out what to expect before entering the lion's den.
Does he even pick up women or do they just come to him? Every female vampire in this town is probably on their hands and knees to get just a little attention from him. How special they must feel, being one out of hundreds…
"Well, he still lives in his old house." Marie suggested, obviously confused by Caroline's question.
"Yeah, but is there some place where he goes to drink or something?" Caroline inquired again, first then realizing that an old lady maybe wasn't the right person to ask.
"I know there is an awful lot of noise on Bourbon Street. Maybe you can catch him or some of his friends there." the host explained and she was clearly doing her best to be helpful. Caroline doubted that the notorious Klaus Mikaelson had any friends, though.
"I'll give that a try. Thank you." Caroline told Marie and then moved towards the stairs with her bag and key in hand.
"You have to tell me what you have been doing the past five years some time, dear." Marie called after her and Caroline sent her a nod and a wide smile. She didn't want to promise anything, because she wasn't sure she would have the possibility to uphold that promise.
It only took Caroline a few minutes to unpack her things after entering her old room and she spent another five minutes out on the balcony, standing in the retreating evening sun. The weather was significantly better than the last time she had been there as it was now late summer; the last time having been November.
When the sun disappeared under the skyline, Caroline decided that it was time to rediscover Bourbon Street and quickly put on one of the few dresses she had brought with her from Denmark. She didn't want anyone to suspect that she was looking for Klaus and tell him, so after a short moment of creative thinking, she changed her appearance to look like a blonde woman she had seen on the cover of one of the Danish magazines.
Caroline smiled at her new face one time in the mirror before she took off, leaving out the balcony to not confuse Marie with her new face.
Bourbon Street wasn't as infested with nightwalkers as it had been the last time she had been in New Orleans, but they were clearly still there. Humans were everywhere and Caroline spotted multiple tourists as she moved down the crowded street. She passed the jazz club, where she had once entertained the bar with a song in an attempt to better Marcel.
She stopped in front of the bar, where the girl Camille had worked the last time and stepped inside, surprised to see the bar almost full. But what surprised her even more was the blonde bartender that Caroline immediately recognized. Camille was still behind the bar, not looking a day older and Caroline quickly understood that the other blonde was no longer human.
And this bar was clearly more like Fangtasia without all the Goths as everyone Caroline seemed to bump into were vampires. She managed to find a stool at the bar after telling one of the few humans to get lost and then waited for Camille to notice her.
After a couple of minutes, one of the two male bartenders approached her and she let him take her order with a sigh. She wasn't exactly sure why she wanted to talk to Camille so bad as the other bartenders also were vampires, but she had a feeling that Camille knew something the others didn't about the illustrious Klaus Mikaelson.
When the bartender gave her the drink she had ordered, Caroline made sure to catch his hand for a short moment, securing his full attention if she didn't already have it. She then leaned forward and he mimicked her movements, their faces only inches apart.
"Is Klaus Mikaelson here tonight?" Caroline asked him with a low voice and noticed how several bar guests near her seemed to tune in on her words; Camille did the same thing as she continued waiting on the vampires.
The bartender was tall enough to have a sufficient view over the bar and after a quick glance at his guests, he shook his head.
Why would he? What is a mob to a king after all?
"You see, I'm new here and I've heard so much about this man. Please tell me everything you know about Klaus." Caroline compelled the vampire and he quickly did what she told him.
"He is like the king around here. He built the city with his family like ages ago, but then he left and when he came back this Marcel guy had taken over. So Klaus took back the city with his siblings and killed Marcel. He's really scary sometimes. He has a child, which continues to blow my mind. He's a hybrid; half vampire, half werewolf. He's like crazy old. He likes blondes." the bartender told her, listing the things he knew about Klaus. Caroline was slightly disappointed as she knew much of it herself.
"Blondes?" Caroline asked curiously, finding it strange that it was one of the things the bartender knew about Klaus.
"The women he's seen with, they are almost always blondes. It is a bit creepy, because I've heard his sister is blonde too, but supposedly it's because of this other woman that he-" the bartender said, but was interrupted by Camille, who told him to start gathering empty bottles and glasses from the tables, taking his place in front of Caroline.
"Why are you asking about Klaus Mikaelson?" Camille asked without any hint of the beautiful smile Caroline remembered her having.
"I'm just curious. Is that prohibited or something?" Caroline said with an innocent smile on her face, but Camille still looked at her suspiciously.
"Sometimes curiosity kills the cat." Camille said with a shrug and Caroline almost laughed at the thought of someone trying to kill her. "Maybe you should come back a night, when he is actually here if you want to get to know him so bad."
"Wait, you think I want to have sex with him?" Caroline laughed and the look on Camille's face told her that that was exactly what the blonde bartender thought. That explained the tint of jealousy that Caroline had heard in Camille's voice and clearly, the bartender was one of the blondes Klaus liked.
"Trust me, I'm not here to sleep with the man. I'm just slightly intrigued and want to know more before I leave again." Caroline said and sent Camille a reassuring smile to show that she was definitely not interested in the man himself, just the stories about him. "So what can you tell me about this blonde woman?"
Camille looked at the other blonde for a long moment before she grabbed a bottle and refilled Caroline's glass.
"Well, there was this girl, who was blonde that Klaus had sought after for almost a year, but she kind of hated him. He hadn't exactly been the good guy and had done some things to her and her friends that couldn't quite be forgiven. And she had a boyfriend as well. I don't know much about how everything played out, but he ended up leaving her town and coming here. Then, after more than half a year, she suddenly showed up in the Quarter, asking of his whereabouts. She was here for about a week and then she went back home, Klaus and his brother and sister following her, to fight some very powerful vampire. A couple of days after, Klaus returned with his brother to New Orleans and an outright war broke out between Klaus and Marcel. When it was over, he travelled back to the girl's hometown, only to come back without her. No one quite knows what happened to her, but I can tell you as much as Klaus was practically impossible to be in proximity of months after and no mercy was granted to Marcel's vampires. He often disappeared a whole week, only to come back even more angry and destructive. After a year, he finally seemed to calm down, but he doesn't care for much anymore, except for his son."
"And here I thought Klaus Mikaelson had the emotional range of a teaspoon." Caroline breathed and Camille sent her a sad smile. The blonde bartender clearly suffered for whatever this other blonde girl had done to the almighty hybrid as Klaus probably detached himself from anyone, who tried to come near him, including Camille. "What if the reason he has been so angry, is because he "accidently" killed her? I've heard he isn't very good at fighting his temper."
"Some think so. Others doubt her existence, but no one really knows much about her. But I don't think he killed her. I think she's one of the few persons that he would never crumble a hair on." Camille explained and a sigh escaped her. Caroline was beginning to feel sorry for her fellow blonde, who didn't seem to be able to break free from the charms of Klaus Mikaelson.
"He loved her?" Caroline asked slowly, but Camille just shrugged and then walked over to a customer, who was calling after her.
Caroline downed the rest of her glass and then spun on her chair, ready to leave. She hadn't gathered as much information as she had hoped for, but the whole bar was apparently filled with eavesdropping vampires, so she had to be satisfied with what she had found out.
Klaus Mikaelson liked blondes. Caroline couldn't help but smile as she walked out of the bar and into the warm summer night. She feared that she might have to concentrate about a dozen other things, when she visited him the next day – like not getting killed – and she quickly decided to show him her real face.
At least I'm blonde. He better not flirt with me, though.
Caroline stood in front of the door for a long moment, admiring the beautiful facade of the old house in which the Original hybrid resided. She took one last glance around her, memorizing the position and looks of all the "hidden" security guards that were placed near the house before knocking on the door with determination.
Only a few seconds went by before the door opened and Caroline was suddenly standing in front of a little boy that looked at her with great interest. She shot him a big smile before she crouched down to his level.
"Hello. And who might you be?" Caroline asked the five year old. He studied for a long moment before he smiled at her and answered.
"I'm Henrik." Henrik replied with a confident voice that made Caroline's smile grow. She then watched how his eyes widened and before she managed to say another word, the boy talked again.
"You are the pretty lady." he said with what sounded like great admiration and curiosity.
"Well, thank you my good sir. And I must say that you look pretty cute yourself." Caroline replied and winked at him, making him look to the ground in shyness. Her eyes glided over his large brown curls that were quite a mess and on to the blue eyes that were staring at her again. He was clearly going to be a handsome young man someday, probably stealing tons of women hearts. She wondered for a brief second how his parents must look to conjure such a child and had a feeling that she wasn't going to be disappointed.
"I am here to see your father, if that's okay? Can I come in?" Caroline asked and rose to her full height as Henrik nodded and stepped aside. Caroline took a step into the entrance hall as Henrik closed the door behind her and glanced at her surroundings with an impressed look in her eyes. Her eyes stopped for a moment to look at the closed doors on her right and for some reason, she knew that the living room was behind those doors.
"You have to wait in his office." Henrik suddenly said in a way that sounded like he barely knew what those words meant. Caroline turned her attention to the boy again and saw how he was standing with a lifted chin and a serious look on his face that made her smile. The words were clearly his fathers and she had the impression that he was the person Henrik was trying to imitate.
Before Caroline could answer, a voice interrupted them and Caroline turned her head towards the speaker.
"Can I help you with something?"
She looked at the man, who had entered from a room behind the wide staircase and returned the smile that spread across his face as soon as he saw her. The vampire looked to be in his mid-twenties and was very good looking.
With his brown hair and green eyes, Caroline knew he could have passed as Henrik's father, but she knew that wasn't the case. She could feel the lack of authority coming from him and deduced that it was probably one of Klaus' minions as she had named them inside her head.
"She is here to see my dad. She is the pretty lady." Henrik spoke and the man's eyes darted to the boy as if he had forgotten all about him. Then he nodded and moved towards Caroline and Henrik, his eyes on her once more.
"Indeed she is." the man said and Caroline raised her eyebrows in surprise of his bluntness as he sent her a flirting smile. "I am Colin, one of Mr. Mikaelson's associates."
Colin reached out his hand and Caroline took it with a smile. It was more of him than at him she was smiling, though, as she heard the term he used about himself.
I suppose it's more professional than minion.
"Caroline. And as the young man just told you, I am here to see your boss." she replied and shot a glance at Henrik, who looked very satisfied with being called a "young man". She then watched how Colin cocked his head slightly to the side as he seemed to study her more intently than before.
"Is he expecting you?" Colin asked and looked at his wristwatch. It was still in the middle of the afternoon, where guests could be expected, but he didn't remember being told about any scheduled meetings that day.
"No. Is it a bad time?" Caroline asked and was more or less prepared to come back another day.
"I am sure he has time for you. Who wouldn't?" the vampire responded and shot her another flirting smile. "Henrik, can you tell your father that he has a guest and then I will take the pretty lady to his office?"
Henrik looked at Colin for a long moment before he nodded and ran up the stairs to find his father. It was clear that the boy didn't like the vampire very much and Caroline couldn't help but shoot Colin a suspicious glare before she followed him down a short hall to the left of the stairs.
They walked into a spacious room where a large wooden desk was placed by the back wall with a majestic looking chair behind it. Remembering the bartender's words about Klaus being the king of New Orleans, the word throne popped into her head. The thought made her roll her eyes and she quickly glanced around at the rest of the room.
The room felt welcoming with warm colors and beautiful furniture, but yet there was something about it that made her straighten up a little. A painting hung on one of the walls and she had a feeling that it hadn't just been bought at some auction or gallery and for some reason the thought made her smile.
"You can take a seat if you want to. He'll probably be here in a sec." Colin told her and Caroline diverted her attention to him. She gave him a quick nod and smile, but when she didn't motion to sit down, he walked towards the door.
"I will see you?" Colin asked hesitantly and Caroline was surprised to hear how insecure he suddenly seemed.
"Perhaps." was all she said and she received a smile from him before he left.
As she started glancing at her surroundings once more, something caught her eye and she moved to one of the corners of the desk. There was something smudged at the sharp edge of the wooden desk and as Caroline leaned in, she realized it was blood. Clearly, something had happened and someone hadn't been thorough with the cleaning. The image of a bashed-in head ran through her mind and she cringed her nose in disgust.
"Found anything interesting?" a voice suddenly asked and Caroline's body jerked up. To her surprise, she felt a shiver run down her spine as she heard the British accent and his slightly amused tone. Caroline realized that she had been bent over to get closer to the table and that he entered the room, finding her in that position; hence the amusement.
She quickly spun around, plastering a big smile on her face as she met the Original hybrid's eyes. This was without a doubt Henrik's father and Caroline couldn't help but stare a little as she noticed his dark blonde hair, blue eyes, full lips that were formed into a smirk and his lean body that was showed off in a Henley and a pair of jeans; he was very, very good-looking.
But it wasn't his looks that made her speechless. It was the way he completely froze in his place when she turned and was now staring at her with wild eyes. His smile was completely gone and his lips had parted in shock. After a long moment of staring, Caroline took a step forward with her hand reached out in a greeting.
"Hi. I'm Caroline. I hope I didn't disturb you or anything." she said with a hesitant voice as he didn't move at all. Then, all of a sudden, he was standing right in front of her and Caroline took a step back in surprise, hitting the desk behind her. His hand wrapped around her arm in a grip that only seemed to tighten and Caroline could almost feel his confusion, anger and relief.
"What is this?" Klaus hissed through his teeth and Caroline stared back at him, confused to what had made him act like this.
"Well, I'm trying to introduce myself but despite being like a thousand years old, you clearly don't have any manners and I'm pretty sure that my bones are going to break soon." Caroline responded as calmly as possible. He was standing very close to her; their chests almost touching and it was making Caroline strangely gibberish.
His eyes shot down to the hand holding her arm and he removed it like he had burned himself, when he realized what he was doing. But he didn't move from his place and Caroline found herself leaning backwards until she was almost sitting on the desk.
"Shall we try again or…?" Caroline asked and tried to sound cheerful, but all it seemed to do was make him angrier.
"I am in no mood for games, Caroline. Where have you been all this time?" Klaus inquired with a voice that was on the edge of yelling. The way he used her name felt weird to her. As if he had spoken it many times before and the sound of it coming from out of his mouth felt familiar.
"I have clearly interrupted you in something and can come back another time, if you'll like?" Caroline replied and tried to edge around him to get out of there. But all he did was move, so he kept standing in front of her and she sighed dramatically.
"Seriously?!" Caroline mumbled to herself. She sped around him to get to the door, but he was already there, standing in front of it with an angry look on his face.
"You really think that I am just going to let you run off, love?" Klaus asked and closed the only space between them with a step forward. "Now stop playing games and tell me where you have been for the last five years or I am going to compel it out of you."
"I really don't think we are well-acquainted enough for you to call me "love". I am sure some people find it very charming, but I am not here to flirt with you. And I have really no idea what you are talking about. I'm obviously not the person you think I am. Now, I suggest you let me leave and then I can come back some other day, when you are less… crazy." Caroline told him as she took a step back to move away from him.
Before she could move any further, Klaus grabbed her chin and looked into her eyes, compelling her to stay. Caroline sighed, tired of whatever psychological problems he seemed to have, but Klaus barely noticed and instead pulled out his phone.
"Come back here, now!" Klaus told the person in the other end, who didn't seem to protest much at the sound of the hybrid's voice. He was clearly very angry, but also desperate and Klaus' friend was sure that something was very wrong.
Klaus had moved slightly to the side as he talked into his phone and Caroline took it as her chance to escape. How was he to know that she couldn't be compelled? But once again, he was faster than her and she ended up against a wall, pinned there by his arm pressed over her shoulders and collarbones.
He put his phone away in his pocket and placed a hand on either side of her face. The unhinged look in his eyes and the way the anger sculpted his features, scared Caroline more than she cared to admit and for a long moment she completely forgot that she was probably stronger than him.
"Didn't I tell you stay where you were?" Klaus asked her with a low voice that should have made Caroline tremble with fear. But her courage was returning and instead she just glared back.
"Yes, but I decided not to listen. Now, I would advise you to let me go because otherwise it isn't going to end well for you." Caroline told him with a sweet voice and she was surprised to hear him chuckle. A dangerous smile crossed his lips as he heard the words of her challenge. Then his eyes seemed to dart to her left hand and with creased eyebrows, his gaze glided to her right.
She was surprised when he took her right hand in his and lifted it, so he could examine it further. He was staring at the bracelet around her wrist with recognition in his eyes and Caroline began feeling more and more confused. Then his thumb blatantly began caressing the top of her hand, gliding down over her fingers to the tips of them.
Caroline was completely enticed by the movements and didn't notice that Klaus' stare had shifted to her face again.
"Where is your ring?" he suddenly asked, making Caroline's eyes snap back to his face. The effect of his touch was clear on her face and she saw a smirk grow on his face. For some reason, his smugness angered her and she quickly pulled her hand out of his grasp.
"I gave it away. I have my bracelet now." Caroline told him and shook her wrist to move the bracelet. She had found out during her travels that she didn't need any daylight ring anymore as she was free to walk in the sun without it. She had given it away to a good friend of hers and had then had a witch cast the spell on her bracelet for safety' sake. She was tired of the big ring and wore the bracelet all the time anyway.
"You mean the bracelet I gave you." he said with an unreadable expression on his face. What was he talking about? The bracelet was one of her most prized possessions, a gift she had been given on her eighteenth birthday. She hadn't even met this man until a few minutes ago.
She almost wanted to laugh at his words that made no sense to her, but something stopped her as she suddenly realized she had no idea, who had given her the bracelet. What the hell was going on? Caroline stared at him for a long moment, realizing how close they were still standing and how comfortable she felt with it.
She watched how Klaus' eyes darkened as he seemed to lean in and Caroline found herself wanting his proximity. His nose was only a couple of inches from hers, when she finally snapped out of it. Suddenly, Klaus's back was against the wall and Caroline was standing in front of him, holding him there with a hand on his chest.
He was clearly shocked by the sudden change of situation and now it was her turn to send him a complacent smile. He fought against her hold for a short moment, becoming completely still as he realized that she was stronger than him.
"Caroline?"
A familiar voice interrupted their staring contest and Caroline's hand fell from Klaus' chest as she abruptly turned around towards the person standing in the doorway.
"Stefan!" Caroline exclaimed loudly and immediately flew into his arms. She hadn't seen her best friend for almost six years and she felt how her heart started beating rapidly inside her chest at the sight of him. It only took him a second to return the hug and her feet left the floor for a moment as he squeezed her harder against him.
Slowly, he released her and Caroline took a small step back to look at him. A wide smile was spread across her face and even though he was smiling too, something seemed off about the way he looked at her. She noticed how he seemed to glance at something behind her for a second, quickly returning his gaze to her.
"I can't believe you are here! God, I've missed you! Come here!" Caroline said loudly and pulled him in for another hug.
"You're back." Stefan stated with a smile as she once again pulled away. She looked at him, confused by his words. She was back in the States, yes, but she didn't exactly count New Orleans as being back.
"Well, it's not quite Mystic Falls, but I'm here! And you are here! Wait, why are you here?" Caroline asked, suddenly suspicious of his appearance. Was Stefan the one Klaus had called?
"I live here now. I couldn't keep running around searching for you." Stefan said and shot her an accusing glare. Caroline opened her mouth to answer, but closed it again when she didn't know what to say. Had he really be searching for her all these years? She wondered if he hadn't received all the postcards she had sent to Mystic Falls, hoping he would come back in the near future. Then something else dimmed on her.
"You are living here? Please don't tell me that you are working for him." Caroline said and stared back at Klaus, who was watching them, standing in front of his desk with his hands behind his back. She remembered once knowing someone, who stood like that too, but the name had slipped her mind.
When she looked back at Stefan, her friend was also staring at Klaus with a confused expression on his face. Then he looked at her and then at Klaus again. Caroline turned so she was now standing with her sides to them, shifting her gaze between the two men.
"No, he is not working for me, love. He is a friend of mine." Klaus answered for Stefan and Caroline stared at her friend with wide eyes.
"You are friends with him?" she whispered incredulously, feeling the need to smack the back of his head. What had he gotten himself into?
"Is it wrong of me to ask what the hell is going on?" Stefan asked Klaus, ignoring Caroline's glare completely. A small smile appeared on Klaus' lips as he moved closer to the two of them, his eyes not leaving Caroline's face.
"I have been asking myself the same thing, mate." Klaus said and Caroline met his gaze. He was studying her intently as if he could figure out what was going on by just looking at her. But there was something else in his eyes. There was a hunger in his eyes as if he had been starving for years and suddenly had been offered a feast: her.
"Am I missing something?" Caroline asked, shifting on her feet under Klaus' gaze. She couldn't decide if it was uncomfortable or intriguing.
"I think we all are. You don't know me, do you Caroline?" Klaus said and he suddenly sounded sad. For some reason, this man that she had only just met seemed almost heartbroken over the fact that she didn't know him. And Stefan was staring at her as if she was crazy.
"I've heard about you out in the big wide world, but otherwise no. I've only just met you. Haven't I?" Caroline replied confused. She had added the last question with hesitation as she watched both men stare at each other, an unreadable look on their faces.
When Klaus suddenly placed himself in front of her and cupped her face with his hands, Caroline froze in her place. Her eyes shifted to look at Stefan for a moment, but her friend just stood by as if this was no big deal. She then turned her gaze to Klaus, who was studying every inch of her face and several seconds went by before Caroline managed to step back and out of his grip.
She watched how his eyes immediately hardened, but she knew he wasn't angry with her.
"What has happened to you?" he asked, already angry at whoever had made her forget him like this. He had spent five years trying to forget her, trying to control the hurt and anger of her leaving, only to have her come back without her having a single memory of him. He couldn't even be mad at her because she wouldn't know why.
"Nothing has happened to me. Well, that's not true, but no one has done anything to me." Caroline replied, now with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She saw how Klaus looked at her bracelet and then at her face, only to return to the bracelet again.
"Take that off, will you love?" Klaus then said and Caroline looked at him in confusion. Slowly, she unlocked it from around her wrist, knowing she could always take it back with force and dropped it in his hand.
"Now go stand in the sun." Klaus told her and Caroline looked at him with raised eyebrows. He knew that she wasn't wearing any protection against it and that she would burn if she had been a normal vampire like Stefan.
"But she has no ring on." Stefan objected and lifted her left hand, where her Lapis-lazuli ring was normally placed. If only they knew that diamonds worked too, they wouldn't have to walk around with such monstrosities on their fingers or around their necks.
Caroline and Klaus didn't answer Stefan, but stared at each other instead. A smile slowly grew on Klaus' face and she couldn't stop herself from sending him a defiant look before she stepped over to one of the windows in the room, from where the sun shined through. She calmly stood in the sun for a minute without even flinching and she sent Stefan a reassuring smile.
"How is that even possible? She isn't a hybrid, is she?" Stefan asked with wide eyes as he pointed at her. Klaus shook her head, still not looking away from Caroline, and his smile grew.
"No. I believe that our dear Caroline is something else. She is stronger than me. But I think perhaps that I am faster than her." Klaus said and Caroline thought he sounded like he was teasing. "Do you have any other surprises for us?"
Caroline looked at the two of them for a long moment, pondering whether or not she should show them the rest of her powers. She trusted Stefan, but Klaus was a whole other deal. He seemed to know her, but she had never met him and she didn't know if it was clever to reveal her secrets to her supposed enemy. But then again; there was something about him that made her trust him. Something that told her she could place her life in his hands without worry and that was freaking her out more than anything.
She then took a deep breath and decided to follow her gut. She didn't want to poke around too much in any of their heads and took the first memory of a female that she found without thinking much. She closed her eyes and the next second she heard both men take a step backwards.
"Camille?" Stefan asked, not sure whether or not his eyes were deceiving him.
Caroline took a look down herself and smiled. The nice bartender was now smiling at the two men and Caroline quirked her head to the side as she looked at Klaus.
"Is she your girlfriend?" Caroline teased with a big smile on her face, remembering the look on Camille's face from the night before. Klaus was just looking at her with shock in his eyes but after a moment he seemed to collect himself.
"And what makes you say that?"
"Because I picked her from your mind." Caroline told him and as she saw the anger in his eyes, she immediately regretted her choice. The next second she was once again Caroline and both men blinked furiously.
"This all seemed a bit familiar doesn't it?" Stefan then asked and Klaus nodded.
"Silas." was all he said and Caroline looked at the two of them, waiting for an answer that she didn't receive. How did her day turn out like this? The plan was to go in, meet the son of bitch called Klaus and then walk away with assurance that he needed to be taken down. But instead she found herself in the completely unexpected situation, where she actually didn't want to fight him.
"Something went wrong, didn't it?" Stefan asked and now the two of them was completely ignoring her.
"I have a feeling that something was left out in the planning. That there is something that she and the witches didn't tell us. I still remember that feeling of her heart beating so fast that I was sure it was about to jump out of her chest. Perhaps the Immortality spell Silas had put on himself never did disappear. Maybe it went into someone else." Klaus said and suddenly they were both staring at her.
"Will anyone mind telling me what is going on? And who Silas is?" Caroline asked, tired of being left out. None of what they said made much sense to her.
"You don't know who Silas was either?" Stefan asked, surprised that seeing him hadn't trigged any memory of what had happened as she seemed to have forgotten it all.
"Should I?"
"Where is the Bennett witch?!" Klaus suddenly yelled and Caroline took a step back in surprise. He had seemed so calm the second before but suddenly he was seething with anger. Stefan looked at Caroline with worry in his eyes and then at Klaus, who seemed like he was about to smash something.
"I'll find her. Maybe I'll find your brother too." Stefan said teasingly and shot a sideways glance to Klaus. Then he seemed to remember something, because his eyes then snapped to Caroline and an unreadable expression crossed his face. "And please don't scare her away, Klaus. It took you long enough to get her to stop hating you the first time. And I am kind of tired of playing detective in order to find her."
Klaus stared at Stefan with anger in his eyes, but the vampire just stared back before giving the hybrid a small nod and sending Caroline a smile. As he was about to leave the room, Caroline's eyes darted to Klaus, who had seemed to calm down and she suddenly realized that Stefan was going to leave her alone with the man.
"Hey! You can't just leave me here!" Caroline yelled after him. But all Stefan did was chuckle and then he was gone. She could feel Klaus' stare on her and with a deep breath, she met it. There was a long moment of silence between them and Caroline absentmindedly leaned back against the windowsill that she was standing in front of.
"Is it Lucy he is talking about?" Caroline asked to break the silence, not knowing how much Klaus really knew about her and her life.
"You remember Lucy?" Klaus asked, moving forward in interest.
"Well, she worked with this vampire called Katherine one time, but I also met her in Spain some years ago. She was really nice then." Caroline replied with shrug, not sure why that was so interesting.
"You remember Spain?" he asked with what sounded like hope in his voice.
"It's not that many years ago. I was in Seville. There is this big cathedral and I'm not sure I have ever seen anything more beautiful." Caroline replied and she had suddenly forgotten all the defenses she had put up against Klaus. It felt like talking to an old friend and she couldn't stop a bright smile from appearing on her face. He seemed to look at her with both sadness and amusement in his eyes and Caroline tilted her head to the side in question. What was it with this man, who was supposed to be a sociopathic maniac?
"I was there under the construction of it." Klaus informed her and Caroline looked at him with doubt in her eyes. "You don't believe me?"
"I don't know anything about you, so you could might as well tell me that you flew Apollo 11 to the moon and I would have no idea to know whether you were lying or not."
"But you do know me, love." Klaus said and moved closer once more.
"You keep saying that, but I've only just met you." Caroline told him and was now moving closer to him too.
"You met me almost eight years ago, but you seem to have forgotten."
"Let's just for fun say that I believe you. Who were you to me?" Caroline asked and she barely noticed how close they were suddenly standing.
"A friend, I suppose." Klaus answered with a faraway look in his eyes. There was clearly more to it than he let on and Caroline found herself doubting his claims once more.
"How perfectly vague. You asked me where I'd been for the last five years. How did you know it has been five years since I left Mystic Falls?"
"Because I was one of the persons you left behind." Klaus answered with a strained voice and Caroline's cheeks heated up in anger.
"I didn't leave anyone behind! I left because I wanted more out of life! I wanted to see the world and I knew that if I didn't leave then, I never would. How dare you accuse me of leaving anybody behind?! Nobody cared anyway." Caroline yelled back at him, not sure why she had got so worked up.
"I cared!" Klaus screamed back at her and Caroline could see how betrayed he felt. But that didn't stop her from responding with a cold voice.
"And yet, for some reason, I don't even remember you. Maybe I actually hated you and you didn't even know. Maybe I did leave someone behind. Who is not to say that I actually ran from you and I somehow managed to remove the memory of you from my mind."
If she could take her words back, she would have at the sight of his reaction. His body became completely rigid and his eyes cold as he turned away from her and walked to the other end of the room in an attempt to control his anger.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that… I don't even know you. I am going to leave now… Just find me, or have Stefan do it, when you don't want to kill me anymore… I live at-" Caroline said with a low voice as she moved towards the door. She had her hand on the doorknob, ready to close the door after her, when Klaus interrupted her.
"Marie's hotel. Like the last time you were in New Orleans, to find me." he said and turned to face her again with a more calm expression on his face.
Caroline was so over rumbled by his words that hers got stuck in her throat. Her hand left the doorknob and she took a step back into the room. Her mind quickly replayed everything that had happened the last time she had been in New Orleans five years earlier and she found herself missing pieces of the puzzle.
"Given the expression on your face, I suspect you remember?" Klaus asked as he sat down in his chair behind the desk. He was leaning over the table, watching her intently as he had seemingly moved on from her earlier outburst.
"It's more that I don't remember. I have no idea why I was here the last time." Caroline said and she suddenly felt the panic spread inside her. She placed her hand on her forehead in an attempt to keep her cool, but the more she thought about the things she didn't remember, the more she panicked.
"Caroline?" Klaus asked with worry in his voice as he saw how her eyes became wide with fear and heard how her heart beats rapidly picked up speed. He was standing in front of her within a second and took her hands in his to make her calm down.
Her eyes immediately met his and the way he was looking at her, made the hair on her arms rise and her gaze then dropped to their hands. There was something about it that felt familiar, but Caroline refused to think about it in that moment, knowing she would only begin panicking again.
"I'm fine. I'm just being a neurotic control freak on crack like always." she told him with a smile, but when she saw his lifted eyebrows, she wanted to bite her own tongue. "I say a lot of stupid things, but you probably already know that?"
She kept staring at their hands, feeling embarrassed by her word vomit and very aware of how Klaus' thumbs were stroking her hands. She wasn't like that anymore. She was strong and confident Caroline, who always had the situation under control.
"I don't think I have ever heard anything stupid come out of your mouth." Klaus told her and she looked at him in surprise. As he sensed her calming down, he let go of her hands, but Caroline found herself not wanting him to.
Way to go, strong and confident Caroline, who doesn't run after boys anymore. Way to go.
"You must have caught me on some of my good days then." She replied, once again noticing how easy it was to talk to him.
"I believe I've seen you on your worst, but that doesn't change my statement." he said with a low voice and gave her a reassuring smile. They looked at each other for a long moment and she felt the tension build around them until it was broking by a pair of running feet coming towards them.
"Dad? I have to pee." a small voice said from the doorway and they both looked to see Henrik, tripping from one foot to the other. Klaus sighed and glanced quickly at Caroline before he walked over to his son and crouched down in front of him.
"Where's Colin?" he asked, trying hard not to show his irritation over Henrik's interruption.
"I don't know." Henrik mumbled and looked to the ground. It was clear that he hadn't even looked after the vampire and Caroline stifled a laugh. Klaus turned his head to look at her, but Caroline's attention was on the boy, who worked hard to avoid his father's gaze.
"Henrik, I'm… working. The next time you have to find Colin." Klaus told with a firm voice and lifted the boy's chin to make Henrik look at him. Henrik quickly nodded, but Caroline could see that he tried hard not to smile, when Klaus stood up to take him to the bathroom.
"I will be back in a couple of minutes." Klaus told her, but Caroline followed them out in the hallway, eager to get out of there and think through what had happened, what was happening.
"Actually, I have a few things that I need to take care of, so I need to go. But I can come back tomorrow at… noon? If that's okay?" Caroline asked and met his stare. There was a long moment, where Caroline wasn't sure if he would even allow her to leave, but in the end he just nodded and she sent him a small smile.
Hesitantly, she extended her hand, which he took and Caroline then crouched down in front of Henrik, who seemed to be concentrating hard on not peeing his pants.
"It was very nice to meet you, Henrik. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow too." she told him with a smile that widened, when Henrik politely took out his hand, imitating his father's movements.
As soon as she let go of Henrik's hand, she stood up and moved with fast steps through the entrance hall and towards the door. When she placed her hand on the doorknob to open the front door, a voice stopped her and she turned around to see Colin coming towards her.
"Leaving so soon?"
"You know, I got things to see and people to do." Caroline told with a smile. A smirk appeared on Colin's lips as he heard her words and Caroline clamped a hand over her mouth in embarrassment.
"That was not in any way what I meant. What I wanted to say was-" Caroline tried to explain, but Colin interrupted her with a teasing look in his eyes.
"Sure... I am on to you, Caroline." Colin with a flirting smile on his lips and leaned against the wall beside the door. She crossed her arms in front of her chest as his eyes glided down her body and sent him a doubting look.
"I take it your meeting with Klaus didn't go that well since you are already leaving? He didn't like what you had to offer?" Colin asked, but Caroline just smiled at him and didn't give him an answer.
"Uh, I see. None of my business I suppose. But If I was Klaus I wouldn't even let you leave." he continued and winked at her. Caroline shook her head of his incisive flirting and was about to speak, when someone beat her to it.
"But unfortunately for you, you are not." Klaus said as he walked towards them with fast steps. Colin immediately stood up straight and for a short moment, fear overtook his features. Caroline's smile faded as she felt the anger emitting from Klaus and a moment later, he was standing between them, his back at Caroline. "So I suggest you do what I've told you to do and stop flirting with my guest."
Colin quickly nodded and didn't even dare to look at Caroline before he quickly disappeared from the entrance hall. She heard how Klaus took a deep breath before he turned around to face her and Caroline had to stop herself from taking a step back, when she saw the look on his face. Not only was he mad at Colin, but apparently also at her.
Without a word he reached for the doorknob right beside her and opened the door for her. Caroline stepped aside and around Klaus so she could exit the house. Their arms touched for a second and Caroline looked at him in surprise as sparks jolted up her body. He was watching her intently too and she was unsure of what to do with herself as she stood in the doorway.
"I will see you later, Caroline." was all he said and she raised her eyebrows in question.
"Later?" she asked and stepped onto the street, ready to leave.
"Dinner, here, at seven." Klaus told her in a-matter-of-fact tone of voice. Before Caroline had the time to reply, he had closed the door and for a long moment she just stared at the door, before she walked into the crowd of people passing by, letting the stream take her away from the house.
A/N: So this was a long one and finally some klaroline! Hope things got a little less confusing even though there's still a lot to be explained. Tell me what you think! Both good and bad things, I'll take it all;)
Colin in my head is btw played by Sam Claflin, but you can imagine him as whoever you want to.