Edited by Sci-Fi Christian and QueenofKlaroline
Re-edited September 7, 2015
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It took only minutes to reach Bonnie's place on the edge of town. Parking on the side street near the house, Caroline frowned, anger billowing into her stomach at the strategically placed hybrids gathered on the outer porch. They blocked Bonnie's house and they weren't there for her friend's protection. She slammed her car door shut, stalking up the stairs to the porch.
"Seriously? He has you harassing my friends now!"
Stopping at the top step, she jabbed one of the hybrids blocking her in the chest with one perfectly manicured finger.
"Out of my way."
With stony looks on their faces, Klaus's servants parted before her. The heels of her leather boots clicked on the creaky floorboards. She was going to let Klaus have it when she saw him again. How dare he send his hybrids to threaten Bonnie? Lifting her hand to knock on the screen door, the air pulsed behind her, giving her only a second to react.
"Hello, love."
Spinning on her heels, she came face to face with the very person she wanted to avoid. It didn't stop her breath quickening and her skin electrifying with sexual awareness at being so close to him. His jeans hung low on his waist, hugging his muscular thighs. Her mouth dried up, her imagination running wild at picturing her legs wrapped around his waist.
"Damn it, Klaus! You scared me to death." She shoved him in the chest, her hand lingering over the contrast of his soft cotton button down shirt molded to his firm torso.
He chuckled, his eyes crinkling at the corners with mirth. Like some kind of silly child, he enjoyed sneaking up on her.
"You can't go around doing that. Or, following me, for that matter."
His laughter came to a stop, and it frustrated Caroline that she cared. She wanted to hear more of that happy, rumbly sound.
"I'm not following you, but maybe I should. You were supposed to stay nice and safe at your home with my hybrids. Imagine my surprise to get a call from them that you left. When I gave you twenty fours hours, it wasn't permission for you to sneak off and visit the one person who attempted to murder you. "
"Pfft. It's Bonnie. She would never let it happen again. Besides, I don't remember you becoming the boss of me. I can see whoever I want to."
"Think again, sweetheart. Do you remember nothing from last night?" Klaus smiled, satisfaction in the twist of his lips, the contented timbre of his voice. "You are mine."
"Stop with that. I am myself. I am not ever going to be yours or anyone else's."
"Keep fighting me then." Klaus stepped closer to her.
His gaze settled on hers, his intensely blue eyes drawing her in. The desire and passion gleaming in them destroyed her reasoning. Why exactly she was so upset. She bit her lip, forcing herself not to think of his kisses, the delicious way he tasted. The heavy wine infused with magic she so craved. Caroline didn't want him any closer. He didn't agree and his thumb grazed the healed bite mark on her neck, jolting her with an electric shock. A tiny sigh slipped from her lips. He really needed to stop doing that.
Klaus smirked, preening with arrogance. "Fighting me, fighting us, only makes your inevitable surrender tonight that much sweeter."
Caroline smacked his hand away. "There will be no surrendering happening tonight. Why can't you get that through your thick, hybrid skull? And stop touching me." What was wrong with her? How with one caress on her neck was he able to bring her practically to her knees?
Bonnie's screen door cracked open a few inches. "Caroline? You shouldn't be here."
"Just what I was about to tell her myself," Klaus cocked his head to give Caroline a stern look. "Which raises the question, what exactly are you doing here, love?"
"My business with Bonnie has nothing to do with you," Caroline retorted. "And I will do as I wish."
"Wrong answer."
He stepped even closer to her, ignoring her most defiant stare.
"Everything you do, everybody you see is now my business. I won't lose you. I won't go through that again."
What remained of Klaus' playfulness was long gone. His words, that word – Again – and the heartbreak in the crack of his voice when he spoke it, soared right through her anger and frustration. Caroline swallowed, unable to even form a reply at the darkness cloaking him. His eyes glittered with a ruthlessness she never seen in him before.
"Get in the house now, Caroline." Bonnie opened the screen door wider. "Klaus! Don't you get any closer to her."
Caroline's took a step towards the doorway.
"Don't." Klaus took a step closer to Caroline.
"I mean it. Get in," her friend entreated. "I swear I will do everything I can not to hurt you. Can you say the same for him?"
Klaus swung his head towards the door, glaring at Bonnie. "Hurt her? You have no idea what I would go through to keep her unharmed. Unlike you, who let another into your body so you could plunge a stake through her heart. "
"I didn't mean for that to happen. I would never willingly hurt her." Bonnie focused on Caroline, guilt written in her face.
"But you did, witch, and for that you have to pay."
Death. It was in Klaus's threat, in the slant of his eyes. A promise Caroline knew he would keep. It was why he was here.
Caroline's chest hurt, her anger near the surface. She would never forgive the loss of one of her closest friends at the hands of one who proclaimed to care so deeply for her.
"Klaus."
He turned his head to face her, evil intent sketched in the lines of his face.
It was her turn now, a vengeful Queen; she crossed the remaining space that lay between them. Lifting her head, she leaned in close, resting her smooth cheek against his stubbled one. Klaus stilled at her closeness, her light touch, and his hands settled around her waist. Caroline could hear Bonnie calling her name in the distance, but she ignored her friend's fear and surprise.
"If you ever touch Bonnie… so much as look at her the wrong way, I swear I will make you pay," she murmured near his ear.
"She hurt you, love. She has to atone for her sin," Klaus replied, his tone gentle.
Caroline dragged her cheek from his. Parting her lips, she kissed him, her mouth firm against his, her tongue thrusting, teasing and dominating. He moaned and tightened his hold on her hips, pressing her against him. Every ridge and line of muscle, every sinew skimming her and she gasped. She melded to him, her curves fitting smoothly into him and desire swelled in her. Caroline knew as she tempted him, she tempted herself to partake in the heavenly pleasure she experienced only with him. He was the very devil, her ultimate weakness, but she pulled her lips from his, forced his hands away.
"If you ever want me to kiss you like that again, to be with you willingly, you will never threaten or touch any of my friends again."
Klaus stood before her panting, fists clenched, passion swimming in his eyes. "Do you have any idea what you are asking of me?"
"You want me at your side? To be yours? That will never happen if I, in any way, feel those I love are at risk."
"I will not be played with," he snarled.
She stared at him, meeting his anger and frustration head on with her own. "I'm not. I'm being painfully honest in the only way you seem to be able to understand."
"Caroline! What are you doing? Get inside!"
"I'm fine, Bonnie. Klaus and I are just coming to an understanding, aren't we?" Caroline offered him a tight smile.
"An understanding?" Bonnie accused. "That's not what it looked like from here."
"No. It's more like blackmail, isn't it, love?" Klaus threw back at her.
Caroline touched the side of his face, a tender caress. "Call it what you will. "
"I will not let you be alone with her."
"Are we back again to you trying to control me?" she asked with an annoyed sigh.
Klaus set his hands on her shoulders, gripping her tight enough to emphasize what he said. "I'm not controlling you. Only making sure Bonnie doesn't try and kill you again."
"She won't."
"You want me to stay away from your friend? Then allow me to see for myself that she means you no harm."
Caroline laughed, forcing a frivolous and lighthearted sound. "You really want to stay and watch Bonnie and I talk about things of which you have no interest in at all."
He stared hard at her.
"You would be so bored listening to us talk about..." Caroline paused to take a breath, searching for an answer as to what exactly her and Bonnie could talk about that he would not want to hear. "About…the prom…who she danced with…if they were a good dancer…what she is going to wear to school next…what shade of lip gloss looks best on me? You know, boring things."
Klaus continued to glare at her, not in the least swayed by her performance.
She looked at him, making a concerted effort not to turn her gaze to Bonnie, the floor or anywhere else but his disbelieving face. She hoped that would be enough for him to believe her lie.
It wasn't.
He leaned in, his harsh voice and not allowing argument. "I'm not going to let you anywhere near her unless you tell me why you are really here."
"As if you could stop me," she retorted, boldly shaking off his hold on her shoulders. She squirmed when he continued to study her. "Fine," she groaned. "I'm here to get Bonnie to communicate with the witch. Get her to stop trying to kill me."
The muscles along Klaus's jawline pulsed. "Do you have a death wish? You are to do no such thing."
"Stop with the commands." Caroline snapped. "If I can just talk to the her, make her see reason, all this can stop." She kept silent on the whole hybrid situation and how the witch could tell her how the Sire bond was broken.
"That witch," Klaus spat, "wants to destroy us. She will stop at nothing to see you dead." He turned to look at Bonnie. "Don't even think of trying to communicate with that abomination!"
Bonnie shook her head. "Of course not. I had no idea that's what Caroline wanted."
Caroline threw her hands in the air, beyond irritated. "Don't any of you get it? We need to deal with this head on and go right to the source. She will not stop and I am not going to live my life in fear of her next attack."
"She's right. If Damon and Stefan were here they would say the same thing," Bonnie sighed.
"They're. Not. Here." Ice coated Klaus' voice. "And they will never have a say where Caroline is concerned."
"This is my life we are discussing and I am not going to spend the rest of it hiding." Caroline glanced at her friend. "Can you talk to the witch? Or do you need to channel her?"
"I won't channel her."
Klaus grinned at Bonnie. "Good girl."
"But, I can talk to her. Ever since last night she won't leave me alone. She wants to talk to you, Caroline."
"Wonderful. Then it is settled."
"No!" Klaus barked. "I forbid it."
"Seriously? Are you really going to take that route with me? Do you not know me at all?"
He groaned. "Caroline…" Klaus paused; his face drawn tight, as if the next words he was about to speak caused him great pain. "Please, don't do this."
"What are you so afraid of?" In a knee-jerk reaction, she took his hand. "You heard Bonnie. She won't channel the witch. It's just a conversation."
Klaus gazed down at their entwined fingers. "If you must do this, I want you to promise me that you will not take anything she says seriously. She will stop at nothing to destroy me and hurt you."
"I already know what you did to her daughter. How you took away her life." Caroline withdrew her hand from his, not even hiding her sadness at his actions from so long ago. "That she seeks revenge upon you. What more is there to know?"
"Who knows what lies she will tell to make her cause seem just and to poison what we have."
Caroline frowned, stepping away. "I think you will manage to do that quite well on your own." Turning her back on him, she stepped into the screened porch attached to the front of Bonnie's house.
Klaus started to follow her, only to be stopped by Bonnie shutting the screen door in his face. "I don't think so. You can stay out here."
"I am not about to be left outside," Klaus argued. "I am not asking for entrance to your house —."
"Which you will never get," Bonnie interjected with a cold, satisfied smile.
"Let me in."
"I don't think so. You can stay out here with your hybrids."
"Don't make me force my way in. That won't be pleasant for anyone."
"This is my porch, and if I want, you will stay out here. You have no authority here." Bonnie looked to Caroline for direction. "What do you want me to do? Should he stay out here?"
Caroline glanced at Klaus, registered the frustration that crackled of him, a frenzy of lightening at the onset of a storm. He meant it and she had no doubt he would burn down Bonnie's house in retaliation for not being allowed into the screened porch. "He won't have access to your house? Just the porch?"
"Right. It is kind of considered a free space, but if you want I can try and keep him out here or we can go into the house."
"Caroline," Klaus threatened. "I am going to be part of this conversation with the witch one way or another."
She pursed her lips, considering all the ways Klaus could seek his revenge on Bonnie and she couldn't risk it. Besides, what would it hurt to have him here? This mess was all because of him anyway. "You will behave?"
"If by behave, you mean protect you, then yes. I am going to behave."
"Fine. Let him in."
Bonnie swept her head to the side, evaluating Klaus. "Okay, but don't give me a reason to regret this."
Klaus held out his hands, a gesture of appeasement. "I am only here to observe and keep Caroline safe."
Bonnie opened the screen door and stepped aside. With a satisfied smile, Klaus entered the porch, his hybrids moving to stand at attention in front of the door to the screened porch.
"Have a seat." Bonnie gestured for them to sit down.
Having Klaus with her at her friends made Caroline uneasy. The normally homey atmosphere of the front porch, the wooden rocking chair and wicker furniture, the dried flowers and herbs that hung from the ceiling, offered her none of the usual comfort. She plopped herself down on one of the wicker, cushioned couches she normally sat in. Klaus sat down next to her and threw his hand over the back of her shoulders, completely ignoring her irritation.
"Klaus," she hissed at him, only to receive a mischievous grin in return.
Bonnie took a seat on the wicker chair across from them, casting Klaus a look of complete hatred and distaste. "I saw flashes of the two of you together in the past. The witch, and by the way, her name is Mary-Celeste, has been quite forthcoming about your previous relationship."
A tremble of horror crept through Caroline. Had she seen that night of the masked ball? The night Klaus had given her a taste of the pleasure that came with being with him. "How forthcoming?" She squeaked out.
"Thankfully, not that forthcoming." Bonnie shuddered with her own horror. "Still, this isn't a sight – the two of you together – that I will ever get comfortable with."
"We…we aren't together," Caroline assured her friend.
"After that kiss outside?" Klaus glanced at her, a cunning expression on his face. "I didn't realize that you went around using passionate kisses to blackmail people you weren't in a relationship with."
"Now, that is something I wish I could un-see," Bonnie grumbled.
Color flooded into Caroline's cheeks. Embarrassed and filled with shame, she stared at her boots. "I…I —."
"It's okay, Caroline." Bonnie gave her a comforting smile. "I don't understand this, but for some reason you saw something in him long ago and because you never fulfilled your life's path, you've been brought back. You're somehow tied to him."
"See love, even Bonnie can see the truth," Klaus smirked, settling his arm further around Caroline, his fingertips tracing a light design on her shoulder. Through the fabric of her jacket his touch scorched a tattoo into her skin. "We are bound together."
Bonnie leaned forward, setting her hands on her knees. "Only until I can untie you and set Caroline free."
Klaus laughed. "You overestimate you abilities."
Warring emotions of hope and relief versus a strange emptiness and desolation battled it out in Caroline's heart. To be free of Klaus and with Tyler forever – isn't that what she truly wanted? Wasn't that where her ultimate happiness lay? She worried she no longer knew anymore. "Would that free me from Mary Celeste's wrath? Keep me alive?"
"I don't know. Let's ask her." Bonnie sat back in her chair and closing her eyes she lifted her head to the heavens, taking deep breaths. A violent shudder racked her small frame.
"Bonnie?" Caroline whispered.
"Shhhh, sweetheart. She is centering herself so the witch comes through clearer, but can't possess her."
Jerking her head down, Bonnie's eyes flew open, the pupils slightly dilated. "Caroline…she keeps repeating that you must die even as she apologizes for your death again at her hands."
"But why?" Caroline shivered at the strange lilt in Bonnie's tone. Her friend was physically here and while she wasn't possessed, she was mentally somewhere else.
"Mary-Celeste says that he must not be allowed to be happy. That he must suffer by losing what he loves most, again and again. It is his eternal punishment for the lives lost and the pain he has caused."
"What he loves most?" Caroline scoffed. "I am hardly that."
Bonnie smiled a chilling smile. "You are the light in his darkness, his one chance at love and happiness."
"What if I swear to never give in to his will? Leave him forever?"
Klaus tightened his hold on her shoulders, growling softly.
"You couldn't even if you wanted to," Bonnie insisted, her voice taking on a sad, dreamy quality. "You are drawn to him and your light shines even brighter with him. Even God's most beloved angel couldn't resist the lure of the darkness and you will fall just as Lucifer did. For that you must die."
"Enough, Witch!" Klaus barked, every muscle in his body taunt. "You will not touch her."
"Son of Satan! She will not live out the month," Bonnie cackled. Startling at the sound of her own laughter she shook her head, giving Caroline an apologetic look. "Sorry. She is so strong in my mind."
"It's fine." Caroline laid a calming hand on Klaus's knee and he settled his fingers over hers, but his anger remained. "Mary-Celeste, you would kill me just to have your revenge? Will my death really bring you peace?"
"Why must you fight it, child? Do you not wish him to pay? Have you forgiven him already for the pain he has caused you and those you love?"
Klaus attempted to stand up, pulling Caroline to follow. "That's enough, Bonnie. End this now."
"Not yet," Caroline commanded, yanking her fingers from his. "Sit down, Klaus."
He hesitated for only a moment, but the steel in her voice brought him back to his seat.
Caroline considered Mary-Celeste's words. Had she forgiven Klaus? Did she no longer wish for his suffering and his death? He brought about so much damage, so much death, how could she even begin to let any of to it go? Yet, in a way she had. Being around him, seeing another side of him, perhaps, even his humanity had changed her perception of him.
"Maybe I have forgiven him a little, but I have seen him as you never have," Caroline argued. "I have witnessed his joy, anger, and even his own suffering. Who are you or even I to be judge and jury, handing out punishment? Doing so makes us no better than him at his worst. If he can love as you say, maybe our forgiveness will bring about his redemption."
Klaus took her hand in his, his fingers squeezing hers. "Caroline…I…" he croaked out, words seeming to fail him.
"I didn't say you had my complete forgiveness," she retorted.
Bonnie fixed her blank gaze on Caroline and laughed, a bitter sound of pain and heartbreak. Mary-Celeste was coming through her friend so clear now.
"Are you still here, Bonnie?"
"Yes, I'm here. I am trying not to channel her, but her emotions are very overwhelming at times. She wants to know if you think he can change? If you think Klaus can be redeemed?"
Caroline stole a look at him and he stared right back at her expressionless, made of stone. "I don't know."
"This needs to stop, Caroline," Klaus's eyes shone with fury, his voice practically a growl. "End this now, if not for yourself, then for Bonnie. The witch grows stronger the more you talk to her."
"If you don't believe in his redemption, all is not lost for you yet, child." Bonnie grinned, a sick perversion of a smile she had never seen before on her friend. "Shall I push you further? Force you to see reality? The monster beneath the pretty face and words?"
"No, I know it is there," Caroline whispered as she studied Klaus. He looked almost angelic at times; a boy even, but there was darkness in him. Evil, in the bright blue of his eyes, the curl of his soft, firm lips. His words, his kisses and touch, while gentle and caring with her also came from someone capable of cruelties she couldn't begin to understand.
"There are things you can't even imagine he did. Crimes he committed long ago that you should know about."
Caroline's insides clenched so hard she saw black spots before her eyes. "Please, don't tell me."
"But you need to know. Maybe this is even a more fitting punishment for him then your death," Bonnie mused, and Caroline knew Mary-Celeste was truly with them now, possessing her friend. "To have you alive, never able to forgive. To never have the love that he craves so much from you."
"That's enough from you! This little question and answer session is over," Klaus roared. His rage coated the air in the room like a fur pelt. Jumping to his feet, he advanced on Bonnie. "Send the witch back to the hell from where she came, Bonnie."
"Silence, devil spawn!" Mary Celeste snapped her fingers once and then twice. Bright light filled the room like a camera flash, and Klaus flew backwards against the wall with a thud.
Black veins popped around Klaus's eyes when he tried to move. He was trapped.
"Klaus?" Caroline rushed towards him. Fear surged through her at his attempts to break free of whatever magic it was that held him in place. To see him this way, powerless, destroyed her.
"Caroline! Don't come any closer." Klaus' entire body fought the invisible bonds that held him fast in a web of magic. "Bring Bonnie back."
"Bonnie? Are you still here?" Caroline took several steps towards where her friend sat.
Bonnie turned her vacant gaze from where Klaus was pinned against the wall to stare at her. Caroline fought back her horror at seeing not a spark of life or anything resembling Bonnie in her friend's eyes.
"Can you remember long ago, Caroline? All the way back to the 1500's? Your innocent love for this monster blooming amidst the waning years of Elizabeth's court?"
The low, hypnotic lull to Bonnies voice dulled Caroline's senses, freezing her in her tracks. She blinked, the movement painfully bringing the past springing to life. "I remember."
"Three days he was gone. Three days you fretted and worried for him, while all around you death reigned. Six junior courtiers were found torn to pieces."
"Witch!" Klaus struggled even more frantically to free himself. "Continue down this path and I will drag you from the spirit world and visit on you such tortures you will beg to be released to hell."
"I remember it." A terrible feeling erupted in Caroline's gut, a bubble of knowledge slowly rising inside of her. "I did worry. Frances, Ursula, Edmond, Gregory, Lettice and Martin…all gone. I thought you were lost to me forever, like them." Tears tickled her lashes. She could still see them clearly. Frances's shy giggles, Ursula's boldness and Edmond's crush on her. Gregory's desire to enter the priesthood, Martin's fondness for almond comfits and Lettice's freckled nose.
"They never found the murderer." Bonnie turned her head to look upon Klaus.
Caroline stepped towards Klaus, each step heavier than the last, until she stood in front of him. He ceased his struggling at her approach, sighing when her fingertips grazed his rough cheeks. Cupping his face, she stared into the darkness in his eyes, penetrating the shadows for the truth. He didn't look away. He defiantly held her gaze and she knew. Knew without being told.
Her hands fell from his face with a mournful cry "They were my friends. How could you?" She trembled everywhere, hot and cold in equal measures possessing her. "If you cared so much for me back then why would you wish to hurt me?"
"Because causing pain is what he does. All he knows to do." A pleased smile sprawled across Bonnie's face.
"Caroline." Klaus attempted to go to her, only to snarl when he realized he was still frozen in place.
"Now do you see?" Bonnie asked, her voice triumphant. "Do you understand why he must pay?"
Caroline wiped at the tears now streaming down her cheeks.
"Bonnie," Klaus commanded, his muscles rippling and straining against the magical hold on him. "You need to come back. Send away Mary-Celeste. Caroline needs you."
"She will never be yours now. I have made sure of it," Bonnie gasped out, her eyelids fluttering violently. Her head shook from side to side and she fell forward slightly in her chair, a kind of calm engulfing her. Opening her eyes, she looked directly up at Caroline, her gaze now clear. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen."
Klaus fell to the floor at Bonnie's return, the magic that held him in place ceasing. Flying to his feet, he stood in front of Caroline. "Love," he crooned. "I never wanted you to find out this way."
Caroline stood motionless before him, paralyzed by the horror of what he had done so long ago. "Why? They were innocent. Why did you need to kill them?"
With the back of his hand, Klaus stroked her tear-stained cheeks to wipe away her tears. The gentle gesture of comfort so at odds with the savagery that existed within him terrified her. The hands that so lovingly swept over her nude body last night, worshipping every part of her, now dripped with blood. The blood of her friends. Now that she knew, they would never really be clean of that taint. Ripping herself away from him, she flashed to the other side of the room as far away from him as she could get.
Klaus stared at the distance between them, running his fingers through his hair. Opening and closing his mouth several times, he tried to speak only to fail.
"You murdered six people, who I cared about and you have nothing to say? No reason for your actions?" Caroline accused, glaring at him through her tears.
He flinched and started to pace. His agitation growing with every stride back and forth on the small porch, a wild beast caught in a trap. The floor boards creaked under his steps, the little sounds of nature from outside stilling like they recognized the dangerous creature in their midst.
"I never intended to kill them," Klaus blurted. "It was never my plan."
"Then why?"
"Don't you see?" Klaus stopped pacing to stand directly in front of her. "I hated you, hated myself. I was fighting all these feelings you arose in me. Someone had to pay so I could realize what I should have known all along - we were meant to be together."
"You killed people to prove you cared for me?" Caroline sagged against the wall, falling to her knees at her deadly realization. "If you never met me, my friends would have lived?"
Klaus knelt in front of her. "Love, please. You can't think of it that way. Our meeting, it was destined. You heard Bonnie. We are tied together."
"I can't…" Caroline took a shaky breath, swallowing back her tears. "You murdered those that I loved, with no thought of how it would hurt me."
"That was before I knew…before I understood how much you meant to me." He stole one of her hands, pressing it to the side of his face. "We can get past this. I promise you."
Caroline lightly ran her thumb over the curve of his cheek, his stubble a mix of softness and prickles. The involuntary caress startled her from the magnetic pull he had on her and she yanked her hand back. "How can you possibly think I could ever get past this when you haven't changed at all? Just today, you planned to hurt Bonnie. One of my dearest friends without any regard to my feelings."
"She tried to kill you," Klaus objected and leaned in to touch his forehead to hers. "And I have changed. You are my weakness, the one thing that could destroy me and yet I want you in my life for all eternity. You force me to see things, feel things that no one else can. Love, please..."
"You killed my friends before because you couldn't deal with your feelings. What is to stop you from doing it again?"
"I swear…I will never touch them."
"You lie," Caroline said, her voice breaking. She flung herself away from him and stood up. "You're killing Elena with every drop of blood you steal from her."
Klaus rose to his feet, facing her. "It is only a little blood, and she will make more of it."
"You don't get it. You won't ever get it," Caroline sobbed. "That is why you and I will never be together."
"You don't mean that."
Klaus tried to take her take her hand and she flashed to the other side of the room, putting as much physical distance between them as she could. His touch, his presence, it did things to her, made her forget the monster within him.
"From now on, stay away from me and stay away from my friends."
He stepped gingerly towards her. "You know that is not going to happen."
"Leave me alone. I mean it."
"Sweetheart," Klaus murmured, turning his magnetic gaze on her, his eyes trying to suck her in, steal her very will.
"No. You don't get to talk to me anymore. Or, look at me like that. We are done."
"Caroline?" Bonnie rose from her wicker chair, swaying on her feet.
She rushed to her friend's side and Bonnie fell back into her chair, her eyes rolling back into her head. A trickle of blood flowed from her left nostril, a river of red.
"Bonnie? Are you okay?" Caroline cried, turning to look at Klaus when her friend didn't respond. "What's wrong with her?"
He joined her, taking Bonnie's wrist to measure her pulse. "I don't know."
"Well, do something!"
"What would you have me do?"
Bonnie gasped, her eyes blinking open. Glancing down at Klaus's grip on her, she shuddered and jerked her hand away as if his touch burned her. "Don't ever put your hands on me again."
Klaus regarded the witch, a strange inquisitive look on his face.
"Are you okay, Bonnie? You're bleeding."
"Sorry. That happens sometimes." Bonnie grabbed a tissue from the box at the side table next to her chair and wiped at her nose, her hand trembling.
"Can I do something? Get you something?"
"She's fine." Klaus hunched down on his knees in front of Bonnie "So, witch, what was this little display?"
Caroline cast a withering glance in Klaus's direction before gathering Bonnie's hands in hers. They were icy to the touch, a sharp contrast to her friends wildly, racing pulse. "What's wrong?"
Bonnie gripped her fingers tightly, the slight pain catching Caroline by surprise. "Mary Celeste."
"What? Is she still here?"
Klaus gaze sharpened, his jaw clenching as he continued to stare at Bonnie. "It's more that that, isn't it? What did you see?"
"No. She is gone," Bonnie addressed Caroline, completely ignoring Klaus.
"Then what is it?"
"Someone else was there with her. Someone even more powerful. I have never felt such magic from another before."
"More powerful then your gram's?"
Sweat glistened on Bonnie's brow, a pallor painting her cheeks. "The only time I have felt something similar is when I drew on the magic of my family."
"Someone more powerful than the Bennett line," Klaus mused. "There is little in this world seeped in magic more than your ancestral line."
"What does it mean?" Caroline asked. "What did they want?"
"I don't know," Bonnie paused to chew at her lower lip. "It wasn't like they spoke to me. Rather I sensed they were there. I felt their power and their emotions. They rushed into me before I could shield myself from their sadness, regret and most of all their murderous intentions."
Klaus leaned in closer to Bonnie, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Murderous intent towards who? Caroline?"
"Yes, but—"
"That's it." Klaus swung his head to face Caroline. "You can't be allowed to be on your own anymore. I know you're angry with me right now, but I won't take any chances with your life. You need to come home with me. I promise —"
Bonnie produced an aggravated sound from the back of her throat, affectively cutting of Klaus. "You didn't let me finish. Whatever I sensed, whoever was letting Mary Celeste draw on their power, they are a threat to you too. For a moment, I could see inside of their thoughts… and they plotted your death. It was so vivid. I felt their satisfaction as they pierced your heart with a stake."
"They wouldn't be the first to wish my death," Klaus said wryly, rising to his feet. "Unfortunately, for them they are dealing with the original hybrid. There is nothing that can take me down."
"Except the white oak stake," Caroline whispered and Bonnie squeezed her fingers before releasing them. It was a warning. A warning to stay silent. Damon must have told Bonnie about the stake. Did she know about his crazy plot too?
"There is nothing left of that tree anymore. No more stakes of death to be made." His bold, nonchalant tone was at odds with the tense lines furrowed in his forehead.
Guilt stung Caroline, thoughts like bees that swarmed and pricked at her dishonesty in not speaking up, telling the truth about the stake that existed and her role. That she was to be the one that used it on him, his carefully chosen executioner.
"It will be okay, Caroline. Damon and Stefan, all of us will keep you safe." Bonnie gave Caroline a reassuring glance, misreading her silent reaction as fear.
"I will keep her safe," Klaus retorted. "She is coming home with me."
"You are insane if you think I am going to let you anywhere near me now." Caroline rose to her feet, her anger with him winning out against her guilt. "I will come to no harm with the protection of my friends. Unless that harm is from you."
"Your friends have nothing to fear from me. Not now," Klaus bit out. "Especially, if you come home with me."
Caroline tapped her foot against the wood floorboards, the sound reverberating off the side and roof of Bonnies house. "So if I don't come home with you they have something to fear?"
"No." Klaus fisted his hands. "I promise you I shall not touch them, ever."
"Except Elena?"
"Stop bringing her into this. It has nothing to do with her."
"You just don't get it to you," Caroline cried, her hands angled on her hips. "It has everything to do with her."
"Caroline," Klaus cajoled, stepping closer to her.
How he looked at her. His blue eyes smoldered, swirled with anger, desire and a rawness that bared a part of him entirely unknown to her. That look, it gnawed at her, greedily consuming her fight. It made her want to give in to him, but her fear and the horror of his betrayal long ago couldn't be forgotten. He forever damaged what little relationship they had.
"That's enough. I am not going anywhere with you." Caroline forced herself to look away from Klaus. "Bonnie, I'm sorry, but I need to go."
"Let me go with you," her friend replied, standing up.
Caroline shook her head. "Thanks, but no."
"Are you sure? I can call Elena?"
"I'll call her later. Right now, I just want some time alone." Caroline flashed her a small smile and walked towards the screen door. The light blurred and Klaus stood in front of her, blocking her exit. "That alone time? That applied to you too. Get out of my way."
Klaus looked down at her, his chin set in a stubborn line. "I'm coming with you."
"No, you're not." Caroline tilted her head, matching his stern look with her own defiant one.
"Try me, sweetheart."
"You're not coming with me and do you want to know why?"
Klaus stared back at her, his face an impassive mask.
"I'll tell you why. In less than twenty-fours, I have been stabbed, almost dying at the hands of a witch who you wronged and then – surprise – I find out I am a reincarnation of a girl you were obsessed with in the 1500's. After all this, when I have finally accepted this strange truth and the memories that come with it, I learn that the evil thing that murdered my closest friends in the past is the one person I cared about." Caroline held up her finger to shush Klaus when he started to speak. "And it is all my fault they are dead."
"No, love."
From the mournful regret in the hollow of his voice, the tortured shadows in the blue of his eyes, she knew that her suffering and sorrow haunted him. Her pain hurt him, but it wasn't enough.
"So you can see how I might want some time alone. Now, if you will move out of my way, I want to go home."
"Caroline."
"Just don't," she snapped. "Don't fight me on this. You have enough hybrids at my house no one is ever going to attempt anything there. I need time and you are going to give it to me."
Klaus wanted to argue with her, Caroline could tell that every bone in his body was screaming at him to stop her from leaving. So when she took a step closer to him, closer to the door, it shocked her when he moved aside.
"Tonight. We'll talk tonight."
Caroline didn't even stop to argue with him. Her back straight as a ruler, she stalked towards her car, a piece of her heart cracking off with every step she took away from Klaus.