Wading into Styx

2

Klaus had never seen Caroline attack with such a fury, not for her own benefit or even her friends. She was a woman unhinged, clawing at Hayley almost as intensely as she was trying to bite the woman. Hayley, still in a relatively sane state of mind, was only working on getting Caroline off. She had her arms up desperately trying to block her face. With hybrid blood now in her system she knew Klaus would be pissed if she bit his favorite little plaything, even if he could revive her right away.

Still, Caroline was insane for the moment, clearly having fun with the whole thing. Her crazy smile broadened as she managed a particularly deep gash in the woman's flailing arms, blood spilling out onto Hayley's shirt.

"Get that psycho bitch off of her!" Jackson screamed at Klaus. He was still holding Hope and couldn't do anything to help his wife.

Almost as soon as it had started Klaus had wrenched Caroline off of Hayley and was holding the flailing blonde vampire back.

"Caroline, calm down," he insisted and, surprisingly, she did though still breathing heavily. She was already shrugging it off, as if nothing had even happened, a weird smile on her face.

Hayley pulled herself up from the ground, spitting blood out of her mouth onto the marble floors in a rather undignified fashion. In the haze of her anger she began sniffing the air and then pointed to the ground as if scandalized.

"Did you bring her in here smoking drugs?" Hayley demanded pointing to Caroline's fallen joint as if this offense was more egregious than the fight itself.

"Really, Hayley, it's not like she came in shooting up heroin!" Klaus said.

"Right, she just came in here ready to kill the mother of your daughter!" Jackson yelled, assertively pulling Hayley back to his side to inspect her scratched but rapidly healing face while both of them kept sending calculating glares back to Klaus and Caroline.

Caroline, for her part, was laughing her ass off and relighting her joint. She did not look like she noticed in the slightest that she had just learned Klaus had a daughter with Hayley.

"Seriously?!" Hayley shrieked as Jackson moved Hope away from Caroline. "Klaus you aren't really going to let her stay here are you?"

Klaus looked over to Caroline who was still smoking and merely offered him a completely nonplussed shrug. He thought about telling Hayley that Caroline only planned to stay for one night but realized that he himself had not intended to let her stay be so short.

He sighed heavily. "Yes, I intend to let her stay here," Klaus answered finally.

Caroline let out a snort of laughter before coughing and choking on smoke, still totally unfazed by what any of them may have thought of her.

"I have no idea what you see in her," Hayley spat at him. "Until you come to your senses, Hope and I are staying with my pack."

Hayley flounced up the stairs with Hope after taking her from Jackson, presumably to gather some things. Jackson remained, staring unflinchingly hard at Klaus.

"You're not even objecting?" he asked. "To your own daughter leaving? This whore of yours must be a piece of work. And after all that talk about doing anything to protect Hope."

He tried to brush past Klaus but Klaus caught him by his upper arm in a death grip. He let his vampire face show itself in his rage.

"Don't you ever presume to understand what I deem is safe for my daughter. You are not her father," he said. "And if you ever call Caroline a whore again, I'll let her cut your throat out myself." He finally let the man go, eyeing him dominantly.

Jackson scoffed as he followed Hayley up the stairs.

Klaus, without a second look back to Caroline, wandered into the downstairs living room Hayley had just come from and poured himself a glass of whiskey. Caroline followed him with a bored and blank expression on her face, stubbing her joint out finally on the floor beneath her sandal. He poured her a glass too.

She took an unceremonious swig before reclaiming her suitcase and plopping it onto the couch next to her. Upstairs Hayley and Jackson were clomping around, making it difficult to engage in any sort of conversation. Fortunately, they were down with just a couple of bags, and Hayley in new clean clothes, in a few minutes glaring at both of them as they made their way out the door slamming it behind them.

Caroline didn't bother to question why Klaus didn't ask the specifics of where they were going. He'd be able to find anyone in this city and likely anywhere in the world. He'd always found Katherine, hadn't he? Hayley had been living with him for god knew how long; she was probably smart enough to check in at this point.

"What do you even keep in that thing?" Klaus questioned affably, apparently in a better mood now that the drama had left the building. He gestured towards her small pink case. "It's so tiny."

"Mostly underwear," she said. "Some weapons. Various ID's and cash. Oh and makeup, obviously."

"What were you going to do about clothes?" he asked.

"Figure it out as I went along," she said with a flippant sigh, taking another large sip of her whiskey. "So, you're a father now. You always did strike me as an oddly paternal type."

Something about the way she said it. He had to suppress a lust-filled growl in his throat.

"Jealous, Caroline?"

"Ha!" she laughed, throwing her head back. He watched her golden hair spill across her back while she laughed at him without humor. "Seriously? I have zero shits to give, Klaus. But I think someone wants me to be jealous…"

His eyes flashed dangerously. She noticed.

"Because you lo-o-ove me, right?" she laughed. "You even let your baby mama take the baby out of the house for me."

For the second time that day he broke a glass. He leapt up and had her pinned to the couch in half a second. He had genuinely lashed out in anger, but her response was so immediately wanton, his initial anger was forgotten without question.

With a soft hmm she arched her back, pushing her chest into his. The hands he had been using to pin her forearms into the sofa released her to cradle her back and she slid her arms up to his shoulders and then looped him around his neck. She was positioning them so their lips were growing closer and he could see just the tips of her fangs showing in her ready smile.

She'd never had this easy of a time of seducing him before, back when she was the pawn on her friends' little distraction plans. But now he'd had a taste of her… all those months ago in the woods. And he could never go back to not knowing what it was like to have her. He'd tasted the forbidden fruit and here she was, willingly offering herself.

He pulled back from her abruptly, dropping her a few inches onto the couch and reclined back to his leather chair across the room. She started laughing again. Suddenly another joint appeared in her hand from nowhere and she was lighting it again.

"Did you really just end that?" she asked him, appalled.

"I don't trust you, Caroline Forbes," he said simply. "Not without your humanity on. That is why I allowed Hope to leave."

"Sure, fine," she said crossing to his side of the room and draping herself over top of him in his leather chair. "Hope is a shitty name by the way. Very Bible Studies. Anyway, I understand the new paternal instincts but this is just sex!" She was straddling him and Klaus could feel himself already giving in. He ignored her insult and breathed in the smell of her and smoke.

"Where did you get that?" he asked her, almost indulgently, sliding his hands to cup beneath her and inclining his head to her second joint. Damn, her shorts are short.

She shrugged her shoulders at him with a wry smile. "Who knows? I'm pretty sneaky these days. Even I don't know what I'm planning next."

I'll say, he thought to himself. She finished an inhale and he abruptly grasped her chin, pulling her towards him and taking both a kiss and the smoke from her lungs.

It was just as good as he remembered. She was soft and warm and she just fit. He parted from her, blowing the smoke he'd stolen back out at her. She cocked her head and clucked her tongue at him appreciatively.

"Oh you think you're so smooth?" she asked him.

He laughed, pressing one of his hands into the small of her back to make him lean closer into him. "Darling, I'm over 1,000 years old. I know every trick. I know I'm smooth."

Using vamp speed without her expecting it, he flipped them so he was on top of her in the large chair. He grabbed her hips this time when he pressed his lips to hers again, reveling in the responding sounds he was provoking. Trailing his hands slowly up her ribs while he kissed her, he stopped to hold her just below the cut off of her crop top. He left her lips to kiss her once, softly at her collarbone and Caroline outright ground her hips into his own.

He could feel the veins darkening beneath his eyes, could feel his pupils dilate as his wolf instincts took over but, despite the physical response, one thing remained clear to him.

This wasn't really her. This wasn't Caroline. He wanted all of her. He'd had that before and it could be nothing less again.

He released her and stood up abruptly, smoothing back his hair as he paced around the room.

"Are you kidding me?!" Caroline shrieked at him.

"Not tonight, Caroline. There's simply too much going on," he dismissed her and she swallowed an angry growl in her own throat.

If there was one thing she had counted on almost as soon as she had arrived in New Orleans, it was the best sex of her life.

"You're the one who keeps jumping me, buddy! My humanity is off and I have certain urges that are stronger than usual, Klaus!" she insisted.

"Yes, and whose fault is that?" he returned acerbically.

Her brows furrowed in annoyance. "Well I can always find someone out here to get me off. This town is full of cute college guys," she said, standing and heading towards his door.

He was at the door before she'd even crossed half the distance. "I wouldn't do that if I were you love," he warned. "I've welcomed you into my home, no questions asked. I had my family vacate for you. You will be, at least, a decent guest."

Caroline felt like, for the first time, she had truly come face to face with Klaus under dangerous circumstances. His eyes flashed at her darkly. He looked about ready to slap her, though she very sincerely doubted he ever would. Still, she didn't want to push her luck with an Original — even without her humanity Caroline knew when to rollover and play dead.

She put up her hands in a motion of surrender, "Alright, you win," she said, bitterly.

From Klaus' direction a phone beeped. Klaus pulled his cell from his pocket and scrolled to open a text message. He read it before smirking and glancing up to Caroline.

"Everyone is talking about how you look at humans now that your humanity is off," Klaus said. "Elijah and Rebekah have offered to bring someone over." He let the invitation dangle.

"Hell yeah, they should," she answered without question. All this drama had really worked up an appetite.

"Are you going to start behaving more appropriately?" he asked.

She sighed and tapped her foot impatiently, thinking on it. "For as long as I'm staying here," she offered. "I'll make every effort."

"I expect that's about as good as I am liable to get from you right now," he acknowledged and began to text one of his siblings back.

Less than fifteen minutes later, Elijah and the young African American witch Caroline had seen earlier at the French Market were at the door with half a dozen calm and complacent looking humans.

"Caroline, this is Rebekah… she's temporarily stuck in the body of a local witch, long story," Elijah explained as they all walked through the front door, ushering the humans into the dining room a few rooms away.

"And our guests are pets of Marcel's from around the city," the new version of Rebekah explained. Caroline didn't bother to ask what constituted "pets" down here, truthfully she didn't care and their "guests" look nonplussed at the term anyway.

"So you can't drain them," Klaus warned her. "We may have to stop her."

Caroline rolled her eyes at his aside to his siblings and looked her options up and down. Among them she found a large, strapping young boy who didn't look unlike Matt. She smiled and beckoned for him to come closer, taking her time smelling around his neck. Over his shoulders she could see Klaus narrowing his eyes. He would know exactly why she'd picked this one, she was sure.

She let her fangs descend and she lowered herself onto his neck as cleanly as possible. She had promised to be a decent guest after all. She drank deeply, surprised at exactly how much she needed more, fresh from the source since draining Liam. This was entirely unlike animal blood. It made Caroline feel everything more intensely.

But trying to be decent was harder than expected when a vampire had their humanity off. It had been one thing, back in Virginia when she had to look out for herself, not to drain someone completely…. but here? What was the worst that could happen? Klaus would figure out a way around the repercussions for her. With renewed fervor, she sank her fangs in deeper, shaking her head like a mad dog just a bit to really enjoy it. Like gnawing on a good steak bone.

After what felt like mere moments, Klaus was pulling her off of the boy who was stumbling into Elijah's open arms, woozy. Caroline didn't hesitate, dragging a young redhead over to her, the poor girl's eyes wide with fear after watching her friend. Caroline bit without a second thought and she heard Klaus compel the girl to relax and not worry. Christ, when had he turned into such a softy? Perhaps it was fatherhood.

She was able to pull herself off this time, while the girl was still relatively intact. Caroline had so rarely drunk human blood straight from the source before that she honestly felt a little drunk from the rush.

"Oh that was fantastic!" Caroline said, falling back onto the couch in the living room, not bothering to wipe off the dregs of blood that were dripping down her lips and chin onto her neck.

"This is a ridiculous display, Caroline," Rebekah cajoled noncommittally.

"Be patient Becca," Elijah intervened. "She used to be an animal drinker."

"And it's her first time with her humanity off," Klaus said. He dropped one of the woozy humans on a couch next to him, his lips glistening with blood. God he looked good like that, so Caroline tried not to look at him.

Caroline rolled her eyes at the excuses they were making for her. Leave it the Originals to make you feel like a little kid. They were all old as sin. Definitely old as sin, Caroline thought when she chanced a glance over to Klause again. He was also still covered in blood. The remaining humans were all sitting around uncomfortable, not sure what to do next while their friends recovered.

"Well hats off to you for picking the right place to ride it out," Rebekah said. "I can't even imagine trying to turn off the switch with those holier-than-thou friends of yours up north, St. Salvatores and Mother Elena."

Caroline let loose a real, honest to goodness laugh, shocking even herself.

"Caroline, darling, it is late and you've quite worn us all out today," Klaus said. "Please let me show you to your room."

Caroline was delirious with sleepy blood-satiated contentedness. Underneath her steely resolve against the greater pains in her life, she couldn't help but feel simply good for the time being. This was what she had always imagined it to be like… when she watched Stefan and Elena turn it off.

"Alright," she said without reservation and made a motion to sit up and grasp her suitcase but Klaus was already picking it up giving her a mocking smile. She didn't even care.

"Thanks for dinner," she said to Rebekah and Elijah, well aware that she was being gauche. Rebekah wrinkled her nose distastefully but Elijah laughed and waved them off.

The room Klaus led her to was enormous and had curtains billowing over an open window that overlooked a patio veranda in the middle of the compound. Caroline rushed over to look out at the scene and the fountain lit by twinkling lights. He really did have a beautiful home here.

Klaus appeared beside her and he pointed to windows across the veranda.

"Those are my quarters," he told her. "Should you need anything."

"Hmm, like what?" she asked. He hadn't seemed too keen earlier.

"Nothing like that, I'm afraid. As much as it pains me to say," he replied and turned to make his way to her door.

She followed softly behind him and when he turned to look at her one last time, she leaned up to kiss him briefly.

He blinked in surprise when she parted from him, and he looked down at her waiting for her to say something. She didn't, except:

"Well…" she said, expectantly and gestured towards her open door.

He chuckled and shook his head in confusion, "Goodnight, Caroline."

She closed the door softly behind him and leaned her head against its solid frame, listening to his footsteps fall away, their sound mingling with the thudding of her own heart.

She still couldn't believe he wasn't going to sleep with her. If this continued, she really would compel her way into a rich tourist's hotel bed.

Back downstairs, Klaus settled solidly into the couch Caroline had earlier appropriated and faced his siblings. They'd asked the pets to leave and now it was just the three of them.

"What the bloody hell is happening Klaus?" Elijah demanded. "Where on Earth have Hayley and your daughter gone?"

"Hayley hightailed it back to her pack as soon as she saw Caroline," Klaus sighed.

"Well that sounds a bit rash, didn't you try to stop her?" Rebekah asked.

"Well…" Klaus sighed. "She made this decision after Caroline spontaneously attacked her and then laughed about it."

"For no reason?" Elijah asked.

"Other than the fact that she dislikes her? No," Klaus answered.

"And then she laughed about it?" Rebekah clarified, laughing herself.

"And then started smoking a joint," Klaus finished.

Even Elijah sputtered out a laugh at that.

"So, do you know whats going on?" Elijah asked.

"Only that she's turned her humanity off, not why," he said. "If we still have sources up north, I'd be very interested to find out."

"Oh, I'm sure that'll be easy to manage," Rebekah said. "Well I'm off to Marcel's."

Klaus raised his eyebrows but did not push. They weren't demanding any conclusions from him about what was to be done about Caroline, so he wouldn't demand any explanations from them for the time being.

"I'll stay the night here if you don't mind," Elijah said. "Hayley and Jackson are out of the house. It's easier than going all the way back to Algiers."

"Of course," Klaus said. He turned to Rebekah. "Tomorrow then, I hope you'll have found something out."

"Do try to sound more threatening when someone's doing you a favor brother, really," Rebekah chastised and briskly walked out the door without any further goodbyes.

"She's certainly always in a rush these day," Elijah commented.

"Must be something about not being in your own body," Klaus laughed. Having Caroline around, no matter the circumstances, apparently had him in an uncharacteristically good mood.

All the same, he treated himself to a final glass of whiskey, after Elijah had already head off to bed ahead of him.

The next morning when Klaus rose, he listened. From what he could tell, no one else had woken. He softly made his way to his window and looked out onto the sunny veranda. The windows to Caroline's room were open and he could see she was stirring in her bed.

He rushed to dress ahead of her and arrived outside her door, right as she was opening it and walking into the hall with nothing but her underwear on, a demi bra and set of tiny boy-shorts.

"Caroline!" he called after her and she turned around. Klaus had a pile of clothes in his hands. "I, um, realized you didn't have anything but apparently you didn't care?" he asked, not bothering to hold back a laugh.

She didn't flinch. "I was just going to get coffee," she said.

He forced the clothes into her hands with a cheeky grin. "Get dressed," he ordered. "We'll have coffee and breakfast in the courtyard.

Descending the stairs, he was pleased to see the compelled help had already laid out coffee, tea, and pastries on a table with an umbrella covering.

"Caroline's on her way down," Elijah commented as he entered the courtyard a few minutes after Klaus. "Do you really think it's wise to let her borrow Hayley's clothes?"

"Please, like I could let her roam New Orleans in those scraps she was wearing last night," he scoffed, taking a sip from some freshly brewed coffee. "I'll take her to buy new things today."

Elijah looked skeptical but he took a seat across from Klaus and poured himself some coffee.

Shortly thereafter, Caroline appeared in some skinny jeans, rolled up several inches and worn with a belt as Hayley was so much taller. Over her jeans were white ankle boots that matched the flowing silk white shirt paired with everything. Today, Caroline had her hair down and she looked far more the elegant woman… even with a cigarette in her hand.

"These don't really fit me," she commented as she entered the courtyard.

"I'm taking you to get new clothes today," Klaus said.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Fun. How am I supposed to wear jeans in this weather?" she asked. "It's hot as sin."

Klaus smirked at her. "You can't wear shorts, darling, you'll look like a tourist."

Caroline frowned but poured herself some orange juice followed by a hefty shot of vodka.

"This early in the morning, dear?" Elijah asked her, pleasantly.

"Um, hello," she said, pointing to her plate. "I'm having a croissant with it."

"Are you really smoking cigarettes now?" Klaus asked, not bothering to hide his distaste.

"Um, so you're fine with grass but not good old fashioned tobacco?" she returned.

"Like any other normal living being on this planet, yes," he replied.

"Hmm, normal and living are not the first two words I would have picked to describe you," she deadpanned before puffing on her cigarette again. "Besides it's not like I can get cancer you doof."

Neither brother could hide their smile at Klaus being called, of all things, a doof. But they let it slide without comment.

"Well it's most unbecoming," Elijah said, agreeing with his brother. "They're a most unsavory habit."

"Whatever," she replied breezily. It appeared to be how she prefered to end most conversations these days.

The three of them were barely out of the door when they ran into Hayley. Elijah shot Klaus a look and he genuinely felt anxious about what was about to transpire.

"Klaus! Why is she wearing my clothes?!" Hayley demanded.

"Oh, man! I knew I hated these clothes. No wonder they're so big!" Caroline said, letting out a hoot of laughter.

"Don't exaggerate blondie, now get out of my clothes!"

"No problem!" Caroline called as she headed back inside and upstairs towards the guest bedroom. Once she'd passed beyond their sight she called out, "But I'm keeping the shoes!"

Her door slammed loudly. "You're not keeping the shoes! Caroline!" Hayley shrieked after her before making a beeline towards the stairs.

Klaus groaned in concern, "Caroline!" and rushed back inside to break up any potential physical altercation. "Hayley, she can'twear those clothes again."

"Um, apparently she can, Klaus. She picked them out herself and she's a grown-ass woman," Hayley insisted, waiting outside the room to get her clothes back.

"I'd prefer to wear my things again too, wolf-bitch, you have terrible, bland taste," Caroline called from the other side of the door.

"See?" Hayley said, gesturing towards the door in triumph. There was no way around it, Hayley would not be lending any help.

Klaus was more than perturbed to have Caroline back in the clothes she'd worn the day before. It was less about other men. Anyone smart in this city knew better than to look at a woman Klaus Mikaelson was with. No, it was more that Caroline in such clothing had no idea how truly bewitching she was. He pulled her into the first boutique they came across in the Quarter.

Caroline had stuck her nose up at almost everything they'd had to show her but eventually he'd gotten her to trade in her outfit for a more modest sundress, upon her insistence that it was "just until" she found "something better." Unfortunately, in the dress she was the picture of doe-eyed innocence, and he wasn't finding it any easier to keep himself collected around her.

She'd insisted they stop for beignets and didn't care when Klaus laughed at the confectioners sugar absolutely flying everywhere after her first messy bite. In fact, she'd taken a rather whimsical turn and chosen to twirl around in it like falling snow, not caring when it dusted her hair. He'd wanted to kiss her then but he got the feeling she knew what she was doing. Caroline was playing the siren without her humanity.

Then they'd sat down for lunch at Cochon, one of the best restaurants in the world. Caroline had her head buried in the menu, after already ordering two rounds of drinks. She had no qualms about him spending on her, apparently. His phone rang and he checked the ID, it was Rebekah so he stood, giving Caroline a one-minute gesture before stepping outside.

"Rebekah, have you found anything?" he asked her immediately.

"Sheriff Forbes is dead," she answered immediately. "Her mother died of cancer, just a few days ago."

Klaus glanced back inside the restaurant where Caroline was facing away from him, her head boredly propped in one hand, clacking her nails against the table.

"No wonder she didn't want to say anything," Klaus said, more to himself.

"Klaus, there's something else," Rebekah said. Klaus waited. "Someone overheard her speaking with Stefan Salvatore at her mother's wake. We got this from a compelled human. He said it sounded like something had gone on between them, maybe romantic. Caroline wanted to talk about it but Stefan had told her the timing was inappropriate."

Klaus felt sucker punched. The Ripper? Hid old friend. He couldn't even take a small amount of solace from the fact that Rebekah sounded a touch hurt herself.

"Thank you, sister. You've been helpful," he said.

"I'll see you later. Be careful, Klaus," she said and hung up.

Klaus made his way back into the restaurant right as the waiter deposited some fried alligator in front of them. Caroline happily snapped up a piece, no questions asked. Klaus didn't know where to begin.

"Who was that?" Caroline asked, sensing the shift in the air and finding it more wearisome than anything else.

"It was Rebekah," Klaus answered levely, "She had some information for me. She told me… about your mother. Caroline, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I was not there."

Caroline narrowed her eyes. "You said you would stay out of that!"

"I said I wouldn't ask you about it. If a third party offers me information, I am under no obligation to ignore it," he said.

"Fine, so you know. You just reiterated that you wouldn't ask me about it, so let's leave it there," she said.

"Was Stefan Salvatore one of the reasons you turned off your humanity or not Caroline? Yes or no?" he demanded.

She all but snarled at him. "What did you just say to me, Klaus? Just because I spent one freaking night at your place doesn't make you privy to my life! I don't owe you anything," she spat and was up and out the restaurant in the same breath.

Klaus let her go, knowing she'd never get far in his city and feeling too angry and hurt to follow her now anyway. She'd all but confirmed for him by refusing to answer.

But three hours later she hadn't come back and they hadn't seen a sign of her. It was like she had vanished the moment she'd left the restaurant.

Klaus was practically crawling the walls of his home trying to decide what to do. Around him, Marcel was looking more than uncomfortable and Elijah and Rebekah were trying to keep everyone calm. Scattered around the compound were other vampires working for Marcel, waiting for orders; dozens more were tearing through the streets.

Even an extremely begrudging Hayley had been enlisted to volunteer a small handful of her pack to sniff Caroline out — "Only because I don't trust her out there, knowing about Hope," she'd explained. Klaus found the idea that a humanity-less Caroline would give one fig about Hope patently absurd, but he could use the wolves' tracking ability no matter the circumstance of their orders.

"Klaus, you need to calm down," Rebekah ordered. "She hasn't even been gone that long." He'd just overturned one of his own bookshelves when a vamp reporting to Marcel had come back with the news that she wasn't anywhere they could find in the Quarter or on Tulane's campus. After all her talk about shagging college boys the previous evening, he'd had a hunch she might try to sneak up there.

"She should have known that if she ever came to me, with her humanity or not, that I would not let her go," Klaus railed. "She was foolish."

Marcel's phone rang and he picked up before the sound stopped, "What do you have?" he asked. He looked up towards Klaus. "They think they've got a lead. A couple of murders outside Atlanta… sounds like pretty gruesome stuff."

Elijah swore and answered Marcel for him. "Get her back here, now."

"Atlanta? How the hell did she get up there so fast without a single vampire or wolf in New Orleans stopping her?" Klaus demanded. "Even the witches here should have known better!"

"We can't just go get her," Marcel stated, answering Elijah after jotting down a few notes and clicking his cell shut. "They don't know where she is in Atlanta or even if she's still there. They just found two bodies with their blood drained and their eyes gouged out. Whoever fed off of the bodies made a mess of their necks. We'll have to go up there and track her."

"Klaus, maybe you shouldn't-" Rebekah started.

"Shouldn't what?" he snapped harshly.

"Shouldn't go with them right away. You're enraged, you'll scare her off," she suggested.

"Rebekah, if you know what's good for you, you'll shut the hell up this second," Elijah warned much more eloquently than Klaus would have for himself.

"Let's move," Klaus ordered. "We'll take a dozen vampires with us and a couple of the wolves Hayley has stationed outside right now. Someone put out the word to stay alert here. If she comes back, I want to know immediately."

Klaus threw on a leather jacket and was out the door before either Elijah or Rebekah could collect themselves. Hurriedly, and with furtive glances towards each other, they followed their brother out of the house.

You didn't think she'd stick around for very long, did you? Her humanity is off, she's a loose cannon!

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed! A big shout out to all you guys; the positive response from you all really boosted me and made me want to get this chapter out quicker. Chapter 3 is also underway but I always edit quicker when I've got reviews fueling me ;)

Kat - As a fan / viewer I'm somewhat anti-Hayley but I'm pro-Hayley as a writer. I don't like writing pointless drama for the sake of making another female character look foolishly bad. So I will be writing her as realistically as possible. I can see and understand why both she and Caroline dislike each other and I plan to basically explore that as a bad clash of personalities. So sometimes they'll both be right and sometimes they'll both act like idiots. Anyone else, if you have questions, I will always answer them if I feel that they don't give anything too important away.

Also, as you may have noticed. Not rated M yet. There may or may not be a direct correlation between the number of followers on this story and when the rating finally goes up for a lemon. :D Can't wait to hear your thoughts on how it's progressing.