"I'd like to grab you by the hair and drag you to the devil," - Hang You From The Heavens, The Dead Weather

12

In Hades's Realm

Caroline wrenched herself away from Klaus's grip, which felt tight enough to bruise. She felt abruptly smothered and trapped and it was leaving an unpleasant, acrid taste in her mouth. Klaus was legitimately scaring her. She hadn't seen him look so serious in his anger since he'd been hunting for Katherine. There was no affection there for her anymore or, at least, there didn't appear to be. All she could sense from him was a dangerous air of possessiveness and, of course, anger. She'd pushed him too far. He'd lulled her into a sense of security, seeming such a toned-down version of his former self now that he'd become a father, but she'd been wrong to let down her guard. She never should have come.

You have to get out of here, she resolved to herself. She hurried out of the line at Central Grocery more to get some space from him than anything else. She obviously knew there was no way to escape for the time being. But if he was going to follow her everywhere like this, she was going to need every extra second of space she could get. Predictably, he'd caught up to her in just a few moments, grabbing her hand tightly in his own. He was squeezing her fingers hard enough to make her wince and he jarringly pulled her in the opposite direction, dragging her along after him like a dog on a leash.

Vampires around The Quarter were passively watching them; some of them were smirking. These were the same people that had seen Klaus kill off a dozen or more vampires coming at him, all at the same time, when Marcel had initially tried to battle Klaus for authority over the city. It was shaming, then, for all of them to see that same man almost brought to submission by a single baby vampire. He was finally snapping out of it.

"Where do you think you're going?" Klaus asked, laughing at her, his voice hard and mean, "I said I came to join you for breakfast. Although I would agree to a change in venue, I do hate to dine when I can't sit and engage with my company properly."

On that note, he vamp sped them just a few blocks away back towards the center of The Quarter. They stopped outside of a clearly very upscale establishment. Wait staff was flitting in and out of the restaurant with iced drinks, serving customers in tables outside the building to enjoy the morning. Caroline could not match their easy, relaxed demeanors, not with Klaus dragging her along like an animal.

He'd brought her to a huge, old-fashioned building with iron-worked railings along the balconies outside. Stepping into the swanky restaurant, they were walking on checkered white and black marble floors.

"Napoleon House really is much nicer," Klaus said, leading them in. He'd dropped her hand but only to lock her to his side with an arm slung around her shoulder to appear casual, though the intensity of his hold suggested otherwise. She was trying to shrug off his tight hold as they walked but his grip was unshakeable. They walked up to the maitre'd where Klaus quickly compelled him, "We'll take a booth, now."

Without question the man picked up two menus and beckoned for them to follow while saying, "Right this way, sir."

At their table the host set a menu on each side of the booth but Klaus quickly shuttled her into one side and then sat down on the same side, right next to her, leaving her nowhere to escape between himself and the wall.

"Your server will be with you shortly," the host told them, picking up the second menu from the far side of the table and setting it in front of Klaus.

"Thank you," Klaus replied, pleasantly. But despite his courteous demeanor, the air was still sour around them.

And he was sitting too close to her, encroaching on her personal space under the guise of being a lover when she knew very well that he was not currently holding her in that regard. Sensing her unease, he looked over to her while wearing the most sinister smile Caroline had ever seen in her life. He reached over to point at the menu.

"There, the muffuletta," Klaus said. "That's what you wanted, isn't it, love?"

His eyes were gleaming with satisfaction over how the tables had turned. She hadn't before but, now, Caroline had the good sense to be scared as fuck. She could honestly say she'd never been more afraid in her life. What did he have in store for her? Before Caroline could answer him, a bubbly waitress was at their table pouring water into their glasses.

"Hi, welcome to Napoleon House," she began. "My name is Br-"

"-Well take two Pimm's Cups and one muffuletta to split," he said, interrupting the waitress and pointedly turning his attention back to Caroline, indicating that the waitress was to disrupt their intimacy as little as possible.

Of course, it didn't feel like intimacy. It felt like an invasion, like her entire sense of self was going to be dictated solely by Klaus from now on. How had she overlooked the potential of that happening before she came? She'd overestimated his love for her. Or underestimated it, she thought to herself, dully. Hayley's words from their previous conversation echoed in her thoughts — sometimes having Klaus care about you can be the biggest danger itself.

"Dear, Caroline," Klaus simpered, in an exaggerated placating tone, "You look quite unwell. Whatever is the matter?"

"Gee, I wonder," Caroline hissed back. "I have an army of vampires and wolves tailing me, you breathing down my neck every second, and bruises from you clamping onto me like an abusive husband. Seriously, why am I upset?"

She was almost afraid he'd be angry with the sarcasm; it had come out without thinking. But Klaus didn't bat an eye. Instead he just chuckled at her reaction, glowering down at her darkly.

"Sweetheart, after the shit you've been putting all of us through since you arrived, you're lucky to only have bruises right now," Klaus growled.

"I know you're upset about what happened in the woods - I was only trying to help!" she insisted. "You said you wanted to get the wolves in line and I did."

"Don't lie to me, love," Klaus spat back. "I'm in no mood for any more of your games or manipulation. We both know that everything that transpired with the pack was solely for your amusement. If I'd been blown apart myself, you could not have cared less!"

And don't I wish you had, she thought to herself. Klaus was turning out to be no better than her old friends in Virginia. Apparently her humanity was going to be an ultimatum with him, as well. But ultimatums were far more dangerous with Klaus than your childhood friends.

The waitress returned in stony silence, apparently offended by Klaus's earlier abrupt dismissal, and she dropped their cocktails onto the table in front of them before briskly walking away. Caroline took an immediate hefty swig of hers, noting within the first sip that the alcohol content was not high. She sorely needed a good drink at this moment.

"How do you like it?" Klaus asked her, when she'd set the glass down.

"It's fine," she answered, shortly. In truth she could barely taste it, her mind was so preoccupied.

"Oh, you're not chatty at all today, are you?" he asked, still patronizing her. "Whatever is the matter, dear Caroline?"

She wanted to tear into him right there. Not caring that it wouldn't do any good, all of her instincts were telling her to fucking drain this threat sitting next to her. She clenched her fists at her sides, knowing there was nothing she could conceivably do while he had her here. Klaus noticed her tightened muscles.

"Well, you don't seem to be feeling well," he pretended to sympathize. "Don't worry, they're usually fast here. We'll be back home in no time."

Caroline's stomach knotted tightly at his use of the word 'home.' She doubted she'd be able to eat a bite.

The Abattoir was flooded when they returned home. Members of the vampire army in the city were milling about, some taking instructions from Elijah and Marcel. As they pulled up the driveway, Caroline noticed Hayley standing near the front entrance, a suitcase in hand. Behind her, in the foyer, Jackson was carrying Hope inside.

"Did I not mention?" Klaus asked, casually, when he noticed her glances at everyone, "Living situations are about to change again. My family will be moving back in with me," he said. "And I think you can imagine... the multitude of things I might do, if you do anything to threaten them. Not that you'll be able to, of course."

He stepped out of the car and she followed him.

"No, Caroline," Klaus continued. "You won't be able to do much of anything. As long as you have your humanity off, you'll be under surveillance all day, every day."

"Klaus," Caroline began, trying to reason with him, "I told you I wouldn't do anything like the napalm bombs again. I meant it."

"Yes, I'm sure you did," he agreed, not sounding at all convinced, "But then you snuck out again this morning and I suddenly had no idea if you'd been lying or not. I'm not going to take that chance a second time."

"So? What? I just have to do whatever you tell me, now?" she asked, disbelieving this could really be happening.

"Essentially, darling, that's the gist of it," Klaus responded with a broad smile, "Come on inside now."

She followed him in, past Hayley, who was studiously avoiding eye contact as Caroline glared out at her. You bitch, what happened to that so-called truce? She fumed, silently, you fucking backstabber. She'd been tricked by Hayley before, back in Mystic Falls, when the wolf had snapped her neck in the bathroom. Caroline had thought herself too smart for her now but apparently their conversation the previous day had all been a ruse.

Hayley, for her part, was no happier about the situation than Caroline and didn't consider the truce off, herself. She was also having her hand forced by Klaus. Neither Jackson nor herself felt comfortable living with humanity-less Caroline, even if Klaus did have her on lockdown. She had really been hoping that she would have time to think of a plan to get Caroline's emotions back on; now it seemed unlikely she'd even be able to speak with her alone. At least, not any time soon.

Klaus led Caroline back up to her bedroom where four of Marcel's vampires were stationed around her double doors.

"You look like you could use a rest, love," Klaus told her as he opened the door to her room. "I'll fetch you when it's time for dinner."

It's not even noon, Caroline thought to herself but, before she could argue Klaus had shut her into the bedroom alone and closed the door behind him. She heard a lock click into place. Well, he hadn't buried her in a catacomb yet bu,t that seemed a potential next step if she messed up again. He was just going to leave her here.

She had no idea what to do.

Now that Hayley was moving back in with her husband and Hope, Elijah would be moving back to Algiers. They'd passed each other several times in the hall but tension had been too high before Klaus's return to actually talk. Once he'd arrived back home with Caroline, he'd quickly holed up in his study, likely drinking. Finally, Elijah had his chance to approach Hayley.

"Do you think this is safe?" Elijah asked her while Jackson was finishing unpacking upstairs. "After what she did to the pack?"

"Have you gotten a good look at her?" she asked. "Elijah, I've never seen her like this. She looks terrified. She'd be out of her mind to try anything."

"If there's anything I've come to understand about vampires without their humanity, it's that it comes all too naturally to them to behave insanely. That's how rippers are made," he said.

"You do have more experience with this," Hayley conceded, "But I really don't think she's a threat. I think she's just figuring out a way to get out of here. Trust me on this Elijah."

He looked at her softly; her eyes were blazing. She was clearly anxious about everything, as was he — or anyone else with a minute amount of sense. He had already seen several of Marcel's vampires or members of the pack already looking more annoyed with the situation than rightfully on edge. If they were smart, they'd curb their attitudes around Klaus or find themselves dead.

"Alright, I will defer to your judgment," he told her, "But I still don't think it will be so easy. How are you so sure that this is safe?"

"Honestly?" Hayley asked. "The fear in her eyes right now is the most real thing I've seen from her since she got here. What if this can turn her emotions back on?"

"I don't know," he said. "I've seen her resolve. She would escape before she turned her humanity back on and, who knows what lengths she'd go to in order to make an escape?"

"She's not going to do anything too serious when Klaus has her on lockdown like this," she replied. "She couldn't if she tried. Part of Marcel's Army is here, my pack will be by too and, if she comes after me, I'm a hybrid. All I have to do is bite her. It's up to Klaus to revive her or not."

Elijah considered this. He was worried about Hayley and, Hope too, nonetheless. He wondered under what circumstances she and Jackson had been forced to return. Hayley wasn't one to be easily forced into anything. But, ultimately, he agreed that Hayley could take care of herself. He nodded.

"Alright," he conceded. "But call me if anything arises. Klaus will act on his temper too easily. You'll need to keep me informed if we don't want things getting out of hand."

She nodded in response and watched him turn to leave.

Hayley watched him exit the compound feeling conflicted. Elijah did have a way of reasoning with Klaus that no one else did. After her discussion with Klaus on respecting Jackson's authority as alpha, she didn't feel like she needed to be testing his patience, currently, either.

It was hours later before someone finally knocked on Caroline's door. She'd fallen asleep while lounging on her bed and looking out the window, having nothing else to do. She considered she could have put on music but her mood was far too pessimistic at the moment. Besides, she really needed to be free of distraction to plan her way out. And currently, though, it had seemed hopeless and she'd fallen asleep in fitful distress.

The knock wrapping at her door startled her awake from thick, unpleasant dreams. Shaking them off, she opened the door. Klaus was standing there, dressed nicely in a black suit and tie. He frowned when he saw her.

"Caroline, you're a wreck," Klaus said distastefully. She'd slept in her clothes and everything was likely rumpled.

Klaus brushed past her, into the bedroom, dragging her along. He flipped on her light switch and shut the door behind them, where the vampires stationed outside of her door had been watching them.

"Alright, brush your hair and get undressed," he ordered.

"What?" Caroline asked, appalled that she'd just been ordered to strip without complaint.

"You heard me, love, just do it," Klaus replied. "The others are already at dinner. You won't be late again."

Caroline choked back a retort, knowing it was better not to argue for the time being. Picking a brush off of her dresser, she quickly ran it through her hair, ready for this charade to be over with. She remembered their conversation in the hotel in Atlanta. Klaus had asked her to return home with him; Caroline had replied that she didn't have one. This certainly didn't feel like her home now either; it felt like her prison. And she was itching to escape.

He was looking through her closet while she stepped out of her jeans and crumpled white camisole. His back was to her but Caroline was well aware that he knew she was stripping behind him. She stopped when she got to her bra and panties. At the same time, Klaus turned around with a demure navy blue cocktail dress. He stepped towards her, holding the frock up to her frame. He was standing very close; he smirked when he noticed her breathing hitch.

"This should be perfect," Klaus said, handing her the frock.

After Caroline accepted the dress from his hand, he reached up to pull her to him by the back of her head, in a motion that suggested he might kiss her. At the last second, he turned his face into her neck instead, breathing in her scent deeply and possessively. He was showing her that he could do whatever he liked.

She hated him right now: for making her feel this way, for keeping her like this. And, god, her head was spinning with all these thoughts but was there something wrong with her for being a little turned on by all of it? From the moment she'd arrived to the city, she'd hoped to have Klaus at his worst. She'd come to him because she expected him not to care about her humanity being off. Well, he certainly didn't anymore. Yet, he still clearly cared about her, in some capacity. That was why he was keeping her here, wasn't it? And, now, she finally had him at his worst.

It was dominance that was getting to her. When she had her emotions on, Caroline had never been interest in dominance displays with men. They were flashy, obnoxious, and unnecessary. But, apparently with her humanity off, it awakened something new inside of her.

Despite any errant lust she was feeling, Caroline was careful to keep a clear and cool head. This was not the time to be warming Klaus's bed. The only thing she needed to be thinking about right now was a way out of here. And with guards right at her door, she hadn't the foggiest idea of how to manage an escape.

"There you go," Klaus said, as he noticed her regain control of her breathing. He'd clearly affected her in an entirely different manner than instilling fear. The whole display had been very subtle but, it had been enough for him to realize: It was going to be very fun seeing how long it took her to hold out, this time around. "I'll meet you downstairs in five minutes. Your new friends outside will escort you, regardless of if you're ready or not. So be ready."

"Our new guest isn't joining us?" Hayley asked when Klaus entered the courtyard alone and took his seat at the head of the banquet table.

"She'll be along shortly," he replied, taking his seat and throwing a napkin onto his lap.

"What exactly is it you're doing, Klaus?" Hayley demanded. "With Caroline, with us? Are we all supposed to pretend to be one big, perfect happy family?"

"Did you want your daughter to be separated from her father any longer than she had to be?" Klaus snarled at her in response.

"That's not what I asked," she said.

"I don't care what you asked because my answer is the only thing that matters," he responded flatly. "I'm sure as long as you stay out of each other's way until Caroline turns her emotions back on, everything will be just fine." He said it in a tone that suggested it was more of an order than a prediction.

"Good luck getting that to happen," Hayley replied, watching Caroline make her way across the outdoor second floor balcony about the courtyard and begin to make her way down the stairs to meet them.

"There you are, Caroline," Klaus said, in a syrupy pleasant tone, a more sinister undercurrent still lacing each of his words. "You look lovely but please don't keep us all waiting in the future. Come, take a seat by me."

He gestured to a seat at the table at his right. She made her way over to the table silently. Watching each other warily, everyone else took their seats around the table too. Hayley and Jackson sat at the far end, away from Klaus and Caroline. Hope was already in bed for the evening and members of both the pack and Marcel's army were guarding the courtyard. The air was tense between the four of them at the table.

Klaus gestured to a compelled member of staff standing outside the foyer. Three waiters emerged with glasses, placed in front of Klaus, Hayley, and Jackson. One waiter poured wine for Jackson while the other two cut deep gashes into their wrists, letting their blood spill out over the glasses. When the glasses were full, Klaus wordlessly waved them away.

Neither Jackson nor Hayley said anything, instead exchanging awkward glances. It definitely did not go unnoticed that Caroline was not being fed. Jackson, for his part, was ready to tear Caroline apart after what she'd done to his pack. She had killed four of his family. However, after the unceremonious order they'd received, telling them to return to Klaus's compound, now did not seem the safest time to confront Caroline. Ultimately, Klaus broke the silence after taking a deep, slow drink from his glass. He turned toward Caroline.

"Oh and, by the way, you'll eat once you've shown that you can behave yourself," he said simply. "You understand, I'm sure."

Anger, hot and focused, hit Caroline in a powerful flash. How long would she be subjected to this before she was able to make her escape?

The next day, Hayley and Jackson went out for a day with Hope. It wasn't surprising that they weren't anxious to hole up at the compound. The air in The Abattoir was clouded with unease, making everyone skittish. It didn't help that Klaus was stalking about the place, glaring viciously at anyone who so much as attempted to make eye contact. Mostly he would take reprieve in his study, day drinking whiskey in a volatile temper. Further, they figured, Hope didn't need to see her father in such cruel mood, no matter how young she was.

Caroline, of course, had been confined since the previous evening's dinner. It would have been horrendously boring had she not be scared senseless. The fear gave her the drive to work more efficiently. She knew she could design a plan to escape; she just needed to get her bearings. This, first, involved understanding who was guarding her.

From the simple act of listening — really listening, with her heightened senses acutely tuned in, almost like meditating — she had heard and gotten a good sense of everyone in the house in the past 13 hours. Initially dozens of vampires and wolves had been shuffling around the place but, as of that morning, the number had dwindled to slightly over half that size. There were four stationed at points around the compound on the street, five at random points in and outside of the house, and three outside her door. They seemed to be rotating in shifts of about five to six hours. She'd recognized most of them from around the city or from the few parties to which she'd been.

Hayley's pack had left early that morning followed by Hayley, Jackson, and Hope themselves not long after. Now, the house was empty save for herself, Klaus, and the remaining few members of Marcel's Army. Now, she was working to analyze their movements, assess for any predictable patterns. Klaus would get up from his study every thirty or forty minutes to either head to the kitchen or briefly outside only to quickly stomp back to whatever he was doing, holed up in there.

Caroline still hadn't been brought anything to eat or drink. Some water would be greatly appreciated at this moment. She didn't really need water — she needed blood. But blood was obviously not in the cards for her at this particular moment so she actually resorted to drinking from the faucet of the sink in her bathroom, to ease the dry mouth. Something movies never taught you about kidnapping — there was nothing glamorous about it, not even in a damsel in distress way. She considered herself lucky for having a private bath attached to her room. Caroline had been lying in the floor of her room, ear pressed to the ground to listen, when she heard the front door open. She recognized the proud, confident stride immediately. Elijah had returned.

Downstairs, Klaus was still drinking. But, in something of a positive turn, he was painting. It was nothing like his usual work. It was completely abstract, harsh brushstrokes of the deepest black and a vibrant, angry red. The canvas was smeared with severe swaths of paint thrown almost haphazardly onto it.

Klaus heard the door open and could guess who it was. As the figure approached behind him, his senses confirmed his suspicions. His guest took a post in the doorway of the room, observing him silently for a few seconds before he spoke.

"You were so happy to see her," Elijah said, finally.

Klaus kept his back turned, focused on the canvas but, he replied with a simple, "Yes."

"It…" Elijah chose his next word carefully, "It blinded you."

"It made me weak!" Klaus hissed, abruptly rising and throwing his glass into the wall, where the liquor splattered on the dark wallpaper.

"No, Niklaus," Elijah said, stepping forward. "Love doesn't have to make you weak. It can but, only if you let it."

"Then it's worse," he railed. "I let it make me weak."

"You will only let it make you weak if you shut it out entirely," Elijah replied. "Love can make you so much stronger, Klaus, when you share it selflessly."

"Yes, well, pity she doesn't have her humanity then," he snapped, obviously still referring to Caroline. "Because I have been sharing myself selflessly and there's nothing in her that wants what I'm offering."

"So, naturally, you thought the best way to get her to turn her humanity back on would be by locking her up?" Elijah asked.

"It's not about that anymore," Klaus said. "She clearly has no plans to bring her emotions back. Now, she's just too dangerous to trust."

"So why not banish her?" he asked. "If neither of you can give the other what you need, why keep her here? You're torturing her and yourself!"

Klaus finally faced him them, looking at his brother with a deep hurt in his eyes, "Because I cannot bear to let her go."

Upstairs Caroline could only catch snippets of the conversation. The brothers were careful to speak in low tones, likely knowing that she'd be listening. She did hear Klaus lash out, though, and throw a glass into the wall. The sound made her skin prickle. He still wanted her humanity back on.

Terrified as she was now, it only made her more certain that she could never let him win.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I was on the fence about addressing a thought one reader brought up in the reviews because I don't want to give anything away but… (SEMI-SPOILER) I don't really think this is particularly going to come as a shocker to anyone. Obviously, I'm not going to make Hayley successful in her attempt to turn Caroline's humanity back on. I really don't know in what universe I would ever even have considered that an option but, it's not.

And WELCOME, to my new editor / beta titieli! The newest delay in my update was finding a beta; I really didn't want to proceed without one. Titieli has been so patient with me, working through ideas before I even send her a draft. I owe her a huge round of applause and anyone who enjoyed this update does as well. Be sure to check out her Dark Side / Dark Inside series… a TVD OC fic that I adore!