This is a real sad/dark drabble, the next one will be fluffy, I swear! I'm dying without TVD and sweet Klaroline! Read and Review my lovelies! xoxo
The world was on fire, and no one could save me but you
It's strange what desire will make foolish people do
I never dreamed that I'd need somebody like you
I never dreamed that I'd know somebody like you
Caroline took another deep breath as she watched the coroner load the stretcher into the van. She had hoped when she returned to the town square that she would find April, but the discovery of Tyler's mother instead was even more gruesome. She called all the right people and as soon as the police and paramedics arrived they were labeling it as an accident. She knew this was no coincidence that the mayor had drowned tonight of all nights. This was Klaus's work. Tyler had taken off beforehand and was not answering her numerous phone calls. She didn't want to tell him what happened in a voicemail but she didn't know what else to do. This was entirely all her fault. She let this go to far with such a disaster of a plan and purposefully distracting Klaus. Going up against an Original, they were never going to win. Especially since he was always one step ahead of the game. Unlike Tyler, however she would not run away from the problems she had caused. She would face them head on even if they were the death of her. As she stood before the great mansion door, she had a feeling it would be hers tonight.
She didn't bother to knock as she walked inside past the unlocked door and stepped inside to the grand darkened foyer. She knew he was there in the house somewhere. And he would know she was already there looking for him. She moved through the darkened hallway to the gallery where she knew he would be waiting for her and he was. He back was to her, staring into the large fire as he leaned into the mantel. She moved closer towards him and still he had yet to address her or even acknowledge her presence in the room. She steeled her courage.
"What are you waiting for?"
He finally turned to face her and she had to stop herself from covering her mouth in shock. His skin and clothes were drenched in blood from head to toe, the splatters standing out in stark contrast to his fair skin and blonde hair. He looked like death itself and the smell of the hybrid's blood became overwhelming in the heated room. He did not move from his spot across the room, but gazed at her quizzically. The eyes that once held such laughter and mirth at the pageant were now cold and dead as ice and just as calculating.
"Surrendering yourself, love?" His voice was flat, with no hint of emotion behind it. She couldn't tear her eyes away from his looming figure. Even in his present state, he had a haughty, even aristocratic presence. She took a silent, deep breath and moved closer warily, waiting for him to strike her down at any moment.
"Thought I would make it easier for you. I'm not going to run out of town like a coward." She was glad her voice did not crack, and show her true fear at being in his presence at this moment. He was already killing her without even trying.
"You mean like your boyfriend did?"
She flinched. It was so typical of Tyler to run away when things got to too tough, or hard. He was being a coward and the realization that he had even left her to cover his own hide just proved the point further. He loved himself, more than he had ever loved her. The realization was less painful to embrace that she would have thought.
"He made his choices, and I've made mine."
He grinned menacingly at her, obviously enjoying her state of emotional turmoil.
"I applaud your bravery, but you should know that I love the chase. I'll find him and kill him after I take away everything from him."
She guessed in his own way her was trying to hurt her, to make her feel that she was just a game to him and nothing more. His words however hit their intended mark. She knew she was gambling with her own life, but the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.
"Then I guess you should end it with me since you've already killed his mother."
She was stupidly calling his bluff. He had threatened her life before without actually meaning it, but this time she was more than pretty sure that he would prove her right and actually take her life for her betrayals. With frightening speed, he was in front of her grasping onto her shoulders tightly.
"WHY?" He roared at her. She flinched at his harsh tone and the look of pure anger gracing his usually cool and unaffected features.
"Because my loyalty to my friends is till death."
His hands moved from her shoulders to grasp her face, each hand on the side of her neck. Snapping it would be like breaking a twig to him, but she held her ground despite her fear.
"Well, I envy them that I admit," his lower, sulky tone was even more frightening than his raised voice. His steely blue eyes held her gaze and she was completely captivated by the pain shining through them. She had done this, reduced him to his current state of loneliness and bitterness.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, tears starting to gather along her lashes. Her talk with Stefan earlier really put things into perspective in respect to all of their wrongs. They were no better than him when it came down to it. They were all monsters in their own way.
"I don't believe you," he growled lowly.
"I know you don't, but it's true. We're all the same. We've all killed people. What makes you any worse than me, or the Salvatores? We're no better."
He continued to stare her down unrelenting. She could feel a deep tremor run through her body.
He let go of her suddenly, and backed up slowly to his drink cart pouring himself a large tumbler of bourbon. He chugged it down, before refilling it and guzzling it once again. She moved towards him, and grabbed his hand before he could pour a third drink. She grasped his hand, turned it in hers and kissed his palm, mumbling softly, "I'm so sorry."
She felt him pull his hand from her grasp and he moved it to cup her cheek. His thumb started to gently wipe away the silent stream of tears running down her face. She cried even harder at his unexpected tenderness.
"I'm going to get cleaned up, love." She nodded and swiftly he disappeared out of the room. She wiped her hands on her cheeks to remove the remaining tearstains from her face. She moved around the room and looked at the priceless works of art on the walls. Most she assumed was his original work, but a few seemed to be belonging to other artists. What she hadn't noticed until now was the baby grand piano in the corner of the room.
She hadn't played for a while, but she felt a sudden itching in her fingers to test her skills. She sat down on the small bench and lifted the lid. She started off with such childhood tunes like "Ode to Joy" and "Mary had a Little Lamb". A sudden song came into her head, and like magic her fingers remembered the tune and she began to sing as well.
"I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah."
She sang mournfully, losing herself in the sorrowful tune, not hearing the door open across the room. She continued through the piece, singing for everyone who had been lost, not only tonight, but also in the past few years: Jenna, Alaric, Bonnie's Grams, Carol, her dad. She looked up feeling his eyes on her, but she continued to sing and play as he moved towards her, wearing clean sweatpants and a dark t-shirt. She did not falter as he sat besides her on the bench, even when his hand pushed her fallen hair back behind her ear and gently stoked her back in a soothing manner. She leaned into his warm touch and played on, knowing it would soothe him as well.
"Maybe there's a god above
And all I ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
And it's not a cry you can hear at night,
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah."
As she finished she looked sideways at him. His eyes were softer, less harsh and cold than when she first came. It was if his humanity was slowly coming back after the events of tonight.
"You play and sing beautifully."
"Thank you," she said, blushing slightly at his sincere compliment.
"Do you play?"
"Not for years." She was saddened by his admission.
"Will you play with me?" He gave her a small smile and began to play "Chopsticks" and soon she joined him turning it into a duet. They played for a nearly another hour, playing separate and together, serious tunes, as well as silly ones. When the clock over the mantel struck twelve, it shook the both out of their trance. It was the dawn on a new day.
"Merry Christmas Caroline."
"Merry Christmas Klaus."
Knowing the chaos that was happening outside the mansion, she was reluctant to leave their little world that they had created tonight behind. As he got up from the bench and offered her hand she took it allowing him to pull her up.
"I don't want to be alone tonight," she quietly confessed as they moved towards the door, "and I don't think you want to be either."
He regarded her warily, but then nodded. Still grasping her hand he led them out of the room and up the stairs to his room. Together they laid down on his bed, covered by a large, warm blanket. Their hands were still intertwined as the events of the day finally pulled them from consciousness.
Tomorrow was another day, and Caroline knew that she could no longer deny what she had been fighting all along. He claimed that she was full of light, but she knew he had it in him as well. They were filled with darkness, but together they could find their way back towards the light.