Author's note: I'm overwhelmed by all of the love you guys have shown my little story so far! Thank you so much and I really hope you enjoy this latest chapter! Also, a VERY special thanks to eliliyah, storm-pirate, trexsimp, and kiaraalexisklay for being my sounding board while I was trying to work out some of the details of this chapter!
Also, you'll notice themes from Dante's Inferno are sprinkled throughout this story and Dante likely would be rolling in his grave if he could see the liberties I've taken, but since he was a bougie Italian asshat who spent his life writing sonnets about a woman he creepily stalked and never once mentioned his actual wife, he can go to hell (preferably the Eighth Circle).
Klaus once watched a fury drive a man to the brink of madness over and over, pushing him a bit further each time to deepen the cracks in his soul until he shattered at her feet. Her vengeance was breathtaking to behold; there was nothing so lovely as watching the exquisite torture of the damned. Until now.
What a glorious creature. He was entranced by the warmth she radiated. Perhaps he'd been too hasty for condemning the sun. He could bask in a few rays. Just this once.
Apparently, he'd been gaping like a buffoon, because a furrow appeared in her brow as her melodic voice grew more concerned. "Hey, are you ok?" Scrunching her nose, she muttered, "Sorry, that was really stupid. You're standing in my dumpster — obviously, you're not ok."
She appeared to be claiming dominion over this receptacle. Klaus braced himself for her wrath, wondering what the penalty would be for encroaching upon another's territory. While her teeth didn't look particularly sharp, they still seemed capable of at least tearing off a finger if properly provoked. With fingers twitching, he kept his voice low and even to avoid issuing a challenge until he could determine what type of powers she possessed. "My apologies. I didn't realize this receptacle had been claimed."
"Um...it's no trouble. I mean, you're not in trouble or anything. I'm certainly not going to call the cops on you. That's the last thing you need right now." With a gentle smile, she introduced herself, "I'm Caroline."
There was something soothing in her touch as she tentatively helped him climb out of her dumpster as she called it. While he didn't fully understand her words, the intent behind them seemed benign. "You...you are not inclined to alert your armed sentries then," he concluded with a grateful nod. He'd been humbled repeatedly during his brief time on this foul little planet, but standing in the presence of this sweet creature brought him no shame. "I am Klaus." Rarely was he so informal with a lower being, but it seemed right.
"Um...armed sentries?" She scrunched her nose in confusion, seeming to consider whether to pursue this line of inquiry, and started and stopped speaking several times, but ultimately abandoned that notion. Instead, she asked, "Would you like to come inside and get something to eat?"
Klaus' stomach growled in response, a peculiar occurrence in which the first time it happened, he'd assumed a skōlex parasite had taken root. Now he understood this shameful rumbling to be a part of his cursed condition. Humans must tolerate such noisome flesh. He ducked his head, throat oddly tight as he tasted the bitterness of his words, "I don't possess the coin to —"
"That's ok, don't worry about it," Caroline hastily interrupted, her tone soft as she nodded toward the gray brick building. "Come on, things always seem better after a good meal." She led him inside, a hint of pride entering her tone as she told him, "This is my restaurant, Fire and Feast, the best beer and pizza in the state!" Waving to a corner where candles flickered merrily, she told him, "Go ahead and grab a booth and I'll fetch us something from the kitchen."
Klaus perched on a padded, curved seat mounted on a raised platform, curious to learn what offerings might be sacrificed on the flat surface that lay in the middle of this altar Caroline called a booth. She returned with a large platter and the aromas wafting from it seemed to make his stomach growl harder.
"It's a half-veggie, half-meat pizza with my rosemary-butter crust." She slid over a glass chalice with a rather ingenious-looking handle, explaining, "It's a local beer, nothing too fancy, but I love the honeyed hops they added."
Intrigued, Klaus watched as Caroline seemed to perform some sort of folding maneuver with an unwieldy piece of this pizza, deciding that the altar already had been sanctified as she made no moves to perform a ritual sacrifice. He quickly copied her actions, and that first taste filled him with indescribable pleasure. Like the first time he wore the cloak of entrails to preside over the torch lighting of the tyrants. Ah, memories. And then his pleasure was doubled when he gulped down that most refreshing of libations.
With an indulgent smile, Caroline brought him another handled chalice, and once again, he downed the glorious intoxicant, feeling...sated. This beer and pizza were wondrous creations and he vowed to find a way to secure more. "What a delightful concoction! Ever since my exile, I did not think that I could alleviate my hunger."
"Um...that's...good? That you're full, I mean," she said, furrowing her brow in confusion. "The uh, exile thing sounds less...good." Shaking her head slightly, she asked, "You know, I can't quite place your accent; where are you from?"
Klaus realized that this enchanting creature may not be receptive to providing him with more supplies of beer and pizza if she learned he was from hell. "Everywhere. And nowhere." Bollocks. That sounded almost as pretentious as his elder brother, Elijah. He hastily added, "But mostly south. Just...very south."
A peculiar understanding seemed to come over her as she quickly nodded, "Hey, I get it — you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. But it seems like maybe you're having a rough time and I'd like to help." Tracing a nail along the empty platter, Caroline inquired, "Would you like a job? Maybe you'd like to come work for me?"
A...job? She seemed to be offering him the ability to earn currency so that he could purchase his own reserves of beer and pizza. What a generous creature. "Yes, that would be...yes, thank you," he awkwardly replied, enjoying the feel of her squeezing his hand.
"And if you need a place to stay, I've got a friend who runs a local shelter."
Klaus tensed, suddenly on high alert. No human was this generous. Before when he'd called her an angel and an enchanting creature, it was in jest. But now he wasn't so sure. Or, perhaps she was a Nephilim? Those insufferable do-gooders never met a sin they didn't judge and of course they'd send a minion to revel in his misery. He would need to ascertain her divinity — fortunately there was a way to test his suspicion.
Caroline busied herself gathering the empty dishes, flashing him an overly bright smile as she disappeared into the kitchen. "No pressure, I promise! It's just a place to stay if you need one."
He spied the golden strand of hair that she'd left behind on the seat and quickly picked it up, holding his breath in case the angelic grace reacted to his hellfire touch. When acid did not burn his flesh, he carefully dropped the hair on top of the candle, avidly watching the tiny flame. The foul stench of burnt hair overtook his senses and he reeled back with a grimace. Angelic hair did not burn. Caroline was human. An enormously rare, exceedingly generous human.
A soft melody came from the kitchen, and Klaus found himself smiling. Caroline may not be an angel, but she certainly sang like one.
Klaus used to summon hellfire on a whim, just to stroke his fingers across his enemies' flesh to make it crackle and sear as they trembled before him. And now he couldn't keep a simple fire lit in this wretched pizza oven.
"Do you need some help," Caroline's cheerful voice interrupted his morose thoughts, a reminder that humanity could still surprise him. In the month or so since she'd found him rooting around in the dumpster outside her restaurant, he'd started to get his bearings. The world wasn't so terribly complicated after all — he had a job, and a warm bed, and subsisted on a hearty diet of beer and pizza — why did humans complain so much about their mundane little lives?
Caroline bent down to fetch a crisper pan, the braided knot shifting to showcase the elegant lines of her neck. Ah. That. Perhaps he had a slight complication in his life. While Klaus was fond of beer and pizza, but it was nothing compared to his inconvenient longing for the lovely blonde. Her kindness had dispelled everything he thought he understood about humanity. A beautiful soul. Everything about his downfall made him want to sneer and tear into things until they bled, but there was something about this perky little firebrand that somehow soothed his rage. A worthy human.
Impossible as it was to believe, Klaus found himself lusting after this human. The Second Circle of hell was his younger brother's demented playground, but he could admit that he too had indulged in a few decadent centuries there, watching those punished for their lustful depravity. (Although Kol's fondness for dipping furries in the boiling mayonnaise and bacon grease pits had become an unseemly obsession that even the succubi couldn't abide.)
Klaus inhaled sharply, breathing in the completely ordinary scents of basil and tomatoes that suddenly were intoxicating whenever Caroline came near. Favoring her with a dimpled smirk that caused her to blush prettily, he was pleased to see that despite losing his powers, his seductive nature still was intact. "It's nothing I can't handle — I've always had an affinity for fire," he answered, purposely deepening his accented voice as it seemed to cause quite the favorable reaction among humans. Perhaps because they didn't realize that they too had accents?
"Looks like you need more dry kindling. Maybe your affinity is off today," she teased, patting him affectionately on the arm.
He preened under her touch, noting with interest how her palm lingered a bit longer than was necessary. She seemed to appreciate his musculature, and lately he'd been making a point of positioning his body to emphasize the parts that seemed to have captured her attention. "I'll need to split some more logs out back." He cocked his head, putting a bit of heat in his gaze as he invited, "Perhaps you'd care to watch my affinity in action, sweetheart?"
She rolled her eyes, shaking her head wordlessly as she left the kitchen, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Klaus watched her walk away, musing that Caroline was as rare as a docile hellhound, and he intended to keep her. It only was a matter of time until he figured out how.