The Beauties Beast Within

The Kingdom Of Vampires

It took us roughly three minutes walking away from Marcel's house before Klaus pulled me into an alley.

"Why didn't you wait where you were supposed to?" I rolled my eyes, so much for thinking that the anger I'd avoided in Marcel's presence would not come, I knew he'd be angry at me for not being where I was supposed to be.

"It isn't my fault I got carried away unconscious by some lunatic Vampire, you cannot blame me for that!" I stamped my foot on the floor in frustration. Why did he get under my skin so badly, why did his anger scold me to the point where I couldn't resist the urge to fight back.

"I meant why weren't you here with me rather than in Mystic Falls with him?" I was about to come up with some wise ass retort, but  his words made my own catch in my throat. How did he expect me to answer that question? He knew why, I hadn't been ready.

"I wasn't ready then, you knew that, you were the one who left Klaus. I didn't go anywhere" It was true, and even though he had been the one to leave me, I felt as though I'd betrayed him by not going. But at the time I was sure I loved Tyler, and I'd always considered that to be enough; love. But now, now I knew it took more than love to make you happy.

It took a million other things too.

"Are you ready now?" We were walking through a small park, the trees which were turning autumnal in the coming fall swept around us in droves of yellow and reddish brown. I watched them dance, and in amongst them I watched as a small white bird was swept in the harsh breeze. I ran before it hit the floor and it landed in my hand less than an inch from breaking its wing on the cold frosty floor. L.A was a lot colder than I'd expected it to be.

"You saved him?" Klaus was beside me, and I thanked the Gods that nobody else was present in the park at this time of night, which meant nobody had to be compelled to forget our inhuman speed. Klaus stroked the head of the small bird as I looked at him.

"Unless I value all kinds of life,how can I expect to want to live forever?" I walked with the bird up the street, Klaus towed behind clearly not knowing how to reply to my rather phylosophical and insightful remark. I didn't even know where the inspiration for such a line had come from, and yet I knew it to be true.

"Caroline, do you think forever is long enough?" I thought that was a rather odd question, why would he ask that anyway? If forever was not long enough to live, then what more could he possibly want?

"I think living forever is much longer than enough" I placed the little bird upon the bottom of the pavement, hidden from the harsh wintery wind and shielded against the elements in this cubby hole of safety. I gathered dry leaved and placed them in a bunch beside him. He looked dazed and I hoped that he wouldn't die of shock. I picked him up once more, and kissed his forehead, before letting him rest with a little tweet of appreciation, upon the mound of leaves.

"I meant will you be ready at some point in forever?" Klaus seemed almost desperate for an answer. I hadn't come here just for the fact that I needed his help, after I'd made the decision to leave Tyler, when I'd layed in his arms all night after I'd sobered up, I would have killed to run to L.A then, but I'd been too scared.

"I don't want to say yes or no, because I honestly have no idea" I couldn't lie, but I couldn't be completely truthful either, I couldn't tell him that I felt ready now but that I was a terrified teenager who didn't wanna face up to her feelings. Sometimes I didn't even know what my feelings were?

"A maybe is all I need, Love" He smiled, and then looked around clapping his hands. "I feel we should show you the real L.A, perhaps you'd like to come to a party as my plus one?" I frowned, go to a party? With Klaus? When my friends back home were most likely facing peril at the hands of Silas, agony at the loss of Stefan, and Anger as Tyler latest cock up.

"Actually, when I thought I was going to die yesterday I bought myself some clothes, I'm sure one of them will do" Klaus laughed at me, and grabbed the bags from my hands taking a glance inside. I nearly died of embarassment when the first bag he opened just happened to be the one which contained my lingerie selection I'd bought in case I ended up staying a few days, convincing myself that I needed more underwear anyway.

"I'm sure they'll do just fine" Their was a lustful glint in his eyes and I rolled mine in response. Typical boy, see a bra think of sex. He chuckled lightly and I smiled, suddenly realising just how much I'd missed that laugh. That laugh that he only ever seemed to show when around me.

"So Hybrid Boy, where are we going?" I locked my arm with Klaus' and he smiled, leading me forward out of the other end of the park, far off I could hear the sound of the sea, over the noises of a thousand tourist cameras snapping, and the continual chatter of people who seemed to inhabit every waking inch of the streets around here.

"Lets book you into a hotel, shall we?" I smiled, loving the idea of being able to get glammed up and behave like I did when I was human just for one night, actually going to a party where I didn't need to worry about things going wrong and all my friends dying, because their was nobody here to get hurt.

"Aren't we staying at yours?" It did surprised me that Klaus didn't invite me back to his house, he probably had a gazillion spare rooms I could have slept in, but I had a sneaking suspicion he was trying  to show off his riches, and the influence he had over the people in this area.

"Not unless you want to share a house with Rebekah, who I know is definitely your biggest fan" His sarcasm made me scowl, and I bared my teeth. There was no love lost between Rebekah and I, not since she'd ran away with my best friend who I'd had a thing for at the time. I just hoped Matt was alright.

"Is Matt at your house too?" I know my curiosity for the boy who I'd open mouthed kissed on stage after doing karaoke with him, annoyed Klaus. But thankfully he answered my question.

"No, Rebekah enrolled him in a University nearby, he's being a normal student, he's living in dorms. He's got a job at a grill... again. You'd think he'd liven up his prospects but what can you do? And he's also in a relationship with Rebekah now" Even though the Vampire princess bitch was not the best option in his love life, I was grateful Matt was getting the life none of us could ever have, as the only human surviving one of us. And I was grateful to Rebekah for making him happy, even if their age gap was strange, and made weirder by the fact that she would forever be young while he aged. Maybe in time, they would fall in love, and Matt would choose to live our life just to be with her. But even if he did end up loving her, I couldn't think of Matt Honeycutt as anything other than human through and through.

"Can you say thank you to Rebekah for me, I know I'm not her favourite person but I'm really grateful for what she's doing. She's helping him when none of us could get through, we all messed him up so much" I knew I was being depressing, even though Klaus didn't care at all about Matt's wellbeing, but he could sense my regret and he smiled at me with a strange expression.

"You cant blame yourself for everything Caroline, you cant make life perfect for everyone you meet. You cant fix people's lives, their not like that bird" I looked at the floor, resigned to the fact that Klaus was right and I would not be able to help everyone and heal their lives, even if I loved them. Like Tyler, since he'd come back I was sure he'd been different. Because Klaus loved me, I had ruined Tylers life for an entire year, when I should have just set him free.

"So where's this Hotel?" I knew that I was being childish in changing the subject, but I didn't want to cry. And these last six weeks had been emotional enough without reflecting on everything I'd ever done wrong. Those kind of thoughts always led back to my mother. I did not want to cry tonight.

"Just around here, you're going to love L.A Caroline, I promise you. It'll be unlike anything you've ever seen before, Love" I didn't doubt that at all, I could smell the difference, I could hear the sounds of the night life which had never gripped Mystic Falls in all my years of life. And I could tell this party would not be like any I'd been to before. If anything, this would be far beyond my small town expectations...