✶ 𝔱𝔴𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔶-𝔱𝔴𝔬 ⌢ companions on a murderous conquest ˇ !
[ I was on a writer's block, I'm so sorry girlies I got you xx ]
Stefan soon found himself in an old warehouse, Elijah's carcass in one of the coffins, the only vessel parted slightly to show his body - in contrast to the rest who had likely been shut for decades. His eyes held no life, his skin so grey, cold, it looked like it would wither any moment, but it wouldn't.
But if they did, it would show disappointment - for another betrayal from the man who blinded him by promises to return as they once were, one family. . And stabbed his hollowed heart the second he felt paranoia.
Once again.
Klaus narrows his eyes, looking at the grey veined corpse. Two of his men were there standing beside him, the other coffins behind them being loaded into a van. Stefan recognized the men as vampires too easily, which made him feel a slight pang of guilt.
Because if they weren't, his gums would've etched to release fangs, to feel their blood pooling around his tongue, it's taste making his mind would go numb with only a thought for more. And it would be ecstasy, before it all leaves, with nothing left. But carcasses after carnage, and more guilt to burden himself with.
But he consoled himself with a slight bittersweet smile; realising if he told the words as they were to Caroline she would hug him and say it's like all her failed relationships. And remove his mind from the discussion of his killings by gossip, and new songs she'd grown to love.
Low words from Klaus made him leave his earlier thoughts, "I suppose, brother, you've been reunited with our family." He stills, dark eyes now jaded, as he closes the coffin and turns to look at the two men.
The hybrid sighed, "Put him with the others. We're leaving town tonight."
They pull the coffin, shutting it to be clamped like a vise, as though worried he'd escape - before putting Elijah among the other caskets.
Stefan pauses, a ping from his phone driving away any other aimless thoughts. His eyes pause, a text from Elena. That then turns to two.
One telling him that Damon's okay, and another asking him where he is.
But he just shuts his phone. Burying it into his pocket, the movement making klaus' eyes shift as he smirks. "So.. Did Katerina make it in time?." Klaus murmured curiously, as though he didn't know. But he knew well. And all knew it. Everything he did was always planned out, he was always ahead, wether it be by two steps or by a mile.
Klaus mikaelson never did anything spontaneous when it came to his plans.
But it was amusing planting doubt in his targets—and.. perhaps he considered the ripper as a friend—every now and then.
Stefan murmured sarcastically, "You won't be seeing her again, you know." As though he was enlightening the hybrid.
Klaus paused, eyes tarnishing any further amusement that once sparked his irises as he scoffed. "Because she's on vervain?," he remarked, making stefan turn in surprise. He merely let out a long sigh in response, as he pauses. "I've been around a long time, Stefan. I rarely get played for a fool. Besides, she won't get far. You'll help me see to that."
Stefan narrowed his eyes. "What is it you really want from me?,"
Klaus smirks. "All will be explained in time. Once we leave this tragic little town."
Stefan sighed, plainly defeated. He didn't want to see any other person, not Elena—not damon who's likely celebrating that he's gone with her—and definitely not.. Caroline.
he owes her way too many apologies. He practically ignored her, even though she's probably the only one with genuinely placed concern. No motives, no hidden fears behind her kindness to him. "Then are we done here? Can we go?." He asks.
Klaus shakes his head, "Not quite. You see, I have a small gift for you." Someone was coming. Stefan shifts instantly as the scent of blood inches closer with each slow stride the woman makes.
Klaus pauses, a smirk adorning his face as he motions for her to come closer. "Come here, sweetheart. Don't be afraid." The girl stiffened, but then joined them.
Stefan looked horrified.
Clenching his jaw, as he tried to ignore the sound of blood in the girl's veins. Klaus shifts his gaze to look at Stefan. "See, I wish to assure myself you honor our deal... That you'll be of use to me." The hybrid stares emotionlessly.
Stefan eyes stuck to the target, before the veins beneath them darkened and seemed to tighten beneath the skin. And time felt like it stopped. The only sound audible being her thumping heartbeat. And the blood running through her veins.
Klaus pauses, jaded eyes staring in amusement. Noticing the ruthless glint in stefan's eyes. "I could have compelled her to behave, but a real ripper enjoys the hunt.." He releases her. And she tries to run, scared, screaming.
Stefan suddenly stands in front of her, cuts into the woman's neck, immediately, his eyes shutting, hand clenching her shoulder, ecstasy filled each thought - each nerve, till his eyes saw her headless carcass tumble to the floor. Nothing in those once scared eyes of hers.
Klaus looks at the dead body, and pauses. "One last thing, then we can go."
Stefan seemed defeated, was it more people he had to kill? But it wasn't.
Because if he he even tried to kill her, he would be.. well, god knows what klaus would do then.
They were back in the apartment and stefan stared, as he sees caroline there, eating from the cheesecake as she watches something on her phone. Her worries about Elijah still intact on the back of her mind, unsure where he went. But they left for the time being, as she sees the duo walking in.
A small, embarrassed smile adorns her lips as a soft expression marred her face. "Hey.."
Then the blonde turns from stefan, to klaus, and her gaze hardens.
Klaus smiled slightly, but something in his eyes made her still. As she sighed. "Don't tell me what you did, I know you. You fucked something up, didn't you?," Stefan seemed surprised at how blunt she spoke, and to klaus of all people, but it was a bit amusing.
Klaus pressed his lips into a thin line, his eyes softened in a way though. "..Hello, my love."
She gave a small smile to stefan, "so, you are also coming on our murder conquest?." She scrunched her nose. stefan seemed bluntly, and very, confused. "You are..? But you hate damon, I doubt we bargained for the same deal," he replied sarcastically, narrowing his eyes in confusion.
She paused, pressing her lips into a line, wondering how to explain this. "Well.. funny thing—I am kind of.." she stood, as klaus put an arm around her shoulder making each thought disappear from her head. "My soulmate." He smiled. Somehow a threat lurked inside his eyes.
His words made Stefan somehow even more horrified, but more on the shock part.
As he stayed there a couple of seconds trying too process this in his mind.
The girl who was so sweet she was practically an angel, and the man who would kill so aimlessly his kill count likely had six figures— and with a twisted amount of amusement, the man who he loathed. With the same woman he considered a sister.
They were soulmates? Them?
Caroline shrugged, "..I'll pack some drinks too. He looks like he needs many. And I do too if your target is all the way in Tennessee. What the hell even is in Tennessee?" But she hadn't pulled klaus' arm of her yet, so he was smug and delusional for the next couple of minutes.
...
The summer spent with the murder duo that was stefan and klaus was full of bloodshed, arguments, and alcohol.
She had never felt so alive, finally outside of the tragic town.
"Rudy!" a blonde woman exclaimed as she stepped out of her mundane house, stepping up on the front porch, eyes scouring for any glimpse of the fur to lead to the disoriented golden retriever. "Rudy, come on! It's too hot to make me come looking for you!"
She bent down to pick up a dog toy, which had been strewn over the floor haphazardly. When she stood up, she was shocked to see a couple standing in front of her.
It was a man, arm wrapped around a curly haired blonde's waist. Her soft eyes staring at the woman, which had not a bad thought behind them. "I'm so sorry—" Klaus began in an awful faux American accent, which made Caroline tense. "—We didn't mean to scare you."
"Can I help you?" the woman inquired, defensively. Staring between the two.
"Yes, actually.." Caroline's smile was sweet, even if klaus' fake accent made her just want to scrunch her nose and try and forget what she heard. Her soft blue eyes brought a slight relief to the woman in front of her, enveloping her in a false sense of security.
"Our car broke down a couple of miles back, my boyfriend and I have been walking for what feels like hours, and my feet are starting to hurt because I picked the worse day to wear platforms," Caroline gave her an embarrassed smile, "We were just hoping if we could use your phone?,"
"Don't you two have cell phones?" She replied. Blankly.
"Yeah," Klaus pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. Caroline shrugged, "Both of ours ran out of battery along the way. He was being to play arctic monkeys the whole ride over." She made a lighthearted comment.
Klaus smiled slightly. "Look, we promise we're not serial killers—we just want to use your phone." He murmured, the woman at the door eventually sighed. "Sure,"
Caroline perked up. "So, we can come in?" She asked.
"No, I'll get the phone and I'll bring it out to you," the woman responded.
Caroline's smile fell as fast as it came, making it obvious it was simply a twitch of her lips, something she controlled only too simply. Klaus had annoyed look shroud upon his face as he approached the woman, hands leaned on the door frame after he released his grip on Caroline's waist.
"I thought country folk were supposed to be more trusting," he murmured in a tone that was shifting bitterly, eyes a bit narrowed. "I'm from Florida," she replied.
A flash of dark red in her irises, could've been glimpsed be seen in Caroline's eyes for a single moment if someone had turned to stare, as the woman was pushed forward to them by an unknown matter. "..Well, that explains it," Klaus grabbed the woman's neck, leaning forward to compel her. "Now, show me and my girl a little southern hospitality, sweet pea." His accent returned, his voice jaded and resonant like it was before.
American klaus was a jumpscare.. she thought, lips curled in a bit of amusement. But it might've also been because of the fluttering in her stomach at only a nickname.
Get it together Caroline, you're stronger than this. It's just his accent. Just the accent.
You definitely don't like the fact that 'my girl' was addressed to you. Yes.
Wait.
Liking his accent is just as bad. And now it's admitted. Ugh..
Back inside the kitchen, a brunette was cooking over the kitchen stove. She heard the door swing open and immediately opened her mouth to speak without looking up. "I bet you a hundred dollars that dog ran off to a house with air conditioning,"
"Oh, he's fine. And we're lucky steffy is a ripper now, don't know if his appetite stretches to domestic pets too." the blonde joked, as the woman whipped around to see Caroline standing beside Klaus, who held a hand around the nape of her friend's neck, who was trembling, tears streaking down her cheeks.
"What's going on?" The brunette murmured, trying to cover any emotion in her tone. A small smirk forms on klaus' lips. "don't be alarmed—I was told Ray Sutton lives here," Klaus spoke up.
"He's almost never here. He's on the road mostly," the woman replied, swallowing a lump in her throat.
"..But I expect he makes it home, once a month," Klaus' lips upturned into a smirk as he saw the woman's frightened expression revealing. As he turns to see the small cupboard-like attic door. "That's what I thought. Where is he now?"
his demanding question was answered with silence, making his jaw clench. "If I have to make you tell me, it's going to be infinitely more painful for the both of you."
The brunette turned on her heel, attempting to sprint out of the kitchen.
She ran towards the back door, only to see Stefan guarding her exit, veins already protruding from under his eyes.
"I love it when they run," klaus murmured, scoffing, as stefan's eyes trained on the brunette's neck. "He's in Toll," the woman stammered. "A bar called Southern Comfort—it's on Highway 41."
"Thank you. Now, may my friend come in?" Klaus asked the blonde, who's nape he was still grasping, as she nodded with a small cry. "Yes," Stefan stepped past the doorway. "Kill this one quickly," he shoved the blonde woman into Stefan's grip.
He turned to the brunette that was crying. "And make that one suffer."
Caroline watched, as the woman's blood slid down Stefan's throat, his hands tight on her wrist, hope and any trace of life soon left her eyes. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Caroline's eyes fell towards the victim, whose head had been severed from her body. And she just sighed.
At this point she was used to it after the whole Elijah bitch slap thing.
Before she felt klaus' hand slither upon her back, as his eyes motioned outside. While she nodded, and walked outside, he opened the passenger door for her, before getting in the driver's seat.
Stefan was still inside the house, and Caroline had seen him glimpse his phone.
Likely seeing all of Elena's worried messages but never replying to them.
"Are you alright?" Klaus asked after a moment of silence, making her break from her unfocused state. She nodded.
Klaus stared at her for a moment longer, smiling a bit as he turned to stare at the steering wheel.
"Hey," Stefan greeted as he opened the car door, clambering into the backseat. "I'm done—let's go."
Her eyes light up. "..Could we get ice cream? And aforementioned, I remember our agreement to let klaus choose the music for the ride over here. But now it's my turn. So get ready leeches." She grinned.
As they both stare at her, amused. Making her frown. "What? I need something to continue functioning. Besides, I am tired, I am risking eyebags for this dumb little mission to find ray cushion."
"Ray Sutton." Stefan corrected with a laugh. As she shrugged. "Not the point. And I am losing our goal here. Let's find this idiot, get him to speak about where this pack is, and boom, make some hybrids."
Klaus chuckled, "you're still amusingly optimistic."
"Elena told me she'd been that way since cheer camp." Stefan joked as klaus chuckled, "you went to cheer camp? Gods.."
Caroline narrowed her eyes, embarrassment evident upon her flushed face. "Fine, no ice cream. Screw both of you, Cullen wannabes. Let's at least play maneater because it's ironic in this context, and I love it." She played the song after connecting through her phone, before they heard noises of barking outside. She blinks. Seeing the golden retriever the two women had lost in front of her.
She smiled a little at the sight of it, her eyes lighting up as she leaves the car and checks on it while klaus sighed. As both him and Stefan step out of the car soon after, seeing her cradling and playing with the somehow enthusiastic dog. Guess he really didn't like those owners.
Klaus sighed realising what request was to come, but his eyes stilled on her, still softened as she picked up the dog. "He's coming with me, nothing you two leeches could do about it."
Both of them just sighed in defeat, practically accepting the fate. As Caroline grinned like a happy toddler holding the dog close in the car as they played songs— stefan and Caroline singing along, while klaus laughed and hummed slightly to the catchy ones— while they were on their way to the destination, Southern Comfort on Highway 41.
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Klaus wanted to slaughter Stefan for even suggesting this plan to make sure the man before them was the target, so they don't reveal themselves idiotically. But caroline agreed and she was the one person he wouldn't willingly argue.
He was leaned back against the corridor, in the entrance of southern comfort. His eyes trained on her, as she fixed her curls and lip liner, and he narrowed his eyes seeing her tugging her tank top up downwards for a generous glance of cleavage.
She pushed open the door to Southern Comfort slowly. Walking in, a small smile adorning her lips as she sat down at the stool, resting her arms on the countertop as she stares at up at the many glass bottles filled with alcohol. Eventually her mind settling for one.
"Whiskey, please," she requested softly. "Hey, Red. Get me a beer," Ray Sutton requested as he grinned, and took a seat next to Caroline. His eyes raked over her figure in a shameless fashion that couldn't be hidden. "And let me pay for whatever this pretty lady ordered."
She turned to face him, pasting a look of faux expression of surprise. "Oh, thank you." she smiled softly, as she leaned in slightly, arms resting still on the counter. "Caroline." She introduced shortly, sipping her drink once it's placed in front of her.
"I'm Ray," he responded, a smirk on his lips. "Ray Sutton. What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" As her eyes showed a glint of something almost lethal at the response she'd been anticipating.
"I've been looking everywhere for you," her eyes twinkled as she downed the rest of her drink. "We started in Florida, Pensacola. I met a frat looking boy there who you used to work with before you moved to Memphis, where he pointed me in the direction of two women at the edge of the state. And they led me here. To you."
Ray's eyes flashed with fear as he realised that the woman in front of him wasn't a pretty target, he was the target.
He swallowed tensely. "I think I'll be going," he shoved Caroline, but her hand instantly shot out to grasp his arm, as red glow sparked and he winced in pain at the feeling, instantly immobilised as he tensed at the pain.
Ray mustered his strength and snatched his arm away from what felt like an iron grip. But he spun around to run smack dab into Klaus' chest, who was watching the exchange with a dark, cold look in his eyes. His lips upturned into an arrogant smirk.
"Not so fast, mate. You only just got here," Klaus frowned mockingly. "Now, your type is very hard to come by."
Ray attempted to walk the other way, but was blocked by Stefan. "I wouldn't do that," Stefan pushed at Ray's chest till his back hit the counter. "Vampires," Ray bit out in realisation.
Klaus grinned, mockingly. "You're swifty swift, Ray. Yes, my friend here is a vampire—he compelled everyone in the bar, so don't look to them for any help. I, however... I'm something else; a different kind of monster. I've got some vampire, I've got some wolf.."
"You what?" He stared, both horrified and disoriented by the comment made by klaus.
"A hybrid, Ray. I'm both," Klaus explained. "You see, I want to create more of me. Now, you being the first werewolf that I've come across in many a moon—pun intended, Ray—I need you to direct me to your pack. So, where can I find them?" He murmured, casually, but his tone held an underlying sense of demand.
"You can't compel me. It won't work," Ray spat. Stefan scratched the back of his head, before Klaus nodded at him. Stefan turned around, picking a bag of wolfsbane out of his pocket. He turned to the bartender. "I need a scotch on the rocks, please" he murmured. He then turned back to Ray. And raised his brows, as he grinned. "Tell you what, Ray. We're going to play a little drinking game. Something I like to call Truth or Wolfsbane." Klaus smirked at that.
And Caroline had sipped the last of her drink and left to go take care of the dog which she hadn't named yet.
Klaus' eyes remained on Caroline for a majority of the remaining hours that Stefan was torturing Ray. Her gaze was set on the golden retriever, as she ruffled the pet's soft fur.
Ray Sutton was against the wall, crimson blood leaking from his injuries. He has darts around him. Stefan stirs a dart in a glass full of vervain and then throws it on Ray, who responded with a pained scream. "Ray, you can end this right now. Just tell me where your pack gathers for the full moon," Stefan stated as Ray screamed out in pain, another dart hitting him right in the shoulder after he left stefan's words unanswered. "I can't," Ray panted out.
"I know, I know. You live by a code and all that, but, see... he's not going to let me stop until you tell me. And I do whatever he says, so, that's the way it goes around here," Stefan responded.
Suddenly, a woman approached Klaus. "Mr. Klaus, I have some information for you— he told me to tell you that he saw that guy's brother, Damon, at the farmhouse."
Caroline's eyes narrowed. Even in another state, that dumb fucker stuck like a leech.
Her eyes flickered over to Stefan, who had his lips pursed and a grim look on his face. It was no surprise to either of them that the older Salvatore was following their trail.
"Well, thank you, Claudine. You'll just tell your friends to keep up the good work with the neighbourhood watch," Klaus responded sarcastically. As the woman walked away from sight.
"My brother's still on our trail?" Stefan inquired, watching as Claudine walked away.
"He's getting closer. I'm going to have to deal with that," Klaus' eyes darkened as he stood up, ready to walk out of the bar. Stefan grabbed Klaus' arm desperately. "No, no, no—let me handle it,"
"Why should I let you leave?" He asked, coldly. "Cause you'll know I'll come back," Stefan responded with an exasperated look.
"Do I?" Klaus raised an eyebrow. "You saved my brother's life; I'm at your service," Klaus stalked closer towards Stefan. He eyed the sandy-haired man for a moment, but Stefan's expression remained firm.
Klaus' lips upturned into a smirk. "Ah, you sound so tedious and indentured. Aren't you even having the least bit of fun?"
He paused. "I'll make sure that my brother doesn't bother us anymore," he stated, before turning to walk away.
Caroline just blinked. And ruffled the dog's fur as she avoids staring at the bloody mess that was hanged upon the wall.
It was later in the evening that Stefan returned. Klaus had force-fed Ray his blood, snapping his neck and effectively killing him to begin the process of turning him into a hybrid — after making sure Caroline was asleep in the car.
Although feeling a bit envious of the little golden retriever in her arms.
"You still care for your brother," Klaus eyed Stefan suspiciously, the duo still inside the bar. "Your old life."
"I don't care about anything anymore," Stefan responded coldly.
"You put on a good show, Stefan. I almost believe you. Let's hope for your brother's sake, he does. You never stop caring about family." he commented, eyes a bit disoriented in thought, "But every time you feed, the blood makes it easier to let go.."
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what should the dog's name be? Also, again, I'm so sorry for the late update yall.