Caroline turned on the bar stool to face the entrance and the Original vampire, who was standing right in front of it. The Original gentleman, Elijah Mikaelson. Not quite the Original she was hoping to find but still better than Rebekah.
Elijah was looking at her with surprise but there was also a look in his eyes, which told her he wasn't exactly thrilled to see her. Well, they had never really spoken to each other before and Caroline had rejected his brother on a regular basis while he lived in Mystic Falls so Caroline couldn't really blame him.
Camille broke the tense silence that had followed Elijah's entrance.
"Well, I don't really know where Klaus is but ta-da! His brother is here. Who you already seem to know..." Camille trailed off, not knowing what to say and quickly switcheds topics. "Elijah, what can I get you?"
"I'll just take whatever she's having, thank you," He said as he placed himself besides Caroline without sitting down. Camille looked at him with doubt for a second, speculating whether she should warn him about the blonde's drink or not and then decided he could handle it.
While she poured him a glass, she took a closer look at the blonde, who now had Elijah's full attention. She looked quite young and Camille knew she probably wasn't twenty-one but the girl had looked like she could use a drink so Camille had thought what-the-hell.
She was genuinely beautiful and had a certain brightness about it. There was something in her eyes that made her look a lot older than she was, but then something would quickly shift and make her look very young instead.
The bartender placed the glass in front of Elijah and Caroline watched him grimace briefly at the taste of the drink. Caroline saw how Camille tried to hide her smile and felt the corner of her mouth twitch.
"Elijah," Caroline said, realising she hadn't said a word since he entered the bar.
"You're here," he simply stated and sent her a smile. His statement confused Caroline and made her wonder if he'd known she was coming all along.
"I'm here," Caroline confirmed with hesitation in her voice and threw her hands in the air in an awkward gesture.
"I believe I've lost a bet then," he stated once more, mostly talking to himself. Caroline stared at him for a moment until she belatedly realised what he was thinking. With wide eyes and ill-hidden desperation, Caroline tried to explain.
"No, no, no! I'm not here. I'm just here- I, we, need your help, as in all of you. That's why I'm here, the only reason," she rambled on in an attempt to convince the Original vampire of her intentions. Elijah looked at her and his dark eyes showed his amusement.
"I see," he said slowly as if he was making sure she understood that he understood. "You need our help? I thought you were glad that we left."
Caroline didn't know what to answer without insulting him so she decided to try another angle.
"Is Klaus here?" she asked, making a hard-to-read smile appear on Elijah's lips.
"Niklaus is... otherwise engaged at the time. Why do you need our help, Caroline?" Elijah said firmly. Caroline sensed his impatience even though it didn't show and decided to get right to the point.
"Silas is back. And we can't kill him. We've tried everything but we aren't strong enough. We need your strength. I know this is a lot to ask but I promise you as soon he is done with us, he's coming for you."
Elijah watched her for a moment, deciding whether or not he should help the blonde vampire and her pesky friends. He didn't quite understand this infatuation his brother had with her as she seemed almost silly at times. She was young, too young. Admittedly, she was beautiful and Elijah found her loyalty admirable.
"Caroline, go home and tell your friends that we are not your personal bodyguards. We have more important things to take care of here. We will deal with Silas when needed but for now it isn't. Leave Caroline, tonight. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go." Elijah told her, making Caroline feel like a child being set in its place. Then he nodded at Camille and before Caroline could respond, he had left.
"Wow, tough love," Camille said and took Elijah's glass from the bar. Caroline studied her for a moment, wondering how much she had heard and understood of their conversation. Something about her reaction made Caroline think she knew more than she led on. Caroline quickly downed her drink, feeling how the alcohol rushed to her head and made her dizzy for a second. She wasn't just about to give up.
"And you wouldn't know where to find Klaus, would you?" Caroline asked again, her eyes more pleading this time. Camille shook her head after a quick look at the entrance door. Was there something Camille wasn't telling her?
"Fabulous! Well, then. Nice to meet you, Camille," Caroline said as she got up and left.
"Hey, call me Cami! Goodnight Caroline!" Camille called as Caroline exited the bar and the door closed behind her.
Out on the street, Elijah was nowhere to be seen and Caroline felt hopeless for a moment. Then she took a deep breath, deciding with herself that she at least had to find Klaus before she went home. Elijah might not like her but she hoped his brother still did. Klaus wanted to be her friend. Friends helped each other.
Caroline paused outside the bar and looked around, unsure what to do with herself. Elijah wasn't going to help her and she wouldn't count on Rebekah either so now it was up to Klaus. If she could find Klaus. She still wasn't sure how the people around here felt about Klaus so she didn't feel like going around just asking whoever was there.
At least it seemed she had found the Originals' favourite bar. And it seemed like the bartender knew more than she told Caroline so maybe she could compel it out of her. At least Camille could tell her what category the Originals fit into here: good or bad.
Caroline decided to get something to eat, as in food, and moved towards the river to kill two birds with one stone. She turned back by St Louis Street and as she came near the river the street narrowed, leaving Caroline with a feeling of being trapped. She might be a vampire but she definitely wasn't the only one. She had no idea what kind of psychos lived in this quarter but with no one to help her, she wasn't willing to find out.
Caroline turned around before she reached the river to go back to a more populated street and walked right into someone. A tall man with broad shoulders, dark skin and hair, and a very white smile stood in front of her. Caroline took a step back and met his stare with a lifted chin. Caroline did her best to not show any emotion as she crossed her arms in front of her.
"Could you move, please? I kinda have to go that way," she said while trying to sound impatient. The man in front of her lifted his eyebrows as if he was surprised and showed her a wide smile.
"Should you be out here all alone? This night isn't always safe around here," he warned her without a single sign of concern in his voice. Caroline knew what he was but she had a feeling he hadn't figured her out. Slowly, she made her eyes darken and as the veins appeared under her eyes, she showed him her fangs before she made it all disappear once more.
"I think I'll do just fine," she said with a condescending smile and stepped around him. Before she could take more than two steps he was in front of her again, still smiling that creepy smile. Caroline dropped her arms in annoyance and was about to speed the hell out of there, when he grabbed her hand and kissed it.
"We haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Marcel," Marcel said, looking at her as if it should mean something to her. When Caroline didn't react to his name, his smile only widened and Caroline suddenly felt as a new shinning toy.
"Caroline," she informed him as she pulled back her hand from his grip. As charming as he was, she had this creeping feeling that she should stay the hell away from him. She tried to pass him again but this time he stopped her by placing a hand on her arm. She could feel his strength even though she didn't fight him and knew that he was much older than her.
He looked at her intensely for a moment before letting her go and Caroline couldn't stop herself from shivering a little. As he let her go, his eyes shifted to look at her hand with her daylight ring. Caroline suddenly saw that Marcel was wearing one as well, leaving her with a weird feeling she couldn't explain. Marcel broke the silence, making Caroline's eyes return to his face.
"Weren't you going the other way?" he gestured with his right arm, pointing the way she had been going.
"Not anymore," Caroline simply said. She began walking away from the river, waiting for Marcel to catch up with her again. But he didn't. Caroline turned her head to glance back but the street was empty once again. As she stood on Royal street once again, Caroline realised she still hadn't eaten anything and she sat down at an empty table outside a café.
She looked at the other guests, realising most of them were probably vampires. It was too cold to sit outside on a November evening for humans but Caroline barely felt it. She ordered a club sandwich from the waiter and then leaned back in her chair. Caroline remembered she hadn't answered Elena's text and pulled out her phone.
"Found Elijah but he told me to go home. No luck finding Klaus yet. U?"
She placed her phone on the table in front of her. Caroline jumped in her chair when she realised Elijah was sitting right in front of her.
"Did I not tell you to go home, Miss Forbes?" he asked with feigned politeness, having a hard time hiding his impatience. He was sitting in the chair across from her with his legs crossed, leaning against the backrest. His face was composed as if they were just having a friendly chat and he smiled at the waiter as she brought Caroline her food.
"So now I'm not even allowed to do some sightseeing?" Caroline answered with a question, knowing that she was pushing the Original to the limit of his patience. She took a bite of her food and chewed as long as possible while looking back at him.
Elijah leaned forward and caught her eyes. She knew what he was about to do and let him do it. She stared back into his gaze and felt the compulsion as he told her to leave. She didn't say anything and took another bite of her food, when he let her go. She could see the confusion in his eyes when Caroline didn't do what he had told her to.
"Sorry. I'm on vervain. You know, because of the whole Silas thing, we take our security measures," she said with a shrug of her shoulders. He looked at her with a deadpan expression, showing no emotion as he tried to decide what to do next. Caroline took another bite of her food and waited. She was much more terrified than she let on and he probably knew that but she wasn't going to show him.
"You forget that I am not my brother. You might have been his one sliver of humanity once but things have changed and I will not hesitate to kill you if you do not leave. Niklaus has more important things to take care of here than going on a rescue mission with you. He has moved on, Caroline, and you should do the same," Elijah told her calmly, which was even scarier than Klaus' yelling. He was calculating and cold.
Caroline stared at him, seeing him for what he really was. People might think he was the moral one and the gentleman but the truth was different. He was just as sociopathic as the rest of them and didn't think twice about killing anyone who stood in his way, no matter who it was. She knew he was capable of love and he was still 'the moral one', but that wasn't saying much.
"I know you guys have some sort of motto. 'Family above all', is it? But so do I. I'm not going home until I know I've tried every opportunity. I'm here to save my family and trust me, I'm really stubborn. And if you're really that sure Klaus have moved on, you have nothing to worry about so what's the problem in me talking to him?" Caroline responded to his threat without hesitation. She knew it was a bad move to challenge him but if she left now, she was dead anyway. "And one last thing, if you kill me, you'll never hear the information I have about Katherine."
The whole of Elijah's body shifted from calm and in control to alert and tense. The mention of Katherine made him uncross his legs and lean towards Caroline. She looked into his eyes and knew that this was his humanity. His ill-advised love for Katherine and his family was what kept him from becoming the same monster his brother could be.
"Caroline, I will advise you not to poke me like this. Tell me what you know about Katerina and I will delay your death for now," he said with ill-hidden desperation in his voice. His threat sounded tame and Caroline felt sorry for him. She knew that Elijah had been looking for Katherine but he hadn't been able to find her.
After Katherine had turned human, Caroline had taken care of her. Katherine was no longer the raging bitch she had been as a vampire but a confused and quiet girl, who had no idea who she was or had been. Caroline had convinced the others to hide her away from Klaus as she was once again a doppelgänger. Katherine had freaked out as soon as she had seen Elena and Caroline had explained to her why they looked so much alike.
It was funny how Katherine and Caroline had become friends in the process of creating a new life for the girl, who had once suffocated her with a pillow. They had given her a new name, Michaela Petersen and found her an apartment in New York City. Caroline had warned her to stay away from anything that could call the public's attention to her and had gotten her a job as an assistant in a law firm in upper Manhattan.
Michaela knew about Klaus and how important it was to stay away from him, but Caroline had never told her about Elijah and Michaela never knew about all the lost calls from him. Caroline knew that it was wrong of her to use Michaela as leverage now but something told her that Elijah would keep her secret. Despite of everything, Elijah was just as invested in keeping Klaus' humanity as Caroline was and if he got the chance to create more hybrids, it could go right out the window again.
Why is it I care about Klaus' humanity? Well, if he isn't all monster there's a better chance that he'll help me.
Caroline had a brief internal discussion about Klaus and then returned to the Original in front of her. His impatience was screaming at her and she decided to explain everything to him. After a few minutes with his intense staring, she finished her story about Katherine and told him about Michaela.
"She lives in New York City, has a job, no boyfriend and I think she's happy. I've told her about Klaus and warned her to stay away from the spotlight. I'm sorry, but she doesn't know a thing about you," Caroline finished and sent the vampire an apologetic look. He hadn't said a word the whole time and his only answer was to give her a small nod.
"Elijah, Klaus can't know about this. Maybe he thinks he done with his hybrids but we both know that he'll never pass the chance to gain more power. Just promise me that you'll do this for her. She deserves it after all your brother put her through," Caroline stressed, not sure if her words made it through to him.
Elijah's eyes met hers and Caroline saw a little sign of gratitude in them. Then he simply got up and left. Caroline looked after him as he continued down Royal Street in the direction of Jackson Square. Where was he going? For a moment she thought of following him, but she decided against it, thinking it was better not to push her luck and instead went back to her sandwich.