“I can’t believe you! You just killed an innocent woman and you don’t even care! What the hell is wrong with you?!” Caroline screamed at Klaus, who was standing with his back to her in front of the fireplace in the Mikaelsons’ living room.
She had been able to escape Marcel a few minutes after the crowd had disappeared and both the body and Klaus were gone. She still couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed and had decided that it was a good idea to give Klaus a piece of her mind. Now, she wasn’t so sure anymore but she had no idea about what to do with the turmoil inside her and he was the only punching bag she had.
“Of course I don’t care, Caroline! And what would you have me do back there? Just let her run? And how far do you think she would have come? I did her a favour by making it fast.” Klaus yelled back as he turned around to face her.
“A favour?! She is dead, Klaus! You could’ve helped her! You are faster and stronger than all of them!” Caroline retorted and shot him a deadly glare, which he returned.
“Don’t be so naïve, love. She was dead the moment she walked into this city. Do you really think that was the first time Marcel have asked me to kill someone for him? This is why Marcel needs to be taken down.”
“You really expect me to believe that you’re doing this for the lives of innocent people? This has to do with nothing else than your egocentric need for power. All you care about is that goddamn throne that isn’t even real! You have a son, Klaus! A living breathing miracle that requires your attention but all you can do is to think about is yourself! I finally thought I saw a decent person behind all your anger, distrust and resentment. I can’t believe that I was beginning to fall for you!” Caroline yelled, clamping a hand over her mouth as the last sentence escaped her.
The anger immediately left Klaus’ eyes as they widened in surprise. As he took a step forward, Caroline took one back and his eyes darkened again.
“You forget who I am, Caroline. I am not your precious little Tyler or the ever-perfect Matt. I am the bad guy. The villain. And I have been so for the last thousand years. Don’t expect me to change overnight, Caroline or at all. Just because I care for you, it doesn’t mean I’ve become a different person.” Klaus said with a dangerously calm voice.
They stared at each other for almost half a minute and the silence build up the tension between them. Then a thought hit Caroline and she broke the silence.
“You compelled me, didn’t you?” she said with a detached voice. Klaus blinked in confusion but the expression that crossed his face told her that she was right.
“You knew that this was going to happen and you compelled me to not be able to say or do anything, to look completely emotionless, furthermore letting me forget all about the compulsion.” Caroline continued, now feeling betrayed.
“Marcel would have killed you if you had acted against him, love. It was the only way for me to keep you safe.” Klaus said with worry in his voice.
How the hell does he even do that? Psychopath one moment, worried boyfriend the next. Oh no, not boyfriend. That’s a wrong word to call him… don’t call him that, Caroline.
“So instead you forced me to watch you murder some innocent girl while I was able to do nothing. Whoever said chivalry was dead is clearly wrong.” Caroline said sarcastically and crossed her arms in front of her. For some reason she wanted to fight with him. She needed him to yell at her, to remind her how he really was and to distract her from her own feelings.
“Why are you so keen on getting me angry, love?” Klaus said with hidden amusement in his voice, surprising Caroline. How the hell did he know that?
“You don’t think I can?” was all Caroline replied, now with her hands down her side. When the idea hit her, a cunning smile spread across her lips. She felt a little bad for what she was about to do but it would be worth it if she could startle him.
“Now that I know how hard you’re trying, I must disappoint you. Contrary to popular belief, I am able to control myself… Well, most of the time.” Klaus replied with a smile on his lips, his hands behind his back as he thought he was winning their argument. How wrong he was.
Caroline stepped closer to him slowly with an now innocent smile on her face as she began talking.
“You know earlier today, when I had to rescue your son from exposure, Elijah and I had some trouble with Marcel. So we had to hide in the bathroom and I decided to create a little distraction. To make Marcel forget anything he could possibly hear of the baby and Elijah.” Caroline said with a calm and low voice.
She was now right in front of Klaus and slowly she leaned over to whisper into his ear, feeling him tense a little. “And what is more distracting than a woman wearing nothing but her underwear?”
As she pulled away from Klaus, she let her lips brush his cheek before giving him a cheery smile as if nothing had happened. The look on Klaus face was priceless as he digested her words and Caroline knew it was time for her to leave before the volcano erupted. She just hoped that Elijah wouldn’t be too angry that she had just thrown him under the bus. He of all people should understand the need to piss Klaus off from time to time.
“I’ll see you back in Mystic Falls! Bye!” Caroline quickly said and then she ran for her life.
*****************
Caroline let out a long sigh as she pulled up into her driveway and opened the door of her car. She was back in Mystic Falls and wasn’t quite happy about it. She had been away for a week and it wasn’t until now that she realised how much she had really forgotten about their problems back home.
She dragged her bags into her bedroom and began unpacking as she thought about what had happened the night before.
Caroline heard them before she saw them and quickly dug into a small alley before they could notice her. She peeped around the corner and recognized the two vampires she had heard talking as some of Marcel’s “friends”. They were sitting on the rooftop opposite Caroline’s hotel in plain sight and she couldn’t help smile of their stupidity.
“But that chick is crazy, dude.” said Tweedledee.
“I know! And she has already killed like three of us. Marcel just let’s her do it. I don’t even get why that witch is so important!” Tweedledum said.
“And now I have to go to some old rotten house to watch her. I am way too young to die.” Tweedledum continued and ran a hand through his thick blonde hair.
“Dude, haven’t you been a vampire for like sixty years now?” Tweedledee asked.
Caroline tuned out of their conversation as it continued in a direction that made her cringe her nose of the absurdity. So there was a witch. A witch that helped Marcel or at least was held prisoner by him. And she was important.
Caroline was dragged from her thoughts when she heard someone knock on her front door. She put down the clothes in her hands and went out in the hall, where she was surprised to see Tyler stand, waiting for her to let him in. She shot him a quick smile before she moved towards the door and let him in.
“Hi.” Caroline said and stepped aside to let him in. As he passed her, Caroline felt goose bumps spread over her body and she looked after him with creased eyebrows. She straightened her face as soon as he turned to look at her and then closed the door behind him.
“You’re back! How was your trip?” Tyler asked after giving her a hug. There was something off about him and it took Caroline a few seconds to realise that it probably wasn’t Tyler standing in front of her. She wasn’t going to let Silas know that she had figured him out, though.
“It was nice. Spain is amazing!” Caroline answered with a big smile on her face before she walked into her kitchen, Silas on her heels.
“So you were in Spain?” Silas asked and took the glass she offered him.
“I forgot to tell you that? Well, I guess it was pretty much a last minute decision. I just needed to get away from this town a few days. Has anything happened while I was gone?” Caroline asked, hoping he wouldn’t see through her lies. She found a blood bag and poured some into Silas’ glass.
“We had a run-in with Silas once. He was asking about you.”
“How nice of him.” Caroline said sarcastically, watching Tyler’s face intently. “What did you tell him?”
“That you had taken a vacation.”
“I guess there’s no point in lying to him.” Caroline said.
“Exactly. He’ll just find out any way.” Silas said, not noticing how obvious he had just been.
“So, how are you?”
“I miss you, Caroline.” Silas said with Tyler’s deep voice and suddenly moved closer to her. Caroline backed up until she hit the counter behind her, realising that she was trapped.
“Tyler, don’t.” Caroline was able to whisper as he was now so close that she could feel his breath on her.
“Haven’t you missed me at all?”
“I-“ Caroline didn’t manage to say anymore as Tyler’s body was suddenly pressed against her, his lips on hers. She fought to push him away but Silas was clearly using his two-thousand year old strength to hold her in her place. Caroline’s hand searched the counter for the glass she had put there and smashed it into his face as soon as she found it.
The pain made Silas take a step back, releasing Caroline from his grip and giving her time to run. She reached the Salvatore boarding house in a couple of minutes, closing the door behind her as fast as she could. She rushed into the living room where she was met by three pairs of surprised eyes.
“Tyler!” she exclaimed, running into the confused hybrid’s arms. She had barely thought of him while she had been away but in that moment she was glad to see the real Tyler instead of the one that had basically just attacked her.
“Caroline, is everything okay?” Tyler said as he returned her hug. She released her arms from around his neck and turned towards Elena and Damon, who was looking at them from one of the sofas.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just welcomed by Silas, who posed as you. What about you guys? Has anything happened while I was gone?” Caroline said, eager to move away from the topic of Silas.
“Not really. You practically did all the work, Care.” Elena said as she gave Caroline a hug. “How was New Orleans? And Spain?”
Caroline felt a smile grew on her face but the feeling of Tyler’s eyes on her, stopped it from widening.
“It was nice. Spain was beautiful even though I didn’t get to see much of it. You should see New Orleans. There were vampires all over the place when the sun went down. Especially the French Quarter became like one big playground and the humans completely ignore what’s going on around them.”
“Sounds like my kind of place.” Damon said with a smile on his lips before he – to Caroline’s surprise – gave her a quick hug.
“That’s until you meet the “king”. Seriously creepy.” Caroline said and shook her head at the thought of Marcel’s wide grin.
“The king? I thought Klaus was like the almighty ruler of that place?” Damon replied with a confused look on his face.
“No. Now it’s Klaus’ protégé Marcel who runs the town now.”
“Marcel?” Damon laughed. “I’ve met that guy. All he cares about is partying. Are you sure he’s the one?”
“Yes, I’m sure. I’ve met him several times. Yesterday I watched him order an innocent girl killed because she was a werewolf. And he also found some way to control the witches in the town. It’s crazy. Which reminds me that I have to make a quick phone call.” Caroline rambled on before she pulled out her phone and stepped a couple of steps away from the others, who was staring at her like she was crazy.
“What the hell?” Damon murmured but Blondie didn’t turn around. He watched her as she found the number she needed and almost dropped the glass in his hand when he heard the Original’s voice in the other end. Since when did Barbie become good friends with Elijah?
“Caroline. Have you arrived safely in Mystic Falls?”
“Yes. And I’ve already met Silas but nothing happened so don’t tell you-know-who. I’m going to check out your house later so it’s ready when you come.”
“Thank you.” Elijah replied politely. “Now, why did you call me, Caroline?”
“I think we both know why I called you. How bad is it?” Caroline said and couldn’t help but smile.
“I think he is beginning to calm down.”
“Was it that bad?”
“I thought we agreed not to tell my brother anything of your little trick?”
“Oh no, I told you not tell Klaus anything of it.”
“I see the difference clearly.” Elijah replied sarcastically, making Caroline laugh.
“Look, I’m sorry I brought you into this and I just ran like a chicken but he was really pissing me off. He told me that I couldn’t get him angry, so I proved him wrong.”
Caroline was surprised to hear him chuckle through the phone and she couldn’t help but smile at the sound.
“Never in a thousand years have I met someone who wished to make my brother angry. And survived it.”
“Well, I am just that good. But I called you for a reason. Do you have a couple of minutes?”
“Yes. I’m just sitting here beside Hayley and Henrik. She says hi.”
“No she doesn’t.” Caroline said, amused of Elijah’s attempt to establish friendly contact between them.
“No.” Elijah sighed. “Now what did you wish to speak to me about?”
“When I was walking back to my hotel room last night – after yelling at your brother – I heard some of Marcel’s gorillas talk about a witch that Marcel has. I don’t what she does but apparently she’s killed like three of them and Marcel doesn’t mind. They didn’t say anything about a name or location but they talked about an old rotten house. I know it’s not much but it’s all I got for now. I can always find out more when I come back.”
“Thank you, Caroline, for sharing this with me. I have a feeling that you’ve held your part of our agreement better than I have. I apologize for that.”
“You can make sure that your brother isn’t mad when he gets here and then we’ll call it even.” Caroline said with a smile on her lips.
“Even?”
“Okay, I’ll owe you one then. Well, I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
“Goodbye Caroline.”
Caroline hung up and turned around towards the others, who were looking at her like she was an alien.
“What?” she exclaimed as she took turns to look at their confused faces.
“Since when did you become so cosy with Elijah Mikaelson?” Damon asked as he moved towards her with a suspicious look in his eyes. What the hell was that supposed to mean?
“I’m not cosy with anybody. I just had talk with him where none of us threatened each other. It is possible, you know.” Caroline replied, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. How was she going to explain that the only reason Elijah tolerated her was because of her helping his family, without mentioning the baby?
“You made him laugh, Caroline. Elijah doesn’t laugh. And what was all that about Klaus being mad?” Damon continued his interrogation.
“I just yelled at him a bit. He has a temper in case you have forgotten and we had a disagreement.” was all Caroline said. She definitely wasn’t going to tell what she had really done. Damon was about to talk again, when Tyler beat him to it.
“Who’s Henrik?” he said with a weird look on his face.
“Oh my God! Is there no such thing as privacy around here? One thing is that you listen to what I say but you can’t just tune in on other people’s private conversations!” Caroline yelled, feeling slightly desperate by being pushed into a corner.
“Who is Henrik?” Tyler repeated with his arms crossed over his chest.
“No way in hell, am I telling you about anything you heard in a private conversation! Go ahead! Interrogate me about things I said but don’t expect me to answer anything about what Elijah said!”
“Caroline, what did you mean by “when I come back”?” Elena asked slowly as if she was trying not to disturb an animal with any sudden movements or noises.
“It means that when all of this is over, I go back to New Orleans and help them take down Marcel.” Caroline said with a shrug of her shoulders.
“You mean you go back to Klaus and help him take down Marcel.” Tyler said, taking a step forward.
“Call it what you want Tyler because I am not having this discussion with you. This isn’t about me going; it is about me leaving this God forsaken town. Now I really hope you all had a fantastic week but I don’t really have the time to hear about it so if you’ll excuse me, I have better things to do.” Caroline said before marching out of the room, slamming the front door behind her.