Klaus wondered what he had ever seen in her.
She was obviously still beautiful. Her thick curly black hair fell in perfect twirls down her back. Her green eyes were radiant off of her pure white skin. She was thin, but had curves in all the right places. She was a man's dream.
But Klaus saw right through all her beauty.
"You're very foolish for coming here."
His threatening voice didn't have any effect on her. She actually giggled.
"Or perhaps you're the foolish one, Klaus. Did you really think that you would be invited to a Gathering, now that you're..." she paused for dramatic effect, "...special?"
Maria was the host, but Klaus certainly knew she did not send out the invitations. Invitations were reserved for the Watchers, the vampires who kept tabs on all their kind. A Watcher would know if Klaus had completed his sacrifice, which would mean that Klaus would no longer be a guest at Gatherings, which would mean...
Klaus stepped dangerously close to Lucy, growling down at her, "You invited us here."
Her green eyes twinkled. "Technically, no. You see, I have a very good friend here with me. Dominic, is his name. He happens to be a Watcher and as his maker, I asked him ever so politely if he would invite you and that little slut of yours to come toni..."
She was cut off by Klaus' savage growl. Before she could register what happened, Klaus had snapped her wrist with a flick of his hand, covering his other hand over her mouth to cover her moan of pain.
A malicious smile crept over his face.
"I do not take lightly to negative words against Caroline, Lucy. Do not tempt me to snap your neck in front of all the people." He could feel the stares starting to look towards them, but no one dared to make a move. An Original was not one to be messed with.
"You forget that I am protected, Niklaus. Even if you did kill me, you would die instantly. You know that."
Oh, how he did. That was a memory he certainly did not want to rehash.
Lucy regained her wrist as it healed within moments. She smiled sweetly.
"Have you really not missed me, Niklaus?"
"Not even for a second."
"Oh, I don't believe that. I recall you having told me once that I was the most seductive woman you had ever met. Don't tell me your taste in women has changed since me."
"I think I made it perfectly clear last time we spoke that I loathe you. I find it pathetic you have not moved on."
Lucy's face turned down in a very suggestive pout. There was a time when Klaus would have found that attractive, but now he only looked at her with disgust.
"You know what... I want to meet this new lover of yours. It only makes sense that I meet my competition."
She sped off towards the end of the ballroom where he had left Caroline. With balanced feelings of protectiveness for Caroline and blood thirst for Lucy, he followed.
Caroline was in agony.
Dominic was not only creepy as hell, but just a plain nuisance. He refreshed her cup, sat an uncomfortable distance next to Caroline, and would not stop making constant comments on her looks.
So it was with complete relief when he turned his attention away from her.
"Caroline, may I introduce you to my maker, Lucy."
Caroline turned instantly at the sound of the name that had made Klaus look speechless.
Klaus appeared right behind Lucy in seconds. He gazed at Caroline, as if assuring himself she was in good conditions.
"Well, I suppose I'll say she's cute..." Lucy smirked. "but really Niklaus you went from me to this?"
Caroline's uneasiness evaporated in a second.
"My name is Caroline, I am not an object. I'm guessing you're the sluttier version of Snow White?"
Lucy's smile turned into a snarl. Dominic looked like he was suppressing a laugh.
"Mind your tongue, girl."
"Caroline is free to say whatever she wishes," Klaus managed to mutter, trying to remain in control for Caroline.
Lucy flashed him a grin. "Ah, I remember when you would protect me like that. So strong and brave...."
She turned to Caroline. The look in her eyes made Caroline want to hurl.
"Well, obviously you must have done something pretty stupid to turn him into a complete hater of yours now."
Lucy only smirked.
"Has he taken you to bed yet? He really is a keeper in the sack. The way we'd travel each other's bodies every night..."
Caroline, to her humiliation, felt her cheeks turn red and her whole mien fall in hopelessness as Lucy confirmed her worst fears.
Klaus saw it all and snapped.
Grabbing Lucy by the neck, he pushed her hard into the nearest wall, crashing her head against it with a loud crack. A few gasps and screams he heard, but all his focus was on Lucy.
His eyes flashed yellow, teeth bared.
"Leave. Now. I never want to see you or hear from you again. You've seen me, you've had your fun, now it's time for you to leave. I will have no mercy on you if I find you again ever harming Caroline."
Lucy smirked. "Oh Niklaus, you don't understand, do you? Have you forgotten the love we have for each other? I've come back for you. Don't you remember Niklaus? Don't you remember all the fun we had?"
His hand crushed into neck.
"You've lost your mind," he hissed. "It was all a lie and you know it. Now...do not make me repeat myself."
He threw her on the ground, just as Maria Ray came striding up to the two.
"May I ask what on Earth is going on?"
"Maria, I believe you remember my last date Lucy..." Klaus' eyes remained on the floor, glaring at a giggling Lucy, rubbing at her neck like Klaus had left kisses instead of bruises.
Klaus continued.
"She has upset Caroline, upset me, and has caused unwanted chaos at the Gathering. I apologize for my part in tonight's affairs," he spoke as he bowed his head. Caroline understood he was making himself inferior to Maria so he could gain the upper hand.
Lucy brushed off her dress, rising up to meet Maria with a cocky smirk on her face.
Maria let out a low growl.
"You are to leave now. I do not want to see you in my presence ever again. You have disturbed my night as host of the Gathering and I highly suggest you not come to Paris' Gathering again as long as I am host. Now leave."
Lucy rolled her eyes before cocking her head at Dominic. He rose, gave a stunned Caroline a peck on the hand, and went to stand next to Lucy.
Before they walked out of the ballroom, Lucy turned and blew a kiss towards Klaus, mouthing "I love you".
Maria clapped her hands.
"Come now, everyone, the drama's over! Dance, dance!"
A tear slide down Caroline's cheek. It was all too much. Dominic, Lucy, the savage Klaus. Lucy and Klaus....
"Darling, darling, don't cry," Klaus reached out to embrace her, but she pulled out from him.
"You lied to me," she stated.
Klaus made no move to deny it.
"You said the last time you went to a Gathering was in the 18th century. A century ago wasn't the 18th century, if I do my math correctly."
"Perhaps I have gotten too good at erasing bad memories..."
Klaus gazed at the floor in silent thought. Caroline grew more impatient and angry, the memory of Lucy festering her mind.
"I'm going for a walk," she stated, quickly walking to an exit.
She stepped outside into the cool evening breeze. She welcomed the chilly weather as it eased her feeling of heartache.
She had always known that Klaus would be no virgin, probably the farthest thing from it. But to actually meet a woman he had...slept with. And to see that she was nothing but an evil slut...it shook her.
She walked to a railing along the river, leaning as she let more of the cool air twirl her hair.
Caroline hardly had time to gasp when she felt Klaus' sturdy arms cross around her torso and pressed his body against hers. His lips met the side of her neck, giving her light kisses. She almost sighed with the feeling of his whole body touching hers.
"Please give me time Caroline. There are many memories I have shut down in my mind, refused to let come to the surface. I plan to be completely honest with you, but you must give me time to recollect everything. So you can understand. Will you give me that, Caroline?"
Caroline defiantly ignored Klaus' kisses. "Time? That slut just basically stated to my face that you guys had sex all the time when you were together and you're asking me for time?"
Klaus rested his head on her shoulder. Taking a deep breath, he said, "I can safely guess that you would suspect me to have been attracted to Lucy at that point in my life. I was still a furious man, restlessly waiting for the next Petrova doppelganger to make her appearance in the world. Lucy offered me the perfect release."
Caroline softly growled. Klaus would have smirked at her cute jealousy if it was not for this moment.
He took hold of Caroline and turned her to face him. His heart broke when he saw two tears spill from her eyes.
Kissing them away, he pulled her into her arms. "I did not lie in there, sweetheart. I completely loathe her now. I promise tomorrow once I know you are safe from her, I will tell you how she and I have come to this state. But none of that matters right now. All I care about is keeping you all too myself. You're the best thing that's happened to me in a long time, Caroline. And you are far more kind and entrancing than any Lucy I have ever met."
Caroline blushed, not breaking eye contact with Klaus as his honest eyes hazed into hers. A radiant smile crossed her features and she pulled him in for a loving kiss. He responded in moments to the kiss, wrapping her even tighter. She then proceeded to leave his lips, only to kiss almost every other part of his face. Klaus stopped at his attempts at kissing her as she made her way from his chin to his cheeks and even to his eyes. She placed one last kiss back on his lips before pulling back with a satisfied grin at his stunned face.
"And what was that for, sweetheart?" he asked breathless.
She shrugged. "It's just the thought of you with any other woman makes me want to hurl. I want you all to myself," if he was going to be honest with her, then there was no reason for her not to return the favor.
He responded with a low growl as he attacked her lips once more. He proceeded to kiss every inch of her face as well, though his kisses were much longer and intense as he stroked Caroline's shoulders and arms simultaneously, making her whimper at points.
"You'll always have me, Caroline." His kisses moved to her neck. "I'll protect you from everything, I swear it. Nothing will harm you." His lips were at the hollow of her throat, creating little gasps from Caroline. Caroline also couldn't help but feel as if he was also promising not only her, but himself.
"Will you sleep with me again tonight? I don't want to have nightmares."
Klaus chuckled as he cupped her face in her hands. "So many kind requests from you darling...where oh where has stubborn Caroline gone?"
Caroline stuck out her tongue. "She's still here! Don't push your luck! Now I believe I still haven't met any of Maria's guests tonight and you, sir, promised you would introduce me to them!"
Klaus smiled and wrapped her arms around his as he walked her back into the hotel. "By all means, m' lady, let me make you known to the vampire world."
Lucy finally drained the last human's body, throwing it on the ground with a sickening smile. Two other handsome humans she had drained lay cold on the ground beneath her. Her encounter with her old lover had made her very thirsty.
Dominic walked into her suite, hardly glancing at the bodies.
"And how did you think this evening went, Lucy?"
Lucy growled at the thought of that daring baby vampire.
"I can't wait to kill the blonde airhead. I have no clue what Klaus sees in her. But, in answer to your question, I believe tonight went well. I stirred up Klaus. It's only a matter of time before he remembers everything he has pushed aside."
"Is that the plan, then? Pretend to be interested in Klaus then kill him? I only suspected we were to draw him out tonight and kill him there."
Lucy glazed over at Dominic. Poor man. Believing that she of all people wanted to kill Klaus.
"Yes, that is the plan. And I think our next act should be to take the girl. Torture her, draw him out. Then kill her. Klaus will be vulnerable with her death."
If she wasn't so quick, she would have missed the flash of sadness in Dominic's eyes.
"Oh God, don't tell me you actually fancy that insufferable wench!"
Dominic eyes glazed blacker. "I just don't think killing Caroline will be advantageous to either of us if we wish to kill Klaus. He will only grow angry and vengeful and killing him will be much more difficult to do, now if you'll excuse me, I'd rather not discuss this anymore," he bowed and quickly left the room.
She groaned, kicking one of the dead bodies in her annoyance. Her own creation had a crush on her lover's pet. Pathetic.
But no matter. As long as Klaus become hers and the blonde slut was killed, all would be good in the world.
"Caroline, do you mind if we leave Paris sometime in the next two days. We can go wherever you want, I just need to assure myself Lucy does not find us again, if that is what she is planning,"
Caroline cuddled closer into Klaus' chest, loving the feeling of his warm hybrid skin against hers. "I don't wanna go...." She pouted adorably.
"I know, darling, I know," he whispered tracing circles on her back. "But we have forever. We can always come back."
"True, true," she murmured, slowly drifting into sleep. "I guess I've always wanted to see Greece...."
"Greece it is," he lightly kissed her lips as she fell into sleep, a soft smile on her face.
He wanted more than anything to take her completely as his own. She finally had fallen for him in the romantic sense, but it was all up to her to make the final choice. The choice that she would be his forever. Klaus was a very patient man, however, and at the rate things were going, he was happy.
Lucy ran through his mind again, causing him to clench tighter to his girl. He saw the way Lucy looked at Caroline, as if she wanted to rip her limb from limb until nothing was left of her. How he wished he could simply rip Lucy's heart out and end her. But she was almost as indestructible as he was.
Laying his head onto Caroline's, he smelled her sweet scent, regaining peace, before falling asleep.