Part II - Marked - Unedited

A/N Blown away. Absolutely blown away with the strong response this story is getting! It's a record for me. This story has gotten Klaroline Magazine's Drabble of the week and April's Drabble of the Month! So cool. Glad people are enjoying it so much!

Sorry it took so long to update. My Klaroline writing muse is on its death bed. It suffers from malnutrition mostly. With TVD on its final days and TO...*snorts*(there are no words for what that show is), my Klaroline muse has little sustenance. It survives off the Klaroline fandom, so without you guys, I would not be updating today, so don't stop being fabulous ;).

Now, I'm really tempted to go into a fiery rant about how far the shows have fallen, but I've gotten to the point of why bother? I see commercial clips of what Klaus has been reduced to and it sickens me. So what I am resolved to do is at least, through fanfiction, preserve the beautiful complexity and greatness of his character, as long as I can find it in me to write.

With that being said, thanks, as always, to all:

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*Note - I need to be VERY clear about this. I DO NOT cosign either baby plot (from the Originals or TVD), however, I do feel the need to address the twins and Nope since they are prominent Klaroline issues right now. I have come up with a potential resolution, but it might be as crappy as the plot it's trying to eliminate. I'll let you guys decide if the resolution I've come up with is feasible.

**Another note - I do not watch The Originals or TVD anymore, so I am not up to date on a lot of things going on. Therefore, if you see any discrepancies with the current canon, that is why. At first, I wanted to make this drabble up to date with the current events on both shows (which is one of the reasons this update took forever) but I find that I really don't care anymore because the plot is trash and a desecration of all the characters I used to fangirl over. With that said, there are elements within the plots on both shows that I think have potential so those elements will appear in this Drabble.

Also, a huge virtual hug and kiss to klarolinessecondbreakfast who made the gorgeous cover for this!

Caroline POV

"Klaus," I breathe out in disbelief.

Was this a dream? A second chance?

But it didn't matter. Because wherever this is...He's smiling at me, looking at me the way he always does: Like I'm special, like I'm the only one, the only thing that matters.

Before I can open my mouth to speak, Klaus is before me, his lips finding mine to soak them in a passionate kiss.

And just like that, nothing matters but him and I.

I kiss him back hard, grabbing his face and drawing a groan from him. His hand slips past my cheek to grasp the nape of my neck to angle it in such a way that our tongues can't help but caress each other. Suddenly, I forget everything except for...

"Klaus," I gasp in between kisses.

"Shhh," he utters huskily. "I'm only beginning to have my way with you. Let me."

The raw desire in his voice makes me tremble in his arms and I almost give in to his request but...

"Is this real? Are you alive?"

He freezes, his eyes snapping open to lock with mine. Slowly, rising realization then anger leaks into his features. He moves away from me as if burned, putting distance between us.

I frown. "Klaus?" I say carefully. "What..."

"You're not my Caroline," he interjects briskly. "My Caroline would never ask me such a thing, so...Who. Are. You?" He growls.

I scoff, hands on my hips, irritated. "Excuse me? Your Caroline?" I huff, not caring about the growing rage marking his face. "Listen, I don't know if this is some gross alpha male stuff going on because we slept together once upon a time, but I am totally not your property. Got it? God! Just like where do you even get off talking to me like..."

I let out a startled gasp when he flashes suddenly back to me, takes me by the neck, and slams me into a nearby tree. There is no pain, even with the force he uses on me. Before I can wonder why, his hybrid face comes into view, making my breath catch. Not in terror, but in reverence to the monstrous beauty of all that Klaus is, so up close and personal.

"Nice try. An A for playing Caroline so perfectly, but I will not be fooled," he says in that quiet, threatening voice he uses before going postal and I know I need to say something now before he won't listen anymore. "You are not my Caroline nor the real one..."

"Wow Davina the teenage witch did a number on you!" I cry in exasperation. "I seriously don't know what you're talking about but I'm me! I came to New Orleans..."

He cuts me off with a hiss, flashing his fangs. "Now I know you're lying. Caroline would never come to New Orleans. So..."

Instantly, I feel this...this pressure on my body, like I'm lifting off, fading out...

"Get out of my head," he growls.

I literally feel a push though he is barely touching me now, but I resist.

"GET OUT!" he roars.

"No..." I choke out and wince, the pressure, the force of him trying to push me out of his mind getting stronger. I desperately wrack my brain, trying to think of something, anything to convince him that I'm me, but nothing comes to mind. If only there was a way to have him read my thoughts, to see the truth there...

I gasp when the way to convince him comes to me, my eyes snapping open to connect with his hybrid ones, dark and malevolent but so beautiful.

"Compel me," I whisper out.

The pressure suddenly dissipates, his hybrid features fading to normal to be replaced with shock and awe.

"What?" He breathes out.

I bite my lip, looking away briefly, hating the idea of letting anyone in my head. But...

I look back at him, his blue eyes giving off that intense analyzing look that he reserves only for me, that I was so sure I wasn't going to see again not long ago and I make up my mind.

I reach out to grasp his face in my hands, causing him to stiffen, but he doesn't push me away.

"Compel me Klaus."

His demeanor is nothing short of conflicted as he says: "I could make you do anything," he warns. "You wouldn't be able to resist. You won't even know what I compelled out of you if I so choose."

I internally shudder, knowing all of this, but if compelling me could help him come back to the real world somehow, if the knowledge of the real me being here with him can do something...

"I know," I say.

He shakes his head in disbelief. "Why?"

I brush my thumbs against his cheeks where I know those devilish dimples reside and I state the obvious.

"Because I trust you and...We're friends. I want to help you."

He takes a sharp intake of breath at that and I draw even closer to him, his hands coming away to make room for me.

His eyes search mine, hunting for doubt, a lie, but there is none.

"Caroline..." he whispers, clearly moved.

"Do it Klaus. You won't believe anything I say until you do. Compel me to tell you who I am. We are already in your mind so it should work, right?"

His jaw tightens in acknowledgement and then he is touching me, his hands coming between us to grasp my face reverently like the finest treasure. I don't let him go. My eyes flutter close, then snap open to meet his and instantly, I feel the haze of compulsion, the connecting of two minds and I hate it until...

"You will always remember everything anyone compels from you, and you will resist all physical demands you do not wish to do. You will only tell me truths that you are comfortable telling me."

I can't help but smile as I repeat his words, my heart warming at him making it clear he doesn't want to take advantage of me, not now, not ever, in such a vulnerable state.

He takes a breath, clearly anxious with the "easy" part out of the way. Finally, he manages to say:

"Who are you and where do you live?"

Without a thought, I'm saying: "I'm Caroline Forbes and I live in Mystic Falls."

A slow smile spreads on his face, his eyes lighting up at my words, but he isn't done. "Right before you came into my mind, where were you love?" His tone now coaxing, gentle.

"In your crypt at New Orleans. Standing next to your coffin."

He swallows deeply at my response, sighing. "And this is how I greet you." He pulls away from me angrily, breaking the compulsion, and raising his hands up in a helpless gesture. "Here! Trapped in my own bloody mind! Welcome to New Orleans love! " he finishes sarcastically, dropping his hands.

Unbidden, a smile spreads on my lips.

Klaus sees it and frowns.

"Glad my misfortune amuses you," he mumbles irritably.

I shake my head, walking up to him.

"No. You don't get it. I'm just..." I blink back tears. "Happy you're not gone. Not..." I swallow, "...dead."

Wonder floods his face, and he steps closer to console me with his hand upraised, but lets it drop.

"But I'm not with you either. Not physically anyway," he says wistfully.

"Then come back!" I tell him earnestly. "There has to be a way!"

He shakes his head. "There isn't. This is my life now."

"Seriously?!" I shout at him. "Is this," I say, gesturing to our surroundings. "What you want? What do you even do in here? Replay our time in the woods like some movie?" I say with a chuckle.

Unexpectedly, his face falls and I stand there, confused at his reaction, until I remember:

"You're not my Caroline. My Caroline would never ask such a thing."

And it all clicks.

"Oh my God. Is that what you've been doing all this time stuck in here?" I say more to myself than to him. "Pretending we're together, fantasizing...about me?" I whisper, pushing away the dangerous warmth in my chest that comes with the realization he would cherish our time together that much. I hate when he does stuff like this! It makes it so hard to see him as just the monster who kills people I care about. Ugh! He is so infuriating with his stupid romantic drawings, and stupid romantic gestures and stupid romantic words! But...

"Is that why I got in your head so easily?" I continue, silently touched. "Because you were already thinking about me?"

His face turns into a cold mask. He begins to walk away, but I flash in his path to block him.

He refuses to look at me, his jaw tight. "I think it's time for you to go Caroline."

"No. We're talking about this," I say, folding my arms.

"No. We're not," he responds, his tone clipped.

"Yes we are!"

He blows up at my outburst, his hybrid features coming out fierce and full force. In lightning speed, he's slammed me against a nearby "tree" again, but I am unfazed, unafraid, letting him lash out.

"We're talking about this," I repeat defiantly to his face, his hybrid gold eyes furious and unrelenting.

"Why?" he growls. "So you can mock my affection for you? So you can spit on our connection with your infamous hostility? Or maybe so you can judge me? Either way, I am not playing this game with you anymore Caroline."

"It's not a game..."

"It's always a game, a bloody distraction with you!" he shouts in my face, letting me go harshly to turn away, his body coiled with anger. He paces back and forth, the dreamscape around us turning fuzzy with his emotions so volatile. Seeing him like this, I know it won't help to pretend here. Not if I don't want him to give up. Taking a deep breath, I confess quietly:

"It stopped being a game of distraction a long time ago between us Klaus."

He stops pacing, his hybrid features fading out as he gives me a cold, hard look. "Really?" He deadpans, clearly not buying it.

I scoff. "I'm being serious!"

"I'm not waking up Caroline."

"Why?! Because you rather stay here with imaginary me? Play at being happy?" I say with a scoff.

"Yes!"

I blink, totally not expecting that response and he frowns, obviously just as surprised at his confession. He shakes his head, his face disgusted.

"Now I can't even tell a lie in my own mind," he lets out, walking away. I flash in front of him again, blocking his path.

"So you have to tell me the truth?" I say, earnestly. "Is that a side effect of the spell?"

He closes his eyes, his features strained as he attempts not to answer, then he huffs, defeated.

"Yes," he finally answers gruffly.

"Wow," I say, letting that sink in. Before I can say a word, he cuts me off, fatigue in his voice when he speaks.

"Just go Caroline."

"Not like this. Not with you giving up," I say softly.

"And what exactly am I giving up that is of such value Caroline? Another thousand years of meaningless endeavors, conquests, betrayals? Infinite loneliness?"

"But," I swallow deeply, not wanting to acknowledge what I say next, but unable to help myself because I know family is everything to him. "Your kid..." I start.

His gaze softens momentarily at the mention of his daughter, giving away his caring for her then it hardens, his next words coming out harsh. "A child that I didn't want, that I conceived with a woman I despise?" And I can't help the feeling of satisfaction I get from hearing him dismiss Hayley. It's wrong. I know. He has every right to move on, especially since all I do is reject any deep association with him. I know I don't get to be hurt because Klaus slept with someone I hate, that snapped my neck and got from her something I can never give him: a child (not that I would ever want to give him one, okay, for the record and I'm so not blushing! But still...) I don't get to be selfish with him when he's a father now and I'm nothing but the girl he slept with once upon a time. Seriously, who knows how many woman have held that title after a thousand years?

His mirthless chuckle brings me back to our conversation and he continues to speak. "Yes, I had hoped that the child, when born, would grow to love me, and never be a source of betrayal but being here in my own mind does not only make me speak the truth, but shows it to me. The child, like Marcel, like my siblings, aren't capable of loving a creature like me. That is the truth. Even if they did love me, which isn't possible..."

"Of course they love you Klaus!" I shout at him, stunned he would even say that. "They have been by your side for over a thousand years..."

"Only when convenient to them, or needing of aid to survive Mikael," he says a matter a factly, and I have nothing to say to refute that.

"I am still abnormal, Caroline," he continues solemnly. "A monster even to those who are monsters themselves. Even when I'm around them, I'm alone. The child is missing nothing without my presence. If anything, I'm doing Hope a favor staying away, flawed as I am." His eyes close, the pain of his words totally weighing heavily on him and I just want to reach out and console him. "What can I possibly offer those closest to me other than death and destruction?" he adds softly, not stopping his pity party. "My affection for them is a stain. It would be better if I disappeared..."

"Stop it!" I cry out, unable to listen anymore. "Just stop it! It isn't true. There are people who love you!"

"Oh? Like you?" he spits out with a scoff.

My eyes go wide, my mouth opens, but no words come out.

I see the hope leap in his eyes when it looks like I'm about to say something, gazing at my lips with bated breath. When I say nothing, and my mouth snaps shut, I watch that hope die, my heart hurting for him at that moment. He does a curt nod in affirmation, the blue of his eyes turning to solid glaciers.

"Precisely."

He starts to turn away from me, but I grab him urgently by the wrist.

"No! It's not what you think!" I say in a rush, feeling like I'm losing him. For some reason, that feeling is not one I can stand. Not for one second.

I can't have him leaving me too...

I force myself not to think about why and hurry to keep talking before I can let my mind wander more. "Klaus. You compelled me to tell you truths that I'm comfortable telling you. My feelings for you..." I sigh, shaking my head. "I'm not comfortable telling them to you because I just don't know! I don't know if it's love or lust but I can tell you what it isn't. It isn't hate, even though it should be because you do terrible things and are a terrible person and have crazy tantrums and..."

"Making me feel positively grand Caroline," he deadpans, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Do go on about the evil hybrid who deserves everything that is coming to him..."

"Will you shut up and let me finish?!" I snap, making him huff in annoyance. "God! Who are you right now? Is this what New Orleans has done to you? Made you some castrated version of your old self? Because my Klaus used to be tougher, smarter, stronger than this...This...What?!"

His eyes are sparkling with what can only be happiness, and I can't think straight to finish my sentence, that look on him so strange yet so good on him.

I just stare. I really can't let myself get caught up in the amazing feeling of being the one responsible to put that look on the Original Hybrid's face. I really might get addicted to it, and those dimples...sigh...

I internally shake my head. Snap out of it Forbes! To regain my bearings, I huff loudly: "Are you going to say something or are you just going to keep looking at me weird?" I say irritably when he goes quiet for way too long.

"You said 'my Klaus,' " he finally says. "You called me yours."

I replay my words to him in my mind, blushing when I realize he's right.

"I..." I stutter out, flustered.

"And you said it despite my compulsion," he continues, stepping towards me like a wolf cornering his prey and this time, I'm the one who tries to move away for space, but he doesn't let me, gripping me gently by the waist, and it's like my skin lights up on fire at the sensuous touch.

"Meaning owning me, claiming me, feels right, comfortable for you to admit to me. You want that," he says huskily.

I shake my head in denial, averting his gaze.

"You want me to be yours," he whispers into the shell of my ear, his lower lip brushing against it to make me shiver with yearning.

"Klaus..." I manage breathlessly.

"The notion of sharing me must be hard for you then," he says. "Is that why you mentioned Hayley and the baby? Because you perceive them as priorities to me? Over you?"

I close my eyes, hating myself. He is exactly right, but I'll be damned if I tell him that.

"There are. They should be," I say, still unable to look at him.

"But it displeases you..."

I bite down on my lip, unwilling to answer.

"Sweetheart..."

"Listen. It's fine, really," I interject quickly. "Family is important, I get that and..."

"...You're a part of me."

My eyes snap back to his in shock. I open my mouth to say he's being silly, but then he says:

"...And it's not a lie, thanks to the bloody spell."

My retort dies on my lips. He draws closer to bury his head in my neck sighing, his close proximity making me forget to breathe. "And that makes me uniquely yours," he whispers. "Always. Even if you never give yourself to me..."

My eyes start to prick with tears.

"...I don't know how to purge you from my mind or my heart. I am irrevocably yours. If only you knew how much..."

But I did know.

"Freya gave me your scrapbook," I say.

He pulls away from me just enough to turn his burning gaze directly at me. So much emotion behind those eyes as they link up with mine, that my heart threatens to burst from my chest as it beats so hard.

"Did you mean it?" I ask quietly. "What you wrote?"

For now I know the name of that feeling now and there is no more lying to myself. Silas wouldn't have wasted his time trying to manipulate me while I thought I was dying by turning into someone I did not care for, did not...love.

As if he can hear his own words repeating in my mind, he lets out a soft chuckle, tucking my hair behind my ear: "I think you know the answer to that my love."

Can't...breathe. My love?

"Which is why we need to say good-bye."

My eyes widen. Wait. Good-bye?

But before I can react, his eyes are dilating.

"Go immediately back to Mystic Falls Caroline," he compels me. "Wake up. Let no concern for me hinder your steps. I'll be fine. When you decide to see the world, be it tomorrow or in a century, let nothing stop you. May you see all its genuine beauty in all its glory and make it yours if you so wish it. Be gone and be free. Without me."

The last words come out a whisper, pained. Instinctively, I try to fight the compulsion, but then the coward in me, the one that wants this perfect excuse to walk away from him, to not deal with these feelings for Klaus, wins. The coward likes the idea of pushing away the thought of eternity again. It likes the chance to walk away from Klaus guilt free, to go back home, to her place of comfort. Back there, she can play at being human just a little longer: Date the good guy, go to college. With Klaus, there would be nothing but the constant reminder of the supernatural, that I was dead. Out with the old, in with the new. It's not just the feelings for him that I would need to work through. It would be embracing, at long last, everything there is to being vampire.

That, plus whatever this thing with Klaus who is a bajallion years old and in love with you?

It would be too new, too challenging. He would see too much of me. Then he would know how not strong, not full of light I really am.

So when I wake up next to Klaus' coffin, I leave with ease, but his two last words stay with me. They stay with me as I say my goodbyes and leave New Orleans. They stay with me when I make it to Mystic Falls and I am back in Stefan's arms. They stay with me when I finally break up with Stefan years later. They stay with me when I get the courage to leave Mystic Falls for good.

Without him.

They stay with me for the next 15 years.

Without him.

When I sleep with other men, indulge in all life has to offer, and I am left at the end feeling empty inside, it dawns on me when I'm much older and wiser, that it's because of those last two words...

Without him.

Yet, there is nothing I can do to change any of it, because at the end, the coward in me leaves no room for memories and the force of nature that is Klaus Mikaelson until...

One. Fateful. Night

Fifteen years later - London, England

"Caroline! Darling!" says a familiar female vampire in a posh British accent. "Don't you look stunning!"

I look up, smiling softly as the beautiful Kate, vampire regent of Europe, walks down the grand staircase of her mansion, just as the party is getting into the full swing of things. Her blood red evening gown swirls sensuously about her, complimenting her jet black hair, and matte red lips. She sways to me with an air of elegance and grace as some adoring vampires from both sexes, approach to greet her. She doesn't spare them a glance, though, reaching me to give two air kisses to my cheeks.

"Thanks Kate. Just trying to follow your example."

She laughs. "Oh Caroline. We both know you don't believe a word of that."

"Of course not," I say bluntly, tossing my growing blond locks over my shoulder exaggeratedly. "I am the fairest of them all."

She shakes her head, amusement in her dark brown eyes. "How could I have forgotten?" She puts a hand affectionately on my shoulder. "So happy you accepted my invitation. Truly thought it may have missed you and you had already leapt again to another corner of the world. You're like Dora the bloody explorer!"

I laugh loudly at that. "Shut up. I'm just allergic to staying in one place. So much to see."

The laughter fades from her face, and her gaze turns calculating, piercing. "Or so much to run from," she says. "Relationships, attachments perhaps?"

It's my turn to lose my smile, not liking where this conversation is going. In the ten years we've known each other, she's never asked anything this personal, content to keep our connection fun and carefree.

"Kate..."

"I owe you my life Caroline," she says gently. "Surely by now, you have to know there isn't anything I wouldn't do for you. Had you not found me in that alleyway when you did, that werewolf assassin's bite would of surely done me in. You didn't have to help me, not knowing who I was, but you did and in return I never asked you how you came across the cure. Yet Caroline..."

She comes close to whisper in my ear, grasping my arm gently to hold me close. "I have lived long enough to know that the only cure is Klaus Mikaelson's blood and no one draws blood from that one and lives, meaning he had given it to you willing."

I swallow deeply, letting out a breath, my graduation day, so long ago, assaulting my mind:

"I received your graduation announcement. It was...very subtle," said Klaus with a smirk. "I assume you're expecting cash?"

"That. Or mini-fridge," I had shot back jovially.

I never told anyone, but when that mini-fridge arrived in my dorm room, it wasn't empty. There was a bag of blood in there and it didn't take a genius to figure out it wasn't a bag of B positive.

Klaus Mikaelson's blood. A greater value than gold to some, the only cure for werewolf bites and he gave me a bag. With a note:

"Stay safe love. May you never have to use this and need to call me again for some. Though, if you ever need to connect with the source, you know where to find me - K."

"How close are you to the Original Hybrid and his family Caroline?" asks Kate, interrupting my trip down memory lane.

"What?" I shoot her a glare and hiss at her. "So you can turn me over to the Vampire King?"

She returns my glare. "You hard headed woman. You are not hearing me, and if you were anyone else, I'd bash your head in and suck out the nectar that is your blood, but as I said," her features soften. "I owe you."

I shake my head with a sigh, deciding that since I've known her ten years already, I should try to trust her.

"Stay," she implores me. "I can protect you if you're close, but not if you're halfway across the world. The witch aiding Marcellus is tracking down and killing anyone who is a Mikaelson or has ties to them. There are rumors that those marked are devoured by a beast with weeks!"

"No one knows about my connection to Klaus," I say with an eyeroll, not seeing her concern, but then she comes back to say: "You already been marked Caroline."

I gape at her as she slyly slips a piece of paper in my hands, turning casually to grab a glass of champagne from a passing tray, smiling in cover as I slowly open the paper. I want to die, staring at my death sentence in my hands.

I bite my lip. "I'll be hunted," I say mutely.

"No one knows how you look like as of now," she says, sipping her champagne. "But they only need to go to Mystic Falls and game over. They'll know everything. You'll need to lay low until Marcellus is killed or..." she trails off.

"Or..."I press.

"We find Klaus. He kills his former protege and the beast for you."

I let out a dismissive chuckle. "No. I am not running to Klaus like some desperate damsel in distress."

"No?" says Kate, turning her attention fully back to me now, irritated. "Why not? He clearly cares for your safety if he gave you his blood!"

I get in her space and growl at her. "He is not going to come out whatever hole he's in for me."

"I disagree."

I whirl around at the voice behind me, coming face to face with a woman with eyes like the darkest oceans. Her chestnut brown curly hair is accented in blonde ombre and her halter midnight blue gown is nothing short of striking. Something about her is oddly familiar, but I can't put my finger on it.

"Do I know you?" I ask.

She is calmly taking me in from head to toe, assessing me. I snap my fingers in her face, aggravated by her silence. "Uh, hello? Seriously. I asked you a question."

I see her lips twitch into a smile, but she schools back her features, opting for the hard girl look. I roll my eyes, not impressed. "Know what? Kate and I were talking so..."

"Thank you Kate," butts in the woman, her eyes not leaving mine. "I'll take it from here."

I turn to Kate, shock and betrayal descending on me. She clearly sees it on my face, her expression coloring into discomfort. I mutter through clenched teeth, confronting her. "Seriously. What the hell is going on?"

Kate sighs. "Caroline. Again, if I wanted to kill you, I would of already done so. She just wishes to speak with you. Being that you two have a goal in common."

I slightly relax, but remain wary. "I swear if this is some kind of set up..." I threaten.

"It's not. Trust me."

"Where can we go to speak privately?" asks the woman coming up beside me.

"Your room is spelled," responds Kate. "You can speak freely there, but remember my report. You do not have much time."

Her room? I think. What is she? A relative? And what is this about not having much time? Time for what?

Kate walks off and the woman heads towards the stairs. Reluctantly, I follow. The minute the door shuts behind me, the lights in the room turn on, and she turns to face me, hand on her hip.

"Okay. Let's get to the point, because that thing will be here any minute. You're marked," she says, pointing to me, then to herself. "I'm marked. So it would be great if we just join forces and kill the thing that Marcel has sent to kill us. The beast is too strong, too fast. I barely got out alive the last time. No one can take it out on their own, but The Marked get together, we got a chance. We win if we get Klaus. If he won't come back for me..." she trails off, swallowing deeply.

My eyes narrow, watching her carefully as a pained look crosses her face and she averts her gaze. She shakes her head, as if to ward unwelcome thoughts, and regathers herself. Her stoic expression from before comes back.

"Anyway," she continues. "He'll definitely come back for you if he knows you'll be killed. Join me. Join us!"

"Fine."

Her face instantly lights up, a smile about to grace her face.

"But after you tell me what you're hiding."

Her expression turns cold. "Hiding?"

"Yes," I say, folding my arms. "I may be blond, but I'm not stupid. You're hiding something. Kate has you living under her roof, because she called this room yours. Kate is notoriously paranoid, so she wouldn't just take in anyone. So meaning, either you're important, or related to someone important. So spill."

She clenches her jaw, irritated. "So he was right. So much more than a pretty face."

I gape at her. Those words...

"Plan B then."

With a flick of her hand, I'm suddenly being hurled into the air, my body slamming loudly on the door behind me. I hear popping noises as the lights blow out from the magical energy coming off the woman. I cry out in pain, my head snapping to hiss at her, my vampire features in full display. Darkness shrouds her, leaving her yellow eyes the only thing I can see.

Werewolf. But...the magic...

"How?" I snarl.

In response, she twists the wrist of her upraised hand, and sharp pain lances through my body. I scream.

"Enough questions and I'm done being nice," she says. "You're going to contact your little Bennett witch to do the spell required to find Klaus and get him to come to us. Willingly or unwillingly."

"As if," I spit out.

Suddenly, the door behind me crashes open, breaking the magic hold on me. A flood of screams pierce my eardrums from outside the room. Getting out underneath the fallen door, I flash out through the opening, but then stop dead at the sight in front of me. When I lean over the railing of the second floor to get a better look, I quickly wish I hadn't.

"Oh my god."

Bodies, guts and blood are all over the walls. A flash of dirt blond and white streaks through the floor below, ripping apart those who can still move.

"It's here."

I turn around, the woman who attacked me just seconds ago, coming up to me. I go to flash off, but the quiet defeat in her voice stops me. "Help me."

I don't bother to turn back, yet I'm answering her. "After you just tried to torture me?" I scoff.

"I know! I just got angry with your questions, and I'm sorry, but..." she goes quiet.

I slowly go to glance at her, the screams around us turning into silence. She is looking down on the ground, shaking her head, then looks at me in defeat and mutters in desperation: "I need you."

I can't help it, my heart goes out to her. I sigh, about to tell her that I'll help, right when something jumps up from the first floor, over the railing to the second floor.

It's beautiful. A huge, dirt blond wolf, streaks of white marking its coat. It takes me too long to notice the blood on its chest, mouth and paws. When it begins to growl, blood dripping from its fangs, the woman turns slowly around.

"I'm not running anymore," she whispers. She lifts her hand, the sheer energy of her magic, destroying all the remaining lights and windows in the hallway. The moonlight is the only thing allowing me to see. The wolf winces, stepping back. Her magic, however, isn't strong enough though. The wolf starts to creep to her, more and more with each step. When her knees buckle underneath her, I flash to her. Catching her before she falls, I vamp speed the heck out of there. I make it to the balcony railing when a strong force pounces on me. The railing shatters on impact, I drop the woman, then fall off to the two stories below.

As I'm quickly getting to my feet, the wolf wastes no time to lunge at me. And like the woman said, he is beyond fast. The wolf is on top of me and has bitten me within a second. As he goes in for another bite, I grab a piece of the broken railing on the ground beside me and use it to pierce it through the heart.

It bellows loudly in pain, recoiling away from me. The wolf snaps at the offending metal, but can't reach it. It whimpers while I watch it, shakily getting to my feet. Someone jumps down from above and lands beside me.

"By God, you did it. You killed it. You killed Marcel's beast," she says in awe.

But I don't buy that I killed the beast that has killed so many. Not for one second. The wolf then starts to change. Paws turn to feet and hands. Fur turns to skin...

"It's a werewolf," says the woman. "Wow. He's definitely a goner with that wound. No one can survive that."

I say nothing, opting instead to watch the naked man with long dirt blond hair. It covers his face as he reaches out to pull the metal of the balcony railing out of his heart, simply grunting and tossing the metal away. The wound quickly closes like nothing happened.

We gape at him and I take a step back. A hybrid. It's freaking hybrid! I thought Marcel exterminated them all? Oh God...

He is to his feet the next second, flashing towards the woman. I vamp out, barely managing to intercept the man before he reaches her. We roll around in the ground, but he quickly manages to get on top of me. His hand is instantly around my throat, choking me. My hands fly up to pull his hand away, but he is strong. Too strong. Eventually, our eyes meet, and I go weak.

Those eyes...I know those eyes. That face...I know that face.

"Klaus?" I choke out. "Klaus. Stop. It's me. It's...Caroline."

He goes rigid, his eyes frigid, but his grasp on my neck weakens slightly when he speaks. "You know me? How do you know me?"

I blink up at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" I ask. "Of course I know you! You're my..." My eyes well up and I wish it was because of the physical pain instead the growing emotional one that comes when I realize: "You don't remember," I whisper. You don't remember me."

His hard look as he analyzes my face impassively kills something in me. So much so I barely register when he is knocked off of me with a magic force. Turning my head, I see Klaus landing on all fours, his eyes now hybrid gold, glaring at the woman above me. Seeing his face, the woman gasps and reels back, her hand flying to her mouth.

"No...No. It can't...It can't be."

Klaus moves towards us, but someone comes up behind him. He turns too late, his neck getting snapped and he falls in a dead heap on the ground.

Rebekah Mikaelson stands there, her eyes landing on me for a second before going up to the woman breathing heavily besides me.

In a flash, she is in front of her.

"You stubborn little girl! I've been looking for you for days! Thank God Kate still had my bloody number and I managed to make it in time! Are you alright?"

The woman doesn't respond, still staring at Klaus on the ground.

"Hope!" shouts Rebekah at her.

My eyes widen, looking at the woman next to Rebekah with new eyes. At her name, she manages to say. "The beast..."

Rebekah's eyes soften. "You needn't worry about him anymore. No werewolf can come back from a broken neck."

Hope's eyes fill, and she swallows deeply before choking out to Rebekah, her voice wracked with emotion: "It's Dad."

Rebekah visibly pales, her face falls and her head twists back to the man on the ground, temporarily dead. She takes a real good look at his form now, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Nik. What the bloody hell has happened to you?" she whispers.

A/N Yeah. I wrote that. Hope you enjoyed! Next time: Klaus POV :). Oh goody! Hope it doesn't take me nearly as long to write as this update did. As always, please let me know your predictions, thoughts, or any critiques, either positive or negative. Hope that Nope was bearable in this. I can always kill her off ;), but figured it would be a easy cop out. Anyways. Till next update.