A flower was offered to me,
Such a flower as May never bore;
But I said, 'I've a pretty rose tree,'
And I passed the sweet flower o'er.
Then I went to my pretty rose tree,
To tend her by day and by night;
But my rose turned away with jealousy,
And her thorns were my only delight.
A brand new day, a brand new plan for her to escape. Caroline woke up today feeling determined, especially after how everything went down with Klaus yesterday. He gave her new idea how to piss him off. She bounced herself down the staircase, off to the kitchen to fix a cup of coffee, her usual morning routine despite turning her humanity off. Just beside the coffee machine, there was a bottle, which she assumed contained blood, and there was also a note underneath it. She unfolded the note and read it to herself.
"You taught me how to love again, Caroline. I'll do whatever it takes to love you right. Yours, Klaus."
She scoffed and rolled her eyes yet she tucked the note safely into the back pocket of her jeans.
She held out her phone and sent a quick message to Josh. One more to-do task before she jumped in to the big thing she looked forward to today.
Caroline had sent a message to him for a meet up earlier this morning. Here he was, waiting for her at a bench in the middle of French Quarter. To be honest, he was quite reluctant when Marcel asked him to dig into Caroline's mind. Yes, he knew of Marcel's plan to use Caroline as a leverage. But the mere fact of pretending to be friends with humanityless vampire irked him. He spotted her from afar, strutting down the road with so much edge and style. She radiated the whole path she walked. Josh wondered how she would be like if she had her humanity on.
Josh: Yo, Queen C!
He shouted. He saw Caroline rolled her eyes. It made him grin.
Caroline : Again, Josh. Drop the Queen. If we wanna be buddies you'll just call me ..
She went silent for a while, frowning. Josh didn't say a word, letting her led the conversation.
Caroline: You know, my friends used to call me Care. But right now I just don't care, so it doesn't feel right hearing someone called me that. Okay now I'm just rambling.
She shook her head as if trying to clear her thoughts.
Caroline : Caro. If we're going to be buddies, you'll just call me Caro.
Josh: Alright, Caro. What's up. I haven't seen you since that day in the bar.
She took a seat beside him. She tugged her tote bag closer to her chest as she sat.
Caroline: Yeah, it's definitely not easy to not make it too obvious that I'm smuggling Klaus' blood.
Both of them laughed. Josh didn't think she'd still remember about that. Hell, he thought she was only there to make fun of him.
Josh: Yeah, don't worry about it. It's not like my life depended on it.
Caroline: Say no more, Josh. You are about to have the greatest sex of your life as what I've been told. Please don't make a disclaimer out of it.
Caroline pulled out the bottle of blood from her tote bag and waved it in front of Josh. Josh's eyes widened.
Josh: Is this ..?
Caroline hummed as she nodded.
Josh: No way!
Caroline: Way.
Josh beamed widely but then his smile froze for a moment.
Josh: How can I be sure this is really Klaus' blood. For all I know, this could be some innocent bunnies blood.
Caroline: Then you'll be dying. Isn't it far more exciting then? You'll have the greatest sex of your life knowing that it might be your last one.
Josh: You're…unbelievable.
Caroline: I know how to stir things up, especially in bed.
She winked.
Josh: Ugh… I don't need to know about Klaus' sex life.
Josh scrunched his nose and looked at the bottle in his hands. Yeah, it totally made him wondered, how great it would be to have a friendship with Caroline if she had her humanity on.
Klaus coming to see her yesterday was nothing out of ordinary. He waited for her at the usual place, the timing was a bit off, but he pretty much look the same. The only different thing was, she no longer felt the butterfly when she saw him. Instead, her heart felt a sudden sharp pang. She felt betrayed and was disgusted to see his face. But the look in his eyes when he told her to stay away and be safe somewhere else brought back the jittery feelings. She hated how so easily she went soft on him.
She didn't realize she was already in front of her apartment's door. Klaus had clouded her mind yet again, but without compulsion this time. She inserted the key into the keyhole when suddenly a bubbly voice from behind startled her.
Caroline: What a cosy home you have here, Cami.
She turned around to find Caroline standing in the hallway.
Camille: Caroline? What are you doing here?
Camille slipped her hand into the bag she was holding. Her other hand was still holding the door key.
Caroline: Just checking out the competition.
Caroline inched closer towards Camille. She walked slowly towards Camille, like a predator hunting its prey. Camille kept her head high, she didn't back down.
Camille: It's funny you felt insecure considering you're the one who's been keeping his bed warm.
Caroline: You know, it is kinda stupid to mock a vampire considering you're just a fragile human.
Caroline bare her fangs. Camille slipped her hand out from the bag and sprayed water to Caroline's face. It was laced with vervain. Caroline screamed in pain.
Camille: Fragile yes, but I'm not stupid.
She quickly turned around to unlock her door. Click, the door was unlocked. She turned the knob but Caroline was quick to recover and pushed Camille against the door.
Caroline: That was really dumb. You really shouldn't make me angry.
Caroline bit her own wrist and shoved it to Camille's mouth. Camille looked at her in horror. There were drips of blood at the corner of her lips.
Camille: What are you doing?
Caroline: I'm proving Klaus what he really wants.
Camille's eyes widened before the cracking sound of her neck closed her eyes back again. She fell limp onto ground.
Caroline: There, sound asleep. Gee, I wonder how Klaus could love such monotonous voice.
Caroline opened the apartment's door wide. She grabbed Camille's left hand and dragged her dead body into the apartment. She put her just inside the house and closed the door behind. She wandered around the cosy home of her rival. Books, more books, a green plant, more books.
Caroline: What a nerd. What the hell did Klaus see in her?
There were books scattered on the messy table. They were mostly textbooks, psychology book. She skimmed through the pages and saw some sticky notes on certain pages, mainly on one chapter - 'Childhood Interpersonal Trauma and Its Repercussions in Adulthood'.
Caroline: Can't this girl be any more boring?
She tossed the book away. Then something caught her eyes. A small painting by the bookshelf. The painting was out of place, like it doesn't belong there. But when she saw the painting, she thought of Klaus. She walked towards the shelf to have a closer look of the painting. It was a painting of a blonde girl looking at an art. She was alone in the middle of the street, her back facing the viewer. She couldn't tell if the girl in the painting was Camille but the signature K at the bottom suggested it could be her indeed.
Caroline scoffed.
Caroline: So much of claiming to love her. He can't even draw a damn picture of her. Men and their empty words.
Caroline rolled her eyes.
Caroline: Okay, enough with the stalking. Down to business. Time for treasure hunt.
Caroline looked for Camille's phone. When she found it, she was disappointed that she needed a passcode to unlock the phone. She heaved out.
Caroline: Okay then, move on to plan B.
She looked back at Camille's dead body on the floor. She knelt down and touched both of Camille's temples. A trick she had learnt from Stefan awhile back when she was still herself. When she touched her temple, thousands of images from Camille's mind flashed through her mind. Caroline tried to focus on the images of Klaus. There it was, Klaus, the 100 dollar guy. Camille definitely fell for his charm and accent at the first sight. Too bad he had compelled her to fall for Marcel instead. What a jerk, Caroline thought. She skimmed through the flashbacks, only focusing on things she wanted to find. There it was. Camille was reading the text from Elijah. He had sent her the location of the safehouse. Apparently, she had deleted it from her phone. But she memorized it. Book smart girl. She definitely memorized the whole definition of childhood trauma.
Caroline stood up straight, ready to get out of the house. She already got what she wanted. But then the thought of Camille waking up, freaking out and scared the hell out excite her. She decided to stay for a while. She paced back and forth until a typewriter on the table caught her attention. She settled herself down in front of it and start typing.
Josh stared blankly at the paper in front of him. Marcel was explaining to him and few other of his right hand men on the plan to take Klaus down. Josh was lost thinking about what happened earlier today with Caroline.
Josh: Boss, can I talk to you for a moment?
Marcel raised his eyebrow.
Marcel: Any concern you wanna raise?
Josh: I don't think we should use the Queen as Klaus' bait.
Marcel: Why is that?
Josh: Just a hunch. From what she told me, I don't think Klaus is in love with her.
Marcel: Are you sure? It could be just a show she wanted to trick you into.
Josh: I don't know. What do you think?
Marcel: I've never seen Klaus look at someone the way he looked at her. You better be sure. We only have one shot at this.
Josh: Give me a couple more days to get inside her head.
Marcel: Make it quick. I don't want Klaus getting suspicious.
Tap tap tap. Caroline had finished typing down the last word when she heard movement coming from behind. She turned around to see Camille rubbing her neck while staying unfaze. But a second later, her eyes widened and she jumped on her feet.
Caroline: Rise and shine. Took you long enough to be back from the dead.
Camille: What did you do to me? Did you... Did you kill me? Am I dead?
Caroline turned back around to the typewriter. She turned the knob near the roller until the paper came out of the typewriter and then she replied her casually.
Caroline: Technically yes. But I fed you my blood, so now you're in transition.
Camille: Transition? Are you turning me into a vampire?
Caroline: It depends. Do you want to?
She turned around to face Camille once more.
Camille: Oh my God. You killed me. How could you? You're…you're crazy.
Camille put both hands on her temples. Her head was pounding, everything seemed to magnify.
.
Caroline: No no no. You're the crazy one, I'm not. How can you fall for someone who has tortured your mind. He compelled you and make you go crazy. Why in the world would you even spend time with him and his family after that. You sacrificed yourself for what? Love?
Camille: How would you understand why. You never loved him.
Caroline: I suggest you run while you can, Cami. He may love you now, but he won't forever cause soon he will realize he only loved the idea of you.
Camille: You don't know that. You don't know anything about him.
Caroline: Oh I surely do. And I don't need a book to understand how his mind works.
Camille: What Klaus and I had was real.
Caroline: Really? Then tell me again why you're here alone and I'm warming his bed?
Caroline crossed her arms and smirked.
Camille: Get out of my house, you whore.
Camille stretched her arm and pointed to the door. Caroline snickered.
Caroline: Gladly.
Caroline walked to the door but then stopped halfway in front of Camille.
Caroline: And oh, have you decided? Whether to carry the torch for Klaus for eternity or to profess your undying love before you be dead for good…by end of today, maybe?