"SEVEN DATES"

Fan Fiction story / Season 3

By: Lovely Vero

Starring:

Klaus & Caroline

Matt & Rebekah

Chapter 12

"Rome"

Part 2

One of the flowers/fruits/vegetables markets of ROME – Italy

The young woman was wearing a light blue sundress, with pretty white ballerina shoes. She was carrying a large straw tote bag, a pair of large sunglasses placed on her nose, and her wavy blond hair styled in a loose bun in top of her head.

"Ahhh, Bella signora … Una Rosa per la bella signora?" The flower vendor asked Caroline, smiling.

"No grazie." Caroline replied in Italian, while raising her sunglasses on top of her head, before taking a few walking steps toward the next outdoor fruits vendor, while carrying her tote bag in her hands.

"Ah che peccato…" The man exclaimed, while shaking his head in disbelief and gesturing with his hands, before thinking that it was a shame that such a beautiful woman was not covered with roses, by a man.

"Una dozzina di rose bianche per la signora, per fovor?" A deep English man voice asked the Italian vendor, while handing the man money.

"Ah Signore … Con grande piacere." The vendor responded, while joining both of his hands in approbation, before taking a dozen of white roses placed in a bucket of water, wrapping them in a colourful paper and handing them to Klaus.

"Grazie" Klaus said to the vendor, while nodding his head, before turning to face Caroline, who had a rictus plastered on her lips, and her arms crossed over her chest.

"It's too much." She said, while taking the dozen of roses from Klaus's hand, before sliding the beautiful bouquet in her tote bag.

"What is? A magnificent dozen of roses offered to a magnificent woman who's standing in front of my sight?" Klaus wondered, while curving the corners of his lips into a smile.

"You did so much for me already, Klaus." Caroline admitted, while shrugging her shoulders, before lowering her flushed cheeks.

"Considering that my family put you in this danger in the first place, I don't think so, Caroline." He replied, before sliding a hand on her lower back to push the young vampire in front of his walking path, while creating a range of delightful shivers in her spine. "Come, Love. We'll walk together through the alleys of this market. It's a beautiful day today, the sky is blue, the sun is illuminating your silky blond hair, and it's perfect to walk hand in hand like we were real Italian lovers." He added, while offering his opened palm to Caroline.

"But we're not lovers, Klaus." She replied, before raising one of her eyebrows, while making Klaus lower his head near hers.

"Small technicality, Love, and after all we don't want the Italian population of Rome to believe that I can't take care of the woman who's holding a dozen of white roses in her hands, do you?" He murmured, near her left ear, while titling his head, with an amused rictus showing on the right corner of his lips. "It would be disrespectful to the country that is hosting us, and I don't want any of these Italian lovers to woo you."

"You're unbelievable, and a charlatan if you are playing them for fools!" Caroline exclaimed in laughter, before sliding her delicate fingers in his, while feeling an intense heat invades her entire body.

"I've been called worst." He replied, while winking at her.

He was wearing a pair of beige cargo pants, with a white, V-neck t-shirt, several leather necklaces were dressing his neck, and a pair of white men loafer his feet. Like every morning since their arrival in Italy, he had let his hair dried freely, after a quick shower, with golden locks curling at the base of his neck.

They walked through the alleys of the market, hand in hand, while from time to time, smiling to each other and smelling the scent of fresh fruits. They stopped to buy a few oranges, with the smell of their divine nectar surrounding them.

Klaus grabbed from a small basket, two cherries joined together by their tales, before sliding the small red fruit in his mouth, holding it in place with his teeth, while lowering his head near Caroline's. She startled, before drowning her sight in the hybrid's, before bursting into laughter.

"You can't be serious?" She exclaimed, while putting a hand over her mouth to hide her hilarity.

Klaus lowered his head nearer to hers, while arching one of his eyebrows. She finally rose on her tip toes, before capturing the cherry in her mouth, while holding the little fruit between her teeth.

Their eyes met in an intense and burning gaze, and she felt a warm feeling hitting her stomach in waves of butterflies, a feeling of sweet expression of pure happiness….No! It can't even be…She blushed, before pulling on the tale, and eating the cherry, while taking a step back, away from his too close proximity.

"It's good." She simply said, while lowering her flushed cheeks away from his insistent gaze.

"Isn't it?" He replied, while narrowing his sight on the young vampire.

Caroline withdrew herself from the market tents, directing her walk toward the barricade near the water, before sliding her sunglasses back on her nose.

"This morning, you've left earlier than usual for your morning walk, Love?" She heard him ask, while feeling his presence by her side.

"I… I couldn't sleep…" She replied, shrugging, while taking a small piece of bread from her tote bag, before throwing crumbs to the birds.

"Give me some pieces of this bread." Klaus asked, while presenting his opened palm before addressing to Caroline his most seductive smile.

Caroline returned his smile, while handing him a piece, before looking at him throwing the bread to the flying birds.

"You know, Love, birds never know from one day to the other if they will stay alive to see the next sunrise." Klaus expressed his thoughts, before turning his head toward the young vampire and smiling timidly to her. "But, they always have the strength to continue their life journey."

"Like us." Caroline murmured, while lowering her head, lost herself, in her sad thoughts.

"Like us… I would die before letting anything or anyone hurt you." Klaus admitted, hoarsely.

"But, then it would mean that I would be dead also. I'm linked to you Klaus." Caroline replied, while hiding her amusement.

"You are linked to me in more ways than the one of the blood line, Love, and you perfectly know it. But, you are not ready to honestly admit it to yourself." Klaus replied, while making her blush. "And after all, technicalities are so over rated."

"Maybe…" She replied, smirking.

"I have a surprise for you tonight." He informed, while placing himself in front of her walking path.

"What is it? Tell me." She asked, while clapping her hands together. "You promise to bring me to the small restaurant that we saw the other night: Roma Luce. Tell me, is it that?"

"Wow! Hold your wild horses, sweetheart, it wouldn't be a surprise if I was telling you, would it?" He replied, while tilting his head, with the biggest smile plastered on his lips.

These past few weeks, in Rome, had shown Caroline the many facets of the hybrid. Klaus was more relaxed, calmer, happier... They had never mentioned, since their arrival in the Italian capital, their intimate encounter the night of the Circus Spectacle at the Lockwood mansion, neither the events that had followed. They had decided to simply live the present time as friends.

But, that previous night was still in their minds like a vivid image engraved in red blood ink...

Mystic Falls – Lockwood Mansion – Two weeks earlier

"Oh, my love" Klaus murmured, while raising his hands on her back and unhooking her bra. They suddenly startled at the sound of the bedroom door being abruptly opened.

"Oh my God, you must be kidding me…my eyes!" Damon exclaimed, with a sour expression plastered on his face, before putting his right hand over his eyes, in a dramatic gesture.

"Put this on you!" Klaus ordered a shocked Caroline, while bending his upper body to reach the dress, before handing the fabric to her. "You must have a pretty good excuse Salvatore, to interrupt this, or if I was you I would say my last prayer before dying." Klaus mumbled, angrily between his teeth, before walking toward the vampire, with both of the hybrid's hands placed on each side of his waist.

"The Seven Kistunes are all alive. We are in deep shit! What about this excuse?" Damon exclaimed, while drowning his sight in Klaus's.

"What?" Both Klaus and Caroline exclaimed, in surprise.

"How can this be, Salvatore? They are... or were, whatever ...all presumed dead, and Shinichi was the only survivor?" Klaus exclaimed, while grabbing his tuxedo vest left on the floor, before dressing himself. He gentlemanly positioned himself in front of Caroline to block Damon's view, while she was dressing herself with her red dress.

"I did not receive the memo either. Believe me." Damon mumbled, angrily, between his teeth.

"Where's my brother?" Klaus asked, impatiently, before turning his head to notice that Caroline had finished dressing herself while raising the straps of her dress on her shoulders.

"You're talking about which one of your brothers, Klaus?" Damon asked, sarcastically, while making Klaus roll his eyes. "The one that will tell you a story but nothing will be true after all, named Elijah"?" He added, mockingly, while crossing his arms in front of his chest, under the angry growl of the hybrid. "Ok, easy now King of the hybrids, I'm not sure where he is at the present moment, but he asked of us to find you and your ... What are you exactly to him, Caroline? Are you his sex vampire slave? I thought you had better taste than this, I'm actually feeling sorry for your real boyfriend Tyler ... You remember him?"

Klaus rushed toward Damon's standing position, before being held immobile by Caroline's firm grip on his left arm.

"Klaus, please, let it go… Damon is his usual jerk, it's not like he ever gave me an ounce or respect before." She begged the Hybrid, while making Damon wince.

"Get out of my sight and of my way, Salvatore." Klaus mumbled, angrily, between in his teeth, while grabbing firmly Caroline's hand, before passing beside Damon standing position near the opened bedroom door.

"I wouldn't stay too long in this mansion's walls if I was you two." Damon smirked through his sentence.

"That is exactly what I was thinking about you, if you still want to be alive. I would not stay too long by my side." Klaus added, dryly, while pulling Caroline behind him through the corridors, and toward the stairs.

"Klaus let go of my hand." Caroline ordered the hybrid.

Klaus turned on himself while putting his right foot on the first stairs.

"I need to get you out of here, Caroline. We have no idea what this all spectacle was about, and what Shinichi's next step will be." He explained, firmly, while pulling her toward him.

"I need to find Tyler." She murmured, while pulling her hand away from his.

Klaus winced at the mention of the young hybrid, before sighing to calm himself down.

"I … I mean what just happened in the bedroom… It was a mistake." She mumbled, nervously, while rubbing her hands together. "I …. I am getting back with Tyler now, you have to accept it."

Klaus took a step toward Caroline's standing position, while making the young vampire retreat and reach the wall placed behind her back, before raising her chin to stare into his blue eyes. He angrily hit his closed fists on the wall, on each side of her head.

"Don't push me, Love." He growled. "You're lying through your teeth!"

Caroline shook her head, before swallowing a lump in her throat, in nervousness.

"Maybe we could find a way to be friends?" She suggested, while fearing his reaction.

"Fuck this, Caroline! We can't be friends. It was never about friendship between us, and you know it! You almost gave yourself to me in the bedroom not even five minutes ago." He yelled at her.

"I … I made a mistake, and I'm taking the entire responsibility of my decision…It wasn't you…I wanted to thank you for relieving Tyler of the sire bond, and I felt that I could help you." She mumbled her explanation, incoherently, to him.

Klaus paced back and forth, on the upstairs level, while passing a nervous hand through his tangled hair.

"Well, go then, go meet with your werewolf / hybrid boyfriend." He yelled, while gesturing with his right hand, before suddenly holding his pace and smirking maliciously. "We'll see with time if he will be able to protect you against Shinichi. I, seriously, doubt it with his new sired condition." He replied, deviously, before turning on himself, and walking down the stairs.

Caroline arched an eyebrow, suspiciously, while running after the Alpha, before reaching him and grabbing his right arm.

"What do you mean his new sired condition?" She asked, dumfounded.

"What Love, you seriously thought that I would un-sired him, so easily, and only because my brother have asked this favour of me?" He replied, with a sour tone of voice.

"Reassured me that you un-sired Tyler? If not, then how is it possible that he is acting normal?" She asked, nervously, before closing her eyes. She reopened them, while finally realizing. "Shinichi over took your compulsion over Tyler…You liar!" She yelled, before slapping both of his cheeks with all the strength she got in her.

Klaus stood motionless for a moment, while raising his right hand to his bruised cheek.

"You're despicable; I don't know how I ever thought that you could be different than this." She shouted, in disgust.

"I've told you to never hit me again, Caroline." Klaus warned her, while growling.

"Now, now, children, no foreplay in the stairs, please; it wouldn't be gentlemanly and lady like." Damon mocked, while waving a forbidden finger in front of their sights, before going down the stairs and positioning himself at their side. "If I was you, I would argue another day, and bring my ass outside of this manor. After all; you're the first targets of Shinichi." He suggested, before staring in Klaus's eyes. "Personally, I don't like you very much, but I would like for your pretty ass to stay alive to assure my own survival. As for you Blondie, if you are in need of a new boyfriend, there is a certain Japanese Kitsune that is very interested in you."

Caroline took a last glimpse at Klaus, before running down the stairs.

"I need to find Tyler, he could be in danger." She informed her two interlocutors.

"Yap…She is still unreachable to you, Klaus." Damon mocked, before descending the stairs himself.

Klaus hold motionless, while closing his eyes and fists in anger. This Kitsune had managed to destroy all his future plans with Caroline. Only two solutions sustained in his mind, he thought with a smirk plastered on his lips: convincing Caroline to leave Mystic Falls or kidnapping her?

Matt pulled the zipper of his pants up, before dressing of his shirt, while forbidding himself to take a single glance at Rebekah, who was dressing herself behind his back.

"Can we talk?" Rebekah asked, in a low murmur, while passing a rapid hand through her long hair.

"There's nothing to talk about." He mumbled, between his teeth, in a detached attitude.

"What about what just happened between us? Is that nothing?" She wondered, while closing her eyes tightly to forbid herself to cry.

"What is there to talk about?" He asked, shrugging, while buttoning his shirt.

"Matt please, I have feelings for you." She begged him to reconsider, while raising a hand toward his standing position.

"Feelings? Are you kidding me, Rebekah?" Matt asked, before laughing hysterically, while turning on himself to face her. "You, the "Ice Princess", you're having feelings for me? It's hilarious actually, because, the only person that you have feelings for is yourself." He added, harshly. "You wanted to fuck with me, you wanted to know what it felt to be with a human again…Well, it's done…And gladly behind us now."

She took one more step to reach Matt's standing position, before raising her right hand, and slapping him across his left cheek, while leaving him surprised and speechless.

Matt raised his right hand to rub his cheek, before drowning his sight in hers.

"Then let me act like the Ice Princess that I am." Rebekah replied, angrily, before passing the back of her right hand over the tears that were streaming on her cheeks, while grabbing her clutch bag on the console, and slamming the door behind her.

Elijah frantically searched the downstairs rooms of the Lockwood mansion, while opening, alternately, several doors, without the luck of finding his brother or Miss Forbes behind any of them. One last one, at the far end of a corridor could be where they were hiding, if not, he would have to search the upstairs room. Maybe the others had more chance than him at finding them?

A small crowd of the guests were mingling with a night cap in their hands, the show was over, and Carol was charmingly escorting a few of the invitees to the main entrance, while wishing them a good night.

He opened the door widely, while taking a few walking steps in the darkness of the room, before closing his eyes and passing a nervous hand through his hair.

"You're the same handsome vampire man, Elijah; you did not change a bit." He heard "her" voice addressed itself to him.

Elijah froze all his movements, before turning his head toward a dark feminine silhouette that was lying on the sofa. He took a few walking steps to close the door behind his back, before turning the switch of a lamp placed on a console table.

"Don't turn other lamps on, if you don't mind? My eyes are sensitive to the light now." Misao asked of him, while raising a glass to her lips, before stirring the olives in her Martini.

Elijah approached her sitting position, before sitting in front of the Japanese Kitsune, with his legs crossed and his right hand placed in top of his mouth.

"You want one, there quite good?" She suggested, politely, while raising her glass in the air, before gulping more alcohol.

"No." He simply replied, while keeping his intense stare fixated on the young woman.

She was wearing a long, black lace ball gown; her black hair was falling freely on her bare shoulders, and on her face…But it was without an ounce of a doubt Shinichi's sister, Misao.

"You're quite silent, Elijah." Misao wondered, before pulling an olive in her mouth, while holding it suggestively between her teeth.

"I'm not used to look at a ghost from the past." He replied, while narrowing his sight on her.

"That is very surprising coming from you. We've seen our share of ghosts back in the old days." She responded, while sliding his glass on the living room table, before turning her sight toward the Original. "You've missed me?" She asked.

"You were dead." Elijah replied, calmly.

"I know … It's you who killed me." She replied, while smirking. "You remember, Elijah? Or is it so far in your mind now that you had lost all memories of the event?"

Elijah sighed, while swallowing a nervous lump in his throat.

"So, Shinichi made a deal with the dark forces to bring you and all your siblings back, as I can see? I thought you had decided to never be his slave again?" He asked Misao, unceremoniously.

"As opposed to what, listening to you and being killed by your own hands, Elijah?" She asked, while slowly rising on her legs, before taking a few steps toward Elijah's sitting position. "As we say: "Tit for tat", my sweet Original friend." She added, perniciously, before raising the lace fabric of the dress on her thighs, while revealing to Elijah's sight her black lace suspenders. She raised her left leg, before taking a sitting position, on his lap. Her black hair falling over her face and on his chest, while sliding her hands upward on Elijah's tuxedo vest, around his neck, her breath at a near inch of his lips.

"Did you miss this…Did you miss "us"?" She whispered, while passing the tip of her tongue on his bottom lip and slowly caressing his hair.

Elijah raised his head, while drowning his sight in Misao's, before slowly raising the back of his hands on her bare arms, in an almost none perceivable caress.

"Did you?" Elijah asked in return, while capturing her bottom lips between his lips.

"Ah…Elijah, you were always an insatiable lover." She whispered, while sliding her lips on the left side of his neck, higher on his jaw line, before capturing the lobe of his ear in her teeth. "Tell me that you want me; tell me that you've missed me?" She demanded.

"Oh yes, I want…." Elijah murmured, while sliding his hands on her hips, before grabbing her waist in a firm grip.

"What do you want, Elijah…Is it me?" She asked, hopeful.

"I want, I want …" He whispered repeatedly, before in a loud growl pushing Misao pm the living room table, her back hitting forcefully the glass, with his right hand placed on her throat, while choking her out of breaths.

"What I want is for your pretty ass to stay dead and away from me and my family." He exclaimed with anger, while putting more pressure on her throat. "Unfortunately, you're back, and I presume immortal to this point."

Misao tried to free herself from his grip, while grabbing both of his wrists with her left hand, scratching viciously his face, before kicking her legs in his stomach and projecting the Original on the opposite wall of the room.

"You fool!" She yelled from the top of her lungs, while rising on her feet and rubbing her throat. "You have no idea against what force you will battle, Elijah." She added, before sliding a strand of hair behind her ear. "You see this? You see this scar? It's coming from your hands; it's you who did this to me in the past?" She added, furiously.

Elijah startled at the sight of her disfigured face, while getting back on his feet, pulling on his Tuxedo vest, before seeing the door being open by Elena, who took a few walking steps into the living room.

"Elijah?" Elena exclaimed, with a hand placed over her chest. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, leave, Elena." Elijah ordered the young woman, while passing a handkerchief on the blood that was streaming down his face.

Elena shook her head, before noticing a dark figure in one of the corners of the room.

"What do we have here?" Misao asked, while pointing a finger at Elena.

Elijah speed toward Elena's standing position, before grabbing her right forearm and pushing her behind him.

"Leave her out of this." He warned the Kitsune.

"Well, well, Elijah, is she what you have replaced me with?" Misao asked, smirking, while crossing her arms in front of her chest, tilting her head, before approaching their standing position. "My … My … My …. The perfect replica of Tatia, would you say?"

Elijah winced and frowned at her sentence, before pushing Elena toward the door.

"Leave!" He ordered once more.

"But…I don't want to leave you alone with this woman." She said, while nodding her head discretely toward Misao.

"Don't worry for me, Elena, just leave." He repeated, while grabbing both of her forearms.

"Let me make this easier for both of you." Misao mocked, before walking toward the door, opening it and turning on herself one last time. "Checkmate, my sweet Elijah … Checkmate…" She said with a sadistic smile plastered on her face. "It was a pleasure, Miss Gilbert, be on your guard, he has the ultimate talent of killing the women in his life." She added, dryly, before closing the door behind her back.

Elena closed her eyes, before turning her head to look at Elijah.

"Are you ok? You're bleeding; let me take a look at it?" She exclaimed, while passing the tip of her fingers on the opened wounds.

"Don't worry, it's just a scratch." He informed, before grabbing both of her wrists. "We need to get out of here, find my brother and your friend, Miss Forbes, and then leave this mansion." He suggested, firmly, before pushing Elena toward the door.

Matt descended the stairs, while putting his tie in place. He suddenly held his walking pace, before raising his head, while feeling a near danger. He stood motionless in the entrance while standing face to face with Shinichi.

"Mr. Donovan, I'm happy you could join us for this eventful night that was entirely put in place for the people of this delightful city." Shinichi addressed him, a sadistic smile plastered on his lips.

Matt put both of his hands on each side of his waist, before shaking his head in disbelief, while taking deep breaths into his lungs.

"You want to do something for this city? Stay the hell away from it and the people who only wanted to live a normal life as human." Matt exclaimed, while pointing a finger toward Shinichi's chest.

"You're fascinating to me, Mister Donovan. You would fight with your bare hands for your race with all that you got of rage inside of you, even if you know that it would cause your own death." Shinichi replied, while crossing his hands behind his back.

"There are good people who did not ask for this supernatural shit to hit them in the face." Matt added, while frowning.

"And I figure that you are one of them?" The Japanese leader replied.

"Leave me out of your sick game." Matt replied, dryly, taking a step toward the entrance door, while suddenly being hit on the head by one of Shinichi's guard, before falling unconscious on the floor.

"You want us to finish him off?" The guard asked his leader.

"No, bring him with us." Shinichi ordered, before adding. "He'll make a good company for my Queen." He added, before letting a smirk spread on his lips.

"Tyler!" Caroline yelled, while running into the downstairs' corridor.

"Caroline?" Tyler responded, before catching her in his arms.

"Are you ok?" She asked, while holding his face in her hands, before drowning her sight in his.

"Of course I'm ok, are you?" He demanded, while softly caressing her hair.

"Yes, I'm fine. We have to get out of here. You need to tell your mother about Shinichi's involvement with the Originals." She urged him.

"It's ok, Caroline….Shh….Don't worry." He gently murmured into her ear, while continuing to caress her hair. "Come with me, everything will be fine." He added, suspiciously.

Caroline startled, while feeling an intense shiver of fear hitting her spine, before suddenly realizing that Tyler was not the same anymore.

"Ok, but … I'll need to go see Elena for a few minutes to tell her that I am ok." She tried the diversion.

"Elena is fine, you'll be fine too." He added, while forcefully grabbing one of her wrists.

Caroline lowered her sight on her wrist, before raising it back into his dark eyes.

"Tyler, let go of my wrist, please?" She asked, while pulling on her arm.

"Come with me, Caroline, I'll bring you to "him"." He ordered, calmly, while dragging her behind him.

"Tyler…I'm asking you again to let me go!" She mumbled, angrily, between her teeth.

"Let go of her, Tyler!" A loud voice asked him.

Tyler raised his head to take a look at his interlocutor, before noticing the presence of Stefan Salvatore in the corridor. He was standing in front of their standing positions, with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Get out of my way, Stefan. Or I could seriously hurt you." He warned the young vampire.

"Do what you have to do, and I'll do what I have to do, as simple as that, Tyler." Stefan replied, shrugging.

"The Master is waiting for his "Queen"." Tyler added, while nodding his head.

"The Master… really, and who that may be, Klaus?" Stefan asked, while advancing of a few steps to reach them.

"Shinichi, our Master, you should realize that he will do great things for us, Stefan." Tyler replied, still keeping Caroline in close reach with a firm grip of his hands.

"You don't say?" Stefan replied, while shaking his head in astonishment. "Wow! He's a real King then?"

"What do we have here, brother?" Damon asked, while slowly reaching his brother's position.

"We have a bit of a problem on our hands, Damon." Stefan replied, while nodding his head in direction of Tyler and Caroline.

"You don't say." Damon added, while raising his chin in the air. "I figured that much as Tyler is now under the sired bond of our Japanese friend."

"Yap…You got that right." Stefan whispered.

"Now, let me take Caroline to Shinichi and there won't be problem for either of you." Tyler warned, while arching an eyebrow.

"Well, you see, that is not really in our agenda, wolf boy." Damon replied, mockingly, while taking a few additional steps toward Tyler's and Caroline's position, with Stefan by his side. "Now, doggy, doggy, be nice and hand Blondie to us."

Tyler smirked, while raising his chin toward them.

"If I was you two I would worry more about the two Japanese combat men placed behind your backs at the moment." Tyler replied, before pulling on Caroline's left arm and leaving the Salvatore brothers standing side by side in the corridor.

Stefan and Damon turned their bodies around, before facing the two warrior men in front of their sights, all dressed in black, with hoods on their heads.

"Fuck!" Damon mumbled, angrily, between his teeth, while passing a hand through his tangled hair.

Shinichi pulled a reluctant Caroline on his heels, while reaching the entrance door, before giving orders to his Japanese guards to leave the Lockwood home.

"And where do you think you will go while dragging an innocent victim behind your back, Arian?" Elijah asked, loudly, while suddenly appearing in front of their sights in the entrance.

"Elijah." Both the Kitsune and Caroline exclaimed in surprise. "How delightful of you to offer your goodbye, but we're actually leaving" Shinichi added to the Original.

"I don't believe so." Elijah replied, while shaking his head, Damon and Stefan appearing by his side.

"How delightful, you brought your baby vampires with you." Shinichi mocked, while pushing Caroline toward one of his guards. "I'm surprised that you were able to free yourself from two of my warriors?"

"Well…" Damon smirked, surly, before adding. "I'll need to send you an invoice for my ripped Tuxedo vest, but other than that, your warriors were assholes! Where did you train them?"

Shinichi lost his smile, before yelling an order to one of his guards, who threw a sword to both his leader and Elijah.

"Now, Elijah, why don't we settle this disagreement the old fashion way, should we?" Shinichi suggested, smirking, before making another order in Japanese to his guards.

Damon and Stefan soon received a pair of swords in their hands.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Damon asked, dumfounded, while turning the object in his hands, before seeing one of Shinichi's Japanese warrior rush toward him, with his sword pointed in the vampire's direction

"Oh shit!" Stefan exclaimed, while clashing the metal of his lethal arm with the one of his own assailant.

The combat with swords between the evil force and the supernatural world lasted longer than Shinichi had anticipated that it would. The young vampires were strong and naturally skilful in handling swords. Elijah was as usual an admirable fighter and time had not altered his skill either. But, Shinichi was getting tired of this circus and the precious loss of time.

Caroline on her side, squirmed and fought her way out of her assailant's grip, while scratching, biting, hitting, with all the strength that she got in her. She finally managed to divert his attention, and while changing into her vampire self, bite him till no trace of blood was perceived in the guard's body. She dropped him on the entrance floor of the mansion before raising her head and hearing Elijah yelled at her:

"Outside, Klaus is waiting for you. Go…Now! Leave!"

She reached the entrance door, before turning the handle and rushing down the outside stairs.

Shinichi pushed Elijah on the floor, while immobilizing his enemy with the tip of his sword pointed on the Original's throat. He rushed behind Caroline toward the entrance door, with Elijah, Stefan, and Damon on his heels.

Caroline turned her head alternatively from left to right, right to left, scattering the darkness of the night without seeing Klaus anywhere, finally she heard the loud noise of a motorcycle engine, and saw him appear in front of her sight.

"Caroline!" Klaus shouted to attract her attention.

She looked at him, while putting a hand over her chest, fear plastered on her face, before turning her head and seeing Shinichi reaching the stairs.

"Caroline!" Klaus yelled once more, while revving the engine. "Come, quick…Love!" He ordered her.

Caroline turned her head to take a last glance behind her back, before running toward Klaus's motorcycle, raising her dress and right leg above the rear seat, while taking her sitting position behind the hybrid, with a firm grip of her arms around his waist.

"Hold on tight, Love. We're leaving this shit of a city for good!" Klaus exclaimed, angrily, before pushing his feet on the pedals, in a roar of the motorcycle back tire.

Shinichi turned his mad glare at Elijah's, while approaching his standing position, before raising his chin at him.

"I'll find them. And then, she'll be mine. Mark my words, Elijah! I still haven't decided if your brother will stay alive or not?" He whispered, madly, to Elijah.

"Well, you'll have a hell of a job in front of you, my dear friend. Because, knowing my brother, you'll have the all wide world to search before finding them." Elijah mocked him.

"I'm not worry about that Elijah. I'm eternal, you remember? And I have powerful warlocks and witches at my disposal. Therefore I'll have all the time that I need to fulfil my goal." He responded, with a sadistic smile plastered on his face. "Find my sisters and brothers, we're leaving!" He ordered his guards, loudly, before walking away.

Bonnie, Elena, and Rebekah rushed down the stairs, with all three yelling their concerns at the same time:

"Are you ok?"

"We're fine; we were just playing Karate Kid for a little while." Damon mocked, while lowering his upper body to catch his breath.

"Where's Matt?" Rebekah asked, while looking around her, before sliding a comfort hand on Eiljah's back.

"I thought he was with you?" Stefan asked Bonnie and Elena.

"No, I haven't seen him since the Circus spectacle." Elena replied, while shrugging her shoulders.

"We'll find him eventually." Elijah replied, while nodding his head, before closing his eyes and sighing with relief. His brother and Miss Forbes had finally left Mystic Falls.

On the motorcycle, her arms around the hybrid's waist, her hair flying into the wind, while scattering the darkness of the night surrounding them on the deserted route, Caroline wondered once more, how she had left behind, all of her present life to follow Klaus toward the unknown.

The city of Rome would answer, soon, all her unanswered questions …

City or Rome – Present time

Caroline read the little invitation card one more time:

Opera of Rome, 20:00

A carriage will bring you to me, Love

After all, this is our seventh date

K.

She fold the little card in two, while letting a smile spread on her lips, before sliding the paper in her clutch bag, attached to her left wrist. She pushed the red velvet curtain away from her walking path, while entering inside the luxurious opera lodge. She rose with her white gloved hands, the skirts of her long, blue, ball gown dress, before climbing the two last stairs leading her to the Louis XV style, red velvet armchairs. She held her walking pace, while noticing his presence. He was standing in front of the brass railing, in a classic black tuxedo, the back of his hair waving in golden locks on his neck.

She felt her heart miss a beat while holding her breath for a split second, before raising her hand on her chest. When? When did she realize her deep feelings of love for the Alpha man? She couldn't say for certain ... But at this present moment, her heart was beating even faster simply for the fact of his simple presence.

Klaus turned on himself, before noticing Caroline, while holding immobile with his lips parted in an expression of surprise, mixed with his unconditional admiration for her.

"Caroline ...You are magnificent, Love." He murmured, while closing his eyes and feeling his head spin under her beauty. He reopened them, while sliding his sight from her pink cheeks, to her red lips, her deep neckline, the roundness of her breasts, and finally on the long skirt of her dress.

She lowered her flushed cheeks, before addressing him a timid smile, while turning her sight to hide her sudden shyness. He reached her standing position, before taking her chin in his right hand, while elevating her head to drown his eyes in hers.

"La bella signora ha il mio cuore tra le sue mani"

"What did you just say to me in Italian?" She asked, in surprise.

He leaned his head near hers, before sliding his lips near her left cheek, touching her skin of his own, before reaching her left ear, the softness of his mouth now placed on her lobe.

"I just said the sweetest words that a man could whisper to his muse: The beautiful lady has my heart in her hands." Klaus translated, while closing his eyes and breathing her delicate scent. "You smell heavenly."

Caroline reopened her eyes, while slowly raising her head and sight in his blue eyes, before swallowing a lump in her throat. The magic was cut when they were suddenly reminded to take their seats, by the flashing of lights in the opera lodge.

"Should we … Should we take our seats in the lodge?" Caroline mumbled, nervously, while grabbing his forearms to keep her balance, being taken by surprise under a dizzy spell that only Klaus had the secret to provoke in her.

He smiled, before offering his left forearm, laying her right glove hand on the fabric of his tuxedo vest, before leading Caroline to their seats, while seeing their lodge fell into darkness.

"I don't understand what is happening?" Caroline whispered, while turning her teary sight toward Klaus's. "But it is so powerful to hear them sing."

"Alfredo, Love...The young man who's singing right now." Klaus started to explain, while lowering his head near Caroline's and politely pointing in the direction of the singer. "He falls madly in love with Violetta who's a courtesan. Violetta totally abandons her many lovers to live a crazy passion with Alfredo, but it doesn't rely on the moralizing father of Alfredo, who persuades her, while naming the bourgeois conception of morality, to abandon his son."

"It's so sad." Caroline murmured, while sweeping her tears away from her cheeks.

Klaus raised his right hand, while sliding behind her left ear a strand of hair that was falling from her loose bun.

"Violetta wrote a break-up letter to Alfredo without explaining the real reasons for their separation, breaking the man's heart in return. The disease she was diagnosed reappears, and it is only in the company of her faithful maid that Violetta is dying…Like you're seeing now."

Caroline turned her sight toward the stage, her hands grabbing the iron ramp with all the emotions trapped inside of her, before witnessing the dying act in front of her eyes, tears streaming down her face and neck.

Klaus reached for a handkerchief inside his tuxedo vest, before handing it to the young vampire.

"She has lost the love of her life." Caroline managed to let out the words, while holding the handkerchief near her heart.

"No, love…" Klaus disagreed. "You can't lose the love of your life, each beat of your heart is reminding you that it will live inside of your soul forever…That is what opera is reminding you."

Caroline turned her sight toward the hybrid, while feeling his hands slide under her thighs, elevating her shaking body in his arms, before sitting her on his lap, her head now resting on his chest.

"There, are you feeling comfortable in my arms, Caroline?" He asked, while caressing her hair, and kissing her forehead.

She closed her eyes, while nodding her head, before reopening them to watch the last scene in front of her sight.

"Alfredo learns that she has never stopped loving him, and responsible for their separation is none other than his father. Angry and repentant, he runs toward Violetta, but too late, plagued by consumption, Violetta dies in his arms." Klaus explained the last scene, while closing his arms on Caroline's shivering body, his chin placed in top of her head.

Caroline turned her sight toward the stage, while seeing the scene of Alfredo holding a dying Violetta in his arms. The young vampire let her tears roll on her cheeks, taken by an intense feeling of sadness.

"Klaus…" She murmured his name, while closing her eyes, and grabbing with both hands the side of his collar. "This is the saddest love story I've ever heard."

"I know, Love." He responded, while kissing the top of her hair, his hand caressing the sensitive spot at the base of her neck, before raising her chin to caress her cheeks with the tip of his fingers, while sliding them on the contour of her face, with his thumb caressing the softness of her lower lip. "But, it is also forbidden and passionate at the same time."

Caroline raised her head, while drowning her teary sight in his, before feeling a range of intense emotions hitting her all at once.

"You lips are calling me …" Klaus murmured, while hearing the loud applauses of the audience at the final act. "But a kiss is not what you want, or am I mistaking?"

"Why do you think that?" Caroline whispered, while closing her eyes and waiting to feel the softness of his lips on hers. He suddenly raised her in his arms, before sitting Caroline back on her chair. "What?" She asked, dumfounded, while reopening her eyes.

"We need to pay our respects to the ones who sang this Opera for us." Klaus reminded her, while suddenly showing a distant glare, before clapping his hands and rising on his feet.

Caroline closed her eyes, before reaching the capacity of standing up by herself and clapping in her hands to give her respect to the artists.

Klaus's tuxedo vest was lying in top of a velvet chair; he had loosened up his silk tie and opened several buttons of his shirt on his muscular chest.

He was now standing in front of the opened balcony door of his private bedroom, his sight drown in the darkness of the city of Rome, one arm placed above his head, while leaning on the arch and holding a bottle of Porto in his other. The bottle was unfortunately not his first.

The luxurious apartment they had rented since their arrival was located in a calm street of the city, in the second floor of a chic and well known bakery.

Caroline was standing behind him, a hand placed over her chest to calm the raising beats of her heart. She had undone her hair bun, and her luxurious blond curls were falling freely on her shoulders. She was still wearing her blue ball gown, but was now walking bare feet.

"Klaus…." She murmured his name, while raising the bottom of her long dress and taking one more step toward his standing position, before holding her pace and nervously rubbing her hands together.

Klaus startled at the call of his name, while closing his eyes, and raising the bottle to his lips, before gulping the alcohol in his throat. He had felt her presence in the room, and all his nerves were tensed to the extreme. The only thing he really wanted was to throw Caroline on the bed, while making passionate love to her all night, under her loud cries of pleasure.

"Leave Caroline or I won't be responsible for my next actions toward you." He warned, while gulping some more.

"I…I only wanted to thank you for tonight. The Opera was beyond what I could have ever imagine….I mean for our last date." She explained to him, while smiling timidly.

"That is all you wanted?" He mocked, while laughing sarcastically, before finishing the Porto bottle.

"What do you mean, Klaus?" She asked, nervously.

"Well, I don't know, Love. Why don't you tell me? Isn't it the first time that you are entering this forbidden bedroom?" He replied, smirking, before leaning his back on the wall, with his arms crossed over his chest, while narrowing his sight on Caroline who was standing in the middle of the room, with the radius of the moon to illuminate her face.

"I…I only wanted to thank you." She murmured, while swallowing a lump in her throat.

"And that is why you've undone your hair, while looking like a virgin in her wedding gown, sweetheart?" He asked, while staggering on his feet, and dropping the empty bottle on the floor. "I think that you want more than that, Love. I think that you want to be in my bed right now. You want to have sex with me, as much as I want to fuck you like there is no tomorrow. You have to excuse the rudeness of my say, but I'm a bit drunk at the moment. "

Caroline winced at his imply, before raising her chin in the air in a confrontational gesture, while blushing all the shades of red.

"You're drunk; therefore I'll go back to my own bedroom now." She replied, slyly, before lowering her head, turning on her heels, and walking toward the bedroom door.

She turned the handle, before seeing the door being firmly closed in front of her sight, her front body and opened palms pressed on the panel with Klaus's one on her back.

"Oh, Klaus…" She whispered, before leaning her head back on his right shoulder, her deep cleavage offered to his fiery sight, the roundness of her breasts rising in a up and down repetitive movement, under her heavy breaths, while feeling an intense fire invade her core.

"Oh….Yes…" He breathed the sound, while closing his eyes, his lips touching the right lobe of left ear, his hands slowly sliding on the length of her bare arms, before interlacing is fingers with hers. "You're so deep under my skin, Caroline; you know that, don't you? But, I'm afraid that you couldn't handle me. You couldn't handle this." He whispered, trying to convince himself, while lowering his head in the hollow of her left shoulder. "I want to do bad things to you, Love…I want to do them, now." He murmured, while lowering his hands on her hips, leaving a trail of fire on the fabric of her evening ball gown, before raising the skirt of her dress on the length of her legs, up on her thighs, his fingers playing with the lace of her suspender, before caressing the silkiness of the nylon stockings. "Do you want me to do bad things to you?" He asked, while raising his burning hands, upfront, inside her thighs.

"I… I can't think…" She stammered, under his sensual spell, while rolling her head alternatively, from right to left, left to right, in need of a release that she knew only Klaus could give her.

"You don't have to think. Let me lead you into my wild fantasy, Love." He whispered, his left hand lowering the right sleeve of the dress on her arm, his lips sliding on the round curve of her bare shoulder, in a mix of gently biting the soft skin with his teeth and tasting it with his mouth, before surprising Caroline by tearing abruptly the upfront part of her skirt in two bottom panels, under her cry of surprise, while opening the fabric on her shaking legs. "That's more like it." He smirked, while rubbing her bare hips and belly in languorous movements of his hands.

Caroline closed her eyes, while slowly sliding her hands on his forearms, before panting loudly under the need of feeling his hands all over her body.

"You like it when I go rough on you, don't you?" He whispered, while pulling one last time on the fabric, literally tearing the dress in two parts by opening the panels on her chest, before grabbing two full hands of her breasts. "Heal me Caroline, sexually, body and soul… And my heart, heal my heart, love."

Caroline felt tears rolling from her eyelashes to her cheeks. She had been so cruel with him. She was so lost in her own personal drama that she had never even considered or realized the pain the hybrid felt inside of him. In the meantime, she took her time to mature into a real woman. Caroline turned her head to the left while drowning her sight in Klaus's.

"I want you, and I want to try to heal you." She whispered, while turning her body around and facing Klaus, before raising herself on her tip toes and giving him a quick kiss on the lips.

Klaus closed his eyes, while lowering his forehead on Caroline's, before sighing loudly, several times to keep himself calm.

"I don't know if I can be gentle with you the first time, Love. I want you so much." He honestly confessed, while pushing her dress on her arms to let the fabric fall on their feet.

Caroline drowned her sight in Klaus's, before taking his hands in hers, while bringing both of them on each side of her waist.

"I'm not a porcelain doll, Klaus, I'll be fine … And … I trust you." She confessed, softly, to him.

"You shouldn't, Caroline. I can be a monster when I want to be." He whispered, while rubbing his hands up and down on her back, lowering them on her bottom before grabbing its roundness. "You're so beautiful and sexy... I want to drown myself in you." He confessed his thought, while raising one of his hands to caress her hair.

"I want to feel you inside of me too." She replied, while sliding her hands upward on his shirt, opening its buttons, one by one, pulling on his tie, before enrolling the small piece of fabric around her own neck in a seductive way. She pushed the shirt on the length of his arms, before letting it drop on the floor over the ripped pieces of her dress.

"You'll drive me crazy with desire, Caroline." He whispered, eyes closed, while feeling her hands and lips slide on his muscular chest a second later. He growled, before suddenly raising her in his arms, his hands placed under her bottom, with her legs encircling his waist, while carrying Caroline to his bed.

Klaus slowly dropped her body on the bedspread, while pulling on the left side of the tie enrolled around her neck, before throwing it over his right shoulder. She straightened her body to playfully take the tie back from his neck, before being gently pushed back in a lying position on the bed.

"Tss…Tss…Tss… I'll need it much later in the night." Klaus promised, while raising her left leg on his right shoulder, sliding sensually the tip of his tongue from her ankle, to her calve, down on the soft spot behind her knee, down again on the tender skin inside her thigh.

Caroline squirmed and moaned under the intense sexual pleasure of his mouth, her head rolling on the pillow, while sliding her hands on her breasts, by caressing their roundness over the fabric of her bra.

He lowered her leg on the bed, before raising his hands on both of their lengths, sliding his fingers under the elastic of her lace panties, before letting slip the little piece of fabric suggestively down on her skin.

"Unhooked your bra for me, Love … I want to see you fully naked." He asked Caroline.

She startled at his request, before straightening her upper body in a sitting position, unhooking her bra, while letting slide the two straps on the lengths of her arms. She revealed her naked breasts to his sight, before lying back on the bed; her left arm placed above her head, with her right hand sliding between her legs, where the fire was intensifying.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds, before reopening them and sliding his sight on Caroline's erotic sight. Her naked silhouette was now illuminated by the light of the full moon.

"You'll be the death of me woman." He whispered, while nervously passing a hand through his tangled hair.

Caroline observed Klaus undressing himself, through her trembling eyelashes, while opening the button of his pants, pushing the zipper down, before letting the fabric drop at his feet, soon followed by the rest of his clothes. He, then, stood with his muscular naked body in front of her sight, like a Greek God, with the obvious physical sign of his desire for her.

She closed her eyes, while swallowing a nervous lump in her throat, he was just so sexy to her, and she felt inadequate, inexperienced, and juvenile, in front of this experienced man. She wondered also, what he could see in her.

She suddenly felt an additional weight on the mattress, before feeling his body slide in top of hers a second later, one of his hands placed on her waist, the other one slowly cupping the roundness of her left breast, with the warmth of his mouth capturing the forbidden hard tip of the other one.

She squirmed underneath him, with loud groans, her hands sliding into his golden locks, in a mix of caressing and pushing his head in a nearer proximity of her chest, while feeling his length pushing his hardness between her thighs. She opened her legs, while crossing them around his waist.

"Don't position yourself like this, Love…Or… I won't be able to control myself, and pleasure you the way you should be pleasured." He warned, softly, while raising his head and sight in hers.

"Klaus Mikaelson, if you are not in me in the time space of a few seconds, I'll swear that I will scream from the top of my lungs and awaken the all city of Rome at the same time!" Caroline baffled him, while sighing loudly.

"Well, Miss Forbes, I certainly don't want you in a so agitated state of mind." He mocked, in a low whisper, before smirking and placing his length at the entrance of her walls, while slowly pushing his himself inside of her silkiness, under her loud moan of pleasure. "What took you so long to come to me, Caroline, to become the woman that you knew you could become in my arms, to understand that we were meant to be?" He murmured, while pushing further inside of her, before holding his thrusting pace, his head placed in the hollow her left shoulder, feeling the intense sexual satisfaction of finally possessing her body.

They stood still for a few seconds, with her nails scratching the skin of his back under the intensity of the moment. Klaus raised his head, before drowning his sight in Caroline's.

"Are you comfortable…Did I hurt you?" He asked, suddenly worried.

"The big, bad hybrid is asking if he is hurting me." She murmured, while sliding her hands on the muscles of his lower back, slowly raising her pelvic up and down on him.

"I have my moments." He smiled through his sentence, while enjoying her tightness around him.

"If you are not moving in me in the next few seconds, you'll hear what I have to say about it." She warned, while returning his smile.

"Yes, Love…" He nodded, smirking, before lowering his hips to follow her erotic motion, while making her moan his name repeatedly under the intense sexual pleasure he was lavishing her with. He intensified his thrust movements, while rising both of her arms and hands above her head, before interlacing his fingers with her. "You're mine, Caroline…And I'll prove this to you all night long." He whispered, while raising the tempo to reach both of their sexual pleasure picks.

The sun entered the bedroom very early the next morning. Caroline blinked her eyes several times, before stretching her arms above her head, with her legs enrolled in the ones of Klaus. She smiled heavenly, while raising her sight to look at his sleeping face. He was still soundly asleep, one of his arms placed above his head, and the other firmly encircling her waist. His head was turned toward the opened door of the balcony, with his tangled hair covering his forehead. She smirked, despite of her good common sense, she had to admit to herself that the most feared supernatural creature in the world was actually looking adorable in his morning sleeping state.

A small bird was standing, with its frail little legs on the railing of the balcony, while singing his morning notes, probably a good predicament of a better future.

She closed her eyes, lost in her memories of how foolish she had been the past few months:

"You mark my words, a small town boy, a small town life; it won't be enough for you."

Of course it wouldn't have been enough for her, for the simple reason that she had deeply falling in love with the alpha hybrid, she thought, smiling, while lowering he head near his bare chest, before tenderly kissing his skin. He moved and sighed in his sleep, but without waking up. She needed to share her feelings with him, and the quicker would be the better.

She slowly raised the sheet over her naked body, before delicately sliding his hand away from her waist, stepping outside the bed, while grabbing his shirt on the floor and dressing herself with it. She closed her eyes a second later to smell his personal odour left on the fabric.

She turned on herself one last time, before smiling at his sleeping view. She would go downstairs and sneak inside the Italian bakery, before grabbing a tray fill with those delicious Italian breads and a few small jars of jelly, while bringing a few blood bags with her. Mrs. Venichi, the landlord lady, had known Klaus since decades now, and she also knew about his vampirism, therefore, all the necessity had been at their disposal the first day of their arrival in Rome.

She, slowly and silently, closed the bedroom door behind her, before going down the stairs, and pushing the door that was leading to the bakery kitchen, before finding a note from Mrs. Venichi saying that they could help themselves with what their hearts desired. Caroline read the note, before smiling, and realizing that all her heart had ever desired was lying in a bed in one of the upstairs bedroom.

She reached for two small breads on a basket, before grabbing two little jars of jelly on a shelf, inadvertently dropping them on the kitchen floor, a second later.

"Damn it!" She mumbled, angrily, between her teeth, while bending her upper body to grab the jars on the floor, before being forcefully pulled back by two strong arms, with a hand covering her mouth, forbidden her to scream, and the other controlling all her freedom of movements.

"You scream and the hybrid will die faster than you could even call his name." She heard a man address himself to her. "Do we understand each other?"

Caroline nodded her head, while realizing who her assailant was. She felt a range of cold shivers hitting her spine.

"I've missed you my wild flower … So much." The man murmured with his lips placed near her right ear, and his hand still covering her mouth. "Now, listen to the deal I am willing to offer, beautiful Caroline. I have my army of faithful servants with me, as you can see."

At the same time, two Japanese men entered the little bakery kitchen, both dressed all in black, while nodding their heads in respect to Shinichi.

"I have ten other men inside, and ten more men guarding all entrances of this charming bakery. One of those men holds in his possession the Silver Dagger. They were trained to fight, Caroline, and Klaus won't be able to hold himself long enough under their attack." He slowly explained to her. "Now, here how I will proceed: you will follow me, without protesting too much, and I'll be willing to let Mr. Mikaelson live." He suggested, before releasing his hand on her mouth, and letting her go free.

Caroline stepped away from the Kitsune, while sighing and putting a hand over her chest.

"If you kill him, you'll kill all the line of vampires underneath him … Me included." She lashed out.

"Oh, but I know, my sweet Caroline. Isn't it an eternal agony, would you say, to wonder if your life or his was the most important thing to your heart?" Shinichi asked, while tilting his head. "But, if you leave with me, you'll save his life, therefore yours and the ones of your friends."

"You're despicable." She exclaimed, while feeling the tears falling freely from her eyelashes to her cheeks.

"You'll learn to appreciate me with time." He responded, indifferent.

"Never, I will hate you until my last vampire breath." She mumbled, angrily, between her teeth.

"So, what will it be, Caroline?" He asked, smirking, while crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Klaus opened his eyes, disoriented for a second, while staring at the ceiling of his bedroom, turning his body around on the canopy bed, before palpating with his right hand the empty space beside him.

"Caroline? …Love?" He called repeatedly, while straightening his upper body in a sitting position, before scattering the bedroom, passing a hand through his tangled hair, and jumping out of the bed a few seconds later.

He scattered the bedroom some more, while noticing her evening ball gown and his own clothes placed in a pill on the floor, a sweet memory of their lovemaking. He, then, searched for his underwear and noticed that his shirt was missing. He smiled while finally realizing that Caroline must have dressed herself with it, and run downstairs to pick up their breakfast.

He opened the bedroom door, before going down the stairs and pushing the bakery kitchen door open.

"Caroline? Love, are you here?" He called, before noticing a tray placed on the kitchen counter.

He let a smile spread on his lips, before losing it a second later, while grabbing a paper note that was folded in two and placed on the tray with his name on it.

Klaus,

I thank you for your help these past few weeks.

Without you, I could not have found my way.

I've decided what I wanted and really needed to fulfil my own vampire destiny.

Paris, Tokyo and now Rome…

This has shown me that I was meant for a bigger future, alone, and away from Mystic Falls.

Please don't try to find me; I'll take care of myself.

Caroline

"No, no, no…" Klaus shouted several times, before hitting with the back of his closed fists, all the objects placed on the kitchen counter, while making them fall on the kitchen floor, in a loud noise. "Caroline!" He yelled from the top of his lungs, while grabbing a chair in his hands, before hitting it forcefully on one of the walls.

"Mr. Mikaelson? What is going on?" He heard Mrs. Vinichi asking him, before seeing her enter the kitchen, with a hand placed over her chest.

He turned his head, while viciously staring at the Italian woman.

"You're scarring me, what happened? Where is giovane Caroline?" She asked nervously.

Klaus smirked, before transforming into his vampire self.

"Per favore, Mr. Mikaelson, You're so better than this … If something happened, please, let me help you." Mrs. Vinichi tried to convince him, while putting her right arm in front of her body, to protect herself…. But the destiny of this poor woman was already written in the colour of blood.

Klaus grabbed Mrs. Vinichi by her right arm, before entering his fangs deeply into the skin of her neck, sucking up all her blood in a time space of seconds, before letting her lifeless body fall into the kitchen floor.

"The city of Rome, in Italy, that was your choice of hiding?" Elijah asked, while walking toward Klaus standing position near the guard rail of the port.

"It's as good as any." Klaus replied, shrugging, while keeping his sight lost in the horizon.

"There were a lot of unexplained deaths in the city in the last week; it's making the front news of the newspaper. You care to explain yourself?" Elijah inquired, while leaning his back on the guard rail and crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Not particularly." His brother answered.

"Matt Donovan is missing." Elijah informed.

"Am I supposed to care, Elijah? If so, I don't give a damn! Go tell Rebekah, she'll be more devastated by the news." Klaus replied, slyly, while turning his empty sight into the one of his brother.

"No, I'm not asking you to care, but you're supposed to put two and two together, and finally realize that a few pieces of the puzzle are missing." Elijah replied.

"If you think that your theory is of interest to me, you're sadly mistaking." Klaus replied, before turning his attention back to the calm water in front of him.

"Matt Donovan disappeared the night of the Lockwood event, the same night, that both, you and Miss Forbes, left town and the country." Elijah informed.

"The small town boy finally understood that Mystic Falls was not of any interests to him." Klaus shrugged his shoulders, before adding. "You've traveled all these miles to tell me this, Elijah?"

"Tyler Lockwood was under the compulsion of Shinichi all night long." Elijah added.

"Well, that much I knew." Klaus smirked.

"You lied to me, Klaus … You had promised me to free Tyler of your compulsion over him." Elijah mumbled, angrily, between his teeth.

"And yet, you believed me. How much of a fool are you, Elijah?" Klaus asked his brother, while turning his attention back to him. "He was a vital key to the creation of my hybrids army, and I wanted him away from Caroline…Why would I have un-sired him?"

"Because I've ask you to do it for me." Elijah replied to him, while drowning his sight in Klaus's.

"Well, it wasn't enough for me this time." Klaus responded, while avoiding the stare of his brother.

"Shinichi, Misao and all of their siblings left Mystic Falls that night….My theory is that Matt Donovan was kidnapped by him." Elijah explained more.

"What would this supernatural force of nature, named Shinichi, want to do with Donovan? Seriously Elijah you're losing your mind." Klaus exclaimed in anger.

"I think Shinichi kidnapped him as a weight in the balance to make Caroline fall for him sooner." Elijah replied, before adding. "And I think that Miss Forbes did not leave you. She was abducted by the Kistune."

Klaus closed his eyes, while sighing several times to calm himself down.

"The woman left me a note, Elijah. She obviously was not interested in me or my feelings for her. There was no sign of breaking an entry, she simply left." He explained to his brother, before adding. "This had nothing to do with Shinichi."

"Au contraire, Klaus, It has everything to do with him." Elijah replied. "But, you're too blind and stubborn to see it. You refused to give your entire trust to the woman that you fell in love with, and you had preferred to drown in your own sorrow and pity party. Think about what I've just said to you, and finally decide if you are worth loving or not. You'll know where to find me, when and if you do."

Elijah walked away from his brother, while leaving Klaus in a state of turmoil. The hybrid forcefully grabbed the rail guard with both of his hands, before lowering his head, closing his eyes and growling his frustration.

Elijah was delusional; Caroline had decided to leave him, because she wanted to be alone and away from his power over her. He wasn't what Caroline wanted for herself. He wasn't good enough; he never had been good enough for anybody, Mikael, his step father, was right about that.

Klaus Mikaelson had never been what a woman wanted in the past and would never be in the future.

Klaus Mikaelson would never be loved….

The End

Preview of the sequel to come:

"SEVEN SINS"

Caroline slowly reopened her eyes, while perceiving a ray of light coming from the opened panels of curtains, in what seemed to be a covered wagon, while feeling the rhythmic upheavals of the wheels on the pavement. She straightened her body, while holding her head with both hands under a strident headache, before lowering her hands in front of her chest, suddenly realizing that she was not wearing the clothes she had previously on her back. How long has she had been unconscious? How long has she had been abducted?

She was dressed with what seemed to be clothes from a past century. A long white tunic, with breaded leather belt on her waist, and a simple pair of flat, Cesar style, leather sandals in her feet, with her hair styled in a braid. She scattered the small wagon in search of any indications of her whereabouts, but without finding any clear explanation.

She heard a whisper of pain, before noticing a human silhouette under a blanket placed in the back of the wagon. She dragged herself toward the lamentations, before slowly raising the corner of the blanket with her right hand.

"Oh my God, Matt, is it you?" She exclaimed, in shock, while helping him straighten his body.

"Caroline? My head, it hurts so much." He moaned, while holding it with both hands.

"I know I felt the same when I woke up, but it will pass." She encouraged him, while holding her friend in a sitting position.

"Where are we?" He asked Caroline, while scattering the small space of the moving wagon, and finally lowering his sight on his clothes, with complete amazement. "And what kind of clothes am I wearing?" He asked, in shock, while noticing his long brownish tunic, and his leather sandals.

"I don't know?" Caroline replied, while shaking her head. "What are you doing here, Matt? Were you kidnapped also by Shinichi?"

They stood face to face in silence for a few seconds, before being projected on the opposite wall, in a sudden stop of the moving vehicle.

"What is going on? Why did we stop?" Matt asked Caroline.

"We should know soon." She whispered, before pulling him behind her toward the curtains panels.

She pushed one of the panels, while Matt pushed the other one, sliding both of their heads outside, before standing speechless, in front of the exterior view.

"Hey! Go back inside the wagon! The Master gave specific instructions that you should not wander around freely in the city." A guard, who was holding a sword in his hands, shouted at them.

"Where are we?" Caroline asked, while putting a hand over her chest. "Please, tell us where we are and what year is this?"

The guard raised one of his eyebrows in surprise, before exclaiming.

"You're in Egypt, in the city of Cairo, the year is 1593. Now get back inside the wagon!" He ordered, while pushing the tip of his sword toward them.

They both fell backward on their bottoms, while sitting inside the wagon, before raising their heads and staring at each other with both of their mouths opened.

"Did he say Egypt, 1593?" They both exclaimed, simultaneously.

Thank you for reading the final chapter: "Rome – Part 2".

A few of the scenes were rewritten.

This story is now completed.

Keep your eyes opened … The sequel "SEVEN SINS" is coming in February – March 2014.