Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries.

Note: Caroline is the first Valkyrie and Klaus's "mate", so to speak. Also, Klaus has no love-ties to Tatia or any Petrova doppelganger. And all the events of the series up to, but not including, the finale have happened, regardless of Caroline's involvement.

Chapter One

"There," Damon said as they carefully closed the lid on Klaus's coffin. "He's neutralized. Now we don't have to worry about him coming after us in the dark of night." Turning to his companions, he asked, "So how about a drink?"

The others glanced at one another, knowing that there was one other danger out there that they had yet to face. Alaric. He was still very much a danger to them and he could quite possibly end them all if he found where they were keeping Klaus's body.

But they'd just felled their greatest enemy; didn't that count for something?

"What the hell," Tyler breathed, crossing to stand beside Damon. "I'm in." He wasn't an idiot, but he definitely needed a drink. Or a dozen.

Following the hybrid's lead, the others agreed as Bonnie placed a spell over the storage locker where they would keep the Original, at least for the time being. Soon, they would have to move him somewhere that nothing could get to him, but a couple nights in the storage locker—which no vampire would be able to enter or destroy—wouldn't do much harm.

Little did they know that across town there was a new being waking even as they went to the Gilbert house to drink the night away.

-.-.-.-.-

Niklaus. It was her first thought as her eyes opened, her body returning to life. Events that seemed like they were fresh played through her mind, though she could feel in the stiffness of her muscles that it wasn't so.

"You cannot live until Niklaus has died," Ayanna had said easily as she lifted her hands to call upon the spirits for help. "Once his life is over, yours may truly begin. Two immortal beings with power as yours cannot unite; it is an imbalance of nature." Then, with Caroline held in place as if by invisible hands, the powerful witch spoke in a foreign tongue. The world darkened around her as she felt her body shutting down even as lightning flashed across the sky. Such a beautiful sky I am giving him, was her last thought before she was completely lost.

Knowing what her waking meant, tears filled her eyes and she slammed her fists against the top of the box that her body had been placed in. "Niklaus!" she cried, feeling the terrible rumble of the thunderstorm that was bearing down outside. Knowing that the lightning accompanying the storm was giving her a much-needed surge of power, she allowed her pain to tear through her.

He couldn't be dead. Not her Niklaus. Not when they were just at the beginning of their eternity….

Hissing with renewed strength, she threw open the box, hearing the thick wood splinter from the strength she easily wielded. Without a thought, she was out of the coffin, taking in her surroundings with the disinterest of a woman that had just lost everything.

She didn't recognize the style of the things around her. Electricity—her sustenance—flowed through the walls and into peculiar candles that held no fire. The room was extravagant, something a king would be envious of. The closet was full of masculine clothes—she would never be caught dead in trousers!—alongside a few dresses that were incredibly revealing.

How long had she been asleep? Surely women didn't dress as such…harlots in this time?

But she quickly accepted that there were many differences in the times; she had expected there to be. Glancing down at her own dress, she decided that she must try to blend in as well as possible if she was going to have her revenge. Humans were creatures that she didn't waste her time on, but they could cause problems if they felt threatened. They were quite resilient in that way.

Crossing to the closet, she took out a dress that was the longest, though that still wasn't much compared to what she was used to. It fell to her knees with an airy skirt and a tight, sleeveless top that would display her breasts. But she was intrigued by the deep blue color; how had they dyed the material so?

Deciding it didn't matter, she slipped on the dress, as well strange white sandals that were held on only by one thin strap between her toes that spread to the sides of her feet before reconnecting to the soles.

"Love, you're beautiful in whatever you wear."

His voice—so lyrical—rang through her head unbidden, making her nearly rip her old dress in half. Pain coursed through her as she realized that she would never hear that voice again. Someone had taken that from her, deprived her of loving him. If they hadn't, perhaps one day they would have reunited, would have found a witch powerful enough to reverse the spell.

In her time In Between—as she liked to call it—she had learned that the spell was made so that if he died or was put to sleep as she had been, it would lift, whether he was reborn or awakened. But he and his family couldn't be the ones to do so to him; there was no loophole.

And his siblings were probably the only ones that would have had the power to do so as well as the loyalty to keep him alive.

Tears filling her eyes, she shrieked at the sorrow filling her. Her love, her life, her mate, all taken from her when she could do nothing to stop it. They were supposed to live forever, together until the end of the world. She had believed it in her prison, that he would find a way to bring her back. That he would be there when she awoke.

Covering her debilitating sorrow with rage, she hissed, "They will pay. Whoever they are, I will destroy everything they love, leaving them in the same agony I am in. I will torture them until they can think of nothing but the sweet mercy of death."

Disappearing from the large house, she began her hunt. She would find them, even if it took her the rest of her immortal life.

-.-.-.-.-

Okay, this is pretty short, but this story is already complete on Tumblr so I figured I would move it over here. :D
Also, this will be updated daily! 1/9 complete.