Author's Note: I came up with this idea one day and just had to write it. Mostly because Klaus is my favorite character and I was just dying to write something so personal about him from his perspective. Also, I'm a sucker for romance and I seriously believe Caroline is Klaus' soul mate and that is why he is so drawn to her, so this is my take on that. Enjoy. =]

P.S. The title is a play on Christina Perri's song "A Thousand Years", which I think is a perfect song for this lovely couple. *hearts!*

UPDATE! I was made known (rather rudely) that Elijah is actually the oldest brother, and not Finn like I had previously stated. I do apologize for the mix up. Finn just looked older to me and I couldn't remember a time where they actually state who is the oldest, so I just guessed. I have gone and corrected my error.

A Thousand Years
Prologue

With his first kill came the revelation that he was not who he thought he was; that he wasn't just a blood-sucking monster, but he was also something else. He was twice the monster… a new and rare species all its own: a hybrid.

It wasn't as if he had meant to kill his victim. No, he had only meant to feed for his survival. His mother had turned him, his siblings, and his father into creatures of the night, the living dead… abominations. They needed to feed on their fellow man in order to live. Usually he only took what he needed and erased their memories – "compulsion" he had decided to call it – and that was the end of it. But this time he had lost control. His hunger had been too much for him, and the girl was too beautiful for him to resist.

Despite what his mother had turned him into, he had wanted so desperately to keep hold of his humanity, and his fear had always been that he would kill someone, but his mother assured him that if he could control it, he would never hurt anyone. Lately, however, it was becoming harder and harder to do so, as his father – who had always despised him – seemed to hate him tenfold after their transformation, for with their transformation had come heightened emotions, and his father was no exception to that. His father, Mikael, was constantly getting on him, belittling him, embarrassing him in front of his siblings and townsfolk by beating him senseless to make sure that he knew his place.

On this particular morning, his father had struck him down for racing his best horse and accidentally injuring him. It wasn't until his dear, sweet, younger sister, Rebekah, had screamed at her father to stop before he finally let him be. His father seemed to enjoy beating him more now than ever since they had become immortal. After his father had stormed off, taking his sister with him, he had decided he wanted to get away, to hide while his body healed.

That's when he found himself by a lake, watching a woman as she collected firewood. Her skin was flawless, her features radiant. He could not resist himself, and the need for approval from someone was too great. He had lured her in and began his seduction of her, and in the throes of passion he had bitten into her and drank, unable to stop. When he was finished, her naked, lifeless body lay below him, her warm blood dripping down his chin.

When he had come back to his senses and realized what he had done, he was overcome with grief. He had taken a life, a human life. He truly was a monster. But before he could pull himself together, his body began to feel… strange. And then he was in pain, every bone in his body cracking and breaking. He screamed in agony as he tried to make sense of what was happening. Was this his punishment for the murder he had just committed? If so, it was not enough.

And then everything went black.

When he awoke, he was lying in the room he shared with his brothers, his mother, Esther, sitting beside him. She realized he was awake and looked at him sadly. Realizing he was fully clothed now, everything that had happened before he blacked out quickly came back to him and he immediately asked his mother to explain what had happened. It took her a while to respond, and when she did, he was not prepared for what he had heard.

She explained to him the origin behind his true parentage. That his father was not the man he had known to be his father, and that years ago, before he was ever born, she had had an affair with another man… one of the men from the village, one of the shape shifters, and that he was conceived from this man. As he listened to her, he was at first shocked, but then he slowly began to grow angry. How could she have lied to him? All these years he had felt different from his siblings, as though he didn't belong, and he had felt so at ease with the men who turned into wolves. He had become fascinated by them, so much so that he liked to sneak out every month during the full moon to watch them transform; little did he know that he was one of them.

Esther then told him that he would never have to worry, that she had placed a spell on him – a curse – that now suppressed his werewolf side. At this, he grew furious. First she lied to him, and now she had taken away from him the very thing that had made him special? He grabbed her by the shoulders, demanding to know why she had done this. She could not allow him to become too powerful, she explained, and refused to lift the curse from him. He demanded to know who his real father was, but it was too late. Mikael had already killed him and his entire family, and then promptly disappeared. Enraged, he demanded she lift his curse, but again she refused.

And then he had done something he had not intended, that he had not meant to happen… he reached into his mother's chest with his bare hands and grabbed hold of her heart.

"You will lift this curse!" He growled.

She let out a gasp and stared at him in horror, "Niklaus," she whispered, touching his face with her hand, "you would take my heart, the heart of your mother?"

He felt tears welling in his eyes, but his anger was too strong, and he wanted her to do what he asked. He swallowed, "Yes."

"You will separate me from your brothers and sister, and from my love for all eternity?" she stroked his cheek as his hand gripped her heart, his anger rising.

"Surely you cannot proclaim to 'love' my 'father' when you had a child with another man? You lied to me!" She gasped loudly as he tightened his grip.

She smiled at him, but not a kind, loving smile that a mother would her child. A cold, vengeful one, "Your soul is a dark one, Niklaus… until you can learn to love, you will never be rid of it… From this moment on, you will walk this world a lonely man, unable to feel… to love… you will be alone, Niklaus…"

Being alone, being unloved, these were the only things in his life that he had ever been afraid of. Her eyes bore into his, his heart racing faster and faster with each word she said, "Only when the appearance of your soul mate will you truly understand what it feels like to love, but her love will not belong to you…" she gasped for air and it was becoming harder for her to speak, "no, her love will belong to another… by that time, your soul may be… too dark… and… twisted for her to… ever love you in… return..." He felt hot tears on his cheeks, his vision blurring. "If you can… learn to love… truly love… then perhaps… you will… earn her love in return…"

"Mother…" he felt a sudden feeling of despair wash over him, "what have you done to me? You've turned me into a monster!"

"No, Niklaus… you did that on your own…"

The truth in her words angered him and without another thought, he ripped out her heart. Her eyes widened as he did so and she let out her last breath. Calm came over her face as her eyes shut and she fell to the ground.

He stood there a moment, his hand bloodied from the heart he held in his hand, the realization of what he had done washing over him. He dropped to his knees, staring down at her... his mother… the woman he had loved his whole life. She was a hard woman, but she always loved him. And now she was dead and he was monster, cursed to walk this world with his sins…

He scooped her up in his arms, pulling her into his lap, and began to wail. What had he done? Hearing the commotion, his siblings ran inside. What was he to do? If they found out what had really happened, they would abandon him. He could not bear to lose any more family, and he could not let his mother's final words to him become reality.

So he lied.

He told them their father had murdered her in cold blood, and that he would murder them, too, if he got the chance. They believed him, every one of them. His older brother, Finn, who had been closest to their mother, was so grief stricken that he left right away, no longer wanting to be where his mother had been murdered. His youngest brother, Kol, while saddened by his mother's death, was more afraid of his own, and fled soon after he had had time to mourn and process what had happened.

Already his mother's words were becoming truth.

All that remained now were his eldest brother, Elijah, and his baby sister, Rebekah. They decided to bury their mother before fleeing, and after they had done so, the three of them made a pact that they would always be with each other no matter what. Though the horror of what he had done weighed heavily upon him, this pact meant that he would never lose his brother's or sister's love, despite what his mother had said. As long as they continued to believe that their father was responsible for their mother's death, then they would be loyal to him.

Now all that remained was to break his werewolf curse, and he would spend all of eternity trying if he had to. His mother couldn't stop him from doing so, not from the grave. No, she was dead now, and he would have to live with that. As for love; who needs love? He had his brother and his sister, and he was the most powerful creature on the planet. He did not need love.

Love was weakness.

So… yeah. I wasn't too happy with this chapter. I was a little disappointed, but oh well. It's just supposed to kind of give you an idea of what happened. Also, how often do we get to see Klaus before he was the murdering psychopath we all know now? Anyway, working on next chapter. Please review.

~Kristin