you are the hero to my villian

I thought you did your homework?

Klaus didn't move to pick up the papers right away, but instead chose to continue watching her. This time, Caroline wasn't going to say a damn thing until he did. His temper was precarious. She knew that.

He only moved to pick up the packet after another couple of minutes, flipping through pages with determination. He didn't look pleased. After a few more seconds of scanning, he scoffed. "Do you plan on asking me what my favorite color is next? This is ludicrous, and an embarrassment to whoever made it."

"Well we only hope to use the knowledge you posses in attempt to-"

"To find the hitman, Yes, I've heard about him. He's a mischievous sort, isn't he? The papers are very informative. Always hitting grand slams on an unsuspecting woman's head. Never leaving a trail of bread crumbs for the police to follow like a good little boy. So much so, that they are now forced to send a child who hasn't seen her first crime scene in to get answers from the big bad wolf. And yet, you can't even keep your heart from beating out of your chest. Tell me, my little hummingbird; have you even seen the aftermath of our hitmans' work in person? Have you smelled the blood that penetrates the air after a fresh kill?"

"No." She breathed trying to contain her fear. " I dont believe that I have."

"You haven't," he agreed. "And do you, Caroline, know what I have done in my time outside of these walls? Do you know how many men and women I have held in my hands, only to squeeze the life out of them with nothing more than my fingers? All the hearts I've stolen? I could just as easily steal yours. I bet your blood would smell as sweet as candy, tempting me to take just a little for myself. I would even go as far as to say you'd lookmarvelous tinted in crimson, that beautiful blonde hair cascading around your face, framing you like the broken woman you are. Tell me, Miss Forbes," Klaus paused briefly, eying her quizzically, "what are you trying to prove?"

Caroline took an unsteady breath. Everything he had said hit home all too closely. This was a living nightmare. He wasn't supposed to strike so close with only his words. It had been her job to know him, but she hadn't expected this. She tried to ignore what he had said, and push through with why she was originally there.

"Elijah made sure I was aware of your activities before you were captured."

"How thoughtful of him," Klaus remarked, leaning against the wall so that he was as close to Caroline as he could get. "Then you know that you have no place here. You know that I enjoyed those kills, and would do it again if I had the chance."

"I'm stronger than you think, sir," she retorted, finding her heart again. Enough was enough. "Perhaps only a weak person feels the need to forcefully take the hearts of innocents, rather than earn them. At least I've won the kindness others have given me fair and square. Can you say the same?"

Klaus' eyes widened wildly, as her words excited him for some reason. The look terrified the hell out of Caroline, and made her squirm under his gaze.

A wolfish smile spread across his lips as he practically tried to climb out of the cell, his fingers sliding slowly against the glass when they pushed on its surface.

"I believe the last person to have ever crossed me was found lying face down in the mud off the side of the road in Chicago. And that's only the half of it," he laughed darkly. "You would do well not to forget that."

"You're an awful man," she said shakily, her adrenaline running high as she remembered that story. They still couldn't find the man's lower body.

"I know," he smirked, his eyebrows rising up and down playfully. "I'm as evil as it gets, sweetheart. Ask the Rippah. He knows."

"Wait...one of the Salvatore brothers? Why?"

"I thought you did your homework," he grinned slyly.