Heart Of Darkness II ((ON HOLD))

Chapter 5: Memories or Love?

"You do know you can just leave me the blood bags right? I'm not an idiot. Once they wake up I'll give them a small amount of your girlfriend's blood, followed by a regular blood bag and there, instant hybrid."

Klaus found himself scowling. Both at Kalina's oversimplification of hybrid turning, and the fact that this was taking far too long.

Realistically he knew it couldn't have been more than ten minutes since he finished snapping all of the werewolves' necks. And he was grateful they had all agreed to turn. But he was still desperate for it to be over. He felt a deep desire to run to Katerina and make certain she was alright. That she hadn't been injured in some way, accosted by his siblings, or that her condition hadn't worsened in the two hours he had been gone.

He was so worried that he had resorted to pacing in the large living room, despite the difficulty this provided. He was constantly accidentally stepping on someone's hand, or nearly tripping over someone's legs. Eventually, he got so fed up with this that he resorted to standing by Kalina's side in the one empty corner the room had. But evidently, that hadn't helped. His worry was still there and his mind was still tormented by unlikely but completely possible scenarios involving Katerina's death or harm.

Kalina just seemed to be amused with his worry rather than offering viable solutions to ease it. He didn't count the suggestion of leaving her in charge of turning her entire pack into hybrids.

"No, I'd rather oversee and complete the process myself." After all of the initial failures he had, it had sort of become a must that he needed to be present in all of the transformations even if he knew it would work. "How do you feel though?" She was the first who volunteered to be turned. He remembered she said something about being a leader and showing her pack there was nothing to fear from being both a vampire and a werewolf. Truthfully he had barely been listening. He appreciated Kalina but she was no George Thomas, and her ideals were far different from his. He would have never given that speech nor would he have described turning as 'shedding who you used to be and becoming something new'. What did that even mean? They weren't snakes.

"Fine. Actually a little weird. I don't know. Whenever I pictured vampires I thought every second of your existence must be spent struggling to control your bloodlust. No offense."

He could tell the 'no offense' part was merely a polite afterthought but he did his best to ignore it, especially considering he did just turn her entire pack into hybrids. "That is not the case for everybody. The bloodlust varies. And it does help typically if you have something to ground you. A tether to your humanity if you will. This pack is your family, just as you are theirs. That should help a little." He knew it would still be a struggle, but one not nearly as intense due to the fact that they were hybrids rather than full-blooded vampires.

Kalina nodded and Klaus looked back at the bodies that didn't seem to be moving any time soon. He sighed heavily. His impatience and worry for the woman he loved were making him far too tempted to leave Kalina in charge of turning the pack. But his paranoia wouldn't let him. Until his phone rang that is.

"What is it?" He hadn't checked the caller ID. He had just assumed it was Hayley bothering him again with grocery items they were missing. But when he heard the voice on the other end, his eyes instantly grew wide.

"Klaus?"

"Caroline?" He choked out, hardly believing this was real, despite hearing her voice very clearly. Caroline calling him out of the blue after months of not even gracing him with a single text was definitely strange and concerning. "Is everything alright?"

He figured if she was calling him then someone was no doubt bitten by a werewolf and they had her call him in order to secure his help. Quite rude if anyone asked him but, it was an annoyance he could deal with.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just-"

He heard her take a breath. Whatever she had to say wasn't easy for her.

"I'm in New Orleans. I kinda need to talk to you."

He blinked in surprise. Out of all the crazy scenarios he expected to hear from Caroline, her being here was the one he expected the least. Why now? After his many rejected invitations he didn't think she would ever show up looking for him. "Where are you?"

If she was here then whatever was wrong had to be life and death.

"Um. I'm near your house."

The tiniest smile formed then as he could easily imagine the hesitant look on her face when she told him that.

"I'm not stalking you. I just- well, I need to talk to you."

Klaus chuckled softly at her sudden claim of not stalking him. "I would not be angry if you were." He murmured and promised to be there soon before hanging up. "Alright, I suppose your wish came true." He said turning to look at Kalina. "You can turn the pack. Though call me if anything happens."

"Yeah, yeah. Go. Everything's gonna be fine." She assured him with a dismissive wave of her hand.

He gave her a nod and quickly sped out of the large home she had procured for the pack. Despite wanting to stay there and help each werewolf fully turn, he did have to admit they would most likely adjust easier if it was Kalina helping them instead. She had a way of working with them that he could never achieve. No one looked at him like that, with such loyalty and trust. Not even when he had his hybrids sired to him. That only made them obedient.

"Caroline."

"Hey." She smiled a little, leaning off her car and stepping closer to him.

"What are you doing here?" He was doing his best to be polite, kind, and caring. Just as he always was with her. She had been the first person to truly awaken him after his first heartbreak. Katerina had gotten close but, with her being the key to breaking his curse, he never did allow himself to feel that much towards her when they first met. Caroline, however, had been different. She had been a light in his life when he had none. She had been the thing that made him want to be good. To believe that he could be good. She was special. And being around her now, seeing her smile and look at him with those bright blue eyes, it was reminding him of all the reasons why he fell in love with her in the first place.

But memories, no matter how amazing, weren't love.

"Well, I..." She hesitated and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, something he knew she did when she was nervous. "You left me a message, a while back. You told me that you were standing in one of your favorite places in the world surrounded by food, music, art, culture, and all you could think about was how much you wanted to show it to me."

He smiled, remembering that voicemail well. Though he was a little confused as to why she was bringing it up.

"You hoped that one day I would let you." He watched as she nervously bit down on her lower lip.

Reason and logic, along with an entire millennium of rejection, told him she couldn't possibly be saying what he thought she was saying. But then she took his hand and continued, shocking him entirely.

"Klaus I..." She smiled and squeezed his hand tighter in hers. "I'm ready. I want you to show me everything. This place, why you love it so much, and any other place you might have in mind. I want to see the world, with you. I want to be...with you."

Klaus' eyes widened in pure shock. For a moment, he wasn't even sure if he heard her right. He couldn't have. Because in no version of his life, real or imagined, did he ever think it was possible for Caroline Forbes to tell him she wanted to be with him. Yet here she was. Standing before him proclaiming her love for him. A huge part of him was shamefully tempted into kissing her. But then a voice reminded him why he couldn't. Katerina. This wouldn't be fair to her. It was why he chose to simply smile at Caroline and offer to show her around the city, expertly avoiding any topic of romance. At least until he could sort out his feelings. He hoped it happened soon, otherwise, he was definitely going to be in trouble with both women. Perhaps a walk with Caroline would help his heart know who it truly wanted.