Horizons: A Klaroline Story

Panic Room

Salvatore Boarding House

Elena heard Caroline's painful screaming and she immediately became frantic. "Caroline! Oh my god, Caroline!" She screamed into the phone but the call had been disconnected. Outside, Stefan heard Elena's panicked cries and used his vampire speed to race inside. "What's going on? What's wrong with Caroline?" Stefan asked, concerned. "I don't know. She said she was okay but then somebody came into the room, somebody named Dahlia and Caroline started screaming. She sounded hurt, Stefan. We have to go now!" Elena yelled, a worried expression on her face. Stefan nodded and they vamped into his vintage car. 

Mikaelson Compound

Caroline was laying on the kitchen floor, screaming in pain. Suddenly Klaus appeared behind the woman, quickly beheading her. He was at Caroline's side in a flash. "Are you okay, love? What happened?" He asked. "She came in here looking for your daughter, she claimed to be Dahlia. You just killed Dahlia." Caroline sighed, relieved but still in pain. 

Klaus let out a dark chuckle. "I wish it were that simple, love. Unfortunately that was not my dear aunt Dahlia. That was some poor, unfortunate soul who was unlucky enough to be controlled by Dahlia." He explained. "How do you know she's not Dahlia?" Caroline asked. 

"Because, I've faced Dahlia in battle with Mikael at my side. She easily bested us both with a wave of her hand." Klaus said, making a face at the memory of it. "Mikael? As in your father who hunted you for a thousand years? You killed him back in Mystic Falls, how is he alive?" Caroline asked, shocked. 

Klaus flashed a smile of dark amusement. "He's not. I killed him again, less than twenty-four hours ago. A young witch pulled him from the Other Side before it imploded." Klaus said with a small chuckle. Caroline looked confused and disappointed. "So, you killed your father, again? Was he trying to kill you?" She asked. 

"No. We might have actually become allies had I not driven the White Oak Stake through his heart. But in order to defeat Dahlia, we needed Viking ash and well, Mikael was the only Viking we knew. And it seemed much simpler to kill him and collect his ashes rather than loot a museum." Klaus explained with a shrug. 

Caroline shook her head, disappointed. She got up and looked for Klaus's phone. She sighed when she saw the scattered screen. "It's broken. Sorry." She said. She handed Klaus the phone and walked out of the room. Klaus looked as if he wanted to go after her but he remained in the kitchen.

A Few Miles Outside of Mystic Falls

Stefan's bold red vintage car sped down a long, winding road. "She's not picking up, Stefan. Something bad must have happened." Elena said as she continued to call Klaus's phone. She was getting sent straight to voice-mail. Even though he was worried sick about Caroline, Stefan managed to remain calm. "I'm sure Caroline's fine. Klaus wouldn't let anything happen to her." Stefan said, reassurringly. 

"Did you forget that Klaus has tried to kill her three times already? He's a monster, Stefan." Elena snapped. Stefan rolled his eyes. "What if Klaus is the breath of fresh air that she needs right now. Maybe she needs to be somewhere without any reminders of the bad things she did with someone who hasn't witnessed her at her worst. Maybe Klaus is what she needs right now, Elena." He said. Elena's frustration began to roll off of her in waves. Her vampire face began to show. "How can you say that, Stefan? Don't you care about her?" She snapped. 

"Yes, Elena. I have feelings for Caroline that go beyond our friendship but my failure to let her know about them when all she needed was for me to tell her the truth about how I feel for her is the reason why she turned off her humanity and why she's gone now. Who am I to tell her who to be with?" He sighed. "You can't blame yourself for this, Stefan." Elena said, calming down. She felt bad that Stefan felt so guilty over Caroline. "This is my fault, Elena. She lost her mother and all she needed to keep it together, was for me to tell her the truth. And I didn't. I was too late." Stefan insisted, a sadness creeping into his voice. 

"Either way, we need to get to New Orleans and talk her out of this. Being with Klaus would be the worst thing for her right now." Elena said, reaching out to comfort him. Stefan simply nodded although he secretly feared they would be too late and Caroline would choose Klaus over him. 

The French Quarter

Freya Mikaelson was seething with anger at her half-brother Niklaus. He'd betrayed her trust and was trying to turn Elijah and Rebekah against her with his paranoia and suspicions. But she'd been watching him closely, from a safe distance of course thanks to her magic and was planning to make the family turn against him and join her against Dahlia. But for now, she would pretend to be unbothered by Niklaus's distrust and was on her way to secretly meet with her baby sister, Rebekah. 

"Freya, it took you long enough." Rebekah said when she finally saw her blonde witch of a sister approaching the quaint little restuarant they were meeting at. "I'm sorry, sister. New Orleans has changed so much in the last century. I got a bit turned around but now that I've made my way to you, can you tell me what was so important that we had to meet immediately?" Freya asked, sitting down across from Rebekah. A nervous look crossed her sister's face. "I think something's wrong with this body." Rebekah whispered. "Like what? Have you been hurt?" Freya asked. Rebekah shook her head quickly. "No, I think the rightful owner of this body is waking up." Rebekah explained, fear creeping into her voice. 

"What makes you think that?" Freya asked. If the spirit of the body Rebekah was residing in was waking up, it could lead to some very serious problems. "I keep blacking out and waking up in strange places. And I keep having these nightmares and she's in them, telling me she's going to take her body back and trap me here forever." Rebekah sighed.