A Way Out

Chapter 4

“I don’t understand. She’s a monster. You know what she’s done to you, to me, to ALL of us. Why do you want to protect her?”

“What do you want me to do, Caroline? Kill her? Now? When she’s so defenceless?

“No, of course not. I know you would never do that.”

“Or maybe…” Stefan said, looking Caroline over.

“Maybe what?”

After a pause, Stefan said, “You think I should hand her over to Klaus.”

“I make no apologies for that. She would deserve anything he did to her but…it’s up to you.”

Stefan hung his head. “You know I’m not going to do that.”

Caroline sighed and walked over to her friend. She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. When he looked up, she smiled softly and hugged him. He returned it. She knew Stefan would never betray her like that. If he would, he wouldn’t be the Stefan she knew and loved.

Still embracing him, she said, “And you know…that I’m not going to change my mind.”

Without reservation, Caroline said, “Elena gave Katherine the cure. Now that there’s a human doppelganger again, you can make hybrids.”

Klaus heard him approach and vamp-ran to the door and opened it before he could knock. Klaus had sent him on a very important procuring mission. Looking intently at the man on his doorstep, he asked,

“Did you get it?”

The man nodded. Klaus breathed a sigh of relief. The man held up a bag.

“The biggest carton of Rocky Road and the largest jar of pickles I could find, sir.”

Klaus took the bag from the man and walked back inside. He was about to take it upstairs when he heard someone tutting at him from the top of the stairwell. Knowing who it was, Klaus groaned.

“What is the problem now, Elijah? Klaus snarled as he stared daggers at his older brother.

“We have been on this earth for a thousand years, Niklaus. I know somewhere along the line you picked up enough etiquette and decorum to at least put icecream in a bowl with a spoon for a guest.”

Klaus guffawed, “A guest? I don’t want her here-“

“She is your responsibility, Niklaus.”

With a last look, Klaus zipped into the kitchen and fixed a bowl of Rocky Road and a plate of pickles, placed them on a tray, then walked slowly and deliberately back to the stairwell. He then vamp-ran up the stairs until he was right in front of Elijah. The tray poked the Original in the chest as Klaus spoke.

With a smile, he said, “Why don’t you take it to her? You’re going to end up feeding it to her anyway. Give dear Hayley my best.”

Elijah calmly took the tray from his brother and zipped down the hallway and into a room. Klaus rubbed his temples as he walked back down the stairs. Elijah had shown up on his doorstep a few days ago with Hayley, saying that the current accommodations were no longer secure and that the girl had to stay at the house. She had been driving Klaus mad with her incessant cravings ever since. Even as a vampire, Klaus knew that ice cream and pickles had to taste revolting. Between her and Caroline, it had been a stressful few days.

He kept Caroline from seeing Hayley but it wasn’t hard since Caroline was often out. He had been told she talked to a couple people in town, including Marcel and some of his boys but he still didn’t know what she was up to. He didn’t like it. She could possibly be aligning herself with his enemies but ti was to early to say for sure. Her tip about Katherine had been right though. A compelled associate of his was retrieving some blood from Mystic Falls even then.

Klaus held onto that thought. With the doppelganger blood, he could make hybrids, an army, his army. And he could finally take back New Orleans.

The leaves rustled as the wind blew through Bourbon Street. As she walked home, Caroline mulled over the conversation she just had with a member of Marcel’s inner circle. They had met a few times before, at some parties. They had danced and talked. Tonight, they had met at Sophie Deveraux’s bar and Caroline had a feeling she had found the one.

 “Rough night?” she ventured, as she sat next to Thierry.

Nursing his drink, he replied, “Marcel’s work is never done. Always another rule-breaker to be shown the error of his or her ways.”

“Oooh, how dark and sinister.”

“Not at all, Marcel’s word is law. I’m just making sure justice is carried out,” Thierry said, as he emptied his glass and called for another.

Caroline saw how drunk he was and decided to go for it. “How does he always know when his rules are broken though? C’mon, let me in on it.”

Thierry started to shake his head vigorously. When he stopped, he placed his forefinger on his lips and drunkenly rasped, “Sssshhhhhh, it’s a secret.”

Caroline broke down in fake laughter, her eyes twinkling as she held her stomach.

“I know it’s a secret, T, I know. I ‘m just so interested in what you do, your work…”

“Why?” slurred Thierry.

Caroline placed a hand gently on his cheek and caressed it. “Because I want to know everything about you, Thierry. I know we’ve only known each other a little while but I feel a connection to you.”

Thierry grinned and looked away shyly. “Really?”

In lieu of answer, Caroline held his arm and pulled him away from the bar.

“Whe-where are we going?” he slurred.

She looked back at him and smiled seductively. “To get a real drink,” she purred.

As Caroline licked the last of a roadside guitarist off her lips, she relished more the thought that she was one step closer to Marcel. After their “drink”, Thierry had invited her to spend the day and night with him tomorrow, since she was so interested in him. What she was really interested in was Marcel’s affairs, some of which Thierry obviously dealt.

Caroline reached the mansion and went inside. She walked past the living room to the stairs, then stopped. She walked backwards to the living room and looked in. Having done so, she continued on her way, up the stairs and into her room. She got in bed and pulled on the covers. She was tired and even seeing Hayley and her swollen belly curled up on Klaus’ sofa watching late night tv was not going to keep her up.