Above All Else

Chapter 18

The man caught her and pulled her in close, "Always my Little One. Always."

A twig snapped in the distance making the man turn around. "Are you sure about that?" A woman's voice said as she entered the glade.

The man placed the little girl on the ground and kept her behind him. "What is it you want?" He asked harshly.

The little girl held tightly to the man's pant legs, her tiny fists turning white from the strain once she heard the interloping woman laugh.

"You need to pay for the wrongs you have done." The woman said pointing towards the man and the child. "And I'll be the one to oversee it done."

The man let out a sarcastic laugh, "You think you can over take me? You do not stand a chance wench." The man felt the little girl hold tighter to his pants and let out a whimper. He carefully placed his hand on her head behind him not taking his eyes off the woman in front of him.

The little girl whimpered as she glanced around the glade and noticed a small mob coming out from behind the trees surrounding them. She never should have begged to come here today. She thought shaking with fear. She knew something bad was going to happen but she ignored it so she could check on the butterfly.

The woman let out a mocking laugh, "You think I came alone this time? I rarely make the same mistake twice."

The man took notice to their surroundings and cursed himself a fool for only focusing his attention on the woman. He counted eleven others surrounding them before he heard the faint desperate whispers of the little girl behind him.

"My fault. All my fault."

The man quickly knelt down to take her tiny chubby face in his hand, "No my sweet Little One this is not your fault, I swear it." He looked over her head and noticed the group, now counting twelve beginning to form a circle. The three behind the little girl were not quite in formation as of yet. There is still a chance! He thought to himself. Looking back at the little girl, taking in her fear filled crystal blue eyes he took a deep breath and whispered quickly to her. "Listen to me closely Little One. I need you to turn straight around and run. Run as fast and as far as your legs will carry you."

Tears began to form in the little girl's eyes as she whispered harshly, "No! I don't want to leave you!"

"I know my Little One. I know. But you must. I will follow when I can. I will find you, always." Taking a hold of her shoulders he quickly spun her around before the last three could gain their places and gave her a gentle but forceful shove. "Run now Caroline! Run!"

He watched as she ducked and weaved through the break in the circle and nearly flew through the woods before he spun back around to face the Coven. "Now, shall we begin?"

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Klaus startled awake to the sound of his phone; he blinked his eyes astounded that he had actually fallen asleep. Raising his head he glanced at Caroline's sleeping face, her forehead was furrowed as if she was having an intense dream and he couldn't find it more adorable as he curiously wondered what dreams danced through her head. Carefully as not to wake her he slowly slid his arm out from under the pillow and extracted his hand from hers before he gingerly raised his body off the sofa. He watched as Caroline murmured in her sleep before she rolled over to the spot he had just vacated. He breathed out a sigh of relief that she slept still, knowing after everything that was happening to her she needed to rest to gain her strength back. Klaus walked to the chair that he had thrown his jacket over to extract his phone from its pocket. He seen there was only one text message waiting for him from Damon but nothing from Kol and his teeth clenched together in irritation over that fact. Opening the text from Damon it read;