Timeless

Chapter 18

Klaus stood in front of the fire. Watching Caroline, waiting. For the second time, since they had met, she was unconscious in his bed. Gretchen said patience, but patience was not something he possessed. Not when it came to this.

"The spell is working inside of her, I can feel it," Gretchen had told him. "Look, her arm is healing."

Caroline's heart had stopped and the witch theorized that Caroline was transitioning again, that all had been set right in the universe. Elijah had said she just fainted in the middle of the courtyard and her pulse had slowed to a stop. The theory seemed weak to Klaus, but it was all they had to go on at the moment.

For a second he thought, it might be actually worse if Caroline did wake up. How many times would he have to watch her die? More and more, everyday, she was creeping in to his very soul, wrapping herself around him, and entwining their lives together. It was coming to the point where he couldn't imagine his days without her. Waking up to her each morning and watching her sleep, holding her through the night, seeing her eyes light up with joy and flash in anger. He had thought that the hybrid curse was the worst thing to befall him, but now he realized that there was a curse even more cruel, and it was lying unconscious in his bed.

A sharp gasp came from the bed. Klaus's head snapped up and he flashed over to Caroline. He hovered next to her, not touching her, as she regained her bearings.

"Caroline?"

Her eyes lifted to meet his.

"Klaus," she breathed.

He couldn't take it anymore. He scooped her up and crushed his lips to hers. Caroline made a surprised noise, but melted into his kiss a moment later. He wrapped his arms tight around her as he tasted her, alive and well once again. When he finally pulled back, she was breathless. He looked down into her eyes and saw them brighten, a smile stretching across her face.

"Miss me?" She teased.

"You're vampire again," he said, noticing the lack of heartbeat against her chest.

"And I never thought that fact would make me so happy," she replied. Klaus kissed her again and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, humming delightedly into his mouth.

"You must stop dying on me Caroline," he said to her.

"I can't make any promises," she replied, "but it's good to know you care."

~~~A week later~~~

Caroline had seen many things during her transition coma. Dreams and memories and things that could have happened, all of them scattered in her mind, out of order. The first thing Caroline had done, once Klaus had finally let her leave his bed, was go to Gretchen.

"I need some help organizing everything," she told the witch, "I know these events connect. I know the dreams I've been having are no coincidence either."

"Nothing is ever coincidence," Gretchen agreed.

Caroline smiled. "Then help me."

Caroline spent her days, rehashing every event she could think of with Gretchen. Klaus was busy preparing for the sacrifice and making sure that everything was "safe" which left Elijah to look out for Katerina. Neither man noticed her absence. She knew Klaus would kill her for leaving the castle grounds, with the werewolves still a threat, but she couldn't let them find out what she was up to. Gretchen's home in the woods was the only safe place where they could have privacy.

Caroline stared at the parchment on Gretchen's table. There were ink scribbles all around it; sentences crossed out then rewritten, arrows and lines drawn all around, connecting events to one another. It looked like chicken scratch, but it made more sense to Caroline seeing it on paper than when she tried to sort it out in her head.