Two Lost Souls

Field Of Innocence

Oh, I, I want to go back to

Believing in everything and knowing nothing at all

He's just finishing off his fourth – or is it fifth? – bourbon after letting Stefan leave when he gets a text from Elijah.

You may want to come back home.

Frowning at the screen, he considers ignoring it since the phrasing suggests there is no emergency to deal with, but his curiosity gets the better of him and he quickly settles his tab before making his way home.

When he gets there, he finds Caroline and Stefan sitting on the couch in front of the TV, laughing at some silly show he doesn't pay attention to. The blond vampire is the first to sense his presence in the room and she gives him a grin, catching him completely off guard since he was convinced she was going to greet him with yells and insults for the way he reacted – he refuses to say 'overreacted', but he knows that's probably how she sees it – to her confession.

"You're back earlier than I thought."

"Elijah texted me," he answers cautiously, waiting for the blow and ready to defend his actions.

"Of course he did," she grumbles, and he's almost sure she didn't mean for him to hear that, but then she raises her voice to make sure his brother hears her from upstairs. "Thanks a lot, Elijah!"

"You're welcome, Caroline," comes the immediate, overly polite answer, the original having obviously decided to ignore her sarcastic tone.

Klaus just watches her, not even trying to conceal his amusement at the exchange, and waits for her to turn back to him.

"Something I should know?"

She looks embarrassed all of a sudden, even nervous, and he wonders if he should be worried.

"Hm, yeah, there's something I need to tell you, but I don't know..."

A knock on the front door interrupts her, and she lets out a sigh that is equal parts exasperated and relieved. Odd.

"Hold that thought," he says.

She follows him, curious. He can't blame her, they don't get many visitors given that half the city is at war with them and the other half is too afraid to be seen around here.

When he opens the door and sees the person standing on the other side, all lightheartedness gained listening to his brother and Caroline's banter seems to vanish and he instantly schools his features into a menacing mask, grabbing the intruder by the throat and slamming him against the closest wall.

"Klaus! What are you doing?" Caroline exclaims, sounding more confused than angry.

Good. Now is not the time for an argument.

"He's one of Marcel's daywalkers," he explains, never releasing his hold on the man's throat. "He was there when we went to Cami's bar."

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees not only that Caroline is squinting at the nameless vampire as if trying to place him, but that his siblings and Stefan have just joined them. He'd almost forgotten what working as a team felt like.

"Oh right," Caroline mutters, seemingly remembering the man. "Well, maybe you should at least let him speak. There has to be a reason he's here."

Klaus smirks, tightens his grip, and feels great satisfaction when something gives way under his fingers. His victim opens his mouth, but since he just crushed his larynx, talking is kind of out of the question for now.

"Killing him right away would send a nice message to Marcel."

In truth, he has no intention of doing so. Whatever this vampire came here to say – even if it's to lead them into a trap, which is the most likely scenario – could be useful to know, but scaring him right from the start might unsettle him enough that he'll reveal more than he's supposed to. Caroline seems to understand what he's doing, because she just rolls her eyes at him instead of trying to convince him not to do it, like she would if she thought his threat was genuine. In the end, Rebekah is the one who comes up with a reasonable argument, one that will make backing off so quickly look plausible without removing the danger completely.