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The first thing that returned to her was her sense of smell.
Wherever she was must have been damp; it smelled strongly of mold and mildew. Also liquor. Bourbon, if she wasn’t mistaken, and a fond feeling washed over her for a moment before she forced herself to refocus on the situation.
Then came sound.
A repetitive, metallic sound reached her first, muffled but then clearer as the sense returned. She could also make out some shuffling, telling her she wasn’t alone, wherever she was.
Touch was next.
The now-familiar burning of vervain soaked ropes seared her forearms. It was only her resolve and the fact that that was really becoming old hat for her at that point that kept her from crying out at the sudden onslaught of sensation; and her desire to learn as much about her situation as she could without alerting whomever had put her there in the first place.
Then there was taste.
Her mouth felt dry, the kind of dry she associated with spells gone wrong or an overdose of vervain. Considering her current situation and the fact that the last thing she could remember was a bright light and chanted words in a language she couldn’t understand, either was likely.
But still, no sight.
“That would be the blindfold, if you were wondering, love.”
An icy chill swept through her as she recognized the voice, though the tone was less familiar. Or at least, it had been lately.
“Klaus?” Caroline croaked, turning her head in the direction of the voice.
There was a pause, the metallic sound stopped, then the creaking of a chair being pushed back filled the void.
“How do you know my name?”
It was more of a demand than a question.
“What are you talking about? This isn’t funny, Klaus, I thought we were passed all this. Or was your promise a lie?”
Footsteps stopped in front of her.
“I don’t know what game you’re playing, sweetheart, but I advise you to give it up quickly if you value your life.”
Fear wared with indignant anger inside her at his cold words and even icier tone. Anger won out. “What the hell is this, Klaus? I advise you to untie me if you know what’s good for you,” she hissed, glaring in his general direction, though the effect was slightly hampered by the blindfold.
There was another pause before dark chuckling sounded out, filling the room. “My, aren’t you a feisty one? Alright, let’s see what we have here, shall we?”
Before Caroline could retort, and she definitely was about to, light suddenly invaded her vision as the blindfold was violently ripped off. She found herself tied to a chair in some sort of darkened room, a basement most likely, judging from the lack of windows and stone walls. And there, standing in front of her with a cocky, yet dangerous look was Klaus.
“A basement? Couldn’t find anyplace more cliche to tie me up in?” she spat, finally unleashing the full force of her glare on him. “Sorry to tell you, but been there, done that. Not impressed.”
Klaus merely raised a brow at her, seeming to find her outburst amusing. “You certainly are an intriguing one, aren’t you? Tell me, who are you?”
Caroline sent him an incredulous look. “Um, I’m the one who blacked out earlier, why are you having memory issues?”
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, love. I found you unconscious on my doorstep earlier. The doorstep of my secret apartment, that no one knows about. And you a vampire. So you can imagine my desire to uncover exactly what is going on here.”
“Your apartment? You mean in New Orleans? I was not in New Orleans earlier, what the hell… If this is Damon’s fault I swear-”
“Damon Salvatore?” Klaus interrupted looking interested.
Caroline narrowed her eyes. She had noticed a hint of recognition flash in his eyes when she mentioned NOLA, but not in the sense that she had been expecting. And now he knew who Damon was and not her? Talk about insulting. “The one and only. Unfortunately. And I mean that in the way that it’s unfortunate there is one of him, not that I wish there were more.”
He seemed to find that amusing as well, chuckling lightly as he regarded her with a careful eye. “Just who are you, sweetheart? Now, I suggest you answer me this time. I usually don’t ask twice, but I definitely do not ask three times,” he said, voice taking on a more threatening tone.
“Fine. Caroline. Caroline Forbes. You know, the girl you’ve been practically stalking for the past few months?”
Klaus gave her an odd look before his frown deepened. “I think you must be confused, Caroline. We’ve never met before. So if we could stop playing these games and move on-”
“Are you kidding me? After all the crap you’ve put me through, the drawing and the dresses- plural!- and the bracelet and dances, almost killing me multiple times, and that promise, you’re going to pretend we never met? You couldn’t just move on like a normal person, you have to kidnap me and pull this? What the hell, Klaus?” Caroline demanded, pulling against her restraints in her anger.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I suggest you mind your tone in my presence.”
“My tone ? Oh, I’ll show you tone. Just because you think you’re the big shot, Original Hybrid doesn’t mean-”
Suddenly Klaus was inches from her, his darkened blue eyes boring into her own. “What did you just say?” he hissed, staring her down.
“Uh, I called you a big shot? Which is more of how you would describe yourself than I would,” she said, leaning her head back against the chair as much as possible in an attempt to put more space between them.
“The other bit,” he ground out, following her movement.
“‘Original Hybrid’?”
There was a hand wrapped around her throat before she could blink.
“How do you know about that?” Klaus demanded, face enraged.
Caroline gasped for air as his grip tightened, struggling against her bindings. “E-everyone… knows… you-” she broke off coughing as he reeled away looking at her in what she might have called fear in anyone else. “You- you aren’t exactly subtle,” she continued, glaring at him.
“No one knows, they can’t- how ?” he muttered, seemingly more to himself than to her. “How do they know?!” Klaus roared suddenly, turning back to her, fangs bared.
“What- I- after you broke the curse, you…” Caroline trailed off, eyes fixing on the fangs flashing in front of her. The two fangs. Her eyes darted up, not finding the yellow eyes she expected, but blood-darkened ones. Vampire ones. “You’re a vampire. You- how did you change back?” she whispered in shock.
“I’ve been a vampire for a thousand years,” Klaus hissed, leaning forward until he was in her face once again. “You speak as if I’ve ever been anything else.”
“But you are! Or… you were. You’re a hybrid, both a werewolf and a vampire,” Caroline murmured, searching his eyes for answers, understanding what was happening even less than before.
“No. But I will be. After I break the curse. The curse you shouldn’t even know about.”
“But you already did that! It’s been like a year! I don’t- I don’t understand what’s going on!”
“Then that makes two of us. The only difference is I am going to find out,” Klaus said darkly, hands gripping her wrists tightly enough she could feel the bones shift. “Who sent you? Was it Elijah?”
“What? Your stuffy older brother? I thought he was down here with you,” Caroline grit out, clenching her teeth in pain as his grip only tightened.
“Are you suggesting my brother knows my whereabouts?” Klaus leaned in close enough that she could feel his bourbon-scented breath on her face.
“Um, well since you all seemed to take a family trip down to New Orleans for whatever reason, I’d say so, yeah,” she said, trying to keep the mounting fear from her voice. She wasn’t sure what was wrong with Klaus, why he didn't seem to remember her or much of anything else from the past year, but she did know how dangerous Klaus was, especially if she no longer had the protection his affection for her offered. She had to tread carefully. “Though I guess Rebekah is in Europe with Matt right now, so maybe not an entire family trip, then.”
Caroline had never seen Klaus’ eyes so wide.
“Rebekah… How…?” His gaze hardened again as he glared down at her. “Tell me who you are! Right now!”
She reeled back from the sheer force of his yell, unable to keep the fear from showing on her face any longer. “I told you already! I’m not lying!”
“How can you possibly know all these things about me?!”
Caroline was only slightly relieved that the fangs bared threateningly in front of her were not hybrid fangs; at least she would avoid that brand of pain for once. Though she was under no illusion that Klaus needed hybrid venom to end her life. She chose her words carefully, aware Klaus was as close to snapping as she had ever seen him, which was saying something. “You told me. You’ve told me a lot of things about you.”
“Why would I ever tell you- anyone , these things?” Klaus hissed, staring her dead in the eye.
“Because you lo- you like me. You’re… courting me or whatever,” Caroline admitted. She wasn’t sure why hearing herself say it outloud finally made her blush, but there it was.
He looked at her for a long moment before pulling back. She was about to sigh in relief when Klaus started pacing in front of her. That was never a good sign.
“You’re either telling the truth or you have a death wish,” he babbled as he paced, casting glances at her every now and then, “though it doesn’t appear that you’re that stupid. But that doesn’t make any sense! I would never tell anyone things like that, things that could be used against me. Love is nothing but a weakness! I would never let something like that corrupt my judgement!”
“Never say never,” Caroline muttered to herself, regretting the slip instantly when his head whipped towards her. She never thought she would find herself missing her Klaus before but- wait, her Klaus?
He stalked back over to her jerkily, though he didn’t grab her arms like last time, thankfully. “You have to be working for someone. Nothing else makes any sense. Tell me now and I’ll consider making your death fairly painless.”
“Wow, you sure know how to sweet-talk a girl.” She glared up at him, jerking at her restraints again, wincing at the burn.
“I would compel you,” he added, as if it were an afterthought, “but there’s already too much vervain in your system for that to be effective.”
Caroline followed his gaze to the raw open wounds around her wrists where the rope had dug and burned into her skin.
“I could still drain you and do it then, of course. But I have a feeling you wouldn’t enjoy that. So. How about you just tell me, love. Or we could fall back on a little torture, if you prefer?” He walked back over to the table he had been seated at earlier, picking up a small knife and rapping it on the metal tabletop a few times. The metallic sound she had heard earlier filled the room and sent a shiver down Caroline’s spine.
“Look, I already told you! No one sent me, not your brother, not anyone! The last thing I remember before waking up in your dungeon was chanting. Probably some witch you pissed off, which is probably a long list, so why don’t you let me go while you start going through that, okay?”
Klaus actually barked out a laugh at that, though it was far from the joyful, grinning ones she had grown accustomed to. “Nice try, sweetheart. But why should I believe that? For all I know you colluded with a witch to find out all these things you seem to know about me.”
She narrowed her eyes. “If it was so easy for a witch to figure out all your secrets, don’t you think it would have happened before now?”
He regarded her carefully for a moment before smirking. “I suppose you have a point there, love. But how are you going to prove your story to me? You haven’t told me anything- the parts that make sense anyway- that at least one other person doesn’t know.”
Caroline huffed, her annoyance beginning to outweigh her anger and fear again. “How am I supposed to know what things you told me were top secret and what were more common knowledge?”
“Try me.”
She rolled her eyes but began sorting through her memories of Klaus nonetheless. “Fine. Uh, you like to collect fancy dresses for some reason.” Klaus gave her a raised eyebrow but made no comment. Not a big secret then. “You gave me a bracelet that belonged to a princess, or so you said.” A frown, but nothing else. “Oh, you have a painting up in the Hermitage, and the one that’s supposed to be there is in your possession.” A smirk. She should have known that would be something he would brag about. Something more personal… More secret… “You used to keep your family in boxes that you creepily dragged around the world.”
That got a reaction.
“How do you know that?” he asked lowly, suddenly right in front of her, again.
“Stefan told me, though I’m not sure if he learned about it from you or Elijah.”
“Stefan… Salvatore?”
“Yes. And you know, it’s really kind of insulting that you remember them and not me,” Caroline said, rolling her eyes.
“It’s not that I remember them, sweetheart. I haven’t actually had the pleasure of meeting the infamous brothers. Yet. I am just very well informed, as you seem to be.”
Caroline frowned, more confused than ever. “What are you talking about? You’ve been inserting yourself in their lives, in all our lives, for a year now! And besides that, you and Stefan had some weird bromance going on in the 20s, don’t forget about that.”
Klaus’ hands flashed to her shoulders then, grasping roughly as he glared at her. “There’s no way you could know that. Stefan doesn’t remember, and the only other person who knew-”
“Is Rebekah? Yeah, I know. Not like she’d tell me herself though, your sister’s kind of a bitch,” she spat, glaring right back. “Now could you quit manhandling me already? It’s getting kind of old.”
She wasn’t really surprised when his grip tightened instead.
“I feel like I’ve been quite patient up to this point. But I am afraid that’s about to come to an end,” Klaus said, voice hard once more. “How do you know about my time in the 20s?”
Caroline decided not to point out how much Klaus was starting to sound like a broken record at that point. “Stefan told us all about it after your little camping trip to make more hybrids.”
Klaus’ mouth tightened into a thin line and he took a deep breath in through his nose before he responded. “There you go again talking about hybrids, as if that’s a thing in the present. But let’s talk more about that, hmm? How do you know about something that no one else in the world besides my brother knows about?”
She tried pushing back against his grip, but it was unyielding, not that she really expected otherwise; it was mostly the act of resistance that was important. “We’re just going in circles here, you realize that right? Anyway, I think you mean no one else besides you brother and your parents know. Or knew, since everyone knows now, you practically took out an ad the minute you broke the curse.”
He ignored her scoff and pulled away finally, pushing her shoulders hard into the chair before he straightened, making her wince. “And again with the curse! Caroline, you know things you shouldn’t and I think it’s time I do something about that.”
“I don’t understand why you keep acting like you breaking it hasn’t happened yet! How can you not remember that?! Either you have amnesia or I’m in the pa-” Caroline’s eyes went wide as realization hit her. The lack of memories involving her and Mystic Falls, the fangs, the paranoid and secretive manner. “ I’m in the past ,” she whispered, more to herself than anything else.
“Come again, love?”
Her head whipped up, staring at him with wide and disbelieving eyes. “I- I time traveled. Is that really a thing? Was that what that witch did? Why- how- ?” She looked at him imploringly, slowly realizing that this was not a familiar Klaus that she was dealing with. “This- this is the past. For me, anyway, I’m not really sure how that works. I guess I’m from the future? This is so confusing… But it does explain a lot.”
“Time travel.” Klaus was looking at her as if she were crazy, which Caroline supposed was probably fitting. “You expect me to believe that you time traveled, here, which is apparently the past? I’ve heard a lot of things from people who were about to die, but this is new even for me. I suppose a congratulations are in order, though I don’t think it will do you much good where you’re about to go,” he said, eyes darkening as he took a threatening step towards her.
“Wait!” Caroline knew she had to think fast, she didn’t know this Klaus, he didn’t know or care about her, and he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. Her heart clenched at the thought but she pushed that to the side and wracked her brain for anything that could save her. “I can- I can prove it! What if I can tell you something no one else knows, no one except for you.”
“Mmm, we’ve already tried that game, remember, sweetheart? I don’t see how that’s going to save you now.”
“Well, that was before I understood the situation,” Caroline hedged, trying to buy some time. “Just give me one more chance, I can prove it, I promise!”
There were a few long seconds before Klaus responded, moved even, where he stood just staring at her, darkened gaze wandering over her seated form, contemplating things she couldn’t even begin to imagine. Finally a grin spread across his lips, though it sent a shiver down Caroline’s spine instead of a warmth through her chest, and he spread his arms wide in invitation. “Alright, by all means, love, prove it. But if you can’t-” his tone grew harsh, the grin turning sadistic- “then you’ll meet your end, regardless of what time you’re in.”
Caroline took a shaky breath, knowing he was telling the truth. “Okay.” What did she know about Klaus that no one had known before he came to Mystic Falls? Something she could never have guessed, something he would have to have told her himself (or someone else who then told her- the order wasn’t important)... “Your mother,” she blurted suddenly, eyes locking onto his.
His eyes narrowed. “What about her?”
“You- you kept- keep her in a coffin. Locked with magic.”
She was met with silence. Caroline took that as a good sign and kept talking. “You told your siblings that Mikael killed her, but that’s not true.” She took a deep breath before continuing, knowing this was a risky truth to tell to any version of Klaus. “You killed her.”
She was right to worry, as his hands were on her throat in the next instant.
“Maybe I was wrong before. Elijah didn’t send you, it was Mikael,” he growled, beginning to choke her, a wild look in his eyes.
“No!” she gasped, fighting to get a word out. “He’s… dead!”
Klaus backed off at that, though his hands remained around her neck. “What did you say?”
“Mikael is dead. In my time, anyway,” she coughed out, tears blurring her vision. “You killed him.”
He looked almost hopeful for a moment before his features hardened back into their cold default. “That’s a lovely story, but you still haven’t proven anything. Mikael knows that truth, he could have sent you here to try and fool me. It would be just like him.”
“Well, he didn’t! Fine, I’ll think of something else, okay?”
“Afraid not, love. I’m all out of patience. And unfortunately for you, this isn’t going to be quick.” Klaus removed his hands, turning away to walk back to the table, back to the knife and-
“The hummingbird!”
He stopped in his tracks, slowly turning around to face her once more, an edge of curiosity in the look he gave her. “Come again?”
“I wasn’t sure if it was true, when you told me, but I guess I’m out of choices, so why not?” Caroline took a steadying breath and continued, hoping the Klaus she knew hadn’t just made this up to impress her. “When you were in the Andes, a hummingbird flew in front of you. You said hearing its heart beat so fast, so hard as it fought to survive, that every day was such a struggle for it to stay alive, every moment it won that fight must have been so satisfying,” she said, her voice raw from a combination of her sore throat and her emotions. “It was the only time you ever thought about being human.”
The silence in the room was stifling. Neither moved nor made a sound save for their breathing. Klaus just stared at Caroline. Stared as if he had no idea what to do next, which wasn’t something she was used to from the ever-suave hybrid. Though she supposed this Klaus was basically a different person. What a difference a year could make. If Caroline wasn’t on the verge of being killed she might have appreciated it more.
“When you were ten Rebekah stole your wooden sword so she could get Kol back for ruining her doll. You took the beating from Mikael in her place when he found her with a boy’s toy. You liked to carve things as a child. I guess you were always artistic. You gave Kol a wooden bear carving for his birthday when he was twelve and he carried it around everywhere with him for weeks. Mikael didn’t like that side of you very much either.” Caroline continued babbling, unable to stop once she started, telling Klaus every little thing about himself that he had revealed to her during their little talks. She surprised herself with how much she knew and remembered about him. “The first time you turned was both the most painful and wonderful moment of your life. You felt excruciating pain and shame when you learned about that side of you, but it was also the first time you truly felt whole. That’s why you want to break the curse.
“You always manage to find time to sketch, no matter what’s going on. It calms you; I think it makes you feel human. Not weak or stupid, or any of the negative things you associate with humanity, but real. Alive. And you’ve never let yourself love in a thousand years, except what you have for your siblings. You think it’s a weakness, but I think it’s a strength. I told you you were in love with me, once. I don’t know if that’s true, but I think you wanted it to be, he wanted it to be. Maybe I wanted it to be, or will, someday. But you’ll never know if you kill me.”
Caroline stared at the floor as she ended her little soliloquy. She wasn’t sure what Klaus’ reaction would be, but if he did decide to kill her after all, she realized she couldn’t bear to see him looking down at her with those cold, unfamiliar eyes when he did it.
“...Why?”
The word was so soft Caroline almost thought she had imagined it until he eventually continued, drawing her attention to him again.
“Why would I tell you those things? Who are you to me, to him?”
Klaus slowly made his way to her and crouched down in front of her, looking up at her with what she could only describe as awe. So he believed her. She let out a breath in relief.
“I’m just a girl you wouldn’t take a hint from,” she said, allowing herself a small smile at the memory.
“No,” he insisted, shaking his head. “You must be so much more, for me to tell you those things. Just who are you, Caroline Forbes?”
“Just wait a few months or so and you’ll find out,” she joked, feeling uncomfortable again. It was like emotional whiplash, going from having Klaus about to kill her to having him looking at her like she was an angel from above. The old Klaus really must have been a mess if he reacted like this. “I’m not really anyone special. I honestly don’t know why you’re so obsessed with me in the future.”
“I think you’re wrong. You are special, Caroline. You’re also strong. And beautiful.”
“And full of light?” she asked with a laugh. She knew this was the same Klaus, but this was absurd. “You really are him, aren’t you?”
He gave her a puzzled look but reached up slowly to grab her hand, holding it gently in his own. “Why would a person like yourself be able to say such kind things about me, after all the things you know I’ve done?”
Caroline’s eyes met his and for the first time since the whole time travel nonsense began, she thought she could see her Klaus in them. “I guess I can just see the good in you. And yes, there is some left, no matter how deep down you try and bury it,” she added when she could tell he was about to protest.
“I suppose I’ll have to take your word for it, Caroline From The Future,” he said, giving her a small grin that was achingly familiar, and she knew he believed her. “Now, about that. You said I broke the curse- Caroline?”
Suddenly everything went white, then black, and then Caroline was gasping awake, sitting up in her own bed.
“What the hell?”
After a minute of accepting her surroundings as real, she scrambled for her phone, yanking it from her nightstand and checking the date. She let out a sigh in relief, letting herself fall back against the pillows after reading the present (to her) date. She let her mind wander back over her memories of the time travel, wondering whether or not it was real or just a dream. Caroline wasn’t sure which was preferable, her having been sent back in time to see Klaus for some reason and almost being killed, or her dreaming up that scenario.
Deciding to let that little conundrum go, her eyes flicked down to the phone still clutched in her hand. Before she could think better of it, she had tapped open the lockscreen and scrolled down her contact list. One deep breath later and she had pressed the green button, bringing the phone to her ear.
“Only one way to find out,” she muttered to herself before a cheery British accent greeted her.