Klaroline Drabbles

60

This one is kinda horrible, in the blood and gut kind of way......



Caroline was running through the forest. Tree limbs whipped at her face and cold, sharp air filled her longs as she pushed herself to go faster. She reached a clearing at the top of a hill and came to a stop, spinning in circles as she took in her surroundings. Caroline took a deep breath, trying frantically to pick up on his scent. She wasn't exactly at her finest at the moment but she needed to find Klaus and she needed to do it fast before he did something rash. Still spinning in circles, Caroline's eyes searched the dark forest. The Białowieża Forest, the closest woodland area to their current home in Belarus, spanned more than 50 square miles. Tracking Klaus down in all that space wouldn't exactly be easy. Picking up the slightest hint of his scent, Caroline took off again, pushing her tired body to move as fast as possible. Even as she ran, Caroline's mind raced back to the last time she'd ran through these trees - last night before all of this had happened.
After ten years of being with Klaus, Caroline had learned to sense when he was in a foul mood and developed two simple ways of dealing with it. Fight (not the worst option since he tended to let her win) or flight (Caroline had learned to pick and choose her battles and sometimes it was best to simply leave him alone when he got like this). Last night she'd sensed his temper rising to a boiling point and before they could inevitably end up in a trivial argument that would escalate to something worse, Caroline decided to leave him be and go for a run. The Białowieża Forest was one of Caroline's favorite things about their current home and it's where she went to clear her head. In a forest that big, Caroline could run at vamp speed for miles without worrying about being caught.
That particular night, it wasn't until she was deep in the forest that Caroline looked up and caught sight of the full moon. A muttered 'shit' had barely passed her lips before she was taking off again, navigating her way out of the forest. It wasn't exactly a good night to be out.
When they had first moved to this small town on the edge of Belarus, it hadn't taken Klaus and Caroline long to find out about the rather large werewolf population that dominated most of Central Europe. In particular a pack of roughly 50 wolves, led by a man named Dominik, controlled the majority of the territory where Caroline and Klaus had chosen to settle down for the time being. Klaus' first instinct had been to simply kill the man and appoint himself the pack's new leader but he knew exactly how Caroline would feel about that and ultimately opted against it. Instead, Klaus and Caroline had a somewhat shaky truce with the wolves of the area - they stayed out of each other's way.
But the Białowieża Forest was hunting ground for the werewolves and on the night of the full moon, they considered the land to be 100% theirs.
If that had been something Caroline had remembered sooner, she wouldn't have found herself in a dangerous predicament. She was almost out of the forest when she skidded to a stop, sensing the wolves mere seconds before they leapt out of the trees in front of them. Four of them. All very large and fanned out in a semi-circle in front of her. Caroline's eyes raced from one wolf to the next before landing on the largest of them, a shaggy black wolf at the end. Dominik.
Caroline backed up as the animals inched closer to her, low growls emitting from their jaws and teeth snapping. She locked eyes on Dominik, hoping to appeal to the human man somewhere inside of him.
"Let's not get into it tonight, boys. I was just passing through." Caroline kept her voice light and carefree even as her eyes frantically scanned her surroundings for a way out.
Apparently her friendly tone was lost on them because the four wolves kept their advance and Caroline barely had a moment to prepare herself before they launched. The first one got thrown aside easily enough, Caroline gripping his neck midair and put all her considerable strength behind throwing him into the nearest tree.
If it had been one on one, Caroline had no doubt she would have gotten out. Even two on one might have been a rough but winnable fight. Four on one was distressingly close to a lost cause. Her mind shut off then, her body switching to killer mode. Even with the strength she'd gained over the years, even with everything that Klaus had taught her, Caroline could only put up a fight for so long.
It was Dominik that got in the first bite, right into Caroline's Achilles' heel. Still she refused to give up. Tackled to the ground and buried under the weight of four wolves, all trying to get a bite in, Caroline swore to take at least one of them down with her.
Somewhere in the distance a shot fired, the boom echoing through the forest. Maybe some armed campers had run into trouble or some ambitious hunter was out looking to catch something - whatever it was, Caroline was grateful for the split second distraction it provided. Before the wolves could recover from their confused stupor, Caroline had taken off, dashing out of the forest in record-breaking time.
After that, things started to get a little fuzzy. She remembered stumbling through the streets and back alleys until she'd finally made her way home where Caroline promptly collapsed on the porch. When she woke up again, Caroline was tucked into their bed and Klaus sat beside her in an armchair, his face a stoic mask.
The wolves had bitten her more than once and Caroline wasn't sure she'd survive, even with Klaus' blood to heal her. For a while there, Klaus hadn't been so sure either. He'd sat by her bed, rage building in him to a point he'd never experienced before, as he traced the numerous werewolf bites covering her body.
Caroline had slipped in and out of sleep and each time she woke up, Klaus was still sitting there, still with that same unreadable look on his face. Until the next night when she woke up and the armchair was empty. Caroline wasn't a fool, she knew exactly what he'd gone to do. Despite still feeling a little weak, Caroline shot out of the bed and raced out of the house. It was easy enough to track Klaus' scent to the forest but once inside, Caroline quickly lost the trail.
She knew Klaus and his idea of revenge wouldn't stop at just one man. He'd kill innocent people, women and children, all until his bloodlust had been sated. And if she didn't find him and stop him first, that blood may as well be on her hands. Caroline didn't need him to fight for her and she certainly didn't need him to kill for her.
Shaking off the feeling of traces of werewolf venom still leaving her bloodstream, Caroline pushed herself to go faster. But it didn't matter because no matter how fast Caroline moved, Klaus would be faster.
With his face fixed into a mask of vicious intent, Klaus stormed through the forest, dragging a pile of chains behind him with the ease a human would a sled. During those hours spent by Caroline's side as she drifted in and out, Klaus had nothing but time to contemplate the many things he wanted to do to her attacker. In between bouts of lucidity, Caroline had managed to tell him what happened and hearing the story exponentially increased Klaus' fury. Each passing hour that delayed his retribution, Klaus felt his rage surge at an alarming pace.
He and the wolves had had an understanding, not because Klaus wanted it but because Caroline had. But they had attacked her, filling her bloodstream with so much venom there had been a brief and terrifying moment when Klaus was certain he would lose her - lose everything that mattered. Because she was all that mattered.
The chains rattled loudly behind him as Klaus cut through the forest with skilled precision. He and the wolves may have had an understanding but Klaus still made it a point to know all that he could about his potential enemies. Which is why he knew Dominik took his family camping in the same clearing every weekend. Not long after entering the forest, Klaus saw the clearing up ahead. The man was nothing if not predictable. Even from this far away Klaus could make out the figure of two children and a woman. The eldest child, a girl, couldn't have been any older than thirteen, the smaller boy no older than seven. His eyes landed on a built man, Dominik's brother, before spotting his target. Dominik. Pack master to almost 50 wolves, though not for much longer.
With his eye on the prize now, Klaus cut faster through the trees. The chains rattled loudly behind him but Klaus paid them no mind. He wasn't interested in being stealthy with his approach. He wanted the wolf to know he was coming for him.
Klaus watched him spin around, looking for the threat in the dark forest. It wasn't until he passed through the brush and stepped into the clearing that chaos ensued. Dominik and his brother turned to face Klaus, snarling as they instinctively moved into defensive mode. Not that it mattered, without the full moon they'd be easy pickings for the original hybrid.
For the moment, Klaus didn't concern himself with the wife and two children that took off into the forest at the sight of the battle brewing. He dashed forward at full speed, catching Dominik around the next and throwing him into the nearest tree. The man bounced back quickly, Klaus had to give him that. Still, even both wolves together were no match for Klaus - especially not in their human form. It didn't take him long to knock both men unconscious, tying them to trees with the wolfsbane cloaked chains Klaus had dragged behind him through the forest. He could have ended the fight faster by killing them but Klaus had a more fitting punishment in mind - something more suitable to the crime committed than mere death.
Content that neither man would be going anywhere anytime soon, Klaus inhaled the air quickly before dashing off on the trail of the three runners. Dominik's wife put up an admirable fight but it was a lost cause from the first swing. By the time Klaus dragged her and her two kids back to the clearing, Dominik had woken up and was growling rather uselessly as Klaus chained his family to a row of trees not too far from him.
Turning with a sadistic smile on his face, Klaus strode slowly over to the other man, crouching down to look him in the eye.
"I imagine you know why we're here tonight." Klaus spoke casually, fixing the werewolf with a mocking look.
Still snarling, Dominik tried in vain to break free from the chains. "She knew the rules." He spat.
The sadistic smile dropped from Klaus's face and was replaced by a vicious look, one that promised no mercy. "She is the only reason I've waited this long to kill you." Klaus growled, catching the werewolf's neck in his hand and applying force. He stopped himself just short of snapping the neck and pulled back, his eyes derisive as he watched Dominik cough and sputter.
"You came for me, leave them alone." He managed to growl out after he regained the ability to breathe.
"You should have left her alone." Klaus said with a shake of his head. "Now you have to watch them suffer." The way I watched her suffer. "Now where should we start, hm?" Klaus asked, standing up and strolling back over to where he had Dominik's brother, wife and children tied up in a row.
"How about with you?" Klaus said casually, breaking the chains holding Dominik's brother and tugging the other man forward.
Ignoring his growls and snarls, Klaus dropped the man to his knees in front of his brother. With his eyes trained on Dominik who was fighting his chains again, Klaus reached down and tugged the man's arm right out of the socket, blood spurting everywhere. He wasn't sure whose howl was louder, Dominik's or his brother's. With a smile, Klaus tossed the severed limb forward and it landed right in front of a still howling Dominik. Klaus knew the alpha felt it, really felt it - he felt all the members of his pack a little. It almost made Klaus wish he had more members to kill, just to draw out the pain. But still, he would make do with what he had.
Moving swiftly, Klaus pulled the other arm out and the man fell forward, passing out from the pain and blood loss. This time Dominik's howl was mixed with the sounds of his family crying in the background. Good, Klaus thought, they had woken up just in time.
"Alright, alright." Klaus said with a cruel laugh. Without further ado, he crouched down, took the fallen man's head between both his hands and pulled, severing the head from the body and sending it rolling.
He waited for Dominik's screams to die down before speaking again.
"He was your second right?" Klaus spoke conversationally. "Oh well, I suppose the pack will have a hard time finding a leader after I kill you. Perhaps the next guy won't be as foolish as you were." He shrugged. "Anyway."
Leaving the body where it laid, Klaus spun and returned to his three remaining captives. Collateral damage.
"It's nothing personal, love." He said, tugging the woman up and ignoring the frantic cries of the kids. "I'm sorry you have to die for his sins." Klaus said, stroking the woman's hair soothingly before bringing her to her knees in front of Dominik just like he'd done the brother.
At least she was strong, giving in to nothing but silent tears.
Dominik fought harder now, thrashing wildly though his eyes never strayed from his wife.
"Please, you came here for me. Just let them go. Let her go. Kill me. Just kill me."
Leaving the woman kneeling there, Klaus stalked forward to his prey again, crouching to stare directly into his eyes. "Kill you?" He asked as if he were shocked the man would even ask. "Now where's the fun in that? No, I won't simply kill you. I'm going to kill them first." Klaus said, gesturing behind him. "Then I'm going to leave their limbs spread out here in front of you so you can watch their bodies begin to rot. I'm going to leave you here overnight so you can stare at their corpses knowing you're the reason they're dead." Klaus leaned in closer to whisper in his ear. "Then when I come back tomorrow, you'll be lucky if I put you out of your misery quickly. In fact, you'll be begging me for it."
"Now where were we?" Klaus asked cheerfully, returning to the woman.
Klaus liked it when his prey fought but he liked even more when the begged and pleaded so Dominik's desperate cries only added fuel to the fire. Klaus drew out the process and by the time Dominik's wife lay dismembered in front of him, the man had no fight left in his eyes. He just froze there, drooped forward against his chains. The only noise left filling the clearing were the sounds of his daughter and son crying.
Kicking aside stray body parts, Klaus moved to crouch in front of Dominik again. He watched the blank look in the man's eyes before speaking again. "I'll tell you what, I'm not completely unreasonable. I don't want to end your entire line. So here's my offer. Pick which one of your children lives and which one dies. I'll let one go free." Klaus knew it was a lie even as the words dripped from his mouth. He had no intention of letting anyone leave this clearing alive but he would like to see the man sentence one of his children to death. But Dominik remained silent, his eyes glued on his wife's head face down in the dirt. "No? Okay then." Klaus said, standing again.
He froze, ears perking up as the sound of feet pounding the forest floor drew closer. Klaus let out a sigh and rolled his eyes just as he turned to face Caroline who dashed into the clearing before skidding to a halt, taking in the carnage around her.
"No." She said, her shoulders slumping as she looked at the arms and heads that laid strewn across the ground.
"Caroline-" Klaus didn't get a chance to continue when she was moving again, running toward the children.
"Sweetheart, what are you doing here?" Klaus asked casually as if there was nothing wrong with the situation surrounding them. He hadn't wanted her to see this.
Caroline broke the chains off of the girl before moving to the little boy. Once he was free, he moved to sprint toward his father but his sister pulled him back, sensing that the danger wasn't over.
Caroline stood up and spun to face Klaus again, the rage clear in her eyes. She didn't say anything to Klaus as she moved toward the tree Dominik was tied to. Caroline didn't make it very far when Klaus stepped in front of her, blocking her path with a tsking sound. It was one thing to let the children go and another thing entirely to let Caroline free his prey, her attacker.
"Now what are you doing love?" He asked her gently as if she was somehow the one at odds in this situation.
Caroline moved to dart around him but Klaus blocked her path again with ease. It was a dance they could do all night and she would lose every time. "You can't kill him Klaus." She said sternly, her heart constricting at the sound of the cries behind her as the two scared kids waited to see their father's fate.
Klaus just arched an eyebrow. He didn't take well to people telling him what he could and couldn't do - not even Caroline.
"You can't." Caroline repeated. "Look at them." She gestured behind her to the kids. "You just slaughtered their mother in front of them; you can't take their father too." Caroline practically pled, trying to reason with him although she knew first hand that when it came to retaliation Klaus was anything but reasonable.
There was a moment of silence before Klaus stepped aside, gesturing for Caroline to move forward. Before he could change his mind, she ran over to the tied up wolf, breaking the chains with her hands.
Dominik stumbled forward for a moment before clamoring to his feet, his eyes immediately locked on his children. Klaus watched that spark of relief in the man's eyes as he ran for his children. He was halfway across the clearing to them when Klaus reached out and severed his head from his body with one strong blow. Screams of shock and terror came from the two children and beneath that Klaus picked up on the sound of Caroline's soft gasp. He watched the body slump to the floor with no remorse.
"Oh my God." Caroline said, clasping a hand over her mouth.
The girl ran forward to cradle her father's headless body in her arms and Caroline quickly stepped between her and Klaus.
"You can take them back to their pack." Klaus said. He'd already executed his target, he didn't need them anymore.
Without responding, Caroline tugged the girl softly away from the corpse, grabbed the arm of the little boy and ran. Their cries didn't stop as Caroline lead them through the woods and further away from Klaus. It took a lot for Caroline to not give in to the urge to cry herself.
And the tears didn't stop for the next half hour as Caroline took the kids through the town, dropping them off at a point close enough to where the pack stayed that they'd find their way back but far enough that she'd have time to run before they got there and told everyone what happened.
Sparing them one last glance, Caroline took off back to the house. When she walked in, slamming the door shut behind her, Caroline immediately went in search of Klaus. She found him in the living room, standing in front of the fire place, the blood all cleaned off of him. His air was nonchalant, as if he hadn't spent the night destroying lives.
"What is wrong with you?!" Caroline yelled as she entered the room.
Klaus turned around slowly to face her, resigning himself to the verbal beating he was in for. It had still been worth it. "I see you're feeling much better." He said with a small inclination of his head.
Caroline stormed forward, coming to a stop a few feet from him. "What you did..." Caroline trailed off, not even sure where to begin. She knew Klaus could be vicious but this. "You were going to kill two little children." Her voice was low and threatening as she spoke.
"Collateral damage. And are you really punishing me for what I might have done but didn't actually end up doing?" Klaus asked, his face still showing no remorse.
"You slaughtered their family in front of them and left them orphans!" She shouted. Caroline wanted to yell more. She wanted to ream into him like never before but her stomach was still churning from the memories of that clearing and for the first time in a long time Caroline thought she might actually vomit. "I can't talk to you right now." She whispered. "I can't even look at you."
She moved to turn around and leave the room but Klaus caught her wrist, stopping her in place.
"This is who I am love, you've always known that." Klaus spoke softly as he stepped forward, closing the distance between them. "Part of you even likes it." He whispered forebodingly, reaching a hand up to caress her cheek.
Caroline shoved him away, her eyes narrowing into slits as she fixed him with a glare. She didn't dignify that with a response, instead spinning around and storming out of the room.
Klaus just watched her go, deciding he'd give her time to cool down before going to explain his side of things to her. She was his (just as much as he was hers) and people simply didn't get away with hurting her. Klaus would just have to explain that to her.
He didn't get the chance to do that before Caroline came storming back down the stairs, pulling a large suitcase behind her.
"Now what is this sweetheart?" Klaus asked, dashing out into the hallway to cut off her path and gesturing to the luggage behind her.
"We have to leave." Caroline said, her voice still cutting and her eyes still filled with anger.
"And why's that?" Klaus asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Caroline's body was practically vibrating with the need to strike him. Instead she spoke slowly and sternly. "By now the pack already knows what happened. They're probably already on their way."
"And..." Klaus said, gesturing for her to continue.
"They're coming here to kill you."
Klaus sighed, putting both hands on Caroline's shoulders though she immediately threw them off. "We both know they can't do that love."
Yes Caroline knew they couldn't kill him but she also knew that if they showed up here Klaus would kill them all and he'd do it without so much as a second though.
"We still have to leave."
Klaus cocked an eyebrow. "We both know I can handle the problem, sweetheart. Go upstairs and unpack."
Caroline shook her head in disbelief. "You would kill more innocent people. Over a mistake you made."
Klaus figured if they were idiotic enough to come after him and Caroline then they weren't all that innocent but he didn't say that, instead he said "who says it was a mistake?" throwing her a sadistic half-smirk.
Caroline froze and silence descended for a long moment before she finally spoke, barely above a whisper. "You're a monster. And you're completely incapable of remorse."
With that, Caroline walked around him, dragging her luggage behind her as she stormed out of the house and to her car. Caroline threw her luggage into the trunk before climbing into the front seat and Klaus did nothing to stop her. In order to do that he would have to use force and that wasn't a route he ever took when it came to Caroline.
Caroline rolled down the windows and let the cool night air fill the car, hoping it would somehow help her relax. As she crossed the town lines and headed straight for the highway, Caroline wasn't worried Klaus would stay behind and follow through on his threat to kill the whole pack. She knew he would follow her anywhere and chances are he was probably already on her tail. But after everything that had happened tonight, when he did get to her Caroline wasn't so sure she'd open the door.