The One You Once Were

They learn the hard way

The Mikaelsons waited for us outside and encountered a smirking Klaus and a smiling me. I'm not sure what they thought but Rebekah just chuckled when she spotted us.
"You two are too much, I swear."
We grinned because we were very much aware of how lovey-dovey we were.
"Can we go now?", Kol complained like a little boy. Elijah gave the house another worried look. "Should we really just leave with them knowing our names and faces?"
Finn shrugged his shoulders. "What can possibly happen? But if you insist, we can kill them."
"Let us not drop that low, brother.", Elijah said judging. "If that's what it takes, we should just move on."

And so we did. We put a lot of space between us, even stole a carriage to travel faster. It wasn't because we were in a hurry, moreover the fact that we wanted to put another memory behind us. After some time, we all were exhausted and I even fell asleep on Klaus' shoulder. I remembered him giving me a kiss on the forehead and whispering sweet words into my ear, which made me smile while my eyes slowly closed. I didn't have any dream, not that I had expected one, and was all sleepy when Klaus woke me up carefully.
"Sweetheart, you can continue resting any second now. We just have to settle in first.", he whispered in a low voice.
"Settle in?", I asked, my voice sounding sore after sleeping.
"We found a nice place where they'll give us shelter.", he answered and helped me get out of the wagon. "It won't take long, come on."
I gave him a slow nod and followed them inside. Klaus held me close to stabilize my tired body and helped me get to bed. He lovingly covered me with a soft blanket and sat next to me, unsure whether to get in as well or rather sleep somewhere else.
"Come on.", I told him in a husky voice. "Get in here."
He grinned slightly and lied down to spoon me. Carefully, he hid his face on my shoulder and gave me a peck on the cheek.
"Where are your siblings?", I whispered tired and shifted to see him better.
"Another room. The ones letting us stay here gave us separate rooms.", he said back and carresed my back while also ruffling through my hair. His own blonde strands fell into his face and I moved them aside whenever they did. This hair was something I still had to get used to.
"What'll be next for us all?", I asked him as he brought me closer to his chest.
"We'll get on a boat tomorrow and go wherever it will take us.", he whispered. Meanwhile, I snuggled up to him and he rested his chin on my head. "But don't worry, whatever will happen, I'll protect you."
A smile crossed my lips. Always looking out for me, even as a newbie vampire, huh?
"Let's rest now, okay, sweetheart?", he said and I slightly nodded.
"I love you.", I mumbled instead of good night and I felt his lips twitch up into a smile. "I love you too."

I awoke to the smell of fire. Confused, I took a look around and spotted the flames roaming at the door. What the hell?
"Klaus!", I turned to my boyfriend to shake him. "Babe, wake up!"
His eyes shot open and he was up in just a tic. "What's going on?"
In a hurry, I gathered our things that were still untouched by the fire and wanted to take Klaus' hand when suddenly, I felt something at my neck.
"Caroline!", my boyfriend screamed as I was hurled back and outside the house. It wasn't long until Klaus and his siblings leaped in the open as well. I didn't see my kidnapper but it wasn't hard to guess by the brutality of the grip.
"How are you still alive?", Mikael growled at me as I struggled to get free.
"Let her go!", Klaus yelled at his father but didn't dare take a step closer.
Rebekah had a different request: "How did you find us?"
Mikael laughed and the mere sound of his voice sent shivers down my spine. "So I take it you have not yet discovered compulsion?"
"Comp- what?", the girl repeated.
"You're not human anymore. There's a lot you can do now that you couldn't before. Remember that family you stayed with? The daughter's name was Astrid, if I recall it correctly?", he grinned. "I used them as test objects and it wasn't hard to figure out where you went."
"Did you torture them?", Elijah asked, not letting on any emotions.
"No. I told you, I used compulsion.", he said once again, now sounding a bit annoyed.
"What is that?", Kol wanted to know, not letting his father out of his sight.
"Let me demonstrate."
Oh no, I wasn't on vervain...
Mikael came closer and looked me into the eyes, then slowly spoke: "Do not move."
My body went stiff and I started to panick.
"Love?", Klaus asked, his voice sounding a bit scared.
"Help me.", I pleaded, not even shaking since I'd been told not to move.
"Walk over to Niklaus, kiss him, then drive this stake between his ribs.", Mikael ordered and my body began walking towards my boyfriend.
"I'm not the one doing this.", I swore to him as he stumbled a few steps back. His siblings were terrified of this new method but none of them came to their brother's aid. "I don't want to hurt you."
"I know.", Klaus gave back, not able to really focus since he was trying not to be too close to me.
"Stop stretching out the inevitable, bastard!", Mikael yelled at his son and speeded behind him so he could not move further back. The man was now holding the Original with a tight grip and my body reached him, my hand holding the wooden stake. This would not kill him, it fortunately wasn't white oak but my heart ached at the thought of hurting him. I slowly leaned in and gave him a kiss on his beautiful lips. Even in this situation, he kissed back slightly, which would've made me smile under normal circumstances. My head moved back, my eyes were full of regret as I held up the stake.
"Look me in the eyes.", I begged of Klaus and he followed my request. "Help me.", I whispered and finally, he caught onto what I was implying.
"You will stop this and drop the stake.", he tried but my hand kept on moving upwards. "It's not working.", he panicked. "Why not?"
"You aren't strong enough, boy.", his father laughed sadistically. "You're too weak!"
"Look me deep in the eye as if you could see right into my soul.", I tried calmly showing Klaus the way. He nodded.
"You will stop and drop the stake.", he repeated and this time, my body listened and the wood fell onto the ground. "You are free of Mikael's evil doing.", Klaus continued and to all our luck, it worked. Thank the heavens. But Mikael was still a problem. Klaus quickly freed himself from the guy's hands and we moved away from him, every single one of us scared.
"I am giving the rest of you a free pass. But I want to kill Niklaus.", Mikael growled. Defensive, I took a hold of Klaus' hand. Mikael should not even dare to touch him!
Next to us, the flames were still roaring and eating up the house. If nothing happened we would all be dead soon.
"We need to leave.", I whispered in Klaus' ear. His eyes met mine.
How?, they seemed to ask and I shrugged my shoulders. I searched for a solution once again but all I could see was the fire.
Wait a second... maybe we could use this frightening, scary beast of nature to our advantage.
Give me the stick, I signalised Klaus and he quickly got it from the ground.
"That puny thing won't hurt me!", Mikael yelled. "You cannot win!"
"True.", I admitted. "But we can slow you down."
With the highest force I could master, I threw the stick, which had now caught on fire, at the man. As he tried not to get devoured by the hungry flames, we all ran for our lives. Noone looked back, nor did we waste a thought to the people who had still been inside the burning building. We ran and ran in vampire speed, hoping Mikael was not able to catch up to us until we reached the docks. There, in the deep water, was a ship. It was big and looked a bit Viking-like. But we did not care. We just got on board and Elijah tried using the new-found technique, compelling the captain to already set course. None of us were staying any longer. Nor, and this I was sure of, would the Mikaelsons leave any house without precautions ever again. They now had lost their trust and faith. There were no such things as relying on others. It was all up to them.

I don't really have much to say this time, only that I am incredibly happy that this story still seems to be so widely accepted. We get more and more readers each week and I'm very glad you seem to like the newer chapters! So thank you all and see you next week!