The Vampire Lord and the Siren

Chapter 10

Caroline POV

“In breaking news the entire township of Brooktrails burned down last night in a sudden unexplained fire. The fire started right before dawn at the local library and spread quickly throughout the town. Police are unsure how the fire started and are currently still investigating. As of right now no survivors were reported and it is believed the entire town's population of 200 has perished.”

Looking over at Klaus she stared in horror at him. “Brooktrails?” she asked, her voice shaking slightly. “Isn’t that the town you picked me up from last night?”. Klaus’ hands clenched the steering wheel as he nodded curtly. She could see him swallow hard and his jaw was tensing up. “You don’t think…” She asked cautiously.

“Yes I do think that they tracked you there.” He said terse. Sadness overwhelmed her as she thought of all those people dead because of her. Ivy, Ryan, even that cranky librarian their blood is on her hands mow. “Hey don’t do that.” Klaus reached over and grabbed her hand squeezing it slightly. “Don’t think those thoughts. It’s not your fault. Put the blame on those damned vampires. They are the ones that killed those people, not you. OK?” Klaus said sternly. Caroline nodded and wiped away a few stray tears with the back of her hand. She nodded slightly but still couldn’t hold back the dark thoughts that threatened to invade her mind. Stevers whimpered from the backseat and tried to lick the back of her arm through the dog safety net. “It’s ok boy I’ll be alright.” She murmured to him as she half-heartedly patted his head in reassurance.

They continued their drive down to Great Oaks in silence. Finally exhaustion won out and Klaus pulled over to the nearest motel that allowed dogs and paid for a room for the night so they both could get some rest. Opening up the door to the cheap motel the faint smell of mold accosted them. Coughing slightly they put their bags down and started opening the windows. Caroline decided to take Severs for a walk while Klaus stayed inside the room and ordered delivery. She was anxious to be by herself but the first step on getting over her fear was to face it head on. The sun was slowly setting and that alone gave her peace of mind since the vampires wouldn’t leave the castle while the sun was still out. Every rustle of the bushes had her jumping nearly out of her skin. Stevers would butt his head up against her leg every now and then, almost tripping her each time. Laughing at the dog's antics she finally started to relax again. Once Stevers was done with his business they went back into the room.

“Oh she’s here right now Ill hand you the phone.” Klaus handed her his cell phone.

“Hello?” Caroline asked cautiously.

“OMG! Care are you ok? I mean I know you probably aren’t mentally but physically are you alright? Klaus told me everything that happened. I can’t believe they actually exist. I thought it was just a weird rumor, you know. Oh my gosh I’m just so glad you are alive and safe.” Faith rambled and Caroline’s smile grew. Oh she had missed the sound of her sisters’ voice while she was gone.

“Calm down Faith and let me answer your questions one at a time ok?” She motioned to Klaus that she was gonna be a while. He nodded and said he would wait outside till she was done.

Klaus’ POV:

Closing the door to the room behind him he walked back to his car. Rummaging around in his glove box he unearthed a new pack of cigarettes and his lighter. Closing the door he went and sat down on a nearby bench and packed his smokes as he waited. He had just finished ordering food when Caroline's sister Faith had called. Man that girl could ramble. Thankfully Caroline had come back just as she was really starting to talk so he was able to escape. Lighting up a cig he leaned back in the bench and looked up at the sky. The moon was just starting to wane from the full moon and the skies were clear. Owls were hooting softly and the sounds of the nocturnal creatures coming awake was soothing. The sun was fully down now with only a hint of light in the distance. Tomorrow they would meet up with Rich and get new identities. In the meantime it was unnerving how the vampires had tracked her somehow to the town she was at. Hmmm maybe with her powers unlocked she could do some sort of cloaking spell. Or maybe Rich could get us in touch with a witch since it’s probably an advanced spell of some sort. He was starting to get a little anxious being so far away from Caroline. The need to know where she was all the time was starting to get out of his control. Taking a drag he noticed his hand was shaking slightly. Looking at it curiously he saw headlights coming up the road. Oh that must be the food. Stubbing out the butt he made sure the cherry was dead before tossing it in the trash. He got to the door of his room the same time as the delivery guy did. Taking the pizza boxes he handed him some cash with plenty for the tip and went inside the room.

“I'm telling you I will be ok. Just lay low for a bit. Why don’t you go on vacation like you’ve been wanting to.” Caroline was still on the phone with Faith. Trying not to laugh at the exasperation on her face he lifted the boxes a bit to get her attention and set them down on the table. He went to the bathroom to wash his hands and could still hear Caroline trying to get off the phone. “Hey sis I'm sorry but the food just arrived…. I know I know we haven’t talked in a while…. Well I mean you can’t really blame me I didn’t do it on purpose…. Oh come on. Yes I'll talk to you Later….. Ok Yes I'll give him a hug from you. Ok I love you too…. Alright bye.”

“Whew. Oh man, I'm not used to someone talking that much anymore.” Caroline said tiredly. He held his arms out waiting expectantly. Caroline looked at him with confusion on her face. “What? What’s going on?” He lifted an eyebrow and replied “Well aren’t you going to give me my hug from her?” He was perturbed by her sudden laugh. “She was talking about the dog.” She snorted as she walked over and hugged the dog. He could have sworn that Stevers had a smug look on his face as he let his arms drop out of embarrassment. “Oh sure, of course it would be the dog.” Brushing off the awkward moment he sat down and started digging into the pizza. Caroline sat opposite of him with laughter still in her eyes.

She suddenly sniffed towards him a few times and her nose crinkled up. “Eww did you go smoke?” she asked with a confused look on her face.

“Hmmm? Yeah I did. You know I smoke.” He looked at her quizzically. Smoking is how they had met and even though she had quit a year back him smoking has never bothered her before.

“Did you? Huh I’m sorry I must have forgotten. But for some reason it smells really strong and gross.” She said while leaning back and grabbing a slice of pizza. WHAT? How did she forget that? That didn’t make any sense.

“Ummm Care?” He tentatively started.

“Yeah what’s up?”

“Do you remember how we met?” He continued.