perfaede & beingstories, klaus + elena.
things have felt tense in town, and for once, it was not caused by him. he can’t say that he’s happy about it ( he does prefer to be the only nightmare his victims have when he’s on a mission ), but the death itself? wonderful. klaus had nothing to do with it — if only because he knows that it would be to sacrifice what potential he has with stefan joining him willingly — but he was interested to know who had.
caroline got to him before stefan did. too immersed in his grief, while everyone else who ever had the misfortune of meeting damon salvatore was likely celebrating. he knows of no reason why the young blonde vampire would be reaching out to him, but it doesn’t change the fact he needs an in. even if it’s a trap, their ensemble has lost the eldest vampire, they’re as weak as ever.
grief, after all, will blind even the most devious of minds in unexpected ways.
from the threshold, he takes stock of the situation he’s placed himself in. one very young vampire, one doppelganger. no bennett witch, no ripper, no hunter. one immortal hybrid. the odds are in his favor, even if he can’t get inside the door. that has never stopped him. what is stopping him is the suspicion that derives from his long-time paranoia.
is it paranoia? had he misread something about this group? he did minimal research, but he was certain katherine hadn’t been lying when she described the dynamics of this group. caroline forbes was one of elena’s closer friends, and here she was, offering her up on a silver platter. it proves only one thing; the consequences of whatever brought her to this point? worse than the consequences of what she’s about to do.
the devil offers a grin to his prized possession, acknowledging her comment in good humor, as he repeats caroline’s words to himself. promise me something.
he wonders what empty promises elijah must have filled their heads with.
“ caroline, is it? this is just a formality i feel you should be aware of — if this is some sort of trick, i’ll bleed you dry and compel you to watch when i tear through your loved ones, starting with your mother. ” as if he’s discussing an entirely mundane subject, he rolls his eyes playfully, holding his hands behind his back. “ now that that’s out of the way, please, do elaborate. ”
the fact that he knows her name shouldn’t throw her as much as it does, but it still does. she doesn’t fumble, but she blinks, slow, doesn’t have an immediate response; it is as good as stumbling over her own feet. the threat to her mother is less surprising somehow. she had expected the threats, the bartering, the knives hidden underneath careful words and sentences. caroline, is it? is somehow the thing that gets her.
but oh, she remembers she is not technically alone in this. her hand wanders to elena’s shoulder, and the feel of it under her fingers is a welcome relief, an anchor for her frazzled mind. “jeez,” caroline expels a breath from her lips, marvelling at how her voice is keeping even, “i get why you’d have trust issues and everything but give me a little credit, okay? i’m not stupid enough to try any tricks.” no, those kind of hair-brained schemes were best left for damon. and now that he’s gone, hopefully caroline can end this all here, before stefan can pull himself out of his grief to do something drastic and potentially self sabotaging.
she carefully doesn’t address his threats, even if the thought of putting her mother in harm’s way makes her throat clench uncomfortably. she’d calculated her chances though, before she got here. 81% in her favour, she had decided. she’s worked with far less. “i just need you to become damon salvatore’s killer. which shouldn’t be all that hard considering your track record. you just have to say yeah, i killed him, if anyone asks, and also admit that you sent his head to his brother after you did it... easy, right?”
by all accounts it was a risk free promise. caroline, in comparison, has far less to gain from this transaction. her eyes lower to where elena’s sitting, and she wonders if elena thinks she’s being selfish, if elena hates her with everything she has. caroline doesn’t want to say i did this for you, i did this for us, but she feels the sentiment in her chest anyway. this was a way to fix her problems and elena’s too. it was a chance to give in without really losing, without having to butt heads with someone who was likely way out of their league. caroline was convinced she was saving them all trouble down the line. she was hoping elena could understand that, too.
