~For Nicola, Megan, Georgia and Alex~

Niklaus shook his head as he glared out the window, unable to stop thinking of how disastrous tonight had turned out being. How was it that, no matter how truly innocent a party started out as, the Salvatores always had to go and ruin everything? Not to mention, there was the lovely Miss Caroline Forbes who had proceeded to shun his every attempt at being sweet. What was that girl's problem? Didn't most young women dream of being fancied?

Clearly not Caroline. Had it been any other girl, he'd likely have thought nothing of it and snapped her neck like a twig when she turned him away. But Caroline was… different. She challenged him, made him look at himself differently. Hell; the last girl he'd ever drawn a picture for had been Tatia.

But why didn't she want him, too?

Shaking his head as he paced the parlor, he couldn't help but think that it could have been the fact that he'd tried to kill her in his hybrid ritual, turned her beloved boyfriend into his little slave, and nearly had her killed on her own birthday. But he'd told her it was never anything personal! He'd bought her a bloody diamond bracelet, for God's sake! Weren't diamonds supposed to be a girl's best friend?

No; if Klaus wanted Caroline Forbes as bad as he thought he did, he was going to have to start in on a different approach. He'd tried candy and hearts, and it had failed him miserably. So now, he was going to attempt what he did best.

He would take her by force.

… . … . … . … . … . …

"Just relax, okay, Elena? Calm down and tell me what… happened…"

The blonde vampire trailed off as she walked up to her bedroom, still decked out in her evening finery, her blue eyes widening as Elena Gilbert prattled nervously to her on the other end of the phone.

"Damon did what?" she gasped as she was retold the night's events that had gone down after she had left. "Well, where is he now? What is he…? He told you he loved you?"

Caroline gasped, but the sound caught in her throat as her eyes locked on something that had been placed on her bed. Another stupid black velvet box with a stupid white satin bow. It was from him.

"Umm… Elena, can I call you back? I'm really sorry, it's just… yeah, okay. Sure. Bye."

Caroline hung up her cellphone and placed it on her dresser, rolling her eyes as she sat down on her bed, pulling the ribbons off and tugging the box open.

"He just doesn't give up…" she grumbled to herself as she pulled out the portrait within the box, blinking a few times with surprise when she found it.

"Thank you for your honesty," she read aloud with a puzzled expression. She had done nothing but put Klaus down and turn him off. Yet here he was, drawing pictures of her with ponies and thanking her for it?

He is seriously messed up, she thought to herself, shaking her head as she moved to change into her nightgown.

… . … . … . … . …

"What are you packing up all of that stuff for?"

Rebekah gazed quizzically at her brother as he piled paints and brushes and smaller pieces of artwork into boxes.

"I'm leaving," he said simply, and Rebekah frowned.

"What do you mean, we're leaving? I like it here…!"

"I said I'm leaving, Rebekah, not we. If you prefer to stay here and associate with lower class vampires and the few hybrids I'm leaving behind, you're more than welcome to."

Rebekah scowled. "Why the sudden urge to leave? Why in hell would you build a bloody mansion here, just to pack up and leave…?"

"My reasoning is none of your business, sister," Klaus quipped as he closed the boxes and began carrying them out to his car; a midnight blue Mercedes he had purchased a few days before.

Rebekah narrowed her eyes as she followed after him. "You don't want me to come, do you? Why don't you want me to come?"

Klaus glared with irritation, hissing through his teeth. "Because you don't want to come!"

"And Elena? How do you know one of the Salvatores won't turn her while you're gone? Then you'll be doppelgangerless!"

Klaus smirked a bit wickedly at her words, shaking his head. "No worries there; the doppelganger is coming with me."

Rebekah raised an eyebrow. "What do you plan to do, whisk her off somewhere and make her fall in love with you? God, Nik…"

Klaus snorted. "Hardly. I have much finer tastes than that of Petrovas. I learned my lesson there many years ago."

"Well, by the time you get back, Caroline will likely have been mauled to death by her hunky hybrid, so this trip really is beneficial to no one."

"Quite on the contrary, actually," Klaus said with a smirk, and Rebekah frowned as realization dawned on her.

"Oh, my God… you're taking the bitchy cheerleader with you? Nik, have you gone insane? Why?"

"Because I want her, Rebekah. You and I both know I don't take well to rejection. Caroline Forbes will be mine," he grinned as he turned to his sister. "You can even have her pretty little boyfriend all to yourself."

Rebekah pouted. "It won't be any fun if you're gone. Finn is boring as hell, Kol is too busy gawking at himself in every reflective surface known to man, and Elijah is too much of a goody goody to have any fun…"

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Oh, you'll survive. Perhaps you can even nab a Salvatore with the lovely Elena out of the picture."

Sighing, Rebekah began to stalk down the driveway. "Don't come crying to me when this little plan of yours goes all to hell…"

With that, she was gone. After a moment, so was Klaus.

… . … . … . … . …

Caroline's bedroom was dark. After deciding to just shove the picture Klaus had drawn her in a drawer, totally not for safe keeping, she had donned one of her personal favorite silky black nightgowns and crawled into bed, snuggling her little fluffy orange teddy bear close. She had fallen asleep as soon as her blonde head hit the pillow, completely exhausted from the night's tiresome events.

Little did she know, they were far from over.

Silently, Caroline's bedroom door opened and a figure whisked inside, quietly inspecting the contents of her bedroom. After pulling a duffel bag from her closet, several items were tossed inside; a photograph of Caroline with her father after her first cheer-off, pictures of her with all of her friends, her hairbrush, a quick jaunt to her bathroom to grab her toothbrush, a necklace Elena had brought her back when her family went to Bermuda, and…

The diamond bracelet Klaus had given her for her birthday.

Caroline stirred feebly with irritation as she felt something tugging on her teddy bear, frowning as she tugged it back to herself, mumbling sleepily, "My Orange Porange…"

"Oh, sweetheart… didn't your mother ever teach you to share your toys?"

Caroline's eyes snapped open as she heard the voice in her ear, about to scream for help of any kind when Klaus' hand slapped over her mouth, grabbing her and her bear, shoving the stuffed toy into the bag and tugging out the vervain injector from his pocket, stabbing it into her shoulder. In seconds she stopped fighting, falling limp in his arms. Klaus sighed as he scooped her up, looking down at her. "You know, love, this all could have been avoided if you had just willingly let me show you the world…"

… . … . … . … . … . …

"…can't make us stay here! You… never let you get away with it! He'll… dead before sunrise…!"

Caroline groaned as her consciousness began returning, trying to focus on her surroundings. She was vaguely aware that there was a lot of yelling going on somewhere in the distance. Yelling from someone who sounded an awful lot like…

"Elena…?"

"…bloody well grateful! I… stupid boyfriends of yours… to my hybrids… die again!"

Caroline sat up and looked around, frowning. She was in a wood paneled room with pink and white furnishings, lying on a four-post bed with a soft pink canopy and matching sheets and pillows. Glancing out the window across the spacious room, all she could see was trees. Where the hell was she?

"I see you've finally awoken, Caroline."

Caroline's head whipped around to see Klaus standing in the doorway, and she narrowed her eyes. "What the hell is going on? Where am I?"

"In a cabin in the woods," Klaus answered plainly, and Caroline sneered.

"In a cabin in the woods where?"

Klaus smirked. "Secret location, love; where's the fun in the game if I tell you?"

Caroline jumped to her feet and glared. "I heard Elena with you. What's going on?"

"A little road trip, Caroline. I needed to get out of Mystic Falls, and I thought, as opposed to bringing Rebekah, why not bring my doppelganger and a blonde I actually enjoy conversing with?"

Rolling her eyes, Caroline shook her head. "You enjoy conversing with me? That's funny, because, the last time I checked, I hated you and have never had the desire to have a civil conversation with you. Now take me home!"

"Now now, love; I went to a lot of trouble to bring you here. Why would I take you home already?"

"Because I have things I need to do at home, asshole! I have cheerleading competitions, prom to start planning for, and a campaign for prom queen to run…!"

Klaus rolled his eyes. "You're worried about that? Here I thought you were fun…"

"I am fun. Just not with you! Now where's Elena?" Caroline snapped, pushing past him and walking out into the hallway, storming down the stairs. "Elena? Elena!"

She caught sight of her friend desperately trying to open the front door, and Elena's face was twisted with horror when she caught sight of Caroline. "He has us locked in here from the outside. There's no way out."

"Oh, please. Move over…" Caroline said with a roll of her blue eyes, reaching for the doorknob to break the lock. Seconds later, she squealed and recoiled as her flesh bubbled and burned.

"Vervain?" she hissed through clenched teeth, whirling to glare at Klaus, where he stood lounging against the post at the foot of the stairs, smirking with clear amusement. "You covered the doorknob in vervain?"

"Well, of course! That, and the windows, breakable walls, anything you might try to escape with…"

Caroline felt horror sink into her stomach. They were trapped in this cabin with a raging psychopath. There was no way of escaping.

They were trapped in a booby-trapped cabin with Klaus!