A Better Way to Die

Chapter One:

He still didn't think he had done anything wrong. Sure, he could probably have compelled the dumb mutt to never come around him or Caroline ever again, but he had attacked Caroline for Godsakes! She had almost died, yet again at his hands. That bite to her throat had meant to be a final warning to him. That he no longer cared for his ex girlfriend or her wellbeing. He shuddered thinking about what would have happened if he had not pulled Tyler's black wolf form off of her throat in time. The blood on his hands right now might have been hers. After he had made sure Caroline was going to be alright, he had decided to make sure that Tyler never had the opportunity to go after him or anyone else ever again.

Of course, pure and always forgiving Caroline begged for him to spare his life, like he had always done before. She had almost even convinced him to yet again, but then the stupid wolf had signed his own death warrant when he shifted to human form and pounced on Caroline, pummeling her and then finally snapping her neck, preventing her from being able to be healed from the bite right away, putting her in even more peril. This was an unforgivable sin. Klaus snapped himself and this time, he showed his former hybrid no mercy. She might not be with him right now, but he would be damned if anyone was going to hurt her ever again.

Finishing his gruesome task, he ripped his wrist open with his fangs and put his bloody wrist to her lips, groaning at first when she didn't latch on. With her neck snapped, he would be lucky if he could heal her in time. He stayed there for hours, refusing to move even a muscle just in case she came to. He had tried to drip blood into her mouth and he prayed that it would be enough. She had until the next nightfall to drink from him and live. Eight hours later, when he had just began to give up hope of her ever waking up again; she finally latched onto his wrist, drinking the antidote to the poisonous wolf bite. He hissed as he saw how slowly her flesh was mending itself back together. She had almost woken up too late this time. It seemed the more the toxins were entered into her body, the quicker the poison spread throughout her system each time.

The first time he had ordered Tyler to bite her so he could save her on her what would have been her eighteenth birthday, he had fallen for her then, he thinks. Or maybe it was seeing her unguarded smile when she thought she was alone with the horses harnessed to the carriage at the ball his family had thrown. She had looked so mesmerizing in the dress he had bought her with her hair up around her like a halo of golden tresses. Then she had turned to him, fire in her blue eyes that intrigued him even more. She and she alone could cut him down with her brutal honesty only to build him back up with her sweet and sometimes unknown comforting words. She truly believed he could be redeemed, no matter what wicked things he had done in his long afterlife. He just prayed that she would still be so forgiving when she had saw what he done now.

The next time he had bitten her himself, after stabbing her in the stomach with a piece of broken furniture he had destroyed after being trapped in the Gilbert living room by the resident witch, Bonnie. He had still been beyond furious about the murder of his younger brother Kol at the conniving hands of Elena and Jeremy. Yes, he had wanted the cure to give Elena so he could once again rebuild his hybrid army, but not at the cost of losing another of his family members. Yes, Kol had been daggered more than let loose on the world in the thousand years of living, but he never wished ill of his brother. He had been planning on daggering him once more to ensure his safety and that the search for the cure went smoothly since Kol had been against it to the point of madness. He had been determined, and rightly so, that releasing Silas to the world would spell the end for them all. He had died and Jeremy had been killed by Silas himself, in a way it was ironic poetic justice. Elena had been so torn apart about the last of her living family members leaving her all alone in the world that she had turned off her emotions, at the coaxing of the oldest Salvatore brother. Now she was a cold blooded murderer and heartless bitch that only cared about her next meal. She had even tried to seduce Klaus in her twisted plot to get revenge on Caroline. He almost ripped her head off when he found out that she had tried to attack Liz at a party she had thrown at the Salvatore's. He still had no idea that Elena had nearly staked Caroline out in the woods the same night, that's why the little bitch still had all her appendages attached.

He had been taunted by Caroline that night and he was tired of being called the evil one when in truth, none of them were better than him. Caroline, Tyler, and Hayley had betrayed him, lied to him, and forced him to kill all of hybrids after they had broken the sire bond that held them to him. Caroline had betrayed him so many times that honestly he was coming to expect it. He wanted nothing more than for her to come be with him of her own free will, but he was still scared that one day she would be scheming against him with her little friends once again. He couldn't help but doubt every time she was friendly or flirty with him if it was real or just a ruse. The blonde distraction, and damn him if he didn't fall for it every fucking time. She was sugar laced with poison to him. His life would be so much better if he would just let her die. He had been determined to let her wither away when he tore into her neck that night. Teach her and her mutt of a boyfriend that no one double crossed him and got away with it. He had almost let her go that time, but for the first time in a long time, she had been honest with him. Her words were harsh, but they were her true feelings and observations, not what she thought he wanted to hear from her. He had to hold onto the doorframe to keep from coming to her aid. She'll be gone. I can move on and never have to question every look, every touch, the light will be gone from my life and I can return to the dark once more. He'd thought to himself…only he really didn't want to go back into the dark. Caroline was like the sun, and he Icarus, doomed to reach her, although he would never give up trying. After she had begun to lose consciousness from the poison rushing through her body, he had hurried to her, holding her and healing her. He could not give her up; she was his greatest strength and his biggest weakness.

Caroline blinked her eyes open, not quite sure where she was at first. The smell of Klaus's, hers, and a third person's blood filled the air. The last thing she remembered was she had been walking in the woods with Klaus, talking about what was going to happen now that Silas had completed the expression triangle, thanks to her. She had been determined to save Bonnie, she had killed the witch that held the dagger over Bonnie's heart. Oblivious to the fact that the witch had linked herself with the other eleven members of her coven to try and cleanse Bonnie, she had killed the witch to save her friend… and killed eleven others in the process. Silas had all the things he needed to complete the spell to destroy the other side and bring every dead supernatural creature back to life, and he would be casting the spell any time now. All of her friends said that they forgave her, but she knew in their eyes that she had done something terrible. Elena had finally turned her humanity back on and was struggling with everything that she had done while she had it switched off, and the Salvatore brothers were busy between trying to soothe her, have her keep it on, and trying to detox a very confused and brainwashed Bonnie. She had no one else to turn to but Klaus, and he was more than happy to help her after she had helped him remove the stake buried too close for her sanity in his heart. They had been arguing, as usual, when a black wolf had suddenly jumped both of them and attacked Caroline, ripping into her throat and shaking hard. Caroline whimpered softly as she remembered the murderous look in the beast's eyes. He had meant to take her head off, and had Klaus not been there, he would have.

What broke her heart a little more each time she thought about it was that the moon had not been full, it had been in broad daylight in fact, so that only left one person it could be. "Tyler." She whispered brokenly, a single tear slipping down her cheeks as she looked around.