now the past is gone and the future no one can see...

[icouldletyoudie]

The harder he tried, the harder it got...Klaus could no longer remember his first birthday after his death.

Sitting outside of a coffee shop, Klaus wore sunglasses against the bothersome glare of day, but also to hide himself from outside scrutiny. The fact that he had to do even that much annoyed him to no end...and when he was annoyed, things got messy. Still, there was no point in lying to himself, that got equally messy.

Klaus needed to think. Privately.

He wanted to hide his thoughts, to turn inward and look through them like so many collected trinkets from centuries past. That bitter, guileless child, an undead infant barely at her first year, celebrating a birthday shortly after her life was at an end. She was bright, bubbly...and utterly merciless. It was amusing, really, that pale and bouncy kitten with razor sharp teeth and a simple, innocent thirst for the hunt, the chase, the kill. That was Caroline Forbes in a nutshell.

And now, through a sea of years, of centuries, Klaus found himself trying to remember his first birthday after his transformation...and he couldn't remember a blasted thing about it. Every time he thought he had it, it slipped through his fingers or something reminded him he was thinking of another day. Not even the bodies, which he prided himself on remembering (when it suited him) stayed with him. He couldn't remember a time when he was ever quite so new and untouched by the grave, the monster within. Then again, he'd never really been untouched, had he? The wolf was in his bones from the first...his siblings never had that problem. All of them were so blissfully human, right from the start. They were pure, untainted...Klaus never had that luxury.

He was born as he would one day die: a monster. A monster who could not remember even the illusion of innocence any longer.

Impatiently, Klaus snapped his fingers at the young girl he'd compelled to join him and made sure she was still deep under before he took her wrist and pressed his lips against it, fangs sinking into her delicate flesh for a drink...cafe or no, he wasn't much for coffee.

He did, however, take care not to feed too much...he had, after all, made a deal to protect the denizens of Mystic Falls from harm. And a little blood loss was no worse than the Red Cross would do to the poor thing...

Comments

[icantakeyou]

"Ohmigod, are you serious?" The soft indignant hiss would cut through the haze of pleasure that came with feeding and a look upwards would find that bright, bubbly baby vampire staring down at Klaus with a look of disgust and horror on her face.

Stepping closer, she angled her body so that no one could see what was going on as she reached to grab the arm he was feeding on though she didn't yank the girl away. Doing so would only hurt the girl further and cause a scene but she hoped Klaus would stop.

Really, Caroline had no idea what she was doing there beyond the fact that she liked coffee and she had wanted to get out of her house for awhile. There was only so much wallowing that she would allow herself, even if that wallowing was now mixed with confusion caused by the very man sitting in front of her.

When she had first seen him, she had thought about running away before he saw her. She hadn't been ready to face him or his ideas just yet. Even now the silky sound of his voice played through her head as he told her about the world that was waiting for her and how intimate it had all sounded. Almost like he was offering to show it to her.

The idea of running away was changed the minute she saw him biting the girl right there in the open. She was sure he was losing his mind and so she glared even harder at him for that. "Stop that right now!"

[icouldletyoudie]

Klaus looked up, startled...not by her presence, he'd heard her coming, but by her words and actions: innocent as a baby and just as bold, thinking she could scold him like a child.

He was so surprised that he actually released the girl's arm...and laughed as he licked the blood from his lips.

"Stop what? A bit of necking with my lady friend?" he drawled silkily, turning to the girl with a smile, pupils flaring as he called on his power. "Isn't that right, pet?"

The girl smiled dreamily up at Caroline. "He's a wonderful kisser."

He grinned at that, gesturing to the girl again as he offered Caroline his best, most innocent look.

"Join me for a drink?" he offered. As he did, the girl lifted her unmarked wrist obligingly towards Caroline.

[icantakeyou]

Caroline pursed her lips slightly as the girl informed her that Klaus was a wonderful kisser and she gave him a 'srsly?' look like she wasn't at all impressed by that tidbit.

Focusing on the girl, she grabbed a napkin from the table, wrapping it around her wrist to cover the wound and stop the blood. She knew it was bold and careless as she focused on the girl but she felt reckless at the moment. "Go home. If anyone asks what happened to your wrist, you cut yourself. Okay?" Her pupils flared as she tried to mentally push the girl into listening.

She flashed a triumphant smile as the girl nodded and wandered off. Turning to look back at Klaus, she leaned in a little. "Look, I get that you're an Original and you're supposed to be all big and scary but even you shouldn't be stupid enough to feed right where everyone can see you." She hissed in a soft whisper so only he could hear her.

[icouldletyoudie]

"Oh, caution...that's just boring." Klaus drawled casually, making a face as a means of shrugging off her concern. "I have the mayor in my pocket, and I'm more than capable of killing anyone who I find off-putting. Anyway, I wasn't going to kill the girl, that would upset Mayor Lockwood...and I have made an agreement that suits me to uphold for the time being."

She was rather proud of herself at that moment...wonder of wonders, he found it rather endearing, a kitten bringing home a prize kill to its master. He had to admit, he never expected to find her so readily able to take him off-balance...ultimately, it might prove annoying. Until then, however...

"So come on." he drawled, gesturing to the free chair. "Have a seat. Find yourself someone to eat...no reason we can't chat like civilized corpses, hmm?"

[icantakeyou]

Her mouth twisted as he called them corpses and she wanted to snap at him. Everything about him, about who he was, went against who she was and what she wanted. He had turned her boyfriend into a monster and his own little puppet. Ever since he had come into their lives, he had caused them all so much pain.

So why wasn't she walking away?

"I'm not hungry." She replied shortly though she did slide into the booth across from him. "I ordered fries." She added, shrugging a little.

[icouldletyoudie]

Klaus's brow furrowed at the mention of her order, then he huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Human food for the sake of...what, the taste? How cute." he drawled sarcastically...though it wasn't quite as convincing as it might have been. "You know, it's perfectly all right to be okay with what you are. Being a vampire isn't a disease, love, it's a gift."

[icantakeyou]

Caroline dared to glare at him as he mocked her for her love of human food. It was strange that she felt no fear in reacting in such a way but she didn't seem to be as scared of Klaus as mostly everyone else was. The only other person who usually dared to show some attitude was Stefan but that was because he had his humanity off. If anyone else did it, it was because there was someone protecting them.

"I am fine with what I am." She replied somewhat haughtily. "I just happen to still like human food." it also helped with her craving and her hunger for blood which was another reason she couldn't stop snacking.