Finally, I know exactly what I'm doing with this story. Yay. I love that moment. Anyway, please vote or review or both. :)

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I kept looking over my shoulder the moment I walked out the door. After I left my house, I started to feel paranoid, waiting for him to show up.

Klaus.

What kind of name was that?

It was clearly outdated, just like its owner.

I instantly shook that thought from my head. Considering everything that had happened the previous night, I might've been able to accept the whole....vampire existence thing. But the thousand year old stalker? Ugh, just give me that therapist's number now.

Walking along the street was slightly empowering, however, regardless of yesterday. For some reason, I took comfort in the daylight. If he was coming, at least I could see it ahead of time. I didn't want to hide away like some scared animal. Sure, I'd waited until the late afternoon and had entertained excused for not leaving, but it was better to face....whatever this was now rather than wait for it to find me.

As if I needed a reminder, his voice appeared out of nothing.

"Looking for someone?"

I swear, if he kept doing that....

I turned around, plastering my best glare to my face.

"If by someone you mean a very creepy and melodramatic....being, then no. I'm actually trying to avoid those at all cost."

The subtle twist of his mouth told me he was annoyed by my response. And maybe I should have been scared by that. But if anything, it only encouraged me to appear unfazed by him. Fear brought with it intimidation and I would not let myself be intimidated.

I would not.

"I do believe I warned you that I would be back." The man-Klaus-suddenly vanished, reappearing in front of me. "What's say about that meal now?"

Do not be intimidated, I repeated my mantra to myself. If he wanted to hurt me, he would have done so already.

At least, that's what I struggled to convince myself of.

"Are you asking me to join you or asking me to be it?" I asked, staring at him expectantly.

His eyes flashed. "I was merely offering you a choice out of politeness. But I've realized that that's another advantage to being what I am. One doesn't need it."

Before I could object, I was lifted again, much like the other night, but I didn't have time to close my eyes and the world suddenly smeared by in a hundred different colors. My hair sliced against my cheeks and my eyes watered as he ran. My heart climbed up and lodged itself into my throats until I could finally find the mechanism to close my eyes.

I couldn't breathe.

And then it was over.

"It's all right, Love," he said, gingerly unhooking my arms from around his neck that were locked in a death grip. I slowly peeled my lids back. When he finally set me down, everything spun in horrible circles and I had to resort to using his arm to balance myself with. I waited for my heart to stop pounding in my ears.

"What is wrong with you?" I snapped at him, hoping for my fiercest glare, but I instantly had to close my eyes again at the painful dips the ground made. "You can't just kidnap someone when you feel like it!" I yelled.

At that moment, I realized that I didn't know where I was. For all I knew, his intentions were most definitely ill intended and my eyes instinctively snapped back open. "Here, just let me go and this time, I won't tell anyone. Screw responsibility, okay?"

Klaus gazed down at my face. That insufferable facade he wore made it impossible to read him and that bugged me. A lot.

"I've already sworn I wouldn't harm you."

"Yes, because I hear kidnappers are trustworthy," I scorned, letting go of his arm and taking an unsteady step back. I slowed my breathing while trying to remember what my mom said once about self defense. But she probably never counted on someone like him to be my opponent. In simpler terms, I was screwed.

I met his waiting gaze as I asked, "So what, have you taken me to your lair or something?"

One of his eyebrows quirked up at that and he cast a glance to the side. "It's just a quaint venue I find appealing."

I followed his gaze that landed on a small, red bricked cafe shop. It looked old but held a rustic charm to it. A few stained chairs littered the front and I looked at the entrance questioningly, at the cute, hand decorated 'open' sign, feeling suddenly confused. "So when you said meal....you meant human food. You can eat that?"

He smiled. "To its own extent."

I kept a wary eye and almost thought of running but that would do little good, because I wouldn't make it a yard. It was better to act unbothered so I allowed myself to follow him, maintaining a large gap between him and myself.

The inside of the place had the same effect as the outer, the lights dimmed down slightly to a comfortable level. The place smelled of cinnamon and something else, with quiet Jazz drifting over the unseen speakers.

We sat at a table somewhat isolated in the back and I tried to swallow my uncertainty, glad I at least had my bag and my handy pepper spray nestled in it.

"The music here never fails to remind me of the twenties," Klaus said, almost pleasantly as he stared at me from the other side of the circular table.

It took me a moment to understand what he was saying. "The....nineteen-twenties?"

"The Roaring Twenties, or haven't you been enlightened on that fabulous time reduced to a single chapter in your textbook yet?"

I cleared my throat and swallowed loudly. "Yeah. Sorry. I mean I'm not sorry- it's just that sometimes I forget you say you're a thousand years old," I smirked. "I mean, you don't look a day over six hundred."

He seemed about to say something, but I interrupted him before he could, lending my curiosity the reins. "So, do you take all the girls you kidnap here? I mean is it one of those trend things?"

Klaus stared at me beneath half lidded eyes, clearly unamused. "I haven't found one worth the effort," he said, "until as of late."

I quieted the urge to laugh. "That's very sweet. You must be a real bachelor wherever you're from. Speaking of that, where are you from?"

"Reverting back to the questions, I see. Well," his gaze turned more serious, "I could begin at the tenth century, but that's a rather long and solemn tale. So you could say I am currently between residencies."

I bit my lip. Way to be vague, I thought dryly as a waiter came over. I asked for a coffee. Klaus asked for nothing.

I eyes him suspiciously but he just shrugged his shoulders, never taking those eyes from me.

I didn't hesitate and jumped to the next question. "So if you're apparently this pretty popular guy, can you....do anything else? I mean, you're fast, clearly, but are you....strong? Do you have a cage hanging somewhere that you keep around for the times you go batty?"

Part of the tension seemed to dissolve from his features and he smiled covertly. "Indeed, I do defy human strength, Love, but I do not transform into a creature as harmless as that."

I didn't miss the slight innuendo of his words but let it go. "A little relieved, I gotta say. Can you do anything else....though? I mean, is that it?"

"Is that it?" He repeated, his accented tone edged in disdain. "You're a rather infuriating person to impress. Though, if we are discussing tricks," he leaned closer to me, resting his elbows on the tabletop. "I have a few hidden inside the sleeve."

"Such as?" I coaxed.

But he just continued to stare at me, those eyes boring into mine. "I wish not to divulge everything at once," Klaus leered. "But perhaps, in time."

I scoffed and hardened my gaze. "Fine. But don't use me with any of them, okay?"

His eyebrow curved up, an elusive smile pulling at the edge of his lip. I could see the lights from above playing in the color of his irises, deeming between the blues and greens. But then he sighed and leaned back in his chair, severing the moment like a chord.

"Your coffee," the waiter suddenly said, making me nearly jump. She set down the cup and began walking away, but not before she gave Klaus a very long, starry eyed look.

"No class," I muttered beneath my breath, sipping my coffee too quickly and burning my tongue.

"So, are you just known for being old?" I asked when she was out of ear shot, trying to level Klaus's expression the way he seemed to level mine. But unlike me, he gave little away. "I mean you said others fear you, but I don't see what the huge deal is, no offense. You actually seem....decent, kidnapping aside, I mean."

Perhaps it wasn't the best thing to say.

His eyes grew dark and his lips fell into an empty, emotionless line as he stared, nearly disbelieving, into my eyes.

In that moment, I was scared of him.

"First get to know me, Caroline, then dare to say that again."