Klaus lifted his eyes from the text he had just received and looked at Elijah and Silv. "Bekah and Stefan have found the car. Mobile Airport. Let us go."
All three of them were silent while Klaus raced his M6 towards Alabama. They had been in Jackson, and it would have taken a normal person about three hours to reach Mobile from there, but then they had never been normal persons after all. A not-too-long while later, Klaus pulled up at the long-term parking lot Rebekah had indicated. Getting out of his car, his eyes never left the silver Toyota SUV as he approached the vehicle. Without so much as a hint of effort, he opened the locked driver's door and inhaled deeply. And there it was. Very faint, almost disappeared, but definitely there, preserved by the confined space and no air circulation.
Caroline's scent.
It hit him like a tornado, and memories flashed through his mind like lightnings. The first time he had held her at the dance in his house. How she had kissed him while he was in Tyler's body. The way she had snuggled into him when he had comforted her after her first encounter with Prelati. Their first real kiss. Their first night. How she had held him the night he had told her about Henrik. Their wedding. The way she hid in the curve of his shoulder whenever she was upset. The way she looked at him with such love and longing, every single day.
He balled his fists and tried to breathe evenly. After a moment, he turned towards the others and nodded. "That's the right car. Silv, please do focus. Can you feel anything?"
His sister-in-law closed her eyes and put one hand on the steering wheel. A light grin spread over her face as she turned around to look at him. "It's there. It's very weak, but I can feel it. It must have been some sort of tracking spell. Okay, I will probably look like a bit of a sniffer dog now, but just follow me."
With her eyes almost closed again, Silv began to walk. The four of them followed until they reached the shuttle stop. "It ends here, so she has taken the shuttle. Don't panic," she added when Klaus was about to go berserk, "it will pick up at the entrance to the airport. Fortunately, this is not Chicago or Newark, so there won't be a million doors to check."
It was the second door. Silv nodded and walked ahead. They compelled their way until the brunette stopped at a gate. "This one. Now all we have to do is find out what flights left from this gate on said day."
Klaus turned around and grabbed the first person in uniform he saw. "I will be back shortly, wait here," he called out to the rest of them as he led the man away. He returned not five minutes later. "There were four flights leaving from this gate after two pm. Charlotte, Atlanta, Houston and DC. Although I did rule out DC as a permanent place, she might have chosen it to connect to somewhere else. Silv, you will have to check all four airports. I wrote down the respective arrival gates for the flights from Mobile, so at least we will not have to scour the entire airport grounds. There is a flight leaving for Atlanta in fifteen minutes."
No traces were to be found in either Atlanta or Charlotte. Klaus was getting increasingly frustrated, but he tried to rein in his impatience. "DC or Houston next?" Stefan asked.
"Houston. Tell Elena and Damon to meet us there."
When they arrived in Houston, they made their way to the gate in question. After a brief moment of silence, Silv's eyes lit up and she smiled at Klaus. The relief on his face was so eminent that Rebekah actually leaned forward to give him a quick hug. He looked at his baby sister and gave her a faint smile.
"All right then, same procedure. Let's find the next gate and see which flights took off from there," Klaus instructed.
"Got of a treasure hunt, huh?" Damon's voice suddenly sounded behind the small group.
"It is," Klaus just said, making the older Salvatore pull a face.
"Ugh, vomit."
"Shut up, Damon," Stefan and Elena snapped in unison, making the others grin and Damon huff indignantly.
They followed Silv again who seemed to have to have some difficulties concentrating with the hustle and bustle going on around them. Klaus fleetingly wondered how many more traces of magic were to be found in a large airport like this. After walking for quite a while, Silv suddenly stopped at a closed gate and approached the door that led to the jetty. Closing her eyes, she focused for a long moment, then she turned to the waiting group.
"Yes. This one. The trace is actually a bit stronger here, so she must have been here for a while, waiting. I would assume three hours minimum."
Klaus flashed off again, and this time it took him a little longer to gather the required information.
"If we assume international departures after seven pm, which is highly probable given the fact she arrived at four pm and has been at this gate for quite a while, it leaves us with the following options: London, San Salvador, Frankfurt, Toronto, São Paulo and Buenos Aires." He paused and swallowed. "I think we can rule out London, Frankfurt and São Paulo for obvious reasons – they are either on her list or we have been there together."
Elijah nodded. "We might also want to move Toronto to the bottom of the list, as I deem it too close to home."
"Which leaves us with San Salvador and Buenos Ai…" Klaus stopped dead when realization hit him. Everyone was staring at him curiously as he exhaled sharply and pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. "Of course. Buenos Aires."
"Why would you think that?" Silv asked, looking at Elijah in confusion. Her husband just shrugged, as much at a loss as she was, and gazed at his brother patiently.
"Gods, I remember now. It was something I said to Caroline back in Norway. I explained to her how I could never help the sensation that Tromsø held some special kind of magic, and that the only other place to do this to me was… Southern Patagonia."
Damon groaned. "Please tell me you specified the exact location a little further at some point, General Grievous. Do you have any idea just how big Southern Patagonia is? Did you at least suggest either the Argentinian or the Chilean side?"
Klaus took one step towards the older Salvatore and hissed, "I'm sorry, mate, I was not aware at the time that I should have given Caroline a list of geographic coordinates just in case she would feel forced to leave me and settle at the end of the world one day."
"Whatever happened to 'always one step ahead'?" Damon sneered, just before Stefan stepped between the two.
"Can we just not go for each other's throats in public?" he demanded. "At least we have a general direction now, and if the magic trace holds up in Buenos Aires, we will be getting a lot closer to finding her."
With a black scowl at Damon, Klaus retreated and pointed to the gate. "The flight leaves in two hours. Does anyone want to stay behind?" He looked at the small group of his family and… friends. Everyone was shaking their heads determinedly. "Good. We'll meet here right before departure. Silv?"
His sister-in-law nodded. Klaus' eyes turned soft for an instant, and they were filled with gratitude as he looked at his brother's wife. "Thank you."
She smiled at him. "You're not the only one who loves her, you know?"
But the only one who can't live without her.
The trace was gone.
When they arrived in Buenos Aires, Silv could not detect any sign of magic at all. They walked the entire airport, but there was nothing. "It was probably a temporary spell, one that should make sure she actually left, but nothing further."
Klaus forced his blinding rage down with all his might. He had already wasted far too many weeks being irrational, and if he started extinguishing Buenos Aires now, he would misspend even more precious time. He commanded himself to consider the options calmly and objectively. There were a few airports to take into account. Punta Arenas, Rio Grande, Ushuaia and Puerto Williams. The only two airports with nonstop connections from Buenos Aires were Rio Grande and Ushuaia. Which did not mean the other two should be disregarded.
"We will split up. Stefan, Rebekah, you will go to Punta Arenas. Damon and Elena, Puerto Williams. Elijah and Silv, Rio Grande. I will go to Ushuaia. Compel the hell out of everyone you encounter. You all have her picture on your phones. Someone must have seen her, for she couldn't have compelled the entire Patagonian population. Keep me updated."
He felt a hand on his shoulder as he watched Rebekah, Elena and the Salvatores leave after a quick round of goodbyes. Turning towards his brother, he looked at him questioningly.
"Niklaus, let us stay together." When Klaus wanted to protest, Elijah just shook his head. "I have told you that you are not alone in this, and what I do not want is to see you go crackers when the first person you ask has not seen Caroline. You have been at your breaking point and beyond ever since she left. You are now. So let us not waste any more time and find her. Together, brother."
Everything inside him wanted to just force Elijah to do as he had said – but that was exactly why his older sibling had a point. As long as he didn't have his Caroline safely back in his arms, he could definitely not trust himself not to do anything irrational and subsequently waste further time. Rio Grande was at a two and a half hour drive from Ushuaia, so they would be able to get from one place to the other fairly quickly.
"Agreed. Rio Grande first, then."
Rio Grande was a relatively large town, its population exceeding sixty thousand. Klaus, Elijah and Silv spent a week searching hotels, restaurants, bus stations and the police. No one had seen Caroline. The others were just as unsuccessful in Puerto Williams and Punta Arenas respectively, but they had now extended their search to the more rural areas.
Klaus could still feel the magic he had spoken of to Caroline, but it was only a stale reflection of how Patagonia normally affected him. It did not help that Rio Grande was probably one of the most desolate places in all of Tierra del Fuego, and for some reason, he yearned to move on to Ushuaia. He had always liked the town and its surroundings, and despite the growing level of civilization the international tourism had entailed, there was still something very pristine about it. On the eighth day of their search in Rio Grande and adjacent territories, Klaus had had enough.
"We will move on to Ushuaia tomorrow. Something tells me she has never been in this area. No one would actually settle in this depressing place if they could help it, would you not agree?" he asked Elijah and Silv who had just descended from their hotel room to have some dinner.
Silv looked a little relieved. "No argument there. Will you join us for dinner, Klaus?"
He shook his head. He hadn't really eaten that much over the last week, but he still wasn't hungry, although he did feed every once in a while in order to preserve his strength. "No, thank you. I will make another round of the port, and we will leave at six am tomorrow. Good night." He sensed their eyes on him as he left, painfully aware that they were actually waiting for him to crack. And he certainly felt like it.
The next morning, they took to the road, and with every mile they came closer to Ushuaia, Klaus' spirits inexplicably lifted. Something told him they were on the right track, at very long last. He had no idea why, but he simply felt it. It was not that he expected to drive into town and find her strolling across the main road – he was hopeful, not naïve. Still, the allure Patagonia had always held for him was strengthening by the minute, and Klaus had never believed in coincidences. There was magic here, he had always known that, and that magic would help him find her, just as Tromsø's magic had brought them closer together, so many months ago.
When they arrived, Klaus drove straight to a small hotel he remembered from his last stay a few years back. It was about three miles outside of Ushuaia, set on top of a small hill, overlooking the Beagle Channel. It was a place he would have chosen had he brought Caroline here to show her the wonders of Patagonia. His heart clenched painfully at the thought of the wonderful times they could have had travelling here together. The owners of the hotel, a charming couple in their mid-thirties, shook their heads at the sight of the picture he was showing them. Klaus' pupils dilated, and he held the picture out again. Maybe it was nothing but his desperate hope running amok, but he had the distinct feeling that something flashed through the woman's eyes for an instant. It was of no use, though. If Caroline had been here, she would have compelled them. They took two rooms and went upstairs to stash their bags before starting their search. Klaus dropped his luggage and looked around. The room was comfortable and warm, with panoramic windows and a large bathtub.
Bathtub.
Something rang a bell inside him, but he could not quite put his finger on it. Shaking his head, he went back down to meet Elijah and Silv.
They spent the rest of the day scouring the main road. Shops, restaurants, cafés… but again, nothing. This time though, Klaus did not feel downcast. A sudden confidence had descended on him ever since they had arrived, and even more so since they had checked into the hotel. He didn't want to speak to Elijah and Silv about it, they would probably think he was losing it again, but the certainty that Caroline was not far was growing inside him with every passing minute. After dark, he drove his brother and sister-in-law back to the hotel and left the car behind. Just letting his instinct guide him, he darted off at vampire speed. After about ten aimless minutes of running, he found himself at the quay of the port, gazing at ships and boats of every size and colour. One large cruise liner, a smaller vessel which he supposed was one of the Antarctic cruisers, about a dozen sailing boats and a few small excursion ships. The strange certainty was welling up inside him again.
She had been here.
Ignoring the cruise vessels, he walked towards the smaller boats at human speed, ending up standing in front of two motor ships. There were a couple of advertising panels promoting day excursions to the penguin and sea lion colonies and along the Beagle Channel. It did not really sound like her, but then again, it did, too. Klaus scanned his surroundings. There was no sign of anyone, so he would need to be back first thing in the morning.
As he returned to his room, he sat in the small armchair and stared out at the lights of the city and the remote shadows of the mountain range of Isla Navarino. Caroline. He could still not get over how frighteningly empty his life had become once she had left. Before her, he had always felt lonely, but he had never really known how infinitely much worse it was to lose love once having lived it even for the shortest of moments. It scared him. He had no idea how not to become a completely overbearing control maniac once he had her back, out of sheer desperate fear of losing her again. It would take all that was reasonable and balanced inside him to keep himself in check. And heaven knew that was not much.
"No, nunca la he visto. Pero por qué no le pregunta a Juanjo de Yate Tour? Su oficina está aquí al lado." The scruffy man working the deck of the excursion boat pointed towards a tiny office building. Klaus nodded curtly and jumped back onto the dock.
"Gracias."
He returned to Elijah who had been waiting for him. Silv was questioning the owners of the sailing boats a few hundred yards down the quays. "Nope. Let us try that Juanjo person, then."
Juanjo turned out to be a weathered elderly man who had very obviously spent the majority of his life at sea, exposed to winds, salt and cold. His face was deeply wrinkled and he looked just like the typical sea dog.
"Buenos días," Klaus muttered upon entering the minuscule office, "eres Juanjo?"
"Yes, I am indeed. What can I do for you, gentlemen?" the man replied in the crispest Queen's English imaginable. Klaus and Elijah looked at each other in astonishment, making Juanjo chuckle. "I know. Surprises the hell out of everybody. Wouldn't expect that down here, would you?"
Elijah smiled. "Royal Naval College?"
Juanjo nodded. "From Dartmouth to the ends of the world. How can I help you?"
Now Klaus stepped up and pulled his mobile from his pocket, scrolling to Caroline's picture and holding it out to the old seaman. "Have you seen this woman?" He knew his voice had a little crack to it, and his desperate longing was oozing from his every pore. It was all the same to him.
Taking the phone from Klaus, Juanjo donned a pair of reading glasses and glanced at the photograph. Then he looked at them over the rim of his spectacles and handed the phone back to Klaus, eyeing him closely for a very long time, obviously considering whether to say anything. At some point, Klaus just murmured, "Please." He was surprised at himself for not simply compelling the man.
"You might want to speak to Jack Dahl. His house is set back from the arterial road off Perito Francisco Moreno," Juanjo replied after another while, apparently not overly comfortable in his own skin.
"So you have seen her?" Elijah asked expectantly, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"She might have been on my boat a couple of times, taking the trips to the sea lions and penguins with Jack."
Klaus tensed, feeling Elijah's grip on his shoulder tighten considerably. "Did she seem well?" he inquired, eyeing the elderly man closely.
The latter shrugged. "Have seen healthier looking ones. Pale, thin… unhappy, if you ask me. Although I had the feeling that she was in slightly better spirits after the tours. She seems to like the sea."
Swallowing heavily, Klaus closed his eyes for a split second. How had he not known that? And who was that other man? Well, they would find out in a matter of minutes. He turned around and left without another word, hearing Elijah thank Juanjo and follow him.
"Brother, do calm down. We have no idea who that man is, and you know as well as I do that Caroline would never even look at anyone besides you."
He knew his brother was right, but it was difficult not to succumb to the suffocating bout of jealousy that assaulted him in addition to his deep worry over her. They collected Silv and were on the road within the minute. Klaus' anxiety grew into something resembling fear. What if she was no longer here? What if she didn't want him anymore after all? What if… No. He would concentrate on finding her before worrying about anything else. His instincts had been right – she was here, and that was the only thing that should be of relevance for now.
After a ten minute drive, they pulled up in front of the house Juanjo had indicated. It looked perfectly ordinary, and Klaus focused his senses. There was the sound of steps descending a flight of stairs. An older man's steps. Relief flooded him for a moment before he started walking towards the door.
"Brother," he heard Elijah just before he was about to burst through the door.
"What?" he snapped. His patience was wearing thin by now, and Elijah bloody well knew that.
"Call me a fool, but I have the distinct notion that whoever this man is, he has not been a threat to Caroline. Au contraire. Which is why I would recommend some minimum essential politeness for the time being. You can still compel him at some later stage, should he prove to be uncooperative."
With a huff, Klaus turned around and knocked. The whole situation was messing with him, and he had almost decided to tear down the house after all when it opened to reveal an old man who was looking at him suspiciously.
"Jack Dahl?"
The man took a step outside and crossed his arms over his chest. "And who wants to know that?"
"My name is Klaus Mikaelson. I am looking for my wife, Caroline, and I was told to speak to you." He held out the phone. "Where is she, Mr. Dahl?"
"I have no idea. I have never seen that woman before in my life."
Klaus' eyes narrowed. "Oh well, you see, that is a shame." He grabbed the old man's shirt and slammed him into the wall. Silv and Elijah, whom he could hear heaving a heavy sigh, did not say a word, but he could sense their disapproval. He didn't care. He wanted to find Caroline, he needed to see with his own eyes that she was alive and well. He leaned over the old man, his pupils dilating.
"Where is…" he started to say, only to be interrupted by a pearly voice from behind the house.
"Jack? Where are you?"
He released the old man immediately, whirling around, his limbs turning to jelly.
"Hey, what…?" She was rounding the corner and stopped dead in her tracks, staring at him, shell-shocked.
And then she turned and ran.