(by Cara Twomey)
1:Searching
England, 1613
London was boring, Mikael had decided. Honestly, why did so many humans decide to live there, what with all the dirty streets and diseases? Were they stupid?
That seemed likely.
Now, about Klaus. He just needed to find Klaus and finish him, and then he could leave. The question was, how to find Klaus?
He went to the most decent-looking inn he could find. Why was it so loud? Perhaps it was just because of vampire hearing.
"Excuse me, Madam," Mikael said to the woman at the bar, "do you happen to have heard of anyone with the name Mikaelson?"
"Mikaelson?" Her eyes widened a bit. "No. No, I have not."
Ah, the fear. He could sense it. She knew exactly who Niklaus Mikaelson was.
"What a shame." He took the knife out of his sleeve and thrust it into her heart.
That got him everyone's attention.
"Good, you are all listening." Mikael pulled the knife out of the dead barmaid's chest. "If you do not want that to happen to you, you will answer me. Where is Niklaus Mikaelson?"
"Excuse me." Mikael felt a pair of hands on his shoulders. "I apologize, everyone, for my friend's behavior. You will all forget this ever happened."
"Louis, let go of me." Mikael snarled.
"I am currently trying to save you from disaster." Louis said in his ear. "Come on." He pulled Mikael out the door and into the dreary evening.
2:Talking to a friend
"I had it under control." Mikael said angrily as they walked through the streets.
"Oh, of course you did." Louis said sarcastically. "You only killed a woman for no necessary reason."
"That didn't give you permission to interfere." Mikael snapped. "Don't think that just because you are a vampire-witch hybrid means that you are better than me, the Destroyer. Because you aren't. Honestly, I will never understand why you are so insistent in accompanying me."
True, Mikael had met Louis Dubois in France a few decades before, and had not been able to get rid of him since. Louis was some sort of cross between a vampire and a witch, so it was easy for him to find Mikael whenever he tried to disappear alone.
"Well, someone has to be your friend." Louis said.
"I do not have friends. Friends are a distraction from my goal."
Louis sighed. "While you were out pursuing your goal, I managed to get us a room at a respectable inn nearby. Come on."
"There's only one bed!" Mikael cried when he entered the room.
"It was all they had." said Louis. "I will sleep on the floor it my presence will bother you."
Mikael sat down on the bed. "Perhaps sleep will help. I need to be focused. Did you hear anything about Niklaus while you were out?"
"I did hear a few things, nothing good. Perhaps your quest does have true meaning to it."
"Of course it has meaning!" Mikael cried. "He's evil! He has Elijah and Rebekah under his control, and who knows what he's done to Finn and Kol. And Esther! He murdered my wife! I have to save my children from him. I can only hope that once Klaus is gone, they can understand why I have done the things I have done."
"I think you need to get some sleep." Louis said calmly. "Tomorrow we can look for Klaus."
To Louis' surprise, Mikael obeyed.
"DEAR GOD, NO!" Mikael screamed and sat straight up in the bed.
"Mikael? Mikael, what is it?"
"Get away from me!" Mikael grabbed the white oak stake.
"No, Mikael, it's Louis! Here, you're shaking." Mikael felt something warm around his shoulders and realized it was Louis' coat. "What was that, Mikael?"
"I-I thought you were Klaus." He put the white oak stake down. "I had a nightmare."
"You had a nightmare about Klaus?"
Mikael nodded. "It was after I found out I am not Klaus' father, and I killed his werewolf family. I went to my house. Esther was on the floor, and Klaus was standing over her with her heart in his hand. I have often had that dream, and that is where it always ends. But this time was different. Klaus dropped her heart onto the floor and pulled out the white oak stake. He stabbed me in the heart with it and smiled the entire time. That was why I screamed. It felt real."
"Oh, Mikael. I think you try to get back to sleep." Louis said. "If it will make you feel better, try to dream about murdering Klaus."
"Did you really sleep on the floor?" Mikael asked.
"Well, you seemed to think it would be a great scandal if we shared the bed, so yes."
"Is it uncomfortable?"
"I can survive."
"Well, there is enough room for two people," Mikael said a bit shyly.
Louis smiled and climbed into the bed next to him. "Good night, Mikael."
"Good night, Louis."
3:The Hunt
The next day was as dreary as the last.
"London is a large city." Louis remarked. "Where do we even begin looking?"
Mikael suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Follow me." he walked in the direction a voice was coming from until he caught sight of a familiar blond head.
It was Rebekah.
"I will convince my brothers somehow." she said to the young man she was with. "Elijah wants me to be happy, but Klaus is more difficult."
"I have faith in you, Rebekah." he said. "We will be together somehow."
"Well, I see you found your daughter." Louis sidled up to Mikael. "Now what?"
"I don't like the looks of that young man." Mikael said. "I doubt he is a suitable match for my daughter."
When the lovers parted company, Mikael walked up to the boy. "Good day, lad. Who might you be?"
"Henry Bradford, sir." the young man said. "I'm an actor at the Globe Theater."
"Are you? Well, I am Mikael. That young woman you were with happens to be my daughter."
"Are she and her brothers going to be at the Globe today?" Louis asked. "They are, Mikael. It's in his mind."
"Then we have no more use for him." Mikael took out his dagger and slit the boy's throat.
"Was that really necessary, Mikael?" Louis asked.
"Why else would I have killed him. Now, come. we have a performance to attend."
"Henry VIII." Louis read. "Wasn't he the one with all the wives?"
But Mikael wasn't listening. He could see Klaus sitting in the higher seats.
He approached and said in Klaus' ear, "Hello, boy."
Klaus body went rigid. "Father."
"That's right." He pressed the white oak stake against Klaus' back. "You were not expecting me, were you? Oh, dear. And I came at the perfect time. I don't see Elijah or Rebekah anywhere, so there's no one to save you. Isn't that a shame?"
"I should have killed you." Klaus said hoarsely. "I should have killed you a long time ago."
"And rip my heart out as you did my wife?" Mikael demanded. "You killed your own mother, Niklaus. And now you're next."
Mikael was interrupted by a cannon shot and a burst of fire. Something had gone wrong onstage.
"Mikael!" He felt Louis' hand on his arm. "The theater will burn down. We need to leave. Forget him."
"NO! I have to do this!" Mikael turned back to Klaus.
But Klaus was gone.
"Come on, Mikael!" Mikael let Louis pull him out of the burning theater and into the city streets.
A note: The Globe Theater actually did burn down in 1613 due a problem with the props. It was rebuilt in 1614.
4:'I will never stop hunting'
"Well, I suppose that did not go as you had planned." Louis said the next morning at breakfast.
"Why, whatever would make you say that?" Mikael asked. Sarcasm dripped from his voice.
Louis sighed. "I am sorry things did not go your way, Mikael. But there will be other times. You will get your vengeance."
"Oh, I will be certain of that. I will never stop hunting, not until Niklaus is dead. He will pay."
"I know. And there is nothing else you want to do with your life?"
"What else is there for me, Louis?"
If only you knew, Louis thought.