She sat alone at the far end of a smoky and somewhat crowded bar, very much keeping to herself and trying not to draw attention towards her as she slowly sipped her single malt scotch. Bored was the only way to accurately describe how Casey Cook was currently feeling despite being surrounded by countless people, who were drinking, smoking, laughing and having good time. People all around her were falling in love and yet all Casey could do was aimlessly stare ahead of her. Casey was bored and it wasn't just because of where she was, as her state of boredom was something of a constant thing. Casey was bored of 1953, she was bored of her life, people in general and everything else that came along with being alive during the fifties. No one seemed to understand her, everyone put Casey's boredom down to her having grown up during the Second World War and was still having a hard time readjusting, eight years after the war had ended. Casey wasn't messed up because of the war, sure it had been pretty intense growing up in London during the war before she had been evacuated. It hadn't been a picnic but Casey had dealt with it. Casey wasn't bored because she missed the excitement of the war, she was bored because everything in her life was so damn boring and she was stifled by it. There were so much expectations on her, everyone expected Casey to live a certain way and stick to some plan which she didn't want. Her life was trivial and worthless, she was expected to attend fancy parties, schmooze and rub shoulders with royalty, aristocrats and other wealthy families. From there she would no doubt meet some handsome and incredibly wealthy man who would sweep Casey off her feet and then would marry and live happily ever after having a few children. That was what was expected for girls of Casey's age and she wanted nothing to do with that. Casey wanted no part of it. She wanted to have her own life, be free of the constrictions that were placed on women in this day and age. The idea of being a homemaker and someone's wife made Casey want to jump into the Thames. The life of a socialite was really not something that Casey was best suited for.

Draining the remains of her drink, Casey placed the glass back on the bar and couldn't help but sigh. She wasn't supposed to be here, she was supposed to be having dinner with her father Rupert and her god awful stepmother Gretchen plus whichever suitor her step mother sought fit to invite for dinner tonight. Casey had made it clear plenty of times that she had no intention of ever marrying but it always seemed to fall on deaf ears. The more she seemed to dismiss the prospect of her ever getting married, the harder her stepmother seemed to try to marry her off. It was all very tiresome but Casey was adamant that she was never going to be wed, to be dictated by some man who thought he knew better than her. Casey wanted more from her life than what others had planned for her. She wanted to know what it meant to truly live, Casey wanted to have adventures of her own, to run down the streets of Paris with the wind in her hair. Her father however refused to send Casey to Paris, in fears that his only daughter would fall in love with a foreigner and never return, despite Casey telling her father that such a thing would never happen as she wasn't one of those naive doe eyed girls who fell head over heels in love at a drop of a hat. But nobody ever listened to her anymore, all they took any notice of was her face and the fact that she wasn't married even at the age of 22. If only her stepmother could see her now, Gretchen would probably die or shock and utter some nonsense about Casey bringing disgrace to the family name. Catching the eye of the bartender, Casey motioned to him for a refill and as she did she noticed from the corner of her that a man came and took a seat on the stool next to her.

"Bartender I'll have the same as what the beautiful lady is having and put it on my tab."

"I appreciated the offer but the lady can buy her own drinks and will continue to do so. Thank you anyway." Casey politely replied with a small smile as she pulled out a crisp note from her purse and placed it on the bar. As she did Casey was very much aware that the stranger to the left of her was staring at her. At first Casey ignored him and took a slow and careful sip of her drink, keeping her eyes straight ahead at the drinks that were behind the bar as she had no interest in engaging this man in any kind of conversation as he was no doubt like every other man she had come across. However after five excruciatingly long minutes and finishing off another single malt, Casey turned to the man in hopes that if she entertained him for a few minutes then he would finally leave her alone. To Casey's surprise he wasn't what she was expecting. She had expected someone a little less clean cut and a man who oozed with sleaziness. But this was not the case, the man next to her was very well refined wearing a suit that given by how well to was made, could only have come from one of the tailors on Saville Row. He has short curly light brown hair and light blue eyes that seemed to have a little twinkle in them. The man was handsome, there was no doubt about that but not Casey's type. He looked just like the men who her stepmother tried to marry her off to, whereas Casey preferred men with flaws and less refinement as they were less likely to being looking for a wife and on a whole much more interesting from Casey's personal experiences. "Can I help you Sir or are you just going to spend the rest of the night staring at me? Because I'll tell you right now, that no matter how many drinks you offer to buy me, I will not be going home with you."

"Just wondering what on earth a woman who clearly can afford to be shopping in Dior is doing in such an establishment such as this one?" The man stated in a nonchalant but amused tone of voice and Casey found herself smiling as she glanced down at her Dior pumps as the man did have her there. For someone like Casey or rather Lady Cassandra Cook if you went by her full name and title, a somewhat sleazy bar in Clapham was the last place you'd find a girl who grew up coming and going from the ancestral home in Wiltshire to the house in Kensington. Women like Casey Cook did not spent their time in places like Clapham, which was part of the appeal for Casey. It was something different, a far cry from her life which she bored of. Casey came to places like this in order to try and feel some kind of excitement again. No luck yet, Casey still felt like she was living a mundane life which wasn't going anywhere.

"Looking for a bit of excitement for my inner hedonist, something that I can't find in Selfridges." Casey allowed herself to admit with a wry smile as being in a place so diverse like these, so unlike anything she was used to, made Casey feel slightly better. But Casey was starting to realise that no matter where was, she felt nothing except boredom. Going to different parts of London and mixing with all sorts of people from different background wasn't helping at all. Life was still boring for Casey, lacking in any real excitement. She knew all of this made her sound like some kind of spoilt brat, here she had everything she wanted in life; a father who loved her, a nice home, money and an occasional part time job working in a boutique that her godmother owned. Casey's life was pretty great on paper. But in reality it wasn't as great. "What about you? Most men here could only dream of owning a suit with a cut like yours. If I'm not corrected Andrew Hutchins made that suit."

"Very impressive."

"Not really, I've seen his work enough times to spot it a mile off." Casey replied with a small and weary laugh before taking another sip of her drink. She didn't want to say the reason why she knew who had made his suit was because her father had at least twenty suits made by the same tailor. She found bragging about wealth and status to be rather vulgar, not to mention she was currently trying to escape from her life for a few hours. "You haven't answered my question you know? About why someone like you is in a place like this. I told you why I was here so I think it's only fair that you tell me."

"Looking for stimulating conversation."

"Is that so? Now is this the part where you warn me that it's too dangerous for a girl like me to be in an establishment like this? That my soul will be corrupted by being in a place like this surrounded by people of loose morals who like to drink a conspicuous amount of alcohol?" Casey asked as the music that had been playing in the bar came to a stop much to the dismay of the patrons further up along the bar. There was a loud grumble from within the grounds, some boos flying across the room and moments later the music was back on and the natives seemed to be settling back down. The more time Casey spent in this place, the more she was starting to enjoy herself as there was no pressure on her to be the person who she was raised to be. No one was expecting her to conduct herself in the manner that reflected the wealth and status that came with being Lady Cassandra Cook, the youngest child and only daughter of Rupert Cook, the 7th Earl of a place where no one outside the walls of high society really cared about. Casey for the most part didn't as it wasn't like she could inherit her father's title, that would go straight to her brother along with all their lands. Here in this dark little drinking hole, Casey could just be Casey and to have some sense of freedom for once in her life.

"I don't think I need to do anything of the such, you seem to be handling yourself perfectly fine. Since we've been talking for a while, would I be able to get a name? I promise I have no other intention than knowing the name of my drinking companion."

"I probably shouldn't tell you this, I'm pretty sure my father once warned me about talking to strange men but my name is Cassandra. However I don't tend to like going by first name much as I don't think I suit it personally. My great grandmother who I was named after is probably turning in her grave over this but I much prefer to be addressed as Casey. Although not many people call me that as apparently it sounds very much like a name given to a boy whose parents didn't love him enough to give him a proper name, according to my stepmother." Casey stated in a polite manner, unable to quite believe that she was talking to this man. Let alone giving him such personal information like her name and the back story behind it but there was something about him. He had this roguish charm about him and like Casey, he looked like he didn't belong here.

"Pleasure is all mine Casey, I'm Niklaus."

"Niklaus? Interesting name." Casey couldn't help but point out as it wasn't a name that she had come across. She couldn't help but think that the man in front of her Niklaus didn't exactly look like a Niklaus. But then again who was she to talk about names? She herself didn't go by the name given to her at birth but she simply thought it didn't suit her. Some people unlike her, may actually like their names. It wasn't Casey's place to judge others on their names.

"However feel free to call me Klaus, I find it less stifling."

"Nice to meet you Klaus." Casey replied with a genuine smile.

"Tell me Casey, have you come across anyone here who is capable of having a somewhat decent and interesting conversation with? Other than yourself..." Klaus questioned and Casey couldn't help but laugh as her new friend was so asking the wrong person. As she couldn't remember the last time she had met someone who she had deemed interesting enough. Most people who Casey knew of or had met, were somewhat involved in her parents vast social circle. A lot of them were small minded people were rather vapid and obsessed with climbing the social ladder. There was only one person who had really made the world seem alive to Casey and that had been Freddie. But he was gone now and had been for a while and the world was just dull and colourless now.

"Depends on your definition of interesting but so far I've been propositioned twice and been proposed to a further three times. Not exactly what I would call interesting or stimulating but it's certainly memorable in a way. It's why I like to come out to places like here, it's different from my world and there's a small sense of freedom I get by sitting at a bar and drinking by myself. Until I receive unwanted attention from strange men who attempt to buy me drinks and strike up a friendship." Casey quipped in response before letting out a weary laugh as she glanced back at her empty glass. These days alcohol seemed to be her only real friend. She didn't have much in terms of friends these days, all the friends that Casey had growing up, all the girls she had gone to boarding school were no longer the girls that she had round around with and getting into trouble with. This fierce and funny girls were all a shadow of who they used to be, all of them were married and had been mere months after they had turned eighteen.

"Care to expand?" Klaus asked.

"Look at me and tell me what you see? No, let me do the honours... You see a pretty young woman, you could her define as being an English rose. Long honey blonde hair and rich brown eyes, tall and graceful. Born into a wealthy family and that's all people see me as, a pretty girl who is only useful for being married off and producing children for some entitled moron. People don't care about who I am inside and what I think, I am just seen as some sort of commodity but that's the society we live in. All the girls who I went to school with are all married now with small children and people look down at me because I don't want to conform to that. It's 1953 and yet this world and the expectations that we place on ourselves just bore me. This life is boring, there's no adventure or twist and turns just predictability. People work until they die, do the same job every day to pay the bills and feed the family. Life is not interesting, people grow up, get married, have kids then die. What is so interesting about that? Why does my life have to be defined by that? I have spent the last few years trying my hardest to stop my family from marrying me off to the most eligible bachelor who will bolster my family's reputation." Casey questioned as Klaus slid over another glass of scotch towards her which Casey willingly took.

"It doesn't have to be you know, you could always do something about it." Klaus stated and Casey laughed. That was a good one. For Casey, running away and changing her life to one she wanted wasn't as easy as one would think, Klaus didn't know who her father was and the reach that he had. Her were somewhat important in society and the Cook family had a well respected history and friends in very high places.

"I've tried. Believe me I have tried to change my circumstances but I can never escape, like about a year ago I packed my bags and ran away. I went to Brighton as I've always found it romantic in an odd way. I guess it's something about the beach and ice-cream I suppose. It took my father three days and about half of The Met to track me down and they pretty much had to bring me back kicking and screaming. It wasn't pretty. My father was so mad that he was awfully tempted to send me to Scotland to stay with some distant relatives but he didn't because he knew that was what I wanted." Casey grimly explained as there was no way that she could run away without no one caring given who her father was. Each time she had tried to leave, her father brought her back. No matter how hard she tried, Casey couldn't escape this life.

"Maybe you didn't go far enough, you know there is a vast world outside this four worlds and this island we're on. You shouldn't confine yourself to such a small place when there is a whole world to be explored Cassandra. I've seen things that you would never have imagined in your wildest dreams, I've travelled the world and the stories I could tell you. Trust me there is much more to see but to do that you're going to have to leave England. There is a world that is waiting for you to embrace it Casey. You seem to be a bit of a star Casey, you radiate this light but you would be so much capable of shining brighter if you have the courage to follow your own path. Stars shine the brightest in the dark." Klaus said in a warm manner which Casey was surprise by. Her first impression of Klaus had been so wrong, he wasn't like most men. There seemed to be no motive as to what he was doing, he just seemed to want to have a conversation. But the thing that Casey picked up the most was that Klaus wasn't just saying random stuff in order to feign interest in her. There was this genuine interest that Klaus had and Casey believed what he was telling her about how he had seen the world – he seemed quite well travelled.

"Trust me I am well aware of that Klaus and there is nothing more that I would want. I don't want what everyone else wants, I don't want to be like those girls who I went to school with who put their dreams on hold to conform to society and their expectations. I want to live a life that is exciting and fresh, one that doesn't confine me to social standards. As much as I love England, I don't want to be stuck here for the rest of my life. I want to leave and see the world but my father will never allow that, every time I try to leave he always drags me back. He means well, I know my father does but he doesn't understand that I don't want to be a mother or wife as selfish as it sounds-"

"-I assure you Casey it's not, in fact it's rather refreshing to hear someone of your age and generation speaking so refreshingly about your wants and desires. It's not selfish to a want a life that makes you happy. A life in which you are free to so whatever you want. Trust me when I say it is to die for." Klaus stated and Casey couldn't help but smile as she never met someone who had shared her way of thinking until now. A chance encounter in a bar in Clapham.

"My age? You barely look much older than myself Klaus." Casey couldn't help but note as the way Klaus had been taking about himself, he made it seem like he was much older than her. But that was impossible as Klaus looked round about the same age as her brother Spencer.

"Appearances can be quite deceiving Cassandra and things are not what they always seemed to be. What if I told something incredibly? Something that you would have never believed in a thousand years? What would you say if I told you that the reason I look so young is because I am a vampire? One of the oldest and powerful vampires in existence. They call me an Original Vampire as I am one of the first vampires in existence. This face is over a thousand years old." Klaus announced and Casey couldn't help bit scoff in amusement as she took a large gulp of her drink. That was funny. It was a good one. But it was insane as vampires didn't exist in reality. They belonged in books and movies. There was nothing real about them in the slightest.

"I would say that you've had too much to drink but I'll admit that's a new one, not any of the men who I've encountered tonight have come up with something like that. It's real imaginative I'll give you that. " Casey retorted

"A sceptic I see… I can't blame you but hear me out Casey. What if I could prove it? Prove to you that I am a vampire and then make you a very interesting and life changing offer? One that would mean that you would never have to worry about getting married or conforming to what society wants you to be ever again. You'll be able to do whatever you want, go wherever you want whenever you want and never have to worry about anything again. You could become the person you have always wanted to be, the person you dream of being. We wouldn't have to go anywhere, you could stay right in your seat and I'll prove to you that I am everything I've said I am." Klaus retorted in a challenging manner and Casey couldn't help but be intrigued by Klaus, by his offer and the mischievous twinkle in his eye. It sounded insane but there was this challenging tone in his voice and Casey was always one for a challenge.

Casey found herself no longer being bored.