Chapter 1

No hope

New Orleans, 4 years later

Elijah stared at the almost melted ice cubes at the bottom of his empty glass. What he needed was another drink. Seventh one to be exact. Not that he was counting; he had earned this after today. Watching the woman he loved to marry another man certainly hadn't been easy. It hadn't mattered that he had known that he had been doing the right thing. The honorable thing.

The thought was nothing but irritating. Why did he always have to be the honorable one? Why couldn't he for just once think about what he wanted? Because that would have been selfish. Hayley had made her choice and he needed to respect it. Jackson was a good man and if he wouldn't have married Hayley, Elijah could have even liked him.

It didn't matter now; he simply needed to once again accept his loss. He had loved other women before Hayley and he would likely love other women after her, no matter how impossible it felt right now. Right now he only wanted to drink until he would forget everything.

"Can I get you another drink, sir?" the waitress asked.

Elijah nodded absentmindedly.

"Yes, make it a double, please."

He hadn't wanted to stay at the compound; he had felt that he needed some time by himself. Thankfully the bar wasn't full and no one had bothered him. He had a small corner table all for himself. Company was the last thing he needed right now. He didn't drink for the sake of getting drunk very often and after few more drinks he was starting to feel a bit tipsy. That was a good start.

"Another double?" the waitress asked.

"Make that two."

Elijah sighed and closed his eyes. Unfortunately the alcohol didn't make him feel any less miserable. He doubted that anything would right now.

"Excuse me?" a female voice said.

Elijah opened his eyes and saw a young woman standing next to his table. She had dark brown eyes, oval face and curly brown hair that looked impossible to tame. She wasn't unpleasant to look at, although the short dress she was wearing didn't really fit her and she didn't seem to be comfortable in it. His guess was that the dress wasn't hers; perhaps she had borrowed it or something. Not that the matter interested him, on the contrary.

"Yes?" Elijah asked carelessly. He didn't bother to hide the fact that he didn't want any company.

She smiled, but it didn't hide her nervousness.

"Is this seat taken?"

"No, but I would like to be alone if you don't mind."

Normally he wouldn't have been so rude, but right now he didn't really care.

"Oh…I…" She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "What if I would buy you a drink?"

Elijah frowned.

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Well, I… I was hoping to have a word with you."

"Have we met?"

She shook her head.

"No, not yet. I'm Brinley. Brin."

"Hmm. And what do you want from me Brinley Brin?"

She bit her bottom lip nervously and glanced at the chair opposite him.

"May I…?"

"Fine," Elijah sighed, hoping that she would understand to leave.

She didn't need to be told twice, she sat down immediately.

"Thank you, I really appreciate this."

"Hmm."

"Here you are," the waitress said as she brought Elijah his next drinks. Then she looked at the girl. "What can I get you?"

"Just water, please," she replied.

"Alright, coming right up."

It wasn't difficult to notice how nervous the girl was, she didn't seem to know what to do with her hands. Finally she put them onto the table and crossed them, like she would have been praying.

"So, you are paying this?" Elijah stated carelessly and touched his glass.

"Yes," she replied quickly.

"Is that what women do these days?"

"I don't know," she murmured.

"Hmm. How old are you?"

"21."

"Somehow I doubt that."

"I have ID…"

"I'm going to guess 18," he cut in carelessly. "Am I close?"

"19. Old enough."

"For what?"

She bit her bottom lip again, looking even more nervous.

"I… I was hoping to make a deal with you."

He raised an eyebrow.

"What kind of a deal?"

"I… The thing is that I have… a problem and I think you could help me."

"And I think you are mistaking me for someone else."

She shook her head.

"No, you're Elijah Mikaelson, right?"

"How do you know my name?"

She hesitated for a moment before replying.

"I've been trying to find you for the last two years."

"Why?"

"Because I really need your help. I'm not asking for charity, I have every intention to repay you." She paused and looked him in the eyes. "I don't own much, but I was hoping that we could negotiate for a different kind of…payment."

For a brief moment Elijah was actually speechless.

"I assume you mean sexual services?"

A flush was rising in her cheeks as she looked down.

"Yeah. And blood."

"What?"

"I have no problem with that, really. Whatever you want…"

"I don't know who you are, but I think I want you to leave."

Her eyes widened.

"No, please, I'm sorry if I offended you; please give me chance to explain…"

"I'm not interested," Elijah cut in coolly. He really wasn't sure why he was so rude, he simply wanted to take his anger out on someone. He had just lost the woman he loved and this girl thought that he was so desperate that he would sleep with anyone. That was all his drunken brains understood right now. Why would he care about her problems?

"Please…" she pleaded."You're my last hope."

Elijah looked at her carelessly and crossed his arms.

"Then I'm afraid you have no hope."

She flinched, like he would have just slapped her. Silently she stood up and walked away. He emptied his glass and stared at the ice cubes. Hopefully he could now concentrate on important things again.