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Thanks for Reading, Bec :)
After Kol and Rebekah had left Klaus alone he could no longer think of sleep. He wandered through the streets of the French quarter in New Orleans, taking in everything he had come to miss since he had last been there 100 years ago. He stopped to admire the buildings which surrounded him, four stories, laced with the ornate decoration of French provincial architecture - each building including a balcony extending the length of the building itself and people stood on them, looking down to the activities and excitement occurring below.
The streets were buzzing with energy, with people walking along the passages of clubs and bars, which were filled with more of them enjoying the freedom and culture the city gave them. Klaus had come to know that New Orleans was now swarming with vampires and as he strolled throughout the boulevards he could see it for himself. There were hundreds of them, gathering all through the night to prey on the tourists that kept pouring into the city. Klaus had been the one to build this city, but he could never have imagined it becoming the hive for vampires that it now was. It was the supernatural city of America.
In the morning he had planned to meet with his old friend and former protégé, Marcel. Marcel had made this town more than Klaus perhaps ever could have, even if he was given the opportunity. Marcel was king of the city, and everybody followed his rules, he had ultimate power and held the whole of New Orleans in his tight grip.
Klaus eventually found a seat on the world famous Bourbon Street, facing the Royal Sonesta Hotel. The Hotel curved luxuriously around the corner of the street, and illuminated bright lights coming from each room in the hotel.
Klaus sat down on the wooden bench and pulled out Elijah's envelope. Klaus looked at it questioningly, why he couldn't just give a message to Rebekah to pass on to him meant that whatever Elijah had to see was to be kept a secret.
Klaus opened the envelope and pulled out only a short note inside it which read:
Niklaus,
It was not a hollow warning when I said to be careful in your future dealings.
Since I have come to New Orleans, I have heard reports that the werewolf pack that helped Tyler Lockwood break his sire bond wants you dead. I don't know why, but I think it is best if you keep a vigilant eye. I know you are able to fight off whatever comes your way, but it is not you I am worried about. You know as well as I do that to break an unbreakable person, you break someone they love. I am very worried that the pack may be now going after Caroline also - especially considering my last encounter with Tyler.
Caroline is a strong woman, I agree, but she isn't this strong.
You need to help her, Klaus- no matter what the costs. You'll never lead a happy life again if you refuse.
I have gone to Panama City for a few days; I plan to find out more about this pack while I'm over there. Don't speak of this to your sister, she will lash out.
Forever and Always,
Elijah.
Elijah slowly strolled up the passage of the plane, his black suit jacket draped over his arm and carrying his black suitcase as he walked. The further he walked up the length of the plane, the more amused he became; of course Katherine would be sitting in first class. Eventually he could see the back of Katherine's head, her long brown curls draping behind her. She sat there; crossing her legs and flipping through a trashy magazine, rolling her eyes at the celebrities who she would watch grow old and die.
"Miss Pierce," Elijah hummed, as Katherine turned around and slowly rose from her seat, a soft smirk hinting on her lips. She cocked her head to the side and jokingly stared at him confused, as if she had never seen Elijah before.
"Strange. I thought I had booked out this whole plane myself… I'm sorry, but do I know you?" Katherine asked, mocking an innocent face.
Elijah grinned, stepping forward with an outstretched palm.
"Elijah Mikaelson." He said, as Katherine put her hand on his.
Elijah slowly lifted her hand up to meet his lips with the back of her hand, pressing a soft kiss on it as Katherine smiled up to him.
"A pleasure." Katherine said in the most polite voice she could, as she softly curtsied, mocking the past traditions they used to uphold.
Katherine dropped her hand and sat back down to her seat, motioning for Elijah to sit on the seat next to hers.
"Well, since we're going to be on this plane for a while, we should find something to talk about… Are you going to tell me why you wanted to see me? In Panama City of all places?" Katherine said, returning her voice back to its normal tone.
"I have a proposition to make." Elijah announced, staring back at her.
Katherine slightly squinted her eyes, before sighing and turning back to her magazine.
"No thanks. Deals never end well with me." Katherine nonchalantly sighed.
"You might be interested in this one." Elijah smirked, pulling the magazine away from Katherine, forcing her to look back at him. "I can get you your freedom, Katherina."
At this, Katherine's eyes faintly lit up and a look of desperate hope flashed across her face.
"Klaus would never let me go." Katherine tested, still hopeful.
"You could be wrong. There's a reason I told you to meet me in Panama City, there's something there that Klaus needs to know about, but I need your help uncovering it. If you get it for him, you can exchange your freedom in return." Elijah explained. "All you need to do is help me."
Katherine stared back at Elijah, weighing up the consequences she may have to face if she tries to make deals with Klaus. After a few moments, Katherine dropped her head to the side.
"Deal." She sighed, slightly smiling back at Elijah. "Won't this be fun?" She mocked, rolling her eyes at the inevitability that Elijah and her were now going to spend a lot of time together.
Caroline paced her bedroom, tapping her phone against the palm of her hand as she tried to find the courage to ring Klaus. She had no idea what she was going to say, let alone what to think.
"Ugh." She groaned, as she sat down on her bed.
She pulled her phone out, winced as she pressed on Klaus's number and slowly put the phone up to her ear, biting her lip and waiting for him to answer.
Secretly she prayed that he wouldn't answer so she would have an excuse as to why she didn't speak to him but just as she thought it was going to go to voice mail, Klaus's voice answered.
"Caroline?"
Caroline shut her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Hi." Caroline mustered up all the happiness in her voice she could, but she ended up coming across a little too chirpy for what she was about to say.
"Is there something I can help you with?" Klaus asked, obviously confused as to why Caroline had decided to ring him.
"Yes." Caroline sighed. She didn't know how she was going to say it. "Why didn't you say that we… we… kissed? At prom?"
Klaus went dead silent on the other end of the line, and Caroline shut her eyes and clenched her jaw, anticipating his reply.
"How… do you know about that?" Klaus asked quietly, perhaps more asking himself than Caroline.
Caroline dropped her jaw at his question.
"What?! Do you really think I was that drunk!?" Caroline retorted, insulted by his comment.
"No. Caroline, no. You just never talked about it before now. Prom was three months ago, I thought you must have forgotten." Klaus lied through his teeth, ironically telling her she should have forgotten about it.
"I found some pictures okay?" Caroline sighed. She put her hand to her head. "Look, I don't remember much about that night. There are blank spots everywhere. I called you because…" Caroline stopped herself. In truth, she wasn't really sure why she called him. There was just this part of her, that wanted to talk to him and she couldn't deny it. "I'm scared."
What?! Scared?! Where did that come from? Why did you say scared?! Caroline yelled at herself. That was word vomit at it's finest and now she bit her lip so hard it drew blood.
"Caroline…" Klaus said quietly, as if he was about to admit something, but Caroline intervened.
"Forget it. Let's just pretend I didn't say anything. It's not even a big deal. Sorry for bothering you." Caroline blurted out, pulled the phone from her ear and hung up. She fell back on to her bed and covered her face with her hands.
Oh. My. God. Caroline?! What did you just do?! The majority of her mind scolded itself for the stupidity it has just done, but a tiny part of it, somewhere deep inside her head that she wasn't even consciously aware of, pined for the time when she could hear Klaus's voice again.
Klaus stared at his phone, utterly shocked and confused with what had just happened. He desperately wanted to call her back, to help her, to comfort her, but he knew that he couldn't.
But this was a threat he hadn't properly planned for. She couldn't start to remember, that wasn't possible. And what would happen if she did?
"Klaus Mikaelson. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Marcel's voice came ringing through the bar, which Klaus was sitting alone at, interrupting his train of thought.
Klaus turned around and smiled at Marcel, who was walking over to him with outstretched arms and a huge grin plastered on his face and his eyes being pushed into squints.
Klaus stood up from the bar stool and met Marcel and pulled him into an embrace, patting his hand against his back.
"Why are you in New Orleans?" Marcel asked, grinning from ear to ear.
"Mystic Falls no longer had any business for me. I thought I'd pay this city a visit." Klaus smirked back. He was with Marcel, but his mind was with Caroline.
"Well, What do you think?!" Marcel said, raising his arms and angling himself to the window.
The bar was in Jackson Square and the streets outside were filled with street performers and artists.
"Humor me, Marcel, how many vampires are in this town?" Klaus asked, dropping his smile.
"Let's just say that the supernatural run this town. It's truly something, Klaus, you'd like it here. I've kept the witches under control and I've taught the humans to look the away. We're lucky we get so many tourists here, otherwise there might not be enough blood." Marcel laughed.
Klaus laughed back, but he heart wasn't in it.
Marcel sensed that something was wrong with Klaus and decided it was better to leave him alone.
"How about we meet up later tonight? I'll find you in Jackson Square, you can pick where you want to go. Nine pm." Marcel smiled. "I can show you what this town really has to offer."
Klaus smirked and slightly nodded. Marcel turned around and walked out of the bar leaving Klaus behind.
Klaus pulled out his phone once more and rang Caroline immediately. She wanted help, that's why she told him she was scared. Klaus wasn't sure why she was scared, but if she was starting to remember then he needed to know, and the only way he was going to find out was to talk to her.
Her phone rang out and it went to voicemail.
"Caroline, I'm sorry for not talking to you about it. I thought you would have regretted it. Obviously, that's all still true. But if you need an explanation just know that… that's the only time it's happened, and we can forget about it if that's what you want." Klaus said wincing as he said the message, unsure if he was saying the right thing but knowing it was too late once he had said it.
Klaus hung up, sighed and placed his phone on the bar and called the waiter over.
"Get me something strong." He said, dropping his head into his hands.
Caroline sat on her bed and listened to Klaus leave the voicemail. She didn't have the guts to answer it; she would have just said something stupid again. Her heart thumped in her chest as he spoke.
Caroline's thoughts were interfered by a knock on her front door. As she opened the door she grinned as she noticed it was Tyler.
"Hey Tyler." Caroline welcomed him inside. She was so happy to see him, it seemed as though recently he was ignoring her.
"Hey Carr." Tyler said as he pulled her into a hug. "It's good to see you."
As he hugged her, he pulled out a needle of vervain, and pricked it into her arm.
"Ouch! What was that?!" Caroline pushed away from Tyler and her eyes widened at what he was holding in his hand.
"Tyler? What did you…" She asked, her body becoming limp, but her mind desperately trying to stop herself from passing out.
"Nothing personal Carr. You're just leverage." Tyler smirked as she fell into his arms.