From the backseat of the car, she looked through the window at the sights of New Orleans; more specifically the French Quarter. She'd never been before, having been banned from the place due to the amount of supernatural creatures that called the city home.
She kept looking at the people outside, wondering if she could spot a vampire or a witch, or even an Original. The way her parents spoke about the city made it sound like the Quarter was crawling with supernaturals, but all she could see were seemingly normal people, making their way down the streets.
Thinking about her parents' warnings about the city only made guilt seep into her heart. When they found the letter that she'd left behind at home, telling them that she was going to New Orleans to avenge Kieran, they were going to lose it. Luckily, she was going to be too far away and out of their reach to feel the effects of their anger. But when she returned, she was going to face a severe punishment for this, if she returned at all.
She shook her head and leaned forward to rest her forehead on the cool windowpane. She would return. She had to. Just because everyone else that had gone after the Hybrid had died, didn't mean that she was going to. It may have been overly optimistic of her to think that she would be the exception, but someone out there was eventually going to be the one to kill Niklaus Mikaelson and why couldn't that someone be her?
The car pulled over on the side of the street and stopped. "This is the address," the driver announced.
He watched her blankly in the rear-view mirror as she took out the correct amount of money for the drive, that they'd agreed upon before she got into the cab, from her purse. He turned and took the money from her wordlessly.
She grabbed her suitcase from beside her and got out of the car. Almost as soon as she'd shut the door behind her, the cab started up and drove off in search of its next customer.
Cami went into the apartment building she'd been dropped off in front of and made her way up the stairs and down what she hoped was the correct hallway, until she got to the door she was looking for.
She knocked gently on the ugly dark green front door and waited. She had told him she was coming in advance, so he had no excuse for not being in. Still, it took a minute for the door to open.
Her cousin, Declan, stood on the other side, his face a picture of frustration. "I can't believe you're really here."
"I told you I would be," she replied.
He opened the door wider to allow her to enter his apartment. "Yeah, but I hoped you were kidding."
"This is insane," Declan said, his hands folded together under his chin. He sat on his couch, his foot tapping against the floor with nerves. "I mean, absolutely certifiable. I can't believe I agreed to help you with this."
"But you did agree," Cami pointed out. She sat beside him, completely calm and unruffled by his reaction. She was sure that he'd been incredulous when she'd sent him a letter telling him that she wanted to visit him in New Orleans and kill the Hybrid. She didn't know the city and she thought at the time that it would be safer to stay with him. She wasn't stupid enough to think that she wouldn't need some help with this. Although, she did think it was slightly ridiculous of him to act so nervous and shocked about all of this when he already knew her plan.
"Because I knew if I didn't, you'd still try to come here and kill him. I thought it would be better if you at least had some help rather than doing this alone." His Irish accent thickened whenever he got stressed and right now, it was the strongest she'd ever heard out of him.
"And I appreciate your help," said Cami. "Truly, I do."
Declan look at her with scepticism. Seeing how calm she was, he asked, "So you're really ready to do this then? You're ready to go up against an Original?"
She nodded, her hair swaying from the movement. "I've killed plenty of witches, werewolves and vampires; I think I can handle it."
"Really?" Declan drawled. "Because a lot of other more experienced Hunters have tried to take an Original down in the past and none of them ever succeeded."
"I have to try," Cami snapped. "I can't sit around at home while Uncle Kieran's murderer parties in the French Quarter."
Declan's eyes softened with sadness at the mention of Kieran. "Klaus may have dealt the killing blow, but Uncle Kieran's real murderer was the witch that hexed him."
"They're both responsible." Cami looked at him, curious about his choice of words. "Klaus? You're on a first name basis with that psychopath?"
"It's what pretty much everyone knows him as in the Quarter," Declan replied, a touch defensive. "The only person I've ever heard call him Niklaus is his brother, Elijah."
That was another reason why she needed Declan's help. He was one of their family's very few sources in New Orleans. He knew things about the supernatural underbelly of the city that could be helpful to her.
"You've seen him then? In person?" she asked.
"Oh yeah. He looks normal. You wouldn't know from a glance that he was capable of ripping your heart out in a second."
Cami leaned forward, eager for any information that her vampire history books hadn't been able to tell her. "Have you ever spoken to him?"
"What?" Declan recoiled. "No. Why the hell would I do that? I keep my distance from the Originals. I just cater their stupid parties, and whatever information I overhear from any of the people hanging around, I pass on to our family. I don't draw attention to myself. That's how I stay alive down here."
It sounded boring to her, but if Declan preferred to stay out of the action and sit on the side lines, that was up to him.
"Can you get me close to them?" she asked him. She knew that she couldn't just go up to Niklaus – correction; Klaus – and stake him in the street. She needed to get to him when he was comfortable, and his guard was down and he wasn't expecting an attack.
Declan sighed and reclined back against the couch. "I can get you in their home. They're having a party tomorrow night that I'm catering, and I thought that you could be one of my servers. That job will get you inside the house, but that's as much as I can do." He sounded reluctant to even do that. It was better than nothing though.
"That's all I need." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll make sure that whatever happens, it doesn't affect you. You won't get hurt in all this."
"Thank you, but I'm more concerned that at the end of this, I'll have to be the one to tell your parents that you're dead." He met her gaze, imploringly. "So please, don't die."
She snorted, a bit amused. "Well, I'm definitely not planning to."
He looked sceptical about that. "Do you have weapons? Because I don't have much here to give to you if you don't."
"Of course I brought weapons," She was slightly offended that he thought she'd be so unprepared. She reached for her little suitcase and popped it open to pull out a cloth wrapped bundle of wooden stakes.
Declan grimaced. "You're all prepared then. You're really going to do this?"
Cami met his gaze. "Yeah. I'm doing this."
He let out a long breath and placed his head in his hands, pulling at his hair with his fingers. "This is not going to end well."
Author's note: I went back and edited a lot of chapter 1, since I decided a particular thing wasn't really needed in this story, so you might want to go back and take a quick look at chapter 1 just to see the changes!
Also, Klaus should appear in the next chapter ;)
