Part 2

New Orleans, 1903

Kol turned up his nose as he walked across the long hallway. This place was truly disgusting. The most notorious asylum in Louisiana. Some people had described it as hell on Earth. That sounded about right. Kol smelled filth and heard screams echoing through the hallways. People who ended up here were treated worse than animals, they had no rights anymore.

Who would care what happened to lunatics. A person, who was brought here, didn't get out alive. Not that Kol cared about any of that, he was here for one simple reason. The staff didn't pay much attention to him, thanks to the compelled doctor who was walking next to him.

"She's there," the doctor said as they stopped in front of one of the doors.

"Open the door," Kol ordered.

The doctor obeyed and stepped aside. Kol frowned when he saw a tiny windowless room. He heard quiet humming and entered the room. There was a woman lying on the hard bunk bed, her hands and legs were tied and a sack her been pulled over her head.

"Why is she kept like this?" Kol asked.

"For her own good," the doctor replied. "She can hurt herself."

Kol rolled his eyes.

"Really?" He paused and made eye contact. "The truth, doctor?"

"The little bitch doesn't keep her mouth shut. She knows things she shouldn't know, no one wants to go near her."

"I see. You can leave us now."

Kol crossed his arms and looked at the woman after the doctor had left. She looked very tiny lying there; he couldn't imagine anyone being intimidated by her. All he saw under the sack was tangled chestnut curls.

"Are we going to play now?" she asked before he managed to say anything.

"I don't know," he replied. "What would you like to play, darling?"

She giggled before replying.

"Hide and seek."

"Ah. Sounds like fun."

"It is. But you already found me, so you won."

"Hmm. I do love to win."

She giggled again.

"Yes, you do. Does that silence the cries of the dead? Wash away their blood?"

Well, apparently the witches had been right about this girl.

"I am guessing that you know what I am?" Kol stated.

"Uh huh."

"Hmm. Does that scare you?"

She broke into a snigger.

"Scare me? Look around you. Nothing scares me anymore."

"Right. I suppose I understand what you mean. How long have you been here?"

"There's no time here," she hummed. "No days or nights. Just endless darkness."

"Sounds unpleasant. The doctor said that you are here because you killed your father and brother."

"I didn't," she replied. "They have tried to force me to say that I did, but I didn't. They have done things to me… Bad things. But I won't say it."

"Right."

"You don't believe me."

"It makes no difference to me. I'm here because I have a proposition for you. I can get you out of here."

"I know. You want me to play with you."

"Well, I suppose that's one way to put it. What do you say, darling, do we have a deal?"

"If you promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"A rose."

"What?"

"I want a white rose."

Kol frowned.

"A white rose? I'm sure that can be arranged."

"Then I'll be happy to play with you."

"Alright, good. My name is Kol by the way. And yours is Flora?"

"It was," she replied. "I don't know where Flora is now. I lost her."

Well, she most certainly was a loony, but Kol didn't care about that, not as long as she could be useful to him.

"Don't worry, darling, I'm sure you'll find her. Let's get you out of this awful place first."

He walked over to the bed and pulled the sack out of her head. What he saw stunned him completely. She was absolutely gorgeous, probably one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Slowly she blinked her light green eyes, trying to clear her vision. Finally she looked at him and smiled.

"Hello there. You're taller than I thought."

"What do you mean?"

"You sounded shorter, but that's okay."

Quickly he untied her hands and legs.

"Can you get up?" he asked.

She tried, but didn't succeed. He noticed how thin she was, clearly she was malnourished and there were bruises all over her body.

"Alright, it seems that I have to carry you."

"How fun!" she giggled. "I can fly like a little bird."

"Sure you can," he replied and carefully lifted her up into his arms.

"I can see the sky…" she murmured smiling and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Is it day or night outside?"

"Afternoon," he replied.

"Afternoon…" she hummed. "I had forgotten afternoon. How silly of me…"

He felt her falling asleep in his arms and hesitated for a moment. Should he wake her up? No, clearly she was exhausted. They would have time to talk later; right now he just needed to get her out of this hellhole.

Kol parked his car in front of a nice house and picked up a white rose he had bought earlier. His own little flower loved flowers, especially white roses. He marched to the front door and opened it with his own keys.

"Aaron?" he called.

A tall male vampire appeared in front of him almost immediately; Kol had let him know that he was coming.

"How is she?" Kol asked.

"Not too bad," Aaron replied. "She hasn't spoken much after you left."

"Hmm. You can leave now."

"Sure. When do you want me to come back?"

"I'll let you know," Kol replied impatiently.

"Alright. I'll see you later then."

Aaron was one of the very few people Kol trusted; he had certainly proved his loyalty by taking care of Kol's flower when he hadn't been able to do that himself. Not to mention Aaron owed Kol his life and most importantly, he was gay. In other words, he was a perfect bodyguard for a woman who was as beautiful as Flora.

Kol couldn't deny that her beauty was the first thing that had caught his attention. First of many things. He smiled as he approached her room and heard her playing the violin. He stayed behind her door and listened until she stopped. She was standing in front of the window and she didn't say anything as he entered the room, but he knew that she had noticed him.

"Hello, darling," he finally said.

She still didn't say anything. He moved next to her and wrapped his arm around her. Gently he kissed her forehead.

"How is my beautiful wife today?"