The drive left a lot of time for Caroline's mind to wonder. She turned around twice to go home before the nagging voice in her head that kept calling her a coward got the better of her. She reasoned with herself. Even if Klaus was a bust it was New Orleans. She could party on Bourbon St, watch the parades, hell even get her palm read. As if a real witch would read her palm.
She thought of the city and the lights but for the most part all she thought about was Klaus. She had gone over at least 20 ways the conversation could go. To be honest she didn't really know what to except. They hadn't spoken since graduation; she didn't even really know why he was in New Orleans to begin with. She knew it was his home once, she knew Elijah was there with him and now Rebekah. Something had to be going on.
Maybe he had forgotten about her. You can only turn a guy down so many times right? What frustrated her most, was that most of her anger towards him was due to the feud between him and Tyler. Klaus finally allowed Tyler to come back and Tyler just takes a pass. She felt like an idiot. She had been so quick to pass judgment on Klaus when really he wasn't guilty of anything any of the Scooby gang hadn't done as well.
She herself had killed several people in the past and regardless of the reason behind it they were still dead. She considered Stefan her best friend and even he was a ripper long before Klaus came and brought it back out of him. If she can forgive Stefan and the others for all the things they had done in the past then why not Klaus.
Take exit 236C for Saint Bernard Avenue.
Caroline made up her mind. It was time for a clean slate. She would no longer hold Klaus' past against him; she would go talk to him. He would either be the egotistical jerk Klaus or the say all the right things in his sexy English accent Klaus. If anything she would walk away with no regrets.
She swallowed hard as her GPS announced she was a mile away from her destination. It was easy to spend 14 hours thinking about what you were going to say and then actually saying it. She saw the streets were getting overcrowded with people and parked her car down a side street and walked the rest of the way.
She finally made it to a busy intersection and looked up. Bourbon Street. That was precisely where she wanted to end up. Even though she was a vampire this was the furthest she had ever been from home. All she knew about New Orleans was Mardi Gras and Bourbon Street. Caroline figured if she was looking for someone this would be the best place to start.
She started walking down the street. It was lined with old bars and pubs, even a voodoo shop that already had a crowd of people outside of it. She thought of Bonnie and how she would have loved a place like this. She could almost feel magic moving around her. Bonnie was a problem for another day though. So she kept moving down the sidewalk. Most of the restaurants were just opening. It was noon and she hadn't eaten since the grill yesterday with Stefan.
She stopped inside a small pub and found a seat at the bar.
"What can I get for you?" A blonde bartender asked.
"Just a burger with fries."
"Anything to drink?"
"Yea, a Scotch and a glass of water, thanks." Caroline had a blood bag on the way down and several more in the car to last at least a few days but alcohol still helped with cravings and it would take the edge off.
The blonde looked at her questioningly. "Scotch really? I normally only serve that stuff to old men."
Caroline smiled. "I blame my best friend. He has some very old taste."
The girl poured the drink and set it in front of Caroline. "Here you go. Your food should be out in a minute. I'm Cami if you need anything."
"Cami, I'm actually looking for someone. A man about 5'9, short ginger blonde hair, with an English accent. He comes off as kind of an ass sometimes.
"Niklaus Mickealson, perhaps?" A handsome dark-skinned man sat down next to her.
Caroline tensed up at his sudden intrusion. She knew Klaus had very few friends and many enemies. Anyone who knew of Klaus personally probably fell into the latter category.
"I'll have the usual Cami." He smiled at the bartender.
"Coming right up, Marcel." She turned and walked back toward the kitchen.
The stranger then turned to Caroline. "What would someone as pretty as you want with Klaus?"
"He's an old acquaintance. I heard he was staying in New Orleans so I figured I'd drop in on him." She paused to get a read on the guy. "How do you know him?"
The man smirked. "We go way back. In fact I'd say Klaus pretty much made me into the man I am today."
"By that you mean a vampire?" Caroline replied. The man's smirk turned into a full smile and he let out a laugh.
"You're smart. I like that. Klaus is a friend so you can relax. Any friend of Klaus if a friend of mine."
Caroline didn't for a minute let her guard down though. She had been captured and tortured way too many times not to be wary of strange vampires proclaiming themselves friends. The waitress came back with their food and Marcel ordered them both another round of scotch.
"Now I know everything there is to know about this city. This city is somewhat a Mecca for vampires now. No werewolves, no witchy spells, just an all you can eat party that never ends."
"Well I prefer blood bags but I could do without seeing a werewolf ever again." Caroline retorted. She was getting a bad vibe from this guy but he knew Klaus so she would play along for now.
"Normally vampires don't make it out of run-ins with werewolves. You're either extremely tough or incredibly lucky."
"Neither. Ex-boyfriend. I don't want to talk about it."
Marcel leaned in closer to her. "I get it now. You're into the dangerous guys. That must be why you're here for Klaus."
"No." Caroline yelled out before regaining her composure. "I mean no. Werewolves can be dangerous but that doesn't mean they are automatically enemies. And I'm really just here to catch up."
"This werewolf, did he break your heart?"
Caroline's head snapped up. What type of question was that to ask a stranger? Even more so since she didn't have an answer to it. It hurt when Tyler left her that voicemail then ignored all her calls. She loved Tyler. But he had already been gone without word for several months. She knew it should feel like a heartbreak but after the initial shock it almost felt like it had long before that.
Marcel took her silence in for a moment."Look sweetheart, this is my address;" he grabbed a napkin and began to write on it."I will be having a party tonight at sun down, and I will ensure Klaus' attendance."
Caroline smiled at him; rather she could trust the man or not remained to be seen. But for now he served a purpose so she would play his game.
"Only," he continued. Here it was. Caroline kicked herself for thinking this would be easy."If you tell me your name."
She waited for more but when nothing else followed she extended her hand. "Caroline."
"Caroline. I will see you soon." And with that the man left the bar.
Caroline quickly finished her food and paid. She asked Cami for directions to the nearest hotel and grabbed the napkin with the address on it and made her way back out to the street. The hotel was a few blocks down so she doubled back to her car and drove there. She was exhausted from the drive so she booked a room overlooking the busy street. She decided she would look absolutely gorgeous tonight and that would never happen without sleep.
Marcel made his way thru the crowd of street performers and their audiences. There were fake witches giving out fortunes, musicians on trumpets and guitars, and finally a lonely street artist. Marcel watched him as he calculated every precise brush stroke. It was a picture of a field of flowers.
"I'll never get why you get so much joy from this, Klaus." Marcel said as he continued to watch.
"It's called culture. I wouldn't expect you to get it." The artist smirked and continued painting,
Marcel walked over and picked up his sketch book. He leaned against a nearby rail and flipped thru the pages.
"Yea but why do it out here like a common peddler. I know for a fact you have hundreds of paintings scattered throughout museums around the world."
"It gives me inspiration I guess."
Marcel stopped on a page filled with light pencil etchings. They were all of a girl. They were all of Caroline.
"Hey I know her." Marcel began.
Klaus walked over to him and looked at the page. "You don't, I assure you." And he snatched the book away from him.
"Caroline, right?"
Klaus froze in place and his eyes narrowed slightly. He waited for an explanation.
"I just met her down at the pub. Nice girl. I told her to come by the house later." Marcel eyes stayed locked onto Klaus, analyzing his every move.
Klaus smiled. "You don't say. Well you two have a great night then. If you don't mind I have some pointless street peddling to get back to." He turned around, sketchbook still tightly held in his hand, and looked back at his previous work.
Marcel pushed himself off the rail. "Oh, I plan on it. She's a spitfire that one. I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun together." Marcel focused his hearing and barely made out the grinding of Klaus' teeth. Satisfied with the response he made his way back down the busy street.
Klaus waited till Marcel was out of sight to open the sketchbook. He paused for a few seconds taking in the beautiful image of Caroline. He didn't need the sketch to recall her though. Every detail of her face was etched into his mind already. He had spent many sleepless nights thinking of her. He would daydream about showing her the city. He would fantasize about her reactions to the different foods and the music. His dream was to show her his home. But he had always figured that would be well down the road after she went thru all the notions of a human life and still craved more. He knew she would seek him out eventually.
But why now? Why so soon? She had only spent two months in college. That surely wasn't enough time for her to change her mind. And Haley. Klaus slapped his hand over his forehead. Caroline didn't know. Only him, his siblings, and the witches knew. He rolled his eyes as he went thru that conversation in his head.
Well there wasn't anything to be done about that now. He packed up his easel and put his brushes away. He left the painting sitting by the railing. With all his stuff in hand he quickly started off in the same direction Marcel had gone. He had a very important party to get ready for.