The city was more than she could have ever expected. She should have known better than to underestimate Klaus' promise of great music and art. After what seemed like hours, the taxi slowed to a gradual stop. She quickly fished a twenty out of her purse and handed it to the driver.
"Merry Christmas!" she grinned cheerfully.
She climbed out onto the city street and had to stop her heart from dropping at the sight around her. Lights were strung aroundeach and every balcony while a large Christmas tree rested in the middle of the street. Tourist gathered around the magnificent sight and sung traditional Christmas carols.
"Wow," she breathed out. She watched her breath disappear into smoke from the cold air. Even though NewOrléans wasn't known for its cold winters apparently this year was an exception.
"Mistletoe!"
Her head turned around at the sound of a loud male voice yelling from behind her. Before shehad the chance to even realize what was happening, she felt the familiar feeling of a pair of lips against her own. She blinked her eyes in surprise and raised her hand to slap the mysterious guy across the face but he was already gone, lost in the crowd of moving bodies.
Caroline rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the city. "Now if I was an original where would I be for Christmas?"
She thought about the situation for a second before bursting out laughing. No matter how hard she tried to picture the originals celebrating Christmas she just couldn't. The image of Klaus dressed in a santa outfit crossed her mind and caused her to burst out laughing even more than before.
"I'm sorry I don't mean to interrupt your - happiness," a blonde suddenly appeared in front of Caroline, "but I couldn't help but overhear you talking to yourself."
Caroline's eyes grew wide. Great, she'd only been in New Orléans for a few minutes and was already making herself seem crazy.
"Did you say you're looking for the originals?"
Caroline's eyes narrowed in on the blonde. She didn't exactly see how a human could know who the originals were. Neither of the three remaining siblings would think twice about keeping her alive unless she was important. "You know them?"
"Know them. Love them, hate them. Whatever I do I can't shake them. It's some annoying habit the entire family possesses," the blonde human laughed. "I'm Camille. They're actually throwing a winter ball tonight. I can take you if you'd like."
"Caroline," she replied, "just curious. Which original do you know?"
"Well welcome to New Orleans Caroline. And I know them all even though I don't think I'm Rebekah's favorite person. She has this weird nickname for me - Blondie 2.0. It's so damn annoying."
Caroline's eyes grew wide. This couldn't be good.
Camille turned her back and signaled for Caroline to follow after her. "But when you're dating her brother, you're kinda forced to put up with her antics."
Caroline swallowed. "You're dating Elijah?"
"As if." Camille rolled her eyes. "Elijah's head over heels in love with Hayley. I'm with Klaus."
Oh fuck her.
"So, which original do you know?"
"Remind me again why you forced me to invite Davina?"
Rebekah Mikaelson stood besides her brother calmly sipping from a mixture of blood and booze. The ball was turning out to go exactly as she planned with both elegance and class. Her eyes narrowed in on the witch laughing carelessly with Marcel.
"Davina is a powerful witch. We do better having a witch on our side for future obstacles." Klaus glanced over to the blonde, "We wouldn't want her going against us again, would we?"
"No. I suppose not." Rebekah mumbled, her eyes never leaving the two. "And where might our other brother be?"
A smirk found Klaus' lips as he used his enhanced hybrid hearing to listen in on what was happening upstairs. His smirk grew even wider at the sound of someone's back hitting against a wall. "I believe he's preoccupied."
Rebekah let out an annoyed sigh and rolled her eyes. "Dear God, at my bloody Christmas ball? Honestly 'Lijah, what happened to your class? And what about you Nik? Where's your little ball of annoying judgemental glares?"
Rebekah's dislike for Camille wasn't something she tried to hide. At first the two girls had hit it off and seemed to truly have a real friendship but that was before the little wrench had fallen for her brother. Camille was everything that Klaus did not need especially when she was busy trying to convince him to take the high road and not end Mikael's miserable life.
"She'll be here."
Truth be told he was beginning to grow worried over Camille's late arrival. He knew she was more thancapable of handling herself but couldn't help but wonder if a vampire or werewolf might have taken her. At the thought of his girlfriend, he downed the remainder of his drink in one shot. She'd started up as nothing more than a distraction but ended up turning into something more.
Regardless what he felt for the human, it'd never replace what he felt for her.
"Well if there's any truth to Santa hopefully he'll grant my wish and we'll find her dead in an ally by midnight."
Klaus turned to glare at his sister. "Jealously never did suit you, Rebekah."
Rebekah rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to reply but shut it as soon as her eyes caught sight of the entrance. Her eyes lit up with amusement and she couldn't help but smirk. "This is bloody amazing. Well Nik no need to worry, I found your little girlfriend. And look who's with her."
Klaus turned to the entrance and felt his heart fall to the floor. Before he could grab Rebekah and whoosh away his sister was already storming through the crowd with her hand in the air.
"Caroline!" She waved with a bright smile on her face, "You have no idea how wonderful it is to see you in New Orleans. And I see you've met the lovely Camille."
"Right," Camille deadpanned. She looked behind Rebekah and smiled at the sight of her boyfriend walking in the opposite direction. "Well I'm going to let you two besties catch up. I need to find Klaus. He's probably worried that something happened."
As soon as Camille walked away Rebekah turned towards the blonde vampire with a raised brow and amused smirk on her face. "Yes let's catch upBestie."
"Trust me I hate the idea too but what else was I supposed to say? Oh hi I'm Caroline and I'm here because your boyfriend promised to be my last love?" Caroline rushed out causing Rebekah to throw her head back in laughter. "It is not funny."
"Oh love sure it is. Tell you what, I'll agree to go along with your little lie if you help me make my brother squirm. He's been entirely too cocky lately. It's about time something comes along to shake his life up," Rebekah grinned happily, "now come on bestie. Let's go catch up with dear ole' Nik."
Rebekah turned on her heel leaving Caroline with either two choices. Run and end up captured by the originals before she could even leave the building, or follow her and face the most awkward moment of her life. She sighed and found her feet slowly moving to follow the blonde original.
"Nik, look who it is!" Rebekah called out causing the hybrid to grow still. He slowly turned on his heel, refusing to meet Caroline's eyes. "You remember my dear old friend Caroline, don't you? You too used to be so close. She's in town for the holidays and I've invited her to spend her time here with us."
Caroline nearly choked while Klaus' eyes narrowed with anger. Rebekah turned towards Camille with an evil smile. "Don't worry Cami. Nik will keep his hands to himself. After all, Caroline is practically family, isn't that right Nik?"
"Rebekah, love. Don't you think Caroline would rather spend her time in a quiet hotel room, far, far away from our dysfunctional family?"
"Caroline is right here." she snapped, forcing Klaus to look at her for the first time. She wasn't about to let him basically shun her from his life just because he found some girl to replace her. "And she's quite capable of answering for herself. I came here to see Rebekah and I'm not going to spend my time in some hotel room just because she's forced to live with her annoying brother."
"Now come on love," Klaus smirked, forgetting about Cami for a moment, "Elijah's not annoying. What would he think if he heard you speaking about him in that way?"
"We both know I wasn't talking about Elijah."
"Should I walk away for a moment?" Camille asked suddenly, "I feel like there's some unresolved tension here. I can give you three a moment if needed."
"Unresolved tension doesn't begin to describe it." Rebekah glanced towards Camille with a hint of amusement in her eyes. "Any who I was hoping to introduce Caroline to Marcel. The two of them will hit it off so well. You don't mind, do you Cami? Didn't think so. Enjoy you two. I'm sure we'll see each other eventually."
Rebekah turned on her heel and dragged Caroline besides her, leaving the couple to watch them silently. She let out a pleased sigh. Perhaps this wasn't going to be as bad as she had originally thought. "Did I mention how lovely it is to have you in New Orleans?"