She has been through hell. So believe me when I say, fear her when she looks into a fire and smiles. -e. corona

Klaus couldn't believe his eyes. He hadn't seen her in five years, and yet here she was, sitting at the bar in the Abattoir. She spoke conversationally with Diego, one of Marcel's day walkers. The scene irked him, and he forced down a growl. He didn't like his little druid girl speaking with other men, especially vampires, but he knew he had no right to be angry. He had relinquished his hold on her life long ago.

Still, he couldn't help watching her. She had downed five shots of Scotch in the past hour and a half, all the while speaking to the pesky daywalker. She was mostly casual in speaking to him, though occasionally flirty. He knew from looking that Diego planned on making her his next meal. Klaus would kill him if he tried.

Unfortunately, Marcel caught his attention, speaking pleasantly about the plans for the night. Though Klaus was eager to tell his young protege to quit talking and go bore someone else, he needed to seem interested. He nodded along, occasionally making comments, but mostly allowed Marcel to do all of the talking. When the clock struck twelve, the screaming started.

Klaus searched the crowd for Lily, and found her not far from the bar. Diego hadn't wasted any time in sinking his fangs into her neck. Klaus moved to save her, when Lily placed her hands on Diego's forehead. He stopped feeding on her almost instantaneously, pulling back from her and giving a shout of pain. Lily kept her hands on his forehead, and then something truly beautiful happened.

Diego collapsed to his knees, staring up into space at some unknown terror. Klaus had seen that look before; he'd caused it with his bite many times. He was hallucinating, living in his own personal nightmare. Seems his little druid still had some power to her.

Diego screamed abruptly, catching all of the other vampires attention. Lily turned to face them, but Klaus could tell she wouldn't be able to fight them all off. She was drunk, losing blood, and even she didn't have enough power to fight off a dozen vampires. The other vampires moved to attack, and Klaus jumped down, standing in front of her.

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to hurt her." His voice was perfectly pleasant, but inside a storm was brewing. He could smell her blood, could sense her pain and confusion, and it infuriated him. He would watch them all burn, but first he needed to protect her.

"I don't allow witches to use magic here, Klaus." Marcel reminded him from above, but Klaus all but waved him off. He had no interest in Marcel's little rules, especially when it came to her. Besides, she wasn't a witch. Klaus turned to face her, confident the other vampires wouldn't attack. She looked scared and disoriented, clutching onto the table beside her to keep her upright. He approached her, and placed a hand on her waist to steady her.

"She's not a witch, Marcel." Klaus answered his protege, if only to stop him from coming down here and ruining the moment. He was looking at her again face to face for the first time in five years, and he would kill any man who would try to take her away.

"Then what is she?" Marcel asked, clearly suspicious of Klaus' statement. Klaus almost rolled his eyes. Klaus placed his hand on her cheek, stroking it to comfort her. It seemed to work slightly, as the tension in her body began to release.

"Well, that's for me to know." He echoed Marcel's earlier words to mock him. With a final smug smirk at his small triumph, he made eye contact with Lily. "Sleep, darling. You're safe." He compelled her. All tension left her, her eyes closing as she slumped over in sleep. Klaus picked her up before she could fall, cradling her in his arms. He didn't wait for Marcel to object, he disappeared out of the Abattoir.

Without any knowledge of where she resided, Klaus took her to a local hotel. He rented a room and placed her on the bed, pulling the covers up over her. He sat down beside her, and pushed the hair from her neck. He grimaced; the bite was deep and brutal. Diego hadn't been kind when he bit her. Another reason Klaus was going to make his death slow and painful.

The smell of her blood was taunting him, and so he bit into his wrist, placing it against her lips. She didn't consciously respond to the blood, but the wound on her neck slowly started to heal. He sat back, and looked at her closely.

She had grown up since he had last seen her. Seventeen at their first meeting, she now had to be twenty-two. She wasn't malnourished anymore, looking to be a healthy weight for one her age. She'd also gained confidence, which he found himself being proud of. The girl he'd met had been soft-spoken, though honest with him. Her honesty had only come from her knowledge that he would not hurt her though. With others, she had kept her head down, preferring to be invisible than to stand out.

She also seemed to have gained knowledge of her own sex appeal. Annoying for him, because though he had let her go the idea of her charming another man into bed made him want to kill someone. Preferably Diego. And the other vampires. All in due time though. For now, he would stay here and wait for his little druid to wake up.

It wasn't until the sun was rising when she stirred, moaning softly. Her hand immediately flew to her neck, though there was no way she had yet remembered the nights events. Her eyes fluttered open, and she took in her surroundings groggily. When her eyes landed on him, they widened. She shot up.

"Where am I? What happened?" She asked. He approached the bed, holding out a hand to show he meant no harm. "Who are you? You...you saved me last night." She continued unsurely. He nodded.

"My name is Klaus. Last night you made the unfortunate mistake of walking into a party filled with vampires, but don't worry love, I healed you." He explained calmly. She narrowed her eyes on him, though it wasn't because of distrust. It was more like she was trying to read him. The second he thought it, he knew it was the truth, quite literally.

"So that's what that strange energy is." She murmured, shaking her head as if having trouble comprehending something. He raised an eyebrow questioningly. She glanced up at him, and decided to elaborate. "I'm a psychic telepath. Not as strong as I used to be, but I can still get a bit of information just from looking at someone. There's a sense of...danger that comes off of you. It was radiating from that guy Diego last night too." She explained.

"You're taking this remarkably well." He observed, wondering if perhaps her calm response to his true nature was due to her technically already being aware of what he is. She shrugged, biting down on her bottom lip. He looked away; he hated when she did that.

"I'm freaking out on the inside." She admitted, and then looked up to meet his gaze. He saw them swirling as she tried to absorb all of this new information, and deep beneath the depths he saw the hidden panic. "Stop doing that." She ordered suddenly.

"Doing what?" He asked, humoring her. She scowled up at him, crossing her arms. He couldn't help the amused tilt of his lips, which only seemed to aggravate her further.

"Reading me. Trying to figure out what I'm thinking. I don't like it." She responded tersely. He couldn't help the chuckle that left his lips. She narrowed her eyes further, and he brought his hand up to cup his mouth, attempting to stifle the laughter.

"You'll have to forgive me. I merely find it amusing that a girl who can know what a person is thinking just by looking at them doesn't like it when people attempt to learn what she's thinking." He explained. Her angry look dropped, and she shrugged.

"I suppose you have a point." She admitted. She moved her feet off of the bed, pushing the covers away from her body. She stood, running a hand through her mussed hair. It was a tantalizing sight, and he once again had to avoid looking at her. Damn his connection to her and what it did to him. She moved towards him, stopping right in front of him. "Why did you save me?" She asked. The suspicion in her tone grated on him. He wanted her to trust him again, like she had five years ago. The blind, not-so-blind, faith she'd had in him had been refreshing and heartwarming. He wanted to feel it again, but he knew that wasn't possible. Even if he returned her memories to her, she had changed. There was no telling where her loyalties lied now.

It made his cold heart ache.

He sighed, leaning down so they made eye contact. "You will forget last night's events. You went to a party, got drunk, and passed out. A kind stranger dropped you off at the hotel and paid for the room. You know nothing of Vampires." He compelled her. The second he'd finished compelling her, he took off.

After returning home, Lily quickly showered and changed. She had a massive hangover from the night before, but she had plenty she needed to get done today. She just couldn't believe she'd actually let herself get drunk enough to pass out. That was embarrassing. Fortunately, it seems New Orleans had kind strangers willing to help out young drunk girls. Suspicious, but not unwelcome, given their intentions had been pure.

Lily finished unpacking the rest of her boxes by mid afternoon. She stared around at her work appraisingly. The entire apartment was looking exactly how she wanted. Casual and bohemian, with a little fantasy wonder to it. She had fairy lights hung around the apartment and pieces of colorful artwork hung on the walls.

Having finished decorating her new apartment, Lily pulled her phone out of her pocket and called the number Katie had given her yesterday. It answered on the third ring. "Hello?" A woman's voice asked.

"Hi, is this Sabine?" Lily asked, heading towards the door.

"Yes, may I ask who's calling?" The woman responded, sounding wary.

"This is Lily Flores, I don't know if Katie told you but she gave me your number. I'm a journalist in town doing research on an article about Supernatural Legends of New Orleans. Do you mind sitting down and doing an interview with me sometime?" Sabine warmed up after that, and readily agreed to do the interview. They set up a time tomorrow afternoon, and Lily said her goodbyes.

With that out of the way, Lily gathered her things and headed out into town. She still needed to find a job. She was almost out of the money the very 'generous' landowner Mike Martin had 'loaned' her. Okay, so she might've gotten in his head, and maybe, sorta, persuaded him to give her money. And by 'persuaded', she meant made him her little puppet. Not that she felt bad. She'd seen his memories while rummaging around in his head, and knew him to be a rapist and thief who used his connections to get off with no charges. After he gave her the money, she used her mind control power to make him turn himself into the police. Fair was fair.

Lily searched the city for 'help wanted' signs, though hadn't been too lucky yet. She did eventually come across a bar called 'Rousseau's' that was hiring. She stepped inside, looking around at the place. It was a pretty normal looking bar, nothing really standing out too much, except for the small stage. Lily approached the bar, taking a seat and waiting patiently for the bartender to approach.

The bartender was a young woman, probably in her mid-twenties, with dark brown hair, a slim physique, and a slight gap in her teeth. Lily focused on her.

Sophie

Twenty-five

Current mood was agitated

A witch.

There was also something else, but Lily didn't really know how to make it out. A darkness lurking over her, an insatiable desire to right some wrong. Lily was curious, but it didn't seem to be any of her business. She put a polite smile on her face. "Hello. Could I speak to the owner of this bar?" Lily asked. Sophie met her gaze.

"That's me. Is there a problem?" She asked calmly. Lily shook her head.

"No, no problem. I'm actually looking for a job. I saw the help wanted sign." Lily motioned towards the door where the sign was placed. Sophie glanced at the door and sighed.

"Oh, i'm sorry, the position was already filled." She explained. Lily's smile dropped. She glanced around the bar, her eyes landing on the stage.

"What about a performing position? I can sing." Lily offered hopefully. Sophie stared at her for a moment, and then nodded.

"Sing something." She ordered. Lily shrugged and then thought quickly. She sang a few bars to the first song she could think of, and then looked at Sophie expectantly. "Good. I could have you perform every tuesday, hundred bucks a night." It wasn't much, but Lily was willing to take it. She could find a day job elsewhere too. She thanked Sophie and then headed out to search the streets for more work.

On the next street over, Lily struck gold. An adorable twenties themed restaurant was hiring waitresses, and hired her on the spot. The hours and pay was good, and the best part was the waitresses wore flapper dresses as their uniform. She was actually excited to start on Monday. She moved to return home for the night, when she stopped. Someone was watching her. Lily whirled around, ready to defend herself. She paused when she saw she wasn't being attacked.

A tall man with dark skin and a shaven head was standing right behind her, staring at her with a curious look. Lily regarded him in a suspicious manner, taking a step back. "Who are you?" She didn't ask; she demanded. He stared blank faced for a second longer, before grinning at her.

"I'm Marcel. Klaus' friend." He explained. Lily gave him a confused look.

"Who is Klaus?" She asked. Understanding crossed his eyes.

"I apologize, I thought you knew him. He's the man who helped you out last night." He was choosing his words carefully; why? He had that same dangerous aura as that man last night though, who invited her to that party.

"Uh huh." Lily said, unconvinced. She took another step back and crossed her arms. She didn't like this man. "Why don't we just skip the pleasantries, and you tell me why you're talking to me?" She asked. He chuckled as a response.

"I'm just curious as to who you are." He responded, and Lily didn't sense any lies. Still, it wasn't a full truth either, that she could tell.

"I'm Lily. I'm twenty-two, A graduate of GeorgeTown-Journalism major, and a Scorpio-which means you shouldn't piss me off. I run my own blog, where I write articles about whatever suits me. I just moved to town. Now, I think that about covers everything a stranger has any right to know about me. Are we done?" She asked sharply. He actually had the gall to look impressed. He placed a hand on his chest, and Lily knew instantly he was going to pull the nice guy act. She held up a hand to stop him. "Don't start." She ordered. "Listen, I'm sure you're not a rapist or serial killer, really, I am. You don't have to convince me. You don't have to convince me you're a nice guy underneath that arrogant, bad boy act. You don't have to convince me of anything, because I'm not going anywhere with you. And whoever this 'Klaus' is, I'm not going anywhere with him either. Are we clear?" The way she spoke was slightly sarcastic, and very biting. Marcel was almost positive she was the one with fangs, and he the innocent human she was about to take a chunk out of. It certainly felt that way.

He put his hands up in surrender. "Crystal." He answered in mock defeat. She gave him a smug smile.

"Good," She answered. "Have a nice day, Marcel." Then, she turned on her heels and left, not giving him another glance. She muttered to herself on her walk home, all about 'weirdos' and 'perverts'. This town seemed to be filled with them. Still, she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, if it came down to it.

The Cat's Meow, the name of the 20's restaurant she was waitressing at, was a fun place to work. It was more relaxed and fun, but placed you right in the center of the 1920's. The waitresses wore Flapper dresses and the waiters wore tuxes. Jazz music played all night, and sometimes they even had live music. The customers weren't the usual drunken riff raff you found at the bars around the quarter, and instead the restaurant seemed to serve families more. Which was fine by Lily; she didn't like being hit on by drunken idiots when she couldn't yell at them anyway.

She was halfway through her shift when she felt a change in the atmosphere. The warm air in the building suddenly became chilly, and Lily visibly shivered. Something powerful was trying to communicate with her. She needed to get out, quickly. Already the world was blurring, the ringing in her ears becoming unbearable. Lily stumbled through the restaurant, handing over her latest order to the closest co-worker and headed outside.

She searched the city with little focus, only hoping to find somewhere quiet. She finally managed to find herself in an alley, and she relaxed her back against the wall, finally allowing the spirit in. The first thing she noticed about the spirit was he seemed familiar, though she knew she'd never met him before. He smirked at her playfully, though there was a bit of malicious intent hidden in his eyes.

"Who are you?" Lily asked shakily, and then cleared her throat.

"My name is Kol. You know, I've been trying to reach you for days now. Glad to see I finally broke through." He mussed. Lily crossed her arms in some semblance of defense. She always hated ghosts; they had a tendency to be rather vindictive.

"Alright, Kol. What do you want?" She asked. His eyes snapped to meet hers. They danced with mischief, though surprisingly, she didn't feel too frightened. She didn't get the feeling that he meant her any harm.

"To help you," He answered. Lily raised an eyebrow. He laughed aloud. "You know, as much as I hate my brother, I have to give him props for finding you. Smart, pretty, powerful. Do you by chance have a sister?" He asked flirtatiously. Lily pursed her lips.

"Get on with it." She ordered coldly. Her palms were beginning to sweat, and her head was starting to hurt. She didn't have long before she collapsed or worse.

"Right then. You see, your pretty little head is being messed with. Nasty trick called compulsion. We don't seem to have time for specifics, but you need to start taking an herb called vervain. It's the only way to stop someone from getting in your head." Lily scoffed.

"Someone's getting in my head?" She asked incredulously. He shrugged.

"You're not all powerful, love. If you don't know someone's compelling you, you can't block them out very well can you? Just do as I say, and acquire some vervain. You'll thank me for it later." She studied him closely. She didn't sense any ill intent aimed at her, but she still didn't believe he was doing this for no reason.

"What do you want in return?" She asked. His eyes sparkled at her question.

"I don't know yet, but perhaps the time will come when you can bring me back. Until then, stay safe, little Druid girl." He disappeared before Lily could ask any further questions. She sighed, leaning her head back against the brick and taking deep steadying breaths. Connecting with the dead always took a physical toll on her body.

She managed to calm her beating heart to a normal rate and headed back into the restaurant, intent on finishing out her shift. She ended up leaving after closing with a major headache. "Stupid ghosts." She muttered to herself. She ended up making it home safe and sound. She immediately headed to the medicine cabinet, and took some tylenol.

She headed into her room, undoing the intricate updo and pulling off her uniform. She changed into her comfiest pair of sweats and left her twenties curls to hang down naturally. She took a seat on her bed, and pulled her laptop onto her lap. She bit her lip as she typed in 'Vervain'.

Dozens of search results came up, not that she was surprised. She knew Vervain was an herb, but she didn't know why that ghost from earlier had told her to ingest it. Legends of Vervain said that is was called 'the tears of Hera' and could block out mind control from supernatural creatures. She bit her lip nervously. Were the witches in town aware of what she was? Were they going to attack her? Searching even further, it was said drinking tea with vervain in it was said to ward of vampires.

Vampires? Lily snorted at the thought. Witches she could believe, but vampires? She'd have to see it to believe it. Still, she wasn't about to ignore the ghosts warning. Though she generally disliked ghosts, they did occasionally contact her in hopes of getting favors from her. Tomorrow, she would head out and get vervain. Tonight though, tonight she was going to bed early.

Diego was pretty sure Marcel's plan was going to get him killed. Klaus had already made it very clear to every vampire in town that the girl Lily Flores was off limits. Plus, he also didn't like the idea of getting tortured by her little mind control tricks like he was last time. Still, he was loyal to Marcel. So regrettably, he walked into the Cat's Meow. He walked up to the hostess with a smile, compelling her to bring Lily to him.

A few minutes later, the scary human girl walked towards him in a plum colored flapper dress, scowling openly at him. She stopped in front of him, crossing her arms. "What is it you want?" She asked flatly. He gave an admittedly nervous smile.

"Listen, I'm sorry about the other night." He apologized. Marcel had told him that she had been compelled to forget that night, but he didn't know of how much. Better to apologize, given her unpleasant stare. She scoffed, but her face did soften a little.

"You don't have anything to apologize for. I usually know my own limits." She visibly winced. "Still, I'm curious as to why you're here. Or, how you even know I work here." Her voice was filled with suspicion, her eyes staring at him coolly. He got the feeling that this girl was very wary of strangers.

"Yeah, my friend said he saw you worked here. And I...kind of have a crush on you." He was lying, of course. He loathed the girl in front of him. She'd tortured him, embarrassed him, and made him relive some of his worst memories.

"Uh huh." She said, her lips pursing into a thin line. He thought for a moment she'd seen through his lie, but then her look quickly turned to a small smile. "So are you going to stand there looking nervous or are you going to ask me out?" She asked. He almost breathed a sigh of relief.

"There's this masquerade charity party going on tomorrow night. You can even dress up with a theme, as long as you're wearing something fancy. Would you like to go with me?" He asked. She nodded, her smile growing.

"Sure. I'll meet you there." She agreed. He quickly gave her the time and location, promising to meet her at the front. He left quickly after that, desperate to be out of her view. For a human, she was kind of terrifying.

Marcel met him a block over. "Did she agree?" He asked. Diego nodded, glancing at Marcel.

"You've seen how Klaus looks at her. He's going to rip my heart out the second he sees her with me." He reminded his boss and friend. Marcel shook his head, placing a calming hand on Diego's shoulder.

"He won't. You're not hurting her, you're taking her to a party. And he knows my rules. If he moves to do anything, I'll intervene." He promised. Diego nodded, but he still felt dread for tomorrow night.

Hi guys! This is Wickedlady, writer and creator of Bound! I hope you're enjoying the story so far! I've had quite a few of follows and favorites on the story, which is super awesome! However, I would greatly appreciate some reviews. They are very encouraging, and help me write faster. This is not a ploy to get you to review either. Hearing people say they enjoy and appreciate your hard work will instantly lift anyone's spirit and make them work that much harder. This is not to say that I won't publish more chapters without them-I will. I'm just saying you're more likely to get faster and better updates when I have people telling me what they think. (Note: This includes constructive criticism. Am I keeping characters true to themselves? Are their things you liked? Things you didn't like? Is my writing flowing well?)

For any readers I have who follow my other current story Two Souls, that story is not forgotten in the least. I love writing Two Souls, and Emiko is one of my favorite characters I've ever written. Unfortunately, I've had a major block on that story. I have a lot of the next chapter written, but it's just taking some time. It's not forgotten. I have so much planned for that story, and I am not giving up on it. I hope to have the next update out before November, but I don't make any promises. Please be patient, and hopefully I will go back to updating Two Souls often soon.

Thanks so much for taking an interest in Bound, or any of my other works! I'll try very hard to update regularly so no one is left hanging (I read fanfiction. I know how that feels. I know what it's like to want to punch an author. Trust me, I don't want to be hunted down and punched.) Please favorite, follow, and review!