Chapter 1: Welcome to New Orleans

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New Orleans. Louisiana. 2011. 


The bartender placed the napkins down in front of Elijah Mikaelson and his girlfriend Lilliana Moore, placing two martinis on top of the napkins. Lilliana thanked the female bartender with a smile and took a sip of hers, picking out one of the olives off of the straw to nibble on. 

'So what brings you two to the Big Easy?' the female asked. 

'I used to live here,' Elijah replied smoothly, also taking a sip of the martini placed in front of him. 

'Really, when?' the bartender replied with keen interest. 

'Oh, it feels like 100 years ago.' She looked over at Lilliana. 

'You?' 

'I was born in Alabama,' Lilliana replied. Met this man, the love of my life, and I walked out on my old life and never regretted it since. Kinda moved all over the place for a bit before coming back here.' She wrapped her arm around Elijah's and gave him a kiss on the cheek, the two of them looking at each other with love in their eyes. 

'I just moved here myself,' the bartender said. 'What brought you back?' 

'Well, my brother's here somewhere. I'm afraid he might have gotten himself into a bit of a bind.' The bartender leaned down to get something. 

'You say that like it's a common occurrence.' 

'Well, he's... complicated. Defiant, ill-mannered, and a little temperamental. See, we don't share the same father. Of course, that never bothered me, but my brother resents it deeply. Never felt like he belongs. All told, he has a long history of getting into trouble.' 

'And I'm guessing you have a long history of getting him out of it.' I snorted, and Elijah nodded, letting a smile slip. 

'Damn right,' I muttered under my breath. 

'What kind of bind is your brother in?' the woman asked. 

'He believes there are people in this town that are conspiring against him.' Her eyebrows raised. 

'Wow. Narcissistic and paranoid. Sorry,' she replied, shaking her head. 'Bartender with a grad degree in psychology. Total cliche.' 

'Listen...' Lilliana said, looking down at the woman's nameplate, 'Camille, we're looking for someone who might be able to shed some light on his current predicament. She works here, Jane-Anne Deveraux. Any idea where I might find her?' 

'No...' Camille replied, 'but I know someone who might.' 


(Lilliana Moore's POV)


The two of us walked through the main streets of New Orleans, following the tour that the witch, Sabine, was leading. The group of civilians straggled along, seemingly hanging onto her every word. 

'Welcome to New Orleans, and the crown jewel of the Crescent City, the French Quarter. Jazz and jambalaya, romance, poetry, not to mention the things that go bump in the night. Monsters that feed off human blood, vengeful spirits of the dead, and my personal favorite,' the woman named Sabine said, walking in front of a shop, 'the witches. Here we have the voodoo shop, Jardin Gris. Go on, browse for a hex.' The civilians filterd into the shop as Sabine walked out into the street, turning to face the Original vampire and his girlfriend. 'Are you going to continue following me, Elijah, Lilliana, or are we going to talk?' 

'You know who we are,' Elijah replied. 

'Original vampire... always wears a suit. And his vampire girlfriend - or the Original's girl.' Elijah smiled in return. 'You two and your family are famous amongst the witches, especially with your... brother back in town.' 

'Well, Niklaus is here because he learned that a witch was conspiring against him. Someone by the name of Jane-Anne Deveraux.' 

'Well, if he's looking for Jane-Anne, he's a little late.' 

'Are you telling me she's dead?' 

'Come on,' Sabine said, beckoning to the two of us. 'Her sister Sophie's gonna want to talk to you.' 


Elijah and I trailed after the witch Sabine to the heart of the French Quarter, where they came upon what seemed to be the site of the dead. A woman laid in the middle of the street, dead, with blood across her throat, with several witches sitting or standing around, holding candles or simply, silently weeping.

'That's Jane-Anne?' Elijah asked in shock. 'Killed in public for anyone to find?' 

'Only people that come around here are the witches. Now her sister has come to take her body. Her spirit can't rest until it's been properly interred in the cemetery.' Elijah turned to face the witch and myself. 

'Please tell me that Niklaus had nothing to do wth this.' Sabine shook her head. 

'No. Jane-Anne died because she got caught doing magic.' 

'What do you mean she got caught doing magic?' Elijah asked with a frown. Just then there came a loud whistle, and several vampires jumped on top of cars to reach the area where Jane-Anne now laid dead. 

'You want to know who killed Jane-Anne? You're about to get your first glimpse of Marcel in action.' 

'The vampire Marcel?' Elijah asked. 

'Things have changed since your family left. Marcel has changed.' As more vampires approached, Sabine leaned over to Elijah, 'I'm asking you two, stay hidden. If Marcel finds out that a witch lured the Originals, plus one additional powerful vampire, back into town, my people will be slaughtered.' Elijah and I sped away towards a balcony, and watched the scene unfold. A dark-skinned man with a denim jacket and a black beanie, one that I assumed was Marcel, walked onto the street area. 

'Well, well, what have we here?' the man asked, rubbing his hands together excitedly. 'I gotta tell you, Soph, this street corner is not proving the luckiest spot for your family tonight. Not half an hour ago, we had to teach your sister a little lesson.' 

'We're putting her to rest, Marcel,' the woman who had been kneeling by Jane-Anne's body, the one who was called Sophie. 'Leave us alone.' 

'I never said you could move the body,' Marcel replied. 'Matter of fact, I left her here for a reason: send a message. If anyone here is thinking of joining some kind of rebellion, my rules state that witches can't practice magic in the Quarter and yet, a little birdy told me that Jane-Anne was cooking up something magically delicious. Oh, yeah, while I have you, quick Q&A. My old friend - the hybrid, Klaus - he just happened to show up out of the blue, asking for, of all people, Jane-Anne. Any idea why?' 

'I don't know. Witches don't get involved in vampire business.' Marcel walked through the crowd of vampires and witches, coming to stand behind Sophie Deveraux. 

'Yeah, that would be pretty stupid, that's for sure. Tell you what, go back to the restaurant, cook up some of that famous gumbo, and keep those tourists happy.' He nodded to the group of vampires. 'Take the body.' Once Sophie realised what was happening, she struggled, but one of the vampires held her back. 

'What? No! No! Stop, stop, Marcel!' she begged. 'Marcel, please. Her body won't be at peace.' 

'Not my problem,' Marcel replied in a sing-song voice, walking away with his group of vampires. 

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