COLBY DIDN'T sleep much for the rest of the night, the nightmare replaying every time she closed her eyes. If she wasn't so shaken up, she would have asked Diego to stay with her, but by the time she snapped herself out of her daze long enough to form a coherent thought, it was too late. After finally falling asleep at about five, Colby was exhausted when Claire shook her awake at ten.

"I'm surprised to see you still sleeping. Usually you're gone by now." Claire said with a small laugh. Colby sighed softly, rubbing at her eyes tiredly.

"I didn't sleep much last night." She admitted, sitting up to lean against the headboard. Claire frowned, placing her cup of coffee on the nightstand by Colby's bed.

"Bad dreams?" Claire asked, pressing a hand against Colby's forehead, checking just to make sure she wasn't sick. Colby shrugged, not able to meet her aunt's eyes.

"Yeah, something like that." Colby said flippantly. Claire sighed, running a hand through her messy, long brown hair. Claire Scott was young, only 34 years old, and a nurse who often worked night shifts. Claire had put everything on pause to help raise Colby with her sister, Colby's mother. Claire tried her best to be there for Colby, and she knew it. "I'm just gonna go shower and maybe clean around the apartment today." Colby said, finally standing from the bed. Claire nodded, pressing a kiss to Colby's forehead before leaving the room, purposely leaving the coffee there for Colby.

-•-•-

The shower did not help Colby clear her mind, and cleaning the apartment did nothing to help her either. She spent the entirety of her morning tidying things up, but she still couldn't get the dream out of her mind. Colby had never experienced anything like it before - the way it all came into focus, feeling too real, like she was actually there. She could feel the cold stone of the street beneath her bare feet, could clearly hear the two voices as they snapped at each other. She'd had plenty of nightmares before, but none were ever like this.

Huffing in defeat, Colby grabbed her messenger bag, before kissing Claire on the cheek as she got ready to leave for work. She quickly made her way out of the apartment building, making her way down the street, retracting the exact steps she took the night before. Wandering back into Rousseau's, Colby found her way over to the bar where Camille was working. Colby gave a small smile to a man in a suit as she took the seat next to him, leaving an open barstool between them. Camille gestured for her to hold on a moment, before she ducked back behind the bar for a few seconds. When she reappeared, she had a glass of chocolate milk in her hand, setting it down in front of Colby.

"I missed you this morning! Everything alright?" Camille asked, looking Colby over to see if she could detect any glaring problems right away. Colby shrugged, drinking some of her chocolate milk through a bright green bendy straw in the glass.

"I didn't sleep very well last night, so I overslept this morning." Colby explained, and while it wasn't a complete lie, it also wasn't the entire truth. Camille nodded, frowning slightly. There were nights when Colby stayed up all night drawing, or reading, and still came in the next morning at the same time - this was strange for her, but Camille dropped it, turning to the man in the suit.

"So what brings you to the big easy?" She asked, raising a curious eyebrow. The man sipped his drink, sparing a glance over at Colby, who was too distracted by her chocolate milk to notice him looking at her.

"I used to live here." He said simply. Camille nodded, taking Colby's now-empty glass away from her, the girl looking pleased that she had chugged down the entirety of her drink so fast. Camille thought that she wouldn't be so pleased when she got a stomachache because of it later.

"I just moved here myself. What brought you back?" Camille asked, quickly turning to place the glass with the other dirty ones before turning her attention back to the stranger. Colby was interested now, looking back and forth between the man and Camille.

"Well, my brother's here somewhere. I'm afraid he might have got himself into a bit of a bind." He said, an air of exasperation in his tone. Colby snorted, attempting to hold in her amused laughter.

"You say that like it happens a lot." Colby said with a grin. The man smiled in amusement at the young girl, nodding slightly.

"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 himself into trouble." He explained, and Camille nodded in understanding.

"And I'm guessing you have a long history of getting him out of it." She mused, making the stranger nod with a small smile.

"What kind of bind is your brother in?" Colby blurted out suddenly, looking up at the man with curious eyes.

"He believes there are people in this town that are conspiring against him." He explained, and there was that exasperated tone again.

"Wow. Narcissistic and paranoid." Camille said with a laugh, before shaking her head. "Sorry. Bartender with a grad degree in psychology. Total cliché." The man paused to take a moment to read her name-tag.

"Listen, Camille, I'm looking for someone who might shed some light on his current predicament. She works here, Jane-Anne Deveraux. Any idea where I might find her?" He asked, and Camille frowned, thinking for a moment.

"No, but Colby could probably help you. She has a talent for finding people - it's probably because they always come running when she calls." Camille said in amusement, gestured towards the younger girl.

"You, my dear Cami, are absolutely right. I don't know where Jane-Anne is, but I know someone who might." Colby said with a grin. She turned to look at the man. "I will be more than happy to escort you to them. I'm Colby, by the way." Colby introduced herself, holding her hand out.

"Elijah, pleased to meet you." Elijah said, shaking her hand. "Shall we get going?" Colby jumped up from the bar stool, grabbing her bag.

"We shall!"

-•-•-

Sabine led a group of tourists through the city streets, the bright lights from the signs around them illuminating the street in the dark. It all held some kind of strange charm to it, drawing people in.

"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 of human blood, vengeful spirits of the dead, and my personal favorite - the witches. Here we have the voodoo shop, Jardin Gris. Go on, browse for a hex." Sabine said, the words all rehearsed, but she sounded enthusiastic and convincing. The group of tourists quickly dispersed, moving into the little shop as Colby bounded up to Sabine.

"Hey, Sabine!" Colby greeted happily, and Sabine smiled, a bit surprised to see her.

"Colby, sweetheart, how're you?" Sabine asked, moving some of Colby's hair out of her face. Colby shifted the strap of her messenger bag a little, but her smile didn't falter.

"I'm good. I have a friend here who needs your help." Colby explained as Elijah stepped out into view next to her.

"Elijah." Sabine acknowledged him, crossing her arms over her chest. While her expression remained neutral, the way she bit out his name gave away that she knew exactly who the man was.

"You know who I am." Elijah said, not sounding very surprised. Sabine scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"An Original, always wears a suit." She stated, quickly running her eyes over his outfit of choice. She made sure to leave out what she truly wanted to call him, an Original vampire, but with Colby in earshot she chose her words carefully. "You and your family are famous amongst the witches, especially with your brother back in town." Sabine said, glancing behind her at the tourists wandering around inside Jardin Gris. Witches were something Colby was familiar with - even if she didn't know the real extent of their abilities behind hexes and charms.

"Niklaus is here because he learned that a witch was conspiring against him. Someone by the name of Jane-Anne Deveraux." Elijah explained calmly. Colby tensed at the mention of Jane-Anne, which didn't go unnoticed by either of them.

"Well, if he's looking for Jane-Anne, he's a little late." Sabine said grimly. Colby's eyes widened at the words as she gripped the strap of her messenger bag harshly, knuckles turning white. The shouts from her dream echoed in her head, so loud she was almost sure Sabine and Elijah could hear them too.

"Are you telling me she's dead?" Elijah asked, stepping forward. His words snapped Colby out of her daze, making her focus back on Sabine, who sighed deeply.

"Come on, her sister Sophie's gonna want to talk to you." Sabine said sharply before turning to Colby. She paused briefly, taking her in. Her eyes were wide, knuckles white from clutching her bag so tightly. While Sabine knew she would be sad, she didn't expect Colby to look so terrified.

"Go home. You don't need to see this." Sabine said, her voice soft, but firm, leaving no room to argue. Colby wanted to argue, to tell Sabine about what happened to her last night, how she knew this was coming. But she couldn't force the right words out.

"Okay," Colby mumbled softly with a nod. Sabine reached out to pull Colby into a hug, but the girl quickly stepped back away from the open arms. Sabine was shocked, a frown pulling at her lips. Colby gave Sabine and Elijah both a quick nod, before hurrying off in the opposite direction. Elijah looked back at Colby's retreating form, watching her nearly sprint down the street in an effort to get home.

-•-

Colby nearly slammed open the door of the apartment, keys in hand as she kicked the door shut behind her. Claire jumped in surprise, looking up at her from the couch.

"Woah, Colby, where's the fire?" Claire asked with a laugh. Her next words died on her lips as she saw how distraught Colby seemed. Her hands shook lightly as she felt her chest tighten, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"Jane-Anne," Colby took a deep breath, her voice shaking. "She's dead." She stuttered out, voice cracking. Claire's face fell as she pulled Colby down onto the couch so she could pull her into her arms.

"Oh honey, I know she was your friend." Claire soothed, pressing a kiss to the top of Colby's head. Tears finally fell from Colby's eyes, hands grabbing onto Claire's sleeve tightly. Her aunt continued to whisper soothing words to her, but the only thing Colby could hear was the sound of Jane-Anne's neck snapping and her body hitting the ground, over and over again.