OUTCASTS
— 01. Always and Forever
At Rousseau's, glasses of liquor clinked as customers of the bar chatted loudly with each other. Cadence walked throughout the bar, serving different customers their various drinks. She walked back behind the bar, noticing a new customer sitting at the bar.
It was a man with brown hair and dark eyes to match it. He was dressed in a fancy suit and Cadence couldn't help but feel as though it cost three times as much as she made in a month. She felt that it was quite odd that he was wearing a suit, seeing as though it was nearly summer time and they were in a bar, of all places.
"So what brings you to the Crescent City exactly?" Cadence asked the man curiously as she placed he ordered drink he ordered in front of him on a small napkin.
"I used to live here," He informed her in a calm tone, casually glancing up at her after staring down at the bar counter for a long moment.
"Hmm," She hummed in response as she pursed her lips, "Really? Recently?"
"Oh, it feels like one hundred years ago," Elijah replied and Cadence smiled slightly, immediately realizing the man sitting at the bar was a vampire. An old one, she guessed by the looks of it, "Have you lived here your whole life?" He asked, clearly knowing for a fact that she was a native.
Cadence nodded her head in confirmation, a smile forming on her lips, "Born and raised," She informed him in a calm tone, "I moved around the city frequently, though. My parents gave me up when I was a kid. I guess I was too much for them to handle," She paused, realizing that the man was giving her a somewhat of a sympathetic look, "No need to pity me, I love my life, no matter how messed up and chaotic it may be most of the time. Anyways, what brought you back to the city?"
"Well, my brother is here somewhere," He informed her with a small smile on his face, "I'm afraid he might have gotten himself into a bit of a bind."
"You make it sound like it happens on the daily," She commented as she crouched down to pick up a damp rag she had dropped moments before serving the man his drink.
"Well, he's complicated," He told her, sounding frustrated as he spoke of his brother, "Defiant, Ill-mannered, and a little temperamental."
Cadence snickered a bit, knowing those characteristics all too well. She herself was those things.
"See, we don't share the same father," he continued on and Cadence listened to every word he said closely, "Of course, that never bothered me, but my brother resents it deeply, never felt like he belonged. All told, he has a long history of getting himself into trouble."
"Something tells me you have a long history of getting him out of all that trouble," She commented and he nodded his head in confirmation, "Are you older or younger than your brother?"
"Older," He answered and Cadence quietly laughed, causing him to raise a brow at her, "What's so funny?"
"Sorry. It's just..." She trailed off, letting out a small sigh, "It's usually the job of the older sibling to keep the younger ones out of trouble."
"It seems as though you're talking from experience," He stated and Cadence nodded her head.
"As a matter of fact, I am," She responded, a small smile on her face, "It's quite ironic, actually. Just like your brother, I had a different father than my siblings. He was actually all the way from Oregon. Anyways, I always knew I had a different father, but my supposed 'Father' didn't. He found out one day when I was eight, but I'm not going to go into details. Even though I was eight years old, they threw me out and left me on the streets. My mother didn't do a single thing to stop it, either. I was my mother's greatest shame. I had an older brother and sister. A lot like you, growing up, they kept me out of trouble. So yes, I have experience with your sort of situation."
"Ah," The man simply stated and Cadence smiled slightly, surprised he took it so well.
"What kind of bind is your brother in exactly?" Cadence asked the man curiously, raising a brow at him.
"He believes there are people in this town that are conspiring against him," he informed her, causing Cadence to scoff.
"So, he's narcissistic and paranoid," She commented and Elijah raised his eyebrows at her, "Sorry. My cousin Cami has this Grad Degree in Psychology and I'm always stuck helping her study in exchange for her babysitting for me. I guess some of it's stuck in my head."
"Listen..." he trailed off, glancing down at Cadence's name tag, "Cadence. 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?"
Cadence kept a straight look on her face as she got ready to lie to the man she knew was a vampire, "No idea," She lied in a calm tone and Elijah didn't even seem to notice that she was doing so, "But I think there's someone I know who might be able to help you."
______
That night, after work, on her way to get milk and bread before returning home, Cadence headed in the direction of the convenience store she usually went to get simply groceries like milk or bread.
As she passed by the Abbatoir, she heard someone suddenly jump down from the balcony.
She playfully rolled her eyes, turning to face the familiar man as she smiled slightly, "You know, it's not safe out here alone," He reminded her, a wide grin on his face.
Cadence smiled, crossing her arms over her chest as she took a step toward him, "We've been through this, Marcel." She sighed out dramatically as she gave him an annoyed look, "I can take care of myself. The magic you had placed in the necklace hanging around my neck has enough magic in case I need it in an emergency. I think I'm good."
Marcel chuckled, nodding his head in understanding, "Just makin' sure," He replied in a calm tone, "How's Hayden and Hunter? They giving you more trouble than usual?"
Cadence laughed at Marcel, "Still pains in my ass," She told him, both of them smiling in amusement, "But I love them more than anything, you know that." She paused, letting out a large sigh in defeat, "Listen, Marcel. This may be a lot to ask, but Hayden sort of did this thing..."
"What thing?" He asked, but didn't seem surprised, knowing the boy was always up to something.
Cadence avoided eye contact with Marcel, nervously biting her lip, "He set the last nanny's hair on fire." She informed him quietly and Marcel's eyes widened, yet still wasn't surprised, "Do you think you could get Davina to do this certain spell for me? I have the incantation and the materials, I just can't do the spell myself without wasting the little magic I have in my necklace for emergencies."
Marcel nodded his head in response, clearly more than willing to help her, "I'll get you them by tomorrow, okay?" He told her and Cadence sighed in relief, just before she began to walk away, "One more thing, Cade. The Originals are back. I just wanted to tell you to be careful. They're dangerous."
Cadence stopped walking briefly and turned back to face Marcel, "Got it," She told him, sending the male vampire a small smile before walking toward the store.
Soon after getting the milk and bread, Cadence was walking down the street alone. It was odd. The streets seemed emptier than usual, especially since she was technically still in the French Quarter. Feeling as though someone was behind her, she whipped herself around, only to see no one there.
Having a bad feeling about the whole ordeal, Cadence decided to step off the sidewalk. She ran down an alleyway that she knew was a short cut to her apartment. Before she could react, however, an unknown man appeared in front of her.
"It's not safe out here all alone," He told her a in a low, menacing tone, beginning to show his vampire face. Cadence knew all of Marcel's vampires and knew for a fact that the man wasn't one of his.
Slowly, Cadence began to cautiously back up. She took a deep breath, getting ready to clutch the necklace she was wearing in order to siphon a bit of magic to fight back. Almost as if he knew what she was about to do, the man rushed forward, ripping the necklace off her neck at full force.
Her eyes widened in fear as she watched the necklace drop to the ground several feet away from her. The man vamped out once more, roughly grabbing her by the arm. Not knowing what else to do, Cadence punched the man in the face before shoving him to the ground with all the strength she had.
She began to sprint away, not even bothering to grab her necklace. Before she could get far, however, the man recovered and sped toward her.
Klaus Mikaelson was walking down the street alone that night, just after biting one of Marcel's men in a fit of rage. He had done so soon after learning that he had gotten Hayley Marshall, a werewolf girl he met during his time in Mystic Falls, pregnant.
He stopping walking after hearing commotion from a distance. He turned his head when he smelled blood, only to see an unknown man he knew was a vampire attacking a girl.
He honestly couldn't care less about the scene and began to walk away, only to suddenly stop when he noticed the girl fighting to fight back, showing almost no fear toward the vampire who was viscously trying to attack her.
He was a bit surprised, a small, skinny girl like her, fighting back against a man twice her size, a man she knew for a fact she couldn't win against. She didn't care, though. She was refusing to die without putting up a fight. It was both amusing and fascinating. In a way, he found himself admiring the girl's strength and courage. Most didn't have half what she had.
"Marcel will kill you when he finds out," She growled at the man as he got ready to attack her, which gained Klaus' undivided attention. Who was she to Marcel?
"I don't follow Marcel's rules," The man snapped at her in a threatening tone as he finally bared his vampire fangs.
Cadence cried out as he roughly grabbed ahold of her, his grip on her arms forming purple bruises almost instantly. He dug his fangs into her neck, beginning to feed off of her viciously. By the look in her eyes, Klaus knew the woman hadn't given up on fighting back yet.
His eyes widened in shock as he watched the unknown female tightly wrapped her fingers around the man's bicep. The palm of her hand, which was touching the man's bare arm, began to glow red. The vampire instantly pulled away from her, already feeling the life get sucked out of him.
He stared at her in horror, her blood pouring out of his mouth as he yelled out in pain.
Just then, Cadence lifted her hands, pushing her palms outwards as she shouted. "Motus!"
The incantation caused the man to be thrown against the brick wall at full force. A dent formed in the bricks before he dropped to the cement. Within no time, he had recovered and just as Cadence was about to perform another spell, Klaus finally sped over, casually ripping the man's heart out.
Cadence's eyes widened in surprise and a small gasp escaped her parted lips, watching as the male vampire's body began to desiccate as he dropped to the ground, dead.
Her eyes briefly glanced down at the corpse before they trailed up to look Klaus in the eye, "Well, that's no way to treat a lady, is it?" Klaus grinned widely, noticing how shocked she continued to look.
He stared at Cadence intently as he dropped the bloody heart on the ground beside the unknown vampire's body. Klaus casually walked over to Cadence's necklace, picking it up off the ground before walking over to where she had dropped her bag of groceries. He picked that up too before he finally walked over to Cadence and handed the two separate objects over to her, "I've been alive for a thousand years and I've only seen your type of witch about a half dozen times," Klaus spoke up in a calm tone, causing Cadence to look uneasy, "In Portland, Oregon, actually. Does the Gemini Coven ring a bell?"
Cadence tensed up at the mention of the Coven but tried her best to hide her uneasiness about the whole ordeal. She rolled her eyes, snatching the necklace and grocery bag from his grasps before beginning to walk in the direction of her apartment building, "Well, that is rude," Klaus commented, causing Cadence to stop in her tracks, "I don't even get a thank you?"
Slowly, Cadence turned to face Klaus, not looking slightest bit happy about her run in with him, "I just saved your life, did I not?" He asked her in a mocking tone.
"I didn't need you to save me," She snapped at him, shooting him an angry look.
Klaus pointed at both the vampire's dead body and the bleeding wound on the right side of her neck, "Sorry to break it to you, love, but it seems as though this tells an entirely different story," He commented and Cadence immediately gave the hybrid a sarcastic smile.
"Fine," She stated, continuing to give him a sarcastic smile, "Thank you...whatever your name is."
"Klaus," He introduces himself to her and Cadence immediately realized who he was. He was the Original Hybrid. The brother the vampire at Rousseau's talked about.
"Well, Klaus, I'll be on my way," She replied, jokingly saluted the man with two fingers, "See ya!"
Klaus smiled slightly as he watched the girl casually walk away as if she hadn't just nearly died at the hands of a vicious vampire.
_____
Later on that night, Cadence opened the door to her apartment, only to watch as her sons' newest nanny, rushed over to her, looking absolutely horrified, "What's wrong?" She asked her in concern.
"Tus niños. Son engendros de satanás!" (Your children. They are spawns of Satan!) The Hispanic woman cried out before fleeing the apartment.
Cadence sighed in defeat, facepalming herself before walking into the boys' room to see them floating their action figures with their magic as they casually sat on the ground together, giggling, "Seriously?!" She exclaimed, causing her two sons to quickly allow the toys to drop to the ground before they turned to their mother.
The twin duo smiled at their mother, trying their best to look innocent, "What did I say about using your powers in front of the nannies?" She complained to them, giving the two boys a scolding look, "You're glad I hired that lady. I had a feeling something like this would happen again and I made sure that I would hire someone that no one would believe if they went around blabbing around about twin brothers who can make things fly in the air."
"Sorry, mom," They apologized in unison, but continued to smile brightly, which caused Cadence to know their apologize wasn't genuine, but she had obviously expected that.
Cadence sighed once more as she took a seat on Hayden's bed for a short moment, "Can't we just be normal?" She asked her two four year old sons.
"You said normal was bad." Hayden pointed out.
"And boring," Hunter added in, causing Cadence's mouth to gape open in shock.
"Well, I take it back," Cadence finally replied as she stood up from her seat on her son's bed, "Now let's get to bed. It's ten o'clock and you were both supposed to be in bed at nine."
Cadence lifted the covers of both of the boy's beds, allowing them to get under them before she tucked them both in. As Cadence got Hunter situated, the boy immediately noticed the wound on Cadence's neck and decided to question her, "Mommy, what happened to your neck?" He asked her curiously, pointing to it.
"I was fighting a monster," She informed them calmly, knowing nothing else to respond with before she turned to Hayden to make sure he was all situated in his own bed.
"Did you beat him?" Hayden questioned curiously, a small smile on his face.
"Someone else did, actually," She replied in a calm tone, trying to hide her smile, "He saved my life, but it turns out, he's a bad guy too."
"But he saved you," Hayden frowned in confusion, not understanding how it was possible, "Bad guys don't save people."
"They do when they have ulterior motives," Cadence commented, letting out a small sigh in defeat.
"What's ulterior motives?" Hunter asked his mother, a confused look on his face.
Cadence mouth gaped open in shock, not knowing how to explain it to him. Letting out a sigh, a smile formed on Cadence's lips, "I'll tell the two of you some other time. Right now, the two of you need to go to bed."
"Aww!" The two boys complained loudly, clearly not wanting to go to bed just yet.
"Well, you have preschool tomorrow, remember?" She reminded them with a smile on her face, "And starting tomorrow, you're going to wear those special bracelets Marcel got his friend to make. He's going to bring them by tomorrow before you have to go to school."
"Why?" Hayden asked, a puzzled look on his face.
"Because they help you," She informed her son calmly, "You can't keep doing magic in front of ordinary people."
"Why?" Hunter questioned and of course, Cadence had already been prepared to be asked the question. It seem like the two boys always questioned everything.
"Because if they find out you're special, they'll try to take you away. You don't want that, right?" She asked the two boys curiously and both immediately shook their heads.
"Okay. Well, then that settles it. Time for bed." She told them before kissing them both on the forehead, "Goodnight, boys. Love you."
"Love you!" They replied, causing Cadence to smile at them.
She walked over to the door, turning off the night before leaving their bedroom.
After making sure they weren't planning to get up again, she walked away. Cadence made her way to her bathroom and took out the items needed to clean her cuts before doing so.
It was times like that that made her wish she was a witch with her own powers. If she did, she could've used her magic to heal it. But of course, she wasn't. She was cursed the second she was born. She was just glad her sons didn't have the same fate. But technically, they did.
The second they triggered their curse, they would not only be kicked out of the Quarter, but they would share the same fate as their father, stuck in wolf form every day except on the night of the full moon. Cadence just hoped she would have a solution for it before it was too late. No way was she going to let that happen to her sons.
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