OUTCASTS
—10. Reigning Pain in New Orleans

At the compound, Klaus smiled as he tapped his glass of champagne with a spoon. Marcel and his inner circle sat at the long table, alongside Cadence and Hayley, both of which were also forced to attend, despite not wanting to.

"Let us begin with a toast to our shared gift. Immortality. After a thousand years, one might expect for life to be less keenly felt, for its beauties and its sorrows to diminish with time, but as vampires, we feel more deeply than humans could possibly imagine," Klaus explained, gesturing for the compelled servers to move closer to them.

The servers walked to stand beside the vampires. "Insatiable need, exquisite pain..." Klaus trailed off as the servers rolled up their sleeves and held up a knife, just before they sliced across their wrists. They allowed the blood to spill into the metal bowls in front of them, earning a disgusted look from Cadence, "Our victories, and our defeats."

"To my city, my home again," Klaus announced loudly as he lifted his glass, "May the blood never cease to flow."

"And the party never end," Marcel spoke up, lifting his glass as well as he smiled widely.

"To New Orleans," Diego agreed as he raised his glass.

"To New Orleans," Klaus stated and the rest of the group repeated soon after him.

After a moment, Klaus glanced around, beginning to speak up once more. "I understand that some of you may have questions regarding the recent change in leadership, and I invited you here tonight to assure you that you are not defeated. No. My intentions moving forward are to celebrate what we have. What Marcel, in fact, took and built for this true community of vampires."

"What about her?" Diego suddenly asked, gesturing toward Hayley at the far end of the table, "The wolf."

"Had you'd let me finish, Diego, you would know that there is, of course, one further matter I would like to address," He began to announce as he walked over to the end of the table where Hayley sat, "As many of you know, the girl is carrying my child. Consequently, I trust you will all pay her the appropriate respect. However, I understand that some of you are concerned by this vicious rumor that I intend to use the blood of our child to create hybrids. I assure you I do not."

"Father of the year," Hayley commented as she smiled sarcastically.

Cadence smiled slightly, exchanging an amused look with Hayley.

"It appears I will have to earn your trust," Klaus continued as he walked back to his previous seat at the other end of the table, "Very well. We'll eliminate the root of your anxiety. You see, how can I sire any hybrids if there are no more werewolves alive in the bayou to turn?"

"What?" Cadence suddenly spoke up, turning to Klaus in disbelief, "Klaus, no!"

Cadence attempted to stand up, only to stop when Klaus continued. "So eat, drink, and be merry, and tomorrow I suggest you have yourselves a little wolf hunt. Go ahead. Have fun. Kill them all."

An alarmed look on her face, Cadence turned to exchange a look with Hayley, who was just as unhappy about Klaus' decision.

_____

The afternoon, Cadence was walking toward Klaus' new study when Marcel appeared beside her. "And here I thought you had Klaus wrapped around your little finger," Marcel commented, an annoyed look on her face.

"What?" Cadence asked, turning to give Marcel a confused look, "What are you talking about?"

"You think he cares about you, but if he cared even the slightest, why would he send vampires to kill werewolves in the bayou, werewolves that include your sons' family and their father?" Marcel explained, earning a glare from Cadence.

Just then, the duo entered the room where Klaus stood in. Cadence immediately frowned at the sight of Cami sitting in the room with a typewriter in front of her.

"Cami?" Cadence called out, a deeply concerned look on her face, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"My question exactly," Cami answered with an attitude as she stood up from her seat.

Cadence and Marcel slowly turned to Klaus, giving him a questioning look. "Oh, it's quite alright. She knows."

"She does?" Marcel questioned, crossing his arms across his chest.

"That you're vampires and Cadence is a witch?" Cami questioned, causing Cadence's eyes to widen in alarm, "Don't worry. He's compelled me to forget everything as soon as I leave."

Cadence turned to Klaus, an angry look on her face. "You've made her your plaything?" She exclaimed in disbelief, "You've got to be kidding me, Klaus!"

"That way, I'm too busy agonizing over whether or not I'm losing my damn mind to realize I'm playing spy for an immortal egomaniac," Cami explained, causing Cadence to exchange a look with Marcel.

"You compelled her to go out with me, didn't you?" Marcel pointed a finger at Klaus as he walked toward him. He smiled, turning to glance at Cami, "And I thought you really liked me."

"So did I," Cami confessed as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, I mean, to be clear, I only compelled you to give him a chance," Klaus pointed out in a calm tone, "Anything you felt for him was quite real..." He trailed off, watching as Cami sighed in frustration and turned to look at Marcel, "And, for the record, the level of awkwardness we're all currently experiencing is entirely genuine."

"No, really?" Cadence sarcastically asked Klaus as she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Cami turned to Klaus, an angry look on her face. "You think you're so clever, don't you, compelling the poor, naive bartender?" She complained as she went to get something out of her bag, "Look what I found, real me, not your compelled therapist."

Klaus took the paper from Cami's grasp and frowned in confusion when he saw a picture of Klaus and Marcel for 1919. "Well, actually I prefer devoted stenographer," He commented, a grin forming on his lips.

"You think this is funny, messing with my mind?" Cami snapped at Klaus as she moved closer to him, "My sanity is not a joke."

"No, love, I don't believe it is," Klaus replied as he turned to face her. He inhaled sharply, moving toward Cami before he began to compel her. "You never found this. You will remember nothing of our life as vampires and Cadence being a witch when you leave here. She is your cousin, nothing more. Do you understand?"

Cami remained silent. She stared up at Klaus, nodding her head in understanding.

Klaus smiled, taking a step away from Cami. "I think that just about does it for the day," He announced to Cami, "You may go."

With that, Cami picked up her back and left. Once she was gone, Cadence crossed her arms across her chest and turned to Klaus, an angry look on her face. "She's smarter than you think. It will be no time before she catches on," She complained and before Klaus could respond, Cadence stormed out of the room.

Walking down the hallway, Cadence soon came face to face with Hayley, causing her to sigh in relief. "Oh, thank God. I was hoping to run into you."

"I could say the same thing about you," Hayley replied, grabbing Cadence by the arm before they walked to stand off to the side, "We need to figure out how we're going to stop Marcel's vampires from going after the werewolves."

"If I know anything about the Crescent wolves, it's that they know how to hide from trespassers, but I don't believe they'll all being to hide if Klaus sends as many vampires as he's planning to," Cadence confessed, sighing deeply in defeat, "I have a plan, but I don't know if it's going to work."

"What is it?" Hayley asked, a concerned look on her face.

"It involves a certain someone you have wrapped around your little finger," Cadence responded, referring to Elijah, "All you have to do is convince him to help you. He can protect them."

Hayley stared at Cadence closely, slowly nodding her head in understanding.

_____

After Klaus' insistence on her coming, Cadence was forced to join him and Marcel on attending the human faction meeting. "Klaus, Marcel, thank you for coming," Kieran greeted the duo before turning to Cadence, "Cadence."

"Kieran," Cadence replied, nodding her head slightly at him.

There was a moment of silence and Cadence could tell Kieran felt uneasy about her being there, especially at Klaus' side.

"Now, we are aware of the change in leadership in your community, and we thought it was time to make the appropriate introductions," Kieran informed Klaus in a calm tone since he was new to it all.

The Sheriff and the Mayor stood up and made their way over to Klaus wearing stern and brave expressions. "We want to be sure you understand how things work around here," The Mayor informed Klaus, who smiled in amusement.

"Is that so?" Klaus questioned, clearly not taking him seriously.

Kieran chuckled uneasily, already sensing the tension between the group of men. "What the mayor means is that we just want some assurance that this new development isn't gonna endanger our city or its inhabitants."

"Look. You freaks do your thing and we'll look the other way," The Sheriff informed them, causing Klaus to turn to Cadence with an utterly amused look on his face, "As long as our pockets stay full, we won't have a problem."

Kieran sighed, looking annoyed by the Sheriff's choice of works. "More importantly, there are rules," He spoke up in a stern tone, "No feeding on the locals. Don't bring any unwanted attention to the city. Now, history has proven that we can coexist peacefully. However, if you cross the line--"

"You answer to us," The Sheriff suddenly interrupted Kieran in a threatening manner.

Klaus began to laugh, finding what the man had said utterly amusing. "Ok. I'm sorry. Let me get this straight. I'm to play supplicant to this pompous ass and his ridiculous group of petty thieves?" He commented, clearly not taking them seriously, "Ah, here are my terms," He paused, beginning to speak in a threatening manner, "You will take whatever scraps I see fit to leave you, and you will be grateful. If that doesn't suit you, I may decide you've outlived your usefulness."

Hearing Klaus' words, Marcel and Cadence exchanged an uneasy look, knowing it was the wrong choice. That wasn't how things worked in New Orleans.

With that, Klaus began to walk toward the exits after a moment of hesitation, Marcel and Cadence followed close behind him.

____

At Marcel's bar for his nightwalkers, Cadence sat with Marcel at a table. She glanced around, seeing numerous nightwalkers feeding on random humans. Soon enough, Klaus walked over, carrying three glasses and a bottle of alcohol.

Cadence smiled at the sight. It had been a while since someone else was pouring her a glass. Due to being a bartender, it was usually the other way around.

"I think I was far more gracious than they deserved," Klaus admitted, causing Cadence's smile to fade. He slowly looked up at Marcel and Cadence, both of whom were giving him a disapproving look, "The two of you are disappointed by my lack of diplomacy. Well, you two, above all people, should need no reminder of the human capacity for cruelty."

Cadence shot Klaus an annoyed look. She opened her mouth to complain, only to be cut off when Klaus' phone vibrated. She watched him closely as he stood up. However, she was unable to listen in as Marcel did, seeing as though she was only a witch.

Just then, the windows to the bar exploded. Cadence immediately ducked as she used her arms to block her face, causing a few shards of glass to embed themselves into the skin of her arms and hands. Her eyes widened in alarm and she immediately stood up, watching as numerous nightwalkers erupted into flames as the sun shined into the bar.

A concerned look on her face, Cadence rushed over to the closest vampire. She grabbed him by the arm, pulling him out of the way before he could entirely burn while Marcel did the same with a few others.

Just then, gunshots were heard and before she could avoid getting shot, a bullet had already found its way into her stomach. She gasped as she glanced down to find herself wounded by a single bullet. She cried out, placing her hands over her bleeding belly.

Gunshots continued to be fired and before she could be shot again, Klaus vamp-sped in front of her, taking two bullets to the chest to save her.

Cadence stumbled, but before she could fall to the ground, Klaus caught her. She tightly gripped onto his arms, a fearful look on her face. Her emotions getting the better of her, Cadence was unable to control her siphoning abilities, leading to her beginning to siphoning Klaus without meaning to. He winced in pain as he gently placed her hand on the ground, Cadence continuing to siphon him without meaning to.

She finally let go of him and Klaus let out a breath of relief, no longer feeling his power being sucked out of him. He wasted no time biting in his wrist before placing it to her mouth, allowing Cadence to be healed by his blood.

Several moments later, Cadence was standing upright alongside Marcel and Klaus. They glanced around, finding all of the nightwalkers burned alive by the sun.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Marcel shouted furiously as he flipped over to a table. He whipped himself around to face Klaus, accusingly pointing a finger at him, "This is on you! Now that you're in charge, those are your guys laying dead. Your guys. If you're gonna run this city, that better mean something to you. Otherwise, no one worth a damn is gonna follow you, no one."

Marcel paused, sighing deeply as he turned to Cadence. He pointed a finger at her and Klaus turned to see her standing at the bar counter, looking down at a dead vampire as she didn't say a word. She nearly died, after all.

"Most of all, you risked her," Marcel growled at Klaus angrily as he continued to point at Cadence, "You involved her in this. What if you hadn't gotten to her in time? What if she died today? She isn't like us, Klaus! When are you going to realize that? She has two little boys at home, sons who will have nothing if she dies. You gonna be the one to tell them their mother is dead?"

Klaus anxiously glanced over at Cadence, who avoided contact with the two vampires. Marcel had a point, Klaus knew that much.

Klaus forced a smile onto his face, trying to hide his uneasiness after Marcel's rant about Cadence that happened to be nothing but the truth. "I was beginning to worry about you. I don't think I could've taken any more of this deferential nonsense. I mean, clearly, I underestimated the faction."

"You think?" Cadence muttered under her breath as she scoffed.

Klaus turned to her, shaking his head. "It won't happen again," He assured her before turning to Marcel, "But tell me, Marcel, now that we've arrived at this point, now that they have come into our home, visited this upon our people, how would you course me to respond?"

"Let's go kill them all," Marcel responded in a low growl.

Klaus smiled slightly in satisfaction. He turned to Cadence, a questioning look on his face. "What about you, love? Are you to help us enact revenge?"

"After I almost died because of them?" Cadence suddenly spoke up, walking toward Klaus and Marcel as her lips curled upwards, "I say we make them wish they never crossed us."

Klaus smiled even wider, proud of Cadence's response. She smiled back at him while Marcel watched on, a part of him feeling uneasy about how close the duo was getting.

Cadence was already changing from the girl he once knew and practically raised, but with how close she was getting to Klaus, she would change more than ever before and not for the better.

While Cadence was sure to bring out the best parts of Klaus, Klaus would bring out the worst parts of Cadence. After all, that was already becoming obvious. And Marcel knew it wouldn't end well for anyone close to them.

_____

At Rousseau's, Kieran entered the meeting being held there by the human faction. "Why wasn't I consulted on this?" He complained in an annoyed tone as he walked over to the ground.

"You've been gone for over eight months, Kieran," The Mayor replied calmly, "We got used to doing things on our own."

"This Klaus Mikaelson, I don't care who he is or what the rumors say. He needed to be taught a lesson," The Sheriff added in, "And we even took care of Cadence Delacroix, which we've been trying to do for years now. She won't be a problem anymore."

"What?" Kieran asked, only to realize that he was referring to Cadence being one of those shots. He didn't have to worry about Cadence being dead, though. There wasn't a chance in hell of Marcel or Klaus letting her die when they had what it took to save her.

Though what they did to her would have simply brought out all that anger and uncontrollable emotions she had been struggling to contain it for years now. Marcel had been the one to help her control it but after what the human faction did, Marcel was sure to convince Cadence to let it all out. It would all be let out and her chaos would explode. And it would not end well for anyone there.

"You're going to start a war!" Kieran complained, but the humans didn't seem all that bothered.

"I'd like to see them try," The Sheriff scoffed, not seeing any reason to be fearful, "Oh, and, Kieran, this is the last time you call a meeting. Next time you want to criticize our leadership, send a damn e-mail."

Kieran straightened his back up, looking down at the man in confusion. "I thought you called this meeting."

"The hell we did," He retorted, and as if on cue, Cadence was suddenly revealed to be standing near Kieran, having been using a cloaking spell the entire time.

"I confess," She spoke up, a sarcastic smile on her face as she raised her arms in mock surrender, "I did it."

The men and women of the human faction stared up at Cadence, shocked expressions on each of their faces. She was supposed to be dead.

Klaus and Marcel suddenly entered the bar, walking to stand on both sides of Cadence. "It appears I made a grave error during our earlier conference," Klaus informed them and the sheriff looked satisfied, believing he had won, "My friend Marcel and Cadence here offered me wise counsel, and I failed to heed it."

"Hmm," The Sheriff hummed in response, a satisfied look on his face, "Well, I'm glad to hear you've learned your lesson."

"Oh, you don't have to worry, sir. We don't be making that same mistake again. Not ever, actually," Cadence informed the man, causing Klaus to smile in satisfaction. She turned to him and Klaus smiled, nodding his head in encouragement.

The faction watched as Cadence whispered a spell under her breath. She suddenly became invisible, but only a second later, she appeared behind the Sheriff and before anyone could react, she had stabbed him in the neck with broken glass.

The woman closest to the Sheriff screamed, blood spraying all over her. The Sheriff gasped, clutching his bleeding neck before he finally dropped dead.

Marcel and Klaus walked closer to Cadence, beginning to laugh. Cadence stared down at the sheriff, her body trembling as her lips parted.

For some odd reason, it wasn't out of fear or horror, though. She felt a power run through her as she took the man's life. She couldn't understand it. She gasped softly, turning to Klaus as she gradually began to smile in satisfaction.

"Are you to take care of the rest or shall I, love?" Klaus asked Cadence, who walked over to him.

She placed a hand on his shoulder, siphoning some of the magic that came from his vampirism and his werewolf side.

Just then, she balled her hand into a tight fist before she twisted it. Only a split second later, every human there's neck was broken before they fell to the ground, lifeless, Kieran being the one left alive.

Moments later, once all of the human faction was dead, all but one, Klaus turned to Kieran. "Our lone survivor. Such a sad day for our city, some of its best and brightest killed in a tragic boating accident on the Mississippi. Rather nasty explosion, I heard," He sighed, placing a hand on Kieran's shoulder as he forced the man to turn to face him, "What am I going to do?"

"Alright, alright, easy there," Cadence quickly warned Klaus as she moved closer to him, "I've known Kieran my entire life. He's smart, and he's fair. He's more use to us alive, trust me."

"She's right," Marcel spoke up, agreeing with Cadence, "He can do us more good alive than dead, not to mention he raised Cadence. He's practically the only family she's ever had."

Klaus sighed, slowly turning to Cadence, who gave him a pleading look. Klaus looked back at Marcel, who was smiling at him. "Don't see you care about much. It's kind of hard not to notice when you do," He commented, continuing to smile while Klaus looked annoyed as he avoided eye contact with Cadence, who was staring at him curiously.

"Very well," Klaus spoke up, stepping away from Kieran as he let out a loud sigh, "Use this reprieve to remake your human faction."

"And how do you expect me to remake the mayor?" Kieran complained, an annoyed look on his face.

"Well, surely, there's a deputy mayor," Klaus suggested in a casual tone, earning an eye roll from Cadence, "Choose new leaders. Then we reopen negotiations."

With that, Klaus walked out of Rousseau's. Cadence remained in place for a long moment. She sighed in defeat, glancing around at all the people she had murdered. She placed a hand over her gut, beginning to feel sick about the whole ordeal.

She had killed seven people and she had liked it. What was wrong with her?

"Are you coming or not, love?" Klaus suddenly spoke up, which snapped Cadence out of her thoughts.

She looked up at Klaus, nodding her head before she began to follow after him. She turned to briefly glance at Marcel, who was giving her a concerned look. She quickly avoided eye contact with him and followed Klaus out of the door without saying a word.