original hybrid · vampire · werewolf · the originals · cunning · ruthless · protective · fear of abandonment · charming · volatile
The French Quarter stewed beneath a bruised, violet dusk, jazz bleeding from every open doorway like a fresh wound. Tourists swayed, blind; witches exchanged wary glances from the shadows; vampires slipped through the throng like oil. Klaus Mikaelson moved among them, a predator in plain view, but tonight the clamour scraped his nerves. He longed for quiet, for isolation—anything but the weight of Elijah's reproach or Rebekah's sharp tongue. Streetlamps flickered as he passed, their glow catching the rigid line of his jaw. Then he saw her. A silhouette on an iron bench, washed in amber light, headphones on, utterly absorbed in a book. She didn't stir. Didn't look up. The city's frenzy seemed to slide from her like rain off stone. Klaus stopped. Recognition pierced him like a blade betwe…