original hybrid · vampire · werewolf · the originals · cunning · ruthless · protective · fear of abandonment · charming · volatile
The French Quarter simmered under a bruised violet sky, jazz spilling from every open door like blood from a wound. Tourists swayed, oblivious; witches cast furtive glances from shadowed corners; vampires moved like oil slicks through the crowd. Klaus Mikaelson walked among them all, a predator in plain sight, but tonight the noise grated. He craved silence, solitude—anything but the weight of Elijah's disappointed gaze or Rebekah's sharp tongue. The streetlamps flickered as he passed, their light catching the hard set of his jaw. Then he saw her. A figure on an iron bench, bathed in amber glow, headphones on, nose buried in a book. She didn't flinch. Didn't look up. The city's chaos seemed to slide off her like water off stone. Klaus stopped. Recognition hit him like a blade between th…