Humanity /2/ TO

Ch. 20 Night Has a Thousand Eyes

SCARED
[2×18]

HAVING DECIDED TO GET OUT FOR A WHILE, HAYLEY, JACKSON, AND I WALKED DOWN THE STREET. Hayley was pushing Lilly's stroller while I pushed Hope's.

"So, Mrs. Marshall-Kenner and Ms. Forbes, now that you've got a real local to show you around the Quarter, what would you two like to see first?" Jackson asked us.

"Well, Mr. Kenner, I'd ask to see your old haunts, but we do have two impressionsable young ladies with us," Hayley told him.

We stopped next to a woman playing a violin. "Thanks," I told her, dropping some money in her cup. We started to walk off and her music changed to a slow, creepy song.

We glanced back, seeing her staring at us. "That song. What is it?" I asked.

Jackson and Hayley shrugged, and we noticed the woman staring at us. We kept walking and saw a waiter writing on a chalk board. A promise made is a debt to be paid, the sign read. I started looking around, panicking slightly.

A man stepped in front of me. "Flowers, miss?" he asked. "A gift for the child." He gestured to Hope.

"No, we're all right. Thank you," Jackson told him.

"Are you sure? Black dahlias are in bloom. They're quite lovely," he told us.

I started walking, gesturing for Hayley to follow with Lilly. The man with the flowers grabbed my arm, his eyes changing.

Klaus was next to me in seconds, having been watching just in case. He grabbed the man by the throat. "Show yourself, witch," he commanded.

Jackson's eyes changed like the man's. "Klaus," I called, getting his attention.

He released the man and turned towards me. "I am here. I am everywhere. And I intend to take what is mine," Jackson told us.

"It's her," Klaus said. I looked back at him. He was expressionless, but I could tell he was as scared as I was.

Jackson's eyes went back to normal. "Hey, what just happened?" he asked.

I looked back at Klaus. "Dahlia," I said.

|

"Isn't that the point of a fortress? It does a better job of protecting you when you stay within its walls," Klaus yelled at us.

"Okay, we get it," I snapped. Me, Hayley, Rebekah and Klaus were sitting at the dining room table in the compound. Freya was walking around the room. "I think you're forgetting why we gave up the girls in the first place."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Klaus wondered.

"That we sent them away because we didn't know how to keep them safe without making them live like prisoners. This is living like a prisoner, Klaus," I told him.

"They are safe," he said.

"They're prisoners. Maybe I should take them to Mystic Falls," I said.

"Absolutely not," Klaus said.

"Why not? You guys could stay here and deal with your aunt and I could take Hayley and the girls to Mystic Falls with me. I would have a hybrid, at least four vampires, a Bennett witch, and a vampire hunter to protect them while you guys took care of the problem," I told him.