OUTCASTS
— 25. A Closer Walk With Thee
During Kieran's funeral, after Cami, Cadence was the second to walk up to Kieran's casket to pay her respects. She held Hayden and Hunter's hands, both boys staring down at Kieran. It was obvious they didn't know how to react to it. They were just children and they never really got along with Kieran. However, they knew how much their mother cared for him and it hurt them to Cadence in such pain.
Cadence glanced down at Kieran, forcing herself to hold back her tears. She sighed, walking toward her seat in the front row with her sons.
The rest of the attendees began to pay their respects and when Cadence hear the footsteps of someone walking in, she turned to see it was Klaus.
He stopped and looked down at her, watching the relief that appeared on his face the moment she saw him.
She immediately stood up and hugged him, a single tear falling down her cheek.
Klaus wiped the tear and pressed a kiss to her cheek. He watched as Cadence sat back down and looked over at the twins, sending them a small nod before down on the other side of them.
He dug into his pocket and took out two carved toys, handing one to each of them. Their eyes lit up at the sight of the cars. Though as much as they wanted to scream and jump in excitement, they knew by all of the somber energy around them and the coffin that was directly in front of them, it wasn't time for them to express their happiness upon receiving Klaus' gift.
_____
At Rousseau's, a celebration was occurring in honor of Kieran, just as the man asked for. Klaus was sitting alone at a table when Cadence walked over, looking far better than she was the day before in her grieving state.
"If I'm not moping, neither should you," Cadence spoke up, noticing how Klaus' head was lowered in shame, "Hello? Earth to Klaus."
The moment Klaus lifted his head, his eyes widened at the sight of her bruised face.
Instinctively, he reached his hand out and placed it on the face of her face. "Your face--" He began to say and Cadence smiled as she placed her hand over his.
"Will heal," She assured him in a calm tone as Klaus pulled his hand away from her face, "Listen, I wanted to take you."
"Unless you come equipped with the means to fill this..." He trailed off as he lifted his empty cup of scotch, "No additional platitudes are necessary."
"Okay, then," Cadence replied and scoffed loudly, "Yeah I'm in a pissy mood because the man who was like a father to me just died, and people are partying like it's Mardi Gras. What's your excuse?" She asked and Klaus remained silent, "Seriously, what's going on?"
"I've been having these dreams about my dead father," He confessed, causing Cadence's eyes to widen in surprise, "I don't need your input on it either, love. I already got this all covered. My fears of fatherhood, of scarring my child as my father scarred me, are manifesting as nightmares. So horrifically cliche."
"You're joking, right?" Cadence suddenly said and Klaus frowned at the serious expression on her face.
"Why would you think I'm joking?" Klaus asked in an annoyed tone. He frowned, however, as he watched Cadence sigh and lowered her head in shame.
"Soon after Jackson triggered his curse, I was left all alone, pregnant with Hunter and Hayden. I felt more scared than I had my entire life. For months, I spent every night having nightmares a lot like yours about my mother. I never had a good mother so I feared that I wouldn't be a good one either," She explained with a small smile on her face while Klaus stared at her in surprise due to their similarities, "But this isn't about me. This is about you. And might I say, I'm shocked to even hear you acknowledge out loud that you're going to be a dad. Your baby mama's been living in the bayou for months. It's not exactly what to expect when you're expecting."
Slowly, Klaus turned his head, his eyes locking on Marcel who stood across the room. He sighed and slowly turned to Cadence once more. "I know more about the trials of fatherhood than you might imagine, Cadence."
Noticing how his gaze traveled elsewhere, Cadence turned to see Klaus had been staring at Marcel. "You mean Marcel, don't you?" She asked and without thinking, she let out a large scoff, "And it worked so well for you the first time around. Why change a thing, right?"
Cadence stood up and walked away without another word said, which caused Klaus to sigh in defeat.
Cadence had been sixteen at the time, left pregnant and alone. Since Kieran felt as though remaining with him wasn't fitting for Cadence anymore, the young siphon witch found herself residing in the Abbatoir with Marcel.
She tightly grasped the strap of the duffel bag that held the only belongings she ever owned. She knew her pregnancy wasn't the real reason why Kieran had placed her in Marcel's care.
It was because word had been spreading around the French Quarter that Amelia Delacroix had come home to see the walls of her family home stained with blood with the bodies of her entire family scattered all across the house. One of her older children had even been drowned in the pool they had in the backyard.
That wasn't what horrified her most, however. It was the state of her husband, which was the most gruesome one of all. His body was mutilated, nailed to the wall of the room that was practically the size of a closet. The room that was once Cadence's before it was turned into what it was originally supposed to be used for. An actual closet.
He was nailed to the wall in the form of an upside-down cross, his body up turned upside down. His throat was slit, blood dripping down his face and his entire body was covered in slashes. On the wall next to him was a smiley face drawn with her husband's blood and the initials CD.
Cadence was obviously the one who had committed the gruesome murder.
When confronted about it, Cadence showed no shame. She admitted it without even bothering to lie. She didn't care. She felt no remorse for killing any of her siblings. That was what scared Kieran most of all.
"They told me he isn't your real father," Marcel had spoken up as he stopped and turned to face Cadence, "That you are the product of an affair between your mother and the leader of a powerful coven up North in Portland. It is why you were born with the gift of having no magic of your own but the ability to take from any source that produces magic."
"It's not a gift," Cadence argued and shook her head, "It's a curse."
"It is a gift. You're one of a kind. Ain't nobody around here ever seen one of your kind before. That's why they're afraid of you. That's why they're afraid of the children you carry inside you. They're Gemini twins, I'm told. I don't really know what that means but from what I've been told, your children will be very powerful, given that they are descendants of two very powerful bloodlines mixed with the gifts that come with being a werewolf. A hybrid of their kind hasn't been seen for centuries, if ever. Well, not ones so powerful, at least."
Cadence didn't respond. She continued to look at the ground, the memories of her childhood clearly plaguing her thought. Marcel knew what she was thinking. She had grown up hated by her family because of what she was. She feared her children being looked at with disgust, hatred, and fear as she had been by those around them.
"You know, my father hated me, too. He was the governor of New Orleans at the time and my mother was one of his slaves. I was the aftermath of his affair with her. My mother died when I was young from fever. And my father never cared about me. I was a bastard, a slave. But then Klaus Mikaelson took me in. He raised me, took me in like family," He explained before letting out a deep sigh.
He walked over to Cadence, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What I'm trying to say is family can be more than just those with whom we share blood. The man who raised me taught me that. Your blood family might have cast you out and shunned you but that doesn't mean you're alone. Kieran is your family. The father of your children is your family. And now that you're living here, I'll be your family. The vampires, too. We'll protect you like you're one of us no matter what. We can choose our family."
Tears in her eyes, Cadence lifted her head and sighed as she stared up at him. She nodded slightly and Marcel wrapped an arm around her before leading her in the direction of the room she'd be staying in.
As she walked through the bar, Cadence stopped as she laid eyes on a picture that was of her, Cami, Sean, and Kieran. Each of them was smiling and Cadence sighed, smiling sadly at the sight of it. They were all so happy. What had happened?
Hearing someone clink their glasses together, Cadence turned to see that it was Marcel, who was preparing to make a toast.
"I know I haven't been around these parts lately," Marcel began to speak to the ground once the music stopped, "It's a testament to Father Kieran that we could come together and share a drink and a story or two. Kieran rolled into town on a rusty old cruiser after his daddy died twenty-five years ago. And, damn it, that guy could party."
The crowd laughed and even Cadence smiled at the thought.
"That was, of course, before he took his vows. But even then, he was committed to the Quarter. He knew that this town needed him. And we still do," Marcel explained and raised his glass, "To Father K."
Cadence began to tear up as she stood near the bar. She sighed, quickly wiping her tears before she began to walk away. She walked into the room and the moment she closed the door, she started to cry. The lights in the room began to flicker. It was obviously caused by her and the little bit of magic she still had left in her from when she siphoned from Kieran's vampirism the day before.
She walked over to the table and out of anger, she ended up punching the wood. As she did, one of the bulbs above her shattered. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down before she did something she'd regret later on.
Moments later, Cadence returned to the celebration and found herself sitting between Elijah and Klaus. Klaus was glancing around, taking in everything occurring around him while Elijah poured each of them a glass of bourbon.
"Seems rather uncivilized--To laugh and dance around the body of a loved one," Klaus suddenly spoke up, clearly in a spoiled mood.
"Yes. Far better to practice your process of grief, isn't it, Klaus?" Elijah replied, causing the smallest of smiles to appear on Cadence's lip, "Denial, rage, and hoarding coffins in basements."
Just then, Hayley walked over and sat with them. "I will warn you, Hayley, Niklaus is in a spectacularly foul mood today."
"He's not wrong," Cadence replied, she and Elijah smiling slightly.
"Sod off," He snapped at them both and rolled his eyes. Of course, the first thing the two of them ever agreed on was to tease and torment Klaus.
"What's the deal with the moonlight rings?" Hayley suddenly asked as she turned in Klaus' direction, "Oliver's trying to start a revolution every five seconds. People are scared, angry. And, frankly, I'm tired of stalling."
"It's a day of peace, Hayley. Try and enjoy it," Klaus argued as he shot her an annoyed look, "In the meantime with all manner of unknown enemies conspiring against our family, you'll move back in with us."
"Awesome," Hayley answered in a sarcastic tone as she shared a look with Cadence, "Then we can do that thing where you lock me in the tower, I escape, there's drama, and then you two both realize that I'm very capable of looking after myself."
"The rings are in progress. I will love up to my word," Klaus answered in a calm tone but as he continued, his tone became more hostile, "We will find and punish whoever launched the attack on the bayou. And you will return to the compound for your own safety. But right now..." He trailed off and grabbed the bottle of liquor in front of him, "I'm gonna finish this bottle...And the next in the hopes of drowning the demon that has chosen today to haunt me."
Klaus raised the bottle and stared upwards as he became louder. "Cheers, Mikael. Impeccable, Freudian timing."
Hearing Klaus' words, Elijah's face fell and he looked concerned, which Cadence was quick to notice. He leaned forward in his seat, slowly turning to glance at Klaus. "Elaborate," He demanded in a calm tone, "Have you dreamt of our father?"
"Go ahead. Have a good laugh," Klaus replied in an aggravated tone.
"I can assure you there isn't a piece of this that I find even remotely amusing, Niklaus, especially considering I've been dreaming of him, too," Elijah confessed, causing Cadence's eyes to widen in shock.
"What?" Klaus asked his brother in a low whisper.
"If you are also seeming him..." Elijah trailed off, a sense of realization overcoming him as he spotted Genevieve from afar, "Perhaps our elusive, unknown enemy is orchestrating a further attack."
Klaus and Cadence turned their heads as well. They watched as Genevive sent Klaus a mischievous smile.
Klaus' lips began to curl upwards as he stared back at her. "Well then. what better way to punctuate a day of peace...than by killing someone?" He asked as he waved back at her.
_____
It was nighttime and Cadence walked down the street, holding the hand of both of her sons. They walked in the direction of their apartment, just returning from the Compound.
Without Cadence noticing, behind her from afar stood Monique Devereaux, who chanted a spell under her breath as she held a voodoo doll in her hand.
She glanced down at the doll, wasting no time poking a hole into with a needle. She looked back at the twins and their mother, waiting to watch the spell take its effects on the two boys.
Instead, she watched Hunter and Hayden briefly let go of their mother's hand. They shivered a bit, causing Cadence to stop and glance down at them.
"You okay?" She glanced down at them in concern and they both nodded.
"Just cold," Hunter assured them and Cadence smiled softly.
She crouched down in front of them, adjusting their jackets before zipping them up. "I know y'all don't like jackets, but it's getting cold outside. Gotta zip these jackets up. It's not summer just yet."
With that, she stood back up and grabbed their hands, beginning to walk once more.
Briefly, Hayden turned in enough time to watch Monique rush to hide behind the tree before being caught.
However, Monique felt uneasy as she watched the young boy smirk, just before walking off with his brother and twin brother. They had been aware and yet, they were unfazed, immune by such a spell.
How?