OUTCASTS
— 26. Gemini Twins
In the French Quarter, the funeral procession was walking down the street to the sounds of the jazz music being played, behind the priests acting as pallbearers for Father Kieran. Near the end of the parade were Klaus, Hayley, Elijah, and Cadence, who had the twins with her.
Hayley began to have a fit of coughs, causing Elijah to look at her concerned, "You alright? You look--" He began to tell her until Hayley cut her off.
"--A hundred months pregnant and pissed off at the world?" She finished his sentence and Elijah smiled at her.
"I was going to say you look lovely." He replied, continuing to smile at the pregnant woman.
Hayley watched Francesca closely, who stood a couple of yards in front of them. She was pretending to wipe tears from her face with a tissue, causing even Cadence to roll her eyes. "Do you think I was the target of those bombings?" Hayley asked the group of three curiously.
"Of course you were the target!" Klaus explained, "Were I to wage a war on the wolves, you'd be my first kill. If you were to be my kill to get back at the wolves, I would string you up, for all your worshipers to see."
"Don't you think that's a bit colorful, Klaus?" She asked, smiling as she gestured toward her sons.
"Oh, come on now, love, they don't know what we're talking about," Klaus assured, placing a hand on her shoulder as he looked down at Hayden, "Right, Hayden?"
"We know what you're talking about," Hayden responded nonchalantly and Hunter nodded.
Klaus tried to contain his smirk and Cadence sighed, rolling her eyes at the immortal hybrid.
Elijah turned to glance at his brother, just before looking at Hayley assuringly. "I believe that was my brother's way of telling you he'd like the you to return home with us," He told her before turning to Klaus, "Perhaps try a different approach, Niklaus, with fewer references to murder, especially when you're in front of mere children?"
"As much as I would hate to throw you over my shoulder, and drag you kicking and screaming to the compound, we both know I will, for the sake of my child," He explained while beginning to smile.
Hayley smiled in amusement, sharing a look with Cadence, "One bad dream, and suddenly, Klaus wants to be a responsible daddy," She commented, causing Cadence to quietly laugh.
Klaus wrapped his arm around Hayley and pulled her close, leaving Elijah and Cadence standing awkwardly beside them. "Let me put this into perspective: my father lived to torment me. It is not my intention to become him. This cycle of misery ends with my child."
"Mmm," Hayley hummed in response as she yanked his arm away from her with a fake smile on her face, "You forgot one thing in your little attempt to plead your case, she's not your child. She's ours." She snapped at him sarcastically before spotting Cami from afar.
"Cami!" Hayley called out to the girl, causing Cami to turn to look at her as she went to catch up to her.
The moment Hayley rushed off, Klaus turned to Cadence in annoyance. "It would seem your pep talks about parents are not working for me in the slightest."
"I forgot to mention the fact that I made the same mistake with Jackson. I call the twins my children instead of his and mine," She told him in an awkward tone.
"Yes, that would have been something important to mention, Cadence," Klaus responded and rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"I'll remember that for next time," Cadence assured him and smiled sarcastically.
Just then, Hayden and Hunter had let go of their mother's hands. They ran ahead, pushing past numerous crowds of people taking part in the funeral procession.
"Hey! Hunter! Hayden! Where do you think you're going? Come back here!" She called out, only to sigh and run after them.
However, the moment she caught up to them, Cadence gasped, finding them kneeling in front of Hayley's unconscious body. They were trying to shake her awake, a terrified look on Hunter's face.
"Hayley? Hayley!" She called out worriedly before turning in the direction of the crowd, "Klaus! Klaus!"
It wasn't long before Klaus and Elijah ran over, shocked by the scene before them.
_____
That night, Genevieve walked into one of the mausoleum where Monique stood. The latter lifted her head, confused by Genevieve's angered state.
"What the hell did you do to Hayley?" She snapped at the girl and roughly yanked her by the arm.
"I was trying to do what the Ancestors asked," Monique argued in a stern tone.
"That baby is part witch," She complained, staring at Monique in disbelief, "The Ancestors want her consecrated to the Earth so her magic can fuel our community. She has to be born first before she can die."
"Leave," She shoved Monique, looking disgusted, "I don't want to look at you."
"And what about the Gemini twins?" Monique suddenly spoke, standing in place.
"What of them?" Genevieve scoffed.
"I tried the same on them and it didn't work," Monique informed her and Genevieve couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips.
"You fool," She smiled and shook her head, "The children are more powerful than you could ever know. More powerful than you and me could ever dream to be. They must be inside this place for us to take them down. We would the power of all our ancestors to assist us in taking them down. If we didn't, they'd sense us from a mile away, especially the older one. Hayden. Most of all, he is destined to be our downfall. He is the stronger one, even now. You try something like that again and I can't say Cadence Delacroix will not learn of what we're doing and destroy us all. With the help of Klaus Mikaelson. She has his ear, after all. He listens to her more than anyone."
Monique began to glare at Genevieve. She said nothing as she walked away without another word said.
In the mausoleum that night, Genevieve stood in front of a pile of herbs, in which she used for a spell she was casting to contact the ancestors. "Misericorde. Don't make me do this," She pleaded as she stared upwards, "She's a baby. The twins...they're just children. Don't make me a monster," She cried out, lowering her head in shame as she shook her head, "Please."
Just then, Genevieve opened her eyes, looking down to see blood dripping from her eyes and nose. She gasped, her eyes widening in alarm. "No!"
An invisible being ended up throwing Genevieve into the air, causing her to slam against a tomb before the force thrust her forward and caused her to land face-first into a tomb. She groaned in pain and grabbed her nose as the whispering spirits of the coven's ancestors grew louder and louder around her.
Blood began to gush from her nose and mouth, causing Genevieve, who looked terrified, to lift her head upward. "No! No!" She pleaded in a loud tone, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll do it!" She screamed as her face continued to bleed, "I'll do whatever you want!"
______
At her apartment, Cadence had just put the twins to bed. She walked into the living room, beginning to clean up the toys that had been left everywhere by Hunter and Hayden.
Hearing a knock on the door, Cadence picked up the last toy and tossed it in the bin they were stored in. She walked over to the door, signing in relief when she saw Klaus. "How's Hayley?"
"Alive and well," Klaus informed her in a calm tone and Cadence smiled, glad to hear the news.
Cadence opened the door wider and backed up, allowing Klaus to walk in. They walked over to the living room, where Cadence wasted no time pouring them both a glass of whiskey.
"With Kieran dying and everything else that's happened today, it got me thinking about the past. Back when I was pregnant with the twins and there's something I want to confess to you," She informed him and sat down beside him on the couch, "My mother isn't the only family member I've murdered."
"You and me both, love," Klaus assured her with a crooked smile, referring to all the times he had daggered his siblings over the centuries.
"No, Klaus," She argued sternly as she grabbed his hand, forcing him to look her dead in the eye, "I killed my entire family."
"What?" Klaus asked, his smile fading at the revelation.
"The reason I was sent to live with Marcel was that Kieran couldn't bear to look at me every day when the cops showed up at the church, informing him of what happened. I had five half-siblings and I killed them all. Siphoned the magic out of two of them until they died. Slit the throats of the other two with my youngest sister's violin bow. And the sibling I had always liked the most, I drowned him in the pool because I considered that mercy. Lastly, I killed my supposed 'father'. I nailed his entire body hanging upside down in the form of an upside-down cross. I slit his throat and smiled as blood went all down his neck and the rest of his body. His arms were covered in cuts and slashes when I was done with him. And at the end, I used his blood to draw a smiley face and left my initials to lead it back to me because I didn't care. I made sure to leave his body hanging in my old room too, if you could even call it that," Cadence explained, the slightest of smiles on her face.
It was obvious she felt no shame toward the act but in all honesty, Klaus didn't blame her. Perhaps she went a bit overboard with the acts of cruelty but he was the last to judge her. She had a lot of trauma, perhaps more than him. He knew that the moment she spoke her next words.
"It wasn't a room at all, Klaus. They made me live in a closet. They treated me like a dog. I had nothing in my room but a stained, worn-out mattress left on the ground. The only light I had was a small candle and the only clothes I had were the clothes I had on my back," She explained and genuine tears formed in Klaus' eyes.
Cadence could see the horror in his eyes. He wasn't horrified by her, either, he was horrified by the atrocities he had been forced to go through.
"I used to be bullied at school for always wearing the same clothes and my siblings would act like they didn't know me, laughing at me with their friends because I was dirty and my clothes were raggedy. It had been eight years until I came back for my revenge but I couldn't wait any longer. Kieran took me out of that hell hole when I was eight but still, that type of trauma stays with a person for life. And it did. So when I was pregnant, I couldn't help myself. I needed payback. And while carrying twin hybrids in my belly, I had the magic to make them pay so I did, regardless of the costs," She continued and suddenly, Klaus cupped her face in his hands.
She frowned, immediately giving him a confused look. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"If your step-father and mother were still alive, I'd make them pay for what they did to you, Cadence," He suddenly confessed in a soft tone, "Just hearing that...it makes my blood boil."
"You don't think I went overboard with my step-father?" She asked him and with his hands still on the side of her face, Klaus smiled and slowly shook his head.
"Not at all..." He trailed off and moved closer to her, "In fact, I like the poetry of it. And I like how shamelessly you left your name on the crime scene. Marcel surely got you out of spending life in prison for that one."
"That he did," Cadence nodded, a proud smile on her face.
She liked that about Klaus. She could confess something like that and never once had he judged her or looked at her differently for her atrocious acts. In fact, he agreed with them.
"I have one question, however," Klaus replied and Cadence smiled slightly.
"And I might just have an answer for you," She told him and Klaus moved closer to her, an invested look on her face.
"Why keep your mother alive?" He asked her curiously and tilted his head slightly, "Why not kill her like the rest?"
"Physical pain, it's manageable. Emotional pain..." She trailed off, a sadistic smile on her face, "Now, that takes a toll on someone. And how badly do you think the pain of coming home to find your entire family, five children, and a husband, brutally slaughtered by the bastard daughter who only ever wanted your love and you couldn't even give that is?"
"Unbearable," Klaus began to smile, looking almost proud of Cadence, "I like that way you think."
"I'm glad," Cadence leaned back on the couch, "Good to talk to someone who understands me and doesn't judge."
There was a moment of silence between them as Klaus turned to glance at Cadence. He placed a hand on the side of her face, affectionately stroking her cheek.
Cadence smiled back at him, placing her hand over his as it rested on her cheek.
Klaus leaned forward and kissed her without hesitation.
Cadence smirked into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. She suddenly stopped, pulling her away from him to look her in the eyes. "Has anyone ever told you you're a great kisser?" She bluntly commented and a laugh escaped Klaus' parted lips.
"Once or twice. But it would be embarrassing to have lived a thousand years and not have learned a trick or two," Klaus replied, causing Cadence to laugh before they kissed once more.
As Klaus began to kiss her neck, Cadence's eyes shot open, a part of her realizing something. She was falling in love with Klaus.
And perhaps that was the best choice she could have ever made in her life or perhaps even the worst.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
😏😏😏😏