The raucous sound of voice echoed around the courtyard of the Abattoir as the hordes of vampires congregated in a crowd and they chatted in small groups as drinks of alcohol and blood were passed around on silver trays like shots of tequila at a college bar.
Marcel looked down at the hundreds of vampires that he considered to be his family from over the top of the balcony railings with a smile on his lips and he swept his dark brown gaze over all of the people in attendance as marvelled his own accomplishment. He had done this. He had built the French Quarter back up from the ground after the Mikaelson's had abandoned it 1919, after he survived the massacre of vampire's that took place, after he took initiative to establish a leadership role in the French Quarter.
And now it was all his.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Fight Night!" Marcel announced jovially with a massive grin on his lips as he spread his arms out in greeting. At the sound of the King's voice, all of the vampire's standing beneath him in the courtyard turned their attention to the balcony where he stood and Marcel's grin widened with satisfaction as he held his head up higher with pride. "And, the first rule of Fight Night is: The vampire left standing at the end of the night is one step closer to the inner circle, and one of these," he told them as he held up his hand to show them the vintage ring on his right hand ring finger and the crowded fell into an awed silence as all of the nightwalkers stared longingly at the chance to once again walk in the sunlight, "a daylight ring. If you can impress me with a little ultra-violence, you too can enjoy the warmth of the sun on your face. All you got to do is kick a little ass. Here we go!"
Imogen stepped out of the shadows of the balcony as the vampires erupted with deafening cheers in the courtyard below and she made her way over to the edge of the balcony where Marcel was gazing fondly down at his followers.
"Someone should be a motivational speaker." She said teasingly with a smirk on her lips as sidling up next to him at the railing and tilted her head to the side as she looked down at the vampires currently forming a loose circle in the courtyard. "Look at them, all pumped up and raring to go."
Marcel chuckled lightly as he ducked his head with an amused smile on his lips and subtly peeked at the brunette next to him from the corner of his eye. "Shut up. Do you have it?"
"Do I have it? Please." Imogen scoffed in mock indignation as she gave him an offended pout of her lips and he gave her a pointed look even though his dark brown eyes shined with amusement. The young witch let out a small laugh as she rolled her bluish eyes theatrically and reached into her coat pocket for the metal ring she had been asked to spell earlier that day.
Marcel grinned at her as he inspected the vintage style ring in her delicate fingers and then turned his attention back to the horde of impatient vampire's in the courtyard below him. They had formed a loose circle around the edges of the courtyard as they waited anxiously for their King to announce which two of them were going to get a chance to win a daylight ring.
"Our first two contenders: Felicia and Otto!" Marcel declared loudly with a smirk as he leaned both his hands on the railing in front of him and Imogen stepped forward slightly so that she could easily see the makeshift ring below.
The crowd below erupted to loud cheers as the two vampires stepped into the middle of the courtyard with large grins on their lips and Imogen bit her lower lip as she watched them move at lightning speed towards one another. To the young witch's ordinary sight it looked like a mess of blurred movements that couldn't be distinguished, much like one of Monet's masterpieces.
Marcel watched the end of the brawl with an easy smirk on his lips as he leaned forward over the railing for a clear view of the arena and wolf-whistled loudly through the raucous cheering below as Felicia landed the winning blow on her opponent by snapping his neck.
"Damn, girl! Not bad!" Marcel praised the female vampire with a massive grin on his lips as he clapped his hands together and Imogen smiled politely next to him as she silently handed the spelled daylight ring over to him without waiting to be asked.
Suddenly, two dark coloured blurs flashed into the makeshift arena of the courtyard but no one seemed to notice the new arrivals until they stopped just behind the victor to reveal themselves as Niklaus and Elijah Mikaelson.
Klaus stalked purposely behind Felicia with a sickening smirk etched on his lips and easily snapped her spinal column at the top of her neck with his bare hands, making the whole courtyard fall silent with startled expressions.
"Good evening! I'd like a word." Klaus greeted the self-proclaimed king loudly with a smirk on his lips as he held his arms out to his sides and all the other vampires shuffled backwards away from the Original hybrid as they looked up to their leader.
"What do you think you're doing?" Marcel asked them in a mixture of annoyance and anger as he tried to keep the emotion off his expression because he didn't want his followers to think he was threatened by the Original family.
"It appears that we've interrupted a collection of filthy amateurs! We've come here for the girl." Elijah informed him angrily as he glared up at the dark-skinned vampire through narrowed oak brown eyes and Imogen couldn't help but noticed how attractive he looked when his sculpted jaw was clenched like that.
Those thoughts weren't meant to come at inconvenient times, but her subconscious obviously didn't care that she was in a room full of vampires that could hear her heart rate accelerate whenever she so much as glanced in the Originals direction. She curled her hands around the metal railing hoping that the pain from the pressure would force her to remember where she was and she bit the corner of her lower lip as Elijah pointed at the vampire standing next to her on the balcony. "Give it to us or...we kill everyone here. Starting with you."
"You two got a lot of nerve, coming into my home and making demands."
"Your home, is it?" Klaus asked rhetorically as he narrowed his eyes at his former protégé and clenched his hands into fists at his side to keep himself from lashing out.
"The girl! I will not ask again." Elijah demanded sternly as his oak brown eyes flashed menacingly with anger and he risked a fleeting glance at the young brunette standing next to Marcel on the balcony.
"I assume you're talking about Hayley? Yea high, dark hair, bitchy attitude?" Marcel asked rhetorically with a knowing smirk etched onto his lips, his words seemed surprising them all and he took pride in the fact that he had discovered one of the most secretive people in the world.
Klaus felt his blood start to boil at the superior glint in his former protégé's dark brown eyes as he curled his hands into fist at his side and silently fumed over the loss of advantage in the strategic battle of control over the French Quarter.
When coming here, eldest Mikaelson brother had been wondering how it was that Marcel had found out about Hayley's existence and one thought had continuously plagued his mind: Imogen was the only one besides his family that knew of Hayley and the baby. But looking up at the genuinely startled expression on her features that she tried to keep hidden from the vampire next to her and the accelerated speed of her heartbeat that she couldn't conceal, Elijah knew without a doubt that the young witch had nothing to do with Hayley's disappearance.
Marcel could easily see that his words had distressed the Originals in front of him as his smirk widened with unmistakable pleasure over his upper hand and he tilted his head to the side curiously as a frown overtook his features, " Who is she, anyway?"
"She's an old friend. You know how sentimental I am about old friends." Klaus remarked in a grave voice as his face hardened into a no nonsense mask of impatience and you couldn't deny the underlying bitterness in his voice directed at the self-proclaimed king.
"Well, I ain't got her. And before you start whining, I did pay her a little visit earlier tonight. I was feeling nostalgic, so I took a trip out to the plantation where I used to be a slave. And, imagine my surprise when I realised that the Original family of vampires had taken up residence. Your girl, Hayley, answered the door, we exchanged hellos, that was it. You don't believe me? Look around. Hell, I'll even help you find her. But the question that I'd ask is: if Hayley isn't here, then where is she?"
Imogen glanced down at the Original brother's with a raised eyebrow as they shared a concerned look and she pushed herself off of the metal railing as she started to walk backwards without looking away from Elijah and Klaus.
"Listen, why don't you go wait in the backyard? I'll help you find your runaway." Marcel told the older vampires as he held his hands up in mock surrender with a smirk on his lips and Elijah stared at him impassively as he evaluated whether or not to trust the self-proclaimed king to help retrieve Hayley. After a tense moment of silence, where all the vampires stared at each other gauging the other's intent, the older Mikaelson brother grabbed Klaus' elbow and started guiding his brother outside the courtyard.
Marcel sighed in exasperation at the drama brought forth by the Original family as he watched the brothers disappear into the backyard before he turned towards the brunette witch next to him and gently placed a hand on her elbow to gain her attention as he stepped closer to her side. "Hey, can you give me a hand?"
"Sure. You want me to do a located spell for Little Bo Peep's little lost lamb?" Imogen asked him with a small smirk on her lips as she quirked an eyebrow at him and tilted her head to the side curiously as she let him guide her towards the main set of stairs.
Elijah watched through narrowed oak brown eyes as the dark skinned vampire steered the young witch away from the courtyard and pursed his lips together as annoyance bubbled in his stomach but he shook his head at the irrational thoughts floating through his mind. He had no claim to the brunette in question but something about the way Marcel casually touched her with a comfortable familiarity irked him in a way he couldn't begin to explain even to himself. Of course Imogen was beautiful with her wavy brunette hair, bluish eyes framed with long lashes and unblemished tan skin, except for the fascinating tattoos that had been inked onto her body. There was a part of him that wished he could be the one who touched her delicate skin with such ease but he quickly squashed those thoughts before they could take hold in his mind and focused on the task at hand because he refused to be distracted from his family by another gorgeous brunette.
"Not the most attractive community, are they?" Elijah asked his brother lightly as he sat down elegantly in one of the metal garden chairs next to a small table on the back patio and glanced over at the small crowd of vampires watching them discreetly from the doorway back inside.
"You do realize they can hear you?" Klaus asked him in amusement with a slight genuine smile as he followed his older brother's gaze towards the vampires and Elijah looked over at him with a small upturn of his lips as he quirked an eyebrow dismissively.
"You do realize I don't care?"
Marcel strolled out of the open double doors of the patio with a small group of vampires behind him as he took in the scene in front of him and he instinctively tightened his protective hold on Imogen's hand as he lead her towards the Original brother's. "You know, Elijah, I liked you better in that box."
Elijah turned his head towards the sound of Marcel's voice as he flashed him a tight smile but his oak brown eyes were instantly drawn to the dark skinned vampire's side where his hands was clasped together was Imogen's and he internally scolded himself for the absurd flair of jealousy he felt spike.
"But Klaus, my sire, you I owe the world, and I always show respect to my elders. If your special lady friend is missing, you could benefit from the help of a witch. And, since I control all the witches in this town, I'll grant you one little locator spell." Marcel continued to speak to the hybrid jovially to show that he wasn't affected by their abrupt disturbance in his kingdom and he gestured with his free hand to the beautiful witch next to him with a small smirk on his lips as she looked back at him expectantly, "Imogen is the only witch that I trust and she's lived here in New Orleans her whole life. Need to find someone? I guarantee, she's your girl."
Imogen smiled slightly at the praise given to her but there was a slither of doubt in her mind as she glanced down at the ground and she felt Marcel squeeze her hand gently as he started walking back to the set of double doors.
"Where are you going?" Klaus asked him in annoyance as he tilted his head to the side while watching the younger vampire retreat and Marcel sighed heavily as he spun around to face them with his arms held out to his sides with a quirked eyebrow.
"I hate to cut this short, but the sun's coming up soon. My nightwalkers need to get inside, and I have got a city to run. I'll leave you to track down your lost sheep."
"Are we still on for later?" Imogen asked him curiously as she looked over her shoulder at him with a questioning smile on her lips and Marcel smirked back at her as he closed the distance between them.
"Of course. I'll call you. Don't be afraid to use force if you need to."
"That sounded like concern. Are you worried about me, Marcel?"
"Nah. I know you can take 'em." He told her softly with a wink as he leaned forward to press a lingering kiss on her cheek and she couldn't help the small blush that heated up her cheeks as grinned at him without replying to his compliment.
Marcel cast one more wary glance over his shoulder at the Original brothers as he started walking towards the house and he frowned slightly at the hatred pouring off of both of them in waves as they glared at his retreating back.
Imogen watched the self-proclaimed king leave the backyard with his entourage with him as he exited and then she turned back to the Original's sitting in front of her as she placed her hands on her hips.
"You lost your pregnant werewolf?" she asked them in amusement as she cocked her head to her head to the side curiously with a slightly mocking edge and they stared at her blankly as she let a small smirk spread across her lips, "You know you can hire a fourteen year old to babysit for like $8 an hour plus pizza money."
"Can you find her?" Elijah asked her pointedly with a small amused smile on his lips as he leaned forward in his seat slightly and ignored the burning desire to laugh to the young witch's sense of humour as he straightened the cuff of his jacket.
"I can try." Imogen replied unsurely with a small shrug of one shoulder as she looked at them both apologetically because she didn't have anything that belonged to Hayley to do the locator spell. Imogen pulled a folded map of New Orleans out of the back pocket of her jeans as she bit the corner of her lower lip in between her teeth and she spread paper out on the garden table in front of her so that there were no wrinkles or creases on the map. "I don't have anything of Hayley's to do the spell, but I can use Klaus' blood to track the baby."
"Fine." the hybrid murmured in annoyance as he rolled his sleeve up his forearm with a frown on his lips and let his vampire visage appear as he sunk his teeth into his skin with a sickening crunch. Imogen cringed in disgust as she wrinkled her nose slightly with a scowl and Klaus pulled his arm away from his bloodstained lips as he smirked at her maliciously. "Where do you want me?"
"That's gross. On the map, please."
"Because you asked so politely." he replied easily in a mocking tone as he held his arm out over the corner of the map while standing up from his seat and let the scarlet red blood drip freely onto the paper until the wound had healed completely.
Imogen held her hands over the map as she closed her eyes to block out her surroundings so that she could focus solely on the magic energy encompassing her and she could feel the familiar tugging at her stomach as she let the magic in her veins flowing without restriction onto the map.
Elijah stared at the young witch's beautiful face as she looked almost peaceful while practicing her magic and couldn't help but study her features with a captivated expression, much like an art enthusiast was fascinated by precious works of art.
The magic emanated from deep within her as she slowly blinked open her bluish eyes with a frown of deep concentration and they all watched as the small puddle of blood slowly traced a path from their current location across the map.
"She's in the back country. Way up, past Houma, deep in the bayou." Imogen murmured under her breath as she narrowed her eyes at the blood when it stopped in the middle of the bayou and she let out a perturbed breath as she looked up into Elijah's calm oak brown eyes across the table.
"I don't suppose you could be more precise?" the elder Mikaelson brother asked her softly as he stared into her entrancing blue eyes with a small quirk of his lips and she couldn't help smiling back at him as she ducked her head to avoid getting lost in his eyes.
"What's the matter, Elijah? You're worried a bit of splashing about in the bog might ruin your expensive shoes?" Klaus asked his brother tauntingly as he stopped pacing the patio with a bothered frown and turned to face the pair at the table as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"As a matter of fact, after my recent confinement, I could use a decent stroll through the countryside."
"After 1000 years you still bicker like normal siblings. I'm not sure if that's reassuring or concerning." Imogen stated in amusement with a smirk on her lips as she studied the map in front of her, looking to see if she recognised any of the landmarks in the area surrounding where the spell had led them and she could feel that brother's burning stares on her as she lifted her head to look at them with a quirked eyebrow.
Klaus rolled his light blue eyes at her with a small smirk as he leaned back against the walk impatiently and the corner of Elijah's lips quirked up to convey his amusement as she pointed to a spot on the map with a serious expression, "There are stories of exiled werewolves, encampments. If Hayley went out that far, chances are she went to find them."
"Clearly, she hopes to make the acquaintance of more like herself. I suppose our company wasn't good enough for her." Klaus goaded his brother sardonically as he strolled up to the edge of the table they were using and Elijah ignored his attempts at provoking him as he glanced worriedly at the young witch across the table.
"I'm shocked." The young witch muttered drily under her breath as she concentrated on narrowing down the location on the map and Elijah chuckled slightly as Klaus turned his head to glare at the top of her head.
"I'm going to call Rebekah. She may have heard from Hayley before she left town." Elijah told them both as he reached into his jacket pocket for his cell phone and Imogen lifted her head to look at him with a confused frown on her lips as he started dialling his sister number.
"What are you talking about? Rebekah's at my apartment in the Quarter."
"What?" both of the brother's asked her in confusion as they snapped their heads around to look at her in unison with matching incredulous frowns and she blinked at them uncertainly as she slowly nodded her head to show that she hadn't been lying.
"Late last night, Rebekah showed up at my apartment door to say goodbye and I talked her into having a girl's night. This morning before I left for my abnormal psychology class, we had breakfast together and she told me she'd decided to stay in town for a while. She's probably lounging about my living room in her pyjamas, eating all of my ice cream and drinking all of my alcohol."
"We'll pay for refills." Elijah told her in a lightly joking voice as a small smile pulled at the corners of his lips and it only grew in size when he heard the soft melodic laughter that he had inspired from her.
"You should take a photo of the map with the camera on your phone. So, that you have it with you when you go." Imogen advised him softly as she gently pushed the map closer to him with a smile and he lifted his head up to look at her in mild surprise as she quirked an eyebrow, almost daring him to comment on her intelligence.
Klaus sighed impatiently at the side of the table as he watched his older brother practically drooled over the attractive young witch and forced himself not to react in any negative way because he knew that if Elijah was fawning over Imogen, he wouldn't be fawning over Hayley once they found her.
"You should also take my number in case Hayley needs magically help once you find her." The witch added under her breath as she reached into the satchel hanging from her shoulder with a small frown and came out with a notebook and a blue pen that she set them down on the table. She jotted down her cell phone number quickly as she bit the corner of her lower lip and ignored the butterflies that went wild in her stomach. She knew that this wasn't the normal, clichéd version of giving a good looking guy your number and she told herself that it was only in case of a magically emergency regarding Hayley or her pregnancy since they could trust the local coven.
"Thank you." Elijah told her sincerely as he slipped his phone back into his jacket pocket after taking a photograph of the map and Imogen looked over at him as she slid the scrap of paper with her name towards him. His hand covered hers on the paper as his oak brown eyes locked onto her bluish orbs and she almost flinched in surprise as electric shot up the nerves in her arm but she completely froze instead. "Thank you for doing this."
"Sure." She whispered almost inaudibly as she nodded subtly with a small smile playing on the edge of her lips and Elijah's gaze drifted quickly down to her full pink lips before remembering him, pulling his hand away quickly with the scrap of paper in his grasp.
Imogen retracted her hand as though it was on fire as she turned to head to avoid looking into Elijah's eyes and she watched Elijah stand up from his seat with an elegance that would make most royals envious. He straightened his suit jacket as he placed the scrap of paper with her number on it in his pocket and smiled at her faintly as he started walking towards the doors to the courtyard with Klaus following after him.
It was only once they were both out of view that she started to breathe easier and she exhaled heavily as she practically fell back in her seat with her eyes closed in disbelief. What the hell was wrong with her when he was around? She didn't want to be the kind of woman that turned into a snivelling pile of goo whenever a man was around and yet that's exactly what Elijah Mikaelson seemed to turn her into.
"Hey, Imogen!" she heard Marcel's familiar voice call out to her from behind as his footsteps echoed throughout the courtyard and she sat up in confusion with a frown on her lips as she turned her head to see him approaching her swiftly.
"What's going on? I thought I wasn't going to see you until later."
"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to cancel our plans. Something unexpected came up."
"Ah, the pitfalls of running a kingdom."
"Exactly!" Marcel stated brightly with a small chuckle as he came to a stop in front of where she was sitting and extended a hand to help her stand up gracefully making her offer him a thankful smile as her easily pulled her to her feet. "I actually need your opinion on something. Come inside with me?"
Imogen nodded immediately, thinking that he needed some sort of magically assistance and didn't want to bother Davina with something so mundane. Marcel grasped her hand gently as he started guiding her towards the opened double doors that led to the inside courtyard and as soon as they entered, her bluish eyes narrowed in on the slightly familiar young dark haired male vampire that was shifting anxiously on his feet as two other vampire's stood guard behind him.
"What's going on?" she asked curiously with a slight edge of unease as she quirked an eyebrow in question and they came to a stop a few feet in front of the small group as Marcel gestured with his hand for the vampires standing guard to disperse.
"Imogen, this is Josh, one of my nightwalkers. Josh, this is Imogen." The proclaimed king introduced the two of them brightly as though he was speaking about old friends and placed a hand securely on the small of Imogen's back as he gestured between them with his hand.
"H-hi." Josh stuttered unsurely with a small nervously quirked smile but his face soon fell back into the mask of panic and the witch couldn't help but offer him a small smile in return as she crossed her arms over her chest expectantly.
"Josh has a problem."
"The first steps admitting you have one." Imogen told the younger vampire drily with a mock sympathetic smile on her lips as she tilted her head to the side and Marcel chuckled in amusement next to her with a grin as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
"Nah, you see, Josh has been compelled by Klaus to spy on me." he elaborated carefully as he roughly patted Josh on the shoulder, making the other vampire cringe slightly and Imogen made a vague noise of acknowledgement as she nodded slowly in understanding. "Now, my thought was to just kill him but I wanted your opinion first."
The young witch raised an eyebrow at that as she turned her head to look at Marcel in surprise but he just shrugged his shoulders with a small smile and she turned back around to the scared looking vampire in front of her as she tapped her chin thoughtfully. She didn't want to sign this guy's death warrant with it was avoidable but she also didn't want to do anything that would place Davina in danger and she wasn't sure what the Originals had planned for her little sister. If she wanted to protect Davina to the best of her ability then she needed to know what they intended to do and she required a way to find out what was going on from the inside.
"You shouldn't kill him." she finally decided out loud as she narrowed her bluish eyes slightly at the dark haired vampire in front of her and he exhaled in audibly relief as he closed his eyes with a comforted expression. "You should use him."
"Wait! Use me?" Josh asked abruptly in a troubled tone of voice as his eyes snapped wide open to look at the pair in front of me and he felt instantly nervous at the calculated look in the pretty girl's bluish eyes.
"Hm. Yeah, use you to our advantage against Klaus. He's obviously planning something if he felt the need to spy on you, Marcel. We should remove the compulsion from Josh's mind and send him back in as a double agent."
"That's a good idea. Can you remove the compulsion?" Marcel asked her curiously as he looked over at her with affection perfectly clear in his dark brown eyes and she grimaced apologetically as she shook her head in answer to his question.
"Not on my own. But luckily, I happen to know another witch whose probably bored almost to death and would be very grateful for the distraction." Imogen pointed out cheerfully as she turned her face him with a grin on her lips and he nodded along with her as he chuckled at her obvious desire to see her little sister.
The witch watched with a little bit of sympathy as Marcel used his vampire speed to appear behind Josh and cringed slightly when she heard the loud crack of the younger vampire's neck snapping, knocking him into unconsciousness as he collapsed to the ground at her feet.
_____________________________
Davina was really starting to hate living in seclusion. At the back of her mind she knew that it was for her own safety, that if she went out into the Quarter unprotected she would most likely die at the hands of the witches, and it was marginally better now that Imogen has started coming to visit her regularly, but living alone in an attic was really starting to get to her. All she had to keep her mind preoccupied was her artwork and the novels that Marcel had provided for her when she asked for them.
The sound of footsteps against the woodened floorboards alerted her to someone's presence in the hallway leading to her attic room and she froze with her hand halfway towards her blank easel as she turned her head towards the door expectantly.
Marcel strolled into the attic with a large canvas bag thrown over his shoulder as Imogen trailed in after him and Davina's face instantly lit up with a grin as she looked between saviour and her sister.
Imogen made sure that she was behind Marcel's back as she caught Davina's attention discreetly and carefully motioned to herself before making spirit fingers like in the movies to inform the younger witch that she was the one doing magic early because Marcel didn't know that Imogen sometimes took advantage of her blood connection to Davina.
"Marcel, something is happening. There is a witch doing magic in the Quarter." Davina informed the self-proclaimed king quickly when she got her sister's intention and Imogen offered her approving thumbs up as she smiled in relief behind his back.
"Oh, no worries, that one is Marcel-approved! Besides..." Marcel trailed off cheerfully with a bright grin on his lips as he dropped the wriggling bag onto the floor and the younger witch quirked a questioning eyebrow at her sister as Imogen wandered over to her side. "Got something else for you to handle!"
Imogen wrapped her arms around Davina's shoulders from behind as she leaned her chin on the shorter girl's head and watched as Marcel opened the canvas bag to reveal a now conscious Josh struggling to get his bearings.
The young vampire's eyes flickered nervously around the room as he blinked rapidly in confusion before his gaze landed on Davina standing the middle of the attic with Imogen and his eyes widened in fright as he tried to shuffle away from her. "Oh, no. Y-you're the super witch."
"Say hi to Josh." Marcel said brightly as he gestured towards the young vampire on the ground in front of him and Imogen waved a hand at him mockingly as Davina turned her attention to the dark skinned vampire in confusion.
"Why would you bring him here?" Davina asked him incredulously as she frowned at him in bewilderment and he grabbed Josh's shoulder as he roughly pulled him to his feet before pushing him towards a chair in the middle of the room.
"Josh has a problem. Klaus compelled him to spy on me."
"Which was smart of him." Imogen interjected in admiration as she smirked over at Marcel with a raised eyebrow and he mock glared at her with a small smile on his lips as he forcibly shoved Josh onto the seat.
"I can't have that. So I thought: 'I'll just kill Josh - '"
"Marcel, please! It's not my fault!" Josh interrupted him frantically as he shook his head desperately with a panicked expression but Marcel ignored him as he wander over to stand next to the sisters.
" - then I thought: 'Killing a vampire, that would be breaking my own rule.'"
"And that would've been counterproductive." The older Clare sister said helpfully as she squeezed Davina's shoulders playfully with a smile on her lips and she tilted her head to the side as she regarded Josh through narrowed eyes.
"Imogen's right. Smart thing to do is to flip Josh, that way, he can tell Klaus whatever I want. He could even spy for me. All we gotta do is wipe away that compulsion. So, what do you think?" Marcel asked both of the sisters curiously as he placed his hands on his hips with an inquisitive expression and Imogen glanced around at her younger sister in question with a quirked eyebrow as she moved to stand beside her.
"I can make him forget what Klaus told him. But, the more Klaus said, the more it is gonna hurt." Davina answered him nonchalantly as she studied the young vampire's face with a blank expression and Marcel looked up at Imogen for a second as she nodded in agreement with her sister before they all turned to the young vampire sitting in front of them.
"Hm, probably gonna hurt a lot. Josh?"
"I-I'll do it, anything, yes." Josh replied instantly with wide eyes as he nodded his head jerkily in agreement and all the coloured drained from his face as he leaned forward with his eyes locked on the witches. "How much pain are we talking?"
Imogen slipped her hand into Davina's as they both simultaneously raised their free hands in his direction and she felt the familiar stirring of magically energy in her stomach as she concentrated on entering Josh's subconscious mind.
Josh let out an agonised scream as he gripped his head in his hands with a tormented expression and his whole body tense with pain as his whole face scrunched up with unbridled misery.
"I'll leave you to it. Let me know when it's done. Erase his memories of Davina as well." Marcel murmured quietly to Imogen as he walked around to her other side and she nodded absently in acknowledgement as she focused her mind on finding Klaus Mikaelson's voice inside the tangled mess that was Josh's head.
Both of the witches were far too preoccupied with their task to even notice Marcel exiting the attic quietly as they sorted through the voices in the young vampire's mind until they can across the words that had been forced inside by compulsion.
Imogen tried to block out the excruciating screams coming from Josh as he toppled over the side of the chair and brought his knees up to his chest as he curled himself into a tight ball. She finally sighed in sympathy as she dropped her hand to her side and gently nudged Davina with her elbow to get her to do the same as they broke their connection to the magic.
"I'm sorry, but it's just gonna get worse. Klaus' compulsion runs deep." Davina said nonchalantly as she rolled her bluish eyes at the vampire writhing on the floor in front of her and Josh let out an exhalation of relief as his whole body relaxed without the pressure of someone scrambling his mind.
"You need to think of something else. Take your mind off it." Imogen suggested calmly as she reached down to help the weak vampire stand up before guiding him towards the chair he had fallen out of earlier. "Do you like music?"
"What? I can't think of music right now." Josh complained incredulously through heavy pants as he tried to catch his breath and Davina let out an annoyed sigh as planted her hands on her hips. "Why? I dunno, maybe because you're giving me a Voodoo lobotomy!"
"Voodoo lobotomy? I like that." the older witch mused out loud with a soft chuckle as she walked over to the bed at the back of the room and gracefully sat down on the end with her eyes trained watchfully on the other two occupants.
"Do you like jazz?" Davina asked him curiously as she shrugged her shoulders in surrender and Josh sighed in frustration as he grimaced at the thought of classical music in any form. "So, what then?"
"Club stuff." He answered her reluctantly as he slumped back in the chair with a heavy sigh escaping his lips and Davina quirked an eyebrow at him in confusion as Imogen hummed in acknowledgement. "House, trance. You know, 'uhnse uhnse uhnse uhnse?'"
"I'm a witch, I'm not Amish! It's just, I'm only sixteen, I don't go to clubs."
"When I was sixteen, I'd been to, like, a hundred clubs."
"Hey! Let's keep the bad influence on the down low, alright?" Imogen interjected sarcastically from her spot on the bed as she looked over at the teenagers with an eyebrow raised and Davina let out an indignant noise as she turned around to face her sister in disbelief.
"How many clubs were you going to when you were sixteen?" she asked perceptively as she raised both her eyebrows with a smirk on her lips and Imogen pursed her lips together in submission, knowing that her little sister was correct in her assumption.
"I withdraw my complaint."
"God, that was only four years ago. It feels like another life. All I wanted to do is meet boys. Things are so much more complicated. Now, all I want to do is meet boys, feed on people's blood, get one of those daylight rings so I don't burn in the sunlight." Josh admitted in a sage voice as he looked between the two witches with sad eyes and Imogen couldn't help but feel sympathy for the poor boy whose choices were taken away from him. "All perfectly normal things."
"Maybe you'll find that you prefer life as a vampire. You could end up liking being strong, ageless, fearless. You can travel all over the world, no limitations. You'll fall in love countless times, and live out remarkable movie romances. Different jobs, different colleges, different nightclubs." Imogen told him gently in a wistful voice as she offered him a small smile from across the room and he smiled back at her weakly as he nodded with a thoughtful expression.
Davina wandered over to the table to the side of the room as she listened intently to her sisters words and she ran her fingers gently over the edge of the violin that Elijah had fixed for her when he was there. "I like the classics. Puccini, Bach, Mozart. Imogen always played them when she was doing her homework and I guess they kind of just stuck with me. I took piano, not that it matters, while I'm stuck here."
"Why not?" Josh asked her curiously as he shifted his weight on the chair so that he was more comfortable and Davina strolled over to the armchair across from him as she sunk down gracefully onto the cushion.
"Marcel's worried that someone could hear. It's not his fault, he just wants to keep me safe." She answered him a little warily as she swept her gaze over his face for any signs of betrayal but he just looked confused by her response.
"Safe from what?"
"Basically, a coven of psycho witches wants to sacrifice me in a blood ritual."
"Oh!" he exclaimed in surprise with a dry laugh as he stared at her incredulously and Imogen smirked slightly at him as she got up from her place on the bed. "Wow, okay, uhhh...I'm sorry?"
"Don't be. We're going to destroy them all. And once they're gone, everything will go back to normal. I'll have my old life back!" Davina told him happily with a bright grin as Imogen sat down on the arm of the chair she was sitting on and soothed the younger girl's brunette hair back from her face with a smile of her own.
"That's right, Pixie." Imogen murmured contently as she leaned down to press a kiss to the young witch's forehead and smiled down at her with such love in her bluish eyes that Josh had to look away from the pair of sisters because he felt like he was intruding on a private moment.
It was moments like this, moments where Davina was unconditionally happy that practically broke Imogen's heart. They were so infrequent that it made each one she witnessed taste bittersweet and she knew deep down that it should be the moments that made her despondent that should have been the rare occurrences.
"Okay, sorry, Josh, but it's time for the next round of Voodoo lobotomy." She announced in a falsely cheerful voice as she stood up from the arm of the chair with a grim smile on her lips and Davina smiled in sympathy as Josh let out a reluctant groan. "One more round should be enough to get rid of all the compulsion. I'm sorry it's so painful, it's because Klaus is an Original."
"It's fine. Let's just get this over with." Josh grumbled as he shifted on his chair with a grimace on his lips and the sisters linked their hands together to create a magic link between them as they walked to stand in front of him with small matching compassionate smiles.
The magic flared to life in Imogen's blood as she took deep breath to steady herself before she focused her mind on finding a crack into Josh's subconscious mind and she imagined the magically energy to be a silver mist as it travelled through the voices in his head for Niklaus Mikaelson's imprint.
It was almost like burning an impression out of Josh's brain, like all the nerves in his brain were exploding at the same at time and he couldn't handle the pain as he screamed loudly in an attempt to ease the excruciating agony. His body was struggling to function on its own as all his muscles tensed before releasing as though made of gelatine and he tumbled for the chair onto the ground as he arched his back in anguish.
Imogen mental swept her magic around the entirety of Josh's brain to check for any leftover trace of compulsion and released her hold on energy as she left herself relax when she couldn't sense anything. She disconnected her hand from Davina's as she crouched down with a sympathetic smile on her lips and tilted her head to the side as she watched the young vampire slowly loosen up.
Josh was lying on his back in the middle of the room with a light layer of sweat coating his pale skin as he panted to catch his breath from being subjected to the spell and he groaned lowly in pain as he pushed himself up onto his elbows with a weak grimace.
Davina grinned down at him happily as she clasped her hands in front of her and knelt down on the floor next to Josh as she tilted her head to the side. "That's it. You're free!"
"You're right! I can feel it." Josh said gleefully in a weak voice as he pushed himself up into sitting position with a smile and Davina giggled lightly as Imogen sat down next to her with a small smile on his lips. "Before, I was always thinking about what Klaus would want me to do. Now, I'm like, 'Screw that guy!'" he informed the witches happily with a grin as they laughed gently at his ecstatic expression and he laughed hysterically in happiness. "Klaus Mikaelson can suck it!"
Davina's smile faded slightly as she looked away from his jubilant expression and Imogen could sense the change in her sister as she slipped her hand into the younger girl's comfortingly. It made sense that the young witch had grown attached to the young vampire because she hadn't had much contact with anyone from the outside world and she definitely hadn't spoken to anyone close to her own age.
The young vampire noticed the suddenly despondent look on her face as he frowned at her in confusion and glanced over at Imogen in question but she was gazing sadly at her sister. "What, what's that look for?"
"Marcel wants me to make you forget about me."
"Oh, you don't have to do that! I, like, owe you my life!" Josh told her honestly as he leaned towards her slightly with a small smile on his lips and she smiled back weakly at him but quickly diverted her gaze. "I'll keep your secret! Besides, it's kind of nice, just talking to someone normal again."
"You think I'm normal? I'm a sixteen year old witch, living in an attic like some kind of freak." She reminded him incredulously as she glanced around the attic with a perplexed frown and he shrugged his shoulders at her with a smirk.
"I'm a gay club kid who died and came back as a vampire. Yeah, normal's kind of relative, you know?" He said nonchalantly in amusement as he chuckled a little at the absurdity of his statement and both the witches across from him giggled along with him as
"Immy, you won't tell Marcel, right?" Davina asked her sister pleadingly with wide bluish eyes as she turned to look at her hopefully and Imogen almost gasped in shock at the old moniker coming from her sister's mouth because she hadn't been called that in years.
"No, no, your secret is safe with me. You know that." Imogen told them both sincerely as she squeezed her sister's hand gently with a small smile and she forced herself not to cry as Davina beamed at her brightly.
"Here, pinky swear on it." Josh interjected playfully with a grin as he extended his pinky finger towards the girls and they both laughed out loud as they linked their own pinky fingers around his so that it formed a tangled mess.
The older brunette glanced in the direction of the small window of the attic and saw that the sun had now set for the day so she climbed to her feet reluctantly. "Come on, Josh. It's time to go play pretend."
Josh nodded in understand as he slowly got to his feet as well but stumbled slightly and Imogen rushed forward to catch him with her arm around his waist before he toppled over. "Whoa."
"You're okay. You just haven't had any blood today."
"I'll be fine. I can make it back."
"No, you can't. you're too weak." she murmured to herself as she helped him over to the abandoned chair in the middle of the room and sat him down before wandering over to the desk where there was a sharp dagger resting. She walked calmly back over to where Josh was sitting, looking paler than before as she placed the sharp metal against her wrist and press down deep enough to break the skin as she let out a small hiss of pain. "Here. Drink."
"What? No! No, I -I can't. I don't have complete control." He protested profusely as she stepped closer to him with her arm outstretched for him and the veins under his eyes grew darker with bloodlust as the intoxicating scent of blood washed over him.
"I'm a powerful witch. Pixie's a powerful witch. If you go too far, we'll stop you."
Josh looked over at her with a frown, trying to see if she was serious or not as she raised both her eyebrow at him expectantly and pushed her bleeding arm closer to him as she smiled slightly in a comforting manner. He glanced down at the blood smeared over her tan skin as the hunger inside of him urged him to feed until there wasn't any left and he slowly reached out to grab her wrist as he brought it closer to his mouth before sinking his extended fangs into the skin with a sickening crunch.
Imogen clenched her jaw against the pain as Josh's grip tightened on her wrist and she watched him carefully as he swallowed gulp after gulp of her blood. She normally wouldn't have offered any vampire her blood but seeing the young vampire in such a helpless state, something came over her and she wanted, no, needed to do something to help him. There was something about the way Josh looked at Davina that made Imogen sure that he would do anything in his power to protect her and that instantly put him on her good side.
"Okay." She said in a tight voice as she glanced over at Davina to let her know she was going to stop Josh in case she needed any magically assistance and the younger witch nodded in understanding as she stepped forward slightly with a determined expression. "Josh? Josh! Enough!"
The young vampire faintly heard someone call his name but he was too lost in the glorious state of bloodlust to pay much attention. Suddenly, a sharp pain entered his mind and it felt like a thousand different fireworks were going off inside his head as he jerked back with a wince, clutching his hands to the side of his head.
"Hey, you stopped on the first try!" Imogen cheered proudly as she bent her arm up to her chest with a beaming smile and Josh looked around wildly, his breath erratic as he wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. "Good job!"
"I did it? I fed without hurting you?"
"Well, you had a little magical assistance. That pain at the end? It was Davina give you a brain aneurysm over and over again." she told him calmly as she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly with a proud smirk on her lips and she looked over at the younger witch with such obvious pride in her bluish eyes. "Do you think I can have a little vampire blood? If Marcel sees me with puncture wounds, let's just say it won't go well for anyone."
"Oh! Yeah, yeah. Sure." Josh said in a rush as he nodded his head rapidly in answer and she moved closer to him as he bit into his own wrist with a grimace on his lips.
"Thank you." she said sincerely with a smile as she brought his arm up to her mouth and sucked a small amount of blood out of the wound as the cut on her wrist magically started to heal itself before their eyes.
Imogen wiped a drop of blood from the corner of her lips as she patted him on the Josh friendlily and turned her attention to the younger brunette in the room as she smiled sadly. "I'll come see you later this week, okay, Pixie?"
"Yeah, yeah, okay." Davina murmured quietly in a sad voice as she looked down at the ground and Imogen strolled over to where she was standing as she placed her hands on the younger girl's shoulders. "I'm sorry. I just miss you, that's all."
"We survived eight months. We'll survive a couple of days."
"I know. I love you."
"I love you too." Imogen told her with such utter love in her voice as she wrapped her arms tightly around the shorter girl and Davina clung to her for dear life as she breathed in the comforting scent that reminded her of home.
The two sisters pulled back from their embrace with matching sad smiles on their lips as Imogen cupped the younger girl's cheek playfully and Davina grinned up at her as she giggled a little under her breath.
"Come on, let's go, baby-vamp." The older witch said happily to the vampire as she pointed a finger towards the door to the attic with a smile and he nodded back at her in understanding as he waved goodbye to Davina with a smile on his lips. Imogen linked her arm through Josh's as they exited the attic together and she tried to force away the guilt she felt for leaving Davina alone.
This was where it got difficult for Imogen. She needed him to agree to her request without difficulty and normally she would use any means necessary to get her way where Davina was concerned but she genuinely liked Josh. How did she get him to do what she wanted? She could manipulate him. She could lie to him. She could threaten him. Or she could do something unconventional, she could tell the truth.
"Josh, I need to ask you a favour. You can say no if it makes you uncomfortable." Imogen stated abruptly as she pulled him to a stop in the middle of the church aisle with a determined expression and Josh looked at her with his eyebrow furrowed in confusion as he nodded hesitantly. "I love Davina. I was six when she was born, and I practically raised her from then on. She is literally the most important person in the world to me. I would do anything to protect her, which has been very difficult recently."
"The witches that want to kill her?" he asked her softly as he crossed his arms over his chest with a troubled expression on his face and she nodded her head with a sad smile as she licked her lips nervously.
"And the Originals."
"What do you want me to do?"
"You're now in a positon of power, Josh. You're a double agent in both of the enemy camps."
"You don't trust Marcel?" Josh asked me curiously with an undercurrent of fear in his voice as his eyes widened in shock and Imogen snapped her head up to meet his gaze evenly as she placed a gently hand on his forearm.
"I don't trust anyone, Josh. I don't trust anyone with Davina's safety, only myself. I thought I could trust the witches and they betrayed me, they betrayed Davina, they betrayed every single girl whose throat I walked them slice open." She told him honestly with earnest bluish eyes as she squeezed her bicep gently to empathise her point and he frowned at her in shock as his eyes widened even more than they had been. "I need you to let me know everything that Klaus and Marcel are doing, even if it's not about Davina. The French Quarter is headed towards war, Josh, and I want the upper hand when the time comes to choose a side."
"Okay, yeah. I'll tell you everything that they both say or do."
"Thank you." she told him sincerely as she smiled at him gratefully with such honesty and he found himself smiling back at her without even thinking about it.
Imogen slipped her hand into her purse as she grabbed a notebook and pen from inside and pulled them out as she moved to the side of the aisle to lean on the wooden bench. She quickly jotted down her cell phone number on a scrap of paper and stuffed the objects back into her purse as she turned towards the young vampire. "This is my phone number. Call me if you have any information, or you need anything I can help you with. Or if you just want to talk."
Josh stared at the paper she handed him in shock with his mouth hanging open slightly and he blinked in surprise as he looked back up at the pretty brunette with a small smile on his lips. "Thank you. Really."
"It's no problem. It didn't really seem like anyone was helping you through this and it's a hard transition to make alone."
"I just - I never really had anyone, so this wasn't that big a change for me." he admitted shyly as he fidgeted with the paper in his hands so that he wouldn't have to look at the pity in her eyes.
"I know what you mean." She told him honestly as she nodded her head slightly and he snapped his head up to look at her in a mixture of confusion and shock as she smiled at him sadly. "My parents were never the most - I don't even know what they were. My mother was cold, and heartless, controlling. And my father, he was distant. Until he wasn't. He became the opposite. Far too much...contact."
"He hit you?"
"Yeah, he did. But that was okay. If he was hitting me, he wasn't hitting Davina. I used to go out of my way make sure I was the one who held his attention." Imogen said softly in an almost wistful voice as her bluish eyes glazed over slightly in remembrance and she shook her head slightly to bring herself out of the past as she smiled up at him.
"You're a good big sister." Josh told her sincerely as he looked at her with respect shining in his eyes and she chuckled lightly in embarrassment as ducked her head at the praise with a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks.
"Good night, Josh." She said warmly as she squeezed his hand gently with a small smile on her lips and he smiled back at her as she walked past him towards the double doors of the church without looking back.
Imogen wasn't completely sure why she had shared so much of her past with a stranger, it just wasn't something she did on a regular basis. In fact, she hardly ever spoke about it with anyone, even her closest friends and yet she was spilling all her secrets a boy she had own all of two hours. Maybe it was the time she had spent with Davina that day that made her more open than she normally was around people.
The warm night air surrounded Imogen as she exited the church and the overhead streetlight bathed her in a florescent glow as her cell phone started ringing from inside her purse. She glanced around the street quickly as she reached into her purse for her phone and checked the caller ID as she brought the phone up to her ear.
"Hello?" Imogen asked in greeting as she frowned slightly at the words 'unknown number' flashing the screen and she started walking down the sidewalk towards her apartment building as she
"Hey, is this Imogen?" a slightly familiar female voice asked her through the phone as she paused for a moment before continuing on her way down the familiar route.
"Yes, who's this?"
"It's Hayley. I'm a...friend of the Mikaelson's. We met the other day."
"Of course. I remember you, Hayley. Kind of hard to forget."
"Right." She muttered bitterly to herself on the other side of the phone line but Imogen still heard her and let out a small chuckle as she shifted her purse higher up on her shoulder.
"What can I help you with, Hayley?"
"Elijah told me to call you if there was an emergency." Hayley said pointedly with a trace of exhaustion in her voice as she sighed at the end of her sentence and the young witch couldn't help but wonder what the hell had happened to her today.
"And has there been an emergency?" Imogen asked her in concern as she stopped in front of her apartment building with a frown on her lips and she heard Hayley sighed heavily on the other side of the phone line.
"Elijah didn't want me to call you, but I don't know if I can handle this on my own. Klaus threw a temper tantrum and bit Elijah, so now he's just sitting out here in the bayou, waiting for the hallucinations and fever to set in. I don't know if you can do anything, but... You seem to be the only witch anyone trusts. Elijah needs your help, Imogen."