OUTCASTS
— 16. Farewell to Storyville
The following day, Cadence was sitting with her sons in the living room, playing with toys with them. She was in a happy mood, learning just that morning that Marcel had killed her mother. Once again, she was finally free from her grasp and this time, she hoped it was for good.
Her phone rang and Cadence reached forward. She grabbed ahold of the phone and looked at the screen. She was consumed with annoyance, however, when she saw it was Marcel calling.
She thought about not answering, but after a bit of hesitance, she decided to answer. "What do you want?" She asked the male vampire with an attitude.
"I need your help," He replied in a calm tone and Cadence couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"When don't you need my help?" She retorted with an attitude.
"Just quit it with the attitude and come to Saint Anne's as soon as you can," Marcel snapped at her before hanging up the phone.
___
An hour later, Cadence found herself sitting on one of the benches in St. Anne's Church. She had her arms crossed across her chest, watching as Marcel anxiously paced back and forth.
Hunter and Hayden stood from afar, playing with the toy dinosaurs they had brought with them. "Come on, Cade. Just—" Marcel began to say as he had for several moments now.
"No, Marcel! How many times do I have to tell you?" Cadence snapped at him in an aggravated tone, "I'm not siphoning that barrier spell, especially not for you."
"Why?" Marcel stopped pacing and turned to face her. He looked down at her, a questioning look on his face.
"Because I'm not stupid," Cadence replied as if it were obvious, "Why else?"
"By not doing this, you're putting Rebekah's life at risk," Marcel argued as he pointed a finger at her.
"Klaus won't kill her," Cadence argued as she shook her head in disapproval.
"Of course he would," Marcel complained and Cadence shook her head.
"He won't," Cadence replied in a calm tone, "He may say he will, but he won't. I know it."
"You know him all of what, six months? I've known him for two centuries. He's not the man you think he is, Cade!" Marcel complained in a loud tone, growing aggravated with her loyalty to Klaus, "There is no humanity in him. It doesn't matter if Rebekah's his sister. He'll kill her."
"I know he won't," Cadence argued in a stern tone.
"The only reason you're not helping me is that you don't want to betray him. It isn't because you believe Klaus won't kill her," Marcel explained and Cadence smiled slightly as she stared up at him.
"Maybe you're right," She replied, shrugging her shoulders without a care in the world, "Maybe I'm not siphoning the spell because I don't want to betray him, but I'm also doing this for you."
"How is that?" Marcel asked, scoffing since he didn't believe her.
"Without my help, Klaus is going to get out of this trap he's in, and when he does, he's going to find you and he's going to kill you," Cadence reminded him in a low, threatening tone. She stood up, slowly walking toward Marcel, "No one, not even Davina, is going to be able to save you. By not siphoning that spell, I'm giving you time to leave this city to save yourself."
"New Orleans is my home," He reminded her in a confident tone, "I've lived here for more than two centuries. I'm not going anywhere."
"Then it's your funeral," She replied, shooting Marcel a glare. She turned on her heel and looked toward her sons, "Boys, come on. It's time to go."
Her sons ran over to their mother, grabbing her hand before they began to walk toward the door. "And Marcel..." She called out, stopping to turn to look at Klaus, "Can really you blame Klaus for wanting you dead? Klaus raised you like you were his own son and you betrayed him. More than once. If I was him, I would have probably killed your ass the moment I say you gazing at my sister."
Hearing Cadence's words, Marcel's eyes widened, not expecting her, of all people, to say such a thing. He tried to hide his uneasiness, watching as she left without another word said.
____
That day, Cadence returned home and once more, her phone rang. She expected it to be Marcel, only to become even more annoyed when she saw that it was Klaus.
She closed the door to her apartment. She sighed, taking a deep breath before she answered the phone. "What do you want, Klaus?"
"I'm just making sure you're not doing anything foolish," Klaus answered in a calm tone, earning a small smile from Cadence.
"What do you mean by foolish?" She asked in a sarcastic tone, even though she knew what he was getting at.
"By foolish, I mean helping Marcel by siphoning the spell keeping us here. I have some business to handle and it'll be much easier if that barrier stays up," Klaus explained and Cadence hummed in response.
"Oh, you don't have to worry, Klaus. I already told him I wasn't helping him. I won't betray you like that, even if you were a total ass yesterday," She explained and she could almost imagine him smirking at that moment.
"Who knew such a mean statement could warm my heart so much?" He commented in a sarcastic tone and Cadence rolled her eyes.
"Don't you have siblings to terrorize and taunt? Why are you talking to me?" Cadence asked, clearly acting as though she wasn't enjoying the fact that he had called her for no reason at all.
"I just wanted to see if you were safe," He replied after a long moment of silence.
"Why wouldn't I be?" She asked, a smile forming on her lips.
"No reason. I just wanted to make sure," He answered after a moment of silence.
"Careful, Klaus," Cadence replied, beginning to laugh, "I might actually start to think you care about me."
"That would be horrible, wouldn't it?" Klaus asked in a sarcastic tone.
"Yes, it would," She replied, causing them both to laugh.
"Well, it would seem I must go," Klaus told her after a long moment, "As you said, I have siblings to taunt and terrorize."
"Well, you go do that, then," Cadence encouraged him with a small smile on her face, "Just don't do anything you'll regret."
"Do you realize who you're talking to?" Klaus commented before hanging up.
Placing her phone down, Cadence began to smile. "Why are you smiling like that, mommy?" Hunter suddenly asked, causing Cadence's smile to fade as she turned to her son.
"It's nothing," She replied, shaking her head.
"She must have been talking to Klaus," Hayden turned to whisper to Hunter in a hushed tone, "She always smiles like that when she's talking to him."
"I can hear you, you know. I'm not deaf," Cadence commented, causing Hayden and Hunter to exchange a look with each other.
They began to giggle while Cadence rolled her eyes. They ran off in the direction of their room and Cadence gradually began to smile at their behavior.
______
That night, when the sun set and Cadence believed it to finally be time, she traveled to Lafayette Cemetery. She walked up to the gates and placed her hands against the metal. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, beginning to siphon the barrier spell.
The wind blew around her and the gate suddenly opened. She opened her eyes and smiled, taking a step back as she watched Klaus walk toward the opened gate.
"Well, well. There's my favorite witch," Klaus spoke up, a smile forming on his lips.
"I'm only your favorite witch because I'm the only witch in town who doesn't hate you," Cadence replied in a playful tone.
"Perhaps you're right," Klaus commented, causing Cadence to chuckle.
"I know I'm right," She replied and with that, they began to walk away together.
_____
On the night of the full moon, Cadence found herself doing the thing she had been afraid of doing for almost five years now. She arrived at the Bayou, Hayden and Hunter alongside her.
Hayley had found a way to cure the Crescent Wolves of their curse.
Jackson was standing with Hayley, drinking the elixir when he turned his head to see Cadence walking over. His eyes widened, however, when he saw Hunter and Hayden standing with her.
He watched as Cadence bent down, whispering something to the twins that made them look at him.
Hunter walked toward Jackson, who felt extremely nervously. Just then, Hunter wrapped his arms around his father, hugging him.
Jackson smiled and immediately began to hug back. However, he sighed when he turned to see Hayden standing beside his mother, making no attempt to go over to him.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
The twins finally met Jackson!!!
Hunter is really open minded about meeting his father while Hayden is wary. 😬 but that seems to happen a lot in this story. Hunter is definitely a lot more trusting than Hayden.