Bad Blood || The Vampire Diaries [1]

12: New Orleans, 1887

New Orleans, Louisiana 
1887

   "Brother," Elijah's voice echoed around the room. "If I may introduce to you a wonderful friend of mine. Klaus, this is Clara Forbes."

   "Ah," the blonde man hummed, smiling as he walked to our direction. "You must be the girl Elijah has been writing about for the past years." He took my hand and a laid a kiss over it, causing me to smile kindly. "I never thought he would get over Celeste so...so easily."

   "It is a pleasure to meet you," I said, bowing my head lightly and ignoring his words. "Elijah has spoken about you many times."

   "Good things, I hope," he grinned.

   "The best," Elijah agreed, smiling. It was one of the few times I had seen him truly happy. He was never so happy than the times he spent with his family, he once told me. And from the sight of each brother grinning, I could tell that it was true. 

   "Tell me about yourself, Clara," Klaus said when we took a seat in the parlour of their manor. "Elijah said he found you destroying towns, which is very interesting in my book."

   "I was mourning, you could say," I chuckled, looking down at the cup of tea on my lap. "It had been merely five years since I turned and yet I was mourning my human life; killing both the innocent and the criminal, destroying town after town as if they were a simple afternoon meal. It all changed after Elijah found me, of course. He made me realize that there was more to this hunger." I glanced over at Elijah, smiling. 

   "My brother, the honourable stag," Klaus chuckled, staring at his brother. "One can just expect the best from him. Isn't that right, Elijah?"

   "Where is our dear sister, Klaus?" Elijah asked, suddenly changing the conversation. "It's been fifty-two years since I last saw her."

   "Sleeping," he answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "You know how she enjoys her slumber."

   "Hmm," Elijah hummed, nodding. "Wonderful. Clara, why don't you take a stroll through the gardens? They're wonderful this time of year."

   "Won't you come with me?" I asked, reaching my hand in his direction. 

   He took my hand and smiled, laying a gentle kiss on my knuckles. "I'll accompany you after I speak with my dear brother."

   I made a face, pouting my lips with a playful smile around my lips. "Alright," I breathed. "'ll be expecting you in the gardens." I left the room and made my way out the house. When we first walked into the manor grounds, Elijah had pointed out the gardens in the back. And from what I could see, everything was big. 

   There was a stone path leading to the centre, where a pond as big as a small lake with flowering lily pads and a wooden bridge that crossed the middle so you could look down at the koi carp. The flower beds were a riot of May colour and even on close inspection they were weed-free. The pond-side air was pungent with the fragrance of jasmine. This was no natural basin filled with melt water, but the luxury addition to a formal garden by someone with both copious leisure time and money. 

   I stepped closure to the ledge and crouched down. From six feet up the surface was an opaque green, but from just two it was clear enough to see the plants and life below the surface. I dipped the tips of my fingers on the water. For such a hot day, the water was cold. 

   "I had expected the highly coloured Japanese koi carp," Klaus's voice rang around me. "And I wasn't disappointed. If anything, I was impressed." He chuckled and stepped besides me, looking down at the pond.