Behind These Curls II Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter Two

"Be safe, little warrior." I pull Lea into a warm embrace, kissing both of her freckled brown cheeks and then her button nose in a brief goodbye. "Go, Madame LaLaurie is an impatient woman." Lea nods, her underdeveloped body taking off towards the back porch, where Samuel waits to escort the eleven year old girl to the unpleasant madame.

I follow the muddied trail to the busy streets of the French Quarter, the same area my afternoon chores lie. The streets were filled with sweat-stricken customers who 'oohed and aahed' at the shiny new products merchants bestowed to them, silently praying beneath their breath they'd sell out before taxes rolled around.

My eyes were drawn to the table assorted with fresh vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots, and bulky heads of lettuce. I thumb the head of lettuce, checking how healthy the merchant's stock was. "What are you doing, negro?" The man behind the stall glares at me, his greasy mustache pursed in disgust. "You'll spoil that if you touch it with those hands of your's."

"I'm a mulatto, sir." I say honestly, bobbing my head up and down. He spit at my feet but I stayed firm, though my gaze was leveling with the dirt.

"Do you think that makes a difference to me, scum?" He asks enraged, but not daring to touch me. "You're ruining my business." I look around me, realizing he was right. We had an audience but none of the pale women or men would step near his shoppe.

"I am buying produce for Madame LaLaurie, sir. Please-" He seemed to forget he was disgusted by me as he came across the table, laying the bare minimum of his fingertips on my shoulders and pushing me away as hard as he could.

"Please leave this market place, negro." He hisses, I stumble backwards and land on my bottom, pin lacing through my body. "You're bad for business."

"I-I apologize, sir." I nod through the pain and hold back the waterfall of tears willing themselves to pour out. "I will get out of your hair right away, sir." I push myself up off the dirty cobblestone,

The pale faces turn themselves way, as if intruding on a private matter they never had the business hearing. I gather myself, brushing off my tattered work dress. "Darling, what happened?" I ignore the voice, believing he had been regarding someone else. "Excuse me," he tries again.

I peer up at him, my dark doe eyes an abyss of anxiety. "Are you talking to me, sir?" I ask incredulously. When he nods I question why.

"A lady was disrespected by a lowly merchant, why else, love?" His light blue irises burn into mine as my stomach flip-flopped and bursted with butterflies. I knew it would never happen, but the way his dirty-blonde curls framed thick brows and how his full lips pulled into a smile made my heart melt.

"I'm no lady, sir." I say breathlessly, my eyes diverting to the floor as though remembering their rightful place.

"Ah, but you are." He lifts my chin up, forcing my amber eyes to peer into his breathtaking hues. "I can feel you."

I step back in fear of his words, "Feel me, sir?" I ask as my heart pounds in my chest cavity. It felt as though some unknown force was pulling me towards this devilish stranger, whose eyes danced with mischief.

"Can't you tell who I am, love?" He cocks his head, pulling his lips down into a frown but his eyes were still amused. I continue to stare at him in a mi of confusion and disbelief. "I'm your-"

A scream split my eardrums and pulled me towards Madame's manor. My feet went faster than my mind and I stumble a few times before the damned building reaches comes into vision.

Lea stood on on the balcony ledge, screaming in fright as Madame ran towards her. "No!" I cry out and Lea's head whips towards me, tears falling down her cheeks like a tragic waterfall. "Please!"

As Madame closes in on Lea, I watch her features change, her face crestfallen. Her amber eyes never leave mine as I try to drown out her plummet to the ground with endless crying and screaming birth name.

Then I lost it; the humanity inside me.