Battle (The Originals Fan Fic)

ch. 2: House of the Rising Sun

At night, people were partying in the streets of the Quarter.

Seeing a guy with dark hair and a blonde, I walked up to them, giving them the flyer I held.

M

The Abattoir

Where the Party Never Ends

We had this thing where we invited locals, tourists into the compound, granting fun.

When it turned midnight, the vampires started to feed on whoever was there.

Of course, we didn't kill them all, because if too many people went missing, tourism dropped, so we healed them with vampire blood, erasing their memories, sending them away.

After the feeding was done, I walked toward Marcel and Klaus on the balcony. "Marcel."

"What's up, Noah?" Marcel asked.

"Six of our guys were killed in a bar outside of the Quarter," I told him. "Nightwalkers. No one saw who."

We didn't know.

Yet.

*

The next day, I walked toward Marcel in a diner. "Well, this is a far cry from last night's party. I really enjoyed that." I sat across from him. Marcel looked toward a girl. I looked toward the blonde that worked at the restrauant. "Ah. In pursuit of the bartender from Rousseau's?"

"She's a work in progress," Marcel answered.

"And yet, here you are, pining over her when you should be eating her for lunch," I told him. "Considering some of the girls you've been with, I guess that means she must be special."

"Hey, less of taunting, more of drinking," Marcel told me.

"Business first," I told him. "The coroner called."

"Let me guess," Marcel told me. "Dead tourists with a stamp on their hand and vampire blood in their veins."

"They took a drunken stumble off a balcony," I told him.

"How many do we have to deal with?" Marcel asked.

"Two," I answered. "Need to drop by the morgue to pick them up and I'll bring them to you."

"And Klaus," Marcel told me.

I smirked, sitting back. "Klaus will be joining us today?"

"Hey, play it cool," Marcel told me. "Just because we're suspicious at what the hell they're doing here, we still have to be polite if we don't want them to kill us all."

"Polite's not my strong suit," I told him.

"Clearly," Marcel told me.

The bartender stood, picking up her things and walking toward the door.

Marcel looked toward her.

I smirked, standing, turning to face her.

"Noah--" Marcel started to warn me.

I ignored him, walking up to the bartender. "Excuse me. What's your name?"

"Cami," she answered.

"Cami," I repeated. "And what's that you're studying?"

"Abnormal psychology," Cami answered.

"Abnormal psychology," I repeated. "Well..." I looked from Marcel to Cami, leading her toward Marcel. "Perhaps you could help me diagnose my friend over here." I sat down. "He's been a little bit depressed. Can't keep his mind off a girl. He tells me she's a queen. Fit for a king. I think he should cut his losses and move on. What's your professional opinion?"

"Be a nice guy, and maybe the opportunity will present itself someday," Cami answered, walking away.

Marcel stood. "How about tonight?" Cami turned to face him. "9:00? I'll meet you right here."

"I'll take it under consideration," Cami told him, opening the door and walking out of the diner, leaving.

I smirked. "Mm. Harsh." Marcel sat down. "I daresay I've lost my touch, or you've lost yours."

*

The two people I had given the flyer to last night had been the ones who had died.

Now, I had them locked in the back of a car until they woke up in transition.

Marcel and Klaus walked toward me.

"You take me to the nicest places," Klaus said sarcastically.

I opened the door to the van to talk to the two people inside. "Welcome to the land of the newly dead."

"I won't waste your time," Marcel told them. He looked at me. "I trust you filled them in."

"To be honest, not much in the way of potential here," I told him.

"Yeah?" Marcel asked. "Well, I just lost six nightwalkers. I got holes to fill."

I looked at the newly dead. "I'll keep this quick. That itch you feel, that's the need to feed coming on strong, a hunger for human blood. Drink it, you're a vampire. Don't, you die again, this time for good right here in a body bag."

Marcel put a hand on my shoulder. "Hey. What are you thinking? Cute, dorky girl, or gay best friend?"

"Dealer's choice," I answered.

"Dealer's choice," Marcel said. "Okay." He held up a coin for them to see. "Whoever picks up this coin gets to live forever. The other one dies." He placed the coin on the bag. "Go."

The guy looked at the girl worriedly.

The girl snatched up the coin.

I laughed. "Damn, girl! I said damn!"

The guy looked at her. "How could you?"

"Get over it, Josh!" she told him. "It's not like I had a choice. You would have done the same thing, but you're such a little, measly--"

Marcel rushed forward, snapping her neck, zipping up the body bag. He looked at me. "Let her die in cold storage. Got a thing about people who betray their own friends. Come on. Let's go for a ride."

While they had partied or argued over where a daggered Elijah Mikaelson was, and Marcel was protecting the witch Davina, everything else seemed calm.