𝑰𝑵𝑻𝑶𝑿𝑰𝑪𝑨𝑻𝑬𝑫 - 𝘯𝘪𝘬𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘰𝘯

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ ʜᴜɴᴅʀᴇᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ ᴏɴᴇ

➳

Marcel is leading his vampires down the crowded streets of New Orleans. The locals and tourists are all celebrating Carillon Eve, dressed in red, drinking and laughing.

Many of them are eyeing the vampires suspiciously, wondering why they look so pale and sweaty, whilst they desperately resist the urge to feed.

Marcel is lost in his memories of times at war, and he recalls a speech he made to his unit, after he'd turned them, that seems surprisingly accurate to his current situation.

"What you're feeling is a hunger. It will be unlike anything you've ever known. It will eat you from the inside."

He continues to struggle down the French Quarter streets, Gia and Josh are flanking him on either side with the rest of the vampires behind them.

"But you are in control. It is your greatest weapon, and the Germans are coming over that hill, thinking to waltz over our corpses to take our town! But that's not gonna happen, because one thing stands in the enemy's way! Us!" Marcel recalls the memory.

"And make no mistake, we are one unit, one army! We are family."

Marcel stumbles, and Josh grabs him, helping him remain upright. They were a family. A unit.

"Family is not determined by blood, but by who you fight for, and who will fight for you! Tonight, we will feed on the blood of our enemies, and if we die, we will be reborn, and we will feed again! We are the Brotherhood of the Damned, and we cannot be defeated!"

Growing weaker, Marcel just about manages to pull a stumbling Gia back to her feet, preventing her from falling to the pavement.

"We're gonna make it." Gia tells him, determined.

Suddenly, Marcel collapses, body crumpling to the ground as he falls unconscious.

Elsewhere, Davina, Lunar and Klaus have also arrived at the Carillon Eve parade. They'd been expecting to arrive to carnage, but the marchers are proceeding down the French Quarter as planned.

Lunar frowns, puzzled. "Well that's.. unexpected."

"Everything's fine out here. Where the hell are they?" Davina questions, growing concerned.

"You look around, Lunar and I will see if we can track them down." Klaus replies.

He takes Lunar's hand in his own and the two descend down the streets, lost in the sea of red marchers.

Davina glances around, scanning the faces of the crowd, until suddenly she spots Kol standing across the street. She sighs, smiling, a sense of relief washing over her.

She rushes across the street, pushing against the currant to get to him. Immediately, she wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him.

- Marcel's apartment -

Marcel awakes to find he's on the floor of his apartment, head resting against Gia's lap whilst she affectionately rubs his hair waiting for him to gain consciousness.

"Welcome back, soldier. Fed you some of Klaus' blood. You weren't exactly lucid." She smiles, before lifting his shirt sleeve to reveal his werewolf bite as completely healed.