Ember - Florida, USA

The pain in my chest tightened, with every passing step towards the orange-coated McLaren speed car. I didn't want to step inside that shadowed driver seat and disappear from the place that I called home my entire life, the Freshwater Springs encompassed a beautifully clear lagoon stretching as far as the ocean. My delicate blue eyes closed trying to block out the desperate wails I could hear even if it were miles a way, they wanted me to stay but I knew the safest way was for me to leave.

Hissing subtly as a warning to stop, I pulled the door and jumped inside peering against the leather steering wheel. A few breaths to calm myself gave me some time to think about the entirety of the situation.

It was all because of him, that one stupidly arrogant little vampire.

The entirety of my species was on the extinction verge anyway, thanks to the existence of those rabid degenerates otherwise known as humans.

Now the remnants of my tribe and my family were forced to go into hiding, to avoid getting hunted down by a bunch of vampires.

Fucking shitheads.

I am tired of acting all inferior to the damn supernaturals.

The irking thoughts had made me angrily press the brakes into motion, at this point in time I wasn't exactly where my destination was. The only good part about the trip, was the feeling of the wind rustling through the brown tresses of my hair. In truth there was no way of knowing when I would come back, after all my new focus was to find a better place for the sirens to inhabit.

I found myself not even bothering to check the passing view of the road I was driving on, as long as the first chance I got would be to find a perfect location for me and the remnants of the tribe to live in.

A shrill-sounding phone call startled the living hell out of me, making me slightly swerve the speed car to the left. My teeth gritted in annoyance but even more so at realising just which conniving weasel decided to distract me, from my own thoughts.

"This is the 5000th fucking time, what do you want Devereux?!" I snapped harshly.

"Listen, I know you want nothing to do with me or any of the witches but I may or may not have some information that could interest you." Her unwavering tone made me snort humourlessly, as if there was anything I'd need from the covens.

"Oh, and what would that be?" I replied with a dangerously low voice, my dead-set blue gaze fixed on the horizon, speeding past the car's limits. "Marcel Gerard. Do you know the guy? He's been ruling New Orleans for decades now, and I heard that the werewolves weren't the only supernatural force he's been trying to control."

"I see." Pure anger whizzed through my pale-skinned body, at the name drop. I had to stiffen my muscles so once against the car wouldn't spin out of control from my grip. His very existence is the reason we had to cower in fear for as long as we did.

"So what is it that you need my help with?" I asked sharply, acutely aware of the split roads with which one of them directed one towards New Orleans. There were all too many reasons, why even the very image of that vampire asshole made my blood boil. Behind my masked but pinched angularly pale-skinned face lay vague memories of the bayou which had once been our true home.

"We need you to help us... take down Marcel." The witch answered after a long pause. "Think of it like this, the witches want him gone, the Mikaelsons want to dethrone him and take back New Orleans, you have every viable way of exacting your revenge against him."

I didn't really know what to say at first, feeling my legs twitch beneath the loose white material of my trousers. "Wait. Did you just mention the Mikaelsons? I thought they camped out all the way in Mystic Falls. You're trying to tell me, that those psychos have suddenly moved to New Orleans?"

It was a scoffing idea really considering that I always thought the Originals to be public enemy number 1, though truthfully it made sense that they would want to take Marcel down.

"That was me and my sister's doing," Sophie added nervously from the other line.

"So you brought them there," I pondered loudly. "If you're suggesting what I think you are then the answer is simple... no"

Don't get me wrong because I did hold a lot of respect for that family. But I also refused to walk into the lion's den. It'd be stupid of me to ever think that I could hold my own against a 1000 year old vampire.

"Just hear me out-" the pleading voice once again rasped out, clearly willing to try any tactic, to get the supernatural creature to agree.

"Your chances of killing him would be heightened if you allied yourself with the Original family. Your powers combined with theirs and you'd have him and his minions running scared."

"And what makes you so sure that they need any help?" I snorted at the idea of the Mikaelson Clan enlisting any kind of military aid for their great cause. Though inwardly I knew the truth, was that caution powered through my senses at even just the sound of their name.

Sirens were what everyone considered to be another version of mermaids, a myth meant to scare the living daylights during sleep time for those wretched beings. I had no doubt about the complex powers that I held, it certainly gave me a deadly edge over witches and werewolves. 

Hybrids on the other hand, were an entirely different matter with 2 different skill sets combined. Plus there was no way I could ever bring myself to trust that that old-fashioned family wouldn't kill me the first chance they got.

"Believe me or not but they have more to lose than you think," the cryptic response only served to irritate me further. In my current processing of thought, I knew I had about 50 seconds before deciding to either swerve or head towards the New Orleans road. A hardened sigh could only escape my mouth in present circumstances. A part of me leapt at the chance to spill the blood of our repressor, but I also knew it would prove to be a distraction from my current mission. Oh well.

"You want me to kill him? I'll kill him." I finally replied with a smirk upon waiting for that quintessential sigh of relief from the poor witch's desperation.

"I owe-"

"Wait I am not quite finished," I added with a cunning smile at my interruptive moment. If the ancestral witches needed my help, and if I am going to be forced to work with the most dangerous family in the universe, I needed to make sure my needs were met too.

"What else do you need?" any one with sharpened people skills, could detect the nervous edge behind Sophie Devereux's  'business-like' voice. It would serve her well to be uncomfortable, I raised my head subtly as if trying to assert my own sense of superiority without having to be seen. "If I am going to allow you to direct me shall we say into what exactly your plan is in taking down Marcel then I have some favours to be carried out as well." Hopefully I translate my tone of voice in a way, that she knows it is a 'take it or leave it' kind of deal for me. She had no other choice.

My heart wrenched in a dismissive way, believing that the witch had already backed out as soon as she realised it wouldn't be easy to get me on board. "Name your price and I'll do whatever you want."

Finally, I was waiting for the cave-in and now I have the upper-hand in this whole deal... one that I had been sucked into anyway.

I have her, at my beck and call.

"Seeing as your entire plan revolves around bringing down Marcel Gerard, I just want to make sure the French Quarter covens won't be a problem when I bring my family back to the bayou." I revealed my ulterior motives with agreeing to the deal with her.

The silence on the other line was deafening which to me said a lot.

"I swear on my sister's grave that none of us will try to stop any of your... sirens from settling back into New Orleans." I smiled to the point of even letting out a self-satisfied chuckle. It seemed strange. From what had been heard, my expectation was that those proclaimed witches would be more intimidating: yet it seemed that at even just a subtle threat any of them, could bend to one's will. Well at least that issue was now taken care of.

With a few final spoken words, I carelessly threw the cellphone on the passenger seat next to me. The road sign not far from my line of sight made me aware of the two different routes. Without a second thought I sped up the yellow-painted race car to its limits and pulled to the left knowing well that my journey was carrying me all the way to the infamous but proclaimed 'cultured' city of New Orleans.

Now that there was no shrill voice distracting me from my silently desired peace, it gave me a moment to ponder just what I was getting myself into. It has already been well-established that the structure of New Orleans was different and has been so for centuries. Vampires now almost certainly ruled with an iron fist. The werewolves and the other supernatural creatures were booted out of town. Moreover, the supposedly powerful French Quarter covens were the number 1 targets for Marcel, though that wasn't even the jacka*s that I had been thinking about the most. My thoughts dwelled on the Original family and the fact that she was being mostly self-forced into procuring their help, in taking down Marcel Gerard himself plus the additional task of dethroning him from his glorified crown. The truth is I wasn't fully sure why my hesitancy was so intense that it practically instilled the unabated nerves inside my stomach but perhaps it was because of the Mikaelsons' reputation itself.

"No guess as to who is the big bad wolf," I mumbled to myself half-heartedly, before sighing in an attempt to shake the negativity away. "It is all fine."

Despite my best self attempts it would be a complete lie, if I convinced myself that I wasn't the tiniest bit afraid. They were after all incredibly ancient vampires who had lived for centuries but none more so, than the Original hybrid himself and that alone was enough to give me reservations about not turning the vehicle around. It felt unpleasant to say the least whenever the anxiety or the stress piled up inside my body and these were the times I tried to calm down as best I could.

"Calm down. It is all good. Don't explode." The self-muttering was usually enough to soothe, but it just made me all the more cautious, finally approaching the city's entrance. It wasn't really the kind of thing I could explain, I just had a deep feeling inside that made me different than the average siren creature.

The turmoiling emotions, threatening to lurch a different character out of me, was all the more reason I needed to get this excursion done as soon as possible.  To my knowledge it was a mystery what kind of freak abilities were hidden inside me.

Calm down, don't panic, everything's fine. Calm down. Don't panic.

The repetitive phrasing was necessary, to keep my inward nerves under control and far away from exploding with who knows what kind of disastrous consequences. I knew it would be safer not to trust the Mikaelsons, to exercise caution whenever my presence was required to be around theirs. But these were worrying thoughts that could be handled in a few hours more at the least.

My sole attention was now concentrated on the appearing bustle of activity in the distance, from here it was quite simple to notice the vibrancy of colour and energy within the crowds. Her ears twitched at the sound of old-fashioned jazz music, a typical genre found popularly in precisely this city.

I would find it much more enjoyable without the putrid existence of those mortals.

"Fucking waste of spaces." I gritted teeth with disdainful anger tainting my face.

The abominable face of a truly evil creature threatened to bubble out onto the surface, and I had to force myself to refocus onto the task at hand.

Almost as if on cue, a bright ping illuminated the cell I threw earlier. Picking it up, turned out to be Sophie sending a pin on her location. Lafayette Cemetery was apparently witch territory and where the source of their magic came from, which made sense given that those ancestors of theirs must be buried underneath the dirt they reside next to. I gladly chose to swerve towards a morbid area as opposed to getting an ear bleeding from listening to all those people on the streets.

Driving through the city though, I couldn't help but notice how all the street signs were coated in French, which to me felt weird being that we were all situated in the US.

My white knuckles clenched, when the slick sports car neared a shadowy-looking area, which I assumed had to be the spot by the ghoulish gate that acted as a barrier. What made my blood freeze, quite literally as I was parking the car was the shape of the figures in between the burial sites. 3 no 4 women, and one stoic but lean-figured male with shortly brown cropped hair.

Every part of me just wanted to avoid the situation entirely and retreat back home. But I sighed in annoyance at the fact that my departure would be leaving loose ends alive at the expense of my own family.

"I am here like you asked... now let me in," heaving in annoyance, was my sole response climbing out of the car and heading towards the supernatural barrier. "Good... because we have some introductions to make. Let's start with the pregnant wolf girl."

The black-haired woman with a partial bang across her forehead stepped forwards towards me. Judging by her voice and meek demeanour, it wasn't hard to guess that this was the one and only Sophie Deveraux. "We don't usually invite other supernaturals in but given how desperate I am, you can come in as well."

"Oh how charming of you, I am flattered by your exception," I mocked her sarcastically.

Hold on. There was supposed to be a suited man right in front of the cemetery gate, and now he's gone?

Or maybe he just disappeared already.

"Care to tell me where your little friend went? Unless I am mistaken there was a man in a suit just now," my curiosity inquired. "One of the coveted Mikaelsons?"

The small-sized witch turned to face her. "That was Elijah... we need him to run an errand for us."

I considered myself to be wasting precious time, and had no patience for Sophie's vague answers so with an indignant smile I focused and allowed the magic whizzing through my siren-like body to reach the woman in front of me.

It was satisfying to say the lest, a smirk formed on my lips. The witch must have sensed I had something to do with her sudden paralysis, judging by the briskness of her tone as she huffed in annoyance as if her powers were on the losing side of a battle. "What the hell did you do to me? Why can't I move?"

"Oh it is just a little paralysis inducement, you could call it one of the highlights of being me," I chuckled sardonically.

With that thought, I chose to walk around her emphasising the sharp clicking of my dark boots as my gaze briefly noticed the freaked out girl with messed brown hair beside 2 other witches. My clear blue gaze then landed with a hint of superiority, on the struggling witch trying to fight or spell herself out of her frozen state.

"Now you're going to tell me what that errand entails and who that pregnant she-wolf is," I continued in a menacing tone, glaring at the Deveraux witch coldly.

"You know I am right here right?" a bitchy voice announced from right behind my monochromatic sweater. "For reference I am Hayley Marshall."

The evident way she tried to assert her significance earned nothing but an eye roll. I couldn't have cared less about some random wolf who happened to be with child. The only detail relevant to my cause was what she had to do with my taking down Marcel.

"Congratulations sweetheart, do you desire some sort of medal for revealing your identity when I'm in the middle of something?" I retorted sarcastically, snorting as the red bloused girl scoffed and was about to make another sharp remark before I waved my finger warningly.

"Let met out of here," the dark-haired witch rasped, making me whip around my lusciously brown hair to stare at her amusingly. "Give me all the information I need to know first, otherwise the next thing that will cease to move is your heart."

Sophie glanced behind me at the concerned witches holding Hayley as a notion to not attempt anything. "I asked him to find and convince his brother Klaus to help us take down Marcel."

"That's much better," I replied with a self satisfied smirk. "Now that leaves me with just 2 questions for you to answer. Firstly, what does that brunette over there have to do with this, and secondly, seeing as you have an immortal family at your disposal then why the hell did you summon me here to help of all people here?"

The loose-wearing witch sighed in relief as I slowly relinquished my hold on her, watching carefully as she stepped closer towards the werewolf held captive by two others of her coven presumably. I took the chance to glance once more at the Hayley lady standing standoffishly behind her with both arms crossed, a pang of sympathy sparked at the clarity of her sudden pregnancy and now being held hostage in some sort of game she wasn't a part of by a pack of vengeful witches.

"She happens to be carrying a child conceived by the hybrid."

My smooth but darkened eyebrows lifted in surprise, glancing subtly back at the pregnant wolf girl.

"Well I guess now I know why the Mikaelsons are wrapped around your conniving little finger," I chuckled humourlessly, crossing my covered arms across my chest waiting for her to finish the explaining part. Sophie's black-hued eyes rolled in irritation, but sighed in exasperation, "We recently discovered that Marcel carries 2 secret weapons to stay in control; one of which affects the magical essence of sirens."

The words that tumbled out of her mouth made my slim body stiffen in disbelief.

Quickly though my eyes awoke with a blazing fury not needing to hear the rest of the witch's response, "You can count me in."