Episode-9
My siblings and I are the first vampires in history, the Originals. Three hundred years ago, we helped build New Orleans. In our absence, a new king arose. Now I've returned and taken his kingdom as my own. I had hope this would bring our family together. I was wrong.
"I wanted our home back, so I'm going to live there. And the two of you? You can stay here together and rot."
"You're coming with me, little wolf."
"Why would I go anywhere with you?"
"Now, you can fight me on this, but you will lose. As will anyone else who tries to stop you getting in this car."
THE ABBATOIR / NEWLY-RETURNED MIKAELSON COMPOUND
Nikole had set up a dinner table in the courtyard to celebrate her return to leadership over New Orleans and her repossession of the Abbatoir compound from Marcel.
The vampire army, including Marcel and his closest friends, were seated around the table.
Nikole and Hayley were seated at each end. Nikole called for everyone's attention to give a speech by tapping her glass with her fork.
Nikole looked around with a pleased smile on her face, "Let us begin with a toast to our shared gift: immortality. After a thousand years, one might expect life to be less keenly felt, for its beauties and its sorrows do diminish with time. But, as vampires, we feel more deeply than humans could possibly imagine."
Nikole gestures toward a group of waiters and waitresses to have them join them at the table, one for each guest. She continued with a smirk, "Insatiable need, exquisite pain..." The servants slit their wrists with knives, filling the cups with blood for the vampires "-Our victories, and our defeats."
She looked at Marcel, who flashed back to a memory from earlier.
Some time before the dinner, Rebekah and Marcel met in the Garden to discuss Nikole's recent return to power.
"You can't afford your wounded pride. With Nikole in control of your empire, you need to give her what she craves most: loyalty. Or, at least, the illusion of it."
Mrcel sighed in defeat, "I ambushed her, tried to bury her alive. She's not gonna trust me."
Rebekah smiled knowingly, "She will, because she wants your allegiance. Speaking from my experience, I know that if you play the part, all is forgiven. But, if you give her any reason to doubt you, she will strike back." She warned him seriously.
Marcel nodded thoughtfully.
Rebekah took Marcel's hand in her own and looked at him in concern, "Make me a promise, Marcel. You will do whatever it takes to stay alive."
Nikole raised her glass in a toast to the others, "...To my city, my home again. May the blood never cease to flow..."
Marcel lifted his glass with a smile, "and the party never end!"
Marcel gave a significant look to Diego.
Diego and Marcel were discussing their new arrangement.
"I just don't get it, man. We would've stayed with you to the end." The sidekick frowned.
"Letting you do that would have been letting you die, and you're still my people. Now, just follow my lead. Trust me, it ain't over yet."
Diego raised his glass, "To New Orleans."
Nikole repeated with a smile, "To New Orleans!"
"New Orleans."
