[I] Freedom {Klaus Mikaelson}

VIII. Abomination

• • • •

There weren't many tourists in the French Quarter unlike Faith thought. The streets were mostly empty except for a few residents that lived here and were just walking through the Quarter. Some vendors would try to hold the siphoner back but Circe would dig her sharp nails into her shoulder to make her hurry up.

"I'm going to the Garden District," her mother stated, rummaging through her purse before slapping a few bills onto Faith's hand. "Stay in the quarter and trust no one."

"Yes, Mother," Faith replied and Circe vanished from her sight.

Faith looked through the money and claimed to have only fifty dollars. She didn't know when her mother was coming back, so she needed to save the money until she really needed it in case her mother didn't come back until night. The bright sun made up for the cold breeze blowing outside.

The raven-haired girl wrapped her jacket tighter around her body while glancing around for some kind of restaurant. She hadn't eaten since her mother told her about the two of them leaving for New Orleans and that was two days ago. Usually, Faith went without eating for about four days maybe longer when she was with her mother. Circe would forget or not even bother to feed her.

Her eyes narrowed on a sign sticking out of a building. The sign rusted with blue painting with the letters in a cream color.

It read: Rousseau's.

Stepping inside the building, the place was practically empty with the exception of a few customers. A young dark-haired woman was running the bar as Faith walked over to it. The woman raised an eyebrow at the obvious teenager and the siphoner smiled, showing the mischievous smile she had.

The bartender placed an empty glass down on the bar. "You don't look like you're 21."

Faith shrugged. "I don't, but I'm not here for alcohol, lady."

"What would you like?"

"Gumbo."

The bartender waved over a woman in the kitchen and received a nod from her. The bartender then turned her attention to the siphoner. "So what's a young girl like you doing here in the French Quarter?"

"No reason," Faith answered, vaguely. She doesn't like her mother, but when she said not to trust no one, something was obviously wrong with this town. "Just passing by."

The siphoner studied how the woman's body stiffened like a threat was coming. Faith drummed her fingers against the wooden bar as a man with dark skin, brown eyes, and shaven hair. Immediately Faith sensed the man was a vampire but kept her body relaxed to not alert the vampire.

"Jane-Anne!" The man exclaimed with a smile, obviously enjoying the fear the woman held. Faith observed how several other men, also vampires, stood around the bar and the man like guards. The man who exclaimed was obviously the leader. He sat down a stool over Faith and glanced at the siphoner with a smile. "You shouldn't be serving underage girls. It's bad for the business."