New Orleans was a city of superlatives, life flourished here and it was the perfect place for vampires, the perfect place to be.

She threw her long, brown hair back and closed her eyes for a moment the smell of alcohol and blood lay in the air. A paradise for vampires, Elena thought and entered the next bar, where she would leave just as much chaos as in the last one.

"Marcel," the vampire spread his arms and approached the brunette beauty.

"Elena, I hope you've considered my offer", Elena kissed the "King New of Orleans" on both cheeks and gave him her most beautiful smile.

"Yes, I have thought about it," Elena fluted, turned to the bar and ordered something high-proof.

"And?" she heard Marcel ask and the doppelganger twisted her eyes. Couldn't this vampire let her have a drink first? The brunette turned gallantly on her high heels and laid a hand on Marcel's cheek, slowly stroking his cheek to his lips, there Elena stayed for a moment, then she pulled her hand back.

"Of course I'll help you, Marcel. I would be foolish not to take this opportunity after all Klaus has done to me," said Elena and saw Marcel forcefully in his dark brown eyes.

Marcel came a little closer to the brunette so that only a few centimeters separated them. "Can I trust you, Elena?" asked Marcel and the doppelganger put a hand on his chest.

"Just because I switched off my feelings doesn't mean I forgot everything Klaus did to me," Elena growled and drove under Marcel's T-shirt. "You can trust me," whispered the brunette as she drove over his naked abs.

"You can't trust Katherina either, although Klaus did just as much to her," Marcel countered and grabbed Elena's hand.

"Katherine is a coward too," hissed the doppelganger and Marcel stuck her between herself and the bar.

"You're right, Elena," whispered Marcel and hogged her lips.

The brunette looked condescendingly down on the sleeping Marcel. It would be so easy to kill him now, but Klaus absolutely wanted to do that himself. Elena hadn't torched herself for long when Klaus had made her his offer. She could do and leave what she wanted. She was completely free, as long as she did not try to kill an Original, she had nothing more to fear from Klaus and his family. In contrast, she delivered Marcel to his knife, which Rebekah hadn't liked at all at first, but when Klaus announced that he had had something with Katherine once, the blonde had quickly been quiet. Rebekah had stormed out furiously and wanted to kill Marcel himself, but his witches protected him too well. But now, he was in her apartment and his witches, on the other side of town. They would not be able to protect him tonight against Klaus, whom they had enough to do to save their own lives. Tonight New Orleans would get a new old king and Elena would never again have anything to fear from Klaus and his family.

The cell phone in the hands of the doppelganger vibrated, she went to the door and let the youngest of the Mikaelson brothers in.

"I would have expected Klaus," Elena puckered her lips, insulted.

"He's just killing the last of Marcel's witches," Kol said, looking at the doppelganger from top to bottom. She wore no more than a bra and hot pants.

"You like what you see," said Elena with a confident smile, but Kol ignored her, as Elena found insulting.

"Where is the bedroom," Kol asked with an equally confident grin on her face.

"Straight ahead," Elena twisted her eyes and put on a low-cut top. Kol would drag her with her to Klaus, whether she wanted to or not, the doppelganger already knew that even if she already considered her part of the deal fulfilled. But he wouldn't hurt her, he had given her his word and the brunette had tested him. She had told Klaus that she had almost killed Caroline and Klaus had raved, but still, he had done nothing to her. He had kept to her deal. Power would be more and more important to him.

Kol grinned his stupid grin and Elena gave him an angry look, then she followed him down the stairs from the apartment. Right in front of the door stood his black Chevy Camaro.

"Flash, but someone like you needs that for his ego," commented Elena when Kol opened the car with the remote control. The original vampire threw Marcel, whose neck he had broken upstairs in Elena's apartment, roughly into the trunk and flashed towards the doppelganger. Kol grabbed Elena by the throat and stared angrily at her.

"I thought we wanted to go," Elena pressed out and Kol let her go wordlessly.

The drive to the Mikaelson estate was silent. Kol repeatedly glanced at the brunette beauty in the passenger seat. Elena registered this, but she ignored him as he had done with her earlier.

"What are you going to do when tonight is over?" Kol asked and broke the silence.

Elena stroked a stubborn strand of hair from her face and looked at Kol in a pejorative way. "I wouldn't know about you, but I'll celebrate, party and celebrate even more," she bitched and a grin crept on Kol's face. She was unbelievable, he had already noticed that when he saw the doppelganger for the first time. Back when she was still a weak, fragile person, but she had qualities in her that he had appreciated. Although he wasn't like Elijah, the youngest of the Mikaelson brothers appreciated honesty, fidelity, and loyalty. Elena had changed a lot since the death of her brother. She had cut herself off from her stupid little friends and she had dumped the Salvatore brothers. She had disappeared from Mystic Falls and had done her own thing. So much Kol she liked to leave behind the chaos that others were allowed to clean up, but an important trait had remained. She appreciated life. Elena did not kill, she manipulated, lied and cheated, but she did not kill her victims.

Kol looked at the brunette again from the side. She looked like Katharina, but despite having turned off her feelings, she did not remind Kol of Katharina. Katherina was sly, deceitful and only intent on her own advantage. Sometimes Kol had the feeling that Elena was just pretending to switch off her feelings. She appreciated life too much, she kept her victims alive, but what would this beauty have to do for a reason like that?

"Now you're driving past your own house," Elena said bitingly, and the original vampire put in an emergency stop.

"I wanted to take the back entrance," Kol gave back with just as biting an undertone.

"Yes, of course," purred Elena and put her legs on the dashboard, she knew exactly what she could provoke Kol with it.

" Get your feet down there!" Kol growled and emphasized every single word.

"Oh, are you afraid that your toy will get dirty?" asked the doppelganger and leaned towards Kol, so that their faces were only inches apart. The original vampire swallowed. What was wrong with him, as soon as this woman was around, he couldn't think clearly and his quick-wittedness was over.

"How about when this is all over we have a little private party? Just you and me..."; Elena came closer and closer to Kol, her lips almost touching his. "and blood and alcohol...", Elena gently stroked her lips over his. "and Elijah," Kol's eyes widened and the brunette let herself sink into her seat amusedly, then she opened the passenger door and climbed up. "Are you waiting for a written invitation?" Elena shouted as she climbed the stairs to the villa.

Kol shook his head to get clear again. This lousy, little, beautiful bitch, called Kol inwardly and breathed deeply for a moment. Then he got out too.

Without turning around again, Elena moved away from Kol's car. She wasn't sure, but something in her told her that he had seen through her. She had switched off her feelings to cope better with her brother's death, although Damon had actually used his Sierra bond to force her. The creator bond became worthless and eventually broke, but when Elena arrived in New Orleans, she had long enjoyed enjoying her life. She had never consciously turned her feelings on at any time, they were just on the back burner. The doppelganger liked her new life, she didn't want to go back to Mystic Falls. She was alone there. Damon and Stefan preferred to take care of a human Katherine. Caroline and Bonnie hated her and Matt didn't want to have anything to do with all the supernatural stuff anymore. Her life was better this way. Maybe she saw it differently in 10 or 20 years, but she had eternity ahead of her. She had eternal time to find out what she wanted, although at the moment Elena knew exactly what she wanted.

"You found the door," Elena said when Kol appeared behind her, carrying the still unconscious Marcel on his arms.

"We've been waiting for over an hour now," Elena wailed and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"It won't be long now," Elijah tried to calm the doppelganger and he was right, less than five minutes later Marcel took in some hot air and slowly opened his eyes.

"Where... Where am I," he carefully sat up and looked around the room. "Klaus", he noted angrily and at the same time anxiously and continued to search the room.

"Hello Marcel," Elena greeted her former lover with a smile.

"You damn bitch," hissed Marcel and wanted to jump up, but Klaus held him back.

"I stick to my deals, Elena. You can do whatever you want, as long as you don't attack anyone in my family, you don't have to worry about any of us ever again," said Klaus and a smile crept on the doppelganger's face.

"You're worse than Katherina," screamed Marcel Elena, but she just shrugged her shoulders.

"Did you really believe I would be so stupid and stand against Klaus? I may have switched off my feelings, Marcel, but not my brain! I saw in Katherine what would threaten me. Do you really think I would risk that?" the brunette asked with a confident smile.

"You are alone, Elena. You have no one left," Marcel screamed, but the doppelganger had already turned around and had gone to the door.

"I don't need anyone from my past, Marcel. I don't need anyone to hold my mistakes against me every day and I don't need anyone to boss me around and make me the little, weak girl I once was. I have given my life for all these people and vampires and now they judge me by a single mistake. No, thank you, I do not want the people from my past. I get along quite well on my own. Don't worry about me, Marcel", with these words Elena left the villa. She had helped Klaus and she was actually planning to leave the city, but she liked New Orleans and now that she had a free ticket. Why shouldn't she stay here? In no other city could a vampire live like in New Orleans, Elena thought, and entered the next bar.

Klaus had killed Marcel and regained power in New Orleans. He had punished his former protégé for his betrayal.

Kol sat in his room and still couldn't get her words out of his head. Had she turned off her feelings or not? This question circled over and over again through his thoughts. In between, he had gone through the search for Elena again and again, but he turned back again and again. This behavior was not normal for him, he would not run after a woman, he would not ridicule himself like his brothers and yet he could not forget the brunette beauty. Kol stood up, he would one day give himself the nakedness and look for it.

Elena stood at the bar and flirted unrestrainedly with the bartender. Kol manipulated the vampire and Elena turned angrily. "What's the point?" Elena asked angrily and wanted to storm past Kol, but the original vampire grabbed her by the arm and held her tight.

"Is your offer still standing?", Kol asked and looked the brunette in her beautiful brown eyes.

"You want to party?", Elena's facial expression changed instantly.

"Just you and me and a hell of a lot of alcohol and blood," Kol stuck her between herself and the wall.

"An interesting offer," said Elena, smiling her confident smile.

"You are beautiful," Kol kidnapped it and he stroked her face tenderly.

"You're not falling in love," mocked the doppelganger and put on a condescending grin.

"I will make you fall in love with me," Kol sounded cocky, but inside he had to admit. Yes, he had fallen in love with the woman with the thousand facets and he would make her turn on her feelings again and love him. He didn't necessarily want the good version of her, but the cold, callous one didn't fit the original vampire at all.

"Well then, good luck," Elena whispered and pressed her lips to his. Kol returned her kiss and pulled her even closer. He knew it would be a struggle to get this woman, but simple things hadn't been fun for the original vampire for a long time. He would turn on her feelings again and then show her the world. Kol knew that he wanted Elena for eternity. That wasn't a little affair, of which he had so many already, she was his great love.

Slowly Elena drove with her hands under his shirt, a sigh kidnapped him. She liked the original vampire, very much, perhaps even a little more. He was right, she would fall in love with him, but she would not tell him that, not yet. She didn't want another drama like Stefan or Damon. It was about not falling back into old patterns. Elena never wanted to be weak and addicted again, but still, she wanted Kol with every fiber of her body and she would get him, the doppelganger was sure of that. It would just take a little longer, she thought and got lost in his kiss.