The sun was shining brightly as Imogen strolled down the footpath in the French Quarter with purpose and she quickly glanced over her shoulder in paranoia when she felt eyes on the back of her head. She shook her head at herself before she turned her head back to face the front and focused her attention on the small bar at the end of the street.

People passed her on the street without batting an eyelash and she was grateful that New Orleans was such a large city so that not everyone knew who she was. After growing up surround by a coven of witches that practiced ancestral magic and studied together generation after generation it was refreshing to go by unnoticed. Her family was well-known as one of the strongest families in the witching community before the incident but now in the last eight months, Imogen had made a name for herself in the negative sense.

The young witch slowed down as she neared the familiar door to the bar where she was meeting her friend and opened the door with a small when she saw the blonde sitting in the side of the bar with textbooks spread out on the table in front of her.

Camille O'Connell was a young woman in her early twenties, standing at approximately 5'6" who had an attractive face possessing green-blue eyes, dark lashes and shoulder length blonde hair. Imogen had met the young bartender on the Tulane College campus where they were both studying psychology and had instantly hit it off when they sat next to each other in one of their classes.

The small bar played country music in the background as a handful of people milled around thankful for a place to get out of the hot Louisiana sun and Imogen smiled to herself gratefully for the air-conditioning in the bar. She shrugged her purse off of her shoulder as she approached the blonde who had yet to look up from her textbook and she sunk down on the seat across from her with a smirk on her lips.

"Hey, Cami." Imogen greeted her friend softly so she didn't startle the other woman as she gently touched her arm and Cami jumped slightly in surprise was her head jerked up from her book with her green eyes wide.

"Oh, crap. Sorry, Imogen. Have you been there long?" Cami asked her friend apologetically as she dropped her highlighter on the book and Imogen shook her head with an amused smile as she reached over to pick up the fallen highlighter.

"I just got here. You really need to relax, Cam."

"I will." Cami agreed with a brief nod of her head as she took the highlighter back from her friend and placing the lid back on with a click before smiling teasingly. "After we graduate."

"Cami...." The brunette groaned playfully as she shook her head at her friend and Cami laughed lightly for the first time that day. She wasn't sure what it was about Imogen but something about her just made it so much easier for Cami to relax and that was exactly what she needed in her life at the moment.

"I know, I know. You've already given me the lecture before." Camille told the other girl with a dismissive wave of her hand as she placed the highlighter down on the table and Imogen sighed at her in resignation before leaning her elbow on the table with her chin resting in the hand. The blonde smiled at her warmly before glancing over the brunette's shoulder subtly and smirking slyly at whatever it was she saw. "Someone's got an admirer."

"What?" Imogen asked in confusion as her forehead furrowed and she turned her head to look over her shoulder at whatever had caught her friend attention. Sitting at the booth near the window at the front of the bar was a familiar man with dark skin, a shaved hair and dark eyes that were trained on the table Imogen and Cami were sitting at. Imogen fought a blush as her bluish eyes met his dark brown ones before she turned back to her friend and smiling shyly as she bit down on her lower lip.

Marcel watched intently as Imogen began talking softly to the young blonde woman across from her as he waited patiently for Klaus to arrive at the bar and he sipped his drink of scotch as he made the decision to respect their privacy enough not to eavesdrop with his vampire hearing. He hadn't planned on seeing Imogen here today but he wasn't going to complain at the opportunity it presented for him because he would take any chance to see the beautiful young witch.

"He is incredibly hot." Her heard Imogen's blonde friend say to her in giddy voice from across the room and he strained his vampire hearing in interest to see what the brunette would say in reply since she knew he could hear her.

"Well, that's obvious. Problem is he knows it." Imogen whispered back to the blonde in reply as she cast a quick glance at him from the corner of her eye and he smirked at her from his spot across the room to let her know that he had heard her. Marcel shook his head in amusement as she chuckled lightly before turning back to her friend and he felt a rush of something he didn't want to feel when he saw her smile light up her face.

"Well, this is a far cry from last night's party." He heard a familiar British voice say from in front of him and he jerked his head around to see Klaus sitting in the seat across the booth from him. Marcel cast a fleeting look over at Imogen before looking at his mentor from a serious look on his face because he wanted to ask the Original about the dead tourists.

Klaus followed his protégés dark gaze over to the table on the other side of the room and smirked when her saw a familiar brunette witch sitting with a young blonde writing in a textbook. Imogen was waving her hands slightly as spoke to the blonde across from her and Klaus couldn't stop the small smile that appeared on his lips at the sight of her now that he knew a little of her background. He turned back around to face Marcel with a smirk on his lips as he leaned forward with his elbows on the table. "Ah, in pursuit of the witch from the other day, I see."

"She's a work in progress." Marcel replied vaguely to his old friend with a charming smile before sipping some more of his scotch and leaning back in the booth.

"And yet here you are, pining over her when you should be eating her for lunch. Oh, she must be special." Klaus quipped jokingly with a smile as he watched Marcel's gaze flicker over to the witch once more and the hybrid thought about how much his little sister was going to hate knowing about Marcel's new interest.

"Business first. The coroner called. He's got my number in case any dead tourists show up." Marcel explained seriously as he got down to the reason he had asked Klaus down to the bar in the first place and Klaus quirked an eyebrow in interest as he listened.

"Let me guess - dead tourists with a stamp on the hand and vampire blood in their veins?"

"It happens. Someone takes a drunken tumble off a balcony, or into the Mississippi... And today I got two of them to deal with." The younger vampire said irritably as he gulped the rest of his scotch and Klaus cocked his head to the side as he watched his friend tense with stress over the situation.

"Let's go." Both the vampire's heard Imogen say softly to her friend as the blonde started closing her textbook that were open on the table and Klaus quickly rose from his seat at the booth to block the door just as the two girls approached it.

Cami and Imogen jerked to a stop in surprise as the brown haired man the young witch had seen yesterday with Marcel stepped in front of the door so that they couldn't exit. Imogen quirked an eyebrow at the man in annoyance as she cast a glance over to where Marcel was sitting in his booth and watching them in surprise as well.

"Excuse me, love. What's that you're studying?" The man asked Cami curiously in his attractive British accent as he smiled at her charmingly and the blonde glanced at her friend in surprise since she thought he would want to talk to Imogen because he was friends with the hot guy who had been eying her since she got there. The brunette shrugged her shoulders delicately at her friend to indicate she had no idea where this was going and Cami turned her green eyes back to the handsome man in front of her.

"Abnormal psychology." Cami answered calmly as she placed her textbook into her shoulder bag and then glanced over at the dark skinned man that had been checking out her friend.

"Abnormal psychology, well. Perhaps you could help me diagnose my friend over here. He's been a little bit depressed, can't keep his mind off a girl. He tells me she's a queen, fit for a king." The British guy said cheerfully as he subtly nodded his head in Imogen's direction to indicate who he was really talking about and Cami smirked slightly as she glanced at her friend from the corner of her eye only to see the brunette looking over at the dark skinned man. "I think he should cut his losses and move on. What's your professional opinion?"

"Be a nice guy, and maybe the opportunity will present itself someday." Cami said to the dark skinned man after glancing at Imogen for confirmation that she could answer and Marcel grinned charmingly at the young witch.

"How about tonight, nine o'clock? I'll meet you right here?" Marcel asked Imogen with a captivating smile that made her heart flutter and she internally swore to herself because she knew that he could hear it with his vampire hearing.

"I'll take it under consideration." Imogen replied lightly as she tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear and sent him a bright smile before sauntering out the front door of the bar. Cami laughed lightly at her friends teasing attitude before following after her and leaving the two men looking after them in awe.

"Mm, harsh." Marcel muttered to himself as he leaned back on the booth seat and he looked away from the front door of the bar that Imogen had just left through.

"I daresay I've lost my touch. Or you've lost yours." Klaus joked teasingly as he sat back down across from his protégé and Marcel grinned at him before taking a sip of his scotch.

_____________________________

Later that night, Imogen was walking through the French Quarter down a vacant street by the light of the stars and the streets lights that were placed evenly down the road. She had left Cami when the blonde needed to get to work at her job as a bartender at Rousseau's and when she had asked Imogen to come for a drink, the young witch had declined because she didn't want to see Sophie Deveraux.

Her heels clicked on the concrete pathway as she walked down the familiar street towards her apartment building and smiled slightly as she remembered Marcel's invite from earlier in the day. Imogen brushed a strand of her dark hair behind her ear while simultaneously looking over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't being followed because she could feeling someone's eyes trained on her as she walked. The last eight months had made her paranoia but she felt that she had a good reason for her sudden suspicion and followed her instincts on the matter without question.

Marcel watched the young witch from his perch on the balcony above the street with a warm smile on his lips as the brunette walked and occasionally glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was following her. The vampire looked off in to the distance when he heard a the familiar sound of a party taking place back at the compound and briefly though about leaving to go and party with some of his followers before he looked back down at the beautiful brunette beneath him. He smiled to himself once more before he gracefully launched himself off of the balcony he was standing on and landed elegantly on the ground behind the young witch.

Imogen felt someone's presence behind her on the footpath but didn't change her pace or flinch even though she felt the need to because she didn't want to alert the person that she knew they were there. She subtly moved her handbag so that her body was blocking it before reaching inside and letting her hand wrapped loosely around the set of wooden chopsticks she kept in there exactly for this reason. She knew that most women would carry pepper spray with them to warn off attackers but Imogen had grown up in a city ran by vampire's so she was always prepared for the worse. The young witch knew the consequences of using her magic so she kept a lock on the sudden urge so felt to let the buzzing energy she felt rising inside of her fly freely and took a deep breath to steady her emotions so that they wouldn't overwhelm her. A hand suddenly grabbed a hold of Imogen's shoulder gently and she quickly spun around on her heel to take her attack by surprise before using all of her strength to stab the wooden chopsticks into the assailant's stomach. She knew that the chopsticks wouldn't kill a vampire but it would surprise them enough that she could make a run for it or make a decision whether to kill them if she had to.

"Ah!" Marcel grunted in pain as the young witch jabbed him in the stomach with something sharp and he was surprised by the attack long enough for her to slip out of his hold. He could sense her backing up from him so he quickly pulled the weapon out of his abdomen and stood up with a grimace as the wound healed now that nothing was inside it.

"Marcel?" Imogen asked in shock as she recognised the familiar silhouette of the dark skinned vampire in front of her and she quickly moved forward with an apologetic frown on her face. The brunette grabbed gently on to his bicep to help him as he stood up straight and flashed a reassuring smile at her as he held up the bloodied chopstick.

"A chopstick? Really?"

"What? It worked." She defended herself with a delicate shrug of her shoulder as a smile played at the edges of her lips and Marcel chuckled lightly as he threw the bloodied chopstick to the side of the footpath. As he turned his head to look at her, he noticed how close their bodies were near that he was standing up straight and he could feel the heat coming off of her body from a few inches away. Imogen sucked in a breath when she noticed the way his brown eyes darkened with lust as he looked at her and his eyes swept over her beautiful face silently as she bit on her lower lip nervously.

"Yeah, it worked. It worked real well." Marcel confirmed in a whisper as he glanced down at her lips quickly before looking up into her bluish eyes and noticing her nibbling on her lip almost seductively, although he doubted she knew what it was doing to him.

"So, um, why is it that you're stalking me?" she asked him teasingly as she took a step back from him because she felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her because she had just realised that she was still holding onto his muscular upper arm and he instantly missed the warmth from her skin on his when she removed her hand.

"I just want to see if you were going to join me at the bar for a drink?" he explained to her even though it sounded more like a question even to his own ears and Imogen flashed a small smile as she looked down at the ground shyly.

"I was thinking about it." She admitted honestly as she looked back up at him coyly and Marcel grinned at her as he stepped forward so that he was only an inch or two away from her. She knew that her heart was racing because of his nearness but there wasn't anything she could do to stop the fact that she was attracted to the dark skinned vampire in front of her.

"Then stop thinking." He suggested softly as he reached out to grasp one of his hands around her wrist gently and she chuckled lightly at him as she nodded in agreement. Marcel grinned enthusiastically at her as he tightened his hold on her arm before moving closer to her and wrapped his arm securely around her waist.

Imogen gasped slightly in surprise when he appeared next to her but quickly got over it when she realised that he was going to use his vampire speed to run them to the bar. She gripped onto the strong arm around her waist as her breath caught in her throat when she felt his breath on the side of her neck and she shivered slightly when his skin touched hers. Marcel tightened his grip on her waist before running at vampire speed towards the bar and Imogen squeezed her eyes shut so she wouldn't get dizzy when the scenery changed rapidly. She felt a rush of coldness when they stopped moving and she slowly opened her eyes to see that she was standing in the same bar that Marcel had asked her out in earlier that day.

Marcel loosened his grip on the young witch's waist but didn't let go of her completely as he stepped to the side slightly so that he could see her beautiful face and grinned when she slowly opened her bluish eyes in wonder.

"Whoa." Imogen said in admonishment as she looked around the empty bar and Marcel chuckled softly as he released her waist before moving over to the bar. Imogen's gaze followed his movements shyly before she walked over to the booth near the window at the front of the bar and sat down gracefully as she leaned her elbows on the table.

"I sent everyone home for the night. I am your humble host." Marcel announced as he walked over to the table with a bottle of red wine in one hand and two glasses in the other before sitting down across from the witch.

"Okay, extra points for flair."

"And the night's just started." He told her as he opened the corked wine bottle with a wink and pulled two glasses before passing one to her as she chuckled lightly at him. "So, Imogen, tell me something about you that I don't know yet."

"Hm, okay. I love watching classic film noir movies. My favourite is The Maltese Falcon." She informed him with a smile as she took the wine glass from him and Marcel quirked an eyebrow at her in surprise at her answer. The brunette leaned forward a little in her seat as she sipped her wine daintily and he watched rosy lips curve around the top of the glass.

"Really? That's strange for a 21st century woman." He commented in genuine surprise as he tore his gaze away from her lips and up into her bluish eyes with a smile on his face.

"I'm a witch who grew up in a supernatural hotbed. What's normal for me?" she asked him sarcastically with a pointed look as her eyes flashed with mirth and he laughed at her statement as he nodded in agreement.

"Good point."

"Now, tell me something about you. It's only fair after all." Imogen ordered playfully as she leaned back into the booth with a smirk on her lips and he grinned at her as he took a sip of his wine before leaned forward with his elbows on the table.

"Alright. Back in the 50's I studied law at Tulane." Marcel admitted to her almost sheepishly with a small smile and Imogen's bluish eyes lit up with interest as she leaned her elbows on the table again before placing her wine glass on the table.

"Ooh, a lawyer." She teased him humorously with a smile as she chuckled lightly and he glanced away in embarrassment as he laughed with her before look deeply into her endless blue eyes. An almost loving smile crossed his lips as he studied her beautiful tan face and she blushed under his intense examination as she smiled bashfully down at the table.

Suddenly, the front doors to the restaurant swung open widely with a crash as the door hit the side of the wall and Imogen glanced up in surprise to see a very attractive, tall young woman with natural straight blonde hair just passed her shoulders and pale skin that complimented her light blue eyes storming into the empty bar. Marcel's dark eyes widened slightly at the sight of her as he gracefully slid out of the booth he was sitting in and placed himself in front of Imogen protectively in case the blonde tried something.