FLASHBACK—NEW ORLEANS, 1821
[Elijah speaks in voiceover to the daggered Kol while he dresses him in fresh clothes and places him in his coffin]
Elijah: [voiceover] I see a change in him. For the first time in centuries, he acted solely for the benefit of another. I believe that young Marcellus, with whom he can identify and even nurture, holds the key to our brother's troubled soul. Unfortunately, Kol, your wretched behavior will only serve to distract him from this auspicious path. Now, you might well consider me a hypocrite to betray you as I have. For his sake, you must sleep. Even I must make certain sacrifices, if, indeed, we are to preserve the precious bond between Niklaus and that child.
MARCEL: Are you angry with me?
Elijah: Bored would be a more accurate description. [He raises his voice again] Niklaus, please!
[Klaus finally arrives in the bedroom]
Klaus: What? What is it?
Elijah: [sighs] Remove him. You brought him here. He's your burden to bear, if, indeed, we are to accommodate this little scavenger.
HAYLEY: [confused] Were you just leaving?
Elijah: To be perfectly honest with you, the presence of all of them here, it's... it's a little much. No, perhaps it's for the best. You should be with your kind.
MARCEL: Gia's proven herself. She knows what she's getting into. So, she's going to be the first one that I turn. Everybody else? First, I need to be sure that you can handle moving up a notch on the food chain. The emotional ups and downs, the solitude, and bloodlust. Imagine hearing the sound of a heart beating, beating, beating, and wanting more than anything to feed. That's what it's like to be a vampire. It's not for everybody. Some folks, well... let's just say it brings out the worst in them.
[Elijah begins thinking about the past before being transported into a flashback]
FLASHBACK—NEW ORLEANS, 1821
[Elijah stands by a piano and watches as Marcel tries to work his way through a song]
MARCEL: [sighs] I can't do it!
Elijah: [smiles proudly] Now, you once said the same thing of your reading, and now you devour everything from sonnets to scriptures. So, devote yourself to your music, and soon you shall be Johann Sebastian Bach.
MARCEL: But I want to play like you.
[Elijah continues to smile at him, which Marcel returns, before they hear the sound of clapping from the doorway. It's Klaus, who looks drunk and slightly jealous]
Klaus: [shrugs] Well, you and Marcellus have grown thick as thieves... why should I be alone?