Chapter 1

Cry little sister

England 1491

Elijah enjoyed taking long rides by himself. It was his own time without any pretending or socializing with obnoxious humans, usually some boring noblemen or contrived noblewomen. He preferred being by himself. The sun had set a while ago so he should probably head back. Elijah sighed. He was just about to turn his horse around in a small forest path when he smelled it. Death.

Elijah followed the smell to a small meadow. There were mutilated bodies lying all over. He counted seven, four men and three women. Apparently they had camped here for a night. They looked like some kind of vagabonds. Gypsies maybe? No human had done this. This was clearly a work of a vampire. Not many vampires were foolish enough to hunt on his and his brothers lands. A newborn vampire perhaps? Then Elijah heard a quiet crack. He turned to a fallen wagon. He definitely heard a heartbeat. Someone had apparently survived.

"Hello?" Elijah said calmly.

The heartbeat was getting faster.

"There is no need to fear", he said. "I wish you no harm."

Someone seemed to be under the wagon. Elijah lifted it and saw a little girl. She couldn't be more than 10 years old. She had a long black hair and big blue eyes. She was staring at him silently.

"Are you alright child?" Elijah asked.

She didn't say anything; she was just staring at him. Elijah gave her his hand.

"Come on, no need to fear me."

She hesitated but took his hand. Elijah kneeled and looked at her.

"What is your name child?" he asked. She didn't say anything. She was wearing a dirty, grey dress and there was some dirt on her face as well but she seemed unharmed. Elijah grabbed her shoulders gently.

"Tell me your name."

She touched her throat and shook her head.

"You can not speak?"

She nodded.

"Alright… Do you know what happened here?"

There was a flash of terror in her eyes but it was gone in a fraction of a second. She shook her head.

"Were you traveling with your family?"

She hesitated a moment before she nodded. Elijah was about to ask her was one of these women her mother when it occurred to him that she was a child. Making her see her mother's dead body probably wasn't the smartest thing to do.

"Close your eyes", Elijah said and took her in his arms. He couldn't just leave her here so he carried her to his horse.

"I am going to take you to my home; you will have a safe place to sleep there for tonight. We can think of something else tomorrow."

She nodded and Elijah lifted her on his horse in front of him. She seemed surprisingly calm for someone who had just been through something like that. Elijah didn't have much experience about children but he thought that was strange. Perhaps she was too shocked to react. Elijah was quiet when they rode back to the castle. He had to speak with his brother about this. They couldn't let some erratic vampire rage freely on their lands. This must be dealt with as soon as possible. When they arrived to the castle Elijah handed his horse to a stable boy and told one of the maids to look after the girl.

"Everything is going to be alright", he said reassuringly and tapped the girls shoulder. She was looking at him with those big eyes. He couldn't interpret her expression. That was strange, since he was usually very good at reading people. Elijah didn't have time to think about that now; he had to see his brother. Niklaus was in a hall, surrounded by all kind of lackeys as usually. Some of them were humans, others vampires. They were like dogs begging for their master's approval. Elijah had always found that pathetic.

"Good evening brother", he said calmly. "May I have a word with you?"

Niklaus turned to him.

"Of course brother."

He only had to wave his hand and suddenly everyone was leaving.

"We may have a problem", Elijah said when they were alone.

"A problem?" Niklaus repeated and took a sip from his wine goblet. He seemed bored.

"Apparently someone is hunting on our lands."

"What?" he asked angrily.

Elijah told him about the mutilated bodies.

"You said there was a survival. What did she say?" Niklaus asked.

"Nothing, she is a mute. And she is just a child", Elijah replied.

"Hmm. We better go and find that foolish vampire then", Niklaus said grinning. The thought of a hunt seemed to excite him. Elijah didn't bother to point out that he had just come back after a long ride. Apparently they were going hunting.

...

"How can this be possible?" Niklaus said annoyed. "Not a trace!"

Elijah had taken him to the place where the bodies were but they hadn't found anything. They had been in the woods whole night.

"Perhaps this vampire was just passing through", Elijah suggested.

His brother didn't seem happy at all but at the moment Elijah didn't care. He just wanted to get to his chamber and change his clothes.

"I believe I will have a maid for breakfast", Niklaus said. "Want to join me?"

"No thank you brother", Elijah replied.

Niklaus shrugged and headed to his chamber shouting to a servant to send a maid for him. Then Elijah remembered the girl. Perhaps he should make sure that she was alright. But the problem was that no one seemed to know where she was. Finally Elijah found the maid who she had told to take care of the girl.

"For..forgive me my lord, I thought…"

"You thought what?" Elijah asked.

"I… I thought you brought her here to work. I…"

"Where is she?" Elijah asked coldly.

"I…I sent her to the kitchen my lord."

Elijah left without saying a word to the shaking maid. He headed straight to the kitchen. Had she been there all night? Elijah heard someone shouting before he got to the kitchen door.

"You stupid little harlot! Look what you did! I will have you flogged for this!"

Elijah opened the door and saw the girl kneeling on the floor. She was trying to cover her face when an elderly woman hit her with a whip. Elijah moved immediately and yanked it from her hand.

"What…" she started angrily before she recognized him.

"My lord…"

"What is this?" Elijah asked icily.

"This girl, she knocked over the pan, whole stew is ruined…"

She didn't continue when she saw Elijah's expression. He looked at the girl. Apparently the pan had fallen on her. Both of her hands were badly burned. Elijah lifted her up and carried her out without saying a word. He took her straight to his chamber and placed her on his bed.

"Let me see", he murmured and took her hands. This looked bad. Elijah saw tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I am so sorry", he said quietly and tried to clean her burned skin with cold water. She was obviously in pain but didn't try to pull her hands away. Elijah knew she needed more than just water so he stood up and poured her some wine. He turned his back to her, bit his wrist and spilled some of his blood to the wine.

"Drink this", Elijah said calmly. She tried to take the goblet but couldn't hold it so Elijah helped her. His blood seemed to be working.

"You will feel better soon, child", Elijah said gently. "I wish you could tell me your name."

She looked at him for a while and pointed at him and then herself.

"You want me to give you a name?" Elijah asked surprised.

She nodded.

"Alright…" Elijah thought about it. "How about I call you Annabelle?"

That name was the first one that had came to his mind. She smiled and nodded.

"Alright Annabelle, my name is Elijah. Wait here, I will arrange a room for you. You need to rest."

Elijah went to look for a maid but when he came back he saw that Annabelle had fallen asleep. She had wrapped her arms tightly around herself. Elijah didn't want to wake her so he just put a blanket on her and let her sleep. He would decide what to do with her when she would wake up.