Part 2
Not a word
Kol gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in order to control himself, he hadn't moved for a long while. His father and his brothers were also outside with him, they were waiting for Esther to finish her examination. Rebekah was inside helping her, just like Kol would have been if his mother wouldn't have told him to wait outside, for Katla's sake. Of course he understood how traumatizing the whole thing must have been to her, she was just a child. What kind of monster could do something like this?
"No one can hear about this," Mikael said tensely. "Do you all understand?"
"What?" Kol snapped.
Normally Mikael wouldn't have tolerated such tone, but apparently he was willing to make an exception.
"No one in the village could have done this," Mikael stated. "It must have been the beasts who live in the woods. If anyone finds out that they violated the girl, she will become an outcast; no man will ever want to wed her."
"How can you think that she would ever want to wed any man after this!" Kol snapped. "I will kill the savage who did this to her!"
"I will help you, brother," Finn stated calmly. "You can count on that."
Finn wasn't usually the one to show much emotion, but now Kol saw the rage in his eyes, he wanted to kill the monster who had hurt his little sister.
"You know I am right beside you," Elijah said. "This will not go unpunished."
"No, it will not," Niklaus added. "We will make sure of that."
Mikael looked at his sons and crossed his arms. He didn't have time to say anything when Henrik stepped in front of his brothers.
"I want to help you," he said determinedly.
"No," they all said simultaneously. "Henrik, you are too young for that," Elijah added.
"No, I am not," Henrik replied firmly. "Someone hurt my sister."
"The damn beasts," Mikael snarled. "Who else would violate a child?"
None of them had time to reply when Ester stepped outside, she looked very serious.
"How is she?" Kol asked immediately.
Esther sighed and shook her head.
"Her body will heal in time, but the injuries are bad. There was more than one attacker."
It took a moment before Kol and his brothers could comprehend her words.
"What?" Kol muttered. The whole thing was getting worse and worse. "Did she…did she say something? Who did that to her?"
"No, she has not spoken a word," Esther replied quietly. "Her body might heal, but her mind… I am not sure about that."
Mikael cursed and marched towards the door.
"Husband, please do not scare her," Esther pleaded.
"Girl!" Mikael snapped, ignoring his wife. Kol and his brothers were right behind him, they were all ready to defend Katla. She was lying on the bed with Rebekah, curled inside a fur. Rebekah had wrapped her arms around her little sister and she was stroking Katla's dark hair.
"Girl!"
Rebekah got quickly into a sitting position when Mikael marched in.
"Father, please…"
"Tell me who did this," Mikael demanded.
Katla didn't move or make a sound; she was just staring in front of her. Mikael walked over to the bed and kneeled next to it, Rebekah wrapped her arms protectively around Katla.
"Tell me who did this, girl."
She didn't say anything; she didn't seem to even notice her father's presence. There was no light in her eyes, she was completely empty.
"Katla…" Kol muttered and walked over to the bed. She didn't react in any way when he sat down next to her. Rebekah was still holding her; slowly she lifted her hand towards Kol. Her eyes were still empty, but clearly she needed her brother. Very carefully Kol wrapped an arm around her, she leaned her head on his shoulder.
"It's alright," he muttered. "You will be alright, sister."
"Filthy demon whore… Show us what you really are… Look, she bleeds… Let's make her scream… Hold her down… You like this, do you not, little whore… Scream… We should burn her… Not a word… I will cut your tongue off… We will kill your family… No one will believe a whore like you… Everyone will know that you wanted this… Not a word…"
The world where Katla Mikaelson had to live in had always been a scary place, but she wasn't living in that world anymore. All she had now was the world she had created inside her head, the world without fear and pain. She hadn't been dragged to the woods by Ragnar and few other boys from the village, they hadn't hit and cut her when she had tried to defend herself, they hadn't… She was safe and everything was alright. Everything was alright… Everything was alright…
"Katla?"
She recognized the voice, but she couldn't react to it, not even when her brother took her hands and gently led her away from the well. Once again she had been rubbing her hands in the cold water, but she was never clean. She didn't know how long she had been here; there was no time or place for her. People in the village had always thought that she was weird, but now they called her crazy. None of that mattered to her; she was safe in her own world. Yet she had nightmares every time when she closed her eyes, she slept in the stable so her screams wouldn't keep everyone awake. Kol slept there too, he never left her side.
"Kol?" Elijah said. "Have you seen Niklaus and Henrik?"
"No, they were gone when Katla and I woke up; as you probably heard, she had a difficult night. I thought that they had gone hunting with father."
"No, Rebekah said that she heard Niklaus leaving in the middle of the night, apparently Henrik followed him."
"What? Where did Niklaus go?"
"I do not know, but he has talked about finding the beasts…"
"Yes, we agreed to do that together tonight, why would he go by himself?"
Katla couldn't hear what they were saying, but she thought that Elijah looked distressed. She tilted her head and looked at her brother; she didn't want him to be upset. He looked surprised when she stepped in front of him and smiled while touching his face with both hands.
"Hello, sister," he said warmly and smiled at her.
Everything was like it was supposed to be again, her brother was happy. She kissed his cheek and spun around few times with her arms spread like wings, the first rays of the morning sun were dancing with her.
"Poor girl…" Elijah muttered.
"Do not say that," Kol snapped. "She will get better."
"I am sure that she will…"
"Mother! Mother!"
The panic in Niklaus' voice made Katla to stop dancing and look at him. He was carrying Henrik in his arms.
"Henrik," Elijah gasped and ran towards them, Niklaus was panting with exhaustion.
"Mother!"
Esther and Rebekah came out running, Niklaus and Elijah placed Henrik gently on the ground. He was dead, Katla already knew that. Kol knew it too, they could both feel it. Kol wrapped his arms tightly around his sister when she started to howl, she had no other way to express her immense pain. Her mind was broken, but she could still feel pain. Kol felt pain as well; Katla could feel his tears soaking into her hair. She knew that he needed her just as much as she needed him. She would always be there for him, no matter what.
