Chapter Two
3rd POV
"Cami, are you about ready to head out," Ester called out as put on her cloak, turning to face the young girl who she grown to love as if she was her own daughter. The older woman watched as the innocent girl nodded, putting on her own cloak and grabbing a basket as they headed out to do their daily chores, one of which was to gather wild fruits that grew in the vast vegetation of the land.
Usually Ester rarely ever allowed Camilla to come with her because she knew just how dangerous the woods could be, and since the maroon haired girl was too small to at least learn how to throw a punch in case of an intruder, the woman always took Rebekah, reminding Cami to stay within the confines of the village.
However, unlike her older sister, Camilla never complains, not even through the thousands of gestures she uses.
"Alright, let's head out then, but make sure you stay by my side the entire time, I don't want you getting lost." Ester reminded her lightly, rubbing the girl's arm softly. The little girl in response nodded seriously, shifting her basket onto her forearm. Ester knew that Camilla would take this seriously, for the girl knew what would happen if Mikael found out that his wife had taken the most beloved of the family out of the village, and ended up losing track of her.
He would be wrathful, and that was putting it lightly; not even she could be able to avoid his fury.
Placing a soothing hand on her upper back, the blonde haired woman led the girl out of the house, greeting the other villagers on her way. It had become routine for the entire family, something that even Kol did. They Mikaelson's had noticed a long while ago how whenever Camilla walked by, all the villagers would just instantly stare at her, their eyes drifting to the oddly beautiful girl who would only smile, and occasionally wave shyly. And they all noticed each time the way the little girl would shift on her feet, uncomfortable with the undivided attention that they would receive each time. So of course, they helped out by redirecting their attention each time.
And every time it always caused the maroon haired girl to let out a sigh of relief.
Giving a short, polite smile towards the other villagers, Ester grabbed a gentle hold of the little girl's shoulder, redirecting her towards the wilderness. "Come along Cami, I'm sure we can find a good bundle of thyme tonight," she hummed softly, the older woman feeling her heart being struck with warmth as Camilla smiled sweetly up at her, nodding softly.
OOO
Niklaus trailed a little behind the males of his family, his mouth curled downwards with disappointment, and his icy blue eyes were slightly widened with terror. His hands were shaking while gripping onto the handle of the knife with a brutal force, knuckles turning a milky white. He knew what was about to come, and for that, he could practically already feel the new set of bruises make their way into his skin. He could practically feel the tidal wave of pain that was about to come.
And Nik hated it.
He hated that he was too afraid to stand up for himself. Hated that he felt too weak to try to fight back not even once.
Because of that, he lingered in the back, trying to delay the world of pain that was about to come.
"Father," Elijah tried to reason lightly, increasing his pace to catch up to the fuming older man that looked anything but pleased, he looked to be so furious, he could kill a hundred full grown men and not even sweat. "It was just an accident; we all have made one before." Elijah continued his eyebrows slightly furrowed with worry.
"Do not talk back to me boy!" Mikael growled out furiously, the threat is his eyes were clear as day as he stared the second eldest down. Sighing under his breath, Elijah took a small step back, his face calm as he tried not to make the situation worse.
"I apologize," Elijah said gently, yet with strength. "But you must not take it out on Nik, he did not mean to scare away the deer, it just happened, and now it's over, gone. There's simply nothing we can do to bring the creature back," the brunette continued, causing a small glance to the blonde haired boy of the group, noting sadly how his eyes were staring down at the forest floor with apprehension taking control of his irises.
Grabbing the front of his shirt, Mikael sneered at the brunette's face, his tightening to a bruising force with a threat clear in his cold, detached eyes. "What did I just say?" He growled. "Don't talk back to me boy, or that bastard won't be the only one who wished he was dead," The older man continued, harshly pushing Elijah away from him, who fell to the ground from the force. Attempting not to worsen the situation, Elijah stood up, simply brushing off the dirt that now clung to his clothes, and following after his raging father.
Sighing, the only blonde in the group still lingered behind, and even though he was slightly happy that Elijah cared enough to stand up for him, he knew that his older brother had just made it worse, which caused a pit to grow in his stomach. Nik glanced down at the feet as he walked, his eyebrows furrowed with worry. However, the pain of what was to come faltered for a second when he heard footsteps next to him, and looked up to find the second youngest of the family, Henrik, staring at him, his own concern evident in his eyes. "Are you feeling well Nik," he asked quietly, a frown tugging at his lips. The blonde in question knew what Henrik was actually asking if he was doing alright emotionally, and even though Henrik too knew what was about to come, he was still worried enough to comfort his tortured older brother.
"Yes Henrik, don't worry," Niklaus replied, a small fake grin plastered onto his face as he patted the brunette's shoulder. Even though he could feel the dread increasing inside the confines of his chest, he never once commented on it. He simply walked by Henrik in silence, occasionally glancing up at Mikael who was still storming into the village.
OOO
Camilla shifted nervously, her arms tightening around the black doll in her arms, her childish doe eyes stuck on the ends of her twiddling feet.
"Eh, Camilla, why won't you look at me? Afraid or something," the boy asked aggressively, crossing his arms across his chest. The maroon haired girl didn't answer him of course; she simply just pushed her small form even deeper into the stump of the tree, her tiny arms tightening around the doll in her arms. And even though she was slightly fearful of the boy who was just only a couple years older than her, she had grown used to his antics by now.
The boy's name was Jethro, and he was not a very nice boy. He always messed with Camilla; every time he saw her by herself he always instantly came over to her and would seemingly bully her constantly.
The rest of the Mikaelson's knew that of course, and the only reason as to why they didn't punch the boy to death for all the agony he caused the bi-colored girl on a day to day basis was simply because they didn't want to ruin the relationship between them and the werewolves of the village. Yet, that didn't mean they didn't really really want to show the boy that their Camilla was one not to be messed with.
"What's this, some idiotic toy," the boy then growled as his eyes narrowed, ripping the black doll with the white button eyes out of her palms, causing the girl to lightly gasp in shock. She then jumped up and reached fruitlessly for the toy, only for Jethro to raise the doll higher and out of her reach. Camilla frowned sadly, watching as he simply scowled at the doll, oblivious to the slight jealously residing in his eyes. "You don't need this," he stated, and before the little girl could react, he threw the doll into the mud, which instantly resulted in her running over to the muddy area, frowning deeply at the sight of her doll. It was now riddled with mud, a couple small leaves and a stick clinging on as well.
Tears welled at her eyes as she gingerly picked up her favored toy, vainly wiping away the residue. She never noticed how Jethro seemed to frown sadly once he realized what he had done, but then he decided not to say anything, turning around and heading over to his own hut, furiously kicking at the rocks in his way.
Why I do I feel so bad, the boy thought to himself as he walked away. She's always paying attention to that stupid doll, when she should be paying attention to me.
Hugging the now dirty toy to her chest, ultimately ignoring the way the mud now hung onto her own dress, Camilla decided to walk back to her home with a small sigh. She trudged along slowly, her crestfallen eyes trained onto her shoes.
The little girl loved her doll; Rebakah had made it for her when she had been her age, and Cami had kept it ever since. She loved it very much, and if she wasn't so worried about ruining the rather fragile doll, Camilla would be taking it everywhere; when she went out gathering, when she went to the market with her mother, everywhere, every place. She treasured that small thing.
However, everything changed when the maroon haired girl caught sight of the rest of her family making their way back from the forest. That wasn't anything new; the male part of her family went hunting every day.
But the enraged look on her father's face, made her heart start to speed up rapidly; ice now pumping through her veins.
Oh no, Camilla gasped to herself, and as quick as her short limbs could take her, she ran over to her brothers. The damage done to her doll was momentarily forgotten. Please, don't be tied to Nik, she hoped vainly, her bi-colored eyes being filled with more worry.
"Dear, what is wrong… what's going on," Ester asked cautiously, eying the furious older man. She then took in how Nik seemed to have stiffened even more; his eyes drilling holes in the ground, widened with horror. In that instant, Ester, along with Rebekah, who had just come up to greet them, knew what the matter was.
It wasn't like Mikael's treatment towards Niklaus was any secret, in fact, the entire village knew about for a long time now; it wasn't hard to put two and two together when at night they would hears the blood curdling screams of a young boy, then see a bloody and beaten Niklaus the next day. The villagers just choose to ignore it, much like the rest of the Mikaelsons.
Mikael was the most feared of the family; he was the alpha male, the dominant figure, the pants of the family. And the second they saw his angry, ready to let loose, they all instantly stepped away. Turned an ignorant nose to the situation.
That is, everyone but Camilla did.
"I'll tell you what's wrong," he said coldly, his voice much softer than it had been earlier, which only meant the situation has gone from bad, to worse. "We spent all day trying to find some kill, and didn't see so much as a bird. And when we finally came across a deer, that bastard son of yours screws it up." Mikael continued angrily, his cold eyes narrowing menacingly.
Watching this caused the little girl to let a frown tug at the corners of her lips. And nonetheless, she took a step forward, ready to defend her older brother. But as quickly as she stepped up to step in between the space between her blonde older brother and her father, she felt a coaxing hand on her shoulder, pulling her back. Camilla glanced up to find Finn gazing at her with an unknown emotion residing in his orbs. He shook his head lightly, giving her shoulder a small squeeze, but didn't release her.
She knew that he was just trying to protect her, to keep her out of this, but that didn't make it any better. Camilla was always meek and sweet, soft and gentle, but when any sort of pain was to ever be inflicted onto her family, she became feisty, fiery. She glared daggers, and would scowl; she would no longer be that kind girl anymore.
And she always hated that Mikael took out his frustrations onto Niklaus.
Glaring, the little girl was stuck rooted into the ground by Finn's firm yet not painful grip. With sorrow, she felt more and more helpless as the seconds passed.
"You better get inside right this instance boy," Mikael gritted out, strutting up to the blonde closely, he then tilted his head slightly as he glared into Nik's soul.
Camilla tightened her grip onto her doll, tucking it even closer to her chest.
"Ye-yes sir," Nik answered shakily, gulping nervously. Not even glancing up, he walked inside their home quickly; afraid that he walked any slower he would only infuriate his father even more. With Mikael on his heels, the older man followed after, shutting the door brashly and with a loud bang.
Now the maroon haired little girl could feel tears welling up on her bi-colored eyes for the second time today, however, the pain was more intense within the confines of her heart, her bottom lip quivering as she simply scowled down at the earth. She heard the footsteps of the rest of her family when they all walked away from the hut.
"Come along Cami," She heard Finn say her as he released her shoulder and reached for her hand. Camilla looked up, her crestfallen eyes gazing back at him. "Let's go take a walk, shall we," he said softly, tugging her along a direction opposite of the one where Nik and Mikael had disappeared into.
She didn't say anything; she just followed along gingerly, not once letting the grimace leave the features of her face.
OOO
"Fuck," Nik cursed softly with a hiss, flinching as he looked down at the gash on his side. It was large, took of most of the side of his torso, and it was bloody. It was the worst of his wounds, but that didn't make the other bruises and cuts any less painful.
He hated it. Hated he was so weak, so fragile. That his body got hurt so easily, cut up so easily, and even though it was just something natural, he hated it.
Sometimes, when he was alone, Nik allowed the dark corners of his mind take control of his being, letting out his inner monster that would be ultimately pleased with ripping apart every person that crossed his path. He felt strong when he let his demons surfaced; felt powerful. Like he was the one giving out the beatings, like he wasn't the victim.
And no matter how much he liked to indulge in his inner darkness, he always shut it back away for another time, going back to his gentle and weak life.
Niklaus glared down at the damaged that marred his sensitive skin, his hands tightening into a fist as he felt his own rage start to rise up. Mikael, he thought with an inner growl. I hate you, I hate you so much!
Suddenly, he was brought out of his inner chanting when he felt small hands grab onto his own, stopping his hand that had been cleaning his arms free of blood. Nik's head shot up to find Camilla kneeling down by his body, softly wiping away the excess blood on his body, her eyes filled with sadness and pain. It was just then that he noticed that during his ponderings, he had started to aggressively clean himself, to the point where rashes had started to form, with crimson splotches every now and again.
He sighed softly, reaching forward to caress his little sister's hair. "You don't have to do that Cami," He stated softly, feeling his earlier anger starting to dwindle down. Even though he didn't want his beloved little sister to get in the crosshairs of what transpires between him and Mikael, he still loved the fact that she was always trying to take care of him.
Always.
She gave him a small smile that told him all he needed to know, and continued washing him, making sure to be gentle with every move.
A soft, adoring smile made its way onto his face, watching as the person he loved more than anything cared for him. "I love you Cami," he said with a small smirk, he leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead, smiling against it.
For now, he forgot everything that had happened. He was only focused on here and now. With Camilla.
I love you too Nik, Camilla thought back, sending a brilliant smile back up to him.
She learned from long ago that humans were the real monsters that roamed the Earth; they were the real beasts that needed to be feared. And it was moments like these where she saw the truth about human's beings: they could be horrible, cruel, and even after everything they went through, some still managed to remain kind and loving.
To be continued…
A/N: Thank you for all the follows and favs! And thank you Guest, X Blue Eyed Demon X, and wafflescoco for reviewing. I appreciate all the kind words. PLEASE EXCUSE ANY GRAMMAR ERRORS, I didn't recheck it this time. Until next time.