Part 20

A mountain lion

Niklaus was on his knees on the ground, he was crying. He was a man and men didn't cry, but sometimes he needed to let his pain out. The bruises all over his body really weren't the worst part, no; it was the hatred in his father's eyes. He couldn't understand what he had done to deserve it; he had always tried so hard to be a good son. Why couldn't he ever please his father, why wasn't he good enough? He pressed his palms against his mouth in order to muffle the screams that wanted to come out. He was so pathetic, if his father would see him now…

"Niklaus?" a quiet voice said from behind his back.

He gasped and quickly dried his eyes, he hadn't heard anyone approaching. No one had ever come here; this was his secret place in the woods, an old bear's den.

"What are you doing here?" he asked tensely, he didn't turn to look at his little sister. "You should not be in the woods by yourself."

"I heard you crying…" Katla started, making Niklaus to turn around and grab her quite roughly.

"Now listen you little weakling," he growled without caring how frightened the 6-years-old looked. "You heard nothing, do you understand, nothing! If you ever tell anyone otherwise, I swear I will make you pay. Do you understand?"

She nodded, her little body was shaking. The guilt hit him immediately, but he couldn't let her tell anyone what she had heard.

"Now leave me alone," he snapped and turned his back on her. He closed his eyes when he heard her leaving. She hadn't deserved that, she was just a little child. He gritted his teeth and ran his fingers through his hair, he needed to calm down, he couldn't go home like this…

"Niklaus?"

"Are you deaf or stupid…" he started angrily, but the rest of his words died when he turned to look at Katla. She looked at him insecurely with her deep brown eyes, she was handing him a flower.

"Please don't be sad," she said quietly. He didn't say anything when she moved in front of him and wrapped her little arms around him. Slowly his body started to relax; he hugged her tightly and leaned his cheek on the top of her head.

"Forgive me, sister," he muttered.

"It's alright," she replied.

"I did not mean what I said."

"I know."

He sighed and closed his eyes; her hand was rubbing his back in a calming gesture. They stayed like that for a long while, he was perfectly calm now.

"I should probably take you home, Kol must be looking for you by now," Niklaus finally muttered. "Unless of course I decide to keep you."

"We can live here if you want," she replied. "Like raccoons."

He pulled away and raised his eyebrows.

"Raccoons? I am no raccoon, more like a bear or a mountain lion."

He let out a playful roar and tickled her belly.

"What about me?" she giggled. "Am I a mountain lion too?"

"Sure you are, a mountain lion cub."

He got to his feet and scooped her up.

"Up you go, cub. Let's get you home."

"Katla!"

As soon as the wall was gone, Klaus was next to her. Kol was killing their mother, but Klaus didn't pay any attention to that. The dagger was still in Katla's chest; Klaus grabbed it and pulled it out. She gasped weakly, but other than that her body didn't react in any way. Her eyes were open and she was looking at Klaus, her whole face was bloody.

"Sister…" he muttered and gently touched her cheek. "It's alright, you'll be alright."

She smiled and shook her head.

"Nik…"

"I'm here, so are Kol and…" He paused and took a quick look around. Where were Elijah and Finn?

"I'm here," he repeated and stroked her hair. "I'm right here and I'm going to fix this. You'll be alright."

"Kol… Look…after…my…Kol…"

"No, no, you'll do that yourself," he said firmly. "Do you hear me, Katla, that is an order."

She smiled and tried to lift her hand, but she didn't have enough strength. Gently he took her hand in his and kissed it.

"My…beautiful…brother…"

Involuntary tears were filling his eyes; he squished her hand between his.

"Listen to me, Katla, you're not going anywhere, you'll stay with your family and you'll fight. Do you hear me?"

She looked more exhausted than ever before, but she was still smiling.

"Katla!"

No more than a second later Kol was standing by her side; carefully he cupped her face and looked into her eyes. Neither of them spoke, they simply looked at each other. Briefly Klaus glanced at their mother's body lying on the ground, but then he turned his eyes back to Katla.

"Yes…" Kol muttered and quickly took his coat off before gently lifting her up. He sat down on the ground, placed her onto his lap and wrapped his coat and arms around her.

"Is this better?"

She nodded and smiled at him. He tightened his embrace and rocked her calmingly. They were both quiet again; he planted tender kisses across her face.

"Kol…" she muttered, her voice was barely a whisper.

"I know. I'm not letting you go. Not now, not ever."

A blood tear rolled down her cheek, she had no more strength left. Klaus couldn't hold back his own tears any longer, he had to look away.

"Get your filthy hands off me!" a female voice suddenly shouted. Klaus looked up, Finn and Elijah had just vampire speeded Bonnie out from the witch house. Clearly she had been crying, but right now she was furious.

"Mom!" she shouted. "Get your hands off me, I'll kill you!"

"Enough, Miss Bennett," Elijah snapped. "Unless you wish your mother to die for good, you will help our sister."

"Like hell…"

Kol was in front of her in a fraction of a second, he grabbed her by the throat.

"Now you will listen to me, witch," he snarled. "If my sister dies, I will burn this pathetic town to the ground and kill every single person here. Do you understand?"

Bonnie was too stunned to react, but she could see that Kol wasn't kidding.

"He means it," Klaus confirmed. "And I will help him. You could say that we are brutally efficient together, there will be no survivors. That I guarantee."

Bonnie looked at Elijah, but his face remained stoic.

"Elijah, you can't…"

"I can," he cut in coolly. "You will save my sister."

"What do you want me to do?" she asked tensely. "I'm not a healer…"

"Figure it out!" Kol snarled and shoved her towards Katla who he had placed gently on the ground. Bonnie hesitated a second before kneeling next to Katla. Her eyes were closed, she wasn't conscious anymore. From the corner of his eye Klaus saw Damon and Stefan coming out from the house, Stefan was carrying Bonnie's mother.

"Elijah!" Damon snapped. "We did what you wanted, where's Elena?"

Elijah replied something, but Klaus couldn't really hear him, he was concentrated on Bonnie and Katla.

"I…I don't know what to do," Bonnie muttered. "The spell Esther used, I don't know anything about it…"

"She channeled the powers of your ancestors, you can do the same," Finn stated.

"They won't agree, not for saving a…"

She gasped in shock when Kol shoved his bleeding wrist onto her mouth before grabbing her neck.

"Listen carefully, you dead witch bitches!" he shouted. "Unless you want your bloodline to end with her, you will grant her the power she needs to save my sister. If you refuse, she will become one of us and I will personally make sure that she will spend the rest of her life slaughtering innocent people, starting with her family and friends. So, the only question now is how do you want to play this?"

Katla blinked her eyes few times before she could see anything. Everything looked strange; she was in some kind of field. Slowly she got into a sitting position and looked around. The colors were wrong. The grass looked green and the sky looked blue, but they really weren't. She couldn't understand what was happening. Everything looked beautiful, but it was just an illusion. The flowers, the butterflies, the birds, the bunnies, nothing was real. Was she dreaming? Had her mind shattered for good?

"Kol?" she muttered and stood up. She was wearing a white dress and she was barefoot.

"Kol?"

"Guess again, girl," the familiar voice said from behind her back. Slowly she turned around, her lips curved into a smile.

"Papa?"