Chapter 29

Elijah again had no idea where he was, nor who these people were. He didn't know why they were manhandling him down some stairs. In addition, he could not understand what they were saying. Worst of all, as he thumped to the bottom of the steps, he realized that he could not clearly see the woman who had had hold of his ankles. She was somewhat transparent, so that he had to assume she was a spirit. Still, he knew he had bitten whoever had been carrying his upper body, and that person had contained weak-tasting blood. Did ghosts bleed?

He struggled to his feet and unsteadily burst out from the doorway into a bedroom. The female spirit stepped back and said something to him. He could see she was alarmed and afraid of him. Well, that was probably good. Glancing around the room, he saw that the furnishings were odd. Fancy. Much better than that of a fisherman or herdsman. This was no crofter's hut.

Fearful because he felt so confused and in the company of ghosts, he dashed for an open door. That led to a small room just beyond and stairs going down to another level. He hurried down, ignoring the strange voices behind him. The place was a manor house of some sort with upholstered, finely-made furniture and carpets. He gasped and gave a start when a tall clock near him suddenly sounded its chimes.

He needed to get away, out of the house, so that he could try to collect his thoughts and figure out what was going on. There was a door just past the clock and he headed for it. Turning the knob, he could not get the door to open. It had some kind of lock. Rather than fool with it, he turned and went the other way, going past the stairs and into what he recognized was the kitchen. There was a big hearth, pots and pans, and a table with chairs. This part of the house felt normal to him, but he headed for another door leading outdoors. This door opened easily for him and out he went, again ignoring the people hurrying after him and yelling at him.

Out in the daylight, he didn't know which way to go. He recognized the outhouse and the well, behind which was a stone wall. There was a woodshed in the center and a garden to the right. From somewhere beyond the wall came the call of a rooster. Deciding to go around the wall, he headed left at a trot and passed the outhouse. He went too far left and ran into the barrier, which gave him a small electric shock and bounced him backward. He recognized that there was a magic barrier that he could not see, so he stayed closer to the stone wall and went around it to where the pasture was. How could he escape? Where could he hide from the ghostly apparitions following him.

"Kol, wait!" Freya ordered as the younger brother dashed from the porch. He stopped and turned to face her. "He's afraid of us. Don't chase him and panic him more."

"What the hell is he afraid of? Even before, he knew me and Rebekah." He rubbed his sore shoulder where his shirt was torn and bloody. He was healing, but not with speed. He looked to where Elijah had disappeared around the wall. With determination, he walked to the edge of the wall and looked south, wondering what the frightened vampire was doing. How long would it take him to figure out that he was trapped within the barrier?

Then something else caught his eye and made his heart skip a beat. He already knew there were several visitors on the outside walking around the now-famous barrier. But what he spotted was a man on horseback who he was sure was his father Mikael!

He frantically beckoned to his sisters to join him and they did. "Our father is here! He's riding around outside by the pasture!"

"Oh my God!" Freya gasped. "What if Elijah sees him? What if he calls out to him and talks to him?"

Elijah had seen the horse in the pasture and wondered if there was a way to ride out from this farm. He was aware of humans walking around outside the electrified wall, but they did not seem to notice him. Then he spotted someone he was sure he knew. His own father!

Wary of the barrier, he called, "Father! Can you hear me?"

Mikael turned his head, his eyes searching for the source of the call, even though he could not see through the barrier.

"I am here. Can you see me or hear me?" Elijah called. "It's Elijah!"

"I hear you. You know I can't see you."

"What did you say, Father?"

Mikael suddenly realized that his son was not speaking English. It was the old Viking tongue. "Why are you speaking the old language?" he said in that language.

"Why? I do not understand." Elijah found it a relief that finally he could understand someone.

"You are speaking the old tongue, son. I can hear you, but I can't see you. What is wrong?" Mikael realized that Elijah was not his normal self, confident and speaking with authority. Instead, there was fear in the voice. Elijah sounded much younger than he should. Was it possible that being contained in the magic area was taking him back in years? Centuries?

"There are ghosts here, Father! I can barely see them and they don't speak our language! I got away from them, but I may be trapped by the invisible wall."

"Are there two women and a young man?"

"Yes. I do not know how many there are. Do you know them?" Elijah looked around for his pursuers and saw them standing by the end of the stone wall. They were not approaching, but merely watching. "They are watching me!"

"Son, listen to me," Mikael said calmly. "The young man is Kol, your brother. I doubt he is intent on hurting you. I can't help any of you to escape. This barrier is too strong. It might be affecting your mind, making you confused. Making you forget this is way into the future and you are older now."

"So, I cannot get out and you cannot get in?" There was despair in his voice.

"That's right. There are four of you stuck in there."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Try to make peace with the other three. You need them, son," Mikael said. He had always been proud of Elijah, an intelligent, patient son, and yet a good fighter as a Viking should be. It was unlike him to be frightened. Elijah seemed unaware that his father was expected to kill him. If it were not for the magic directive from the wife and mother Esther, Mikael would not be hunting his children. Well, maybe Niklaus, whom he had disliked and abused since the fellow was a boy.

"I just came by to see how you all were doing. Did the fire do much damage?"

"What fire?" It was then that Elijah noticed that the field beyond the barrier had been burned some time recently.

"Never mind. Go back to the house. I don't believe you are in danger from your brother."

"I bit him."

"Why?"

"I thought he was going to hurt me. I did not know he was my brother. And in addition, he and the women are ghostly. Transparent."

"Maybe you are too, son. Go back to them. I'm sure there is no place for you to hide from them."

Elijah could see that other people had gathered around near Mikael, but he suspected they did not speak the language he and his father were using. All of them were wearing odd clothing and speaking the tongue he did not know. He watched his father turn the horse as if to leave.

"Can you stay nearby?" he asked the older man. He wanted his father close.

"No. I'm not really welcome around here and there is nothing I can do to help you. I'll see you again sometime." Mikael was aware of hostile looks in the townsfolk and he didn't want to have a confrontation with them. He couldn't tell what damage the fire had done. Weeks had passed and the prisoners were still there. "Goodbye, Elijah."

The son wanted to beg the father to come back, but he said nothing. He knew Mikael did not want to hear begging from his sons. Instead, he stood there feeling abandoned and confused about what to do. He glanced at the three lurking now far away and who were supposedly not his enemies. One was apparently Kol, who was a man and not the child Elijah thought he should be. Somehow, a great deal of time had passed!

The three standing by the stone wall had heard much of the conversation. They knew the old language and realized they would have to speak it with Elijah. They now knew he saw them as ghosts, which was odd because they seemed fully substantial to each other.

"Alright. Let's go slowly with this," Freya said. "He thinks we are ghosts and he's afraid of us. He doesn't know us."

"That's because he's apparently regressed to his youth," Rebekah said, frowning with concern.

"I wonder how far back," Kol muttered. "Does he remember me? Does he remember Bekka as a baby?"

"That is really going back a long way," the younger sister said.

"And he never knew me," Freya said. She remembered her mother's abdomen being big and the woman telling her and little Finn that they would get a brother or a sister. That had been Elijah, but Aunt Dahlia had taken her away before he was born.

"Let me go to him," Rebekah said.

The other two looked at her and thought of arguments, but decided to let her go.

Elijah watched as one of the blonde women started walking slowly toward him. He thought she looked less transparent than before. Maybe that phenomenon would pass. He hoped. He looked around for a safe place to avoid her, but now believed there was no place to hide. He had to face her.

Rebekah stopped several feet away from her brother. He still had a bit of blood on his lips from biting Kol.

"I'm sorry we scared you, Elijah. We truly mean you no harm," she said calmly. "I am Rebekah, your younger sister."

"Are you a ghost? A spirit?" He was relieved she did not come close and that she spoke his language. He did not recall her.

"Not really. We are here in spirit, but our bodies are substantial, corporeal. I don't know why you see us otherwise."

"What do I look like to you?"

"Normal. Elijah, how old are you?"

"That is an odd question from someone who claims to know me."

"I ask because you are not acting your age."

"What age should I be?"

"Mid-thirties."

This was a shock to Elijah. He didn't feel nearly that old. Now that he really thought about it, he recalled Niklaus as a child. It was him he remembered, not the one called Kol. All this was confusing and he didn't like it. He shook his head in frustration.

"None of this makes sense. Father was here. I talked to him. Some of what he said makes no sense either."

"I know."

"And who are you? You said you are a sister? I have no sister."

"Kol was born after Nik. I was the next one after that. And then there was Henrik."

"I do not know them. Apparently my memory does not include you younger ones. Where is Finn?"

"He passed away."

"Oh." He was not particularly sad over this. Finn had never been very caring.

"Come. I'll introduce you to the other two of us who are here," Rebekah urged. She turned and walked back toward the wall where the others waited.

Elijah took a deep breath and let it out. He followed her.

A/N How long will Elijah's memory be a problem? Or will it return quickly? We shall see.