Chapter 50
Inside the house, a nice meal was prepared, this one included ample fresh meat. Because there was no way of knowing if the animal was infected with any diseases, the meat the two humans ate was well-cooked. The three vampires didn't worry about themselves.
They had forgotten to feed the livestock, but the frustrated cow sent forth a loud call.
"She needs to be milked," Freya said, using a napkin to wipe her lips. "I better get to her." She stood up and walked to where she kept the milk pail.
"I'll feed the guys in the pasture," Kol said, also standing up. "And the chickens, if you aren't going to do it." He was looking at Barbara.
Rebekah spoke up then. "She can help me here. Throw them some feed and we can pick up eggs in the morning."
Freya took a lit candle in a metal lantern, but Kol needed nothing to see by.
It was the middle of the night when Barbara woke with a stomach ache. She suspected it was because of the big meal she had eaten and the bison meat she was not used to consuming. Rather that wake Freya by trying to use the chamber pot that was in the room, she padded barefoot from the room and down the stairs. The night candle by the stairs was burning low; it never lasted until dawn. In the kitchen she lit one candle from the embers on the hearth and took the candle with her. Although the night air outside was a bit chilly, Barbara walked barefoot and in her nightgown to the privy.
It was some time before she felt that her cramping intestines had settled down and it was safe to go back into the house. As she left the small wooden structure with her candle, she thought she saw something over by the dark bulk of the remains of the bison. Whatever it was, it was ghostly white in the darkness. It seemed to have the shape of a person.
Her heart skipped a beat in alarm. Was it the ghost of Durwin, who was supposedly buried under the wood shed? Did he come out of the shed at this time of night? In a panic, she ran for the back porch and the door to the kitchen. The ghost didn't move, didn't look her way. She closed the door with a bang, not caring if that sound woke everyone. Up the stairs she ran, her bare feet making thudding noises. The candle she was holding flared and almost went out.
"Freya, there's a ghost out by the buffalo!" she gasped as she charged into the bedroom. Needless to say, the older woman was awake by then and she sitting straight up in bed.
"Where?" Freya asked as she got out of bed.
"By the buffalo!" Barbara repeated and she went to the western window, raising the lower half. From there she could see the lane leading to the barn and she could see the dark carcass. A sliver of moon had come out from behind a cloud and added to her ability to see.
Freya joined her and looked. She could barely make out what looked like a man-shaped white ghost. It seemed to be without ghostly clothes.
"What should we do?" the younger woman asked. "Do you think it's that Durwin from the woodshed?"
"I have no idea. We have to go see." Freya took the time to put on her shoes and one of Mrs. Anderson's cloth robes.
By that time, Elijah, Rebekah and Kol, somewhat dressed, had come to the open door. Barbara quickly told them what was going on. Kol leaned out the window to see.
"Something is there. Someone." He had better night vision than the non-vampire women, even if the sliver of moon had not cast slight light. He, Elijah and Rebekah disappeared from the room in a blur and soon were out on the back porch. The human women followed quickly.
"Is it Durwin?" Barbara asked again, standing close to Freya.
The three vampires did not answer, but left the porch and moved slowly toward the ghostly figure. None of them could say it was Durwin because they had never met him. As they got closer, they knew it was not him.
The figure was a man and he was unclothed. He was staring at the carcass. Despite the fact that he was indistinct in a ghostly way, he was recognizable to the three Mikaelsons. Rebekah gasped and tears sprang to her eyes.
"Nik! Oh my God. Nik's dead!"
"We do not know that!" Elijah snapped. He did not want this middle brother to be dead. Surely he was not! He felt the brother needed to be alive. Like Rebekah and Kol, he could just make out the tattoos Niklaus had.
"Niklaus! Can you hear me?"
The ghost did not move, but continued to stare at the dead bison. He licked his lips as if he were hungry.
Both Freya and Barbara had joined the group. The younger woman had no idea who this was, but could tell the family did not want the person to be dead and a true ghost.
"Nik, are you hungry?" Kol asked, feeling a bit foolish for asking the flimsy figure such a question.
"He's not hungry!" Rebekah yelled at her brother. "He's dead!"
"He is NOT dead!" Elijah almost yelled. He was too upset to be calm. "He's no more dead than we are."
"Like we are not dead? We're in coffins! We're are ghosts here, but he's not like us. Look at him!"
"I just know he's not dead," Elijah snarled stubbornly, adrenaline now pumping through his body.
Rebekah was angry at his attitude and devastated that Nik was likely dead. She punched Elijah on the side of his jaw. Rocked to the side momentarily, he quickly grabbed her arm so tightly that everyone heard a bone crack. The sister yelled and threw another punch with her other arm. She swore at him and he swore back. He resisted hitting her or throwing her some distance away. It was a good thing she was his sister.
Barbara was shocked. She noted that Kol looked ready to jump into the fray, and she was not sure which side he would be on. Despite the dim light, she saw all three of them produce fangs, and she drew back in fear. In fact, Freya moved back with her. The development was dangerous.
Before the situation got completely out of hand, the ghost of Klaus turned toward them, uttered some sort of sound and grinned, obviously amused.
The angered siblings froze and stared at him, their faces turning back to normal.
"You think this is funny, Nik?" Rebekah shouted at the weird figure.
And then Niklaus was gone. Complete silence followed as the five people stood and stared at the place where the ghostly figure had been.
Elijah backed away from his sister. "I apologize for losing my temper, Rebekah," he said.
"Me, too. Sorry. Damn it, he was laughing at us!"
"He sure as hell was," Kol put in. "We still don't know if he's dead or not. Marcel was supposed to keep him locked up and suffering from that knife. It wouldn't let him die."
"That does not mean that his spirit might not come here as a ghost," Elijah reasoned.
"Maybe he was just checking up on us," Freya offered. "I too didn't feel that he was truly dead." In this case, her opinion meant more to the others than Elijah's.
Rebekah wiped her wet face with her good arm. The other one was healing and was very sore. "I hope you're right. Damn him for scaring me like that!"
There was a long silence during which no one moved, for each was deep in thought. Finally Barbara said, "Could I ask who he was?" She had heard conversation that she neither liked nor understood, and the flair of anger had been frightening.
"He's another of our brothers," Freya said. "His name is Niklaus or Nik or Klaus. He's being held prisoner."
"If he was checking up on us, no wonder he laughed," Kol said. "He must have seen that we were our usual contentious selves."
"Then I hope he comes back now and then," Rebekah sighed, emotionally let down, and she turned toward the house. Like the others, she was now feeling the chill in the air. She noted that Barbara was shivering. Was it from the cold or fear? Or both?
To Barbara, Elijah said, "I apologize for our distressed display of anger. We occasionally disagree rather forcefully."
"Yes, I saw that. You know, I don't understand what's going on with your family."
"Don't worry about it, darlin'," Kol said. "It wouldn't make sense even if we tried to explain it to you."
"You mean there's more to it than being vampires and prisoners in this strange place and the magic power that holds you here?"
"Oh, yeah. A hell of a lot more." He stood back and let the ladies enter the house before him. He glanced at Elijah who nodded, indicating he go next. The five people went to the lighted stairway and stopped there.
"Should we discuss what happened or let it go?" Freya asked.
"I say we get more of our beauty sleep," Kol decided. "We can discuss it over breakfast."
No one suggested otherwise, so they went on up to their beds.
A/N I don't know if I want to continue this story. The group is not going to go anywhere in a long time. Any suggestions? Thanks for reading, which inspires me to write.
