Chapter 38
Damon watched his daughter as she sat doing her homework. Something was off, but he just couldn't put his finger on what it was. They'd celebrated her birthday that week with a nice meal for them and her friends, but she hadn't wanted to do too much, preferring to stay in with Lexi, Damon and Stefan.
Stefan was happy to put it down to her being worried about the whole Marcel debacle, but Damon was convinced that it was something more. If he asked her do something, she'd scurry off immediately to do it, even if it wasn't urgent, and if he spoke too loudly, she'd flinch and lower her big eyes from him. She was more distant than she'd ever been and rarely spoke now unless spoken too. Damon realised, suddenly, that it was like she'd regressed back to how she'd been when he'd first found her.
He called Ric, asking him to meet him at the grill for a drink. He knew that if something was wrong at school, Ric would be the most likely to point lead him to the problem.
"Hey buddy," he said, sinking heavily into the seat opposite Alaric, who was ready and waiting with two glasses of whisky.
"How's it going, Damon?" asked Alaric, swilling the liquid around the glass before taking a sip and sliding Damon's glass over to him.
Damon took it gratefully and sighed, "I'm fine, Ric, but I'm worried about Ottilie. Something's going on and I don't know what it is or how to fix it."
Alaric nodded, "yeah, she doesn't seem to be herself. I mean, don't get me wrong, she's never been chatty or anything in class, but she barely makes a peep now. It's like she's frightened of everyone and everything."
"But her grades are okay? She's not struggling?"
Alaric shook his head firmly, "no, she's near the top of my class, and I know that she's acing everything else because other teachers have commented on how well she does despite missing so much school to her condition."
Damon smirked, pleased that his daughter was evidently doing so well. But that didn't solve the problem. "Friends?" he prompted.
"A few, but close. You likely know them – she seems to spend most her time. With Cassie and Greg."
Again, this confirmed what Damon already knew and he sighed frustratedly. He wasn't getting anywhere.
"The only change there's been is there is a new girl in their year, but I don't see why that would be such a problem."
Damon looked at Ric thoughtfully, taking a long, slow sip of his drink. "Hmmm," he said, "and what is the new student's name?"
Ric looked affronted, "I can't tell you that, Damon. I can't give that kind of information out."
Damon just shrugged. "Don't worry about it, I'll find out another way," he smirked at Alaric, toasted to his health and drained the rest of his glass. "Right, I'd best be off, cheers for the help Ric."
Arriving back home, Damon found Ottilie sat in the garden with Cassie, both of them reading their set works for English. Damon almost found himself scoffing at them – well she definitely takes after Stefan in that respect, he thought.
"Hi girls," he said, walking over to them, noticing Ottilie jump at the sound of his voice. He winced inwardly, and decided to put his plan into action to discover whether his theory about Ottilie's recent change was due to what he thought it was. "Otti, there are some snacks inside, why don't we go and grab them for you two to have whilst you work outside? You go and get started with those, and I'll head down to the cellar to grab you some cold drinks, okay?"
Ottilie nodded and got up without a word, scurrying off to do his bidding. Damon looked down at Cassie, still sat on the ground. "Can I help?" she asked, politely.
He nodded, "you can actually," he said. "Tell me, what's the name of the new girl in your class?" He noticed how Cassie immediately avoided eye contact with him and blushed. "Cassie, I need to know please" he said, a little more firmly.
"It's Abigail Price," she whispered. "Please don't tell Otti I told you?" Damon was confused but agreed, and headed inside to get the drinks that he'd promised.
He found Ottilie in the kitchen, pouring some crisps into a bowl, her hands trembling. He walked over to her and said gently, "Otti, I don't understand what's happening with you right now, but I need you to know that you can talk to me about anything, okay? I can help you, but you have to let me in." She nodded, her eyes swimming with tears, but she remained silent. Damon sighed, realising that she still wasn't going to tell him, and took the bowl from her, carrying it for her back outside to her friend.
"Klaus, hi," he said into the phone, "sorry to bother you. Just a quick question, what was the name of the woman who Ottilie was living with before she came here?"
"Hey mate, it was Christine Price, I believe" came the reply Damon had expected.
Damon watched grimly out the window as his daughter and her friend read in companionable silence. "Cheers, Klaus," he said before hanging up. Heading downstairs, he spread out on the sofa, lost in thought as he lay there trying to figure out how to fix this for Ottilie. He almost didn't notice Lexi joining him, sitting next to him on the sofa and leaning her head against him.
"What's on your mind?" she asked softly as he absent-mindedly shifted to make more room for her.
"Just stuff with Ottilie," he said, sighing and running a hand through his hair.
"Can I help?" Lexi asked kindly.
He shrugged, "I don't know, Lexi. I don't know if anyone of us can help. I just found out that there's a new girl in her class who I'm pretty sure is the daughter of the woman that Ottilie had to live with. I'm not sure exactly what happened to her there but when she first came to live with us, she was covered in scars, marks and burns. I think she was abused." He said softly, hating to say it aloud.
Lexi was shocked. She knew that Ottilie had had a tough time before she came to live with Stefan and Damon and she couldn't imagine what it must be like for the little girl to have a constant reminder of that every day in the shape of the girl who once may have helped torment her.
"I just don't understand why she hasn't told me," said Damon, "why doesn't she trust me?" he added, fretfully.
Lexi took one of his hands in his and stroked it gently. "I'm sure it's not that she doesn't trust you, sweetie," she said, "maybe it's more that she doesn't know how to bring it up, and she doesn't want to upset you?"
Damon sighed heavily, "I'll just have to ask her about it, I guess?" he asked.
Lexi nodded, and Damon leaned over to kiss her gently on the cheek. "Thanks, Lexi," he said, "Thank you for listening."
She smiled warmly at him, a faint blush creeping up her cheeks as she leaned in, seemingly about to return the kiss.
Just then, Ottilie walked in, and seeing Damon and Lexi sat together on the sofa, quickly made for the stairs to give them some privacy. "Ottilie!" called Damon, suddenly spotting her, and Lexi pulled away, shuffling away from him to the end of the sofa.
Ottilie turned pale as she heard her name being shouted, and she stopped where she was on the stairs, facing Damon and Lexi, but averting her eyes.
"I'm sorry," she stammered, "I didn't mean to intrude, I'll knock next time, I promise…"
"What?" asked Damon, surprised at her outburst, "it's your home, you don't have to knock!"
"You're not angry with me?" she asked, confused.
Damon shook his head. "No, of course not, please come and sit here. I need to ask you something."
Lexi whispered to him, "do you want me to leave you to it?"
"Please, stay." He said softly to him, gripping hold of her hand and pulling her closer to him again. "Come and sit with us, little lady," he said to Ottilie, gesturing at the chair opposite the sofa. "I don't want to upset you but I need to ask you some questions."
Ottilie nodded, her lips so tight that they were turning white, and her hands were clasped tightly together. Damon frowned at her clear show of distress and quickly rushed to try and put her at ease. "You're not in trouble, Otti, I promise." She didn't reply and he decided to push ahead.
"I know that there's a new girl in your class, Abigail Price." Her eyes shot up to meet his and he saw the panic and alarm present in them. "I think she was someone who was in the house you used to live in before you came here. Am I right?" The little girl nodded carefully, her eyes still fixed on Damon. "Does she hurt you at school?"
Damon asked, wincing at how bluntly the question came out, but unsure as to how to ask it in any other way. "No, she doesn't," he was initially relieved at her answer, "but the others have hurt me before" she finished in a monotone voice, sending shivers down Damon's spine.
"The others?" he probed gently, trying to push down the anger he felt rising through him at the thought of someone hurting his daughter.
"Claire Dobson and her friends. They've hurt me before. They pushed me about and beat me whilst I was on the ground. Then I had one of my attacks" She said bluntly. "But Abigail hasn't hurt me. She never did. She just uses words."
Damon watched as his daughter spoke, her face completely free of any emotion, speaking the words as if she were reciting the alphabet. "What does she say to you, Otti?" he asked softly, almost fearing the answer.
"She reminds me of the things that used to happen to me; she threatens to tell everyone about it; she says I'm pathetic, broken and waste of a life." Damon heard Lexi choke up next to him moved towards Ottilie to try and hold her, grimacing a little as she flinched away from him.
"Can I touch you, Otti?" he asked gently and after she nodded, took her into his arms. "Can you tell me what happened to you, Otti?" he asked, holding his breath to find out whether he'd gone too far or asked too much.
She shook her head. "No, I can't tell you, but I can show you?" He looked at her confused but she took his hand, and looking questioningly at Lexi, who then nodded, took hers too. Closing her eyes, she began to focus on the memories that still plagued her of her time with the Price family, and Damon and Lexi found themselves watching them, as if they were in them.
*FLASHBACK* Possible trigger warning: descriptions of child abuse (not sexual)
"You won't speak, you'll cook, clean, whatever we need of you. Understand?" spat a tall, austere looking woman, towering over a tiny girl in a grey dress who was gazing up at her, nodding. "You'll eat when you've earned it, and you'll sleep when you've earned it. Everything that happens to you is because of you."
The woman pushed her away and the memory suddenly melted into a new one. Here, Ottilie was a little older, still younger than when Damon had found her but around 6 years old. She was in the kitchen, trying desperately to lift a pan of water on the stove that was taller than her. She tottered on a stool, resting the pan on the side, only for it to fall, clattering to the ground with a bang. Younger Ottilie gasped as the hot water splashed over her skin, and waited for the inevitable screaming from Mrs Price who arrived presently. She ran over to the girl and seeing the mess, slapped her so hard that she fell from the stool, landing on the stone floor of the kitchen.
"You idiot," she shrieked at the small child lying in the pool of hot water on the floor. Lifting the heavy pan from where it had fallen, she hit Ottilie around the head with it, knocking her out cold and laughing as her head fell back to the stone floor.
Another memory, this time Ottilie was closer to the age that Damon recognised her to be from when he found her. She was thin, pale and shaky, clearly malnourished and exhausted. She was lying on the blanket that functioned as her bed, and Damon and Lexi could see the blue around her lips as she shivered uncontrollably from the cold. They heard Mrs Price shout for her, and saw her scramble to her feet, swaying as she stood from lack of food.
"Yes, Mrs Price?" asked Ottilie, as she followed the sound her shouting down to the kitchen, finding the woman standing over the fruit bowl, seething.
"How dare you," she hissed, glaring at Ottilie. "How dare you steal from me, after all I've done for you."
Ottilie was shaking her head in panic, "no, please, I haven't stolen anything, I wouldn't!"
"Don't speak to me!" screamed Mrs Price. "And don't lie, Abigail said that she saw you take an apple from the bowl. My daughter doesn't lie, she's not pathetic, broken scum like you!"
Ottilie was crying now, silent tears running from her big green eyes down her pale, blue-tinged face as she dreaded what punishment was coming her way. She glimpsed Abigail grinning evilly at her through the open kitchen door, running before her mother would notice her there.
Looking back up at Mrs Price, she tried once more to defend herself before she was hit hard around the head. She staggered back with the force of the hit, and blinked aggressively, trying to keep the black dots threatening to take over her vision at bay.
"You will not eat for the rest of the week," hissed Mrs Price, pointing an accusatory finger at Ottilie.
"Please, Mrs Price, it's only Monday, and I've not been allowed to eat since Wednesday…" pleaded Ottilie.
"Then you shouldn't steal from me," said Mrs Price, coldly.
"I didn't!" protested Ottilie before she felt an impact with her chest, shoulder and arm, and looking down, saw herself covered in glass, and her thin dress starting to turn red. Mrs Price picked up another empty bottle from the recycling box, and threw it again at the little girl, this time, hitting her head.
Damon and Lexi watched in horror as Ottilie fell to the floor, blood seeping from the shallow cuts on her body, and the large, deeper cuts on her bare arms and head.
There was one more memory that Ottilie showed them. She was older again, dressed in the same ragged blue dress that she had worn all those years ago when Damon had rescued her. Again, she was in the kitchen, carrying the burning plates to the dining room before she got caught eying up a bread roll.
Mrs Price walked in, "How dare you?" seethed the woman. "You dare steal from me, after all I've done for you. Get out!"
Ottilie hesitated, just for second. It was enough time for the woman to grab and empty glass bottle and throw it at her, watching with satisfaction as the bottle impacted with the girls head, and her vision exploded into a world of white and stars. The woman leaned over her, "you need to leave. If I ever catch you near my house again, I will kill you" she whispered.
Damon and Lexi watched as the little girl pulled herself onto her feet, not able to see where she was going through the blood pouring down her face, and stumbled to the back door in the kitchen. From there, she traipsed through the snow, leaving a trail of blood through the snow. They could see her swaying with exhaustion and suffering the effects of blood loss before she crumpled down, her body giving way.
Hearing a noise in the distance, Lexi and Damon looked in it's direction and saw Damon walking towards the little girl, finding her leant against a tree trunk. Kneeling in front of her, ignoring how the cold snow was seeping through his jeans, he wrapped the tiny body in his coat and lifted her gently into his arms, holding her tightly to him, before setting off, taking her home.
*END OF FLASHBACK*
Ottilie gently let go of Damon and Lexi's hands, and they all opened their eyes, blinking at the harsh light of the present day. The two vampires were speechless as they tried to process what they had just seen, and come to terms with the fact that they'd only seen a snippet of the horrors of Ottilie's time in the Price house.
Lexi had tears running down her face as she looked at the young girl sat silently in front of them, her head down, eyes averted from them.
Damon put a hand under his daughters chin and lifted her head so that she was looking at him. "Thank you for showing us, Otti," he said. "Nothing I can say or do will make up for what you've had to go through, but I can stop that from ever happening again, and I promise, I will make sure of it."
She nodded, smiling slightly, although still obviously traumatised by having to relive those memories. Damon pulled her to him carefully, wrapping his arms around her tiny frame and kissing the top of her head, relieved as he felt her relaxing into his embrace. "My little Otter," he said adoringly, holding her tightly. "How I love you"