Chapter 50

Ottilie was once again awoken by the hushed, urgent voices of her father, uncle, Alaric and Dr Jo. She would have almost found it funny, had she not heard what they were saying.

"Jo, I need you to discharge her now."

"Damon, I can't! She's not ready to go yet."

"She's loads better – you said so yourself earlier!"

"I know, but that doesn't mean she's ready to be released from hospital yet – she's still a fall risk for god's sake!"

"Surely, you understand, Jo, Damon is just thinking of Otti. If Marcel is coming tonight like he has warned, we need her as far away as possible. He's specifically said that we're to meet him with Otti!"

"No, Stefan, I won't agree to this. My professional opinion is that it would be harmful to Ottilie to move her and so I won't sign it off. If you're worried about this Marcel guy, you'll have to make sure you have someone with her tonight to keep her safe, but it is not safe to move her right now."

"Okay, we tried the nice way. You're going to release Ottilie to me now."

"DAMON!" Alaric sounded like he was about to rip Damon's head from his shoulders.

"You can't compel me Damon, I'm on vervain." Ottilie smirked, almost imagining the cool, unaffected shrug that would have accompanied Jo's words, and the pure rage that would surely be on Damon's face right about now.

She thought carefully over the conversation. So Marcel was coming to Mystic Falls tonight, and they all seemed to know about it except her. They were obviously planning some sort of attack against him, which however nobly intentioned, was inevitably doomed to fail. They simply couldn't beat him – the woman in had said as much. That meant that tonight was the night – she'd have to escape from hospital and whoever had been assigned to guard her, access her full magic and defeat Marcel.

Deciding that now would be a good time to let them know that she was awake, before her rumbling stomach gave her away, she opened her eyes and started fidgeting in bed a little, trying to get their attention. The rage that was inevitably evident on her dad's face faded immediately as he saw his daughter awake, and he sped over to her bedside.

"Morning, little otter," he said lovingly, kissing her head gently. "How are you feeling today?"

"I'm fine," she said, shrugging. "Better than yesterday…" She suddenly realised that if she was to convince Damon that Jo was right, and that she shouldn't be moved from that hospital, she was going to have to appear weaker than she actually feeling. "Although I still feel very weak," she said pathetically, and hating herself for it.

Damon smiled gently at her, and brushed a stray brown curl from her face. "Are you hungry?"

She nodded eagerly, knowing that he was likely to have brought her something cooked from home for breakfast, as had become their little ritual. Sure enough, Stefan walked in with a brown paper bag, and she opened it to find a lunch box filled with pancakes and fruit.

"Ooh my favourite," she said, delighted, and wasted no time tucking into them. If accessing her full powers was going to kill her, she'd be damned if she didn't enjoy her last breakfast.

She passed the rest of the day, staring at the boring white ceiling of her room, thinking about how unsatisfying this was as a last day alive. She knew that her family and friends would be preparing for a battle they couldn't possibly win, and she sighed heavily, turning over in bed.

"Hey, Tillie." The voice made her turn around to see who it was, standing in the doorway of her room.

"Oh, hi Greg," she said, smiling warmly at him. "How are you?"

"I'm good, you?"

She shrugged, "yeah fine thanks."

"I'm going on holiday tomorrow for the summer so I just wanted to come and say goodbye,"

Ottilie almost had to stop herself laughing at the irony of his coming to say goodbye, but she grinned at him, trying to appear as normal as possible. "That's so exciting," she said, "I really hope you have a great time! I can't wait to hear all about it."

Greg looked at her oddly. She seemed to be smiling sadly, he thought. "I don't mean to rub it in, if that's what's happened?"

She looked at him, confused.

"You know, that you're in here," he gestured around the room, "and I'm off on holiday."

She laughed, "oh no, you're not rubbing it in. I'm really excited for you," she said, genuinely, and he relaxed a little.

"Oh okay, good," he said, walking up to her and sitting on the edge of her bed, looking at her shyly. "I hope you're all recovered by the time I come back. Maybe we can try another walk together."

She nodded, "I'd like that."

"Just promise not to die this time…"

He was teasing, she knew, trying to make light of the situation, but she couldn't bring herself to lie and promise to him. So she laughed instead, leaning in to kiss him softly on the lips. He returned it until he pulled away, reluctantly.

"I've got to go, bye Tillie."

She waved goodbye and watched sadly as he left her room, wondering if she'd ever see him again.

"I've got to head off now, Otti, but Lexi is going to stay here for a little longer, okay?" Damon stood to leave as Lexi walked in clutching a brown paper bag, and Ottilie nodded, smiling innocently at him. It made sense, she thought, that Lexi would be asked to stay with her. Afterall, if they were going to encounter Marcel, they didn't want to give away that she could heal his bites.

"Bye, Dad, love you," she said, reaching out for a hug, which he, of course, returned, ruffling her hair gently as he pulled away.

"Love you too."

"So I brought take out!" said Lexi, brightly, although Ottilie could sense the tinge of anxiety surrounding her, and knew she was worried for the safety of her boyfriend and friends.

"Ooh sounds good! Shall we watch a film whilst we eat?" she asked, doing her very best to appear as normal as possible, as she knew that Lexi was more astute than Damon, and would be more likely to tell that she was planning something if she wasn't careful to hide it.

She enjoyed the evening with Lexi whilst keeping a careful watch on the time. She knew it was likely that Marcel would show when it got dark, and it would be easy enough to find the meeting point by doing a locator spell for Damon. The nurse came in to do her night time checks, and said a little pointedly, that visiting hours would be over soon. Lexi smiled at her, and simply compelled her that she was staying and to make sure that anyone who questioned it was fine with it.

Finishing the film, she saw Lexi looking out the window, completely lost in her own thoughts, obviously wondering what was happening outside of the hospital walls. Ottilie took a deep breath and, mentally apologising to her, closed her eyes and cast the spell. By the time she reopened her eyes, Lexi was snoring gently in her chair, and she knew she would not wake for several hours. Gently picking up a book belonging to Damon, she closed her eyes and began to try and locate him. Her eyes shot open. Got him…

She got carefully out of bed and dressed in the clothes that Damon had left in her locker for when she was finally allowed out, and kissing Lexi gently on the cheek before she left, slipped the little note she'd written for her, Damon and Stefan into her hand.

"You're sure he's going to be here?" whispered Rebekkah, and Ottilie detected a trace of nervousness in her voice.

"His messenger minion said that we were to meet him here after dark with Ottilie," replied Klaus.

"Is everyone clear on the plan?" asked Elijah, straightening the lapels of his suit jacket and tweaking the position of his white handkerchief.

"Hope and I brain-aneurysm him, and whilst he's incapacitated, you attack," said Bonnie, who had just arrived to catch the end of the conversation.

"Indeed," confirmed Elijah. "And no heroics people. Marcel is dangerous, and we know already that his bite is fatal, even to us."

"You don't have to tell me…" said Damon, shuddering at the memories of Lexi being bitten by Marcel.

"And if Kai is here?" asked Kol.

"He's dead" replied Damon, shortly.

"He's not," came a voice from the darkness, behind a stone. "But luckily, you've only got me to deal with tonight, and if you've done what I've asked, and brought the girl, then you've got nothing to worry about."

"Marcellus…" said Klaus, stepping towards where the voice was coming from, warning laced into the fake pleasantness of his tone. "How… lovely… to see you again."

"Klaus, you're looking well." The tall figure of Marcel stepped out from behind a stone, and surveyed the group of supernatural beings in front of him. "My my, Klaus – have you made friends?" He chuckled, gesturing to them.

"Please, let's skip the flirting," said Elijah, stepping forwards to stand by his brother. "We cannot give you the Adfectus Witch."

"Oh Elijah, serious as ever. How you disappoint me. You see, I came here in good faith that my oldest friends would deliver me what I want, and now, I just feel let down." Marcel looked around the group, noting the nervous glances they shared with one another, and relishing in the fear he so easily created.

"She is just a child, Marcel," said Klaus, "we will not allow you to take her."

Marcel laughed heartily, before turning his gaze to Damon and Stefan. "Ah, the Salvatore brothers. Have you gotten over the tragic loss of your little friend? I'm sure it was a… painfull end…"

Damon angrily took a step forward but Stefan managed to pull him back.

"Poor old Lexi," Marcel continued, grinning at the rage blatantly visible on Damon's face. "All she needed was my blood to cure her. Alas, that ship has sailed…"

He looked around at everyone, the crooked smile leaving his face and a stony, angry look replaced it. "Now, I fear this trip has been somewhat wasted as you haven't brought me the witch, but I can make the best of it, I'm sure. Maybe I should create a little incentive for the little witch to come to me…. I do so hate leaving New Orleans, after all."

Taking a step towards them, he suddenly fell to his knees, clasping his hands to his head and groaning in pain. Damon looked towards Bonnie and Hope and saw them both with one arm outstretched, muttering spells under their breath. Turning his focus back to Marcel, he saw him struggling to get back to his feet, and took the opportunity to run over to him in a bid to kill him. Marcel, however, was already standing by the time he reached him, and easily threw Damon from him, watching as the younger vampire went sailing through the air before hitting a tree and slumping heavily to the floor.

Stefan, looking at his brother's body grimly, ran at Marcel, followed closely by Kol. Marcel was ready for them, and brandishing two vervain-laced wooden stakes that he'd hidden behind him, stabbed them both through the stomachs, relishing in their cries of pain.

"He's healing quicker than we can repeat the spell…" gasped Bonnie, blood running from her nose as Hope was holding her up. "We can't keep him down!"

Klaus and Elijah exchanged grim looks before running to attack Marcel themselves. Again, Marcel was ready and he simply stuck his arms out, breaking through the ribs of the two original vampires, and grabbed their hearts in his hands. "This is too easy…" he smirked. "And too quick. You left me, for years to suffer. I want you to suffer too." With that, he bit each of them violently, and watched in satisfaction as realisation clouded their faces. Withdrawing his hands from their chests, he let them drop to the forest floor as the effects of his bite already began to take hold.

Walking up to Rebekkah, he stopped to look her in the eye. "I loved you once, Bekkah," he said, softly stroking her cheek, loving the fear laced in her light blue eyes. "But you betrayed me, along with them," he turned his head to glance at Klaus and Elijah writhing on the ground in pain, before returning his gaze to her. "You so badly want to be with your family. Who am I to deny that?" Baring his fangs, he tore into her neck, holding her up as her legs gave way and she screamed in pain, before dropping her carelessly to the floor.

"Who's next?" he queried, looking around at the terrified people still left standing. "Ah you'll do!" He walked over to Kol and Stefan, who were badly weakened by the vervain-laced stakes that they'd only just managed to pull from out of their bodies.

"It's a shame really," he said, dropping their bodies to the ground after biting them both. "You all would have made such wonderful upgraded original vampires. But you've made your choice by denying me what I wanted."

"And you…" he looked over Damon, who was lying at the foot of a tree, "you're just getting on my nerves now…" He sped over to him and bit him, smiling in satisfaction as the effects of his bite hit Damon immediately, and he groaned in pain.

Finally, he looked at Hope and Bonnie who were doing their best to keep up with the brain-aneurysm spell, but to little avail. "I've no idea what my bite does to witches, and whatever you are," he gestured to Hope. "Care to find out?"

He sped over to them and bit Hope first, watching in satisfaction as she fell to the ground, gasping in pain, followed by Bonnie who shortly joined her.

Marcel looked around, surveying the carnage he'd caused – the bodies writing on the floor in agony, and he smiled. "Be sure to let the little witch know – if the cure to my bite is wanted, she need only come to find me. She has about 6 hours before she loses her entire family."

He smiled cruelly before speeding off into the darkness.

Sneaking out of the hospital was far easier than she had expected. It was night time checks, and the staff were bustling around, tending to their patients, far too preoccupied to notice the young girl, dressed in normal clothes, who could easily be a visitor.

Exiting the main doors of the building, Ottilie breathed in the fresh air in relief. God, she'd missed this, having been stuck in her room for over a week. She set off in the direction of where she'd tracked Damon to - the standing stones again. How fitting, she thought, wryly. Luckily, it wasn't too far from the hospital to get to the woods, and she was careful to place a masking spell over her, so that no vampire or other supernatural being would hear her, or her heartbeat as she approached. She couldn't risk being found by Damon or his friends before Marcel arrived. She just hoped she wasn't too late.

She felt a sudden drip of warm liquid on her top lip, and brushed absently mindedly at it, sighing in annoyance when she realised it was blood from her nose. It was hardly surprising, she thought. After all, she'd not used magic in a week now, and she was just expecting to pick up where she left off, despite being weaker than normal. She shrugged it off, and continued into the woods, being careful to keep behind the coverage of the thick trees, looking around for any sign of her friends.

When she finally approached the stones, it was dark, and it was easy enough for her to hide behind a dense formation of tree stumps so that she wouldn't be seen. Something was off, she thought. The atmosphere was tense and filled with pain, and she could hear someone moaning in agony. She arrived at the stones and looked about her in horror as she took in her family and friends all collapsed on the ground, dying.

Dropping her masking spell, she ran to the tree where she saw Damon, and shook his shoulders, trying to get him to wake up. "Damon?" she called to him, willing him to open his eyes. "Damon? Dad? Wake up! Please!" Tears started to fall freely from her eyes, and she broke her gaze off from her father's face to look around at the rest the supernatural beings strewn across the forest floor.

They were all dying, she knew, and she could see the blistering, torn skin where Marcel had bitten them, the dark veins expanding as the poison took over their battered bodies. She knew what she had to do, and turning back to Damon, she took his hands gently in hers, closed her eyes and concentrated hard.

Damon felt the tingling in hands as he slowly regained consciousness, and opening his eyes groggily, was horrified to see his daughter knelt in front of him, trying to heal him. He glanced at the wound on his arm and saw that it was diminishing, seeming to disappear back into itself. Looking around the clearing in the forest, he gasped to see all of his friends and Stefan lying lifelessly on the floor, all of them evidently bitten as he had been.

Swallowing hard, he looked back at the pale face of his daughter, suddenly understanding that she was going to try and heal all of them, and knowing that it would likely kill her. Suddenly her eyes snapped open and he realised that he was fully healed.

"Ottilie," he said, softly, "what are you doing here?"

"I knew you were going to try and attack Marcel, so I snuck out…" she said, avoiding his gaze in a bid to avoid any anger. He shook his head in disbelief. "Hey!" she argued back, "I'd say it's a pretty good thing that I'm here!" She gestured at his now healed arm and he nodded, before noticing her swaying a little and grabbing her to support her.

"Otti, you can't possibly heal everyone…" he said, knowing full well that she was going to ignore him completely.

"And I can't possibly choose who to save and who to let die, so what do you suggest I do?" she retorted, holding onto him for support as her knees threatened to give way. "Who's here?" she asked, and Damon quickly rattled off a list as she nodded.

"Okay…" she said, shutting her eyes, and after a few moments, Damon noticed his brother stirring as he started to come round. Ottilie had managed to heal him without touching him, he realised in surprise, and he held the small girl tighter, trying to will some of his strength into her, but knowing that unfortunately it didn't work like that.

Next to heal was Klaus, as Ottilie worked through the list of people bitten in the order that Damon had given her. Stefan was over by Ottilie and Damon by now, watching, frightened as his niece grew weaker and weaker.

"This is killing her, Damon," he whispered to his brother who was holding his daughter protectively. Just then, the girl's legs gave way and she would have fallen to the floor had Damon not been holding her. He lowered her gently to the ground, placing her head on Stefan's lap and wiping the blood from her nose.

"Otti, you have to stop…" he said, his heart sinking as he knew she wouldn't.

"No, I've still got five more to heal," she said, gritting her teeth as pain washed over her suddenly. "I can do this. I have to do this."

Damon shook his head and pinched the top of his nose in resignation, knowing there was no changing her mind.

"I've linked the spell to my life force," she said, suddenly, and his head snapped up to look at her. "As long as I'm alive, they'll heal, okay? Just… don't let me die…"

"What are you talking about?" asked Damon, suddenly starting to panic. "You're not going to die!"

"No, I'm not…" she said, her eyes starting to flutter closed and Damon lurched forwards to take her face gently in his hands.

"No, no Otti, stay with me!" he called to her, urgently as Stefan watched in horror. "Keep your eyes open, you hear me?"

Listening closely, they focused in on the sound of her heart racing, despite the medication she was on to steady it. This can't be good, thought Damon has he tried to keep his daughter awake. Four more to go, he thought as Kol started to stir.

"You're doing so well, sweetheart," he said soothingly, clasping her hand tightly and stroking her head gently. "Kol is better now, only a few more to go. Hang on for me, okay? I can't lose you. I won't."

He could hear her heart slowing down and he sighed, sharing a relieved look with Stefan who smiled weakly at him. After a few moments, however, he noticed that it was still slowing, now sluggish and weak, beating pathetically at long intervals.

"Otti…" he whispered, patting her face as her eyes flickered open. "Otti, you're scaring me baby, keep your heart beating, okay?"

She smiled weakly at him, "love you, Dad," she said and Damon felt his stomach lurch as she started to slip into unconsciousness.

"Oh no you don't, Otti," he said, rubbing her sternum vigorously with his fist in an effort to keep her awake, "stay with me!" Her eyes were darting about, looking from him to Stefan. He could barely hear her heart now and he grimly locked eyes with Stefan who nodded to him.

Kneeling by his daughter's side, he locked one hand on top of the other and placed them in centre of her chest. He started to press down, hard and fast, grimacing at the cracking of ribs he felt under his hands. Looking down at her pale little face, he noticed her eyes start to roll back as she finally slipped into unconsciousness.

"Come on, Otti!" he muttered under his breath, realising now that the only heartbeat he could hear was when he pressed on her chest. He continued with chest compressions, making sure they were deep enough but feeling sick at the feel of her frail ribs breaking as he pushed. Stefan moved to lay the little girl's head gently on the ground, tipping her chin back and administering rescue breaths when Damon paused the compressions.

They continued CPR for what felt like hours, barely noticing as one by one, the rest of the group started to rouse as Ottilie's magic healed them. Eventually it was only Rebekkah and Bonnie left. Klaus was crouched next to his recovering daughter, watching grimly as Damon tried to revive his daughter, remembering only too well the panic and fear he'd felt when doing the same to Hope when she'd collapsed a few years ago.

"Ottilie, please…" sobbed Damon, as he tried his best to keep his daughter's heart beating, "Otti, come back!" He was exhausted, having only just recovered from Marcel's bite himself and having had to do chest compressions for about eight minutes. Klaus ran over to them and took over for him, keeping up the fast, deep compressions whilst Damon clutched his little girl's hand, sobbing openly.

"Rebekkah is healed," said Elijah weakly, holding his sister to him as she started to stir. "Just Bonnie now."

"You're doing so well, baby," whispered Stefan into his niece's ear, "just Bonnie left now, just stay with us."

Bonnie started to stir and opening her eyes, looked at the heart-breaking scene in front of her. Stefan was breathing for his little niece whilst Klaus was pounding on her chest in a bid to keep her heart beating. Damon was in pieces, clutching her limp hand to his chest and crying. Looking around, she saw everybody else with tears running down their faces, realising how dire the situation was, and sharing Damon's unimaginable pain.

"Ambulance is on its way…" said Elijah, replacing his phone back into his pocket and staggering over to where his brother and friends were working on Ottilie.

"I've got a pulse!" said Klaus suddenly, his ear to the little girl's chest as he listened intently. He sat back on his heels, running a shaky hand through his hair whilst Damon leapt forwards to be close to his daughter whilst Stefan kept breathing for her.

"Otti, stay with us, okay? You're doing so well, sweetheart, I'm so proud of you, and I love you so much. Just open your eyes, please…" he whispered soothingly to her, keeping one ear on the slow, unsteady thump of her heart.

The ambulance arrived a few minutes later, although Ottilie still hadn't come around or started breathing for herself yet. The paramedics burst out the back of the ambulance, their worst nightmare – a child in cardiac and respiratory arrest – in front of them. They made quick work of getting her into the ambulance and connecting her to their machines to monitor her heart and breathing.

"I'll go with her," said Damon, following the stretcher as her friends nodded.

"We'll meet you at the hospital" replied Stefan, his eyes never leaving the tiny body of his niece strapped to a stretcher whilst a paramedic pumped air into her lungs.

Settling in a seat next to Ottilie, Damon took her hand once again and held it tightly. "Don't you leave me, little Otter," he instructed in a low voice. "Because if you do, I don't think I could live without you."