Chapter 27

Kol couldn't believe his eyes. It was her. Fay. Could this be real? He had noticed a lonely girl on the side of the road and planned to have a little snack, but he had smelled that she was a vampire as soon as he had stopped his horse.

"Fay?" he gasped disbelievingly as he dismounted.

She froze like a statue and dropped the grapes she had in her hands.

"Fay? Is that you?"

It was her; he was sure of it now. Why did she seem terrified?

"Hey..." he started, but she was already running away in panic. What was this?

"Hey! Wait!"

She screamed when he caught her and the small dog she had with her barked furiously. What the hell?

"Hey, hey, stop!" he shouted. "It's me, Kol! Can't you remember me?"

Judging by her terrified struggling, she couldn't.

"Hey! Stop that!"

He turned her around in order to see her face. What he saw genuinely shocked him. She was sobbing and shaking with pure terror.

"No..." she murmured. "No, no, no... Bad... Don't... I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

"What?"

"Don't take it," she sobbed hysterically. "Please. I'm good, I swear."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, staring at her disbelievingly. "It's me, Kol. I am not going to hurt you."

"No, no, no..." she murmured. "I'm good, I'm good, I promise..."

She wasn't looking at him, her eyes stared into emptiness. What had happened to her?

"Alright... I don't know what have happened, but I promise I will help you, darling." He paused and cupped her cheek in order to make her look at him. That was a mistake. She panicked completely and started screaming again.

"Hey, hey, it's alright, I am not going to hurt you..."

"Get your hands off her!" a male voice snarled.

Fay let out a sob and ran to the man who wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"Shh, shh, it's alright, my love."

Kol frowned as he recognized the man. Lucien.

"What have you done to her?" Kol snarled.

Lucien looked at him icily while trying to soothe Fay.

"I could ask you the same question," he hissed. "Haven't you people already hurt her enough?"

"What?"

"It was you and your family who did this to her."

"What are you talking about, I have not seen her in centuries."

Lucien touched Fay's hair and gently pulled away.

"Sweetheart, could you do something for me? Could you take Bruno and wait for me in the garden?"

"No... I don't want to..."

"It's alright, Kol and I need to have a word..."

"No!" She paused and stepped in front of Lucien. "Hurt..."

"Everything is fine," Lucien assured. "No need to worry."

She shook her head, took few steps and sat on the ground. The dog was immediately by her side, she petted it with a shaky hand. Kol couldn't understand what was going on here. What had happened to Fay? Finally, he looked at Lucien.

"What happened to her?"

"Your family happened," Lucien replied coldly. "First there was Nik who mistreated her and broke her heart. Then there was you and Elijah and finally Rebekah."

"What?"

Lucien crossed his arms.

"If you recall, you started courting her as soon as she had agreed to wed Elijah who she didn't love by the way. Why was that? For fun?"

Kol's eyes narrowed, he wasn't going to answer that. The truth was that he had tried to show Elijah that Fay didn't really want to wed him. He had tried to prove that she had only agreed because she didn't have a choice. He had tried to help the poor girl.

"What does any of that have to do with this?" Kol snapped.

"It has everything to do with this," Lucien replied. "You see, while you and Elijah were fighting over her, your sister feared that it would destroy your whole family. The idea didn't originally come from her though, it came from Aurora. She feared that Nik might still have some feelings for Fay, so she found a clever way to get rid of her."

Kol stared at Lucien disbelievingly, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Did you know what Elijah did to Tristan and I?" Lucien asked.

"No," Kol murmured.

Lucien smiled.

"Well, he used us as a decoy. He compelled me to think that I was Nik and Tristan that he was Elijah. Rebekah and Aurora knew about his plan and they saw it as a good way to make Fay disappear. They compelled her to think that she was Rebekah. After that, all your sister needed to do was add a little something to Elijah's compulsion. Make me and Tristan think that Fay was our sister. The compulsion ended over a century later, but sadly the damage was already done."

For once Kol was speechless.

"No, that's impossible. Fay told me and Elijah that she wanted to build her own life."

"Compulsion," Lucien replied. "And that little "accident" that turned her into a vampire wasn't an accident. Aurora tried to kill her, but she didn't know that Fay had your blood in her system."

Kol remembered that night. Fay had fallen down the stairs and broke her neck. She would have died if Kol wouldn't have given her his blood earlier that day when she had twisted her ankle. Waking up as a vampire had been traumatizing to poor Fay.

"So..."

"After the compulsion ended, she was completely broken," Lucien continued. "She has stayed with me ever since."

Kol looked at Fay who was still petting the dog.

"As your sister?"

"No," Lucien replied coolly.

"What?" Kol snapped. "She hardly seems capable of giving her consent..."

"You have no idea what she has been through," Lucien cut in angrily. "I love her more than anything and I would never hurt her. You were the one who upset her."

Kol wasn't sure what to say. He looked at Fay who had curled her legs up against her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"I want to talk to her," he stated.

"Only if she wants to," Lucien replied. "I won't let you upset her more."

Kol was about to snap that he didn't take orders from servants, but for some reason he didn't.

"Fine," he murmured and walked over to Fay.

She didn't seem to notice him; she was staring in front of her.

"Fay?" he said while getting down on one knee. "I apologize for scaring you."

She didn't reply or look at him.

"Could you please say something?"

She didn't. He sighed and got up. Lucien walked over to her and scooped her up without saying a word.

"Where are you taking her?" Kol asked as Lucien started to walk away.

"Home," he replied simply.

For a moment Kol wasn't sure what to do. He could just leave and forget the whole thing. No, he couldn't. After a moment of hesitation, he followed Lucien and the barking dog.