Chapter 2
14 months later
"That's enough," Niklaus stated tensely.
Elijah raised his head and sighed blissfully before looking at the girl in his arms. She was pale and clearly tired.
"Fay?" Elijah hummed and touched her hair. "Are you alright?"
"No, she's not," Niklaus snapped before she had time to say anything. "Look at her. She can't keep feeding all of us."
"I know," Elijah sighed. "Unfortunately we don't have much choice at the moment, not if we don't wish father to find us."
Niklaus pressed his lips together; of course he knew that Elijah was right. But… He needed to make sure that Fay would be alright. He owed her at least that much. No. He owed her much, much more. Unfortunately he didn't think that he would ever be able to repay her. How could he possibly make things right after what he had done? That night would no doubt haunt him for the rest of his life, as it should.
Mikael had thought that Fay had tried to escape and he had been so furious that he would have beaten her to death, if Niklaus wouldn't have stopped him. He had stopped, but he had forced Niklaus to punish her instead. Niklaus had been nothing more than a pathetic coward. He should have challenged Mikael. He should have stood up for Fay. He should have… Yes, he should have, but he hadn't.
Instead he had been even worse than Mikael. Maybe he had tried to save Fay's life and he had succeeded, but what he had done to her… It made him sick. He had let Mikael to turn him into a monster. Poor Fay had done nothing to deserve it. Yet she hadn't told anyone what had happened that night. Only she, Niklaus and Mikael knew. Niklaus had sworn to himself that he would look after her and here she was, serving bloodthirsty monsters.
They had traveled almost two moons already and she was getting more and more weak and tired, even though she didn't have to walk. Niklaus, Kol and Elijah carried her in turns and all of them made sure that she wasn't cold or hungry. Rebekah took her to a lake, a river or a pond when she wanted to wash herself and Finn had made it clear that he didn't approve them taking her with them. He kept his distance, probably fearing that he wouldn't be able to control himself, but he was clearly worried about Fay's wellbeing. So was Niklaus. Things couldn't go on like this, they were killing her.
"Is it my turn already?" Rebekah asked.
"No!" Niklaus snapped firmly. "She needs to rest."
"But I'm hungry," Rebekah complained.
Niklaus marched over to Elijah who was holding Fay against his chest. She wouldn't have been able to stand without his help.
"Look at her," Niklaus stated tensely. "Does she look well to you?"
Rebekah pouted her lips, but obviously she saw that Niklaus was right.
"Fine," she huffed. "But I'm the first one tomorrow."
"Have Kol returned?" Niklaus asked.
"Yes, he caught supper for her," Rebekah replied. "And I think Finn picked some berries."
"Good," Niklaus sighed and looked at Fay.
"Fay?"
"Yes, master?" she murmured.
He felt a nasty sting, but he forced himself to ignore it.
"You need to eat and get some rest."
"Hmm…."
"Come here," Elijah said and lifted her into his arms.
She looked so very small and delicate. So fragile. Niklaus had to turn his head away; he couldn't bear looking at her. The sun had set a while ago and they had camped for the night. Finn and Kol had already lit up a campfire and Kol was preparing supper for Fay. It seemed that he had caught a rabbit.
"There's my girl," Kol hummed as Elijah carried Fay by the campfire and wrapped a blanket around her small frame.
"She needs to eat and rest," Elijah stated.
"I can see that," Kol replied. "Open your mouth, darling."
She obeyed and chewed slowly as Kol fed her small bites of rabbit meat and berries.
"That's it, darling," Kol hummed. "You need your strength."
Finn was sitting few feet away, observing them gloomily.
"What she needs is getting as far away from us as possible," he murmured.
"And who would look after her then?" Kol huffed. "She is safe with us."
"Safe?" Finn repeated disbelievingly. "Look what you have done to her."
"I agree," Niklaus stated. "We can't keep feeding from her like this."
He wouldn't have wanted to feed from her at all, but once again he was too weak to do the right thing. His thirst controlled him more than he controlled it. Yes, he felt guilt and remorse, but he still couldn't stop himself. Kol on the other hand didn't seem to feel anything anymore. He hadn't even tried to control his thirst after their mother's spell had made them what they were.
He didn't seem to feel any guilt or remorse for all the lives he had taken. Niklaus wasn't sure if Fay had meant anything to Kol when they had still been humans. He had kept his distance after the incident in the woods many moons ago. Now Kol fed from her, but he still treated her surprisingly kindly. Not that Niklaus would have let Kol or anyone else treat her cruelly.
"We need to find some other solution," Niklaus continued.
Elijah nodded.
"Yes. Her body needs time to recover."
"So it seems," Kol hummed as he helped her to lie down. "And I believe she has earned her rest, so I suppose we need to go hunting."
"But father…" Rebekah started.
"We need to be careful enough," Kol cut it. "And perhaps we should consider leaving this whole new world behind."
"What do you mean?" Rebekah asked.
Kol grinned.
"Well… We could travel to the old world."
They were all quiet for a while, thinking about his words.
"That is actually not a bad idea," Elijah finally broke the silence.
Kol rolled his eyes.
"Don't sound so surprised."
"What do you all think?" Elijah asked.
"I don't really care where I am," Finn stated.
"I think I would like to see the old world," Rebekah said.
Elijah turned to look at the last one of his siblings.
"Niklaus?"
"What about Fay?" he murmured. "We can't just leave her…"
"Of course not," Kol huffed. "We'll take her with us."
Niklaus glanced at the sleeping girl, feeling the heavy burden on his chest. His debt to her was bigger than he would ever be able to pay, but the least he could do was keep her safe from Mikael.
"Yes," he stated. "I think we should go to the old world."