Chapter 20
"You are a very pretty girl, darling…"
"You can't do that. What is the matter with you?"
"She's scared… Can't you see that?"
"Come on, I'll walk you back home. These woods are not safe for a girl…"
"You don't have to be afraid of me… I won't hurt you…"
"Fay… That's a nice name…"
"Fay… May I touch you, sweetheart?"
"So perfect… Stay still… Keep your hips down… Good girl… That's it…"
"I love you…"
"Will you be my wife?"
"Be Elijah's friend… Will you do this for me?"
"Fay… You are a wonderful woman… I want to take you as my wife…"
"You were not meant to see this…"
"I want you to be my wife…"
"Elijah isn't your only option… Be mine. I will always treat you well…"
"Get your hands off her! She is my betrothed!"
"Are you enjoying this? Making my brothers fighting over you? I won't let you destroy my family…"
"I don't know if I can do this to her…"
"You must do this, Rebekah. For your brothers. She needs to disappear… I love my brother, but I'm willing to let him go for Niklaus' happiness… This is a small sacrifice for your brothers…"
"You're right… She needs to disappear. But there is something I must do for her… You will love her more than anything and protect her… Love her and protect her… Love her and protect her… Love her and protect her…"
Fay spread her arms wide open and giggled hysterically. She was laying on the bed, but she was also floating in the air. Weightless. Careless. Painless. This was so much fun.
"Sweetheart? Please look at me."
No. She still had eyes, but she couldn't see. There were bugs crawling under her skin. She needed to peel her skin off. She needed to make them stop.
"Fay? Fay?"
"Make it stop," she murmured. "Make it stop."
"Make what stop, darling?"
She broke into a giggle and touched her face.
"This face… This isn't my face…"
"Yes, it is. Please, listen to me…"
"Papa?" she murmured. "Where is papa?"
A pause.
"Fay, I need you to listen to me. My name is Tristan, and he is Lucien. Can you remember us?"
"The goat," she murmured. "Papa told me to go and milk the goat. Shall I go and milk the goat now?"
"No, my love, you don't have to milk any goats."
"But papa said so," she argued.
"Well… He is not here."
"No…" she murmured. "They cut his throat… Blood… I tried… I tried to run to him, but he grabbed me. The big man. I wanted to go to my papa, but he didn't let me go."
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart."
"I want to go to my papa."
"I'm sorry, but you can't. He is not here."
Her eyes were watering up.
"But… I was good. I milked the goat. I was good."
"I know you were."
Two hands were caressing her. Wiping away her tears.
"Love her and protect her…"
Slowly she got into a sitting position.
"I'm hungry," she hummed.
They both bit their wrist at the same time and offered them to her. She licked them both before feeding in turns.
"I made a mess," she murmured, touching her bloody face and nightgown.
"No need to worry about that, my love."
He sounded out of breath, and she saw passion in his blue eyes. She remembered dancing for him, bathing with him and the adoring look in his eyes every time he had touched her.
"Are you feeling any better?"
He was out of breath as well. His dark eyes were staring at her intently. She remembered sitting on his lap and laying in his arms in front of the fireplace while he had played with her hair and told her how beautiful she was. She remembered worrying that they were doing something wrong. They were her brothers and brothers and sisters weren't supposed to do things like that with each other.
"Love her and protect her…"
She broke into a giggle again. They weren't her brothers, but she had still been a very naughty girl. She hadn't been good. Good obedient girl. Good, good, good. A good wife. She laughed even harder.
"Fay?"
"Am I good?" she murmured.
"Of course you are," Tristan replied.
"I don't want to be."
"You don't have to be," Lucien assured. "I will love you no matter what."
She looked at him and touched his cheek.
"You love me?"
"Yes."
She smiled and touched his lips gently with hers.
"I love you too," Tristan said.
She kissed him as well before getting up. There was a bath ready for her. A nice warm bath. She took her bloody nightgown off and dropped it on the floor before walking over to the bathtub. Letting her whole body sank into the water, she closed her eyes and smiled. There were still bugs crawling under her skin, but they didn't bother her anymore.
The voices she heard weren't hers. They were just stupid echoes from another life. Still those echoes made her cry. Tristan and Lucien were there, comforting her. They washed her hair and body after she stopped crying. They wrapped a bathrobe around her and brushed her hair. Took care of her like a broken doll. She was floating in the air again, unable to come back down. Her body didn't feel like hers. No, this was someone else's body. Someone else's face. Someone else's mind.
"Don't go away…" she murmured. "Don't leave me alone."
"We are right here, darling," Lucien assured. "You are safe."
Safe? She remembered that word. She remembered hoping to feel safe. The thought made her giggle now. Such a silly girl. A good obedient silly girl.