"The two years that followed Niklaus' turning were some of the happiest that I can remember. We did everything together. We hunted, fed, and talked together. It didn't take him long to accept what he was, and he had easily settled into the vampire lifestyle.
"We slowly grew apart again in late 370, two years after his turning."
Amelia and Niklaus sat by the fireplace, watching the flames.
Amelia sat on the floor with her legs curled underneath her. She held Niklaus' head in her lap and was idly toying with his soft, blonde hair.
Niklaus, for his part, tolerated it as he carefully studied her face from his place on the floor. He sat up sharply as he heard the front gates open and moved in front of Amelia to protect her from whatever was intruding. His eyes turned icy blue, and his fangs elongated as he watched the hallway closely.
After a moment, Rudolf appeared in the doorway, panting heavily, and he sighed in relief when he saw them. "Amelia, you have to come with me right now," he ordered, walking up to her.
"Why?" Amelia asked, standing up. "What happened?"
"It's Erik," Rudolf answered. "He's really sick. You've got to do something. The doctors don't think he'll make it."
"Well, what do you want me to do?" Amelia wondered, her voice laden with worry for her brother. "I can't do anything that a doctor can't."
"You can make him a vampire like you," Rudolf told her, taking her cold hand in his warmer one. "If he's a vampire, he can fight off his disease. He'll be okay."
"Why don't you ask Kristof?" Amelia asked, immediately regretting it.
"Because he's not a vampire like you," Rudolf replied, smiling reassuringly at her. "Please Amelia. You have to help him."
Amelia glanced over her shoulder at Niklaus and gave him an apologetic look before turning back to Rudolf. "Okay, Rudolf," she agreed. "I'll do what I can."
"Great!" Rudolf exclaimed, hugging her tightly. He let her go and pulled her towards the front gates where he'd left his carriage, Niklaus close behind them.
Rudolf led Amelia and Niklaus up the stairs to Erik's room and entered with them.
Kristof stood up when he saw them enter and smiled at Amelia.
Amelia returned the smile, bitterly, before looking down at Erik's prone body under the thin blanket. She was instantly at his side, chewing on her thumbnail anxiously. "Erik," she called.
Erik slowly opened his eyes and looked up at her, barely managing to give her a weak smile before he fell into a coughing fit.
Amelia looked away from him, sickened at seeing him like that. He'd always been so strong, never sick, and he had always been the one to sit at her bedside when she was ill. It felt so wrong to see him reduced to this. She glanced over her shoulder as she heard someone enter and locked eyes with Kristof's wife, Lena.
Lena was about two inches shorter than she was, but she was just as slender. She didn't look nearly as fragile as Amelia did, since her body seemed to be built entirely of lean muscle. She had long, pin-straight, brown hair and gentle gray eyes that sparkled with life. She smiled at Amelia and walked up to her, holding out her hand politely. "It's good to see you again, Amelia," she said.
Amelia bit back the hiss that she knew was coming and forced herself to smile at the other woman and shake her hand. "It's good to see you too, Lena," she replied, fighting to keep her voice from sounding angry.
Releasing Amelia's hand, Lena turned to Rudolf and smiled at him. "Rudolf," she greeted, nodding to him.
"Lena," Rudolf replied, smiling at her.
Lena chuckled slightly at him and went to Kristof's side. She took her place behind his chair and rested her hand on his shoulder.
Amelia flashed a quick glare at her before turning back to Erik. She knelt down beside him and hesitantly took one of his limp hands in hers. "Erik," she called, tenderly brushing the hair out of his face. "Erik, can you hear me?"
Erik nodded slightly and coughed a little.
Amelia felt her eyes welling up with tears, but she didn't care at the moment. "Erik, I can help you," she told him, her voice low enough for only his ears to hear. "I can take away the pain I know you're in… But you have to want it… I couldn't do this to you unless I was certain you had a choice." She saw Erik nod weakly again and continued. "Erik, I can make you a vampire like me… It will make you immortal, and you'll never have to worry about getting sick again…"
Erik nodded again, listening intently to her now.
"Do you want me to turn you?" she asked, gently. "Don't answer unless you're absolutely sure, because I can't take it back."
Erik tried to concentrate his thoughts on what she was implying, but he couldn't. His illness and pain were clouding his mind, and he couldn't think straight. He licked his dry, cracked lips and nodded, turning his pain-riddled gaze on her.
Amelia smiled crookedly at him and wiped the tears from her eyes. She quickly looked around the room and was pleased to find that everyone had left. She turned Erik's head to the side and moved to whisper something in his ear. "This is going to hurt for a second," she told him. She waited for Erik's nod before sinking her fangs into his neck.
Meanwhile, Kristof, Rudolf, Lena, and Niklaus waited outside the room, hoping for a positive result.
"Do you think we're doing the right thing, Kristof?" Lena asked, turning her nervous eyes on her mate.
Kristof thought about it for a minute before smiling at her and nodding in agreement. "He'll be just fine. Amelia knows what she's doing," he explained. "There's no need to worry."
Rudolf and Niklaus nodded slightly in agreement with what Kristof had said.
A moment later, Amelia emerged from Erik's bedroom with Erik right behind her. She smiled at her brothers and stepped aside so Erik could come fully into their view. She watched him step out into the hallway with only a slight wobble and smiled in relief, glad that he was all right.
Niklaus slipped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her neck. He pressed a soft kiss to her cold skin and smiled slightly when she shivered a little.
Erik waved off his brothers' and Lena's concerned questions and turned to Amelia. He walked over to her and smiled down at her. "Thank you, Amelia," he said, taking her hand in his. He kissed the back of her hand gently and caught her as she abruptly threw her arms around his neck, returning the affectionate embrace. He glanced back at Niklaus and caught his jealous glare before turning his attention back on his sister.
"I am still not quite sure what got into Niklaus after that, but he began to avoid me as soon as Erik joined us in the castle.
"Erik and I consequently ended up spending more and more time together. I taught him all I'd learned about vampires and helped him find a suitable place to sleep and feed.
"Erik accepted what he was even faster than Niklaus did. He was more tenacious and efficient than I was in the kill. I was truly proud of him.
"Neither of us knew that our lives would be turned upside-down in the years to come by something that no one had suspected."
Niklaus opened his eyes and quietly slipped out of bed when he was certain Amelia was still sleeping. He pulled on a pair of pants and snuck out of the room. He silently crept out of the castle and headed towards town. He stopped beside a modest little cottage and tossed a pebble at a window before taking a seat on the hill behind the house to wait.
After about a minute, the back door of the cottage opened, and a young woman appeared in the doorway. Her long cornsilk hair was tied into a braid that hung over her shoulder, and her bright blue-green eyes were still dazed with sleep. She looked over at Niklaus and met his glowing icy blue eyes, smiling when she recognized him. She quietly closed the door behind her and met him on the hill. She stopped in front of him and barely held in her delighted laugh as he pulled her down on his lap.
Niklaus kissed her hard and moved his hands to her shoulders, holding her close.
Amelia awoke and sat up, yawning and stretching languidly. She glanced down at the bed beside her, and her heart fell when she saw that it was empty again. She'd woken up alone every night for the past week and a half, and it was beginning to get on her nerves. She stood up and went downstairs to the library, where she knew Erik would be.
Erik looked up from his book when he heard her enter and smiled gently at her. "Good morning, Amelia," he greeted, returning to his reading.
"Good morning, Erik," Amelia replied, walking over to him. "Have you seen Niklaus?"
"No," Erik answered, keeping his attention on his book. "Did he disappear again before you woke up?"
"Yes," Amelia agreed, her face hardening in anger. "Boy, is he going to get it when he gets back."
Erik chuckled lightly at his sister's threat and watched her leave out of the corner of his eye.
Niklaus quietly crept back into the castle and froze when he felt Amelia's presence nearby.
"Welcome home," Amelia greeted, icily. She stepped out of the shadows where she'd been hiding and fixed her inhuman blue eyes on Niklaus. "Where have you been?"
"I was out feeding," Niklaus answered, meeting her gaze squarely.
"Don't lie to me!" Amelia snapped, stepping within arms' reach of him. "You haven't been feeding. Now, tell me where you've been!"
Niklaus hung his head in shame, knowing that he'd been caught. "I was out wandering through town," he lied again, hoping she believed him this time.
"Oh," she said, giving him a strange look. "Why were you doing that?"
"I don't know," he replied, meeting her eyes briefly. "I guess I just needed some time to myself to think."
"Oh," she breathed, clearly relieved. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry I doubted you, Niklaus."
Niklaus nodded slightly, kissed her cheek gently, and returned the embrace, not feeling the slightest twinge of guilt.
Erik watched the display from a dark corner and glared furiously at Niklaus. He could tell that something was not quite honest about the older vampire, and he didn't like the fact that he was lying to his sister to her face. Well, Niklaus, he thought, cynically. I'll find out what your secret is. Mark my words. I won't stand for you lying to her anymore. He quietly slipped out of the room and went into the main hall to light a fire.
"I had woken up alone again every day for the next five years before Erik came to me. He told me that he had followed Niklaus several times over the past few years and knew that he was lying to me about where he had been going and what he had been doing. I finally decided to confront Niklaus that night to see if my brother really was telling the truth."
Amelia entered the living room and found Niklaus lighting a fire. She took a deep breath and approached him. She stopped a few feet away from him and cleared her throat to get his attention.
Niklaus looked over his shoulder at her and flashed her a quick, gentle smile before turning back to the tiny fire he'd started.
"Um… Niklaus?" Amelia began, unsure of how to bring up the subject that had been nagging her for weeks.
"Yes?" he replied, backing away from the fire. He walked past her and took a seat on the sofa, giving her an inviting smile.
Amelia returned the smile and walked over to him. She sat down beside him and curled her legs underneath her, relief washing over her when she felt him wrap his arm around her shoulders. She met his eyes and studied him for a moment before speaking. "Niklaus, I have heard some very disturbing news about you recently," she told him.
"What might that be?" he wondered, tracing her jaw line with his hand.
"Well, I heard that you've been having… an affair… with a human girl," she answered, struggling to hold his gaze.
"Who told you such an absurd thing?!"
"Erik… He followed you a few times and saw you with a young mortal."
"It is not true, my love… I would never do something like that to you." His arm tightened around her shoulders in a slight hug, and he smiled reassuringly at her.
"I knew it… I knew you would never cheat on me like that." Amelia smiled happily and rested her head on his chest, snuggling up closer to him.
They sat on the couch together like that for a few hours until Amelia excused herself to get to bed.
Niklaus watched her leave before turning his eyes back on the dying flames.
"You coward," a fuming voice hissed from the hallway.
Niklaus glanced over his shoulder to see Erik enter the room and turned back to the fire as if it were nothing.
"You can't even tell her the truth to her face," Erik continued, walking up to the couch. He stopped about ten feet away from Niklaus and crossed his arms over his chest. "You lie to her outright and don't even feel the slightest pang of guilt about it… You disgust me."
"I disgust you?" Niklaus asked, sounding appalled. "I believe you were the one who followed me all those nights into town… And you're calling me disgusting. Ha! You're not much better."
"What I did is nowhere near the same as what you're doing to Amelia!" Erik snapped, his eyes flashing blue in his rage. "If she finds out about your mortal paramour, it'll crush her… You and I both know this, and yet you continue to see this woman… For God's sake, what's the matter with you?"
"There's nothing wrong with me," Niklaus answered, casually. "Amelia is a strong girl. She can take anything that I can dish out to her…" He looked over at Erik and smirked before turning back to the fire again. "Besides, Sophia will be dead long before Amelia finds out about her."
Erik glared furiously at him for a moment longer before he regained control of his anger. "She is strong, yes, but she's smart too," he told him. "She'll discover your little secret long before your Sophia is dead… And when she does, I'll feel sorry for you and your foul lover."
Niklaus laughed then, confusing Erik slightly, though he did not show it. "You would feel sorry for us?!" he repeated, finally gaining control of his laughter. "And why would you feel sorry for us? What will Amelia do? She is too gentle to even think about hurting me or another human."
Erik was about to retort when Amelia appeared in the doorway in a white nightgown.
"Niklaus, are you coming?" she asked, smiling sweetly at him.
Niklaus returned the smile and stood up. He smirked triumphantly at Erik as he passed him and followed Amelia upstairs.
Erik glared daggers at him and smiled gently at his sister when she turned to him.
"Good night, Erik," Amelia said, smiling warmly at him as she took Niklaus' hand.
"Good night, Amelia," Erik replied, returning the smile. "Sleep well."
Amelia led Niklaus upstairs to their bedroom, completely oblivious of what had gone on between the two.
Niklaus strode through town and froze when he heard a scream coming from nearby. Without thinking, he bolted towards where the scream had come from. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Sophia writhing in pain on the ground. He hurriedly went to her side and pulled her into his arms, holding her tight to him.
"Niklaus," she rasped, her eyes unfocused. "Niklaus… were… werewolf…" She made a conscious effort to point in the direction of the woods.
Niklaus looked up and saw a bulky man rushing into the woods. He was about to chase it down when he remembered the slender human cradled in his arms. He looked back down at her and tenderly turned her head to the side, starting when he saw the huge bite mark on her collarbone.
"Ni… Niklaus," she breathed, trying hard to stay conscious.
When she finally passed out, Niklaus lifted her into his arms and carried her back to her home. He left her on the back doorstep and pounded on the door, knowing that someone must have heard him. He kissed Sophia's forehead and left just as soon as he saw a candle light up in the house. He stood just out of sight on the hill behind her house and watched as an elderly man, her father, picked her up and took her inside.
"It was only a few months after that that I ran into Kristof during a hunt. I spoke to him, and he filled me in on everything that had happened in Britain over the past few years. We talked for hours about how our lives had been going since we'd last seen each other.
"It had been strangely wonderful to talk to Kristof again without being under the constant, watchful eye of Lena. I knew that she wasn't very fond of me, and I was certain that she knew that I despised her.
"Over the next two years, I slowly turned cold and heartless again just as I had been before I turned Niklaus and Erik. Without Niklaus around, I was gradually losing touch with what little humanity I had left.
"Erik and Niklaus also turned about twelve other vampires, claiming that there needed to be more of us. They all lived at our castle, and we began to refer to it as a Coven. We built a whole system around which the entire Coven operated. Erik, Niklaus, and I were the oldest of the vampires, so we assumed control. Our Coven had formed itself into a hierarchy of the vampires that lived there within the span of a year and a half."
Niklaus awoke to find Amelia gone from his side. He disregarded that fact, assuming that she was meeting with the Coven, and snuck out of the castle. He failed to notice, however, the lithe shadow that followed him. He went into the village and right up to Sophia's house. He tossed a pebble against the window and sat down on the hill to wait as he always did.
Now, where did he go? Amelia wondered, looking around for Niklaus as she walked through town. Her eyes widened slightly as she spotted him seated on a hill, and she quickly hid around the corner of a house. She watched with the utmost curiosity as a young woman with long blonde hair walked up to Niklaus. Who is that?… She's not human, whoever she is… A quick sniff of the air confirmed the scent coming from the young woman. Werewolf. She's a werewolf.
Her curiosity quickly transformed into rage as she saw Niklaus kiss the young werewolf. It was all she could do to not walk right up to them and slap him as hard as she could. She took a deep breath to calm herself and hurried back to the castle, deciding to nail him when he came home.
Niklaus crept silently through the front gates and past the library.
"Niklaus," Amelia called from the library.
Niklaus froze when he caught the sly, cunning undertone of her voice, and he hesitantly walked into the library to talk to her, gathering his courage to lie to her yet again. He stopped when he saw her standing next to the desk across the room, and he gulped nervously, not certain what she was planning. He had never seen her like this before.
Her eyes were the dazzling ice blue of the vampire, and he could see her fangs as she smiled. Her hair was down and bounced around her face and shoulders when she moved. Her silver dress was tight and seductive.
Amelia strode over to him and hugged him gently, resting her head on his chest. "I think that you have something to tell me," she said, smiling coyly.
"What… what do you mean?" Niklaus wondered, trying to swallow the lump in his throat.
"You know what I mean, Niklaus," she answered, pulling away to look him in the eyes. "It seems that Erik was right about you."
"What?" Niklaus asked, not knowing what she was talking about.
"You have been having an affair with a mortal."
"I have not!"
"There's no use lying to me now, Niklaus." She backed away from him and moved to walk back to the desk, turning to face him again when she reached the desk. "I've seen your little lover… Sophia, right?" She smirked maliciously at him when he remained silent. "She's very pretty… especially for a werewolf."
"How did you know she was a werewolf?"
"You really are ignorant, aren't you?" She laughed cynically and smiled coyly at him. "She bears the werewolf scent. I caught it when I followed you tonight."
Niklaus hung his head in shame, knowing that she had finally caught him.
"I want you to get rid of her." Amelia picked the wineglass up from the desk and took a sip of the contents. She sat down on the desktop and crossed her legs languidly, cradling the glass in her hand. She licked the blood from her lips and fixed her icy blue eyes on the red liquid in the cup.
"What?" Niklaus looked up at her, finding it hard to believe what she had just said.
"I want you to get rid of her." Amelia idly twirled the glass in her fingers, watching the blood slosh about in it. "I don't care how you do it, but I want her gone."
After a moment, Niklaus looked up at her again, finally regaining his composure. "I can't do that."
Amelia stopped twirling the glass and looked up at him sharply. "What?"
"I can't get rid of her."
After a moment of consideration, Amelia slid off the desktop, setting the glass back down and walked up to him. She ran her hand along his cheek, tracing the contours of his face with her eyes and hand, before meeting his gaze again. Abruptly, she slapped him hard across the cheek, leaving a bright red hand mark, and her eyes flashed in fury when he looked back at her. "Either you kill her, or I'll kill both of you." Smiling slightly at him, she kissed his reddened cheek lightly and left the room.
Niklaus stood transfixed, stunned at what she'd said and done. He'd never seen her act that way before, and to be honest, it scared him a little.
"Later that night, Erik and I met with the Coven, without Niklaus, and we drafted the first set of Coven laws. It only consisted of about five laws that mostly concerned interaction with the werewolves and behavior in the castle.
"The laws were set in place the next week, and we began enforcing them immediately.
"Despite these new laws forbidding it, Niklaus continued to see his werewolf lover. He was smarter than I gave him credit for. He knew that I wasn't kidding when I'd threatened her life and had moved her the night I'd found out about her to protect her. He was more careful about leaving the castle after that too, since Erik and I had both followed him without his knowledge.
"It was only a year later when I finally got what I wanted."
Sophia rushed up to the front gates of the castle and opened them, hurrying to the castle doors. She knocked on the heavy wooden doors and rubbed her arms vigorously to warm them as she waited for someone to answer.
After about a minute, a young male vampire named Jakob answered the door. He was tall and quite muscular. His light brown hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and his dark brown eyes were fixed on her. "What do you want?" he asked, trying to keep his voice gentle. He could tell that this woman was distressed about something, and he had no desire to provoke her anger.
"I need to speak with Niklaus," Sophia answered, her voice sounding desperate.
"All right," Jakob agreed after a moment's hesitation. He stepped aside and waited for her to enter the castle, closing the doors behind her. "Wait here. I'll go get him for you."
Sophia nodded in agreement and watched Jakob disappear down a dark hallway. A few minutes later, he returned with Niklaus, and she barely restrained her tears of joy at seeing him.
"Sophia!" Niklaus exclaimed, surprised to see her. He walked right up to her and hugged her briefly. "What are you doing here?"
"I have something that I need to tell you," Sophia replied, fixing her nervous eyes on his chocolatey brown ones.
"Okay," Niklaus agreed, looking around for Amelia or Erik. When he saw no sign of them, he turned back to Sophia and smiled gently at her. "Follow me." He took her hand and led her back down the hallway he'd come from to the library. He released her hand and closed the doors behind him, turning to face her when he finished. "Now, what did you need to tell me?"
"Niklaus, I…" She paused and looked down at her feet, suddenly unsure of herself. Her voice dropped to a low, breathy whisper as she spoke again. "Niklaus, I… I'm… pregnant…" She lifted her eyes from her feet to his face to see his reaction.
Niklaus' brown eyes were wide with astonishment, and they were slowly clouding over blue. When he met her gaze again, his eyes were a dilated ice blue that frightened her. He watched her for a moment before turning to the library doors. He opened them and stepped out into the hallway. "Erik!" he called.
A minute later, Erik appeared in the doorway beside Niklaus. He looked over Niklaus' shoulder at Sophia, and his eyes widened in surprise. "Niklaus, why did you bring her here?!" he asked.
Niklaus pulled him into the library and slammed the doors shut. "I didn't bring her here," he told him. "She came here herself."
Erik caught the secretive, nervous look in Niklaus' eyes and leaned closer to him. "Do you have any idea what Amelia will do if she finds her here?" he wondered, keeping his voice low so only Niklaus could hear him. "She'll kill you both."
Sophia watched Niklaus whisper something to Erik and bit her lip nervously as Erik gasped and recoiled in shock. She saw him glance at her quickly before looking back at Niklaus. She saw him mutter something else to Niklaus, and she became even more confused when Niklaus hung his head in sorrow. "Ni… Niklaus," she called, her voice wavering.
Niklaus glanced at her, the sorrow evident in his eyes, before turning back to Erik. "Do it," he ordered, his icy eyes hardening again.
Erik nodded, glanced over at Sophia again, and left the room.
"Niklaus, is everything all right?" she asked, anxiously. She could tell something wasn't quite right, and she was afraid to think about what it could be.
"I am sorry about this, Sophia," Niklaus apologized, pointedly avoiding her eyes. "Truly I am."
Sophia stared at him in confusion and jumped when Erik came back in with two werewolves in human form and three vampires. She was too frightened and confused to even struggle as they grabbed her by the arms and held her up to face Erik.
"You're being charged with high treason," Erik told her, his voice flat and emotionless. "You will be imprisoned and tried immediately." He nodded to the guards and watched them drag her away. He turned to Niklaus when they disappeared and forced himself to smile reassuringly at him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "You're doing the right thing."
Niklaus nodded slightly and hung his head in shame.
"What is going on here?!" Amelia demanded, storming into the library with Kristof close behind her. "Niklaus, you had better have a good explanation for this one."
Niklaus met her blazing ice blue eyes and took a deep breath, fully prepared to tell her everything. He was about to explain himself when Kristof spoke.
"Yes, I would really like to know why you have taken one of my werewolves prisoner," Kristof added, stepping up beside Amelia.
Erik met Niklaus' eyes when he glanced back at him and gave him an expectant look, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I'm waiting," Amelia said, placing her hands on her hips and tapping her foot impatiently.
Niklaus took another deep breath and began his story of everything that had happened over the past eighteen years. When he'd finished, he met Amelia's eyes again, hoping for forgiveness.
Amelia's face was slack with amazement, and she had dropped her hands to her sides. "Wow," was all she could manage to say.
Kristof and Erik remained silent as they let everything they'd just heard sink in.
Niklaus hung his head again and closed his eyes, ready to take his punishment with dignity. His eyes snapped open when he felt Amelia wrap her arms around him in a tender embrace, which he instinctively returned.
"I'm so proud of you, Niklaus," Amelia whispered into his chest. She snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes in contentment.
Niklaus sighed in relief, glad that she forgave him, and buried his face in her soft, black curls.
"About a month later, at the first opportunity, we held Sophia's trial. She was found guilty and was sentenced to execution.
"To prove his loyalty to me, I made Niklaus stay and watch her execution. She had looked at me in surprise for a moment before she met Niklaus' hard eyes. I think I saw a tear fall from one of her blue-green eyes as she resigned herself to her death. I had been pleased to see Niklaus not even flinch as her head fell from her body.
"Her execution angered Kristof greatly, and he had returned to Britain immediately after she was sentenced. Eventually, we stopped all contact between our two species. That was when our hatred of each other began, I think. It all started with Sophia's death, but it would deepen more as the years passed and more were killed."
"We slowly grew apart again in late 370, two years after his turning."
Amelia and Niklaus sat by the fireplace, watching the flames.
Amelia sat on the floor with her legs curled underneath her. She held Niklaus' head in her lap and was idly toying with his soft, blonde hair.
Niklaus, for his part, tolerated it as he carefully studied her face from his place on the floor. He sat up sharply as he heard the front gates open and moved in front of Amelia to protect her from whatever was intruding. His eyes turned icy blue, and his fangs elongated as he watched the hallway closely.
After a moment, Rudolf appeared in the doorway, panting heavily, and he sighed in relief when he saw them. "Amelia, you have to come with me right now," he ordered, walking up to her.
"Why?" Amelia asked, standing up. "What happened?"
"It's Erik," Rudolf answered. "He's really sick. You've got to do something. The doctors don't think he'll make it."
"Well, what do you want me to do?" Amelia wondered, her voice laden with worry for her brother. "I can't do anything that a doctor can't."
"You can make him a vampire like you," Rudolf told her, taking her cold hand in his warmer one. "If he's a vampire, he can fight off his disease. He'll be okay."
"Why don't you ask Kristof?" Amelia asked, immediately regretting it.
"Because he's not a vampire like you," Rudolf replied, smiling reassuringly at her. "Please Amelia. You have to help him."
Amelia glanced over her shoulder at Niklaus and gave him an apologetic look before turning back to Rudolf. "Okay, Rudolf," she agreed. "I'll do what I can."
"Great!" Rudolf exclaimed, hugging her tightly. He let her go and pulled her towards the front gates where he'd left his carriage, Niklaus close behind them.
Rudolf led Amelia and Niklaus up the stairs to Erik's room and entered with them.
Kristof stood up when he saw them enter and smiled at Amelia.
Amelia returned the smile, bitterly, before looking down at Erik's prone body under the thin blanket. She was instantly at his side, chewing on her thumbnail anxiously. "Erik," she called.
Erik slowly opened his eyes and looked up at her, barely managing to give her a weak smile before he fell into a coughing fit.
Amelia looked away from him, sickened at seeing him like that. He'd always been so strong, never sick, and he had always been the one to sit at her bedside when she was ill. It felt so wrong to see him reduced to this. She glanced over her shoulder as she heard someone enter and locked eyes with Kristof's wife, Lena.
Lena was about two inches shorter than she was, but she was just as slender. She didn't look nearly as fragile as Amelia did, since her body seemed to be built entirely of lean muscle. She had long, pin-straight, brown hair and gentle gray eyes that sparkled with life. She smiled at Amelia and walked up to her, holding out her hand politely. "It's good to see you again, Amelia," she said.
Amelia bit back the hiss that she knew was coming and forced herself to smile at the other woman and shake her hand. "It's good to see you too, Lena," she replied, fighting to keep her voice from sounding angry.
Releasing Amelia's hand, Lena turned to Rudolf and smiled at him. "Rudolf," she greeted, nodding to him.
"Lena," Rudolf replied, smiling at her.
Lena chuckled slightly at him and went to Kristof's side. She took her place behind his chair and rested her hand on his shoulder.
Amelia flashed a quick glare at her before turning back to Erik. She knelt down beside him and hesitantly took one of his limp hands in hers. "Erik," she called, tenderly brushing the hair out of his face. "Erik, can you hear me?"
Erik nodded slightly and coughed a little.
Amelia felt her eyes welling up with tears, but she didn't care at the moment. "Erik, I can help you," she told him, her voice low enough for only his ears to hear. "I can take away the pain I know you're in… But you have to want it… I couldn't do this to you unless I was certain you had a choice." She saw Erik nod weakly again and continued. "Erik, I can make you a vampire like me… It will make you immortal, and you'll never have to worry about getting sick again…"
Erik nodded again, listening intently to her now.
"Do you want me to turn you?" she asked, gently. "Don't answer unless you're absolutely sure, because I can't take it back."
Erik tried to concentrate his thoughts on what she was implying, but he couldn't. His illness and pain were clouding his mind, and he couldn't think straight. He licked his dry, cracked lips and nodded, turning his pain-riddled gaze on her.
Amelia smiled crookedly at him and wiped the tears from her eyes. She quickly looked around the room and was pleased to find that everyone had left. She turned Erik's head to the side and moved to whisper something in his ear. "This is going to hurt for a second," she told him. She waited for Erik's nod before sinking her fangs into his neck.
Meanwhile, Kristof, Rudolf, Lena, and Niklaus waited outside the room, hoping for a positive result.
"Do you think we're doing the right thing, Kristof?" Lena asked, turning her nervous eyes on her mate.
Kristof thought about it for a minute before smiling at her and nodding in agreement. "He'll be just fine. Amelia knows what she's doing," he explained. "There's no need to worry."
Rudolf and Niklaus nodded slightly in agreement with what Kristof had said.
A moment later, Amelia emerged from Erik's bedroom with Erik right behind her. She smiled at her brothers and stepped aside so Erik could come fully into their view. She watched him step out into the hallway with only a slight wobble and smiled in relief, glad that he was all right.
Niklaus slipped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her neck. He pressed a soft kiss to her cold skin and smiled slightly when she shivered a little.
Erik waved off his brothers' and Lena's concerned questions and turned to Amelia. He walked over to her and smiled down at her. "Thank you, Amelia," he said, taking her hand in his. He kissed the back of her hand gently and caught her as she abruptly threw her arms around his neck, returning the affectionate embrace. He glanced back at Niklaus and caught his jealous glare before turning his attention back on his sister.
"I am still not quite sure what got into Niklaus after that, but he began to avoid me as soon as Erik joined us in the castle.
"Erik and I consequently ended up spending more and more time together. I taught him all I'd learned about vampires and helped him find a suitable place to sleep and feed.
"Erik accepted what he was even faster than Niklaus did. He was more tenacious and efficient than I was in the kill. I was truly proud of him.
"Neither of us knew that our lives would be turned upside-down in the years to come by something that no one had suspected."
Niklaus opened his eyes and quietly slipped out of bed when he was certain Amelia was still sleeping. He pulled on a pair of pants and snuck out of the room. He silently crept out of the castle and headed towards town. He stopped beside a modest little cottage and tossed a pebble at a window before taking a seat on the hill behind the house to wait.
After about a minute, the back door of the cottage opened, and a young woman appeared in the doorway. Her long cornsilk hair was tied into a braid that hung over her shoulder, and her bright blue-green eyes were still dazed with sleep. She looked over at Niklaus and met his glowing icy blue eyes, smiling when she recognized him. She quietly closed the door behind her and met him on the hill. She stopped in front of him and barely held in her delighted laugh as he pulled her down on his lap.
Niklaus kissed her hard and moved his hands to her shoulders, holding her close.
Amelia awoke and sat up, yawning and stretching languidly. She glanced down at the bed beside her, and her heart fell when she saw that it was empty again. She'd woken up alone every night for the past week and a half, and it was beginning to get on her nerves. She stood up and went downstairs to the library, where she knew Erik would be.
Erik looked up from his book when he heard her enter and smiled gently at her. "Good morning, Amelia," he greeted, returning to his reading.
"Good morning, Erik," Amelia replied, walking over to him. "Have you seen Niklaus?"
"No," Erik answered, keeping his attention on his book. "Did he disappear again before you woke up?"
"Yes," Amelia agreed, her face hardening in anger. "Boy, is he going to get it when he gets back."
Erik chuckled lightly at his sister's threat and watched her leave out of the corner of his eye.
Niklaus quietly crept back into the castle and froze when he felt Amelia's presence nearby.
"Welcome home," Amelia greeted, icily. She stepped out of the shadows where she'd been hiding and fixed her inhuman blue eyes on Niklaus. "Where have you been?"
"I was out feeding," Niklaus answered, meeting her gaze squarely.
"Don't lie to me!" Amelia snapped, stepping within arms' reach of him. "You haven't been feeding. Now, tell me where you've been!"
Niklaus hung his head in shame, knowing that he'd been caught. "I was out wandering through town," he lied again, hoping she believed him this time.
"Oh," she said, giving him a strange look. "Why were you doing that?"
"I don't know," he replied, meeting her eyes briefly. "I guess I just needed some time to myself to think."
"Oh," she breathed, clearly relieved. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry I doubted you, Niklaus."
Niklaus nodded slightly, kissed her cheek gently, and returned the embrace, not feeling the slightest twinge of guilt.
Erik watched the display from a dark corner and glared furiously at Niklaus. He could tell that something was not quite honest about the older vampire, and he didn't like the fact that he was lying to his sister to her face. Well, Niklaus, he thought, cynically. I'll find out what your secret is. Mark my words. I won't stand for you lying to her anymore. He quietly slipped out of the room and went into the main hall to light a fire.
"I had woken up alone again every day for the next five years before Erik came to me. He told me that he had followed Niklaus several times over the past few years and knew that he was lying to me about where he had been going and what he had been doing. I finally decided to confront Niklaus that night to see if my brother really was telling the truth."
Amelia entered the living room and found Niklaus lighting a fire. She took a deep breath and approached him. She stopped a few feet away from him and cleared her throat to get his attention.
Niklaus looked over his shoulder at her and flashed her a quick, gentle smile before turning back to the tiny fire he'd started.
"Um… Niklaus?" Amelia began, unsure of how to bring up the subject that had been nagging her for weeks.
"Yes?" he replied, backing away from the fire. He walked past her and took a seat on the sofa, giving her an inviting smile.
Amelia returned the smile and walked over to him. She sat down beside him and curled her legs underneath her, relief washing over her when she felt him wrap his arm around her shoulders. She met his eyes and studied him for a moment before speaking. "Niklaus, I have heard some very disturbing news about you recently," she told him.
"What might that be?" he wondered, tracing her jaw line with his hand.
"Well, I heard that you've been having… an affair… with a human girl," she answered, struggling to hold his gaze.
"Who told you such an absurd thing?!"
"Erik… He followed you a few times and saw you with a young mortal."
"It is not true, my love… I would never do something like that to you." His arm tightened around her shoulders in a slight hug, and he smiled reassuringly at her.
"I knew it… I knew you would never cheat on me like that." Amelia smiled happily and rested her head on his chest, snuggling up closer to him.
They sat on the couch together like that for a few hours until Amelia excused herself to get to bed.
Niklaus watched her leave before turning his eyes back on the dying flames.
"You coward," a fuming voice hissed from the hallway.
Niklaus glanced over his shoulder to see Erik enter the room and turned back to the fire as if it were nothing.
"You can't even tell her the truth to her face," Erik continued, walking up to the couch. He stopped about ten feet away from Niklaus and crossed his arms over his chest. "You lie to her outright and don't even feel the slightest pang of guilt about it… You disgust me."
"I disgust you?" Niklaus asked, sounding appalled. "I believe you were the one who followed me all those nights into town… And you're calling me disgusting. Ha! You're not much better."
"What I did is nowhere near the same as what you're doing to Amelia!" Erik snapped, his eyes flashing blue in his rage. "If she finds out about your mortal paramour, it'll crush her… You and I both know this, and yet you continue to see this woman… For God's sake, what's the matter with you?"
"There's nothing wrong with me," Niklaus answered, casually. "Amelia is a strong girl. She can take anything that I can dish out to her…" He looked over at Erik and smirked before turning back to the fire again. "Besides, Sophia will be dead long before Amelia finds out about her."
Erik glared furiously at him for a moment longer before he regained control of his anger. "She is strong, yes, but she's smart too," he told him. "She'll discover your little secret long before your Sophia is dead… And when she does, I'll feel sorry for you and your foul lover."
Niklaus laughed then, confusing Erik slightly, though he did not show it. "You would feel sorry for us?!" he repeated, finally gaining control of his laughter. "And why would you feel sorry for us? What will Amelia do? She is too gentle to even think about hurting me or another human."
Erik was about to retort when Amelia appeared in the doorway in a white nightgown.
"Niklaus, are you coming?" she asked, smiling sweetly at him.
Niklaus returned the smile and stood up. He smirked triumphantly at Erik as he passed him and followed Amelia upstairs.
Erik glared daggers at him and smiled gently at his sister when she turned to him.
"Good night, Erik," Amelia said, smiling warmly at him as she took Niklaus' hand.
"Good night, Amelia," Erik replied, returning the smile. "Sleep well."
Amelia led Niklaus upstairs to their bedroom, completely oblivious of what had gone on between the two.
Niklaus strode through town and froze when he heard a scream coming from nearby. Without thinking, he bolted towards where the scream had come from. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Sophia writhing in pain on the ground. He hurriedly went to her side and pulled her into his arms, holding her tight to him.
"Niklaus," she rasped, her eyes unfocused. "Niklaus… were… werewolf…" She made a conscious effort to point in the direction of the woods.
Niklaus looked up and saw a bulky man rushing into the woods. He was about to chase it down when he remembered the slender human cradled in his arms. He looked back down at her and tenderly turned her head to the side, starting when he saw the huge bite mark on her collarbone.
"Ni… Niklaus," she breathed, trying hard to stay conscious.
When she finally passed out, Niklaus lifted her into his arms and carried her back to her home. He left her on the back doorstep and pounded on the door, knowing that someone must have heard him. He kissed Sophia's forehead and left just as soon as he saw a candle light up in the house. He stood just out of sight on the hill behind her house and watched as an elderly man, her father, picked her up and took her inside.
"It was only a few months after that that I ran into Kristof during a hunt. I spoke to him, and he filled me in on everything that had happened in Britain over the past few years. We talked for hours about how our lives had been going since we'd last seen each other.
"It had been strangely wonderful to talk to Kristof again without being under the constant, watchful eye of Lena. I knew that she wasn't very fond of me, and I was certain that she knew that I despised her.
"Over the next two years, I slowly turned cold and heartless again just as I had been before I turned Niklaus and Erik. Without Niklaus around, I was gradually losing touch with what little humanity I had left.
"Erik and Niklaus also turned about twelve other vampires, claiming that there needed to be more of us. They all lived at our castle, and we began to refer to it as a Coven. We built a whole system around which the entire Coven operated. Erik, Niklaus, and I were the oldest of the vampires, so we assumed control. Our Coven had formed itself into a hierarchy of the vampires that lived there within the span of a year and a half."
Niklaus awoke to find Amelia gone from his side. He disregarded that fact, assuming that she was meeting with the Coven, and snuck out of the castle. He failed to notice, however, the lithe shadow that followed him. He went into the village and right up to Sophia's house. He tossed a pebble against the window and sat down on the hill to wait as he always did.
Now, where did he go? Amelia wondered, looking around for Niklaus as she walked through town. Her eyes widened slightly as she spotted him seated on a hill, and she quickly hid around the corner of a house. She watched with the utmost curiosity as a young woman with long blonde hair walked up to Niklaus. Who is that?… She's not human, whoever she is… A quick sniff of the air confirmed the scent coming from the young woman. Werewolf. She's a werewolf.
Her curiosity quickly transformed into rage as she saw Niklaus kiss the young werewolf. It was all she could do to not walk right up to them and slap him as hard as she could. She took a deep breath to calm herself and hurried back to the castle, deciding to nail him when he came home.
Niklaus crept silently through the front gates and past the library.
"Niklaus," Amelia called from the library.
Niklaus froze when he caught the sly, cunning undertone of her voice, and he hesitantly walked into the library to talk to her, gathering his courage to lie to her yet again. He stopped when he saw her standing next to the desk across the room, and he gulped nervously, not certain what she was planning. He had never seen her like this before.
Her eyes were the dazzling ice blue of the vampire, and he could see her fangs as she smiled. Her hair was down and bounced around her face and shoulders when she moved. Her silver dress was tight and seductive.
Amelia strode over to him and hugged him gently, resting her head on his chest. "I think that you have something to tell me," she said, smiling coyly.
"What… what do you mean?" Niklaus wondered, trying to swallow the lump in his throat.
"You know what I mean, Niklaus," she answered, pulling away to look him in the eyes. "It seems that Erik was right about you."
"What?" Niklaus asked, not knowing what she was talking about.
"You have been having an affair with a mortal."
"I have not!"
"There's no use lying to me now, Niklaus." She backed away from him and moved to walk back to the desk, turning to face him again when she reached the desk. "I've seen your little lover… Sophia, right?" She smirked maliciously at him when he remained silent. "She's very pretty… especially for a werewolf."
"How did you know she was a werewolf?"
"You really are ignorant, aren't you?" She laughed cynically and smiled coyly at him. "She bears the werewolf scent. I caught it when I followed you tonight."
Niklaus hung his head in shame, knowing that she had finally caught him.
"I want you to get rid of her." Amelia picked the wineglass up from the desk and took a sip of the contents. She sat down on the desktop and crossed her legs languidly, cradling the glass in her hand. She licked the blood from her lips and fixed her icy blue eyes on the red liquid in the cup.
"What?" Niklaus looked up at her, finding it hard to believe what she had just said.
"I want you to get rid of her." Amelia idly twirled the glass in her fingers, watching the blood slosh about in it. "I don't care how you do it, but I want her gone."
After a moment, Niklaus looked up at her again, finally regaining his composure. "I can't do that."
Amelia stopped twirling the glass and looked up at him sharply. "What?"
"I can't get rid of her."
After a moment of consideration, Amelia slid off the desktop, setting the glass back down and walked up to him. She ran her hand along his cheek, tracing the contours of his face with her eyes and hand, before meeting his gaze again. Abruptly, she slapped him hard across the cheek, leaving a bright red hand mark, and her eyes flashed in fury when he looked back at her. "Either you kill her, or I'll kill both of you." Smiling slightly at him, she kissed his reddened cheek lightly and left the room.
Niklaus stood transfixed, stunned at what she'd said and done. He'd never seen her act that way before, and to be honest, it scared him a little.
"Later that night, Erik and I met with the Coven, without Niklaus, and we drafted the first set of Coven laws. It only consisted of about five laws that mostly concerned interaction with the werewolves and behavior in the castle.
"The laws were set in place the next week, and we began enforcing them immediately.
"Despite these new laws forbidding it, Niklaus continued to see his werewolf lover. He was smarter than I gave him credit for. He knew that I wasn't kidding when I'd threatened her life and had moved her the night I'd found out about her to protect her. He was more careful about leaving the castle after that too, since Erik and I had both followed him without his knowledge.
"It was only a year later when I finally got what I wanted."
Sophia rushed up to the front gates of the castle and opened them, hurrying to the castle doors. She knocked on the heavy wooden doors and rubbed her arms vigorously to warm them as she waited for someone to answer.
After about a minute, a young male vampire named Jakob answered the door. He was tall and quite muscular. His light brown hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and his dark brown eyes were fixed on her. "What do you want?" he asked, trying to keep his voice gentle. He could tell that this woman was distressed about something, and he had no desire to provoke her anger.
"I need to speak with Niklaus," Sophia answered, her voice sounding desperate.
"All right," Jakob agreed after a moment's hesitation. He stepped aside and waited for her to enter the castle, closing the doors behind her. "Wait here. I'll go get him for you."
Sophia nodded in agreement and watched Jakob disappear down a dark hallway. A few minutes later, he returned with Niklaus, and she barely restrained her tears of joy at seeing him.
"Sophia!" Niklaus exclaimed, surprised to see her. He walked right up to her and hugged her briefly. "What are you doing here?"
"I have something that I need to tell you," Sophia replied, fixing her nervous eyes on his chocolatey brown ones.
"Okay," Niklaus agreed, looking around for Amelia or Erik. When he saw no sign of them, he turned back to Sophia and smiled gently at her. "Follow me." He took her hand and led her back down the hallway he'd come from to the library. He released her hand and closed the doors behind him, turning to face her when he finished. "Now, what did you need to tell me?"
"Niklaus, I…" She paused and looked down at her feet, suddenly unsure of herself. Her voice dropped to a low, breathy whisper as she spoke again. "Niklaus, I… I'm… pregnant…" She lifted her eyes from her feet to his face to see his reaction.
Niklaus' brown eyes were wide with astonishment, and they were slowly clouding over blue. When he met her gaze again, his eyes were a dilated ice blue that frightened her. He watched her for a moment before turning to the library doors. He opened them and stepped out into the hallway. "Erik!" he called.
A minute later, Erik appeared in the doorway beside Niklaus. He looked over Niklaus' shoulder at Sophia, and his eyes widened in surprise. "Niklaus, why did you bring her here?!" he asked.
Niklaus pulled him into the library and slammed the doors shut. "I didn't bring her here," he told him. "She came here herself."
Erik caught the secretive, nervous look in Niklaus' eyes and leaned closer to him. "Do you have any idea what Amelia will do if she finds her here?" he wondered, keeping his voice low so only Niklaus could hear him. "She'll kill you both."
Sophia watched Niklaus whisper something to Erik and bit her lip nervously as Erik gasped and recoiled in shock. She saw him glance at her quickly before looking back at Niklaus. She saw him mutter something else to Niklaus, and she became even more confused when Niklaus hung his head in sorrow. "Ni… Niklaus," she called, her voice wavering.
Niklaus glanced at her, the sorrow evident in his eyes, before turning back to Erik. "Do it," he ordered, his icy eyes hardening again.
Erik nodded, glanced over at Sophia again, and left the room.
"Niklaus, is everything all right?" she asked, anxiously. She could tell something wasn't quite right, and she was afraid to think about what it could be.
"I am sorry about this, Sophia," Niklaus apologized, pointedly avoiding her eyes. "Truly I am."
Sophia stared at him in confusion and jumped when Erik came back in with two werewolves in human form and three vampires. She was too frightened and confused to even struggle as they grabbed her by the arms and held her up to face Erik.
"You're being charged with high treason," Erik told her, his voice flat and emotionless. "You will be imprisoned and tried immediately." He nodded to the guards and watched them drag her away. He turned to Niklaus when they disappeared and forced himself to smile reassuringly at him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "You're doing the right thing."
Niklaus nodded slightly and hung his head in shame.
"What is going on here?!" Amelia demanded, storming into the library with Kristof close behind her. "Niklaus, you had better have a good explanation for this one."
Niklaus met her blazing ice blue eyes and took a deep breath, fully prepared to tell her everything. He was about to explain himself when Kristof spoke.
"Yes, I would really like to know why you have taken one of my werewolves prisoner," Kristof added, stepping up beside Amelia.
Erik met Niklaus' eyes when he glanced back at him and gave him an expectant look, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I'm waiting," Amelia said, placing her hands on her hips and tapping her foot impatiently.
Niklaus took another deep breath and began his story of everything that had happened over the past eighteen years. When he'd finished, he met Amelia's eyes again, hoping for forgiveness.
Amelia's face was slack with amazement, and she had dropped her hands to her sides. "Wow," was all she could manage to say.
Kristof and Erik remained silent as they let everything they'd just heard sink in.
Niklaus hung his head again and closed his eyes, ready to take his punishment with dignity. His eyes snapped open when he felt Amelia wrap her arms around him in a tender embrace, which he instinctively returned.
"I'm so proud of you, Niklaus," Amelia whispered into his chest. She snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes in contentment.
Niklaus sighed in relief, glad that she forgave him, and buried his face in her soft, black curls.
"About a month later, at the first opportunity, we held Sophia's trial. She was found guilty and was sentenced to execution.
"To prove his loyalty to me, I made Niklaus stay and watch her execution. She had looked at me in surprise for a moment before she met Niklaus' hard eyes. I think I saw a tear fall from one of her blue-green eyes as she resigned herself to her death. I had been pleased to see Niklaus not even flinch as her head fell from her body.
"Her execution angered Kristof greatly, and he had returned to Britain immediately after she was sentenced. Eventually, we stopped all contact between our two species. That was when our hatred of each other began, I think. It all started with Sophia's death, but it would deepen more as the years passed and more were killed."