Chapter 34

"Quick, put her in her room," beckoned Stefan, opening the front door of the mansion as Damon ran through, clutching a delirious Lexi to him. He made quick work of the stars and set Lexi gently down on her bed before running to get a cold cloth to wipe her fevered brow. Stefan was waiting anxiously for Klaus who he'd called on the way over from Portland as Damon was breaking just about every speed limit possible.

"What's going on?" demanded Klaus as he appeared at the front door having sped over to the Salvatore boarding house.

"It's Lexi," said Stefan. "We found Marcel and he attacked Lexi,"

Klaus frowned, "well isn't she healing?"

Stefan shook his head. "We've not seen anything like this before, but it looks like a werewolf bite that's spreading faster than it normally would. We thought if it were like a werewolf bite, you might be able to heal her?"

Klaus looked concerned, "a werewolf bite, you say?" he repeated, his brow furrowed as his mind raced through the various possibilities. "Surely not…" he whispered, so quietly that even Stefan barely heard it. "Take me to her," he instructed and Stefan lead the way quickly.

Lexi was barely conscious now, moaning deliriously as Damon tried to soothe her, her face scrunched up in agony. Klaus stormed into the room and almost pushed Damon out of the way in a bid to see the injury for himself.

"I didn't think he'd do it…" he muttered, inspecting Lexi's arm with immense focus and a grim look on his face.

"Do what?" asked Damon, exasperated. "Can you help her?"

"I can try," replied Klaus, biting into his wrist and holding it to Lexi's mouth where a few drops were swallowed. The three men watched her arm closely, panic starting to resurge as there was no sign of healing.

"Klaus," whispered Stefan in desperation, "what is it?"

Klaus shook his head in disbelief, "I'd heard rumours," he said, "that Marcel had found the witches who would create a serum so intense that he would overpower even my family and I. It's happened only once before and the man who took the serum had a bite fatal to all, even and original, and possessed even greater strength and speed than we do. We called him an…"

Damon interrupted, "an Upgraded Original Vampire. Yeah we know, Marcel told us. How the hell do we stop him?"

Klaus looked at them grimly, "we can't," he said, "the only way the last Upgraded Original Vampire was taken out was by an Adfectus witch, but there hasn't been one for centuries and we think the blood line has died out."

Stefan and Damon looked up sharply at the mention of an Adfectus witch, but didn't bring it up to Klaus. At that moment, they had more pressing concerns as Lexi began to cough uncontrollably, the poison from the bite spreading through her body.

The three men suddenly heard a car pulling up in the drive, followed by the slam of a car door and an exchange of pleasantries before the car pulled away again.

"It's Ottilie…" said Damon quietly, wondering what on earth he was going to tell his daughter about Lexi's condition.

"We should let her see Lexi," said Stefan softly, unwanted tears starting to spring to his eyes. "She might not get another chance to, you know…"

Damon nodded stiffly and left the room to go and prepare his daughter.

"Damon!" Klaus and Stefan looked each other as they heard the happy cry of the little girl, so excited to tell them about her day with her friend. They grimaced as they heard the cries of shock follow after Damon told her about Lexi, and prepared themselves as they heard the patter of tiny feet running up the stairs and bursting into the room.

"Lexi!" Ottilie cried, running towards the bed.

Klaus caught hold of her before she could reach Lexi, saying "Careful, love, Lexi might not know who you are, and could attack you."

Ottilie shook her head defiantly, "no, she wouldn't hurt me!"

Just as Damon reappeared in the room having composed himself after telling Ottilie, Lexi began to cough violently, gasping for air and bringing up blood.

"I don't think she has long…" said Klaus softly, giving Stefan a sympathetic look.

Ottilie pushed herself out of Klaus' grasp and ran to Lexi, grabbing one of her hands in her own.

"Otti…" warned Damon, but was cut off as he saw Lexi stop coughing for a moment. He looked closer at Ottilie and saw that her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be focusing intently. Lexi calmed even more and the coughing ceased, and Damon saw the black veins start to retract back into the centre of the wound on her arm.

The three men watched in awe as Ottilie started to heal Lexi, the wound getting smaller and smaller. Lexi started to wake up, but was still too weak to move or speak, but looked up at Ottilie, fear suddenly coming over her face. That was when Damon glimpsed the steady flow of blood start to pour from Ottilie's nose, and he took a step forward.

"Otti, you need to stop now." She paid no heed and continued to focus on Lexi, still holding her hand with her eyes closed. "Ottilie, listen to me, it's getting too much…" They could hear the wind starting to pick up now outside the house as branches started to knock against the windows, the howl was beginning to get deafening.

"Otti, stop!" shouted Stefan over the roar. Klaus and Damon made a step towards the little girl but she turned suddenly, one hand still clasping Lexi's, the other reached out towards the other three vampires, creating some sort of force field preventing them from getting to her. Keeping her arm suspended in the air to maintain the barrier, she turned her head back to focus on Lexi, the blood still pouring from her nose as the others looked on in horror, and Lexi repeated feebly, "Otti, please, you're hurting yourself, stop!"

Suddenly, she let go of Lexi's hand, her other arm fell to her side, and her eyes snapped open. The wound on Lexi's arm was completely gone, and Ottilie smiled down at Lexi, who was now healed but exhausted. "Otti…" began Lexi in a hushed whisper.

Damon interrupted, running towards his daughter who had started to sway on the spot, suddenly starting to feel the effects of the huge amount of power healing such an injury had caused. She began to collapse to the floor but Damon got there first, slipping one arm under her knees, the other around her shoulders, making her head rest in the crook of his arm. He laid her lower body on the floor, still supporting her shoulders, neck and head and with his free hand, shook her gently, calling her name.

"Ottilie, sweetheart," he called quietly, tapping her face softly in a bid to wake her, but her eyes remained shut. Klaus returned from the ensuite bathroom with a tissue which he handed to Damon who wiped the blood from the little girl's face. Lifting her tiny chest to his ear, he listened for her heartbeat and breathing, sighing in relief as he found both to be relatively normal.

He looked up at Lexi, who was peering out from her position in her bed, anxiously looking to see whether Ottilie was okay. "She's alright, Lexi," he said, softly, not wanting to alarm her more than necessary given what she had just been through. Stefan went over to her and hugged her tightly, "I was so worried about you, Lexi," he said, holding his best friend to him. She hugged him back, her mind still on the little girl lying motionlessly in Damon's arms.

Klaus was also staring down at her, a look of wonder and surprise on his face. "Damon, do you know what she is?"

Damon, still focusing on holding his daughter's lifeless body shook his head.

"She's an Adfectus Witch," Klaus said in amazement, "she's the most powerful witch alive…"

Damon sighed heavily, resting his head on his free hand, trying to comprehend the enormity of what that meant, and how many people would want to get to Ottilie, let alone Marcel. "This does not leave this room," he hissed, suddenly standing with Ottilie still unconscious in his arms. "Not a word to anyone. Tell your siblings if you must," he looked at Klaus, "but only if you think it'll help to protect her. She cannot come to harm, do you understand?"

Stefan, Lexi and Klaus nodded soberly, before Klaus sped from the house to tell his siblings that the Adfectus Witch bloodline was indeed intact, and that Ottilie would need their protection more than ever before.

Whilst Stefan brought Lexi some blood bags and sat with her until she fell asleep, exhausted by the trials of the day, Damon took Ottilie into her room and tucked her carefully into bed, stroking her dark curls from her face.

"I will always protect you, little otter," he whispered, before kissing her gently on the forehead, "always…"