Thank you so much for your reviews. There are going to be a lot of twists in this story, please let me know what you think.

Chapter 2

Oh Death

Elijah watched Annabelle who was gobbling her food like she hadn't eaten for days. Maybe she hadn't. She would definitely need some new clothes. She was still wearing that dirty grey dress. And she needed a bath. But what about after that? Elijah had no idea. Annabelle raised her head and looked at him. She seemed embarrassed and tried to eat tidier. Elijah smiled.

"No need to do that because of me. Clearly you are hungry."

She looked at him gratefully and continued eating. Then Elijah thought of something.

"Do you have any other family? Uncles or grandparents perhaps?"

She shook her head.

"So only those who you were traveling with?"

She nodded.

"Alright…"

She looked at him insecurely and pointed herself and the door.

"No, no, I am not going to cast you out. We shall find some solution for this."

She stood up, pointed herself and the empty dishes.

"No, I will not send you to the kitchen."

She looked confused. Elijah kneeled next to her and looked into her eyes.

"Everything is going to be alright Annabelle. I will…"

His brother's arrival interrupted him.

"Elijah we need to…what is that?" Niklaus asked when he saw Annabelle.

Elijah stood up.

"They are called children, brother. They are like adults but smaller."

Niklaus scowled him.

"Very amusing. Why is she in our dining room?"

"I found her from woods last night."

"Oh, so she is the one who survived from that massacre. Hard to believe when you look at her."

Elijah noticed that Annabelle was looking at Niklaus very attentively. His brother grinned.

"Is she our dinner?"

"Niklaus!"

"What? She is too young to be used for sex so what other purpose would she possible serve?"

"Come on Annabelle", Elijah said and looked at his brother coldly.

"What? What did I do?" Niklaus asked when Elijah took Annabelle's hand and walked out.

Elijah led her to a room that he had ordered maids to prepare for her. They had also prepared a bath.

"You can bathe now; I will send someone to bring you some clean clothes."

She looked at him and nodded. There was something in her eyes. Elijah wasn't quite sure what. She just looked like someone who was carrying a huge burden on her shoulders. She definitely wasn't like any other child Elijah had seen before. He headed back to the dining room. Niklaus was sitting there drinking some wine.

"Where did you take the miniature human?" he asked.

"Would you mind keeping those comments to yourself when she is present? She has been through enough", Elijah said coldly.

"You are going to keep her?" Niklaus asked disbelievingly. "Why?"

"She needs a place to stay", Elijah replied simply.

"I see. Well, of course you can have a pet, brother. That sounds like a fun project."

Elijah rolled his eyes. His brother was always so discreet.

"So what was it you wanted to…" Elijah started.

"My lords!"

An elderly servant came to them running. The poor man seemed nauseous. He bowed when he entered the dining room.

"What is it?" Niklaus asked.

"The stables…Someone…They're all dead!"

"What?" Elijah and Niklaus said simultaneously.

They followed the servant to the stables. There were three dead stable boys, one servant and five horses. All of the bodies had been mutilated.

"Now I am really starting to get angry", Niklaus said. "Who ever did this will be begging for death before I am finished with him!"

Elijah couldn't believe any vampire, now matter how young, would be this stupid. Hunting on their lands was one thing but invading their home… That was another thing entirely.

"Who found the bodies?" Elijah asked.

"I did, my lord", the servant said. He looked very pale.

"Did you hear anything? Or saw anyone leaving?"

"No my lord. I was looking for Jack, one of the stable boys. He is…was my nephew, my lord."

"I am sorry for your lost", Elijah said. "We shall find the one who did this and he will be punished."

The servant nodded.

"Thank you my lord."

"You may go now."

"Yes my lord." The servant bowed before he left.

Niklaus was examining the bodies.

"Several bite marks…" he murmured. "But judging by all this blood, they haven't been drained."

"I do not believe one vampire could have done this", Elijah said.

"Yes, you are probably right. Some of them would have screamed or try to escape. But it seems that they didn't have time to do either. And that was my favorite horse! Someone is going to pay for this!"

Then Elijah thought of something.

"It has only been a half an hour since the sunset. It is possible that these vampires are still nearby."

Niklaus raised his head.

"You are right, brother. We should definitely arrange a search party."

They went back inside and Niklaus ordered a servant to find some of his vampire lackeys. They would no doubt be eager to serve him.

"We should start from the premises near the castle…"

They heard a scream.

"Now what?" Niklaus murmured annoyed when they followed the sound across the long hallway to the kitchen. Some poor maid was standing there screaming hysterically. Elijah recognized the cook who had hurt Annabelle. Her body was so badly mutilated that it took a while before he was sure that it was the same woman.

"What the hell is going on here?" Niklaus asked furiously.

That was a good question.

"Where are all the guards?" Niklaus shouted. "Everyone here right now!"

There was suddenly a lot of movement in the castle. Everyone was running back and forth. Then Elijah thought of Annabelle. All this screaming and shouting had probably scared the poor girl. He went to her room and saw her sitting on her bed. She was wearing a clean dark green dress that was a little too big for her. She was looking at him attentively.

"Are you alright?" Elijah asked.

She nodded.

"Good. Come with me, it is not safe for you to be alone in here right now."

She stood up and took his hand. She seemed very calm.

"No need to fear, you are safe with me", Elijah said.

She smiled and nodded. She didn't seem to be afraid at all.