She's fading away
Away from this world
Drifting like a feather
She's not like the other girls
She lives in the clouds
And talks to the birds
Hopeless little one
She's not like the other girls

The Rasmus – Not Like the Other Girls

Chapter 8

Strange little feeling

Elijah opened the door to Eva's chamber, but she wasn't there. Where could she be, he had looked everywhere. The poor child probably thought that Rebekah was mad at her because of the dress. He asked few servants, but no one had seen her. Elijah was starting to be worried when he opened the door to the library. She didn't usually spend time there, but now she was curled up on Klaus' lap like a kitten. Elijah froze and stared at them, Klaus had been stroking her hair, but he stopped immediately when he noticed Elijah.

"Finally," Klaus huffed. "Don't just stand there; get her off me."

Elijah frowned.

"What is going on here?"

"What does it look like, apparently she thinks that I am some kind of mattress," Klaus snapped, but Elijah noticed that he kept his voice down; he didn't want to wake her. The whole scene was so strange that Elijah had to struggle for not to laugh.

"What?" Klaus snapped.

"Nothing," Elijah replied innocently.

Klaus huffed and carelessly touched Eva's hair.

"Does she sleep like this with you?"

Elijah nodded.

"Yes, very often, she does not like to sleep alone in her chamber. I have tried to encourage her for that, but right now I think it is more important that she feels safe."

"Hmm. She still likes to sleep in the daytime?"

"Yes, it is quite hard for her to stay awake the whole day, as you can see."

Klaus bit his lip and looked at her.

"Do you know how old she is?" he asked.

"She told me that she is 8," Elijah replied.

Klaus seemed surprised.

"8? I would have guessed 6 at most, she is so tiny."

"Yes, she seems to be small for her age. And…I am not completely sure how becoming a vampire and being alone for so long after that have affected her mental state, the whole thing could have been too much to handle even for an adult."

They were both quiet for a while and looked at her; she looked like a little angel when she was asleep.

"How are you doing with her?" Klaus finally asked. "Have there been any problems?"

Elijah shook his head.

"No, nothing so far. Of course she has a lot to learn, I am sure she is still confused."

"Yes…" Klaus muttered. Carefully he touched her cheek; the gentleness of the gesture was almost surprising.

"She truly is quite something… I think that I should participate more in her training."

Elijah's eyebrows furrowed.

"As I already said to Kol, she is a child, not a dog…"

"Yes, I know," Klaus huffed. "I am not planning to teach her to fetch."

Elijah crossed his arms and looked at his brother harshly. Klaus sighed.

"Fine, perhaps I feel some responsibility towards her. Happy now?"

Elijah was genuinely surprised; this was the last thing he had expected from his brother.

"You are feeling remorse?"

"No," Klaus muttered tensely. "That is not what I said, I do not even know if my blood turned her…" He paused and sighed. "However, I am not proud of what happened to her, I would not have done something like this intentionally."

Elijah believed him and he knew that his brother felt remorse, no matter what he said.

"I think it is safe to say that she will never be able to take care of herself alone," Klaus muttered. "Perhaps we should make some kind of plan for her future."

"I will take care of her and I know Rebekah will too," Elijah said calmly.

"Yes… She considers you as her father."

Elijah stared at his brother, was there actually a hint of jealousy in his voice? That sounded unbelievable, this was Niklaus, a ruthless and merciless vampire who thought that feelings were a weakness.

"Could you get her off me already, I have better things to do," Klaus huffed carelessly.

Elijah bent down and scooped the sniffling little creature up as carefully as he could.

"I do not want to get up…" she muttered.

Elijah couldn't help but to smile.

"It's alright, sweetheart, you can sleep now. We will try again tomorrow."

She sighed in content and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I love you, papa."

For a moment Elijah was speechless, he was feeling something he had never felt before. The warmth and the strong need to protect this fragile little creature felt overwhelming. Finally he managed to clear his throat; the girl was already fast asleep.

"I should take her to her bed," he muttered and walked out without looking at his brother. She truly was tiny, she almost felt weightless in his arms. Someone as small and fragile as her definitely shouldn't be a vampire. He wondered what the world looked like now through her eyes, had she been very different when she had been a human.

To be honest, he didn't know much about children, but it wasn't difficult to tell that her mind worked differently than normal children. Perhaps things would have been different if someone would have been there to guide her from the beginning, but now she was in many ways like a newborn child, trying to understand things her mind couldn't have comprehend when she had been alone without knowing what she was and what had happened to her.

Silently he opened the door to her chamber which Rebekah had decorated; everything was made especially for her, including the smaller furniture. The window was carefully covered; she still didn't like the sunlight, although it didn't burn her anymore. She had the whole army of dolls and wooden animals, most of them lying neatly on a bookshelf, but there were plenty of dolls on her bed as well. She didn't seem to play with them much; she enjoyed spending time outdoors running and chasing things, whether they were prey or Niklaus' lackeys who, as surprising as that was, seemed to be completely mushy with her, they literally allowed her to walk all over them.

Elijah removed some of the dolls in order to make room for his little sleepyhead; she huffed in her sleep when he tucked her in. She probably wouldn't wake up before the sunset and she would definitely be hungry. Usually she had to feed on at least three people before she was full, that was something that had concerned Elijah from time to time.

According to Rebekah's theory, she needed more blood because she was a growing child, but that was the thing, she really wasn't a growing child. She would never be any bigger than she was now, she wouldn't age or grow. She would be this tiny creature forever… Elijah pressed his lips together and wiped hair out of her face. He truly was concerned, but he was determined to look after her, no matter what.