Once again thank you for all of the feedback :) About Eva growing up, mentally she will. As I said, this won't be a traditional romance story, BUT she will later have romantic feelings towards someone, which is going to be difficult since she is stuck in a body of a child. But right now she is still completely a child, trying to learn the basic things. About her meeting Katherine, she might at some point and (spoiler) she will also meet ripper Stefan and Damon, but there's a long way to that :)

Hey brother, there's an endless road to re-discover.
Hey sister, know the water's sweet but blood is thicker.
Oh, if the sky comes falling down for you,
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.

Avicii – Hey Brother

Chapter 9

Children shouldn't play with dead things

"Are you ready?" Rebekah asked and tucked a stray hair behind my ear. "You look like a real princess."

I smiled, keeping in mind that I couldn't let my sharp teeth out, not tonight.

"I am nervous," I said quietly.

Rebekah kneeled in front of me and hugged me.

"I understand, but everything will go well, just keep in mind what Elijah and I have taught you."

I nodded; I was determined to make them both proud.

"Some of the guests have brought their children with them, I want you to be extremely careful if you play with them; you cannot show your speed, strength or fangs. Do you understand?"

I nodded again; Rebekah smiled and kissed my cheek.

"Think of this as an exercise, I know that you can do this, you are a smart girl."

"Do I have to eat food?"

"Just a little, few bites will be enough. I know you do not like it, but these things are important in order to hide your true nature."

I tilted my head and bit my lip.

"Why do we have to hide our true nature?"

Rebekah seemed surprised.

"Because people would never stop hunting us if they would know what we really are. We might be stronger and faster than them, but it would not be wise to let them know about us. Besides, they do have something what we need, would you agree?" she added and tickled my stomach.

I laughed and rubbed my cheek against her shoulder, she smelled very nice.

"You and papa will be there?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Yes and Uncle Nik, Uncle Kol has…other plans for this evening."

"He does not want me to call him that," I pointed out.

Rebekah grinned.

"No, no, on the contrary, he would love to be called that, he is simply too shy to ask. And despite of what he might say, he just loves when people show affection towards him, hugging, kissing…"

"Oh…"

I would have to remember that when I would see him. I was still a little cautious with him, but he was papa's brother and I could show him affection if that was what he expected. Maybe that was how vampires normally interacted with each other, I really didn't know, but I had to learn. I wanted to be accepted and fit in, I was afraid to be cast out, to be alone again.

"Alright," Rebekah said and touched my cheek. "Let's go then."

I took her hand when we walked out from my bedchamber; she had told me that we would have dinner at the hall. Papa was already there with few humans, they were all wearing nice clothes and many of them had a goblet in their hand. There was a long table placed in the middle of the room, but the dinner wasn't served yet. The sun hadn't set, but I was too nervous to be tired and besides papa had let me to sleep the whole day.

I noticed two girls and a boy sitting in front of the fireplace, the girls were older than me. It seemed that they were twins, they both had curly blonde hair and they were wearing matching deep blue dresses. The boy was a little younger than the girls, but still older than me, he had light brown hair and he looked very serious, his tunic was the same color than the girls' dresses. Maybe he was their brother. The girls glanced at me and whispered something to each other, I was too nervous to listen to them.

"There you are," papa said when he noticed me and Rebekah. I moved next to him and took his hand. Twelve pairs of eyes were looking at me; I tried my best to look calm.

"And this must be your lovely foster daughter we have heard so much about," one of the women said.

"Yes, this is Eva," papa replied.

I felt Rebekah's hand touching my back and I remembered what I was supposed to do.

"It is an honor to meet you all," I muttered and curtsied as gracefully as I could, I kept my eyes on the floor.

"She is simply adorable," one of the women said smiling. "My lord is very noble indeed for taking this poor thing in."

"She is a wonderful child," papa said and touched my hair.

"Well, she must meet my angels, I have already told them about her," the woman continued and turned towards the fireplace, apparently expecting me to follow her. I looked at papa and he nodded reassuringly, so I went after the woman.

"Yvette, Wilhelmina, this is Eva," the woman said.

"Hello," I said timidly.

The girls looked at me from head to toes and smiled sweetly.

"How do you do?" they said simultaneously.

"And this handsome young man is my son Percival," the woman continued.

The boy greeted me with a brief nod, he seemed bored.

"Well, I will leave you children to get to know each other, play nice" the woman said cheerfully and went back to the other adults. The girls were still smiling, they made me room on the sofa between them.

"Come here Eva," the other one said and tapped the sofa. I hesitated before sitting down between them; I wasn't completely sure how I should act with them. The old me had never spent much time with other children and the new me certainly hadn't either.

"You have a beautiful dress," the other one, I didn't know which one of them was which, said.

"Papa gave it to me," I muttered.

"Really? That is so nice. Have he given you many nice things?"

I nodded.

"He is kind; he does not make me to sleep alone when I have nightmares."

The other girl started to cough and the other one was biting her lip.

"How…sweet. So, where did he find you?"

"From the woods," I replied insecurely.

"Oh, it shows… Did your parents abandon you?"

"No, they are dead."

"How terrible," the other girl said and touched my hair.

"Indeed," the other one added. "You are lucky that Lord Elijah wanted a pet."

I looked at her.

"I am not a pet, he is my papa."

"Of course he is," she said smiling sweetly. "Why would he not want to keep a pretty little girl like you?"

I was confused; I couldn't understand what she was trying to say.

"How about we take a little walk before the dinner?" the other girl suggested smiling.

I wasn't sure what I should say, but they both took my hand and yanked me up with them. I could have easily freed myself, but I remembered what Rebekah had said, I couldn't use my strength. She and papa had also told me to be nice to our guests; it would probably be rude to say no. The boy didn't stand up; he huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Percy," one of the girls said. "You do not want to miss this…walk."

"No challenge…" he muttered and got to his feet.

Klaus had just walked in and few musicians had started to play, all the adults seemed to be concentrated on their conversations, they didn't saw us sneaking out. I was walking between Yvonne and Wilhelmina; they were still holding my hands. Their brother was few steps behind us, he seemed bored.

"I really feel bad for you," other one of the girls said.

"Why?" I asked.

They both sighed.

"You are pretty now, but you won't be like that forever and no one wants to keep an ugly girl."

I looked at them both alternately.

"What…what do you mean?"

They smiled and touched my hair.

"You are not really Lord Elijah's child, if you become ugly, he will throw you out and find a new one."

My eyes widened.

"No…that is not true."

"Oh, but it is, we have seen it happening to many children. So sad…"

I was very distressed; I really hoped that they were mistaken. Papa wouldn't throw me out, I had been good. Where would I go if papa wouldn't want me anymore? My eyes were watering up, I couldn't help it.

"No…"

Yvonne and Wilhelmina stopped walking and turned to look at me.

"We do not want that to happen to you," one of them said and touched my hair. "We can help you if you want."

"Really?" I asked and dried my eyes. "You would do that?"

They smiled sweetly and touched my cheeks.

"Of course, but you must trust us."

I nodded.

"Yes, I…what shall I do?"

They took my hands and started to lead me outside.

"We will show you how you can stay as pretty as you are now, then Lord Elijah will want to keep you."

I was confused, but I was willing to do anything, I wanted to stay here. These girls were so kind for wanting to help me, without them I wouldn't have known that I needed to be pretty. I should have realized that, Rebekah called me a princess and papa had said that I was pretty, of course they expected that. It had rained almost the whole day and the courtyard was muddy, the girls led me next to a big puddle.

"Alright, the secret of staying pretty is mud," one of the girls said.

I looked at them disbelievingly.

"What?"

They both nodded determinedly.

"It will keep your skin soft and smooth; you won't become old and ugly. Go ahead, try it."

I hesitated, making both girls to sigh.

"Alright if you do not want our help…"

"I do," I said quickly and bent down scooping a handful of mud.

"Good, not rub it on your face."

I did as they said, hoping that the mud would help. They were both grinning; their brother observed us from few steps away.

"Like this?" I asked.

"You definitely need more; your skin is not very good."

I nodded and bent down again, but someone pushed me from behind and I fell in the puddle. I was covered with mud and my mouth was full of it, I started to cough when I managed to get into a sitting position. The girls were laughing.

"Now you are really pretty, like a little pig."

I didn't have time to say anything when they ran back inside still laughing. I couldn't understand why they had pushed me; I had thought that they had wanted to help. Finally I managed to get up and headed back inside, I was dripping mud all over the hallway. I had ruined another dress, but I hoped that Rebekah would understand, I had only wanted to look pretty. When I reached the hall, the girls and their brother were already there, everyone turned to look at me.

"Eva!" Rebekah snapped.

Papa seemed confused and Klaus crossed his arms, he certainly didn't look pleased. Some of the guests seemed amused, others disapproving. I opened my mouth in order to explain, but nothing came out. Yvonne and Wilhelmina were giggling, even their brother looked amused. I had ruined everything; I would surely be cast out now.

"Eva!"

Someone called my name when I zoomed away, but I didn't stop. I was sobbing while I ran; I couldn't understand what had happened. I zoomed outside and would have run to the woods unless someone wouldn't have caught me.

"Let me go!" I sobbed.

"Hey, hey, calm down, midget," Kol's voice said.

He turned me around in his arms, making me to face him.

"I saw what happened with those humans," he stated calmly. "And I believe it is about time for someone to teach you something useful. Let's talk."