Part 2

Monsters. Demons. Horrible beasts. Lucien had never been so scared in his life. He and Nadine had been on their way back to the castle with Count de Martel's guests when these creatures had appeared from nowhere and yanked people off the carriage one by one. There had been screams and begs, but it had made no difference. One of these creatures had actually laughed while grabbing Lord de Quise's begging nephew. The lord had been traveling with his much younger, very beautiful wife, brother, nephew and personal valet.

He had been rude and arrogant, just like all the lords and his wife had treated Nadine like a worthless slave. Clearly the lady had always gotten what she wanted, the lord had worshiped her. Now they were all dead. Lucien had managed to grab Nadine and hid them in the carriage under the cover. Fortunately the beasts had been too occupied to notice them, at least not yet. Lucien's arms were tightly around his sister; his heart was beating like a drum and he was shaking. Nadine hadn't made a sound and she didn't even try to move.

"Who's ready for the next course?" a cheerful voice asked. It was the demon who had laughed.

"You are all filthy savages," another male voice snorted, he sounded appalled.

"And you will remain forever the dullard," the first voice replied.

"Such pretty clothes," a female voice sighed. "What a shame they will go to waste."

"Rebekah, we have discussed this," a third male voice huffed.

"No, you have discussed this, none of us had any say in the matter," the female voice argued. "These people were traveling somewhere, just look at their cart. Silks and jewels. Five of them, five of us. Where ever they were off to, why cannot we just go there instead?"

"Masquerading as nobles from the land we don't know and whose customs we cannot begin to understand. Ridiculous."

"You saw the castle down the road; that must be where this bunch was going. Look at them; they are not any better than we are. We can live as they do, at least for a time. Think of it, Elijah, we can hide in plain sight, we can live ordinary lives…"

"Silence," the third voice interrupted her.

Suddenly it was very quiet, Lucien was afraid to breathe. His heart was pounding even faster, he held his sister tighter. She touched his hand in a calming gesture. Then the cover was suddenly yanked off them. Lucien acted instinctively; he was on his feet in a second. Nadine was right behind him, he grabbed her hand and tried to run, but a blonde woman appeared in front of him. The other beasts had surrounded them.

"Aren't you a handsome one," the woman stated, she was observing Lucien curiously. A dark-haired man who had blood all over his face stepped next to the woman.

"He looks like dessert to me."

Lucien didn't have time to say anything when Nadine stepped in front of him. The dark-haired man seemed amused.

"Well, hello there, darling. You look even more delicious than he does." He paused and glanced at the other men. "This one is mine."

Nadine arched her back like a cat that was ready to attack. That amused the dark-haired man even more.

"Trying to protect him, are you? How sweet."

"Is she your wife?" the woman asked, she didn't sound pleased.

Lucien was still terrified, but he managed to shake his head.

"No, no, my sister."

The dark-haired man took a step towards Nadine and grinned.

"Funny, unlike the "brave" chap's here, your heartbeat sounds quite steady. You should be very afraid right about now, darling, but… It seems that you are not. Why is that?"

Nadine didn't say anything or backed away, she was ready to defend Lucien to the end.

"She is a mute," Lucien managed to say. "Please, don't hurt her; I can be useful to you." He paused and tried to stop his voice from shaking, he needed to think and fast. "I-I'm the personal servant of Count de Martel, I can help you." He paused again and quickly glanced at the three men standing behind him, they were all observing him. "I was sent to escort these guests to his home; I know their customs as well as the count's habits. If you want to pose as the family you have…slaughtered here, you will need my help."

All the beasts were quiet for a moment, hopefully considering Lucien's words. Cautiously he looked at them all in turns; the dark-haired man was still looking at Nadine. That wasn't a good thing; Lucien didn't like the look in his eyes at all. He needed to find some way to save his sister, poor Nadine had already suffered more than enough.

"Please can we keep him?" the woman asked pleadingly.

"Rebekah, no," the man she had called Elijah replied firmly. "What is our most important rule?"

The woman sighed.

"Never leave alive someone who…"

"…has seen what we are," they all finished in unison.

"Yes, thank you very much. Now…"

"Wait, wait, please," Lucien said quickly and moved next to Nadine. He felt how tense she was when he took her hand. "Please, spare my sister, she is innocent and she cannot tell anyone about you. Please, we can both serve you."

"Really?" the dark-haired man asked smiling. "You want to serve me, darling? How about you show me how you are planning to do that."

"Enough, Kol," the woman huffed and looked at the forth man who hadn't said anything yet. "Nik? I want to keep him and go to that castle. Why could we not do that?"

"She has a point," the man who had called the others savages stated before the man called Nik managed to reply. "He could be useful to us. And I cannot see the need of killing a mute servant girl. "

Elijah didn't seem pleased at all.

"Finn…"

"Perhaps we should put it to a vote," Nik stated. "All those in favor for letting him live?"

Lucien squished Nadine's hand and looked at the beasts nervously. Rebekah and Finn raised their hand.

"Those who want to gut him?" Kol asked and raised his hand. So did Elijah. "And letting me have the girl," Kol added.

Elijah rolled his eyes, but he didn't say anything. Kol smirked.

"Well, well, it's a tie. What do you say, Nik?"

Lucien swallowed and looked at the man who was holding his life in his hands. He seemed tense and unsure of what to do. Suddenly Nadine let go of Lucien's hand and approached Nik.

"Nadine," Lucien murmured tensely.

Nik was clearly surprised when the girl stepped in front of him. Silently she looked into his eyes and carefully touched his chest above his heart.

"You think that a monster would have a heart?" Nik stated.

She didn't reply in any way, she simply kept looking at him. He was quiet for a while, observing Nadine before glancing at Lucien.

"I believe I would want to try the life of a nobleman."

Lucien nodded eagerly and bowed.

"Yes, my lord, I will be more than happy to teach you everything you need to know."

"Thank you, Nik!" Rebekah cheered and clapped her hands, she was more than excited.

Elijah sighed and raised his hands in surrender.

"Fine then, but do not tell me that I did not warn you."

Kol crossed his arms and frowned.

"I am still keeping the girl, I reserved her."

Nadine moved next to Lucien and glared at Kol.

"No one is keeping anyone," Elijah huffed. "You need to behave, Kol, if we are planning to be noblemen."

"Sure, brother," Kol replied innocently.

Lucien certainly didn't like the way Kol was looking at Nadine, but right now he needed to concentrate on keeping them both alive. Perhaps Count de Martel was a monster, but now he was about to finally meet his match.