Chapter 59

She awoke naked in his arms, with sunlight lingering over them.

He was caressing her bare back, his chest rising and falling gently beneath her head. He looked pensive, and she gave a soft groan as she craned her head up to look at him. "Good morning," she whispered.

He smiled down at her. "Good morning, love. It's still early. I don't hear Hope awake yet."

She peered over him at the clock on the other nightstand. "She'll be up in maybe half an hour. I should get up... it's my turn to make breakfast today."

He pulled her back into him when she tried to leave. "There are five other adults in this house, I'm certain one can take your turn, love," he whispered as he gave her a kiss on the head.

She blushed, even more when he moved to be back on top of her. But there was a snapping sound and her body gave a jolt before sinking down into the mattress. Klaus chuckled and leaned his head onto her shoulder as she looked around in surprise.

"I forgot you'd fallen asleep by the time I realized we'd broken it," he said, holding her neck as he kissed her lips. "Need to get that fixed..."

"Mmm, or we could just leave it like that," she said lazily, hands going to caress down his back. "No point in fixing it if you're just going to break it again."

"Well, love, you're not absolved for blame in this situation, are you? You're just as guilty..."

"No, I'm not..." He kissed down her neck as she finished speaking, making her wiggle a bit beneath him. "Klaus, we should get up."

"Nonsense, let the others sort out their food, it's not necessary for us to help. If they cannot fend for themselves, they have another predicament on their hands, love."

"Is this a test on survival of the fittest, then?"

"Perhaps. It's been five years. We shall see whether their skills have been diminished or not. If they cannot procure a meal without your help, there will be an intervention."

She laughed lightly. "An intervention for your siblings? I'm sure they can feed themselves, but we can't stay in bed for so long."

He groaned as he moved his mouth down her body. "You never quite minded staying in bed all day in the past—"

There was a knock on the door. "Niklaus," came Elijah's voice. "Let that poor woman get some rest."

Beatrix giggled as Klaus groaned again. "Perhaps if you didn't listen in everytime, Elijah—"

"With all due respect, brother, none of us wanted to listen in. Freya cast a Silencing Spell the first minute we all heard you in throes. However, it has since worn off and if mine ears do not deceive me, I would be inclined to assume that you intend another round."

"Why must you speak so proper?" sighed Beatrix as she squirmed out from under Klaus. "We'll be down soon."

Klaus growled lowly as he got up with her. "Bloody Elijah always has to meddle where he doesn't belong..."

"Shh, let's just go down and eat so you're nice and alert for when your daughter wakes up. I'd prefer you're fed and not grumpy when she meets you. She's a bit sensitive and rather shy."

"What did you and Hayley say to her about me? Terrible things, I presume."

Beatrix sighed. "No, we didn't tell her anything bad. Hayley told her that you're a hybrid, just like her. That you're very old, which she understands because of the stories I've told her about my past. She's seven. We haven't given her any gorey details— we can wait until she's older for that."

"Maybe someone disparaged me," he said. "Perhaps that crone, Mary—"

"Shh, no, she's shy with everyone, Klaus, even Mary. We haven't let her hear all those horror stories that are floating around about you. I've put up every protective charm and both Hayley and I have refrained from mentioning your history so that she doesn't get scared. The one thing Hayley conveyed firmly was that you will protect your family, no matter what. You're her fairy tale prince, and now you have a lot to live up to. So be calm. Collected. Gentle. Go easy on her, she's been wanting to meet you for a really long time and this is finally the day she gets to do it. She'll adjust soon enough."

He nodded as he got some fresh clothes on, which had apparently been left for him on the chair. Possibly by Hayley. "Alright... what are some of the... good things she knows?"

"That you're a brilliant artist. That you love music and painting. That you're loyal and strong. She knows that you saved me when I was hurt. That you helped me when I was sick... I refrained from mentioning that it was a mental illness, she wouldn't understand that very well. That you have been there for me many times when I have been sad. She's seen me when I was pretty depressed. She's the sweetest little thing, helped me heal a lot. As long as you approach her casually. Don't push her to speak if she doesn't want to. She'll come around quickly, you'll see."

He came closer and wrapped his arms around her as she fixed her hair. "Thank you," he whispered. "I thanked Hayley last night, for all she's done to raise her. But you have done a lot as well. And you deserve as much gratitude as I can give to you. Balancing a job and pain in order to provide for the both of them... you are an angel."

"I'm a demon with a small little halo that pops out when it wants to," she teased, leaning into him.

"Don't talk down on yourself, love, you're a jewel and you know it," he said, kissing her forehead. "Come on, now, let's get fully cleaned up and go and see what they are thinking of feeding us..."

After they were ready, they came out to the wrap around porch and found that Elijah and Kol had graciously compelled several servants to come serve them pastries and mimosas to start off their day.

"To be honest, this is better than what I expected," said Beatrix as she took a bite out of a small croissant.

"Did you think we'd slave away at the stove?" chuckled Rebekah.

"Oh, certainly. I expected to see you all in aprons, struggling to make pancakes."

Elijah looked up from the newspaper in his hands. "I could have done that. In fact, I was quite willing, but Kol insisted he didn't want to wait."

Kol sighed in exasperation. "It's not that I don't want to wait for a properly cooked meal. I just don't understand why we're still here in the first place. What's the holdup?"

Beatrix raised an eyebrow as she started on her second croissant. "What exactly do you mean?"

"We rescued Nik. We escaped mortal danger. So why are we not on a private jet to Saint-Tropez?" He moved toward Elijah and snatched the newspaper out of his hands. "You can catch up on the last five years when we're on our way— I can assure you, you haven't missed much."

Elijah sighed. "Circumstances have changed. We will leave here soon enough."

"We have our niece to consider," Rebekah pointed out.

"Kol does have a point," Freya said. "We need to put an ocean between us and Marcel Gerard as soon as possible."

"We're not going anywhere today," said Klaus firmly as the servant passed around handing more drinks. "I want one day of peace with my daughter before we uproot her."

Freya looked at him as though she couldn't actually believe he was considering staying instead of fleeing as soon as possible, considering the torture he'd endured. "Any delay is a risk."

Klaus immediately got fiery. "One day," he demanded. "We're in the middle of nowhere, and the house is cloaked thanks to the very underappreciated Heretic in our midst. We weren't followed, and I'm not asking!"

He had raised his voice towards the end, just as the door opened. Hayley came out with Hope, who was clutching her mother's hand tightly.

The siblings all fell silent, and came forward as Hope looked up a bit nervously. Klaus stepped in front of her, and she spoke quietly to him, "Hello..." Her eyes darted all around the porch looking at the faces she'd only ever seen in pictures.

"Hello," said Klaus softly in return.

Hope tugged a bit at Hayley's arm. "Mom, can I go play in the garden?"

"Yeah, sure," said Hayley, caressing her hair as Hope went down the porch stairs and to the garden, where she had her art table set up with some watercolor sets for whenever she decided to try painting.

Klaus looked at Beatrix immediately, and she came forward. "Just go to her in a little bit. She might've felt overwhelmed with all the people."

"She fears me," he muttered as he looked back over his shoulder to where she was running to pick some flowers, spinning around happily.

"She doesn't," Beatrix assured him. "It's alright, Klaus, you're not going to hurt her. Maybe wait until she sits down to paint and go with her."

"We can talk to her," offered Hayley reassuringly. "Just see what she's thinking. She's not scared of you, Klaus, she doesn't know the things that would make her feel that way."

Klaus looked back and saw that Hope had gone to her table now, and was setting up her paints. "No. I will... go to her now."

He walked off, and the other siblings dispersed. Beatrix saw Kol go in, and Freya headed off to the shed holding Keelin. Elijah gestured for Hayley to come with him, and Beatrix and Rebekah were left alone.

"Well, I'd very much prefer to go in and get some wine," said Rebekah, holding out her empty glass. "Join me?"

"Sure," said Beatrix with a smile. She wove her hands to the side to clean up the residue of their breakfast before following Rebekah inside.

They found that Kol had already grabbed one of the servants and was fondling her breasts as he fed from her neck.

"Here you are," chirped Rebekah. "Wherever there are booze and boobs."

Kol looked annoyed. "eah, I came in here to have a quiet bite alone, thank you very much."

Rebekah shrugged as she dug into the hidden cabinet. "Well, go and be alone somewhere else, because I have some thinking to do, and I would like to do it near the expensive wine."

Kol rolled his eyes. "After five years of being trapped in a house together, here we are— trapped in a house together."

Rebekah filled her glass halfway with wine before answering. "Well, at least this one doesn't have imaginary blood." She bit into the hand of the servant and held her wrist above the glass to drip blood in alongside the wine.

Kol wiped his mouth and came closer to Beatrix, patting her shoulder as he passed her and got himself a glass too. "It's not normal. Living in each other's pockets for a thousand years. Paranoia, betrayal, violence, repeat."

"Well, we're undead, so if it's normal you're after, I don't fancy your chances," said Rebekah. "And why the sudden melancholy? Did you expect to break out of the Chambre de Chasse and into a family cured of dysfunction?"

Kol shook his head. "No. I knew perfectly well that that was too much to hope for. When we were in there, it felt like the world had stopped. But it didn't. It kept turning, and Beatrix, Hayley, and Hope continued to live, without us. And especially without Davina." He held up his glass, now filled with wine. "You know, she would have been twenty three today. And I wonder what she would have done with the time. She would have made the world a better place. Meanwhile... we're here, breathing. And what are we doing?"

"Paranoia, betrayal, violence, repeat," murmured Rebekah as she took a small sip. She then looked up. "You've given me an idea. I must speak to Elijah."

She departed, leaving Kol and Beatrix alone.

"I miss her," said Beatrix softly.

"I do, too," answered Kol. "And I can't help but feel terrible knowing it's all my fault. I killed her. I couldn't resist the Ancestors. I should have told you or someone the truth about what was going on, but I kept quiet, and she died. And then, I should have been there to defend her from Freya and Elijah. We can't get her back now, Trix. We'd need some seriously dark magic and that's not something I would encourage anyone to dabble into, not even you."

"We can find a way that doesn't involve dark magic," Beatrix told him. "You two had a real connection. She made you better and she deserves to live again. I want to see you happy. We'll figure something out."

He shook his head. "I don't think it'll be possible. I want to find a way, I do. But I don't know if I want to spend my life searching, just to be disappointed when nothing turns up. They really mucked it up. And it could all come with a catch."

She put her hand on his arm. "Kol, you are free to explore and be free. You don't have to force yourself to stay here or be in a mindset that brings you pain. Davina would have wanted you to be happy. You are brilliant and if there is a way, you will find it, but it won't come to you until you have peace of mind. You have forever to bring her back, even if it takes a while. I believe in you."

Kol half-smiled. "You're the only reason I ever tolerate my siblings, you know? You calm them down. Keep them from being dicks to me. Every bloody time they were cruel to me, you stood up for me, and you have always fought at my side. What would I do without you, Trix?"

"You'd be miserable," she said playfully. "And what would I do without you?"

"You'd be miserable, too," he teased, nudging her. "I think... I will go off on my own. After all, I can't really offer my niece much protection and I'm not exactly the most loved here. I think, in time, I can come back."

"Good," said Beatrix, patting his back. "Whatever you decide, I'll support you. I suppose the next one that needs to make a decision is Bex."

"She wants her little family," chuckled Kol. "She actually likes the idea of kids. I really don't. I mean, the last time I held one without wanting to punt it across the room was when Henrik was born."

Beatrix giggled. "Aw, yes, I remember in Arabia, that woman went into labor and I offered my help—"

"You dragged me with you, I recall—"

"Well, yes, because otherwise you'd have gotten lost somewhere, but I remember you—" she stopped and laughed, "you immediately jumped back when I showed you the baby, and the woman was quite confused, she thought you were startled because of the blood. In reality, you—"

"—couldn't stand the crying," he finished. "Yes, it's one of the most obnoxious noises ever. I'm too impatient to be a parent."

"I thought I would be, too, but helping to raise Marcel and Hope has shown me that I am pretty good at it once I focus. It's easier, of course, since I met the two when they didn't cry so much."

"I can't imagine you having to change diapers by yourself."

"Ah, I can use magic for that, so it wouldn't be very difficult."

"I bet you'd let the kid cry, too, with a Silencing Spell."

Beatrix smirked and shrugged. "The point is, Kol, you and Rebekah are free to do as you please and I hope that you both take that opportunity. You deserve it."

He smiled and finished the rest of his wine. "Thanks, Trix."

She left him alone after that, suspecting he wanted more alone time with his still compelled servant, and occupied herself cleaning the house and humming to herself. Later in the evening, she went out to the back shed, finding Freya preparing some herbal mixture for Keelin, who was still trapped.

"Why hasn't she been let go?" inquired Beatrix. "I can multiply her venom. It'll take more power but it's doable."

Freya shook her head. "This is a necessary evil, not a punishment. She'll be fine."

Keelin scoffed lightly. "Most people who do evil convince themselves it's necessary."

Freya just remained silent and went to put the mixture in the form of paste on the woman's arms, which made her flinch. "Relax. It's for your wounds. You're a wolf. Why aren't you healing?"

Keelin looked up at the two women. "I dated an orthopedic surgeon. One morning, I'm trying to impress her on a hike and I take a spill. Broke my ankle, double compound fracture. And she was all about helping me rehab until the next day, she saw that I was good as new. She freaked. Being a medical anomaly can suck."

Beatrix raised her eyebrows. "Tell me about it. I had to compel way too many nurses in the 1900's to ignore inexplicable things when supernatural patients came in. Did you have a witch slow your healing process?"

Keelin shook her head. "No. I swiped a badge, accessed the path lab. Used my tissue sample to analyze the chemotaxis of my body's enzymes..."

"Oh, wow, you completely rewired your enzymatic motility, then," mused Beatrix. "That's impressive."

Freya looked confused, and Keelin addressed this. "Look, even a monster is still a biological organism. Exposed to the right chemicals, it can be weakened or strengthened, so I devised a treatment to help suppress my werewolf traits. It wasn't magic, it was medicine."

"And that, my lovely Freya, is why Kol was so insistent on me learning Kemiya," said Beatrix. "Magic with chemistry. Forms a very important basis for modern medicine, even though most don't realize that it's actually Arabian Magic."

Freya hummed. "That does give me a bit of an idea..." She shook her head. "I'll ponder on it later."

They both stopped, hearing voices outside. Beatrix smiled. "I think I hear Hope and Klaus..." she moved to Keelin and put her hand on her forehead, murmuring a quick spell to suppress her pain. "I'll return later, alright?"

She left and found that Hope had taken Klaus inside and had planted her entire art folder into his lap for him to observe while she went up to play in her room.

"I see she's shown you her portfolio," said Beatrix as she came in, seeing Klaus was grinning down at the drawings and paintings that his daughter had made.

"She's an art prodigy," he mused, looking up as Rebekah entered the room behind Beatrix.

"She's far better than you ever were," teased Rebekah. "Granted, the bar is very low."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "True art is lost on the feeble-minded. Beatrix seems to be the only one who ever had the same taste in art."

Rebekah shrugged. "Well... Kol wanted me to say goodbye, to the two of you. He'll return, when he's ready."

Klaus sighed. "He always was a selfish git."

"Hey," said Beatrix sternly. "He died twice and was trapped for five years in a Chambre de Chasse."

Rebekah stepped forward and took Klaus's hands. "Nik," she said gently. "I agree with him. I have that same wanderlust. You... do not need me anymore. I know that I'm your favorite sibling, and of course I adore you. But there's space in my heart for something more. I want love. I want a family of my own. And wouldn't it be nice if we could part on happy terms for once? No daggers, no exile. Just so long for now. I'll see you again soon."

Klaus seemed shocked to hear that she was leaving too, but he didn't react as harshly as Beatrix expected him to. He squeezed Rebekah's hands in return and whispered back to her, "You were the only one who never treated me like a misfit. For centuries, my only place was by your side. And now I belong beside my daughter. And I suppose you deserve to find your place in the world as well."

"Thank you," said Rebekah, pulling him into a hug. She then hugged Beatrix, rubbing her back. "I will miss you both very much."

"Take care of yourself, Bex, and tell Kol goodbye, too," said Beatrix. "Once you find yourself ready to settle down, give me a call, alright? I'm pretty sure I can work out some spells to help you have your family."

Rebekah nodded and ruffled her hair before leaving. Klaus pulled Beatrix by the hem of her pants to sit down across from him. "Another typical day," he mused. "Kol off being adventurous. Rebekah pursuing family of her own. Elijah and Hayley, having their fun. And my daughter here, a professional artist already."

Beatrix nudged him with her leg. "She does take after you."

"With some practice and mentoring, I can imagine how good she'll become. She'll be my superior at art, in every way."

"Just be patient when you're teaching her, alright? Don't—"

But they both stopped as he flipped onto a particular drawing of a strange sort of dragon biting its tail. Klaus looked at the next page, then the next, and the next, but the next twenty drawings were all of the same dragon, done in different colors, but mostly in frantic scribbles, as though it came from a vision.

"That looks strangely familiar," mumbled Beatrix. "But I can't remember from where..."

"Dad?"

They both turned to see Hope, who looked scared. "I-I fell asleep," she said softly. "And I had a dream about a bad man..." Klaus got up and went to kneel in front of her, holding her arms. She was shaking. "He was hurting these kids," Hope continued, "and I think... he hurt me, too. I feel dizzy, and my head hurts..."

Her nose began to bleed. "Hayley!" yelled Beatrix as she came forward and pressed her hand gently on her head.

Hayley and Elijah came running, and Hope shivered. "Mom, I'm so cold," she whispered as Hayley knelt before her beside Klaus and hugged her.

"Get her on the couch, now, and call Freya," said Beatrix to Elijah, who nodded and sped away as Klaus picked the girl up and set her down gently on the couch, propping her head up against Hayley's lap. Beatrix took the girl's hands and began to hum, closing her eyes to try and sense what was wrong with her.

"She's never been sick, ever," said Hayley shakily as Elijah brought in Freya.

"This is a magical affliction," Beatrix said, handing Hope's hands to Freya. "The feeling..."

"It's cold," Freya murmured as she took her niece's palms. "It's... hard to explain aside from that."

Hayley looked at Beatrix. "What aren't you saying?"

She hesitated, but spoke. "This... is exactly what it feels like when dark magic is taking over your body," she said quietly. "This is the same empty feeling. I can try and siphon it, to lessen the pain. I think I should be able to take most of it up, I don't think it's a lot..."

But it was. She put her hands on Hope's shoulders and began to siphon, and immediately began to wince. She ignored the obvious shuffling of those around her, wondering if they should stop her.

"Beatrix, stop it," Klaus said after the first twenty seconds when he saw she wouldn't cease wincing. "Stop—"

"No, I'm fine," she answered, but her voice was shaky. She could feel a pain building up in her gut. This magic was far darker than what she'd expected before beginning to siphon.

Hope let out a whimper of discomfort at the feeling of the magic being taken out, and Klaus yanked Beatrix off immediately, causing her to cry out and grab onto her side. Klaus pulled up her other arm and tore back her sleeve, his eyes widening when he saw the blackened veins already spreading down to her fingertips.

"What is this?" he demanded in a deadly whisper. "What's inside of my daughter?"

"I-I don't know," Beatrix said shakily as she tried to catch her breath. "But it's really dark...."

Hayley suddenly reached into her pocket and extracted a small piece of paper. Furrowing her eyebrows, she unfolded it. "It's from Vincent Griffith. He knows what's wrong with Hope— he can cure her. And he said he can cure Beatrix too, if she tried to siphon it..." she then stopped, and looked up at the others. "But we have to go back to New Orleans."