The Unknown Variable

Revelation

WARNING *Mentions of Child Abuse and Selling of a minor*

17th March 1850

Niklaus walked carefully through the quiet halls that lay before him. He had been looking for a temporary home for Damon and him for a short while now. It seems he had stumbled across the perfect location seemingly on accident.

He had immediately called for his witches to lay the groundwork of protection spells throughout the small cabin. No one but Damon or he would be able to come here unless invited and shown the path.

Niklaus will admit he had been a bit lax in the search for a place as of late but he quickly rectified that. Ever since the storm that had caused Damon to seek sanctuary with him, he had been sure that the boy could be introduced to the family sooner rather than later.

He had quickly overridden that thought after Damon had retreated into himself when in the same room with Giuseppe.

Truthfully, Niklaus could not blame him, he would have and did in fact do the same whenever he was around Mikael. However, it solidified his decision to take Damon from the boarding house and bring him to a place he could feel safe in as he grew to trust Niklaus.

What little trust had developed the night of the storm was not enough. The night after the event he had gone to speak to a townsman with Damon and...he had never seen the boy go as still and silent as he had in that moment. He prayed he would never see him behave in such a way ever again.

Needless to say, after Damon was put to bed that night, Niklaus had gone back to speak to the one Damon had been hesitant about. Anger, unlike anything he had felt before surged through his veins at the answers he had received.

The man had not lived longer than it took to give him answers to Damon's past. Niklaus had not liked the news he had received and it took all his self-control not to rip Giuseppe Salvatore's throat out where he stood.

Mikael might have been a monster, but he had never sold off one of his children for others to use at their whim. Sadly, executing a major contributor to the town would draw the attention of Mikael. Thus, Damon's life would be in grave danger as soon as Mikael learned of his connection to Niklaus.

However, Niklaus didn't need to kill him to cause irreparable harm. After all, there were many things he could do to harm Giuseppe without putting him in the ground.

As a bonus, it was very unlikely any of these other methods would draw Mikael's attention immediately. Niklaus was fuming, struggling to control the anger that bubbled underneath the surface of his skin. After having known Damon for a few months, Niklaus could say without a doubt he was one of the purest humans he had met.

To find out that he was being harmed by the ones who were supposed to be protecting him filled him to the brim with a wave of scorching anger, unlike anything he had ever felt before.

His blood felt as if it was on fire as if molten lava was running through his veins. For the first time in a while, he wanted to scream, throw things at the wall, and tear the world apart piece by piece until it made sense again. More than anything he wanted to secret Damon away to a place where the two of them could just be together for a while.

A place where Niklaus could show Damon that everything was not as bad as it seemed and that he could trust Niklaus to protect him.

Now though as Niklaus walked through the cabin he had found, he was more certain than ever he had found exactly what he had been looking for. It was secluded enough that Damon and he could have privacy so as to not have to worry about having many visitors.