Elena sat on the cave's floor as she watched her family carve their names into the rocky wall. Mikeal went first, carving his name before carving Esther's and Henrik's. The carving knife then went to Finn, who passed it to Elijah, who passed it to Klaus, who passed it to Kol.
When Rebekah tried to get the carving knife, she was stopped by Mikael.
"Wielding a blade is a man's duty," Mikael said sternly.
Elena quickly made her way to Rebekah, leading her away before she could do anything that could get her in trouble.
"We shall carve our name when no one is watching,"
Elena's voice came out so quiet that Rebekah almost missed it. A smile appeared on Rebekah's face as she nodded her head.
That night, Henrik and Niklaus didn't go out to see the wolves. In fact, they haven't snuck out since the full moon 4 months ago. She wondered why they had stopped going to see the wolves so often.
The night was a cold one, which was to be expected since it was winter.
Elena never liked the cold, it always reminded her of death.
She wondered if the feeling was connected to the snowy day that Mikael found her. That day death had surrounded her, and according to the boy, it was her fault.
As Elena laid down, looking at the top of the cave, sadness filled her.
In a week, Lilith and Noah were both leaving the village.
Lilith would be giving birth in less than a month, so she wanted to leave as soon as possible.
She wondered if Lilith would go through with her plan to fake her baby's death.
She knows she should tell Noah of Lilith's plans, but telling Noah meant betraying Lilith.
That's something she could never do.
No matter what happened, she refused to betray Lilith.
Slowly, her thoughts began to fade away as she slipped into a peaceful sleep.
Mikael was the one to wake Elena up in the morning. She must've slept for a long period of time because the rest of her family were no longer in the cave.
"You have not gone hunting in quite some time,"
Elena looked up at Mikael, who wore a smile that didn't meet his eyes.
It was Mikael's way of inviting her to join him.
"I thought wielding a blade was a man's burden,"
His eyes softened for a moment as he regarded her comment.
"Rebekah isn't as strong as you. She would get hurt,"
"That is where you are wrong, Father,"
A series of emotions flashed on Mikael's face, lingering on one that didn't quite make sense to Elena. Before anything else could be said, Mikael stormed off.
She wondered what could have caused her father to react in such a way. Storming off was rather normal for Mikael, but seeing his emotions was an oddity.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed another presence in the cave until she felt herself being lifted and spun around. A giggle escaped her lips as she was spun around.
"Marcus!"
She quickly embraced him in a hug.
"The night was a beautiful one, you would've loved seeing it,"
A smile appeared on her face as she looked into his eyes. There was always a twinkle in his eyes when he would talk to her. She wished she could get lost in his eyes forever, that fate seemed better than death itself.
"Is it not taboo for you to be in this cave?"
"Perhaps it is, but not even that could stop me from being near you,"
"Is that so?"
"Is my being here not proof enough?"
"Let's get out of here, I have been in this cave long enough,"
Marcus gives her a curious look before following her out of the cave.
"You know, the day you were born is coming up,"
A frown made its way on her face, she didn't know exactly when she was born. The day Mikael found her was the day they went by. The day she had taken two lives.
"Why the long face?"
Elena quickly replaced her frown with a smile.
"It's nothing,"
"I have something to tell you,"
Elena looked up at him, confused at the sad look on his face.
"Is something wrong?"
"Marcus!"
Elena and Marcus pause, they hadn't even realized they were back in the village. A boy quickly approached them. His hair was blond, and he appeared to be around Elijah's age.
"The alpha requested your presence,"
Marcus's grip tightens around Elena's hand before he let it go.
"Let's do something special on the day you were born,"
He gave her a reassuring smile before rushing off with the blond-haired boy.
Elena sighed as she walked towards Lilith's family home.
She knocked on the door once, then twice, and on the third time, she heard Lilith's mother yell at Lilith to see who was at the door.
Elena's mouth curled in distaste, Lilith's parents were horrible people.
"Elena?"
Lilith looks at Elena curiously, it had been a while since Elena visited Lilith in the morning.
"Well, who is it?" Lilith's mother yelled.
"No one!" Lilith yelled back before stepping outside.
"I want you to reconsider faking your ba-"
Lilith's hand quickly covered Elena's mouth.
"It is my decision, not yours,"
Elena moves Lilith's hand away from her face, watching as Lilith gave her an annoyed look.
They both knew that Elena was physically stronger than Lilith, but Lilith didn't like the idea of anyone being stronger than her.
"It is the wrong decision, I'm sure of it,"
"Elena, if you ever cross me-"
"There is nothing you can do to harm me, Lilith. Your threats are meaningless,"
A look of shock appeared on Lilith's face before a mischievous look replaced it.
"Is that so?"
Before Elena could respond, Lilith went into her house and shut the door in Elena's face. Elena stood there for a moment before looking up at the sky.
She didn't realize how late it had gotten.
With one last look at Lilith's house, she headed back home.
As soon as Elena entered the house she knew something was wrong. It was eerily silent, and her siblings were nowhere to be found.
She searched room after room until finally, she opened the door to Kol, Niklaus, and Elijah's room.
The first thing she noticed was her siblings, who wore a look of worry and fear. Then her eyes went to the floor, where droplets of blood had been splattered. Ever so slowly, her eyes followed the blood droplets, dreading the next thing she knew she would see.
Her stomach churned at the sight of Niklaus, who had been beaten so badly that he could barely move, let alone speak. His clothes were soaked in his own blood, and his skin was so red that she couldn't tell where the blood ended and his skin began.
Finn noticed the horror in Elena's eyes and let out a sigh.
"He will be fine, he's had worse done to him,"
Finn had said that, and yet he sounded like he didn't even believe the words coming out of his mouth.
"How long?"
How long has this been going on?
Elena looked around the room, waiting for an answer.
All she got in response was sad looks from her siblings. They didn't have to tell her when the beatings had started to get worse.
It was clear that it started after Elena had intervened that one night.
It was all her fault.
She cursed herself for being so blind to all of the signs.
If only she had been home more often...
she should have known this was happening.
"There is nothing you can do, do not torture yourself by thinking you could change this,"
She briefly wondered if Finn's words were true.
If it was true, it was a truth she just couldn't accept.
The next day, she overheard an argument between Rebekah and Elijah. She could only hear bits and pieces, but that's all she needed to connect the dots.
Rebekah had attempted to kill Mikael that night, only to be stopped by Elijah.
She didn't blame Rebekah because she had thought of doing the same thing.
The truth was if Mikael were dead Niklaus wouldn't have to endure this torture.
The only problem was that Mikael was her father, whom she loved, she could never bring herself to harm him.
She imagined it to be the same for the rest of her family.
It was an impossible situation her family was in. Fear ruled them, and there was little she could do about it.