Hello! I'm cinders44 and this is my second TVD fanfic. My original one (Redemption) is on a bit of a hiatus right now so I can focus on this, but please check it out if you want to! Please review with any suggestions you have or any comments in general! I love to hear from you! Thanks so much!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Damon and Stefan throw Elijah's desiccated body on the rough ground of their basement floor. Damon bends down and searches Elijah's pockets for something. After a moment of searching, he finds what he was looking for. "Well, what do we have here? Our little moonstone bar of soap. I'll hold onto this." He says and puts the small clear stone in his pocket.
Elena speaks for the first time since plunging the dagger into Elijah's heart at her family's lake house. " So that's it? I mean, as long we keep the dagger in there, then he stays dead?"
Damon replies. "Pretty much."
"Okay, then. Goodnight." She says and turns to walk out of the room. Damon and Stefan follow her when she suddenly turns around. "You know, you guys want me to fight? Fine, I'll fight. But if we're going to do this, you can't keep anything from me anymore. From this moment on, we're doing it my way."
Damon and Stefan share an apprehensive look. "Seems fair." Damon begrudgingly says.
Elena turns to Stefan for his response and after a second, he says "Okay."
"Okay." Elena turns and walks upstairs, leaving the two brothers alone with Elijah's body.
"You know what we have to do, Stefan." Damon says once Elena is out of earshot. He turns to Stefan with a hard look on his face, as if this statement was something he had been both avoiding saying and what he wanted to say most in the world. "Its the only way, now."
Stefan understands exactly what his brother is saying without any specifics. "I've been thinking the same thing lately. Elena's going to be pissed. Why didn't we just call her six months ago?"
Damon sighs. "I don't know, brother. But, we can't put this off anymore. She might be able to help. If not, Elena still needs to at least meet our sister."
I walk into the only bar in a fifty mile radius. I sit down at the bar and order a drink. I look around the bar for my meal. There is a group of twenty-something girls, with one wearing a large puffy pink veil and the rest wearing sashes that say either "Bridesmaid" or "Maid of Honor", clearly a bachelorette party. There is a group of truckers playing pool. There is one creepy guy with thinning hair at the end of the bar who is already eyeing me and making me uncomfortable. There are two people sitting in the booth in the corner, probably on a blind date. And, besides the few employees, that is the end of the clientele of this bar. I decide on the bikers. It's always fun to watch big, bulky guys realize they're not stronger than a five foot six woman.
My drink comes and I down it in one gulp. I am about to get up when my phone rings. It's an unknown number, so I press "Accept."
"Hello?" I say as I sit back down.
"Grace?" A very familiar voice answers. "Is that you?"
"What the hell, Damon? How did you get this number?" I stand up and start walking out of the bar. I notice out of the corner of my eye that the creepy guy from the bar is following me. I internally roll my eyes at that.
"It's really you. Why does Elijah have your number, sis?" Damon doesn't sound angry, just mystified.
"That is none of your business. Why are you calling me?"
"We need your help, Grace." Damon sounds like this pains him to admit, which isn't surprising. Damon has never once admitting he needed anyone's help, at least not to my knowledge.
"Who's we, Damon?" I ask.
"Stefan and I are in a bit of a sticky situation."
I sigh. "What happened? Is it Katherine, Ripper Stefan, or Klaus?"
"What?" Damon sounds shocked, which means I'm probably right about what the "sticky situation" is.
"Well, you would only call me for a few things. Least likely, you finally figured out Katherine was never in that tomb, and she's in love with Stefan. And now she's trying to get Stefan by ruining your lives because that is what she thinks "flirting" is. More likely, Stefan turned off his humanity and you need my help to get him to stop being a dick murderer. However, most likely, since you mentioned Elijah, you pissed off an Original and the Original who is most likely to get pissed off is Klaus, so... How did I do, brother."
"It's Klaus." He says after a few seconds.
I pinch the bridge of my nose to try to stop the Klaus-induced headache I can already feel coming on. "Where are you?"
"Home."
"Of course you are. Is Klaus there?" I ask. I cannot decide what I want the answer to be.
"Not yet, but he's coming. And we need your help." Damon sounds truly scared of Klaus. Nik must be pretty pissed. Like, hybrid-curse level pissed.
"I'm on my way. I'll be there tomorrow. You're lucky I'm in Tennessee." This is honestly one of the last things I wanted to be doing. It was the perfect storm of shit. My brothers, who I hadn't seen together at the same time since the 90s. Mystic Falls, my hometown that I honestly have never really liked being in. And Niklaus Mikaelson. He was the biggest problem. I knew myself well and I knew I was running into a situation where I will probably be depressed for the next year, at least. Probably five. Maybe ten. "See you soon, brother. Have my room ready, please. I might get in late tomorrow night."
I hang up and start to walk to the car. I had a long drive ahead of me. I hear someone come up behind me. Next thing I know, there's a knife at my throat and the creepy guy from the bar is behind me. "If you scream, I'll kill you."
Before he knows what's happened, I pull him in a spin over my shoulder and my teeth have dug into his neck.
I pull into the Salvatore Boarding House driveway around 10 the next morning. I had driven until about 2 am the night before, and then slept for a few hours in the backseat. I wasn't too tired, a perk of being a vampire. I take a deep breath and get out of the car. I hadn't been there in almost twenty years. It was strange being back.
I open the door and call out. "Damon? Stefan?" I try to step into the house, but I can't. I'm hit by an invisible brick wall, the wall that shows that a vampire can't enter a house. "Seriously?" I yell out. "Thanks for the warning guys!"
I go back to my car and drive into town. I check the Grill, but no Damon. I try to think of other places they might be. Stefan might have enrolled in high school again, I guess. I think. It's a pretty tentative lead, but I drive to the school anyway. If Stefan had come back to make a home for a few years, he would have started as early as he could, so saying he's high school age makes sense. I ask someone where the front office is and find the receptionist. "Hello." I say politely. "Is there a Stefan Salvatore enrolled here?"
She doesn't even look up at me. "I can't give out that information."
"Excuse me, I don't think you heard me." I say, getting her to look me in the eye. "Is there a Stefan Salvatore enrolled here?"
"Yes." She says blankly.
"Good. Now give me his class schedule." She clicks a few buttons on her computer and then hands me Stefan's schedule. I look at his classes and see that he has history with a Mr. Saltzman in five minutes. I ask the receptionist for directions to the classroom and compel her to forget me. About a minute later, I turn a corner and see Stefan walking into a classroom with a skinny brunette girl. I roll my eyes at that. Stefan has such a type. And it's girls who look like Katherine.
"Grace?" I hear an unfamiliar voice behind me. I turn to see a man who is about to walk into the classroom staring at me. He is definitely the teacher. Even if the briefcase hadn't given it away.
"Um, yes? Do I know you?" I ask.
"Oh, no." He seems flustered. Like he made some mistake. "You don't, love. I'm a friend of your brothers, Alaric Saltzman." He says and offers me his hand. I shake it and recognize that handshake right away. He winks quickly and walks into the classroom. I don't walk into the classroom with him. I run around until I find a bathroom. I run into a stall and quickly close the door. I sit down and put my hands between my knees. The first time I had felt that handshake was almost 90 years earlier...
Chicago, 1922
My heals made a clicking noise while I walked towards Gloria's bar. I saw who I was looking for getting out of a car. He started walking towards the entrance of the speakeasy and I followed a few feet behind. He showed the guard who he was, and the door opens. I followed in his footsteps, careful not to let him see me. I might have been pissed at my brothers, but I made an effort to make sure I checked up on them every once in a while. And what I had noticed right away was that Stefan was off the deep end. Worse than he'd ever been. I'd heard horror stories about him. Stories so unbelievably horrifying they sounded like they were old wives tales you tell to your children around a campfire. He'd earned himself quite a few nicknames. My personal favorite was the Ripper of Monterray.
I heard music and laughter coming from inside and walked in to see a full band playing on a stage, couples twirling around a dance floor, and booths and tables set up throughout. I didn't see Stefan anymore, so I went to get a drink at the bar. At the bar, I saw a man get up and turn around. I immediately couldn't stop staring. He was so handsome, with dark blonde wavy hair gelled back and deep blue eyes. He saw me staring and I quickly blushed and walked away. I went up to the bar and ordered a drink. Prohibition had made it so easy to get alcohol. And had made it so much more fun. The mysterious man was running through my mind as I took a seat.
"This one's on me." A voice from behind me said and I saw a hand put down money on the counter and the bartender picked it up. I turned around to see the mysterious benefactor of my liquor and saw the man from before who had so captured my attention.
"Thank you." I said. "To what do I owe the pleasure of a man such as yourself buying me a drink?"
He smiled and my heart took off. "I was hoping you would honor me with a dance." He offered me his hand and I took it.
"You're very chivalrous, my good sir." I said as we walk to the dance floor. "Might I know your name?"
"Niklaus Mikaelson." He said with a mischievous glint in his eye as he puts one hand on my waist and the other grabs my hand. After a minute he asked, "Will I get your name?"
I laughed. "If you earn it." When the song ended, I broke out of Niklaus' arms. "This was lovely. Thank you for the dance, Niklaus." I walked away and leave him on the dance floor. Before I got too far, I feel someone gently grab my arm.
"Please tell me your name." Niklaus pleaded when I turn around.
"Find me at the end of the night and I might tell you." I smiled and walked away. I went into the room I saw Stefan go into and saw him kissing some blonde girl over a dancer who was bleeding out of both sides of her neck.
"Hello, Stefan." I said to get his attention. "Whose this?"
"Grace?" He said as he pulled away from the girl but does not get out of the booth.
The girl just laughed. "Whose this, Mr. Salvatore? A jealous lover?"
I stared the girl down. "Grace Salvatore, his sister." Her expression does not change.
Suddenly, Niklaus was in the room with us. "So that's your name, love. I see you have met my sister, Rebekah." He turned to his sister and my brother. "So this is the famous Stefan Salvatore I've been hearing so much about. You're right, he does have funny hair." I chuckled under my breath and Nik turned to me with a small smile on his face for a second before he wiped it off.
Then, Stefan made a show of masculinity and took an aggressive step towards Niklaus.
Rebekah intervened. "Stefan, don't. He'll kill you. Nik's a lot stronger than he looks."
"Nik, huh?" I said to him. Nik just shruged.
Stefan spoke up in that voice he only gets when his humanity is off. "What are you doing here, Gracie?"
My blood boiled. "I will kill you if you call me that one more time. I'm here to check up on my brother. Can't I show a little familial concern?"
"I don't care about you. Stop bothering me and my date." At this, even Rebekah took a step away from him.
"That's very rude to say to family, Stefan." Rebekah said. I was touched at that somewhat kind statement from a stranger. We shared a nod and then turn back to Stefan.
"I forgot how rude you are when you are being a ripper." I say. "All I wanted was to check to make sure you weren't dying or something. But, now I don't care about you, either." As I said those words, I knew they were not true, but Stefan was too much a dick for me to be rational.
"Good riddance." Stefan said through his teeth.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Nik was pissed at Stefan and about to do something, but I beat him to it. I vamp-sped up to Stefan and slammed his head on the table as hard as I could. Stefan fell to the ground, unconscious with blood pouring out of his head. "That's better." I said and then walked out of room and out of the bar.
I heard the door open behind me as I start to walk down the street. "Grace!" Nik calls.
I turn around and face him. "What, Nik?" I snapped as tears streamed down my face. "I'm sorry. That was rude. I'm just..."
Nik looked at me full of understanding. "I know. There's nothing worse than when family rejects you."
I just nodded, not trusting my voice.
"Please, come back here tomorrow. I'll make sure Stefan isn't rude to you."
"Why do you want me to come back?" I asked after a few moments.
"Well, anyone who can handle herself that well around such an awful family is someone I want to get to know."
I smiled and said, "Maybe."
He offered me a hand and I took it. He squeezed my hand reassuringly twice, and I knew he did that so I would look in his eyes and see that I was not alone.
Back in the bathroom stall, I'm caught up in all the memories I have of Nik, both good and bad. In my mind, I'm back in Gloria's bar twirling on the dance floor in his strong arms. I take out my phone and try calling Elijah. No answer, again. I stay in the stall for a long time, getting over the sudden emotional onslaught. I had known I would see Nik again, but I guess I'd pushed the reaction I would have out of my mind. I had refused to think about it, and now it's biting me in the ass.
When I finally get out, I check my hair and makeup in the mirror, walk out of the bathroom, and try not to hyperventilate as I walk towards the history classroom. I hear the bell ring as I turn the last corner. The students file out of the classroom, but no Stefan. I walk into the classroom and heard him talking to the teacher and two girls. "...is now in her name so no vampires can get in. It's a safe house for Elena."
My jaw drops to the floor when I see the girl standing next to Stefan. It's Katherine Pierce. Without thinking, I have her pinned against the wall within a second. "What the hell, Katherine?" I spit through my teeth. Katherine is doing a good job of pretending to be hurt by being pinned against the wall.
"Grace!" Stefan is behind me pulling me away. I let him pull me back and drop Katherine to the floor. "That's not Katherine!"
"What?" I ask, mystified. "A human doppelganger?" I inadvertently turn to 'Alaric' and know at once the reason he was in Mystic Falls. And the reason I was. I groan and put my head in my hands. I am immediately assaulted by a violent pain in my head. I scream out in pain and fall to the ground. I know this was magic, but all my head can think about is the pain and screaming.
"Bonnie, stop! STOP! STOP!" Stefan shouts. The pain recedes until it is gone.
"What is going on, Stefan?" The girl I thought was Katherine says. Stefan doesn't look at her. He bends down to the floor so he's on my eye level. We are staring into each others eye's. It's been so long since I'd seen him.
We both break into huge grins and start laughing. "I'm sorry I've been MIA for the past decade, Stef."
"I'm sorry I haven't tried to find you, Grace." We stop laughing and get up. I go right into his arms and hug him.
"Stefan, who is this?" The other girl asks.
Stefan takes a deep breath and says, "Elena, Bonnie, Ric, this is my sister, Grace."
