Grace gasped when she saw his eyes opened. A minute earlier she thought he was dead, a freaking dagger stuck out from his chest! She held the bloody item in her hand and stared from it back to Elijah.

All of a sudden Elijah moved upwards and grabbed her hand. Involuntary he touched her way too hard, Grace prayed that he wouldn't crush some bones. She was too afraid to even scream or make any sound.

"Grace."

Elijah whispered with his eyes wide open and then, Grace's vision changed, suddenly, she didn't see the grey, wet stones of the cellar anymore. In front of her was huge room, dimly lit by candles and fire. Around her was a mass of people in ancient looking clothing. Judging by the style, it was from the 14th to 15th century in England.

But Grace wasn't part of the mass surrounding her, it was like she was an observer looking at it from an outside perspective. She knew that she was still physically in the Salvatore cellar, but what happened right in front of her was something completely else.

What confused her even more was that Elijah entered the room, but not in the suited up way she knew him. He wore fitting leather clothing, those of a noble man, and wore his hair long, it nearly touched his broad shoulders. In contrary to Grace, he seemed to be part of the mass. He chatted with the people and whispered something into another man's ear. Then, his eyes directly stared into Grace. Could he see her here? Medieval-Elijah, still medieval, but not far from a shifting into the upcoming Renaissance-style, she noticed, was walking towards her and Grace's eyes widened. She had no clue what to do. But those worries puffed into thin air when he walked right through her. Confused, Grace turned around and came face to face with an even bigger shock. Elijah hadn't looked at Grace, he had focused on Elena. Or better said, Elena in a damn gorgeous period dress.

But with this realization hit Grace. If Elijah couldn't see her here...this was a memory. Set back in the time Grace had guessed from looking at the setting and the clothing. But why was Elena here? Grace stepped closer to listen into the conversation. The girl looked exactly like her sister, but it surely wasn't her. The way she spoke and carried herself, with a hidden overwhelming self confidence and a mask of shyness differed completely from Elena, the honest and brave little hero.

Another man joined the trio, and the girl's eyes widened at his sight. He was blonde with blueish-green eyes, Grace couldn't really see it from the place she stood. Elijah and him differed slightly from their shape, Elijah was much stronger built, but still they had this odd similarity that only brothers seemed to have. Still, there was something about this guy that made Grace uncomfortable.

"Niklaus, this is Katerina."

Elijah said smiling and Grace frowned. Katerina...so she was right, this definitely wasn't her sister. But before Grace could think more about it, she was ripped out of the memory and was back into the cold cellar. She felt a bit dizzy, but focused back quickly to a frightened looking Elijah.

Grace rushed back over to him when he let go of her hand and lightly shook him when his head sunk back onto the floor.

"Elijah, it's me, Grace. Please, you have to wake up."

For a moment, there was an eerie silence and then he turned around, as if he was trying to get a hold of her. He breathed heavily and with horror, Grace heard a crushing sound, like his bones were snapping back into place.

Then, he came to his feet with a way too quickly to be human, but it still was an abrupt, strange movement.

"I can't...I can't breathe...What is happening to me?"

He gasped and fell back onto his knees. Grace put her fright away and tried to steady him, but he rushed back from her to the door, but he stopped suddenly, like if he crashed into an imaginary wall. Again Grace tried to get to him, she wrapped her arms around his shaking body. His weight was on her and she nearly fell down, but her stubborn will power kept her going.

"I can't be in this house...get me out of here!"

His voice still came out in hard, unsteady breath and Grace obeyed. She kept walking and somehow got him up the stairs. Grace was relieved when she saw that the door leading outside wasn't far from the cellar and she hurried to get the door open. Elijah rushed away from her and out of the house where he stopped and took deep, quick breaths in to calm his aching lungs.

His back faced her when Grace also stepped outside. She carefully touched his shoulder so she could check if he was alright. He turned around and looked down to her with a hungry expression on his face.

It was hard for Elijah to resist the urge and drink from her here and now. Her heart was beating so fast, her delicate neck was exposed by the t-shirt with the low cleavage she wore. He just had to brush her hair away and lean in to...

...but she was the one that saved him. She freed him from the misery of laying in cellar with a dagger in his heart. The Salvatores and Elena would pay for this, but first of all, he had to take care of the beautiful woman that stood in front of him.

His gaze softened and he reached for her face with his hand, cupped her cheek and gently stroke her cheekbone with his thumb. She let it happen and closed her eyes for a second, before she opened them and looked into Elijah's eyes intensely. A strange, differing urge from his bloodlust came up in Elijah, but he had to show restraint. Not now.

"Thank you, Grace."

When she broke the eye contact and looked down, she then noticed how disheveled his appearance was. His suit looked burned, his skin still had this slight touch of grey and his hair decently wasn't in its usually neat form.

"I want an explanation. But we need to get away from here before the Salvatores hear us."

His upper lip lifted slightly in anger when he spoke their name. So she was right, the Salvatores were responsible for his...state. She sneaked back inside and sent a prayer when she found her car keys on a shelf near the door.

But where should she go? Going home was way too obvious. They would find her there. Right now she wanted nothing more than to get out of this town, but her thoughts wandered to her siblings. They surely both knew about all these strange events, that's why they behaved so strange towards her. But she had to get them out of here and flee. One thing after another. They both didn't seem to be in instant danger, but Elijah and her were.

Together with Elijah she got into the car and she quickly sped off, hoping the brothers hadn't heard the engine of the car.

"Drive to the Lockwood estate, we'll be save there."

Grace frowned but nodded. It wasn't a long drive and Grace needed to sort through her thoughts before she could ask any questions. She came to a halt in front of the estate. Elijah looked at her with a wondering gaze.

"They compelled you to forget, didn't they?"

The oldest Gilbert turned to look at him, confusion written all over her face. Maybe it was a fault to free him, he could be dangerous, too.

"What do you mean by compelled?"

She had remembered the word from the conversation she eavesdropped on earlier.

"I already told you about everything after the dinner party. They forced you to forget it."

Grace shook her head, again there was this headache. These visions from the last days and now what Elijah told her, it was too much for her to bear.

"You left town after the dinner party...but...I had these visions of you. One were you stood on a dark street in front of me, then another one where you told me that you wouldn't hurt me..."

Now it was Elijah who frowned. That wasn't possible. She didn't wear vervain on her and she was human. But he already had known that there was something special about her, maybe it was her close relation to the doppelgänger.

"Grace, I can restore your memory. But I need to ask a favor of you first, I know I'm not in the position to ask for anything but..."

He let his words fade out.

"What favor?"

Grace asked, a bit more calm. Her pulse slowed a bit when she finally could grow used to the situation. She already feared that she was going to have a heart attack.

"Do you trust me?"

Her common sense screamed no, but her heart told a different story. She looked into his warm, chocolate eyes and nodded. A smile twitched on the corners of his lips. He took her hand and carefully twisted it so the sensitive, pale skin of her inner forearm faced upwards. Elijah looked at her to check if she was still trusting him. She had no clue what he was about to do, but her pulse raised again and her breath hitched when he lifted her hand and led it to his mouth. He leaned in and his lips touched the sensitive skin where her veins were shimmering blue. His tongue darted out shortly and Grace gasped before she felt a stinging pain in her wirst. She looked at him breathing heavily. His eyes had changed, they were nearly black with a hint of red and veins pulsated around them. The pain was gone shortly after and his lips sucked on her skin. Grace couldn't really think straight, the strange, tingling sensation in her stomach had replaced the pain and she felt so warm and protected even though she deep inside her knew how wrong this situation actually was. But it didn't feel wrong. She felt so strongly connected with Elijah as he fed from her blood. Her eyes closed and her head sank against his shoulder, to which he immediately wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. A slight groan escaped his lips.

It took a lot of Elijah's will to rip away from her. She tasted so sweet and delicate, even better than he imagined. This moment had been so intense and intimate because she was willingly offering him her blood. Their bond was stronger than ever, it shifted from a carefree flirt with sparking emotion to the next level.

He held her close and stroked her hair while they both could process what had happened. Strength flew through Elijah, while Grace felt lightheaded. But not in a bed way.

"What is wrong with me? Am I crazy?"

Grace whispered after a while. Her hands had clenched on Elijah's burnt clothing. He lifted his head and forced her to look at him.

"You are not crazy, Grace. I promise, you'll understand soon...but removing the compulsion will hurt. I can do it, or simply explain what happened again."

She thought for a moment but shook her head.

"No, I want to see for myself. I don't want to be manipulated or messed with my mind."

Elijah nodded, but looked at her with worry. He placed his hand on her cheek again and closed his eyes. She opened her mind to him and she roamed through it, respecting her privacy as much as he could. He found the changed memories and did his best to remove it. A sound of pain escaped her lips and it broke his heart. The Salvatores made him break his promise that he would never hurt her. Another reason to simply kill them. It was a pity that he still needed them to keep Elena in check.

It took him nearly ten minute to restore everything and to put it right. When they both opened their eyes, tears fell from Grace's eyes and she panted, the pain slowly disappearing. Instinctively, she rushed away from Elijah, only to be stopped by the car's door in her back. Her eyes were wide and quickly got out of the car. Elijah was in front of her within the blink of a second, afraid that she would try to run. But she just shook her head disappointed. That intimacy, the feeling of trust was gone.

"I don't want to run, Elijah. I just can't bear seeing you right now. But I guess I have no choice, huh?"

He sighed and walked to the Lockwood mansion without saying another word. While he knocked, he looked at Grace standing beside him. Every possible emotion was on her face, which was unusual for her. She wasn't the person that could be read like a book. But she was too shaken to keep it under the surface right now.

Carol opened with a surprised look on her face.

"Grace, Elijah! What are you doing here? Um...What happened?"

She eyed Elijah's disheveled state up and down to which he rolled his eyes.

"I've had a bit of an incident, Carol and I was hoping you could help."

The mayor refused at first, apologizing because she was on her way to a meeting. But Elijah stepped forward and compelled her to let them in. Grace sighed, feeling bad for Carol. She now knew how it felt being so open and powerless against these creatures.

She sat down on one of the comfy chairs while Elijah changed into one of Carol's husbands suits. It got her time to think about everything. Elijah, Caroline and the Salvatores were vampires. Jeremy knew, too. Her sister was a doppelgänger, the key figure into breaking Klaus' hybrid curse. The curse would be broken which meant her sister had to die, so Elijah could kill this Klaus person with the help of Bonnie. That wouldn't happen.

"Have you compelled me once, too?"

Grace asked immediately when Elijah came back down the stairs. He looked better, the suit wasn't tailored for him of course, but it fitted and his hair was neatly combed. Again he looked like the historian she met at that meeting...what a long time ago that felt right now.

"No. I would never, Grace."

"Why?"

She shot the snarky question, being beyond angry, feeling so betrayed and used.

"Because you're precious to me...I promised to never hurt you and I vow to protect you at all cost."

Elijah admitted. At first he had hated himself for going too far. He had taken a liking into this girl, even though he at first only used her to get to Elena.

"You already did hurt me. You can cross that out from your noble list of do-goodies. I can't believe that you see anything more in me than a weak spot on my sisters list of loved ones. From the beginning on you used me to get to her."

She paced around the room, trying to hold the tears back. Being angry and disappointed wasn't a good mixture, it made her whiny.

"You're right. At first I used you. But then, it changed. I got to know you and you're so much more...I couldn't resist you."

It was hard for him to say that, he was never good at saying how he felt. He was when he was human, but that part of him died a thousand years ago.

"That doesn't make anything better. Can you imagine how betrayed I feel, Elijah? I had hope, I thought you were a good man and now...you're the one that wants my sister sacrificed."

The air was getting so thick in here, she stormed out of the house and into the garden. Elijah followed her but kept his distance, respecting that she needed her space. But she calmed quickly and decided to let him walk beside her. She needed more answers.

"I found a way to spare the doppelgänger without becoming a vampire."

Surprise washed over her and she spared him a glance. He really tried to save her sister.

"Did you offer this to...what was her name?...Katerina, too?"

Jealously was obvious in her voice and she could've slapped herself. In his memory she saw the way he looked at her.

"Katerina Petrova, or Katherine Pierce as she calls herself now, is a story I will tell you some time else. But still, I hope you'll never meet this person."

He told her more details about the curse and how he planned to kill his own brother. It stroke her odd that he was a person that could do that, but she didn't care, her priority was to save Elena. They walked side by side through the garden while he talked, it was obvious that he kept himself hard from convincing her that he really cared for her, but Grace wouldn't hear it now and he let it be.

When it got colder and the sun started to set, Elijah got out of his suit jacket and placed it around her shoulders. She shot him a glare, but thanked him. He let her back inside and fixed them a glass of red wine he found in the kitchen.

Grace sighed and kicked her shoes off before she sat down on the sofa and drowned the wine. It was really good.

"Promise me to not touch Elena and her weirdo-boyfriends, please. They just tried to protect my sister, they didn't knew that it was a dumb move."

The oldest Gilbert had figured that the brothers really cared about her sister, even if they were stupid enough to literally kill their best ally.

Elijah sighed.

"Grace, they tried to kill me. I can't trust them anymore."

She looked up to him leaning on the chimney.

"You of all people should understand. I can't trust you anymore either. You betrayed me, too, but still I have to cope with the situation and believe what you're saying. And even if that's not enough for you, you owe me. I rescued you and now I want you to spare the Salvatores in return."

They shared another intense gaze before Elijah sipped on his wine and nodded. Grace lightly smiled satisfied.

"You told me you're one of the first vampires...how old are you exactly?"

He chuckled amused.

"I actually don't know the exact number, it gets lost over the years...But I was born over a thousand years ago."

Grace nearly chocked on her wine when she started to laugh. Elijah just raised a brow.

"Oh, sorry, you can't know the irony in it. I kind of have a thing for older men. But that tops it all."

She tried to suppress the laughter, but it was honestly hard. Thinking about the older man story made it better, it was something she tried to forget for years now...

"So you have 'a thing' for me?"

The Original smiled down to her and Grace met his gaze. She opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by her sister storming into the room. They were so lost in their conversation they hadn't heard her coming in.

Elijah's expression turned wary and he stepped forward, positioning himself slightly a bit in front of Grace instinctively, just in case Elena brought some friends and he had to protect Grace.

"Are you serious?"

Elena blurted when she saw her older sister and the probably dangerous vampire together, both chatting with a glass of wine in their hands. It was obvious that Grace new about everything by now. Grace rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Yes, I am. Before you ask, no he didn't hurt me. Yes, I know everything. And yes, I am mad. That's the understatement of the year to be honest."

She shot both Elijah and Elena a glare and walked past them. Her sister was speechless by Grace's calmness.

"Will you both come? I think we have some catching up to do with the Salvatores."

Some minutes later the two stood in the Salvatore's living room, both brothers looking at Elijah in shock. They stood up ready to fight, but Elena calmed them.

"You invited him in?"

Damon said unbelievingly. Grace stood a bit behind Elijah and Elena, her arms crossed in front of her chest. She still had to take the fact in that Damon and Stefan were vampires.

"Grace renegotiated the terms of the deal I made with Elena. No harm will come to you by my hands. I only ask for one thing in return. An apology."

Grace could just chuckle at that.

"A what?"

Damon said as if he doubted that Elijah was in his right mind. But Stefan stepped forward and looked the Original in the eyes while he apologized for killing him, because he wanted to protect Elena. Grace smiled at that, even though he was a vampire, he really love her little sister. Maybe she would be able to see over that after some time, but also Stefan was involved in lying to her.

The older brother stormed off angrily without apologizing and everyone sighed at his childish behavior. Elijah then turned around to look at Grace.

"I think there's one more apology needed. I'm sorry for using you to get to your sister. I really hope that some time...you'll be able to forgive me."

Grace looked up to the vampire and just shook her head. Elena and Stefan tried to apologize, too, but she stopped them with her hand raised and took a seat on the sofa.

"That's not important right now. Let's discuss how we should save Elena."