A/N: Hey guys! Time to see how Grace reacts to Damon's unwelcomed confession, while juggling how to prevent Elijah being daggered.
Reviews make the world go round. Flames will not be tolerated.
I don't own The Vampire Diaries. All characters (except for Grace) are owned by L.J. Smith. I also don't own the song Raise Your Glass, that fun song is owned by the talented Alecia Beth Moore, A.K.A Pink.
Happy reading :)
WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS…
"Love isn't brains children, it's blood, blood screaming inside you to work its will. I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it."
~James Marsters (Spike): Buffy the Vampire Slayer ('Lover's Walk' S3 EP8)
I was the first one awake the next morning, and at first I thought that Damon's confession of his feelings for me were just some freaky dream that my injured body had 'created' for me while I was healing overnight. But when I opened my eyes and registered that I was indeed still slumbering in Damon's bedroom, re-cooperating from my injuries; I realised that I was very much, shit out of luck.
What do I do now?
Cautiously and quietly, so I wouldn't disturb Damon, I eased myself out of bed and went to use the loo and have a quick shower before I disappeared downstairs and fixed myself some breakfast. Then curled up on one of the couches in the parlor and occupied myself with some sketching. Mid-sketch, my phone buzzed alerting me to a new text.
Good morning, Grace. Did you sleep well? – E.
I couldn't help the touched smile that spread over my face when I read my brother's words. As to an appropriate answer to respond with? Well, I couldn't exactly say 'no, not really. My best friend just confessed that he loved me as more than a friend, and is going to fight your brother for my hand.' That would go down like a lead balloon, and I might as well blindfold Damon and set him in front of a firing squad. It would be a kinder alternative to what Elijah would probably do.
No, instead I responded with:
I've had better nights. But I'll live otherwise. – G.
I placed my phone down on the coffee table, just as Damon stumbled downstairs; dressed in his usual blue jeans, black boots and a long-sleeved black button down, unbuttoned and revealing his chest. His slightly curly jet black hair was still damp from his shower. I stared determinedly at the picture I was sketching.
"Good morning, Grace." Damon greeted me cheerfully, and I looked up and smiled politely back.
"Hey, Damon." My phone buzzed again and I reached for it and checked it.
Did you consume enough blood last night? – E.
I rolled my eyes, remembering the times when Elijah was exceptionally overprotective when any of us were under the weather. This was no exception.
Yes, Elijah. I'm feeling abnormally strong this morning, which meant that I'm probably sloshing with Damon's blood. – G.
I eyed Damon sauntering into the room, and taking a seat next to me on the couch, sipping from a cup of coffee which was probably laced with a generous dollop of human blood for flavor. I shuddered at the thought. His skin did look a little paler than it should, which meant that I had probably needed a lot more blood than I did the last time Damon had to feed me.
"What are you up to today?" He wanted to know. I shrugged, rubbing the side of the graphite against the paper.
"Haven't decided yet. But I think I might take it a little bit easy today, considering I almost died … again." I muttered that last part to myself. But unfortunately, Damon heard it. His hands white knuckled almost immediately, causing me to cringe. My phone buzzed.
"You're popular today. That's the third time your phone has buzzed in the space of five minutes." Damon observed. I grinned sheepishly.
"It's just Elijah, checking up on me." I explained. "It's an old habit he has that apparently he hasn't shaken in a thousand years." I told him. Damon nodded, but said nothing.
Good girl. Just be exceptionally careful, please. – E.
My fingers flew over the keys.
That was the plan today. – G.
There was a sudden knock at the door. I looked at Damon questioningly. He smiled, and got to his feet.
"That'll be Alaric." Damon explained to me and I looked confused.
"What's he doing here?" I asked him, returning my attention to my sketch.
"We're telling him about the silver dagger John showed us last night." Damon told me. I raised an eyebrow at him.
"We?" I echoed, in disbelief. Damon rolled his eyes before knocking back the last dregs of his disgusting blood and coffee concoction.
"Alright, I'm going to tell him about the silver dagger John showed us last night." Damon corrected himself. I wasn't happy about the fact that Damon appeared to be seriously considering using that strange weapon on my brother.
"Fair enough. But Elijah doesn't deserve to be daggered." I told him stubbornly. Damon ignored my last statement as he walked over to answer the door.
By the way, Elijah. What are you up to today? Just out of interest? – G.
I heard muted greetings between both men before they walked back into the parlor.
"Hey, Grace." Alaric greeted me with a warm smile. I looked up, smiling back.
"Morning." I greeted, brightly. Damon got straight to the point.
"So, John Gilbert gave this to me kill Elijah." Damon stated bluntly, ignoring the glare I threw at him as he unrolled the dagger from the protective cloth John had preserved the dagger in. "He said you have to dip the dagger in the remains of an old white ash tree that dates back to the Originals, if there's any truth to that?" Damon glances at me for confirmation, as he hands the dagger to Alaric.
I thought back to my past, frowning at the less than pleasant memories. Most of the faces I saw were still blurred to me, which was frustrating. But I was able to decipher that the first few days that Niklaus, Elijah and the other siblings were newborn vampires, they tended to actively avoid a very old looking white tree that had vervain growing in patches all around it.
That was good enough for me.
"It's extremely accurate." I confirmed. Alaric frowned at the both of us as Henrik materialized from out of nowhere and sat beside me, also remembering.
"I think the people who created those silver daggers, probably procured the ash from the remains of the tree Niklaus, Elijah and everybody else burned to the ground when they discovered their weakness to the wood." Henrik filled me in. I smiled gratefully at him, but decided not to reveal this to Damon or Alaric. I didn't want to provide them with any more information on how to put down my family, albeit temporarily.
"What are you up to today, Mr. Saltzman?" Damon casually asks Alaric as he gets to his feet and heads over to his wet bar, with Alaric following him.
"Well, Jenna and I were supposed to go to her family's lake house, but somehow, we both got roped into doing this Historical Society thing at the Lockwood's." My phone buzzed again.
I'm supposed to be making an appearance at a Historical Society's High Tea. Why do you ask? – E.
I frowned a little defensively at the response Elijah had sent me.
Can't I be interested in what my brother's day is going to be like? – G.
"Sounds interesting." Damon stated sarcastically. I grinned.
"I wouldn't mind attending. It'll give me an opportunity to stretch my legs after being stabbed yesterday." I piped up, eagerly. It would also be an opportunity to spend some time with my brother.
Normally I would oblige to your inquiry without question, dear one. But at present, you are associating with those who seek to derail my plans at present. – E.
Well, okay. He's sort of right about that, I suppose. But a bigger part of me, just wanted to spend as much time with my brother as possible, to make up for our thousand years apart. That, and he was a bigger part of my former life that I was trying to get back to at all costs. Damon looked at me incredulously.
"You're serious?" He demanded. I smiled sweetly at him and nodded. I returned Elijah's last text quickly.
Touché. But I wouldn't miss out on an opportunity to spend what little time I could with you, Elijah. Surely, you can't fault me on this. – G.
Damon sighed. "Sure, why not." He reluctantly agreed, and I grinned triumphantly.
Of course not. I miss you too. I shall I assume that I'll be seeing you there this afternoon then? – E.
Damon turned back to talk more with Alaric about their plans regarding the dagger. This gave me the opportunity to make my plans without earning suspicious looks from both men.
I'll be there with bells on. – G.
A few hours later, and after Damon, (Henrik), and I made a pit stop at my apartment so I could change into something a little bit smarter for the Tea Party, the 'three' of us made our way down to the Lockwood Mansion. Part of me hoped that Damon had been delirious from sleep deprivation, and had forgotten what he had confessed to me before he fell asleep.
No such luck.
I walked down from the apartment block (escorted by Henrik) wearing what I deemed appropriate for a Tea Party: a white chiffon and lace sundress with spaghetti straps that ended just slightly below my knee, with a slightly plunging neckline, and accessorized with black high heels with a thin strap around the ankle and over the instep and thick, chunky heels. I also wore my vervain/wolfsbane bracelet around my wrist as a precautionary measure, and my long dark brown hair was down and slightly pulled back from my face with a jeweled hair clip and in loose curls.
I had also discreetly strapped my dagger on my thigh in the most likely event that I was targeted again. It was becoming apparent that I was just as big a target as Elena was these days. It was growing tiresome. I inwardly cringed at the look of pride on Damon's face the second he clapped eyes on me when I immerged onto the street, and I knew that he had already laid claim upon me even though I hadn't agreed to the relationship verbally or physically.
"You look beautiful, Grace." Damon complimented me, as I walked over to his side. I smiled, charmed but wary.
"Thank you, Damon. You're very sweet." I replied, before sliding into the car when Damon opened it for me. I threw a pained look at Henrik who looked sympathetic as he was unable to lend me assistance.
"Let's get this over with shall we?" Damon muttered, sounding less than enthused by the idea of 'enduring' a tea party with some of Mystic Fall's more distinguished citizens. I frowned at him.
"Don't make it sound like a hardship." I scolded him, he ignored me. "You didn't have to go you know. I could've gone by myself; I don't require a babysitter." Damon just fixed me with a look.
"Your current track record says different, Grace. I'm not letting you out of my sight for the time being." He declared. I somehow managed not to strangle him, before I realised that 48 hours were not up yet, and Damon was only being cautious because of the risks of being killed and accidentally (or deliberately, depending on the situation) changed into a vampire before I wanted to.
I sighed.
"Fair enough, Damon. But don't coddle." I pleaded. Damon grunted in response but said nothing else. We continued to the Lockwood Estate in almost silence, broken by the opening guitar riffs of 'Raise Your Glass' by Pink, coming from Damon's car radio. I grinned, and Damon must've noticed because he immediately turned up the volume. "Right, right. Turn off the lights. We gonna lose our minds tonight. What's the dealio?" I sang along with Pink, out loud, giggling a little. My eyes widened in pleasant surprise when Damon joined in:
"I love when it's all too much. Five a.m. turn the radio up. Where's the rock and roll?" Damon crooned with a surprisingly talented singing voice. I looked at him in astonishment, and he smirked and winked back as though proposing a challenge.
"Party crasher." I continued with the next verse, amused.
"Panty snatcher." Damon wiggled his eyebrows, causing me to roll my eyes and shake my head; but at the same time I couldn't help the smile that continued spreading across my face.
"Call me up if you a gangsta." The wind blew through my hair and I casually slipped on my sunglasses.
"Don't be fancy, just get dancy." Damon made a face at the lyrics.
"Why so serious?" We sang at the same time, then dissolved into laughter before singing the chorus: "So raise your glass if you are wrong, in all the right ways. All my underdogs, we will never be never be, anything but loud. And nitty gritty, dirty little freaks. Won't you come on and come on and raise your glass. Just come on and come and raise your glass!"
Damon and I sang the entire song all the way to the Lockwood Estate, with Henrik sitting the backseat, watching the both of us with a mixture of amusement and confusion. The Tea Party had already started by the time Damon and I had arrived, and I paused eying the expansive estate with a certain amount of trepidation; since the two times I had been here, I had paid witness to Stefan being stabbed in the stomach by Katherine, and got kidnapped alongside Elena by a lackey of Rose and Trevor's so that we could be hand delivered to Elijah. I wasn't exactly keen to discover what mayhem would be had if I set foot inside. Damon paused behind me, before walking around to stand face to face and looked at me with concern.
"You alright?" Damon asked, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. I focused on his too blue eyes and recognized how much he truly cared about me.
I smiled.
"A little anxious. The last few times I've been in this house, something bad has happened. I'm not sure if I want to tempt fate." I answered truthfully. Damon sighed and glanced about the expansive property, also a little suspicious as well before wrapping an arm around my shoulders and planting a kiss on my temple.
"You're the one who wanted to be here, sweetheart." Damon reminded me as he escorted me towards the front entrance. Henrik hovered nearby, glancing about and looking like an (invisible) sentry. It was clear he was also less than trusting too. The Lockwood's white double doors were wide open with guests standing around in front of or within view, and sipping on alcohol while engaged in gossip and laughter. "But don't worry, I'll make sure that you stay out of harm's way." He murmured into my ear. Movement caught my eye, and I glanced up to see Jenna Sommers looking at us both, curiously. I broke away from Damon's comforting embrace and walked through the threshold, accepting a Buck's fizz from a passing waiter, and took a small sip as Jenna approached.
"Grace, what are you and Damon doing here?" Jenna asked, politely. I offered her a friendly smile.
"I'm here to support my brother." I responded, taking another sip of my drink and scanning the room for a glimpse of a 'young' man in his mid to late 20s, dressed in an expensive suit and probably looking bored but trying to be polite at the same time. Jenna looked surprised.
"You have a brother?" I nodded. "Who is he?"
"His name is Elijah." I responded, brightly. Jenna's eyes widened.
"Elijah Smith is your brother?"
Smith? I hoped that a look of astonishment didn't appear on my face as I smiled in reply.
"That's the guy. I'm supposed to meet him here, you wouldn't happen to know where he is at present, would you?" I asked Elena's aunt politely. Jenna recovered from her surprise and immediately started scanning the large crowd all around us.
"Oh, he's over there talking with Carol Lockwood." Jenna pointed towards the next room where I instantly spotted a pleasantly smiling Elijah talking with an obviously flirting Carol. I offered Jenna a grateful smile.
"Thanks. I'll talk soon." I promised and started towards the couple. But before I could take a couple of steps, Jenna reached out and stopped me. She looked a little suspicious.
"If you don't mind me saying, Grace. He looks a little too old to be your brother…" Jenna observed.
Honey, you have no idea…
"And, no offence but you don't look anything alike." She added, frowning a little. I was quick to respond.
"I'm his kid sister. His mother had him young." I explained, and Jenna frowned.
"His mother? Are you his half-sister then?" I was getting a bit frustrated with Jenna's fishing. So I decided to tell a half-truth.
"He's my brother-in-law. Or will be soon." I told her.
"You're engaged?"
"Yep. His brother and I are childhood sweethearts, and we were partially raised by Elijah when we were very young." Jenna got a dreamy expression in her eyes, and I inwardly groaned. Jenna was clearly a hopeless romantic. I seriously needed an excuse to move.
"There you are, Grace. C'mon, I've spotted someone we need to talk with." Damon came over and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I could've kissed him, if I somehow knew that it wouldn't give him the wrong idea. "Nice to see you again, Jenna." Damon greeted her, before steering me away.
"See you later, Jenna." I promised over my shoulder at a bemused looking Jenna. I offered Damon a grateful look. "Thanks for the rescue." I told him before knocking back what was left of my cocktail. Damon smiled and shrugged, taking my glass from me and handing it to another passing waiter.
"You're welcome. She was asking too many questions." He said, before making a face. "And Smith? Seriously, that's the name he came up with?" I knew that Damon was referring towards Elijah. I rolled my eyes as we approach Carol and Elijah. Both Damon and I could see the obvious annoyance reflected in Carol's eyes as we stopped in front of her and Elijah, and I was amused to see the look of relief in my brother's.
"Damon. Grace." Carol greeted us, cordially.
"Carol."
"Mrs. Lockwood." I greeted her, politely. Carol immediately grimaced at the title.
"Please, call me Carol, Grace. Mrs. Lockwood was my mother-in-law." Carol insisted.
I smiled politely. "Of course." I watched Carol and Damon air kiss each other before turning my attention towards a visibly delighted Elijah.
"Hello, sister. Hope you are feeling better?" Elijah greeted me, deliberately enquiring after my health. His label caught Carol's attention, and she looked at me a little accusingly.
"Grace, you never told me that Elijah was your brother." I offered her a tolerant smile.
"You never asked." I responded before walking towards Elijah with the intention of giving him a hug; a gesture that was received amiably by Elijah, who smiled at me and kissed the crown of my head with affection. I remained by his side, hugging him around the middle as Carol smiled tightly and turned towards Damon.
"Elijah, I want you to meet Damon Salvatore. His family is one of Mystic Falls' founding families." Carol introduced Damon to Elijah who nods in acknowledgement. Damon gave a slight smirk that I noticed Elijah frown slightly at.
"Mm-hm. Such a pleasure to meet you." Damon tells Elijah and extends a hand towards him. Elijah smiled.
"No. Pleasure's mine." He responded, shaking Damon's hand. I observed them, curiously. It was hard to imagine that I had seen Damon pinning Elijah to the front door of an abandoned house. Or witnessed Elijah removing Trevor's head with a simple (but vicious) swipe of his hand, and brutally plunging his hands into the chests of three vampires loyal to Niklaus and removing their hearts; then slowly and deliberately wiping away the blood on his hands with a clean handkerchief. Now these two very dangerous vampires were schmoozing like they were business colleagues or really good friends.
It was slightly twisted.
I suddenly noticed both John Gilbert and Alaric observing from across the room. John had a very unattractive scowl on his face, while Alaric looked a combination of concerned, curious and confused. I waved at them both, and earned a friendly smile from Alaric (who raised his glass of bourbon at me in a salute) and a look of contempt from John, which caused me to roll my eyes. Like father, like daughter I suppose. I tuned back into the conversation between Damon and Elijah.
"Might I have a word with you?" Damon requested Elijah as he opened a nearby door and gestures for Elijah to enter. My brother nods, kisses my head again and moves to walk into the room and Damon follows swiftly. However, I did not like the expression on his face. I went off in search for another drink, but couldn't help feeling worried about what was being discussed in that room. This time, I didn't think that either one of them would be tolerant of me eavesdropping on their conversation. Not being an idiot, I decided to just wait and see the result.
A few minutes later I had wondered outside of the manor, another cocktail in hand, and strode unhurriedly towards the Lockwood's massive water fountain that sat in the middle of their front lawn. Other guests had the same idea as I did, and were standing around in various clusters enjoying the warm sunshine. I perched on the lip of the fountain and idly allowed the water to flow through my fingers as I absently played with the water.
"What do you suppose they're talking about in there?" Henrik asked me a few seconds later, standing across from me with his arms crossed over his chest and frowning at the manor. I shrugged and took a sip of my cocktail.
"Who knows what goes through Damon's head. It could be any manner of things. I just hope he minds his manners. Elijah, as I recall, doesn't tolerate rudeness." I responded to him.
Henrik sniggered. "I remember. I reckon Kol's ear has not been the same since Elijah caught him being less than gentlemanly to that girl he had his eye on in the village." I giggled, at the memory.
"At least it wasn't Mikael who caught him." I reminded him. We both immediately sobered at that, and shuddered violently at the type of punishment that old bastard could've given poor Kol. A shadow descends over me, and I glanced up to see an annoyed Elijah standing there. "Elijah? Is something wrong?" I asked, immediately concerned and looked around for Damon.
"Something has been brought to my attention that I feel needs addressing." Elijah told me with a serious expression on his handsome face. I frowned, and discreetly exchanged a curious glance with Henrik.
"Sounds ominous. Whatever's the matter?" I asked, alert. Elijah gestured beside me.
"May I?" He requested, indicating his desire to take a seat beside me. I nodded, and Elijah immediately sat down and leant forward on his legs, supporting his chin with one hand and allowing the other arm to balance casually on his other knee. "It appears that Damon Salvatore has become besotted by you, dear. Were you aware of this?" He asked with an enquiring tone. I had been about to take a sip of my cocktail when Elijah made the comment. I paused, lowered my glass to rest beside me on the fountain.
"Yes, Elijah. I was aware of his newfound feelings." I confirmed. "It was as much a shock me to me, as it was to you." I added. Elijah nodded.
"What do you intend to do about it?" I looked at him with shock.
"Absolutely nothing." I stated firmly. "I intend to treat him like I have been treating him since I arrived in this infernal town. As a friend, nothing more." I told him. "My heart belongs to somebody else, and always and forever will be." I warned him. Elijah looked shocked at the vow I reiterated to him.
"How do you know that phrase?" He demanded, looking a little spooked. I cupped his face with my hands, and smiled at him.
"I remember the last words Niklaus ever uttered to me before I died that night, Elijah, and I've been hearing them every night before I drift off to sleep." I explained to him. "I believe the words were: 'I love you, always and forever'." I grinned at the astonished expression on my big brother's face.
"I can see that my concerns have been unfounded. We have nothing more to discuss it seems." Elijah realised.
"You are correct, sir. You have nothing to fear." I teased him, before wrapping both arms around his shoulders and laying my forehead on his. "I hope you weren't too hard on Damon, though." I fretted slightly. Elijah waved a dismissive hand through the air.
"He will live. But perhaps he will be a little wiser and respectful in the future." Elijah reassured me, before getting to his feet and offering a hand to help me up. I took it, picking up my champagne glass, and allowed him to pull me to my feet. "Shall we rejoin the party?" He asked, looking a little more relaxed than he did when he confronted me about Damon's feelings.
"Let's." I agreed and we walked arm and arm back into the manor; both ignoring the looks we got from the other guests. I glanced around for a view of Damon, but was slightly disappointed when it appeared he was nowhere in sight. "Damon's disappeared." I reported to Elijah who looked unconcerned.
"Mr. Salvatore is probably off licking his wounds. Our private conversation was … painful." Elijah looked a little put out.
"Care to elaborate?"
"I stabbed him in the throat with a pencil." Elijah relayed, unapologetically. I looked at him with dismay.
"Elijah!" I whisper-shouted at him, earning a scowl in return.
"You of all people should know, that I do not tolerate any level of rudeness from anyone; be it family or those outside of our family." Elijah stated sharply.
I nodded.
"But stabbing him with a pencil, Elijah?" I insisted. Elijah remained unrepentant.
"I'm sorry, dearest. But the punishment stands." He told me, firmly.
"I just wish he hadn't run off and ditched me here. I have no way of getting back to the Boarding House." I complained.
"Why the Boarding House?"
"Because I left some of my stuff there when I was recuperating from being kidnapped for the second time." I explained. Elijah smiled sympathetically.
"Then I shall drive you back there when the party is over. I believe it would be safer for you to stay here for now until Mr. Salvatore has sufficiently calmed down." I had no doubt that Damon would be in a particularly vengeful mood, if what Elijah had done to him had any bearing on the situation. He'd probably lash out at the first person who asked what was wrong with him. Plus, I had a sinking feeling that whatever Elijah had presumably told him about me, would've fallen on deaf ears. It would only make him more defiant and incur Elijah's wrath even more severely than a simple pencil to the throat.
A couple of hours later, a little buzzed from the alcohol I had consumed, Elijah kept his word and drove me back to the Boarding House, promising to wait for me before he would then drive me back to my Apartment so I could sleep off the alcohol and avoid an unnecessary hangover the next morning. As Elijah's driver pulled up on the Boarding House driveway, I missed Elijah quickly getting tense. I turned and flashed him a quick smile.
"I'll be right back." I promised and moved to open the door. Elijah, quicker than a snake, reaches over and closes it. I looked at him for an explanation. "Elijah?" He raised a finger to his lips and pointed to his ears, indicating that he was listening to a distant conversation. It took several minutes before he sighed with exasperation.
"It appears that your friend has found himself in a bit of trouble again, in the form of that same group of werewolves from before." Elijah sounded irritated. I was worried.
"What's going on?" I asked, urgently.
"They are seeking Niklaus' moonstone." Elijah confirmed. I groaned.
"Well, that is going to be a problem. Last time I saw the moonstone it was in the tomb with Katerina, and then Jeremy Gilbert liberated it from the tomb; but not before sacrificing himself in the process." I told him. "Where its present whereabouts are I have no idea." Wordlessly, Elijah reaches into his jacket pocket and withdraws the moonstone, holding it up to me. "You have it?" I said, surprised.
Elijah nodded.
"The same night I rescued Stefan Salvatore from his imprisonment in the tomb, I came into possession of the stone." He explained. I frowned down at the pearly transparent stone with distaste.
"May I?" I asked my brother, who reluctantly hands it over to me. I held it up in front of my face, examining it moodily. "All this fuss over a bloody cursed stone." I spat, then shrugged. "I guess, if it's with you; there's no safer place." I handed it back to him. "Nobody's going to mess with you unless they have a death wish." Elijah smiled slightly and replaced it back into his pocket. "So what now. I would really like to get home." I asked. Elijah, again, wordlessly opened the car door and stepped out, indicating for me to follow suit. We walked silently, and unrushed towards the front door which was wide open, allowing us the opportunity to listen in to the conversation now taking place.
"You know what the great thing about buckshot is?" I paled, recognizing the voice of Jules. "It scatters through the body. Maximum damage." I froze. Wait a minute? She's using a shotgun on Damon!? I snarled angrily, and reached down to unsheathe my dagger. But Elijah calmly and gently grabbed my wrist to stop me. I looked at him in askance.
"Allow me." He suggested quietly. "Wait here until I give you the all clear." He told me. I nodded and watched as Elijah swaggers into the room, and leans against the bannister. Amazingly, nobody notices him.
"Where's the moonstone?" Jules demands Damon, and I watched Elijah withdraw it from his jacket again and starts playing with it with his nimble fingers. Damon snorts.
"Get over it, honey." He croaked, and I frowned. "You're never gonna get it." Damon promises her. Jules looked like she was about to retaliate when Elijah made his presence known.
"You looking for this?" He asked, idly. All eyes lock onto him, as he walks over to place the moonstone on an end table. He backs away. "Go ahead. Take it." He insists. I watched as Damon looked at him incredulously, as though questioning Elijah's sanity. But I knew that Elijah wouldn't willingly give up the stone unless he had a plan up his expensive sleeves. One of the werewolves Jules had brought along as backup, used his wolf speed to rush towards the moonstone; and almost instantly, Elijah (being obviously faster) plunges his hand into the wolf's chest and rips out his heart. The wolf falls down onto one of the red couches, very much dead. The next two wolves obviously weren't too bright, and they too ran full pelt at Elijah; who just as quickly rips out their hearts.
"This is almost too easy." I mumbled underneath my breath, and nearly collided with Jules when she, in a panic, wolf-speeds out of the house before she too could be killed.
Damn. I really wanted to hit her and slice her up until she bled.
Elijah allows her to go, then turns his attention towards the last werewolf who was cowering in horror before Elijah. He walks over to him, and the wolf crouches down and pulls his jacket over his face in fear.
You can't seriously think that'll save you, right? I thought sardonically. Elijah seizes him by the lapels and pulls him up from the ground.
"You can come out now, Grace. Go pack up what you've left behind." Elijah calls out to me from where I was waiting in the hallway. I cautiously ventured out, and froze when I saw Damon's current state. He had been chained to a chair with a wooden spiked metal collar around his neck. Apart from the obvious blood streaked gruesomely around his throat due to the wooden spikes protruding into the delicate skin of his neck, and his generally weakened condition; Damon looked relatively unharmed.
"Oh, God. Damon…" I exclaimed with alarm.
"Don't worry about him at the moment, Grace. Just go do what you came here for." Elijah instructed, sternly. I nodded, and quickly rushed up the staircase. Thankfully, this house was like Switzerland; you could hear everything that went on around here. Which meant that I could hear the conversation happening downstairs.
"Now where were we?" Elijah asked rhetorically.
"You were killing werewolves, and showing off." Damon attempted to jog his memory. I groaned as I quickly darted around collecting my belongings and stuffing them into my oversized purse. Damon really didn't use his brains at times. Elijah, thankfully, ignored him.
"So, what about you, sweetheart." He addressed the werewolf still in his clutches. "Hmmm? You want to take a shot?" No response from the wolf. "Yes? No? Yes?" Elijah was getting impatient. "Where's the girl?" Elijah demanded.
"I don't know." Damon admitted, truthfully, jangling the chains securing him to the chair.
"It really doesn't matter." Elijah insisted. I came downstairs in time to witness my brother slam his fist into the wolf's face. The wolf falls to the floor, and Elijah begrudgingly removes the chains strapping Damon down into the chair. "So you realise that this is the third time I've saved your life now?" Elijah pointed out, annoyed. Damon doesn't reply, so my brother turned around and grabbed the moonstone. He looks at me pointedly. "Don't be too long, dearest." He instructs before walking out of the house, leaving me to talk to Damon.
"Where is he taking you?" Damon asked, evenly. I rolled my eyes, and helped him to remove the torture device from around his neck.
"Just my apartment. I've had a little too much to drink, and he offered to give me a lift there since my designated driver ditched me at the Tea Party." I looked at him, sternly. Damon had the decency to look shamefaced … but only for a second. I looped my purse over my shoulder and headed for the front door, trying hard not to yawn my head off. "I'll talk to you later." I said, smiling a little. "See you Damon." I headed for the backseat of Elijah's car and hopped in.
"You okay?" Elijah asked, quietly.
"Considering the day I've had, I think I'll be fine. At least nobody has tried to kill me." I replied, laughing bitterly. Elijah gave my address to his driver and we immediately set off, while he put his arm around my shoulder and attempted to comfort me. "Do you want to know something strange? I actually miss our life a thousand years ago; and we barely survived that." I admitted. Elijah nodded in agreement but had nothing to say, and after a short journey we arrived at my apartment.
"Have a pleasant evening, Grace." Elijah bid me, smiling at me warmly. I nodded, before getting out of the car and waved at him as the car drove away. I stomped tiredly up the vestibule to the residential area, eagerly approaching my apartment door and looking forward to having a long soak in the tub after my miserable day where I had to address my feelings with Elijah about Damon's declaration of love.
"I wish you were here, Niklaus. You always knew the right words to say whenever I was lost." I spoke out loud, as though he were walking towards me, ready to accept me into his arms for a hug, or perhaps potentially sitting at the island bench with his usual cheeky grin or flirtatious smirk on his dimpled face. "But you're not, that's the thing. And I have no idea how long it's gonna be until you arrive in town." I muttered, as I kicked off my shoes, not really caring where they landed (I'll pick them up later) and disappeared into my bedroom. I made a beeline for my ensuite bathroom and started filling the tub, chucking in my favorite jasmine scented bath bomb to the rising hot water and tying back my long brown hair into a messy bun. "I just hope that tomorrow is better." I mumbled as I sank into the blissful heated water.
"Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?" Henrik asked, surprising me when I immerged from my room; dressed in comfy purple and pink checkered flannel pants and a white tank top, and socks covering my now warm feet. I pulled a brush through my hair and pulled it back into a ponytail as I responded to his plea.
"Sit with me while I watch a movie?" I suggested, earning an approving grin from my baby brother-in-law as he practically ran for the couch and sat down on it while I clicked on the kettle and fixed myself a mug of hot Milo to enjoy while losing myself in the predictable storyline of a romantic comedy, or maybe even a Disney movie if I so desired. As I set down my mug, I went over to my collection and trailed a finger absently along the spines of my DVDs, probably worrying Henrik even further with my melancholia.
"Do you wanna talk about what's bugging you?" Henrik eventually asked, as I selected The Princess and the Frog from the Disney section and inserted it into the DVD machine. I sighed, and sat down heavily on the couch, causing Henrik to bounce slightly on the couch cushion.
"Damon made his romantic intentions towards me to Elijah, and he naturally confronted me about him." I explained to Henrik who looked horrified.
"Holy shit. How did Elijah take it?" Henrik pressed. I watched as the animated sequence for Disney's logo played out on the large flat screen, and snorted.
"He stabbed Damon in the throat with a pencil." I responded. "Although, I think it was probably because Damon was his usual abrasive self." I took a sip of my Milo. Henrik gave an uncomfortable chuckle.
"I'm surprised frankly that he's not dead."
"Tell me about it." I laughed. The opening titles for the movie began and Henrik squinted curiously at it.
"That's New Orleans from the 1920s?" I nodded, wondering where he was going with this observation. "Huh, it's a pretty close approximation. Considering our family founded the city back in the 1800s." Henrik declared and I looked at him, surprised about the mini history lesson about the Mikaelson's adventures after we both had died. "That's the Garden District, and the French Quarter. Wow, they even somehow managed to recreate the Abattoir in Disney animation style…" Henrik trailed off, apparently amazed that the animators were that shrewd to pull something like this off. I was more amazed that the family I was marrying into had founded one of the world's most popular tourist attractions.
This surprisingly enough was cheering me up dramatically, and I settled down to watch the movie with Henrik giving me little tidbits of trivia every few seconds. Our little bubble of freedom was burst by a few solid thuds at the front door. I frowned and paused the movie to answer the door. I made sure the security bolt was in place before addressing the unknown visitor.
"Who is it?" I called out, cautiously.
"It's me, Grace. Please open up, I have something to tell you; and you won't like it." I inwardly deflated and opened the door to reveal Damon. But I did not remove the security bolt.
"Couldn't this wait until morning, Damon? I'm tired." I questioned him. Damon shook his head.
"I think you'll want to hear this." He insisted. I sighed, and closed the door to remove the security chain and opened it to let my best friend in.
"Alright then. What's so important?" I cut to the chase.
"Elijah has been planning on betraying Klaus instead of helping him." Damon explained, bluntly. I blinked at him.
"What?"
"Yeah. The sacrifice is part of his plan. Apparently, Bonnie interrogated one of Elijah's witches into telling her the real reason why they were helping him." Damon continued. "Turns out, it's not just us that want Klaus dead." I frowned at him.
"Us? You still want Niklaus dead despite the fact that it's not just Elena he's looking for but me also?" I reminded him. Damon looked stubborn. "Has the fact that I've been searching for Niklaus as well, so we can be reunited completely escaped you?" I demanded angrily. Damon scowled too.
"Once-upon-a-time, I may have been on board with the idea of killing Klaus so that Elena and essentially you would be safe from him." Damon admitted. "But after taking a stroll through not only your memories, but also getting to know Elijah a little better (except when he stabbed me with that pencil), I'm starting to have second thoughts." I was pleased to see that Damon at least respected my feelings about the subject.
"So why are you telling me this?" I was confused.
"Because I care for you. A whole lot more than Elena. And if it means helping you protect not only Klaus but Elijah too to make you happy, then I'm willing to make a few sacrifices in order to achieve this." Damon admitted. I was speechless; I would've thought that Damon would've damned the rules and gone ahead and planned out a strategy to prevent Elijah from achieving his plans.
"So what's supposed to happen now?" I asked, suddenly not so tired anymore. Damon let out a tired sigh. "What?"
"Well, it also turns out that Elena already knew that she wasn't supposed to survive this ritual." He explained to me. I hoped that my mouth didn't drop open.
"Seriously?" Damon nodded, looking frustrated. I was disgusted with her actions. "Elena is her own worst enemy." Again, Damon nodded and started pacing the room. "Anything else?" I asked, quietly. Damon stopped and turned towards me, looking like he wanted to start making more amends.
"Alaric and I are supposed to get together to form a plan on how to take down Elijah. I was going to use the silver dagger John gave us…" Damon trailed off, but something that Henrik told me when we first saw the dagger came to mind.
"The dagger won't kill Elijah." I told him. Damon paused and looked at me with surprise.
"How do you know this?" He demanded.
"Henrik told me." I replied. Damon raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Henrik? Your dead brother?" He chuckled disbelievingly at me and I frowned, feeling hurt and offended. "Seriously, how do you know that those daggers won't kill Elijah?" All I did was just stare at Damon, with a glare on my face. The smirk on his face slowly faded when he realizes that I'm not bullshitting him. "How is that possible?" Damon exclaims.
"I'm a Medium. Have been since I was born. Although, at first I thought that Henrik was my imaginary friend, but when he didn't disappear when my peers' stopped seeing theirs, I knew something was weird. Later on when I was older, I finally figured it out." I explained to him. Damon was silent for a few minutes, taking this new information in.
"Fine. If what you say is true, and the dagger won't kill Elijah; what will it do to him instead?" Damon asked.
"Put him in a 'death-like' state." I responded promptly. Damon considers this.
"Handy."
"I know you meant barbaric, right?" I corrected him. Damon shrugged, but looked pensive. Like he was already forming a plan in his head. Then Damon turned and looked at me with a fierce determination on his face.
"I think I know a way to get on Elijah's good side so we don't get into trouble when he does get that silver dagger shoved into him." He explains.
"The term you're looking for is called 'daggering'. And what did you have in mind?" I asked.
Damon grinned.
"You know how I said that Elena already knew that she was going to die and that Elijah was going to let it happen?" I nodded. "Well, I believe that we should tell Elijah the truth and forewarn him that we're going to dagger him, but also tell him that we're on his side and once the people who are against him are none the wiser, we will bring him out of it." I felt a little unsure about this plan. There were a lot of things that could go wrong, and I didn't want to lose my brother's trust. But when it ultimately came down to it, I would definitely lose his trust if we went ahead and daggered him without telling him. So I reluctantly agreed.
"I hope you're right about this, Damon. It's not just your arse on the line for this." I pointed this out to Damon, as I reached for my phone that I had absently thrown on the coffee table and texted Elijah:
Hey big brother, Damon and I need to talk to you about something of great importance. Can you stop by my apartment at noon? – G.
A/N: That's a wrap. Next chapter should be up soon. Klaus is almost here boys and girls!
TTFN x