TITLE: Green


DISCLAIMER: Nightworld concepts belong to LJ Smith. Characters belong to me…ask if in the unlikely event that any take your fancy and you want to use them


SUMMARY:  "…Joseph would never use her like he had used other girls. He had never fed from her and never would unless she let him. Harri's name entered her mind unbidden; Harri was with her soulmate right now. Harri who's innocent smile made Gracie want to slash the girl's throat with a nice sharp and pointy kitchen knife…."

Gracie Bismarck always knew that her relationship with her soulmate Joseph Hannah wouldn't be easy, but she never expected so many humans to get in her way.

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Coffee-Freak: Hey thanks for the compliment even though it's about an evil character…she's not an evil mary sue is she? 'cause that could be bad….thanks for reading and reviewing!!!

Sharmeen: Hey, thanks…I'm glad you think the plot line is unique. Gracie just isn't that type of girl that's all, but I think she should take notice of Ari…Thanks again for reviewing

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CHAPTER V

Peter waited for his stepsister to come downstairs. "Gracie? Hurry up!"

Lily-May was at the table digging in to a healthy breakfast of Coco Pops.

A pyjama clad, sleepy eyed girl stood at the top of the stairs. "Lemme alone Pete. I'm not going today."


Peter stared at Gracie. "Why?"


"She's needs a break, Pete leave her alone," Peter's stepfather told him. Peter looked at the grey-eyed man that had married his mother.


"Why?"


Gracie had sleepwalked back to her room. Peter stared at his younger half-sister. "Why? Somebody please tell me why she gets a break from school, but I who is doing an extra subject and hasn't had a break from school in three years does not get a day off."


 "Because I'm in charge of you and not Jake," Peter's mother answered for him, giving a quick peck on the cheek. "Now, hurry up otherwise you'll be late."


Peter glared at Phyllis Bismarck. His mother waved him off.


"Bye," Peter departed the dining room, grabbing his bag.


He headed to his Holden commodore, when he heard the soft catfall of Joseph Hannah from his stepsister's window. Peter turned to Gracie's soulmate.


"Morning Haywood," greeted Joseph. A smirk slid onto his features.


Peter glared. Nothing could have prepared him for seeing Joseph jump from one of the windows in his house. Well, nothing except a warning from Gracie. "Were you here all night?"


Joseph's smirk evolved into a full-blown smile. "What of it?"


Peter watched the vampire. He looked terrible but he still had the annoying air of I-don't-care-what-you-think-because-I'm-badder-than-you confidence surrounding him. "Do you know what you're doing to her?"


Joseph's smile died as if a candle had been blown out inside of him. "It's not any of your business Haywood."


 "She's family Hannah, it's my business," Peter replied. Joseph just looked at him, and shrugged.


 "Whatever," the indifference in his voice angered Peter. Joseph should care. Gracie was his soulmate, "You'll be late. Better scurry along now." Joseph chuckled leaving Peter to drive to school.

~*~

Ari slammed the locker door shut. He was still frustrated and angry he couldn't understand how one human girl could be so callous. Rosie watched him and gave him a sad smile. Yeah, he thought, I'm still pissed.

"Goddess Ari. You'll break the hinges," Rosie commented.


"Then the hinges will match me," Ari told her sullenly. He knew that he should being trying to follow orders but he didn't have the heart. That was the problem. His heart.


 "Ari it's not that bad."

Ari turned and glared at Rosie. She smiled. His golden eyes narrowed more.


 "When was the last time you were obsessed with someone you couldn't have?" Ari asked her grumpily.

Rosie laughed at him, and this made him all the more grumpier, "I hate you." He told her defiantly. Not being resigned to the fact that he was sulking. He was and he knew it but he couldn't stand it anymore. He couldn't stand that Harriet Miller still drew breath and that Joseph Hannah was linked to Gracie.


 "You need to hunt," was all his partner would say, and the eagle inside him agreed. He needed to be free again. He needed something that would make him feel something else besides this cold hatred and unfulfilled love.


Ari Lindsay could almost feel the wind beneath his wings.

~*~

Gracie Bismarck opened her eyes to stare at her ceiling. She could feel him right there, a menace in her mind. He was confused and ready to cause trouble at every turn. Joseph Hannah would never be a decent person, Gracie decided. He wasn't even decent to her and she knew that he loved her.

Maybe that was half the problem. He loved her. Joseph Hannah, a vampire who had been the stereotypical vampire for so long had forgotten that he could love. Gracie wondered if his mother had ever cared. She wiggled in her bed.


What kind of mother would raise a child to be so incapable of emotion that when he did feel some he freaked?


Gracie already knew the answer. A vampiric mother, but Joseph's name was so normal, so human. Joseph Hannah. Joseph an ordinary name, it didn't fit the pattern. Gracie sighed. Her philosophical thoughts were making her hungry.


She climbed down the stairs. Her soulmate was still in her mind. Last night had scared her. She had never seen him cry. It was always her. Always her grey eyes streaming with salty tears, always asking him for comfort he didn't know how to give.
Her father was in the study. She could hear him typing on the computer. Jake Bismarck worked for Circle Daybreak. At the moment he was transferring some ancient spells from the parchment to the computer. Gracie wondered if the magick would have an effect on the machine.


She popped two pieces of bread into the toaster, milling about the kitchen while she waited for the bread to turn golden brown.
 "Have a good sleep?" her father had come into the kitchen switching on the kettle so make some tea.


Gracie nodded, grateful that he had let her take a day off school. She couldn't stand going to that institution seeing Harriet Miller interact with Joseph. She could feel it just as well at home.


 "Thanks for letting me stay home today," Gracie told her dad.


 "He's tearing you apart Gracie," her father answered, his matching grey eyes watching his oldest daughter. He noticed how much she looked like her deceased mother. "I can see it." Gracie didn't doubt that her father could see it. She just didn't want him to. "You need to stop him."


 "What can I do Dad?" she asked him as her toast popped up. She spread butter over it, melting it. "He's connected. It's not like I can push him away. You should know that," she spread vegemite over the toast and took the tea that her father had made her.


 "I don't agree with what he's doing to you. The connection shouldn't be doing this to you. It's not healthy Grace."


Gracie stared at her father, "and you think I agree with it. It's made me a mess Dad. He's always there. If he blocks the link it comes back with a vengeance twice as strong. I get a bit of peace for a few hours and then everything overwhelms me. You and Phyllis never went through this. Both of you already knew how to feel."

Jake Bismarck looked at his daughter. She had grown up so much in the last three months. He didn't know what to do to make Gracie better. To make her less confused and less angry, probably because he wasn't the one that was meant to make her feel those things. He was just her father. "Maybe we could get Joseph counselling. I mean he's obviously had a lot to deal with."


Grace tried not to choke on her tea. She failed. "Joseph would kill the poor counsellor. If he didn't try and kill you first for suggesting it."


 "He needs help Gracie. Serious help, it's not fair on you for him to pour all his problems on to you."


Gracie studied her father. He knew how wonderful the link could be; he and Phyllis shared a loving healthy relationship. Gracie didn't, all she knew was it filled her with sorrow. Oh, it made her feel great when she wasn't paranoid that Joseph would cheat on her. At first she had been so happy. Joseph Hannah had been perfect in her eyes; she had been blind to the fact that only imperfection exists. The first weeks had been the typical fluffy romance that anyone would have expected. Joseph said that he would join Daybreak, Joseph had been happy to her for the first few weeks. Joseph had been holding off the link for the first few weeks. Only letting her feel what he wanted her to feel. Things disintegrated from there. When the link rebounded, Gracie felt everything he had kept hidden for the first few weeks. His angst, frustration, confusion and his depression, Joseph Hannah didn't know what to do with a soulmate. An ordinary girl? Yes, but someone who was bound to him for eternity. He was clueless.


 "All's fair in love and war," Gracie quoted. Wondering which one she was fighting in. Was she in a war against her soulmate and Harriet Miller? She knew that she certainty was not in love with that sneaky bitch. No, she was definitely in a war with her, but what about Joseph? She did love him, didn't she? He was the other half of her, and he could melt her with his deep blue eyes, and promises that she always knew he wouldn't keep. Or was it just the curséd link that made her think that?

"Not all things Gracie," her father answered, moving out of the kitchen.

Gracie's head hurt.

~*~

The bell shrilled through the air as Harriet Miller stalked through the doors of the year twelve common room; she ignored the mob of students pushing to get to lockers and rushing to classes. She had a study line; she didn't have to be anywhere anytime soon. She smiled at her friends who waved to her as they moved off to their various classes.

Harri sighed; Ari's warning echoed in her head, just stay away. She wondered why he cared, yeah she knew that Ari had a crush on the girl, but what was so good about Gracie Bismarck that she attracted both Joseph Hannah and Ari Lindsay? Both boys were incredibly good looking, not to mention their alluring eyes, that were so deep and spoke of eons past.

She marched to her locker, the weight of her bag weighing her down. She stared at the combination lock, spinning it back and forward, quickly and deftly. Tugging down at it, waiting for the click that would release the door. Harriet shoved her bag into it, searching for books that had homework she needed to do in them. She let the books in her arms fall to the table she was sitting at; Maria Stapleton glanced up at her.

"Hey," the blonde greeted her, pale blue eyes smiling.

"Hi, Ria, what are you up to?"

"Chem, I swear Gregories is a sadist," Maria grimaced at her textbooks splayed across the table.

"Yeah, I'm so glad I quit Chem," Harri searched the common room, her hazel eyes scanning for a ruddy brown head. Her eyes didn't find what they were looking for and were disappointed at the lack of Joseph Hannah.

She opened her folder and stared at her messy handwriting, words ran into each other. The essay repeated itself. Harri was tempted to scrunch it up, but no, she had to keep on working.

"Nah, Falcon will never go for it," the voice filled her ears. Shivers trickled down her spine. It was the same voice that had threatened her the night before. Something buzzed in the atmosphere as she turned around to face deadly golden eyes. Golden eyes that contained so much more than the words the owner had uttered over the phone.

Honey golden eyes that promised destruction if she so much as looked at Joseph Hannah. Ari Lindsay's eyes made her shiver. She looked down, focusing on the ink that moved across the paper.

~*~

Joseph wandered through the gym. It was empty. He was surprised there was usually a year eight physical education class on. His feet thudded across the wooden floorboards. He was empty.

For the first time in three months Joseph Hannah felt like his normal self. He felt like he had some kind of control. He finally felt like he was not at some witch's mercy every time he moved.

She wasn't in his head. Oh, he could still feel her, the slight presence right in the corner of his mind. The link would connect them forever. He knew that. He knew that he would always feel her. Feel every minute detail that flickered through her mind. It was a confusing slideshow playing in the back of his mind. And today he was free.

He bounced the basketball that was in his hands, doing a little dribble, and then he shot. The ball echoed as it rebounded off of the backboard. His angry blue eyes followed the ball as it rolled away.

~*~

Harriet turned to face the double doors of the common room that were open. They squealed open, her hazel eyes filled with disappointment as two Asian girls moved through. They were not what she wanted; she looked back at her essay. It still bothered her, and the words melded into some nonsensical primordial soup. The doors squeak again, casually she glanced up, four times the doors had been opened and four times Joseph Hannah had failed to appear. Disappointment racked her emotions again as a tall boy made his way through the doors. He had blue eyes, and brown hair, but they were not the azure she longed to look into, and the hair did not have the reddish taint to it that she would have been content to run her fingers through it for eternity. She mused that both Joseph and Gracie were not at school to day, when the double doors wheezed open a fifth time. She looked up and smiled when she saw the ocean-eyed boy, with the ruddy brown hair casually waltz through the doors. He glanced around looking for a familiar face. She also cringed as she felt the deadly eyes of Ari Lindsay on her back.

The ruddy haired vampire came towards her and slouched in the seat next to her.

"What up?" he asked her, a lazy smile gracing his lips.

"The cruel and unusual essay Mrs G decided to inflict upon us," she motioned to the pages in front of her, most of which were covered in her ungainly scrawl that had been crossed out and scribbled over.

"Oh, when's that due?" he asked casually, Harri felt his warmth against her legs. Her eyes wandered over to where Ari was watching her like the eagle he was.

"Monday I think," she narrowed her eyes on to the offending essay, before glancing up. His full pink lips filled her eyes, and she longed to feel them on hers.

Joseph Hannah smiled. It was a heart-melting smile, a smile that was carefully designed to lull unsuspecting girls in to having their hearts flutter like wild butterflies beating against the iron of their imprisoning cage.

Joseph Hannah knew exactly what he was doing.

His toe nudged the brunette's ankle gently; she looked up at him coyly. A secretive smile spread over her lips as she fiddled with her pen.

She didn't dare mention the name that would bring them both back into a world they were trying their damnedest to ignore. No, they both just smiled and Harri let Joseph forget about his soulmate.

She giggled demurely, and flirted with him. Brushing him away, all the time aware of golden eyes glaring on. Speaking silent death threats, and unspoken warnings.

Joseph's blue held her hazel ones, for a minute second and Harri could have sworn she had seen flecks of grey the same shade as Gracie's embedded in them.

All was forgotten as Joseph squeezed her hand.

"What?" she whispered. Her other hand rested comfortably on his knee.

"C'mon," he smiled, cheekiness emanating off of his sharp white grin.

"C'mon…?" she asked, confusion whirled in her mind. His fingers intertwined with hers, and she felt herself being hauled out of her chair as the boy in front of her dragged her out of the year twelve common room.

The golden stare dissipated, and she felt safer away from the murderous eyes of Ari Lindsay. Joseph still had a hold of her hand she and she followed him reluctantly.

"Where are we going?" she laughed, curiosity itching in her mind.

"We're ditching," he gave her a bright smile.

"Why?" she asked feeling slightly uncomfortable. Wagging was not one of her pastimes, the last time she had done it she was fourteen, and it had been more out of forgetting what time it was than purposely ditching.

"To taste the promises of freedom," he laughed at her, and his arm slid across the back of her waist, "Why not?"

His arm felt so comforting, and he was warm in the darkness of the grey rain clouds condemning her.

Why bother, was the thought that crept in her mind, but she followed him. He was what she wanted. She had wanted this dark, ruddy haired, sapphire-eyed boy, right?

Those sparkling blue eyes watched her, and she smiled at him, pushing the golden ones out of her mind. Ari couldn't hurt her.

"You don't have to come if you don't want," he told her. Offence slid into her insidious mind.

"No, I was just curious, that's all," she assured him. He nodded and they approached his car.

The black vehicle, pulled out with the treacherous couple inside hand in hand.