Losing Grace Chapter VI: Sweet Dreams Are Made of This, a secret circle series fanfic

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.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sharmeen: Hey, thanks again…. I did read your story…it's pretty good…your writing has developed a lot from the first chapter to the latest one…definitely a good thing…makes your writing a lot more enjoyable to read. Thanks for reviewing.

Old Penguin: Love your name…sorry but it's such a wicked name. I have no idea what will happen after this chapter either…. which isn't a good thing because I should know the plot but it changes as words are typed out. I feel sorry for Ari too…maybe he'll have happiness…Thank you for reviewing I hope you like the next little bit

Annemarie delacour: Hi. Thanks for reviewing. Ari flip out and kill Harri and Joseph? Maybe…I like that idea but then where would Gracie be with her soulmate dead? Thanks again for reviewing…reviews give me motivation and trust me I always need motivation.

*Lyrics from Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) by Eurhythmics…

CHAPTER VI

Sweet dreams are made of this

Who am I to disagree?

I travel the world and the seven seas

Everybody's lookin' for somethin'

~*~

Gracie found herself in her father's car. More importantly she found herself probing around in the depths of her mind, for a vampiric boy who had abused her trust one too many times.

She turned the corner, not really noticing the silver sedan that she was expected to give way to. The deadening silence in her mind overtook all of her priorities.

Fresh anger consumed her as the realisation that he had broken another promise, a promise that was less than twenty-four hours old; a promise, which held her sanity in its uncertain and clumsy hands. Joseph Hannah has blocked the soulmate link again.

Frustrated tears pinched at Gracie's eyes. She could not accept this anymore. Her father was right. The soulmate connection shouldn't be doing this to her. Joseph shouldn't be doing this to her. Joseph loved her.

Then why, the angry voice sniggered inside her, why does he do this? Why does he block the link when he knows that neither of you can bear what it does to you when it rebounds?

The tears slid down her cheeks and she made no effort to wipe them clear as she pulled up in the student car park. She breathed in deeply. In and out, she was going to be calm, ignoring the storm inside her, the storm that desperately wanted freedom, the storm that wanted to destroy all the causes of her agony, the storm that wanted revenge on her soulmate and destruction for Harriet Miller.

Gracie fought within herself knowing that any loss of control could be unleashed as magick on the ignorant population. Emotions swirled with the power she knew lay inside of her, crackling like lightning.

The car door slammed behind her, but she paid no heed. She had to find him. Find him and punish him. Tell him exactly what he could do with his love, and that if he was going to block the link that he should block it forever. Gracie was sick and tired of her soulmate's disregard for her. The double doors of the common room flew open as she searched for the ruddy mop of hair that had caused so much anguish in her soul.

She scanned the tables. He wasn't there. Gracie breathed in deeply. Golden eyes found her and she stared. Ari Lindsay was troubled; his spectacular eyes always gave him away.

"What do you know?" she demanded. Not saying hi, no, no greetings for anyone. Joseph had gone too far. His insecure whispers last night were too fresh in her mind. The salty tears that had been shed were for once not hers but his, and he had played her. Joseph was a vampire, Gracie always knew that, and he had simply done what came naturally. He had manipulated her, lulled her into a false sense of security and now he was poised to strike.

Ari's golden eyes were so apologetic that Gracie wanted to claw at his face. "I'll get her, Gracie, know that."

The words didn't fit in her head, her…her, that sneaky little viper. Gracie's grey eyes widened, Harriet Miller. Joseph didn't want her to know that he was with Harri. "Where are they?"

Confusion filled Ari's compassion lit eyes. "Gracie don't go…okay?"

Ari's voice didn't reach her. Gracie felt something in the little corner of her mind where the soulmate connection lived. It tweaked and suddenly Gracie was calmer than she ever thought she would be. She would get that girl. A smile played across her lips, a smile that terrified Ari beyond belief.

Harriet Miller would die.

~*~

Thunder shuddered over the sky. Harriet Miller snuggled into the warm mass of flesh beside her. The wind whipped her face and she shielded it in to his neck, her lips delicately dancing over his skin.

His hands warmed her skin as they crept around her body, pleasantly burning her with desire. Lips met lips and they fused. Joseph Hannah was with her now. Harri had gotten what she wanted.

She drew away from him, his blue eyes dancing with mirth. The sea before them was a murky green, and it scared her to look up at the chaotic sky. It had been made grey by the darkening storm clouds and flashes of lightning lit of the sky, becoming thunderbolts of fury. Still there was no rain. No tears shed from the sky that reminded Harri so much of a huge grey eye condemning her.

Joseph leant in again, not content with the silence between them and Harri met his soft lips, once again their mouths merged. Harri felt uncomfortable, but she let his mouth roam her jaw and flit down her neck. She moaned blissfully, losing her hands in his hair.

Thunder clapped again, and Harri opened her eyes. Was he biting her? Joseph was engrossed in her neck; tiny pricks sent her hairs on ends. His tongue lingered over the skin their and-

~It's okay, ~

Harri's eyes widened, but he held her so strong and comfortingly in his arms. Harri fell back and she felt the sand grains press against her.

~Just go to sleep, ~ he told her. Harri desperately wanted to look into his eyes to ask if this was real, but felt her eyelids closing against her eyeballs, against her will.

~*~

The expression on Gracie's face made Ari shiver. The pure malice written on every curve of her body was frightening. This was not the girl Ari loved.

"Do you know where they are?" the question seemed reasonable. In fact nothing in her voice showed that she intended they any harm, but Ari knew who they were, and he knew that there was steel hidden in her words.

"Gracie, you don't want to do this," Ari told her, reaching out to take her arm. Just to touch her and try to anchor into the world of rational thought.

Her grey eyes flashed and Ari knew he had seen a sword concealed in them, he also knew that he would destroy Harriet Miller for her. All she had to do was ask, but not until she had come back to him. "You have no idea what it's been like Ari," her voice was polite but dismissive, "you have no idea what it's like to be pushed away and stored in cupboard where sometimes you get taken out and played with, but then you're put back away, cracked and torn," she held his golden eyes, and Ari could see all the pain and distress her soulmate had put her through, but she was wrong. He knew what it was like to be dismissed because you weren't enough or what they wanted. Ari Lindsay knew what it was like to have your heart trodden on, but it still belonged to them. Your heart always belonged to them, because somehow, some way they had got you under their spell, an enchantment that will last forever. Ari knew that he would always care about the mahogany haired and grey-eyed witch the stood before him with violent intentions.

"No," Ari said his voice devoid of emotion because for him to show it would cause too much pain. It would cause too many complications, none of which he wanted to deal with, "you're right," he gave a bitter chuckle, "I don't know what it's like to be torn apart by something I can't control."

Nothing glimmered in those grey eyes of hers. No sparkle of understanding, no glint of epiphany. Nothing. There was just solid dull determination. Gracie Bismarck was resolved to see Harriet Miller torn limb from limb just for breathing, let along being with her soulmate when she was not.

"Look," she told him impatiently, "I can find him now. You can help me or not Ari. Just don't try and stop me."

"I care about you Gracie," Ari told her; it felt as if something had been lifted of his shoulders, but it was not the whole truth. "I can't let you do this. You'll regret it later."

Gracie tried to push past him. Ari sighed and grabbed her wrists, ignoring the onlookers from the nearest table. "Gracie."

She wouldn't look up at him, she just keep on pushing at him, "Gracie," he tried again but she was resisting him, struggling against him. Ari adjusted his grip.

He took her arm firmly, pulling her swiftly outside of the common room, pushing her against the brick wall by her shoulders. "Gracie," she didn't look up and tried once more to push away.

"What?" she asked him bitterly, "what the hell do you want?"

"I want you to promise me that you'll go to Daybreak and stay there," he told her, "and I want you to keep it, no matter what kind of promises you're used to."

Gracie looked up at him, biting her lower lip. "What if I don't?"

Ari stared into her grey eyes, wondering what had happened to make her snap. How much had she endured for him? How many times had Joseph abused her trust? Ari wanted to know why Joseph couldn't see what a kind of girl he had in Gracie Bismarck. Why didn't Joseph Hannah see that Gracie Bismarck was one in a million?

"Then I will take you there myself and lock you into one of those padded cells they keep for hostiles," Ari answered, seriousness weaved through his voice as he warned her.

"You wouldn't?"

Ari gave a smiled that he hadn't used in a long time, a smile that he knew was his predator's smile. "Wouldn't I?

~*~

The afternoon sun peeked out through the rain clouds as Peter Haywood opened the boot of his car. He was shoving his bag into the car and closing the boot when he saw the black car of Joseph Hannah pull into the car park. He watched it as two figures got out.

"Come on Sunday, alright?" a feminie voice told what Peter could only assume was Joseph.

"I hardly know the girl," Joseph's voice dismissed the casual command as he walked with an arm around the hazel-eyed girl that was Harriet Miller.

Peter's eyes narrowed bitterly at the girl who he guessed was the cause of his stepsister's pain. Unfounded hatred bubbled in him as he imagined what Gracie's unfaithful soulmate had been doing.

"So?" Harri smiled up at Joseph, "Come a little bit before then. I want to see you."

"I don't know Harri," Joseph's arm dropped away from the girl's waist. Peter crouched by his back tyre, pretending to check it out. He was sure that Joseph would see him anyway, but the girl might not.

"Please?" Harri's voice pleaded, "it'll be fun."

Joseph scanned the car park, "maybe," his eyes spotting Peter's dismal attempt at subterfuge, "I'll call you okay?"

Harriet was unconvinced, but popped up to give Joseph a lingering kiss. Joseph untwined his hand from hers and waving her off. Peter watched the girl walk away. He was not blind to the happiness in the girl's walk.

"You bastard," Peter told his stepsister's soulmate. Protectiveness growling in his voice, his vocal cords trembling with fury, "you fucking bastard."

"Whoa," Joseph backed away mockingly. Both of them knew who possessed the greater strength. "She's nothing, I was just using her for a feed."

Peter clenched his jaw, "yeah, and that makes it alright?" Disgust lined his voice and Peter wished he had enough strength to smash the smug smirk off of Joseph's face. "She's just a blood donor to you, but she is a person not some cow in an abattoir. Oh, and let's not forget you have a soulmate. Imagine how she feels? You always promise Gracie the world, then steal it away from under her feet."

Joseph continued to smile somewhat reminiscent of the Cheshire cat. He seemed to find Peter's rage very amusing, "y'know Pete? I've always wondered why you care so much?" the taller boy paused, "What?" he gave a little laugh, "Was there something between you two before I came on the scene? I mean I'm curious; she's only your stepsister? Why so much emotion?"

Peter breathed in deeply trying to strangle the inner voice that told him lunging for Joseph's throat would be the best course of action. "You sick, sick bastard. To even suggest… I'm not the one who's morally challenged."

"Oh?" Joseph raised an eyebrow; "sorry then. Look I get enough rage from your sister. I don't need this crap from you." He opened the driver's door of his car, slipping in before racing off. Leaving a very pissed off Peter Haywood muttering curses.

~*~

He did it. Gracie stared at the white walls. Everything was white. She still couldn't believe Ari had done it.

He had lifted her up and carried her to his car kicking and screaming. No one had batted an eyelid, and that was what scared her more. No one wondered why she was being manhandled by the eagle 'shifter. They had just accepted it. Something is seriously wrong with the world, Gracie thought, no one had even tried to stop Ari from taking me away.

She had scratched him, she had seen the red welts that had appeared on his wrist, but she had forgotten. He had dealt with hostiles for he was part of the darker side of Daybreak and she was nothing compared with that. She had the beginnings of bruises on her wrists, and she rubbed them trying to forget what Ari had said. "I care about you, Gracie."

She shut her eyes. The words had rushed over her before. Before when she could only think of the thousand ways she would torture Harriet Miller. She still had the mental list of hexes and curses she could place on the girl, but Ari's words echoed again. The strength in him when he had abducted her against her will amazed her. She didn't really know what being an agent meant, her family was just a number in the books. A group of members who did odd jobs for the organization, people who could be called on as healers and who could rely on the circle's protection if they ever needed it. Gracie didn't work for Daybreak, she wasn't like Ari and Rosie who occupied positions on the pay roll.

Gracie sighed; at least she wasn't in a straightjacket. Ari had threatened that too, while they were in the car. The shock on the receptionist's face when he had hauled her into the building was priceless, but his superior's agreement to the suggestion that she had gone temporarily insane and a padded cell would be best for the time being had shocked her twice as much.

Gracie glared at the white wall. Damn him, she thought, damn him for caring and damn Joseph for not knowing how to care.

The knock at the cells door made Gracie jump. She saw golden eyes peer through the slit.

"Happy?" she asked him bitterly. Anger threaded through her and she could feel it burn under her skin.

"No," Ari replied solemnly, "you?"

"Thrilled," she told him, her voice flat and uninterested.

"Boss called your Dad," he told her. He was sad, Gracie could tell by the tone of his voice.

"Oh…and?"

Ari's eyes searched for her gaze but she wouldn't let him hold it, something in his eyes scared her…maybe it was the predatory way he had looked at her earlier when he told her what he would do if she didn't keep her promise. "He was going to come down, but the missing car left him no way of transport."

Gracie tried not to smile; she had forgotten how she had made it to her father's car. She knew only that she had driven it to school because that was the last place she had felt Joseph in her mind. "Tell him I'm sorry."

"He's waiting till Pete gets home," Ari sighed, "What were you going to do?"

Gracie looked through the slit this time to stare into Ari's eyes, "Oh, I dunno." Gracie smiled, "I was going to go after them and lose my temper again, probably fry Harriet Miller with witch fire or maybe organise for her to get struck by lightning…"she sighed, slightly surprised by the vindictive thought that came next, "but really…I ought to thank you for locking me up in here." Ari just stared at her, "because now I have more time to plot the awful things I'll do to her."

"You'll regret it," Ari told her, his voice so certain of what he said. "When you've calmed down and are normal again, you'll regret it."

Gracie cocked her head to the side, "I don't think I will."

Ari closed the slit, and Gracie heard footsteps recede from the door. She swore. She hated the way his vibrant golden eyes had looked at her with pity and sadness.

~*~

Some of them want to use you

Some of them want to get used by you

Some of them want to abuse you

Some of them want to be abused