Grace Mikaelson

-Chapter 8-

The River in Reverse

Klaus bites into a grown-up lady's wrist and lets her blood pour into a glass. "Have you spoken to our good friend, Marcel today?" He asks Rebekah.

"No, should I have?" Rebekah says.

"He's been mysteriously silent, avoiding me, some might say." Klaus tells her. "I thought perhaps he may have whispered reasons into your ears, along with all of those sweet nothings."

"If I see him, I will be sure to ask if he's still sore at you." Rebekah sounds as if she doesn't really believe what she's saying as Klaus finally lets the grown-up lady's wrist go before she walks away.

Then, Klaus crouches down in front of me and puts the glass of blood to my pink lips. "Drink this, sweetheart."

I raise my hands to touch the glass as I drink the blood in it. Klaus picks me up into his arms while I'm still drinking it. He sits down and puts me on his lap.

"Let me give a voice to that look in your eyes." He points at Rebekah. "My saintly noble brother lies writhing in agony in the Bayou, victim of my bastard brother's bite, when just one or two drops of his blood would ease his pain."

"On the contrary, Nik, I'm simply enjoying my breaky, waiting for Elijah's healthy return." Rebekah smiles, but she sounds a little unhappy.

"Oh, come on, Rebekah!" Klaus scoffs. "You've been giving me the devil's eyes all morning, out with it."

My oval-heart shaped face frowns silently as I look between Klaus and Rebekah. How do grown-ups do that?

"Perhaps I'm concerned that if I voice my opinion on what you did to Elijah, I'll end up on the wrong side of your toxic hybrid teeth." Rebekah says cooly.

Klaus slams his hand on the table, making something in my chest feel as if it's about to jump out as goosebumps pop up my pale skin.

"I would never bite you." Klaus says to Rebekah. "Elijah made some very offensive accusations about my intentions towards Grace. He deserves a day or two of discomfort. Besides, you know my preferred method of punishment for your indiscretions is the dagger..."

He's starting to sound a little scary, making me whimper nervously as I bite down on my red lips. Rebekah looks as if she's trying hard to smile as she stands up and looks at Klaus coldly.

"There's something fundamentally wrong with you." She tells him before walking away. That doesn't sound like a very nice thing to say...

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"They've all forsaken me." Klaus tells Cami angrily as she's typing on something with a lot of big buttons and a piece of paper that's sticking out from it. "My siblings are as deceitful and diseased as my parents ever were! Accusing me of using my daughter for my own gain, trusting others before their own blood."

"Will a lap top kill you?" Cami sighs grumpily as she opens up a tiny white bottle and pulls out a tiny little white brush from inside and touches it to the paper.

I touch her arm as my big blue eyes look up at her. "What is that?"

"This?" Cami smiles at me as she holds up the white bottle. "This is used to wipe out mistakes on paper."

"That typewriter was good enough for Hemingway." Klaus says. I tilt my head as my oval-heart shaped face frowns silently. Who's Hemingway?

"I see the resemblance." Cami says. "Booze and random acts of violence."

"Elijah and Rebekah have cut quick with their vicious lies against me." Klaus says angrily. "And all I've done is try and win this battle of wills over Marcel's control over the quarter in order to reclaim our home. Type these!"

"What's the point?" Cami says in annoyance. "You just repeat the same thing over and over again. Rebekah's out to get you, Elijah's out to get you! Is there anyone who isn't plotting your downfall?! I doubt you trust your own reflection!"

"You know, if the daggers weren't missing, I would put one in each of their hearts. Rid myself the burden of my siblings for a few centuries." Klaus says scarily, making goosebumps pop up my pale skin as I whimper nervously. That sounds scary...

"Look at you." Cami shakes her head as if she can't believe something. "Repeating the same destructive cycles over and over again. You're the architect of your own unhappiness."

"I don't remember asking for your advice." Klaus says coldly.

"Oh really?" Cami laughs, but it doesn't sound as if she finds anything funny. "So of all the people in New Orleans, you choose someone with a masters in psychology to record your life story. You're over a thousand years old, pretty damn sure you know how to type. The truth is, you compel me to come here because you've no one else to talk to, and you want to be understood. Then you compel me to forget everything as soon as I leave your presence because you're too scared to trust."

"I'm scared of nothing." Klaus tells her before he looks at another piece of paper. He picks it up with a frown. "What is this?"

"It's an ancient mystical plot I'm using to destroy you." Cami says as if she doesn't really mean it.

Then, she rolls her eyes before continuing. "Oh, relax. It's a tattoo design."

"Do it on your own time." Klaus mutters grumpily before putting the paper back on the table.

"This is my time!" Cami stands up angrily, making me shrink back nervously. "You steal it from me!" She yells at Klaus scarily before quickly grabbing her things and leaving.

I put my long, wavy brown hair behind my ears as I take a quick peek at Klaus. I think he makes a lot of people angry... But I think he's angry at a lot of people too...

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"Okay, I'm not doubting your mad vampire skills of destruction or anything, but Marcel's on red alert, surrounded by like an army." A man called Josh tells Klaus as they get out of a car. "You're totally boned, unless..."

Klaus opens the door beside me and unbuckled my seatbelt before lifting me out of the car and into his arms. "Unless what?" Klaus interrupts Josh impatiently.

"I overheard him arguing with Diego." Josh says. "Apparently, he's clearing out the compound tonight for a date or something... That's where Marcel will be."

"When I run New Orleans, there will be a permanent daylight ring in it for you, Joshua." Klaus smiles. "For services rendered onto your true king."

"Cool." Josh sounds a little nervous. I tilt my head silently. What's cool?

"But, if you ever betray me, I will make sure that you spend the rest of your life in exquisite agony, wishing for a merciful death." Klaus says scarily.

I don't really know what the last part of that sentence means, but I goosebumps pop up my pale skin as I whimper nervously.

"Don't worry, love." Klaus mutters to me quietly as he hugs me close and rubs my head. "There's nothing to be afraid of..."

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Klaus carries me into a building where there are LOTS of LONG benches. There's a man sitting in the very front, he's back is to us. We sit down behind him. "What do you want?" The man speaks up.

"It's puccine." Klaus takes a sip from a small silvery bottle before offering it to him. "It will raise the dead, kill them, and raise them again."

I bite down on my red lips silently. I don't understand, but it sounds a little scary...

The man sighs loudly as he takes the bottle from Klaus's hands and drinks from it. "I'd like to talk to you about your niece, Camille." Klaus tells him. "I'm sure you suspect this already, by the caps in her memory, I compel her. At first, it was because she was a useful spy, but now for her own protection."

I tilt my head at the man silently. He's Cami's uncle? "I assumed that a vampire was messing with her mind." The man sighs. "Though I never anticipated a confession."

I pull on Klaus's arm as I look up at the two men. "Who is he?"

"This is Father Kieran, love." Klaus tells me with a smile. "He's Cami's uncle."

My light brown eyebrows squeeze closer together in a frown. "His name is Father? That's such a weird name."

Father Kieran laughs a little. "No, Father's my title. Kieran's my name."

I scratch my head as I don't understand. "What does that mean?"

"It means that his job is a priest, sweetheart. And people call priests Father." Klaus tells me. "His job is to listen to problems that people can't solve and help them."

"Oh." I smile and nod as I look at Father Kieran. "Then you must be VERY smart if you can solve everyone's problems."

I don't know why, but both Klaus and Father Kieran laughs. "Thank you." Father Kieran smiles at me.

Then, Klaus looks to Father Kieran more seriously. "She won't leave things be." Klaus says. "And it has something to do with what happened in this church when her twin went on a slaughter spree. Now, if she finds out what really happened, the vampires and witch hexes that were involved, she would dig and dig and dig, until she digs too deep and gets herself killed. New Orleans will be the death of her, she needs to leave. And as ironic as it may seem, I believe it should be her choice."

My big blue eyes grows tearful at his words. Is Cami going to get hurt? "Yes." Father Kieran nods. "It is ironic to discuss free will with a mind-controlling vampire."

"I don't want Cami to get hurt." I speak up with a tearful whimper. "I don't want that to happen."

"I agree, love." Klaus smiles at me a little. "I hope that situation won't occur."

Then, Klaus turns back to Father Kieran with a smile. "She's a clever girl. She gave me a piece of her mind earlier today, I would've killed her just for that. I care about her survival. I smell war in the air, and with every war, there's the innocent victim who could've been spared if they would've just walked away."

Then, Klaus stops smiling and looks at Father Kieran a little sadly. "Please, convince her to walk away from New Orleans." Klaus says. "Or I'll be forced to compel her to go..."

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Klaus takes me to see Cami again. "Hello, love." He smiles at her.

"What are you doing here?" Cami frowns. "We just had a session this morning."

"I'd like you to do me a favor." Klaus says before picking me up and whooshing over to her. "You see, I'm most likely about to have a confrontation with Marcel, and I'd like you to look after Grace for a few hours."

"Can't you just compel her a babysitter?" Cami crosses her arms as she sounds a little annoyed.

"You don't like me?" I pout to her sadly.

"No, it's not that." Cami smiles and shakes her head at me before looking back to Klaus. "Fine, I'll do it..."

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I'm drawing with crayons at Cami's home when the doorbell rings. Cami goes over to answer the door. "Hey." I hear Father Kieran's voice say. "I heard that you're babysitting. I thought I would just drop by and see how you are doing."

"She's in the living room." Cami says as I hear footsteps coming towards me. "Drawing pictures of flowers."

"Babysitting might be good for you." Father Kieran says. "You need a break from everything else that's been going on."

"I... Think I'm losing it, like he did." Cami sounds scared. "I found this in my pocket." Cami takes out a piece of paper from her pocket.

I put the crayon down, stand up and walk over to them. I pull on Cami's arm and tilt my head up at her. "Did you lose something?"

She looks down tearfully at me as she looks as if she's trying really hard to smile. "Yes, you could say that."

Then, Cami looks back to Father Kieran and gives the paper to him. "The lines, it's a secret code Sean and I used to use when we were kids." She tells him worriedly. "I've no memory of drawing it. Something's not right, I just can't figure it out..."

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Cami takes me to the place called Rousseau's where Klaus and Hayley are waiting for us. "Hello, love." Klaus smiles.

"Are we going home now?" I look up at him.

"Yes, sweetheart." He nods. "But we'll be going to our new home."

"New home?" I tilt my head.

"Yes, love." Klaus tells me. "Now why don't we say goodbye to Cami?"

"Bye-bye, Cami." I smile and wave at her as Hayley comes and picks me up into her arms.

"Come on, Grace." Hayley says. "Let's wait outside. Klaus wants to talk to Cami..."

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After Klaus is done talking to Cami, he drives himself, Hayley, and I to our old home. I frown and tilt my head. "Aren't we going to our new home?"

"Yes." Klaus says. "But first, I need to make a few arrangements. Hayley, you wait in the car with Grace."

Hayley narrows her eyes at Klaus. "What are you going to do?" She sounds as if she doesn't believe him.

"Hayley, you listen to me carefully." Klaus says to Hayley scarily, making me shrink back silently. "Right now, Grace is the only thing that matters to me. And as of now, I'm assigning you as her bodyguard. You can fight me on this, but you'll lose miserably. Do you understand me?"

I bite down on my red lips silently as I scratch my straight nose. What's a bodyguard?

For a moment, Hayley's silent as she looks at Klaus angrily. "Yeah." Hayley mutters unhappily.

I pull on Hayley's arm. "You don't like me?" I pout sadly.

"That's not true." Hayley shakes her head.

"Good." Klaus says. "I'm glad that we got that out of the way."

Then, he gets out of the car and walks over into our old home...

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Author's note: hey guys, sorry I haven't updated for so long. I had hit a writer's block, but I'm back now and I promise to update the next chapter sooner. So please remember to review! It's much appreciated! Many thanks in advance!