Twisted Love
Season Four
O Come, All Ye Faithful
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Vampire Diaries, I only own Grace :)
It was a loud thud that startled Grace awake from her silent slumber, she looked around to see where the noise had come from only to see her loving boyfriend sitting at the desk across the room surrounded by large leather bound books and writing in a notepad with a mug of steaming coffee beside him and an almost empty bottle of bourbon.
He glanced over at her through tired eyes surrounded by dark rings from where he had obviously been up all night. The raven-black haired vampire looked back down at the book scanning through the pages trying to find any kind of information he could on sire bonds and then he would try to relate them to what was going on between Grace and Klaus.
Swinging her short, thin legs over the side of the extremely comfortable bed she just sat there with her feet barely touching the floor for a long couple of seconds trying to wake up further. After she pushed off the bed and walked towards him with a worried look on her face. The older vampire was still facing away from her but could hear her moving around behind him, but still flinched lightly when her hands found their way to his shoulders.
Moving her small hands over his clothed muscles she began to massage the kinks out with what she knew about giving a man a massage, which wasn't a lot if she was honest. He was so tense and so rigid, she was fairly certain that it was just by her presence and her being up, she kissed the top of his head just standing there for a moment before moving away and crossing the room.
"Did you sleep at all last night?" She muttered reaching into her underwear draw and pulling up a cute black hip-hugging pair folding them into a pile before reaching back into pull out a black and pink stripped lacy bra, she looked over her shoulder at him to see him looking back down at the book in front of him, tapping his pen rhythmically against the table, his bottom lip between his teeth as he concentrated. "Damon?" The brunette called creasing her eye brows.
"Sorry, sweetie. What did you say?" He looked up at her through tired eyes as he picked up his mug and took a long chug of it before placing it back down on the table, she crossed the room to be standing next to him again, she grabbed the arm of his chair and pulled him around so he was looking up at her with expecting eyes, she sat on his lap cupping his cheeks looking into his icy blue orbs that seemed dull and worn from where he was sleep depraved. "You're sired to him, Grace. I'm going to do anything I can to get you out of his hold... Even if that means losing sleep."
Putting her head into the crook of his neck he just rubbed her back for a long couple of minutes holding her close to him before he reached for his bottle of bourbon and took a long swig finishing off the bottle and then throwing it to the floor with a loud clank. Gripping her shirt with his hand he held her closer to him, if that was even possible feeling her breathing heavily against him and just needing him to be there.
"I don't want you killing yourself trying to find a loop hole in this sire-bond, Damon. I know this isn't going to be easy on us, but we're going to find a way to end this no matter how much time it takes, alright?" She whispered looking down into his eyes but he just looked away from her, feeling her heart begin to ache in her chest she cupped his cheek and turned his head so he was looking up into her eyes. "We've been through so much together and we've proved that we can come out the other side stronger every time, this isn't an exception."
Damon didn't say another word, he just cupped her cheek delicately looking deep into her eyes before planting a loving kiss directly on her lips, she didn't hesitate to kiss back with just as much passion running her fingers through his raven-black locks. He picked her up and moved her across the room with her legs tied around his waist. Dropping her onto the bed she looked up at him giggling a little but there was no humour on his face only need and want.
Just upstairs in Stefan's room, Elena put her phone into her pocket once she was finished speaking to her witch friend about going out of town to teach Jeremy about not wanting to attack vampires, especially considering most of his family was now and his sister had been driven out of her own house in self-preservation of her own life.
Glancing over her shoulder she saw her handsome boyfriend laying shirtless on his bed with his arms folded behind his head as he stared up blankly at the ceiling, wandering over to him she straddled his waist and looked down at him through compassion filled orbs as he reached up and cupped her face softly an attempt of a smile pulling across his lips.
"So you never told me what happened in New Orleans with Damon and Klaus... Was it that bad?" She questioned and he rolled his eyes shaking his head, that was her answer to how bad the entire experience had been. "And he just came out and said it just like that? That he wasn't going to release her from the bond..." She shook her head closing her eyes, now she was beginning to fear for her sisters safety.
"He told us that he wasn't going to let her go and wasn't going to leave her with Damon." Stefan announced as he stared blankly at the ceiling, Elena had her head rested on his chest feeling it rise and fall with every shallow breath. "I guess I can understand where he is coming from..." The brunette looked up at him with wide eyes, she hadn't expected him to say something like that. "If I was in his situation with you, I'd feel pretty crappy about the whole thing, too. Knowing that the only thing I've ever cared about for a thousand years might only like me because of a sire-bond..."
"Klaus is a jerk, are we going to forget about all the awful things he's done and start to actually feel sorry for him?" She scoffed raising her eye brows to look down at her boyfriend who obviously cared about other peoples emotions far too much and now he was starting to care about the Original hybrid too. "I'm going with Bonnie to start teaching Jeremy how not to kill me, are you going to come?" She questioned but the vampire underneath her just remained quiet and she just nodded gently as she crawled off of his lap and began to pack a bag.
"Maybe you could take Grace with you, I'm sure she'd want to get out of town, away from all of this madness." Stefan informed her as he stood up from the bed grabbing a towel that had been hung carelessly over the back of a chair. Elena threw him a look from where she was shoving clothes into a bag, she wasn't really sure how much to pack she wasn't sure how long this was going to take. "It was just a suggestion, Elena... I thought you would want to spend time with your sister."
"I would, I do... But do you really think she's gonna wanna spend time with me after I announced that she's sired to Klaus? I don't think so." Elena answered her own question as she ran her fingers through her hair looking over at her boyfriend. "I think it's better if I just go to deal with this on my own anyway..." She informed him gently before picking up her bag and walking downstairs to see her sister and the raven haired vampire in the parlour room talking quietly.
"Hey, Elena. Are you going somewhere?" Grace called as she leaned forward to see her sister grabbing her coat, sliding it on. Elena nodded her head a little bit as she moved to be standing in the arch way of the parlour room overnight bag in hand.
"Oh, yeah... Bonnie mentioned that she was taking Jeremy out of town to see if she can teach him how not to kill vampires... or us." She informed her and Grace nodded her head gently, ever since what the newborn had said about not wanting her in her family anymore she felt as if she was being left out of everything and sometimes that was a nice feeling, it didn't feel as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders constantly. "Did you wanna come? I mean, I'm sure he would love to have you there, for support..."
"Actually, I have some things I have to do today." Grace announced as her boyfriend creased his eye brows looking at her. "But... But maybe you could take Damon with you, for added protection." She quickly spoke and his beautiful icy blue orbs widened as he glanced over at the brunette sat next to him. "I'll meet you out there later on. I just... I need to speak with... him." She informed him and he nodded his head, part of him understood but there was still something in his gut that hated it.
"Yeah, sure. Damon is totally welcome." Elena nodded her head as she stood up looking down at the blue eyed vampire she knew hated every bone in her body. "Listen, you still have to pack so I'll meet you there, I'll drive to the Gilbert Lake House with Bonnie... To make this whole ordeal less awkward." She added before walking over to her boyfriend pressing a soft kiss to his lips and letting him walk her out of the house towards her car.
"Are you mad at me?" Grace questioned as she stood up and walked over to the table pressing her palms against it to look at him through hooded eyes, she didn't want to have an argument with him, especially if she wasn't going to see him for an entire day, she didn't want to leave things on a sour note with him. He wasn't looking at her just staring down at his hands before he stood up and shook his head from side to side crossing the room to cup her face and kiss her forehead.
"Of course I'm not mad at you." He informed her with a soft voice was soothing to her ears she closed her eyes feeling his lips lingering on her forehead. "I'm angry at him. I don't want you to be anywhere near him, at all. But I know you have questions... This isn't easy for you. So, we'll meet later..." He kissed her forehead once more. "I love you." Walking across the room he pulled open a draw and pulled out a small jewellery box with a shiny navy bow tied around it. "Christmas is coming up and I... I got you a little something. I was gonna wait-"
"Then wait." Grace smiled at him looking up into his eyes as she walked towards him closing his hand around the box with a soft smile on her face. "Wait for tonight. When it's just you and me looking out over the Lake..." She cupped his face standing on her tip toes to press a subtle kiss to his masculine lips pulling again to gaze into his tranquil blue orbs, he nodded a little leaning down to press a harder kiss to her lips and then pulling back and walking from the room to pack a bag.
A few short hours later over at Niklaus' mansion, light piano music fluttered beautifully through the air as he sipped from a wine glass admiring his newest art piece placing the glass down on a coaster before going back to work on his piece he had made for the Winter Wonderland charity event. The tip of his paint brush was about to touch the canvas when the doorbell erupted through the house.
Growling slamming the brush down on the table next to his pallet he walked over to the door opening it surprised to see a little brunette vampire standing there looking around nervously standing a good couple feet away from the door her hands buried deep into the pockets of her coat, she looked up at him with wide doe eyes head tilted to the side with her mouth slightly open as he smirked down at her.
"Ah, I knew it was only a matter of time before you turned up on my doorstep with the marvellous doe eyed look of yours." He smirked and she shook her head as if to shake that look off of her face pulling her hands from her pockets to cross them over her chest. "You know, you're lucky I was rather annoyed that someone had disturbed my quiet time..." He smiled a little. "But for you I suppose I can make an exception. What can I do you for, love?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Niklaus." She hissed as she walked past him into the house straight into the beautiful parlour room the smell was overwhelming with the scent of just him. Cinnamon and strong bourbon mixed with wine, warm and welcoming and yet it made her stomach clench uncomfortably at the same time. She heard his footsteps follow but as she took a professional seat on the couch he went straight back to his painting blending in the colours expertly. "Are you going to ignore me and focus on your stupid painting."
"I'm listening, love, but I'm just busy at the moment trying to get this finished. You didn't pop around at the most convenient time for me, but I think I can assume what you wish to talk about, which really does require my full attention." He stuck his tongue out to the side as he concentrated hard on trying finish, she tilted her head to the side and even surprised herself when she found a soft smile pulling across her lips, shaking her head when she felt her lips pulling up. "Maybe I could escort you to the Winder Wonderland event. Could be rather amusing to attend."
"No. No, Niklaus. We need to talk about what the hell is happening and how the hell it's even possible!" She stood up stomping her foot like a five year old throwing a tantrum, he frowned from where he was standing massaging his temple with two fingers before tucking his paint brush behind his ear and turning to her. "We need to talk about what this is. I'm scared." She admitted her voice cracking as she did, she wanted to be tough, or at least act tough, but her emotions were pushing through ruining her act.
"I understand that you're scared. But what you need to do is take a few hours to calm down and decide what you want to ask me." He informed her and she bite her bottom lip as she nodded her head a little looking away from him, he had a good point if they were going to have a conversation about this it was going to have to be civilised and she would have to be level-headed during it. "So, meet me in the town square and we'll talk there. Ok?" He questioned and she just nodded her head again looking away from him still.
"Fine. I'll meet you there and I'll show myself out." She informed him in a small voice as she turned around walking from the room at quite a pace, as she opened the heavy front door she was surprised to see Stefan standing on the other side looking a tad bit shocked to see her in the house. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing." Stefan nodded his head leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest. "But I think I already know the answer to that." He added the hard look on his face turning soft, she was frowning looking down at her feet looking defeated and solemn. "Is everything ok? Did you get what you came here for?" He lowered his voice reaching out to stroke her arm but she just moved away from him shaking her head.
"No." Was her simple answer in nothing more than a whisper as she walked past him using her vampire speed to zip away from him before he could ask anymore questions or she started to cry. He frowned a little as he watched her run in a quick blur deep into the forest this made him quite angry and protective over her as he walked into the house without knocking just walking in to see Klaus admiring his painting from a distance.
Crossing his arms over his chest again Stefan leaned on his shoulder against the arch of the doorway. "Looks like a giant snowflake." The younger vampire deadpanned with a careless look on his face, the hybrid glanced over his shoulder rolling his eyes a little knowing that the vampire wasn't cultured enough to see what he was seeing.
"I prefer to think of it as an expression of post modernism. It's my donation to the Winter Wonderland charity event." He answered as right on queue his newly unsired hybrid Adrian walked into the room looked bored and flustered, he looked at Klaus.
"You said it was urgent."
"Yes, take this to the Mystic Grill immediately." Klaus nodded towards the painting that was newly finished and still a bit wet. The Original picked up his glass from the table and sipped at it again before motioning the bottle to Stefan to see if he wanted some but the younger vampire just shook his head answering no, in all honesty he just wanted to get in and then get out.
"You want me to be your delivery guy?" Adrian scoffed from where he stood beside the canvas, his eyes flashing over to Klaus, at first glance he looked a little taken back by his words, no hybrid had ever gone against him before, usually he'd click his fingers and they'd do, but this one was questioning it, as he stared at him for longer he came to realise the confusion was slowly melting into frustration.
"What I want is for you to do whatever I said. Without the attitude." Klaus answered in a snide voice choosing to ignore the grimace that pulled across Adrian's face as he picked it up off of the Easel looking at the picture in front of him. "And be careful with that. It's still wet." The Original called as his hybrid walked from the room completely.
The Original didn't manage to miss the look on the young vampires face as he continued to stand where he had originally stood. "Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, you know." He reminded him in a deeply sarcastic tone which only made Klaus smirk ever so slightly.
"What is the point of my hybrids bring sired to me if I can't maximise the benefits of free labour?" He replied to him professionally, he sounded just like a suave business man. "What are you doing here? If it had anything to do with my sired vampire then I'm already on my way to deal with it... Just have to clean up a little first." He informed him as he dried his hands on a small cloth he had kept hanging out of his back pocket.
Stefan rubbed his temple gently as he stepped down the single step into the room. "She is sired to you. Somehow."
"Yes, we already established that when I accompanied you and your brother to New Orleans, we should really do that again sometime." There was a high level of sarcasm to the hybrids voice which only annoyed Stefan that he could joke around about something that was so serious and important to the rest of them.
"I get it, in your own twisted way you love her. I really do, but even if you don't want to find the cure for Grace and make her happy and make sure whatever she feels for you is real, I still need to find that cure for my girlfriend, Elena, remember her?" Stefan informed him causing the Original to roll his eyes as he walked across the room to lean back against the wall. "And yet here you are making postmodern snowflakes."
"I've delivered." Klaus informed him in almost a snarl. "I retrieved the Hunter's sword from Italy which we'll use to decipher the map hidden in the Hunter's mark. You're the one who is supposed to deliver the Hunter and his mark." This time the blond was the one doing the reminding earning a look from the younger vampire.
"Well, Jeremy is the Hunter, and he has to keep killing vampires to complete his mark, but we can't quite figure out his to keep him from killing us." Stefan informed him earning a small smirk from the Original, of course he would find this all very amusing.
"Sounds like quite a chore. Which is why I feel perfectly justified doing a little charity work." Klaus replied confidently.
"Hmm, or maybe you're lying about having found the sword." Stefan called him out but this only seemed to annoy the hybrid, what would he have to gain from lying to him, there was no logic behind that, he would never get the cure and give it to Elena to have her doppelgänger blood if that was the case.
"Why would I lie to you, Stefan?" Klaus hissed as he began to stride past the younger vampire towards a large vault in the room adjacent to his painting room. "We're in this together." He reminded him in a sure tone as he began to twist the dial in three different directions, pulling the heavy door out to then reach in and pull out the sword. "The hilt acts as a cipher which we'll use to decode the marks on Jeremy's tattoo when he's killed enough vampires to complete it."
The hybrid placed the sword on the coffee table for Stefan to observe at his will, knowing that he wasn't lying about the sword. He took a seat on the couch propping his feet up onto the same table as the younger vampire walked over to pick up the sword and examine it. "I heard you moved Elena into your house, sounds a bit like a dangerous decision considering what is going on between her and her sister."
"I'm not here to bond, Klaus."
Klaus couldn't help but smirk as he looked up at the vampire. "Oh, on the contrary, I think right now I'm the best friend you've got."
Adrian walked down the stairs angrily into the Lockwood Cellar to see that Tyler and Kim were in there waiting for him like they had promised. "I'm sick of taking his crap. I should rip his throat out. See if he can boss us around without a larynx." He growled as he paced around the room, he was at his wits end.
Tyler gave him a sympathetic look, he knew what it was like to pretend to have to be sired to Klaus, it didn't feel right and he hated it, now Adrian was going to have to go through all that too. "You won't have to take it much longer."
"You keep saying that, but here we are hiding, plotting a revolution that's never gonna happen." Kim hissed from where she stood beside the Alpha, the door opened and they all turned to see Hayley walk into the room with a soft smile on her lips.
"Never say never and never say I don't pull through." She informed them as she crossed the room to be standing with them. "I found the witch that's gonna save your lives." She smiled at them all and they all looked surprised.
"Are you serious?" Adrian questioned.
Tyler looked from Hayley and then back over to Adrian. "We promised you guys we'd free you from Klaus. You did your part by breaking your sire bond, now Hayley and I are gonna do ours." He informed them.
Nervously Grace approached the Winter Wonderland charity event that was being held at the town square, she looked around to see the kind civilians of Mystic Falls mingling with each other, drinking champagne and having a good time. The vampire on the other hand couldn't calm her nerves as she walked into the party.
"Grace." A voice called from behind her, she turned around to see Carol Lockwood standing there smiling at her waving as she approached. "Grace, it is so lovely to see you're able to make it to a charity event, our town needs this after everything it has gone through." Carol informed her and Grace nodded gently. "Are you here with Damon?"
"Oh, no, Damon's gone out of town for a little while. I'm actually meeting someone else here..." Grace replied nodding her head, just saying it made her feel so guilty, she could feel her stomach turning over at the thought of someone seeing her with Klaus and thinking the worst, or someone thinking the worst and telling Damon that they saw her here. She should have said no, but it was too late now.
"Oh, well... I hope you have a really nice time." Carol informed her reaching over to squeeze her wrist comfortingly before turning around to greet her other guests that were just arriving, Grace began to wonder how she did it, act so normal in such dark times, she knew everything that was really happening in this time and still she could roll out of bed and throw an amazing part, put on a smile and act like nothing was wrong at all. It made Grace envious.
Just over the other side of the town square Caroline and Tyler were talking quietly by the large decorative water fountain. He was just telling her his and Hayley's plan for finally getting rid of Klaus and she was surprised and angry. "You're going to do what!?"
"Hayley found a witch strong enough to do the body jump spell. You know, the Klaus specialty." Tyler informed her, but she looked less than pleased to only be hearing about all of this now.
Caroline scoffed a little. "So, you're going to put him in someone else's body and then what?"
"We'll encase the body in concrete then bury it." Tyler answered as if it was that simple to get rid of his body, or whomever's body it was they were going to bury in a thick concrete grave.
"Why not just desiccate him like Bonnie did?" Caroline questioned shrugging her shoulders, it wasn't that easy for the witch the first time they had only managed to take him down by chance, it was dark magic she had used and also they had to kill a human in order to desiccate him and since Jeremy was a Hunter now that made him supernatural and the Gilbert ring wouldn't work on him anymore.
"Because to do that spell, you have to stop a human heart. I was a little short of volunteers." Tyler replied nodding his head making the blonde roll her eyes.
"Well, who was dumb enough to volunteer their body to be a Klaus sublet?" Caroline quizzed as she crossed her arms over her chest inspecting Tyler as he remained completely silent she soon caught on that he would be the one to volunteer his body to hold Klaus and then encase in concrete and when he saw the realisation on her face he was quick to hold his hands up innocently.
The hybrid was quick to try to calm his girlfriend who had a light pink tinge on her cheeks showing she was increasingly becoming more angry. "Ok, don't freak out."
"Freak out!" She shrieked, not loud enough to gain peoples attention but certainly to let Tyler know he was in trouble. "Freak out!? I'm about to haemorrhage! You volunteered!?" She growled loudly her silvery orbs wide and angered.
"It's not forever." Tyler was quick to informed her looking into her eyes with compassion in his, he had to protect his family, his friends, his hybrids. "Just long enough for the hybrids to be able to completely disappear." He added and a small part of her was proud for him to be so selfless to volunteer his body so that his friends could escape the grasp of Klaus, but every other part was on fire with rage.
"Well, I can't think of better ways for us to spend our senior year then you buried in concrete, Tyler." She deadpanned giving him a deathly look, but all the while she had been talking he had remained completely calm, he knew she would have reacted like this and he was just going to have to take it in his stride, but he knew he had to do it.
He reached over and took her shoulders in his hands making her look directly into his eyes with a loving look on his face. "This started with me. This has to end with me." He informed her confidently, he had weighed out all the pros and cons in his head and as much as he hated leaving Caroline he knew he was going to see her again one day, if it was the last thing he ever did he would see her again and he needed to help his friends, they had already done so much for him. "I need your support." He begged and finally she looked into his eyes with a sad look in her own.
Out of town at the Gilbert Lake house, Jeremy was outside in the cold weather in just a white tank top chopping wood for the beautiful fireplace. He swung the woodcutters axe over his head into the piece wood splitting it in two large chunks before swinging the axe into the tree trunk making it stick there for a moment.
Looking over to the side picking up a wooden stake he had already carved he admired his handy work for a long moment before sliding it into his pocket keeping it for later in case he needed to use it. Pulling the axe from its place in the tree trunk he placed another chunk of wood upright before swinging the axe once more splitting that into another two.
He couldn't help but hear two sets tires pull up over the gravel outside of the lake house, looking over his shoulder he was surprised to see Damon and Elena's car coming to a halt and both his own sister and Damon climbing out looking around. Bonnie had been standing out the front waiting for Elena to arrive when she saw the dark look on Jeremy's face, she hurried over to him.
"Jeremy." She called but he had already made his way over to them with his trusty axe in hand ready to use it, to kill these monsters even if they were special to him in one way or another. He was breathing heavily angry at their presence obviously at his parents vacation home, vampires weren't welcome at this place.
"They shouldn't be here." Jeremy hissed not directly at them but still loud enough for them both to hear, Damon honestly didn't really care about his words his mind was clouded with Grace being home with Klaus there too, but Elena was actually hurt by the words coming from her baby brothers mouth, knowing he didn't want her here, their family home, it hurt.
"They're here to help you." Bonnie replied to him in a soft voice as she looked up at him to see he was looking straight past her at both of the vampires standing in front of him trying to act innocent. "Do you trust me?" She questioned as she wrapped her hands around the handle of the axe he was wielding tightly in his hands.
"Yeah." Jeremy breathed out heavily looking down at the beautiful witch in front of him with a compassionate look in his eyes. "Yeah, I trust you." He confirmed in a small voice as he his hands loosened around the axe enough for Bonnie to slip it from his grip and throw it to the floor by their feet, she reached up and placed her hand on his strong bicep.
"Let's go inside." Her voice was breathy and almost silent but the younger boy still managed to hear her clear as day, he nodded his head letting her lead him back to the house still staring down both Elena and Damon with dark eyes, as they approach the house Shane was the one to open the door walking towards the witch and the new Hunter.
"What the hell is Professor shady-pants doing here?" Damon questioned crossing his arms over his chest, he hadn't liked him from the moment he met him at the college, but after their confrontation at the Miss Mystic pageant he really didn't like him and knew he was up to something.
"I invited him." Elena answered in a short tone, he wasn't here to give her his opinion he was just here to get him out of town whilst Grace dealt with somethings, she didn't need him telling her she was wrong or jumping down her throat every five-seconds. She knew he was angry, but she wasn't going to take the brunt of the blow.
Just inside the Gilbert house Professor Shane and Bonnie were moving around some furniture to create some space for the hypnosis they were planning to preform later on Jeremy, he was going to need all the help he could get if he was going to not want to kill his family and friends for just being vampires.
"Ok, listen, we are ready to get started, but before we can do that, we need her..." He glanced over to the door to see both Damon and Elena approaching. "In here." He was referring to the fact that now Elena was officially dead and she had signed the house over to him he was going to have to allow her in, like any other house owned by a human.
"This is your house now, Jer." Elena informed him with a soft look on her face, but he just stared back at her like she was just some piece of meat he was willing to kill, like she meant nothing to him, just a blank look. "You have to invite me in." She informed him as he moved closer to the door still not letting up
"Go ahead, Jeremy. Invite her in." Shane informed him in a light from voice behind him, but the Hunter hesitated for a moment longer just staring at his older sister before letting out a short breath looking her dead in the eye.
"You can come in." He told her in a strong voice, Elena was then free to entered the house and so she did. As she walked past her younger brother she placed her hand on his arm in a comforting way to tell him that everything was going to be ok and there was nothing to worry about but Jeremy was more disgusted how that bloodsucker had touched him.
He stared at his arm for a long moment, where he delicate fingers had brushed against his skin, he could feel the rage boiling inside of him and before he could even comprehend it in his own head he acted, pulling the stake he had made from his waistband and turning to her about to stake her but his sister was too quick, she turned and grabbed his wrist stopping him.
"Jeremy!" Bonnie called surprised by his actions, it all seemed to be going so well and then he had lashed out at her like that. She hadn't expected it.
Elena was quick to twist Jeremy's arm around holding it behind his back making sure to slip the stake from his over hand and stand on her tip toes to hold her baby brother in a choke hold with her iron grip, making sure he couldn't move but that didn't stop him from trying. The rest of them looked on slightly shocked but it was clear the youngest vampire had this under control.
In the Salvatore library Stefan was alone sitting on the couch as he read through some old papers when suddenly his phone began to vibrating he looked at the screen to see that it was Caroline that was trying to get ahold of him, frowning he knew the blonde was about to tell her off for being late to the Winter Wonderland charity event.
"Hey, sorry, I know I'm late." Stefan nodded his head knowing he was about to an earful from the blonde beauty that was currently attending the charity event.
"If I'm going to be a friend in your time of need, then you need to work on your punctuality." Caroline told him in a stern voice, much like a mother or an older sister. "I'm in a crisis. Where are you?" She quizzed.
Stefan creased his eye brows, she sounded frustrated and somewhat panicked. "I'm at my house. Why? What's wrong?"
"My boyfriend is a dumbass martyr." Caroline replied with a pout on her lips. "So, I think that you should Grace grab and get your vampire butt down here, now." She told him in a firm voice, it was obvious she didn't know that the younger vampire was already at the party.
"Actually she isn't here anymore, she already left for the party. I think she had to speak to Klaus about the sire thing, you know..." He frowned a little as he looked down at the page. "Speaking of Klaus I got him to tell me a little bit more about this Hunter's sword. You know that map in Jeremy's tattoo? The sword decodes it. It's literally the key to finding the cure."
"Klaus told you this?" Caroline was slightly surprised, that wasn't in Klaus' nature to be telling them anything they wanted to know before he wanted them to know it, but he must have been feeling generous that day.
"Yeah, why?"
"And did he happen to hand over the sword for safekeeping." She quizzed as her eyes scanned the crowd for her little brunette friend.
"Uh, what do you think?" Stefan scoffed a little bit as he leaned back on the couch leaning his head back to stare up at the ceiling, he didn't fail to hear the flat sigh his blonde friend let out. "What's wrong?" He questioned.
"We need to get out hands on that sword. Like today." Caroline informed him in a sure voice as she ran her hands through her wavy hair. "Tyler and his hybrids are taking out Klaus tonight." She informed him and Stefan sat up hearing that.
Over in the town square Grace crossed the road to see as a group of children ran past them as fast as their legs could carry them, jumping in the fake snow that was fancy enough for them to be able to ball up and throw at each other laughing. She couldn't help but smile as she entered the grill to see the paintings hanging up, they were to be auctioned off, her eyes stopped on a large canvas with a snow flake painted onto it.
She felt a pair of eyes burning into her back and as she turned she saw Klaus was standing only a couple of feet away from her, it made her jump a little but she soon regained her composer tucking a lock of her brown hair behind her ear as she turned back to look at the painting, it was only then she seemed to notice that name on the bottom of the painting, his signature Niklaus Mikaelson scribbled in a messy text with what looked like it had been a fountain pen.
"Nice snowflake, how long did it take you?" She questioned as she crossed her arms over her chest rolling her weight from one leg to another sticking her hip out to the side, he frowned a little as he moved to be standing beside her observing his own painting.
"Is my work really that literal?" He creased his eye brows, he didn't think of himself being that see-through and he definitely didn't think that would be seen in his art, that was where he though of himself to be most complex, unable to read.
Tilting her head to the side the young vampire tried to read into the work more screwing up her face, crinkling her nose a little as she stared intently at the work before looking up at him with a soft look in her eyes. "There is something about it... Something lonely and dark." Had the snowflake been himself, showing his inner insecurities and weaknesses for everyone to see, but not to guess. Hiding in plain sight.
"I suppose I should take that as a compliment." He chuckled a little and she threw him a look it was clear she wasn't in the mood for joking around. "Can I offer you some champagne, I know how much you like our little drinking sessions." He smirked as he picked up a bottle from behind with along with a champagne flute.
She gave him a look, glancing from between the glass to his glee filled eyes. "I don't think that would be a very good idea, too many parental eyes. I don't want to be seen as they girl that lost her family and turned to drinking..." She answered half joking yet there was a level of seriousness to her voice which only making Niklaus smirk more.
"Well, we all have to find our own ways of handling difficult situations and let's be honest you have many things to cope with at the moment. After a glass of champagne, to celebrate the holidays, we shall commence in talking about our bond. Yes," He quizzed and she sighed giving in, if she was going to find out what she needed to know she was going to have to play his games.
"Fine." She shrugged her shoulders and he didn't hesitate to pop the cork off the top of the bottle pouring the bubbly liquid into the flute holding it out for her to take sipping at it gently, honestly the brunette had never been a fan of the bubbly stuff, but if she was going to have to deal with Klaus she was going to be some kind of alcoholic substance.
Both of them didn't seem to notice Caroline hiding in the crowd with her phone in hand, she didn't even have to persuade the brunette to keep Klaus' busy for the day, he would trail around after her like a lost puppy and she'd happily milk him for all the information he had on their sire bond, Stefan was safe to get into his house and find the sword. Glancing down at her phone she sent a quick text to her older vampire friend.
He's here. Go.
Before her eyes went back up to Grace and Klaus who continued to stand there talking, she was going to have to keep an eye on them.
Stefan had left as soon as he got the message, the front door had been left open, I guess the hybrid hadn't anticipated anyone breaking into his house considering he appeared to be the most feared supernatural being in town.
Pacing over to the large vault he didn't hesitate ripping the handle off, he didn't know the combination and wasn't about to sit there and try to guess it, he just needed to get in and out and he also needed Tyler to get the witch to work her magic, otherwise he was screwed in the Klaus department with breaking and entering.
As he pulled the door open it was revealed to him that the sword was missing from there, growling he slammed his hand against the vault in frustration, after searching the entire house he still couldn't find what he needed most but hadn't given up searching and in his time of need he turned to his brother, calling him and explaining to him everything that had happened about the sword not being there.
"Well, he's not walking around with it." Damon stated bluntly rolling his eyes as he leaned against the wall of the Gilbert Lake house, he felt so out of place being in there with shady-pants Atticus Shane, Hunter Jeremy who was out to kill any vampire, Bonnie who appeared to not like him very much and Elena who hated his guts and honestly he didn't like any of them either. "Check the rest of the house."
"I am." Stefan replied as if his brother was an idiot, of course he wasn't just going to stop searching he just needed some advice on where to search. "I haven't found anything." He added in a low tone as he knelt by Klaus' bed leaning against the floor to look under it seeing an old black trunk under there.
"Try the sock drawer. People leave the sketchiest stuff in the sock drawers, or under the bed I know that's where Grace hides most of the stuff she doesn't want me to find."
"Your respecting for Grace's personal possessions astounds me, brother." Stefan replied in a sharp tone as he popped open the trunk to see that there was just a group of old, tattered folded pieces of papers in there. "I'm gonna need real ideas, Damon."
"Here's two: kill Tyler before he goes to Klaus or, since Klaus has suddenly become MVP in our relay race for the cure, tell him about the hybrids and he'll kill Tyler." Damon shrugged his shoulders, honestly he didn't give a damn about the Lockwood boy, he just wanted the cure and wanted to have Grace all to himself.
Pulling a couple of the folded piece of papers out of the trunk he saw that none of them were addressed to him which the younger vampire found curious, he tilted his head holding his phone between his shoulder at his ear so he could use both hands to search through the papers. "Nobody's killing Tyler." Stefan replied defending the hybrid and his blonde friend.
After a few long minuets of silence Damon frowned as he heard his brother go completely silent, he wasn't even sure if the vampire was still there, or Klaus had caught him. "Hello? Stefan?" He questioned.
Stefan was pulled back into reality shaking his head a little. "Look, I know it's a touchy subject right now, but do you know where Grace is today?"
"Uh, I think she's running around trying to get answers off of Klaus to do with their sire bond, she's planning on meeting us down here later..." Damon answered and there was a level of hurt to his voice he was trying to hide, whenever he would talk about Grace or the sire bond he would notice it.
"How'd she take it last night? You telling her that Klaus was sired to her and he wasn't going to break the bond?" Stefan quizzed as he leaned back against the wall listening to his brother speak.
"Not great, but she seems optimistic that we're gonna pull through this, I'd rather see her wanting and hoping than watching her cry and mope around, so I guess she took it as good as she can take something like that. She didn't exactly like being told she was sired to Klaus by her sister, but I guess you can't win everything."
Stefan couldn't help but frown again as he listened to Damon talk about her, it was almost like he was giving up hope and that was something he didn't want to see. "And how are you dealing with all of this?"
"Peachy." Damon answered sarcastically as he leaned his head back against the wall biting his bottom lip looking up at the bright sky the cold weather was nipping at the skin on his neck. "I'm dealing, Stefan. Nothing more, nothing less." There was a long pause between both of them. "Gotta go. Bonnie has enlisted Dr. Evil in her plan and I have to thwart him." The line went dead.
Just inside of the Gilbert Lake house, Shane started up the pendulum of the metronome which began to tediously tick back and forth. Around him candles are lit placed randomly around the room as Shane tightened the thick leather straps that were attaching Jeremy's wrists to the chair ensuring that he couldn't move.
The Hunter's eyes were firmly closed clearly he was already in a tranquil trance as both Bonnie and Elena sat opposite him just watching him with worried eyes. "All Jeremy feels when he sees a vampire is a burning desire to kill them, even if consciously he doesn't want to." Shane spoke up from where he was stood next to the teen. "As in your case..." He looked at Elena. "It's his subconscious that's calling the shots."
Bonnie nodded from where she sat next to her best friend. "Persuasion helps reverse your subconscious thoughts." She explained.
"Think of it as kind of conditioned response, right? See vampire, kill vampire." Shane put it all in layman's terms for Elena to be able to understand. "What I'm doing is creating kind of a middle step. It's like a detour, where his subconscious learns to recognise you as someone he loves, someone he wants to protect. And that gives him a choice. He can choose to take the detour instead of conditioned response." He explained as he took a seat on the table in front of Jeremy but speaking to Elena. "Ok. Talk to him. He'll listen."
Elena gnawed on her bottom lip gently as she looked at her baby brother. "I'm not sure what to say."
"You chose to do this here at your family's vacation house, right? So, maybe just start by telling him why." Shane suggested with a soft smile and Elena nodded a little as she moved forward on the seat taking a nervous deep breath.
"Every holiday, we came here." The youngest vampire started gulping a little hoping with all her heart that this would work, she just wanted her brother back. "This place was family. And when mom and dad died, Jenna made us come here and we thought it was an awful idea, but it was like they were here with us." She smiled softly when she saw Jeremy's eyes flutter open to look at her, Bonnie smiled widely, it must have been working. "They would have wanted us to stick together, Jer. To fight for each other, no matter what."
Shane nodded a little when the vampire took a long pause. "Jeremy, how do you feel about Elena right now?"
"She ruined our lives." Jeremy answered in a low voice looking directly into the brunette's eyes seeing how she sucked in a short breath as he said the painful words. "She's not even my real sister. She's just the reason that everyone I've ever loved has died. She means nothing to me, I will kill her even if that means I die myself."
Elena looked visible upset by this but remained to have composer as the Professor tapped his knuckles against the table rhythmically which seemed to bring the Hunter from his trance, he shook his head a little as he innocently looked between the three sitting before him. "Did it work?" He questioned but judging by the looks on everyone's faces he'd take that as a no.
Walking around the party they hadn't managed to say a lot to each other, Grace wanted to talk desperately about the sire-bond, but it seemed to awkward to bring up and Klaus just wanted to be there with her, he slipped his hand into hers before spinning her around, pulling her back towards him and both of them swaying elegantly to the delicate music which floated over the town square.
"So, is this our 'thing'?" He questioned as he looked down into her sparkling chocolate brown orbs before spinning her again pulling her back even closer to his body, she tilted her head to the side slightly confused. "You know, drinking, dancing, attending the town's parties as each others dates." He added and she frowned a little looking down at their feet before back up into his eyes. "How are you feeling? How are you coping?"
"As best as I can with a head full of so many questions." She replied sighing a little but never once did they miss a beat as they continues to stand away from the crowd dancing to the music, Klaus watched her face concerned. "I just feel for so long I've been this girl who's been lost in her own world and just cried whenever something went wrong..."
"Well, it's not a bad thing to cry-"
Grace let out a breathy sigh as she cut him of. "Yeah, but I don't want to be the victim anymore, Nik. I want to be strong and I want to be the one people turn to when they need help. I refuse to just sit back and feel helpless anymore." She informed him and he couldn't help but feel a hint of pride as he watched her talk, in his mind there was nothing wrong with her before, but she was getting strong, proving that she didn't need the help everyone was throwing at her. "I want to be... like you and Damon."
"Oh, love..." He smiled at her by this time they had both stopped dancing and were just looking at each other, he stroked her cheek but she just looked away from him. "You can do whatever you want to do and I promise you'll be a better person that Damon and I. You're so compassionate and loving, you'd do anything for anyone and not expect anything back from it. You're perfect." He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.
In the alley way beside the Mystic Grill, Stefan was leaning back against the brick wall with his arms crossed over his chest, he head heels tapping against the stairs that lead down into the alley, glancing up he saw his blonde friend approaching and both greeted each other. "Did you find the sword?" She questioned.
"Nope."
"What are we gonna do now?" The blonde quizzed as she ran her fingers through her hair, if Tyler got to Klaus before they could they wouldn't have a hope of finding the sword, which was apparently important in finding the cure.
"Klaus is the only shot we have at finding the cure. We need him. Tyler has to call it off." Stefan informed her not realising that the hybrid in question had been standing on the stairs behind them the entire time.
"Well, that's not going to happen." Tyler's voice echoed around the alley way and they both looked up at him, Caroline felt a clench on guilt in her stomach as she avoided eye contact with her boyfriend. "You told him?" He hissed slightly looking directly at her. "I've had twelve hybrids sworn to secrecy for a month. I have Hayley and a witch risking their lives and you're blabbing my plan to him?" He growled, Stefan was quick to stand between Caroline and Tyler closing a gap at he glared at the hybrid.
"Look, all I'm asking you for is a little bit of time, ok?" Stefan almost begged, he could risk in losing what little information they had left of the cure.
"How long? An hour? Because every minute that goes by that we don't do this, they're at risk. You and Klaus already served one of them up for Jeremy to kill." He replied to him in a stern voice looking over his shoulder at Caroline who looked deeply ashamed by what had happened, the Alpha looked back at the oldest vampire. "I don't owe you anything." He turned around and began to walk away. "I'm taking him out."
The older vampire growled as he zipped in front of the hybrid startling him. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that."
Caroline had noticed something over his shoulder, at the top of the stairs all of Tyler's hybrid friends were standing there to jump to his defence if anything were to happen. They would do anything for their Alpha. "Stefan." She warned there was a lot of them and only one of him.
"I'm sorry, but I can't." Stefan apologised to her, he was willing to do anything to make sure they got the cure and it got given to the people who deserved it and needed it and wanted it. That was his only obligation at the moment, that and protecting the people he cared about.
"Stefan." She warned him again and this time he followed her eye line to see the half dozen hybrids standing at the top of the stairs, Caroline glanced over her shoulder to see the other half blocking their only other exit.
Back over at the Gilbert Lake house, Elena was sitting on the edge of the dock looking upset over what Jeremy had said, when she heard footsteps approach she half expected to turn around and see Bonnie or even Professor Shane, but she was slightly surprised to see Damon approaching nursing a bottle of bourbon.
"Are you going to rub it in?" She questioned as she pulled her legs up into her chest pulling a blanket around her as she looked out over the lake, it was the same one Stefan had given her to wear the last time she had been there with him, that was a simpler time, even if it was still all messed up back then it wasn't as bad as it was now.
"I should..." Damon nodded his head as he looked a seat next to her on the dock as he looked another long gulp of his bourbon. "I mean, after everything you said to Grace, you must know how it feels now, to be pushed away by the people you loved the most... But I've got more pressing issues on my mind."
"I shouldn't have said all that stuff to her. I was angry at the time and I was scared and I'd never seen her like that before, I was just looking out for my brother. I was wrong." Elena replied hanging her head ashamed of what she had said to Grace about not wanting her in her family anymore. "How did she deal with the... the, uh, the sire-bond thing?" She questioned.
Damon couldn't help but roll his eyes, it's all everyone seemed to want to talk about. "She... She seems to be coping ok. I can't really ever tell what Grace is thinking, especially after everything... She told me she wants us to pull through this, but I haven't heard back from her since and that worries me."
Elena frowned a little. "Grace has always been hard to read, it's not just you..." She couldn't help the smile that pulled over her face. "She's only ever been her once, it was her first Christmas without her parents and her Gran had to go out of town for something important and she was on her own. So my parents invited her to stay with us here, she loved it we both had a really good time... I miss those times, I miss her when she was like that."
"What? Innocent and not a vampire?" Damon nodded his head as he looked down at the ripples in the water. "Sometimes I think if I'd never showed up to this town, never got into her life she'd be so much happier and still alive."
"Don't talk like that." Elena shook her head looking over to the raven black haired vampire with a stern look on her face. "You're the best thing to happen to Grace, you've saved her life so many times, you've saved her humanity so many times. She's good for you and you're good for her. She'd probably be dead now if it wasn't for you. By the hand of Fayth or Klaus. Trust me, you're good for her."
Damon just let out a soft sigh before drinking the bottle back up to his lips talking another long swig. The younger vampire frowned as she watched him. "Listen, Damon, I can't... I can't imagine what the two of you are going through or the strain it's putting on your relationship but you can't just give up, you can't do that to her." He nodded slightly. "She needs you right now, you're all she has left."
Down in the Lockwood cellar Tyler was preparing to do anything to make sure Caroline and Stefan didn't get in his way for taking down Klaus, he had seen that Grace was keeping Klaus perfectly occupied as the prepared for the spell even if she didn't know she was helping them.
"Tyler!" Caroline shook her head from side to side where she stood opposite him with Stefan, it was useless for them, they couldn't fight their way out, if they killed the hybrids it would only make Tyler hate them and the blonde couldn't risk that.
"Keep them down here until we're read to bring Klaus in." Tyler told Kim who was standing ready for commands, he dropped he heavy chains in front of her with an audible clang. "Use these if you have to." He assured them.
"Come on, Tyler, this is bigger than you. It's about more than revenge for us." Stefan tried to make the hybrid see it from his point of view, all the people he was trying to save, all the people he was trying to make happy.
"I know what it's about for you, Stefan." Tyler hissed as he closed the gap between them. "It's about the cure. You know what happens to a hybrid when he's cured of being a vampire? We go back to being werewolves; turning on every full moon. We couldn't give a rat's ass about the cure." He informed them in a harsh voice as he walked past them towards the exit of the cellar.
"Tyler, come on." The blonde stepped out in front of begging her with his eyes but he wasn't letting up, all he wanted was for her to be on his side for once.
"I needed you on my side, Care." Tyler looked at her through hurt eyes which really made her stomach twist with guilt and discomfort. "That's all I wanted."
Looking up at the night sky Grace was nursing an empty champagne flute when suddenly she went something crash against her lower back, gasping her turned around to see Klaus holding a fake-snow ball in his hand with a grin on his face, she dusted her back off before laughing a little, he dropped the other ball to the floor, picking up another champagne bottle and pouring her some she shook her head hiding her smirk.
"You can be such a child sometimes." She commented giving him a look as he placed his hand on his heart feigning hurt. "So, are you going to throw more snowballs at me or are we going to act like adults and talk about whatever this is going on between us?" She questioned and he creased his eye brows looking at her. "As in the sire-bond."
"Ah, you mean that side of what's going on with us, of course, you can ask whatever you want and I will do whatever I can to answer you, although at this time I probably know about as much as if as you do." He informed her as they both sat down on the side of the fountain, Grace ran her fingers over the top of the water making small ripples cascade outwards.
"How is this possible?" Her voice was small although it had a sense of power behind it. "That I'm... sired to you." It seemed like the first time she had said it out-loud and the more she said it the more real it became. "I'm not a hybrid, you didn't turn me, it was Damon's blood that made me vampire."
"I wish I had an answer to that question, love." The hybrid admitted as he nodded his head, he wasn't lying when he said he only knew as much as she knew. "If I was to assume anything then I'd say you're in my bloodline, I'm your originator. We've spent a lot of time together, we've also shared quite a bit blood... Perhaps my superior blood mixed with your blood and made a bond, like I explained when you first took my blood, do you remember?"
"Yes. I remember. It made me act different-"
Klaus couldn't help but scoff. "Are you trying to insinuate that my blood made you sleep with me? That it couldn't even be possible for a second that you could have real feelings for me? The blood was the only reason?" He looked at her with intense dark eyes, she shook her head trying to find her words.
"No... No, I wasn't saying that. Don't jump to conclusions." Grace shook her head looking him dead in the eyes, she wasn't going to be the victim, she wasn't going to be afraid to speak her mind anymore but in the presence of her sire-master she was a little frightened. "I... I was just saying how your blood made me more confident and for me, that is different..." She saved herself he just nodded his head.
"I suppose." He nodded his head as he stared down at the floor for a long hard moment before looking back up at her she was looking across the party watching everyone drink and have a good time. "Is there anything else that is on your mind? About the sire-bond?" He looked at her and honestly she was lost.
"Is there anyway to break the sire-bond?" She questioned looking up at him, honestly she hadn't wanted to bring it up, knowing it would make him angry but she had to know if there was anyway she could get out of this bond, something she had never intended to happen.
"Nothing that I'm aware of." Klaus answered as he stared at her, she wasn't looking back at him though only watching the crowd before her, the happy, innocent humans so oblivious to everything going on around them. She wished she could be like them, that the only think she would have to worry about her senior year was what college she wanted to go to, but that all seemed a lifetime away now. That wasn't her life anymore and she was going to have to accept that, like Klaus had said.
Jeremy was sitting inside of the Gilbert Lake house looking through an old family photograph book, him and his family and the vampire were all smiling at the camera having a good time, back when his parents were still alive and his 'sister' was still a human; a living, breathing human. Bonnie walked into the room taking a seat next to him just as he slammed the book shut placing it beside him.
"You ok?" She questioned in a light voice looking at him with soft light brown eyes. "Shane wants to try again."
"Survey says: Ehh!" Damon walked into the room quoting a TV show making the famous buzzer noise. "Professor Shane has been dipping into the magical herbs a little too much; if he thinks using a vampire to suppress the need to kill another one is gonna work on a Hunter. It's like dangling a cheeseburger in front of someone on a master cleanse. Just find someone else to attach your warm and fuzzy detour feelings to." His eyes flickered over to Bonnie throughout the speech, hinting to the Hunter whom he should be attaching his feelings to. "Gee, I wonder who that could be."
Jeremy looked over at Bonnie finally catching onto what Damon was implying, it was awkward considering they had already been dating and he was still admitting he had feelings for her, but it was true, if he should be attaching his feelings to anyone it should be her. "You." He announced and the witch looked at him with a slight look of shock in her eyes. "I feel that way about you."
Bonnie couldn't help the soft smile that was pulling over her lips as she looked up at the Hunter who was admitting still had feelings for her, when the teen saw this smile he grinned, he loved that smile so much, she was so beautiful and he missed her so much, even if he was a Hunter.
"Well, this isn't awkward at all. I'll be anywhere else." Damon interrupted their moment as he walked from the room, Bonnie let out a heavy sigh rolling her eyes a little looking back at Jeremy to share their awkward yet romantic moment.
Not that long later everyone had been told about Damon's plan to use Bonnie has the Hunter's emotional rock. Down by the lake, Elena was still standing staring out over the magnificent waters with a blanket still around her, again she heard footsteps approaching but this time it wasn't Damon, it was Atticus Shane this time standing there next to her looking over the lake with her.
"It was good thinking using Bonnie as Jeremy's emotional touch zone. Damon is very intuitive, even if he is a sarcastic, emotional wreck today..." He announced and the brunette looked over at him surprised. "Yeah, Bonnie told me everything that was going on between him and his girlfriend Grace being sired to Klaus, an Original."
"It's complicated." Elena replied with a soft sigh, she had no other way to explain the train wreck of Grace and Damon's relationship at the moment, especially now Klaus was involved. "Any ideas how to hypnotise her out of it?" She questioned out of love for her sister.
"You know, in all my world travels, the one spell that I've never found is how to break somebody from loving too much. Trust me, I've looked." Shane informed her making the vampire look over at him curiously, why had he been searching the world trying to find a spell to stop yourself from loving someone. "My wife and son died. I was just - I was trying to figure out a way not to miss them." The compassion began to show through Elena's chocolate brown orbs.
They heard a set of footsteps approach from behind them, both Professor and vampire looked over their shoulders to see Damon approaching with an axe in his hand, both weren't sure if he had been venting some aggression cutting wood, or if he was planning on using it, but they were both nervous.
"If your hypno herbs work, we should be singing 'Kumbaya' around the fire by dinner. So now, tell me why I'm not killing you?" He hissed as Elena took a nervous step towards him, she wasn't sure if she wanted to get involved in all of this. "I'm serious. Why are you after the vampire cure?" He questioned in a low voice.
Shane remained calm throughout the entire ordeal taking a step towards him almost closing the distance between himself and the oldest vampire. "I didn't say I was looking for the cure, but I can tell you where to find it." He informed them.
Damon scoffed a little, they weren't going to need him if they had the sword, but if Tyler imprisoned Klaus before they could get the sword then they were screwed and Grace could never be cured. "Klaus' sword will tell us where to find it."
The Professor nodded his head, the vampire had a good point but his one was better. "The sword will lead you there, sure, but so can I."
Elena was shocked by this revelation as she looked at the Professor with wide eyes asking. "What? How?"
"Cause I've already been there."
"How does this sire-bond affect me?" Grace asked suddenly from where she was dancing with Klaus to elegant music, he glanced down at her clearly she wasn't finished asking questions yet which only made him roll his eyes gently.
"Like I said before, love. I only know about as much as you know, so everything I'm saying in complete speculation on my behalf." He informed her professionally, but she still looked up at him like he knew everything. "Well, like I said, I can feel for you emotions, know where you are, you can feel my emotions at times... There is no clear evidence that our bond effects the way you feel about me, but... But many people do believe that it is the case. Plus, do you remember when I got you to feed from the human girl and you didn't kill her like you expected? Well, it seemed that you did that because I told you not to."
Grace looked up at him with wide eyes, she hadn't realised it at the time but now she was beginning to put all the pieces together. Was this another reason why Damon didn't want her to be spending the day with him, because he could tell her to do anything and the sire-bond would make sure she did it.
"This is quite a bit of information for you to be taking in and you look exhausted..." Klaus announced looking at the dark rings under her eyes, she licked her lips and looked away from him start down to the ground. "Have you been sleeping well?"
"What do you think?" She whispered as she looked up at him with a look on her face, he'd probably been sleeping like a baby knowing he could get her to do anything for him, anything he desired but she on the other hand had been worrying most of the night and only feel asleep at the end due to complete exhaustion and a splitting head ache. "Of course, I haven't been sleeping, tell me: if the situation was reversed, would you be sleeping?" He remained silent. "Yeah..."
Just the other side of the town square, Carol Lockwood was beginning to get a little tipsy off all the glasses of Champagne she had drunk, she approached April Young who was dressed beautifully in her winning Miss Mystic crown, sash and dress. She looked so happy and elegant standing there greeting all the guests.
"Instruct the guests to drop their donations at the gift tree in the Grill." Carol instructed her in a kind tone making the raven black haired girl who just nodded her head smiling pleasantly at the older woman who placed a sort of check list in her hand. "Excuse me." She spotted her son across the way walking towards her. "There you are!" She grabbed two champagne flutes off of a tray carried by a waitress handing on to her son. "Quick. A toast before people can judge us." They clink their glasses together sipping their rough alcohol, it wasn't long before she noticed the distant look on her sons face. "What's wrong?"
Tyler took this as his chance to tell his mother the truth about what was going to happen and why she wasn't going to see him for a very long time. They were sat away from the noise of the party on their own sitting on a bench. Carol was completely silent staring down at her empty champagne flute with a blank look on her face.
She wasn't sure how she was supposed to take this news. The Mayor was proud of her son for being so brave and being so loyal to his friends and hybrids that he would willingly give up his body and freedom so they could escape, but she didn't like that fact that she was probably never going to see her son again. It hurt.
"Please say something." Tyler's voice pulled her from her train of thought. She shook her head looking up at him with sad eyes.
"But you'll miss graduation." She announced, in the grand scheme of things that all seem pretty trivial and obscene to be worried over, but she was a mom before anything and that was the way she was going to think about all these things. "Which I guess is a ridiculous thing to worry about."
"I'm their Alpha." The hybrid explained hoping that she would understand, or at least pretend to understand. She wasn't a wolf, it was his fathers side that he had gone the werewolf gene. "They're looking to me to help him." He informed, honestly he was slightly shocked when she squeezed his hand and nodded her head in understanding.
"You do what you have to do, Tyler." She whispered trying to keep her voice even, she was going to stay strong for him, if this was what he had to do for his friends, then she was going to support him, she saw the shocked look on his sons face and couldn't help but giggle herself. "Well, don't look so shocked, I'm trying to channel your father. He'd be proud of you, you know? You're a leader of people just like he was." She referred to the fact that he had been the Mayor of their town, he smiled at her.
"Thank you, mom." Tyler whispered and she just returned the favour by reaching out and wrapping her arms around his neck. Embracing her son for what could be the final time, he just squeezed her back remaining composed during the entire encounter.
Back at the Gilbert Lake house, Elena and Shane sit across from each other in the living room whilst the oldest vampire stood behind the couch watching the Professor, he had never liked him but now he was willing to help them with the cure. Atticus reached forward and unwrapped a large stone which was meaningless to both the vampires.
"It's a rock." Damon deadpanned looking down at the old stone in front of him, he was sure he had seen the Professor talk about it before, at the high school when Shane had come in to talk about his occult studies.
Shane couldn't help but roll his eyes at the vampires simplemindedness. "It's not just a rock." He answered in a low tone.
"Hmm, so is this that silly little wives tale that you told at the occult exhibit?" The raven haired vampire quizzed as he walked over to the small bar to grab himself another bottle of bourbon, it was the only way he was coping with not hear from Grace for an entire day, bad thoughts had been flying through his head the entire day, he was nervous to see her.
Shane nodded his head. "Right, long story short. Once upon a time, there was a witch named Silas who loved a girl, who wanted to be with her forever, so he and his best friend, another witch, made an immortality spell and then Silas' best friend best friend witch got jealous and killed Silas' girl before he had a chance to make her immortal." Shane explained in a short version so they would understand. "Well, cursed for eternity without his one true love, Silas finds a way to reverse the immortality spell and then before he has the chance to take it, his former friend buries him underground leaving him and the cure to rot." He finished the short version of the story.
"So, it's a cure for immortality." Elena couldn't help but list then endless lists of reasons she could use it for, so she could be human again, so her and Stefan could have a family, Grace could be cured and not sired to Klaus anymore, her and Damon could have a family if they wanted, vampires who wanted to be cured could if they wanted it, they all had choice for the first time in a long time.
"Human blood is the life force of an immortal. No more immortality, no more need to feed on blood, you dig up Silas and you've got the cure." Shane explained simply, leaving both of the vampires looking at him with shock in their eyes.
Down in the Lockwood cellar, the hybrids were still following Tyler's orders and keeping both Caroline and Stefan prisoner hostage down there. The hybrid Kim didn't find this too hard, she ways held a grudge against the blonde ever since she had been part of the reason some of her hybrid friends were dead, because of Caroline's friends.
"Ugh!" Caroline exclaimed from where she was stood opposite the hybrid girl. "This is ridiculous. We are not hostages!" She growled at them all but this only caused a laugh to erupt from Kim's mouth.
"Sure you are, sweetie." The hybrid was revelling in this, Tyler had told her to do this so they weren't going against their Alpha, she could do whatever she wanted and soon the Alpha was going to be out of the picture and they would be free to do whatever the wanted.
The blonde was growing tired of the female hybrids attitude, Caroline was quick to zip in front of Kim so she was glaring down at her intimidatingly. It was a stand off between them two that was interrupted by a loud ringing. All the hybrids reacted to where the sound was coming from, which seemed to be coming from the back pocket of Stefan's jeans.
"Relax." Stefan scoffed and all of the hybrids seemed to stop from where they were about to advance on him. "It's my brother." He explained earning a look from the blonde that was standing across from him but he stilled answered his phone. "What's up?" He questioned as he glared at all the hybrids in the room.
"Don't ask how or why or who, but I just found the answered to your Tyler problem..." Damon began ambiguously as he went on to explain that they weren't going to need Klaus after all if they were to use Shane, which was a much better option for Damon considering how much he hated Klaus due to the sire-bond situation going on with his girlfriend, he was more than happy to bury the hybrid in a grave of cement.
"You're kidding." Stefan's eyes went wide as he listened for a moment longer and then hung up the phone looking across at his blonde friend. "We don't need the sword." He announced making Caroline's eye brows raise in surprise at the revelation.
Back at the Gilbert Lake house, Shane had decided it was time to tell the vampires more about ow they were intending to find the cure and the brotherhood of the five, which Jeremy was connected to, with him being a Hunter. The Hunters mark Jeremy had drawn of the deceased Connor's tattoo was lying on the dinning room table ready for the Professor to explain.
"This is the mark of the Brotherhood of the Five." Shane explained as he pointed to the part of the tattoo that was on the back of the hand. "And up the arm, you have the murder of a girl y a witch. The symbols in the veins are your map, which obviously, you no longer need." he referred to how he had already been to see Silas. "When this mark is complete, it will contain the spell that we need to dig up Silas."
Damon nodded from where he stood, he was seeing this as the Professors bid for them not turning on him and killing them. Shane knew that they needed him, because the last thing the vampires wanted to do was use the hybrid as a way to get to the cure. Jeremy was still going to have to kill his fair share of vampires but now they wouldn't need the sword and Klaus could disappear for a little while.
"And where'd you say he was buried? Oh, I forgot, you didn't." The raven haired vampire rolled his eyes from where he stood opposite the Professor, he didn't trust Atticus as far as he cold throw him, but if it meant getting Klaus out of the picture for a while he was going to have to start at least trying.
Shane couldn't help but scoff a little from where he was standing with his hands pressed against the dinning room table. "You've threaten to kill me, what, like three times already this week." He pointed out making the vampire nod his head like it was nothing to him. "The location is how I'm gonna survive your bad moods."
Elena couldn't help but wonder why Shane wanted to help them do this, Klaus' reason for helping them was pretty obvious, doppelgänger blood, but whatever reason the Professor wanted it was a mystery to them. "And what's in it for you? If not the cure, then what?"
"I'm in this for Silas, alright, up until this point he's only been a myth." Shane explained with a wide eyed amazed look.
"So write a thesis." Damon couldn't help but scoff, he found it hard to believe that he was only doing this all for Silas.
"Would you rather be the guy who writes about Noah's Ark or the one who sails it down the Hudson River." Shane answered as if it was that simple, folding the sketch up he was about to place it in his pocket but the older vampire held his hand out for it, he wasn't about to let Shane run off with the only map they had left, the Professor was happy enough to place it in his hand.
The raven haired vampire narrowed his eyes at Atticus. "I'm not buying it."
"You don't have to buy anything." Shane stated with a hard look in his eyes before he looked over at the younger vampire who stood there silently trying to make up her mind. "You just have to believe that I can fix your brother. And when his Hunter's mark is completely, I'm gonna take you to the cure and your girlfriend won't be sired to your worst enemy anymore." He looked at Damon knowing he had him there before the Professor walked from the room leaving them to think.
In the Mystic Grill, Caroline had managed to find her boyfriend who was surprised to see her after he told his hybrids to make sure that she and Stefan stayed out of the way until the dealt with Klaus and of course Hayley had insisted on following them back into the bathroom to hear their conversation.
"How the hell did you even get out?" Tyler quizzed from where he stood opposite his girlfriend, the worst thoughts were running through his mind, if they had hurt any of his hybrids he was going to be even more pissed.
Caroline crossed her arms over her chest as she stood there. "I got out because even your idiot hybrids recognise the stupidity of your Alpha murder plan." She informed him and the hybrid couldn't help but frown, he didn't want to fight anymore, he just wanted to get his hybrids out of the way and Klaus buried 6ft under in cement.
"I'm not going to fight with anymore, Caroline." He answered in a sure voice, there was nothing she could say that would make him want to stop.
Th blonde couldn't help but scoff. "Oh, we're gonna do plenty of fighting, the second that you shove Klaus into someone else's body." She answered but he look eft her with wide eyes, he had a,ready explained that there wasn't a free body, apart from his own, that was willing to take Klaus.
"We've been through this; I don't have anyone else's body." He reminded her in a sure tone but she just nodded her head.
"Yeah, well I do."
"What? Who?" Hayley was surprised, her and Tyler had studied every possibility and the only decision they had come up with and seemed to agree on was the new Alpha being he body for the Original.
"Klaus' sister, Rebekah." The blonde replied earning two very confused look from the people in front of her. "She's got a dagger in her. Stefan's been hiding her coffin in the tunnels. We dump Klaus into her body, bury her, we just killed two Original birds with one stone." She announced smartly, her boyfriend stared at her for a long minute before a brilliant smile pulled over her lips.
Hayley's eyes went wide, everything was going to be ruined. "It's too late to change the plan." She quickly tried to defend the original idea but the Alpha just smiled at his genius girlfriend.
"Call Bonnie." He implored making the blonde smile gracefully. "Make sure it will work." Hayley was outraged by him going against her and quickly tried to his him back on her side which he just relied with. "It's a brilliant plan, Hayley." He looked at him lover with passion filled eyes." You're a genius. I love you." He announced as he grabbed her face kissing her heatedly.
She giggled and kissed him back before replying. "I love you. Even when I hate you." She laughed both of them so wrapped up in each other to notice Hayley turning away slipping her phone from her pocket.
She was quick to send a text to Professor Shane who had been helping her with a project that obviously Tyler didn't know about.
We have a problem. Everything I'd falling apart.
She wrote to him looking over her shoulder at the happy couple to see them hugging. "I got to go find my mom. Let her know I might actually graduate." He grinned at his girlfriend, kissing her once more before taking off from the bathroom leaving Caroline smiling smugly at Hayley who just glared back.
Over at the Gilbert Lake house, Shane had just received his text from the wolf and couldn't help but feel anger bubbling inside of him. He opened a new message and replied back.
Fix it.
Simple and he knew she was going to have to do it if she ever wanted what they had made a deal about. The Professor jogged down the stairs to see Bonnie sitting opposite Jeremy who had began to use hypnosis on him again, the Hunters eyes were firmly shut looking actually relaxed. "How's it going?" He questioned.
"I think we're making progress." Bonnie informed him in a soft voice looking away from the Hunter when her phone began to ring, she reached into her bag and picked it up, it was her blonde friend. "Caroline, hey."
The blonde vampire was still standing in the bathroom of the Grill, with Hayley standing behind her not looking impressed at all, her arms crossed over her chest as she stood there listening to the conversation.
"Bonnie, I need you to think fast. I know that the daggers don't work on Klaus but what if we put his essence into Rebekah? It'll work, right? Say it'll work!" Caroline announced excitedly.
The witch could really believe her ears and stood up from the couch walking away so she could be alone to hear her better. "Slow down, slow down, what - what's happening?" She was completely taken back by the blondes idea.
"Just, come on, Bonnie." Caroline was playing with the hem of her dress not noticing the wolf checking her phone to see she had a reply from the Professor, she knew she had to do something quick. "Will it work?"
"Yeah, I don't see why not." The witch nodded her head as she ran her fingers through her hair still slightly unsure of what was happening but it sounded like they were going to take Klaus down without having to kill him.
"Uh, Bonnie Bennett, I love you!"
"Do you need my help? I can leave Elena here with Jeremy." The witch promised but Caroline knew she had this sorted on her own.
"You know what? Ty and I can deal with this on our own. Thanks." She hung up before turning ack to see the wolf standing in the way of the door arms crossed over her chest. "She said it would work."
"I gathered. Congratulations." The wolf had no level of gratitude to her voice from where she stood opposite her.
"Thank you." Caroline answered smugly as she walked towards the door, Hayley moved out of the way to let the vampire past but before she could exit the room the wolf lashed out and snapped her neck making her fall to the floor with a loud thud.
"My pleasure."
At the Gilbert Lake house, Elena pulled out a box of holiday decorations from a closest in the hall, the oldest vampire was sitting at the dinning room table looking down at his phone trying to decide whether to call Grace or not. He heard a noise from the other end of the table and looked down to see Elena standing there with the box.
"We should take these home... For Grace and Jer and all of us. I mean, we could all use some holiday cheer, right?" She announced optimistically as she took a seat opposite him, but he wasn't really paying attention anymore. "I think Shane's gonna get us through this. I trust him." She announced suddenly and he looked up at her through dark eyes. "But you clearly don't."
"Maybe because I think he blew up twelve people at the Young farm." Damon accused once again knowing that the Professor was listening in on their conversation. Elena's eyes went wide I'm shock at the accusations. "Little tip, Professor, I heard you before you even took your first step." He announced and the younger vampire glanced over to see Shane standing in the doorway.
"I see we're back to the false accusations part of our relationship." The Professor rolled his eyes as he walked further into the room.
The brunette glared at Shane from where she was now standing glaring at him, April Young was a good friend of hers and if he was anything to do with her fathers death then he was going to have some explaining to do. "What is he talking about?"
"Damon discovered that I was in contact with Pastor Young prior to the explosion at the Young farm." He was speaking directly to the younger vampire now. "And the Pastor was severely depressed. He had lost his wife to cancer and he sought me out for a little supernatural assistance. I tried to help but he was too far gone. I just - I never expected he would take eleven innocents with him." Shane actually sounded regretful.
From the other side of the room both Jeremy and Bonnie walk in, the Hunter was holding a stake in his hand. "Elena." She looked over o him nervously, Damon stood up watching them with weary eyes. "It's ok, I think we've got this." The Hunter informed the oldest vampire.
The witch crossed the room to be stand with her brunette friend. "Elena, don't move, ok? No matter what." She told her in a firm voice as Jeremy took a nervous step towards her.
"Jeremy, remember the detour." Shane announced from where he stood across from them all. "Choose the right path." He added and the teen nodded his head as he stood in front of Elena placed the stake he had been holding into her hand gently.
They all stopped breathing for a long minute before suddenly Jeremy wrapped his arms around her neck holding her close to him as he smiled looking over her shoulder at Bonnie who stood there smiling comfortingly and confidently at him. The vampire wrapped her arms around her little brother too smiling into his shoulder.
Shane watched them both for a minute before he felt his phone began to vibrate in his pocket, pulling it up he saw he had receive a message from Hayley.
I'll fix it. You'll get your twelve.
Waiting patiently Grace was looking down at her phone seeing if Damon has tried to get hold of her but she didn't have any messages or missed calls from him. Frowning his tucked her phone back away into her purse. It wasn't long until she felt a presence standing next to her she looked up to see the tranquil forest green eyes of Stefan.
"What's Klaus doing talking to her?" The older vampire questioned as he looked over to see the Original talking with the shady wolf.
"I don't know... He said he needed to talk to her real quick and left." Grace explained shrugging her shoulders, she could see from the corner of her eye that Klaus kept looking over at her but then returned his attention to the conversation with Hayley. "Have you heard from Elena... Or Damon?" She quizzed trying to act nonchalant around her boyfriends brother.
"Ugh, no, I haven't heard from them but you're going down to see him soon, right? Maybe you should head home and pack." The older vampire suggested, he knew that she wouldn't be leaving until later on but he just wanted to get her out of the line of fire, especially if they were going to take her sire master down.
"Maybe Stefan is right, love." Klaus' dark voice came from behind her as she turned around to see the hard look in his eyes as he stood there with his arms crossed behind his back. "Maybe you should return home to Damon. I have business to attend to here... Alone." He added, there was a venomous tone to his voice that she didn't like. "I think I've answered enough of your questions for one day, don't you?"
"I... Erm... Yes, of course." She nodded as she moved to be standing next to Stefan, the younger vampire didn't want to risk worsening the mood of the Originals any more than it already was. "Are... Are you sure you're going to be ok?"
"I'll be fine, thank you for spending the day with me. I do enjoy your company." He answered in a tone that was quickly becoming tempered as he looked down at her, obliviously that wolf had given him bad news. "Where have you been all day?" He quizzed his dark eyes setting on Stefan.
"I've been around." Stefan answered enigmatically as he stood across from the hybrid.
"I'm not in the mood for vagaries, Stefan. You've been dodgy and Grace has been lovely, which I've come to recognise as a distraction, now, do you have something to share with me or should I compel it out of you." He growled taking a intimidating step towards him.
"Grace had nothing to do with this, believe it or not she actually chose to spend the day with you." The forest green eyed vampire gave him a look as the hybrid glanced down at the brunette who was just staring at her heels. "I broke into your safe to look for the sword." He announced.
Klaus snarled back. "Why?"
"Because I don't trust you." Stefan admitted in a low tone as he looked over at him.
"I showed you the sword." The hybrid disclosed angrily as he glared over to him. "I explained its value. I've been on your side the entire time. What do you want from me? A secret brotherhood handshake." He deadpanned expertly.
"I found the letters." Stefan quickly informed him with a set look in his eyes. "You've bad a few pen pals over the centuries." He added tilting his head to the side, the Original couldn't help but smirk smugly as he looked between a frustrated Stefan and a confused Grace.
"We'll, is keeping my victims' letters really so different from writing their names in a wall? Like you did, Ripper." Klaus answered looking even more superior than before. When Stefan didn't answer the hybrids eyes flickered to behind him to see Adrian standing there waiting for him.
The Original began to walk towards him before stopping and placing a soft kiss on Grace's forehead standing in front of her for a long moment and then turning back to the other vampire who watched them both with a look on his face. "Loneliness, Stefan." He informed him, his voice was cracking on the words. "That's why we memorise our dead. There's the briefest moment before we kill where we literally hold their life in our hands and then we rip it away. And we're left with nothing. So, gathering other people's letters or writing their names on a wall is a reminder that in the end were left infinitely and utterly alone." He cupped Grace's face looking directly into her eyes before taking off.
The younger vampire turned back to her best friend eyes glassy eyes before sniffling and looking up at him. "I'm going to go pack." She announced in a strong voice before walking in the opposite direction.
Just across the main square in the Mystic Grill, April was taking time off from smiling and telling people how happy and proud she was to be representing her town as Miss Mystic to re-do her make up and take a bathroom break. She went to walk into a stall but when she used on the door she realised it was jammed. "Oh, sorry." She was quick to apologise but heard no response.
The raven haired human seemed to find the no response puzzling and it worried her, she knocked on the stall door gently. "Oh, hello, are you ok? Um..." Reluctantly she prised the door open and she was startled when a body fell out onto the cold tiled ground, backing away the teen recognised the body to be Caroline Forbes. "Oh my gosh!"
Quickly the beauty pageant queen knelt down next to the blonde and shook her shoulders trying to get her friend to wake up. "Caroline!" She hollered placing her fingers on her neck trying to find a pulse, but due to her being a vampire and technically being dead she wasn't going to be able to find one. This was when the teen began to panic. "Somebody help! Help!" She screamed as she stood up scrambling her way out of the bathroom but the vampire woke up before she could leave. "Holy crap!" She exclaimed covering her mouth.
"Have you seen Hayley?" Caroline questioned as the teen just stared at where the vampire had been dead not two minutes ago and now was right as rain. Rolling her silvery orbs the blonde pulled her phone from her bag and called Stefan.
"Yu didn't have a pulse. You were dead." April announced with wide eyes that the vampire was clearly unaffected by this news.
"Stefan, that little werewolf slut has lost her mind! Go to the Lockwood Cellar and make sure that Rebekah's body is still there. I'm gonna find Tyler. Hayley is gonna screw this all up!" She hissed as she hung up her phone looking across at April with a sweet as sugar smile. The teen was surprised to hear about Rebekah's body after all this time of trying to find her and now she was supposedly dead. The blonde grabbed her by her shoulders and began to compel her. "Forget everything you just saw and heard. You are Miss Mystic Falls and you have duties to fulfil.
April was so scared she was physically shaking from what she had witnessed and now Caroline was just telling her to forget it never happened. Of course the compulsion wouldn't work as Jeremy had given her his vervain filled bracelet to wear. "Ok." She whispered before quickly walking from the bathroom avoiding eye contact with the girl.
The blonde stood there for a long minute breathing in and out trying to extinguish her rage but she was so angry at Hayley for what she had done to her. As she took off out of the bathroom she was intercepted by her good friend Matt. "There you are. Stefan's been looking for you. Adrian's leading Klaus to the Cellar." He informed her.
The blonde ran her fingers through her hair, her mind was unfortunately still on April and the trauma she would have been going through seeing Caroline in that state. "How come the only time April Young isn't following you around like a lost puppy is when I'm lying dead with a broken neck?" She hissed at him as she pulled out her phone looking at the screen.
Matt was surprised by her words, he knew about April not being able to be compelled anymore, due to him being there when Jeremy gave her his bracelet. "April saw you?"
"Yeah, it's ok, I compelled her." Caroline assured him.
"No, she's - she's wearing Jeremy's vervain bracelet." Matt announced with wide eyes, the vampire in front of him looked up at him with a horrified look on her face. "She can't be compelled."
In the town square, Tyler was on the phone to his mother after not being able to find her but she hadn't answered her phone either so he was talking to her voicemail, he was so excited to be telling her that he was going to be able to stay in town and Klaus would no longer be.
"Hey mom, I don't see you." He announced as he scanned the heavy crowd for his loving mother. "Things have changed, it's gonna be fine." He added with a soft smile before spotting Hayley walking towards him in the crowd. "I'll be back later. I'll pick you up." He hung up and walked over to the brunette. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be taking the witch to the Cellar."
"There is no witch, Tyler." The wolf announced feeling a sickly quench on guilt in her stomach, he looked at her with a complete look of betrayal and confusion on his face.
"What?"
"I made it up." She whispered shaking her head a little.
Deep in the woods the hybrids were waiting impatiently for the witch to show up so she could perform the body switching spell and they could get as far away from Klaus as they could. "Where the hell is the witch?" She quizzed looking around at her fellow members of the pack. "Adrian should be here any minute."
They were all shocked when they heard a whoosh of air run past them all. All eleven of them turn around to see Adrian standing there with an almost pain filled look on his handsome face. "Kim." He muttered wanting to warn them it was too late, his hear was yanked out through his back.
Kim's eyes went wide. "No!"
"I never intended for you to put Klaus down. I needed him for the sacrifice." Hayley whispered as she still stood with the hybrid in the town square, he was so confused by now, all this time he thought she was on his side.
Tyler creased his eye brows. "The what?"
Adrian fell to the floor with a loud thud into his front to reveal Klaus standing beside him with his bloody heart in the palm of his hand before releasing it letting it drop to the floor next to the dead hybrids lifeless body.
The Original was so angry, his face was barely visible in the low light of the stars and moon, but from what the hybrids would see his handsome face was filled with complete rage and they saw the Hunter's sword in his hand, this wasn't going to end well for them. He ran for them all, slashing whichever ones he could get his hands on first.
Tyler's face was beginning to fill with anger as he stood opposite his supposed wolf friend waiting for an explanation. "I don't know how to explain it, but I made a deal with someone who can help me find my family."
"What are you talking about?" Tyler barked loudly taking an intimidating step towards her. "What kind of deal?" He ordered.
"There needed to be twelve for the sacrifice, Tyler."
The Original was finishing off yet another hybrid with the sword, one of the female hybrids finally gets brave and jumps for him to attack him and see if she can give her friends sometime to run, but Klaus was took quick and sliced her head off with his trusty sword.
"Twelve what?" The Alpha hissed almost not wanting to know the answer.
Klaus grabbed another one of his unsired hybrids, cutting his throat taking another one of them down, but he still wasn't done.
Back at the town square the air was thick around Tyler as he waited for his friend to answer him, but she just shook her head whispering. "I'm sorry." Her eyes were glazed over, she never wanted to do this to him, but she had to look out for herself in these hard times.
Throwing the sword through the air it impaled over of his hybrids against a tree behind him, the originals eyes were dark as he stalked towards him.
"Hayley, what did you do?" Tyler demanded in a dark voice, he was fairly sure he had piece it all together by now and he was so pissed. They had done so much to save those hybrids, put their lives on the line and now she was just giving them up.
As Klaus got towards the hybrid that had been impaled to the tree by the Hunter's sword, he was begging him with his eyes, in far too much pain to talk but the Original didn't take any notice and just tore his heart from his chest without a second thought.
"If you run now, you might make it out alive." She whispered defeated holding back the tears that were trying to fall, she had betrayed a friend, but in her books she always put her family first, even if she didn't know them.
The hybrid in front of her looked at her with a mixture of horror and shock on his face. After everything they had been though. All the trouble and all the people and odds they had gone against to save his hybrids and now she had just turned around and handed them over to Klaus. The one person he was trying to get them away from.
Klaus didn't stop there, he grabbed the sword out of the dead hybrid letting him fall lifelessly from the tree to the leafy ground beneath him. Zipping across the small opening he grabbed another of his hybrids slashing his throat letting the man clasp it as he fell to his knees dying, the Original kicked him in the back making him fall to the ground dead.
The Alpha stood there for a long moment looking at Hayley with anger in his eyes, he wanted to do something to get back at her but he knew he had to get out of there, Klaus was going to come after him when he was done with his fellow hybrid friends for turning them against him. For trying to burying him and his daggered sister in the ground for eternity.
Turning around Tyler began to push his way through the heavy ground, he wasn't sure where he was going to go but he just knew he had to get out of Mystic Falls until the heat died down. Perhaps forever.
Klaus stood there. Blood smudged over his face, seeping into his white dress shirt which was now dirty with muddy handprints and tore from where his hybrids had tried to beg for mercy but he hadn't listened. As he stood there he heard a small whimpering coming from somewhere close to him. Kim.
Moving through the darkened forest he followed the crying with keen senses before finding himself standing in the Lockwood Cellar. He glanced down the stairs to see her sitting there with her knees pulled up into her chest, as she heard the door open she looked up to see a dark shadow and footsteps.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. It was the sound of her life running out as he came into sight she scrambled away from him on her butt, but it was no use she was stood quickly gripping onto iron bars of the cellar. He stalked towards her Hunter's sword still in hand but the look on his face had changed it wasn't as angry as it had been before, more torn and broken.
"Where is Tyler Lockwood?" He was the one who had to pay for turning his hybrids against him, as if letting him live being unsired was enough now he had turned the rest of his pack. He was breathing heavy as he looked across at the female hybrid who was still sobbing, he lifted the heavy sword pressing the sharp tip to her throat. "You'd do well to answer me, love." He informed her pressing the sharp sword closer to her neck. "Where is he!?" He demanded in a gruff voice.
"I don't know." She sobbed even if she did know she wasn't about to give him up, he was her Alpha and she wasn't going to go against him. Kim was fairly sure even if she did tell the Original where Tyler was he'd still kill her just out of spite.
"Wrong answer." Klaus breathed as he swung the sword back swiping it forward to slice through her neck like it was butter. He watched as he head rolled to the floor dead. That was it. That was the last of his hybrids that had betrayed him, only Tyler left. His eyes were filled with betrayal, sadness, loneliness. It hurt.
As soon as Grace got into the boarding house she changed from her party clothes, finally slipping off the uncomfortable high heels and slipping off her dress to the ground kicking it into the bathroom before sauntering over to the closest the pull out a casual pair of black skinny jeans and a loose fitting shirt for her to drive in.
Shoving clothes into an overnight bag Grace wasn't sure what she was supposed to pack. She assumed it was going to be cold, after all it was winter. Hearing her phone begin to vibrate in her purse, she hoped with all of her heart it was Damon, after today she just wanted to hear his voice and then be wrapped up in his arms, but as she pulled it from her purse she saw it was Niklaus calling.
Sighing heavily she declined the call, he would have to wait until she got back from her trip to see Damon, he had told her that was where she had to be so that was where she was going to be. Sliding the phone into her pocket she walked over to her duffel bag zipping it closed, grabbing her leather jacket slipping it on and then throwing her bag over her shoulder.
As she walked from the room she heard voices coming from downstairs, she walked into the library to see both Caroline and Stefan speaking, smiling at them both she announced. "I'm heading out now, I'll see you in a couple of days." The blonde was the first up running across the room to bundle her up into a tight hug. "Care, I'll be back soon. I promise."
"I know you will..." She whispered as she held her tight against herself. "But... It's just after everything that's been going on, how difficult this must all be for you and you can still keep that smile on your face. I'm just really proud of you." She announced and the brunette giggled a little pulling away from the vampire. "Sorry. I'm being weird."
"You're being Caroline." Grace answered in a soft voice as she looked over her shoulder to the vampire she thought of as a brother, he grinned at her and lifted his glass to her in a cheers fashion. "See you soon, Stef." She informed him crossing the room to give him a sibling like hug, he rubbed her back as she pulled away. "Call me if you need anything." She informed them both.
"Go. Have a good time." Stefan assured her and she just grinned as she took off out of the house towards her car opening it, she felt buzzing coming from her pants again, pulling her phone from her pocket she creased her eye brows as she saw it was Klaus trying to call again. She whispered "sorry." As she declined the call again throwing it into the passenger seat and climbing in her car and pushing the key in the slot turning it to hear the engine turn over.
Over at the Gilbert Lake house, Bonnie, Elena and Jeremy were all rummaging around in the box o holiday decorations the vampire had found under the stairs. The Hunter dug deep into the box to pull out a string of mistletoe looking over at his witch friend with a small blush on his cheeks before he chuckled and placed it down on the table.
"Jenna used that to make out with Logan Fell." Elena laughed gently along with her best friend before her eyes caught the older Salvatore brother out on the dock leaning against the railing looking over the beautiful Lake.
Pushing up from the table she walked outside into the nippy air which was biting at her exposed skin as she walked over to the older vampire leaning against the railing watching the moon dance against the ripples of the water. "Grace is on her way down here... She just text me." Damon was spinning his phone between his hands.
"Listen, Bonnie and I have come to a decision. I'm going to head home with her. Leave you and Grace here to take care of Jer, I trust you both... And I think you both just need a little time away from Mystic Falls to talk about everything and where better than this place?" She smiled at him innocently he nodded his head. "I'd really like to go home and see Stefan, too. I miss him."
He smirked a little nodding his head. "I really do appreciate that, Elena. We'll make sure we look after Jer, don't worry." Damon assured her in a small voice and she just smiled back at him, hesitantly placing her hand on his shoulder before walking back into the house where Bonnie and Jeremy were both talking quietly.
Now that Grace had left the boarding house both Caroline and Stefan were free to talk about what was troubling them without fear of her hearing and telling them she'd stay and worry Damon even more. Most of them had been keeping the brunette out of the loop ever since they had found out about her sire-bond to Klaus, it seemed all too risky that she might turn around and tell him.
"Matt can't find April. I can't reach Tyler." The blonde informed him as she paced around the library where he was sat nursing a glass of whiskey. "This is a disaster." She added as she glanced over at him to see the silent collect look on his face. "Is this you in crisis mode? Cause it's a lot more subtle than mine."
"You know I thought I'd be happier watching Klaus get led away to the slaughter, but the way he looked at Grace... I don't know, it just... It reminded me of how I looked at Elena." He shook his head a little. "I guess I'm just feeling guilty."
"Yeah, you and me both. I saw them both talking and since then I've been trying to remind myself of all the horrible things he's done to her. All the bad thing he's done. Period." She announced running her fingers through her blonde locks.
"See that's the thing, we've all done horrible things." He rose from his seat on the couch and walked around the coffee table standing in front of the fireplace. "And I'm sitting here, trying to figure out what makes us any better than him. And I think it's just that, we have family we can trust. He's lost everything, his hybrids, his family and now we're working on breaking the only good thing he has going for him at the moment. Grace."
Caroline let out a breathy sigh. "Yeah, you're right, Stefan."
Elena was waiting patiently in the car for her witch friend who was saying goodbye to her younger brother just outside of the car, she smiled at them gently as the Hunter muttered a thank you before wrapping his arms around her embracing her tightly.
She had done so much for him, Bonnie was his emotional rock throughout all of this, she made sure he was never going to hurt his family. Not again. Not emotionally scar them. She had made sure of that and he was so thankful. He felt his witch hugging him back tightly before pulling away looking up into his eyes with a loving look on her face.
Leaning across he opened the car door for her to climb inside, she stroked his cheek gently gazing deeply into her eyes before she pulled away and got into the car, he shut the door gently waving them off and they drove away.
Tyler walked into the small clearing where the bodies of all his fellow hybrids were lying on the floor in a blood mess. Running his hands through his raven black hair he looked around at them feeling and sickly clench in his gut at he looked around at them hardly able to identify them anymore they were all in such a bloody, mangled mess.
Following the trail of bodies and blood he was lead down into the Lockwood Cellar to find his last hybrids body lying there headless, but he knew that body. It was Kim. Biting his bottom lip he walked from the cellar in clear anguish at the situation. He couldn't look at the bodies anymore, he walked from the cellar.
He hadn't noticed throughout the rancid smell of Kim's dried blood that April had been hidden behind the wall holding her breath so she didn't make any noise at all. As she heard Tyler walk from the cellar she stepped out approaching a coffin lying in the middle of the room, pulling the lid open she revealed Rebekah laying with a dagger stabbed into her chest.
The raven haired teen couldn't believe what she was seeing, after all of this time of trying to search for the blonde, trying to find out what happened to her father and what was the reason for kill himself and eleven other civilians but now she would never know. Maybe Rebekah was killed for knowing too much. April's breathing was erratic as she patted her hand against her chest trying to put things straight in her head but everything was a huge cluster of mystery and fear.
In the town square Carol was playing with a champagne flute as she spoke to her son's voicemail, she had received his previous message and decided to take it upon herself to celebrate with a party of one. Now she was a little tipsy hoping that he would come pick her up and take her home but he hadn't answered. "Tyler, honey, you're supposed to be my sober cab. I think I drank half the party." She laughed gently as she hung up her phone.
Taking her shawl off she hung it loosely over her legs trying to keep herself warm until her son called her back, but her blood ran cold when she saw Klaus making his way towards her, the party was over now and they were the only two left over.
"Good evening, Carol. You're looking for Tyler. I'd like to have a word with him myself." There was a level of defeat to his broken voice as he stood opposite her clutching a champagne bottle in his hand, blood still covering his face and crumpled shirt.
"Klaus, please, don't hurt him." Carol pleaded with the hybrid in front of her never moving from her seat next to the extraordinary water fountain. "He's my son. He's all I have." It was true, he was the last good thing she had in her life. Her son. Her boy.
"And you're all he has." Klaus remarked as he gazed down at her lazily. "There's a beautiful symmetry to that, don't you think?" He muttered as she stared at him with a mixture of terror and puzzle in her eyes before he grabbed the back of her neck, before she had time to react her forced her head underwater.
She tried to scream but it was useless, she flailed her arms and kicked her legs but his iron grip never let up as he continued to keep her head underwater until finally the bubbles stopped, that meant she had no more air and her lungs were completely filled with water. She was dead.
Removing his hand from her neck he brought his half empty champagne bottle up to his lips taking a long swig as he walked off into the distance leaving her lifeless body hanging out of the water no moving. Lifeless.
Finally Grace arrived at the Gilbert Lake house, she checked her phone to see she had no more miss calls or unread texts, she was happy about that, it meant Klaus had got the message that she was out of town and out of reach. Walking towards the door she knocked gently on the door only to reveal Jeremy standing behind it.
"Oh, you're here." He announced with a soft smile on his lips, he had only stayed up so that she could come into the house, but truth be told he was completely exhausted from their day, it was long and gruelling and he was glad his rage against his family was finally gone. "You can come in. I'm gonna head to bed..." He informed her smiling before walking up the stairs.
Stepping into the house shutting the door firmly closed behind her and twisting the lock she walked further into the house, she remembered it from her time there when she was younger. Biting her bottom lip she held back the small laugh when she saw a strand of mistletoe on the table with a note attached to it.
Pucker up and meet me outside, beautiful.
Picking up the mistletoe she opened the back door to see a figure standing at the end of the dock on his own, she knew that was her Damon. Biting her bottom lip she clutched the plant in her hand before walking down the walkway to meet him at the end. She tapped on his shoulder and held the mistletoe high above their heads, or at least as high as her short arms could reach.
"I think we're standing under the mistletoe." Damon remarked in a sarcastic tone and she just grinned before leaping on his crashing her lips fiercely against his almost knocking him back into the water. "I've missed you." He whispered knotting his fingers in her air before reconnecting their lips with even more passion this time.
"Me, too." Grace whimpered as she dropped the plant to the floor resting her hands on his firm chest clawing her nails into the fabric of his v-neck shirt. She wanted to continue their intimate moment but he pulled away reaching into his pocket and pulling at the jewellery box from earlier. "Damon... You really didn't have to. I didn't have time to-"
"Shh." He placed his finger over her lips making her stop talking for a moment, he removed his hand pecking her lips once before slipping the box into her hand, she opened it to reveal a beautiful gold ring sitting in the box for her to feast her eyes upon. "Do you like it?"
"I... Uh... I..." Her eyes were wide as she looked down at it completely gobsmacked, of course she liked it. It was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. "Is... Is this... A..."
"No..." He shook his head kissing her forehead. "It's a promise ring. I, Damon Salvatore, promise with all my heart to protect you and love you for all my life. And when the time is right, when you're ready... We'll talk about marriage. Ok? You're still so young at the moment, we have our whole lives yet." He whispered kissing her forehead, she was holding back tears of happiness at this point as he slipped it from the box and slipped it onto her finger. "Oh... It's a little big..." He muttered his voice filled with disappointment.
"No, no. It's beautiful. It's amazing." Grace whispered as she unclasped her day-walking necklace to slide the ring over the chain before clasping it back around her neck smiling up at him. "I love it. I love you." She kissed him with all the passion she had, this time accidentally knocking him back into the icy water of the Lake, he was quick to grab her wrist and drag her down with him. "It's freaking cold!" She exclaimed her teeth clattering.
Damon just laughed as he gathered his wonderful girlfriend into his arms making sure she didn't sink or start to drown and kissed her with everything he had feeling the promise ring pushing against their clothes burning against their skin lovingly.
Wow, that last part was kinda emotional for me to write :') But I still enjoyed every minute of this chapter, once again I apologise for the lateness of the update but I was debating whether to do the ring scene or not.
So, Damon gave her a promise ring :) I kinda want to explain why I didn't want them engaged yet, it's just because she isn't out of school yet and this isn't an easy time for them both having to deal with sire-bonds, but it's his way of going beyond the word of his promise, telling her 'this rings means what I say is for real, no matter how bad it'll get I'm not going anywhere, not even if you want me to'
Now, I don't know how Klaus is going to respond to this yet, my guess would be he wouldn't be happy about it and I doubt Grace will be flaunting it around like it's everyones business because this is something between herself and Damon, their own personal, very special thing that they both have.
Poor Klaus, I really feel for him this chapter, he tried to ring Grace before he went after Carol, by the way :'( He just wanted to talk to her and maybe she'd of been able to calm him down and stop him from killing her, who knows... Gosh, that's heartbreaking to write...
This was a very Klace-centric chapter, but I hope that Drace fans got what they wanted and for those of you who are liking both, then I guess you really liked this chapter :D
Can I just take a quick second to thank everyone that had reviewed, favourited and alerted this story, I really do appreciate all of the support I get from you guys. Plus everyone who voted on the poll I put up on my page, there is a new story in the works don't you worry ;) But let me get to the point, this story has almost reached 1,000 reviews, that's amazing, I never thought this story would get that much recognition because of all the other absolutely amazing stories that are on this website, but somehow it has, so thank you.
If you would like to follow me on tumblr, do feel free to, I post a lot of stuff of there, mostly to do with the vampire diaries :) and I'm always free to chat no matter what so please don't hesitate anyway check out my blog little - vampire - girl1. tumblr. com and if you would like to see the outfits, pictures of Klace or Drace or both then visit me on Polyvore with graciiieee
Before I forget, if you left a comment on the last chapter, check out below, I'd answered or responded to it :)
Guest - Here is your update ;)
MiaGilbert - This was a pretty Klace filled chapter, so I hope you enjoyed them finding out more about the sire-bond :) Thanks for reading
Guest - Here is the update :)
MissWhatEver207 - Hi, I read your review and I thought it over for a little while and I truly do apologise that you don't like the Grace/Klaus sire-bond. I understand that you think that it is jumping too many vampires to just land of Grace, I get it. I do. But what I personally don't want is for the story to follow the actual show too closely. I wanted to mix it up and to me hybrid-vampire sire bond sounded like a lot of fun. So sorry, but no I'm not going back to change it just because you don't like it. I hope you enjoyed the chapter thought :)
5alvatore - I'm so glad you enjoyed later chapter :) I hope you like this one too
Chloe - I'm glad you enjoyed it, here is the update :)
Jadeee-burgess - Hey, Grace does cry a lot but honestly she has a lot to cry about, especially since season 3, she doesn't deal with things very well, but honestly what female teenager does and then add in the heightened emotions, she's gonna get a little emotional sometimes. It's gonna happen.
xxxRena - Yeah, I figured if Klaus has waited this long to have Klaus then he found her and things became real for him. He's not one to give up without a fight.
Mia Salvatore - Hey, girl. Poor Damon, he was really hurting and Klaus isn't going to let go, like you said, it was bound to happen. She just has to figure out what's right for her, or better yet who is right for her and I think she's leaning towards one blue eyed vampire at the moment, like she always has. ;)
susl - I'm really glad you liked the Klace :) There is some more in this chapter :D
Jane R. Doe - Yeah, that one was an emotional chapter, I really enjoyed writing it though :)
SomebodyWhoCares - Well, I think this ring is a way of telling her he'll stay with her :)
PattyFleur87 - Thank you so much for review, babe :) I love reading your comments on the story :D
xGaladx - Klace is very intense and very passionate, but Drace is very smooth and pure and kindhearted. It's like their two teenagers that have fallen in love for the first time. Very sweet. :D
HPHGFANATIC3497 - Well, if you're a hardcore Drace fan then you're gonna love the end of this chapter :D It was very fun for me to write
Nymartian - Yeah, I figured if in the show Damon (the sire master) went along with Stefan to New Orleans, then Klaus might as well tag along in the chapter, he was a fun little bit of tension to add into their bonding trip which was nice :D There was a little Klace in this chapter doing their usual 'thing', attending a Mystic Falls charity event together as each others dates ;)
TinyDancer365 - I just couldn't leave Klaus at home on his own when the Salvatore brothers were heading to New Orleans ;) He was just too cute, when he's missing from an episode I hate it so I knew I had to bring him along, even if it did upset Damon with the added tension ;) I think when it all comes down to it Klaus is very willing to let Grace be happy but I'm sure that won't be for a while yet ;)
Guest - Thank you, honey. I appreciate it :)
David Fishwish - Yeah, those were very intimate scenes to write but also very fun from the Drace side of things ;) I really glad you enjoyed so many scenes that chapter, I hope you like this one, too :D
Guest - Yeah, Grace being sired to Klaus is a very risky twist :D
Tvdlover87654 - Yeah, those are a damn lot of reviews ;) Yeah, that chapter was crazy emotional, I have to say having Lexi back was really nice :D I want her in more of them. You know what, I couldn't have said it better myself about the Klace sire-bond. It's my fanfic and I can do what I want ;) I'm crossing my fingers to get past that damn 1,000 review milestone very soon :D I really appreciate all your support honey :D
grapejuice101 - I love the Drace stuff, too :D Here's the update :)
winxgirl1997 - Here's the update :)
Graciiee