A/N: Okay boys and girls, here comes another update! I hope that you enjoy this chapter.

Please review afterwards, and no flaming.

I don't own The Vampire Diaries. All characters (except for Grace) belong to J.L. Smith.

Enjoy ;)

MYSTIC FALLS

"There are no strangers here; only friends you haven't met yet."
~William Butler Yeats.

The sound of my phone's alarm sent me shooting upright in bed. I groped around blindly for it and slid my finger across the off switch. I yawned and pulled aside the duvet. The carpet beneath my feet felt soft and I curled my toes into it as I stretched and worked out the kinks in my back and spine, waking my body up.

"Why'd you draw a picture of me?" I spun round to see Henrik blinking down quizzically at the sketch I had tiredly put aside last night before falling into a (thankfully) dreamless sleep. I shrugged and turned towards him completely.

"I decided now was as good a time as any. Why? Don't you like it?" I questioned sleepily and a little guardedly. Henrik shrugged.

"No, it's great. Thanks." He flashed me a smile. "But did you have to draw me while I was asleep?" He grumbled. I giggled at the petulant pout on his face. It really didn't suit the image of him as a quiet, well-behaved son of a prideful Viking and his powerful witch wife at all.

"That depends. Would you pose for me awake?" I asked, smiling at him warmly. Henrik pretended to think for a minute before grinning and nodded.

"Sure. But get rid of the one you drew of me asleep." He urged. I immediately snatched up my sketchbook and cradled it against my chest.

"No way. I think it's a great sketch. I mean that in a strictly modest way." I told him. Henrik smirked back.

"Sure you did." He teased, and I stuck my tongue out at him and retrieved my toiletries and what I had planned on wearing today. After taking care of my morning routines, I spent the next hour drinking coffee, packing away my suitcase with my toiletries (after retrieving my laptop from underneath my panties and stashing it back into my laptop case) and dirty clothes, and working out the best route to take to get to Mystic Falls safely. I was going to grab some breakfast along the way. The coffee was just to jump start my system and help me focus. "You better get going if you're gonna make it to Mystic Falls before dark." Henrik reminded me.

I nodded, drank down the last dregs of my coffee, cleaned up my mug, brushed my teeth and grabbed my belongings. Leaving the door open with the key still in the lock, as per the motel's instructions, I packed away my suitcase into my car. Henrik was already sitting in the front seat by the time I got in.

"Excited about going home?" I asked him, curiously. Henrik shrugged, but I could see signs of tension in his dark brown eyes. He was definitely nervous about going back to the place where he had been born, raised and killed in his very short life. "Hey, don't worry about it. You're not alone in this. Remember, I'm returning home too." I reminded him, and he grinned appreciatively.

"Thanks, Grace." He replied, quietly.

Then we were off, on the last part of our journey towards my new phase of life. But I could sense something was bothering Henrik, as he was quiet again. He was showing signs that he was itching to tell me something, but was backing down at the last second. This would continue on for a few minutes: where Henrik would glance at me from out the corner of his eye, make a gesture to say something, and then chicken out at the last second. Then the process would start over again. Finally, I got annoyed and decided to coax it out of him.

"Something bothering you?" I asked him, curiously. Henrik frowned, looking as though he were in pain and didn't reply for several minutes. Eventually, he gave in.

"There's something else I need to tell you relating to my family's bloody history." He finally admitted.

"Oh?" I replied, surprised. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I told him, observing how much it obviously pained him to reveal this to me. Henrik made his stubborn face.

"It involves you." He stated, coolly.

I fell silent. By the seriousness in his tone, I could tell that whatever he needed to reveal to me, was bound to either piss me off, upset me, frighten me, or a combination of all three put together.

"Now I gotta know." I replied, with a joking, upbeat tone in my voice that felt false even to my own ears.

"You're not gonna like it." Henrik warned me. I nodded once, agreeing with him.

"I kinda figured that." I said. "Just rip off the metaphorical band aid and get it over with, Henrik." I suggested to him, firmly. "Hopefully, it will make you feel better. I'd rather know about it now then be confronted with whatever it is in the future." I reminded him. Henrik conceded.

"You know how I told you that one of the consequences of my siblings becoming vampires was the insatiable thirst?" Henrik asked.

"What about it?" I asked, questioning where he was going with this.

"What I neglected to tell you, was that one of my brothers had a hard time dealling with it. So much so that it eventually got him into trouble, and became a danger to the rest of us." Henrik explained. I nodded.

"What he nearly exposed you to the villagers, and threatened your chances of staying in the village?" I fished. Henrik shook his head.

"No, nothing like that. He did expose something, but it was more he exposed a secret that my mother had kept hidden from my father." Henrik told me. I was confused.

"So what does that have to do with me?" I asked.

"I'm getting to it, I promise. I just don't want to scare you." Henrik pleaded. "One night two of my brothers and my father went out hunting. One of my brothers lost control and drained one of the villagers. The second his dead body hit the earth, he revealed something sinister about himself." Henrik hesitated.

I got suspicious.

"What's wrong, Henrik. Why so edgy?" I prodded. Henrik subtly fingered his ripped and torn shirt, grabbing my attention and I immediately realised what he was getting at. My eyes widened.

"You don't mean…" I mumbled. Henrik nodded, and I felt the blood drain from my face.

"He became what killed me." That immediately made me think back to the dream I had shared with him two nights ago before I left for Virginia. The appearance of that wolf couldn't have been a co-incidence. I couldn't help but feel both stunned and horrified that my mysterious stranger, who had so passionately kissed me and held me close was a werewolf … and a vampire?

"Wait that can't be right. How can your brother, the man my past life was engaged to, be both a vampire AND a werewolf? Is that even possible?" I asked, already forming a headache.

"You know it is, Grace. I wouldn't have told you that my family became vampires if I was lying to you about it." Henrik sounded annoyed. "The point is my father isn't a werewolf, which meant that my brother wasn't his son." Henrik looked at me dead on. "My brother is a hybrid of a werewolf and a vampire. Thus making him extremely powerful and impossible to kill. My father actually called him a beast and an abomination." I was aghast. But I needed to know more. Particularly if I was involved.

"Can we get to the part where I'm involved?" I asked. Henrik grimaced. It was obvious that he didn't want to tell me.

"Our family decided to keep you in the dark about their transformation. You were very confused and worried." Henrik explained, reluctantly. I frowned, still focusing on the road.

"I should say so." I replied, evenly. "But I think I would've understood eventually if you did keep me in the loop." I was defensive and by the expression of Henrik's face, he knew it. I know women were treated differently back in the 11th century, but this is ridiculous. "So what happened next?" I demanded, hoping my tone was calm.

"The next night was a full moon, and as usual, the villagers went back to the caves for safety. My sister and you realised that mother, father and two of my brothers weren't there. So against my sister's wishes, you decided foolishly to go out and find them. I followed you." My eyes widened in shock.

"I think I know where this is going." I whispered. "Are you telling me that I went out and got myself killed by a stupid werewolf?" I asked, sounding appalled.

"No you didn't." Henrik stated. "You were murdered. It was meant to be a warning and a threat by my father to my brother." Now I was outraged. I was used as a punishment against the man I was supposed to marry? Why? "You stumbled upon mother, father and one of my brothers chaining him to a wooden cross. They were placing a curse upon him, so that he couldn't use his werewolf abilities." I white-knuckled the steering wheel. "Right before the curse was finished, you came out of hiding to stop them; but you had unknowingly put yourself in danger by becoming a target for father's unrepressed rage. The fact that your fiancé screamed at you to run just sealed your fate.'

"Eventually, your fiancé broke free from the cross and came after you to protect you. He found you hiding in some bushes. But you were frightened of him, because of what you realised they had become. My brother eventually persuaded you to trust him and trust that he would get you out of harm's way—" Henrik continued.

"—And I put my trust in him and we ran for safety." I automatically took over the story. Henrik looked at me in astonishment.

"How did you know that?" He demanded, sounding slightly stunned. I snorted.

"It seemed like the likely thing to happen next." I shrugged, dismissively. I was still holding the stirring wheel in a death grip. I was so angry about learning that I had been used like that. "So how was I murdered, since clearly we must have been caught?" I asked, sounding bitter.

Henrik looked sad.

"My other brother who had betrayed your fiancé intercepted him by shoving him against a nearby tree. You were thrown into a heap. Father then seized his chance and stabbed you in the side." I paused, placing a hand on my stomach. Henrik noticed. "What is it?" He asked. Luckily, I had spied a diner off the side of the highway, and had immediately pulled off towards it. Putting my car into park, I slowly raised my shirt and revealed my birthmark sitting just underneath my right breast.

"So that's what this birthmark relates to." I mumbled. Henrik looked confused.

"You've lost me." He stated.

"There's a saying that says: birthmarks are the site of where traumatic injuries were sustained from a past life. Or at least, that's what my Gran told me when I was little." I told him. "I never thought that this birthmark would be from something as violent as a death sustained by an angry prideful man." Then I felt my eyes narrowing in anger. "But if your father became a vampire like your siblings, then he better stay out of my way; or I'll kill him … or at least die again trying to." I told Henrik, adding that last part in when he looked at me with alarm.

"He'll kill you. He's a thousand year old vampire." Henrik insisted. I glared at him.

"I don't care. Nobody uses me to get back at someone." I growled.

"Don't be so reckless. You'll have to get through my brother first." He reminded me. My glare softened a little at the thought of my mysterious stranger.

"So? We'll work it out. I'll even tag team him if I have to. The point is, I'm gonna make him pay." I insisted, stubbornly. Henrik sighed and threw up his arms.

"Fine. Do what you want. But it's gonna end in tears, I can feel it." Henrik despaired. I left him to it, as my stomach was threatening to eat its way out of my gut if I didn't fill it with food and soon.

I couldn't actually believe how accurate I had been with my estimated time of arrival in Mystic Falls. I know it wasn't an exact time, but I had predicted sometime in the afternoon, which according to my watch told me it was about 2:00pm in the afternoon. I couldn't help but smile a little as I watched the wooden 'Welcome to Mystic Falls' sign fly past as I drove straight on through into town. I glanced over at Henrik, using my peripherals, and was curious to know what his reaction was to being back in the town where a thousand years ago, he had been born, had a childhood in, and died horribly.

"Anything familiar to you yet, Henrik?" I asked him, casually. Henrik was staring at the thick forest of evergreen trees rushing past the passenger side window in a multi-coloured blur with a puzzled frown on his face.

"Not really. A thousand years is a long time." He replied, glumly. I nodded, accepting the answer. "But I wouldn't mind exploring just to see if I can remember, though." Henrik grinned, and I smiled back.

"Don't see why not. But I think it might be safer if we do that during the day. You're not really here, and I'd be a sitting duck if Mystic Falls is really the hot spot for the supernatural as you've described it to be." I suggested.

Henrik agreed. It wasn't until I drove over a rickety looking wooden bridge that Henrik finally spoke up.

"I remember this place." He said, excitedly. I slowed to a stop.

"You wanna get out and check it out?" I asked him. He nodded, and immediately materialised through the metal car door. I rolled my eyes.

"Show off." I muttered as I got out of the car and wondered over to where I could see Henrik peering down at the rushing water flowing underneath the bridge. I shivered, not necessarily because of cold air, but because of something else. A couple of presences that lingered here.

"My father and brothers used to go hiking around here with me. Of course, there was no bridge here, but I definitely remember stopping here for water at one point." Henrik explained, sounding like a kid at Christmas.

I smiled fondly, pleased that he was getting something positive out of coming back here to Mystic Falls. Then something moving out the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I turned towards the movement. My eyes widened in shock when I saw two people; a couple by the looks of it, standing there smiling and calmly looking at both me and Henrik, who hadn't noticed their presence yet. The woman was petite and thin with long straight dark brown hair framing an oval shaped face from which warm, friendly dark brown eyes blinked back at me. She was dressed conservatively, but with a hint of new age. The man standing beside her with an arm around the woman's waist was a head taller than his wife (I assumed), also dressed conservatively, and also with neatly groomed short dark brown hair.

"Hello." I greeted them. "May I help you? If you're looking for directions, I'm afraid I can't give them to you, because I've only just arrived and I'm new myself." I tried my best not to stammer, considering how this couple had just materialised out of nowhere.

"No, thank you. We're fine." The woman answered me. "We were just wondering if you might be able to give a message to our daughter for us?" I blinked.

"Uh, yeah. Sure, I can do that. What's your daughter's name and what's the message?" I replied. Henrik chose that moment to look over and walk to my side. He too was frowning cautiously at the couple.

"Her name is Elena Gilbert." My eyes widened. "And we'd like to tell her that we miss her, and we're proud of her, and to not be afraid. All will be good in the end." The woman told me.

"You're Elena's parents?" I croaked. They nodded. I let out an incredulous laugh. "I must be losing my mind. If you are her parents then you must be ghosts because she told me specifically that you both died in a car accident nearly two years ago." I stated.

"That's right." The man said. "My name is Grayson, and this is my wife, Miranda." I glanced over at Henrik, who was looking just as shocked as I probably did.

"Well, Henrik. Looks like I'm a medium. Because it's not just your ghost I can see … but everybody else's on this god damned earth." I muttered, feeling irritated. Miranda looked at Henrik in astonishment.

"When did you die, honey?" She asked, looking concerned. Henrik gave her an 'are-you-for-real' smirk.

"About a thousand years ago, give or take a couple of days." Henrik replied, matter-of-factly. I took over the explanation, feeling protective of my, for all intents and purposes, little brother; since technically once I apparently reunite with his brother, I will be his 'older' sister.

"Henrik was my past life's soon to be brother-in-law. He was mauled to death by a werewolf who had lost control and attacked him." I explained. Both Miranda and Grayson looked horrified.

"Oh no! That's horrible! I'm so sorry for you, Henrik." Miranda exclaimed, and Henrik couldn't help but smile appreciatively at Elena's adoptive mother.

"Thanks." He mumbled back. Grayson looked back at me.

"So can you deliver our message to Elena?" He asked. I hesitated.

"I can, there's no problem there. But the point is she's gonna think I'm nuts, extremely insensitive and/or taking the mickey out of her." I explained. Miranda smiled.

"Not if you time it right. There's going to come a time when the right opportunity will arise, and Elena will not hesitate to believe you." She explained.

"Fantastic." I muttered underneath my breath, sarcastically. I glanced up at them, and gave them a pained smile. "Got it. I'll let her know at the right moment." I promised.

"Thank you." Grayson said, gratefully. "We better be going now." He told Henrik and I. We both nodded. But just as Miranda was about to follow her husband, she paused and turned back to Henrik.

"Is there anybody on the other side that you'd like us to pass on a message to?" She asked, politely. Henrik thought for a moment, before responding.

"If my mother is on the other side, could you tell her that I miss her and that I'm sorry that I disobeyed the rules and left the cave that night? She'll know what I mean." Henrik replied. Miranda nodded.

"I'll be sure to give her that message. Hopefully, you'll be able to tell her yourself someday." Miranda gave us both a friendly smile and a wave before she turned and disappeared alongside her husband to wherever they were meant to go to.

There was silence for several minutes after the Gilberts left. Both Henrik and I were a little dumbstruck. It was certainly not something I expected to see when I first arrived at my new town. Maybe I made the wrong decision to come here? Henrik stepped into my view.

"No, you didn't make a wrong decision to come here." He stated, sternly. I blinked at him.

"How did you know that was what I thinking?" I demanded, suspiciously.

"Just the look on your face. If my brother found out that you came here, then decided to leave and go somewhere else; he'd throw the biggest temper tantrum." Henrik explained. I smirked.

"Seriously? He'd throw a toddler-like temper tantrum that I didn't stay in Mystic Falls?" I giggled, as I wondered back to my car and hopped in. Henrik materialised in the passenger seat beside me as I buckled up.

"No. Think more along the lines of bloodshed and massacres." I blanched at the thought. "Word is on the supernatural grape vine, is that before my brother disappeared and went into hiding, his foul temper was legendary. If you lived to tell the tale." Henrik explained, soberly.

I laughed nervously.

"Good thing I had no intentions of turning back." I started the car. "Mental note: don't piss off highly volatile hybrid. Especially if he's been searching for me for a thousand years." I quipped, before moving to put the car in gear. Then suddenly, something occurred to me. "Oh, shit! I almost forgot to let Elena know that we're here." I yelled, and fumbled around for my purse which I stowed my phone in.

"We're here?" I turned and saw the cocky little smirk on Henrik's face, as I flicked through my contacts for Elena's number.

"Watch it, little brother." I smirked back, as I hit Elena's name with my thumb and turned to look out the window. If I had been still looking at Henrik, I would've noticed the look of complete elation on his face and reflected in his deep brown eyes that I had finally accepted that I was soon to be sister. I listened to the phone attempting to connect.

"Hello?" A cautious slightly raspy Southern accented voice answered. I raised an eyebrow at how mature Elena sounded to my ears.

"Elena? This is Grace. You told me to get in contact with you when I crossed the town border?" I responded. There was rapid movement in the background on Elena's end and I frowned in confusion. "Hello?" I called.

"Yeah, sorry. Hi Grace! I can't believe you're finally here!" Elena chirped excitedly into my ear. I nodded.

"Yeah, I arrived about ten minutes ago. I just needed to pullover for a minute stretch my legs." I lied a little, glancing over at Henrik, who was listening in to the conversation.

"Oh, really? Where'd you stop?" Elena asked, sounding a little concerned. Why?

"I passed over a rickety old bridge, and stopped not too far away on the side of the road." I replied. Elena muttered something inaudible to somebody on her side of the phone.

"You're near the Wickery Bridge. So you're not too far away from the town's square. Great." Elena told me. "Do you wanna meet me at the town's diner? It's called the Mystic Grill, you can't miss it." Elena asked. I glanced at my watch again, to check the time. 2:30pm.

"Uh, actually. I'd like to find my apartment and sign some contracts before doing something like that. I'll call you back when I'm all signed up and gone through all the red tape etc." I said.

"Not a problem. I'll wait to hear from you." Elena agreed.

"Awesome. I'll talk soon." I hung up and chucked my phone onto the dashboard before pulling out onto the road, and following my nose all the way into town.

"She sounds nice." Henrik observed. I shrugged.

"Elena didn't sound like what I was expecting. But I guess I'm just judging again." I stated. Henrik frowned at me.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I wrongfully assumed that because Elena lived in Virginia that she'd be the stereotypical Southern Belle, with the same annoying high-pitched accent. I stood corrected." I replied. Henrik laughed.

"Yeah, that'll teach you to look before you leap." Henrik teased, and I wished that he was solid so I could smack him upside the head. Even thinking about doing that, gave me a vivid image of somebody – obviously male – doing exactly that while a blonde girl giggled from beside me. Her arm looped through mine like we were best friends. Slightly disturbed, I chose to ignore it and focused on the here and now. Before long, I turned my car down another street and found myself in Mystic Falls town square. It looked modest and like every other town I've ever been to. I drove passed some shopping strips, and glimpsed the town hall which had a clock tower and the American Flag waving in the wind from on top of its spire.

"Okay. Now where the hell do I need to go?" I mumbled underneath my breath, and grabbed my phone from the dashboard. I flicked through the emails and located the one I had gotten from my realtor two days ago. Locating the address, I steered my car in the right direction and found myself in front of an unremarkable Apartment block. I noticed a red 'for rent' sign in one of the windows. "That must be mine then." I mused, and parked my car. A woman in a smart, trendy grey suit and skirt was waiting patiently in front of the doors that led upstairs into the apartments.

Her eyes immediately clapped onto mine, when I stepped from my car.

"Hello!" She greeted me, brightly, offering me her hand. "You must be Grace. I'm Rachel, we've spoken on the phone before." I took her hand, pumping it up and down twice as she flashed me a wall of white that looked obviously fake.

"How's it going?" I greeted her, looping my purse over my head and on my opposite shoulder. I brushed a loose piece of my hair around my ear as Rachel gestured to the front door.

"Excellent. Now then, shall we go on through?" I nodded, locking my car and walked passed her and up the staircase. The heels of my boots making dull tapping noises on the wood. I glanced to my right to see Henrik falling into step beside me, curiously glancing about with interest. Rachel led me towards the correct floor and towards my new apartment. I opened the door, and took an uncertain step inside; nervous about what I was going to find. What I naturally assumed to be a tiny, slightly stuffy apartment about the size of a tuna can; turned out to be a spacious studio apartment in shades of cream, greys, blacks and light tan coloured floorboards. And also…

"Furnished?" I turned and looked at Rachel with confusion. The woman's lips puckered slightly.

"Is that a problem?" Rachel inquired. I shook my head and stepped further into the apartment.

"Not at all. Just a surprise." I responded, lightly touching a smoky grey leather couch that stood against the wall. Whoever owned this place must've had expensive taste. "What happened to the last tenant?" I asked curiously. These were obviously their belongings. Rachel hesitated, probably assuming that I wasn't going to like the answer.

"Oh, it was a tragedy really. Mauled to death by a mountain lion." I stiffened. As did Henrik. Rachel winced when she noticed my reaction. "Oh, I'm sorry. I tend to stick my foot in it sometimes." She apologised. I waved away her apology.

"No, don't worry about it. I'm glad you were honest." I replied sincerely.

I was pleased actually that the apartment was furnished. The meagre belongings I actually had wouldn't come close to filling up the space offered. The late afternoon sunlight filtered in through the curtains surrounding a window, that I crossed over to look out of. I had a great view of the town's square from here. I smiled. I think I was going to like it here. And because I knew I was going to meet my mysterious stranger soon, I didn't mind that this particular town was infested with the supernatural.

"So what do you think?" Rachel's voice interrupted my musings; probably hoping she hadn't scared me off.

"I'll take it. Definitely." I announced, spinning around to address Rachel. She sagged with relief and gave me a broad, professional smile.

"Fantastic. Let's get the paperwork signed then." She said, taking a seat at the nearby serving bench in the kitchen and pulling out some paperwork. I took a seat beside her on the stool, and took the pen she offered me. "Now I just need you to read this carefully, and if you agree just sign here—" Rachel pointed towards a section of the contract. "Initial here." She pointed at another section. "And sign here at the bottom." I nodded and started reading. I didn't notice anything funky about the terms, so I went ahead and signed my life away. After putting a full stop after my signature, Rachel retrieved her pen from my hand, and reached over to shake my hand enthusiastically. "Congratulations. Do you have any further questions?" Rachel asked, politely. I shook my head.

"None that I can think of at present." I replied.

"Good. Well, here are your keys and I'll see myself out. You have a lovely rest of the day then." Rachel said, as she handed me two silver keys before she gathered up her things and made her way towards the door.

"Nice meeting you." I said, before shutting the door behind her and leaning against the door. Finally, peace at last.

"Welcome home, Grace." Well, almost. I glanced over at Henrik, who had perched himself on the stool Rachel had just vacated.

"Same to you too." I grinned and walked over to the couch and flopped down on it. I wanted a few minutes to myself before I had to go back downstairs and retrieve my luggage from the car, and direct the movers upstairs towards my new apartment when they arrived at any moment.

"So what now?" Henrik asked, curiously. I glanced over at him.

"Not very much. Just gonna rearrange my bed once the movers get here and then I might take a shower and call Elena." I decided. What seemed like a few minutes later; my phone rang. "Hello, this is Grace." I answered the phone, not recognising the number.

"Hi, this is your moving service. We've just arrived at the address you've given us." A bored sounding male's voice responded. I glanced at my wristwatch.

"Wow, you're early." I exclaimed. "Alright. Be down in a second." I replied.

"Not a problem." The man replied. I hung up and immediately shifted some of the objects out of the way of the doorway and cleared a pathway to where my bedroom was going to be. Once that was dealt with, I opened my front door wide and disappeared down the staircase. At the bottom, I was greeted by a team of strong looking men attempting to heave out my bed frame, couch, TV etc. from a small moving van. Some passers-by were stopping and having a decent gawk at us. I ignored them as they were harmless and greeted the leader with a bright smile.

"Hi! If you could follow me please?" I gestured and made my way up the staircase, with one set of the team following with my bed frame. Once inside my apartment, I led them around the corner to where I wanted my bed to be placed. "Right here, please." I requested, and the two men carefully placed the bed frame against the wall. They stepped aside to allow two other men place my mattress on top. It took about an hour before all my belongings were added to the furniture already inside the apartment, and I was sending the movers on their way with a sincere thanks.

"Well, that was entertaining." Henrik commented. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Glad you're so amused." I retorted. I picked my phone up from where I had placed it on the coffee table. "Hey Elena, are you free to meet up now?" I asked when she picked up.

"I'm actually on my way to pick up my Aunt and brother to head to the Mayor's wake." Elena sounded apologetic. I was about to suggest meeting up another time, when Elena immediately spoke up again. "Why don't you come too? I mean, you're gonna have to meet everyone eventually. That's probably the best place to do it." Elena suggested. I glanced over at Henrik who shrugged.

"Sounds good to me. Do I need to dress in a specific way?" I asked, immediately heading for my luggage. I hadn't unpacked that just yet. I was saving it for later.

"Nothing too dressy. Just neat casual, I guess." Elena replied, nonchalantly. I glanced down at what I was wearing: white sleeveless blouse, black skinny jeans with a belt, black leather ankle boots with a spiky heel. Not too bad; probably swap the parka coat I was wearing with something else, and maybe change my hairstyle. But otherwise, I was as casual as they came.

"Got it. Where do I meet you?" I asked.

"Outside the Mystic Grill. It's in the Town Square. Do you need directions?" Elena asked. I wondered over to the window, which had a view of the Town Square and instantly saw the place she wanted me to meet her. I smirked.

"No, I think I'm good. See you soon." I said, before ringing off. I shoved my phone into my purse which was dangling off one of the stools in the kitchen, and headed straight for one of my packing boxes. I peeled off the dark green parka I was wearing, tossing it on my unmade bed and extracted my favourite black leather jacket. I wondered over to the bathroom and studied my slightly windswept hair, deciding what to do with it. Eventually, shoved it up into a messy bun and coated my lips with a blood-red lipstick. I shrugged into my leather jacket and slipped on my aviator sunglasses. I headed for the door, scooping up my purse as I went and turned towards Henrik.

"You coming?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"Nah. I'll stay here." Henrik answered, reclining on the couch.

"Sure. See you later." I told him, blowing him a kiss. I wondered what to expect at this Mayor's wake, and how he or she had been killed in the first place. I shrugged, figuring Elena would tell me when I saw her.

A/N: Please review. TTFN xx