A/N: Alright boys and girls. Here's the new chapter.
I attempted one more time to recover my lost documents, but when I managed to use a word document recovery application, my old documents turned up blank. SO frustrating!
Anyway, enough ranting. On with the story :)
Please review, and as usual, no flaming ;)
I don't own The Vampire Diaries. All characters (except Grace) belong to J.L. Smith.
Enjoy xx
NEUTRAL TERRITORY
"The best thing about being neutral and not believing or disbelieving in anything is that the nature reveals the truth in front of you automatically."
~Aishwarya Shiva Pareek.
The air was fresh and crisp, and the early sunrise was just appearing in the sky; creating a canvas of yellows, oranges and pink across clear blue.
No, I'm not waxing poetry, I'm out on my morning jog; enjoying the view as I pounded the sidewalk in my cross-trainers and absorbing the adrenaline rush I got. I have never been a keen runner before. But after a freak health scare, I developed an interest in it to avoid another scare. Going for a run always opened up new opportunities for me. Whether or not it was to help me jog my memory, unwind after a stressful day (this going hand in hand with sketching, mind you) or inspire new ideas for my novel research.
This time round, I saw it as an opportunity to both get some exercise, and explore my new home.
After almost getting myself lost a couple of times, I finally managed to find a nice park with a bike trail and immediately took off on it; picking up speed when I got into my stride. My favourite 80s music was blasting between my ears, so I wasn't aware, at first, that I was being followed until I stopped and started stretching. I took a large mouthful from my water bottle, and that's when things got weird and a little creepy. As I was stretching out my legs and bouncing a little on the balls of my feet to get the blood flowing again, a large crow suddenly flew up and perched on the backrest of the bench I was stretching on.
I jumped in surprise.
"Woah. Where'd you come from?" I asked the crow, taking one of my earphones out and laughing a little from embarrassment. He looked directly at me, and I blinked in astonishment; having not expected that it could actually understand what I was saying. "That's not at all creepy." I commented out loud, and felt my eyes widen when I saw its little beak actually smirk at me. "I didn't know crows could smirk." Then I frowned when I realised what I had said, and shook my head. I replaced the earphone back into my ear and resumed my run; unaware that I had a little guest following behind me with malicious plans in mind for me.
Once again, I picked up the pace and suddenly, I could hear the sounds of rushing water up ahead and I followed the sound to the woods. Next thing I knew, I found myself about to jog onto a pedestrian bridge that overlooked a beautiful natural waterfall and stream. I stepped off the path a little, to carefully hike down to get a better view of the waterfall. But it wasn't until I got to a certain spot that I immediately started feeling dizzy, and I had to lean up against a nearby tree to steady myself.
"What's happening to me?" I slurred, feeling a little groggy.
~:FLASHBACK:~
I opened my eyes and found myself standing on the shore line of the stream, leaning against a tree. I was staring off into space with what felt like a silly little smile on my face, fiddling with a daisy I had plucked from the grass earlier.
"There you are, love." I turned my head and recognized my mysterious stranger who was walking towards me. Frustratingly, his face was still blurred; but I could tell that he had a playful, but loving smirk on his face judging by the tone in his voice. "What are you thinking about that has you looking so melancholy?" His deep, European voice flowed like honey, and I couldn't help but smile back at him.
"What do you want me to be thinking about?" I returned the question, coyly. My voice was slightly deeper than my own normal voice and had a very cultured European accent like his. He reached out a hand towards me and I took it, without hesitation. I noticed that the dress I was wearing had dark red sleeves the colour of wine, with leather cuffs tied securely at the wrists. He gently tugged me towards him and I wrapped my arms around his neck, while he wrapped his around my waist and clasped his hands together at my lower back.
"Now, I would not be so presumptuous to think that I'd be in your every thought, darling." He teased. I smirked, leaning my head against his forehead.
"Well, you're tragically mistaken. You've been on my mind for a while." I admitted and he chuckled and kissed the end of my nose.
"Good." He whispered as he rocked us slowly side to side, in time to the music only we could hear. That is, until we both jumped when a harsh, matured male's voice interrupts our little moment. My beloved groaned with irritation and reluctantly pulled away from our embrace. He picked up my hand and held it in his larger warmer one. "I'll see you tonight." He promised, kissing my hand and then my lips, before running back off through the woods.
I watched him go, feeling worried.
~:REALITY:~
I came to, leaning against the tree; trying hard to overcome the motion sickness that nearly overwhelmed me. It took me several minutes to start thinking clearly again, then come to the realisation that I had just had another flashback to my past life again. In this exact spot. I groaned and slowly pushed off the tree, making sure I wasn't about to keel over from light-headedness.
Then decided to make my way home.
"Looks like I've found something else to discuss with Henrik when I get home." I mused, feeling tired. By the time I got back to the Town's square and then my apartment, the sun was completely up and flooding the area with beautiful yellow sunlight.
"Don't you ever sleep?" Henrik asked me, as I walked in and shut the door behind me, leaning against it. I offered him a grin.
"Of course, I do. It's my favourite thing in the world." I said, winking at him playfully as I made a beeline for the fridge and snatched up a new bottle of berry flavoured Gatorade, consuming half the bottle in a few gulps. Henrik made a face.
"Thirsty?" He quipped.
"Parched. But this should counter-act that promptly." I responded, as I leant against the counter. I started staring off into space again. "Henrik, were there any waterfalls around here a thousand years ago, that you know of?" I asked him, absently. Henrik got up off the couch and came over to lean against the counter as well.
"Yes, there was. I really nice one, as I recall." He responded. "It was a popular spot for couples to meet up and spend what hours they could together." I frowned and turned my back on him, finishing off my Gatorade. "Why do you ask?" Henrik queried.
"I stumbled upon it during my run, quite accidentally. I went to explore it more closely and ended up having a rather vivid flashback to a thousand years ago." I replied, still gagging a little because of the motion sickness.
"Really? What did you remember?" Henrik sounded intrigued and a little bit cautious.
"I was there at the side of the stream, just thinking. With your brother when he showed up." I fessed up, smiling at the pleasant memory. Henrik smiled sagely.
"I'm not surprised you remember that. You and my brother used to go there all the time to be alone. I tried to follow both of you to see what you were up to, but it was either one of my other brothers or our sister who stopped me." Henrik looked annoyed. I finished off the last dregs of the Gatorade and tossed the bottle into the recycling bin.
"I doubt you probably would've seen much. If I recall, unmarried couples back in the 11th century weren't allowed to copulate until they were married. Am I right?" Henrik nodded, still pouting a little. I grinned. "I'll be back in a while. I'm taking a shower." I told Henrik, who wondered back over to the couch and collapsed heavily on it, glaring up at the ceiling in his boredom.
A couple of hours later, I could be found arranging what meagre possessions I had, to add to the furnishings already in the apartment. Thank you again, whoever used to live here! In addition to my belongings – my bed, bedside table, my soft plushy couch with a few colourful throw pillows, my TV set (which would now be set up in the master bedroom, since I had a brand spanking new one already set up in the Living Room), coffee table and armchair – I had enough to construct a guest room, if I was lucky enough to make friends (and keep them) in this town and they needed to crash.
My phone rang, startling me into almost falling from a ladder I had been in the process of climbing, so I could securely attach my recently purchased white fairy lights around the room. Namely around the window and dangling from the rafters.
"Who could that be?" Henrik questioned, looking over my vibrating and shrilly ringing phone that was about to take a nose dive off the coffee table to the – thankfully – soft beige coloured wool rug.
"How should I know, Henrik? What does the caller ID say?" I asked, nearly skidding over in my socks on the shiny wooden floors, in an effort to rescue my phone.
"Elena." He responded, before frowning. "Isn't that that girl who came back with you from that party last night?" Henrik questioned. I snorted.
"It was the Mayor's wake, and yes; that would be her." I told him, stabbing her name on my phone to call her back. "Hey Elena, are you alright?" I greeted her when she answered the call.
"Not really. I was wondering if I might be able to come by your apartment and talk it out with you?" Elena asked, sounding tired and upset. I raised an eyebrow and glanced at the kitchen clock. Wasn't school meant to be in session at the moment? What the hell was she doing calling me in the middle of class?
"Should you be talking to me right now? Aren't you in class?" I asked, her sounding a bit disapproving; then cringing when I realised how much I actually sounded like my mum at that moment.
"I know. But I ditched, I can't focus right now. Not with what happened last night after I got home from your place." Elena admitted, sounding broken. I sighed.
"Elena, I don't know. I don't want to be held responsible for helping you skip school just to come down and talk to me." I protested. There were certain boundaries that I would not cross. Even if it meant I'd be helping a friend out with their problems or issues.
"I thought you said I could come to do you with my problems. That you were all ears?" Elena reminded me, sounding slightly smug. I frowned at this.
"Yeah, but not where your education is concerned." I told her, firmly. Elena sighed.
"Please, Grace. I swear it will only be just this once." Elena cajoled. I bit my bottom lip, still hesitating. But then remembered how much I attempted to convince my mum the same thing once-upon-a-time… and felt like a hypocrite.
"If you really insist upon this. I need some assistance furnishing my apartment." I gave in. I could practically hear Elena punching the air in triumph as I was saying this. "Maybe while we do that, we can discuss your problem. Sound good?" I offered her.
"Anything would be better than school right now." Elena agreed. I made a face at Henrik, who was smirking. I threw a throw pillow at him. It fazed right through him, and he stuck his tongue out at me in retaliation.
"So glad I could oblige. Just don't make me regret it." I retorted, sardonically. "I'll see you soon." I told her, and then hung up the phone.
"Beware the wrath of Grace, everyone." My annoying little brother announced to an imaginary crowd. "She really put her foot down convincing a teenager to stay in school." Henrik mocked me. I threw him a sarcastic smile as I wondered back over to the ladder and went back up it to mark off with a pencil were I wanted to position my fairy lights specifically.
"You're so lucky you're already dead, mate. Or I'd kick your arse." I reminded him.
"I know I'm lucky. Because I know you'd actually do it. If I can recall, you were notorious for it." Henrik reminisced, fondly.
"For what? Kicking arse?" I grinned at the thought. Henrik shook his head.
"No. Keeping promises." He corrected me. I sagged a little at this.
"Now you tell me."
As predicted, Elena was extremely prompt and showed up to my apartment exactly half an hour later. I answered the door, fixing Elena with a disapproving scowl that she smiled innocently at. I rolled my eyes.
"Please tell me that you at least made up a legitimate excuse to somebody there, so you could be excused?" I begged. Elena made a face at me.
"I'm not an idiot. I do actually have to go back there eventually to help set up for the carnival tonight." Elena told me, looking sincere.
"There's a carnival tonight?" I asked, pleasantly surprised. Elena nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah. Normally Caroline is the one who organises these events at the school, but she's re-cooperating at the Hospital at the moment." She told me, looking a little bit upset. I bit my bottom lip.
"I'm sorry to hear about that. I hope Caroline makes a speedy recovery." I wished. "Is that the reason you ditched school to come talk to me?" I asked, curiously as I pulled more throw pillows from one of my many cardboard packing boxes and threw them onto the couch.
"No, it's not." Elena immediately went quiet, and actually looked angry. I raised an eyebrow at the abrupt change in emotion.
"Alright, well when you're ready to tell me; let me know. No rush and no pressure." I reminded her. Elena nodded. "Now I need to hang these fairy lights. Come hold the ladder for me." I requested, brusquely.
It actually look a lot longer for Elena to actually open up about her problem. I was about to go spare at her, thinking that she had been lying to me about having a problem, just so she could get a free day off from school. But as I fixed her a coffee, Elena finally revealed all.
"Damon showed up at my house last night, after I got back from visiting this place and learning about your personal history." Elena began, her voice quiet and contemplative. I blinked at her in astonishment.
"I take it that this has never happened before. Would I be correct in saying this?" I asked her. Elena nodded.
"I had just finished dressing for bed and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. When I came back out, Damon was sitting on the window ceil. He actually scared the hell out of me." Elena told me. I nodded.
"Understandable. What was his reason for being there, if you don't mind me asking you that?" Elena shook her head.
"No, it's fine. I need to tell somebody about this. What he did was completely unforgivable." Elena explained, angrily. I was taken aback by Elena's second abrupt change in emotion.
"What did he do?" I asked, using a soothing tone in an attempt to calm down the obviously volatile teenager. Elena started pacing, and I let her; if that's what it took to help her calm down. I was letting her go at her own pace; and it was my job as the adult to steer the conversation back to the point if Elena either accidentally or deliberately went off topic. It is never a good idea to keep something that is bothering you bottled up. Getting it off your chest is the only shore fire way to letting it go and hopefully feeling better afterwards.
"Nothing at first. He just sat there, looking at me with this sad expression on his face. And it looked like he was drunk." Elena explained to me. My protective instinct immediately flared.
"How much did he drink? Did he tell you?" I asked her, a little urgently. Elena holds her forefinger and thumb a small distance apart, indicating that he had been drinking a little. I relaxed a fraction.
"Drinking and being upset. Not a good combination." I observed. Elena nodded in agreement.
"That's what I told him. But he insisted that he wasn't upset; because he didn't care." I raised an eyebrow, disagreeing with Damon's answer completely.
"Well, he's obviously lying. That's the kind of answer somebody who is upset would give." I stated. Elena nodded.
"Well, that's what I told him. Except that he retaliated by telling me that I was lying to him about my feelings about him." I paused mid-sip, waiting for Elena to finish her rant. "He claimed that there was something between the both of us, and that I was lying to his face about how I feel about him." I took a sip of my tea.
"Well, do you?" I asked, curiously. Elena frowned at me in confusion.
"Do I what?"
"Do you feel something for him?" I amended my question, watching Elena's face closely. She recoiled with disgust.
"Of course not. I love Stefan; always have, and always will." I nodded, taking another sip of my tea.
"Fair enough." I replied. She was lying to me. Even if she knew that she was or not was immaterial. The point was, Elena Gilbert was clearly divided about her feelings for both of the Salvatore brothers. And the only way she could deal with that was to lie not only to herself, but also to both of them. It was slippery slope, and I wasn't sure I wanted to be around to witness the result in the end.
On the other hand, I also pinpointed why Damon was so upset, and how it probably led to him doing something so bad that Elena would end up becoming so angry with him as a result. However, I don't think it was Elena's fault that Damon lashed out in whatever way I hoped Elena would eventually tell me.
"But it got worse from there." Elena continued. I instantly perked up, eager to learn what triggered Elena's animosity towards Damon.
"Oh?"
"I think to prove a point, Damon kissed me. But I shoved him away." She told me. I frowned, not liking the direction the story was taking.
"And I take it that he didn't like that." I confirmed. Elena nodded. "He didn't try to take advantage of you, did he?" I said, starting to get angry. But Elena shook her head.
"No, he didn't. I tried to explain to him that I cared about him, but that I loved Stefan more." I winced. She might as well have waved a red flag in front of a bull. But I didn't dare tell her that.
"Then what happened Elena." She hesitated. "C'mon. You can tell me, honey. It'll make you feel better." I insisted. Elena nodded and drew in a deep breath.
"Jeremy walked in, wondering why I was being so loud." I froze. "And then Damon did something that I will never forgive him for. I attempted to send Jeremy back to his room, but Damon intercepted him and in his anger, he snapped Jeremy's neck!" Elena growled.
I nearly dropped my mug in my shock.
"He's not…" I whispered. Elena shook her head, frantically.
"No, he's still alive. Thank god. But what Damon did was unforgivable. I hate him so much for doing that to my little brother." Elena sat down and pulled back her hair from her face as she buried her head between her knees. I was torn; while I can understand now why Elena was so upset and needed to ditch school to talk, I could also recognise that Elena's actions were somewhat responsible. But I'd have to get Damon's side of the story first before I could come to a conclusion.
"Well, thank you for confiding in me with this, Elena. I hope that it made you feel somewhat better." I hoped. Elena sat up and wiped her eyes.
"I do, thanks." She smiled at me. Then she looked at the kitchen clock. "I better get going back to school. There's still a lot to do before the carnival opens tonight." Elena gets to her feet and gathers up her purse and car keys.
"Not a problem, sweetie." I told her. Elena stepped forward and gave me a warm hug in gratitude. "If there's anything else you'd like me to help you with, just let me know." I told her. Elena stepped back and looked at me with a thoughtful expression.
"Well, actually. We really need a lot of help with setting up. I wasn't kidding about that, and Caroline will kill Bonnie and I if anything goes wrong." She explained. "Would you be willing to come down and help for a couple of hours?" I smiled at the hopeful expression on her face.
"Sure. I need to take care of a couple of things first, so I won't be down there right away. But I promise to pop by and help out." I agreed. Elena grinned.
"Awesome. I'll let the ladies at the school office know you're coming down, and that you're not some random stranger coming off the street." I hoped the door and stepped back to let Elena passed. "I'll see you later tonight." I waved and she disappeared downstairs.
"Where'd you disappear off to?" I asked Henrik, who materialised beside me the moment I had shut the front door.
"You were discussing 'girl things'." Henrik replied, shuddering. "I bailed pretty quickly." I frowned, thinking back to my conversation with Elena to pinpoint when we at any point started talking about these so called 'girl things'.
"But we weren't talking about girl things." I told him. Henrik nodded.
"I know. That's why I came back but remained hidden." He explained. I raised an eyebrow. Okay? Strange logic.
"You want to come with? I'm applying for the job at the Grill, and then I'm taking a walk afterwards. Up for it?" Henrik grinned.
"Sure. Could we go back to the falls so I can see them for myself?" He asked, excitedly. I nodded. As we made our way down the town's square, I couldn't help but wonder what Henrik's opinion was about what we discussed. I turned towards him.
"From what you heard from the conversation, what is your opinion on it?" I asked him, curiously. If he was surprised by my question, he didn't show it.
"I'm on this Damon's side." Henrik said, without hesitation. I was surprised.
"Why?" I asked, out of interest. He scowled.
"I knew someone who used to look like Elena, a thousand years ago." He explained. "She was very selfish, manipulative and almost destroyed two of my brothers' relationships with each other over her." I blinked.
"That's a bit presumptuous to label Elena like that. How do you know she's not different to her ancestors?" I questioned him.
"Trust me. She'll be like them. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Henrik reminded her. I grinned at him, throwing him off slightly.
"Any other classic clichés you wanna throw at me, while you're at it?" I teased. Henrik smirked, rising to the challenge.
"'The acorn doesn't fall far from the oak?', 'two peas in a pod'?" He replied in a sing-song voice. I turned and offered him a gritted tooth smile.
"Okay, you've made your point." I told him through the clenched teeth. He returned the gesture.
"Brilliant. Because I've had a thousand years to learn them all." He retorted, smiling at me sweetly. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Yeah, I love you too…" I muttered at him sarcastically.
My first thought when I stepped into the Mystic Grill was: impressive, at least as far as small town restaurants went. It was a descent size with stairs leading to an upper level which I assumed contained either private function rooms, or the owner's office. The floor level had been split into four sections: first, there was the restaurant section; which took up the majority of the space. And judging by the few customers who were sitting in booths enjoying a meal with the waiter or waitress attending to them every so often, it was an 'a la carte' style establishment.
Second, was the large bar adjacent to the restaurant section which had a wrap-around bar top, and a well-stocked supply of alcohol on display above a set of bar mirrors. Already there seemed to be customers bellying up to the bar, drinking. Perpendicular to the bar was a slightly raised up level of floor that I could see had a trio of billiard tables. One of which was already being occupied by a couple of customers who were drinking. It looked like the game that they were playing was heated, and judging by the annoyed grunt that one of the players made when his opponent successfully made a shot, and the glare he shot him, a fairly competitive one.
And finally, the last section of the Grill featured a generous expanse of dancefloor, with a juke box (which was currently playing a catchy western song that I didn't recognise), a slide down protection screen, and in the corner packed away was a Wii game console. Presumably used for happy hour or similar. I noticed Henrik eying off the game of pool the two customers were playing, and I grinned at the fascinated expression on my brother's face.
"Why don't you go and watch the game? I might be a little while depending on what I have to fill out for the job." I suggested to him. Henrik's face lit up, but his eyes looked a little unsure; like he was worried for my safety. I beamed; he was always the gentleman he had been brought up to be before his life was tragically cut short.
"If you don't mind?" He asked, hopefully. I snorted.
"I wouldn't have suggested it if I did, would I?" I pointed out to him. Henrik shrugged and immediately raced over to the game, standing between the two customers and watching the game eagerly. I giggled, as I made my way over to the bar and took a seat at random at the bar top. A guy with ginger hair approached me, wiping down the counter.
"What can I get you?" He asked, politely but friendly at the same time. I glanced up at him and offered a warm smile.
"Uh, may I have a coke and a job application, please? I wish to apply for the 'mixologist' position." I responded promptly. The guy, whose name on the name tag read 'Dylan' in large block letters next to the logo of the Mystic Grill, nodded and went off to fill my order and hunt around for an application. The small hairs on my arm suddenly stood up on end when somebody sat down beside me.
"Fancy seeing you here." A voice I recognised, and slightly bristled at addressed me. I looked up from my phone and turned to give him a sarcastic smile. It was Damon Salvatore, presenting me with a 'charming' smile on his face. I looked back at him blankly.
"May I help you?" I got straight to the point. Movement distracted me momentarily and I noticed that Henrik had materialised by my side the second Damon had shown up. He was staring at Damon with a guarded expression on his youthful 'thousand year old' face.
Damon smirked.
"Let me buy you a drink." He offered. On cue, Dylan arrived with my drink and placed down a couple of pieces of paper that had been stapled together, and a pen.
"Thank you." I told Dylan who smiled and moved away to serve a different customer. I picked up the glass and swivelled back to Damon. "As you can see, I've got one already. Thank you." I took a sip from the black straw. "Now cut the bullshit and tell me your real intentions." I demanded, sternly. Damon's smirk slightly faltered. But he immediately recovered before responding.
"Alright. You can tell me what you're doing in this town and what your intentions towards Elena Gilbert are." Straight to the point also. I frowned at him.
"Are you seriously interrogating me?" I was unimpressed. Damon didn't blink. "If you must know, I moved to Mystic Falls because I needed a change, and as for my 'intentions towards Elena Gilbert', she and I have been pen-pals for about a year. It was an unexpected coincidence that she happened to live here when I made my decision to come here." I responded, defensively.
"Sure it was." Damon didn't sound like he believed me. But judging by the grip he had on the glass of bourbon he had ordered before coming over to talk to me, he was obviously pissed off by something else, and interrogating me was his way of distracting himself from his pain.
"Are you alright? You don't seem yourself right now." I observed, with mild concern. Damon raised an eyebrow.
"And how would you know that?" He asked, suspiciously. I sighed and started filling in the application form while I responded to his question.
"Because the last time I saw you, at the late Mayor's wake, you were brusque and very forthright; but not angry. Right now, you're all three." I stated, matter-of-factly. Damon didn't respond to that, just continued eying me warily. I paused, and looked at him. "Elena came and talked to me this morning. She was extremely upset about something that happened between you two last night." I reported, casually. As expected Damon flinched, but didn't otherwise react except to glare at me.
"And I suppose you're here to tell me that you've taken her side, and for me to back off? Right?" He sounded hurt and defensive. I shook my head.
"Not at all. It's not my place to form an opinion on something based upon what one person has said." I replied. "I like to get both sides of the story before coming to a conclusion." I told him.
"And what? You expect me to just talk to you, is that it?" Damon sneered. I shrugged and continued finishing off my job application.
"That's up to you. I'm not going to force you to do anything you're uncomfortable with." I told him. "But I will tell you this. I don't believe that it is entirely your fault what happened yesterday occurred. Elena is just as much to blame." I pointed out. Damon looked at me incredulously. "If you want to, you can talk to me about your side of the story. I won't judge you, unless you want me to." I offered. "Would you be interested in doing that?"
A/N: Please review :)