A/N: "Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for…"

This is the chapter where we finally meet Klaus … in an 'Alaric suit'. But still, he's finally here! I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter. It's taken this long to get here, and I thank you for your patience.

If you enjoy this chapter, please provide a review! :D But no flames!

I don't own The Vampire Diaries. All characters are the property of L.J. Smith, with the exception of Grace who belongs to me.

I also don't own the first line of 'The Greatest Show', sung by Hugh Jackman and from the movie The Greatest Showman. That belongs to Twentieth Century Fox.

Happy Reading! ;)

WHO'S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD WOLF?

"Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another." ~John Dewey.

~:GRACE P.O.V:~

I woke up the next morning, feeling well rested and ready to face the next bag of tricks that this bloody town had to throw at me. I was also aware that I was presently lying in a massive, very comfortable, very soft bed, and was being used as Damon's personal human-sized teddy-bear again. Worse, I really needed to use the loo.

"Damon, let go of me, please?" I requested, making an attempt to pull free from his grip. Damon moaned in his sleep and instinctively tightened his grip and intertwined his legs with mine. My eyes widened in panic, and immediately changed tactics. "Not kidding, Damon! Let me go, I need to use the loo!" I pleaded, trying to pry Damon's arms away from my waist. On cue, Stefan burst through the bedroom door, startling Damon awake and thus freeing me from his arms. I sagged with relief and quickly used the opportunity to escape. "Thanks, Stef!" I hollered and charged towards the sanctuary of the bathroom. Damon blinked at me in astonishment, and then at Stefan in annoyance before he stands up and yawns.

"Try knocking next time?" I heard Damon admonish his baby brother. I managed to catch Stefan rolling his eyes, as I walked back out into the bedroom and walked over to where I had put my shoes to pull them on.

"Sorry."

"Now what is so urgent that you had to barge into my room and wake us all up?" Damon wanted to know. I yawned and scowled at Damon, then blanched when I saw my reflection in the mirror and retreated back towards my purse to pull free my hairbrush to tame the tangled, frizzy mess my hair had become overnight.

"The Gilberts received an unwelcomed guest at their house earlier this morning." Stefan explained. This morning? Exactly what time was it? I pulled my phone from its charger and checked the time. Turns out that it was only 10:30am in the morning, so I relaxed a little. Who knew the Gilberts were early risers?

"That can't seriously be it." Damon now looked peeved. Stefan looked deceptively innocent. That made everybody both nervous and suspicious.

"Did I forget to mention that it was Isobel?" He asked. Damon paused mid-stretch and looked at Stefan with surprise.

"Elena's biological mum?" I commented, throwing my hairbrush back into my purse, and watching it bounce off the moonstone inside. I momentarily stared at the worthless hunk of rubble that had Niklaus' curse imbued within it, and momentarily realised that I had intended on giving it to Damon; since I had no place to hide it at my apartment.

"Unfortunately." Damon grumbled, pulling on one of his John Varvatos T-shirts and following Stefan downstairs. I followed closely, interested in how the conversation would turn out.

"Isobel just showed up at their front doorstep." Stefan filled Damon in.

"What's she doing here?" Damon demanded.

Stefan shrugged. "I don't know. That's what I'm going to find out." Katherine sashayed her way downstairs, brushing past me in the process. The second she heard the name 'Isobel' she made a pained face.

"I don't think that you should tell her that I'm here." She advised.

"Why?" I asked, before either of the brothers could. I was surprised when Katherine merely answered the question without a fuss.

"It's better if she and John not know that I stayed in town after I got out of the tomb." Katherine responded, matter-of-factly.

"You're the one in cahoots with them. You made a deal with John that almost got me killed." Damon pointed out, sounding accusatory. Katherine didn't look fazed by his complaint.

"I did what I had to, to get out of the tomb. Now I'm reconsidering my alliance." Katherine turns around to leave, but Stefan verbally intercepts her.

"What do you know?"

Katherine smiled. "I know that I want Klaus dead, which puts me squarely on team you." I scowled at her. "Or rather, Team Salvatore. I'm sure warrior princess over here would rather protest against Klaus dying." Katherine indicates towards me.

She thought correctly.

"Besides, if you three ever need me to swap places with Elena again, the less people know that I'm here, the better." Katherine pointed out. Stefan looked thoroughly annoyed with her. "Think about it, Stefan. Come on. Be smart." She urged. Stefan strides towards the front door.

"Tell you what." He focuses on Katherine. "Why don't you, uh… Call Alaric and let him know that his wife just showed up on his girlfriend's doorstep." He suggested, looking between Damon and Katherine, and then abruptly leaving.

"Someone's pissed." I muttered, heading for the kitchen to grab something to drink before I headed home to shower and change. Heavy footsteps follow me, and I turned in time to see Damon following me in. Katherine had obviously gone off on her own to do her own thing.

"You doing anything today?" Damon asked me, abruptly. I just threw him a look.

"I think due to the imminent arrival of Niklaus; my days have been booked up solid either trying to keep myself alive long enough to greet the following day, or racing off somewhere to save or prevent Elena from doing something stupid." I was quick to respond. "Why? What did you have in mind?" I asked, mildly curious. Damon chuckled at my flippant attitude.

"I'm going to the Martin's apartment to do some investigations. Wanna come with?" He asked, casually. I pretended to really give the answer some thought. Since it was almost highly likely I'd ultimately be tagging along anyhow.

"When you ask me so sincerely, how could I ever pass it up?" I responded. "Just give me an hour or so to head home and freshen up. I don't really relish the thought of offending myself or others." I stated.

"Fair enough." Damon responded, smirking a little. "Meet back here in a couple of hours?" I grabbed a mug and set it down beside the kettle which I had just filled during our conversation and clicked on.

"It's a date." I agreed. Damon went to leave the kitchen to make his own plans before I remembered the moonstone lying around in my purse. "Oh, before I forget." I reached in and grabbed the stone, pressing it into Damon's hand. He blinked down at it, with confusion. "Hide this." I instructed. Damon frowned at me.

"I thought you wanted this?" He stated, holding the moonstone in the air at eye level.

"I haven't got any good hiding spots. It's better off hidden here in this large house." I explained to him. Damon shrugged and pocketed the moonstone in his jeans.

"See ya in a couple of hours." He ordered, before leaving the kitchen.

I drove back to my apartment, desperately seeking a shower and a fresh change in clothes. I climbed up the staircase to the residential area, when somebody I hadn't been expecting so soon called out to me.

"Grace! Hey!" I paused and turned to see Maddox of all people jogging up across the vestibule and towards the stairs, coming to rest in front of me. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hey, Maddox. Everything alright?" I enquired, cautiously. He gave me a pleasant smile that I tentatively returned since I knew that there wasn't any reason for this witch to hurt me.

"Great actually. A friend of mine is coming to town soon." He tells me, and I couldn't help but broaden the smile on my face to match his contagious one.

"That's awesome. Is…?"

"He." Maddox supplied.

"He staying in town long?" I asked, out of curiosity. Maddox nodded.

"Yeah, indefinitely as far as I'm aware." He responded. "Although, he might travel a little. It's part of his career." I nodded.

"Are you work colleagues?" I asked, as we both continued walking up the staircase towards the residential area. Maddox looked a little sheepish.

"He's my boss actually." He confessed. I blinked in surprise.

"Wow, you're friends with your boss?"

"Is that so strange?" He frowned, looking standoffish. I smiled quickly as to not offend him.

"No, my father had a good rapport with his boss. I was just surprised." I answered, as we got to the top of the stairs. "So what did you need to talk to me about?" I asked, getting back to the reason he stopped me on my way to freshen up. Maddox looked confused for a split second before a look of realisation passed over his eyes.

"Oh, right. I came by to invite you for a morning jog this morning, and I saw this fall out of your mailbox." Maddox handed me a small, flat brown package about the size of a small book. "I didn't think you'd want somebody to steal it so I picked it up with the intention of handing it to you later on." He explained.

"Thanks. That's weird, I wonder who sent it?" I mused out loud, then put it in my purse to look at later. An apartment door opened nearby, and out stepped a stressed looking Alaric; who immediately deadlocked his door and walked briskly our way. I winced sympathetically, apparently grabbing Maddox's attention. "Hey Alaric." I greeted my neighbour and friend, who glanced up and smiled weakly at me.

"Oh, hey Grace. Who's your friend?" Alaric asked politely.

"Oh, this is Maddox; he just got into town a couple days ago. Maddox this is Alaric Saltzman; he's the local High School History teacher." I introduced both men to each other.

"Hey, nice to meet you." Alaric greeted Maddox, distractedly. It was obvious that he needed to be somewhere, but his manners were forcing him to remain where he was.

"Hi." Maddox shook hands with Alaric politely, and fixing him with a scrutinizing stare. I assumed it was probably because of Alaric's agitated state. I turned to Maddox.

"Hey, I'll be right back. Just gotta run something by Alaric." I told Maddox, who nodded.

"Sure, no rush." The witch replied nonchalantly. I indicated for Alaric to continue going downstairs, and he took the hint.

"Good to meet you." Alaric said to Maddox before hurrying away, with me close behind.

"Have you spoken to Jenna yet?" I asked, cautiously. Alaric winced.

"Yeah, she's pretty pissed off right now." Alaric admitted, then frowned at me curiously. "How'd you find out?" He asked.

"Stefan woke both Damon and I up, and revealed all." I explained. "So, what's the next move?" I enquired. Alaric sighed and raked a hand through his hair.

"Gonna confront Isobel and get an explanation about why she just appeared on the Gilbert's doorstep. It was a pretty rude awakening for Jenna to find out like that." Alaric sounded pissed, and I didn't blame him. It seemed that Isobel and Elena were born with the tactless gene.

"Damon and I are gonna do some investigating at the Martin's." I shared with Alaric who nodded, looking concerned.

"Watch your back." He suggested and I nodded.

"Absolutely." I responded. "See you later." I went back upstairs towards where I had left Maddox. He looked concerned.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, of course. He's just dealing with some problems." I replied vaguely. Maddox nodded, but said nothing. "Well, I got places to be so I'm gonna love ya and leave ya." I told him, and Maddox smiled once again.

"Yeah, me too. The boss has asked to run a few errands for him before he gets here, so gotta get on that." Maddox told me, before heading for the stairs. "See you later."

"Later." I called. I headed straight for my apartment and let myself in.

"Hey Grace!" Henrik greeted me, brightly. "Doing the walk of shame?" I scowled at him for the cheeky comment.

"Nice to see you too, kid. I don't even want to know how you learned that term." I stated, toeing off my shoes and putting down both my purse and keys on the island bench. Then I remembered the package Maddox had given me from before.

"What's that?" Henrik asked as I pulled it from my purse and frowned at it curiously.

"No idea. I'll take a better look at it after I get out of the shower." I replied, placing it down beside my purse and making a beeline for my bedroom. I immediately peeled off my clothes and popped them into the hamper before shoving my hair up into a messy bun, peeling off the dressing on my neck to expose the bite mark, and stepping into the shower. I took my time underneath the hot spray, working out the kinks and soothing my sore muscles. I winced when the water glided across the bite mark, and paused wondering why it was taking so long to heal. Eventually, I shut off the water and stepped out to towel myself off.

"Did Maddox give you that package?" Henrik called out from behind the bedroom door. I frowned; sometimes my brother was just too observant. It was just a little freaky at times.

"Yeah, he did. Why?" I called back, as I walked over to my wardrobe to select what I wanted to wear today. I figured comfortable and easy-to-move-in was probably the safest option considering I was helping to gather information in a former witch's apartment today. We might need to move quickly.

"Just a bad feeling that I'm having." Henrik explained. "It just seemed too convenient that he happened to be there with a package addressed to you." Henrik theorised. "I mean, did you order something online lately?" He added, rhetorically, already knowing the answer.

Henrik did have a valid point. I finished getting dressed: matching lacy black bra and thong, blue jeans, short-sleeved black button up, ankle boots and a blazer jacket. I opened the door and stepped from the room.

"Well, let's see if I can put those bad feelings to rest." I said, and walked over to the package; not recognising the handwriting that had written down my address. I flipped it over to check the return address, only to find none. That was slightly suspicious. I tugged on the red string to tear open the package and found a neatly wrapped present inside with a little card taped to the top. I set aside the card to read later, and opened the box.

"What is it?" Henrik asked, sounding slightly impatient as he looked over my shoulder at what was inside the box. It was a necklace: to be more precise, a simple but very valuable looking silver wolf's tooth hanging from a thin but sturdy black cord. I pulled it out of the box and let it dangle in front of my face as I blinked at it in astonishment.

"What the hell?" I muttered.

"Who sent you that?" Henrik wanted to know, also looking extremely confused. I reached for the card and opened it.

I froze.

I recognised that handwriting.

But it's not possible. Henrik was alarmed by my reaction.

"Grace, what's wrong? You've gone pale." I didn't answer him. Instead, I read the short but precisely worded message:

'My beloved Graínne,

I am counting the hours until I can hold you in my arms once again.

Yours always and forever,

Nik.'

Niklaus… I gasped with shock and cupped a hand over my mouth as I stared incredulously at the necklace, and joyful tears welled up in my eyes. "What is it?" Henrik demanded, getting very impatient and I held the card up so that he could read it. It took less than thirty seconds for Henrik to recognise his older brother's handwriting and he yelled out in triumph. "He's nearly here!" He crowed. I immediately fastened the necklace around my neck as a salty tear trailed down my cheek.

Hurry up and get here, Nik!

I felt like I was floating on air as I drove myself back to the Boarding House, and Damon looked at me strangely when I knocked, and waited for him to immerge so we could head over to Jonas Martin's apartment to commence our investigation. However, my bliss was short-lived when the strange expression on his face vanished, and his ice blue eyes narrowed the second they clapped onto my neck.

"Who the fuck did that?!" Damon demanded, pointing towards the exposed vampire bite that in my excitement of getting Niklaus' necklace, I had neglected to cover up again. But then again, I was surprised Damon had even noticed to be perfectly honest. It wasn't exactly inconspicuous.

"Not now, Damon. It's not exactly important, I just forgot to put a fresh dressing on after I bathed." I responded, dismissively. Damon stepped into my personal space, causing me to take an uncertain step back. Even more so when I saw the furious expression in his eyes.

"You didn't answer my question: Who. The fuck. Did that?" Damon demanded, a second time. I rolled my eyes as I sidestepped him and entered the Boarding House to put a fresh dressing over the bite so it didn't get infected.

"Katherine. The night we found her showering in your bathroom." I responded with irritation. Damon's eyes widened when he remembered that night.

"You mean when she attacked you, and you retaliated by nearly gutting her with your dagger?" I taped down the square cotton dressing.

"That's correct." I confirmed. Damon clenched his fists in his anger.

"I'm going to kill her." He declared, but I grabbed his arm.

"Don't bother. Leave it to Niklaus when he arrives." I suggested, looping my purse over my shoulder.

"Why?" Damon exclaimed.

"Why do you think, Damon? Put yourself in his shoes; if Katherine had taken a bite out of somebody you cared about, what would your first reaction be if you discovered that it was her doing?" I pointed out. Damon backed down after thinking about it for several minutes. Albeit begrudgingly. "Now let's get this over with, okay?" I suggested, heading for Damon's car and sliding in.

Damon turned over the engine and drove straight into town. I had been expecting that we would be driving straight there; but apparently, we weren't the only visitors going to the apartment today. I glanced at Damon for an explanation when he pulled up in front of the Gilbert House. He avoided eye contact; and from what I had heard from Stefan about what happened this morning, I seriously doubted that any of the Gilberts involved would be up to helping us. But as I opened my mouth to point this out to Damon, the front door opened and both Jeremy and Bonnie hastily ran for the car and jumped in.

"Thanks for the lift." Jeremy said. Damon looked at him through the rear view mirror.

"Don't mention it … ever." He responded, before driving off. Both teenagers rolled their eyes or glared at him as Damon took off towards the Martin's apartment. I noticed Jeremy's attention shift towards my neck; or more specifically, what was dangling from it.

"Nice necklace." He commented.

"Thanks!" I said cheerfully, earning a weird look from Bonnie. Damon reached over and picked it up, momentarily taking his eyes off the road to glance at it.

"Never seen you wear that before." He observed, frowning a little. I gently but abruptly took it away from him before he could do something unfortunate (or deliberate) and yank it from my neck.

"Probably because I just got it today?" I stated, feeling slightly defensive at my best friend's reaction. Damon didn't appear fazed.

"It looks like a wolf's tooth." Jeremy observed, sitting forward a little from the backseat.

"That's exactly what it is." I confirmed. I was pleased that I was wearing something that represents Niklaus, and could be worn close to my heart. Damon didn't look amused.

"So after all you've been through, you're choosing to wear something that represents the thing that attacked you?" He indicates the permanent reminder gruesomely displayed on my shoulder.

"That's not what it represents." I said quietly and firmly, wrapping my hand around the tooth tightly. Both Jeremy and Bonnie looked confused.

"Something attacked you?" Bonnie looked right at me, speaking up for the first time since she got into Damon's car.

"Yeah, unfortunately." Damon confirmed, and I pulled back my blazer and pulled down my shirt to reveal the werewolf bite Jules had given me when she had attacked both Rose and I about a month ago. Both teens look horrified.

"What the hell is that?" Jeremy demanded, looking a little sick.

"A werewolf bite." I confirmed, pulling my shirt back over my shoulder to cover up the wound. "I got it from Jules, the werewolf that Tyler hung out with before he ditched town. She was also responsible for kidnapping both Caroline and I in her bid to liberate Tyler." I added, feeling a little bitter. Damon pulls up to an apartment block and cuts the engine.

"Let's get this over with." He muttered, getting out of the car and leading the way inside. When we reached the correct apartment, Damon opened the door. Bonnie, Jeremy and I had no problems getting inside; but with Damon it was a grey area. It could go either way. Cautiously, Damon raises his leg and moves forward to test if he could step over the threshold. To our surprise, his foot passed through without any hassle. "Yep. Everybody's dead." Damon declared, indicating to a charred, blackened corpse in the living room.

"We should pack up the grimoires." Bonnie suggested. "They spent years collecting them. I wanna make sure they're safe." We all nodded and moved about to collect our bounty. Damon takes another look at the corpse, whom Bonnie identified as Luka Martin. I felt a pang of sympathy towards Bonnie who looked saddened. Naturally, Damon had a less than tactful comment to say on the matter.

"You know, we could just get another match and cremate him." He suggested wily. Both Bonnie and I threw him dagger glares at the mere suggestion.

"Try it, and I'll do the same to you, Damon." I warned him.

"Yeah, don't be disrespectful. Not to him." Bonnie agreed.

"Fine. I'll bury him." Damon sighed, before wrapping Luka's body up with the rug. Jeremy piped up from where he was searching some nearby bookshelves.

"What exactly are we looking for?" He asked, curiously. Bonnie scanned through the Martins' collection of tomes and grimoires.

"According to Luka's dad, one of these contains a spell that'll let me harness the energy that's left behind when a witch dies violently." She explained.

"You were close to Jonas?" I asked, surprised.

"We weren't but when he gave me my powers back, he gave me a message. If I can find the spot in town, where the old Salem witches were burned, I can harness their energy to use when I need it." Bonnie insisted. Damon rolled his eyes.

"Great. We'll have to put that on our list of things to do today." He grumbled. "Harness ancient dead-witch power." Bonnie stopped what she was doing and turned to look at Damon with shock.

"You know where the witches were burned?" She demanded, sounding a little accusatory. Damon was sheepish.

"Did I forget to mention that?" He asked, rhetorically. Jeremy groaned, as he looked at the pile of grimoires we had to look at and sort through.

"Are we gonna have to read through every one of these books till we find the right spell?" Jeremy asked. Bonnie shook her head, allowing all of us to sigh with obvious relief.

"Not exactly." She said, before looking at the shelf and closing her eyes. Before any of us could ask her what the hell was going on, Bonnie raises her hands. Almost immediately all the books fall to the ground, and one of them opens right in front of her. She smiles triumphantly as she bends over to pick it up. "It's this one."

"Excellent. One last thing we have to do today." I stated. Damon nodded in agreement, and started heading for the front door.

"Great. Grab the rest. Let's go." He ordered and we immediately leave; loaded down with practically every book the Martins once owned.

After dropping Bonnie and Jeremy back to the Gilbert House, Damon and I headed back to my home away from home: the Boarding House. Elena and Stefan were already there, deep in discussion about Isobel, and Elena looking like a dark cloud had descended over her.

"Where have you two been?" Elena wanted to know. Damon and I didn't bother sarcastically greeting her; by now, there wasn't really any point. When it came to Elena Gilbert, as stubborn and defiant as she was, it was really too much of an effort.

"Helping Bonnie and Jeremy find Jonas Martin's grimoire. It has information regard a specific witch massacre." I replied to her question dully.

"We would've asked the both of you to come help, but it seemed like you already had your hands full with the 'Isobel' thing." Damon added, smirking when Elena tensed up the second her vampire mother had been mentioned. From there on, the conversation immediately focused on Isobel's random return.

"Do you really think that Isobel's telling the truth that word's gotten out about the doppelgänger?" Elena queried, fretfully. Stefan shook his head.

"Look, I don't trust a word that she says, but I think we'd be stupid to ignore the warning." Stefan explained to her. I felt completely lost, since I obviously hadn't been there when Elena and Isobel had their confrontation at the Gilbert House in front of a probably seething Jenna. Damon took up the conversation from there.

"You know, you should just stay here." He suggested to a thoroughly annoyed Elena. "It's better for us to keep an eye on you." Damon pointed out. "And by 'us' I mean Stefan and myself. Grace has her own problems to deal with." I smiled at him gratefully as Stefan scoffed.

"What, in the house that any vampire can enter?" He pointed out. "No. Her house is safer." Stefan insisted.

"Fine, then we'll stay there." Damon suggested. Elena looked about ready to break something.

"So is that the plan? Neither of you will let me out of your sight again?" She bitched. I smirked from my perch on one of the Salvatore's couches.

"If you come up with a better plan, let the boys know." I suggested, earning a scathing glare from Elena. "After all your current plans are working so well right now." I shrugged, but Elena relented. But I'd bet you $50 it was a begrudging mood on her part.

"Fine. Then one of you bodyguards is gonna have to come with me to the Lockwood Mansion." Elena pointed out. Stefan immediately strode over to his girlfriend's side.

"That's me." He stated.

"Not me. I have some witch stuff to attend to with Bonnie. So does Grace." Damon reported. I looked at him incredulously.

"I do?"

"You want to leave me there all alone with only Bonnie as company?" Damon questioned, as though asking me if I had lost my mind.

I shrugged. "Fair enough."

"Does that mean that you're taking her to the…" Elena started to say, but was immediately shushed by Damon as Katherine walked into the room. The Vampire Doppelgänger raised an eyebrow.

"Don't get quiet on my account. If you have a plan to combat the impending vampire doom, please do tell." She insisted. Nobody moves or responds, and Damon glances at his brother. Katherine shifts into a serious 'let's just level with me on this' face. "Seriously. What is the plan to get us out of this mess, hmmm? I delivered you a moonstone, a werewolf…" Werewolf? Who? "… and the dagger to lure and kill Klaus, and right now all you have is a moonstone. Or so you tell me." Katherine lists the current facts.

"No, we have it." Damon confirms, looking over at me. I didn't return the gaze.

"Where is it?" Katherine immediately demanded, looking alert. Damon smirked.

"It's in a very safe place." He insists vaguely. Katherine narrows her eyes at us all.

"I've been honest with you. Time to return the favour." She insists.

"Honest? With you?" I blurted out dubiously. "Please, you're lucky we haven't set you on fire while you were sleeping." Elena looks at Katherine and smiles an insincere sweet smile. Katherine glowers.

"Fine. Be that way." She sneers before turning and leaving. I frowned; call me crazy but I think that Katherine is gonna have the last laugh somehow. It was a nagging feeling that wouldn't let up, not even when Elena and Stefan set off for the Lockwood Mansion for the soiree Elena was supposed to be attending for whatever reason, and when Damon and I went off to wherever we were supposed to meet Bonnie and Jeremy on our continued investigation into the witch massacre site.

Damon, Bonnie, Jeremy and I were walking through the woods, searching for the site of the witch massacre. But it was a silent, tense and awkward exercise and all I really wanted to do was bang Bonnie and Damon's heads together for behaving like squabbling children. They didn't like each other: noted, now shake hands and get over yourselves, we have a more pressing matter to attend to than your pointless 'witches are the servants of nature, therefore vampires are abominations and we must protect each other as a result' debate.

I noticed, much to my amusement and curiosity, how close Jeremy seemed to be standing next to Bonnie who didn't seem to be objecting, despite how tense and distracted the witch appeared to be. I was pleased for him, the poor kid had suffered way too much for his age and deserved a little love and happiness … even if the object of his affection happened to be a couple of years older than he was, and one of his sister's best friends.

"Is this the spot Emily Bennett was killed, too?" Jeremy asked warily. Damon nodded.

"Founders thought it was poetic burning her where the other witches burned." He explained. Bonnie narrowed her eyes at him.

"How do you know where the witches were burned?" She asked, suspiciously. I rolled my eyes, gathering up my patience.

See what I have to deal with?

I noticed Damon narrowing his eyes at Bonnie, warningly.

"‛Cause I tried to save her." Damon retorted. "Emily was just my key to getting Katherine back before I knew what a nasty little bitch she was." Both Jeremy and I laughed as we stopped in front of an abandoned and run-down house the witches must've probably lived in when they were alive.

I instantly shivered, sensing the presence of hundreds of dead witches. Sometimes it sucked to be a medium. At least Henrik had a warmer presence; these witches were not too happy that we had come here and summoned them, even more so because Damon was with us. Jeremy glanced about doubtfully.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Both Damon and I nodded, and I earned a weird look from Jeremy and Bonnie; Damon wasn't looking in my direction at that point. "How would you know?" He asked me.

"Just a feeling." I replied absently, as we walked into the house. Then I froze, and felt my eyes widen in both horror and shock when I immediately saw a large group of witches surrounding us. All of them were wearing Victorian Era clothing, and glaring at Damon. "Wait, stop!" I said to one of them without thinking when they raised their hand and aimed it at my best friend. They all looked up at me in astonishment; Bonnie, Damon and Jeremy included.

"What is it?" Damon asked, looking alert and eying me with concern.

"You can see us?" A young mocha skinned witch who looked similar to Bonnie spoke up. I nodded subtly at her, before responding to Damon's question.

"The witches have surrounded us." I explained. Damon was immediately alert. Bonnie and Jeremy looked spooked.

"You can see them?" Jeremy blurted out.

"It's one of my abilities." I confirmed, still looking at the witches with narrowed eyes. Jeremy looked shocked.

"Are you a witch too?"

"I'm a Medium." I corrected him. "I have the ability to see and talk to ghosts." Bonnie and Jeremy looked like they were on the brink of freaking out, but Damon – who already knew this about me – groaned and continued walking through the house.

"How long have you been a Medium?" Jeremy asked, walking over to me.

"Since I was a baby. I thought that my baby brother-in-law was my imaginary friend for a long time, before I eventually realised that he was real when he didn't disappear when my peers stopped seeing theirs." I explained. Suddenly, Damon stopped mid-step.

"Whatever witchy prank you're playing, don't. It's not funny." Damon was not amused, and Bonnie looked confused.

"I'm not doing anything." She insisted. I glanced around at the spirits of the dead witches accusingly.

"What are you doing?" I said angrily. Damon was getting increasingly agitated.

"I can't move." He insisted, impatiently. Then his skin started burning. "Oh, my ring's not working. Do something!" I spun on them all.

"Stop this right now!" I growled. The witches ignored me, forcing Bonnie to close her eyes and concentrate. Almost immediately, Damon could move again.

"I don't think the witches like you being here." Bonnie suggested.

"I guess this is the right place." Jeremy commented, going off what I told him (which looked like it freaked him out a bit) and what Bonnie had done. I continued staring down these defiant witches.

"Who do you think you are?" I demanded. One of the witches stepped forward and stared me down.

"You may be a medium, my dear, but you certainly do not have any authority over us. You have no power over what we do." She told me.

"Don't ever do that again!" I warned them, coldly.

"Or you'll what?" The witch gave me a cocky smirk, convinced that I was powerless to stop them all torturing Damon. But before I could respond, Henrik burst in from out of nowhere.

"Get away from my sister!" He yelled angrily at the witches who locked eyes on him.

"Henrik?" I blurted out, grabbing Damon's attention.

"Your brother's here?" He asked, grabbing Bonnie and Jeremy's attention.

"You knew about this?" Bonnie said accusingly. Damon ignored her in favour of focusing upon me and my invisible assailants. The witches looked at Henrik unamused.

"And who are you?" One of the cockier witches sneered. Henrik rose to his full height, looking irritated and protective.

"Henrik Mikaelson." He responded. The very second Henrik verbalised his name, all the witches stiffen with shock.

"Mikaelson? You're Esther's boy?" One of the older witches exclaimed. "How are you associated with the Mikaelsons?" The same witch demanded of me. I knew that this entire conversation was probably extremely confusing to Bonnie, Damon and Jeremy, but I could care less if it meant that Damon would not be subjected to being burned by some holler-than-thou witches with megalomaniac delusions of grandeur.

"Grace is my brother, Niklaus Mikaelson's intended a thousand years ago. My mother approved of their engagement." Henrik confirmed.

"And you got on well with Esther?" Another witch asked. Both Henrik and I frowned at that odd question.

"Is there a reason to suggest that I shouldn't have a positive relationship with my soon to be mother-in-law?" I enquired. The witches gave each other furtive glances, and that immediately caught my interest. What was going on the other side?

"We don't have time for this. We're here for a reason." Bonnie exclaimed, impatiently. The witches and I focused on Bonnie before getting back to the point.

"Damon Salvatore is not welcomed here." The cocky witch declared. I sighed and turned my attention towards Damon.

"Damon…" I said, resigned. He got the hint.

"I'm gonna go wait outside." Damon leaves the abandoned house, leaving me with Bonnie and Jeremy. Bonnie walks deeper into the house followed closely by Jeremy, and I lagged behind with Henrik. The dead witches followed Bonnie and Jeremy, giving me the opportunity to talk with my brother.

"What are you doing here, Henrik? This is dangerous." I scolded him.

"I sensed that you were in danger." Henrik answered. "Why wouldn't I come and protect you? Elijah, Nik and Rebekah would never forgive me if anything happened to you that I could've prevented." Henrik insisted.

"You're alright, kid." I thanked him. We followed Bonnie through the house, wondering where she was going when suddenly we hear Damon call out from outside.

"Wanna hurry it up in there?" Damon complained. The response was the door closing by itself. I turned and noticed the lead witch; the one that looked similar to Bonnie physically had her hand in the air, narrowing her eyes at the front door.

"Seriously?" I called her out on her rather childish gesture. She ignored me.

"Screw you too, Emily." Damon retaliated. "You're all on your own in there. Be careful, Grace!" He yelled.

"Would you relax, Damon?" I shouted back. I heard him grumbling underneath his breath as he retreated.

"Can you hand me the grimoire?" Bonnie spoke up from behind me and I turned to see Jeremy handing Bonnie the grimoire she had liberated from the Martins' apartment; the one that stayed open when she dumped the large collection on the floor.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked, warily. Bonnie looked at him curiously.

"Are you worried about me?" Bonnie asked him. Jeremy smiled warmly at her.

"Yeah, of course I am." He responded, confidently. Bonnie takes the grimoire from him and kisses him. Henrik sniggers and I turn to give them some privacy while I swung my hand instinctively to hit Henrik, even though my hand fazed right through him.

"I'm sure." Bonnie whispers to Jeremy tenderly. The grimoire is opened and immediately a letter is revealed. Bonnie looks surprised and opens the letter, reading it. I heard whispers coming from the group of witches surrounding us the moment they saw what Bonnie was up to. This made Jeremy nervous.

"What is that?" He asked.

"The spirits of the witches who died here. I can feel them." Bonnie announced.

"That letter you discovered has gotten them talking." I added, thumbing over my shoulder at the motley crew of witches still whispering and glancing over at us from time to time.

"Alright. What are they saying?" Jeremy asks both of us.

I shrugged. "Beats me."

"I can't tell either." Bonnie admitted, looking a little dejected. She walks out of the room and down into the basement with Jeremy, Henrik and I following closely.

"Where are you going?" He asks her. Bonnie doesn't respond to Jeremy's question and eventually stops in the basement, looking confident.

"Here." She confirms. "This is it. Help me set the candles." She tells the both of us. While Jeremy and I obey her, the witches seemed to have followed us from the upper floors. Their whispering getting louder and louder, and my suspicions rising higher and higher. Even Henrik looked cautious. Jeremy places a hand on my shoulder, grabbing my attention.

"What the hell are they saying?" He asks. I feel helpless; which is something that I hate.

"They're whispering too low and too fast for me to lip read." I explained, frustrated. "Which is probably their intention. I don't think they trust me because I'm associated with Henrik's mother." I added. "Which is stupid, because I haven't seen the bloody woman for a thousand years!" I stated loud enough for the proud, scheming witches to hear. Jeremy turns back to Bonnie and nudges me. I glance over and see her concentrating again and closing her eyes. After a couple of minutes, Bonnie reopens her eyes. A determined look had settled in them.

"What is it?" Jeremy immediately asked.

"Nothing." Bonnie responded distractedly. Suddenly all the candles light up at the same time; alarming Jeremy, Henrik and me. I let out a startled yelp, and instinctively grab Niklaus' necklace for comfort. "They're ready." Bonnie confirmed. She then closes her eyes and starts chanting along with the witches who are now surrounding the four of us in a large circle, causing Henrik to stand protectively in front of me. As the spell progresses, the voices continue getting louder and louder, and before our eyes Bonnie starts to cry alarming Jeremy.

"Bonnie? You're starting to scare us." I warned her. Then Bonnie lets out an anguished scream that scares all of us. Jeremy moves towards her.

"Bonnie!" He almost reaches her but is thrown against the wall by an invisible force. I swore colourfully and rush over to Jeremy's side to help him sit up.

"Are you alright?" I asked him, urgently. He nods, still cringing as Bonnie's screaming increases in volume, causing Jeremy to persist in his attempts to get to his feet. Then just as abruptly as they started, the voices of the surrounding witches stop. Jeremy manages to get up and rushes over to Bonnie who is crying.

"You okay?" He asks Bonnie, worriedly.

"I did it." Bonnie declared, both triumphant and relieved before promptly fainting into Jeremy's arms. He wraps his arms tightly around her.

"It's okay." Jeremy promises. Both Henrik and I stare at them and each other, thoroughly freaked out by what we had just witnessed. From what I could recall, none of the spells Esther had cast had ever been this dramatic or nerve-wreaking. There was definitely something strange going on here.

After making sure that Bonnie and Jeremy were okay, since it seemed that the second the spell that Bonnie had cast had finished, the witches vanished without a trace; I headed back to the Boarding House to see what else needed to be done before I headed back to my apartment. I was still recreating my sketches onto canvas, but the constant happenings surrounding Elena and Niklaus' ritual were putting it on hold. I cursed underneath my breath when I realised that Damon had ditched me here, but thankfully I had the good sense to memorise how we got here so I retraced my steps back to the Boarding House and let myself in, finding nobody home at that point.

"Might as well wait for Damon or Stefan to return." I mumbled out loud and both Henrik and I curled up on a couch together. I pulled out my novel and continued from where I had left off while waiting for somebody to return. I didn't have to wait long, when Damon breezed on in carrying John Gilbert's dead body over his shoulder. "What the hell happened to him?" I blurted out loud as Damon dumped John on the floor. There was blood on his hands and shirt.

"Good question. Stefan, Carol Lockwood and Sheriff Forbes found him at that party Elena had to go to at the Lockwood Mansion." Damon stated brusquely, and made his way upstairs to go wash up. I bit my bottom lip; it was obvious he was in a foul mood.

Lovely.

I follow him upstairs.

"So one of them called you to deal with John's body." I stated.

"Yep." Damon responded, peeling off his shirt and throwing it in the clothes hamper to be washed as he went into his walk-in closet to grab a fresh shirt. I sat down on Damon's bed as Henrik sauntered in, listening in on the conversation as well with a raised eyebrow. "But Stefan and Elena had split before I got there. Unfortunately, John's death isn't permanent." He tells me.

I frowned at this.

"Excuse me?"

"I checked his hand when I saw him. John was wearing the same ring as Alaric. He'll recover, then we'll attempt to get an explanation from him." Damon explained.

I snorted. "Yeah, doubtful. He's just as stubborn as Elena." I said. Just then Damon's phone rang, and he swaggers out and plucks his phone out from his jacket pocket.

"Stefan?" Damon frowns with confusion. "How'd I beat you and Elena home?" He asks his brother, then listens for a few minutes to what Stefan had to tell him. "What?" Damon's eyes widen in realisation and he disappears back into his bathroom after hanging up his phone. I hopped off the bed and wondered over to the doorway of the bathroom.

"What's wrong?" I asked Damon as I watched sift through his soap bowl. This is weird, but then it occurs to me why he is doing this and I nearly face-palm. The moonstone; he hid that bloody stone in the soap dish?

"It's not there!" Damon snarls and throws the bowl on the ground, making me jump and retreat back into the bedroom away from the rampaging Damon. He storms out of the bathroom and I eyed him warily as Henrik comes over to my side to provide reassurance, while also eying Damon warningly. "Katherine took the moonstone." Damon translated his violent reaction to me. I normally would've responded with a cheeky answer, but realised that he wouldn't appreciate the gesture.

"So I gathered. Where do you think she's likely to have gone?" I asked.

"Who the hell knows?" Damon ranted. "Probably wherever Isobel is." He eventually suggests.

"So what's happening now? We're obviously going to find her…" I trailed off, waiting for Damon to fill in the blanks. I wasn't disappointed.

"Stefan's coming back here, then all three of us are going to find out where Isobel is likely to be." Damon told me.

"Fine. I'll help out where I can." I promised, using a calm tone. Damon relaxed a little, realising that he was scaring me a little and came over to wrap me up in a hug.

"Sorry if I scared you before." He said, sincerely. I shrugged.

"You wouldn't be you, if you didn't do that once in a while." I waved away his concerns and eventually pulled away from the embrace. Damon's head tilted upwards, indicating that he had just heard something that I wouldn't have been able to hear with my human ears.

"Stefan's here." He shrugs on his jacket and seizes my hand. "Let's go." He said and tugs me downstairs, Henrik following in quick pursuit. We both greet Stefan briefly downstairs and almost instantly jumped into Damon's car and speed off.

"Where are you looking first?" I asked, curiously. Damon glanced at me through the rear-view mirror.

"Isobel likes to live in luxury. We're most likely to find her in the most expensive and trendiest foreclosed house in town." He explains. Henrik snorts from where he was sitting beside me in the backseat.

"Sounds like she and Rebekah would probably get along; if it wasn't for the fact that Isobel is probably working against Niklaus." Henrik commented, and a secretive little smile spread across my face at this observation. Clearly, Rebekah hasn't really changed much over the last thousand years. I was going to enjoy reuniting with her eventually. Her personality will keep me on my toes. Eventually, Damon pulls up outside of a large tasteful looking estate. A large foreclosure sign had been hammered against the security gate.

"Think this is the house?" Stefan asked.

"Better be. It's the nicest foreclosure in town." Damon replied, getting out of the car and striding towards the front double doors.

"I swear to God if she's not here…" Stefan growled. Both Damon and I roll our eyes at the melodramatics.

"Don't be such a pessimist." Damon scolds Stefan as we entered the house; both brothers standing either side of me for protection in case we weren't alone. The place seemed bereft of people, but there was a burnished black baby grand piano in an adjoining room. Stefan makes his way towards the spiralling staircase.

"I got upstairs." He announces, charging up the stairs.

"Be my guest." Damon replies absently, as he and I look at the rest of the house.

"This is a close approximation of what Niklaus would probably live in … except a little less girly." Henrik relays to me, and my eyes widen with surprise. It seems my beloved has some expensive taste. Go figure. Damon and I continue searching for a few minutes longer before we come to the conclusion that nobody is squatting here. I notice some large designer suitcases standing beside the staircase that none of us had noticed before and nudge Damon to get his attention.

"Are those likely to be Isobel's stuff, or some unfortunate's?" I asked him. Damon walked over to inspect the luggage and made a face as Stefan comes back down the stairs, also empty handed.

"This is Isobel's stuff. We've definitely got the right place." I rolled my eyes. Couldn't he have just said 'yes' to my question? Stefan looks frustrated.

"Where are they?" He frets. It's obvious that he is worried about something. It was then that I realised what might've happened and mentally kicked myself for not thinking about this sooner. Elena had obviously been kidnapped, yet again.

"I don't know, Stefan." Damon replies, truthfully. He also looked a bit worried. We head out and back to the Boarding House to regroup and figure out our next move.

It turned out that Isobel had kidnapped Elena with Katherine's help. But Katherine had promptly disappeared off the face of the Earth shortly afterwards, and Isobel, after taking Elena to the cemetery where she was 'buried', promptly removed her Lapis Lazuli necklace and burned herself alive in front of her only daughter after receiving a mysterious phone call. Stefan, Damon, Henrik and I were halfway back to the Boarding House when Elena called Stefan, in tears.

So Damon had to turn the car back around and drive to the location Elena had given, to pick her up. When we got to the cemetery; Stefan immediately got out of the car to embrace his distraught girlfriend, and I politely and wordlessly got out of the backseat and into the front seat with Damon so that Stefan could sit in the back with Elena and comfort her. Henrik decided to go back to my apartment and wait for me to return. For once, I felt sympathy for the poor girl. Nobody deserves to watch their parent incinerate themselves with the sunlight, no matter how much of a bitch she was or how much she lacked in the mothering department.

A mother and child's bond was forever, no matter if said parent was a vampire, or even a deadbeat.

Once we got back to the Boarding House, Elena immediately ran upstairs and shut herself in Stefan's bedroom. Stefan didn't follow, wisely deciding to give Elena the chance to grieve on her own. But eventually he wondered up to check on her. A few minutes later, Damon and I followed.

"We need to take some precautions." Damon said to both Elena and me. "‛Cause we got played, all of us." He hands some documents to me, and I frowned and started scanning the contents of the page.

"You can't be serious." I stated, looking at both brothers disbelievingly. Elena hopped up from Stefan's bed and wondered to me.

"What's that?" She asked, curiously.

"It's the deed to our house." Stefan explained. "It's in Zach's name." I looked up in confusion.

"Who's Zach?" I asked.

"He was our nephew, before Damon killed him." Stefan told me, glaring at Damon who looked martyred. I pretended that I hadn't heard the 'Damon killed him' part.

"It's complicated. Suffice it to say, Daddy Dearest had an affair with one of the maids in our home; she produced a son, and that's how the Salvatore bloodline continued." Damon explained dismissively.

"The point is, as soon as both you and Elena sign that." Stefan indicated to the deed. "It'll be in both your names." He concluded. I was mystified by their thinking. I already had a place that most vampires couldn't enter, why did I need a second?

"You're giving us your house?" Elena sounded dubious.

"Isobel had the right idea with the safe house. You'll just stay here till it's all over. That way, you can control who gets invited and who doesn't." Stefan explained further. Damon came over and hooked an arm around my shoulders.

"Although, I'll be super pissed if you lock me out." Damon murmured into my ear, and I smirked and rolled my eyes; bumping him with my hip. Both Damon and Stefan suddenly jerked their heads towards the doorway and Damon vamp sped downstairs.

"What the hell?" I blurted out, as Stefan also blurred downstairs; leaving Elena and I to follow. We found Damon holding a reanimated John by the lapels in the air, with Stefan trying to calm Damon down. John looked super freaked out.

"I swear I had no idea what she was gonna do. I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry." He insisted sincerely. Elena strode over to Damon and placed a calming hand on his arm.

"Damon, let him go. He and I need to talk." Elena stated, looking sternly at John who nodded. She leads him towards the parlour, while the rest of us regroup in the library. Damon pours himself a glass of scotch and offers one to Stefan who nods.

"You want one, Grace?" I glanced over and shook my head.

"Driving." I walked over to the black couch directly in front of the fireplace and took a seat on it, pulling my legs up to my chest and hugging them to me. I listen in on the conversation between Damon and Stefan behind me.

"Hey, Bonnie said the spell worked. She's locked and loaded." Damon tells Stefan. I snorted.

"You bet your arse it worked. Scared the living hell out of Jeremy and me in the process." I stated. Stefan made an approving grunt.

"At least something went right today. Katherine has no idea that Bonnie got her powers back."

And then some… I thought, sardonically.

"And Isobel had no idea what you, Grace and Jeremy took Bonnie to do today?" Stefan asked Damon.

"Uh-uh." Damon replied.

"Now I do." Isobel appeared from out of nowhere, causing me to jump in shock. She looked sombre and fearful. I frowned, feeling dread.

"We're the only ones who know." Stefan confirmed.

"Do you agree with that, Grace?" Damon called out to me. I glanced back at him, with a pained smile on my face.

"More or less." I agreed before turning back to the look at the fireplace and Isobel who was standing beside it, looking directly at me. That answer seemed satisfactory to Damon.

"That literally makes Bonnie our secret weapon." Damon and Stefan raise their glasses of scotch and clink them together before drinking. Isobel glowers at the brothers as she comes over and sits down beside me on the couch, fixing me with an extremely sympathetic smile.

"Watch your back. What's coming next is not gonna be easy." She tells me ominously, before Elena's mother faded from view.

~:KATHERINE'S P.O.V:~

I woke up feeling disoriented and confused. What the hell just happened? I remembered seeing a warlock standing on the front door step of Isobel's house. He was smirking at me; like he knew something I didn't. I didn't like that so I charged at him, aiming to kill when it suddenly felt like a thousand knives were stabbing into my brain and I lost consciousness.

I glanced around the room, trying to figure out where I was; and realised that I was in somebody's studio apartment. I spied two vases just out of reach from where I was. One was filled with blood by the smell of it, and the other one was empty and lying on its side. That same warlock from before is standing on the other side of the room, chanting, with another person sitting on a chair with their back to me. I see the apartment door in my peripheral vision and I get to my feet, momentarily realising that Elena's necklace had disappeared from around my neck.

Suddenly, I realise that the person in the chair is the Salvatore Brothers' friend Alaric – at least I think that's what his name was – with his eyes closed, like he was meditating. I freeze when his eyes unexpectedly open and Alaric stands up from the chair. The warlock bows reverently before him, and I frown in utter confusion.

What's happening here? I slowly rise to my feet, and freeze once again when Alaric turns around and sees me.

"Somno Ritum Per Dax Ritum, Somno Ritum Per Dax Ritum, Somno Ritum Per Dax Ritum…" The warlock chants over and over again.

"Alaric?" I cautiously question the man in front of me. He smiles, and I immediately sense danger. I rushed over to the door and thud into an invisible force that stops me from any attempt to leave. I have no choice but to turn and face Alaric. But at the same time, I know that that is not Alaric walking towards me with a deceptively kind smile on his ragged face.

"Zdravei, Katerina."("Hello, Katerina.") 'Alaric' speaks to me in perfect Bulgarian. My eyes widen in horror; it can't be. 'Alaric' reaches out and takes my face into his hands, and I'm too stunned to react or get away from him. "I have missed you."

I feel myself trembling with fear.

"Klaus!" I whispered.

Klaus' only response was to smile widely at me.

A/N: Ta da! Welcome to the story, Klaus! Finally!

Please review ;)