A/N: Now we get to the fun part of the story; the chapter where Grace and Klaus finally reunite – albeit in Alaric's body.
Also going to add a dance scene between Damon and Grace during the 60s Decade Dance. Hope that it turns out the way I want it to.
I already know that you will review, so please do so and remember no flames!
I don't own The Vampire Diaries. All characters except for Grace belong to author L.J. Smith.
Enjoy xx
I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU
"I fell in love with you because you loved me when I couldn't love myself." ~Unknown Author.
~:KLAUS P.O.V:~
I woke up this morning, in a rather pleasant mood. Today was the day that I am going to catch a glimpse of the doppelgänger for the first time at the High School. There was only one downside to this plan: the fact that I had to pose as this sorry excuse for a man. Alaric Saltzman? What sort of name is that exactly?
I was also hoping for the opportunity to reunite with Graínne for the first time in a thousand years. From what Maddox reported back to me since he first arrived in this backend town, Graínne has been seen on and off around the doppelgänger. When she wasn't around her, she could be found associating with Damon Salvatore, the older brother of my former best friend, one of the most gifted and notorious rippers this world has ever seen in a long time; Stefan Salvatore, whom was now the current boyfriend of the doppelgänger.
I hate to be him, when my dear sister finds out about that.
If she finds out, that is.
I walked over to Alaric's closet and made a face at what I saw inside, before I pulled out two plaid shirts.
"Oh! Who is this guy, Safari Sam?" I commented out loud, and turned towards Katerina who was sitting across the room, tied down into a chair. She was looking at me with trepidation; and I couldn't help but smirk. "Okay, bad?" I held one shirt against myself. "Or badder?" I held the other up. Katerina only takes a second to glance at both shirts before answering.
"The dark colors suit you better." She responds obediently. I smiled at her.
"Oh, thank you, honey." I toss aside the lighter of the two shirts, and proceed to pull on the darker shirt. "Okay, pop quiz." I turned back to her as I button up the shirt. "The dagger and white ash are in the Salvatores' possession, correct?" I asked her.
"The dagger was used to kill Elijah. You'll find him in the basement of the Salvatore house." Katerina reports, succinctly. I raised an eyebrow at this little fact. Elijah was craftier than I thought, I'll give him that. I wonder if he knows that Graínne is in this town?
"Okay, that dagger needs to stay exactly where it is." I stated, conversationally. "The last thing I need to do is resurrect Elijah. That guy is a buzzkill." I checked the time on the wall clock, and realized that I needed to be at the High School as soon as possible. I picked up Alaric's keys and his backpack, before turning towards Katerina for any more information she could give me. Like clockwork, she revealed more.
"Don't forget that you're on the outs with your girlfriend, Jenna." Katerina reveals.
"Right. Elena's aunt." I remembered. "For all the lies about Isobel." I nodded, and gestured for more. "What else?" Katerina shook her head.
"That's it." She confirmed. I walked over to her and touched her face. She flinches and I rolled my eyes, feeling slightly insulted.
"Oh, so jumpy." I observed, then couldn't help but smirk. Katerina offers me a pleading expression on her lovely face.
"Please, just… kill me. I've told you everything that I know." She insisted. I placed my hands on the armrests on Katerina's chair and looked her right in the face. I did not believe that she was telling me everything I needed to know.
"You see, I believe that you believe that, but what would you not know? What could they be keeping from you? Hmm? Anything?" Katerina remained silent. I didn't like that. "Tell me." I compelled her.
"They were trying to see if Bonnie could find a way to kill an Original without a dagger." Katerina replied in monotone. I frowned.
"Bonnie the best friend? I thought you said she didn't have her powers anymore."
"She doesn't or didn't. I don't know. You kidnapped me, remember? I'm kinda out of the loop." Katerina pointed out, sounding a little hysterical.
"Well, we'll have to get to the bottom of that." I mused.
"Please, just kill me, Klaus, and be done with it." I just looked her. She truly sounded pathetic with her begging and pleading. She wanted to me to give her a merciful death? No. Not going to happen.
"And show you kindness?" I had to laugh at the thought. It was just too priceless. "I've searched for you for over 500 years. Your death is going to last at least half that long." I promised her. I reached into my pocket and withdrew a switchblade pocket knife. I opened it, and held it up for Katerina to see. "I want you to take this knife … and stab yourself." I ordered her. She gives me a defiant glare before taking the knife and stabbing her thigh. She takes it out and we both watched as the wound heals almost instantaneously. "Now while I'm gone, I want you to do that over and over and over again and if you get bored, switch legs." Katerina reluctantly nods, and I straighten up from my crouch and head for the door.
"Where are you going?" She asks me. I pause mid-step and turned back to her, smiling pleasantly.
"I'm gonna go lay eyes on my precious doppelgänger, and my dearly missed fiancé." I replied before leaning over to kiss her on the forehead. She looked revolted. "Oh, don't look so glum, Katerina. The fun is just beginning. Again." I turned on my heel and exited the studio apartment.
~:GRACE P.O.V:~
Elena and I sat at a table with Bonnie and the Salvatore Brothers' attorney, Mr. Henry; signing papers that would transfer ownership of the deed over to us. Damon and Stefan were outside of the house waiting for us to finish signing away our lives.
"Would the both of you, please sign here and here." The lawyer asked, pointing in random places on the stapled document. Elena took the offered pen from him.
"Okay." She signs, then pushes the papers towards me and hands me the pen. I picked it up and signed also, before getting to my feet and walking over to the couch and sinking down on to it. I still thought that it was unnecessary to have my name on the deed as well.
It was pointless.
"So this place is all yours? They just gave it to you?" Bonnie sounded incredulous.
"They gave it to both of us, Bonnie." I spoke up from where I was on the couch, feeling irritated. Seriously, was I invisible? Both teens ignored me. Typical.
"For now. Grace and I can only invite a certain type of person in here, if you know what I mean." Elena explained.
Bonnie grinned. "Your own personal safe house."
Elena grinned back. "That's the idea."
"Wouldn't want to clean it." Bonnie mused jokingly, and I rolled my eyes as she and Elena both dissolved into laughter. I got to my feet; heading outside to stand with Damon and Stefan. They were both in the middle of a conversation with each other.
"You really think Bonnie can take on Klaus?" Damon asked Stefan, curiously. Stefan shrugged.
"She said she could channel enough witch's power to kill him." I came over and sat beside Damon on the brick wall, thanking him when he shuffled over so I could. "Elijah thought that would work and he was an Original, so…" I didn't bother making any comment. There was no chance that Bonnie could take on Niklaus; not if she had to harness extra powers to do so.
"We just need to find him." Damon pointed out.
"Yeah." Stefan agreed.
"Or, you could just wait until he shows up in town?" I offered an alternative suggestion to them. Both brothers looked at me like I had sprouted a new head. I shrugged. "Just a thought." I pointed out. Predictably, both of them ignored what I said.
"Could she do one of those witch tracking spells?" Damon asked.
"Nope. Not without something that belongs to Klaus." My eyes widened and I pushed off the brick wall, and decided to pace. I was wearing something that belonged to Niklaus around my neck, and I didn't want to draw attention towards that. "Believe me, I already asked." Stefan added, much to Damon's annoyance.
"Do you think he killed Katherine?" Damon asked, sounding hopeful.
"Here's hoping." I muttered underneath my breath, earning a smirk from Stefan and a dark, slightly amused chuckle from Damon. "Not like she doesn't deserve it for fucking up everybody's lives." I added. The front door re-opens, revealing Elena and Mr. Henry. I give them both my undivided attention; wanting this entire exercise to be over and done with already.
"Thank you, Mr. Henry." Elena bids the lawyer farewell. Mr. Henry smiles politely at Elena and walks away.
"Miss. Williams?" I raise a hand and wave.
Once the lawyer was in his car and had driven away, Damon and Stefan walk towards the threshold to enter the house. But almost immediately they thud into the invisible barrier. I had to bite down on my tongue to stop myself from laughing at how quickly they both had forgotten that they now needed either Elena or my permission to enter their home.
"I'm sorry. I completely forgot." Elena said apologetically. She looked right at Stefan. "Stefan. Would you like to come inside my house?" Elena asked him, sweetly.
"Our house, you mean?" I didn't hesitate to remind her; mostly because I knew that it would irritate her the most. The nauseating lovebirds ignored me completely.
"I would love to. Thank you." Stefan replied promptly, smiling at Elena flirtatiously. He takes a deliberate step over the threshold and enters the house. Elena just looks at Damon, who rolls his eyes at her immaturity.
"What are we, twelve?" Damon stated, wearily. Elena shrugged at the question.
"One of us is." She replied, folding her arms across her chest. Damon narrowed his eyes at her for the insult. "If I let you in, do you promise to obey the owner of this house?" Elena enquired, innocently.
"Please come in, Damon." I automatically spoke up, smirking when Elena and Stefan glared at me. I shrugged. "I'm co-owner." I reminded them. Damon smirked triumphantly at Elena and then he too took a deliberate step over the threshold.
"Why yes, Elena. I do promise to obey one of the owners of this house. Thank you." Damon responded, extending a hand towards me and I immediately accepted it and allowed Damon to tug me inside the house. He playfully twirled me on the spot and then hooked an arm around my shoulders, leading me deeper into the house. Elena shuts the door behind us as Bonnie walks in from another room and gives Elena her jacket.
"Thanks." Elena tells Bonnie. Stefan blinked at her with confusion.
"Wait, where are you going?" He demanded. Elena and Bonnie turned to look at him, returning the confused look.
"To school?"
"Huh?" Stefan looked speechless. Damon immediately comes back over to the two girls, and I followed calmly; knowing exactly what was about to happen.
"No, no, no. We didn't create a safe house for you to leave it." Damon protested.
"Yeah. Klaus is out there. We know that." Stefan added. Elena gave them both a flat look.
"Right. But where? No one knows." She pointed out. "Look, I really appreciate what you guys are doing, and I'll be able to sleep at night knowing that I'll be safe here." Elena smiled at them both. "But I'm not going to be a prisoner." She insisted, firmly and looking mostly at Damon for emphasis. Damon scowled at her.
"Tsk. Whatever, it's your neck on the chopping block." He says dismissively. Bonnie stepped forward to back Elena up.
"Don't worry, I'm ready." She insisted. "If he shows his face, I can take him. Know how." Bonnie bragged.
"Or die trying…" I said pointedly, skeptical that she had enough power to take down Nik. He wasn't an all-powerful, thousand year old vampire for nothing. He'd have to be excessively vulnerable for Bonnie to even remotely immobilize him. Bonnie glared at me, and I stared her down; not even remotely intimidated.
"The way I see it, next to Bonnie is the safest place that I can be." Elena insisted, before linking arms with Bonnie and steering her away from the house. "Come on." Both of them leave, and Stefan looks helplessly at Damon who gives him a blank look. He vamp-speeds up to his room and returns carrying his schoolbooks.
"Wait, um, coming." Stefan calls, and follows after the girls swiftly. I scoffed unsympathetically.
"Fools." I muttered and turned to retreat back into the safety of the Boarding House with Damon.
~:KLAUS P.O.V:~
Every second I spend in this high school, makes me glad that I was born a thousand years ago and was homeschooled by my mother, Finn and Elijah. Finding the correct classroom I walk straight in.
"Hello, class." I greeted Alaric's students cheerfully, immediately locating my doppelgänger sitting right beside Stefan Salvatore of all people. "What are we learning today?" I asked. A hand shoots up into the air, belonging to one of the female students, and I briefly glance down at the seating chart to locate her name: Dana.
"With the decade dance tonight, we've been covering the sixties all week." Dana tells me helpfully. I smiled at her. She will be most helpful later on.
"Right. The sixties." I muttered. Great. I could do without remembering this particular decade. It was a thoroughly boring period of my existence that I'll never get back. The only good part of it was the Beatles and landing on the moon. I turned to the blackboard and picked up a piece of chalk. "The, uh, ahem…" I wrote 'the Sixties' on the board, before turning and pretending to really give a shit about this. "I wish there was something good I could say about the sixties, but… actually, they kind of sucked." I told the students honestly. "Except for the Beatles, of course." I conceded, chuckling a little. "They made it bearable." The students look at each other and then me with confusion. "Uh, what else was there? The Cuban Missile thing, the … we walked on the moon. There was Watergate…"
"Watergate was the seventies, Ric." I glanced over at Elena in astonishment. Does she really address her teachers by their first names? "I-I mean, Mr. Saltzman." She stammered, and flushed with embarrassment. I looked at her with amusement.
"Right. It all kind of mushes together up here. The sixties, seventies." I cleared my throat. "Thank you, Elena." I said, before getting on with the lesson plan Alaric had prepared. I groaned inwardly. Why had Maddox chosen this body specifically again? Eventually, it was lunch time. I smirked; time to begin the first phase of my plan. I casually intercept that 'Dana' girl from earlier and pulled her aside.
She looked at me, nervously.
"Is something wrong, Mr. Saltzman?" Dana asked me, half-nervous, half-curious. I smiled politely at her.
"No, nothing is wrong. I would just like you to deliver a message to Elena Gilbert for me. If you would?" I requested. Dana relaxed a little, but at the same time kept her guard up. Smart girl.
"Sure. What do you want me to say?" She asked. I leaned forward slightly and deliberately looked her directly in the eyes.
"Just this: 'This is going to sound freaky, but this totally hot guy just asked me to ask you if you're going to the dance tonight.'" I said, slowly. "If she or her friends try to persuade you otherwise, respond with this: 'You could at least meet him. He'll be at the dance tonight. Look for him. His name is Klaus.' Do you understand?" Dana nodded slowly.
"I understand."
I smiled approvingly. "Excellent. Oh! One more thing to add: let her know that 'I want to know if she'll save me the last dance.' Off you go then." I tell her and Dana wonders over to where Elena was sitting with her friends.
This is just too easy.
All I needed to do right now, was to sit back and watch the fun begin. Dana approaches Elena and her friends who were sitting not too far away at a nearby table; oblivious to the attention they were being paid.
"Hey, Elena, there you are." Dana started to say, and I grinned. Thank you enhanced hearing! "Okay. This is going to sound freaky, but this totally hot guy just asked me to ask you if you're going to the dance tonight." Perfect! I watched as Elena and her little witch friend Bonnie look at Dana with a combination of confusion and annoyance.
"Tell him she has a boyfriend." Bonnie told Dana dismissively. Ouch! That's harsh; if I was truly sincere with my feelings that would've hurt. For shame girls, for shame!
"You could at least meet him." Dana retorted, puckering her lips into a disapproving pout. "He'll be at the dance tonight. Look for him. His name is Klaus." Both girls froze and looked at Dana with shock.
"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Elena whispered. Dana brightened almost immediately.
"His name's Klaus. I know the name's stupid, but I swear he's hot." I was slightly taken aback; I could've sworn I didn't compel her to say that. Did this girl have a crush on her teacher? I did a brief scan of Alaric's body, and questioned the girl's sanity. Bonnie looks around, trying to catch a glimpse of me.
Good luck, love.
"Where is he? Is he here?" Bonnie immediately demanded. Dana looked confused.
"I don't know." She looked puzzled. I smirked.
"She's been compelled." Elena guesses.
"But he wants to know if you'll save him the last dance. How cute is that?" Cute? Uh, I probably wouldn't have described it like that. Girls these days. I straightened up from my perch against the wall in the shadows and left the cafeteria, pleased with what I had accomplished. I couldn't wait to see what I would discover at the Salvatore Boarding House this afternoon.
~:GRACE P.O.V:~
After the fiasco revolving around signing over the deed of the Boarding House to Elena and myself, I went back to my apartment to continue painting my canvas sketching. I was part of the way through the painting of Nik and me gazing down with awe at our little miracle. I still wasn't entirely sure if this vision truly was a confirmed premonition of what was to come in our future, or if it was a prediction or pipe dream. Either way, it brought me hope. (A/N: Wink wink, nudge nudge.)
"Don't you have to go to the Boarding House right about now?" Henrik piped up from where he was lounging on my couch, staring at the TV show I had turned on for background white noise. I glanced at my wall clock and grimaced; time to go and listen to the plans Damon and Stefan had cooked up about catching Nik.
"Wish you hadn't reminded me, but thanks Henrik." I told him sincerely. Henrik grinned.
"Just doing my part." He stated.
I yawned and stretched before placing down my paintbrush and headed for my room to change out of my paint spattered shirt and jeans and into a pair of comfortable smoky grey jeans, a loose white sleeveless shirt, a royal blue sweater and peep toe high heeled boots. I tugged my hair out of its bun and brushed it out before smearing some lip balm over my lips. I came out of my room and picked up my purse and keys.
"You wanna come with?" I asked Henrik; expecting him to say 'no'.
"Sure." Henrik said, hopping up from the couch and walking over. I blinked, not expecting that answer from him and reached over for the remote, clicking off the TV.
"Let's go then. Hope the plan Damon and Stefan came up with isn't ridiculous." I prayed. Henrik shrugged, but didn't say anything. The trip to the Boarding House took a little longer than expected, due to road works; but by the time we actually got there; Damon, Stefan, Bonnie and Elena were already deep in discussion. I rapped my knuckles on the polished wood of the front door. "Knock knock?" I called out, dryly.
"It's open!" Damon yelled back, and both Henrik and I rolled our eyes and sauntered casually down the hallway and followed the voices coming from the living room. Damon was in the middle of his own brand of persuasion.
"So we go to the dance, we find him." Damon stated, causing Stefan to look at him skeptically.
"Really? How are we going to do that? We don't even know what he looks like." He pointed out.
"Something tells me he's not going to be sixteen and pimply." Damon stated the obvious. Henrik snorted with laughter at the mental image Damon had given him as we chose that moment to step into the room while Stefan continued ranting.
"He could be anywhere at any time. He compelled somebody at school." I raised an eyebrow. Seriously? Way to remain inconspicuous Nik.
"He did, huh? Interesting tactic." I commented, earning suspicious looks from Elena and Bonnie. Stefan eyed me momentarily and nodded in greeting before making his point clearer:
"I guess it's not as safe as you guys thought, huh?" I had to agree with him on that. Then Elena suddenly got the 'lightbulb over the head' expression.
"Wait, Grace would know what Klaus looks like." Elena pointed out excitedly, and literally pointed at me. I scowled at her, and Henrik looked taken aback by the expectation Elena had handed me. Everybody in my family (with the exception of Henrik and Elijah) were blurred to me, and until I reunited with them; they would remain this way.
However, I decided to humour Elena.
"Hmmm? What Niklaus looks like? Let's see if I remember?" I verbalized my thoughts, sarcastically and I scrutinized Damon for a memory jog. "He's taller than Damon, probably about the same height as Elijah." Damon scowled at the fact that I used him in my description of my fiancée. "Svelte, and muscular. But not grossly oversized. And has short curly hair." I listed sounding deliberately vague.
Elena gave me flat look, as did Bonnie.
"Well that was useless. You just described most of the jocks at school." Bonnie bitched. I gave her a dark smirk.
"Exactly. It's kinda hard to describe a man you haven't seen for a thousand years. If you'd bother to even ask me, I'd have told you that my memories about Niklaus have been vague, and his face has been blurred to me." I stated. Somebody knocked at the door, and we all looked around in confusion. Who wasn't here that should be here?
"Come in, doors open!" Damon shouted to the unknown visitor. I opened my mouth to rebuke him for not checking who the visitor was, before remembering that Elena and I owned the property now and it was up to us to not invite the unfriendlies in. Somebody walked up behind me, and paused there. "There you are." Damon greeted the person, warmly.
"Sorry I'm late." It was Alaric. I turned to look at him, and smiled brightly.
"Oh, hey Alaric! How you been?" I greeted him, and walked over to give him our standard hug. When I pulled away, I noticed something weird about him: He was staring at me like I was some sort of miracle, and he didn't immediately let go of my waist. If anything, he attempted to pull me closer; like he was afraid I was going to run or vanish into thin air. I frowned at him with concern. "Are you alright? You've gone a bit pale." I touched his face and felt his forehead, looking for a temperature.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine, thanks. How have you been?" He asked me, still giving me that look. I shrugged, not deeming it important at that moment.
"Things could be better. But I'm not expecting miracles right now." I responded honestly, and started fiddling with Nik's necklace absently. Alaric's eyes zeroed in on it, and he reached for it.
"That's an interesting necklace. Where did you get it?" He asked curiously, examining the silver wolf's tooth with an intrigued smile. I grinned.
"A very close friend of mine sent it to me. I miss him very much." I responded, smiling at him; and felt a strange connection towards Alaric, which had never happened before. Alaric opened his mouth to say something else, before Damon intercepted earning dagger eyes from him. That wasn't like Alaric at all.
"Hey, I need you to put both Grace and I down as chaperones at the dance tonight." Damon requested. "Klaus made his first move." Alaric raised an eyebrow.
"Grace?" He asked, looking confused. I smiled apologetically.
"Yeah, I know. Unfortunately, Damon got it into his head that he and I need to be there to help protect Elena from Niklaus." I explained. "I'm not sure how much sway I'm gonna have with him. Niklaus isn't going to be swayed; if anything it's just going to encourage him to make his move." I pointed out to them all.
Damon rolled his eyes.
"Doesn't mean you can't try." He retorted, impatiently. I just gave him a look.
"Yeah, can't see that blowing up in our faces." I bit back, dryly. I missed the admiring smile that spread on Alaric's face; but Damon hadn't.
"Don't tell me that you agree with Grace, Ric." Damon pleaded. To my surprise, Alaric shrugged and moved past me heading for the wet bar, fixing himself a drink.
"You have to admit, it doesn't sound very likely." Alaric agreed with me, sipping from some scotch. Elena decided to change the subject.
"Okay, so we find him and then what, hmm? What's our plan of attack?" She wanted to know. Bonnie stood up, looking confident and determined.
"Me. I'm the plan." Bonnie declared. "He has no idea how much power I can channel. If you can find him, I can kill him."
"That's not going to be that easy." Alaric pointed out, looking concerned. "I mean, he is the biggest, baddest vampire around." He said, looking directly at Bonnie. However, I noticed that while his face looked 'concerned' his eyes told a different story: they looked narrowed and focused; almost calculating.
"Alaric has a point. I mean, what if he…" Damon charged without warning at Bonnie. But she retaliated by throwing him on the other side of the room with her powers, all without touching him. I snorted with laughter.
"And what did that accomplish?" I asked him, smirking down at him as I walked over to help him up.
"Well, I was impressed." Stefan begged to differ. Bonnie didn't miss a beat.
"It doesn't matter if he's an Original. I can take down anyone who comes at me." Bonnie insisted, sounding a little arrogant now that she had this extra power boost. "I can kill him, Elena. I know I can."
I headed for the kitchen, glancing over at Henrik to see if wanted to come with. He declined.
"Don't get cocky, Bonnie. The last thing we need is for you to let all that extra power to go to your head, and give you a bad case of the egos." I warned her. As I walked towards the kitchen, I got the feeling that I was being followed. Thinking it was Damon, I paid it no mind but decided to get an explanation from him. "Mind explaining to me why you volunteered me for a chaperoning gig without asking me first?" I asked him, feeling a bit annoyed as I clicked on the kettle and reached for a mug in the cabinet to make myself a drink.
"Your guess is as good as mine, Grace." I nearly jumped out of my skin and spun round to face Alaric who was looking at me with amusement. "Don't do that." I scolded him. He chuckled.
"Sorry." He apologized. I winced a little as the jump had caused me to pull on the bite mark on my neck. I clapped a hand on it, drawing Alaric's attention towards it. "Ouch, how'd you do that?" He asked, wincing sympathetically. I blinked at him, the question not quite registering until I realised that he was referring to the dressing on my neck.
"Oh, that's right. You don't know." I mentally face-palmed. "Katherine attacked me." I explained. Alaric stiffened almost immediately, and his eyes flashed. I felt touched by his reaction.
"Did she now?" His voice was low and dangerous.
"Yeah, but I stabbed her in the stomach with my dagger before she could do any real damage." I reassured him, earning a look of impressed shock from Alaric. But then I frowned.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"I am slightly concerned though. I would've thought that the bite mark would've healed up at least a little bit by now." I confided in him. Alaric came over to my side.
"May I take a look at it?" He asked politely. I nodded and tilted my head slightly so he could peel away the dressing. Alaric gingerly reached out and carefully took off the dressing, revealing the two puncture marks. He used his fingers to inspect the wound gently, before pulling back and smiling softly. "It's healing nicely. Just leave the dressing off for a while, let the air get at it." He suggested. I nodded and moved to pour hot water into my mug. "Or, get Damon or Stefan to heal you." Alaric gave me the other option that I considered then dismissed just as quickly. I shook my head.
"I'd prefer to restrict drinking vampire blood for the more serious cases. This was just a scratch." I insisted. Alaric frowned once again.
"I beg to differ. You must've bled quite a bit at the time."
I smiled, warmly.
"I did, yes. But thankfully, Maddox helped me patch it up." I reminded Alaric of my friend. Alaric finally smiled, accepting my decision.
"Sounds like you've made a good friend." He realized.
"He's still an acquaintance right now. But he still could be in the future." I agreed. I finished making my tea and took a sip. "You going to stick around help with the plans?" I asked. Alaric shook his head.
"I better get going. I still have a couple of things to take care of before I have chaperoning duties at the school." Alaric looked less than enthused about the very idea, and I giggled.
"Well, I'll see you tonight then, apparently." I told him. I put down my mug and came over to give him another hug, pleased that he seemed to be in better spirits than he did yesterday. Perhaps Jenna and he were able to sort out their differences? Once again, Alaric seemed extremely reluctant to let go, and fixed me with a look so tender that I immediately felt uncomfortable. "Okay, well see you later." I said, picking up my mug and heading back out of the kitchen.
~:KLAUS P.O.V:~
To say that I learnt more than I bargained for this afternoon was an understatement. On the positive side; I was finally reunited with Graínne again. Although apparently, she went by the similar sounding name of 'Grace' instead. Very apt name; she is everything that Maddox described her and more. The conversation I heard the first few minutes after I had arrived there, was amusing to say the least. These fools truly believe that they can stop the inevitable; and I was highly impressed when Graínne … no, sorry Grace, attempted to steer them all in another direction; accurately predicting my response to their pointless requests.
She still knows me so well.
That witch Bonnie could prove to a bit of a problem too; a little too cocky to be honest. But it was what Grace revealed to me about that vampire bite Maddox had discovered when he found her, that made me see red. It took all my willpower not to immediately leave that Boarding House and return to Alaric's apartment to rip Katerina apart with my bare hands.
Still, no matter. It seems that I've found the vampire I am looking for to help break my curse. This time, Katerina will not escape me. Like it or not, she will be part of this ritual like she should've been 500 years ago. I let myself into the apartment, and found Katerina where I had left her: sitting in the chair I had tied her to, still stabbing herself over and over again in the thigh. Blood was pooled all around her in thick puddles.
I felt a satisfied smirk spread across my face.
"Ah, you're right. This witch is all juiced up and aiming to kill." I revealed, just barely holding back my anger upon seeing her. Katerina winced when the blade cut through her thigh for the umpteenth time.
"That's terrible." She said, sarcastically. I ignored her tone. Maddox entered the room from the kitchen, and I smiled a little at him; pleased that he had followed my orders and helped to protect Grace while I wasn't here.
"We're gonna have to kill her, Maddox." I reported. I opened up a nearby drawer, and grimaced at the items of clothing I found inside. "Do you think this Alaric guy has anything vintage?" I asked Maddox, not really expecting an answer. I looked at the shirts and saw that there was something hidden underneath the piles of clothes. Curiously, I opened it and saw lots of weapons designed to kill vampires. I raised an eyebrow. "Crossbows, wooden bullets and automatics?" I glanced up at Maddox, feeling mildly incredulous. "Who is this guy, again?"
"He's the local vampire hunter." Katerina piped up from across the room. I snorted.
"Ahh. Well, that explains the clothing." I responded, unimpressed. I reached for a glass of bourbon Maddox offered to me.
"All I could find. Guy likes his bourbon." He stated. I grinned.
"I knew there was something about him I liked." I took a generous sip. "Well done, by the way. Grace is everything you described to me and more." I thanked him. Maddox offered me a crooked smile.
"So, you found her. I'm happy for you." Maddox told me. "By the way, her apartment is a couple of doors down from here." He reported to me. My eyes widened with delight. I decided to file that little piece of information away for a rainy day.
"There's a high school dance and I'm gonna need you to take out witch bitch." I requested. Maddox looked doubtful, I frowned.
"If she has that much power, she can sense me coming from a mile away. I won't be able to get near her." He pointed out to me. This was most annoying. "You have to do it."
Seriously?
"In this body? I'm a haggard history teacher. She can easily hurt me. I mean, not me, Klaus me, but you know what I mean." I protested.
Maddox sighed. "No witch could handle channeling that much power. It'll kill her. It would kill me. You just have to make her use it." He suggested.
"You mean like provoking her to death?" I asked. Maddox nodded.
"Won't take long. Just keep attacking her until it kills her. 'His' body, Alaric's, will last longer than hers will." He reassured me.
"How? He's human." I said, doubtfully. Maddox offered me a confident smile that immediately had me on alert.
"I can help in that department. I can do a spell to protect you." He promised. A slow smile spread across my face.
Everything was falling into place.
~:GRACE P.O.V:~
I was standing facing the mirror in the bathroom, deep in contemplation while just absently blow-drying and adding the finishing touches to my chosen 60s hairstyle, before killing an entire rainforest with the amount of hairspray I layered on to it to keep everything in place. I managed to find the appropriate hairstyle that suited the black and white checkered high collared, and very thigh high mini-dress I had hired at the last minute from the town's costume shop.
To describe it: well, let's just say if I bent over too far, you'd probably get a view of my underwear. Let's just hope I don't trip over on my high heeled go-go boots (left boot black, right boot white). My mum, who was in her early teens during the 60s, would've called my chosen hairstyle as the half-up bouffant (think The Ronettes); which required several of my hair extensions to make it work. The result was actually an odd combination of striking and 'why would these women put so much time and effort into their hair?' But somehow, I managed to pull it off; mum would be proud.
As for the make-up, I applied fake eyelashes (with a few layers of mascara), thick heavy eyeliner (to resemble Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra), smokey eyeshadow (making sure that I wasn't too heavy with the darker colours, otherwise I'd resemble a glamourous panda or raccoon, or that somebody had punched me in both eyes), and frosted very pale pink lipstick. The only accessory items I had on hand were a small, swinging clutch that matched the dress (also borrowed from the costume shop) and I had my wallet, phone, lipstick and dagger stashed inside it, and some heart shaped white sunglasses. I fastened on Nik's necklace and my vervain/wolfsbane bracelet, before I finally deemed myself ready to look the part at the Decade Dance and help Damon, Alaric and the other teachers chaperone a large group of hormonal ticking time bombs.
Damon better make this night worthwhile, or I'll force feed him vervain until he gags. A knock at the front door, grabs my attention and I reluctantly flip off the light in my bathroom and hurry out from my bedroom into the main part of my studio apartment. Henrik's eyes widened the second I walked into the room.
"Woah…" He blurted out, and I looked at him with concern.
"What's wrong?" I asked, worried that I had forgotten something, and glanced around for the missing item. Finding nothing missing, I looked at him for an explanation.
"You look great." Henrik said, giving me the thumbs up. I smiled.
"Thanks. I'll see you later tonight." I promised before heading for the front door. Opening it, I found Damon standing there with his back to me; checking for danger. I reached over and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, you ready to go?" Damon asked, before finally turning to face me and his mouth dropped open. I rolled my eyes, as he gave me an appreciative eye sweep. "Wow, you look like you just literally stepped forward in time from the 60s." Damon complimented me and I laughed, slipping on my heart-shaped sunglasses to complete the look. "That just confirms it." He added.
"I bet you say that to all your dates." I chided him, as I pulled the door closed behind me and deadlocked the door. Damon grinned.
"Well yeah, I do. Only because I'm attempting to lull them into a false sense of security before I eventually eat them. But this time I'm actually being sincere." He admitted, and I made a face.
"Well, thanks. I suppose." I accepted the kudos and took Damon's arm when he offered it to me. "Are Stefan and Elena meeting us there?" I asked. Damon shook his head.
"Nope. They're waiting in the car downstairs." He told me.
"Oh." I responded and then took my turn to check out what Damon had chosen to wear as his 60s look. Disappointingly, he didn't look different. "Where's your costume?" I asked him, confused. Damon looked mildly offended by the question.
"This was the latest fashion back in the 60s I'll have you know." Damon teased me. I took a step back from him and took a proper look. Okay, scratch what I said before: Damon looked a little bit like Jim Morrison of The Doors, right down to the tight black leather pants and black boots. I grinned flirtatiously.
"Well, well, well. Jim Morrison; eat your heart out." I complimented him. Damon smirked and reached out to pull me back into his arms, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"Jim Morrison had nothing on me, baby." He told me. I giggled.
"I don't doubt that for a minute." I disentangled myself from his arms and continued walking downstairs and outside to Damon's baby blue convertible. In the backseat I saw Elena sitting impatiently. It wasn't completely obvious what she was wearing, but from a quick glance; the teenager was wearing a mini-dress like I was, only it was purple with a tiny jip flower pattern and a very plungey neckline. Her long brown hair had been pulled back into a high ponytail and had purple peace-sign earrings in her lobes. Her mouth dropped open when she turned her head and looked at me.
"Wow, Grace. Is that authentic?" Elena's first words to me, when she slid over so I could get into the car. Elena's ensemble was completed by a pair of white go-go boots and a simple white belt made up of white circles. I shook my head, smiling at her.
"Nope. I got this last minute at a costume shop this afternoon." I explained, as Damon got into the driver's side and immediately took off towards the high school. "The woman who served me said I was lucky to get this dress on such short notice." I explained. Elena looked mystified.
"Lucky? That's an understatement." She muttered. I rolled my eyes and glanced over at Stefan, who was looking back at the both of us. He smiled politely at me, not at all fazed by my costume.
"Hello, Grace. You look nice." He complimented. I nodded back.
"Thanks, Stef. That's sweet." I replied.
For once the atmosphere in Damon's car wasn't frosty, tense or an argument just waiting to break out. The four of us had a lovely conversation about what the 60s were like for the two vampires, and both Elena and I were nearly in stitches when Damon described one occasion where he went to Woodstock and accidentally ate some food laced with hemp, and remained completely tanked and paranoid for several hours afterwards. Damon scowled at the both of us through the rear view mirror.
"It's not funny. That was the one and only time I actually managed to get high, and it wasn't an enjoyable experience." He complained. I carefully wiped away some tears of mirth from my eye so I didn't smudge my mascara.
"We're laughing with you, Damon. I promise. It's just picturing you high as a kite is so funny." I giggled. Elena looked over at her boyfriend.
"What did you get up to, Stefan?" She asked, interestedly. Stefan thought for a moment, before smiling and turning back to face the both of us.
"I saw the first moon launch at Cape Canaveral." He replied. Elena's eyes went wide.
"Wow." I commented.
"What was that like?" Elena added.
"Loud." Stefan admitted. "But also very memorable. I remember sitting in the stands surrounded by a sea of colors just watching the Apollo 11 spacecraft in the distance preparing to take off. I was fascinated and amazed about how far mankind had come at that point. That we were actually making our first attempt at putting a man on the moon." Stefan smiled nostalgically. "Just looking around at all these faces of people in complete awe and anxiety for the astronauts bravely attempting the trip." I nodded. It was obvious that Damon and Stefan were very different people; but both of their stories were precious memories of a slightly questionable decade, but nevertheless memories.
"Look there's Bonnie and Jeremy." Elena exclaimed. We all turned to see Bonnie dressed a loud mini-dress and red go-go boots hugging Jeremy in the parking lot, and Damon turned into a parking space and cut the engine. Both Bonnie and Jeremy immediately broke the embrace as we stepped from the car.
I smile brightly at them.
"Hey guys!" I chirped.
"Hi, Grace." Bonnie greeted me, and scowled slightly at Jeremy's reaction to my costume. Damon sidled up beside me, and smiled at both teens. "Damon." Bonnie greeted him, coolly.
"Evenin'" Damon replied, before grinning at me. "Shall we?" He leered. I smirked and rolled my eyes, shaking my head at his typical bad boy behavior.
"If we must." I sighed, and allowed Damon to escort me inside. Stefan, Elena, Bonnie and Jeremy following.
~:KLAUS P.O.V:~
The dance was well and truly begun when I set foot inside. The gymnasium was a sea of multicolored students dancing together to a passable 60s song, and I nodded to a couple of Alaric's colleagues as I paused momentarily to take in the crowd, searching for a specific person. Once I spot her, I danced my way through the crowd and stopped before Dana and her date. Dana gives me an appreciative eye-sweep.
"Nice outfit, Mr. Saltzman. Totally far out." Dana complimented me, using the slang of the sixties time period. I mentally rolled my eyes before offering her a pleasant smile.
"Thank you, Dana. Thank you. Now who is your date?" I asked her, politely. The young man frowned at me with confusion.
"It's Chad, Mr. Saltzman. From third period?" 'Chad' speaks up. I feigned absentmindedness.
"Chad, of course." I clapped a friendly hand on his shoulder. "How would you and your friends like to earn a little extra credit?" I asked them. Both Chad and Dana instantly look eager to help me with my plan. I smirked, as I gave both of them instructions to immediately act upon the very second Elena Gilbert stepped into the gymnasium. I didn't have to wait long as nearly a couple minutes later, Ms. Gilbert walked through the main entrance followed by her little entourage; which also included Grace, much to my surprise and absolute delight.
"Thanks for being here, everybody." Dana! Right on time. Knew I could count on you! "We have a special shout-out tonight." I watched as Elena, Grace, the Salvatore Brothers, Bonnie and a teenage boy (who painfully reminded me of Henrik) whom I vaguely recall was named Jeremy stopped in front of the stage. "This is for Elena. From Klaus." Dana finished relaying exactly what I wanted her to say, then stepped down from the stage. I grinned when I saw Elena looking stunned, and Grace immediately started scanning the crowd. To my joy, she looked hopeful; but at the same time, worried. Damon on the other hand, looked furious.
"That was a lame, cheap shot." Thank you. I thought so.
"He's just trying to bait us." Grace attempts to reassure Elena, who doesn't look comforted. Well, my darling. If we're going to be technical, I'm mostly just baiting both you and Elena.
"I know everybody here." Elena murmured, looking scared. Stefan comes up beside her, bringing her focus on to him.
"Maybe he's not here." He suggested. "Just wants us to believe that he is." Damon stepped forward, looking exasperated. It appears that he is the most logical out of them all.
"It's a party, people. Blend. Let him come to us." Damon advises. Witch bitch agrees.
"Good idea." She turns towards Jeremy and tugs on his arm. He immediately protests.
"No, no. I really don't feel like dancing." He insists.
"Too bad." Bonnie responds and pulls him out to the dancefloor. I straighten up from my perch beside the punch bowl and fix a 'disturbed' and 'worried' expression on my face as Damon spots me. He turns towards Grace and whispers into her ear.
"There's Ric. I'll be back." She nods, and I bristle when I see him peck my Grace on the cheek before making his way through the crowd to stand by my side. Every part of me feels the familiar sensation of jealousy, but I manage to keep it at bay as I address Damon.
"Special dedication, huh? This guy's a little twisted." I observe, laughing inwardly.
"I'm not impressed." Damon stated, darkly. I looked at him with disappointment.
Oh, lighten up, man.
"No?" I question him. Damon doesn't reply.
"Let me know if you see anything out of whack." He instructs me, before disappearing back into the crowd. I watch him go, and casually take a sip of the punch.
~:GRACE P.O.V:~
I stood on the sidelines of the dance floor, multitasking between making sure the students kept their dancing and their behavior PG-13, and looking for anything that seemed suspicious and an indication that Nik was nearby. I watched as Damon briefly spoke with a concerned looking Alaric before breaking away again two seconds later and disappearing into the crowd. I was just about to turn away and continue my chaperoning duties, when Alaric caught my eye and winked; saluting me with his glass of punch. Pleasantly surprised and mildly puzzled, I smiled back and waved before turning and continuing to pace the sidelines. I passed by Elena and Stefan, and suddenly overheard Elena.
"Caroline's here." I glanced up and scanned the crowd for a glimpse of the bubbly blonde, and spotted her walking into the room on the arm of Matt Donovan, all smiles. She was dressed up as a blonde Jackie O. Elena started fretting. "They don't know what's going on. We have to tell her." Stefan nodded.
"I'm on it." I immediately come over at the same time that Stefan glances pointedly at Damon. Damon pulls the both of us to the dancefloor and we dance, as Stefan dashes off.
"How are you two doing?" He asks us, casually. I shrugged, nonchalantly.
"Peachy keen." I responded.
"Um, freaking out a bit. You?" Elena answers. Damon grabs both our hands and spins us out and back towards him.
"Cool as a cucumber." I smiled, and Elena nodded, looking a little bit calmer. "Come on, remember the last decade dance?" Damon reminded Elena as he performed some flashy sixties dance steps. "The vampires were all, "arghh!" And you were all, "aahh!"" Elena giggled.
"Right. And you won." She remembered.
"Yes! We did." Damon agreed. He spins us around again.
"You're good at this." Elena observed, sounding surprised. Damon wiggled his eyebrows.
"I've got moves you've never seen." He bragged and I snorted in amusement, while Elena laughed. Then something catches Damon's eye. "Excuse me, ladies." He said, before breaking away from us and moving off through the crowd again. Elena and I continued dancing together, waiting for Stefan to return.
"Where do you suppose he's going?" Elena wondered.
"To talk to Bonnie about something I suspect." I told her. Elena frowned.
"How do you know?" She asked. I led Elena away from the dance floor, and towards the punch bowl – absently wondering where Alaric had disappeared off to - and pointed across the room to where Damon had approached Bonnie and Jeremy.
"I wouldn't worry too much about it. I suspect Damon's just asking Bonnie if she noticed anything unusual." I improvised. In truth, I had absolutely no idea what Damon was up to. I watched as Damon asked to cut in while a relieved but at the same time annoyed Jeremy abruptly leaves. Before our eyes, Damon begins dancing with a wary and cautious Bonnie. Jeremy approaches us.
"What are they up to?" Elena asks, suspiciously. Jeremy shrugs.
"Who knows?" He responded.
I excused myself from the brother and sister duo, and continued my chaperoning duties while at the same time keeping a sharp eye and ear out for anything remotely 'Nik' related. About an hour later, I was standing not too far away from the stage, watching the students dance when Damon unexpectedly appears by my side.
"Having fun?" Damon asks me, light-heartedly. I grinned and turned to look at him.
"Surprisingly, yes I am. Thanks for volunteering me for this. It's nothing like what I did in High School." I thanked him. Damon grinned back, before standing in front and extending a hand towards me. I blinked down at it.
"What?"
"May I have this dance?" Damon asked me, very formally, causing students either side of us to snigger. We ignored them. Suddenly, The Contour's 'Do You Love Me (Now That I Can Dance)' started playing and I groaned and looked at Damon, hoping that he hadn't requested or compelled the DJ to play this song on purpose. I sighed and nodded, taking his hand.
"I guess. But keep it PG-13. No dirty dancing in front of the impressionable youth." I warned him. Damon pouted; realizing that I was referencing one of the dancing scenes from the movie Dirty Dancing.
"Buzzkill." He teased before spinning me on the spot and then leading me towards the middle of the dancefloor.
"…And now I'm back to let you know I can really shake 'em down."
Damon faced me and released my hands. We immediately started doing the twist, before fluidly shifting into the swim and then go-go danced. Damon grabbed my hands and launched us into a bit of swing dancing, and after a minute or so of that grabbed me up so that I clung to him like a baby koala.
"Go limp and trust me…" He whispered hastily into my ear, before he guided my upper body around in a figure eight. Luckily, I'm a fast learner and cottoned on to what he was doing almost immediately. Students all around us cheered and eventually started dancing too. I scanned the sidelines, and noticed Alaric observing us curiously and I flushed a little in embarrassment. At the end of the song, Damon led me off to the sidelines. "Where'd you learn how to dance like that?" Damon asked, curiously.
"A thousand years ago, if you were from a wealthy family (Viking or not), the very moment you could walk, run, skip etc. you were taught how to dance. It was basically a chore." I admitted. Damon made a face. "I'm sure you probably understand, considering you were born during the 1800s." I guessed.
Damon nodded. "Unfortunately."
"Dancing is like riding a bike; once you learn it, you're stuck with it for life." I stated. I glanced over at Damon and realised that he wasn't completely paying attention anymore. He was focusing on Stefan who was making his way over to us.
"Why don't you get some punch?" Damon suggested. I nodded and walked away, but then I spotted Bonnie and Elena having a disagreement and I followed to dissolve it. The argument moved into the school hallway. Thankfully, the emptiness of the hall made everything echo, so it was easy to listen in to the conversation:
"How could you not tell me?" Elena was saying to Bonnie.
"‛Cause I knew how'd you react." Bonnie responded, calmly. I paused, hearing the outraged tone in Elena's voice.
"No. No way, it's not an option."
"It's our only option." Bonnie insisted. I looked around the corner and saw Elena clutch her friend's arms, trying to stop her from retreating. Bonnie didn't look like she appreciated this.
"We'll find another way, okay? You're not dying to save my life." Elena protested.
"I have the power to save you!" Bonnie was stubborn. "If I don't use it and something happens, that would kill me more." Elena was practically in tears by the time I was within cooee of them.
"I can't let you." Elena pleaded. Finally, Bonnie gave Elena an ultimatum.
"Just answer one question… if the situation was reversed, would you do it for me?" Elena doesn't respond, and Bonnie nodded confirming her suspicions. "So you know why I have to." She turns and continues walking, presumably to go find Nik.
"No. No!" Elena yelled, and I jogged over to them.
"What's going on?!" I demanded. Bonnie turned to look at me, pleadingly.
"Grace, I need to do this. Please help me." She beseeched and Elena immediately spun on me, angrily.
"You're in on this?" She snarled. I raised my hands, feeling bewildered and just as in the dark as Elena did. Thankfully, Bonnie defended me.
"No, she's not Elena. Grace has no idea what's going on." We suddenly hear the sound of approaching footsteps and we turned to see Alaric running up to us. He looked extremely concerned, and we immediately thought the worst.
"Elena!" Alaric called out.
"What is it?" Elena asked, coming over to him. Alaric raked a hand through his hair, looking stressed.
"He has Jeremy." He reported, reluctantly. My blood ran cold.
"What?"
"What?!" Both girls exclaim fearfully. I groaned, exasperatedly.
Nik, what are you doing!? I reached out and grabbed both Bonnie and Elena before they could do something stupid, like charge off and get snagged by Nik. They wriggled and struggled like fish on a line.
"Yeah, Klaus has Jeremy." Alaric turns towards a side door. "Come on." He urged, and takes off. Elena was a close second, followed by Bonnie and I took up the rear. But I frowned. If this were true, how come neither Damon nor Stefan or both were here with him to report this? We followed Alaric into a hallway.
"Okay, so where are you taking us?" Elena asked, frantically looking around for any sign of her brother. She ran ahead of Alaric, who slowed down from a run to a casual walk; like he was strolling through a moonlit park at night. Something definitely didn't add up.
"Just a little further." Alaric insisted. Bonnie caught up to Elena; and I was extremely disappointed that the girls hasn't caught on yet that something didn't ring true.
"Wait…" Or, I could be mistaken. Elena turned and eyed Alaric suspiciously. "Something's not right."
Duh…
Bonnie looked at Alaric for a hint.
"Where's Jeremy?" She demanded. Alaric, or the imposter wearing Alaric's face suddenly stops walking and laughs.
"I just had to get away from that dance." He said. "The sixties, ugh. Not my decade." He shudders with disgust, before laughing once again. "I mean, whose call was that, anyway? I much prefer the twenties. The style, the parties, the jazz." Elena stepped towards him cautiously.
Bloody idiot!
"Alaric. Are you on vervain?" She asked him, worriedly. 'Alaric' raises an eyebrow at her question.
"Now why would you ask me that question, Elena?" He asked. Elena's eyes widened, and she turned to Bonnie.
"He's being compelled."
"Nope. Try again." 'Alaric' chirped. Then it hit me, and I berated myself for not figuring it out sooner.
"Niklaus…" I whispered. He turned and gave me a smile that could melt chocolate.
"Surprise!"
A/N: This concludes part one. Part two comes next chapter followed by a bit of drama. Thanks for reading :)