A/N: Welcome back! Now on with part two!
Please review and no flames, guys!
I don't own The Vampire Diaries. All characters (except for Grace) are owned by author L.J. Smith.
Please note: the title of this chapter was inspired by the 1963 song: 'My Boyfriend's Back' by the Angels.
Hurry up, you'll miss what happens next!
MY BOYFRIEND'S BACK
"In the end you always go back to the people that were there in the beginning."
~Unknown Author.
Nobody moved.
Nik and I just stared at each other like we feared either one of us would suddenly fade away from the other's view, or we'd wake up and realise that this was just another cruel and nasty dream.
"Is it really you?" I finally broke the silence. He nods, smiling and (as cliché as it sounds) my heart practically broke my ribcage. But then Elena's horrified voice burst our little bubble of joy like a pin piercing its fragile outer casing.
"Oh, no. No, it's not possible." She shouted. Nik answered her without looking away from me.
"Oh but it is, love." He confirmed, then addressed me. "I'll be just a moment, darling." He promises me. "Hold onto that thought, tightly." Then he turns and looks directly at Elena, a devilish smirk on his face. Elena takes an uncertain step away from him. "Just relax, Elena. I'm not here to hurt you. You're not on my hit list tonight." He promises, before turning his attention towards Bonnie. "But you are." Bonnie tenses, and Nik starts towards her.
However, Bonnie throws him against the wall with her powers.
"Nik!" I screamed, and ran towards him. But Elena runs at me, and restrains me. "Let go of me!" Nik gets to his feet, unperturbed by Bonnie's show of force.
"Now, did I mention that I knew a witch?" He asks, rhetorically. "You're gonna have to hit me a lot harder than that." Then he charges full pelt towards Bonnie and she throws him against a display case, smashing the glass. He gets to his feet, still laughing. "By all means… Fire away!" He encourages her, as he gets to his feet. "If you kill this body, I'll just get a new one. Maybe Jeremy." He mused, thoughtfully. I struggled violently against Elena, even resorting to stepping on her foot. Elena yelled out in pain and released me. I took the chance to rush at Nik and Bonnie, but the witch threw her hand in my direction and I thudded against an invisible barrier.
"NO!" I snarled and thudded against it with my fists.
"Go. Run. Run!" Bonnie urged. Suddenly, small but strong arms wrapped around my waist and started dragging me away.
"Elena! Let go of me!" I protested, as Elena rushes us away from the fight with Bonnie following behind at the rear. The amused smirk on Nik's face drops when he sees that I'm being restrained and taken against my will.
"Let go of her now!" He snarled. But neither Bonnie nor Elena pay heed to his warning, and Bonnie slams the doors with her powers; blocking Nik's path. Damon runs through another pair of doors and Elena and I nearly collide with him.
"What happened?" Damon exclaimed. Elena tightens her grip around my wrist as she answers Damon's question.
"Klaus is in Alaric's body."
"What?" Damon was now extremely alert.
"He's possessing it or something." Bonnie added, keeping an eye out for Nik. Damon looked over at me.
"Does Grace know?" He asked.
"She recognized him straight away." Elena told him. I manage to wrench my wrist free from her grip and charged back down the hallway to where we last left Nik. However, Damon vamp-speeds in front of me and catches me easily.
"No, Damon! Let go of me!" I growled at him. But Damon ignores me and turns towards Elena.
"Go find Stefan. Now." He orders her.
Elena nodded. "Okay."
"Now!" Elena leaves. Now only Damon, Bonnie and I were alone in the hallway. I twisted in Damon's arms, desperate tears falling down my face. Nik had been inches away from me (albeit possessing Alaric's body) but it still counted.
"Damon, please. Let go!" I begged. He ignored in favor of focusing on Bonnie, intently. He locked his arms around me.
"Can you kill him?" He asked her. Bonnie hesitated.
"He's got some kind of protection spell on him." She reported. Damon frowned.
"You have the power of a hundred witches. Break it." He tells her, angrily. Bonnie glared at him.
"I'm trying! If I kill Alaric, he'll just possess someone else." Damon swore underneath his breath. "He knows I have my power, Damon. He's trying to kill me." Bonnie insisted. Damon's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"No. Klaus does not get to win tonight, no way." He vowed. "You still willing to do whatever it takes to kill him?"
~:KLAUS P.O.V:~
After being magically cut off from my attempts to rescue Grace from Elena's clutches, I went to the cafeteria to await the arrival of little miss witch, who was bound to return to take another shot at me. I was willing to play along with their pointless attempts take me down; I even went as far as to remind them of the consequences of killing this body. But the very moment they restrained Grace from coming to me, they went too far. I was sitting in a chair, playing with a knife in between my fingers when Bonnie suddenly enters the cafeteria.
"What took you so long?" I asked, calmly. But I was far from being calm. "Now, do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?" Bonnie reaches out with her powers and breaks my wrist. My hand drops the knife and I winced only slightly from the pain as I rolled my eyes. Sighing, I grabbed my hand and twisted it with a jerk back into place. Alaric should have normal function of his hand by the time I'm through dealing with this insolent witch. "The hard way. Got it." I confirmed and got to my feet. Bonnie breaks my shoulder with her powers, and I groaned from the searing pain. "What? You'd kill your favorite history teacher?" I mocked her.
She doesn't blink.
"It's what Alaric would want. And he'd want you to suffer first." She told me, confidently. I smirked.
"That's not a problem for me, I've got all the time in the world." I noticed some blood dripping from one of Bonnie's nostrils. It seemed that Maddox was right about her new powers killing her. "Look at you." Bonnie raises a hand to her nose and wipes away the blood. "Is that all you got?" I taunted her.
"Let's find out." Bonnie retorted.
Game on!
~:GRACE P.O.V:~
Still stuck in Damon's custody, but having no choice but to follow him, we come across Elena and Stefan running down the hallway.
"There you are." Damon said, relieved. Elena glanced at both Damon and me, and realised that somebody was missing. I knew that Elena was not going to like what Damon had to tell her next.
"What are you doing? Where's Bonnie?" She demanded.
"She's doing what she has to do." Damon responded, giving me a warning look not to say a word. I wasn't an idiot, there was nothing any of us could do to stop Bonnie. She was determined to do whatever it took to protect Elena, even if what she was doing was suicidal. Elena was practically beside herself when she realised what Damon meant.
"What?" Elena yelled.
"Where is she?" Stefan demanded, urgently. When Damon didn't respond, he moved to go find Bonnie. But by the time he would find her, it would be too late. That was exactly the way Damon and Bonnie had planned it.
"Stefan, let her do this." Damon insisted. Stefan turned and got right in his brother's face.
"Damn it, Damon, where is she?!" Stefan growled.
Nobody responds, deliberately. Elena takes off with Stefan following close behind, while Damon and I follow at a more sedate pace. Now that it was confirmed that Nik was likely to survive this, I had calmed down. But I was still angry with Damon and Elena for preventing me to have a proper reunion with my lover. By the time we get to the cafeteria, Bonnie was still fighting Nik. Elena and Stefan arrive at the doors, but Bonnie shuts them with her powers so nobody can come in to disturb the fight.
"Bonnie, no!" Elena shrieks, banging her fists against the doors.
I look over Nik and examined the damage Bonnie had inflicted upon him: his leg and his foot were broken, and he was currently crumpled on the floor. However, it was Bonnie who was in the worst shape. Her nose was gushing blood, and it was obvious the amount of strain she was under from the power overload she was exhibiting. Before our eyes, Nik crawls on the floor towards Bonnie and both of them start fighting, which causes a shower of sparks to rain down upon them both. Elena screams, and Stefan tries to open the doors but fails.
Bonnie looks up at us, and smiles. Nik gets up, and Bonnie faces him before her body bends back with a jerk and she falls to the floor. Finally, Elena and Stefan open the doors and burst into the room. I stay where I am, looking on the scene with sorrowful eyes.
"No!" Elena sobbed. "Oh! Bonnie! Bonnie, Bonnie! Bonnie! Hey, hey." She doesn't respond, and Elena pulls Bonnie up into her arms. Damon distractedly steps into the room, leaving me unguarded, and I turn away unable to continue watching. Nik had somehow disappeared from the room. "Stefan, she's not breathing!" Elena was inconsolable.
Suddenly, the world around me blurs and when it refocuses, I find myself standing with my back against the wall and face-to-face with a fully healed Nik looking at me tenderly and holding me like I was precious cargo … and this would've been extremely romantic, if it wasn't for the fact that I was, in reality, staring in the eyes of Alaric instead of Nik. Now it was just awkward, because I couldn't do what I really wanted to do.
"Hello, love." Nik whispered, in Alaric's Bostonian accent. I immediately wrapped my arms around his neck and started sobbing into his shoulder.
"I can't believe you're finally here, Nik." I whispered back.
"Believe it, sweetheart. I'm never letting you go again." He promised me, and hugged me tighter before we reluctantly broke the embrace. "I've got to go, darling. But the next time we see each other; I will be in my own body." He kissed my forehead and in the next blink he was gone. I allowed myself to slide down the wall, and I buried my head into my knees.
A few minutes later, another body slides down beside me; and I instinctively know that it's Damon. I sit up and lean against his shoulder, hugging his arm for comfort. He pulls away from me and I feel hurt, before I realized that he was only moving his arm so he could wrap it around my shoulders and pull me closer.
"How are you holding up?" Damon muttered.
"I'll live." I told him, truthfully. "But apart from what just happened before with Bonnie, Nik's finally here." I grinned from ear to ear. Damon didn't share my enthusiasm. Eventually, he got to his feet and pulled me to mine.
"C'mon. I've got to deliver Bonnie's body to the place we agreed upon, then we've got to get back to the Boarding House to fill Elena in on our plan." Damon told me. I nodded, and followed Damon to the cafeteria where somebody had re-positioned Bonnie's body in a more comfortable position so she wouldn't feel it when she eventually reawakened.
"Did you let Jeremy know that his girlfriend isn't dead, yet?" I asked Damon. He shook his head.
"No, that's the next thing on my list after transferring Bonnie to the trunk of my car." Damon explained. I nodded and watched Damon gently scoop up Bonnie's body into his arms, and followed him outside. After safely and gently putting Bonnie's body in the trunk and closing it, Jeremy runs up to us, looking frantic.
"Damon! Hey, I got your message, I can't find anyone." I avoided direct eye contact with Jeremy which made him narrow his eyes at me. "Where's Elena, where's Bonnie?" He demanded. I moved for the front seat of Damon's car and got in just as Damon answered Jeremy's question. I wound down the window, so I could still hear the conversation; despite it being technically Damon's job to explain it all to Jeremy.
"We need to have a little talk." Damon told him. Jeremy frowned.
"Alright, I'm listening." Damon drew in a deep breath to steady himself.
"First all, it turned out that Klaus is possessing Alaric's body." Damon began the explanation. Jeremy's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
"What are you serious!?"
"Yeah, completely." Damon confirmed. "Which kinda messed up the plans we had made earlier. So Bonnie had to change them a little." Damon said, obviously trying to be delicate; which was clearly something he had never had to do before, since he had become a vampire. Jeremy was getting suspicious.
"What sort of changes?" Without a word, Damon popped the trunk and revealed Bonnie's semi-comatose body lying within. Jeremy's reaction was instantaneous.
"Bonnie! What the hell did you do to her?" Jeremy seized Damon's lapels and I got out of the car to intervene before Damon could do something unfortunate, like instinctively maim Jeremy.
"Woah, woah, woah. You need to calm down and take a couple of deep breaths, Jeremy." I told him firmly.
"Bonnie is fine. She just cast a spell on herself to make it look like she had died. Instead, she merely went into a death-like state to fool Klaus into thinking she had just committed suicide." Damon laid down the facts. Jeremy calmed down, but still fixed Damon with a territorial glare.
"So what happens now?" Jeremy asked.
Damon, Jeremy and I worked together to safely deliver Bonnie to our designated hideout: the old witch house. However, it was up to both Jeremy and I to get her inside, since the bloody witches who haunted this dilapidated deathtrap still refused to allow Damon inside.
"You know, you're not winning any favors with this attitude." I loudly told the witches who surrounded Jeremy and me, looking at Bonnie with concern. They ignored me, as Jeremy carried Bonnie bridal-style downstairs to the basement, and laid her down on some pillows that I had hastily arranged. He tenderly removed a stray piece of hair from her face, before straightening up and turning towards me. I fixed him with a concerned look. "You gonna be okay waiting here for Bonnie to wake up?" I asked him.
Jeremy nodded.
"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks, Grace." I hugged him briefly before heading back upstairs and out to Damon's car.
"All good?" Damon asked.
"Yeah." I replied. "Let's go put Elena out of her misery." I stated, and Damon smiled.
We both found Stefan trying his best to comfort a clearly not coping Elena, who was sitting next to the fireplace with tears still streaming down her face. Elena was immediately on her feet the very second Damon stepped into the room, and in his face. She completely ignored me.
"What did you do with her?!" She screamed at him. Damon merely glanced at his brother, looking slightly annoyed as he side stepped her and headed straight for the wet bar.
"Will you please calm her down?" He suggested, calmly. However, Elena didn't like that.
"Don't talk like I'm not standing right in front of you." She snapped. I walked over to her and grabbed her attention.
"Elena, you need to calm down." I told her, using soothing tones. But Elena was far from being calm, instead she turned breaking away from me and stormed right over to Damon.
"You knew! Didn't you?" Elena snarled, and Damon didn't reply. "You knew that if she harnessed all that power, that she would die, didn't you?" She pressed him for an answer, before Damon eventually sighed and told her the truth.
"Yes. Yes, I knew." He confessed. Elena hauled off and slapped him hard across the face. The second she did that, I lost what remained of my patience.
"HEY! That's enough, Elena. You are out of line!" I yelled at her, angrily. I walked over and grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her over, making her sit down on the couch.
"If you would calm the fuck down for one second, then maybe Damon and I would be able to give you the answer you need." Damon paused for a moment, before downing his drink and walking over to squat down in front of Elena; a steely gaze in his eyes told us all that he was just barely reigning in his temper.
"You need to listen to me, and prepare for what I'm about to say." He told her, firmly and articulately. "Bonnie had to die. Klaus using Alaric's body was a total surprise. She wasn't prepared for that, and he wasn't going to stop." Elena flinched. "We weren't going to be able to stop him until he knew she was dead. He had to believe it." Damon explained.
Finally, Elena stopped glaring at him, and stared with confusion.
"Bonnie cast a spell. She's gonna be fine." I confirmed, and Elena sighed with relief. I turned towards Damon and smiled sadly. "I'm gonna need a lift home, Damon." I requested. My best friend nodded, before making his way towards the stairs. However, Stefan intercepted him. He had a furious expression on his face.
"You know you could have told me." He insisted. Damon merely glared at him.
"How do I know when you're going to go blabbing things to your girlfriend?" Damon retorted, and continued walking. But Stefan hadn't finished yet.
"You understand what you put her through?" He indicated to a very relieved Elena, who was now sitting calmly and peacefully on the couch sipping from whatever was in a nearby cup. Damon shook his head, looking and sounding irritated.
"See, that's why I didn't tell you." He stated. Stefan looked confused. "You would have never been able to do it. Don't get me wrong, Stefan. I don't mind being the bad guy. I'll make all the life and death decisions while you continue busying yourself with the collateral damages. I don't mind if she hates me for it. But I'll be the one who will keep her alive." Stefan looks pensive, as Damon goes upstairs to deal with whatever he needed to do before he came back down, draped his arm around my shoulders and escorted me to his car, to take me home. "Well, that was fun. Let's not do it again." He quipped.
I was in the process of removing all the makeup on my face, and the hairspray in my hair; when it dawned on me, just exactly what had happened this evening and the conclusions that resulted from it. Damon, Stefan, Elena and Bonnie were seriously kidding themselves they truly believed that Nik was fooled by what they had done.
He wasn't a fool.
He was most likely humoring them into thinking that they were going to be having the last laugh when the time came for Elena to be sacrificed in his ritual. But there is no weapon; human or otherwise, that can kill Nik or any of his siblings permanently, except for the white oak stake. And that specific wood was exceedingly rare, if not extinct by now.
Nik will laugh in their faces; and I'm sorry to say, that I would be chortling alongside him. Because they really didn't think this through enough. And I'll be damned if they expect me to help them figure out a foolproof plan to kill the man I have waited a thousand years for. I finished getting ready for bed and walked out of my bedroom; only to find Henrik sitting on the couch patiently waiting for me.
"So, how'd it go?" He asked, curiously, and looking slightly worried about my melancholy face. I came over and sat down beside him, snuggling down into one of the couch cushions.
"Fantastic, actually." I admitted. Henrik frowned with confusion.
"That's the word you're gonna label this as?" He sounded dubious. "What pray tell made it as fantastic as you say?" Henrik wanted to know.
"Nik." I replied, trying and failing to stop the enormous grin that threatened to split apart my face. Henrik froze and looked at me with disbelief.
"He's here? He's finally here?!" I nodded, and Henrik yelled out in triumph. "YES!" I giggled and spent what remained of the evening telling him everything and ended up falling asleep on the couch together, huddled together like we used to long ago. I was rudely awakened by my phone trilling loudly in my ear. I groped around blindly for the infernal thing and answered it, jamming the device to my head.
"Whoever this is, you've got ten seconds to state your business before I cuss you out and hang up on you for disturbing my sleep." I mumbled angrily into the phone.
"Hey Grace, uh, this is Elena." I paused for several moments before sighing.
"What's up, Elena. Is something the matter?" I droned, still half asleep.
"Elijah is awake." Elena got straight to the point. I sat up and looked at the phone with surprise. I had disturbed Henrik, who muttered choice words at me in his sleep. I ignored him.
"I beg your pardon?" I said.
"Elijah is awake. I removed the dagger last night." She told me. I got up from the couch, and walked towards the kitchen. I seriously needed a cup of tea if I was going to be dealing with this.
"What on earth possessed you to do that?" I demanded, grabbing my favourite mug and adding a teabag to it. Elena sighed heavily over the line.
"I had some questions I needed answers to, and the only person that I knew had those answers was Elijah. But he won't answer any of my questions unless you're here to hear them as well." Elena explained. I glanced at the wall clock and groaned at the time. It was way too early for this shit.
"Really, Elijah?" I groaned.
"Yes really, Grace." I heard Elijah's voice appear over the line. "Please don't whine like that, it is really most unbecoming of a woman of your age." Elijah scolded me, and I couldn't help but grin. I had missed hearing his voice for a while now. Part of me wondered how he'd react when he learned that Nik was now in town. (Although, until I see him in his actual body, none of the memories I have of him will return.)
"If you insist on me being there with you and Elena, then I guess I can make an appearance." I pretended that this was a great hardship. "Where am I meeting the both of you?" I asked. Elena rattled off the destination as the Lockwood Mansion, and I immediately agreed. "Alright. I'll see you soon." I hung up. I was about to put my phone down and go and get ready when it started buzzing again.
Boy I was popular this morning.
I glanced down at the caller ID: it was Damon. I hit accept. "Hey Damon, didn't you already say what you needed to say last night when you dropped me home?" I asked quizzically.
"Elena's disappeared, and so has Elijah." He gets straight to the point.
Fuck…
"Holy shit. How did that happen?" I improvised.
"Who knows why Elena does anything. The point is, has she contacted you?" Damon wanted to know.
Yes. "No, I was sleeping up until right this second. But I'll keep an eye and an ear out for her." I promised. It wasn't technically a lie, but I highly doubted once I got to the Lockwood Mansion that she and Elijah were at, that I'd be able to make phone calls.
"Great. Thanks, Grace. I'll talk to you soon." Damon said before hanging up.
Shit.
~:KLAUS P.O.V:~
I was quite literally ready to crawl out of my skin. I needed to get my body back as soon as possible, because Alaric's body (as was proven the night before) was too fragile for what I needed to do, and what I wanted to with Grace would not be acceptable either. If anything, it would make us both uncomfortable as this body was already belonged to somebody else.
"I'll be back as soon as I can." Maddox told me from the front door. I scowled at him.
"Yes, do hurry. I'm anxious to get out of this body. And if you get hung up, call me. You know how impatient I get." I instructed him. Maddox nods and walks down the hall towards the staircase. I pause momentarily in the act of closing the door to look down the row of apartment doors; trying to pin point which one Maddox had claimed was Grace's before eventually closing the door. Katerina looked up from where she was making coffee in Alaric's tiny kitchen.
"Where is he going?" She asked, as she hands me a mug of freshly brewed coffee. I accept it without looking at her, taking a sip.
"To retrieve me. So I can get out of this bad hair-do." I replied flippantly. She pauses, staring at me pensively. Almost to the point that I was starting to get annoyed.
"Are you sure that is a good idea, Klaus?" She asks me, at which point I throw her a warning look. But then just as quickly smiled.
"Well, the full moon is almost upon us." I replied, placing the moonstone on the table. "I've killed the witch." At least, that's what I want those fools to think I believed. I know full well that she is still alive, and I intend on playing along to throw them off kilter. "I have the moonstone, and the doppelgänger is waiting in the wings. Ooh, I am ready to break this curse." I declared. Katerina shuddered, presumably remembering back to when it was almost her that broke the curse.
"And why would you do that here? There's so many people that would try to stop you." I shrugged like it was obvious.
"Because I have to. It's the birthplace of the doppelgänger." I replied shortly. Katerina looked surprised at this fact.
"I didn't realise that was a requirement." She muttered. I chuckled at her cluelessness.
"Well, how could you? You betrayed me and fled England before I could give you the details, Katerina. But I did find your birthplace and I slaughtered your family." Katerina bristled. "So I guess we're cool. Let's just hope that Elena isn't as stupid as you were." I mused thoughtfully.
"She won't run." Katerina reassured me, needlessly. "She'll die before she lets anyone she loves get hurt." She stated, as she sits down and looked bored.
I grinned.
"And that's exactly what I'm counting on." I told her before leaning in and compelling her. "You can't leave until I tell you to." I commanded, as I left the room.
~:GRACE P.O.V:~
I drove along the highway, car window down and blowing cool air into the car, and I was bopping along with the music on the car radio as I mused about what Elijah was likely to be revealing to both Elena and me. Clearly, it was important if my brother felt that my presence was required. I eventually came up to the Lockwood Mansion and saw Elena's SVU parked on the expansive driveway. I pulled up behind the car and cut the engine, before grabbing my purse and hopped out of my car. I looped the strap over my head and settled it on my shoulder before taking off down the driveway. It did not take long to locate Elijah and Elena; mostly because they were talking rather loudly.
"You look better." Elena commented.
"How long did you say Grace was going to be?" Elijah ignored Elena's comment on his current wellbeing. I heard more than saw Elena sigh.
"Hopefully not too long, depending on the traffic." Elena reassures him.
"Where did you get the dagger?" Elijah demanded, coldly. I flinched at the memory of Elena shoving the silver dagger into Elijah's heart.
"I'll tell you everything. But we have to work together, Elijah. I need your word." Elena urged.
"Your ability to make demands has long passed." Elijah pointed out. I turned the corner and saw Elena standing before Elijah who was eyeing Elena suspiciously. His expensive suit was tattered and dirty, and looked like he had been thoroughly burned. I frowned at this before I remembered seeing a flame-thrower back in the basement when Katherine and I had been attempting to sabotage the efforts of an invisible witch (who turned out to be Luka Martin) to free Elijah prematurely.
Damon… I thought in annoyance. I plastered on a pleasant smile.
"That won't stop her from trying." I reminded Elijah, causing both of them to turn towards me; both with different reactions: Elijah immediately warmed up and smiled, and Elena nodded in greeting and crossed her arms over her chest in the standard defensive posture.
"Hello, Grace." Elijah greeted me, and I removed my aviator sunglasses and perched them on my head as I walked over to Elijah and wrapped my arms around his neck as he pulled me into a hug. As I pulled back, I noticed something red at the corner of his mouth.
"You've got a little…" I reached for his face with my thumb and wiped away a little bit of blood from his lip. Elijah immediately straightened up and removed his handkerchief from his pocket to wipe at his mouth. Elena looked at him placating.
"I'm not making demands, I'm offering you my help." She insisted. "In return, I want yours." Elijah replaced his handkerchief into his pocket.
"And why should I even consider this?" He asked, guardedly. Elena looked a bit impatient.
"The same reason that you haven't killed me. You need my help to kill Klaus, and I need you." She insisted. Almost immediately, her phone started buzzing and she answers it. "Stefan?" Elijah and I watch Elena as she walks away a short distance to talk to her overprotective, smothering boyfriend. Elijah turns his attention back to me.
"I see a lot of things have happened since I've been absent." Elijah observed, eying the puncture wounds on my neck and Nik's necklace dangling from around my neck. "So, Niklaus has finally arrived, I see." Elijah reached for the necklace, and gently picks it up to examine it for himself. I smiled.
"Yeah, he has."
"Reeking his havoc already?" He indicated the visibly agitated Elena still talking on the phone with Stefan. I winced.
"He somehow possessed Alaric's body and terrorized us at the High School during the Decade Dance." I told him, truthfully. Elijah rolled his eyes, not looking at all surprised by this.
"Of course he has. One of his favorite tricks." He groaned. "And how did this happen?" Elijah indicated to the bite mark. I sighed exasperatedly; this would have to be the fourth time I had to give an explanation about Katherine's moment of rabid behavior.
"After you were daggered for the second time." I explained. Elijah looked alarmed, and he examined the finally healing wound. "Turns out that Katherine was able to break free of the tomb when you were daggered the first time by Alaric." I told him, questioning if he knew that.
"Yes, I suspected that she would have been released from my compulsion when I died." Elijah confirmed. I nodded and continued.
"So she decided to take a shower at the Boarding House, in Damon's bathroom no less. Damon and I stumbled upon her and Katherine – in retaliation for taunting her about the fact that I knew you and Nik, and making a comparison between her and Tatia – rushed me and managed to bite me a little." I told him. Predictably, Elijah's eyes flashed; and the dark veins appeared and disappeared from around his eyes as he controlled his rage.
"Who rescued you?" Elijah demanded, using an even tone in his voice.
"I did. I stabbed her in the stomach with my dagger." I stated, proudly. Elijah looked astonished. "At that point, I was being constantly attacked and kidnapped every time I set foot out the door. I was sick of it, so I was on guard and Katherine suffered the consequences." My brother looked like an extremely proud father.
"I'm very pleased that you dealt with that situation. But I dread to think what Niklaus' reaction was when he saw that." Elijah frowned worriedly. I laughed.
"I suspect he had same reaction you did, Elijah. Had he had the capability to vamp out, he probably would have. As such, he was still in Alaric's body at the time." I filled in the blanks. Elijah pulled me into a hug, just as Elena walked back over to us. He wordlessly holds his hand out, and Elena gives him her phone. He puts it into his jacket pocket and looked at me with surprise when I offered him mine. "It's Damon we're talking about here, Elijah. He will call me for an update on the both of your whereabouts." Elijah considered this for a moment before nodding and pocketing my phone as well.
"Shall we continue to our destination?" Elijah suggested. Both Elena and I nodded, and headed towards the Lockwood's front door.
"He's here." Elena reported to Elijah, who nodded.
"I know. Grace has already informed me." Elijah replied, promptly. Elena frowned.
"When did she do that?" She asked.
"While you were on the phone with Stefan." I responded. "But I didn't actually verbalize his arrival to Elijah." I corrected her.
"I recognized the necklace she was wearing around her neck as Klaus'." Elijah explained. Elena looked at the necklace with wide eyes.
"You've had this all this time?" She said, accusatory. I shook my head, ignoring the critical tone in her voice.
"No. He must've sent it to me two days ago. I got this last night." I stated. Elijah interrupted us.
"As riveting as this conversation about jewelry is, I must insist we return to the topic at hand." Elijah reminded us, sternly. Elena nodded.
"Yeah, sure." Then she drew in a deep breath. "Klaus took over Alaric's body." She told him.
"Yeah, I've been informed of that also. It's one of Klaus' favourite tricks he likes to play on his victims." Elijah stated.
"Well, what are his other tricks? What is he going to do next?" Elena wanted to know. I looked at him, with interest also. "You're the only one who knows him." Elena insisted.
"How quickly you forget, Elena." I drawled, scowling at her.
"Well, you weren't exactly helpful when we asked you to describe Klaus to us." Elena retorted.
"Like I said, you have a selective memory. But in this case, I agree; Elijah knows more than I do." I admitted. Elijah nodded.
"Yes, I do." We fronted up to the main double doors of the Mansion, and Elijah wrapped his knuckles smartly on the wood. Carol answers the door, and reacts immediately to our unexpected presence.
"Elijah, Elena, Grace! What are you doing here?" Then she takes a better look at Elijah's appearance. "What happened?" She asked, concerned.
"I've had a bit of an incident, Carol. I'm hoping you could help." Elijah was quick to answer. Carol visibly hesitates.
"Well, I'm on my way to a meeting, so I—"
"It won't take but a minute of your time." Elijah compels her, causing the Mayor to smile, and both Elena and I to frown with confusion.
"Of course. Anything you need." Carol tells him, warmly. Elijah smiled.
"Thank you." We enter the house. Carol closes the door behind us and turns to face us, acting like the dutiful hostess. "Well, first things first. I'm going to need a change of clothing." Elijah stated. Carol is very prompt.
"Well, we can try one of my husband's suits. I haven't boxed them up yet." She explains.
"Wonderful." Carol heads upstairs to the upper levels of the house. Elena steps towards Elijah, frowning at him curiously.
"How did you know she's not on vervain?"
"‛Cause I'm the one who got her off it. Right before you and your friends killed me. Twice." I immediately felt guilty that he had gone through all that. Elijah must've either sensed this, or saw me deflate as he took my hand and squeezed it comfortingly. "If you'll both excuse me. I'll be down in a moment." He lets go of my hand and disappears up the stairs to wherever Carol had wondered off to, leaving Elena and I to our own devices. About five minutes later, Elijah returns, finding the both of us in the living room: I was sketching; oblivious to Elena and her pacing.
"So, I assume that the Martin witches are no longer with us." Elijah spoke up, as he walked into the room. I automatically glanced up at him. He was dressed impeccably in a dark suit; minus the tie. He looked really good.
"No. I'm sorry." Elena responded, solemnly. Elijah takes a seat beside me on the couch, and gestures for Elena to take a seat herself.
"And Katerina?"
"Klaus took her." Elena replied, promptly.
"And if there is any sense in the world, she's hopefully dead; if not, she shortly will be." I replied bitterly, clapping a hand to my neck where the bite mark was. Elena's eyes widened when she saw it, but said nothing. Elijah shook his head.
"I doubt that. Not Klaus' style. Death would be too easy for her after what she did." I pouted. But Elena had more to say on the matter.
"I don't understand. You say that you want Klaus dead, but you still made Katherine pay for betraying him." She pointed out. Elijah narrowed his eyes sternly at her.
"I have my own reasons for wanting Katerina to pay. Just like Grace currently has." He indicated to me, still absently massaging my wound. Elijah gently took my hand away from my neck and held it with his, stroking it affectionately with his thumb to help distract me from the memory. "There was a time … I'd have done anything for Klaus." Elijah admitted, and I looked at him with solemn eyes. What had Nik done to Elijah to put him in such a state? Elijah takes a sip of some tea Carol had left for us before she went to her meeting.
"So the stories Grace told me about her past life are true?" Elena sounded blown away. Elijah frowned.
"What stories are these?"
"The stories of why our families came to America from Norway, and when we first met when you were six, Nik was two and I was a newborn." I clarified. Elena frowned at that last part.
"You didn't tell me that part." She tells me.
"Didn't I? Well, now you know." I replied, flipping the pages of my sketchbook and showing the both of them the sketch of six-year-old Elijah, two-year-old Niklaus, and newborn me in Elijah's arms. Elijah took the book from me and smiled slightly at the image, and possibly the memory that accompanied it.
"Well, regardless. Just know, Elena… we're the oldest vampires in the world. We are the Original family, and from us all vampires were created." Elijah stated to her firmly.
"1,026-years, and 1,022-years, respectively." I smirked, playfully; making Elena's eyes widen with shock.
"Correct." Elijah scowled at me a little, with warning. Elena turned to me, curiously.
"And if you had lived and turned into a vampire," Elijah winced at the memory, "You'd be…?"
"Uh, probably 1,019 or 1,020? Depended on when Nik and I decided to change me." I predicted.
"And now you're…?"
"21-years-old." I confirmed. Elena nodded then turned back to Elijah.
"Klaus is your brother. And you want him dead?" She looked a little sad. Elijah didn't respond right away, just looked at both Elena and I for a moment before handing me back my sketchbook and getting to his feet.
"I need some air. I'm still feeling a tad… dead. Come." He extended a hand towards me, and I accepted it, allowing Elijah to help me to my feet. All three of us leave the room. We walked around the house towards the large lake behind the property. "So as you've seen, nothing can kill an Original. Not sun, not fire, not even a werewolf bite. Only the wood from one tree. A tree my family made sure burned." Elijah explained. I eagerly listened to this part of the story, as it must have happened after I had died.
"That's where the white ash for the dagger comes from." Elena stated, confirming the facts. Elijah nodded.
"Yes. The witches won't allow anything truly immortal to walk the earth. Every creature need to have a weakness in order to maintain the balance." He explained. Elena still looked confused.
"So the Sun can't kill an Original. Why is Klaus so obsessed with breaking the Sun and Moon curse?" Both Elijah and I started chuckling to ourselves.
"Right. The curse of the sun and the moon. It's all so … biblical-sounding, don't you think?" He enquired, smiling with amusement.
"What's so funny?" Elena asks me.
"It's fake." I confirmed. Elena looked stricken.
"The curse is fake?"
"No, the curse is very real. But it has nothing to do with the sun or the moon." I told her. Elena looked at Elijah for confirmation.
"Klaus and I were the masterminds around the concept of the curse's origin." Elijah stated, amused.
"I don't understand. So Klaus drew the Aztec sketches about the curse?" Elena asked.
"Roman scrolls, African tribal etchings, and any other culture or continent we felt like planting in it." Elijah nodded.
"But why?" Elena asked. Elijah stopped walking and looked at her intently.
"The easiest way to discover the existence of a doppelgänger or to get your hands on some long, lost moonstone is to have every single member of two warring species on the lookout." Elijah confirmed.
"So it's not Aztec at all?" He shook his head. Elena turned towards me.
"Why didn't you speak up about it when we found it that time we went to Duke?" Elena sounded angry.
"Because I didn't know about it until I got back home with the intention of studying the text further." I explained. "I took pictures of the pages with my phone. But when I showed them to Henrik, he told me that the Sun and Moon Curse was fake." I revealed the truth, finally feeling relieved that I didn't have to hold back the truth about that day any longer.
"Henrik?" Both Elena and Elijah were shocked.
"But isn't your brother dead? Why would he know?" Elena asked.
"Because he was there when Elijah and Niklaus were creating the pictures." I confirmed. "Ghosts have the freedom to move from place to place once they are deceased. They aren't trapped where they died."
"What?" Elijah was stunned.
"Yeah. I told you before, Elijah, when I first told you that I could see Henrik's ghost: He's been there for every single journey you, Nik and everyone else took, since the moment he finally perished. He knows everything." I told him, walking away from them both. Elijah followed rapidly.
"What?!" Elena ran after us.
I made my way over to the stone bench I had first met both Katherine and Stefan at all these months ago at the first Mayor's wake, and sank down onto it. Elijah caught up with me, and started pacing. It was clear that learning that his baby brother had been by his side, and seen everything that they had done or experienced was a lot for him to take in.
"So if the curse Klaus is trying to break has nothing to do with the Sun or the Moon, what is it about?" Elena demanded, approaching the both of us. Both Elijah and I exchanged glances, and hesitated. It was still an extremely painful memory for both us for two reasons: because Elijah had been involved in the first place, and because I had died that night as well. Elijah eventually decided to go from the beginning.
"Klaus and I faked the sun and moon curse dating back over a thousand years." He began.
"The curse itself was placed upon Niklaus himself." I added, quietly. Elena looked at me with surprise.
"You were there?" I nodded. "What's going on? What are you both talking about?" Tears started welling up in my eyes, causing Elena to gasp. Elijah took over, not seeing this.
"Klaus has been trying to break it for the last thousand years. And you are his only hope." He revealed. Elena pointed towards me.
"Why is she crying?" She demanded. Elijah snapped his head in my direction, realizing why, and he immediately came over to my side and wrapped me up in an embrace. "What is this curse?" Elijah pulls away from me for a moment tugging Elena's vibrating phone from his pocket, which allowed me to get to my feet and walk away a little; trying to stop myself from crying over something that happened a thousand years ago.
"Your phone will not stop its incessant buzzing. Answer it, please." Elijah hands Elena her phone and she answers it.
"Stefan… what's wrong? No. No, no, no, no. Okay, I'll be right there." Elena promises, hanging up. "Klaus went after Jenna. I have to go to her." Elijah frowned.
"I'm afraid that wasn't part of today's arrangement." He reminded her, and I turned to look at them. But Elena remained insistent.
"She's my family, Elijah. I have to. I'll be back. You have my word." Elena promises.
"That doesn't mean anything to me until you live up to it." Elijah allows her to go to Jenna, but made the point of reminding her of her shortcomings. She smiled gratefully.
"Thank you." Elijah and I watch her run towards her car. Once she is out of sight, Elijah 'pounced' on me for an explanation.
"The tears are because…?"
"If I ever see Mikael again…" Elijah's eyes widen in fear. "I don't care how long it takes, I will fucking kill him for all the bullshit he caused." I vowed. "All because of his bloody pride." Elijah came over and grabbed my shoulders, making me focus on him.
"Mikael has been missing for decades. We don't know where he is." He insisted. "Besides you wouldn't stand a chance against him. You would be most certainly killed … again." Elijah was scared at the thought.
"But he ruined everything, Elijah! If it wasn't for him, Nik and I would probably have been married by now, I would've been a vampire and all of us would've been enjoying the rest of our existence exploring the world; creating history, experiencing history and just being happy." I listed the facts. "Can't you understand that? I love you all, but I'm having a hard time believing that you do." I confessed, tears still streaming down my face.
Elijah sighed and wrapped me up into his arms.
"I do understand, Grace. More than you can believe." He whispered. We stayed like this for a while, before eventually we just headed back for the stone bench and sat down on it together. Elijah let his arm stay around my shoulders as I leaned against his side, and waited for Elena to return.
~:KLAUS P.O.V:~
Nobody better cross me right now.
The way I'm feeling, I will rip the head of the next person who dares piss me off. I am more than ready to return to my body, and Maddox is taking far too long to return. My current bad mood stemmed from what occurred at Ms. Gilbert's home, where I met her charming aunt Jenna, posing as Alaric. I found it both mystifying and disappointing that this woman had no idea about the existence of the supernatural.
A fact that I greatly exploited for my gain.
It all started off harmlessly enough; I showed up at the Gilbert Residence, playing the remorseful partner. But Ms. Sommers wasn't fooled. All well, it doesn't matter; playing Alaric wasn't required for this next part of my plan. I didn't even stop her from calling Stefan. The fun began when he entered the house: I was in the kitchen, just chopping away at some vegetables with a very sharp kitchen knife, and enjoying the fact that I was making Jenna uncomfortable. The doorbell chimed and she immediately dashed off to answer it.
"Hey, Jenna." It was Stefan. Excellent. "Thank you so much for not going to the Grill." Stefan thanked her. I rolled my eyes. Such a waste of a perfectly functioning ripper.
"Um, Stefan…" Jenna hesitated. I put down the knife and walked towards the kitchen door so that I was within view of the front door. Stefan stood with his back to me.
"No, listen. I can explain." Stefan insisted, and turned when Jenna indicated with her head that I was standing right behind him.
"Hi, Stefan. How's it going?" I greeted him, with a smile. We retreated back into the kitchen, with Stefan attempting to shield Jenna from me. I nearly laughed out loud as I continued chopping. "You know, I find chopping … calming." I mused thoughtfully. "The feel of the blade in hand, maybe." Jenna frowned with confusion.
"Still waiting for someone to tell me what the hell's going on." She demanded, bordering on hysteria. I glanced at Stefan, curiously.
"Well, would you like to tell her, Stefan, or should I?" I asked casually.
"Tell me what?" Jenna asked. I turned to her.
"Do you believe in vampires, Jenna?" She raised an eyebrow. "No?" I laughed with amusement. "Well, who does, right? But believe it or not, they do have a place in history. And as a history teacher, I find them fascinating." Jenna looked freaked.
"Why are we talking about this?" She demanded. I pretended to give my answer a serious thought.
"Well, you've been angry with me for keeping secrets, and this is one of my secrets." I confessed, as Alaric. "I'm obsessed with vampires. There. I said it." I added, before laughing again. Jenna looked at me like I was insane. Quite honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I was after all these years.
"Are you joking?" Jenna asked, looking almost hopeful. I smirked and shook my head, dashing her hopes.
"Not at all." I looked at an unamused, almost livid Stefan. "How about you, Stefan? Are you a fan of vampires?" I asked him, casually. He shrugged, knowing what I was doing.
"In literature." He responded. "Bram Stoker. It's dense, but I appreciate it." I felt almost insulted by that comment. I turned back to Jenna.
"Hmm. Did you know that vampires are the oldest creatures of the night? Except for werewolves, of course." Jenna snorted.
"Werewolves. Werewolves. Now I know you're joking." She stated.
Wrong again, sweetheart.
"You know, I've read that there's an Aztec curse on both species that keeps werewolves slaves to the Moon and vampires bound by the Sun." I glanced over at Stefan. "Isn't that right, Stefan? You know, they say these creatures would do anything to have this curse broken and that they wouldn't care who they had to kill to do it." I mused, waiting for her reaction. I wasn't disappointed. Jenna looked very alarmed, and I grinned at her triumphantly. Eventually, dinner had been served, but I wasn't nearly done exposing the supernatural to Jenna. Not even close. "Oh, I know this sounds so crazy, but … vampires are real." I noticed that Jenna's wine glass was empty. "Would you care for some more wine?" I asked politely, getting up to retrieve the bottle.
"Get out." Jenna ordered me. I paused and looked back at her with surprise.
"Excuse me?"
"I don't know what it is you're trying to do or why you're saying these things, but…" Jenna was trying so hard not to stammer. Time to move in for the kill.
"Jenna…"
"I said get out!" Jenna yelled at me. Stefan gets to his feet.
"You heard her." He defended her. I sighed, headed back to the table.
"I'm afraid I don't want to." I confessed. Jenna gets to her feet.
"Fine! I'll go." She decides. I couldn't have that. I seized a kitchen knife from the counter and brandished it at her.
"You're not going anywhere." Suddenly, Stefan grabbed me and pushed me up against the wall with his super speed, placing the knife against Alaric's throat. I looked at him, unimpressed.
"Stefan!" Jenna was scared. Stefan immediately snarled at her.
"Jenna, get out of here now!" He urged. I grabbed his focus.
"You can't kill me, Stefan." I taunted him.
"Watch me!" Stefan snarled.
"Stefan!" Jenna yelled.
I chuckled once again. "I may not have a witch protecting me today, but if you kill this body, what's stoping me from choosing Jenna as my next one?" I sincerely hope that it doesn't come down to that if Stefan manages to call my bluff and kill Alaric's body. Stefan ignores me.
"Jenna, go." He tells her, firmly. Apparently, Jenna doesn't know how to take a hint.
"But you're… you…" Stefan turns and looks at her, displaying full vampire face.
Oooh, bad move, mate!
"I said go!" Stefan shouted at Jenna, who finally runs out of the house. Once Jenna escapes, Stefan refocuses on me.
"Kill me. Just remind Elena how easy it will be for me to get my revenge if she tries to stop me from breaking this curse." Stefan immediately punches me in my face and once I was on the floor, he kicks me in the stomach for good measure before tossing the knife to the floor and leaving.
Okay, that hurt.
Which brings us to the present.
As I said before, being punched in the face and kicked in the stomach hurt, and it proved all the more how much I really needed to get back into my own body. I hated being vulnerable, and unable to properly fight back. As I fronted up to the apartment door, I could hear music; playing so loudly it was practically making the walls vibrate.
Katerina is trying my patience, and I wasn't fooled for a second when I went inside and saw her sitting on the couch, motionless. Motionless, my arse!
"You mind turning that down?" I ordered, and Katerina uses the remote to the stereo to turn down the music. She looked at me curiously.
"Why so grumpy?" She asked.
"Well, this body has outlived its usefulness." I responded, shortly.
"Do you want a drink?" Katerina offers. I glared at her, causing her to flinch back in fear and nervousness.
"No, Katerina, I don't want a drink." I told her. She tried again.
"Come on. It might loosen you up." She offers me the bottle, and I take it from her and threw it against the wall where it shatters. "What I want is for you to sit down and shut up." I compelled her. Katerina immediately obeys and sits on the couch. The front door opens and in walks Maddox. I sag with relief. "Maddox, what took you so long?" I demanded. He smiled at me, obviously realizing that I was ready to climb the walls.
"You've got a lot of baggage." Maddox tells me, and gestures to two men entering the apartment with my luggage, followed by Greta.
I grinned.
"Greta. Finally." I greeted her. She flashes me a smirk.
"Hello, love. Nice body, ready to get out of it?" She asked me, rhetorically. More than you can imagine. I stepped back and watched as two more men roll in a giant wooden crate that has my body safely locked away inside it.
I was one spell away from being complete.
A/N: End of part two. I hope you enjoyed it, it was a bloody long chapter to write out that I had to split it up.
Please review :)