A/N: It's time for a new update. Hope that you will enjoy reading it :)
Warning: contains violence and torture scenes. Hope this doesn't lose me readers. I would hate that to happen.
Will write another update for reviews! :P
I do not accept flames.
I also do not own The Vampire Diaries. All characters (except for Grace) are owned by author L.J. Smith.
Enjoy xx
ROAD TRIP: ORIGINAL HYBRID STYLE
"Remember, for everything you have lost, you have gained something else.
Without the dark, you would never see the stars." ~Unknown Author.
It is so hot, I think I've lost several kilos.
Sometimes I really hate summer in America.
Currently, I'm travelling in my (thank god) air conditioned car with my boyfriend and my best friend's baby brother, who is currently in 'ripper' mode, towards Tennessee. Observing Stefan Salvatore as the famed 'Ripper' that Nik had been raving about when he was trying to 'convince' him to go on the decade-long bender, was something that I never expected to see in this lifetime. It is truly a horrific and mentally-scarring thing to see.
Nik is driving; with a sadistic looking smirk on his face that makes me nervous, and Stefan is sitting in the passenger seat beside him, brooding. I was attempting to doze in the backseat, having been relieved from driving by Nik an hour ago. But I couldn't sleep. Instead, I feigned sleeping; just listening to both Nik and Stefan having interesting – if slightly disturbing - conversations.
If Nik or Stefan noticed that I wasn't sleeping; neither of them spoke up. My mind drifts back several hours ago when I first woke up back in Alaric's apartment, still tightly wrapped up in a sleeping Nik's arms…
~:Five hours ago:~
The sound of cars and pedestrians walking by in the street outside awoke me from my slumber, in the arms of my boyfriend … and it was that exact moment when I realized that I really needed the loo.
Two problems.
One, I was trapped in the arms of my boyfriend.
And two, said boyfriend was not a morning person; and tended to have an even uglier temper than normal if woken up prematurely.
I needed to figure out how to get out of Nik's arms and into my apartment down the corridor so I could 'greet the morning' and prepare for whatever Nik had in store for Stefan and myself in the foreseeable future.
"Nik?" I spoke out loud. "I need to get up." No response. I was getting a strange case of de-ja-vu; and immediately remembered that I had been caught in a similar position back at the Boarding House with Damon. I chose to never reveal this to Nik ever. But this time, I doubted that Stefan would be coming by any time soon to rescue me like he did back at the Boarding House with Damon.
Mores the pity.
"Nik… wake up please." I called out again. This got a better reaction. He frowned, and scrunched up his face; which told me he was slowly waking up … but not fast enough. This also caused him to pull me even closer to him, to the point that I could barely breathe.
Damnit, Nik! I squeaked both in surprise and slight pain, before I finally couldn't take it anymore and decided to go for broke. I leaned in and whispered against his lips. "Nik, don't we have somewhere to be today?" I asked him casually, before gently kissing him on the lips in an attempt to wake him up Sleeping Beauty-style, and waited for his reaction. I wasn't disappointed, but I swear I could have smacked him.
The little shit had only been feigning sleep, and instantly responded when I kissed him; taking me completely by surprise.
"Why yes, darling. We do." Nik murmured back, pulling away and smirking at me, playfully.
"Nik!" I whined, not in the mood for anything playful right this second … at least not until I was somewhat decent in appearance and after I had had a cup of tea to completely wake myself up. Nik chuckled and kissed me deeply once again before finally letting me out of his bear hug, and allowing me to get to my feet. "That's not funny, Nik. I'll see you in a minute." I bitched, shrugging off his shirt and handing it to him, before grabbing my booties and purse and heading straight for the front door.
"Don't take too long, love. We've got a tight schedule to keep." Nik explained to me, as he took off his Henley to take a shower of his own. I was momentarily distracted by his bare chest.
"What exactly are we doing?" I demanded, snapping out of it. Nik looked at me, sternly.
"I'm not revealing that just yet. Off you go." He scolded me, and I rolled my eyes and closed the front door behind me; jogging briskly for my apartment and disappearing into it.
About thirty minutes to an hour later, Nik fronted up to my apartment door. I assumed he had been about to knock on it, when I abruptly opened up to face him. "You ready to go?" Nik wanted to know, already looking a little irritated; and the road trip hadn't even begun yet.
"Hold your horses, Nik. I just gotta dead lock my door." I retorted, dragging a small suitcase and my duffle bag outside and dumping both to one side of the corridor. Nik raised an eyebrow at the duffel bag, and I smirked; recognizing the same reaction as Elijah's on Nik's face.
"What's this?" He asked, lightly nudging it with his foot. A slight metallic noise came from within, raising Nik's eyebrow even higher. I finished dead-locking my door, and squatted down beside the duffel, smirking from ear to ear.
"Weapons." I replied, matter-of-factly. Nik looked shocked as I unzipped the bag and invited him to look inside to satisfy his curiosity. "Like I said, Elijah nearly had a coronary when he saw my collection." I took great delight in telling him. "I wasn't lying when I said that I was an expert in sword-fighting." I stated, as I re-zipped the duffel and stood up, heaving it onto my shoulder and grabbing my suitcase. "After you." I said, stepping aside so that Nik could descend the staircase first. He didn't say a word for a few moments. He just stood there, observing me curiously before he finally moved. But it wasn't for the staircase like I originally thought. It was to stand in front of me and he kisses me again.
God, I love it when he spontaneously does that.
"Very impressive, love. Can't wait to try some of these out." He said, winking at me when we came up for air, then took the heavy duffel and carried it downstairs for me. I licked my lips, and shook my head fondly before following him.
Out on the street, we discovered Stefan leaning up against my car looking bored and slightly nauseated. He had obviously overheard our couple's moment outside my apartment door.
"Are you done? Let's get going." Stefan bitched, and Nik narrowed his eyes slightly at him.
"Watch it, Stefan. I don't tolerate cheek." He warned him, and Stefan only scowled further and straightened up from his perch against my car. I set down my suitcase, waiting for Nik's next instructions.
"Alright, so where's the car that's taking us on this 'road trip' of yours, Nik?" I asked, curiously. Nik smiled patiently at me.
"You're looking at it, love." He said, and I felt my mouth fall open in outrage.
"My car? Why on earth for?" I asked. Nik strided over to the boot of my car and opened it, dumping my duffel and a couple of suitcases inside it; including my own.
"I like vintage cars, and this one is a beaut." I just looked at him, waiting for a better explanation. "Plus, it's inconspicuous and less likely to be noticed by those who are attempting to hide from me … or in this case us." Nik gestured to the three of us for emphasis.
"I call shot gun." I sighed, resignedly and headed straight for the passenger seat. Nik just looked at me with confusion.
"Why would you do that, sweetheart?" He asked.
I blinked at him.
"I'm driving?" I confirmed. Nik and Stefan looked at me blankly.
"Yes, why wouldn't you? It's impolite to drive somebody else's car without permission." He explained, calmly. "But don't fret. We'll each take turns driving. We won't leave that tedious burden just to you." He reassures me. I was about to protest before I shrugged. Why fight it? It's easier just to go along with Nik's plans. Makes for a more peaceful and less stressful and dangerous journey to … who the hell knows? I walked around and got into the driver's seat with Nik taking shot gun and Stefan lounging in the backseat, looking both bored and resentful.
"In that case, let's start this journey off with the appropriate getaway music." I commented, starting the ignition and plugging in my iPod. Both Nik and Stefan looked at me warily, probably judging my taste in music before even hearing it. I rolled my eyes and scrolled to a song that not even they should object to. By rights, I could very well torture them with girly pop music just get a rise out of them for this, but I decided that I wasn't that cruel and hit play.
Immediately, the opening riff for The Beastie Boys' 'Sabotage' begins playing as I slide down the window and put on my aviator sunglasses, allowing them to slide down my nose a bit as I took in both boys' reactions to my choice in song: Stefan looked surprised and muttered something that sounded vaguely like: 'definitely Damon's best friend…' underneath his breath before looking out of the window, and Nik looked mystified before he eventually chuckled and shook his head making himself comfortable in his seat and also cranking down his passenger side window.
"You guys need to seriously stop underestimating me. It's becoming embarrassing." I teased, before pushing my sunglasses back up the bridge of my nose. I turned my car into traffic and floored it as I drove us out of town.
~:Present:~
Which brings us back to the here and now. I eventually gave up on sleeping and opted instead for lying across the backseat (with the seatbelt tied securely around me for extra protection) with my head closest to the open window to allow what cool breeze there was to blow directly on my sweaty face.
"Are you alright back there, Grace?" Nik asks me, looking through the rear view mirror. I glowered at him.
"It's too hot to sleep." I muttered, but since I had nothing else to do until we got to wherever Nik was taking us to, I decided to continue trying.
"Don't get comfortable, love. We've arrived." Nik reported. So much for that idea. I groaned with frustration.
"Joy…" I muttered and sat up, unbuckling my seatbelt. The very second I got out of the car and shut the door, Nik was by my side with a calculating grin on his face. I was instantly on guard. "What?" I asked cautiously.
"I have a little job for you, sweetheart. Are you up for it?" He asked me. Although the question had been asked, I had a feeling that it was actually rhetorical and that I had been volunteered for the task.
"What do I have to do?" I asked, reluctantly.
Nik smirked, as I took a good look at our surroundings: Stefan was standing not too far away from the car, looking irritated. We had arrived not too far away from a farmhouse; which I knew must've been owned by a female, if the tacky front yard décor didn't already speak for itself.
"I need you to lure whoever answers the front door of the house out, in any way that you can." Nik responded, casually.
I nodded.
"Are you looking for somebody specifically?" I asked him, as I turned and looked at the house, trying to figure out the best method of getting these targets to willingly trust me enough to walk into Nik's trap.
"A werewolf called Ray Sutton." Nik replied, absently. "Be careful, love." He warned me, and I just threw him a 'give me a break' look before walking unhurriedly towards the house. I decided to be pretend to be a traveler whose car had broken down on the highway, and needed a phone to call a tow driver. It seemed like a fairly believable excuse… unless these occupants happened to be geniuses and could see through deception.
Luck seemed to be on my side as a woman in her late 20s steps from her house. She seemed to be worried about something.
"Rudy!" She whistles shrilly, causing me (and probably Nik and Stefan) to wince at the noise. "Rude! Come on! It's too hot to make me come looking for you!" She hollers, before bending down to pick up a chew toy. She jumped when I stepped out from the shadows, and I pasted on a fake apologetic smile.
"Sorry to bother you. Didn't mean to scare you." I greeted the suspicious woman.
"Can I help you?"
I smiled politely at her. "Yeah, my car, ahem, my car ran out of gas a couple of miles back." I pointed vaguely in the direction of where I had left both Nik and Stefan. "I feel like I've been walking forever, and yours is the first house I've come to. So I was wondering if I could use your phone?" Not the best excuse I could come up with; but it was the best I could do on short notice. I mentally reminded myself to chew out Nik for not giving me time to come up with a more plausible excuse when we next did something like this.
The woman raised an eyebrow at me.
"Don't you have a cell phone?" She asked. I tugged my phone from my back pocket, and held it up making a slightly sheepish face.
"Huh, yeah. The battery died." I lied easily. "Look, I promise I'm not a serial killer—" But my boyfriend is… "I just wanna use your phone." I insisted. The woman scrutinized me for several more seconds before sighing.
"Sure." She said, reluctantly. I grinned with 'relief'.
"Great." I responded, and walked closer to the porch… and raised an eyebrow when she didn't invite me in. I frowned. Shit… is she on to me? "May I come in?" I asked, confused.
The woman shook her head.
"No, I'll get the phone and I'll bring it out to you." She responded, turning her back on me and walking for the screen door. I sighed; that was probably the worst thing she could've done. I didn't have to turn my head to know that Nik had materialized out of nowhere and was beaming at me for my acting skills. He raised a finger to his lips and mimed 'shhh' and 'keep it up' as he walked silently behind the woman.
"I thought you country folks were supposed to be more trusting." I commented, sounding annoyed.
The woman snorted. "I'm from Florida."
"Well, that explains it." Nik's sarcastic voice spoke up without warning, scaring the hell out of the woman who spun round and let out a scream, which was abruptly cut off when he grabs her by the throat and compels her. "Now show us a little southern hospitality. Sweet pea." He requested, sarcastically. She nods frantically, and I stride up to them both. The woman throws me a betrayed scowl and I shrugged, nonchalantly.
"Sorry." I said, not feeling sorry at all to be perfectly honest as Nik and I followed her inside the house. I knew that Stefan was probably not too far behind, just waiting for Nik's signal. We followed the woman deeper into the house towards the kitchen, where another woman was frying food at the stove. She turned and walked over to the counter with the frying pan, not looking up as we approached.
"I'll bet you a hundred dollars that dog ran off to a house with air conditioning." The other woman drawled, dryly.
I couldn't help myself.
"Sold!" I joked, earning a slightly amused glare from Nik as the woman looked up and sees her friend being forcibly escorted into the room by Nik, as I trailed along behind them. The woman Nik was holding by the nape of the neck was sobbing, and I couldn't help but feel a little pity. Nik could be bloody scary when he wanted to be.
"What's going on?" 'Frypan' demanded, both confusion and fear on her face. Nik offered her a pleasant smile.
"Please don't be alarmed. I was told Ray Sutton lives here." Nik stated our business. Thankfully, 'Frypan' wasn't an idiot.
"He's almost never here. He's on the road mostly." She explained. Nik nodded, confirming that she was telling the truth and not fabricating some bullshit.
"But I expect he makes it home, once a month." The woman nodded hesitantly. "That's what I thought. Where is he now?" Nik ordered. This time, the woman refuses to answer, and I noticed the telltale signs of Nik starting to lose his patience: his face hardened and his eyes narrowed slightly. "If I have to make you tell me, it's going to be infinitely more painful for you. Hmm." Nik smiled sweetly. Suddenly, 'Frypan' bolts for the front door. However, Stefan was already there, blocking her path. Nik was practically beaming from ear to ear. "I love it when they run!" He cooed.
I snorted and rolled my eyes.
"Of course you do." I mumbled and turned to look out of the window.
"Now, now…" I looked over my shoulder at Nik who had a disapproving frown on his face. "None of that, Grace. The fun is just beginning." He promised, and I raised an eyebrow.
"Fun for whom exactly?" I asked, genuinely curious. Nik smirked playfully.
"That all depends on what these two ladies have to share with us." He said. 'Frypan' sings like a canary from the front door where Stefan stood, looking frustrated and impatient.
"He's in Toll! It's near the border. A bar called Southern Comfort. It's on Highway 41." She said, frantically. I licked my chapped lips.
"I wouldn't mind one of those right about now…" I mused casually, absently thinking about that strong, sharp New Orleans whiskey. Nik chuckled.
"Of course, love. We'll get some just as soon as we've tied up these loose ends." He promised, before giving the petrified woman in his grip his undivided attention. "Now, may my friend come in?" He asks her.
"Yes." She sobbed. 'Frypan' looks terrified as Stefan takes a deliberate step forward into the house, and catches the sobbing woman Nik pushes into his arms.
"Kill this one quickly." Nik indicates to the sobbing woman, then looks sharply at 'Frypan' who pales dramatically. "And make that one suffer." Stefan nodded, curtly. Nik walks over to me and casually drapes his arm over my shoulders, and I automatically reached up to intertwine my hand in his as he leads the both of us to the front door. "We'll be in the car." He states with a grin, and my eyes widen when I realise what's about to happen and I immediately break away from Nik, who frowns.
"Excuse me…" I mumbled, before bolting outside. But not before I hear one of the women plead for her life. I almost make it to the car before my stomach rebels and I crashed to my knees and threw up. Warmer than normal hands pull back my hair from the path of the vomit, and rub circles on my back. I didn't need to look back (mostly because I couldn't) to know that Nik had obviously come after me.
"Are you alright, sweetheart?" He asked me, concerned and he crouches beside me. I sat back against him for some support and drew in a couple of deep breaths to stave away the nausea, before scowling at him.
"What the hell, Nik. I'm human, remember?" I reminded him, feeling annoyed. "Please warn me next time, preferably before we do what we just did now." He nods and helps me to my feet. I staggered to the passenger side of the car and sat down, putting my head between my legs. Nik leans on the car next to me with his arms crossed over his chest as he cards his hand through my hair. I didn't bat it away, as it was actually soothing and helping me calm down.
About a minute or so later…
"All done?" Nik asks Stefan who had returned from his own personal massacre. I glanced up, and shuddered at the blood smeared around Stefan's mouth. Stefan pauses at this reaction and looks sympathetic. He nodded at Nik, who immediately pulls his hand away from my head gently. "Excellent. Next stop: Toll and the Southern Comfort bar." Stefan gets into the backseat and I swing my legs into the car and shut the door behind me, before resting my sweaty head against the cool window.
"You okay, Grace?" Stefan mutters from the backseat, also sounding worried. I flinched when something cold touches my arm, and I glanced over to see Nik handing me a bottle of water from out of nowhere. I smiled gratefully and take it, snapping off the lid and taking a couple of large gulps.
"Let me get back to you on that." I responded, before draining the entire bottle and leaning against the car window again.
Another couple of hours went by and I was being shaken awake by Nik. I nodded and yawned as I opened the car door and stepped out, shivering a little at the cool change that had come through. I pulled my hair back into a pony tail as I sized up the bar.
The Southern Comfort bar 'Frypan' had told us we'd find this Ray Sutton guy, turned out to be a large white building with a verandah style porch; and a long row of motorcycles and pickup trucks were parked outside. Loud country style music was blaring from inside the establishment.
"Nice place." I commented, stepping towards the front door behind Nik who sauntered into the establishment like he owned the place. Stefan and I flanked Nik, before Stefan broke off and went around compelling patrons to ignore what was about to happen next between Nik, Stefan and the unknown 'Ray Sutton' character. I left the boys to their search for their victim while I made a beeline for the bar.
"Three shots of Southern Comfort, please." I asked the bartender. He raised an eyebrow at me.
"ID." He droned at me, and I fixed him with an annoyed glare before digging around for my ID and flashed it at him. The bartender grunted and produced three shot glasses, messily pouring the whiskey into them. As I perched on a bar stool, and reached for my drink, a man roughly in his late 20s, early 30s sidled up beside me with a lecherous grin on his face.
I stiffened immediately.
"Buy you a drink?" He grunts at me. I turned and studied him: the best way to describe this cretin, would be that he looked like a younger blonder Alaric Saltzman. I turned away from him.
"I've got one, thanks." I said, knocking back the drink and reaching for the second one. The guy smiled, clearly one of those persistent types. He was also encroaching on dangerous territory. I could feel Nik's possessive glare not too far behind me. I needed to defuse this situation quickly.
"Come on. One drink?" He cooed. I rolled my eyes.
"Like I said, I'm good." I saluted him mockingly and threw that back as well. He deflated slightly, before trying a different tactic.
"Okay then. I'm Ray." I froze, eyes widening with shock. I couldn't believe my luck as I turned to face him properly. "Ray Sutton." He introduced himself. I smiled sweetly at him.
"What a coincidence. We were just looking for you." I replied, triumphantly. Ray frowned.
"We?" I picked up the third shot and held it out for Nik to take. He didn't disappoint and seconds later an arm goes around my waist and a hand takes the shot glass.
"Thanks, love." Nik thanks me and knocks back the shot, eying Ray with steely eyes. Ray deflates immediately and loses interest in the conversation.
"Sorry for wasting your time." He tells me and turns to walk away … only to thud straight into Stefan, who stands there with a blank face and arms crossed over his chest.
"Like my girl said, mate, we were just looking for you." Nik reiterates. "Nice find, Grace." He whispers in my ear, looking impressed. Ray immediately becomes defensive.
"Who wants to know?"
Nik merely smiled politely at Ray. "I've been looking everywhere for you. We started in Florida, Pensacola. Met a young chap there who you used to work with before you moved to Memphis. Now he directed me to two lovely young women, and they led me here, to you." He explained.
"I think I'll be going." Ray tries to go, but Nik steps into his path.
"Not so fast mate. You only just got here, now your type are very hard to come by." Nik muses, and Ray's eyes widened when he realised what Nik was getting at and tries to make another escape, and nearly thudded into Stefan again.
"I wouldn't do that." Stefan warned him. Ray sighed in exasperation.
"Vampires." He muttered, then eyed me critically. "But you're human, why are you hanging around them?" He asked, slightly accusatory.
"Nik's my boyfriend, and Stefan is my friend. Why wouldn't I want to hang around with them?" I replied back. "Besides Nik isn't an ordinary vampire." I pointed out. Ray raised an eyebrow.
"Huh?" Stefan shoves him back to the counter, as I hopped off my stool and moved out of the way of the interrogation. Nik grins at him, predatory.
"You're swifty swift Ray! Yes! My friend here is a vampire, and he compelled everybody in the bar so don't look to them for any help." Ray paled. "I, however, I'm something else, a different kind of monster. I've got some vampire, I've got some wolf."
"You what?"
"A hybrid, Ray." Nik sighed. "I'm both. You see I want to create more of me. Now you being the first werewolf that I've come across in many a moon, pun intended Ray!" He smirks. "I need you to direct me to your pack. So, where can I find them, Ray?" Nik enquires, pleasantly.
"You can't compel me, it won't work." Ray insists. I closed my eyes and shook my head at his idiocy. This would be when Nik would declare that the 'fun' would begin. And sure enough, Nik glances at Stefan who nodded and pulls something out of his back pocket.
"Can you bring out the darts, please?" Stefan asks the bartender who nodded curtly, and pulls out a box of sharpened darts from underneath the counter. I made a face; it didn't take a genius to know what their plans were for those darts. "Tell you what Ray, we're gonna play a little drinking game, something I like to call 'truth or wolfsbane'." Stefan explained, sounding rather sadistic. He upturns a pouch full of wolfsbane into the palm of his hand and crushes them with his fingers. Nik claps a hand on Ray's shoulder.
"Oh, this is gonna be fun, Ray." I turned and walked over to a nearby pool table and started to rack up, sensing that we were probably going to be here for a while. Nik called over to me. "You wanna play darts, sweetheart?" He asked me, smirking. I gave him an exasperated look back.
"Ooh, as tempting as that sounds, I'll leave that to you and Stefan. Darts was never my game, unfortunately." I politely declined. Nik's smirk falls a little, probably realizing how much I was disapproving of what was going on; but remaining quiet on the subject because it was something he felt he needed to do.
By the time my solo game of pool is finished, Ray is chained to the wall, with darts riddling his body. It is obvious to everybody that he is in a lot of pain; but he is helpless, because the patrons had been compelled to ignore the brutality and were mostly laughing at the werewolf like he was a stand-up comedian. I glanced over at Stefan from where I was sitting beside Nik at the bar, nursing a double bourbon.
"Ray, you can end this right now. Just tell me where your pack gathers for the full moon." Stefan pointed out, as he casually stirs a glass of drink with wolfsbane with the end of a dart. Ray whimpers from his position against the dartboard.
"I can't." Ray insists. Stefan takes out the wolfsbane dart and throws it at Ray. It takes a direct hit in the wolf's chest.
"Ouch." I winced, and Nik takes my hand in his, rubbing it with his thumb.
I looked over at him, questioningly. He was probably sensing how uncomfortable I was watching this, and attempting to both comfort and calm me. But it wasn't like I could go anywhere to escape watching them torture Ray. The wolf stubbornly refuses to cry out from the pain inflicted on him. Stefan smirks, while Nik just sits there and watches, looking rather disappointed. It seems that while in 'ripper mode' Stefan had a split personality: one that was humane, compassionate and had a conscience; and a more ruthless, sadistic side that seemed to enjoy inflicting pain and being influenced by the warm, fresh blood flowing through his system.
"I know, I know. You live by code and all that, but see he's not gonna let me stop until you tell me. And do whatever he says so, that's the way it goes around here." Stefan indicates towards Nik with one of the darts he is lubricating with the alcohol/wolfsbane concoction.
Ray looks reluctantly over at Nik, and looks at me pleadingly for help. I looked away and refocused upon an unfamiliar woman who approaches Nik. He gives her his undivided attention.
"Hello, Mr. Klaus." He nodded, which indicated for her to continue her report. "I have some more information for you." Stefan stops torturing Ray and sets aside the concoction and darts, and walks over to listen. "You told me to tell you if I saw anything. The guys spotted Damon at the farmhouse." She tells him, and my eyes widen in horror. Nik looked thoroughly annoyed.
"Well, thank you Claudine." He says to her, with a very pained smile on his face. "You'll just tell your friends to keep up the good work." He compels Claudine, sternly. The girl smiles politely at him and (surprisingly) at me, before walking away. That was weird; she was addressing Nik, not me. Why did I deserve a polite, respectful smile? I looked at Nik for an explanation, but he shakes his head; indicating 'not now'.
Stefan comes over to Nik, looking serious.
"My brother still on our trail?" Stefan asked. Nik bristles and nodded, still looking very annoyed.
"He's getting closer." He confirms. "I'm gonna have to deal with that." Nik goes to get off his bar stool, but Stefan grabs his arm to stop him.
"No, no, no! Let me handle it." Stefan insisted, and I just barely hear it. I was deep in thought; but mostly I was cursing Damon for being stupid and reckless. Nik looks at Stefan warningly and he quickly removed his hand from his arm.
"Why should I let you leave?" Nik demanded. I placed a hand on his arm this time, grabbing Nik's attention.
"Because you're going to let me leave. Temporarily." I stated, jumping in when Nik immediately started to object. His eyes narrowed.
"Will I now?" He asked. I stared him down defiantly.
"I'll make sure Damon stays away." I promised. However, it seemed that Nik wasn't completely satisfied with that answer.
"I know this isn't pleasant for you, darling. But it's necessary for my plans." Nik explained to me. I felt mystified; did he really think that I wanted to deal with Damon, just so I can avoid watching the both of them 'persuade' werewolves to agree to become hybrids?
Okay. Yeah, that is one reason.
But I also didn't want Damon to be torn limb from limb by Nik, just because he can't take a hint that Stefan and I were going to be taking a brief hiatus from Mystic Falls for a while.
"I kinda feel like I'm sitting around doing nothing. I would like to be a bit useful. Even if it's telling Damon to back off." I admitted, sheepishly. Nik paused, letting this information sink in before he looked at Stefan, sharply. Apparently, that's all Nik had to do, as Stefan seemed to understand something that my boyfriend had wordlessly relayed to him and nodded.
"I'll help Grace make sure that my brother doesn't bother us anymore." He promises, before seizing my hand and leading me towards the main entrance. However, Nik momentarily stops us and pulls me towards him with a vulnerable expression on his face.
"Hurry back, and be careful." He urges me before lightly and warmly kissing me. I nodded when we drew away and rest my forehead against his for a moment, before turning and following Stefan out of the bar.
The very second we leave the bar, Stefan jumps into the driver's seat, and nearly tears out of the parking lot before I even got into the passenger side. I scowled at him, and he grunts an apology.
"So what's the plan?" I asked Stefan, curiously. He shrugged.
"Not sure just yet." He admitted, gripping the steering with white knuckles. I was concerned with his reaction to this entire situation. "But whatever we come up with, it needs to slow him down completely." Stefan stated, firmly.
"Agreed. But what?" I mused. Then inspiration struck, and I knew that neither Stefan nor Nik would like it at all. "Use me as bait." I suggested. Stefan reacts in horror to that suggestion and nearly drives into another car ahead of us. But his vampire reflexes thankfully prevented an accident and prevented me having to buy another car because Stefan totaled this one. I sighed with relief, and tried to get my heart rate down as I glared at him.
"Not happening." Stefan shuts me down.
"May I ask why?" I demanded. "And if the answer is you're martyring yourself, I'd think twice." I warned him. Stefan momentarily takes his eyes off the road to glare at me.
"Klaus would kill me if anything happened to you. Not to mention, Damon." Stefan reminded me.
"Not if we plan it, and use our acting skills." I insisted. Stefan didn't look entirely convinced. "I have no intention of putting myself in danger, Stefan. Particularly if a single drop of my blood would send you into a frenzy." I told him. Stefan looked slightly hurt.
"It's a good thing Klaus compelled me not to attack or feed on you, isn't it?" He asked, a little resentfully. I nodded, and placed a hand on his shoulder, feeling remorseful for what I had said.
"I'm sorry. That was tactless of me." I apologized. Stefan shook his head.
"Why apologize for something that is true?" Stefan pointed out to me, and I nodded grimly. There was silence for several minutes while Stefan mulled over my idea in his head. Finally, he sighed. "Fine. We'll go with your idea. But we never speak of this to Klaus, okay?" Stefan stated.
"Deal." I agreed.
We make it back to Mystic Falls in record time, due to Stefan's speeding and holed up in a warehouse. The plan was that I would send a text message to Damon to lure him to the warehouse, whereupon Stefan would 'knock me out' (a.k.a. I'd feign being taken as bait), and once we got Damon's attention; Stefan would bite into his wrist and I'd pretend to drink it and smear his blood around my mouth to make it look like I had been forced. The rest of the plan would depend on Damon's reaction.
"Grace!?" Damon barrels into the warehouse looking frantic. I immediately felt guilty from where I was watching this in the shadows. Stefan made the 'shhh' gesture with his finger and I nodded reluctantly, suddenly not so pleased about my plan. Damon's phone starts ringing, and he growls in obvious irritation and answers it sounding distracted. "Party Central." He randomly answers.
Party central? What the…? Because I'm not a vampire, I'm only hearing half of the conversation. But as I glanced over at Stefan, I see him looking pained and frustrated. Which tells me that the person Damon was having this conversation with, was Elena. "Oh… Oh, I gotta, gotta go break up beer pong." Damon states lamely before hanging up his phone. "Stefan?" Damon calls out, and Stefan steels himself and walks out of the shadows into direct light.
"Hello, brother." He greets Damon, seriously. Damon narrowed his eyes, looking pissed.
"You don't write, you don't call." Damon quips. Stefan rolled his eyes.
"Need you to stop following me. You're causing some problems." Stefan informs him. Damon frowns.
"With who? Klaus? Are we supposed to care what he thinks?" Then he pauses and suddenly remembers something. "Wait a minute. Where's Grace!?" Damon demanded. Stefan ignores the question.
"What you're supposed to do is let us go." Stefan insists. Damon doesn't like that response.
"Not happening. Not until I bring you back with Grace." He insists. "By the way, saw your latest artwork in Tennessee. Walking a fine line there my friend. Keep that up and there will be no saving you." Damon reminded him. Stefan smiles, throwing Damon off a bit.
"See the thing is, uh, I don't need any saving. I just want you to let me go. And Grace for that matter." Stefan taunts Damon, who shakes his head.
"No can do, brother. I've got a birthday girl at home that's not gonna let me do that. Plus, Klaus also has my best friend held hostage." I flinched; upset that Damon really believes that.
"You sure about that?" Stefan asked him. Damon freezes.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm gonna prove a point." Stefan turns towards my hiding spot in the shadows where he had loosely tied me up. It was time for me to feign being unconscious. "Hey, Grace you still there?" Stefan calls out to me.
"Grace?" Damon's worried voice nearly breaks my heart, as I tried hard not to flinch at the bright light that suddenly flashes on me. Stefan walks over and stands in front of me.
"Sorry about this." Stefan whispers into my ear before he 'lightly' slaps my cheek to 'bring me around'. I groaned and slowly opened my eyes.
"Damon?" I mumbled, aiming for disoriented.
"No, no, no, it's okay, Grace. Stay calm." He urges me, alarmed. "Not cool brother!" Damon snarls at Stefan. I glanced over at him, bracing myself for what was coming next. It was going to be gross.
"Aw, come on! Previously, you would've been all for this." Stefan insisted. "Using a person that you love as a bargaining tool. But I guess you need a little persuasion to back off." Then without warning, Stefan chomps down on his wrist and 'force feeds me' his blood. I made sure that my mouth stayed firmly closed while Stefan smeared his blood around my mouth. I summoned up fake tears.
"Damon…" I whimpered, as Stefan 'gently' wraps his arm around my neck, threatening to break it. But despite this being planned and knowing nothing was going to happen to me, I could still feel the adrenaline pumping through my system.
"NO! Alright, you win. I'll back off, just don't kill her!" Damon pleads with Stefan who immediately vamp speeds over to Damon and shoves him against the wall.
"I'll say this only once. Let us go!" Stefan warns him. Next thing I know I'm in Stefan's arms bridal-style as he vamp speeds us back to my car and we head back to Nik. I could hear Damon shouting for me as we went. Once back in the safety of the car, Stefan turns to me and looks concerned. "You okay? I didn't hurt you?" He confirmed.
I shook my head.
"No, no harm done. Let's just go." I replied, dully. I hated myself for putting Damon through that. But it was necessary to prove this point to him. Stefan hands me a handkerchief and I wiped away his blood as he turns back onto the highway and floors it back to the Southern Comfort bar.
I don't know if I looked visibly upset or not, but the very second Stefan and I got back to the Southern Comfort bar; the notorious Ripper of Monterey - whom I saw multiple times viciously and without remorse rip into the throats of his victims without a care in the world - immediately pulled me into his arms. I froze, completely caught off guard by this random action.
"I'm so sorry that you have been brought into all of this, Grace." He mutters into my hair. I slowly raised my arms and returned the hug, appreciating the gesture.
"I've been through worse, Stefan. A thousand years ago, I was killed by Nik's stepfather as part of his plan to prove a point to him. What we did a few hours ago with Damon, is nothing." I reassured him, before breaking out of the embrace and hugging myself against the chill of the night breeze. Stefan fell into step beside me, and I noticed that he had reverted back to his distant, uncaring expression. I sagged a bit, feeling disappointed. But then Stefan squeezes my arm affectionately, letting me know that he was there for me even though he had to act a certain way from now on.
I smiled.
We found Nik pacing around the same pool table I had played a solo game on, which Ray had now been tied down on.
"Okay, it's a three step process, Ray. This is step one. I want you to drink from my wrist." Nik was saying to the terrified werewolf. Ray looked like he was on the verge of hysteria.
"I already told you where to find the pack. What more do you want from me?" He pleaded. Nik shakes his head.
"Have you been listening to a word I've been saying, Ray?" He explained to him, condescendingly. He cuts his wrist and makes Ray drink his blood. "There we go, attaboy!" Ray immediately starts thrashing about as he tries to resist. But Nik proves once again that he is stronger than he is, and when he believes that Ray has had enough of his blood in his system, he pulls away. "You'll thank me for it later, huh." Nik turns and sees Stefan and me, standing at the main entrance. "Welcome back." He greets us both. "Give me a moment." He requests.
Both Stefan and I nodded.
"What are you going to do now?" Ray asked, with trepidation. Nik's blood is smeared around his mouth and partially dripping down his neck. It looks really gruesome. Nik smirks down at his new recruit into the hybrid clan.
"It's time for step two, Ray." Nik announces before twisting his neck, killing him and looking over at us. Stefan looks on emotionlessly, while I close my eyes and turn my head away.
"So, you're back. How'd it go?" Nik asks, nonchalantly. Stefan snorted.
"We won't have any more trouble from Damon. Grace and I made sure of that." He reported.
Then what we had to do to convince Damon to leave us be, suddenly registered with me, and I felt tears well up in my eyes. I couldn't handle the guilt and shame I could feel, so I simply turned and ran back out the door. Nik looked surprised at my reaction, or so I could hear from outside of the bar where I had slid down the wall and hunched over to bury my face into my knees, clenching handfuls of my hand in my hands in my sorrow.
"Grace?!" He must've turned towards Stefan for an explanation because suddenly Stefan spoke up.
"We had to get inventive with getting rid of Damon." Stefan admitted. "Long story short, Damon will probably be pissed off with me if we ever see him again in Mystic Falls."
"Explain." Nik said, suspiciously.
"It's not important right now." Stefan insisted.
"Let me be the judge of that." Nik retorted. I heard Stefan sigh heavily.
"Alright. In order to convince Damon to back off, I had to make it look like I was threatening to change Grace into a vampire against her will." Stefan reluctantly explained. And for good reason, if the resulting struggle and Stefan grunting in slight pain said anything. I glanced round the doorframe to that Nik had grabbed Stefan by the lapels and threw him against a nearby bar table.
"Nik, stop!" I yelled in alarm. Nik ignored me, and proceeded to pull Stefan to his feet, by grabbing him by the throat. I raced over to them, repeating 'Nik, stop!' as I went. "It was my idea!" I confessed, urgently.
Nik freezes, and turns to look at me with disbelief.
"Your what?" He blurted out. I drew in a deep breath.
"It was my idea for Stefan to make it look like he was threatening to change me into a vampire if Damon didn't stop attempting to find us." I repeated myself with more detail. Nik drops Stefan in a heap, and storms over to me; grabbing me by the shoulders. He looked a combination of furious and scared.
"What possessed you to think of an idiotic plan like that?" He yelled. I repressed the urge to flinch away from him, despite all my instincts telling me to run for the hills.
"Because it is the only way that Damon will actually obey you, Nik." I explained.
"It's true." Stefan confirmed.
"Like you, Nik, Damon has feelings for me. He would do anything to protect anyone he loves; even if it means backing off." Nik backed off, but still looked angry with my actions. "The answer we want to know, is did you doubt that Stefan and I would return like we said we would?" I asked him. Nik also drew in a deep breath before replying; presumably to stop himself from saying something that he might regret in the long term.
"Not for a second. That was a test, and you both passed it." Nik said. "And I cannot deny it now, that both of you care for Damon. Especially Stefan, and for his old life." Nik acknowledged. Stefan shut down completely.
"Nah, I don't care about anything anymore." Stefan said dismissively. Both Nik and I gave him skeptical looks.
"I don't believe you." I told him.
"I agree. You put on a good show, Stefan. I almost believe you. Let's hope, for your brother's sake, he does." Nik shakes his head in amusement. "You never stop caring about family, do you? But, every time you feed, the blood makes it easier to let go." Nik tells him, sagely.
Stefan is silent for a few moments, just letting Nik's words sink in. Then he quietly gets to his feet and exits the bar. I follow after him, worried, but I don't step outside. I just stand in a spot where I can still see him and observed as he takes his phone from his pocket and calls somebody. By the melancholy expression on his face, I'd say it was probably Elena he was contacting. By the time, the phone call ends; Stefan is in tears. I sighed and walked out of the bar towards him, feeling Nik's eyes on my back as I walked. He, like me, was curious about what Stefan was up to. But unlike Nik, I didn't like the fact that my friend was silently suffering.
"Everything's going to be alright, Stefan. I promise." I attempted to comfort him.
"I doubt it." I heard Stefan whisper as I turned to walk back to the bar, where I almost bumped into Nik carrying an unconscious Ray over his shoulder. There was a look of determination on his face.
"Let's go, kids. Time's wasting." Nik announced, dumping Ray into the trunk of my car. I wrinkled my nose, and hoped that he wasn't bleeding on anything in there. Stefan strides up to the car, not saying anything and just gets into the backseat. I frowned and approached the passenger side.
"Where we going next?" I asked Nik, who offers me a stern look. I mentally rolled my eyes; Nik was still pissed with me about my poorly constructed plan.
"The Smoky Mountains. That's where Ray's pack is supposedly going to be." He explained, hopping into the driver's side. I nodded. He actually answered my question; a good sign that he's not too angry at me, just disappointed with my actions.
I can live with that.
A/N: Finished with the chapter based on the start of The Vampire Diaries third season. I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far, and I'm not losing readers because of the violence and torture scenes. Please review with your thoughts.
TTFN xx