A/N: Shout out to reviewers: Layla347, hahahopelove, Jezabelle31415, evil genus, firehottie, 19vanelkc, and NotRob for alleviating my fears that people were growing disinterested in my story. Just a simple review was required to let me know if people were still eager to learn more about my story. I thank all seven of you for yours! Please keep it up!
If you haven't previously reviewed, please do so. But no flames will be accepted.
I don't own The Vampire Diaries. All characters are owned by author L.J. Smith, with the exception of my OC Grace. She belongs to me.
Enjoy xx
FOOL ME ONCE…
"The worst feeling in the world is knowing you've been used and lied to by someone you trusted." ~Unknown.
When I was in my pre-teens, I had always thought that the teachers at my school never went home, but in actual fact slept at the school. I also believed that going into school grounds after hours was extremely weird and never felt right; and I was shocked to realise that that belief had never truly faded as I found myself wondering the moon drenched corridors of Mystic Falls High School with Nik, searching for Elena.
To both our surprise the school was actually crawling with teenagers racing around and pulling pranks, and part of me wondered how in the hell were they actually getting away with this without being caught by the cops? I knew that all students hated going to school, but this was ridiculous. Plus, these students must be blind; or just really oblivious to the fact that two complete strangers were roaming the corridors, looking for all intents and purposes on the prowl for one of their classmates.
At one point, I actually spotted that cute blonde busboy from the Grill; Matt Donovan, I think his name was… using a bench press in the school's weight room in the gym. Nik and I exchanged glances with each other before shrugging and moving along, still searching for Nik's target. I had to stifle a giggle when I heard what sounded like a hell of a lot of mousetraps being set off prematurely.
"Ohh! Oh, come on! Seriously?!" I raised an eyebrow. That sounded a lot like Caroline Forbes whining in frustration. "Do you know how long it took for us to set all this up?!" I wondered how she was going lately. Since the last time I had seen her was back at the Boarding House, when we were plotting how to deal with Nik during the 60s Decade Dance.
How time flies when we're having fun, and also concocting plans.
"Forgot about senior prank night, huh?" A cocky male's voice, whom I recognized as Tyler Lockwood (who I didn't even realise was back in town since the werewolf debacle) teased. I frowned with confusion. Senior prank night? Is that really what happens here at Mystic Falls every year? I made a face, and poked my tongue out at Nik when he sniggered at my disapproval.
"Clearly." Came Matt's dry response.
"How could you forget?" Caroline sounded appalled by the very notion that somebody could forget something like this. "We've only been waiting for this since like freshman year." She explained. I think it's safe to say that I'm glad I'm not American, because I don't understand what goes through teenagers' heads nowadays.
And God, did I sound old thinking that just now…
"Yeah, Matt." Both Nik and I were immediately alert, and Nik looked positively gleeful and triumphant. So Elena was here too. Perfect! "If I'm doing this, you're doing this." She insisted. All we needed to do right now was wait till Elena split off from her friends and then we'd corner her wherever the hell she went off to.
"I'm kinda surprised any of you are doing this." Matt admitted.
"Caroline's making us." Bonnie insisted, and I scoffed underneath my breath at same time that Nik did. I bet she really had to twist their arms to get them to do this. Caroline made a frustrated little noise.
"We're about to be seniors. These are the memories that will stay with us forever, and if we don't…"
"And if we don't create these memories now, then what's the point of it all?" Elena cut her off and filled in the gaps.
"Go ahead and make fun, I don't care." Caroline stated.
"You're all lame. And I've got ten more classrooms to prank." Tyler announced, before he dashes away to commit more mischief. Somebody else gets to their feet, attracting Bonnie's attention by the sound of her disapproving voice.
"Hey! Where are you going?" She wanted to know.
"To superglue Alaric's desk shut. I'm making memories." Elena was finally breaking off from her friends and Nik grinned at me before we set off towards where we remembered Alaric's history classroom was so we could ambush her. We make it to a set of double doors that Elena had to pass through in order to make it to the classroom. I stepped out from a nearby empty doorway; just as Nik and I had planned minutes before.
"Hello, Elena." She jumped and spun round to face me, her mouth falling open in surprise. "Long time no see?" I muttered, coldly. Elena took a cautious step away from me, unsurprisingly.
"Grace? Haven't seen you around lately, where did you go?" Elena fished for answers, and I offered her a deceptively kind smile as I shrugged.
"I've been around. What's going on here?" I asked, buying time for Nik to get into position behind the door Elena was intending on passing through. She frowned.
"It's senior prank night." She replied, looking suspicious. "Weren't you with Klaus?" She asked. I smirked, enjoying the uncomfortable expression on her face, surprisingly. I glanced over her shoulder at Nik who was also smirking.
"I don't know. Was I with you, Nik?" I asked him, causing Elena to pale dramatically and spun round to find herself face-to-face with Nik. He offers her a smile.
"There's my girl." He addresses her, condescendingly.
"Klaus!" Elena exclaimed, fearfully, and turns around to run by me and get the hell out of there. But Nik uses his vamp-speed to get in front of her first. He clicks his tongue with wonder.
"You are supposed to be dead." He scolds her, frowning with confusion. "So what are we going to do about that?" He muses. He looks over at me and smiles warmly. "Any ideas, love?" He questions me, and I shrugged.
"Not really. I'll leave it up to your best judgement, sweetie." I replied. Elena glares at me heatedly.
"You really are on his side, I knew it!" She exclaimed, angrily. I narrowed my eyes at her, getting annoyed.
"How easily you forget, Elena. I've always been on his side from the day I first met him when I was a newborn in my past life. You've seen the sketch." I reminded her, and caught Elena's hand when she took a swipe at me. "But I can also choose to remain neutral, when I want to be." I added. "This is not one of those times." Nik grabs onto one of Elena's arms forcefully and starts frog marching her through the school hallways. "Now, I'd cooperate if I were you, Elena. Nik's in a foul mood, and it's down to Stefan's foolish actions." I reported.
Elena's head turns towards me so fast, I could've sworn she'd got whiplash.
"Stefan?! Is he okay? What have you done to him?" She demanded, anxiously. Both Nik and I rolled our eyes.
"He's fine, sweetheart. Nothing that he won't recover from quickly. But let's just focus on you for now, shall we?" Nik responded flatly. Elena attempted to free herself, even going as far to alert somebody else in the area to her predicament, but Nik grabs her chin and holds her mouth shut before she could. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you. Not unless you want to be responsible for unnecessary deaths?" Elena's eyes widened and she immediately shook her head. "Wise move." We continued walking through the hallways, headed in the direction of the gymnasium.
"You put a rather large kink in my plans, sweetheart." Nik tells Elena, who continues scowling at the both of us, and looking unsympathetic. "The whole point of breaking the curse and becoming a hybrid was to make more hybrids. I haven't been able to do that." He tells her, smiling pleasantly, but his eyes were steely and cold. "Now my bet is, it has something to do with the fact that you're still breathing." He theorized.
"If you're going to kill me, just do it!" Elena yelled.
"And still a martyr." I muttered, underneath my breath so that only Nik could hear me. Which he did and he raised an eyebrow at my comment.
"Not until I know I'm right. But I do have ways of making you suffer." He promised, making Elena pale even further as he leads both Elena and I into the gym, where we discover a group of students setting up their pranks and sniggering to themselves. Nik clears his throat and calls out to them with a flawless American accent. "Attention, seniors. You have officially been busted. Prank night is over. Head on home." He stated with a 'don't-argue' tone. Students groan and scatter, however Nik pauses and studies two students nearby. "You two. I remember you." A girl and boy stop and look at Nik with confusion.
"I'm sorry. Who are you?" The girl asks. Nik smiles at her, pleasantly.
"Oh, don't worry, I wasn't in my right head last time we met." Nik explained away his mistake. Then he leans forward to compel the girl. "Lift your foot up, please, Dana." He says. Dana obediently lifts up her leg and holds it in midair. Once she does this, Nik turns to the boy and compels him. "If she drops her foot, Chad, I want you to beat her to death. Understood?" Chad nodded, and Elena looks horrified; while I merely look intrigued by the uses of compulsion. That's not to say that I would be pleased if Dana was beaten to death due to fatigue.
"Don't, Klaus. You don't have to hurt anybody." Elena insisted, and I snorted.
"Oh, honey. Of course he does." I corrected her, before Nik could even open his mouth to respond. Elena looked at me aghast.
"What the hell has happened to you?" She blurted out. I chuckled humorlessly.
"Maybe I've seen the light, and realized that I'm sick and tired of catering the whims of a selfish little girl with a martyr complex, who manipulates the situation to get her own way." I responded, brightly. "Maybe I'm jaded by the world, and being reunited with my long lost love – despite his inflicted flaws – is making it seem that much better. Take your pick." Elena looked horrified.
"Why, thank you, sweetheart. I'm touched." Nik piped up, smiling at me tenderly. Dana grunts and we all look over at her as she struggles to maintain her balance. "Keep it up." He tells her.
"Where's Stefan? What did you do to him?" Elena tried again.
"Stefan's on a time out." Nik responded, matter-of-factly. Suddenly the doors to the gym open, revealing both Bonnie and Matt. They stop dead when they clapped eyes on both Nik and I apparently holding Elena, Dana and Chad hostage. Elena's eyes widened fearfully.
"Bonnie, get out of here!" She urges her, frantically. But before either Bonnie or Matt could react, Nik rushes over to Bonnie and blocks her exit. The little witch glares at him.
"Ah, I was wondering when you'd show up. Now we can get started." Nik announced, brightly. He looks over at a still struggling Dana. "Ah, Dana, why don't you relax? You and Chad sit tight." Dana relaxes and lowers her foot. Chad doesn't attack her, thankfully. Nik returns his attention to a hostile Bonnie. "I assume you're the reason Elena's still walking around alive?" He guessed.
Bonnie's eyes narrowed. "That's right. If you want to blame someone, blame me." She suggested.
Nik smirked.
"Oh, there's no need for blame, love." He reassures her. "Just your witch interference seems to have caused some undesirable side effects. And since you caused the problem, I'm going to have you find the fix." And as if on cue, Rebekah walks into the gym dragging Tyler along with her. I immediately realise what is about to happen, and shake my head exasperatedly.
"Get off of me!" Tyler growls like the werewolf he is. Rebekah isn't fazed by him.
"Hush now." She talks down to him like he was a misbehaving toddler. I attempt to stifle a giggle, as Nik introduces his sister to the frightened group of teenagers.
"I'd like you all to meet my sister, Rebekah." He says, as Rebekah strides up to him. "Word of warning … she can be quite mean." He cautions, still smirking. Rebekah scowls at him in annoyance.
"Don't be an arse." She scolds him, as she throws Tyler at Nik. I sidled up to Rebekah and muttered into her ear.
"Does calling him an arse actually work?" I grinned at her. Rebekah offered a barely noticeable smile back.
"Hasn't so far." She replied. Elena looks beside herself with fear, while Bonnie looks incensed and Matt a mixture of confused and wary. Tyler struggles uselessly in Nik's arms.
"Leave him alone!" Elena begs Nik. He ignores her, focusing upon Bonnie as he continues on with the next step of his plan to figure out why making a hybrid from a werewolf was such a chore.
"I'm going to make this very simple … Every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid, they die during the transition." He explains, grimly.
"It's really freaky." I added. All the teenagers looked horrified by my admission.
"You were there?" Bonnie said, disgusted.
"Just at the end when they all started going rabid. It's not pretty. Blood leaking out of their eyes and everything." I revealed, shuddering at the memory. Nik takes a bite out of his wrist, and force feeds Tyler his blood.
"I need you to find a way to save my hybrids, Bonnie." He pulls his wrist away from Tyler's blood smeared mouth, then grabs him in a half-nelson. "And for Tyler's sake … you better hurry." He suggests as he then promptly twists Tyler's head and snaps his neck like kindling; killing him. I winced; that never fails to make me cringe.
"Ouch…" I muttered, rubbing a phantom pain in my neck empathetically. Rebekah nods in agreement, while the teenagers look at Nik with shock.
"He… he killed him…" Matt stutters with horror. Elena stares at Tyler's lifeless body grimly.
"He's not dead. Klaus' blood will turn him into a vampire." Elena explains to him.
"And if Bonnie's successful, he'll live through his transition." Nik added, smiling proudly and turning towards Bonnie, looking pointedly at her. "Go on, then. Go and fetch your grimoires and enchantments and what-not. I'll hold on to Elena … for safe-keeping." Nik orders, impatiently, and grabs Elena's arm and looks at her. She gives a sign to Bonnie and she leaves with a shocked Matt in tow. Rebekah studies Elena curiously, and doesn't look impressed with what she sees.
"So this is the latest doppelgänger. The original one was prettier." She stated, and I made a face.
"I honestly can't tell the difference. They're all two-faced." I commented. Nik looked at us impatiently.
"Enough, ladies." He insisted. "Rebekah, take the wolf boy elsewhere, would you?" Nik orders his sister, and Rebekah nods curtly and seizes Tyler by the arm and drags him away, leaving Elena alone with Nik and I. Dana and Chad continue standing where they were, still hypnotized from Nik's last compel.
"Just ignore her. Rebekah is a petty little thing." Nik insisted. Elena glowers at me.
"What about your girlfriend?" She spat, hatefully.
"What about me?" I retorted, daring her to reiterate. "Everything I said was true." I insisted. I moved to sit on the bleachers as Nik chuckles. Elena gives up and instead attempts to comfort Dana when Stefan suddenly enters the gym. His expression is unreadable.
"Stefan…" Elena mumbles. He ignores her, focusing mostly on Nik.
"Klaus." He addresses my boyfriend, formally. Nik sizes him up.
"Come to save your damsel, mate?" He asks him, curtly. Stefan shakes his head, and I watched Elena's face drop.
"I came to ask for your forgiveness. And pledge my loyalty." Stefan insisted. Nik frowns at him, not believing him for one second.
"Well, you broke that pledge once already." He reminds Stefan.
"Elena means nothing to me anymore. And whatever you ask of me… I will do." Everybody noticed him hesitate a bit. Nik nodded, seemingly accepting Stefan's apology and shrugged.
"Fair enough. Let's drink on it." Nik points towards Dana and Chad. "Kill them." He orders, and raises an eyebrow when Stefan doesn't immediately start ripping into their necks and draining them down like juice boxes.
"You're wasting your time with him, honey. He's not gonna do it." I told him from my place on the bleaches. Nik looks at me sternly, and for a second I thought that he was going to chew me out for interfering.
"How do you figure?" Nik asked me, half-curious and half-irritated.
"It's my rare sixth sense. As a Medium, I sometimes get these intuitions. Hasn't failed me so far." I explained, feeling a bit apprehensive. To my surprise, Nik merely returns his attention back to Stefan.
"What are you waiting for? Kill them." He orders him, but Elena suddenly calls out to Stefan.
"No! Stefan, don't. He's not going to hurt me. He already said…" Nik backhands Elena, calling her bluff. She falls to the floor, which causes Stefan to launch himself at Nik; fangs out and snarling ferociously. In response, Nik seizes him by throat. The allegiance has been made clear, and Nik was furious. My eyes widened in horror; sometimes I hate being right.
"She means nothing to you, huh?" Nik snarls, angrily. "Your lies just keep piling up." Stefan stares down Nik, defiantly.
"Let her go! I'll do whatever you want, you have my word!" Stefan attempts to bargain with him.
"Your word means nothing. I lived by your word all summer, during which time I never had to resort to this." Nik retorted, and forces Stefan to look him in the eye. Stefan starts to struggle when he realizes Nik's intention. However, this only makes Nik tighten his grip on Stefan's arms. "Stop fighting." He orders him.
"Don't do this, don't do this." Stefan pleaded.
"Don't do what?" Elena demanded from her place on the floor, still looking a little dazed from the strike Nik had dealt her. I hopped down from the bleachers and walked back over to them, sighing unhappily.
"I didn't want to. All I wanted was your allegiance. Now I'm going to have to take it." Nik said. Stefan's eyes widen in fear. "You will do exactly as I say when I say it." Nik orders harshly. "You will not run, you will not hide, you will simply just obey." He added. Immediately, Stefan's eyes glazed over as the compulsion takes effect.
"No. Stefan!" Elena screams. Nik turns Stefan in the direction of both Dana and Chad.
"Now kill them. Ripper." Nik orders, darkly. Stefan vamps out, rushes over to Dana and kills her by drinking her blood; much to Elena's anguish.
I shudder, despite the fact that I should be used to seeing this by now, since I had spent all summer with both him and Nik. I walked over to Nik's side watching the grisly display. Once Dana has been drained of all her blood, Stefan moves on to Chad and repeats the same process. Nik steps behind me and casually wraps his arms around my waist and kissed my temple. He usually did this when he could tell I was uncomfortable or afraid.
"Satisfied now, Nik?" I asked him, slightly disapprovingly. Nik rests his chin on my shoulder.
"Yes. It's always nice to see a vampire in his true element. The species has become such a broody lot." Nik observes.
I shook my head. "Nah, that's just typical Stefan." I responded, causing Elena to snap her head in our direction; glaring at us tearfully.
"No. You did this to him." Elena retorts.
"I invited him to the party, love. He's the one dancing on the tables." Nik insisted, cheerfully. Rebekah chose that opportunity to burst back into the gym, and made a deliberate beeline towards Elena.
"Where is it?!" She screams into her face, causing Elena to take a step back from the enraged blonde female vampire. "Where's my necklace?" She demanded. Nik frowns at her.
"What are you talking about?" He asks. Rebekah brandishes a mobile phone in Nik's face, so he could see the picture.
"She has my necklace." She insists, and I take the phone from Rebekah and enlarge the image.
"Well, well. More lies." Nik observes. Rebekah gets into Elena's face.
"Where… is it?" She hissed. Elena recoils in fear.
"I don't have it anymore." She replied, cautiously.
"You're lying!" Rebekah insisted, and lunged at Elena, biting into her neck causing the doppelgänger to scream. However, before she could do any real damage; Nik steps away from me and stops her, pulling Rebekah aside.
"Knock it off!" He reproaches her, sternly. But Rebekah isn't satisfied with that.
"Make her tell me where it is, Nik!" She yelled. Nik sighed, and looks at Elena.
"Where's the necklace, sweetheart? Be honest." Nik ordered her, firmly. Elena frowns back.
"I'm telling the truth." She insists. "I lost it before the ritual, and I haven't been able to find it since." I groaned, while Nik narrowed his eyes and Rebekah yelled out in frustration.
"Well, that's unfortunate." I commented, knowing this wasn't going to end well for her.
"Agreed. If we had the necklace, it would've made things a whole lot easier for your witch. But since we're doing this the hard way, let's put a clock on it, shall we?" Nik presses a button on a remote, which puts on the clock on the score board. Then he walks over to Stefan and compels him once again. "Twenty minutes. If Bonnie hasn't found a solution by then, I want you to feed again." He instructs Stefan, who nods. "Only this time, I want you to feed on Elena." Elena's eyes widen and so does mine. "You know you want to." He entices the blood-lusting vampire.
"Interesting punishment, Nik." I mumbled, feeling slightly surprised by the way my boyfriend's mind ticked. Nik smiled a little.
"Yes, it is. Isn't it?" He replied, smugly. Elena looked horrified.
"No, Klaus! Don't do this to him!" She pleaded, uselessly. He ignores her.
"No one leaves." He says to both Stefan and Elena, before focusing on Stefan. "If she tries to run, fracture her spine." He instructs Stefan, cruelly. Nik then promptly turns on his heel and strides from the gym; followed closely by Rebekah and me.
Three minutes later, I'm sitting in a classroom with Rebekah, Caroline and a still very dead Tyler. Rebekah checks how much time Elena has left on the phone she had shown Nik the picture of Elena wearing Rebekah's necklace. Suddenly, Tyler wakes up with a gasp. Caroline is almost immediately by her friend's side.
"Where am I? What happened?" He demanded, fearfully.
"Tyler." Caroline exclaimed, concerned and anguished. Rebekah rolled her eyes.
"Don't be shy about it." She orders, bored. Tyler narrows his eyes at her, and by association me.
"What's going on?" He demands, angrily. Caroline answers his question.
"Klaus is turning you into a vampire. A hybrid. You're in transition." She tells him, sorrowfully.
"Don't leave out the hard part, sweets." Rebekah pipes up from where she is perched on the teacher's desk. "You'll only survive if your witch is successful. If not … you're pretty much dead." Rebekah doesn't hesitate to remind them. Caroline ignores her, focusing upon Tyler.
"You're going to be okay. Okay? It's going to be okay." She attempts to reassure him. I checked the timer on Caroline's phone.
"Two minutes left." I deadpanned, earning Caroline's attention. She glowered at me.
"How could you be helping them?" She accused me. I gave her a hard look in response.
"When you find somebody you love with all your heart and soul, lose them, then find them again after searching or waiting for a thousand years; ask me that question again." I instructed her. "But by that time, if it comes; you will probably have your answer, and realise how stupid your question truly is." I stated.
Rebekah takes my hand, and squeezes, causing me to look at her questioningly. I was surprised to see a look of disgust on her lovely face aimed right at Caroline, who seemed lost in thought over what I said.
"Tick tock goes the gym clock." Rebekah taunts them both with the very real possibility that Elena would probably be mauled to death by Stefan, and Tyler will succumb to whatever it was that was preventing Nik from creating his hybrids, should Bonnie not succeed in finding a solution to the problem. I sighed, letting go of Rebekah's hand and walking towards the classroom door.
"I'll be right back." I told Rebekah, who nods absently. Caroline scowls at me, suspiciously.
"Where are you going?" She demanded. I looked at her sharply.
"To use the loo?" I replied. "Anything else you want to know?" I asked her, scathingly.
"Yeah. Why have you suddenly turned into a bitch?" Caroline wanted to know, earning a protective hiss from Rebekah.
"For survival. Getting back your memories from an ancient past life will do that to you." I replied, flippantly. "Ask Rebekah what I mean. She may or may not respond." I suggested. I walked out of the classroom, headed for the nearest bathroom. After I finished with that, I decided to take a leisurely stroll back to the classroom; only to collide with a fleeing Elena in the process. It took a bit for us to detangle ourselves from the floor, but by the time Elena frees herself; Nik arrives, summoned by the loud noise.
"My, my. What do we have here?" He asks, slightly amused. I get to my feet and glared at my boyfriend, unamused.
"Rebekah is right. You are an arse, sometimes." I stated, stopping Elena from making a run for it. Nik rolled his eyes.
"Keyword: 'sometimes'." Nik stresses, and I blink at him with surprise.
"So you're admitting it?" I asked. He narrows his eyes at me.
"No comment." He responds, sternly. I shrugged, and followed Nik as he half-drags, half-leads Elena through the school; in search for Stefan. We eventually find Stefan in the cafeteria trying to impale himself in the stomach with a broken broomstick handle. Nik raises an eyebrow. "Now this is fascinating. I've never seen this before." He admits, sounding reluctantly impressed. "The only thing stronger than your craving for blood is your love for this one girl." He indicates to a tearful Elena. "Why don't you turn it off?" Nik suggests, and both Elena and I widen our eyes in dismay.
"No!" Stefan shouts.
"Nik, is that a good idea?" I asked, wondering why he was resorting to making Stefan switch off his emotions.
"I think it's a brilliant idea, sweetheart. Don't question me." Nik warns me, sternly. I backed off almost immediately, as Nik sits on a nearby table. "Come on. Your humanity is killing you. All the guilt must be exhausting. Turn it off." He orders Stefan.
"No!" Stefan yelled. Elena looks at Stefan helplessly.
"Stefan…" She despaired. Nik frowns at Stefan's stubbornness and walks up to him with a determination on his face.
"You're strong." He observed, yanking the makeshift stake from Stefan's gut. "But you're not that strong. Turn. It. Off." He compels him.
"No!" Stefan once again defies Nik and struggles to keep his switch intact as he shoves the hybrid away. However, Nik proves once again how much stronger he is against the youngest Salvatore, and shoves him against the wall hard, compelling him; yelling in his face.
"TURN IT OFF!" He roars, his blue-green eyes flashing into gold for a split second as he re-inserted his dominance against Stefan. Almost immediately, Stefan's face and personality shifts. I gasped at the aloofness that overcomes Stefan's face as he becomes completely blank.
Oh, shit…
Elena glares at Nik in outrage. "What did you do?" She demanded, and Nik merely looks at her sharply. Not all surprising really, because Elena was primarily the source of all his problems at present. Which meant that only she was to blame for Stefan being forced to switch off his emotions, because he had pissed off one of the strongest vampires in all of history and the world.
"I fixed him." Nik responds harshly. "But I think a test is in order, don't you?" He asks her, rhetorically. He walks around and stops behind her looking at Stefan, raising an eyebrow at him. "Ripper … perhaps you'd like a drink … from the doppelgänger's neck?" Nik suggested, causing Elena's eyes to widen in horror. This time, Stefan didn't hesitate and before our eyes his face changes and he immediately launched himself at Elena, sinking his fangs into her neck. She screams in pain. It wasn't until I caught a glimpse of Elena's blood, that I suddenly had an epiphany, and decided to share it with Nik.
"You know, Nik. I've got a theory about what your problem could be." I called out, grabbing his attention. He wonders over.
"Go on, love." He requests, curiously.
"Remember when I freaked out when I thought that my blood was required to help your hybrids complete transition?" He nods. "Well, what if it's not my blood that's needed? After all, there were two humans who shed blood that night." I pointed out. Nik frowned before he realized what I was getting at.
"That's not a bad idea, sweetheart. Let's test that theory, shall we?" He grinned, kissing my temple in gratitude and leads me over to where Stefan was restraining a struggling Elena, who had betrayed tears streaming down her olive face. "Would you like to do the honours?" He asks me, and I nodded and produced my dagger; shallowly cutting Elena's hand and milking some of her blood into a test tube Nik magically pulls from out of nowhere. Then he escorts me back to the classroom Rebekah was keeping Caroline and a slowly dying Tyler hostage in. Nik threw them all a triumphant grin.
"Well, the verdict's in. The original witch says the doppelgänger should be dead." Both Caroline and Tyler looked horrified while Rebekah gets up from the teachers desk, looking delighted.
"Does that mean we can kill her?" She asked, hopefully. Nik shook his head, making her pout with disappointment.
"No, I'm fairly certain it means the opposite." He explained. The happy grin on Rebekah's face, immediately dropped and she looked outraged.
"What?!" She yelled, before grabbing Caroline and locking her grip on her arms as she pulls her back to her.
Nik shrugged. "Call it a hunch that Grace came up with, and we're just seeing if it's factual." He declared. Nik produces the test tube with Elena's blood and shows it to Tyler, who eyes it warily. Rebekah successfully manages to keep Caroline at bay. "This is Elena's blood. Drink it." He orders Tyler. Caroline's eyes widened with dismay.
"No! No, no, no, Tyler, don't!" She screeches, desperately. Nik rolls his eyes at her.
"If he doesn't feed, he'll die anyway, love. Consider this an experiment. It's okay." Then he proceeds to force feed Tyler Elena's blood. "Good boy." He cooed at him.
Tyler coughs, rolls over the desk he is perched on and falls to the floor, screaming and groaning and writhing. Caroline watches helplessly as he holds his head and screams; while Nik, Rebekah and I watch this, intrigued. Finally, Tyler's face changes, as his eyes turn yellow, and develops fangs and black bruise-like veins form under his eyes. Nik is relieved.
"Woah, I can't believe that worked." I exclaimed, feeling mystified. Nik grinned.
"Well, that's a good sign." He agreed, and pulls me towards him; kissing me deeply. "Thank you, darling." He praises me, and I grinned back, pleasantly surprised and slightly caught off guard.
"Don't mention it." I gasped. Rebekah looked confused by Nik's reaction, while Caroline looked revolted by our public display of affection.
But I don't give a shit.
"Well, let's go harvest some more." He announced, cheerful now that we had finally found the solution to his problem; ironically found within the person who forced Nik to compel Stefan into a more obedient little puppet for his plans. Which reminds me…
"Absolutely. Before Stefan drains the whole supply…" I hinted. Nik's eyes widened a fraction.
"Oh, yes. I nearly forgot. Won't be moment." He said, before vamp speeding back to the cafeteria where he had left both Stefan and Elena. I rolled my eyes at his absent-mindedness with affection before giggling and taking a seat at the nearest desk, feeling like I was walking on air.
"What are you going to do with Elena?" Caroline was strangely curious.
"Take care of her, of course. Nik isn't a complete arsehole, contrary to what people believe." I replied, a little defensively. Rebekah tried to hide a smirk, and failed, which only made the younger blonde vampire and the new Hybrid even more curious and suspicious of our actions. Nik reappeared with Elena in his arms, passed out. There was a grisly looking bite mark on her throat, and no sign of Stefan.
Not sure if that was a good thing or not…
"Let's go, ladies." Nik announced, brightly, adjusting Elena's weight in his arms. Rebekah obediently hops down from the teacher's desk and trots over to him without a backwards glance over to Caroline and Tyler.
"Are you coming, Grace?" Rebekah asks, smiling at me a little. I nodded and got up from the desk I had sat down at and followed her out of the classroom and fell into step beside Nik as we made our way out of the school.
"Wait a minute!" We paused and turned back to see Caroline had followed us out to the corridor, looking alarmed. Both Nik and Rebekah looked annoyed, while I maintained a poker face. "Where are you taking her?" She demanded.
"The hospital of course. The poor girl's been through a terrible ordeal." Nik responded, like it should've been obvious.
Caroline scoffed. "Yeah, no thanks to you." She spat. Nik shrugged before he turned and continuing walking. But I caught the devilish smirk on his face that spoke volumes.
Rebekah and I waited outside the hospital, while Nik admitted Elena to take care of her wounds … and then some.
"So the doppelgänger isn't the problem. Her blood is the solution." Rebekah observed casually, leaning against my car next to me.
"Seems so." I agreed, sitting on the hood. One of Nik's minions drove it back to Mystic Falls for me when we made our plans to leave Chicago, while I travelled in the truck with him and Rebekah. She frowned at me curiously.
"How did you know?" She wondered.
"Well, you know how much the original witch hated me." Nik answered her before I could as he strode out of the hospital, a superior smirk on his face. "Do you honestly think I would do anything other than the opposite of what she says?" He asked her, wrapping an arm around my waist.
Rebekah rolled her eyes.
"A thousand years in the grave and she's still screwing with you." She commented, dryly. I made a face; Nik wasn't the only person Esther was manipulating recently.
"Well, it makes sense if you think about it from her perspective. It was her fail-safe in case I ever broke the hybrid curse." Nik pointed out, logically. "The doppelgänger had to die in order for me to become a hybrid, but if she was dead…"
"Then you couldn't use her blood to sire yourself a new species." Rebekah concluded.
"Leaving me alone for all time." Nik added, making a sour face. I nudged him lightly in the ribs as I hopped down from the hood of the car.
"And what am I exactly? Chopped liver?" I demanded, playfully. Nik smiled and pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around me. Rebekah frowned at him.
"Is that what this is about? Your obsession with Hybrids? You just don't want to be alone?" She sounded a little offended by the idea. Nik huffed impatiently, squeezing me tight and kissing the crown of my head.
"What I want to is to take my girl, the doppelgänger, take my hybrid, and get the hell out of this one-pony town." He told Rebekah, who deepened her frown. "You know, why don't you, uh, why don't you get the truck? I'll get Elena." He suggested. Rebekah walks away, and Nik leads me towards the driver's seat of my car. "Why don't you go home? I'll come by and pick you up on my way out of town, huh?" He said. I nodded, but before I got into the car; I reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew his phone, much to Nik's confusion. There was something that I had been meaning to do for a while, but it kept slipping my mind.
"Before I forget again…" I muttered, and accessed his contacts. I added my name and phone number, then pranked myself. This entire act gave me a wicked case of de-ja-vu, as I did almost the same thing with Elijah a few months ago. Nik smiled warmly and kissed my forehead.
"I'll see you later, love." He promises me, before I get into the car and drove back to the town's square. However, when I finally got to my apartment and was about to walk through the threshold, my phone buzzed with a new phone call. I immediately answered.
"Hello?" I answered, curiously.
"There's been a slight change in plans, love." It was Nik and he sounded very anxious. "I'm afraid, I'm going have to leave you behind in Mystic Falls; at least for now while I search for more hybrids." He explained his abrupt changes. I frowned, concerned.
"What's going on, Nik? Are you alright?" I asked, wanting to help in any way that I could, that I haven't been doing already. I heard Nik's half-hearted chuckle down the line.
"It seems that there is a rumour that Mikael has been discovered." Nik responded, sounding a little bit distracted. My eyes widened in shock.
"What?! That's bollocks, who would start such a bloody stupid rumour?" I demanded, angry.
"I'm only going by what your friend, Damon has told me." Nik responded, bluntly. I froze.
"Damon? How would he know about Mikael, apart from what I told him about his involvement in my death?" I asked, confused. Nik huffed in frustration.
"Enquiring minds want to know, darling. But for now, I can't take you with me." He replied, firmly.
"But I want to help!" I protested, stubbornly.
"And I don't want you to be killed again! I've searched too long to find you again, and I'm not in the mood or have any inclination to have history repeat itself! You're staying in Mystic Falls, end of discussion!" Nik growled at me, his voice breaking slightly at the end of his rant. I fell silent. Being killed was the very last thing that I wanted either. But I saw his point: if Mikael was truly active once again, then we were all screwed.
"Fine. I'll stay here." I said, reluctantly. "But you better come back, Nik. Understand!?" I ordered him. Believe it or not, I was probably the only person who could order him around. I used to joke that it gave me practice for when we finally got married.
"Of course I'm coming back, baby. I've left my precious cargo here. I need to make sure that it's safe." Nik teased me, tenderly. I laughed. "You be a good girl, and I'll see you soon. I love you, so much." He reminded me.
"Always and forever, right?" I responded, practically melting into the phone.
"Right. See you, sweetheart." Then Nik hung up, and I smiled down at my phone before replacing it back into my pocket and stepping into my apartment. However, there was something that was nagging at me about what Nik said that involved Damon; and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.
I followed the familiar route I had created for myself towards the Salvatore Boarding House. When I got there, I let myself in and followed the voices I could hear from somewhere deep inside the house. I found Damon in the parlour attending to Elena who still looked rather weakened from the amount of blood Stefan had drunk from her, and from what Nik had a compelled nurse extract from her back at the hospital. I paused, leaning with my back against the wall beside the entrance to the parlour, and waited for a lull in their conversation before I could surprise Damon with my reappearance. The sound of clinking glasses indicated to me that Damon had just fixed himself a drink.
"Hey, have some bourbon. It'll help you forget." I raised an eyebrow. Giving alcohol to a blood loss victim? Perhaps not the wisest move? There was silence for a few moments before Damon gave a slight chuckle. "Yeah, it's strong." He explained to Elena, who must've made a face at the strong, sweet taste of the drink she was sipping at. "You know I can help you forget, too. At least the memories you don't want to keep." He offered.
"No. No compulsion. I need to remember. All of it." Elena rejected the offer. I made the risky decision to look slightly round the corner to see what was going on and saw Damon holding up Rebekah's necklace. My eyes narrowed; he had that bloody thing this whole time? Boy, I didn't want to be him when Rebekah finds out.
"I found this." He announced, earning a stunned look from Elena who takes it and stares at it as tears formed in her eyes.
"He's really gone this time. I watched it happen. After everything that we went through to get … to help him. Now he's just gone." She sobbed. I rolled my eyes. This time I really needed to step in.
"I wouldn't call it gone, exactly." Both their heads snapped in my direction as I swaggered into the room and perched near the fireplace where Damon was standing and staring into the flames. "His emotions just took a (hopefully) temporary vacation." I stated, matter-of-factly. Elena glared at me from her mountain of pillows on one of the Salvatore's red couches.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She demanded.
"Keeping a promise." I responded, and turned to a relieved but wary looking Damon who walked towards me slowly. "Hey Damon. Good to see you again." I told him, and found myself being smothered in Damon's arms as he hugged me tight.
"Are you alright?" Damon asked me urgently, cupping both my cheeks with his hands. I shrugged and grinned at him.
"Slightly scarred by what I've seen this summer, but I'll live." I admitted. "Although, we will have to watch our backs for a while." I warned. And for good reason, as another sarcastic voice rang out.
"Well, isn't this cozy?" The voice drawled. I groaned and turned to face Stefan who had arrived and was currently leaning against a pillar at the edge of the room. Damon narrowed his eyes and started subtly edging me behind him for protection; something that Stefan noticed. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He warned.
"What are you doing here, brother?" Damon asked. I pulled away from Damon and walked over to sit on the couch opposite Elena's.
"Probably doing Nik's bidding, I suspect." I guessed, earning an evil smirk from Stefan for my efforts. Damon looked at me, horrified, as Stefan wonders over to the drink table and helps himself to a bourbon.
"Nobody asked you, did they Grace?" Stefan retorted, and I shrugged in response.
"Nice to see you again too, Stefan." I interpreted his snarky reply. He ignored me.
"And last I checked, I live here." Stefan responds to Damon. "Klaus is gone—"
"Temporarily." I reminded him, earning a glare from Stefan.
"But he's asked me to keep watch on both Elena and Grace until he returns." Stefan reported, using a bored tone. "From now on, you're under my protection." I made an angry face at this.
"Wow… just what I've always wanted: a bodyguard." I deadpanned. "You're so dead when you come back here, Nik…" I muttered, underneath my breath. Stefan once again ignores my rant, and salutes both Damon and Elena with his glass and takes a sip.
"Carry on." Stefan orders and walks from the room, leaving Damon and Elena to look after him in disbelief. I huffed in frustration and pulled out my phone to text Nik.
'A bodyguard? Really? I can take care of myself, Nik. This is so not necessary.' – G :(
Nik responded almost immediately.
'Tough luck, love. I expect to see you (and Elena) in pristine condition when I return. Just deal with it.' – N :)
"Motherf—" I grumbled, attracting Damon's attention as he raised an eyebrow at me in question. I ignored him.
'I really hate you right now.' – G.
I stabbed at the send button, and nearly threw my phone across the room when he instantaneously responded.
'I love you too.' – N. xx
I glanced up at Damon. "May I stay here tonight, on your sofa?" I asked, annoyed. He frowned at me.
"Yeah, of course. Why?" He asked, curiously. I got to my feet and stormed over to the drink table, plucking a glass from the holder.
"Because I'm going to drink, until I pass out." I responded, crabbily. Damon glanced down at his own drink, then towards the direction his brother walked off in and threw it back.
"I think I'll join you. And you're going to stay in my room tonight." He stated, obviously not accepting 'no' for an answer. Or at least, I expected a 'no'.
"What's wrong with the sofa?" I demanded, suspiciously. Damon just looked at me.
"Stefan with his switch turned off, means that you as a human will be easy pickings. And not even the fact that Klaus will rip him limb from limb if he so much as touches you, or the fact that he was compelled to protect you and Elena will stop him." Damon explained, logically.
Elena paled and immediately got up from the sofa.
"I think I'd better get home." She suggested. Damon nodded in agreement.
"I think that's a great idea." He said. "Go and make yourself comfortable upstairs; you look dead on your feet." He told me, seriously. I made a face.
"Charming." I drawled, and headed for the staircase. I ditched my shoes and purse on and next to a bedside table the very second I reached the right side of Damon's massive bed, and pulled aside the duvet to crawl between them. The very second my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light; sinking into plushy heaven.
I was rudely woken up by the sound of obnoxious rock music blasting from speakers downstairs. I groaned, and sat up dislodging Damon's arm where it had draped across my waist and pulled on my boots, and slung my purse over my shoulder; as I planned to head home after a quick cuppa tea. As I headed down the corridor to seek my caffeine charge, I let out a loud yawn and paused just as I was about to walk downstairs when I heard giggling.
What the hell?
I descended the staircase and when I turned the corner; an extremely unusual sight greeted me. For starters, there were two dead girls at the foot of the stairs. And just beyond them in the parlour was Stefan, lounging casually on an armchair surrounding by bikini clad girls around my age or slightly younger, his shirt half-buttoned, and he was alternating between drinking from a glass of bourbon and sipping contentedly on the wrists of the girls dancing around him and playing a literally bloody game of twister.
I rolled my eyes.
"Damon!" I shouted to be heard over the obnoxious rock music. "Get your arse down here!" I ordered, firmly, as I pulled out my phone and snapped a photo of the carnage in front of me.
'You've created a monster, Nik…' – G. I texted my boyfriend and sent him the photo, before slipping my phone into my pocket about two seconds before Damon is standing beside me looking alert and looking for the danger. I merely pointed towards his brother, looking bored and unimpressed. "Tell me, Damon, did you and Stefan switch personalities while I was passed out last night?" I asked, dryly.
Damon scoffed, mildly offended by the assumption. "Please. He wishes he was that awesome." He muttered, and I stepped over the dead girls, being careful not to slip over on their slick blood and headed for the kitchen. But was intercepted by Stefan.
"Hey, the two brunettes on the staircase owe me a Persian rug." Damon attempted to distract his brother so I could make a bid for freedom towards the kitchen. But Stefan wrapped a hand around my upper bicep before I could take a single step. His grip was not gentle.
"You mean, they owe us a Persian rug? It's my house, too, brother." Stefan reminded him.
"Technically. Elena and I own this house, so you both owe us a new Persian rug." I corrected them both. Damon grins and steps forward.
"Actually, since Elena died during the ritual; this house belongs to you upon her death." Damon looked positively triumphant and gleeful. I brightened up considerably.
"Oh? Well, you learn something new every day." I mused, then scowled at Stefan who was yet to let go of my arm. "Hands off the merchandise, bub!" I growled. Stefan sneered, but released my arm nevertheless; just as my phone buzzed, indicating that I had a new text message:
'This is nothing to worry about love, this is just the Ripper in action.' – N.
Was that supposed to be reassuring? My phone buzzes again.
'Fancy a game when I return?' – N ;)
I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help the small smile that spread across my face at the idea.
'Make the 'bloody' part optional, and we're in business.' – G.
"Ooh! Would you both like a spin?" Stefan holds up the Twister spinner, and smirks at both Damon and me. I pretended to think about my answer as I tucked away my phone again.
"Tempting. But, no." I decline his invitation. Damon seemed to be thinking along the same lines as I did.
"So this is what Klaus had in mind when he compelled you to protect Grace and Elena?" He asked his brother, skeptically, gesturing around at the compelled sorority girls. Stefan shrugged.
"These ladies are helping me be all that I can be." He said, dismissively. I sighed, and turned to finally head for the kitchen for my tea. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Damon goes to answer it.
"Uh, Grace. I think it's for you." Damon calls out to me and I snarl with frustration.
"Who the bloody hell is it now?" I yell back and stomp my way over to the front door, stopping in my tracks when I see a surprised looking Rebekah standing there loaded down with more shopping bags than I can count. "Bekah? What brings you here?" I asked, happy to see her, but also confused as hell. Rebekah pouted at me, ignoring an attracted Damon entirely.
"He left me here. My brother actually left me here." She whines and I shook my head at Nik's actions.
"Figures." I muttered. "Come on in, Bekah." I invited her in. My sister grins at me, happily, and dumps her purchases on the door step and flings herself into my arms.
"I am so glad you're back." She mutters into my shoulder. I hugged her back. "Where's Stefan?" Rebekah asks me when she pulled back and glanced over my shoulder.
"Engaging in 'gourmet' delights in the parlour." I replied, flippantly. Rebekah heads deeper into the house, and Damon pulls me aside.
"That's your sister?" I nodded. "She's even better looking in person." He observed, drawing Rebekah's attention.
"Do I know you? Because it appears that you know me somehow?" She blinks at Damon owlishly. I fielded the question.
"Damon saw you when I let him into my memories, like I did with Stefan." I explained, pulling her purchases into the house and leaving them beside the front door. She frowned.
"Which memory?"
"When Nik carried Henrik back to the village the morning after he had been mauled by a werewolf." I replied. "Damon wanted to understand why Elijah had been so angry with me after I had gotten bitten by a werewolf."
"Damon Salvatore." He introduced himself to her, taking her hand in his and kissing her knuckles. I rolled my eyes at his flirty smirk as Rebekah sized Damon up, before giving him a tight smile.
"Pleasure, I'm sure." She responded, before taking back her and glancing about the Boarding House. "So, which one's my room?" She asked, brusquely.
"You're not staying here." Stefan tells her, rudely.
"That's right." I agreed with him and Rebekah looks offended. "You're staying at my apartment with me. You'll be comfortable, I'm sure." I promised her. Rebekah relaxed and smiled. "C'mon, let's put your stuff in the trunk of my car. I was on my way home anyway." I picked up half of Rebekah's shopping bags and Rebekah the other half and started out the door. However, Stefan stepped into my path. "May I get by?" I asked, pointedly.
"You're not going anywhere. Klaus said I needed to protect you while he's out of town." He reminded me. I nodded at him condescendingly.
"And you're doing a bang up job, Stef." I complimented him sarcastically. "However, I'm going back to my apartment; where very few vampires have invitations in there, by choice. Plus, I can defend myself and if that falls short; Rebekah can back me up." I thumbed over my shoulder at an impatient looking Rebekah who was eying Stefan with annoyance. "So make a hole." I demanded.
Stefan smirked.
"Fine. Be it on your head." He warned me, as he stepped aside.
I realised that there was no point in trying to bitch slap Stefan at this point. One) because he doesn't give a shit at the moment. Two) I'm more likely to break my own hand on his face, than do any real damage. And three) he's more likely to kill me before I could make any move. Plus side, if Stefan attempted to kill me; Rebekah could overpower him, but I would rather it didn't come to that.
Rebekah throws Stefan a dirty look.
"I think I can handle my brother, Stefan. On your way." She dismisses him, and Stefan shrugged and walked back into the Boarding House. Damon walked over to me with a concerned look on his handsome face.
"You sure you'll be alright, Grace?" He asked me.
"Absolutely. I think I might do an old-fashioned girls night in tonight with Rebekah. Something to really introduce her to the 21st century, since she's not exactly impressed with it right now." I told him, grinning brightly. Damon looked bemused but begrudgingly accepted it.
"Girls night in? What the hell is that?" Rebekah frowned at me curiously as we both got into my car. I smiled and turned the ignition.
"Don't worry, Bekah. I'm positive that you will enjoy it." I reassured her as I slipped on my aviator sunglasses. "Welcome to the 21st century, sister." I said.
A/N: Grace has a new roommate! Let's see how this turns out!
TTFN xx