UPDATE (27/11/2021): To any new readers, please disregard this message.
To current readers who are confused: I had decided to scrap the 'Lost Boys' idea I had for this story, because I felt that it wasn't going anywhere … so this is the new chapter 71. It will basically be the same as the chapter I deleted, but with some new additions in it, just in case you read this and think 'I'm having déjà-vu…'. Thank you for your patience and understanding, and I hope you enjoy the replacement chapter.
Cheers! 😘
I do not own The Vampire Diaries. That is the property of author L.J Smith. I do own however, my OC Grace and this story.
It was brought to my attention by a helpful reviewer (Sciave) that he or she felt Damon was indecisive when it came to choosing sides and thus appears as a traitor. I felt so too, but I'm not changing the previous chapter to fix this. So instead, I'll fix it in this chapter. So thanks, Sciave! If you are reading this, your constructive criticism was most appreciative! :D
Please review and no flaming for the hell of it.
CONSEQUENCES
"I can't go on, let you lose it all. It's more than I can take. Who'll ease you pain? Ease your pain."
~Alter Bridge: 'Watch Over You' (Blackbird [2007])
Storage Units
Night
(Damon P.O.V)
Welp, that's it.
End of the line.
Klaus is dead, and in about an hour or so; Katherine, Stefan, Caroline, Tyler, Abby and I will be too. Fan-fucking-tastic. From what Stef told me about what happened to Sage after they killed off her suicidal, mama's boy boyfriend, our deaths were not gonna be pretty. So not how I thought I was gonna go; but then again, I suppose this second death is probably gonna be worse than my first one. Getting shot in the back and bleeding out wasn't exactly a riot, but I'd take it over vomiting and leaking blood from my nose, and suffering a seizure until I snuffed it.
I glanced over at the old sofa where I had lain Grace after she passed out from grief. She looked peaceful, but looks could be deceiving. I took a seat against the doorframe and pulled free my phone. Time to call Stefan; say our last goodbyes.
"Damon." Stefan picked up on the first ring, and I grimaced trying to think of a graceful way of braking to him that we were all screwed.
Fuck it, I'll just dive right in.
"Bad news, brother. Alaric staked Klaus. He's dead." I said bluntly, glancing over at Grace as I reported this, and felt guilty. Not for the first time, I didn't like the feeling and mostly resented her for it. Things were so much easier when I only depended and focused on myself instead of others.
"I feel okay, do you feel anything?" Stefan responded after a few minutes, and I felt hope. Maybe Klaus was talking bullshit that he was the originator of our bloodline.
"No."
"It took Sage about an hour before she got sick." Stefan felt the need to remind me, and I rolled my eyes. Yeah, don't remind me…
"Or Klaus was lying about being the sire of our bloodline." I pointed out dryly. But odds are, the bastard was not bluffing. I glared resentfully at the closed casket that contained that smug asshole, that I shoved back in here for safe keeping with Grace and me.
"Well, if he wasn't lying, an hour is not enough time to get you all the way back to Mystic Falls." Stefan pointed out the obvious.
"For us to have our epic goodbye, Stefan?" I mocked half-sarcastically, half-seriously.
"Not us, brother. You and Elena." Stefan reminded me, and I scoffed.
"What about Elena? She's all yours, bro." I retorted. "Guess you'll just have to say goodbye for the both of us, won't you?" I pointed out, snidely. "Call me if you cough up a lung." I hung up and shoved my phone back in my pocket just as Grace suddenly stirred.
(Grace P.O.V)
"Call me if you cough up a lung." I heard Damon's voice say as though from faraway, and I frowned in confusion. I was lying on something that smelt musky and old, kind of like moth balls, but also soft and extremely comfortable. I sat up and Damon glanced in my direction looking defeated and solemn. He immediately blurs to my side, crouches down in front of me.
"Hey baby girl, how you feeling?" Damon asks me, gently smoothing back my hair behind my ear. It didn't really register with me where we were, until I spotted the silver coffin idling nearby, and it all came rushing back.
"Did I dream it?" I asked quietly, feeling vulnerable and avoiding eye contact. Damon turned towards the coffin and openly winced before responding.
"No, you didn't. He's gone … unfortunately." He said, and I swiveled round on the sofa, and put my face into my hands, relaxing a little when I felt Damon's hand rubbing my back in a gesture of comfort.
"What are we gonna do now?" I whispered, hoarsely. Damon's hand stopped and pulled back, causing me to look up at him in confusion. "What?" I asked, and watched my friend reach into his jacket pocket for something. I frowned when he placed the car keys to his beloved Camaro into my hand and curled my fingers around them. I hated the feeling of finality that gesture gave me when he did this. "You're giving me your car keys? Why?" I demanded, becoming serious.
"I won't need them." Damon explained, sadly.
"So how will you get home then?" I asked, not getting it. Damon let out a patient sigh.
"In an hour, you'll understand." Damon explained cryptically before taking a seat beside me on the old sofa and slumping in an almost exhausted way.
"An hour?" I parroted, then took another glance at the coffin and back at Damon who had closed his eyes tiredly, trying to work it out. Then I thought back to the first thing I heard Damon saying to someone on the phone, and my eyes widened in horror.
"Call me if you cough up a lung." And it hit me like a ton of bricks.
I am such an idiot.
Immediately, I clambered onto a startled Damon's lap and hugged him around the neck like my life depended on it.
"Oh, God! I can't lose you too!" I mumbled into Damon's shirt and felt him wrap his arms around my waist, kissing my temple soothingly and gently rocking us from side to side.
"Shhh … I'm afraid neither of us can prevent this, sweetheart." Damon pointed out. "But know that I'll be watching over you and Rebekah on the Other Side." He promised, and I let out a croaky chuckle as tears started leaking from my eyes once again.
"I'll stay with you until the last minute." I promised, and I heard Damon chuckle affectionately.
"Nice to know that those tears are actually being shed just for me. Does wonders for the ego." He joked and I rolled my eyes at Damon's strange sense of humour. A few minutes later, both Damon and I had just about dozed off when his phone suddenly starts ringing in his pocket.
"Who the hell is that?" I mumbled grumpily as Damon groped around his pocket to silence the bloody thing. He tugs it free and glances at caller ID. "Who is it?" I asked, sitting up a little when I noticed the astonished expression on his face.
"Elena." He mumbled, accepting the call and easily sliding into his sarcastic persona. "Let me guess. Calling to see if the Grim Reaper's paid a visit?" Damon answered the phone call, and I slide off Damon's lap and grit my teeth, glaring holes into the walls. Was there not a single moment that I could have that she has to intrude and ruin everything? Damon places his hand back on my back, and starts rubbing it soothingly.
"How are you feeling? Are there any symptoms?" I heard Elena's raspy voice and I glance at Damon questioningly, wondering why their conversation was on loudspeaker. He shrugged at me.
"Not yet," He said. "But I'm sure we'll have a laugh when we find out that Klaus is a big, fat liar." Damon added, and I scowl at him, unamused. We both raise an eyebrow when we hear Elena's rather forced laugh.
"Yeah, I'm – I'm sure we will." She responded.
"Is that it? Because you're kinda encroaching on my final hours with Grace right about now." Damon pointed out, and I looked at him, appalled, because even that was a bit rude despite our mutual dislike of the girl.
"Grace? What the hell is she doing down there with you?" She demanded, sounding a little annoyed.
"You're seriously asking that question?" Damon replied, flatly. "She came down with Rebekah to make an attempt to rescue Klaus, duh." He explained.
"And you didn't try to stop them?" Elena accused, and I felt Damon bristle in anger.
"Okay. The whole point of sending Alaric on a wild goose chase, and coming down here to head him off was so we could save Klaus; so we could prevent your precious Stefan, not to mention yours truly from joining him." Damon retorted, snidely. "Ipso facto; we failed."
"But you don't even like Klaus. Why would you side with him? He killed me, and turned Jenna into a vampire, remember?" Elena yelled, sounding furious.
"All valid points." Damon conceded.
"So why then?" Elena demanded.
"Primarily, because of Grace." I sat up and looked at Damon in surprise. He locked his baby blues onto my dark brown ones, and smiled sincerely as he continued his explanation to Elena. "Because she's my best friend. She's not an out and out bitch unless she needs to be, and she's not judgey." Damon replied, matter of fact. I smiled at him, touched by the honesty and sincerity, which was rare in Damon's case, considering the person he was. "She was the first person to accept me for who I am, and didn't try to change me, and called me out on my bullshit, which if you recall was a lot."
Footsteps approaching us caused Damon and I to look over and we both froze in horror when Alaric came into view.
He looked pissed.
"Hang up, Damon." I suggested urgently, as I hopped up off the sofa and got to my feet, stepping around to use the sofa as a barrier between myself and Alaric. Damon nodded in agreement and slowly stood up as well, not taking his eyes off Alaric.
"Well, it was nice talkin' with you, Elena. See ya real soon. Goodbye." He hung up before Elena could respond, and immediately addressed Alaric. "I see you're still pissed. I take it my girlfriend gave you the slip." Damon guessed, rhetorically. Alaric didn't respond, choosing instead to rush towards him and belted him in the face.
"Damon!" I screamed, then gulped when Alaric turned his attention on me. I frowned defiantly and slowly reached for my machete, despite knowing that I'd have a slim to no chance of getting away from our former friend.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Alaric warned me, threateningly. "I can break your arm in seconds before you could even draw that weapon." He stated, and I stopped going for my weapon. Next thing I knew, a black blur rugby tackles Alaric out of the way.
"Touch her, and you're finished, pal." Damon warns protectively, and in the next few minutes becomes a human punching bag, while I stand off to the side behind the sofa feeling both helpless and useless, which I really hate. I felt every blow that Alaric laid on poor Damon and pretty soon, blood was running down my best friend's face. Alaric throws Damon to the ground, and I panicked when he just stays there.
"Oh, shit…" I fretted through clenched teeth, worried about him. Alaric looks down at Damon with disgust.
"You're not gonna fight back?" He taunts him, and Damon turns his head and spits a glob of blood from his mouth onto the ground.
"You're kind of invincible, Ric." Damon pointed out, and Alaric glares at him.
"Don't call me that." He spits, kicking him in the face. "We're not friends." Damon coughs and groans in pain as he struggles to get to his feet.
"We were."
"Well, our friendship was part of the problem." Alaric stated, cruelly. "It's what kept me weak. It's also why it took so long for the real me to break through." He walks over to Damon, who eyes him warily. "And now, I'm gonna break you." Alaric once again decks Damon in the face and knocks him backwards.
"Stop it! Leave him alone!" I yelled, feeling both anxious and furious. Alaric momentarily turns his attention away from Damon and focuses on me. His brown eyes promising me a world of pain that made me shudder in fear.
"Stay out of this. Once I've dealt with him, you're next." He promises me and Damon immediately staggers to his feet.
"Over my dead body." He states darkly, wheezing a little from the powerful blows Alaric had been dealing him. Alaric shrugs, unfazed by the hidden warning in Damon's tone, before advancing on him and knocking him to the ground once more. I silently hoped that Damon would stay down this time. "Is that all you got?" Damon challenged him, and I wanted to groan in frustration.
Don't egg on the psycho killer, Damon! I mentally yelled at him, as Alaric smirked maliciously.
"Not quite." He replies, and I decide enough is enough.
"Fuck this!" I growl, and tug free my machete from the confines of Nik's jacket and advanced towards the duo to lend Damon some assistance. I was done with the standing on the sidelines thing.
"No, Grace! Get back!" Damon urged frantically, but I ignored him and ducked a kick that Alaric aimed at me. I returned the move and kicked him in the chest, swearing when it felt like kicking a brick wall. I tried again and this time Alaric caught my leg, and I felt like a deer caught-in-headlights, staring at him with wide eyes.
"Shit…" I muttered.
He threw me to the ground and I landed hard with a pained grunt, thankfully not breaking anything like before, just as Damon steals back Alaric's attention and whales on him before he could hurt me. Damon manages to grab Alaric's wrist, causing the stake to fall out of his hand and clatter on the concrete floor.
Alaric suddenly frowns, "What's happening?"
Damon and I looked at him in confusion before it dawned on Damon what must have happened.
"Oh no." He exclaimed.
"What's happening!?" Alaric demands again, falling to his knees. Damon and I scramble to his side, with Damon catching him and cradling him in his arms.
"Oh, God." I cried out in horror, then looked at Damon in panic. "I think he's dying!" I guessed. We watched as Alaric starts to desiccate, much like Nik. Only this time, we knew that there was no chance that he could be revived. Tears start to form in Damon's eyes and he shakes Alaric's body as he finally dies.
"No. No, no, no, no. Ric, Ric! You are not dead. You are not dead!" Damon pleaded, in denial. I sit back on my heels, lowering my head in defeat as Damon breaks down crying, and to be honest, I wasn't much better myself. My phone suddenly vibrates and I pull it impatiently out of my pocket and glance down at caller ID.
"Not a good time, Jeremy." I bit out, debating whether I should comfort Damon or not; since I knew he didn't take kindly to being comforted, because it meant that he was vulnerable.
"What do you mean it's not a good time!? I just saw Alaric standing in my hallway." Jeremy sounded a bit hysterical, and I almost dropped my phone out of shock. Damon's head shot up, having obviously overheard Jeremy on my phone. I bit my bottom lip, unsure how to deal with this delicately.
"Jeremy, um—"
"But that shouldn't be possible, because last I heard he was hunting down Klaus." Jeremy now sounded accusing and I winced openly.
"What exactly happened when you saw him?" I asked him, cautiously.
"He said that he was there to say goodbye, and that he'd always be there to take care of me. That he promised that I wouldn't be alone." Jeremy's voice wobbled, which meant that he was close to tears.
"Jeremy, Alaric's—"
"A ghost? Yeah, kinda worked that part out for myself. Which means, something's happened to Elena." Jeremy's voice was small, making him sound younger than he really was. "What the hell happened?" He demanded. I glanced at Damon, who had gently laid Alaric's body on the ground and gotten to his feet, looking determined.
"I dunno." I admitted, truthfully. "But Damon and I are gonna find out." I promised. "Just hang in there." I instructed the grief-stricken teen gently before hanging up.
"C'mon!" I grunted at Damon, as I walked back over to Nik's coffin and started pushing and heaving the damn thing back outside the roller doors. Damon looked at me, like I was crazy.
"And you're doing that because…?" He queried, coming over to my side and laying a hand on the closed lid, but not helping me to shift it. I gave him a hard glare.
"You think I'm just gonna leave Nik's body here for some random vamp or somebody with a grudge to find him?" I answered, panting a little from exertion. "It's only fair that his brothers and sister have the right to bury him properly." I added. Damon rolled his eyes, but nevertheless helped me.
"So, we're taking him back to the mansion?" He stated.
"Yep. Now enough with the questions and help me. This thing is heavy." I grunted.
"Okay, okay. Don't get your panties in a twist." Damon snarked as we once again pushed, pulled and wrestled Nik's coffin through the warehouse and outside to Rebekah's abandoned truck which was still idling outside. It then dawned on me after we finished sliding the coffin into the back of the truck that my sister still had the keys.
"Damn!" I cursed.
"What's wrong now?" Damon groaned.
"Bekah's got the keys." I explained, frustrated. "I don't know how to hotwire…" I trailed off when Damon smoothly brushed past me with a roll of his eyes and wrenched open the driver's side door.
"Let me." I watched him incredulously as he expertly cracked open the ignition and folded together some wires. Damon stepped back and gestured impatiently for me to get into the truck.
"I don't know why I'm surprised that you know how to do that." I commented, and Damon shrugged carelessly.
"You're welcome." He drawled, heading over to his Camaro. "I'll meet you at the hospital." Damon instructs me and tears out of the place before I could say another word. I scowled at the fading red taillights before getting in and shutting the door firmly.
"This night just keeps getting better and better. Wish I could trade it in for a new one." I muttered resentfully, before peeling out of the place, wanting to put as much distance between this storage unit and myself as possible.
It brought back too many painful memories.
Mikaelson Mansion
Night
I had just pulled up to the mansion gates, when Rebekah and Elijah suddenly blurred up from out of nowhere, looking at me in a bewilderment.
"Grace? What are you doing here in my truck?" Rebekah asked after opening the driver's side door and frowning at me. "Did Damon abandon you at the storage units?" She demanded looking annoyed. I jumped down from the seat and strode determinedly towards the back.
"Not at all." I replied flatly. "I think he was a bit preoccupied with the knowledge that he was gonna die shortly after Alaric staked Nik." Both Elijah and Rebekah flinched, and I almost felt bad for reminding them. "Which by the way, his untimely demise hasn't happened yet." I unlocked the double doors and swung them open, revealing Nik's coffin. I hopped onto the truck bed and stood reverently beside it with my hand on top of the lid. "So either Nik was lying about being the originator of that bloodline, or something or somebody has seriously screwed up."
Elijah and Rebekah joined me inside the truck, staring sadly at the coffin that held their brother within.
"Well, at least you managed to bring Niklaus back." Elijah said. I reached for the latch holding the lid closed and released it, pushing it open and revealing Nik's very badly burnt body. The pain and loss immediately came rushing back at the sight, but I stubbornly forced it back down. Both Rebekah and Elijah came to stand beside and behind me, casting their sad eyes down on Nik as well.
"It was the right thing to do." I stated simply. "I'm so sorry, Nik." I whispered, before leaning down and kissing him on the forehead. I took a step back from the coffin and moved to the entrance. "I'll leave you to it. I need to investigate something at the hospital." I reported and Elijah frowned at me.
"Investigate what?" He asked, as I noticed Rebekah suddenly stiffen at the mention of the hospital. But I chose not to comment.
"While Damon and I were waiting for him to die, Alaric unexpectedly paid us a visit after failing to track down and take down Rebekah." I explained, hopping down from the truck and followed swiftly by Elijah. Rebekah didn't follow. "He started beating up Damon, and just as he was about to finish him off, he started shaking like he was having a fit. A few minutes later he was dead." I said, feeling just as perplexed as I did when I first witnessed the freaky phenomena.
"How unfortunate." Elijah stated, gravely.
"Quite." I agreed, still eying Rebekah suspiciously. "But it also means that something has happened to Elena, which is what Damon and I need to confirm." I told Elijah who looked surprised by this.
"How do you know Miss Gilbert is involved?" He demanded, looking alert.
"Nik figured it out when he decided to drain her of ALL her blood." I replied, causing Elijah to scowl in disapproval of his brother's actions. "Plus, Elena kinda told us this herself, when she tried to slit her own throat back at the high school." I added.
Elijah nodded stiffly, looking over it all.
"You'd better get going if you're going to get to the hospital for your investigation." Elijah reminded me and I nodded, and headed towards the mansion to retrieve my car and head off to the hospital. But then I paused, and turned to look back at Elijah who inclined his head, questioningly.
"What are you going to do with Nik?" I asked.
Elijah sighed, "We'll keep him here in the mansion for the time being until we can figure out why Niklaus's bloodline did not die with him." He replied, and I frowned in confusion.
"Why should that matter? Isn't it a good thing?" I questioned. Elijah maintained the grave expression on his face as he responded.
"It matters, my dear, because we are all very certain that Klaus was the originator of the bloodline that should've killed the Salvatores, Miss Forbes, Abby Bennett and Mister Lockwood when he was slain." He stated, firmly. "And I would like to know why they didn't perish when Niklaus did."
Mystic Falls Hospital
Night
It occurred to me halfway into town that I still had Damon's car keys on me. I cringed, hoping that he didn't have to hotwire his own car to get to the hospital. So, for the remainder of the trip, the keys in my pocket felt like a red-hot poker burning a hole in Nik's pocket.
I got to the hospital in record time and practically sprinted into the nearly deserted hallway, ignoring the stern looks the nurses, orderlies and a handful of doctors in scrubs were throwing at me for running in the hospital. Damon already had a head start on me, and I knew that he wasn't really in the greatest of moods, since he had just lost one of his friends and a drinking buddy, and I was probably one of only a few people who could keep him calm and avoid his caustic temper.
"Excuse me." I skidded to a halt, with my shoes making a high-pitched squeaking noise on the slightly scuffed linoleum. "Please don't run in the hallways, patients are trying to sleep." I blinked sheepishly at the doctor who was reprimanding me before I realized exactly who she was: Alaric's girlfriend; Meredith Fell.
Feeling mortified, I coughed to clear my throat.
"Sorry about that. I was just looking for Damon Salvatore. He said to meet him here." I explained, and Meredith's stern face immediately cleared and looked nervous all of a sudden. I was about to question her on the abrupt change in her mood when we were immediately interrupted.
"Seek and ye shall find." Meredith and I turned and saw a stony-faced Damon striding towards us, like a man on a mission. "Where is she?" He demanded to Meredith, momentarily ignoring me. The doctor hesitated, causing both Damon and I to frown. "C'mon." Damon takes my hand and takes off down the corridor, pulling me along with him. I almost had to jog to keep up with him. Meredith rushes after us, almost frantic.
"No, Damon, wait." She urges, and Damon spins round and gets in her face.
"Where is she!?" He almost snarls impatiently. I wince in pain when Damon squeezes my hand in his impatience, and I have to pry open his hand to remove it. When Meredith hesitates once again to answer, Damon huffs in frustration and turns to leave once again, but this time Meredith grabs and stops him.
"You need to know, when Jeremy brought Elena in, her injuries were worse than I let on." She explains to Damon, while I blinked at both of them in confusion. This must have been when Elena was rushed to hospital two days ago when I was in mourning for Nik after he had been desiccated. "It wasn't a concussion, it was a cerebral hemorrhage, bleeding of the brain." Meredith explained.
I was shocked and sympathetic. I wouldn't wish that condition on even my worst enemy. But one look at Damon's horrified face, told me that that I didn't know the entire story. I had never seen a vampire become as pale as Damon did, and he was a walking, talking reanimated corpse with no blood circulating through his body.
"What are you saying?" Damon demanded.
"What's wrong?" I piped up, but once again I was ignored by both of them. Meredith started fretting, nervous as all hell, but determined to get what she had to say out regardless of Damon's reaction.
"He was so worried, I didn't want to tell him, but I – I helped her." She explained. Helped her? I thought quizzically. "She needed my help."
Damon's eyes narrowed dangerously, "You what?" He seethed, and both Meredith and I took an uncertain step away from him. She went to tell him exactly how she helped Elena, but Damon apparently needed no more explanations. "You mean, you pumped Elena full of the blood you blood jacked from me, into her system!?"
"What?" I whispered, disbelieving. Meredith didn't bother denying what Damon said, which caused him in the next second to turn and quickly storm off in the direction of the morgue where we both knew he'd find a reanimated, confused Elena. "Are you saying that Elena is quite possibly in transition right now?" I whisper-shouted at Meredith who looked guilty. I let out an infuriated groan before turning in the opposite direction of where Damon stormed off in, and walked off.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Meredith called after me, and I stopped and turned to her.
"Home. I am so over this entire freaking day, and I don't need any more bloody headaches to add to it." I replied, and kept walking. "Tell Damon, I've gone back to the mansion." I instructed a mystified Meredith.
Mikaelson Mansion
Night
A vacation. That's what I need; desperately… I thought sluggishly as I drove myself back to the mansion, intending on answering the siren call of Nik's large, very comfortable bed and drift off into a well-deserved slumber. I had just barely stepped through the front door when I was ambushed by Rebekah.
"Back so soon?" She queried, haughtily.
"Yep." I replied dully, and started walking towards the staircase, with my sister dogging my footsteps.
"And?" She prodded impatiently and I let out a heavy sigh before turning to face her. Rebekah looked slightly taken aback by the sour expression on my face.
"And … we've now got a potential newborn vampire to deal with." I confirmed before turning and stomping my way up the staircase. "It's not like we already have enough to deal with at the moment." I muttered sarcastically underneath my breath. I was pleased that Rebekah wasn't following me upstairs.
"How disappointing." Elijah piped up from the direction of his bedroom, and I paused in the process of walking into Nik's.
"Not the word I would have used, brother. Thanks to Meredith Fell, we're all gonna suffer the consequences for her actions." I bitched, and Elijah scowled at me.
"I don't think you're being entirely fair, Grace. It was not just the work of the lovely doctor that caused all this to come about." He explained, sternly.
I turned and looked at Elijah, suspiciously.
"What do you mean?"
"You have Rebekah to thank for Elena's transition also." Elijah explained, looking annoyed by his sister's actions. I groaned and let my head thud against the wooden doorframe. "She caused the accident that sent Elena and her friend, Matt into the river this evening."
"Why, Rebekah!" I moaned, unhappily.
"Grief, I suspect. It can make you react in all sorts of ways, and unfortunately, our family doesn't take the deaths of family members lightly; if you recall?" Elijah reminded me.
"Vividly." I said, remembering their reactions to Henrik's death by werewolf mauling.
"Get some sleep, Grace. You look dead on your feet." He observed and I made a face.
"Charming." I retorted, but sighed knowing that he was right. "Goodnight, Elijah." I opened the bedroom door and slipped inside, closing it firmly behind me before I let out a relieved sigh.
I glanced over at the fire crackling away in the fireplace; the only source of light in the room and the main source of heat, before walking over to it and sitting in front of the comforting warmth. As I took off my shoes and carelessly tossed them aside to put away later on, I couldn't help but remember the last time I chose to sit in front of the fire. It had been when I cuddled up with Nik, and suddenly tears welled up in my eyes. I hugged my knees to my chest and curled up into the foetal position.
The fire was the very last thing I remembered before sleep claimed me.
Grace's Dream
I opened my eyes and found myself sitting in the middle of nowhere surrounded by pea soup fog, and questioning how the hell I had gotten here.
"Hello?" I called out, hoping that there was somebody nearby. "Is anybody there? Where the hell am I?" I got to my feet and glanced about cautiously. I was feeling extremely exposed and my anxiety levels were reaching new heights. "Okay, seriously now! This isn't funny. What the hell is going on?!" I urged, feeling annoyed. An amused chuckle echoed all around me like I was traveling down a cavernous cave, and I immediately frowned.
I didn't see anything amusing about any of this.
"Still as feisty and impatient as ever." A very familiar voice responds from behind me and I froze in disbelief. Slowly, I turned towards the voice, and saw Nik leaning casually against the silhouette of what looked like a tree in the thick of the fog, looking like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.
"Nik…" I breathed, in shock. Part of me over the moon that he was here and wanted to curl up into the safety of his arms.
But another part… My hands clenched into fists at my sides as Nik offered me a radiant smile, while waves of anger nearly overwhelm me. His green-blue eyes sweep over me from head-to-toe admiringly, drinking me in.
"Hello, sweetheart. Miss me?" Nik asks, tenderly.
I stormed over to him, and Nik pushed away from the tree with his arms spread wide; obviously expecting me to hug him within an inch of his life. He was not prepared for the real reaction I had for him.
"You...complete...arse, Niklaus Mikaelson!" I snarled at him, giving him a good shove away, that caught him off guard and actually made him stumble a little. "I watch you die, right before my eyes; fearing that I'd never see you again. And all you have to say to me is: 'Hello, sweetheart. Miss me?'" I ranted exasperatedly in my best imitation of Nik's deep European accent.
"Um, yeah?" Nik responded, bewildered by my reaction. I growl in frustration underneath my breath, before turning on my heel and storming off. "Although, if we're being technical, love, I didn't actually die." Nik felt the need to point out, striding after me and I threw him a sarcastic look over my shoulder.
"No kidding." I spat, and he frowned at me in disapproval.
"There's no need for the insolence, Grace." Nik rebuked me, and grabbed me by the shoulders to turn me around and look him in the eyes.
"I thought I bloody well lost not only you, but also Damon, Caroline and Stefan for God's sake!" I ranted, desperately. "I had only just gotten you back into my life, and then you go and abandon me!"
"Getting stabbed in the chest with that white oak stake, wasn't exactly my idea, darling. I was virtually paralysed, I couldn't bloody move!" Nik retorted, getting annoyed with me.
"And whose fault was that I wonder?" I shot back. "If you hadn't spirited away Elena to drain her completely of her blood, Stefan and Tyler wouldn't have desiccated you, and you would've been able to fight back when Alaric came along to finish you off!"
I suddenly felt the wind rushing by me, and I grunted when my back hit something hard. My arms were suspended above my head, pinned down by a large, powerful, lightly tanned warm hand. I realised that in my anger, I had pushed Nik's tolerance a little too far. Naturally, his response was to blur me to a nearby tree and pin me to it with his whole body. I stiffened instinctively when I could feel Nik's warm breath tickling my ear, and heard the slightly venomous tone in his voice when he spoke.
"I only did what I thought was the most humane thing to do, in order to eliminate Alaric." Nik whispered into my ear in a low, slightly frosty voice. "Mother had made Alaric impossible to kill, and Elena, gave us the solution to our problem when she revealed that her death would also kill him." I swallowed the hard lump in my throat before responding.
"Well, you'll be happy to know, Rebekah finished the job for you." I told him, trying to calm him down. "She caused Matt to drive the truck he was driving with Elena in the passenger seat off Wickery Bridge out of revenge. She drowned." Nik took a step back from me, releasing me from the tree and looking stunned.
"Rebekah did what?" He muttered, in a deceptively calm voice.
"She caused Elena's death." I translated, and Nik immediately looked angry.
"Why pray tell would that make me happy?" He asked, and I sighed heavily; knowing the reason why Nik was angry. I sank down on the ground between two large tree roots, stretching out my legs as I got myself comfortable.
"Do you believe me to be a fool, Nik?" I bit back, pointedly. "Of course you wouldn't be pleased that your bloody hybrid-making blood supply has been cut off permanently." I started picking at my cuticles, feeling agitated. "But I believe Rebekah did what she did out of grief. It was to avenge you. Or so Elijah told me." I said, still reeling.
"I see." Nik said, quietly.
"It was all for naught, unfortunately. Turns out that Elena had been injured rather seriously that day when Stefan and Tyler rescued her from you, and she was fed vampire blood intravenously." I said, glumly.
Nik squatted beside me, looking surprised, "You mean…"
"Elena's currently in transition." I confirmed. Then Nik had the most baffling and unexpected reaction ever: he started laughing.
"That's just brilliant." He declared, grinning from ear to ear.
"How exactly is that funny? You're gonna be stuck with her for the rest of eternity." I pointed out, not getting the joke.
"I think you mean 'we' are going to be stuck with her for the rest of eternity, love." Nik corrected me. "But I digress, I couldn't think of a more brilliant punishment if I tried." Nik stated.
I frowned, "Not sure if I follow." Nik rose to his feet and began pacing.
"Elena Gilbert has never wanted to become a vampire. It was obvious the first time I ever met her. Shows how much she truly cares about her beloved Stefan, doesn't it?".
"You do realise that you no longer have her doppelgänger blood to create more hybrids, right?" I pointed out, and Nik waved a dismissive hand.
"Eh, I'll get over it. I still have plenty of blood from when I almost drained her." Nik reassured me, and I made a face at how flippant his reaction was. "I'll store it in a safe place … once I figure out how to get back into my own body." He said, frowning exasperatedly.
"Get back into your body?" I stood up from the ground. "Where are you exactly?" I asked, starting to become hopeful. However, Nik shook his head at me, looking remorseful.
"Nope. Sorry, love. I can't tell you that." He said, apologetically.
"Why not?" I demanded, frowning, and Nik sighed heavily.
"I made a deal of sorts with a witch." Nik explained, and I immediately understood. The only witch that I knew of could only be Bonnie … and even then whatever spell she placed upon Nik was probably done by force. He has never been backward about coming forward to get what he wanted. It's been like that since we were kids.
"You mean what Maddox did to Alaric when you first came to Mystic Falls to break the Hybrid Curse?" I asked.
"Something like that." Nik shrugged. I nodded, and hugged myself against a sudden chill that blew passed us. Nik noticed this and came over to me. "I promise I will come back to you, as soon as I can." He said, grabbing me gently by the shoulders. I nodded again, and Nik pulled me towards him to engulf me in an embrace. I felt him kiss the crown of my head.
"I really miss you." I confessed, clinging to Nik for dear life.
"I know, love. I miss you too." I heard the smile in his voice.
Klaus's bedroom
I woke up still lying in the same place I had fallen asleep in. Except the fire had died down a little in my slumber. That explained the chill I experienced while conversing with Nik in my dream. Yawning, I sat up and turned to glance over at the time on Nik's alarm clock, and groaned when I read 3:30am in bright red block numbers. I sluggishly got to my feet and shuffled towards the large bed, scooping up my pajamas and darting into the WC to get changed.
I immediately collapsed into bed, and within seconds of rolling over and making myself comfortable, I was out like a light. The rest of the night waned on, and my dreams mostly consisted of fond childhood memories from my former life. Happier times, from before Henrik was killed and before Mikael's personal vendetta with werewolves essentially ruined all of our lives, because he couldn't let go of his damn pride. But alas, all good things must come to an end. Unfortunately, it always seems to end with the ringing of a phone. I jack-knifed upright, my eyes still closed as I registered exactly what the noise was … then groaned. I impatiently pat down the duvet, trying to locate where my phone disappeared to underneath the layers of fabric, and grunted triumphantly when I wrapped my fingers around the flat rectangular smartphone.
"Whoever this is, you are destroying a lot of dreams right now." I yawned into the receiver after sliding my finger across the screen.
"Hey, Grace." Damon's slight southern drawl muttered back. I frowned with concern, waking up just a fraction more.
"What's wrong? You sound terrible." I commented, and heard Damon snort derisively in response.
"I've been better. Just helping Steffi with Elena." Damon responded, dryly.
"Gee, that sounds like bundles of fun." I drawled, flopping back down into my pillow.
"Yeah, well. Little bro is going to be a joy to live with once he accepts that his clingy girlfriend doesn't want to complete transition." Damon explained, and I couldn't help the feeling of my stomach doing flip-flops at the thought of a thoroughly depressed Stefan; despite all the headaches he had been giving myself and my family lately.
"Yeah, I don't envy you that task." I admitted.
"I could think of a million things that I'd rather be doing right now, than dealing with this bullshit." Damon bemoaned, and I glanced over at Nik's clock radio.
10:00am.
I sighed, longing to just roll over and get back to sleep, and not have to deal with the world at the moment. A pathetic excuse, I realise. But I also realised that I had plenty of time to do that some other time, so I hurled back the duvet and slid out of bed.
"You wanna come over? Not deal with that here?" I offered, wincing at the bird's nest that was my hair in my vanity mirror. I heard Damon grumble over the phone.
"Voluntarily walking into the Lion's den. Hmmm, that's a tough call." Damon groused, and I rolled my eyes.
"Hasn't stopped you before." I reminded him, as I remade the bed, and turned towards the WC. "There's even a coffee in it for you." I attempted to sweeten the deal, and I heard him chuckle.
"Irish it up, and you've got yourself a deal." I could already hear him picking up his car keys and heading out of the door.
"I make no promises." I countered but hung up anyway because I knew he was on his way, and tossed the phone onto the bed as I continued on my way into the WC to relieve myself, and conquer the cat that had curled up on top of my head.
One quick shower later, I walked out of Nik's bedroom and down the winding staircase, dressed comfortably in a three-quarter length sleeved white paisley shirt with drawstrings for the collar, and my blue denim dungarees. My long brown hair was tied back into a simple high ponytail, I dangled some large rose gold hoop earrings from my lobes, and I wore my black converse hi-tops. I walked unhurriedly towards the kitchen.
I wasn't in a particularly pleasant mood, choosing to fake it when Damon arrived as to avoid triggering uncomfortable questions about my own state of mind since Nik's apparent close call with the white oak stake. I found Rebekah in a similar state of moroseness the second I stepped through the swinging kitchen doors, and spotted her sitting at the kitchen table nursing her usual glass of morning blood.
I paused in the doorway, debating whether or not I should go in or come back later, as I was still feeling a little irritated with her for her ill-thought-out actions towards Elena and Matt last night, which could stick us all with the teen for the rest of eternity.
I shrugged and walked on in.
"Morning, Bekah." I greeted my sister with a slightly clipped tone. "Did you sleep well?" I asked, politely. Rebekah glanced up from staring off into space and smiled a little at me.
"Not really." She said, truthfully.
"You too, huh?" I acknowledged sympathetically, as I measured out some water in the coffeemaker, spooned in some coffee granules for Damon's drink, and clicked it on. "I don't blame you. It was a shock for both of us." I mumbled, resisting the urge to tell her that Nik was still alive; albeit trapped in some unfortunate's body for the time being.
"I still can't believe he's gone." Rebekah whispered, the glass protesting in her grip as she clutched at it for dear life.
"I know. I miss him too. I just wish he was here. I wish for a lot of things to be honest." I confessed, grabbing two mugs from the cupboard and dropping a teabag in one of them.
"Like what?" Rebekah asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, for starters. I wished that you didn't do what you did to Elena last night." I said, glaring at her mildly. Rebekah let out an exasperated huff.
"Oh, don't you start. I've had enough from Elijah lecturing me about that last night." She snapped, getting to her feet and heading for the doors.
"I get it, Rebekah, I really do. But why did you do it in the first place? What good did it do?" I questioned her, and Rebekah spun on the spot with tears threatening in her eyes as she scowled at me in annoyance.
"It was the only way to stop Alaric. He took away my brother. Your intended!" I closed my eyes, despairing. "Why should she survive, when Nik did not?" Rebekah demanded, angrily. It was only the knowledge that Nik was still alive that stopped me from starting a verbal war with my sister, and stopped her from potentially doing something that she would probably regret … like snapping my neck in her grief.
"There could've been other ways of dealing with the situation, sweetie." I pointed out, but Rebekah didn't want to listen.
"I'm surprised you're protesting this, love." Rebekah retorted a little snidely. "You're not exactly that wench's biggest fan, after all." She pointed out, and I nodded in agreement.
"Touché. But now we're all on tender hooks, waiting to see if she'll bite the proverbial bullet and become like you or die naturally." I said, and Rebekah sniffed.
"Fingers crossed it's the latter." She said, nastily. "One less doppelgänger bitch in the world to deal with."
"Damn." Our heads snapped towards the kitchen door, and we spotted Damon standing casually against the door frame, smirking at us both. "Why don't you say what you really mean, princess." He drawled, and Rebekah flounced from the room; but not before throwing her lover an unamused glare beforehand.
I winced.
"Probably not the best thing to say right now, Damon. You need to work on your tact, and try not to rile her up; she's still grieving." I stated, turning towards the finished coffeemaker and poured out some black coffee into the second mug.
"Not really in the mood for a lecture, Grace." Damon groused at me, as I walked over to the fridge and withdrew a fresh silver pitcher of human blood and poured a generous dollop into the coffee.
"Noted." I acknowledged, miming pulling a zipper across my lips as I poured milk into my tea, then settled across from Damon at the kitchen table. "Things really that bad right now?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Like you wouldn't believe." Damon groaned. "Stefan is fussing over Elena like she's on death's door. Keeps glaring at me for 'lack of support'." He rants.
"Probably because she is?" I pointed out, and Damon gives me a flat look, but declines to comment. "Wanna talk about what happened after I ditched you at the hospital?" I offered, and Damon snorted, nodding his thanks after I handed him his cup.
"Not particularly. No." He responds, taking a sip.
"Sure you don't want to bend my ear about it? I might be able to help if I know what's going on." I insisted, and Damon gave me a strange look.
"Shouldn't you be mourning the loss of your extra crispy hybrid sociopath?" He asked, and I threw him a dirty look for the comment as I sat down in front of him with my tea and an apple I had stolen from the fruit basket.
"Yeah, I probably should. But I find distracting myself from the pain of loss benefits me more." I stated flippantly, as I shined the apple skin on my dungaree pocket and took a generous bite from the flesh. Damon snorted.
"That seems healthy." He drawled, looking unconvinced with my argument. "But you're not gonna let the Elena thing go are you?" He guessed, and I grinned at him; still chewing on the piece of apple in my mouth as I shook my head at him, stubbornly. "You're really irritating, you know that?"
"Part of my charm, pet." I acknowledged, winking at him.
"Sure it is." Damon muttered before sighing in resignation. "Fine. What do you want to know?"
"Starting at the beginning seems like the perfect way to start." I said, taking another large mouthful of the apple. In act of procrastination, Damon delayed talking by grabbing his coffee and finishing it all in one gulp, before rising to his feet.
"Fancy a walk?" He asks, offering me his hand to help me up. I eyed both him and his hand, before deciding to just go along with it. Damon would start talking when he felt comfortable.
"Sure." I shrugged, ignoring his outstretched hand and rose to my feet, still snacking on the apple. "Lead on." I requested, covering my mouth as I chewed.
The Woods behind the Mikaelson Mansion
Day
I followed Damon out the backdoor, through the Mikaelson's well-manicured gardens and their private meadow towards the woods, waiting patiently for him to start talking.
"So, what happened?" I prodded. Damon sighed, still obviously reluctant to talk, but then sighed heavily and nodded.
"I ran for the morgue, just to see for myself if Elena was actually dead. When I got there, I found Stefan standing beside the slab she was lying in. Elena had just woken up, gasping and looking confused." Damon began, and I hummed in acknowledgement, taking another bite from the apple. "After that Elena went into a sort of restless sleep; waking on and off again throughout the night."
"Is that what happened with you? When you started going through transition, I mean." I asked, curiously. Damon shrugged, making a face.
"I dunno. Not exactly the first thing I remembered coming out of being shot in the back by my father for helping Katherine." Damon said, a little shortly. "I was mostly grieving, thinking that she was dead … and that I wanted to die myself."
"Until Stefan stole that choice from you." I guessed, wincing sympathetically.
"Yep." Damon groused, obviously bitter about being reminded about that.
"Then what happened?" I asked, steering the topic back to Damon's latest Elena-inspired drama. "I assume you took her back to the Gilbert's."
Damon shook his head, bending a tree branch out of his way, and held it back so it didn't swing back and smack me in the face after letting it go.
"Nope. Stefan did. I followed a short time after that, and waited in her bedroom for her to wake up this morning." He said, helping me over a particularly large moss-covered log, and taking a perch on it. I chose to remain standing, as I finished off the remainder of my apple.
"Sounds to me like I made the right decision to ditch and go home." I commented, hurling my finished apple core off in the distance. "Not that Elena probably would've been pleased to see me standing in her room anyhow. Probably would've thought I was there to gloat."
"I think you've been hanging around Klaus for too long." Damon stated, looking at me strangely.
"What makes you say that?" I frowned.
"You're starting to think a little too highly about yourself. Not to mention you getting a bit paranoid." Damon pointed out, and I grimaced at the idea. "Besides, I think Elena was a bit more preoccupied trying to find out if the quarterback was alright, to be honest."
"Really?" I blinked.
"Uh-huh." Damon sounded a bit resentful, and I scowled at him.
"He could've died in that truck too, Damon." I reminded him, and Damon looked dismissive for a guy who previously couldn't give two shits about Elena before. "Why the sudden hostility?" I asked.
"Because according to Stefan, Elena made him rescue Matt first. I personally would've ignored her, but that's just me." Damon stated, and I gaped at him in dismay.
"Damon!" I growled. "What a horrible thing to say!"
"What?" He protested. "It's because of him that Elena died, which consequently meant that Alaric died!"
"Okay, first of all; it was not Matt's fault that Elena ended up drowning, it was Rebekah's, and secondly show some god-damned respect for the dead." I scolded him, not flinching when I received a dark look from my best friend for the reprimand. "Look, this is all in the past. We can't change it, no matter how much we may want to. The ball is in Elena's court now." I muttered, gloomily.
"Yeah, well. I wouldn't count on Elena completing transition any time soon." Damon stated, and I looked at him in surprise.
"What do you mean?" I asked, curiously.
"Elena started freaking out when Stefan and I confirmed that she was dead. Then Stefan explained to her that Bon-bon apparently might have found a way to reverse it."
I snorted, "I think he and Bonnie might be clutching at straws."
"I know right. Which was why I stated that the only way out of this was to feed or die." Damon agreed.
"I bet that went down like a lead balloon." I guessed, and Damon smirked, indicating that I had obviously hit the nail right on the head. "I think I can guess the rest of this: uh, you walked off in a huff when both Stefan and Elena ignored your advice, and found solace in alcohol." I drawled sarcastically. "Please feel free to stop me at any time."
But instead of a snarky comment, Damon just stared at me, looking worried and calculating. "What?"
"How are you holding up?" He asked, randomly. I was a little taken aback by the sudden change in topic. I pursed my lips and frowned, not really interested in delving deeper into this.
"Most likely the same way that Rebekah is feeling about her brother's death, I expect." I replied, coldly. "Speaking of … I think I might go check on her." I decided, ending the conversation and turning to head back the way we came.
Or so I thought…
"Uh, uh. I don't buy that for a second. Tell me the truth." Damon insisted, blurring in front of me and cutting off my retreat. I attempted to sidestep him, but he managed to outmaneuver me every time. I eventually lost my patience.
"Why do you need to know?" I demanded.
"Because you're not yourself. I suspect something related to Klaus's death is bugging you." Damon answered, stubbornly.
"Probably because he isn't actually dead." I stated, and Damon blinked at me in surprise.
"Huh? How do you know that?"
"Well, for starters, you're standing here talking to me with your usual sharp, sarcastic wit, instead of suffering the same gruesome fate Sage did with Finn died." I paused, hesitating to add this next part. "And … he told me himself." I added, shuffling my feet.
"You saw him, face to face?" Damon was sceptical, and I raised an eyebrow at his reaction.
"Not exactly." I said, uneasily. "He came to me in my dreams."
Damon made a face, "How creepy." I rolled my eyes and pushed passed him to head back. Damon fell into step along side me, obviously determined to get me to spill. "How do you know it wasn't just your grief talking, making you see things you wish were there?" He asked, using a 'let's be reasonable' tone.
"Because it felt familiar. I had similar dreams back before I even came to this town, and before I reunited with Nik." I explained, impatiently. I was desperate to return to the mansion before my emotions could overwhelm me. "It felt too real to be a figment of my imagination and grief." I insisted.
"What exactly did Klaus tell you?" Damon was curious, and protective.
"That he was alive, but trapped in another person's body." I paused, trying to get my bearings, and caught a glimpse of Damon's disbelieving face out of my peripherals. "Apparently, a witch managed to cast a spell on him, before Alaric staked him, which instantly transferred him into another vessel."
"Did he say who?"
I shook my head, "He was mum on that subject. Including whose body he was trapped in." I said, feeling hurt that Nik didn't trust me with that knowledge. Damon seemed to notice this, as he once again stepped into my path and grabbed my shoulders, trying to get me to focus on him.
"So that's it then? No clue of where he is or when he would be returning?"
"None." I said quietly, looking away.
"Helpful." Damon scoffed, sounding disgusted. "Couldn't even be bothered to bring some hope to not only his supposedly beloved fiancé, but also his heartbroken little sister."
"Oh, be fair. He doesn't want to put either of us in a dangerous position if we happened to be interrogated." I defended Nik's actions.
"But shouldn't that be your choice? Or Rebekah's?" Damon protested, and I started to get annoyed. "Couldn't be more selfish."
"Okay, hypocrite. You need to back off, and stop making Nik out to be the bad guy, any more than he has already been labelled by the bloody council!" I said, sternly.
"I might be a hypocrite, but it doesn't mean that I'm not right!" Damon retorted.
"Irrespective. 'Let he that is without sin, cast the first stone.'" I recited, and Damon snorted.
"Oh? So we're quoting biblical references now?" He mocked, and I went to say something else, but stopped; because I could swear that I could feel eyes watching me. I glanced around, feeling paranoid, alerting Damon almost immediately and dropping the argument like a hot potato. "What? What is it?"
"Nothing. I need to go see Rebekah…" I trailed off, and turned to run back to the mansion, desiring my sister's company. The only remaining and comforting link I had to Nik that was, as far as I knew, still in Mystic Falls.
"Grace, wait!" I heard Damon shout out at me, but I didn't want to wait or to listen.
Klaus's Study
Day
I burst through the backdoor, startling the kitchen staff who were busy making lunch, and darted out the kitchen to the dining room and then the foyer, searching for Rebekah.
I found her in Nik's study. The door was ajar, and I ran in without knocking, finding her standing amongst a pile of Nik's drawings that had been scattered on the floor. It was obvious that my melancholy sister had been looking through the pictures and sketches Nik had drawn in his spare time, and in her rage and despair knocked them off the desk.
"Rebekah, I—" She looked up at me when I entered the room, and I cut myself off when one of the sketches caught my eye.
"What is it? Come to accuse me of something else?" Rebekah asked, looking ready for a fight. I didn't reply. Instead, I walked over and crouched down to pick up the sketch, which turned out to be a beautifully drawn representation of me. "Grace?" I glanced up at Rebekah, who immediately looked concerned.
"I…I…" I stammered, feeling my eyes fill up with tears.
"Oh, Grace." Rebekah immediately came over and wrapped her arms around me, as I let the picture drop limply from my fingers and clutched to her for dear life.
"I can't breathe, Bekah. I feel like I can't breathe." I whimpered, and Rebekah shushed me, tears gathering in her eyes too.
"Hush, love. Everything's going to be alright. I promise you." My sister soothed, just as Damon walks into the room behind us. "What the hell did you do to her?" She yelled at her boyfriend, accusingly.
"Me? Why do you automatically assume I had something to do with this?" Damon retorted, defensively. Suddenly, before Rebekah could respond, somebody starts firing wooden bullets through the window, forcing Rebekah to throw me to the floor, and Damon to escape back out the door.
"Go! Quickly!" Rebekah whispers urgently at me, before she is shot in the heart with an arrow and temporarily dies.
"No! Bekah!" I scream, before army crawling towards the door and escaping to the foyer. Once outside, I couldn't see Damon anywhere, but a group of council members bursting in through the front door; armed with crossbows and guns.
I saw red.
"What the hell are you doing!? Get out of here!" I snarled, getting to my feet and advancing on them. However, I was ambushed from behind by somebody stronger than I was, and before I could buck them off, something strong and sweet-smelling, like disinfectant, was pressed to my face.
The last thing I saw before passing out, was Damon's horrified and enraged face from the shadows.
A/N: That's a wrap! Thanks for reading this replacement chapter, and sticking around to find out what happens next. Hope you come back to read some more. Please review constructively.
TTFN xx