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.
Suffice it to say, there aren't really any major excuses as to why I haven't updated yet. But rest assured, I'm not abandoning this fic.
I do apologize for this, but I also cannot make any promises that this won't happen again in the future. But I'll do my best.
Please review and no flaming for the hell of it.
LOVE ME, NEED ME, NEVER LEAVE ME…
"Picture, you're the queen of everything.
Far as the eye can see, under your command.
I will be your guardian when all is crumbling.
I'll steady your hand." ~ The Fray: 'Never Say Never' (The Fray [2009])
Police Van
Day
What do you do when you find yourself once again kidnapped?
Well for starters, you bitch yourself out for getting into this situation, once again.
Secondly, you wonder who thought it would be a bright idea to knock you out with chloroform? Because now you feel nauseous, which is not helped by the fact that you're currently lying on something that is moving, swaying and hitting every pothole in the road, if that is at all possible, and thus willing yourself not to throw up. Plus, your throat feels like you've been swallowing razorblades.
And thirdly, you've learned from the last time you were put into a situation like this, to use your senses and figure out exactly where you are, so you can get out. So that's what I did, and at once, I realise that I'm not the only one here. I groaned and started to sit up … only to realise that I had both my hands and feet bound tightly together with rope, making sitting up ten times harder.
Of fucking course…
"Grace?" My head snaps over to the voice and my eyes widen when I see Caroline. She was bound like I was, and leaning against the wall looking peeved and stressed. "Are you okay?" Caroline asks, her blue eyes blinking at me worriedly.
I sat up as best as I could.
"No, I'm not really." I replied through gritted teeth, and swore underneath my breath when the vehicle we were in swerves violently and I topple over and collided with something soft. "But I'll survive."
"Not if you don't get off me, you won't." A familiar voice grumbled at me, and I roll away and make another attempt to sit up.
"Bekah! Oh, thank God you're still alive." I exclaimed with relief as I eyed the small hole in my sister's shirt where the wooden arrow had impaled her back at the mansion. Rebekah aims a flat look at me.
"You of all people should know, that it's going to take a lot more than a bloody arrow to do me in, love." She responds, then finally notices Caroline. Rebekah struggles to break out of the ropes tying her down, and hisses a little when the rope touches her bare skin.
"Vervain ropes." Caroline says, and Rebekah looks at her with irritation, while I glanced down at the rope around my wrist with interest. "Looks like Alaric outed us all to the Council." Caroline states the obvious.
"The Council? What exactly do they think they can do to me?" Rebekah scoffs, haughtily.
"Whatever they like, apparently." I saw, then started twisting my wrists so I could try to loosen the rope, since vervain has no effect on me. "Let me try and get loose." I offered. I try this for a few minutes, getting increasingly frustrated at every failed attempt, and stopped when I heard Caroline whimper uncomfortably.
"Please stop…" She begged, and I looked at her questioningly. "You're making yourself bleed." I saw the familiar blue-black veins starting to spread around Caroline's eyes and faint traces of red fading in and out in her sclera. I glanced down at my wrists and realised that in my determination to free myself, the tightly bound ropes had started cutting into my skin.
"Right. Bad idea, sorry." I sigh, defeatedly. Suddenly, the wheels of the van start screeching. All three of us froze, and looked at each other in confusion, before the van flips sending us flying in all directions. We land hard as the van skids after landing on its side.
"What the hell just happened?" Rebekah demands, looking freaked out.
"I think something just took out the drivers … or they took a sharp turn that caused us to flip like a Jeep down an embankment?" I guessed, fighting the urge to throw up still as I sat up, rubbing my head. Caroline was also unharmed, but looking alert and on guard for what might happen next. We all shield our eyes when the backdoors are suddenly ripped from their hinges, and in steps the last person we expected to see:
"Tyler?" Caroline blurts out, shocked.
He grins, "I'm harder to kill than you think." Tyler boasts, arrogantly. Both Rebekah and I frown at him, unimpressed, as he darts forward and rips off the vervain ropes tying Caroline down, not even flinching at the obvious sting he must have gotten doing so.
"You're alive? How are you alive?" Caroline weeps joyfully.
"No time. Come on, we've got to go." Tyler urges as he turns and darts over to snap off my ropes as well … but frowns at the blood already crusting over on my wrists and looks at me with a raised eyebrow. I snatch my hands back from him, and unperturbed, Tyler finishes getting the ropes off my ankles. I at once turn and try to rescue Rebekah who smiles at me gratefully. Tyler wraps an arm around my waist impatiently and starts pulling me from the van.
"Hey!? Put me down!" I protested. But Tyler ignores me and pushes me towards Caroline. We could hear police sirens getting louder in the distance, and Tyler swears colourfully, pushing me more insistently towards the blonde baby vamp.
"Go with Caroline. I'll get her out!" He promises, as I look worriedly at my sister who is watching all this incredulously. The world suddenly blurs around me when once again, an arm is wrapped around my waist, and Caroline blurs us deeper into the woods before I could object.
The Woods
Day
At a safe distance away from the accident site, I finally lose the battle with my nausea and stumble away from Caroline to vomit at the base of a nearby tree.
"Oh, God! I'm so sorry!" I heard Caroline fret, above the buzzing sound in my ears. Hands start rubbing my back when I lean over to retch again, and I naturally assume that it's Caroline.
"Thank you." I coughed, shakily. A handkerchief is offered to me, at once reminding me of Elijah, and I smile a little and accept it.
"You're welcome." I freeze when I hear Tyler's voice and slowly look up at him, seeing his concerned brown eyes blinking at me. Shouldn't you be having your epic reunion with your girlfriend right now? I think suspiciously, as I straighten up with some help from the tree, and wipe my mouth. "Are you alright?" Tyler asks, and I grimace.
"Chloroform and vampire speed don't mix." I acknowledged, wincing a little at the foul taste in my mouth. Tyler's eyes narrow dangerously, and he opens his mouth to say something else but is cut off when Caroline loses her patience, and rudely blurs him into another tree. I blink at them in bewilderment when Caroline starts heavily making out with him.
"Okay then." I mutter. This is neither the time nor the place for a catch-up session … of any sort.
"I never thought I'd see you again!" Caroline confesses, and I rolled my eyes. "I don't get it. How are you alive?" She demands, and I take this moment to retreat, not interested in seeing this.
I was grateful that Tyler had just liberated us from the Council's van, and showed me sympathy and aid when I was being sick; but that did not exonerate him from what he had done to Nik. I was out of the woods when I hear a twig snap underfoot behind me.
What a cliché...
"Whoever you are, stop dicking around. You do not scare me. I have seen and taken down scarier things in my sleep." I stated. "Plus, I don't have time nor the inclination to deal with you right now." I called out, impatiently, and thudded unexpectedly into a warm, hard muscular chest. Arms automatically wrapped around me to prevent me from bouncing off and falling on my arse. I glanced up to look directly into a smirking Tyler's eyes, and looked around, expecting to see the blonde baby vamp hovering nearby, looking confused and hurt by Tyler's dismissal. But Caroline was nowhere to be seen, much to my surprise. "What the hell?" I blurted out, pulling myself out of his protective hold and scowling at him before continuing on my way.
But again, he steps into my path.
"Where do you think you're going?" Tyler demanded.
"To save my sister." I responded, flatly. "It's obvious that you hadn't helped her as you had promised back at the van. So I'm taking matters into my own hands." I moved to walk around him. Tyler at once grabs my shoulders to stop me from moving. "Do you mind?!" I snapped, shoving him away. "Why aren't you celebrating the fact you aren't dead with your bloody girlfriend?" I asked, snidely.
"My primary concern was making sure that you were safe." Tyler responded, matter of fact, like Caroline didn't matter at all. Pig...
I scoffed, "It's too late to earn my forgiveness." I told him, assuming this was the reason for the overprotective behaviour and earned a confused look.
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, don't play dumb, Tyler." I snapped, irritated that my attempts to rescue Rebekah were being stalled. "It's one thing to seek out a way to free yourself from Nik's control, but it's another thing entirely to help paint a target on his back."
Tyler had the audacity to shrug dismissively.
"Seemed like the right idea at the time." He said, and I somehow managed not to wrap my hands around his neck and throttle him … not that it would do very much obviously. But it would help me feel better.
"It was a pretty lousy way to get back at Nik for the sire link." I pointed out, and bristled at the nonchalant smile that Tyler adopted. "And what's worse is that you're not even remotely sorry for your actions." Thankfully, Tyler had nothing to say about that, which gave me the opportunity to escape so I could save Rebekah.
"Wait…" Tyler grabs my shoulder, and fed up with the constant attempts to stop me, I grabbed his hand and flipped him over my shoulder, pinning him to the ground with my foot. He lands with a surprised grunt. But when he recovers, he smirks at me with amusement, grabs my ankle and twists.
"Woah!" I hollered as I sprawled to the ground, giving Tyler enough time to spring to his feet. I glared at him. "Enough of this. I have a sister to save."
"Easy, love. We haven't finished our conversation yet." Tyler insists, and I get to my feet, brushing myself down.
"What more could you possibly have to—" I pause, and looked at him in shock. "Did you just call me 'love'?" I demanded, urgently. The amused smirk on Tyler's face softens to a loving smile.
"I don't know, love? Did I?" He teases, tenderly.
"Nik?" I whisper, my eyes widening in hope. He steps towards me and pushes some hair behind my ear.
"Hello, sweetheart." He murmurs.
I smiled, happy that Nik was here, standing in front of me and I grab his warmer than normal hand and lean into the caress. Happy tears well up in my eyes. But then reality; cruel, unshaven bastard that he was, alerted me to the fact that it wasn't physically Nik standing in front of me, but Tyler Lockwood, which caused me to swat his hand away, taking a few steps back. 'Nik' looks at me, slightly hurt and confused.
"No, Jesus. Don't." I order, freaking out a little. "Uh... This... is way too much for me to handle right now." I turn to leave. "I have to save Rebekah." I muttered, and ran before he could stop me.
Mikaelson Mansion
Day
It took a bit for me to get back to town, and back to the mansion. But when I finally got there, I needed a moment to collect my thoughts. I barreled through the front door and closed it behind me, resting my back against it. I had a melee of emotions running through me. Relief. Happiness. Anger. Fear. Nik was back, as he had promised me in our shared dream, but it didn't stop the multitude of questions that kept flying around in my head.
Why didn't he save Rebekah as well?
Why did he choose Tyler Lockwood, of all people, to squat in his body?
When I saw him again in his own body, would I feel joy or would I feel anger because of his actions?
Where do we go from here?
I pushed away from the door and wondered back over to Nik's study where Rebekah and I had been before the idiots from the Council rudely burst in and rained down hell on us both. The room was a mess from broken glass from when the window shattered from gunfire. Nik's sketches and other pieces of artwork were still strewn on the rug, from where Rebekah had scattered them in her anger and grief, and a random piece of cloth that had been dumped on the ground near the door, which I deduced was what they used to drug me several hours ago.
"Grace?" I turned towards the door and saw Henrik, looking worriedly around the trashed room. "What's going on here? What happened?" He asked, walking further into the room towards me. I let out a frustrated groan.
"The Council happened." I replied, tiredly. Henrik's eyes widened. "They barged right in, and took aim at both Rebekah and I." I explained.
"Where's Rebekah?"
"I have no idea. But I'm gonna find out." I promised, walking passed him and down the corridor towards the room where Nik's coffin was being kept.
"Why did they attack?" Henrik frowned in confusion.
"Because Alaric turned us in to those holier-than-thou wankers before he died." I replied, before sighing heavily. "A lot of shit went down in yours and Kol's absence, little brother. None of it good." I stopped in front of Nik's coffin and opened the viewing lid. I cringed instinctively when I saw Nik's body, but noted that there was something a little different from what I had seen earlier.
His skin seemed a little… er… cleaner? Less burnt.
Figures… I thought feeling a little irritated. Can't decide if I'm gonna kiss you, or lay one hell of a slap across your face when you come back, mister! I scowled down at Nik's temporarily vacated body.
"You and I are gonna have words when you wake up, Nik. This isn't over." I warned, before closing the lid and turning to leave the room, ignoring the confused expression on Henrik's face. "Come on. We've got no more time to lose, mate." I hastened to Henrik who followed me from the room and towards the winding staircase to the upper levels.
"What do you mean?" Henrik asked.
"We're gonna save Rebekah … once I figure out where she is, of course." I added, a little lamely. Part of me wished Nik hadn't saved Caroline and I so soon before I knew exactly where we were going.
"I can find that out for you." Henrik revealed and I looked at him in surprise.
"You can? How?" I asked, curiously. Henrik just threw me a 'don't be stupid' look before responding.
"I'm a ghost remember? I can be anywhere within a blink of an eye." He reminded me, and I grinned at him sheepishly.
"Oh yeah." I laughed, then frowned. "How will you be able to pinpoint her location?" I asked, worriedly.
"She's my sister. I have a connection with all my siblings. I can find them by just thinking about them." He said.
"Handy." I said, impressed. "Better than a GPS."
"That's why I'm here now. I felt your pain and came to investigate." Henrik added, looking awkward admitting this. I felt overwhelming love for him at that moment.
"That's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me." I stepped over to him and wrapped him up into a tight hug. "Thanks, sweetie." Henrik reciprocated the hug. But I could tell he believed I was a colossal dork right now.
"Don't mention it." Henrik brushed off the compliment. I pulled away from him, and continued heading for Nik's bedroom.
"Try and find Rebekah now." I instructed, as I closed my hand over the doorknob. "I'm getting a few things."
"Uh, sure." Henrik responded, a little taken aback at my abrupt change in mood, and giving me a mock salute. I let him have that little bit of cheekiness; I did sound a tad bossy just then. "Back in a moment." He disappeared with my next blink.
Young Farm
Day
(Third person P.O.V)
At the same moment that Grace was trying to figure out how to locate her kidnapped sister; said sister had found herself forcibly taken to a converted barn on one of the council member's farm, which had a constant influx of concentrated vervain filtered into the room to keep the captured vampires docile and weakened.
To say that she was irritated was an understatement, but her mood was mollified when she noticed an extremely weakened Elena Gilbert unconscious in the cage in front of hers. She watches Elena stir and struggle to sit up, while all around them, other unlucky vamps are coughing because of the vervain venting into the room, but Rebekah barely acknowledges the sting of the vaper in favor of taunting the bane of the Mikaelson Family's existence.
"I thought I killed you." Rebekah sneers, grabbing Elena's attention.
"Where am I?" Elena asks weakly, still looking around the barn in confusion.
"They thought you were a vampire, so they stuck you in here with us." Rebekah replies, bored. Elena's eyes widen in alarm, as she continues to struggle sitting up and grabs onto the metal bars fencing her in for support.
"Where's Stefan?"
"Elena, I'm right here." Rebekah's eyes flick over to the cage next to Elena's and rolls her eyes at the look of concern on Stefan's face. "Are you okay?" He questions, urgently.
"Stefan." Elena pants, exhausted. "I didn't feed." A look of triumphant glee spreads across Rebekah's face, and she chuckles a little, obviously amused by this turn of events, gaining both Stefan and Elena's attention.
"Ahh, I see what's going on here." Stefan looks at her with disdain. "You died with vampire blood in your system and you didn't feed, and now you're locked up in here without a drop of human blood in sight." Rebekah chuckles again, cruelly. "That is a problem." She jeers, unsympathetically.
Stefan glares at her. "Just ignore her." He insists to Elena, but Rebekah hasn't finished yet.
"Has anyone done the math or shall I?" She asks, rhetorically, as though commenting on how lovely the weather was. "I'd say you've got less than three hours to feed before I get to watch you die all over again." Elena tries to break through the bars, obviously fearful for her life. "My day just got a whole lot better."
"Bekah! Are you okay?" Henrik appears from out of nowhere, causing everybody to jump. He ignores Stefan and Elena, focusing intently on his sister, who is partially relieved and annoyed with him.
"Bloody hell, Henrik! Don't do that again!" Rebekah scolds her baby brother, but crawls closer to the cage door to talk to him properly. "What are you doing here?" She adds, alert.
"Saving you, of course." Henrik responded, like it was obvious. "Or we will, once we figure out where you are." He added, looking around the converted barn for an idea of where they were.
"We?" Stefan spoke up, drawing Henrik's attention. "Who are you helping?"
"What's it to you?" Henrik replied, shortly.
"Pardon me?" Stefan demanded, irritated with the ghost of Rebekah's dead baby brother. Henrik ignores him and turns back to his sister.
"Help me out here, Bekah." He insists, and Rebekah looks and feels helpless.
"How should I know?" She snaps. "This whole bloody town has changed since we were last here."
"We're at the Young Farm." Stefan pipes up, surprising both Mikaelsons and Elena. "Just hurry up and get us out of here. Elena hasn't got much time left." He insists, and Henrik frowns.
"I'm only here for my sister. As far as I'm concerned, you two made your bed, now you've gotta lie in it." He turns towards his sister, and bends down to her level. "We'll be back. Hang in there." Henrik urges before disappearing once again.
"Hey!? Where did he go?" Stefan demands.
"Probably back to wherever Grace is, I should think." Rebekah replies, bored. "She's the only other person he could have been talking about." Stefan visibly relaxes, knowing that Grace's compassion and stubborn willingness to help despite the potential danger, would kick in. "However, I wouldn't count on her helping either of you. She's not exactly happy right now." Rebekah sing-songed, thoroughly enjoying the despair on Stefan's face.
"What do you mean?" Stefan frowned. Rebekah looked at him like he was an idiot.
"Think, Stefan. It'll come to you eventually." She smirked before retreating back into her cage, and leaning against the wall to wait for her rescue. "I'd start saying your goodbyes right about now." She suggested.
"She wouldn't just let Elena die!" Stefan insisted, sounding desperate.
"Oh, she can, and she would." Rebekah coughs delicately into her hand, due to the vervain. "I recall Gráinne could be just as cunning and ruthless as Klaus is today when it comes to protecting or avenging people she loves." Rebekah explained. "It would not surprise me in the slightest, if Grace shares the same traits as her previous life." Stefan sags against his prison bars, as Elena struggles to keep her eyes open.
Mikaelson Mansion
Klaus's Study
(Grace's P.O.V)
The second after Henrik went searching for Rebekah, I darted into Nik's bedroom to freshen up, and snack on a piece of bubble-gum to thoroughly make sure the taste of bile was completely gone, even though I had brushed my teeth beforehand.
Unfortunately, the only thing that was left to do now, was to sit and wait. Which I wasn't exactly great at doing when I was tense, worried and a bit emotional. In the end, I decided to keep my hands busy by straightening up the disaster area that was Nik's study, while waiting for Henrik to come back. I was sweeping up the broken glass, and picking up Nik's artwork when Henrik suddenly re-appeared from out of nowhere.
"Grace! I found Rebekah!" Henrik blurted out loudly, causing me to jump and accidentally give myself a paper cut off one of Nik's drawings.
"Ow!" I hissed, and shoved my bleeding digit into my mouth as I glared at a sheepish Henrik. "I'm seriously thinking of putting a little bell on you." I said, around the finger in my mouth. I pulled it out and looked at it, deciding that even though it wasn't bleeding excessively … I'd still put a plaster on it as I was undoubtedly heading to an area teeming with captured and weakened vampires. And I wasn't in the mood to become an appetizer or an Apéritif for one of them. "Work on that, will you?"
"Uh, yes. Sorry." Henrik replied, awkwardly.
"So, where's Rebekah?" I asked, getting back on point. Henrik sighed, and squatted to help pick up his brother's artwork too.
"Apparently, at Young Farm." Henrik said.
"Young Farm?"
"Yeah, it's one of the Council Member's homes. Stefan told me." Henrik explained, and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Stefan was there?" I asked, surprised. Henrik shrugged.
"Yeah, he and Elena were trapped in cages in what looked like a barn?" He reported, looking a little unsure. I snorted, questioning to myself why I had felt so surprised before. Now I knew why.
"Figures." I scoffed. "Anywhere Elena Gilbert goes, Stefan is sure to follow like a little lost puppy." I knew I was being unkind, but considering all the bullshit that had gone down previously had been mostly related to Elena, I felt justified in how I was feeling.
"Yeah, but she didn't look very well." Henrik admitted.
"What do you mean?" I asked, curiously. Henrik stood up with a bundle of Nik's artwork in his hand and dumped them on the desk a little carelessly.
"What do you think I mean?" Henrik retorted, sounding a little cross. "She's dying. Hasn't fed yet on human blood and she's getting weaker." He stated, like it should've been obvious.
"That's usually what happens when one doesn't want to transition into a vampire." I pointed out, wincing a little when it reminded me of watching Alaric fading away back in the Salvatore mausoleum.
"Yeah, but I doubt she wanted to die like this." Henrik insisted, leaning against Nik's desk and folding his arms across his chest. He sighed heavily. "Look, I get that Elena's a bitch and she's been a pain in all our arses … but not even she deserves to die like that." I stared at him in disbelief.
"Are you seriously telling me that you'd help her? Even after she and her friends almost killed your brother?" I demanded, dubiously.
"Hell no." I sagged with relief. "It's just a little pathetic how helpless Elena looked in that cage. I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for her." Henrik admitted, and I paused letting his words sink in. I suppose you had to be there to understand what he was feeling. But it didn't stop me from wanting to get even. I straightened up from where I was crouching, picking up the dustpan brush containing the glass shards I had swept up and carried it to the bin beside Nik's desk.
"Let's go save Rebekah then." I said, metaphorically sweeping the matter of Elena's mortality under the rug, as I snatched up my baseball bat from where I had tossed it onto the living room sofa, and headed for the front door. Henrik frowned and jogged after me, getting into my car after I unlocked it with my key fob. "Gotta make a quick pit stop first."
"Where?" Henrik asked, as he watched me buckle up and slide on my sunglasses.
"You'll find out." I replied as I drove towards the security gates. "And trust me, we need to go there." I stated, as I drove out and turned to head into town, ignoring the curious frown forming on my little brother's face.
Salvatore Boarding House
Day
I turned my car into the Salvatore's long, winding driveway, and immediately spotted Damon striding out of the double front doors, with Matt Donovan following close behind. My hands clenched the steering wheel so tight my knuckles turned white.
"Son-of-a-bitch…" I muttered underneath my breath as I hastily parked my car and threw open the car door, abandoning my baseball bat in the backseat. "Damon!" I hollered, gaining his attention. Henrik followed reluctantly.
"Grace? What are you doing here?" Damon demanded, looking surprised.
"Never mind what I'm doing here. What are you doing here?" I retorted, jabbing a finger into his chest.
"Er … I live here?" I gathered all the patience I possessed and did not slap him. "Back to my question. What the hell are you doing here?" Damon insisted, eye sweeping me from head to toe with a very concerned look in his baby blue eyes. "Last I saw of you, you had been drugged by one of the deputies and hauled outside with Rebekah into a police van." He stated.
"And it didn't occur to you to … oh, I don't know … follow and potentially save us?!" I questioned, sternly. "Particularly when one of us is your girlfriend?" Damon raised an eyebrow.
"And risk being caught?" He pretended to give this some serious thought. "Hmmm, good plan. But I choose freedom." He quipped, sarcastically.
"How very brave of you." I said, just as sarcastic.
"How did you escape?" Matt asked, jumping in before one of us could continue the bickering. My eyes swiveled towards the teenager and softened a little, knowing that what I was going to say next might shock him.
"Ah, yes. Funny story." I said, chuckling awkwardly. "It was Tyler." Both Matt and Damon's eyes widened. "He saved Caroline and I from the van." I explained. And ditched Rebekah to fend for herself… I added mentally, still disappointed in Nik's actions towards his baby sister.
"What?" Matt breathed, going pale.
"Bullshit!" Damon scoffed, disbelieving.
"It's true. I saw the whole thing." Henrik backed me up, although through a little white lie. Damon looked annoyed, while Matt still looked like he was processing the fact that his friend hadn't died like Caroline had tearfully told them, the day Nik 'died.' "Also, I know where they're taking their captives." Henrik added.
"Where?" asked Damon, immediately.
"Young Farm." I supplied, grimly. "Henrik tracked down Rebekah using their familial link." I explained. Matt nodded his blonde head.
"Makes sense. It's big enough to house vampires."
"There's more." Henrik piped up. "Your brother is there too … with Elena." He hinted, and Damon's eyes widened again and he swore loudly.
"Oh, shit…" He cursed, and started pacing agitatedly. Matt looked confused.
"What's wrong with that? Elena's not a vampire, she doesn't want to be one." He pointed out and I sighed heavily, as I watched my best friend pace.
"Yeah, but the council doesn't know that Matt." I explained. "If Elena is imprisoned with the other vampires, it must mean she had done something that triggered their suspicions and implied she was one." We all jumped when Damon snarled angrily.
"Goddamn it. I told Stefan that she should've fed this morning." He bitched. "But no. He knew better didn't he? Fucking moron!"
"But isn't that a good thing? Elena doesn't want to complete transition." Matt insisted.
"Not like this. Not trapped in a cage at somebody else's mercy." Henrik stated, grimly. "Everybody deserves to die with dignity."
"Which means that in order to survive, Elena will have to consume blood to stand a chance of protecting herself." I completed.
Matt scowled at me.
"That's rich coming from you. You don't even like Elena, why should you be concerned whether she lives or dies?" He demanded, protectively.
"Look, I might be engaged to a man who sometimes acts like a heartless monster." Damon scoffed at that. I ignored him. "But it doesn't mean I am one." I pointed out, feeling a little indignant at the accusation. Matt didn't seem convinced, but decided to drop the subject just as Damon immediately started walking for his car.
"If we're through talking about this, why don't we get our arses in gear and go save them, huh?" He suggested, and Matt jogged to get into Damon's car before the unpredictable vampire could drive off without us.
"Sounds good to me. Lead on, MacDuff." I agreed, ignoring the strange look I got from Damon for the unintentional Macbeth quote, and striding back towards my car with Henrik trailing in the rear. I waved at Damon to get going, and dutifully followed as the blue convertible sped off down the road.
Young Farm
Day
Henrik and I followed Damon and Matt towards the Young family's ranch, and hid our cars near the entrance behind some thick bushes. Up ahead, I saw a fairly innocuous little farmhouse that was shabby-chic and in desperate need of a decent paint job, and an equally rundown looking barn, that the council were very clearly imprisoning the vampires.
"Be it ever so humble…" I quipped sardonically, as I reached back and grabbed my baseball bat from the backseat and hopped out of the car. Henrik nodded in agreement, but otherwise didn't speak a word as he stared at the house grimly.
"Shall we?" asked Damon as he and Matt sidled up to us and started leading the way down the dirt driveway towards the more open part of the property. I carried the baseball bat across my shoulders and followed him, and mentally tried to figure out the best way to infiltrate the barn without being caught by stray wanna-be heroic council members.
"So, what, we just storm the place with zero weapons?" Matt questioned, sounding a little doubtful. I snorted, gaining his attention as I swung my baseball bat into his eye view.
"Speak for yourself, mate." I said, and Damon shook his head, looking suspiciously over-confident. I frowned at him.
What are you up to?
"Nah, we don't need weapons." Damon reassured him. "Just bait."
"What bait?" Henrik piped up. Then without warning Damon suddenly rushes Matt and bites into his neck. "Hey!? What the fuck, man!?" Henrik exclaimed in alarm, as he shoves Damon away from Matt who falls to the ground, groaning in pain.
"You're bang out of order!" I growled at him angrily, grabbing one of Elijah's clean white handkerchiefs that I borrowed from my pocket and applied pressure to the poor kid's neck.
"Shhh! It's all part of the plan." Damon whispers to me, and I stand up and get into his face. Pissed.
"What plan?"
"This one." Then Damon grabs my throat in a firm grip, and I stiffen instinctively and attempt to pry his hands away. Henrik abandons Matt, who glares weakly up at Damon, obviously also not privy to the plan Damon had made up on the spot.
"Get your hands off my sister!" Henrik snarled protectively, trying to help pry Damon off as well. But Damon ignores him.
"Yoo-hoo!" Damon calls out to the farmhouse in a sing-song tone. "Anybody home? Big, bad vampire out here." He announces. I continue struggling with him.
"You're damn lucky Nik isn't here, Damon." I muttered underneath gritted teeth, as the front door opens, and out steps a preacher, who frowns curiously at Damon until he takes notice of Matt, who is still sitting on the grass, clutching a bloody handkerchief to his bleeding neck, and then at Henrik and myself; attempting to get away from Damon.
"Let them go! They're innocent!" The guy shouts at Damon, who smirks condescendingly.
"Well, that's the point." Damon responds, like it should be obvious. "Give me Stefan, Elena and Rebekah, and they're all yours." He compromises, and turns to grab Matt by the scruff of his shirt and hauls him to his feet with his free hand. "Come on, Pastor. You know I'll kill them. I want to kill them." Damon wheedles. The Pastor scowls, obviously sensing a trap.
Good. At least we know we're not dealing with an idiot.
"Go away! You are not invited in, and I'm not coming out!" He declares, and Damon scowls and lets go of my neck, irritated … then collapses without warning when he is suddenly shot in the chest.
"Shit!" I yelled, and scramble to his side, snatching up my baseball bat in case of an ambush. "What do we do now, smart arse?" I bitch at Damon, who groans and sits up.
"Your turn." He insists, and all four of us turn at the sound of footsteps approaching and see a group of deputies armed with guns and other weapons walking towards us, obviously intending on either taking us out or imprisoning us like the other poor bastards in the converted barn.
"Gee, thanks. No pressure." I snarked back and got to my feet, and turned towards the nearest deputy. "One step closer and I'll cave in your head." I threatened, sharply. Immediately, he and a few others stopped in their tracks, and lowered their guns, looking a bit taken aback and hesitated. But one of them, smirked, and continued advancing.
"Oh please. I'm so scared." He sneered, and I narrowed my eyes. "You're bluffing. As if a little girl like you could take all of us on." My hackles rose at the obvious stab that not only was I female, but that I was weak and defenseless. Damon let out a low whistle, and I didn't have to look at his face to know he was smirking from ear to ear, and thoroughly looking amused.
"Oooh. You shouldn't have said that." He said, condescendingly. The guy foolishly chose to ignore what Damon said, and I waited until he was close enough, before I swung the bat hard at his face, causing blood, spittle and a loose tooth to go flying. He dropped like a sack of potatoes. I squatted down beside him and tsked at him unsympathetically.
"Do I scare you now?" I questioned the misogynistic twerp, smirking, then grunted when Damon suddenly blurred into me, knocking me sideways. I went to swear at him but bit back what I was about to cuss him out for, when we were suddenly pelted with a rain of bullet fire, with Damon's undead body shielding me from harm.
"Oh, my God, that was sexy." Damon complimented me on the sheer brutality I had just done on that guy's face, in between grunts, hisses and muttered cussing when he was hit by a stray bullet. I rolled my eyes, unamused with his flirting.
"Damon, focus." I insisted, and glanced around to see if Matt was out of range from the bullets also.
"Relax, sweetheart. I got the quarterback to safety while you cracked that dickhead across the face with your bat." Damon obviously noticed my concern, and I relaxed a little. He then picked me up and blurred us out of range on the side of the barn.
"Wait! What are you doing?!"
"Protecting you from becoming target practice." Damon retorted, distractedly.
I nodded, accepting this and followed him to check if the coast were clear so I could get to the barn door and inside to rescue Rebekah. I managed to find a back entrance, in time to see what was hidden inside. The barn had been converted into a very basic holding cell with multiple cages, each with weakened vampires in various stages of vulnerability.
I spot Rebekah almost immediately. She had a concerned expression on her face, and was looking right across at a very desperate looking Stefan. Right next to his cell was a slumped over Elena looking like a marionette with its strings cut. She didn't look well; and I almost felt sorry for her. I was about to storm the room to liberate my sister, but instantly froze and hid when the barn door opened and the two deputies walked in. Both were carrying vervain. I cocked an eyebrow when I noticed Stefan and Rebekah exchanging looks with each other and nodding.
"I got this." One of the deputies reassures his partner. "Bring the other one in." My eyes widened when I realised he meant Damon. I needed to act now.
"What about the girl the vamp came with?" The other asked.
"Don't worry about that now. She can't have gone far, we'll deal with her soon." The first deputy replied, confidently, and both Stefan and Rebekah frowned.
Yes, sure you will… I snorted, as the other guy leaves the barn. Rebekah tries to grab the first guy's attention.
"Excuse me? Hello, sir?" Rebekah pretends to cough, and the deputy loads his gun and walks over to her cage. He scowls at her menacingly.
"I thought I told you to shut up." He snarls at her, and Rebekah looked like she was forcing herself not to roll her eyes at this guy's pathetic attempt to be intimidating.
"Here's the thing," Rebekah ignored his threat, and continued with her spiel. "My family we – we have money, castles, apartments, jewellery." I blinked. Was she seriously trying the bribery route? "Just name your price and let me out."
The guy walks closer to the cage.
"I'd much rather watch you die." He tells her, and in response, Rebekah gets up and rushes at the bars. This freaks him out, and he reaches for his gun as he continues backing up in the direction of Stefan's cage. I stepped out from my hiding spot.
"You pull that trigger, mate, and I'll show you what true pain feels like." I threatened him with my bat. The guy sees me, and turns to aim the gun at me. Fortunately, before he could pull the trigger and pepper me with bullets, Stefan reaches for him through his own bars and slams the deputy's head repeatedly against them until he starts bleeding. I watch this with wide eyes. "Well, alright then." I managed to say, surprised at how unaffected I was, witnessing this guy's violent, bloody death.
"Grace? What are you doing here?" I turned and looked at Rebekah who was looking both relieved and angry that I was here.
"Staging a jail break, of course." I replied, but turned back to where Stefan had allowed the bloody corpse to fall in front of, but still out of reach of Elena's cage. "But it appears you and Stefan have that covered." I added, lamely. Elena had flinched a little when the body thudded on the straw strewn ground, and her eyes weakly opened and first looked at me, confusion evident on her face.
"Grace?" She rasped, weakly. I just stared at her blankly, watching as her eyes then swiveled to the corpse lying close to her cage, slowly bleeding out. The puddle of blood creeping closer to her.
"Elena. Elena!" Stefan shouted, frantically. Elena reaches through the bars with her hand, stretching for the blood. I could see that she was reaching as far as she could with the last of her strength, but can't quite make it. Outwardly, I stoically watched this, still crouched beside my sister's cage. But inwardly, I couldn't help but feel triumphant that this spiteful, selfish girl was getting her just desserts for contributing to my love's death.
"Grace." I turned towards Stefan, looking at me, pleadingly. "Help her. Please." I frowned at him, disgusted that he would have the audacity to ask this, especially when he had attempted to take Nik away from me. However, my conscience and my goddamned compassionate nature told me that two wrongs don't make a right.
Besides, I could get even with these two some other way, and I was pretty sure Nik and Rebekah would be there to back me up. I glanced at my sister, who didn't look exactly thrilled about these turn of events either, but reluctantly nodded.
"Fine." I sighed, and dropped my bat next to Rebekah's cage and strode over to the puddle of blood. Grimacing at the thought of what I was about to do, I gingerly dipped two fingers into the thick, warm, dark red almost black blood and scooped up a generous gloopy mouthful and moved over to Elena. "Open wide." I muttered at her. Elena looked at me in surprise before weakly opening her mouth. I put my fingers to her lips, but couldn't help but warn her. "Bite me, and I'll have your guts for garters." I promised, and shuddered when Elena tentatively licked my fingers clean. Almost immediately, she starts to regain colour to her face and I pull my fingers away and stood up; mentally kicking myself for my willingness to help those in need.
"Congratulations. You've officially become a member of the fang gang." I quipped at Elena who struggles to her feet, getting stronger by the second. I walked over to Rebekah's cage to pick up my bat, and figure out how to get her out. The sound of metal bending and protesting causes me to turn around and jump back when Elena suddenly blurs from the barn.
You're welcome… I thought sarcastically.
"Thank you, Grace." I turned and saw Stefan smiling gratefully at me. I didn't return it. Spotting a shovel lying against the wall, I walked over and picked it up.
"Whatever." I drawled at him, raising the shovel high into the air and letting it smack hard against the padlock, breaking it. "I didn't do it for you, or Elena." I pointed out, earning a questioning look from both Stefan and Rebekah, as I broke Stefan's padlock. I dropped the shovel, picked up my bat and strode towards the front entrance. "I did it for Jeremy; so he didn't lose yet another member of his family." I said, and headed out.
… And nearly ran straight into Matt, whose bloodied neck had finally clotted but still looked like a train-wreak. I instinctively reached out and grabbed him by the shoulders before we could collide.
"Woah. Sorry, Matt." I apologized to him. Matt offered me a weak, small smile but said nothing in reply. "For the record." Matt paused in the act of walking around me to get into the barn, and waited for me to continue; his eyebrow raised in question. "Even though there are times that you have been left out of things; you are still just as valuable as the rest of us. Remember that, okay?" I reminded him. Matt blinked at me in surprise. He had obviously not seen that coming, but a genuine smile spread across his face.
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." Matt acknowledged. I walked out, and stopped when I saw an annoyed Damon shoving a newborn and obviously pissed off Elena away from him and getting to his feet. His black shirt was dotted with bullet holes, stained with his blood which had obviously already healed over. I was about to walk over to them to tell Damon that I was going to head back when Matt's frustrated voice suddenly rings out behind me.
"Just stop! Stop saving me!" He yells.
I turn and peer back into the barn to see what was going on. It appeared that Matt had, in his weakened state, stumbled to the ground after walking past me into the barn. Presumably, Stefan, in an effort to help, had come over to heal him. Judging by the bewildered expression on his face; Matt hadn't taken this very well, hence the outburst. I briefly noticed that Rebekah had pulled a disappearing act.
Really, Rebekah? You couldn't wait for me!?
"What the hell is your problem?" Stefan demanded. Matt struggles to his feet.
"What do you want me to say? Thank you? Cause honestly, I wish you'd have just let me drown." I stiffen in shock and feel my stomach flip over unpleasantly. Matt was there when Elena drowned?
"What, you think you were my first choice?" Stefan scoffed, and I gaped at him in outrage. Low blow, Stefan! Clearly by the expression on Matt's face, after that retort, he agreed.
"Elena's a vampire… because of me. I have to live with that everyday for the rest of my life." Matt pointed out, sounding tired and defeated. I winced at this. It seemed really unfair that this poor kid had to shoulder that kind of burden. Quite frankly, Matt's confession should've ended this discussion. However, Stefan apparently didn't see it that way.
"No, no, no." Matt and I frowned at him, questioningly. "You don't have to live with that; you get to live with that." My grip suddenly increased on my bat. "Because Elena put your life before her own. So every morning you get out of bed, you sure as hell better earn it." Matt looked like he wanted to object to that, but thought better of it, and instead scowled resentfully at the hay-strewn floor as Stefan moved to leave the barn.
"You're a real piece of work, aren't you?" I stated scornfully, grabbing Stefan's attention the second he stepped through the barn door. "Setting all the blame at Matt's feet like that?"
"Excuse me?" Stefan frowned at me, offended.
"Fairly certain that I didn't stammer." I said, raising up the bat and making Stefan's green eyes swivel towards it, looking wary.
Good.
"I hope I don't have to remind you that Elena's death wasn't Matt's fault, you sanctimonious bastard." I jabbed the curved edge of the bat hard into Stefan's chest, causing the already weakened vampire to grunt a little. "If you want to blame somebody, blame Rebekah. She was the one responsible. But be it on your own head; she doesn't take threats lightly. None of the Mikaelsons do."
"Grace!" We turned towards the voice, and spotted Henrik waving insistently at me. "Come on, we gotta go!" He insisted. I nodded and gave Stefan one last disapproving glare before jogging over to where Henrik was waiting.
"Where did you disappear off to?" I asked Henrik, who looked a bit hesitant.
"With Niklaus. He's gotten his own body back." He reported, and I sagged in relief. That was one less thing we had to deal with. "Although, the spirits aren't too happy with that Bonnie girl now. They really didn't want her helping Nik get his body back."
"How do you know?"
"I dunno. A ghost thing I suppose. But I could see they were punishing some old lady. Really freaked her out." Henrik looked a little shaken. I could see Damon looking at me curiously, and Elena glaring as we approached the sharp decline leading to where Damon and I had parked our cars. Obviously, both had heard what I said to Stefan.
"What was that about?" Damon wanted to know.
I shrugged, "Just clearing something up."
"You didn't have to be so rude to him." Elena defended Stefan and I scoffed.
"He didn't need to lay the blame on the wrong person." I corrected her. Elena's eyes softened for a microsecond; obviously mulling over what I had said, and not completely disagreeing with my reasoning. But she immediately turned her anger on Damon, causing both of us to roll our eyes. So much drama for one lousy day.
"You were going to kill him." Elena began the accusation, but Damon immediately objected.
"Okay. Stop right there." He said. "Yep, I went in for the kill. But it was an act; a distraction tactic so Grace could get in to do her little jailbreak." Damon explained.
"You bit him!" Elena insisted.
"Yes, I did." Damon didn't deny the accusation. "Had to look real." Then looked thoughtful. "Won't deny I did have a little fun doing so." He smirked, but the amusement didn't completely reach his eyes. Elena looked disgusted, and I rolled my eyes.
"Damon. Time and place, mate." I sighed, impatiently. He pouted at me playfully.
"Buzzkill." He glanced around curiously. "Where's Rebekah?" I shrugged, spotting Henrik waiting patiently beside my car.
"'Search me. Probably back to the mansion." I guessed. Damon looked a little annoyed by that. He opened his mouth, presumably to bitch about the fact that his girlfriend had ditched us, when Elena suddenly spoke up randomly.
"I remember everything." We stopped and turned to look at her, a serious look on Damon's face. "One of the highlights of my transition: remembering everything that you compelled me to forget." Damon walks back over to Elena, but I stay where I was, watching this curiously like an interesting plot in a sappy soap opera. "Like how you and I first met." Elena continued, and I saw Damon wince.
"What's the hold up?" Henrik asked, sounding a little impatient now. He obviously wanted to go back and see Nik.
"Shhh. This is getting interesting." I muttered back, indicating towards Elena and Damon, who were oblivious.
"You were a stranger that told me you wanted me to get everything I wanted from life." The fierce expression on Elena's face turned into sincere vulnerability. "Damon, why didn't you tell me?" She whispered.
Damon shrugged carelessly. "Does it matter? Would it have made a difference?" Elena remains silent. "Then you just answered your own question."
"If it had been you at the bridge last night and not Stefan and I begged you to save Matt…?" Elena started, and Damon was quick to answer.
"Yes, I would have saved you! In a heartbeat." Damon answered her question.
"Then Matt would be dead!" Elena yelled.
"You don't know that." Damon pointed out. "And you would have gotten to grow up and had the life that you wanted; the life that you deserved." He then walked off, brushing past me in his retreat. I watched him go, and looked back to see a conflicted looking Elena.
"C'mon." Henrik tugged on my hand and started leading me back to the car. I saw Damon start up his car and peel off into the night.
"Think I should go after him?" I questioned. Henrik shook his head.
"Nah. That'll just piss him off even more. Let him be." He suggested. "Let's go and see if Niklaus is back yet."
Mikaelson Mansion
Night
My expectation upon my arrival home: go inside, confirm that Nik was indeed back in his own body, go upstairs to our bedroom and relax in a quick bath, then do some more relaxing in bed before falling asleep and putting my long, crappy day behind me.
But alas, this was not to be.
I could sense the tension emanating from the mansion the very second I drove my car through the security gates, put my car into park and hopped out. The intense argument I could hear between Rebekah and Nik could be heard from behind closed doors, and both Henrik and I exchanged worried looks between us.
Exactly what sort of shit storm was I about to walk into? It was obviously bad enough for neither of them to have heard my car rolling up the driveway. I remembered the sorts of arguments they used to have back a thousand years ago. But it never seemed this bad, and usually in the end one or both of them would close ranks, and then everything would go back to normal. I walked cautiously towards the front double doors, with Henrik flanking from behind, and reached for the handle to let myself in…
"NO!" Nik's voice loudly protests, and I jump like I'd been shot. "Drop them." He warns icily.
Without hesitation, Henrik and I burst through the front door and bolt towards the living room, where the machine Nik had been using to drain Elena of her blood still stood. Inside, we saw Nik standing next to a cooler, that had blocks of dry ice smoking inside. Blood was splattered gruesomely on the wall behind him, still dripping onto the Persian rug on the floor, and Rebekah stood nearby, holding two blood bags clenched tightly in her hands. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.
It was easy to figure out what had happened here: Rebekah had picked up one of the blood bags Nik had been storing, and had hurled it at the wall mid-argument. Whether it was at him or not, I wasn't sure.
"I mourned you!" Rebekah wailed. "Grace mourned you!" She added, and I flinched when my name was spoken; praying that I hadn't been noticed and was about to be summoned into the room to be invited into this 'discussion.' Nik's eyes narrowed further, making him look all the more dangerous.
"Leave her out of this." He stated, and I sagged in relief. This was something I'd rather not be in the middle of.
"My heart broke thinking I'd never see you again!" She ranted, and my heart broke at the pain I could hear in my sister's voice. Unwanted tears started welling in my eyes.
"Put the blood down, Rebekah. There's a good girl." Nik attempted to coax his sister, like he was attempting to talk her down from a high ledge instead of hurling yet another blood bag against the wall, like she so obviously looked like she wanted to.
"It's always been me!" Rebekah continued desperately, not making a move to put the bags down. "Not Finn, not Elijah, not Kol, me! I loved you through everything and you don't even care!" She screamed.
Do you want to know what the worse thing about this whole argument was? The look in Nik's eyes. As I stood there, unseen, witnessing this entire conversation; I took a moment to analyze Nik's face … and saw nothing that remotely resembled remorse, or even guilt. All I could see was blind anger and a stony determination. I can honestly tell you, I had never felt so ashamed or disappointed in Nik, than I did at that moment. Especially with what he did next … and believe me; things got so much nastier after that.
"Drop it!" Nik roared; and that was it. This, in Rebekah's eyes was the final straw. Her blue eyes narrowed angrily, and I sucked in a deep breath, almost afraid of what could potentially happen next. Henrik was watching all of this with a blank, emotionless look on his face.
"You want your family?" Rebekah asked, her words low, slow and precise, a sign of intense anger. Then she squeezes her hands into fists around the blood bags, causing them to explode and ruin any chances of Nik making more hybrids. "Here's your family!" Rebekah declared. There was silence for several minutes. Blood coated Rebekah's hands as she tossed aside the useless bags.
Then Nik responded.
He blurred towards Rebekah and grabbed her by the throat.
"You know something, Rebekah, you're right." Nik seethes. "I don't care. From this moment on, you're not my family, you're not my sister, you are nothing!" Then he snaps her neck. I gasped in shock, covering my mouth as Rebekah dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes; out for the count. Without another glance, Nik turns and walks out of the room, heading in our direction. He immediately pauses when he sees us standing there, looking at him in horror.
No, correction: I was looking at him in horror. Henrik, on the other hand, merely turns and walks away without saying a word. Nik watches him go, before returning his attention on me. I should've been furious. I should've been scared that he'd turn on me next. Hell, I should've been a lot of things. But instead, I was trying to understand. However, before I could say anything, Nik merely walks by me, heading in the direction of his study.
"Nik… what…?"
"DON'T. SAY. A. WORD!" Nik bellows at me, before storming into the study and slamming the door behind him, making the doors rattle in their frames. The next thing I heard, was glass smashing and something crashing into the wall, shattering on impact. I sighed heavily. Another typical Klaus temper tantrum. I glanced back at Rebekah's unconscious body before shaking my head and stomping my way up the staircase, intending on doing what I had planned to do before witnessing the domestic dispute.
Klaus's Bedroom
Night
I wiped the condensation from the bathroom mirror and stared at the face of the young woman reflected back at me: my face. I did not like what I saw there. Her normally warm light brown eyes, were now tired and sorrowful, pondering where life had drastically started going wrong. This motley crew of ancient vampires that I had been living with for the past few months, that I affectionately called my family, were not the family I remembered … and I desperately wanted them back.
I wanted back the laughter, the friendship, the love that we shared once-upon-a-time. A time where the only hardships we suffered and endured through was when we struggled to find enough food that would last us through the winter months, or found a way to bring a little light back into our lives after Hurricane Mikael decimated everything with a few carefully chosen words and sometimes even gestures, that left all of us reeling afterwards. Which happened more frequently than you think.
Now? I was living a reincarnated life surrounded by ruthless, hardened vampires that had taken over the faces of my loved ones; each as violent, selfish and numb to the destruction created all around them. And all created on the whim of a couple of proud, arrogant parents, who thought they were doing the right thing, but in reality? Fucked up everything forever.
I turned away from the mirror and got undressed, sinking into a hot, blissful, bubbly nirvana that would've made Damon proud. And I just half-sat, half-floated there and brooded, in between cleansing myself of all the grime, blood and tears I had accumulated throughout this entire miserable, bloody day. An hour later, I heaved myself out of the now icy bathwater that I refused to get used to (that would just be a new low), dried myself, dressed in warm, comforting cotton flannel pajama pants and one of Nik's white Henley's, and climbed into my side of Nik's massive bed. I sat cross-legged on the duvet, absently fidgeting with my engagement ring, spinning it round and around on my finger as I pondered what my next move would be, to fix the situation between Nik and Rebekah.
Nothing immediately came to mind, and part of me resented the fact that it had come down to this, and wanted Elijah to drop everything, come out of hiding wherever the hell he was at this moment and come home to help me play mediator. After all, it had been his job for the past thousand years (when he hadn't been daggered by Nik after one of his famous temper tantrums, of course) to help make peace.
"Screw this!" I muttered angrily, and flopped back onto my pillow and turned to face the open window, where a light breeze was blowing into the room, disturbing the curtains and making them billow gently up and down. I curled up into a comfortable position and just let myself drift off to sleep.
It couldn't have been more than another few hours that went by before the bedroom door creaked open, causing me to stir a little from my sleep but I didn't open my eyes, choosing to feign sleep so I could be alert to possible danger. For all I knew, Nik was still downstairs in his study guzzling down tumbler after tumbler of expensive scotch, in his attempt to calm down and curb some cravings. The only other possibility could be Rebekah. But despite being angry and hurt at Nik, she wouldn't have forgotten her manners and would've knocked before entering, so that ruled her out.
Whoever it was, let out a heavy sigh and closed the door behind them, walking deeper into the room. Heavy footfalls, and the sounds of steel-toed boots being kicked off told me, it was Nik. I relaxed, and prepared to go back to sleep. The bed dipped a little, and I heard the rustling of sheets before everything went silent … up until I let out a startled 'eep' when a strong, warm arm suddenly snaked its way underneath my body and tugged me closer to an equally warm, hard body that contoured itself into mine and rested his head in the crook of my neck and shoulders. Warm breath tickled the nape of my neck, and I wrinkled my nose when the strong stench of scotch assailed my nose.
Yep. I guessed right. Nik had been drinking. I couldn't decide if I should feel sympathy or annoyance, and I was about to tell him so, when he unexpectedly beat me to it.
"Stay with me." My heart clenched at the raw hurt and vulnerability in Nik's voice. "Please. I don't want to be alone." He pleaded.
So, I was wrong then.
Nik was capable of remorse.
Too bad it was directed to the wrong person. Still, it showed that underneath Nik's big, bad hybrid exterior … small traces of the man he used to be, the man I fell in love with all those centuries ago, still shone through. It was obviously still a work in progress, and Nik needed to work big time on his trust issues and his paranoia. But it was a start.
I smiled, "I'm not going anywhere, love. I promise." I whispered back and threaded my fingers through the webbing of his hand that was cradling my waist. Nik squeezed me tighter in his possessive grip, obviously approving of what I said. It took a few more minutes before his breathing slowed into deep slumber, and I followed him not too long after.
A/N: Please review!