A/N: A new year means a new chapter update. To those who have stuck around, my thanks. To those who are new to reading this, I hope you're enjoying this story so far … but please be warned, sometimes I take a while to update. I'm not abandoning this story, but my personal obligations must come first (i.e. work, University etc.)
Your patience is appreciated. Cheers!
I do not own The Vampire Diaries. I own this story, and my OC Grace.
Happy reading!
THE KILLER IN ME
"See the stone set in your eyes.
See the thorn twist in your side.
I'll wait for you."
– U2: 'With or Without You' (The Joshua Tree [1987]).
Mikaelson Mansion
Night
So, this is what it's come to? Nik's plans fall through, and I'm the unfortunate one who has to pick up the pieces or find ways to fix the problem? I ponder this as I glared down at the decapitated corpse of Nate, and pricking up my ears suspiciously when I also hear the whispered mutterings of the two hybrids who were standing behind me.
"If you two have something to say, please don't be shy. Speak up!" I order sternly, so not in the mood for this at all. Both of them immediately clam up, as I spun round to eye them suspiciously. "Well?" I requested, unamused and raising an eyebrow at them both. Neither made the attempt to look me in the eye but scowled resentfully at the floor. I roll my eyes. "How convenient. You both seem to have misplaced your tongues. What a conundrum." I rake a hand through my hair and sigh with frustration. "Ok, well. You two might as well clean up. I gotta ring Nik back and tell him the bad news."
I walk past them, pulling my phone from my back pocket and accessing recent calls to redial Nik's number.
He was definitely gonna be pissed.
"Why?"
I pause mid-step and turn to look at them in disbelief.
"Excuse me?"
"Why should we clean this up? What's stopping you?" One of them, a female Hybrid whom I vaguely remember Nik calling Ava, challenged me with a bored little pout on her face, that I suddenly had the uncontrollable urge to slap off.
I scowled at her.
"Well, off the top of my head, I can think of three reasons why you should clean up. But I think that the most important reason would be, that I'm about to call your boss, and if I know Nik, and I do, he's gonna be in a particularly murderous mood when I tell him exactly what has just happened." I listed casually. "You sure you wanna risk it?"
"Did you just threaten us?" Ava growled at me.
I shrugged, bluffing. "You really want to chance it?"
Ava made an attempt to come at me, but the other hybrid grabs her by the shoulder, getting her attention, and shakes his head firmly. Ava backs down before huffing in frustration and disappearing into Nik's torture room to clean up, followed closely by her male companion. I let out a breath, relieved that they didn't call my bluff and headed into the parlour for as much privacy as I possibly could with two hybrids within earshot.
I instantly got Nik's voicemail.
Figures.
"At risk of being a harbinger of bad tidings, Nik. I'm just letting you know that somehow, Connor has escaped after decapitating Nate and running off with his head, for some reason." I reported to him. I let out an embarrassingly loud yawn before completing my voice message. "Hurry back soon, Nik. I miss you."
I wake up the next day, wrapped around Nik's pillow, inhaling the scent of his expensive cologne, his paints, the cedar and pine of the forest surrounding the town, and his natural scent, and found myself smiling contentedly; forgetting for one brief moment that I wasn't exactly happy with him or his current behaviour, and pretending that he was there lying with me in our bed, in peace.
My eyes slowly drift shut as I fall back to sleep… only to wake up what seemed like a few minutes later and glanced over to look at the time on Nik's clock radio.
10:00am glared back at me in blood red hue and I chuckled in disbelief. I really must've been tired last night from all the stress and frustrating conversation shared between Nik, Rebekah, Stefan, and I to have slept in for as long as I did. And on cue, my stomach growled, as though reminding me that it had yet to be satisfied.
Shrugging, and accepting that I obviously needed the lie in, I hurled back the duvet and headed for Nik's and my chest of drawers and withdrew a fresh pair of knickers and bra set before sauntering into the ensuite; getting ready to see what crisis I was about to charge headlong into today.
Pessimistic, I know.
But in this town, I learned very quickly to expect the unexpected … which was usually out to kill either myself, my friends, and my family in the process.
Mystic Grill
Day
I push open the heavy double doors and stepped inside, spotting Jeremy bussing down a nearby table. I blinked, surprised that he had somehow managed to get his job here at the Grill back. But since he was here, I thought I might as well find out how he was since Nik nearly strangled him yesterday for believing that he was playing him for a fool about the unfinished tattoo he had been copying down for us.
As though sensing a presence, Jeremy glances over and immediately smiles and walks over to me.
"Hey, Grace? You here for food?"
"Yeah, something like that. How are you feeling since yesterday?" I asked, slightly concerned. Jeremy just looks at me strangely, raising an eyebrow.
"What do you mean? What happened yesterday?" He asks politely, and I pause, feeling confused. Before realising a second later that he had been compelled, presumably by Stefan on Nik's request to forget what had happened.
Dammit, Nik!
I let out an embarrassed chuckle and tried to look sheepish to avoid any suspicion from Jeremy.
"Oh, you just looked a little ill. Just making sure you're okay," I improvised. Jeremy looked a little unconvinced, but shrugged, nevertheless.
"I'm all good," He reassures me, as I slid into the nearest booth. "We're not actually open yet. I'm just getting the place ready to open up."
I nod at him.
"That's fine. Is it okay if I just sit here and wait until you're open?" I requested.
"Make yourself at home," Jeremy nods as he turns and walks off, taking his bussing bin with him as he headed back to the kitchen to do his job.
I grit my teeth in irritation before I fumble around in my purse for my phone so I could call my fiancée and ask why he had Jeremy compelled. It takes approximately eleven hours to get to Italy from America, so I was pretty sure Nik was well and truly there already, and currently searching for Alexander's bloody sword.
"Do you mind explaining why you had Stefan compel Jeremy to forget what transpired last night?" I asked Nik the minute he picked up the call.
"The less people who know about it, the better, sweetheart. And thank you for the heads up about our slippery hunter friend," Nik responded casually.
"I'd say he's more acquaintance than friend, Nik, considering he tried to kill both Damon and Tyler on two separate occasions." I was quick to correct. "And I'm surprised that you're not more angry about this."
"Oh, on the contrary, love. I'm very angry that he escaped, but I'm not angry with you. Don't worry." Nik reassures me. A small beeping noise sounded from Nik's end. Call waiting. "Ah, it's Stefan. Prompt as usual." Nik comments, and I flinch a little when Stefan's irritated voice suddenly shouted down the line.
"How the hell did Connor escape?" He demands.
"You don't need to shout, Stefan." I grumbled, but both of them ignored my complaints.
"I'd blame my numbing incompetence, but pointing fingers isn't going to help me. You're going to help me," Nik retorts, just as irritable.
"Well, he could be anywhere now." Stefan whines, and I could literally picture Nik rolling his eyes in reaction to Stefan's response.
"Think, Stefan," Nik requested with exaggerated patience. "He took the hybrid's head which means he wants the werewolf toxin."
"Which means he plans to stay in Mystic Falls to kill vampires," I realised in horror. "Fantastic! As if we don't already have enough on our plates!" I grumbled.
"Which is a pity," Nik agreed with me. "As I'm half the world away digging up a dead hunter, you'll have no access to my blood and therefore, the antidote." Way to lay it on thick, sweetie. "Nevertheless, his tattoo is our only map to the cure, so your task is quite simple; find him, catch him, and above all, keep him alive. He's no good to us dead." Nik orders sharply. "And your task, Grace; keep yourself safe, and stay out of it. I don't want to risk you getting harmed throughout all this."
I opened my mouth to object defensively, since it seemed Nik was implying that I deliberately get myself into situations like this on purpose. However, before I could, Stefan jumped in first.
"Damon's been looking everywhere for him, if they cross paths…"
"You'll need to keep Damon in check," Nik immediately warns him.
"Be a lot easier if I could just tell him the truth." Stefan grumbles, and I hear Nik snort rudely over the line.
"You trust Damon with the cure?"
"Nice try, Klaus. But I trust Damon a hell of a lot more than I trust you." Stefan stated.
"And I trust no one—"
"Oi!"
"You're the exception, love." He reassures me, sighing heavily. "Which is why my sister is lying daggered in a box." I must have made an alarmed, objective noise as Nik immediately intercepted before I could protest. "Not a word, Grace!" He says, sternly. "The more who find out about the cure, the more who will go after it. Nations have gone to war over less. You mark my words; tell one soul and I will throw the hunter's sword in the Mediterranean and we can end this quest right now. Am I understood?" Stefan remains silent and hangs up without saying another word. I groaned in frustration, letting my head thud a little on the table. "What is the matter, love?" Nik asked, mildly.
"Just contemplating why every time we resolve one problem, another thing suddenly goes tits up, and we have to go back to square one," I explained. Throughout the last part of Nik's conversation with Stefan, Matt walks in and stops and looks at me in surprise. I wave at him, mouthing 'Jeremy' at him, and Matt nods before carrying on.
"I believe that's life, darling." Nik stated sagely.
"Life? Don't talk to me about life," I quoted Marvin the Paranoid Android from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy earning a chuckle from Nik in the process when he recognised it. "Why did you have to dagger your sister? What did she do this time to deserve that?"
"Rebekah is a liability at the moment, Grace." Nik explained tiredly. "I meant what I said to Stefan. At this precise moment, I don't trust anyone with the knowledge about the cure. I've already been a situation like this with her before, I'd rather not revisit it if it's all the same to you." Nik was getting angsty, which was a warning indication that I needed to change the subject straightaway, or risk getting blown up by him with his fiery temper.
"Alright, I concede. I'll back off the topic; I just hope it won't backfire on you."
The doors to the Grill open and in walks April Young, who glances at me for a moment with both confusion and curiosity. I smile politely at her and she gives me a weak smile back before she approaches Matt looking awkward.
"Uh, Matt?" I can't help but overhear their not so quiet conversation. He looks up and greets April with a smile.
"Uh, hey, April. We don't open until eleven," Matt pointed out, which prompts April to look over at me with a raised eyebrow. "Jeremy let her in. Which reminds me—" Matt abandons her and approaches the booth I'm sitting at.
I frown and stiffen up.
"Hold on a sec, Nik." I mutter at him, before giving Matt my undivided attention. "What's up?" Matt stiffens when he hears Nik's name but continues.
"Uh, you wouldn't happen to know where Jeremy went, do you?" He asks.
"Why don't you go look for yourself?" Nik mutters sarcastically, and I frown disapprovingly at what he said before responding.
"Uh, last I saw, he was headed in the direction of the kitchen with his bussing bin." I replied, shrugging a little. Matt nodded, as April sighs a little impatiently and walks over to us.
"I wasn't like trying to scare you, stalk you, or whatever. I just… I came to ask if you've seen Rebekah."
I freeze, while Matt just frowns at her.
"How interesting…" Nik hums in amusement.
"Nik, for God's sake!" I hiss, as Matt gives me a side look before answering April's question.
"Why would I have seen Rebekah?" He responds, and April instantly flushes out of embarrassment.
"Oh, I just assumed … I mean, aren't you guys kind of like a thing?" April incorrectly assumes, and Matt scoffs and turns around, while I listen to Nik laugh in the background and feel a tick forming on my temple.
"Rebekah and I are not a thing. She's dating Damon Salvatore," Matt corrects her, sounding bitter.
April walks closer to Matt.
"Well, I-I mean I'm worried about her," April continues to explain. "She said she'd help me find stuff out about the fire that killed my dad and then she just – disappeared." I caught movement out the corner of my eye, and my eyes widen in horror when I see Connor pushing Jeremy into the room.
"Oh, shit!" I cuss, frantic.
"What? What is it?" Nik was immediately alert.
I watch as April and Matt turn around, startled. I cautiously rise out of the booth just as Matt runs in front of April protectively when he sees Connor, who walks up behind Jeremy and places a sharp looking knife against his throat.
"I believe, I have just located our missing hunter, Nik." I hinted, nervously.
"What?! Grace, get out of there!?" Nik yelled, frantic.
"Trust me, that's the least of your problems." Connor informs us. I gulp and hastily moved to end the call as the hunter dumps a heavy looking duffel bag onto the bar counter. He obviously wasn't intending on letting any of us go anywhere.
"That ship has sailed, I'm afraid. Send help!" I urged before abruptly hanging up on Nik.
My hasty gesture caught the attention of Connor, whose eyes narrowed immediately when he recognised who I was, and he pointed at me aggressively.
"You! Come here!" I obeyed immediately and walked slowly over to him. "Now sit down!" I sank down at a nearby table as Connor glares at April and Matt. "I said sit down!" He snarls, still holding poor Jeremy in a headlock as he walks forwards, dragging him with him. April and Matt sit down at the same table as me as Connor pushes Jeremy down into a chair at a table next to us. "Gilbert, give me your cell phone," Connor demands.
"At least let April go," I requested calmly. "She doesn't have anything to do with this."
"She has everything to do with this," Connor sneers at me, as Jeremy reluctantly forks over his phone. "Her and her father. Plus, she and I have history."
"What are you talking about?" April looked bewildered, and my eyes widened in realisation; remembering when Caroline had assisted Elena in teaching her how to compel the poor girl at her father's memorial. "I've never seen you before in my life." Connor didn't particularly look surprised or fazed by April's response to his connection with her.
He rolled his eyes disdainfully.
"Well, you kids need to get some vervain. And don't just wear it as a bracelet where anybody can just take it off," He indicates to Jeremy's vervain bracelet, causing him to look up at him curiously and suspiciously. "Maybe then you'd remember our conversation at the hybrid's yesterday." I winced, hating the fact that I had already had foreknowledge that Nik's instructions to Stefan to compel Jeremy were doomed to fail in the long run.
Jeremy looked confused at first … but only at first; then he looked pissed.
"Our conversation? Are you saying someone compelled me?!"
"That's exactly what he's saying, mate." I confirmed, and Jeremy glares at me.
"Did you know about this?"
"I only just learned about it before Connor came in with you just now," I admitted. "Nik confessed that he got Stefan to compel you last night." Jeremy opened his mouth to gripe some more at me, presumably about how much of a dick Nik was, when April piped up.
"Would someone please tell me what he's talking about?!" She asked, looking anxious.
"Compulsion, secrets, vampires." Connor responded succinctly.
I glared at him.
"You're not helping."
"If you know so much, then you know our friends are going to come for us," Matt points out to him, and Connor doesn't look concerned.
"Oh, yeah, I'm counting on it. Every vampire that comes for you is another one I get to kill." Jeremy, Matt, and I react with horror, as Connor picks up Jeremy's phone and unlocks it. "Now, who should I text first? Hm?" He slides his thumb up the screen scanning each name quickly. "Damon Salvatore, his brother Stefan, Tyler Lockwood? Nah, all of the above."
Connor sends a mass text message to Damon, Stefan, and Tyler before placing down Jeremy's phone on the bar counter and stabbing it viciously with his hunting knife.
Lockwood Mansion
Day
(3rd person P.O.V)
After Damon gets the text message from 'Jeremy', he and Elena immediately race over to the Lockwood Mansion, knowing instinctively that Tyler had likely received a similar text message. It was now up to them to get Jeremy and the hostages out of the Grill before all hell could break loose.
"So, we each take a different entrance; hit them at the same time," Damon explains to Elena and Tyler, pacing the full length of the floor, agitatedly. Stefan chooses that moment to walk into the room, and Elena immediately gets up and walks over to him.
"Stefan!" She exclaims with relief, as Damon spins round and looks at his brother with annoyance.
"Where the hell have you been?" He demands. Stefan reaches out an arm towards Elena who curls up into him and embraces him back.
"Coming up with a plan," He responds like it should've been obvious. Plus, he had an anxious and furious Original Hybrid yelling down the phone at him that his fiancé was in some serious trouble involving Connor, and he is demanding what he (Stefan) was going to do about that.
Damon rolls his eyes.
"Yeah, we have a plan. The plan is: I'm gonna rip Connor's heart out and I'm going to feed it to him." He explains, viciously.
"Oh, so I'm guessing you don't value Grace's life, then?" Stefan casually questioned him, causing Damon to spin round and look at him in horror.
"Excuse me?"
"Connor has Grace, as well as Jeremy trapped in the Grill," Stefan explained.
"How do you know that?" Elena asked, looking confused.
"Klaus rang me a few minutes ago, yelling down the phone at me that Connor had shown up at the Grill, causing Grace to cut off their conversation mid-sentence," Stefan explained impatiently.
"Oh, now Connor has just made it personal!" Damon growled, amped up even more with anger now that his best friend was in danger.
"That 'plan' that you've come up with, is not a plan. We need to be careful. Connor has Jeremy and Grace, and who knows how many other hostages," Stefan stated.
"Hence, the open-heart surgery." Damon retorted, acerbically.
"Damon's right," Elena jumps in to avoid unnecessary conflict. "Connor's strong, but he's not going to be able to take all of us."
"I called in the hybrids to help too," Tyler chimed in, eager to help protect Jeremy, and Grace. Caroline walks into the room, looking stressed but determined.
"My mom put squad cars blocking the streets. They're saying it's a faulty gas main. We're good to go." She reports in, improving Damon's mood slightly.
"Good. Great! No cops, no witnesses. No reason to wait around." They all started heading for the door. However, Stefan suddenly turns and stops, blocking the way to Elena, Tyler, and Caroline.
"Hold on. You're not all going." He looks pointedly at them. Tyler immediately objected.
"He shot me like nine times!" He protested. "If we're killing him, I want in."
"He's got Jeremy. I'm going!" Elena insisted, stubbornly.
"Listen, nobody is going anywhere until I figure out what we're walking into," Stefan stated, earning a dubious expression from his brother.
"Until you figure it out?" Damon scoffs in disgust. "Is that where you've been all morning? Out buying bossy pants?" He asked, sarcastically.
"This guy is known for setting traps, right?" Stefan laid down the facts. "We'd be pretty dumb to walk into one, especially if he has werewolf venom."
"Does he?" Elena immediately looked doubtful, and Stefan nodded.
"He's had it before." He confirmed, and Elena immediately started to backtrack, much to Damon's anger and frustration.
The more time they stuffed around making a plan that may or may not work, the less time Grace, Jeremy, and the rest of the hostages had before Connor took them all out. But it seemed like they were following Stefan's lead; so Damon clearly had no choice but to follow the leader … begrudgingly.
"Fine. Fine, if you want to take some time to do recon, you get one hour," Damon stated. "But we're gonna need some extra help. So, where the hell's the Wicked Witch of the West?" He asked.
"She can't do magic," Caroline piped up.
"Really?" Damon's annoyance escalated higher. "Well, call her, tell her Jeremy's life is in danger; maybe that will bring her out of retirement." He walks out of the room, hitting Stefan hard in the shoulder with his own on the way out.
Mystic Falls Town Square
Day
Damon, Stefan, and Elena make their way to Mystic Falls' town square before Stefan breaks off from the group and heads for the small park in the middle of the square, pulling out his phone to make an urgent phone call to Klaus, unbeknownst to the rest of them. Elena eyes him curiously as she and Damon head upstairs to Alaric's apartment to search through his collection of weaponry. Reluctant, but knowing that Klaus would roast him alive for not reporting his progress in rescuing Grace, Stefan re-dials him.
"Time to impress me, Stefan. What is your progress with rescuing my girl from the psychotic hunter?" Klaus demands, icily.
"Turns out that she's not the only hostage in the Grill. There are others." Stefan reported, flatly.
"You expect me to care about the other bloody hostages?" Klaus growls, his anxiety rising as well as his anger and frustration.
"Well, you should," Stefan pointed out as he walked across the Town Square in the direction of the Grill to investigate the situation more thoroughly. "Damon does. So does Caroline, Tyler, Elena. If any of them get to Connor, then you just wasted a trip to Italy. I can buy us some time, but Damon's getting antsy. So, if you want Connor alive, you better get your hybrids on board with my plan." Stefan hangs up abruptly.
Alaric's Apartment
Day
Elena looks through the blinds at Stefan who is hanging up his phone. Nearby, Damon is combing through a chest of drawers and takes out some vervain darts and a mini crossbow.
"Who was he talking to?" Elena wondered, frowning a little.
"Bonnie, hopefully. Maybe she decided to make herself useful again." Damon responded, absently. He takes out a large map and spreads it on a table as Elena walks over to him. She frowns down at the unfamiliar map.
"What is that?"
"It's our way in," Damon replies. "Courtesy of Alaric Saltzman's interest in the Mystic Falls Underground Railroad."
"The tunnels," Elena realises. "Like the ones in the Lockwood cellar." Damon takes a picture of the map with his phone.
"Yep." He puts it away, just as Elena's own phone starts ringing. She pulls it free and answers it, putting it on loudspeaker.
"What did you find out?" She asks Stefan.
"I can only make out the voices," Stefan responds.
"How many hostages?" Damon asks.
"Four," Stefan confirms. "But Elena, it's Matt, and April Young." He tells her, and Elena's eyes widen in shock.
"What?!"
"Those two idiots?" Damon was incredulous. "They're like danger magnets."
"We have to get them out of there." Elena insists.
"I just need a little more time," Stefan states.
"Well, the clock's ticking, brother." Damon tells him, unhelpfully. Stefan growls in annoyance.
"You know, I could do without the coloured commentary," He complains before hanging up. Elena studies Damon with determination before turning and heading for the door.
"I'm going in these tunnels."
"No, you're not," Damon grabs Elena's wrist, pulling her to a stop. "This guy doesn't know that you're a vampire, let's keep it that way." He suggests, slightly patronisingly. Elena scowls at him, then immediately smiles as though inspired by something.
"Well, maybe that's it. I can offer to trade myself in exchange for the hostages." She turns to go again, but Damon still hasn't let go of her wrist. Elena tries to break his grip, but he is stronger and his grip is iron clad.
"No," Damon insists. "Best case scenario is you're now a hostage also. Worst case scenario: he figures you out, kills you on the spot." Elena finally gets out of his grip.
"Stop treating me like I can't handle myself!" She snaps. "Alaric trained me, and I've been practicing with Stefan." Elena turns for the door.
"So what?" Elena turns and looks at Damon, impatiently. "Now you're gonna take on a professional killer?" He rushes over and picks up a crossbow from Alaric's bed and points it at Elena. He mimes launching an arrow at her. "Bang! You're dead. Now what?" Damon asks her, challengingly.
Elena, irritated with Damon's lack of faith in her abilities, rushes at him, and knocks the crossbow out of his hands. She grabs it and straddles him on the bed, pointing the crossbow at his heart. She smirks at him, slightly flirtatiously.
"Head shots no good, it has to be the heart." She mimes shooting him in the head. "So, now you're dead."
Damon rolls his eyes.
"Fine, you've made your point," He pushes the crossbow away, so it's no longer pointing at his heart. "Get off me." He misses the slightly disappointed pout on Elena's face, as she complies with him. Damon immediately heads back over to continue sorting through Alaric's weapons, while Elena sits on the bed observing him, with sad eyes.
"My brother is the only thing that's holding me together right now, Damon." He pauses and looks over at Elena with mildly sympathetic eyes. "If anything happens to him…"
"We'll get him out, I promise." Damon reassures her.
Mystic Grill
Day
(Grace's P.O.V)
Jeremy, Matt, April, and I are sitting together at a table, observing Connor pouring what looks like werewolf venom into a glass jar. It is obvious that he is making a homemade bomb. When we were forced to sit together at the table, April immediately chose to sit as close to me as possible; a move that I was initially surprised at, since I would've thought she'd have chosen to seek comfort and protection from Matt, whom I assumed she fancied. The poor girl was crying out of fear, and instinctively I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and let her cuddle into me like a babe seeking comfort from its mother.
"Shh! You're okay," I muttered over and over to April, who was still looking fearfully at Connor.
"He's clearly delusional. I mean, right?" April commented in general. "All this… all this talk about vampires, but I mean, he mentioned my dad." Matt reached over and placed a comforting hand over April's.
"Hey, this guy's a nut job, okay? Don't let him get in your head." He reassures her.
"What if he knows something?" April insisted, obviously refusing to be verbally coddled. "Jeremy, did he say anything to you about why he's doing this?"
"I don't know. Maybe," Jeremy looked strangely calm, despite being in a hostage situation. "Maybe I just can't remember." He looked pointedly at me, still obviously pissed at me for Nik's actions.
I bristled.
"Jesus, Jeremy! I already told you I didn't know what Nik planned to do. Just let it go, already. We've got bigger problems right now." I retorted sharply. Jeremy turns and looks over at Connor, before getting up.
"Let it go, Jeremy!" Matt attempted to stop his friend, but he is ignored. Jeremy walks over to Connor.
"You said we had a conversation yesterday…"
"Mm hmm," Connor acknowledges, still tinkering away at the homemade bomb. I frowned, suspiciously.
"About what?" Jeremy prodded.
"We'll get into that," Connor finishes the bomb, causing Jeremy to study it warily. "First, take a look at my handy work. Pick up some tips from the hunter's trade."
"What is all that?" Jeremy questioned.
"The fluid is derived from werewolf toxin. Trip the wire, bomb goes off, nails deliver a lethal dose into the bloodstream." Both Jeremy and I widen our eyes in horror, as we both have loved ones who could be affected by this booby trap. I gently pry away April from me and get up from the table and approach both of them, appalled.
"And what's the point? What do you get out of all this?" I demanded, angry.
Connor, however, is unfazed by both Jeremy's and my disgust and ire. Although, I was disturbed by the very slight interest in Jeremy's eyes that he was probably unaware of.
"You know, I used to think that there was no 'get'; that I was just supposed to do. Kill vampires. That was until I realised that the mark held the answer to why I'm the way I am. The more I kill, the more it grows and once it's complete, I'll know my story and – all of this will have meant something." Connor looks over at Matt and April. "Hey! We're gonna have visitors soon, you two get in the back." Neither Matt or April move immediately. "Get up! Move!" Connor raises his voice, and April gets to her feet, crying and flinching from Connor's raised voice. Matt gets up and gently grabs April's shoulders, heading for the back of the Grill. However, Connor momentarily stops them to give them a warning. "Before you think about any other exits, I've got every door rigged. Got it?"
Matt nods, before leading April to the back of the Grill. I go to follow, but Connor grabs my upper arm and stops me.
"Not you. Sit back down!" He forcibly shoves me towards the table, and I look at him questioningly. "You and Gilbert here, have a part to play in this."
Both Jeremy and I look at each other and back at Connor, as my stomach starts knotting itself with dread.
Alaric's Apartment
Day
(3rd person P.O.V)
Elena pulls the blinds apart from the window and looks down at the Grill. Damon comes over to her side.
"Stefan is on his way. This will be over soon," He reassures her.
But Elena doesn't look convinced.
"Will it? I mean, haven't we already been here before with Jeremy? Isn't this why we sent him to Denver?" She ponders out loud, rhetorically.
"Well, we'll get him out of this, and we'll compel him down to the Bahamas," Damon joked, using humour to lighten up the stressful situation. "Maybe he'll find an island girl." Elena just throws him an unamused look as Stefan walks into the apartment.
"Did you find the tunnel map?"
"Got it," Damon shows him the map, which Stefan scans quickly. "It was in his weapons drawer with seven stakes, some weird MacGyver crossbow, and the last remaining vervain in Mystic Falls, so how about we get this party started?" He suggests.
"Not yet" Stefan shakes his head. "Klaus is sending one of his men. He'll take the front; you and I can take the tunnels."
"Since when did we team up with Klaus and the Lollipop Guild?" Damon raised an eyebrow at how co-operative the notorious Original Hybrid was being.
"Well, he probably would've been here in person to rescue Grace, if he wasn't currently hung up." Stefan pointed out. "And, like I already told you, Connor has werewolf venom. We need someone to draw his fire; the hybrids are immune to it so they're our best bets." Damon would've accepted this answer, had he not a nagging feeling that his brother was hiding something else from him.
"How are you even sure that he has werewolf venom?" He narrows his eyes suspiciously at Stefan. "Why is Klaus involved, apart from the obvious fact that he is trying to save Grace, Stefan?" In response, the younger Salvatore turns around and picks up a vervain dart.
"Stop being paranoid, Damon." Stefan attempted to sidestep the question, but Damon persists.
"Start telling the truth, Stefan. Why is Klaus involved? Did he compel you?"
"I am telling you the truth. This is the best way to get everyone out," Stefan stubbornly insists, just as Elena intercepts, getting annoyed with their pointless argument.
"Okay, what is with you two? We're wasting time."
"You know what, she's right," Damon turns and heads for the door. "Screw your plan; I'll kill Connor myself." Elena follows him, relieved that they were finally heading out … only to react with shock when Stefan suddenly rushes at Damon and stabs him in the back with the vervain dart, he had picked up earlier.
"Stefan!?" Elena protested in disbelief, as Damon fades away and passes out, while Stefan lowers him to the floor. Without responding to her, Stefan picks up Damon and lays him on the couch. He then takes his phone from inside his jacket pocket. "Why are you doing this?"
"Damon had the right idea with the tunnels," Stefan opens up the picture of the map on Damon's phone. "But I'm not gonna go in there if I can't count on him to do it my way." Elena continued looking at him in bewilderment.
"If you can't count on him? You just vervained him," She protested.
"Do you think he cares about April or Matt? He'll get Jeremy out for you, and he'll definitely get Grace out, but then he'll go right after Connor, no matter who gets hurt." Stefan rationalised.
"Then I'm coming with you," Elena declared. Stefan walks towards Elena.
"You're not coming with me, Elena."
"You need my help, Stefan." Elena insisted, stubbornly.
"What if Connor attacks and you have to defend yourself? And what if you kill him? The guilt will wreck you," Stefan attempted to make the woman he loves understand the consequences of her actions. She shakes her head in frustration.
"You don't think that I-I-I'm afraid of that? Of course, I am." Elena was on the brink of tears, worried for the safety of her brother. "Stefan, I'm barely holding it together. If Jeremy gets hurt…" Stefan cradles Elena's face in his hands.
"I'll get Jeremy out, okay? I promise you."
"No," Elena stated firmly.
"Elena, listen to me, listen to me." She calms down. "This is the most important thing I have ever asked you to do. I just need you to trust me. Please." Stefan pleaded, and after a few moments, she nodded, albeit reluctantly. Relieved, Stefan kisses her. But after Elena opens her eyes after their lips part, Stefan had left.
Lockwood Mansion
Day
Tyler brings all of Klaus's hybrids back to his family's mansion to update them on what exactly was going on, and what their Alpha wanted them to do. But Tyler was having doubts about the entire situation.
"Look man, this guy is dangerous," he says to Dean, one of Klaus's hybrids. "He's highly trained. He's armed."
Unseen by either of the hybrids, a girl in her late teens, early twenties overhear them talking and leans against the doorway of the room, watching them. Her name was Hayley Marshall. She was a tall, slightly tanned, athletic, brunette beauty with her long slightly wavy hair ending at her shoulder blades. Her clothing was simple, worn but trendy; denoting a person who had lived rough and brought themselves up for most of their life and had street smarts to survive.
"I can handle myself," Dean retorts arrogantly, rolling his eyes. "Besides, Klaus asked me personally."
Caroline walks in front of Hayley's line of vision and doesn't see her because she is looking in the room where Dean had just walked off, with Tyler following him.
"This is a bad idea!" Tyler insists. Caroline sighs heavily and turns around, seeing Hayley standing there looking slightly bored.
"Uh, who are you?" She demands, suspiciously. Hayley frowns back at the blonde and retorts back.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Caroline." Caroline responds, already disliking the girl the second she spoke. Hayley looks surprised.
"Oh, you're Tyler's girl. He told me about you," She explains. "I'm Hayley."
"Well, Hayley," Caroline narrows her eyes at her. "That's pretty crazy, because I haven't heard a thing about you."
"I've been staying here a few days," Hayley shrugged.
"Excuse me?" Caroline's eyebrow rose in disbelief.
"I needed a place to crash," Hayley elaborated further. "Ty's a buddy, he was kind enough to offer."
Caroline walks towards her, aggressively.
"I know all of Ty's buddies and I haven't heard about you. So, how about we cut the crap?"
Hayley just looks at her disdainfully, before straightening up from her slouch against the doorframe.
"Yeah, I don't do teen drama. Take it up with Ty," She suggests. "Excuse me." Hayley walks past Caroline, who watches her go by and scoffs. The brunette goes into the next room with Tyler and Dean. "Dean, you don't need to do this." Hayley points out and earns a glare from him for her troubles.
"Stay out of this, Hayley. I'm going."
"Just listen to her, man. It's suicide!" Tyler insisted as Caroline enters the room. "Klaus told you to take Connor on by yourself and you can't even fight back? You have to use non-lethal force. What the hell is that?"
"Klaus gave me a direct order," Dean was stubborn.
"It's too dangerous. That maniac already killed Nate," Hayley reminds him, and Dean retorts back to her.
"You're not a hybrid, you don't know what it's like," He looked stressed out. "Klaus asks for something, you do it." Hayley and Tyler look at each other, before Tyler goes over to Dean.
"Look, I'm a hybrid. I used to do everything Klaus said, but I don't anymore. You don't have to either," Tyler points out and Dean just gives him a skeptical look.
"You think you can stand up to Klaus?" He hands Tyler his phone. "Prove it." Tyler eyes the phone before eventually taking it.
Caroline's eyes widen in alarm.
"Tyler, don't." She warns him.
Tyler looks at Caroline, then at the phone, before dialing Klaus's number and puts the phone to his ear.
"Hello?" Klaus answers in a quasi-pleasant tone. When in reality he was still concerned about what was happening back in Mystic Falls. He was using this sword excavation as a way to partially distract himself. Tyler greets him, all-business.
"Hey, Klaus."
"Tyler!" Klaus responds brightly. "I hope you're not causing problems."
"I can do whatever I want. I'm not sired to you anymore," Tyler points out.
"Fair enough," Klaus acknowledges, casually. "Although I do happen to know your little secret about your time in Appalachia." Tyler stiffens, earning a concerned and confused look from Caroline, while Hayley just frowns. "What was your friend's name? Hayley, was it? You probably prefer I kept that to myself, huh?"
Klaus was smirking like the cat that caught the canary as he examines Alexander's sword, which one of the excavators had just brought over to him. He knew that Caroline was most likely listening in to this conversation too, and also knew that he had thrown Tyler under the metaphorical relationship bus. Tyler turns and sees Caroline looking shocked and hurt by this revelation.
"I'm sorry, mate," Klaus was gleeful that he managed to shove Tyler Lockwood off his high horse. "Are you going to answer, or should I just assume you're back to being … how did you phrase it? Ah, yes, my little bitch." Tyler abruptly hangs up Dean's phone and clears his throat uncomfortably as he hands it back to him.
"Do whatever the hell you want," He sneers at Dean before walking away.
Hayley just gapes at him in disbelief.
"That's it? You just back down?" She blurted out, following him from the room as Caroline remains behind, almost in tears.
Mystic Grill
Day
(Grace's P.O.V)
The phone on the bar rings, startling me because of the tense atmosphere. Jeremy goes over to answer it when Connor intercepts him and grabs his wrist. When he pulls his hand away, Connor answers the phone instead.
"We're closed," He announces coldly. There is silence for a few moments as whoever was on the line with Connor responds. "I'll free them as soon as you give me what I want. You and everyone like you dead." He responds sharply to whatever was said to him. So, considering Connor had said "you and everyone like you dead", it was likely to either be Damon or Stefan challenging him.
Fingers crossed it was Stefan; one cheeky, smartass comment from Damon, and Jeremy, Matt, April, and I were screwed from here to kingdom come. Suddenly, Connor reacts in stunned surprise at whatever the person tells him next, before sneering and looking unimpressed.
"That's a weak move. You must be desperate," He slams down the phone, breaking the receiver, and shoves the phone off the bar in his anger, causing both Jeremy and I to jump.
"What the hell do we do now?" Jeremy whispers to me, as we watch Connor stomp away to continue rigging up the place to take out as many vampires and hybrids as possible.
"You got any weapons on you?" I responded as discreetly as I could without being noticed by Connor. Jeremy shook his head, looking frustrated. I nodded, before reaching down into my boot and pulling free one of my knives to show him. Jeremy looks relieved and reaches out to grab it, but I put it back into my boot and shook my head. "Probably best if you didn't. Connor needs us for some reason, and if he catches you with this, it won't end well." I explained, earning a scowl from the teenager.
"But it's okay, for you to have it?" Jeremy accused.
"I don't seem like a threat to him. You are, since he sees you as a potential hunter like he used to be. It'll catch him off guard if I come out swinging with it," I justified and Jeremy, while still not looking entirely convinced, decided to just let it go.
"So what? We just sit here and let him use us as bait?"
"Got any better ideas?" I retorted. "Best to just play along for the moment and take the opportunity when it arises."
(3rd person P.O.V)
Outside the Grill, Dean shows up to follow through with Klaus's orders. He approaches the entrance and raises his phone up to his ear.
"There's no sign of anyone," He reports in.
"Stefan is coming at him from the other side. He'll free the hostages. Your job is to get Connor out alive," Klaus instructs. "And use caution, mate. He favours booby traps and ambushes."
"Understood," Dean agrees.
Meanwhile, inside the Grill, Connor finishes setting up the werewolf venom bomb. Thinking back to the weapons conversation he had just had with Grace; Jeremy notices a stake and glances over to her, gesturing his head towards the weapon. Grace eyes it and nods, before he slowly walks towards it. Jeremy is about to wrap his fingers around it when Connor suddenly speaks up.
"You may be a potential hunter, but if you make one move, I'll break all twenty-seven bones in your hand," He threatens.
Jeremy scowls at him and backs off.
"They're not all bad, you know," He feels justified in telling the older hunter, naïvely thinking it might sway him otherwise. "Some of them, they're my friends."
"Your friends, huh?" Connor lets out a bitter unamused laugh at the idea. "Yeah, I had a friend like that once." Grace eyes him curiously, wondering where he was heading with this personal story. "She got turned by this vampire I was hunting. He thought it would be ironic."
"What happened to her?" Jeremy asked.
"I didn't want to hurt her," Connor explained. "She promised that she would keep it under control, but … a vampire's like a loaded gun. Eventually, it's gonna go off." Connor raises his arm and shows Jeremy a specific part of the unfinished tattoo on his arm. "That's why I got this." Jeremy eyes the piece of tattoo near the crook of Connor's elbow.
"So, you killed your own friend?" Grace was appalled, unsurprised, but nevertheless appalled.
"How could you do that!?" Jeremy was equally as disgusted by the man's actions.
"Listen, if you're gonna be like me, you need to understand. Vampires kill humans, hunters kill vampires." All three of them jerk their heads towards the front door when they hear a noise near it. "We've got company."
Connor heads for a light switch that was nearby Grace and switches off the lights. He then turns on the music very loud before grabbing both Grace and Jeremy and pushes them down to the floor. Dean opens the front door and carefully inspects the doorway. He looks down and spots a tripwire, then looks right, and sees a loaded bomb. Dean carefully steps over the wire and onto a nearby mat, which lights up, activating the bomb. Unaware of this, he closes the door behind him and lifts his foot off the mat. The bomb explodes, sending Dean flying from the force of the explosion.
"Oh, God!" Grace mutters frantically, as she watches Dean slowly get up from where he had landed.
He was covered in nails, blood, and shards of glass. Connor gets up from the floor where he was crouched not too far away from Jeremy, who was looking at the state of Dean in horror as well and approaches the hybrid with a gun. Dean sees him and the gun and raises his arms into the air in surrender. However, Connor shoots the gun and blows a hole clean out of Dean's chest. The unfortunate hybrid falls back, dead. Grace notices Jeremy looking at Connor with both anger and determination and realised what he was going to do.
"No, Jeremy, don't!" She pleaded, but he ignores her and goes over to Connor who takes off his jacket and inspects his arm; noting that the tattoo was growing.
Stefan slowly and quietly comes out from the back entrance, which alerts Connor who grabs Jeremy when he sees Stefan, using him as a shield. He points his gun towards Stefan, who blurs across the Grill behind the bar. Connor shoots the gun at Stefan multiple times but misses. Stefan ducks down and hides behind the bar just as Connor shoves Jeremy aside, causing the teenager to step onto another mat that activates yet another hidden bomb. Jeremy throws both Grace and Stefan a panicked look when he realises how fucked he was at that precise moment. Connor walks around keeping his gun pointed where Stefan was hiding behind the bar.
"Connor, you don't have to do this!" Stefan yells at Connor as Grace takes the opportunity to go over to a very scared looking Jeremy to try and calm him, but also figure out a way to get him off the bomb safely.
Unfortunately, nothing seemed glaringly obvious to either the teen or Grace.
"Stefan!" Grace shouts desperately at Stefan who glances over at them. His eyes widen when he hears the ticking sound of the bomb underneath Jeremy's feet. Jeremy stands completely still on the pressure-sensitive mat that had triggered some nearby bombs that were surrounding both him and Grace.
Alaric's Apartment
Day
The explosion set off by Dean was heard from Alaric's Apartment, which sent Elena immediately into panic mode. She grabs for her phone and immediately leaves a voicemail for Stefan.
"Stefan, call me! There was an explosion at the Grill. I need to know what's happening!" She demanded, urgently. Damon groans from the couch behind her, which prompts Elena to hang up and rush over to him. "Damon, hey. Can you get up?"
"Ohh, where's Stefan?" Damon asked, thoroughly irritated as he shakes off the last of the vervain in his system. "I'm gonna kill him." He sits up slowly but is burned by the rays of sunlight coming through the window. Damon flinches away from the rays and lies back down. "Ow! Ow!"
"He took your ring? Why would he do that!?" Elena was aghast, as she watches Damon roll from the couch and onto the ground.
She stands up.
"Because he's playing us. All this stalling, getting hybrids, taking my ring, add it up!" Damon suggested as he gets up from the ground and perches on the arm of the sofa away from the sunlight. "He's either made a deal with Klaus or he's compelled."
"Then I need to get in there," Elena decides and goes for the front door.
"No, Elena, this guy is dangerous!" Damon tells her, feeling like a broken record.
Elena turns around, looking at him in frustration.
"So am I, Damon!" Elena is extremely angry, and Damon looks up at her before sighing and making a decision.
"Then you need to be smart. He doesn't know you're a vampire. You get as close as you can, and you kill him." He instructs her, before Elena nods and finally leaves the apartment.
Mystic Grill
Day
(Grace's P.O.V)
This was quickly heading in the direction of a bloodbath, and unfortunately, Jeremy and I were the unlucky pair caught in the middle of an all-out war between a merciless gun toting vampire hunter, and Stefan, who was trying to act like a peacemaker from his position behind the bar. Poor Jeremy was terrified, especially because he was standing on an active ticking bomb that would go off if he so much as flinched. I grabbed onto his hands, trying to calm him down as best I could, while watching Stefan's pointless negotiation strategy.
"Connor, we can end this fight right now!" Stefan stated, rather desperately. "Just put down the gun and come with me!" Connor snorted.
"Sure. Come out, I'll hand the gun over." He retorted, sarcastically.
"Think about this," Stefan insisted. "No one has to die. I'll tell you everything you need to know!"
"I DON'T MAKE DEALS WITH VAMPIRES!" Connor shouts back, and both Jeremy and I flinch. Stefan sees this and goes for a different strategy to calm Connor down and start thinking rationally.
Rather pointless.
This guy was way beyond the point of rationality; he'd already harmed an innocent human to lure out vampires before, what's stopping him from doing the same thing all over again, only this time with Jeremy or me? Connor was beyond the point of redemption, as far as I could see. Putting him down permanently seemed to be probably the safest and smartest option at this point.
"Listen to me, if you die right now, then your whole life, all that killing; it'll be all for nothing." Stefan stated calmly. "I can give you the truth. Just put the gun down and let Jeremy and Grace go!"
The front door opens and Elena enters the Grill. Connor, who was still holding his gun towards where Stefan was hiding, turns his head and sees Elena. Both Jeremy and I follow suit, and I groan in annoyance.
"Elena, you idiot!" I muttered, loud enough for only Jeremy, Elena, and Stefan to hear. Thankfully, Jeremy didn't chew me out for calling his sister an idiot. He was probably thinking the same thing too.
"Please!" Elena begs, then raises her arms in the air when Connor turns his gun towards Elena. "Don't hurt him." I chose to ignore the fact that Elena didn't include me in that, as there wasn't time for being petty; my life and the life of Jeremy's was at stake. Connor responds by turning the gun on Jeremy and me. I bravely stood in front of the teenager, coldly staring Connor down, despite Jeremy trying to shove me aside to avoid me getting hurt also.
"You come any closer, they're dead." Connor warns Elena.
"Elena, get out of here!" Jeremy shouts at his sister, who predictably ignores him.
"He's the only family that I have left. Just… just let him go." Elena pleads with him. Connor shouts back at Stefan, without looking away from Elena.
"You hear that? Your girl is watching. I will shoot the boy and the girl in front of her! On the count of three!" Both Jeremy and I squeeze our eyes shut, bracing ourselves for pain. "One! Two!"
Stefan stands up and raises his hands in surrender. Connor points the gun at him instead. Using Stefan's surrender as a distraction, Elena rushes at Connor. But he shoots his gun and a bullet hits Jeremy in the stomach.
"Fuck!" I shout in horror and manage to catch Jeremy before he could crumple to the floor and accidentally set off the bomb underneath his feet. "You're okay! I've got you!" I reassure the wounded teenager, just as Elena throws Connor to the ground and sits on top of him. She grabs him by the throat and starts choking him.
Jeremy is bleeding profusely and clutching at his wound as I desperately look around for something to stop the bleeding. In the end, I hastily pull off Jeremy's apron and press it firmly against the wound, causing him to groan in pain.
"I'm sorry, I know it hurts. Just hang in there." I soothe him. Neither of us realise that Jeremy was seconds from stepping off the mat. So both of us react in surprise when Stefan comes from out of nowhere, grabs the both of us and throws us over a table. The bomb explodes.
"Jeremy?!" Elena exclaims, fearfully.
In her moment of panic, Connor rips off her hand off his throat and rolls her over to grab her by the hair. He goes in to stake her, but Elena manages to grab his wrist and fights back.
"Enough of this shit!" I growl and get to my feet, storming over to save Elena from this bastard. I roundhouse kicked Connor in the face, knocking him off Elena and straddling him myself, and pulled my knife free from my boot. "Say goodbye!" I snarled, holding the blade against his throat. But before Connor could retaliate and disarm me, which he could do very easily since it was obvious he was an ex-soldier, Stefan intercepts and grabs the both of us and blurs off.
Underground Tunnel
Stefan led Connor and I through the tunnel system. He had Connor's arm twisted by his back and is pushing him forward, while at the same time chewing me out for my actions.
"You claim Elena is an idiot, when you go and do something just as worse?" Stefan growls at me. "Do you have any idea what Klaus is likely to do to me if you get killed?" He snaps and I glower at him.
"I suggest you get down of your high and mighty perch, Stefan, before I push you off it!" I retorted just as angry. "My actions were my own, and I can handle myself. I've been doing it all my life—" We were interrupted mid-argument by Damon, who unexpectedly appeared in the tunnels.
"Good work, brother." Damon congratulated Stefan, somewhat sarcastically. I blinked at him in surprise.
"Damon?" I blurted out, then nearly get smothered when he grabs me and pulls me into a bear hug.
"Oh, thank God!" Damon mutters in relief, and I slap him frantically on the chest, partially because I couldn't breathe and because he smelt foul.
"Damon, I can't breathe!"
"Are you alright?" He demands, pulling away and cupping my face in his hands as he inspects me from head to toe worriedly. I rolled my eyes, despite being touched by my best friend's concern.
"I'll live," I responded. "But your brother won't if he continues lecturing me." I added, snidely.
Stefan glowers back.
"I wouldn't have to if you hadn't put yourself in immediate danger."
"Oh, sod you! He was about to kill Elena—" I argued back, but again was cut off by Damon, who was looking between us both with confusion and mild irritation.
"Woah, woah! Time out!" He intervenes. "What the hell is going on?" I glared at Stefan, warningly. But he ignores me and fesses up to his brother.
"Grace tried to take on Connor here, herself." Stefan tattled, and I bristled angrily as Damon's expression darkened also.
"Oh! Then Stefan's lecturing is justified. But we'll come back to that later." He turns his attention on Stefan, who narrows his eyes on Damon. "I'll take it from here, brother." He goes to grab Connor from Stefan, but the younger Salvatore easily deflects.
"It's over, Damon. I have him."
"Not after what I just went through. I had to punch through a boiler room basement into a septic tank to get into this stupid tunnel." Damon explains, and I wrinkled my nose. That explains why he smelt so foul. "But it'll be worth it." He added, eyeing Connor off maliciously.
"I'm taking him with me," Stefan insists.
"That's the thing, you're not. I don't know what you're up to or what Klaus has over you, but even if I have to go through you, I'm gonna kill him." My eyes widen slightly when Nik was mentioned, but only Stefan notices this, thank God, as Damon moves closer towards Stefan and Connor.
"You better back off, Damon." Stefan warns.
"Why? Because Klaus wants him alive?" Damon sneers.
"This has nothing to do with Klaus," Stefan lies. "You're just gonna have to trust me on that." But Damon, understandably, shakes his head.
"I don't want to. I don't have to. Not gonna." He states, impatiently. "Now, give him to me, brother." However, Stefan shoves Connor further down the tunnel, to the hunter's surprise and mine.
"Run as fast as you can!" He instructs Connor, before pushing him away. Connor takes the hint and runs, while Stefan rushes at Damon, pinning him to the wall. I look at him with disbelief before taking off after Connor to finish off what I had started. "Come back here! Grace!" Stefan shouts frantically at me, but I don't listen and keep going, knowing that Stefan can't stop me because he has to keep Damon at bay.
I chase after Connor, despite feeling my muscles protesting and my lungs burning. I was determined to get revenge against Connor for holding me, Jeremy, Matt, and April hostage, for shooting and wounding Jeremy and April on two separate occasions, and because he represented an ancient faction of vampire hunters that went after my family for something out of their control. He was trying to find a way out, but what we didn't expect was someone lurking in the shadows waiting for him.
I hear him scream in pain and run around a corner to witness Elena drinking from a struggling Connor's neck. My eyes widen when Elena pulls away and looks him dead in the eyes.
"Stay the hell away from my brother!" She snarls, before letting him go and Connor falls down in front of her on his knees. I cautiously walk over and stand beside Elena, who barely acknowledges me.
Connor eyes us both and sneers.
"Look at you," he says to Elena, whose eyes narrowed angrily. "So worried about your brother. You're the biggest monster he'll ever meet." Connor taunts her, before looking over at me, curiously. "And you, why are you so hellbent on protecting these monsters?" He wonders.
"Because they're not monsters; they're my family… well most of them." I stated, earning a roll of the eyes from Elena. "I grew up with the Originals, and the others in this town, I got to know over time. They mean the world to me, and I would do anything to protect them. Even killing you." Connor snorts at me with disgust, before staking Elena without warning.
Thinking quickly, I swept out one of his legs, causing Connor to drop to the ground. I stood behind him and grabbed a handful of his shirt, pulling him backwards before I slashed his throat. Connor immediately gags and clutches at the wound, glaring up at me with shock and betrayal. Blood seeps through his fingers as he falls forward, dead. I react with horror; stunned and shaken at the fact that I had just killed a man, and looked over at Elena breathing heavily as she pulls the stake out of her body.
"He missed," Elena stated, wincing a little.
Old Lockwood Cellar
Day
Tears were falling down my face as I focused on digging a hole in the ground inside the old Lockwood Cellar. Elena stood nearby, watching me, looking concerned but also looking a bit angry herself. Not at me for once, I was relieved to learn, but for another reason entirely. She had offered to help me with this task, but I felt that it was my responsibility considering that I was the one that killed Connor.
Yeah, that's right. I was making a grave for him, out of sheer shame and guilt. I told Elena she didn't have to stick around, that she was free to go home. But she insisted that she didn't want to leave me alone … not when I was as distressed as I looked.
I was grateful.
"Elena?" I glanced up momentarily to see both Damon and Stefan descending the steps and approaching Elena, who had stiffened when her boyfriend had called out her name. I continued digging, as both brothers looked at me, then down at Connor's lifeless body.
"I need to bury him," I explained quietly. "I killed him, I should… I should bury him." I stammered, feeling fresh tears welling up in my eyes again as I continued to dig. Footsteps approach me and someone reaches out to grab my shoulder gently, but I flinch and step away.
"Hey, hey, come on." Damon, who was the one to approach me, soothed.
"Don't! Leave her alone!" Elena surprisingly defended my actions. "If Grace wants to do this, let her." She snapped, angrily. I glanced up to see Damon obediently step away from me and exchange looks with his brother before Stefan approaches Elena, questioningly.
"What's wrong?" Stefan asked, concerned.
"I heard you talking to him," Elena accuses Stefan, who looks taken aback. "Making some secret deal with Klaus? You said you were going to protect Jeremy! You said that I could trust you, Stefan!" Elena was furious, and Stefan looks down ashamed.
I paused mid-dig and started crying harder.
"I…I killed someone. I…I killed someone..." I dropped the shovel and covered my mouth with my hand as I pondered why I thought killing somebody, even if they were threatening the lives of the people I loved, was the right choice. Elena immediately walks over to me and pulls me into a hug; both of us momentarily calling a truce over our feud for the sake of bringing me comfort.
Both Damon and Stefan say nothing while they watch helplessly as Elena tries to comfort me.
Mikaelson Mansion
Night
After we finish burying Connor's body, Damon takes me back to the Mansion. Neither of us say a word, as I stare out the car window at the neighbourhood blurring by. Although, I could definitely feel Damon's concerned gaze on me. He reaches over and takes my hand in his; and he continues holding it for the rest of the drive, except when he pulls into the Mikaelson's driveway.
"Call me, if you wanna talk," Damon requested, firmly. I nodded, avoiding looking at him and moved to open the door. But Damon increases his grip on my hand, stopping me momentarily. I turn and look at him. He was frowning at me. "I mean it, Grace. I don't care what time it is; you call me." He insists, and I smile weakly.
"Okay," I agreed. "See you, Damon." I close the car door and Damon drives off down the driveway and out of sight.
Trembling, I turned and let myself in. There was no way that Nik would be home yet, so I resigned myself into accepting that for the moment, I was all alone with my thoughts, which was something I didn't want.
I stood in the shower, my partially blood-stained clothes making a trail towards the entrance to the ensuite. The water was loud against the porcelain, and I had my head placed against the cool tiled walls. I lifted my hands to my face and froze when I saw the blood staining them and collected underneath my fingernails. I move them towards the water and let the blood wash off.
Once all traces of blood had been washed away, I decide to wash my hair. As I rinse off the suds, I open my eyes and freeze when I see my hands are covered in thick, fresh, red blood. In confusion, I glance down at my feet and see that I am literally standing in pools of blood all circling down the drain, with more coming through the shower head. Panicking, I back away from the spray and rip open the shower curtain and see the word 'KILLER' written in blood on the mirror.
I scream.
A/N: To be continued. Please review. TTFN :)
A/N 2 (29/01/2024): Because of a review I got from Sciave, this is just a note to any of you out there you have the question of why I've had Grace kill Connor instead of Elena. Yeah, I'm aware that Grace is human, and that only vampires can suffer the consequences of the Hunter's Curse; however, I'm taking artistic license and tweaking it slightly just for this story, that ALL supernatural's are infected if they kill a member of the Brotherhood of the Five. Grace is an exact reincarnation of Grainne, which means she is a supernatural occurrence. I am planning on going into detail about my choice in the next chapter update. Thanks for your understanding and patience :)