Christmas was joyful this time around.
Even just a year ago, the holidays had been a tad stressful. For the first time in quite awhile, Graciela felt happy to wake up on Christmas morning, already smelling a wonderful breakfast that Stefan made while she was sleeping.
"You broke into the loft," she noticed as she went over to kiss his cheek.
"Technically," he said, "Elijah gave me a spare key. But he did say to give it back and I simply didn't."
"I'm offended, I didn't get the spare key to your apartment."
"I don't ever lock my door, you can just walk in."
"What kind of person doesn't lock their door?"
"A person who has nothing valuable to be stolen. And trusts no one will go in there."
"You're too comfortable with your neighbors."
"They're a bunch of old people, they can hardly walk."
"You're older than all of them."
"They don't know that." He wiggled his eyebrows. "Merry Christmas. Cinnamon rolls and sugar cookies for breakfast. I made them from scratch."
Graciela smiled. "Thank you. So, are you going to sign up for more of those auto mechanics classes you audited these past weeks? Deadline is tomorrow, just so you know."
"I think I might. I mean, if I'll be here to March, I might as well enroll as a student just for fun. I'll finish the application an hour before it's due. Are you going to Klaus's for dinner?"
"Yes, unless you want to do something here. Elijah just said to stay home and he'll come get us later after he's done bringing Rebekah home."
"So, we have the place to ourselves until then?"
"Yep. Should be fun. I need to wrap everyone's presents... heh... haven't quite done that yet."
"That's why I just put everything in bags," he said with a shrug. "My gifts are crappy this year. Everyone and their mother is getting gift cards and a note because my budget was spent mostly on Caroline, getting all these things off the baby registry because her mom said no one else is rich enough to meet her expectations."
"But they're literally vampires, they can compel someone to give them every item on the registry!"
"Caroline would never forgive herself if she stole anything."
"Too bad, I got the babies those eye masks so they can be thieves from a young age."
He narrowed his eyes. "Actually, I don't know what you got her. I just realized that."
She shrugged. "Clothes. I got everyone clothes except for Hope and Cami. Klaus is getting a new Henley. Elijah's getting three new ties because I feel like he wears the same ones all the time. Oh, and a new pair of shoes. Rebekah's getting two dresses. Hayley is getting three pairs of jeans because she mentioned she ripped the other ones she had. Freya is getting fuzzy socks and a turtleneck. Marcel is getting a new jacket. Davina, I don't speak to often, so I just got her some hoodies. And Cami gets a new game of Trivial Pursuit plus bourbon."
"What's Hope's gift?"
"Hope got her a tricycle so I got her a motorcycle."
"Bullshit."
She grinned. "Well, it's a little one for her toys. Toy motorcycle. And a few new stuffed animals."
"You didn't mention my present."
"That's because it's surprise."
Stefan put a hand on his heart. "You got me underwear, didn't you?"
"Aw, you've ruined it. Yeah, so, I didn't know what kind you used so I have some boxers, boxer briefs, briefs, and some thongs I think you'll like."
"That's sweet, I got you a thong, too."
Graciela scrunched up her nose. "I'd never wear a thong."
Stefan was baffled. "And you think I would?"
"You've been alive for decades! There's no way you've never worn a thong! You can't be alive for that long and not do a whole lot of bizarre things."
"I draw the line at thongs, they're uncomfortable."
"So... you have tried one..."
"In passing. As part of a dare, mind you. And I'm never reliving that moment."
"I'll try on a thong if you dare me to."
"Tempting. I don't know what type of underwear you currently use, either."
"Do you want to know?"
"Maybe. I'll go through your drawers later."
"Good, saves me from having to strip for you right now."
He held up a finger. "Hang on, hang on... stripping is more convenient than me having to walk to your room."
Graciela winked. "You wish." She bit her lip. "It is Christmas though. Maybe... tonight?"
"Are we going to have the place to ourselves tonight? Or are we going to go to my apartment?"
"You don't lock your door, I no longer trust your apartment."
He smirked. "Fair. We could also just do it... right now."
"I am not allowing this poor kitchen table to witness such—" she groaned as her phone started to ring. "Yes, Hayley?" she asked as calmly as possible. Her face was immediately drained of its color. "We'll be there soon."
"What happened?" asked Stefan, who'd been chewing.
"Freya was jumped," she said, rushing to finish her food, then going to get dressed. "By The Strix."
Stefan ate his breakfast while Graciela drove them to the Compound. When they arrived, they found Jackson had just arrived with Freya.
"Oh, Freya," said Graciela worriedly. "Did you give her blood yet?"
"Yep," said Hayley, helping Freya sit up on the couch. "You okay, now?"
Freya nodded. Hayley faced Jackson, "Kind of hard to ignore it when someone needs your help, huh?"
He didn't respond. At that moment, the Mikaelson witch said, "They took it. The Serratura. I was meeting with a witch from the bloodline who built the lock. I was hoping she could help me destroy it, but it's not possible. She said the only way to get rid of it is to use it. We have to get it back and lock something else away. Anything but my family."
"Great," said Hayley sarcastically. "Why don't we pay Tristan a visit and ask him really, really nicely?"
"I'm afraid we have a far more urgent problem," came Elijah's voice in the entrance hall as Rebekah walked in with him.
"Well, to be fair," said Rebekah, "I am the prettiest urgent problem you have ever seen."
She came towards her sister, rolling up her sleeve and revealing a skull-shaped welt. Elijah handed Freya a stake that had skulls carved in a similar pattern.
"Give me the bad news, Doc," said Rebekah after Freya examined her.
"Aya's stake was cursed," replied Ferya. "It infected you. As this mark grows, you will go mad. Left unchecked, you will become a relentless, unstoppable Ripper."
"Hang on," said Stefan a bit tightly. "What kind of Ripper? I've known of two kinds in my life. The kind that feeds on mortals... A.K.A. me, and the kind that feeds on vampires. Like the ones Augustine created that I mentioned once."
Freya looked down at the stake. "There is no specification. I would rather not know the answer to that..."
"Aya always was thorough," said Rebekah angrily.
Elijah sighed. "The Strix always employ a safeguard. In the event that we were successful at retrieving your body, you were cursed. You see, if one is on a rampage, one is not difficult to hunt." He looked at his older sister. "Can you fix this?"
Freya assented. "The spell is carved here. I can... I can reverse it." She got to her feet, but looked rather dazed. "I just... need some time... and a hell of a lot of magic." She slumped forward, and Elijah caught her before she hit the ground. He sat her back on the couch, confused as to why she was suddenly unconscious.
"She was fine," said Jackson. "Hayley healed her."
Elijah exposed an inflamed puncture wound on Freya's neck. "This scratch is not healed. This is poison. This is an assassination attempt."
"They must be trying to get into the house," said Graciela quietly. "You put the deed in Freya's name after The Strix rescued Tristan."
"Of course," muttered Elijah. "Take the Serratura, break into our home. Attempt to take us by force to lock us away forever."
Freya began to stir. "She's waking up!" said Hayley.
Her eyes slowly opened. Stefan sped to the kitchen to get water, returning with a glass which he handed to Hayley to give to Freya.
"Are you okay?" asked Elijah.
"I feel weak," she admitted.
"Those vampires must have stabbed her with something," reasoned Jackson.
Elijah thought for a moment. "So, the Strix are fond of this slow-acting poison. There is an antidote... If I can get my hands on it." He went to make a call in the other room.
Freya examined Rebekah's wrist again. "For this, I'll need a pure silver knife, some white muskroot..."
"I'll get the knife," offered Hayley.
"I'll track down the root," said Jackson.
"Hang on," said Graciela. "How long do we have until Rebekah starts to lose control of herself? Freya, you look like you're going to collapse again, you can't possibly perform a spell right now."
"I'll channel Finn," she said softly.
"Oh, lovely!" said Rebekah. "My fate rests in the hands of our black sheep of a brother that we have trapped in a necklace! I'm sure he's just leaping to help."
"Well," said Freya, "he's the only other powerful witch here, and you and I are out of options, sister."
"Channel me," offered Stefan. "I'm a vampire, I can't die. If you channel both me and Finn, it should be enough, right?"
Freya nodded. "Perhaps. Let us try it."
Stefan followed her upstairs. Graciela, not having been given a task, decided she would keep an eye on Hope. One of the maids was currently cleaning her room, and watching as the little girl tried to crawl out of her crib with no success.
"Hello, baby," she said happily. "Merry Christmas."
"Christmas," repeated Hope.
Graciela scooped her up, rubbing her back and standing near a window, watching as many shop owners decorated their doors. "You're going to like the present I got you. You're required to say it's your favorite. You know, I gave Henry his present yesterday— a little rocking horse— and he told me he loved me. Lisina just taught him to say that and he says it to everyone. That's how I expect you to react, hmm? Can you say that? Say, 'I love you.'"
Hope giggled. "Love you."
"Yes! I love you, too, little one."
"Love you. Love you, love you."
"Good practice. Say that exact thing when you open my present."
"Love you."
"Yes."
There was a crash in one of the nearby rooms. "Wait here," she murmured, setting Hope down and repeating the same thing to the maid as she went to investigate. It sounded like it was coming from the room Cami had been staying in; the one that usually belonged to Rebekah.
"Hello?" she said, not hearing anything as she approached. "H—"
Two figures flew out of the doorway, knocking themselves and Graciela over the railing. Graciela let out a panicked scream as she only just managed to hold the bottom of the railing, keeping herself from falling down to the first floor. Behind her, she could see Rebekah and Hayley, locked in battle.
She groaned, hoisting herself back over the railing and running to the study when she saw Elijah going down to intervene. Jackson was with Stefan and Freya. It didn't seem like Freya was going to last much longer.
"Freya!" she said, shaking her and making her stay awake. "Freya, don't fall asleep—"
"What's happening out there?" asked Jackson worriedly.
"Rebekah and Hayley are fighting! I think we might be out of time. The curse is settling in."
Freya started to choke on her blood, and Graciela quickly slapped her back, making her cough it out. Stefan immediately exited the room, covering his nose and mouth. "Freya," said Graciela sternly. "Open your mouth, get it out, don't try to stop it from coming out, you'll just block your throat..."
"That's it, I'm going down there!" said Jackson when he heard another loud crash.
"No!" said Graciela. "Rebekah's an Original, if she's gone crazy, she'll kill you!"
"Then let her kill me! I'm not letting anything happen to—"
Hayley sped in holding a briefcase. "The cure," she said, popping it open. "Jack, I'm okay." She brought out a syringe. "In her heart."
Graciela quickly laid Freya down as Jackson uncapped the syringe. He hesitated a moment before plunging the needle into her heart, injecting the antidote. Freya gasped loudly, and sat up, her cheeks stained with the blood that'd begun to leak out of her eyes just before she was cured.
"Did you get the muskroot?" Freya panted.
Jackson nodded, handing her a burlap bag of herbs. Freya took them in one hand, holding the silver knife in the other, and started to chant, "Niax en at tem alach ti. Niax en at tem alach ti."
Graciela went into the next room to check on Stefan, who was by the window, breathing heavily. "It's okay," she said. "Freya's not bleeding anymore."
"There was so much blood," he said, still covering his mouth. "It caught me off guard."
"Take a deep breath. No more blood. Here, smell this instead..." she grabbed a small bottle of ink off the desk, shoving it under his nose. He inhaled and gagged.
"You're being dramatic," said Graciela playfully. "It doesn't smell like anything."
"To you," he said. "You're not the one that has it directly under their nose."
"I was mistaken, you won't survive wearing a thong if ink triggers your fight or flight."
The crashing downstairs stopped. They walked out to the balcony and saw Rebekah sitting up, massaging her head. She seemed fine now. Graciela let out a sigh of relief.
She and Stefan returned to the loft to make some of the sides for dinner, and to finish preparing the presents.
"Not how I expected Christmas to go," said Graciela as they drove back with the dishes wrapped carefully and stacked in the back seat.
"Tell me about it," said Stefan. "Jeez, a girl invites you to meet her family and one of her aunt gets jumped, and the other one tries to murder everybody. You could write a book about it."
Graciela narrowed her eyes and quoted, "'Like your family's so perfect. Your brother's a pervert!'"
He put a hand on his chest. "'Don't talk to me about the sexual habits of family memebers. What about your sister?'"
"'My sister's been through a lot.'"
"'Of dick.'"
Graciela started to laugh. "Did you know, my sister was interested in Elijah? He might have been my brother-in-law instead of my dad."
"Brother Elijah instead of Father Elijah."
"Oh please don't start that again."
"Sure, Girlfriend Graciela. Hey! That's still G.G., Gigi. It's meant to be."
"S.S. Essex. Ese."
"That is so wrong and you know it."
"Your brother is a pervert, you should be used to it."
"To be fair, Damon is actually pretty fucked up. I would have liked to know your brothers, they seemed more normal."
She half-smiled. "Well, they sacrificed an infant to the witches and ran a drug and alcohol cartel. You decide what's better."
"Is that why you don't like holidays? You miss them?"
"Sometimes. We didn't celebrate much even when they were alive. But I do find myself thinking of them often, especially on special occasions. And this one intrusive thought always creeps in, telling me I might never see them again because they won't be at peace. All because they did something bad."
"Maybe there's still a chance for redemption. We can't be sure the only pathways after death now are to Hell and peace. Maybe there's a newer, different version of the Other Side. A chance to atone, to be better. Death doesn't have to be the end. There has to be more."
"Stefan? Can I confess something to you?"
"Sure."
"I've been thinking more about being a hybrid."
"Why?"
"I think of getting that normal life and I wonder if I'll run out of time. Or if some horrible accident will befall me and my wolf healing won't be able to save me. So many things have happened and I worry I'll meet my end before I get any happiness. If I were a hybrid, I'd have eternity to figure out what I want to do with my life. Eternity to have a normal existence. I could do what you do... switch every couple of decades and settle down somewhere else. Almost everyone around me is immortal. It's comforting because I won't lose them as easily. But I also am aware that they might lose me when I get too old and crusty to do anything. If I turn, I can stay young. I can do more with my existence."
Stefan put his hand on hers. "As much as I would like to have you with me forever, I know that you like the idea of being mortal. If you make this choice, just make sure you've considered all your options."
She nodded. "Yeah, I will."
"Be honest... is it because Freya almost died today?"
"Partially. And even just thinking about my siblings. They had one lifetime to do good and they... didn't. A lot of that was my parents' fault, they were brought into the cartel too young. There is a lot I have left to learn and I need time to learn it. As a hybrid I'd have all the time in the world to travel and to study. I'd have the power to protect myself if someone disrupted that. Being a wolf is nice but I kind of like the idea of vampire powers. I'm still so useless. I don't want to be so useless. And I don't want to find out what comes after death, not yet. I don't want to die, Stefan. As a mortal, my life is just ticking away, counting down the days until it ends. And of course, I do want to be with you for a long time."
He squeezed her hand. "Whatever you choose, I will support you. And I will love you. Whether you're a werewolf or a hybrid or... a wrinkly old lady who needs to wear dentures."
She smirked. "Even with dentures I will wear a thong. That's a promise."
She thought a lot about death during Christmas dinner. Which probably wasn't the right place to be thinking about it. She was distracted from the drinks and conversation, and had to be nudged three times to come back to reality and say goodbye to Rebekah, who was going to leave again.
Hope had told her 'love you' after opening her present, which was enough for her. Graciela wondered if Hope would ever trigger her vampire side and become immortal like the rest of the family. If she did, Graciela wanted to be there to help her for centuries, if possible. She'd have plenty of aunts and uncles and parents and stepparents to guide her, but maybe she'd need a cousin to goof around with every now and then.
"Do you hear that?" asked Graciela when Stefan and Elijah went back to the loft with her.
"What is it?" said Stefan.
"A piano," she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Someone is playing 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' at the St. James Infimary."
"At the St. James?" said Elijah. "How can you be sure?"
"Well, I've never heard anyone else in this area play piano. The St. James has a piano, I tuned it myself. It just sounded familiar."
Elijah glanced down at his phone. "I will see what it is in a moment. Forgive me, I must go run an errand." He dashed out the door.
Graciela sat on the couch. "I wonder who's at St. James at this time."
"Maybe the ghost of Christmas Past," said Stefan, sitting beside her. "So, while at dinner, Caroline sent some updates. She's been having some issues with her bloodlust, which wasn't very comforting to hear, but she thinks she is going to be able to get it under control. Bonnie and Matt seemed to be having a moment at the Christmas drive she ran. I always thought Matt was a better friend to Bonnie than Elena, Caroline, or even Damon. Would be nice if those two were together. Let's see, what else... oh, yeah, this Phoenix Sword thing is making its way here. Nora, one of the Heretics, found it, and since the stone was given to Freya to destroy, they're giving her the sword too. Cami could put it in her dark objects collection."
"I'm sure she'd like that," said Graciela. She could still hear the piano playing faintly, and started to hum along. "Hmm, I wonder if they would be able to hear me, too. Whoever is playing..."
"What will you duet with? Piano, violin, or cello?"
"Violin." She went to get Gia's violin, caressing it before placing it on her shoulder. She waited for the right time to enter, and started to play. Stefan moved closer to the window, and held a thumbs-up to indicate the pianist was still playing. Perhaps they didn't have heightened senses that would allow them to hear the accompaniment. But Graciela still enjoyed it.
There was a moment where Stefan waved his hand, indicating the pianist had stopped. Graciela lowered her violin, and tucked it back in its case. "It was fun while it lasted," she said. "Will you spend the night, please?"
"Sure," he said. "But no unholy thoughts about thongs."
"Bummer." She smiled. "Wear your present to bed."
"You are rude for getting me pajamas for Christmas."
"I thought they'd suit you! Besides, I also got you a new toolbox, you said you wanted one. And I got you a little ornament for your car."
"I should have gotten you pajamas. Would have gone well with the earmuffs. You looked cute when you tried them on in front of Hope."
"You think I look cute in anything."
"Because you do." He tucked his hand under her chin to kiss her. "Still interested in having some fun tonight?"
"Oh, shit, I forgot," groaned Graciela. "I have no idea of Elijah will be—" her phone began to ring. "Fuck, speak of the Devil..." she showed Elijah was calling. "Think he heard me?" She answered. "Hi."
"Listen to me very carefully," said Elijah. "Lock all the doors and windows. Stay quiet and stay inside, under nocircumstances are you to even step a foot out the door, do you understand me?"
"Elijah," she said fearfully. "You're scaring me, what's going on?"
"Is Stefan still there?"
"Yes..."
"Good. He needs to remain there. The piano you heard... it was Aurora. She and Tristan have been hiding out in the St. James."
Graciela's heart dropped into her stomach. "Am I to assume The Strix are standing guard for them?"
"A legion of them are currently standing around the St. James. It gets worse. Cami... she's in transition."
"Transition?" said Graciela. "But how—?"
"Aurora compelled her to take her blood and slit her own throat. Niklaus is furious and I've just received word that Vincent Griffith was forced to activate the Serratura. Stay inside. Do you understand?"
"I understand. But Elijah—"
"I must go. Please, do not leave the loft. If anyone comes knocking, you tell me immediately. I fear they will come after you to lure us into a trap where they will be able to lock us away. Promise me, Graciela!"
"I promise!" she replied. "Elijah... please don't get hurt. Promise me."
"I wish I could promise that."