After she ended the call with Elijah, Grace realized how utterly alone she was now. They took Nik. Rebekah was nowhere to be heard, she probably ran for the hills. Elijah would get into his car immediately, but it still would take him hours to get here.
She allowed herself to break down in tears, surprised by how many of them could produce in one day. Grace had no clue how long she could fight anymore. The whole tough girl act wore off. She was simply afraid of everything. There was no part in her body that wasn't in pain. Her heart couldn't bear loosing anyone else.
After a while, the burning hunger ripped her back into reality. She was just inches away from blood bags filled with Elena's blood. At that moment, she didn't care that it was terribly wrong to drink her own sister's blood or that it was the last of the essence to create hybrids. Breathing heavily, she ripped the bag open and drank it empty onto the last drop. Hungrily she reached for two other bags filled to the rim with the still warm liquid. Strength flooded back into her limbs and determination rose in her, helped her to her feet and kept her going.
She would get Nik back. Grace would make Mystic Falls a safe place again, whatever it takes.
The wounds finally closed fully, so she took a moment to wash the blood off, dump the destroyed clothing in a bin and change into clean clothing.
Sighing, she tried to figure out where to start, her thoughts feeling like they were echoing from the walls of the huge, lifeless mansion, when her phone rang. Frowning, she saw the caller was Carol and she answered.
"Emergency council meeting. My home."
Her voice was rushed and the mayor immediately ended the call without waiting for a response from Grace. There was something fundamentally wrong and she'd bet all the money Elijah ever spend on suits that it was connected to Alaric.
It was like walking into the lions den. But she still had to do it. Of course it stole time to save Klaus from the Salvatores, but still the vampire hunter held the means to kill the Originals which made him the more urgent problem.
Grace arrived at the Lockwood mansion together with Sheriff Forbes. Liz still had the lingering stare of mistrust in her eyes because she didn't trust the Mikaelsons or any addition to them, but Grace couldn't care less, she had more urgent problems. She probably had the creepy gaze on her face again.
Carol ripped open the door before one of the women could knock.
"It's 4am, Carol. What's so urgent?"
The sheriff stated and Grace just lifted her eyebrows, expecting the mayor to finally explain. Council meetings always had their quite dramatic touch, Grace couldn't say that she felt comfortable in the middle of this vampire hating bunch.
"I didn't call in the meeting...He did."
She grabbed both Grace's and Liz' arms and dragged them inside. Of course it was Alaric. He stood in front of the whole lot of council members that mumbled obviously nervous. They all had no idea what was going on her. But Grace immediately new when she met the coldly amused eyes of the former history teacher. He was going to out them all in front of the council to get control over the town. This was a vampire hunt and Grace was the only vampire present at the moment.
While shock stood written all over Liz' face, the young vampire's gaze just turned into a scowl, not leaving eye contact with Alaric. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and lifted her chin arrogantly. At least she had her facade in perfect control.
"I was just telling the council about our vampire problem. Or should I say your problem?"
Carol, Liz and Grace stood together in front of the door and stared at Alaric. Grace was the only one to keep her composure properly.
"You see, the sheriff, who is meant to keep the town safe, has a vampire as a daughter...our mayor, her son is a vampire werewolf hybrid...Oh and let's not forget our latest addition. The lovely Grace Gilbert, a girl you all have known since she's a child is a vampire."
Gasps went through the rows of humans as he motioned towards the three women.
"These women cover up all the deaths caused by their children...and themselves...with lies. To fool us."
No one was sure what to do. Suddenly, Grace's chuckle made them all silence. All eyes were on her as she stepped towards Alaric. They weren't able to hide anymore, so the least Grace could do was shift the attention from Liz, Carol and their children to her. Either way Grace was the best protected lost cause in town.
She shortly lowered her head and then tilted it to the side to show the humans her true face. Her fangs pierced her lips, black veins cracking up the extraordinary beauty of her lovely features. Another gasp and muffled screams went through them and the humans instinctively backed away, trying to flee the threat that they hadn't expected.
"Let's not forget I'm not the only vampire in here, right, Ric?"
Even after all he had done today, she was still fearless. She stared him right in the eyes.
"I'm the evil you need to accept in order to kill a greater evil. By that I mean your wretched adopted family..."
His voice grew louder, addressing the whole audience again.
"You see, she brought the source of all the chaos we had to endure here. The Originals. A family of thousand year old vampires. Miss Gilbert here chose to become...involved with them. As it is her nature, she chose the darkest path to take."
Realization lit up in all their faces. They all had seen her with Elijah. The nice, charming historian. All of them had welcomed Klaus and Rebekah. It literally could be seen how they put the pieces of the puzzle together.
As the attention was all on Grace and Alaric, it gave time for Carol and Liz to flee and warn Tyler and Caroline. But unfortunately Alaric seemed to notice them trying to get away, too.
Suddenly, he appeared in front of the women and blocked their way.
"You won't go anywhere."
Both of them stared at him with wide eyes. They knew they couldn't defend themselves. But none of them reckoned with a very brave and suicidal Grace. With all the force she had, she tackled the vampire hunter and crashed with him on the ground. The element of surprise let her land a few punches. On the side of her mind she noted that she urgently proper training. She had all this power flowing through her and still she had no clue how to direct it into physical strength.
The last thing she heard before her neck was broken was the door falling shut behind Carol and Liz.
...
Surprisingly, Grace was alone in the Lockwood mansion when she woke up a few minutes later. She lost time. Alaric had a head start, he was probably already on his way to track down Klaus' body.
The only chance she had was to make Elena and the Salvatores hand him over to her before Alaric could find him, hoping that Elijah would arrive soon with a plan.
Jumping to her feet, she followed the well known way to her old home. She took the ridiculously easily hidden spare key and entered the house only to be met by the surprised glances of Elena, Stefan and Matt. Her sister was outstretched on the sofa and her human friend and Stefan immediately rushed in front of her.
Grace just snorted and stepped closer to them. Even Matt Donovan hated her. When he and Elena were together, he was one of the people that found her creepy, but all in all they got along quite well. But he also seemed to be deep into thinking that Grace was the villain here.
"Do you really think I would kill my own sister?"
She stared up into Stefan's forest green eyes. He was determined to protect Elena, she honored that, but still it bugged her that everything thought that low of her. She should start to get used to it.
"I think that you'd do practically everything to protect the Mikaelsons."
He stated, to which Grace's upper lip curled upwards in anger shortly.
Yes, she would do a lot to keep them save. But she wouldn't kill her other family. It was exactly the same she said to Nik before. She wanted them all to be at peace. Nothing more.
"Well, Stefan, if you really assume that I'm that much of a threat, why haven't you killed me already? I'm sure you don't give a damn about me."
Stefan's stern expression seemed to melt off his face into a look of regret and insecurity. Of course it would be suicidal to kill her, as it would expose him to the wrath of the Original family, but there was more to it.
"Because your sister does care."
He admitted and Grace shook her head with a sarcastic smile. She pushed Matt out of the way to see Elena who had sat up on the couch.
"I came to negotiate Klaus' freedom with you. I want you to hand him over to me."
Matt snorted, but Stefan just silently watched the Gilbert sisters.
"Why should we? He tried to kill me, Grace, again! Doesn't this matter to you?"
The young vampire had a really short temper today and her patience with her sister's judging attitude was long gone.
"I had him, Elena. You of all people saw it! I broke through to him. He was about to release you, but you had to ruin it all! Do you guys even have a clue what you've done?"
Elena shakily stood up, Stefan was beside her immediately and held her.
"What then? He would've taken me away to be his personal blood bag."
The older sister shook her head unbelievingly. Didn't she want to get it?
"Even if you'll always see the bad, murderous monster in him, that's not what he is! He's afraid, Elena. His whole life he'd been fearing that his family would leave him. That's why he created the hybrids. But he slowly started to realize that his siblings and I are the only he needs. Now you did everything to proof his paranoia right. He can't defend himself, you made him into an easy target for Alaric. If he dies, we all probably die. What were you thinking?"
But Grace realized that this was probably a lost cause. Elena was too stubborn to give in. She would hold to her grudge towards Klaus and risk everything by doing it.
"Grace..."
Her sister sighed.
"No, don't say 'Grace' as if I'm the one who don't understand. Even if you don't see anything I just told you as a reason, I ask you, Elena, as your sister. He's important to me."
Elena adverted her gaze, obvious that she wouldn't do it for her. Grace shook her head disappointed and walked towards the kitchen to find some strong booze. She found Bourbon in one of the drawers, but before she could open it and bring the amber liquid to her lips, she sat it down on the counter. Her hands were trembling, all these emotions washing over her again, threatening to bring more tears.
When there was a knock on the door, she at first didn't care as she was too deeply drowned in her sorrows.
Elijah smiled at Stefan who had opened the door. The expression had something predatory, he obviously wasn't up to games. The younger Salvatore stared at the Original warily.
"I would like to speak to the only adult in this household."
His words were spoken in an arrogant tone, but all he could fell was rage and the immediate urge to see Grace. Too many things had happened since they parted ways, he was worried beyond sanity.
"Grace, it's for you."
Stefan's statement wasn't necessary. The mentioned already had heard the voice of the man she loved. They stared at each other for a moment, holding their breaths, before Grace stormed into Elijah's arms. He held her close and she wrapped her arms around him. Finally he was here. She wasn't alone anymore. Elijah would help her settle this. They were going to be ok. His presence gave her the feeling of being safe and Elijah felt pure relief consume him when he saw that Grace was at least physically save. But in her eyes he could see how much strength it all cost her.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. The Original wanted to kiss all her sorrows away, but he knew he couldn't right now. Elijah needed to free his brother, until then both of them couldn't be happy.
Some minutes later, they all sat around the kitchen table. Grace briefly told him what had happened in the last few hours, in addition to what she already filled him in on phone. Jeremy had joined the conversation, too, after he had a talk with Alaric which upset Grace even more.
"We just need disarm him off the stake and my siblings and I will scatter to the ends of the world. Alaric will follow us."
His voice was strong and calm. Grace could see how much restraint it took for him to stay like that and not rip Stefan's head off for taking Klaus.
The fleeing part suddenly didn't seem that wrong anymore. Since her family and their friends betrayed her again, Grace was sure that she was better off outside this crap town. The only thing she wanted was to be with Elijah and now that Rebekah, Kol and Nik were save.
"And you'll simply run?"
Stefan stood behind Elena, hovering over her protectively.
"Yes. It's not the first time. Rebekah and Niklaus spent the better part of a thousand years running from our father. What does another half a century mean? Elena could live her human life and in the end, we'll be free of Alaric."
He simply had this aura of authority. People listened to him. In the five minutes he was here he came farer than Grace did in days. Maybe it was because he had the pure facts and the right reasons. Elijah knew how to persuade people.
"Why should we trust you?"
Matt suddenly chirped in and it clawed at Elijah's never ending patience. This boy had nothing to do with this. He definitely should mind his own business.
Grace sent the blonde young man a glare, but she kept her mouth shut. She figured it was better to let Elijah do the talking.
"I could've killed Elena the moment I walked in here. It's not my intention. There's someone present I want to make happy."
His gaze shifted to Grace and he took her hand and squeezed her hand gently. The young vampire melted by this gesture. While they shared this short moment, the other's eyes were on them. They all took a deep breath and shared a look.
Of course Damon who was on speaker phone had to ruin it.
"Hello? Of course we shouldn't trust your traitorous, lunatic sister and her side kick of a boyfriend!"
Elijah closed his eyes for a second annoyedly. His eyes darted to the phone in the middle of the table.
"I would be careful to insult this woman just after desiccating my brother and putting my family in immediate danger with it."
The warning lingered in the room and Grace's lips twitched with amusement. Elijah's hand never left hers.
"I promise you, we will keep my brother in check. He will not threaten your life anymore."
He continued. Finally he said 'we'. He wanted her in on this.
"It's your decision, Elena."
Stefan sighed and everyone ignored Damon's senseless commotion.
"Why do you want Klaus back?"
Grace's sister suddenly asked. It was a really dumb question, Grace thought, but she really seemed to need Elijah's answer on this to decide. Elena's eyes shortly flickered to grace, maybe she would take what her older sister said before Elijah arrived into consideration, too.
"He's my brother. We remain together."
His dark eyes were full of candor. Elena seemed to look for something in his eyes and she finally came to a choice.
"We have a deal."
She sighed. Grace and Elijah shared a short, relieved look before they all got up to make the plan work. Elijah called Rebekah who should pick up Nik's body. Shortly after, Jeremy made his call to Alaric to lead him to a false trail.
And then, they were alone. Elena and Stefan went upstairs, while Jeremy and Matt went to the porch.
Grace took the opportunity to let her guard down for a moment. She knew that in Elijah's presence she could be weak. Never would she have to be ashamed of herself because she couldn't be strong all the time if he was there.
Elijah leaned against the kitchen counter, Grace opposite him and they just stared at each other for some time.
"You were here fast."
She stated, her voice exhausted and still a bit rough. Elijah looked at her with concern visible in his eyes, before he couldn't help himself and pull her close again. She leaned her head on his chest and simply breathed in his calming smell. He was her only comfort in this cruel situation.
"I wasn't far away."
A little smile stretched across her face and she lifted her head to look at him again. How much she missed seeing his handsome features and getting lost in this endless chocolate depths.
Of course he didn't stay away the way he was supposed to. He couldn't. Elijah held a certain distance from Mystic Falls, but he was always close enough to be there if he was needed and it was obvious that Grace would've already needed him a day ago.
"Thank you for being here."
Stroking his cheek lightly, she felt his soft, warm skin against her fingertips. The warm sensation streamed from her fingers to her arm and deeply into her heart.
"Thank you for fighting for our family."
Our family. He included her. Grace was a part of it. Still, she had no clue how much Elijah admired her for taking the Mikaelsons so profoundly into her heart. No one before had risked everything to protect them like she did.
Emotions nearly boiled over in Grace when Elijah pulled her closer to kiss her. It was nearly chaste. His lips were so gentle that it made Grace's legs weak. Her hands caressed his neck before clawing into his soft hair. There was a hint of desperation in this kiss, they both put an explanation of how much they missed each other in it. A short piece of happiness and peace in the middle of the whole world falling apart between them. Grace didn't forget all the torment that she had just endured, but this kiss made her realize that there were better times to come. That she and Elijah deserved to be together and share moments like these a lot more often. Hope flooded both of them.
They never wanted to let go of the other in this moment, but they knew that they had to go back to reality. It wasn't over yet. Alaric was still running the streets, trying to kill the people Grace loved.
"I want this to be forever."
She whispered after they broke apart. Elijah nodded and they expanded the moment for a little while longer by hugging each other tightly again.
Over Elijah's shoulders, Grace saw that Elena was standing next to the stair, watching her older sister and the Original vampire. A small, understanding smile lit the doppelgänger's face. Maybe she was starting to accept that their relationship wasn't a fling to annoy Elena.
...
They stood gathered in the middle of the woods, close to the position where Jeremy told Alaric Klaus body was buried. The silence around the group was heavy. All of them were deep into their own thoughts. Grace and Elijah positioned themselves a bit away from Caroline, Stefan and Jeremy. Elena and Matt had stayed at home. Of course Grace wasn't happy with her little brother in the middle of this, he was the most vulnerable. But unfortunately for his older sister, he was needed here and Grace had to let him make his own decisions. Even if they were stupid.
The couple had their hands intervened and Grace felt his worried glance on her all the time. If Alaric came here, all the vampires were needed to steal the white oak stake from him. Elijah was the only one that truly could take on the vampire hunter. He wouldn't be able to protect her.
To be honest, the Original was steaming of rage. Grace hadn't told him the amount of torture Alaric had done to her, he was sure of it. He felt the red door swinging wide open, his inner monster tempting him to plant revenge. Even the darkest side of him cared so deeply for this woman.
But that wasn't the today's goal. The plan was to disarm the hunter and spend more years running. Of course Elijah hated it. He wanted to offer Grace peace, happiness and stability. The Original wanted nothing more to show her what immortality had to offer. There were so many places he wanted to explore with her.
The picture of the small chateau in south France he owned came to his mind. Elijah was sure Grace would love it. Usually he wasn't a person to be impatient. Of course he would stick to the deal, but still, he couldn't await to live what they both had imagined for so long.
Grace had similar thoughts, but they were interrupted by fear. She feared for their lives. The relationship between Grace and Elijah had reached a point where it would kill her to loose him.
The thought of Nik desiccated and vulnerable in a coffin was beyond painful.
Rebekah was all on her own to get her brother. Maybe she should've joined her, but then again it would've taken Grace too long to get there.
Shadowing her mind was again this instinct that told her that she should be afraid. It just couldn't run this smoothly. Grace and Elijah were risking their lives to get their hands on the white oak stake, but she was sure there was more to it.
Stefan's faint voice made its way into their thinking minds. They both looked up and saw that he had his phone to his ear. Quickly, they walked over to the younger Salvatores as they heard him speaking the last words into the phone.
"He was a liar, Damon. He wasn't the sire of our line. We'll all be fine."
He was. Past. Stefan spoke about Nik in past tense.
Grace and Elijah froze on spot, trying to read something off Stefan's face.
"What happened?"
Elijah was the first one to find words, his expression horrified.
"Klaus is dead. Alaric staked him."
Klaus is dead.
The words echoed in Grace's skull, not willing to process them.
Suddenly, all eyes were on her. They came to a conclusion more quickly than her.
Even if Nik hadn't sired the Salvatores line...there were two among them that they could be sure of were turned by him. Tyler. And Grace.