timeline: masquerade
Grayson stands in front of Damon with a wide, amused smile. He had asked her to come over, which the girl thought was ridiculous. She was at the Boarding House 99% of the day anyway. "You want me to what?" She questions through a small laugh.
Damon stares at her blankly. "I want you to go to the masquerade ball with me." He mumbles. Grayson could tell he was embarrassed that he had to ask, because well, of the obvious.
The girl leans forward and looks around if she were about to tell a huge secret. "You know I'm not into you, right?"
The vampire scowls. "Of course I know you're not into me."
"And you know I'm a thousand year old vampire that could kill you in a heartbeat, right?"
(A/N: She is not blood related to the Mikaelson's in any way, shape or form. I didn't know so many of you were assuming this story had incest in it, but it does not.)
"Grayson, why do you always have to threaten me with that?" He whines.
"I wasn't threatening you." She says defensively. "I was simply making the point that I'm too old to go to a masquerade ball."
The Salvatore laughs loudly, clutching his stomach as if he were in pain. "You-" he cuts himself off with another loud laugh. "Gray, have you ever even been to a ball?"
The vampire thinks back a thousand years and comes up with nothing, confusion coursing through her veins. This was a recurring problem with the Hunt girl. She couldn't remember much of her life. Everyone, she included, just brought it down to being how old she was.
"Not that I can remember." She shrugs.
"Oh, so nothing new." He murmurs, swiftly turning around and beginning to walk away when she gives him a deadly glare. She follows him out of the kitchen and into the parlor, her eyebrows shooting up when she sees Caroline Forbes sitting on the couch.
"Caroline." Grayson greets the young vampire.
"Grayson." The blonde says softly.
Damon fills up a glass of blood and hands it to the shaking girl. "Here."
"I'm still shaking." She expresses as she grabs it and quickly takes a sip.
Stefan walks into the parlor with his eyebrows drawn and his arms across his chest. "So what happened?" He asks.
"Go ahead." Damon instructs Caroline. "Tell them what happened."
"I saw Katherine today." She replies.
"Where?" Stefan questions.
"At The Grill." She replies, a deep blush starting to coat her cheeks. Grayson gives her a sly smile and the blonde shifts awkwardly. "I just stopped by to gawk and quasi-stalk Matt."
Grayson takes a seat on the opposite couch and rests her hands on her stomach. "Carry on." She tells the blonde when Caroline takes a second to look at her.
"I went in to stare at Matt, like I said. He asked me if I needed a table and I told him I just needed to use the restroom."
"Caroline." Grayson says in exasperation, running a hand through her thick hair. She was thoroughly surprised when her hand went straight through it instead of getting stuck on a million knots. "Get on with it and skip the teenage drama, please."
"I am." The baby vampire nearly snaps, lowering her voice when Grayson raises an eyebrow. "I went to the restroom and saw Katherine. She pretended to be Elena at first, but I knew that it wasn't her." She pauses and a small smile slips onto her face as if she were proud of herself. "She told me to tell you guys that she wanted the moonstone or she was going to rip the town apart until it rains blood."
"Tell them the rest." Damon demands.
She takes a deep breath and fidgets on the couch. "It happens tonight at the masquerade ball."
"She wants to do it in public." Stefan expresses his inner thoughts aloud. "Killing Mason threw her off guard."
"Or pissed her off." Grayson replies, standing up from her seat. Everyone knew the look on her face. She was either about to have a complete nervous breakdown or she was about to kick some serious ass.
"She's running scared." Damon shakes his head at Grayson's words. "What she did to Jenna was desperate. She's out of tricks."
"You're going to get out of this alive, Katerina. So buckle up and get ready for a lesson."
"What?"
Grayson looks up at Damon, confusion evident on her face. "What do you mean, what?"
"You just mumbled something under your breath."
The vampire shrugs her shoulders easily, not knowing what those words meant herself.
"Can't we just give her the moonstone so she'll leave?" Caroline blurts out.
"No." Grayson laughs. "The only reason we're not letting her have it is because she wants it." She pauses. "And because Katherine's not getting dick."
Damon nods in agreement. "I'm gonna go to masquerade ball and I'm gonna kill her, tonight."
"You're not gonna kill her." Stefan tells him.
"Don't give me that goody-goody crap."
"You're not gonna kill her." He repeats.
"Really?"
"Because I am."
A wide smile spreads across Grayson's face as she claps once, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. "This is gonna be great, guys."
"Wait, where are you going?" Caroline exclaims as Grayson heads toward the door. She didn't really want to be left alone with the Salvatore brothers, more or less, left alone with Damon.
The dark headed girl looks at Damon and smirks. "I have a masquerade ball to shop for."
••
Grayson doesn't bother knocking as she rushes into the Salvatore Boarding House, shopping bags in her hands and bumping up against the wall as she stumbles into the parlor. "I'm here!" She exclaims, earning looks from the group. "More importantly, I'm ready to kill Katherine!"
Bonnie purses her lips and nods slowly. "So that's what's happening."
Grayson drops her shopping bags on the ground and takes a seat on the edge of the couch, watching as Alaric picks up a weapon off of the table. "This works with compressed air. The trigger mechanism is up here." He shows them where it is. "I have two of these in a different size." He motions to Damon. "For you, I recommend this. It fits nicely under the jacket sleeve. You use the trigger when you're ready." He uses the trigger and the stake comes out, Alaric catching it before it can hit anyone. Damon and Stefan share a look while the hunter shrugs. "You wanted me to show you how to kill a vampire."
"Remind me to stay away from you." Grayson says seriously.
••
"Are you sure you guys don't want me there tonight?" Alaric asks as he stands in the threshold of the parlor.
"No, I need you to stay with Elena. I don't want her to know about this." Stefan tells him.
"Okay." He nods. "Well, I'll make sure she doesn't leave my sight."
The Salvatore nods and turns toward everyone, bringing his hands together to clasp them. "Alright, if anyone wants to back out, I'll understand."
"Yeah. Cold feet speak right now." Damon says firmly, his eyes skipping over Grayson as he looks at the group. He knew she was down to do anything in order to protect her friends. "I don't want this going wrong if someone chickens out." He looks the blonde. "Caroline."
"I won't." She receives a skeptical look. "Look, she killed me. Fairs fair." She swallows thickly. "As long as there's no werewolves running around."
"Oh, I took care of Mason." Damon smirks.
"As long as Tyler doesn't kill anyone, he won't turn." Jeremy announces.
"Bonnie? Are you with us?" Stefan asks, seeing the reluctant look on the dark skinned girls face.
She brings her eyes up to his and responds after a long second. "But no one gets hurt."
"Except Katherine. Tonight, Katherine gets a stake in her heart." The eldest Salvatore says.
Grayson claps her hands together and huffs, reaching down to grab her shopping bags. "I'm going to get ready."
"Get sexy for me, Gray!" Damon calls out to her as she walks up the stairs. She flips him off and he smirks, looking at the rest of the groups appalled faces. "What?"
"You know she's-"
"-not into me, yeah. We've established that already."
••
"Do you see her?" Damon questions Grayson and Stefan, his steel blue eyes narrowed at every person in the party.
"Nope." Stefan sighs, looking at his brother with skepticism. "You're sure you can do this?"
"Who are you talking to?"
"Oh, I had the chance to kill her and I hesitated."
"Well that is the fork in the road between you and me, my friend." Damon smirks. "I don't hesitate."
"You spent 145 years loving her, it could happen."
"I won't hesitate." The older Salvatore brother repeats firmly. He laces his hand with Grayson's and pull her onto the makeshift dance floor before Stefan can say anything else. "So how're you feeling about tonight?" He asks his friend as he places his hands on her hips.
"Okay, I guess." She shrugs.
"Did you just say, okay?" He echoes teasingly, his eyebrows raised in shock.
Grayson laughs dryly, shaking her head. "I'm a thousand years old and I can't remember killing one person." She says softly, biting the inside of her cheek. "I know Katherine's terrible and she deserves to die, but-"
"Hey." Damon says sternly, bringing his hand up and cupping her face. He leans closer to her so the surrounding humans and vampires can't hear a word he's saying. "You said the key word right there, babe."
She hums.
"You've never killed a person. Katherine isn't a person, she's a monster." Grayson doesn't say anything and Damon urges her to speak. "Am I right?"
"Yeah, you're right."
"Good, then let's do this."
••
Grayson paces back and forth in the empty room that she and the Salvatore brothers are now standing in. She knew Katherine was relentless and she knew that Katherine would go at any length, but to kill an innocent girl in front of a crowd of people? It's just evil.
"I put the body in the trunk for now." Stefan tells his brother, sparing a second to glance at Grayson.
"We'll dump her when we get back." Damon says casually.
"This is exactly what I didn't want, Damon."
"Stefan, it's collateral damage."
"But who's next, Damon?" Grayson snaps, folding her arms across her chest. "She could kill anyone of us and no one would ever know."
"Except you." He mumbles, his eyes widening when it finally clicks with his brain. "She can't kill you, Grayson. She has this weird obsession with making you like her, so the last thing she would do is kill you."
Stefan swallows thickly, narrowing his eyes at his brother. He hasn't quite caught onto what Damon was thinking.
"So what are you saying?"
"You'll be the bait." He tells the vampire. "If you want to catch Katherine, you have to be the bait."
••
Grayson grits her teeth as she stands in front of Damon, her hands bracing on his shoulders for what he's about to do. "Come on." She urges him, hearing Katherine and Caroline coming up the stairs. He shakes his head firmly and she sighs heavily, "Damon, come-" she cries out as Stefan plunges a stake through her stomach, knowing that Damon wouldn't be able to do it to her.
"Caroline." Grayson can hear the wariness in Katherine's voice as she comes closer to the room.
The Hunt girl nods for Damon to let go of her and go into his hiding place. Grayson presses a hand on her wound and starts sobbing, a heart wrenching sound leaving her throat. "Somebody help me!" She calls out.
"Cordelia." The Pierce breathes out in panic as she sees the girl slumped on the ground, her face wet with tears. Katherine doesn't waste time rushing into the room and pulling Grayson's hand away form the stab wound. "You-you tricked me." She says in shock, trying to mask the flash of hurt in her eyes but failing.
Grayson doesn't say anything as she stares up at the younger vampire, the wheels in her head turning.
"Hello, Katherine." Stefans familiar voice rings through the room, momentarily taking the vampires attention away from Grayson.
"I will never forget you, Delia. You saved my life."
Katherine's cocky attitude quickly comes back as she realizes she's not alone with Grayson anymore. She puts her hands on her hips, a gleam of mischief fresh in her eyes. "You don't really think that you can kill me with that now, do you?"
"No, but he can."
Damon bursts out of the hiding place, the compressed air weapon Alaric showed them earlier in the day, tight in his hands. He shoots Katherine and she cries out as it pierced her back, crying out again as Stefan vamp speeds toward her and stabs her arm. Grayson quickly jumps up and grabs her from behind as she tries to stake Damon, the thousand year vampire having no struggle as she pins Katherine down.
Just as Damon is about to kill Katherine, about to end all their worries, "Stop! You're hurting Elena! Everything you're doing to her is hurting Elena!"
Grayson reluctantly releases Katherine, rolling her eyes when the girl smiles widely. "You think you three are the only ones with a witch on your side? Wrong." She tilts her head. "And something tells me that my witch is better than your witch."
"Jeremy, go check on Elena!" Stefan demands roughly. "Go!"
"Let's all make sure poor Elena is okay." Katherine mocks. "Just a little bit more pressure." She murmurs as she takes the stake and cuts a gash along her own hand.
Grayson quickly slaps the stake out of the vampires hand, a disapproving look on her face. Katherine is quick to pick up another one, holding it over her stomach. "This is really gonna hurt."
"Wait!" Damon yells.
Katherine drops the stake and a smug smile rises on her lips as she takes a seat on the couch. "Okay. So, how about that moonstone?"
••
"You coming?" Damon asks Grayson as he shuts his trunk, a knocked out Katherine Pierce inside it.
Grayson shakes her head. She had had enough Katherine drama for one night. "I'm just gonna go home."
Damon nods slowly, a soft smile on his lips. "Stay safe, Gray." She pauses at his words, an unsettling feeling blooming inside her. "You okay?" He questions Grayson, his eyes narrowed. In all the time he's known her, he's never seen her look so human. She looks fragile, she looked like a teenager. "Grayson?" He urges.
"On second thought, I think I should come." She tells him, quickly plastering a smile on her face. "Let's get this show on the road."
···
not edited