This chapter has been a real labour of love for me, as a writer I have reached the entry point into the really fun stuff, a sequence of events that this chapter begins to lead up to but I'm deliberating over the order I want events to unfold in and so my mind has been elsewhere - part of the reason this chapter took so long but here, eventually it is.
Enjoy x
"Leka nosht lyubov."
"Leka nosht, Niklaus." she managed to reply between the yawn.
It had been a long day.
7th June 2010
With Damon saved and very much recovered from his wolf bite his brother - the younger Salvatore - had fallen neatly in line as Nik's errand boy, at his beck and call, thee to follow every command- any need, any want he had his minion to aid him. It was quite a sight but Grace grew used to it quickly.
Nik had compelled him to listen to her every instruction and follow her orders implicitly but she rarely asked anything of him in fear of growing to like the power, she herself never wished to abuse the power she held over him.
She knew one too many beasts and so she knew how easy it was to fall from grace. In the days since their deal Nik had been off doing his own little 'errands' leaving her alone with Salvatore. She hasn't quite yet worked out how uncomfortable she made him, on a scale of one to ten it was nothing to call the police with but it was enough to leave a chill and sow nagging doubt into her mind.
She knew from Kat that there were ways to avoid compulsion - she also knew that this particular vampire had done her one over before, six months were all the fault of dearest Elena and although she had lied to him about the finer details she was still living and breathing when he buried her in the crypt. She was still very much alive.
And so she had her doubts, the once docile and mute brother was now far more vocal and brash. The blood could do that to people she supposed, without it one was left dull and sensitive so following that conclusion she could only presume that before they were turned Stefan was equally as lively as his brother was now.
It was later that night that Nik sauntered back to the flat - his eyes wild and alive. It was a new feature that came with his awoken wolf, this life and passion that always was beneath the surface had now boiled over. It was as though he had been remade - he was still formed from the same clay but slightly different.
She could tell by the look in his eye, the brush of his hand. It was different, not bad, just different.
The only thing she wanted now more than ever was to leave - her and this town were over but Nik was taking his time and it was beginning to agitate her but she still as yet to find the voice to tell him.
From the stories she had heard this was his home before he was turned - his last true link to his humanity. This however she found wasn't a link he wished to cherish or rekindle but a link he wanted to replace.
Nik had become hellbent in imprinting this new and improved version of himself upon the town of Mystic Falls, as though he had something to prove to them.
As if their opinions mattered, she scoffed. Nik was above all others, removed from the world by being the only individual with his unique traits his inhuman qualities surpassed that of any other and that was what set him apart. It was as if he was searching for normality amid his differences and this was the last place he was truly normal, this was where he lost his identity, his humanity.
For those reasons alone Grace was sure that this was the last place Nik would wish to be but in the depths of his centuries old mind his twisted redemption could only be found in this place - for if he could prove himself successful here then the world was his oyster and his legacy was sealed.
Or at least that what she supposed he was doing, in reality he probably was just scheming and delighting in the chaos he had produced. His own personal brand of chaos that didn't really depend on the location. In fact the significance of this town was more likely a product of a mind with too much time on its hands.
She had been cooped up for ever so long now, with Kathrine days melted together and time wasn't so harsh but alone with Nik galavanting across town and Stefan a shell of a man once now a blood crazed monster, she kept to herself.
That was she kept herself occupied with music, she was always one for dancing in the mirror, singing in the shower and belting out songs with a hairbrush as a stand in for a microphone but never before had she the pleasure of using an entire apartment as her stage.
At that point in time Upside Down on Paloma Faith's debut album was her anthem; she belted out the lyrics because to her they felt real, they weren't just catchy, they were truthful and for once the cheesy pop actually illustrated her life perfectly.
It must have been her third rendition of the song that morning when an over excited Nik burst in the door. She knew mischief was on his mind from the glint in his eyes and the half smile half smirk that played on his lips.
That look was dangerous and she could only image how many poor unassuming girls had been burned by it before.
"It's time little one." He whispered gently, his grin never leaving his face only intensifying.
"Time for what?" She asked takin a step closer, laying a hand on his shoulder, his enthusiasm was confusing her but the lack of blood reassured her that is wasn't the satisfaction of some carnal instinct that had him this way.
His hand landed on her shoulders in response, a single finger kept up her neck tracing her steady pulse till it landed on her jaw and then finally her cheek where he drew tiny circles.
All the while it was all she could do not to get lost in his eyes, she could only suppose this was what compulsion was like - intoxicating. "Time to leave."
And with that his grin became her's.
::::
"Are you sure?" Grace asked yet again. Her, Nik and Stefan all were in the kitchen, she on the counter too then leaning on the work surface opposite.
"Completely" said Nik.
They had been at it for a good while now, Grace didn't quite see eye to eye with Nik's exit plan much to his confusion for he seemed to think of it as full proof, brilliant even. And so like any good woman Grace tried to educate him and like any simple man Nik would have none of it.
"Really Nik, I don't need to steal a dead girls clothes, I can buy new stuff wherever we end up, besides I'd rather not have Gilbert's seconds. Kathrine and I even went shopping not that long ago - I have enough clothes to get me by."
"Love I understand what you are saying but you didn't buy that much that day you went out with Kathrine and besides this way are you not just recycling - Elena has no use for the clothes anymore and besides," he said shooting her a look. "You will look far better in them anyway."
"Do you trust his bought loyalty that much? Do you really think he can do this?" She said a making a vague gesture to the other Vampire in the room.
Stephan had been feeling rather removed from the conversation. It was, in his option, a lovers tiff that he frankly had no place in but now the focus had been shifted to him he wasn't quite sure he enjoyed the spotlight at least not the deadly gaze of Klaus or the sweet but piercing look Grace could deliver.
He had quickly learned that he seemed to fear the least powerful of the two, Grace, more. Perhaps it was because Klaus had already played his hand and had taken everything from Stefan or maybe it was because he never knew were he stood with Grace. She was an unknown entity, an enigma and that was all he more dangerous then the obvious power of Klaus.
"I don't know. Can he?" Nik asked turning his gaze to Stephan.
"Of course I can."
"See my dear," Nik laughed. "Of course he can."
"Can you really?" Grace said sliding off the counter, stalking towards Stefan. In her mind she was simply channeling as much Katherine Pierce as she could muster but really she was digging much deeper, much more personal and far more primal then any behaviour the vampire had imprinted onto her. In this moment, Graves actions were her own and Nik seemed to be the only one in the room who recognised it to be so. "I mean can you go back, run the risk of seeing your brother, your brother that belongs to the life you gave up the moment you signed your life away. A brother that you've had for a hundred years it voluntarily burned any connection to."
He had been right in his first analysis of her, Grace's glare was far more intimidating than Klaus' ever had been - his menace manifested itself in the form of untameable, raw power yet with a single glare she could topple empires. She was by far the deadlier of the two.
"Yes." Was his simple reply.
She had to give him credit for his steely determination but behind the facade there were cracks and the more he lied the clearer they showed.
"It's a simple errand, let him complete it - it's harmless really, a final hurdle to prove his allegiance then we can be on our way, Unless you doubt his ability to steal a dead girls wardrobe?"
"Not at all, sorry Stephan I should have a little more faith in you. I hope you don't take offence at my doubts I'm you ability to overcome a bind as strong as family simply because you've had a few pints of blood."
"No offence taken - family is why I'm here to begin with but I have my word and that is a bind I don't break so you have no need to doubt me."
"That's good Stephan betrayal is a hard thing to swallow I'm sure you understand - I just want to make sure any confrontation with your brother isn't going to sway your allegiances."
"It won't."
"Good. Then go rob your dead girlfriend." But her eyes told a far different story.
I know she alive but Nik doesn't if you wanna keep it that way don't mess this up.
"Your wish is my command." Stephan muttered before disappearing leaving Grace and Nik alone.
"Why don't you trust him love?"
"Why do you?"
"I trust no one." But at the widening of her eyes he added. "But the more time I spend with you the more I trust you little one."
"Good because despite everything that tells me not to I trust you Nicklaus."
"I know little one and for that I am grateful."