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PARIS, FRANCE - 1743

"LET me get this straight, Mr. Mikaelson. You're extremely rich, travelling the world, quite attractive, and yet you don't have anyone's hand in marriage?"

Niklaus smirked at the beautiful girl's remark, finding her quite amusing.

"It's hard to travel the world if there's someone who's not as willing to do it with you. And besides, I have to be able to trust a lady when you're a man with as many secrets as I."

Grace smiled back to Niklaus, wondering what secrets he could possibly have. He seemed like such a charming fellow, but she could tell there was something else about him. Something supernatural.

Of course, she did not directly bring it up, however; she did not want to be wrong about her assumptions and then be burned alive for being a witch.

"What kind of secrets do you have, Nik?"

Niklaus raised his eyebrows, surprised by the sudden, casual change in her tone of voice. She wanted him to tell her more, to get to know him.

Grace folded her hands in front of her politely, smiling delicately and watching Niklaus.

He looked away for a moment, staring over the balcony. Their first balcony meeting of many. Grace had to know what he was. There was some weird sense about her, something that told him she would not be surprised by any of the information he gave her.

"I feel like you're trying to read my mind," Grace said softly, then let out a small laugh as she watched Nik, concentrating very hard.

He turned back to her, eyebrow raised with a small smile.

"And I think I know what you are. You're not just a breathtaking young woman, you're a witch."

Grace's smile faltered for a moment, and she glanced around, really hoping no one was around.

She looked up at Nik, then to the doors, hesitantly shutting them by flicking her wrist.

"I- How... how did you know? Did someone send you here for me? Are you here to kill me-" "Gracielle, love. You have nothing to worry about. You're one of the many witches I've come across, and I'm not out to get you. I was merely curious because you have your telltale signs-" "Well I'm not just a witch. And I'm not saying this to brag, because it'd be insane to want to brag about this, but I'm also a vampire. And this is supposed to be some impossible, cursed combination and let me tell you, it's definitely cursed. If you happen to have heard of the Siphoners then you'll know that that's where all of my problems came from in the first place. And now, I'm just rambling about a lot of things that you probably don't want or need to know."

Grace huffed, slumping into a chair and resting her elbows on the glass table.

Niklaus was simply amused by all of this. She really had no idea who or what he was. And she practically told her whole story to him.

She trusted him.

Niklaus sat down across from her, staring in amazement. He was falling for this girl, and they had only met for ten minutes.

"I'm a hybrid, too, love. Only, a different one. Originally werewolf, but of course the vampire was tacked onto me and unknowingly made me the first ever hybrid."

Grace's head snapped up quickly, eyes wide.

"Y-You're an Original. The Original Hybrid? I-I expected you to be more evil and uglier- I mean- different."

Nik grinned, unable to hide his enamorment with Gracielle.

"And I'd have to say you're very captivating for such an old witch... most of you let the age get to you-" "Niklaus!" Grace exclaimed, laughing lightly and fanning her face.

If only he could let her remember this.

But Gracielle was here with Katerina Petrova, as Niklaus very well knew. The pair were supposedly thick as thieves, which was not good for Nik. Because he was supposed to get rid of Katerina, not fall in love with her best friend.

And he would let her go this time, if it meant seeing Gracielle again.

"You know Katerina Petrova, correct?"

Grace tensed up at her name, and Nik could sense it.

She nodded slowly, almost rolling her eyes. "Of course. Word about her has gotten around to everybody, has it not?"

There was an entire change in Gracielle's mood when Katerina was brought up. Nik felt bad, then changed the subject.

"It's been a pleasure meeting you. I hope one day we'll meet again. But for now, you're going to forget we ever met. You've never heard of the Originals and will not bring them up. And you will despise Katerina Petrova until she is dead."

In an instant, he flashed away.

Little did she know, this would happen again and again in a tireless cycle, until Niklaus decided to stop playing games.

Mystic Falls , present day

AT the moment, Grace was contemplating ripping innocent people to shreds or burning the courthouse down. Something to prove she was not to be messed with. Maybe she would just do both.

Although, she had to take a moment to get her energy back. Knocking out all those vampires at once made her feel like she had a really bad cold, something she could not quite get rid of.

It then took Grace a second to realize she was standing in the middle of the town square, staring into an abyss of her thoughts blankly. Only when someone approached her had she snapped out of it.

Grace turned sharply, before the stranger could even lay a hand on her.

"Um, are you alright, miss?" asked a middle aged woman, donning a police officer's uniform.

She had a striking resemblance to Caroline, Grace noticed.

Clenching her jaw for a moment, she responded with a simple nod.

"I think so. Just- just a little confused."

The officer nodded, stretching out a hand. "Would you like to come with me? It's getting kinda cold out."

Grace played dumb, or crazy, whatever she was supposed to be.

Nodding once more, she followed the sheriff to her car, noticing a group of people watching the scene.

Oh, how Grace liked to cause a scene.

Grace took the sheriff by her collar, slamming her head into the hood of the cop car violently.

The officer, Sheriff Forbes, rolled limply to the ground. She was not dead, as Grace could still hear a heartbeat. There were gasps from the crowd now, and she could not help but to smirk.

What better way to threaten a town than to kill their one source of protection?

NOTES
hiiiiii i'm back also omg tysm for 9 (NINE) THOUSAND READS!!! WHAT EVEN I LOVE Y'ALL SO MUCH MORE THAN YOU'LL EVER KNOW WOW. also srry it's been forever school sucks hope y'all enjoyed this update :')