꧁𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝꧂

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GRACE'S HEART WAS PUMPING IN HER CHEST, she was pounding on the door of her bedroom the she couldn't get out of. Her father had locked her in when she had talked back to him. He hadn't even said a word, he had just thrown her in and locked the door so she couldn't get out. It was cold and dark since he had boarded up the windows. Grace could feel herself hyperventilating as she grasped at her chest.

"Please! Let me out!" She screams as she bangs on the door yet again. But she knew it would only make him leave her in there longer. But she hated the feeling of being caged in. It left her alone with her thoughts and that was dangerous as it was. Because the only thoughts she had was of her life leading up to this moment, and they weren't exactly pleasant. "I didn't mean to say anything! Please, just open the door!" She pleads, cries leaving her lips as her nails scratch at the doorknob. But no one came to let her out, no one came to help her.

Because there was never anyone on her side.

In present time, Grace stands in the bar at Rousseau's, her breath getting heavier as she stared at the man in front of her. Her feet were stumbling backwards, her eyes wide as she could barely think straight. She always knew there was a possibility of her father finding her, that much was made clear when she started receiving letters from him. But nothing could have prepared her for the moment that he was actually here. She didn't know what her reaction would be until that very second.

It wasn't like she couldn't fight back if he attacked her, she had grown up a lot. But it wasn't even the fear of him abusing her again. It was the memories that rushed back to her as she stared at the man who made her childhood into a living hell. It was the pure hatred and pain that she felt, not only from his abuse but the words he would say to her. He didn't need to physically hit her to cause her pain, and he knew that. He knew that and that's why he mentally tortured her for months by sending her the letters.

Camille seemed to notice how Grace was acting, especially after hearing the glass smash on the ground. She immediately rushed over to her, grabbing ahold of her arm softly but Grace only flinches away. Camille turns her head, her eyes landing on Robert who was only standing at the door, a smirk on his lips. She furrows her eyebrows as she looks back at Grace.

Grace only grabs at her chest before turning around and rushing towards the bathroom. She pushes her way through the door, her hand covering her mouth as she tries to catch her breath. She stares at herself in the mirror, seeing the tears start to pour from her eyes. Grace shakes her head as she grabs a hold of the sink, cries leaving her lips as she looks back over at the door.

Camille was standing watching the bathroom for a moment before she notices Robert had started to walk more into the bar. She immediately stops him, a stern expression on her face. "I suggest you leave, sir." She tells him sharply as she gestures towards the door. Robert just smiles down at her, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm only a paying customer." He responds as he clasps his hands together. Camille gives him a tight smile but there was obvious fury in her eyes.

"Clearly you are causing issues so I need to ask you to leave." Camille explains to him as she crosses her arms against her chest and Robert only chuckles.

"I'm merely minding my own business." Robert tells her and Camille clenches her jaw.

"I suggest you leave before I call the cops." She snaps, her fists tightening as she stares at the man who only had a smug expression on his face.

"A man can't even come to visit his daughter in peace?" Robert asks as he raises an eyebrow at Camille. This catches the blonde a little off guard as she was not expecting it. "Will you tell her, she's grown into a beautiful young woman." He says as he tilts his head and Camille immediately glares at him, a look of disgust on her face.

"Get the hell out." She sneers at him before turning and heading towards the bathroom. Camille glanced back, seeing Robert leaving the bar before she enters the bathroom. "Grace?" Camille asks softly as she peeks her head in first, seeing Grace standing by the sink. "Are you okay?" She questions as she steps inside, letting the door shut behind her. Grace only wipes her face, nodding.

"I'm fine." Grace replies firmly, not letting her voice falter. Camille frowns as she could tell the woman was trying to put on a tough act.

"Was that your dad?" Camille asks even though it was pretty obvious. She didn't know too much of her relationship with her family but she knew it was estranged.

"It's fine, Cami." Grace says again as she turns her head to the blonde, offering a tight smile. Camille shakes her head, placing her hand on her hip.

"That did not look fine." She points out, grace had practically had a panic attack just at the sight of the man.

"I'm okay." Grace replies with a sigh but she was mainly trying to convince herself. She takes a deep breath as she closes her eyes for a moment. "I uh, I'm just gonna head back to the compound." She states as she starts to walk towards the door after composing herself. Camille frowns as she didn't want the girl walking out when she clearly wasn't okay.

"Wait-" She tried to grab a hold of Grace but she slips from her grasp. "Grace!" Camille shouts after her but the woman was already gone. She lets out a sigh as she brings her hand up to her head. She wasn't too sure what had just happened but she knew it wasn't good. And that Grace shouldn't be alone, so she took out her phone to call the one person she knew Grace needed.

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LEANING AGAINST THE WALL IN THE COMPOUND LIVING ROOM, Grace was bent over, her hands placed on her knees. She was trying to calm herself down, just taking deep breaths. It wasn't like she didn't want to give her father a piece of her mind, or of her fist. She just needed to completely absorb it so that she didn't completely break down in front of him. She didn't want to give him that satisfaction.

Grace heard footsteps approaching her and she just closes her eyes, a sigh leaving her lips. "So, which parent should we kill first, Elijah?"  Klaus asks as he walks behind his brother.

"Well, I guess that is the question-" Elijah stops himself as he notices Grace over by the wall. He furrows his eyebrows, moving in her direction. "Grace?" He asks softly and this gets Klaus' attention, the hybrid turning his head to see her as well.

"Are you okay, love?" Klaus questions as he moves over to her and she lifts her head, giving a slight nod.

"I'm fine, Klaus." Grace replies with a sigh as she rests her head back against the wall and Klaus only furrows his eyebrows.

"No, you're not."

"Can people stop assuming how I'm feeling?" She says in a frustrated tone, her voice slightly elevated. Klaus frowns, wondering what had made her react this way.

"Did something happen?" Klaus asks worriedly as he stands in front of her and Grace only brings her hands up to her face.

"Nothing happened." She tells him as she knew Klaus would immediately go into rage mode. Not that she would defend her father's life, she just needed time to think.

"Then why did I just get a call from Cami saying the opposite?" Hayleys voice pipes up and they glance over, seeing the woman walking over to them.

"You don't have to worry about it, sugar." Grace says, closing her eyes as she looks down at the ground.

"I don't have to worry about it?" Hayley asks her as she raises her eyebrows at the woman, putting her hands on her hips. "Your father is here." She states and this causes Klaus and Elijah to instantly snap their heads to Grace.

"What?" Klaus' voice was full of anger and concern. "Is that true, love?" He asks as he stares at the woman but Grace only sighs, shrugging her shoulders. She didn't need everyone stopping what they were doing for her.

"I'll deal with it." Grace tells them and she could see they were staring at her like she was thinking straight.

"No, you won't. I'm not letting him near you." Hayley states firmly as she walks up to Grace who only bites the inside of her cheek.

"Hayley, I can handle it."

"I don't care." She scoffs as she shrugs her shoulders. "This man hurt you and I'll be damned if I let it happen again." Hayley tells her as he would not let him near her again.

"He can't hurt me anymore."

"Really?"

"Hayley, this is my problem. I've been dealing with it." Grace tells her as she tries to move past her but Hayley stops her, holding up her hand.

"Wait, back up. How long has this been going on?" She asks as she crosses her arms against her chest. Grace clenches her jaw as she sighs, she knew Hayley would be mad at her for not telling her immediately.

"He only showed up today." Grace states truthfully as she would definitely say something if he had shown up in New York. "He's been sending letters." She admits and Hayleys eyes widen, her mouth going agape.

"Since when?"

"Since my birthday."

"And why didn't you tell me?" Hayley questions, her voice loud as she glared down at the woman. She wasn't mad at her per say, more angry that she went through that alone.

"You didn't need to know." Grace admits as she shrugs her shoulders, she could deal with it, she knew Hayley was dealing with losing Hope.

"What kind of bullshit excuse is that?" Hayley asks as she furrows her eyebrows.

"You already had so much going on, I didn't want to bother you." Grace admits with a sigh as she glanced down at the floor. She didn't want to be an inconvenience to the woman but Hayley just stared at her like she was crazy.

"It wouldn't bother me, Grace. I would immediately be there for you." Hayley tells her as she shakes her head, bringing her hand to the girls arm.

"I know and I didn't want that. You needed to grieve." She responds as she brushes her hair out of her face. Hayley just raises an eyebrow at her.

"And you don't think ripping the head off your excuse of a father would help?" Hayley asks her and Grace laughs a little bit.

"Trust me, I thought about it."

"Grace, it's me and you against the world." Hayley states as she looks down at Grace who meets her gaze. "Remember?" She asks as she nudges the woman and Grace smiles up at her.

"Yeah." She sighs out as she nods her head and Hayley brings her hand to Graces.

"So, I will not allow you to go through this alone." Hayley tells her as she squeezes her hand and Grace lets out a small sigh. "Nothing you say will change my mind." She states sternly as she knew the blonde may still try and talk her way out of it. Grace rolls her eyes playfully but nods her head.

"Now, what's this about you two killing your parents?" Grace asks as she looks over at Elijah and Klaus, she had heard what they were talking about when they walked into the room.

"Oh, apparently our wonderful parents decided to hitch a ride back to the living to torment us some more." Klaus says with a false smile on his face and Grace's eyes widen as her jaw drops a little bit.

"People can do that?" She questions, furrowing her eyebrows as she looks between the siblings.

"They are very committed, I'll give them that." Elijah states with a sigh as he didn't ever think they'd have to get rid of their parents yet again.

"Isn't your father the one who tried to kill you?" Grace asks curiously as she glanced at Klaus who nods his head.

"Our mother did that too." Grace raises an eyebrow as she thought her family was bad.

"Nice." Grace responds as she nods her head firmly, pressing her lips together. "So... This has been an eventful day, hasn't it?" She asks with a sheepish smile on her face. Hayley only laughs as she wraps an arm around her and pulls her against her. Klaus chuckles lowly as he nods his head before softly smiling at Grace as he meets her gaze.

The two share a glance for a moment before grace rests her head on Hayleys shoulder, letting her eyes move to the ground.

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KLAUS MAKES HIS WAY DOWN THE HALL TOWARDS GRACE'S ROOM. He knocks softly, opening the door and seeing the lamp was still on. He saw that the girl was laying on the bed with her back facing away from him. But she wasn't moving so Klaus couldn't tell if she was awake or not. "Love, are you still awake?" He asks as he looks over at the woman. Grace turns over in the bed, meeting his gaze.

"Yeah." She says softly, rubbing her eyes as she sits up in the bed. "What's up?" Grace questions curiously, wondering what he needed at this hour.

"Nothing, I just wanted to come and check on you." Klaus admits as he leans against the door frame. Grace smiles softly as she tilts her head.

"I'm fine, Nik." She assures him as she raises an eyebrow at the man. "I hardly believe my father is going to climb the terrace and break in." Grace points out with a small laugh as she gestures to the balcony.

"You never know." Klaus replies and she only rolls her eyes. "I know it must not have been easy seeing him after all these years." He states, after what she had told him, he knew that it probably affected her more than she was letting on.

"I guess it sort of felt surreal." Grace states honestly as she shakes her head. "It felt like it was a dream but he was actually in front of me." She says as if Camille hadnt talked to her, she would of surely thought it wasn't actually happening.

"Trust me, I get the feeling, love." He admits as he lets out a small sigh. Klaus looks down at the floor before beginning to turn to leave the room and Grace notices this.

"Nik?" Grace calls out and he curiously glances back over at her. "Can you stay in here tonight?" She asks with a hopeful look in her eye. Klaus' demeanour softens as he nods his head.

"Of course." Klaus instantly responds as he shuts the door behind him. He moves over to the chair by her bed when he noticed she was pushing over and leaving room for him next to her. Klaus clears his throat as he climbs into the bed beside her. "Just say the word and I'll hunt him down and rip out his heart." He tells her as he settles in beside her. Grace smiles as she shakes her head, resting against the pillows.

"No, I don't need that." Grace admits and Klaus seemed rather disappointed by her answer.

"Not even a little light torture?" He asks as he furrows his eyebrows and Grace just laughs lightly.

"I've been thinking about it." She says as she decided that her father wouldn't suffer the most from physical pain. "I don't think that would hurt him." Grace states and Klaus pretended to be offended.

"I know how to inflict pain-"

"No, I mean. That's not the best revenge." Grace corrects him with a bright smile as she nudges his arm. Klaus chuckles but listens to her. "Even death is too kind for my father, that's what he used to say about me." She tells him and he only looks at her curiously. "I think the thing that would make him the most angry is seeing me happy. You know, surrounded by my new family, my friends." Grace tells him as she knew her father would hate that she even found an inch of happiness outside of the pain he inflicted on her.

"That's worse than torture?" Klaus questions as he tilts his head.

"To him, yes." Grace states with a nod of her head and she could tell that Klaus was still confused. "That's why he always isolated me when I was a kid, if I had friends, I could have even just a little piece of happiness." She explains to him and Klaus nods his head slowly.

"I guess that makes sense." He admits as he squints his eyes, looking at his hands. "So, not even a little maiming?" Klaus questions as he looks back at her and she just laughs loudly as she pushes him.

"Nik." She scolds as she rolls her eyes playfully. Klaus chuckles as he smiles back at her. "I'll let you know if I change my mind. Trust me, he can piss me off enough to change it." Grace tells him as she could easily allow Klaus to torture her father. It seemed like he was rather an expert in the field.

"Why didnt you say anything about the letters?" Klaus asks, deciding to ask since she hadnt seemed to mention it to any of them. Grace only shrugs her shoulders.

"It was my problem."

"You stayed here and dealt with all of our problems with us. We can return the same energy with you." Klaus states as he raises his eyebrows at her. She had practically put her life on the line for them, the least they could do was help out with a few mangy letters.

"Noted." She replies with a smile as she snuggles down into the blanket. Klaus reaches over to turn the lamp off as it looked like the woman was tired. As he goes to move back, he feels arms wrap around him.

Klaus tenses for a moment but he glanced down and notices that Grace had rested her head on his chest, her arm around his stomach. He softly smiles as he furrows his eyebrows. He brings his hand down to rest on her back, allowing her to rest against him. He heard the soft breaths leaving her lips and allows his head to rest back.

He shuts his eyes, falling asleep with Grace cuddled up against him.

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MAKING HER WAY DOWN THE STAIRS AND INTO THE COURTYARD, Grace noticed the display of food across the table that was set up. Hayley was already standing by it and picking away at the food. "Ooh, this looks good." Grace admits as she stops next to the hybrid, immediately grabbing a strawberry to eat. Hayley glances  at her, nodding her head in agreement.

"I know, it was all set up when I came down." Hayley tells her as she grabs at a grape. Grace sighs in enjoyment as she places another strawberry in her mouth.

"Finally, some actually food in this place." She states as the vampires often seemed to forget that they sometimes had human guests. And human guests needed real food and not human blood.

"How are you doing today?" Hayley asks curiously as she glanced over at the girl. Grace just sighs, knowing she was just wondering but she didn't need to be checked up on like a baby. She was not going to be some weird replacement for Hope to satisfy Hayleys mother side.

"The same as I was yesterday." Grace answers her and Hayley didn't seem too okay with that answer. She groans as she turns to the brunette. "Hayley, I'm fine. I promise. You'll be the first to know if my father shows up again." She assures her as Grace was sure she would love to see Hayley beat the crap out of her father. But then again, it would give Grace so much satisfaction to do it herself.

"So, which restaurant is missing a compelled chef?" Hayley asks as she notices that Klaus was heading down the stairs and walking towards them. He connects eyes with Grace for a moment before looking away. Grace had woken up this morning to him being gone from her room so she just assumed he had watched her fall asleep and then left.

"It was certainly a card I played in the past but I had no hand in this." Klaus admits as he stops next to Grace, looking down at the table before seeing that the blonde was happily eating the food, not really caring if it might have been sent by an assassin.

"Oh, well then I guess we have Elijah to thank." Hayley suggests as she shrugs her shoulders, placing a grape into her mouth.

"I don't care who we thank, I'm starving." Grace admits as she grabs a few grapes, placing them into her mouth.

"This wasn't my doing." Elijah states as he walks into the room, just ask confused as everyone else.

"Then, where did this all come from?" Hayley questions in a confused tone. Grace just shrugs her shoulders as she bites another strawberry. The tray on the table that had a lid on it rattles making everyone jump. Klaus carefully leans over and lifts the lid causing a bird to sqwauk and fly out. "What the hell was that?" She asks as she places a hand on her chest. Grace just looks over at her.

"A bird." Grace replies bluntly and Hayley immediately just gives her an unimpressed look. Grace only smirks as she goes back to eating the food in front of her. Klaus lifts up the note that was on the silver tray.

"An invitation from our mother." Klaus states, anger in his tone as he looks over at Elijah. Grace raises an eyebrow as she looks at the hybrid.

"Sounds fun." Grace mumbles as at least her family was estranged enough to not have a family dinner. Well, they barely ate together when they were a 'family'. "Now, what exactly does your mother look like so I can avoid her?" She asks as she really just didn't want to come in contact with the woman. She would just be really confused.

"Well, she doesn't look quite like herself." Klaus admits as she didn't look like a typical mother and rather a teenage girl.

"Okay, it's too early for riddles, Klaus." Grace grumbles with a roll of her eyes.

"The fourth harvest girl, Cassie." Elijah answers and Grace just gives him a blunt stare, squinting her eyes slightly.

"Yeah, I have no idea who that is." She admits with a shrug before going to grab a scone but Hayley hits it out of her hand. Grace just stared wide eyed at the woman.

"What are you doing?" Hayley asks and grace just raises her eyebrows.

"Oh right, cause she's gonna poison us before the dinner party when three out of four of us, cannot be poisoned." Grace says with sarcasm dripping from her tone. Hayley just watched as she slowly placed the scone in her mouth.

"You're so annoying." She mumbles as she shakes her head and Grace only smirks.

"Isn't that what big sisters are here for?" Grace questions as she wraps her arms around the girls neck, shaking her. Hayley groans as she tries to pull away from her.

"Stop!" Hayley grumbles as she pushes Grace away, glaring at her. Grace only laughs as Hayley heads back upstairs towards her room.

"Love." Klaus says and Grace just turns her attention to him. He gestures to something in front of them which makes her furrow her eyebrows. Grace looks over and sees Hanna standing near the entrance, slightly waving at her

Grace walks over to the girl, worried something had happened since she didn't seem in her usual cheery mood. "Hey, what are you doing here so early? Did you come all by yourself?" She asks as she didn't see her dad anywhere. Hanna nods her head as she holds her arms to her chest.

"I-i didn't know who else to come to." Hanna admits and Grace could feel her heart drop. If she came to New Orleans, clearly something big had happened.

"What happened?"

"Robert showed up?" It was almost like a question but it was more because Hanna didn't really know Robert. She knew that he was Ann's ex husband and now because of Grace, that he was an abusive asshole. But the man had shown up out of nowhere. Grace's eyes widen as she glares down at the woman, but it wasn't directed at her.

"What?" Grace asks, confused and angry at the same time. She didn't know why Robert decided to show up at Hanna's house but she was pissed that he did.

"He showed up at the house and he and Ann got in a heated argument. I couldn't hear much because my dad told me to go to my room." Hanna explains to her as she fiddles with her fingers. Grace clenches her jaw as she knew that Robert found her because of Ann. She knew Hayley contacted Ann but there was no way that Robert knew where she was unless Ann told him. Because Grace was smart on avoiding them until Ann found out where she was.

"Did he talk to you?" Grace questions as she quickly scans over the girl.

"He knew my name? And he mentioned you for a moment-" Hanna was cut off by Grace who knew she had to confront the man before he decided to pay a visit again.

"Where is he now?" She asks and Hanna only shrugs her shoulders.

"I know he left to come back here but I don't know when." Hanna answers her and Grace nods before turning back and heading towards the table.

"Is everything all right?" Elijah instantly asks as they were listening to the conversation. Grace just grabs the knife off of the table.

"Just need to send my dad a little message." She states as she holds up the knife before she turns around. Klaus shares a glance with Elijah before he rushed to stop her.

"I thought torture wasn't on your mind?" He asks, confused as to what she was doing now.

"That was before he brought Hanna into it." Grace admits, she was only going to hurt her father if he dared to say one word about the young girl.  "You stay here, you'll be safe." She tells Hanna who furrows her eyebrows, watching as the woman walks past her.

"Wha-" Hanna was a little shocked by what was happening. Her eyes move over to Elijah and Klaus, feeling awkward since she didn't know them. "Hi?" She says in a questionable tone and Klaus only clears his throat.

"Elijah." He gestures towards Hanna and elijah understood, nodding his head. Klaus moves past Hanna, heading to catch up with Grace while Elijah kept the young girl occupied. "Love, wait." Klaus calls out making Grace tilt her head up but stop in her spot.

"What?" She asks when she turns to meet his eyes. Klaus stops next to her, looking down at her.

"Just take a breath." Klaus tells her and Grace bites the inside of her cheek. "Think about this." He states and Grace knew he was probably just wondering what she was doing.

"Im not gonna kill him, Nik." Grace states with a sigh as she plays with the knife in her hand. "I'm just gonna stab this near him and threaten him that if he ever goes near Hanna again, it'll be the last thing he does." She says as she shrugs her shoulders. Klaus was not trying to stop her, he just didn't think she should do this by herself.

"And you want to do that alone?" Klaus asks as he would go with her if she asked him to. But Grace just nods her head.

"I need to." She admits as facing her father was something she had been dreading for years but it wasn't something she could do with someone else. She had to do it by herself. "I'll call you if I need you." Grace assures him as she knew he would be there in ten seconds to cut her father's head off.

"Fine." He responds after a moment, deciding it was best to let her take her own revenge.

"Just keep Hanna company." Grace tells him and Klaus just groans, rolling his eyes as he hated the idea even more now.

"She's fifteen, what the bloody hell do I do with her?" Klaus questions as he looks back towards the compound where Hanna was making small talk with Elijah.

"Make conversation. Not about anything supernatural cause I'd rather she stay out of it." She explains to him, patting him on the shoulder before heading in the opposite direction. Klaus grumbles to himself, watching her before turning and heading back inside.

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thank you for almost 40k, it's insane!