Grace - Elijah Mikaelson -

Chapter 45

What happens after you die? 

How will it feel? 

Grace was fairly certain that she knew what would happen afterwards. Since Jeremy could see ghosts, they had quite the idea of what happened after a vampire, or other supernatural creature died. At least to the tainted souls with unfinished business. Grace definitely fell into the category. She was sure that she would roam the world, watching her loved ones, which could be quite torturous. Especially when it came to Elijah. She didn't want him to stay frozen in time and never love again, but her own selfishness made her afraid of the day that he would fall in love with someone else. 

What she did not imagine was, that she could feel and hear everything around her. Her eyes were closed shut, but if they were opened, she probably could even see. She couldn't move her own body, it was like she was trapped it in it. That was not what she heard. Maybe it would still happen, maybe it took a while until she was pulled out of her body, but this was as claustrophobic as it could get. Panic rose inside her and she tried to scream and fight, but not a muscle in her body moved. 

Her body laid limply in Elijah's arms. He sat there for hours. Grace could even feel his salty tears falling on her cheeks. But he did not move a bit and just stared into her desiccated face. Not even he heard her desperate inner screams, even if they had this deep connection. Well, of course, she was dead. At least she thought so. 

The sun was already rising when he stood  up, cradling her in his arms. He held to her as if she would wake up any time now. When he started walking, Grace felt the unsteady raising and falling of his chest and the light movement of his arms, but she could not see in which direction he moved. If she only could open her eyes...

At first, Elijah didn't know where to go with her body. He wanted to get her home. A vague, ridiculous plan had formed in his head, but for that he needed her body protected. The home that Niklaus had built for them was now completely empty. Elijah had no clue where Rebekah was, Kol never intended to stay, Grace and Niklaus were dead. The nice, pathetic dream of a family had died with them, as the woman Elijah loved was the part that held them together. All hope was lost, now that Elijah had finally seen his brother break out of the circle of torment and paranoia. Elijah himself lost his happiness forever. 

He brought her to the Gilbert house. In the moments Grace said goodbye to her siblings, Elijah saw how much they meant to her, even after all that happened. At least until he found a better option to preserve her body, he would leave her corpse with them, so he had time to retrieve his brother's. Only with both of them he could find a way to bring them back. Elijah couldn't even think about the fact that there was a possibility that he would not succeed. What would the ancestors do with the soul of the man, that had hunted and tortured countless witches over his lifetime? And the woman that was important to the whole family that the witches loathed.

Elijah probably would need a coffin to store her in. The thought of it made him nauseous. This morbid habit of Niklaus was something he never wished for Grace. But he had no choice.

All eyes were on him when the Original entered the house. The Salvatore brothers, Elena and Jeremy were gathered in the living room, not sure what to say. Elijah spared a short look at them before he walked upstairs and placed Grace on her bed. 

"We need to bury her, Elijah." 

Stefan suddenly appeared behind him and stated calmly. Elijah's hands clenched into fists. 

"No, we don't." 

The Original's voice was cold. He felt Stefan tense behind him, ready to protect every one in this house from the unpredictable force. Elijah was unstable because of Grace's death. The values he honored meant nothing to him now.