Grace Matters

Chapter Fifteen

Everything seemed to happen so quickly and, in a blur, before Grace knew it, she was in a car with Michael driving while Ant and Laura followed behind in Ant's car. They were heading to Alaska; it was where the council were situated and none of them knew if they had left quickly enough to stop Grayson in his death wish. Ant had explained to her in short form that Grayson had taken everything to heart, regretting the decisions that he had made and felt he had nothing left to do, other than admit everything to the council. Ant was going to make the trip alone, but Grace couldn't have that, she felt to blame, maybe if she would have answered a call or sent a simple text, they wouldn't be on the way to Alaska now. The whole ride was silent, apart from the music that played softly on the radio, it was better than just listening to the engine rolling though she wasn't even able to concentrate on what was playing, just the circle of running thoughts in her head.

Grace grabbed the phone that was on the dash and sent another text, hoping that after the fiftieth one she might get a response, hopefully.

Grayson, please if you get this just reply. We can just talk all of this over with, there's more we can do than just run to them.

She tapped her fingers against the side of the phone, waiting for a response, but there seemed to be nothing and the fact that they hadn't been left on read had her worried even more.

"Still no answer?" Michael said while turning his head to the side, taking his attention away from the road for a few seconds. "I'm sure that we will get there in time, he isn't the type to do something stupid...from what I know." His eyes linger back onto the road once again and give out a quiet hum. "I know, I haven't known him as long as you have, but you can tell by the way he looks at you that you are his everything, you are his lifeline, and you know as well as I do that you need that with what we are in this lifetime." The expression on his features are emotionless as he spoke, almost as if he was deep in thought. "You need each other in this lifetime, for the both of your sakes. Not many of our kind find that type of love. I never did, sweetheart." Michael turned to face her with a sincere smile, letting his hand move over to hers, giving it a tender squeeze.

Grace deep down knew that Michael was correct, she remembered some vampire that she had met in that past that had lived a very lonely life without someone by their side for an eternity. That was what Grayson was to her, he was her comfort, he had taught her everything she knew all of those years ago and was still teaching her things now and she didn't want to lose that. She still loved him, there was no doubt of that at all. She just now hoped that they would get there in time so that she was able to talk to him face to face, finally sort the mess out that they had gotten themselves into, once and for all. "I know, you're right, we just need to get there, sooner than later dad. I don't want to lose him again." Before she even took a breath from speaking, Michael put his foot down on the pedal and picked up the speed in the car, he was adamant to make his daughter happy once again.

Everywhere was covered in a blanket of thick snow when they arrived in what seemed the middle of nowhere. The only thing visible apart from the snow was a large old gothic style building, resembling something from a Bram Stoker novel. The towers of the building reached up so high, it looked as if they were touching the clouds and they weren't even that high up in the mountains. The trees surrounding the building were alive yet looked black and deadened, the whole place felt scary, feeling like it was inside some kind of scary movie or book and the bad guy was going to run out of there with a chainsaw to kill them all. Yet it was a more than perfect place for a vampire council to dwell inside, away from human contact being as there wasn't a town nearby for miles, and to the outside world, people would think that it was a derelict building and nothing else.

Grace pulled herself out of the car, wrapping her arms around her frame as the temperature change was more than noticeable. She looked back into the distance as she watched Ant's car slowly driving along the winding, narrow tracks towards the building. She looked over towards Michael who was now exiting the car, but her attention was soon taken away when seeing the entrance doors opening on the building. Her eyes instantly go wide when seeing the familiar black head of hair, she didn't waste any time in running towards the figure. She doesn't care where she is, or even that it isn't their territory but her first thought is that they weren't too late. "Grayson." She called out, not giving him any time to prepare before she flings her arms around his larger frame, inhaling the familiar and comforting scent that she thought she was never going to be able to smell again. "No, No..." She mutters under her breath, finally remembering why they were there, she pulls away from him and before realising what she was doing the palm of her hand connects with the softness of his cheek. "Are you stupid? Why the hell would you come here of all places as a last resort?" She yells, not caring who was able to hear, she wanted to get her point across at that time, making it known that she thought he had gone too far with getting the council involved once again.