Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After one month of being conected to every kind of machine, do silly things like walking around the hospital (but now it wasn't really silly because it was a big efford for her body now), go to the operation room once a week, being poked with needles daily, eating shitty food and feeling like shit, Grace was finally discharged from the hospital.

All the cuts, gun shots, stab wounds, and scratches were healing well, and she couldn't actually afford more days of hospitalization. She had to save some money for a therapist, after all. 

She had plently of time to think about everything, while alone. It was terrible when the shock ended and then reality kick in. It all actually happened, and now she had permanent wounds in her body to remind her of that every single day, yay! 

Some nights when the pain was unbearable she cursed every single Le Domas. And then when the pain was over, she used to cry until all the memories fade away temporarily. And then when she was fine, the vicious circle started all over again.

The only people who came to see her were the police, some friends who live close but had to attend to work so they didn't even stay for too long (bastards) and the doctors and nurses. So she had a lot of time with herself, which she liked but also hated.

Sometimes her head hit her where it hurts, filling her mind with the wrong memories. She asked the doctors to never call her Grace Le Domas again. 

But now those days were over, and now she had the chance to see the real world once again. How fucking amazing is that? 

After dressing up with a little help now that one of her arms was offline and hanging from a piece of cloth tied around her neck, she pick up all the things she had left (The stolen cigar case, and some clothes she borrowed from a friend, basically) and receiving a few advices in how to take care of her fresh wounds, she walked around the hospital to talk with a few more people, and then she went to her brand new idea of hell: The payment center. 

Because of her job, she had an insurance (thank God) but she was sure the month in the hospital wasn't cheap. 

"Hello, I was just discharged and a doctor told me to come here to give my insurance information" Fuck the medical system. 

"Hello, and sure we can do that!" The girl who was in the desk told her with a friendly smile "What is your name?"

"Grace...Le Domas" Fuck, why she chosed to change her surname. Now everytime she had to give her name, it left a bitter taste in her mouth. 

The woman just stared at her for a few minutes, and she looked like she was very tempted to say something like "Oh, you're the survivor of the Le Domas massacre? Poor thing!", her jaw was tense just by the idea. 

"All right, let me check" She said instead, and Grace felt relief "Uhm, here says everything it's already paid for" 

"That's not possible" Grace shook her head "I came here barely breathing, and I had like zero money with me, it's impossible" 

"Well..." The woman turned around the screen of the computer to show her how she had $0.00 debt.

"Maybe someone felt pity after watching the news...maybe being the sole survivor isn't that bad" Of course, traumas aside. 

"Miss..." The confused voice of the woman interrupted her thoughts "Ugh, he told me not to tell you, but you deserve to know. Poor thing" 

There was, the 'poor thing'. Grace was surprised she didn't said it before. But now she save that for later. 

"He?" Who? Maybe someone who saw the story on the TV? Maybe Le Bail?

"A man came to see you everyday when you were in the induced coma. And when you woke up he stopped coming, but he called to ask about you everyday. He paid for all your treatments, he even donated money to the hospital. You're not a sole survivor." The woman looked happier after let that out, but now Grace was confused and scared. 

How was possible someone else was alive? She saw all of them, all the male survivors, die one by one, die. He saw Alex die in front of her, she saw Tony die, she saw Fitch die, she saw Daniel die on her. She had blood of all of them over her, it was impossible someone else survived. Her knees were weak.

"What man? Who else survived?" 

"Tall, really handsome, with a beard" Grace was getting really pale, and her body felt heavier "Are you ok?" 

"Daniel?" She asked like she was out of breath "How? He died" 

"Maybe I shouldn't have told you..." She looked rather afraid of the effect the news had in Grace. Maybe she thought she would be happy, but she looked like if she saw a ghost. Or someone she presumed dead, to be more specific. 

Grace had a television on her room, of course, but she just watched movies, or cartoons. Anything but the news. She didn't need to be reminded of everything. And of course, she asked everyone not to talk about it, which was natural.

"You're going to tell me everything. I'm fucking sick of people lying, so you better start speaking, Meghan" Now her aura was really threatening. But she was tired beyond everything to be lied to. 

"W-well...He had a gunshot injury, he lost a lot of blood when the paramedics found him, he was moved to another hospital, then when he was awake he asked to be moved here, and as I said he looked like he cared about you, he paid for everything, but he told me not to tell you anything. I don't now anything else, I swear"

How did he survive? She saw him die, she heard Alex telling him he was dead. And why he didn't want her to know?

"What is his adress? You said he called, I need his phone?" She needed answers, she has been in the dark for too long.

"Let me look for it" She standed up quickly, visibly nervous. Grace kind of liked her new effect on people. 

"Here it is, I don't know where is he, he only left this" She handed her a piece of paper with a number.

Instinctively touched her own butt, looking for her phone, and she remembered it was probably in the ashes of the Le Domas mansion.

"Can I use your phone?"

Maybe Daniel care for her enough to care about her being alive, but not enough to actually want to see her again. After all, his family died because of her. Not that they didn't deserve it, but it was his family still. She didn't knew if she wanted to see him either, but when she thought about how he gave hydrochloric acid to his own family to help her, receive a shot protecting her from his own wife, and now he paid for her medical care, she wanted to now how he was doing after all. She owe him that. 

"Hello?" She called to the number, and Meghan was looking at her like she wanted to know what was going to happen. 

"Hello, Le Domas residency. How can I help you?" An old voice answered. Definitely nos Daniel. Grace felt the same bitter taste in her mouth when he said The Surname.

"Is Daniel Le Domas there?" She changed her voice a little. 

"I'm afraid Mr. Le Domas isn't able to talk right now" Probably drunk "Do you want me to leave a message?" 

"Well, I'm..." She thought about the idea of Daniel don't wanting to see her "Tiffany. From the insurance, we need Mr. Le Domas new adress, he needs to fill some forms for us. I know this isn't probably the best time, poor thing, but we need all the information he can give us in order to pay him" 

Meghan, who was attentive to the talk, looked impressed about Grace acting skills.

"Oh, naturally" Said the old man, before giving her his new adress "He has a free time tomorrow morning, can arrive by then?" 

"Oh, yes, of course. Thank you so much" She hang up the phone, looking proud of her job "Also, thank you Meghan. I hope I never have to come here again" 

She went to a hotel, she couldn't even think about staying in their house. The one she shared with Alex, when they spend beautiful months together before everything went to hell. Literally. 

She thought about asking one of her friends to pick up her stuff, and also she had to find another place, buy a new phone, probably delete all of her social media. But "that's work for future Grace, let's just sleep", she thought. 

Before sleeping, she thought about seeing Daniel again, she couldn't really believe it. She didn't even imagine what could happen.

Everything was dark, she was in a forest, running, she didn't knew from what. Her face was wet with blood and sweat, her heart was drumming in her ears, everything was dark. The floor felt cold and wet. She felt fear. 

Tick tick tock.

"Are you ready or not?" A very familiar voice screamed from behind her. She tried to run faster, but everything slow down.

Tick tick tock

"I am going to find you!" She tried to run, but now she couldn't move, everything felt colder. Her arm hurted. 

Lights went on. She was over a pile of death goats, in the center of a pentagram. Alex in front of her, with a shot gun. Behind him all his family, smiling. 

The gun goes off.

She wokes up, phone ringing, she's sweating and swearing. Her heart is pounding fast, and she fell asleep over her hurt arm. Stupid. 

"Hello?" Her morning voice is deeper than usual. 

"Good morning, miss. You asked to be woked up at 8 a.m." The voice of a young man replied. 

"Shit, you're right. Thanks" She said, before hanging up. 

She still struggles to get out of the bed, not because she's tired, but because of all the damage her body suffered. She gets on the shower and she's happy to see less blood going down the drain. That's a big progress. 

She remembers her nurse told her multiple interns puked because of her smell and look. And that it took 7 baths to take all out, and that the police took her dress as evidence. They could burn it if they want. 

She puts on the same clothes she had yesterday, because temporarily they are her only clothes. At least it's nice, a pair of jeans, with a white plain shirt, a grey sweater, and a pair of Vans, because Converse now bring her bad memories.

Daniel now lived in the suburbs. Well, she didn't actually knew where he lived before, but he looked like he had a fancy apartment in the city. The house was big, not that big as the manor, but still quite big. There was a gate, with an intercom on one side. She prepared her fake voice again, and rang it.

"Hello?" She recognize the voice immediately. That was Daniel, maybe more deep than usual, but it was him. Alive. She felt her heart skiping a beat, she was really nervous.

"Hello, I'm Tiffany from the insurance, I speak with your butler yesterday" She answer after a few second. 

"Sure, come in" And the gate went open.

She wasn't sure what to expect. Maybe he would be angry and scream at her because she was the reason the Le Domas Dominion collapse. Or explote. 
Maybe he would be cold, and ask her to leave, maybe he would cry. She didn't knew, and that make her uneasy. 

When she arrived at the door, she simple knocked. And just like that, the door opened. 

"You don't look like a Tiffany" Now Daniel voice sounded like it sounded normally. He looked really bad, bags under his eyes, he was still wearing his pijamas with a robe over it, he wasn't wearing shoes and his beard grow bigger and savage just like his hair. And his neck had a big bandage on one side.

He looked like shit, just like Grace.

"Daniel, I..." She felt speechless. What she should say? I'm sorry? She didn't. How are you? That was kind of stupid, maybe later. "I just wanted to thank you. In person."

"For what?" He standed there, the handle of the door was still on his hand, Grace was hoping he wasn't thinking about closing the door. 

"The hospital bill"

"I should have known that girl couldn't keep a secret" He let go the handle to massage his temples. 

"To be fair, I kind of pressure her" He looked like he repressed a smile on the side of his mouth. 

"Well...you're welcome" She was expecting him to close the door in her face now. But he just kept going "You can relax, I pay it with my part of the money. It was kind of like an 'I'm sorry' gift. I was actually going to send a lawyer to talk about that to you when once you get discharged" 

"My part of the money?" She was married to Alex less than one day, why she would get any money. 

"Yes, because you're technically part of the family" Part of the family that tried to kill her and now she owned part of their money, fruit of a pact with the devil. Nice "Shit, sorry. Do you want to come in?"

"Yeah, if you want me to" She didn't want to pressure him.

"Come in. Do you want a drink?" The living room had bottles everywhere, most of them empty, and the house had that scent of confinement and alcohol.  

"Sure" He hurry up a little and throw some empty food boxes from over the couch. Then he pour up two glasses, handed her one. 

He chug his drink from one sip, Grace felt a little relief of seeing normal Daniel. She took a sip of hers, and cough a little, just to take another sip. The ambient felt tense, definitely alcohol helped. There was a lot of things they wanted to say to each other, but none of them said anything.

"Are you avoiding me?" He looked a little confused for that coming out of no where. 

"Uh...what?" He left his glass on the table.

"Meghan told me you didn't wanted me to know you paid for me and asked for me, and now you say you wanted to send a lawyer" She wanted to sound casual, but it wasn't really casual. 

"I..." He let out a sigh, and looked at her in the eye, she felt kind of intimidated "I actually thought you didn't wanted to see me. If I were you I wouldn't. So I wanted to make it easy for you" 

Grace felt a knot on her throat. It was right she didn't wanted to see a Le Domas again in her life. But at the same time, Daniel was different. He was getting nervous because of her silence, so he just kept talking. 

"But it's really good to see you again, in one piece. And clean" He grabbed the bottle again to pour up some more on his glass. Grace couldn't help but laugh. 

"I say the same. Except for the clean part, you stink" He chuckled agaisnt his glass. It felt good to laugh again. She continued "When was the last time you left this house? And got a shower?"

"Two weeks, both things" He answer shrugging "When I get out of the hospital. By the way, nice scarf" 

"Thanks" She touched the scarf that grabbed her hanging arm "I thought you died" 

"Me too. I actually die, for like 3 minutes during the operation. Also, the firemen who found me were surprised I didn't got burn alive" He said it like it was casual "How is your arm? And your shoulder?" 

"What? You died?" She shook her head, and looked at her arm "Doing alright for now. I have to do physical therapy once I don't need the bandages anymore. I have a lot of nerves and important things damaged so they don't actually know how long it's going to take me to move it again" 

"Yes, for three minutes. Not a good journey" He said sipping again "I'm so sorry, Grace" 

"It's ok..." She's been told that a million times ' i'm sorry ' but coming from Daniel it was different "Also thanks for saving me" 

"Can I ask you something? I know that you don't owe me anything but I need to know" 

"Sure" Her muscules tensed up in the place. 

"How did Alex die?" Sadness appeared in his face. 

Grace didn't want to tell him. It didn't felt correct, telling someone how his little brother wasn't the good man he believe.

"Daniel, I don't think you shou..."

"I need to know the truth, please" It felt really wrong, but he wanted the truth, and Grace could relate to that. She took a deep breath, grabbed the bottle and drink down part of it, and now she was ready to talk.

"He betrayed me. I killed your mom, and he saw me. I think he also thought I killed you, so he grabbed me and called the others. They pinned me down on the table, and Alex was ready to stab me. I scratch Helene's hand and I moved, so he just stab me on the shoulder and then..." She looked down, and that time she laughed about it, sometimes she felt happy about it, which was super creppy, but now, with Daniel in front, it felt just bad "Then everyone began to explode. First Helene, then Charity, Fitch, Emilie and...the boys after, then Tony, and finally Alex. He begged to me, I couldn't do anything, I just said to him I wanted the divorce and then he explode...like the others" 

Daniel stared at her. It was a lot to process for sure. His jaw looked tense, then he broke eye contact and ran a through his hair, and took a deep breathe. 

"Do you want to get high?" He asked after a few of minutes.

It wasn't the first time she did drugs, she went to college after all. And now she was in Daniel's new garden, sharing a blunt with him. This really took a weird turn. It was evening already, so they were laying in the grass, looking at the clouds passing by. 

"I dream with you last night actually" She said while letting the smoke escape from her mouth. 

"It wasn't something kinky or pleasurable, for sure" He said grabbing the cig, eyes fixed in the sky "What was it about?" 

"The usual nightmare of being chased, you were there when they catched me" 

"I was, actually. I catched you, remember? Sorry about punching you in the face, my father was watching" 

"It's ok, I guess" She felt light, the grass felt good against her skin, and the day looked beautiful "Your butler isn't home?" 

"He just came twice a week to clean up my mess" He drop he butt of the blunt somewhere. 

For a few minutes they were just there, in the grass. It felt good, they felt free. 

"I should have died with them" Daniel said with his eyes closed. 

"What?" She turned her head at him quickly, he looked peaceful. 

"I should be dead too. I was part of the family. Why am I still here? I should have exploted too, I am a Le Domas" He turned his face to face her, sadness appearing on his face again. 

"You were one of them, but you weren't like them. When I said that you're a good man I mean it" His eyes got watery, and he sat again, hugging his knees. 

"I am not. I let them die. I let my brother become a monster, I..." Grace sat as well, carresing his back. 

"You saved me, you died saving me. For three minutes. You're not like them, you're good. What happened with Alex wasn't your fault, and that your great grandfather or whatever sold his soul and all his family's isn't your fault either" He looked vurnerable, like a child. Grace felt like that too, broken. 

Daniel look up to meet her eyes. His eyes looked red, and his face was wet with his tears. Without any advice he hugged her, hiding his face on her neck. He doubted at first, but later she hugged him back, putting his head under her chin. Maybe getting high wasn't the best idea.

Everything was red, not because of the lighting but because there was blood all over the walls and floor. Everything felt humid and sticky. The room walls were decorated with 7 severed heads of adult bears and 2 severed heads of cubs. There was a little box in the middle of the room. 

Grace had blood in her hands. Everything was quiet. The room was hot. 

She walked closer to the box, and she grabbed it from the floor. She knew that box, it was Mr. Le Bail box. She felt uneasy. 

Suddenly a card left the box. She felt like she was shaking. She grabbed the card, it had writted in cursive "The game has just begun for you". 

She felt scared again. She felt someone behind her. 

"Honey...you don't understand..." A familiar voice started. But it became deeper and smooter for the second part "That I am going to find you" 

She turned around at the change of voice. It wasn't Alex, it was a man, taller, in a suit. It was Le Bail. He grabbed her of her arm. His touch hurted, it burnt, and he grabbed her too tight.

"It's time to play" 

Grace woke up suddenly, breathing heavily. She glanced around, and she felt the grass agaisnt her skin and she saw and the sky, it was dark, but not like her dreams, she could see the stars here. When did she fell asleep? 

Daniel was asleep too, curled up and using her legs as a pillow. He was heavy, but his contact help her return to reality again. 

But something was odd, the part of her arms Le Bail touched still hurted, which was weird because it was her only healthy arm. When she move to sat again, careful not to wake Daniel, the lights went on. She startle at first, but then she thought how lights with movement sensor where a thing. God, she was getting paranoid. 

When she looked at her arm, she felt her heart popping out  of her chest. 

"Daniel! Daniel, wake up" She pushed him multiple times, until she heard some soft whining. 

"What's wrong Grace?" He sat up again. His eyes were still heavy, and he had difficult to stay awake, but he tried to focus on Grace.

"Look" She extended her arm at him, and there was something there. A burnt injury that wasn't there before, with the perfect mark of a hand "Something's wrong"

Chapter Text

"Are you totally sure you didn't have it before?" Daniel asked her, while cleaning the fresh burn of her arm. 

"That arm was literally my only healthy arm" Daniel asked her that three times by now, and she started to feel exasperated. She couldn't blame it, it was weird, she wasn't denying it, but after of what they went through, she was expecting more of him.

"Alright..." He grabbed some bandages he had aside, and carefully put them in her arms. He remind her of the nurses, maybe he got practice changing his own bandages "Are you sure you didn't get burn with the butt of the pot cig?"

Grace didn't answer, she just glared at him. 

"Yeah, alright. It's bigger and it looks like a hand, sorry" He surrender "How was the dream?"

"I was in a room covered in blood, and Le Bail's box was in the middle, when I grabbed it a card that said something like "The game just started for you" and then Le Bail was behind me, and he grabbed me" She let go a sigh, she just exit the hospital, why this now? "Daniel, what the fuck is going on? Why it doesn't just stop?" 

"Relax, Gracie" He noticed she was starting to freak out, and he was a little freak out himself but he tried to keep it together to make her feel better "I don't really know what the fuck is going on or where that came from. But we could look for help, or Something"

"And what I'm going to say? 'The demon that gave the Le Domas family all their money maybe, just maybe is haunting me in my dreams'?" 

"Ok, if you put it like that it obviously sounds ridiculous" He put his hands on her shoulders, careful not to touch her wounds. She hated to admit his touch made her relax "We're going to figure this out, ok? I'll do some research, I'm sure someone knows something about all... this" 

Daniel sounded like he was trying to convince and calm himself too. But he was right, they didn't knew, and maybe someone else had more answers. The sun was already rising outside. 

"Shit, what time is it?" She reached for her phone again, just to remind she didn't had one "Fuck" 

Daniel let her go, to grab his phone from the sofa. 

"It's like 6 a.m. already. Do you remember falling asleep? By the way, your legs are comfortable" He said while walking to the kitchen. 

"Shit, I have to go, I didn't paid for my room in the hotel yesterday" She was scared, but now the sleepy part was kicking in, and also a few pains in different parts of her body because she was sleeping on the grass "Can I use your bathroom?" 

"Sure. First door upstairs" Daniel answered from the kitchen.

He didn't wanted to admit it, but seeing that mark on her body was creepy as fuck for him. His family was already dead, and somehow Le Bail was making their lives miserable anyway. Well, not them. It was just Grace, but he felt responsability for her, he liked her, and he knew she didn't deserved all of this. He can't say the same about him. 

Back in the house, he just remember about chocking on his blood and thinking "well, this is it", which was an experience, for sure. 
He remembers some things, like Grace's tears and smile, and how grateful she was,  and how he told her to go and leave him behind.

She didn't had to check on him or try to help him, for sure he wouldn't blame her if she just walked over him and said "Well, you deserve it, you fucktard" but she didn't, and he appreciated that.

He remembers the tears of Alex over his face, and his hands gripping him. He wanted to say "It's ok, I did this to give you a chance. Don't make me regret it, asshole. I love you" but again, he had blood on his mouth, and everything was getting cold and dark.

After that he doesn't remember anything else but darkness and...warmth? Must be hell. 

But then he woke up in a hospital bed, with a nurse changing his I.V. bags, and from there he just felt numb. He hate to admit it, but at first when the police man told him about how his whole family died in a mysterious way, and they were trying to get answers the only thing that came to his mind was "So, it was all real?", but he blame it on the shock.

When he felt better he thought about Alex, they didn't told him anything about him, or about how his family died. 

They did told him that there was another survivor, a young woman in a wedding dress. Grace. He felt some kind of relief. They told her that when they found her she was in shock, but then she pass out because of the blood she lost, and that she was badly hurt and in a coma. He asked them if it was ok for them to move him to her hospital and (with some dollars in the middle) they accepted.

After one week (And hearing multiple times the story of how he was borderline when they found him in the burning house, and how he passed away legally for three minutes while on operation that would make anyone feel grateful for his life but he just answer with a "Okay") he was able to stand up again, and he use that re-gained hability to watch Grace sleep in the least creepy way he could. 

She had to breathe through a machine, eat through a machine and also pee through a machine. Everytime he watched her he felt a big remorse on his stomach, but also happiness that she was still holding on. 

He stay two days more than he needed, just to make sure that she was receiving the best treatment, and scare some doctors. After two days of that, she woke up, she was still dizzy, but she was back. 

But then he thought well about it, what if she hated him? He was part of the family who put her in a coma (induced, but still a coma) and although he tried to help her, he could have tried harder. He should have insisted harder into delay the wedding, he should have do more. And when she was fine again, she would hate every single Le Domas for ruining her life, including him. 

He decided to leave, he was ready to get discharged, so he only had to get dress, pay (and pay for Grace too, because he helped to put her in there afterall) and get out. He was going to do anything in his power to help her never seeing him again. And so, he left. 

The idea of living in the same house where he lived with Charity made him nauseous (but also he couldn't blame her for feeling betrayed before shooting him, he can only blame her for killing him...for three minutes) so he rented another house, as far as he could but not too far, and send people to get all his shit back from the old house. 

The only moment he was sober was in the mornings, but even there he was wasted from the night before. He used that sobriety to call to the hospital to check on Grace, and call a new butler to clean up his shit, and after he did those two things, he started drinking again. 

Drinking made the pain fade away for some time. It did since he was a teenager. Since he gave up Charles that night, he felt his life going down, being with himself was unbearable, and watching his family sacrificing goats didn't help him to feel better. 

He did everything in his power to convince Alex all that was wrong, he had to keep his little brother away from all that, something that he couldn't do for Emilie (And he felt super guilthy about it). When he drink alcohol for the first time, he it helped with those feelings, and since them it was his partner for his normal life.

He thought about how much Helene cried that night, how she screamed when they killed him, and how happy and how much they loved each other just 5 hours before that. He decided he would avoid any woman that make him feel happy. And he had lucky he met Charity, hot, cold, hungry for money, she was everything he needed and more, but even with all that, he asked her along their relationship if she was ok with his family being potencial killers and she totally dig it.

And then Alex introduced him to Grace who was the kind of girl he worked so hard to avoid, the kind of girl he didn't wanted to married, and his brother now love. He could totally see why he loved her so much, but he couldn't avoid an uneasy feeling about why bring her into all this.

He never been close to a woman like her (because of his own choice) so now he couldn't avoid flirting with her,  even if it was joking. And he felt horrified when she grabbed the Hide and Seek card. 

That night he tried to convince himself that it was the best for all of them. It was their destiny, but when he saw her in the study, heavily breathing, and scared as fuck he understood maybe it was their choice to do that, but not hers. He didn't tried hard to catch her, or help her, he thought everything was going to work out without his help in the end. He didn't wanted to kill her, or be the one to give her up...again.

He didn't wanted to interfere, and he tried to keep everything balanced...for most of the night. But something about how his family was trying to kill someone, like they killed Charles, and how everyone was so happy about Georgie shooting her because it was part of his duty help him change his mind. They were fucked up, they needed to be stopped. 

Again, it didn't work out as planned.

"That bathroom is literally bigger than my hotel room" Grace said entering the kitchen, to find Daniel sipping on a cup of coffee, and waiting for her with another cup and a grill chesse sandwich "Is that for me?" 

"Yes, I already eat mine. It's the only thing I know how to make, sorry" As soon as she heard that, she started to eating it, she was starving, very possible it was because of the pot "So...I was thinking...why pay an hotel? I have an empty room, if you want. At least until you find a new place"

"That's very sweet, but I don't want to bother you" Grace added just after finish her sandwich. 

"You wouldn't" Daniel didn't wanted to insist her too much, maybe she just wanted to check on him, not live with him "I could search for some answers about that" he pointed at her arm "while you're out" 

"I'll think about it, I really appreciate the offer. I have to go now, I'm going to buy a new phone and I'll text you, ok? I already have your number" The idea of living with him was kind of weird for her, she needed some time alone to think about it carefully.

She walked to him, and she hugged him, he looked confused, but at the end he just hugged her back "I'm happy to see you again, really...please get a shower"

"Okay, mom" He answer chuckling, he let her go, and walk her to the door "It's good to see you too"

It was night time. They were having a dinner. He had Charity on his left, and Alex on his right. In front of them there were Fitch, Emilie, and Helene. Becky and Tony were in each end of the table. 

He had a whiskey in his hand. Everyone else had a glass of wine. 

"A toast" Tony said, rising his glass. Everyone did the same. 

He tried to rise his glass, but he couldn't. Everyone else drunk their wine. 

"Why do you hate us, son?" Becky said. She looked sad. 

Everyone else turned their heads and looked at him. 

"I...I don't" He couldn't move. He was getting nervous. 

"That's not true. You hate us. You hate me" Alex said. 

"I don't hate you!" He tried to move again. No result. He could only talk. 

"Then why did you kill us?" Emilie said. It almost sounded sweet. 

"I didn't" He was frightened. 

"You poisoned us. You let us die" Helene added. She looked as stoic as ever. 

"And for what? To save her? Why do you even care about her?" Tony standed up, and everyone else did the same. He stay on his chair. 

"You want her, don't you?" Fitch said, laughing. 

"Of course not!" He screamed. But they didn't seem to listen to him. 

"You want me dead to get to her" Charity said. 

"You think you're good, but you're not" Alex looked at him. He started to cough.

Everyone else cough as well. 

"Now we're burning in hell because of you" Tony said, while coughing. He started to cough blood. 

Everyone else cough blood as well. At first just a little, then, it was dripping out of their mouths. One by one started to fall to the ground, dead. The last one standing was Alex. He grabbed a knife from the table, putting it agaisnt his throat. 

"You did this"

Daniel woke up with a gasp, grapping his throat. There wasn't any cut, and he wasn't on a table. He looked around and he was in his room, he fell asleep on the desk, he left a pool of saliva in the table because he had his mouth open. Yum.

In front of him there was his computer, he already tried with "Deals with the devil" (just to find a lot of christian web sites telling people not to, but it was a little too late for that), he tried to "How to break a deal" (Lot of legal websites, boriiiiing) and now he was trying with "Experts on satanic bullshit" which led to, surprise, nothing useful.

This was going to be a long day.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

The day was pretty, and the park was even prettier. All filled up with children running and laughing, couples kissing, and dogs running behind balls. She would have stayed there, enjoying how everyone else had a normal life, and were enjoying a normal day in their lives, but she had to go and meet his (ex?) brother in-law to go to a satanic expert to ask about the mark in her arm made in a dream by (very possible) the Devil himself. 

She saw Daniel in the distance, sitting on a bench alone. His beard and hair were now trimmed and it looked stylish like before, instead of the hair of someone who gave up in life. He was wearing a really nice outfit, and glasses. Because of the glasses she didn't tell if he was sleep or awake, but she discover that it was the later when he smiled at her. 

"Can we just sit for a few minutes while I eat?" He said while making place in the bench for her. 

"Sure. Here's your coffee and two croissants I bought with your money. Thanks, by the way" She handed him the coffee and the bag, and as soon as he grabbed it he started eating "Why the glasses? Hangover or bags under your eyes?" 

"That too, but mostly because daylight hurt my eyes" He said after drinking half of the coffee. 

"They look good actually, really fits the outfit. And you showered, you are making me feel bad for wearing the same things for three days in a row" She gained a loud laughter from him. 

"Thanks for noticing the shower part" He finished everything, he was really starving "Want to send someone to gather all your stuff once we're back?" 

"Yes please, I need a change of clothes" The clothes didn't smell bad, but day after day she could feel more the used part "Where did you even find this guy?"

"Internet" He shrug "He looked like a good guy, and plus he didn't ask for my credit card details as the others, so I thought we could give ir a try. How is your arm?"

"Fine, it doesn't hurt as much as before" The bandage was under her sweater, so she forget about it. 

"We should get going right now. Are you ready?" He stood up, offering her his hand. 

"Here goes nothing" She said, grabbing his hand and standing up as well. 

The walk wasn't long, and it was full of small talk and occasionally making fun of something in the streets, it was nice.

The place was a store, an occult book store called "Your door to the unknown", to be more specific. Grace turned around to see Daniel, and give him a look. He just made a face while shrugging. 
He was the first one to enter, followed by Grace. 

"Uh...Teddy? Are you here? It's Daniel" The store had it's own aesthetic, and it was pretty dark so he took off his glasses and looked around. 

It was filled with candles and multiple skulls, as well as some crystals and various types of cups. And of course, shelves filled with books that went from "How to make deals with the Devil" to "How to avoid going to hell".

"Daniel! You're here!" A man appeared from the back of the store, he looked normal, with a white shirt and a denim jacket, definitely not the kind of guy you imagine running this type of store. After greeting Daniel with an awkward hug, he turned to Grace "You must be the other survivor" 

"I prefer Grace, but yes. My pleasure" They both shook hands. 

"I was so excited when Daniel told me everything. I mean, I knew most rich people where into creepy shit, but a real satanic deal? I was shocked!" He continued, over excited. Daniel and Grace were smiling but they were at least 50% weird out "I've been doing some research, come to the back" 

As soon as he said that, he hurry up to the back of the store again, once he turned back, Grace looked at Daniel and muttered "what the fuck", but they followed him any way. The back of the store looked more like an study, with a board with lots of scribbles in it, a desk, and a computer.

"Well, Daniel told me most of it through the phone, so I came out with multiple theories, but in the end just one made sense. But after I start with all that, do you actually know something about demons?" 

They both stared at Daniel. 

"I get it, thanks. Unfortunately I don't know anything about it, really, sorry to dissappoint" He said, after sighing. 

"Okay, then I'll start with the basics" He sat on his desk "Demons seem very tricky and unpredictable, but they have a series of rules they can't break, so..." 

"Sorry to interrumpt, can I smoke?" Grace needed something to do, this was way too weird to focus only on it.

"Oh, yes, sure" Grace grabbed a cigarrette from his pocket, and light it "Where was I? Oh, yes, rules. Well, you might have seen some of those rules in movies, like they can't cross a salt circle, they can't posses someone who doesn't believe in them, and those kind of things" 

Grace took a deep breath, and thought for a second about what choices brought her here. Oh yeah right, marrying the rich douchebag. 
She looked at Daniel and he looked the same, but his thoughts were more like "Why I was born into this family?", probably. 

"But the rules we care right now are others. When talking about deals, demons must pick three clauses to break the contracts, most of them are in fine print, but they have to be there. Then I thought "Why Grace?" and then I remember one thing that Daniel said, "to became part of the family you have to play a game, and after you play it you're in" and I thought that might be like a signature for the whole deal like, after you do that, your soul is his" 

Grace felt like she could throw up all the contents on her stomach, and Daniel felt a knot on his throat.

"Are you telling me that my fucking soul belongs to Le Bail now?" Grace managed to put in words all the mess in her head. 

"That's what I thought at first, but then I remember other part of the story: "Alex didn't told her a word". And that's where another rule comes in action, you can't accept a deal with the Devil successfully, if you aren't aware from the satanic nature of the deal. So no, your soul is still yours" 

A wave of relief hit them both. 

"But, I'm afraid that you're not completely free either" The same feeling as before, fuck "See, the demons pact with humans for two reasons: Get souls, of course; and to have influence in the human world. That's the reason why most of the pacts are like "you give me your soul and you're going to be a famous singer" or "give me your soul and you're be richer than Bill Gates". And by killing, almost, all the Le Domas family he lost part of the influence he had on earth. So he's trying to get ir back, by reaching to you, the closest person to the Le Domas family, alive" 

"Wait. But I'm a Le Domas" Daniel protested, frowning. 

"That's what gets me back to the deal rules. I said that demon pacts must have three rules. Well, the demon only pick two of those rules, the other is already established for default, and it's that if someone does an act of redemption and dies, then the deal is broken. And, Daniel, you died helping Grace, so the deal not longer affects you" 

Holy fuck. Daniel looked confused, but also puzzled. So everything was over for him? Just like that? Why didn't he knew about this before? He felt a spark of happiness inside him, but then...

"So now it affects me?" Grace said, anger in her voice, and the happiness inside him vanished. Why both of them couldn't just be free? 

"Yes and no. As I said, your soul's still yours, but because you're the last chance for Le Bail to re-gain that lost influence, he might be haunting you to push you to sign the deal just to make it stop" 

She felt like she survived a nightmare just to get inside another one. It felt like she was inside a tunnel with no end, and it felt terrible. 

"There's a way to stop it?" Daniel said, voice filled with worry. 

"Technically, yes. You told me there's a box, Le Bail's box. That's the only thing left that connects, directly, the deal with the Le Domas family. So, if you have it and destroy it, then everything should be over" 

"It was in the house, and it burnt down, isn't it enough?" Her voice sounded almost desperate. 

"Normal fire can't destroy an infernal object, it would be like if water could get wet. First you have to drop over it something to weaken it, like holy water, or salt" Teddy finished, he made everything sound really simple. 

"That's it?" Grace said. 

"Yup, that's all I got. Sorry" He answer. 

"Well, thank you. Bye" Grace exited the back room, slamming the door. 

"Thanks, Teddy. I'll call you if something changes" Daniel said, before hurring to follow Grace.

Anger filled her. Just when everything seemed over at last, Le Bail and the fucking Le Domas family found a way to still fucking with her. She needed air, she needed to get on the street. 

"Fucking asshole, fucking piece of shit, fuck" She screamed out of her lungs, just went Daniel exit the place as well, everyone was looking at her, and she screamed again "Fuck your family, fuck your fucking family" 

Daniel looked at her with compassion. He tried to reach for her at first but she pulled back, and he didn't try again. But then she hugged him, hiding tears of anger. Daniel hold her, and brushed her hair to calm her down. 

"I'm sorry, I just...fuck" She said agaisnt him. 

"I know, don't worry. We'll find the box, and we're going to end all this, I promise" He left a kiss on her forehead. 

"Fuck, now I just can think abouy Brad Pitt saying whats in the box" Grace said, laugh mixed with bitter tears. 

They had to find it, fast.