Chapter 1

Chapel Hill, NC

Bonnie couldn't believe they were halfway through their junior year of college. She, Elena and Caroline had always planned to go together but near the end of high school she had imagined that would become impossible.

Their life had been one epic tragedy after another back then. Every week seemed to be filled with some new threat from werewolves, witches or vampires. The upheaval had started when Grams had told her she was a witch and Elena had met the Salvatores. What had followed had sometimes felt like a nightmare that she just couldn't wake from. In the course both Caroline and Elena had become vampires.

Then suddenly as graduation had approached everything in their life had seemed to settle almost overnight. Just when she had felt that it might not be so bad to have Kol Mikaelson in her life – seeing as he had become an almost permanent fixture – he had gone. He hadn't even said goodbye really. He had taken her out on a magical date – the best one she had ever been on – and given her a ring. It was a beautiful ring and she still wore it every day. In a gesture of pure fantasy she chose to wear it on her ring finger. It did serve to keep the annoying frat boys away – most of the time.

She had been working furiously towards her degree in occult history and practices for the past two and a half years and now was celebrating the fact that her class load would finally start being lighter. She bolted out the door and clutched her heather grey pea coat to her as she darted across the common. She was already late to meet Caroline, Elena and Rebekah for coffee.

"Sorry I'm late," she said breathlessly as she grabbed the last empty seat at the table.

"Buy a watch," Rebekah said sarcastically but she finished with a smile. When the blond original had said she wanted to go to college and room with them there had been a lot of protesting until Elena and Caroline had caved. After two years Bonnie considered Rebekah more like a sister than a roommate.

"Class ran late, they had to read off some sort of notice about being aware of your surroundings on campus and reporting suspicious behavior," Bonnie said. "Only back two weeks and already the pranks have started back."

"No I heard someone was really attacked the other night coming back from the library," Elena worried. "Apparently some classmates found her but she doesn't remember a thing." Elena was majoring in journalism with a minor in English lit. She had been spending all of her free time tied up with Matt Donovan – they had rekindled their romance when everything supernatural had suddenly left our lives but they had broken up over the holiday and he had decided to transfer to another college.

"I heard there was another attack outside the frat party for the Alpha Sigma house," Caroline said before she took another long sip of her caramel macchiato. Caroline was majoring in hospitality management with the goal of being a party planner. She was also the head of the dance squad and currently dating two hot guys at the same time.

Rebekah sat quietly taking everything in but by the time coffee break was over and everyone was dashing for their next class she knew what she had to do. She found a very quiet and private place and dialed a number that she called at least twice a week but this update would be a little different.

"Bekah, how's everything going?"

"School's going great. I kept my 3.7 last semester," Rebekah smiled.

"I knew you would. I'm proud of you," her eldest brother Elijah replied evenly.

"There's something else…there's strange attacks happening on campus – at night, bloody and the victims don't remember anything but a sense of being terrified," Rebekah reported.

"Elena? Caroline and Bonnie?"

"They're all fine so far. Elena and Matt broke up, Bonnie's taking a lighter course load and not trying to kill herself with studying this semester oh and you might want to tell Klaus that Caroline is doing a masterful job of dating two men at the same time."

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Elijah sighed after he hung up on his sister who had to go her class-apparently; she wanted to be a fashion designer again. Picking up a club glass, he poured himself a lot of scotch-something that he normally wouldn't do-before downing the whole thing to do it over again and sighing.

He and Elena were friends though he loved her; he wanted her happy more than anything. Rubbing his temples, a sad smile lit his face when he realized that she was somehow his true mate-thanks to a spell from one of Klaus' witches.

Apparently, fate and destiny thought it humorous for all three Mikaelson men to be mated to three best friends-the doppelganger turned vampire, the baby vampire and the Bennett witch.

Silencing his phone, he called his brothers down from their own versions of coping without their loves.

Kol was busy researching spells that were just discovered and Klaus was painting.

"Was that Rebekah?" Klaus asked as Elijah got off the phone. "How's everything going?"

"She's doing great. She kept up her 3.7 grade average last semester too." Elijah said. He knew what Klaus really wanted to know. "Bonnie and Elena are doing fine. Caroline it seems is managing to date two guys at the same time." Kol managed to walk in on the tail-end of the conversation and flashed into the room.

"Who's dating two guys at one time? If it's Bonnie I'll kill them! She shouldn't be dating anyone!" Kol said with obvious outrage.

"No your little witch is fine. Caroline is taking speed dating to a whole new level!" Klaus fumed.

"It seems there have been some strange attacks on campus..." Elijah began. Klaus and Kol were paling before Klaus got a glint in his eyes.

"Why don't we…find a way to get onto the campus?"

"Such as what? Pretend to be professors or students?" Elijah scoffed. Klaus nodded.

"Kol could be a student," Klaus was grinning as he could see his plan unfolding behind his eyes. "You and I could be teachers-I'll be one of Caroline's and you can be one of Elena's." Elijah sighed. He knew how stubborn and pigheaded his brother is.

"Shall we begin with this deception?" He asked with the sigh still heard in his voice. Kol and Klaus nodded and all three got packed up. Sliding into Kol's SUV, the youngest male began the tedious drive to the campus.

Wait until Rebekah finds out, Elijah groaned in his mind. She'll kill us.

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