At the Boarding House, Damon was tending to Elena. She had been having a really rough night and he couldn't help but feel responsible. He poured her a glass of scotch. "Here, it'll help you forget." While he was out, Klaus had ambushed the group at school and compelled his brother to turn off his emotions.

She took the glass, though still seemed upset. "Yeah, it's strong. You know I can help you forget, too. At least the memories you don't want to keep."

"No. No compulsion. I need to remember. All of it." Elena told him. He knew she was trying to be strong again. He fished her necklace out of his pocket.

"I stole it back for you."

"He's really gone this time." She said, sounding close to tears. "I watched it happen. After everything that we went through to get... to help him. Now he's just... Gone." She looked at him "Where were you, Damon?"

"I shouldn't have left. I promise you... I will never leave you again." He told her. She gave him a faint smile, though she still seemed upset. Just then, there was a knock on the door. They looked at each other.

"Brother, is that you?"

"If it were me, I wouldn't already be inside by now." He heard his brother call from upstairs.

Damon got up to answer the door. When he did, he saw a young woman. She was slightly shorter than him, about Elena's height, he supposed. She had short, red hair and eyes as blue as the ocean. She was wearing denim jacket and skirt, despite it being cold out, as well as a green shirt underneath.

"Can I…can I help you?" He asked her.

"It's been a long time, Damon." The girl said, smiling.

"Do I know you?" He asked. The girl twisted a chain under her clothes.

"You don't remember me, do you? I'm almost insulted, considering everything I did to help you two in Europe over a century ago." As she spoke, Damon noticed that the chain she was holding had a unique charm on it: a small glass case with a few stems of vervain inside.

There was only one other person he knew of that carried a vervain charm. "Cora?" He asked. She smiled.

"Took you long enough." She wrapped her arms around him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her, almost relieved to see a friendly face for once. "Wait a minute, how are you here? When you left, you were human."

"It's a long story, Damon." Cora said.

"Why don't you come inside?" He asked her. She hesitated. "It's okay, you're safe here."

They entered the living room. "Damon, are you…" She paused when she noticed Cora. The girls looked at each other for a few minutes.

"Cora, this is Elena."

"Where've I heard that name before?" Cora wondered. "Wait, are you Stefan's girlfriend?" Elena looked at her surprised.

"Uh…yeah. Well, sort of. I think we're kind of broken up, but…I'm sorry, who are you?" She asked, flustered by everything.

"She's an old friend of ours."

"I'm Cora."

"So by friend, do you mean…" Elena began to ask. The two looked at each other and started laughing.

"Me? And Damon? You have to be kidding!" Cora said. "No, many years ago in London, they both helped me through a rough time. One of the bad ones had kidnapped my sister, so we decided to stick together. As we fought him, we sort of became family. When it was all over, I headed to Mystic Falls to start a new life."

"Wow, makes the evil we've fought here seem like it happened almost a decade ago." Elena said.

"Yeah, only when we parted ways, Cora was still human." Damon told her. "So what happened?"

"Well, it happened years ago." Cora said.

"I can see that, you look a little older since the last time we met." Damon said.

"That's because I was turned about five after meeting you two." Cora told him. "Um…"

"It's okay. I know everything." Elena told her. "I know all about vampires, witches, and other supernatural beings."

"Okay. Then I'll tell you both." Cora said. "After defeating our old enemy in London, I headed to Mystic Falls, like you guys suggested. The Bennett family took me in. I became pretty close with this girl, Leslie. She happened to be a witch, though she practiced rarely because some of her ancestors burned."

"So, what happened?"

"She was my only friend when it happened." Cora told them. "As for how I turned, I met someone a few years after I'd settled in. I had actually gotten married in the short time I was there and I helped look after Leslie's kids. One day we were tending to the garden…"She paused as she remembered what happened.

She and Leslie were outside with the kids, planting flowers and herbs for the garden, when she noticed him. "Who is that?" Cora asked.

"I don't know, but he isn't welcome here." Leslie said. "I've noticed him hanging around the past few weeks, but he doesn't really belong here."

"Neither did I when I first arrived." Cora pointed out. "Want me to talk to him?"

"Be careful, child." Leslie said. Cora walked over to him.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"Oh, sorry. I was just admiring the garden."

"Well, you should probably go somewhere else. You're scaring the family members."

"I'll leave now."

"Even though I knew there was a risk, part of me was drawn to him." Cora admitted to the others. "Not that I didn't like my husband, but he'd passed after I'd known him for a couple years. I started taking walks with the new guy. One day, he asked if I wanted to be with him forever. Being the still-human dreamer that I was, I didn't think he meant forever forever."

"That's the oldest trick in the book." Damon told her.

"I know, but in my defense, I had no idea that my would-be love interest was a vampire." Cora said. "Fortunately, Leslie was able eliminate him, but not before he'd killed me first."

"Hey, I've been there before." Damon said. "I know what it feels like when the person you think you had feelings for changes you." Cora held him close.

"Yeah, well, given the recent news, I'd say none of us are good with love right now." Cora said. Elena moved slightly closer and embraced both of them. "You might not want to get so close. You're wound's still open."

"Right. Sorry." Elena moved back a little. "So how'd you get through the transition?"

"It's kind of hard to relive, but I'll tell you anyway."