"What?" Lucy asked. Her eyes were wide with shock.

"I said my father was staked a few weeks ago," Selina repeated. "It's an unfortunate story. I ran into my cousin Michael, he wanted to marry me, and while Daddy, Damon and his brother Stefan were saving me, my other cousin Tyler meant to stake me as revenge for not marrying Michael, but Daddy got in the way and took the stake that was meant for me."

"Oh, my God." Lucy was looking as if her world had been shattered. Selina didn't blame her one bit; she'd gone through the same thing after her father had died. "So let me get this straight," she said finally, looking up at Selina and Damon. "Matthew was here?"

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "It was weird at first, and it took me awhile to realize it was him, but he was here."

Lucy gave her a small smile and put a hand on hers. "It doesn't surprise me that it took you awhile to recognize your father. I always though the memory-erasing he and the doctor did on you after your visits was a big mistake."

Selina sighed. "It might have been, but it happened, and there's nothing we can do about it now, is there?"

Lucy shook her head ruefully. "At least you eventually figured out it was him," she said finally.

"I didn't actually," Selina told her. "That was Damon's doing. He had more of the pieces to put together than I did."

"Well good for you," Lucy looked at Damon approvingly and he nodded.

"It was actually simple once I put everything together: his behavior toward her, what I sensed, and what was in her mother's journals. Add all those things up, and there was only one person he could be."

Now Lucy was looking thoughtful. "I haven't seen my father in years either. After your father left, he and I parted ways and I haven't seen him since, oh, let me think." She paused and then looked back at Selina. "Since you were a little girl, really."

"Is that why you came here?" Selina asked. "To reconcile with your father?"

"Yes," Lucy replied. "And to see yours. but since we've already established that isn't going to be possible, I guess that just leaves one person to reacquaint myself with. I stopped by his house earlier to let him know that I was here, but he wasn't in."

"Huh," Selina replied. "Where do you think he went?"

Lucy shrugged. "I don't know. I have two theories. One that's good, and one that's not so good. The good theory says that the reason why he's gone is that he's had to take work in another town and he gets back late, so I'll see him tomorrow."

"What's the not-so-good theory?" Selina asked.

"Well," Lucy crossed her legs on the sofa and took a deep breath. "I've heard rumors about a vampire cleansing in this town just before the end of the Civil War. I did some exploring around my father's house before I left it, and I found that the attic was just covered in blood; it was like a mad slasher room at a haunted house." She shuddered. "Part of me is afraid that my father was a victim of the cleansing and that all the blood in the attic is from the townspeople torturing him before they killed him."

"Wait a minute," Selina said. "You went to your father's house and found blood spattered all over his attic?"

"Yeah," Lucy said. "It was just the most awful thing I've ever seen. I hope he made it out okay, I really do. But enough of my problems; how are you still here?" She abruptly changed the subject and gazed at Selina.

"Just a second," Selina put up her hand. She was beginning to have a sick feeling in her stomach. "Before I tell you how I'm still here, I need you to tell me one more thing: what's your father's name?"

"Roger," Lucy said after a moment. "Roger Stensrund. That's my last name too, but I changed it after we became estranged."

"It figures," Selina whispered to herself.

"What?" Lucy asked.

"Nothing," Selina shook her head. "Now, about how I'm still here-"

"You don't want to hear that," Damon interrupted. "It's a terrifically boring story." He looked at Selina. "I think we need to go. I just realized something that I forgot to do."

"You have to leave so soon?" Lucy asked, standing up. "That's a pity. But you will come back sometime, right?"

"Of course," Selina said, smiling at Lucy, and then giving Damon a frown. "It was really nice to meet you, Lucy." Then, before she could say anything else, Damon dragged her out the door and practically threw her in the front seat of the car, starting it before he was even fully inside.

"What the hell was that about?" Selina asked once the car was moving. "Why wouldn't you let me tell her why I'm still here? She obviously wanted to know."

"You mean to tell me that you were contemplating telling her that you killed her father?"

"Why not?" Selina asked, shrugging. "She probably wouldn't blame me for it. I mean, if they hadn't wiped my memory of him, then I would have remembered he was good, and then I probably wouldn't have killed him, so in actuality, his staking is his own fault, not mine."

"I think you're putting way too much faith in that excuse, sweetheart," Damon replied. "She's already found out that the love of her life was murdered in cold blood. Finding out that her father was killed, regardless of the circumstances, just might push her over the edge."

"We don't have to tell her that I killed Dr. Stensrund. We could confirm what she already thinks: that he was killed in the cleansing. It won't be too much of a stretch, and that's probably what she already thinks anyway, so why complicate things by telling the truth?"

"I repeat," Damon was starting to get impatient. "Regardless of how her father died, finding out that she has neither a boyfriend nor a father to come home to is probably going to push her over the edge and make her act in a way that might put the whole town in danger."

"Well," Selina asked. "What do you suggest I say to her query about why I'm still here?"

"You could say that I changed you," he replied. "That I was turned by your sister in a moment of passion, but then, when I found out you were sick, I turned you to save your life, and so we could be together forever."

Selina snorted. "That is so lame."

"Hey," he replied. "Had I known you were actually ill, it might have happened. After I killed Dr. Stensrund to get him out of the way."

"Actually, it wouldn't have happened," Selina countered. "If you would have waited to see me until you got back on leave, I would have already been dead for awhile and thus, you would have missed your opportunity."

"Well whatever, you know the gist of what I'm trying to say: we say I turned you, maybe stick a little bit about Katherine in there, but leave her father out of it."

"I don't see why we can't just tell her the truth now," Selina said. "Eventually she's going to find out, and then she'll be even madder when she finds out that we lied to her all this time."

"It wouldn't be lying," Damon replied. "It would be withholding information."

Selina shook her head. "If we make up a story as you're suggesting we do, then it would be lying."

When they pulled into the driveway of the boarding house, they were still debating what to tell Lucy about her father. When they found Stefan and Elena sitting at the kitchen table, they sat on either side of them.

"Where have you two been?" Elena asked. "Or do I want to know?"

"We've been visiting that neighbor of yours, Lucy, and have run into a slight problem." Damon told her.

"What kind of a problem?" Elena asked. "Don't tell me she and your father were involved after all?"

"No," Selina shook her head. "It's actually thornier than that. The truth is that your neighbor Lucy is Dr. Stensrund's daughter. They were estranged and she came back to Mystic Falls to reconcile with him."

"Well that's going to be difficult," Stefan remarked. "Seeing as he's been dead for so long."

"And not only is he dead," Selina said, "I staked him. Remember that? The beginning of my descent into hedonism and depravity."

"Okay," Elena said. "So to sum up, my neighbor Lucy is one, a vampire, two, the daughter of Dr. Stensrund, who's dead, and three, the would-be paramour of your father, who is also dead."

"Yep. That about sums it up," Selina nodded. "We were talking about it, and she's worried that Dr. Stensrund was taken away during the Great Cleansing and that's why there's blood all over the attic."

"So what's the problem?" Stefan asked. "If she asks, just tell her that although it's unfortunate, the townspeople did do away with her father during the cleansing and that's why he's not around."

"I really don't think that's a good idea," Selina said. "Think about how many people in this town now are descended from the families on the original council. If she thinks that the council had anything to do with her father's death, she'll make targets of all of them. It'll be like a giant vengeance free-for-all. And that's why I think I should just be honest with her and tell her the truth about what happened between me and her father. That way, the only person she'll be mad at is me. And hey, she might not even be that. She knows that her father and my father erased my memory. She told me today that she'd always been against that. If she realizes that my killing of her father was because I didn't remember how good he'd been to me, then she might think of it more as an unfortunate accident rather than something that needs to be avenged." She paused. "We debated this in the car on the way back. What do you guys think? The reason this came up, by the way, is that she's curious about why I'm still here, and I'm pondering what to tell her."

Stefan and Elena looked at one another. It really was a thorny situation. On the one hand, lie and the whole town might be in danger. On the other, tell the truth and the whole town might be in danger. It was a lose-lose situation. Finally, Stefan said, "let's fib for now. Then we can keep a close eye on her. Since she seems to like you, Selina, she probably wouldn't mind being in your company."

Selina looked at him, amazed. "Is fibbing your answer to everything?" she asked, thinking about when he had insisted they lie to her about helping find Emily's grimoire.

"Not everything," Stefan replied. "Just the things where the truth would lead to undesirable outcomes."

"Oh." Selina replied sarcastically, "That makes a lot of sense."

"Guys," Elena said after a moment of silence. "I forgot that my brother has a crush on her. Do you think I should try and discourage it?"

"Well that depends," Selina said. "Do you want your brother involved with a lovesick vampire who's on the rebound, or will be any day now?"

"No," Elena shook her head. "I'll most definitely be discouraging him. But I have a feeling it won't be easy. Especially if she becomes aware that he has a crush on her. Then she'll encourage him, and he'll get himself in deep."

"Okay," Selina looked around the table. "So as for what to tell Lucy about how I became a vampire, we have two votes for fibbing to her, because that's what Damon said too, my vote for honesty, and Elena what do you think?"

Elena thought a moment. "I think you should tell her the truth," she said. "She's going to find out sooner or later, and if you're honest with her, she'll be less angry with you then if she finds out the truth and realizes that you were lying to her."

"That's what I was thinking," Selina said. "But apparently those two," she glared at Stefan and Damon, "don't feel the same way."

"Fine," Stefan said. "Tell her the truth. But when people start getting killed and the police find the bodies piled in the streets, it'll be on your heads."

Selina turned to Elena. "When I go see Lucy, you wanna come with me?"

"Sure," Elena nodded. "You're definitely going to need all the moral support you can get."