Realizing that her father's marriage was bringing out the worst in her, Selina tried to counteract that by doing something good for somebody. She went to see Amy and said, "So…how's the vampire thing going for you? Do you need any help?"

"It wouldn't hurt," Amy replied. "I have got to be the worst vampire who was ever born."

"Oh, I'm sure you're not that bad!" Selina told her. "What would make you think such a silly thing?"

"Because I just can't get into it even though I know that drinking blood is the only way I can really stay alive now," Amy told her. "I just keep feeling like I'm doing something terrible and immoral, and I don't like feeling that way."

"How have you been getting your blood?" Selina asked. "If you've been hunting for it, I can see how you'd feel bad. But there are always blood bags. You know about those, right?"

"Of course," Amy nodded. "But…I feel I need to hunt, or else I'm just gonna keep being judgmental of Klaus like I was before. I don't want that. I want to be on the same level with him."

"Well, would you like me to hunt with you?" Selina asked. "Would that make you feel better?"

"Actually, I thought of something completely different," Amy replied. "I noticed that I enjoyed it when I feed off Klaus, so I thought to myself, 'Why don't I just feed off other vampires?' I tried it out and I didn't come out of it feeling like I'd done anything truly awful, so that's the way I think I want to go. Unless you think it will get me in trouble."

"No, I don't think it should," Selina shook her head. "You need to be careful about killing humans because it gives us away as a species if too many are killed at once in one place, but I don't think there are rules about killing other vampires. In fact, I think that's what Mikael used to do, if he still doesn't. We don't talk, so I don't know for sure."

"Well, it's good to know that I'm not breaking any laws," Amy smiled. "Cause I really think it's gonna work." She paused. "Although, I wouldn't mind going hunting with you sometime. You wanna go?"

"Elijah gets nervous when I hunt," Selina told her. "He has this horrible, but not unreasonable fear that I'm going to go overboard. But maybe he'd be okay with it if I told him I was helping you. He might offer to come along, but he'd still let me go."

"You think?" Amy asked. "When you tell him and he gives you an answer, let me know."

"All right," Selina promised her before going to root around in the refrigerator. "I will."


Although she didn't regret promising to hunt with Amy, Selina was still worried about what Elijah would say once she told him. She thought about waiting until after school the next day when he would be good and drunk, but then figured that that would be a bad idea. So she told him over lunch instead.

He just looked at her and sighed. "I really don't know what to say about this," he said. "I mean, on the one hand, I suppose it's noble that you want to help Amy through this difficult time, but at the same time, you know how easy it is for you to lose control of yourself when you hunt. I can see you and Amy hunting together: she'll show restraint, but you'll rack up a body count, especially with the mood you're in about your father and Christine."

"No, I won't!" Selina shook her head. "I'll be careful. I promise. What if I bring a blood bag with me and don't eat at all?"

"Wouldn't that defeat the point though?" Elijah asked. "I thought the point was to make Amy more comfortable with hunting by doing it with her."

"True," Selina replied. "But I can make it through okay. Just trust me, please?"

"You know I would love to trust you," Elijah told her. "Really, I would. But I would feel much more comfortable coming with you. Would Amy be amenable to that? Did she know that that would be a possibility when you offered to come with her?"

"I did, actually," Selina replied. "And she seemed okay with it."

"Good," Elijah replied. "When are we going to meet her?"

"I was thinking that maybe we could just head straight to Klaus and Amy's after school," Selina suggested. "What do you think about that?"

"I think we should go," Elijah agreed. "It would be nice to have something other than your father and Christine to focus on for a change."

"Sorry about that," Selina apologized. "I know I talk about it way too much."

"It's not your fault," Elijah told her. "This is a really big thing, and we're dealing with it the best we can."

"Hell, yes we are," Selina nodded. "So…meet you right at the car after class? Or do you have to do something first?"

"No, we can leave right after," Elijah replied.

"Good," Selina nodded, and then pulled out a book.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Elijah asked. "It's lunch time!"

"Oh, I've been eating all morning," Selina told him. "I'm not hungry at all."

"Ah," Elijah nodded, remembering how powerless Selina was when faced with baked goods, especially baked goods left unattended in her classroom. "All right, proceed."

"Thank you," Selina said. "I was planning on doing that anyway." She looked to see what he had on his tray. "May I have some of your fries, please?"

"Yes, you may," Elijah told her and pushed the tray toward her. "I got them for you anyway. Would you like some ketchup?"

"Yes, please," Selina nodded.

He squirted some in the corner and Selina stuck he fries in it and ate them one by one. When they were gone, she went back to her book, and then when lunch was over, gave Elijah a kiss on the cheek and told him that she'd meet him at the car after school to go to Klaus and Amy's.


"I'm surprised you came, Elijah." Klaus told his brother as he, Elijah, Amy, and Selina stalked around the woods looking for any hapless hikers or campers to feed on. "I would have thought you'd have no interest in an outing like this."

"Oh, he really doesn't," Amy said. "He's just here to watch Selina and make sure she doesn't go overboard."

Klaus smirked. "I should have known he wouldn't come for the fun of it."

"Well, I think I'm handling myself pretty well," Elijah told his brother. "While I may not hunt with the rest of you, I'm not going to stop you from doing what you will."

"Do you really think you could?" Amy asked.

Klaus heard this and gave Amy a hug. "That was the best thing you could have said," he told her.

Finally, they came across a campsite. Two campers were asleep in a tent and there didn't seem to be anyone else around.

"So, do you want to go for these two?" Klaus whispered against Amy's ear.

"Sure," Amy nodded. "But not while they're asleep. "I prefer to get them on the run." She then knocked the tent over and the two men stumbled out, swearing under their breaths.

They looked at Amy for a few seconds before both she and Selina bared their teeth and took off at a run after the frightened pair.

Klaus followed behind at a leisurely pace while Elijah tried to catch up to his wife.

"Relax," Klaus told him. "Let your wife have a little fun."

"She's not in the proper frame of mind to have this kind of fun," Elijah said firmly. "I let her do what she will and it will be Lonely Heart all over again. And she'll drag Amy down with her. Is that what you want?"

Klaus shrugged. "I wouldn't mind it," he said.

Not knowing why he'd expected any other response from his brother, Elijah took off after the women alone, but when he came across them, he found them only feeding off one.

"What happened to the other man?" He asked Amy.

"Selina thought it would be best to let him go," Amy said. "She didn't want to lose control of herself."

"Is that so?" Elijah said.

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "I told you you could trust me."

"Well, that's good," Elijah replied. "I'm very proud of you." He then looked at Amy. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I know I'll probably regret doing this in a few hours," Amy replied, blood still wet and obvious around her mouth. "But for now, I'm happy."

"I thought you'd say that," Elijah got out. "I'm sure my brother will be pleased."

"Where'd he go, by the way?" Amy asked. "Did he come with you?" She got up from the body and went in search of him while Selina fed a little while longer and pulled away.

"I' think I'm done now," she told her husband. "I'd like to go home."

"All right," Elijah nodded and helped her up. "Let's say goodbye to Amy and go, then."


"So…can we talk about that stripping game?" Andrew asked Amelia. "Please? You can't just do that to me, you know. Play something like that with me once and then not say another thing about it."

"No we can't," Amelia replied, unable to look at him because she was blushing furiously. "I have no idea why I showed you that. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Damn it, Amelia!" Andrew cried and grabbed her, turning her around so that she was facing him and looking into his eyes. "Why do you keep doing this to me? Why is it that every step forward with you is followed by ten steps back?"

"Because it feels wrong," Amelia told him. "My whole life, my mother told me that everything I wanted was wrong. Every sexual desire, every angry feeling, every life goal outside of being a wife and mother…and every time I tried to be like my daughter and do what I wanted, I was shamed for it, to the point where I'm now just so afraid of my own needs and wants that I-I can't express them without feeling terrible afterwards. I know you think I'm just doing it to punish you and control you, but I'm really not. I promise. Just be patient with me, please. I'll get there."

Andrew gave her a long look and then gently took her hand. "Please don't take this the wrong way," he said to her. "But if you're left to your own devices, do you really think you'll be able to get to where we can be a couple? Or will you always be so afraid that you'll sabotage us every time?"

"I don't know!" Amelia cried out in frustration and stomped her foot, making the chandelier sway dangerously over their heads and the lights in the room flicker on and off. "It's easy for me to just say 'Yes' when I don't have to prove it, but when it comes to walking the walk…" she sighed. "I want to," she told him. "I want to so badly, but I…I don't…" She looked Andrew in the eye. "Help me, please."

"All right," Andrew replied. "But you have to trust me. Do you trust me?"

"You know I do," Amelia said quietly.

"Good," Andrew nodded. "Here's step one: a step we've done many times." He pulled her to him and gave her a long and leisurely kiss. When he pulled away, he asked her, "Do you feel comfortable enough to move on to step two?"

Amelia gave him a small smile. "I don't know," she said. "We might have to do step one a few hundred more times. Does that bother you?"

"Of course not," Andrew replied, before kissing her again as she threw her arms around his neck. "You know I'm a very patient man."

"Yes, you'd have to be to put up with me, wouldn't you?" Amelia asked. "I don't know if it's dedication or insanity."

"A little bit of both, I think," Andrew smiled. "Don't you?"


"Why is it that every time I say something to Selina, she gets pissed off?" Christine wanted to know as she and Matthew unpacked after their honeymoon. "Have you noticed that? Should I just go about my life and stop trying to bond with her?"

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give it a rest for now," Matthew sighed. "She's clearly not ready to handle us, just like she said when she invited me over for her birthday. But I'm very proud of you for trying, anyway." He gave Christine a hug. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Christine smiled. "And that was an awesome honeymoon we went on. Don't you think?"

"I certainly enjoyed myself and learned some new things," Matthew agreed. "Maybe I'll let you pick where we go for all our vacations."

"If that's what you want, I'll take on the job," Christine promised. "But I'll make sure to pick out some nice, outdoorsy places for you to fish and stuff, so it's not just all about what I want. Cause that wouldn't be any good. You already have enough women stopping you from doing what you want and I don't want to be another one on the list."

"You could never be," Matthew assured her, taking her face in his hands and giving her a kiss. "Don't you worry about that."

"I'm surprised the house is in such good shape," Christine remarked as she looked around. "I thought that having ghosts here would bring it into ruin."

"Apparently not," Matthew shrugged. "Perhaps my brother has managed to lull Amelia into some sense of calm."

"I hope so," Christine said. "That would be nice."

"Would you like to go out riding after we unpack?" Matthew asked. "I mean, if you don't want to because we just got back and you'd like to rest, I'd understand, but…I was feeling like a ride myself."

"Of course!" Christine replied, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the room. "But let's go now. We can always unpack later. The suitcases will still be here when we get back."