Katherine froze. "You can't mean that," she said. "It's impossible."

Tyler shook his head. "No it's not. She was standing on my front doorstep as plain as day."

"She was alive a hundred years ago," Katherine said, talking as if Tyler were slow at learning something. "So it's impossible for her to be alive now."

"That doesn't mean anything," Tyler said. "You were alive a hundred years ago too, and here you are."

"Well that's different," Katherine said. "I'm a special case."

"Could it be that your mother is a special case too?" Tyler asked.

"No," Katherine said, shaking her head, eyes blazing. "In order for her to be a special case, she had to be turned by someone. Who in the world would do that for her?"

"Your hands are shaking," Tyler observed. "And so is your voice. Correct me if I'm wrong, but could it be that you're actually afraid of your mother?"

"No!" Katherine cried and picked up a small glass figurine shaped like a deer and threw it at the fireplace, causing the figurine to shatter into a million pieces. She looked at them for a moment, then turned back to Tyler, eyes blazing. "Don't be ridiculous," she said. "I'm not afraid of anyone." She ran her tongue across her lips. "After your failure," she said, "it's clear to me that I can't trust you to retrieve Selina's blood; you're too emotionally attached to her. I'm going to go with plan B."

"What?" Tyler cried, eyes wide, standing up. "You're going back on the plan? But you promised I could have Selina! You promised!"

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Would you get a grip on yourself? Being whiny and desperate isn't attractive, remember that. I'm not rejecting the plan; that should be obvious to you. I have reasons of my own for wanting my sister distracted and out of the way."

"And what would those be?" Tyler asked.

"They would be none of your business," Katherine snapped. She stepped over to the fireplace and picked up a big piece of the glass deer figurine and running her finger over one of the sharp edges. Blood welled up and she held up her finger so that it glowed red in the firelight.

Tyler wanted to look away, but kept staring at the blood running down her finger in strange fascination. "Who are you going to get to do the retrieving?" Tyler asked once she'd mopped up the blood.

"Oh, don't you worry about that," Katherine told him. "I'll be asking an old friend to do the job for me. Someone who I know has easy access to my sister as well as her complete trust."

"Who?" Tyler asked breathlessly.

"Damon Salvatore, of course," Katherine said, grinning wickedly and wiping invisible dust off her black leather jacket.

"Him?" Tyler asked, frowning. "Why him? He's more emotionally attached to her than I am. They're married in case you don't remember me telling you. He won't hurt her no matter what you tell him."

Katherine burst out laughing. She stumbled over to the couch and fell back on it. When she finally managed to get her breath, she looked back up at Tyler, eyes sparkling. "You're really funny," she managed to get out.

"I'm not trying to be," Tyler said. "I'm just trying to be realistic and tell you what you're up against."

Katherine leaned forward and ran a finger over his cheek, making him shiver. "You forget," she said, speaking right up next to his ear, "that this isn't the first time I've broken Damon and Selina up. Believe me, you say the right things and it's so easy to get him to believe she's being unfaithful to him."

"All right," Tyler said, turning slightly so that he was looking directly at her. "You enjoy whatever it is that you're planning and come back here when it's all done so you can tell me how it turned out."

"You're helping me," she said. "I'll need you later." She stood up and made for the door. "Come back in a few days," she said. "I'll have my sister's blood then."

"What was that about?" Isobel asked as soon as Tyler was gone.

"Apparently, my mother has returned," Katherine told her.

"Your mother?" Isobel asked. "I thought she was dead!"

"I thought so too, but according to Tyler, she showed up on his front step very much alive."

"That must mean she's a vampire," Isobel said. "How else would she be here?"

Katherine frowned. "I know that, but the question is, how in the world did she become one? Who would do that for her?"

She looked involuntarily up at the mantle. "Who's that?" Katherine asked, gesturing at the picture that sat there. "He looks familiar."

"His name was Matthew Warren," Isobel said with relish. "Isn't he cute?"

Katherine's eyes widened. "Matthew Warren? He was Mama's first husband and Selina's father!"

"I vaguely remember Lucy telling me that," Isobel nodded.

"Who's Lucy?" Katherine asked.

"More like who was Lucy," Isobel said dryly. "Your sister staked her. She was a friend of mine."

"So Lucy was a vampire, but what does that have to do with Matthew Warren?" Katherine said impatiently.

"She was the one who turned Matthew when he was dying of typhoid," Isobel said.

"And at some point, he must have turned my mother," Katherine growled softly. "This is just wonderful. It's going to throw everything off completely."


"Can you believe that story Mama told?" Selina asked, taking a seat at the breakfast bar next to Elena. "That would have been so awesome to see the look on Tyler's face when she showed up on his front step."

"I can't believe he passed out," Elena agreed. "Men usually don't."

"But then again, most men don't have their English teachers come to their houses and proclaim that they're an aunt who should have been dead more than a hundred years ago."

"I guess it's only fitting," Selina said. "When I found out about Michael, I passed out too. Payback? I think so."

"But that was different!" Elena said.

"How?" Selina asked.

"I don't know," Elena shrugged. "It just is."

"What do you think you're going to tell his parents?" Stefan asked.

Selina shrugged. "I think we should just tell them the truth," she said. "I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

"Wait," Stefan said. "Did Richard and Carol know that your father was a vampire too? Or will we have to add that to the growing list of things you're going to have to explain in light of your mother suddenly appearing in Mystic Falls?"

"I forget," Selina said. "But it wouldn't hurt to remind them, I guess."

Just then, the phone rang. "I wonder who that could be?" Selina asked, getting up to answer the phone. "Hello?"

"Selina, it's Richard," said the voice on the other end of the line. "I have some troubling news."

"Who is it?" Damon mouthed when he saw that Selina was frowning.

"The mayor," she mouthed back. "What's happened?" she asked, shifting the phone on her ear.

"Your mother's stone has been vandalized."

Selina pulled the phone away from her ear. "Someone vandalized Mama's stone," she told Damon, Stefan and Elena. "What should I tell him? It might have been Mama that did it."

"Ask what kind of damage it is," Stefan suggested.

Selina nodded and put the phone back on her ear. "Yes Richard, I'm still here. What, exactly, is the damage to Mama's stone?"

"The dates have been messed with," he said.

"Messed with how?" Selina asked.

"Her death date's been scratched out. I don't understand why."

"Is that the only damage?" Selina asked. "The stone isn't broken or anything is it? All right, I'll come and have a look at it tomorrow. All right, goodbye, Richard."

"What was the damage?" Stefan asked.

"Somebody scratched out Mama's death date," she said as she laid the phone down in the cradle. "It's probably nothing; just a harmless prank."

"Do you think your mother did it?" Elena asked.

"Why would my mother want to do it?" Selina frowned.

"I don't know," Elena shrugged. "Maybe as a way of telling the mayor and Mrs. Lockwood that they buried the wrong body?"

"That could be," Selina conceded, taking back her seat, "but that might mean deliberately exposing herself as a vampire. Remember that she still doesn't know how Richard and Carol are going to react to the fact that she's still alive."

"It's actually clever, I think," Damon said. "She's not making a big splash by doing something majorly risky like killing a few locals every night, but is instead choosing to literally and subtly claim 'I'm not dead yet' by erasing the death date on her tombstone."

"What if it wasn't her who scratched out the death date on her tombstone?" Elena asked. "What if it was somebody else?"

"Who else would it be?" Selina asked.

"Tyler, maybe?" Elena suggested. "Maybe as a way to give his parents a little heads up?"

"It's not much more difficult for him to go up to his father and tell him that your mother isn't dead," Stefan said.

"Maybe Tyler wants to break it to them gently," Elena said. "I mean, remember what happened to him when Amelia gave him the news."

"Anyone else?" Selina asked.

The other three shook their heads. "All right," Selina said. "I promised Richard I'd go with him to the cemetery tomorrow to inspect Mama's tombstone and maybe offer up some insight on the offenders. I'll look for clues while I'm there and try and figure out why in the world someone would want to scratch the death date off Mama's tombstone."

"Maybe it's just a prank," Stefan suggested.

"God, I hope so," Selina said. "Because if not, it means that someone besides us and the Lockwoods knows that Mama's a vampire. And that could mean trouble."

"It'll be all right, you know," Damon said as he followed Selina out of the kitchen. "You look like you need a drink. I was just going to go out. Do you want to come with me?"

"No," Selina shook her head. "You go out. I'll be fine, I promise."


He didn't really believe that Selina was fine, and if it was possible, he would have convinced her to come with him, but he figured that if she was in the house with Stefan and Elena, they could force her to confess what was really bothering her and then he could get them to tell him later.

Instead of going to a bar, he stopped by one of the nicer restaurants in the town, one that specialized in steaks and other prime cuts of beef and sat down at the bar. He was halfway through his second drink when he felt the tap on his shoulder. He turned around and almost choked.

"Hello, Lover," she said, smiling. "Have you missed me?"

"What?" he got out. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought I left you back at the house with Stefan to watch over Selina. She's really not doing well, you know."

She sat down next to him, grinning and shaking her head. "I really don't care," she purred. "I'm here to see you."

"Me?" he asked. "What do you want me for?"

"I need a favor," she told him. "I need something from Selina, and I highly doubt she'd be willing to give it to me, seeing as she doesn't like me at all. I thought that since the two of you were married and all, she'd give you whatever you wanted."

"Why wouldn't she like you?" he asked, wondering what in the world Elena was talking about. "And if you asked her for whatever it is, I'm sure she'd only be too happy to give it to you."

"No, no, no," she shook her head. "You still don't know who I am, do you?" she asked.

"Yes, I do," he said, nodding vigorously.

She shook her head. "No, you don't. But I can help you remember. Will you let me?" she asked. And before he could say anything, she kissed him, long and hard. And in a rush, it all came back to him. By the time she pulled away, he knew.

"Katherine," he said breathlessly. "Katherine, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you, silly," she said, ruffling his hair. "And my sister. Now about that favor—"

"What do you want from her?" he asked.

"I need her blood," Katherine said. "Can you get some for me?"

"Why would you want that?" Damon asked.

"Because I want to be close to her," Katherine said. "She's my sister, and sisters should be close." She waited for him to agree, but he hesitated. "Do you need some more convincing?" she asked, planting little kisses on his neck. "Come back to the house with me, and I'll give you several."

"All right," Damon said.


He woke up in a dark room. He was lying in bed, and Katherine was next to him. It was completely obvious what he'd just done, and that no amount of lying would be sufficient to keep Selina unaware. But he had to try.

"I have to go," he whispered.

"Why?" she asked, smiling. "Why can't you stay? Selina won't miss you."

"Yes, she will," he said. "That's why I need to get back before she starts asking questions. I told her I was only going out for a few drinks."

"Oh, all right," Katherine said, getting out of bed and wrapping the sheet around her. "Now, about the favor: you will get her blood for me."

"Yes," he nodded. Then, he dressed quickly and was out like a shot. He realized as soon as he was clear of the house that he had a vaguely flowery scent all over him. He walked to the mall and into the nearest place to sell scented soaps and bath and shower gels and bought Selina a collection scented in rose. He paid and headed back to the boardinghouse.

"What kept you?" Selina asked when she opened the door. "Did something happen? Did you have an accident?"

"No," he said. "Come into our bedroom real quick, I got something for you."

"You got me a present?" she asked, sitting on their bed.

"Yes," he said, giving her the bag. She looked through it.

"This is wonderful," she exclaimed. Then, she grinned saucily. "Want to come into the shower and try it out with me?"

"No," he said quickly. "I'm tired. I think I just want to go to bed. I hope you enjoy all that. Goodnight."

"Good…night," she said, frowning slightly and putting the bag on the edge of the bathtub before changing into her pajamas. Then, she shut the lights off and got into bed, wondering what in the world was wrong with him.