Elena's eyes rolled open, squinting at the rays of afternoon sun that sprayed into the room through the closed blinds. She winced, the light seeming to be more intense than before—affecting her more than before.

She tried hard to focus, but her head was pounding and her body ached something terrible and when she tried to turn toward the bedside table, she felt a sharp pain in her side, her muscles burning as if on fire.

It was happening—the transition—it was really happening now.

And something told her that it was only going to get worse until she fed.

Elena struggled to bring her eyes up to the clock on the nightstand—12:34pm.

She moaned slightly as she remembered passing out in the cellar. Stefan, Damon and Elijah must have brought her home and now she had slept over twelve hours.

Elena tried in vein to sit up, suppressing the overwhelming nausea and dizziness that now overcame her. She wanted to get up and go downstairs—curious to find out what was going on with Klaus and the plan to make him corporeal again. She also needed Damon and Stefan to help her with all the things she wanted to do before she turned. And judging by what was happening to her body now, they were wasting precious time.

Exhausted by the effort she was putting forth, she finally fell back onto the pillows.

It was as Elena turned her head, that she noticed Elijah sitting in an arm chair next to her bed, looking her over with kind eyes.

She smiled softly as their as she held his gaze for a few moments.

He had stayed with her...

Then suddenly, the bedroom door opened and Damon walked into the room

"Well, Good Morning, Sunshine" he said, seeing Elena awake "How are we feeling?"

Elena pulled her eyes reluctantly from Elijah's and closed them in pain, leaning back against the headboard.

"That fantastic, huh?" Damon sighed, eyeing her as he took a seat on the edge of the bed, "Well, I'll go downstairs and grab you a cold washcloth and some aspirin. How does that sound?"

"Thank you," Elena whispered

"Well, don't thank me yet," Damon smirked sadly, "You're in the worst part of transition—you're not exactly human anymore, so the aspirin and the washcloth may or may not do a damn thing to stop the pain—"

"It's worth a try," Elena replied

"Elena," Damon said, trying to keep his voice smooth, "You really should feed soon,"

"You know I can't—not yet," Elena said with a sigh, "There are things I want to do before that happens—"

"Elena, Damon is right. You shouldn't suffer longer than you have to—" Elijah chimed in

"Thank You," Damon nodded over his shoulder, acknowledging Elijah's presence for the first time.

"Where's Stefan?" Elena suddenly asked, feeling the need to change the subject. The thought of blood was causing her mind to go in directions she wasn't ready for it ot go in.

"Downstairs with Klaus. He just arrived."

"Just now?" Elena asked, stunned, immediately wondering to herself where Klaus could have been for all those hours, if he wasn't at the Salvatore Mansion

"Yeah, I came to wake up Elijah here," Damon said, smirking over his shoulder at the original, "but it appears he's already… awake."

"I awoke when I heard the front door close twenty minutes ago," Elijah told him

"Wow," Damon mused, raising an eyebrow, "You and I changed shifts like three hours ago. Light sleeper?"

"I'm an older brother with four younger siblings who have a knack for coming and going at all hours of the night in the past thousand years and bringing trouble with them…what do you think?"

Just then Elena's phone rang on the bedside table.

She tried to reach over and grab it, but was too weak. Besides, Damon had already reached over and beat her to it.

"Elena's phone," he chimed in a cheerful tone after hitting the answer button on the touch screen.

Elena rolled her eyes at Elijah, who smiled as he crossed his arms and watched Damon in his element.

But, suddenly, Damon's expression changed as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line.

"Jeremy, slow down," he said in a soothing voice, "Start from the beginning—yes,"

Elijah sat forward as he saw Damon's eyes dart in his direction

"He's right here," the older Salvatore Brother said, then immediately handed Elijah the phone.

Elijah narrowed his eyes as he took it into his hand before bringing it up to his ear.

"Hello?" he said in a low tone

"Elijah, its Jeremy…"

"What can I do for you Jeremy?" Elijah asked in a concerned voice as he turned on the speaker phone so Damon could hear

"Well, actually, I think it's the other way around," Jeremy said, "You see, I have someone here with me now—I'm okay, I'm safe—it's well, it's a spirit."

Elijah straightened, "A spirit?"

"Yes, in fact, it's a spirit who has come to me, but is specifically asking for you. He says he can help you and Klaus."

Elijah's eyes immediately moved to Damon's as the older Salvatore whispered, "Trap?"

Elijah shrugged, then spoke into the phone, "He? Jeremy, did this spirit identify himself?"

"He says his name is Henrik—Henrik Mikaelson."

Elijah and Damon locked eyes for a moment, both in complete shock as to what they had just heard.

"Henrik? Henrik your dead brother?" Elena interjected, her voice rising with concern, but Damon put a hand on her arm to quiet her.

"Jeremy, listen to me," Damon said into the phone, being the first one to come to his senses, "What does the spirit look like?"

"Look like?" Jeremy asked in a quizzical tone, "Why does that matter?"

"Because we thought the spirit of 'Henrik Mikaelson' was what was possessing Matt—driving around his body," Damon countered

"What? When did this happen?" Jeremy asked, shocked

"No time to explain, Jeremy, just tell me what the spirit looks like," Damon insisted

"Well, this Henrik is not in anyone's body—he's a pre-teen boy and definitely an appartition of one," Jeremy confirmed

"Jeremy," Elijah said, clearing his throat, suddenly finding the words to speak, "I need you to ask Henrik something, can you do that? Is he there with you?"

"Yes, he's here," Jeremy replied

Elijah took a deep breath, "I need you to ask him—ask him if he remembers how he died? Who killed him?"

"Hold on." Jeremy said and the line went quiet

"What are you doing?" Damon asked, raising an eyebrow

"Remember when Kol and Rebekah said that the thing that was in Matt Donovan didn't seem like Henrik, that it was dark and altered somehow?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, I have a sneaking suspicion—" Elijah continued, but was interrupted when Jeremy returned to the line.

"Elijah," he said

"We're still here," Elijah replied

"He says that he remembers suffering a werewolf bite and that you killed him-drove a white oak stake through chest."

Damon's eyes widened as he watched Elijah's close in pain.

Jeremy continued, "He says you put him out of his misery. He was in pain and he didn't want to suffer anymore. He says he loves you and misses you and that he forgives you even though he knows you can't forgive yourself. He wants you to know that he isn't angry with you, Elijah, but he knows what is—he knows what your Mother has raised—what's inside Matt. And as I said before, he wants to help."

There was a pause for a few moments as Elijah and Damon processed all of this.

"Elijah?" Jeremy asked, realizing there was silence

Damon looked to Elijah. The original opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out—he was too overwhelmed with emotion.

Finally, Damon spoke, his eyes never leaving the still stunned original.

"We'll be right over, Jeremy," he said in a softly, then hung up.

# # # # # # # #

"So, what is this all about?" Stefan asked as he took a seat in one of the arm chairs across from where Tyler/Klaus now sat on the sofa, "You said back in the Lockwood cellar that you had something you wanted to share with me—something that would offer 'perspective' to my situation."

Tyler/Klaus smirked, "Indeed, I do. You see, we have many things in common Stefan and not just our good looks or the fact that we can be sensitive one moment and murderous fiends the next. You see, we once walked a similar path..."

Stefan narrowed his eyes as he watched Tyler/Klaus turn and reach into the leather satchel sitting on the couch at his side, retrieving his sketchpad.

He flipped through it for a few moments until finding the page he was looking for, then placed the sketchpad on the coffee table between them, sliding the picture across the glass top toward Stefan.

Stefan leaned forward in his chair, his curious eyes falling on the rough charcoal portrait of a young woman.

At first glance, it looked like Elena, but the time period in which it was drawn said Katherine, and yet, there was something in the young woman's face and eyes that all together that said it was neither of them.

"Her name was Liliya," Tyler/Klaus said as he watched Stefan take in the portrait

"The original doppelganger," Stefan whispered

"Yes." Tyler/Klaus affirmed

"But, I thought you said her name was Tatia…" Stefan retorted, looking up and meeting Klaus' gaze

"Ah, well, you see only part of the story Elijah and I told you at the dinner party we had with you and your brother was true. Basically, I said what I had to say—made up what I had to say—in order to get you to turn Elena over to me. Elijah helped me, of course, added flare to the story in certain parts—all against his better judgment of course—"

"So what's the real story?" Stefan interjected impatiently

Klaus leaned back and smiled, his eyes glancing down to the portrait on the table.

"Well, that's why I called this little powwow between us, Stefan, I think it's finally time you know the truth-the incident you had with Elijah in the cellar proved that. You see, Elijah and I—well, let's just say that our story of love and loss is much closer to yours and Damon's than you might think."