When Mary Anne left the house, she ran down the street and into town looking for Klaus. On the way, she made large gashes in her skin with a knife and summoned tears, so that when she saw him outside of the grocery store, he would have no choice but to believe the story she told.
"Oh, my god," he said when he looked her over. "You're hurt. What's happened to you?"
"A man came to the house," she sobbed. "He was looking for Sera. He asked me if I knew where she was and I told him no, but he didn't believe me and so he hurt me until I talked." She sniffled.
"And what about my sister?" Klaus asked. "Is she all right? Where is she?"
"When the man saw her, I thought he would hurt her too, but he didn't. He just had this sad look and told her to leave and never come back. That's what she did. She's gone now and I don't know where."
"You have to tell me more about this man," Klaus said. "How old was he? Was he a vampire? What did he look like?"
"Anna called him 'Daddy,' Mary Anne said.
"Oh, god," Klaus said. "So Mikael came back and he was asking questions about Selina. This isn't good. I have to tell her."
"Why?" Mary Anne asked. "Think of all the people she hurt. If you let her get away, she'll only hurt more."
Klaus shook his head. "She's not like that anymore. She's changed, made good. I know that might be hard for you to believe, but it's true." He gave her a look. "What did you tell him about Sera?"
Mary Anne sighed. "I didn't tell him anything. That was a lie. Because I don't have anything to tell. That's why I've been with you. I hoped you'd be able to tell me something about her. Can you?"
Klaus gave her a look and then took her into his car and they began driving back toward his house. "Why do you need me to tell you things about her? I hope you're not planning to kill her. Are you?"
Mary Anne shook her head. "I would love to, but think about it. She's much too old to be conquered by the likes of me. Maybe if I were older and stronger, I'd have a fighting chance, but as of right now, I've got nothing. Just like old times."
"Good," Klaus said. "And I hope things stay that way. I wouldn't want to have to do anything to you. Because unlike old times, if I have to pick between her and you, I'll pick her."
"Are you ready for this?" Vince asked Roxie two days later as they stood behind the curtain in the auditorium waiting for the debate to begin.
Roxie sighed. "I guess so. But I'm not nervous. I know I've got this whole thing in the bag."
Vince grinned. "That's because you trusted me and showed everyone at school a whole new side of yourself, a giving side. You learned that you can get ahead without using any sort of powers. Doesn't that feel good to you? At all?"
Roxie nodded. "Maybe a little. And I got myself a house with a bowling alley in the process, so it's not like I came away with nothing tangible for my efforts."
Just then, a girl approached them, Roxie's opponent in the debate, Franny Myer. She was wearing her cheerleader uniform because she had a football game later that day. "Good luck," she said, her voice saccharine. "May the best girl win."
"Yeah," Roxie said. "Good luck to you too, Franny." As Franny sauntered away, Roxie muttered under her breath, "good luck to you, you phony, lying bitch!"
"Good for you for saying that when she was out of earshot," Vince said. "It's a real improvement."
But before Roxie could respond, the vice principal came up to them. "Good luck today," he said. "You and Franny both."
"Thank you, sir," Roxie said. He nodded and went to the stage, clearing his throat. "Good afternoon everyone. I'd like to welcome you to today's debate. Here you will have one last chance to hear what the prospective candidates for your class president have to say and ask them questions about their plans and platforms. So without further ado, let me introduce to you your candidates: Franny Myer and Roxie Mikaelson!"
The full auditorium applauded as Franny and Roxie came on stage and took their places at the podiums.
"Who would like to get this started?" the vice principal asked. "Who wants the first question?"
"I'll start," Franny said. "But Mr. Roberts, I don't need to have a question. I have a statement already prepared."
"All right," Mr. Roberts said. "Dazzle us with what you intend to do to help your fellow students."
"I will instead tell you why she wouldn't!" Franny spat out, pointing at Roxie. "She's a fake! She doesn't care about any of you! All that stuff she did, that saving Principal Maxwell's son from his peanut allergy and making friends with the old people, that was just a ploy to get votes! She doesn't mean any of it! If she gets to be class president, you all are going to rue the day!"
Roxie cleared her throat. "If I may continue on this interesting subject you've brought up, especially concerning Toby's peanut allergy, wasn't it you who made the brownies that caused him to fall ill, despite the fact that you know Toby is allergic?"
The auditorium broke out in whispers.
"Of course I know Toby is allergic to peanuts!" Franny burst out. "I've made brownies for him before! This isn't the first time!"
"Uh-huh," Roxie nodded. "But just before the bake sale, Principal Roberts dealt you a crushing blow, didn't he, Franny? Did he or did he not tell you that he was cutting the funding for the homecoming dance because there were problems with the school's fund raising efforts?"
Franny nodded. "That's true, he did."
"Were you sore about that?" Someone called out.
"I can't deny it was a blow, but I definitely wouldn't put Toby's life at risk just because I didn't get my way!" Franny said. "What kind of a person do you take me for?"
Another boy stood up. "The sort of person who just grinds the little people under her heel," he said. His voice was hoarse and he had to use a microphone to be heard clearly. "Or do you not remember when you kicked the show choir out of our rehearsal space just so you could hold your cheerleading rehearsals there?"
"That room had the best acoustics!" Franny burst out. "If we can't make our voices loud and strong enough to be heard around the stadium, how are we supposed to cheer our beloved sports teams to victory? Go sharks!" She grinned.
"Unlike my opponent," Roxie said, "I believe that there should be more to school than just watching a bunch of boys chase after balls while women cheer them on. And so much more to life. Things like art and theatre and music are the most wonderful things on earth to me, so if I'm elected your class president, I will make sure not only that the show choir gets back their rehearsal space, but that every person who feels they have some sort of talent they'd like to share gets a chance to. Because I believe everyone alive has a gift and that it's no good if you just keep it to yourself. But with attention only given to sports, we'll never find out what great things the rest of our student body has to offer.
"I will also make sure that your voices are heard. If you have a question, just feel free to ask me and I swear to you that I will listen to you. Because I am just one person. I alone cannot know all of the problems that need to be taken care of in this place. But if we work together, we can make this the best damn school it can be!"
Just then, the entire school rose up, cheering. This went on for several minutes before the vice principal was able to calm them down. Then he looked at Franny, who was wide-eyed. "Do you have anything to say in response to what Roxie said?" He asked her.
The room was silent before Franny finally burst out, "She's a vampire! She wants to bite us all and drink our blood! She's already done it to the football team! They told me!"
"Wow," Roxie said after a moment of awkward silence. "Franny, maybe you should go to the nurse and lie down. Perhaps the stress of campaigning has gotten to you."
"Oh, no!" Franny said. She laughed crazily. "You are a vampire. Admit it!" She advanced toward Roxie, pulled out a knife, and stuck it in her middle. Roxie gasped and fell to the floor, eyes closed.
"Oh, my god," Franny said when Roxie didn't get up. "Oh, my god! I really thought-"
Vince came running onto the stage and kneeled next to Roxie, gently pressing against her stomach to stop the blood flow.
"Is she going to die?" Mr. Roberts asked. "Should I call a doctor?"
"No," Vince said. "Call the police first."
Mr. Roberts nodded and went to tell the janitor to call the police. They came a few minutes later, handcuffed wildly laughing Franny Myer and took her away, while she still muttered, "She's a vampire, she's a vampire..."
"It's such a shame," Mr. Roberts said to Vince. "I always thought Franny had such promise. You never know, do you? At least she'll get good care where she's going. Jail wouldn't do her any good. She's clearly lost her mind."
Vince nodded. "It appears so. If you'll excuse me, the paramedics seem ready to take Roxie away. I think I'll ride to the hospital with them."
Mr. Roberts nodded and Vince headed into the ambulance just as Roxie sat up. "Is it over now?"
"Yeah," Vince nodded. "The police took Franny away. They're going to institutionalize her. I guess this means you win the presidence automatically, doesn't it?"
Roxie nodded. "I guess so." She held out her hand and Vince helped her out of the ambulance and sent it away. "I wonder how I should celebrate?"
"Well, first thing's first, Madame President. Go tell your dad," Vince said. "He'll be happy to hear you won. And amused by the circumstances, I have no doubt."
"All right," Roxie nodded. "That's just what I'll do."
"Dad!" Roxie called when she got to his house. "Dad, it's Roxie! Are you here?" He didn't answer, but someone else did.
"Stop yelling," Mary Anne said. "He's on the phone. What do you want?"
Roxie frowned. "You can't talk to me like that! Where's my dad? I came by to tell him something."
"He's otherwise occupied at the moment," Mary Anne said. "Talking to your uncle on the phone. Your aunt seems to have disappeared. Apparently, no one's seen her for two whole days."
Roxie narrowed her eyes. "You sound like you know something about it. Do you?"
"Well, I was the last person to see her, but I didn't have anything to do with her being gone if that's what you're asking," Mary Anne said.
Roxie growled, grabbing Mary Anne by the throat and shoving her hard against the wall. "Bullshit," she breathed. "I know you're lying. I know that you know exactly what happened to Aunt Anna and either you tell me what that is, or I rip off your head and pull out all your guts. Take your pick."
Mary Anne just grinned. "Fine. Go ahead and rip off my head and pull out my guts. But that won't help you know what you want to know."
"You little bitch!" Roxie cried. She whammed Mary Anne's head against the wall until blood matted in the girl's dark hair. The noise brought Klaus to them.
"What is going on in here?" He barked. "I can hardly hear myself think!"
"She knows what happened to Aunt Anna," Roxie said, letting Mary Anne crumple to the floor. "She knows what happened to Aunt Anna, so what's the best way to make her talk?"
Klaus looked at Mary Anne's body and then back at Roxie. "What brings you here?" He asked.
"Well, originally I came to tell you that I won the school election," Roxie said. "I mean, it was pretty easy. When it looked like she was going to lose, Franny thought it would be a good idea to tell the whole school I was a vampire. Then she stabbed me. When I didn't get up, everyone began thinking she was crazy and then the police came, handcuffed her and now she's going to be spending many years in a rest home where she can be brought back to her senses." Roxie shrugged. "Oh, well; a victory's a victory." She paused. "So who all knows what happened to Aunt Anna?"
Klaus sighed. "Just me. Stefan called this morning and said he hadn't heard a thing from her for two days. And Mary Anne told me that Mikael showed up asking questions about your mother, and-"
"Do you want me to go tell Mom and Uncle Elijah?" Roxie asked quietly. "So they can leave and find a safer place to live?"
"Would you?" Klaus nodded. "Thank you. I think we all need a safter place to live now."
"You want to leave too?" Roxie asked.
Klaus nodded. "Eventually. But not until I find my sister."
"Niklaus, what's happened?" Elijah asked when he opened the front door and saw Stefan and Klaus on the other side.
"Anna's missing," Stefan said. "She left two days ago and I haven't seen her since."
Elijah's eyes widened. "What? Are you lying?"
Stefan shook his head. "No, why would I lie? Why would I make something like that up?"
"Well, where have you looked?" Elijah asked. "Anywhere? Do you have any leads at all?"
Klaus shook his head. "Not exactly."
"I'll come with you," Elijah said. "Clearly that's the only way anything will get done!" He grabbed his coat and prepared to follow them out the door when Klaus said, "No, you can't come with us. Because there's something else you should know. In fact, it's the whole reason why we came over here."
"What?" Elijah asked.
"Mary Anne told me that Mikael came to the house looking for Selina the day Anna disappeared," Klaus said. "He sent Anna on her way and when Mary Anne wouldn't give him any information on Selina's wereabouts, he tortured her and then left her bleeding on my kitchen floor. Of course she wasn't really badly hurt; she was still able to leave the house afterward and come and find me, but she was bleeding quite a bit."
"So Father's looking for Selina," Elijah said. "In that case, it might be best if I find a place for Lucy and Selina to stay and let the two of you search for Anna. Selina is strong, but she wouldn't last long on her own if Father came for her. But will you let me know when you find anything? Please?"
Stefan nodded. "Of course."
"What's going on?" Selina asked, leading Lucy along behind her. "Why is everything crowding in the doorway? We have a living room and chairs. Wouldn't that be more comfortable?"
"They won't be here for long, Selina," Elijah said. "They just came to tell us that Anna's gone missing and Father's looking for you again."
"He is?" Selina's jaw dropped. "But why? I haven't done anything bad!"
"Perhaps it was the killing of the couple on the boat that gave you away," Stefan said. "That was a bit too close to your usual M.O., wasn't it?"
Selina sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Looking back, I probably didn't do the wisest thing when I ended that couple's life. And now I'm paying for it big time."
Lucy dropped her hand from Selina's and went to hug her father. "Perhaps," Klaus said. "But there's a very simple solution: you just need to move to a new place. I'm sure there are several perfectly lovely empty but fully furnished houses around here. Or maybe the farther away you go the better."
Selina nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's the only way. But what about Anna?"
"We're going to find her," Klaus said. "Stefan and I. But we'll keep you updated on our progress, I promise."
Selina sighed. "Well, all right," she said. "I suppose if it's the only way for all of us to stay safe, we'll have to move."
"Now remind me why you're doing this again?" Damon asked.
Klaus said Mikael came to his house the other day, asking for me, which means he's close by," Selina said. "And based on the fact that he still thinks of me as Lonely Heart, even though I haven't been that vengeful in over a century, if he gets his hands on me, I'm worse than dead, so after a long talk, Elijah and I decided that the best thing to do would be to move somewhere else, away from here." She looked down at Sam who was hugging her tightly.
"Now believe me, I don't want to, but it's what's best." She ran her fingers through Sam's hair. "Better he have a mother who's absent for a few years than a mother who's dead." She looked up at him. "Unless you'd be willing to let me take him, just for a little while."
Damon shook his head. "Sorry, but I don't know if I'm comfortable with that. A guy is trying to kill you. What if he catches up to you again and decides to use Sam as bait to lure you out? No, I'm sorry, but I would just feel better if he stayed here with me." He looked over at Lucy who was eating a cookie and watching them with interest. "Although if you were worried about Lucy as well, I wouldn't mind taking the both of them. It's something that Mikael would never suspect."
Selina sighed. "A good thought, really. But I don't think Elijah would allow it. He'd miss her too much. So the best thing to do is stay with the status quo. I promise I'll call every night, though."
She kissed Sam on the forehead and hugged him hard. "Goodbye, Sammy. Mommy loves you very much and I know we'll see each other again some day soon, I promise we will. When she was finally able to let him go and put him in Damon's lap, she held her hand out to Lucy. "We have to go now, honey."
"We go?" Lucy asked. "No!" She grabbed the back of Damon's chair and refused to let go. When Selina grabbed hold of her feet and tugged, she only grabbed tighter.
"Lucy, you have to go be with your mommy," Damon said. "We'll see each other again, I promise."
"Yeah," Selina said. "He'll call you just like I'm gonna call Sam. If you don't come with me, you could get hurt. Do you want to get hurt?"
Lucy pouted. "No."
"All right," Selina said. "Then come out to the car with me. I think I just heard Uncle Elijah pull up."
"Take care of yourself," Damon said. Selina nodded and she and Lucy left the house. Sam and Damon watched them go from out the window, and that was the last they saw of them for four years.
"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" Selina said, coming into Lucy's room and opening her curtains to let the sun shine in. "It's your first day of kindergarten and you want to start things out the right way." She looked down and saw to her surprise that Lucy's bed was already empty. "Lucy?" She called. "Where'd you go?"
"I'm in the potty," Lucy said. "Brushing my teef." She poked her head out. "Good morning, Mommy."
"Good morning," Selina said, surprised. "Well, keep up the good work. Do you want me to lay out some clothes for you?"
Lucy nodded. "My purple dress, please."
Selina went into Lucy's closet and put her purple dress on the bed, along with shoes and socks. "There you go. See you downstairs in a few minutes."
"All right," Lucy said.
Selina went downstairs and found that Elijah was waiting for her at the bottom looking smug. "So, that didn't take very long at all," he said. "She was already up, wasn't she? I told you, not everyone is as difficult in the morning as you are."
"Yes," Selina said, looking disappointed. " She was up. And I had a whole inspirational speech ready and everything in case she wasn't."
"Oh, yes?" Elijah asked, following her to the kitchen table. "What sort of speech?"
" Basically the same one you give me when I don't want to get out of bed in the morning," Selina said. "Although that's mainly because of you."
Elijah grinned. "Guilty as charged."
When Lucy arrived downstairs, they ate breakfast and then Selina and Lucy went out to the car to go and pick up Sam.
"Ready for kindergarten?" Selina asked him. He just shrugged and went to sit beside Lucy. Sighing, Selina drove away and when they reached school, Lucy let Selina take her to her teacher, but Sam darted away before she even had a chance to grab his hand.
When Selina got back home, she was surprised to see a car in the driveway that wasn't usually there: Adrian's white truck. She parked in the garage and ran inside. "Well, this is a surprise," she said when she saw Adrian and his daughter Lenora sitting on the sofa. She had blonde hair and Helene's dark eyes. "What brings the two of you here?"
"Lucy and Sam's first day of kindergarten," Adrian said. "I just wanted to make sure you were still in one piece."
Selina nodded. "Yeah, I'm all right." She sat down next to him and Lenora reached for her.
"Could I watch her today?" Selina asked him. "It would be nice to have something to do with myself all day."
"All right," Adrian nodded. "But just be careful. She's beginning to be all magical. I've only just recently recovered from the latest of several incidents."
"What happened?" Selina asked.
Lenora smiled. "Daddy was a birdy!"
Selina tried not to laugh. "She turned you into a bird?"
Adrian nodded. "Yeah, one of those talking ones. I couldn't hold a civilized conversation for days, even after I was back in human form. I just kept repeating anything people said to me." He shuddered.
Selina looked down at the little girl who had just referred to Adrian as 'Daddy'. That was strange to hear, but she was almost used to it now. "So how's Helene?"
Adrian nodded. "She's all right. I'm glad she's able to do magic right now. And that she decided to make Lenora's werewolf side dormant. We had to pick one of the three to supress. I don't think I could last if Lenora was everything at once."
"Well, she seems all right to me," Selina said. "You know, Lucy wants to see her again. Says she has a present for her."
"I'm so glad the two of them get along so well," Adrian said. "To tell you the truth, I was nervous about that."
"You thought it would be Roxie vs. Lucy part two?" Selina asked.
"Well, no," Adrian said, "Nothing that bad. But a little jealousy is natural, you know? Lucky for me, Lucy likes her, Rusty likes her, so far, we've had no problems." He stood up. "We'll I'll leave you two to your fun time and be on my way."
"Bye-bye!" Lenora said.
"Bye, Adrian!" Selina said. He saluted them and left. Then, Selina turned to Lenora. "So, what are we going to do today?"
"All right," Damon said to Lucy. "What's the matter with you? Your teacher says you caused lots of trouble. That's not like you." He'd gotten the call to come pick her up when Selina hadn't answered the phone. He was Lucy's other phone contact besides Selina.
Lucy didn't meet Damon's eyes. "I hate kindergarten," she said. "I want to quit."
"You can't quit kindergarten," Damon said.
"Why not?" Lucy asked. "It's boring! The only books they have there say stuff like 'This is a dog. The dog eats bones. He likes playing with a ball'." She rolled her eyes. "It might be okay for people like Sam, but I need more!"
Damon shut his eyes. "I'm the last person who should be telling you this, but you can't quit something just because you don't like it."
"You did," Lucy said. "You quit the army."
"Me quitting the army is different than you quitting kindergarten," Damon said. "I was forced into the army by my father and I left because I didn't want to leave your mother alone. The army was optional. School isn't, all right? After they let you come back to school again, you have to promise me that you'll work your hardest even though you don't like it, all right? I mean, you don't want Sam to do better in school than you just because you're stubborn, do you?"
"No!" Lucy said, looking horrified. "I'll be better, I promise!"
When Selina came to visit Sam the following weekend, he took one look at her, scowled and went to sit at the kitchen table.
"Sammy, are you all right?" Selina asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I don't want to talk to you," he said. "I don't like you very much."
She sat down next to him. "I know I haven't talked to you all that much the last few years, but I was in trouble. I couldn't come here and see you. It would have been dangerous for me."
"But Lucy got to see you," he said. "Lucy alwaysgets to see you." Now he looked at her. "How come she sees you more than me? Do you love her more?"
Selina shook her head. "Of course not!"
He stood up. "Yes, you do! You like her 'cause she's faster and stronger and smarter than me. I'm just a loser! Even Daddy likes her better!" Lip trembling, he ran to his room. Selina ran after him.
"Sammy, stop! I do notlove Lucy more than you. I love you both the same. I can't explain to you why you live with your daddy instead of with me because it's complicated, but it's definitely not because I love Lucy more."
"What's going on?" Damon asked. "What's all the shouting about?"
Selina sighed. "Sam thinks that the reason why he didn't grow up with me is because I didn't love him."
"Oh, that's not true," Damon said to Sam. "When you were a baby, she wanted you to come and live with her, but I decided that I wanted you to live with me instead because otherwise I would be lonely. Don't blame your mother, blame me."
"You made me not be with Mommy?" Sam asked.
Damon nodded. "Yes."
Sam's lip trembled. "I hate both of you!" He said and ran off. Damon got up to follow him, but Selina put a restraining hand on his arm. "Let him go," she said. "He's just upset. He needs to calm down. Then he'll talk to us."
But when he didn't come back after an hour and a half, Selina gave up and went home.
Elijah came home and found Selina on the sofa watching television and eating a carton of ice cream that was almost empty. "Have you eaten that all in one sitting?" He asked.
She nodded. "Yeah, but I've had a shitty day, so I'm entitled."
He went to sit next to her, looking down into the carton. "How is that supposed to help, if you don't mind my asking?"
"It's yummy," she said. "Do I need another reason to eat ice cream?"
He looked at the carton she held and went into the kitchen where he found three more empty containers in the trash. "My god," he said. "Just what happened to you today?"
She put the ice cream down on an end table and sighed. Elijah cleared his throat and she rolled her eyes and grabbed a coaster to stick under the carton. "I went and saw Sam today," she said. "For the first time since we left. And apparently, he's decided he doesn't like me anymore. He thinks that because the living arrangements just happen to give Lucy more time with me, I like her better, but I don't. What should I do? Should I push or just leave him alone until he's ready to talk to me? What would you do?"
"Well, I wouldn't give up on him," Elijah said. "If what he wants most is attention from you, then pulling away to give him space will just make things worse. Try again in a couple of days. Maybe he'll have calmed down by then."
Selina ran her hand over his leg and stood up. "I'm tired," she said. "I think I'll take a bath and then go to sleep. I don't see what more I can do."
Elijah nodded. "All right. If you need help with anything, just let me know."
When he finally went upstairs, he found her in her pajamas with the covers up to her chin. She was staring blankly at a wall across from the bed. "Are you okay?" He asked.
"I was just thinking how quiet the house is gonna be now with Lucy gone at school all day," she said. "It's gonna be so weird. I'm gonna need some way to occupy my time."
"Well, you could always visit with your friends, or get a hobby, or-"
"That's not what I meant," Selina said. "I meant to say that since Lucy is at school all day now, and I'm home by myself, maybe it's time to think about having a baby. What do you think about that?" She asked, looking at him appealingly.
