When the group got up to the second level of the house, they went into the first room they saw and plunked Selina down on the bed. Amelia tucked her in and then turned to the rest of the group. "Who wants to stay here with her in case she wakes up?" She asked. "I really don't want to leave her on her own."
"I will," Michael and Damon said at the same time. Amelia shook her head. "It's nice that the two of you want to be helpful, but I don't think it's the best idea." She looked at her husband. "Matthew, would you mind?"
Matthew shook his head. "Of course not."
"What are the rest of us going to do, Aunt Amelia?" Michael asked. "Just sit and twiddle our thumbs until Selina gets better?"
"No," Amelia said, putting one hand in the center of his back and the other in the center of Damon's. "The two of you are going to go somewhere quiet and talk. You, Michael, are going to tell him what you told me about what happened when Selina was six, and for God's sake I hope that helps end all this foolishness between the two of you."
Damon and Michael glared at one another. "Fine," Damon said at last. "I'll go with him and we'll chat. But I doubt it will do any good."
Amelia looked at Elena. "Would you mind watching them while they talk to make sure they don't kill each other?"
Elena nodded. "Sure, Amelia." She followed Damon and Michael out the door. Then, Matthew put a hand on Amelia's shoulder. "Are you going to be all right?" He asked her.
Amelia went over to the bed and looked at Selina's still body, reaching out to move a lock of black hair out of her eyes. As her fingers touched Selina's forehead, Selina gasped and opened her eyes.
"What's going on?" She asked. "What happened?"
"You were hurt," Amelia said.
"I know," Selina replied, sitting up slowly and rubbing her head. "You know, you hit very hard."
"I'm sorry," Amelia said, sitting down next to her and giving her a hug. "But I just couldn't stand seeing you like that anymore. It was just pure dumb luck that it brought your memory back."
"Where's Damon?" Selina asked. "And what's Michael doing here?"
"Elijah wanted Michael to come aid in the fight against Klaus," Amelia said. "He figured it would be useful to have someone around who cared about you so much that he'd fight to the death for you. And Damon is with Michael and the two of them are having a frank discussion about why Michael is so protective of you."
"Are you sure it's a good idea to leave the two of them in a room together?" Selina asked. "You know how they are."
Amelia nodded. "That's why Elena's with them, to stop any potential trouble. Listen, before we went and saw Elijah, I went to the house to get Michael and he told me an interesting story. He said that when you were six and Jim tried to hurt you, you attacked him. Do you remember that?"
Selina gasped. "No, I don't. I remember Jim trying to carry me back to the slave quarters, but then nothing." She gasped. "Except that it was a full moon that night. Michael may be on to something."
"Don't worry about it," Amelia said quickly. "It happened so long ago that there's nothing that can be done now. I only asked because I was curious about what actually happened."
"All right," Selina nodded. "Sorry I can't tell you much."
"Are you really all right?" Matthew asked. "What's the last thing you remember before you woke up on the floor?"
"I was in the car with Andria and Elena, and then a song came on the radio. After that, the rest is blank. What happened?"
"Well," Amelia said, "For one thing, you tried to hand Elena over to Klaus. You've been his puppet since the accident. He took advantage of the fact that you had no memory of who you really were to try and get into your good graces so you'd help him fulfill his dream of overrunning the world with a bunch of vampire-werewolf hybrids."
Selina's eyes widened. "That doesn't sound good. At least I got my memory back before we did any actual procreating." She grabbed her mother's arm. "How angry do you think it's going to make him that I have my memory back? Is Klaus here right now? Should I fake still having amnesia so he won't get mad and kill people?"
"Calm down," Amelia ordered. "He's not here right now; I brought Mason, George and Jacob with me and I think they might have taken him away, at least for right now. That will give us time to think of a plan to keep him away from you and destroy him."
Just then, there was a sharp rap on the door. "Come in," Amelia called. Elijah entered. Seeing Selina awake, he strode toward the bed. "So glad to see you're up," he said. "Do you need to be updated on what conspired while you were on your mental vacation?"
Selina glared at him. "I would hardly call it a vacation," she said. "Your brother messed with my mind and tried to cozy up to me. I'm just lucky I didn't sleep with him!"
"Technically, he didn't mess with your mind," Damon said, peeking in the room. "He just took advantage of the fact that you didn't know any better and told you what he needed you to hear."
Selina rolled her eyes. "Wonderful." She looked at her mother. "May I get out of bed now?"
"In a bit," Amelia said. She looked at Damon. "Did you and Michael have a nice talk?"
"I learned some things," Damon admitted.
"Uh-huh," Amelia nodded. "I suppose it would be too much to ask for the two of you to become friends?"
"That'll never happen, Mama." Selina said. "But it wouldn't be too much to ask them to be civil." She looked at Damon. "Would it?"
Damon blinked and strode over to stand by her. "No," he said after a moment. "I guess it wouldn't." He paused and turned back to Amelia. "Could we have a few minutes alone? Selina and me, I mean."
"Of course," Amelia nodded and stood up. Elijah watched them for a moment before following Amelia toward the door. "Come downstairs after you're done," Elijah said. "We need to discuss our next course of action."
He closed the door behind him and Damon got down on his knees next to Selina's bed and took her hand. "Are you sure you're back to normal?" He asked.
"Yes," Selina nodded earnestly. "My name is Selina Amelia Elizabeth Warren. I was born on October 31st, 1846. Daddy was presumed dead by the family for years but was actually turned into a vampire by a woman named Lucy after becoming ill on the battlefield. He came to visit me every year, but he and Doctor Stensrund wiped my memory of the visits so I wouldn't scare my mother." She paused. "Why do you think I have trouble remembering those visits?" Selina asked. "Usually when a person becomes a vampire, they remember things they were compelled to forget."
Damon shrugged, touching the back of her hand lightly to his lips. "I don't know," he said. "Maybe it's because kids don't remember stuff from when they were real little anyway, even without compulsion."
Selina nodded. "Could be. Did I say anything to you while I was under Klaus' control that I might regret later?"
"It wasn't anything too bad," Damon said, standing back up and stretching out his arms. "He just told you that you two were married, and then you saw your real life story and assumed you'd made it all up to fit in better here, and that I was just some guy you slept with on the side."
"Ah," Selina nodded. "I bet that made you feel really good."
"Not really," Damon said earnestly. He held out his hand. "I'm just glad to have you back, sweetheart. Want me to help you come downstairs so we can make our plan of attack?"
Selina smiled and took his hand. He grabbed her around the waist and picked her up. "You don't have to do this," Selina protested. "I can walk." Then she noticed his arm muscles and grinned. "But if you want to carry me down the stairs, I won't try and stop you."
Damon grinned back, knowing perfectly well the reason for her sudden change in attitude. "You know, I think that's the first time you've ever said that to me. You should be hit on the head more often."
"That's friendly," Selina said as he carried her down the stairs. "Don't you dare drop me. Or I'm going to hurt you." They reached the landing without a hitch and he set her down and took her hand, leading her into the living room.
"So where are we going to start?" Selina asked. "Do we have any idea where Klaus went? Or was taken? Or whatever?"
Elijah looked at Amelia. "I believe you can answer that."
"Yes," Amelia nodded. "The boys have him: George, Mason and Jacob were watching the house in case he tried to pull something and take you away. It's the perfect plan; I mean it's not like he can kill them or anything. And what could be worse?"
In the woods behind the house, the same woods where Selina had supposedly spent her first weeks of vampirism (she hadn't), George, Mason and Jacob were backed up against a tree, their muscles all tense, watching Klaus.
"What do the three of you think you can do to me?" He asked. "I'm invincible. I can't be killed. And even if you could kill me, what would it do for you, really?" He began to circle the three of them. They stood quiet. "Well," Klaus got out. "Aren't you going to answer the question? What good would killing me do you?"
"It would keep you away from my niece," Jacob finally got out.
"Ah, yes," Klaus said. "Your niece; the beautiful Selina. What do you think she's doing right now?"
"Probably conspiring to get rid of you," George said.
"But why would she want to get rid of me?" Klaus asked coming so close to George that their chests were touching. "She's my wife; she loves me." He paused. "There's something you aren't telling me, is there?" He asked.
"Like what?" Mason spat. "What would we possibly want to tell you?"
Klaus grabbed his chin. "You've known her, haven't you?" He asked, shoving Mason backward into the tree. "You've reveled in her touch, looked on her body. But why? You are her cousin."
Mason managed to pull himself up and began coughing. "It wasn't real," he said when he could speak. "It was because of Michael. He was concerned about Selina's welfare when it came to dealing with the men of this town, so when it was discovered that he'd become a vampire and the townsfolk were coming to seal him away under the church, he went to see Emily Bennett, a witch, and asked her for a spell that would assure him that his family would watch over Selina always."
"And did it come to anything?" Klaus asked.
"I don't know," Mason said quickly. Klaus gave him a good hard slap. "Don't lie to me," he said. "Did the spell the witch cast come to anything?"
Mason glared at him for a moment before saying, "Yes. One Lockwood from every generation after Michael's was born with an unnatural longing for Selina. Lots of times, that longing went unsatisfied, but I was one of the lucky ones. I found her."
"And do you still want her?" Klaus asked. "Do you still feel that irresistible urge to get hold of her, take her off somewhere and have your way with her?"
Mason said nothing.
A slow grin spread over Klaus' face. "You do, don't you? I could arrange it."
George and Jacob put hands on Mason's shoulders and tried to pull him away. But Mason wouldn't budge. "Could you really do that?" He asked.
"Oh, yes." Klaus said. "But first, you have to tell me something: What would happen if Selina were to be bitten by a werewolf on a full moon?"
George and Jacob did their best to stop Mason from speaking, but he pushed them away. "She would become human," he said. "I know; I did it once."
Klaus' eyebrow rose. "Did you really?"
"Yeah," Mason nodded. "And it worked pretty darn well until certain people got in the way and wrecked everything."
"Well, well," Klaus said. "You can come with me. We have much to discuss. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
"So what exactly is it that you want me to do now that I have my memory back?" Selina asked.
Elijah turned to gaze at her. "The best thing for you to do now is pretend nothing has changed; go back to my brother as the wicked and adoring Solana. Perhaps he will tell you how he plans to carry out the sacrifice. And that is information we need."
Selina sat down on the couch. "So I went through all hell to get my memory back and now I don't even get to do anything with it?"
Elijah shook his head. "It would be too dangerous for you to let on that you're no longer as easy for Klaus to manipulate as you once were. He could become angered, and if he goes anywhere near you when angered, then that could be the end of you, in spite of what he needs you for."
"Oh, all right," Selina sighed. "I'll go back to your brother acting the role of the ignorant submissive in hopes that he'll tell me what the plan for the sacrifice is."
Elijah nodded. "Good. This is too important. Don't do anything to screw it up."
Selina turned on her heel and headed out of Elijah's study. "I won't do anything out of step, I promise." She closed the study door and found Elena standing on the other side, her arms crossed and grinning. "You're going to screw it up, aren't you?"
Selina shrugged. "I can't help it; it's just the way I am."
As soon as she went on her way, there was another knock on the study door. Elijah looked up as Stella entered the room. "You haven't seen Andria, have you?" She asked. "I haven't heard a peep out of her all day and I can't find her anywhere."
Selina was waiting in their room at Doctor Stensrund's when she heard the knock on the door. Grinning, she stood up and went to answer the door. She opened it and found both Klaus and Alistair standing on the other side.
"Hello," she said calmly. "I was wondering when the two of you would be coming back. The anniversary party didn't exactly go off without a hitch, did it?"
"It went much better than you would think," Klaus said. "They thought they would be able to get ahead of us by killing Alistair, but because of that spell he has on him, the only being who can kill him is me."
"Is that so?" Selina asked.
"Yes," Klaus nodded, leaning in to kiss her.
"What happens now?" She asked as they pulled apart.
"Now, we ready ourselves for the sacrifice," Alistair said. "The next full moon is only a couple of days away, you know."
"Oh?" Selina said, trying to sound nonchalant. "I had no idea. Now just what do we have to do to get ready for the sacrifice? Do you need me to go get Elena for you?"
"It would be so nice if you would," Klaus nodded. "We need her to be the vampire I kill."
"Wait, just a minute!" she burst out. "If Elena is the vampire, then who the hell are you planning to use for the doppelganger? Whose blood are you going to take?"
"Yours," Klaus said calmly. "Don't worry, darling. It'll only take a minute, and be virtually painless. I'll make it quick, I promise."
"Hate to break it to you," Selina said, a slow smile curling her lips. "But I'm a vampire; you can't drink from me."
"I believe I can," Klaus said. "A friend of mine told me all about it." He got up and left the room, returning a minute later with Mason, fully in body, trailing behind him. "I believe the two of you know each other."
"Mason!" Selina said, nearly falling over. "What are you doing here?"
"Righting what's wrong," he said. "I tried once before and failed. I won't make that mistake again."
"Mason, stop being ridiculous," Selina said. "You can't still have "feelings" for me. Tyler got over it, why can't you?"
Mason frowned. "Has it ever occurred to you that I might not want to be over it?" He snapped.
"Why do you want to spend the rest of your new life pursuing someone who doesn't even want you?" She asked. "You know who I want to be with forever. That isn't going to change, no matter what you do to Damon."
"What?" Klaus burst out and Selina turned. "Yes," she said defiantly. "I have my memory back. I won't be your puppet anymore."
"Hate to break it to you," Alistair said. "But we weren't planning on doing anything to Damon. It's Elena we're interested in, remember?"
"Yes, I remember," Selina said, glaring at him. "If you're trying to scare me, you're doing a horrible job. I've been through this 'get-bitten-by-a-werewolf-and-turn-human' thing more than once. It's practically routine for me by now."
"Good," Klaus said, smiling and coming up behind her, putting his arms around her waist and his lips very near her neck. "Then we won't have any trouble, will we?" He pulled back a little and sighed in anticipation. "Just think, Selina: The two of us forever, taking what we want, worshipped and feared by weaker souls. Would that be so bad?"
"Add in your using me to help stroke your male ego by forcing me to give birth to a bunch of vampire-werewolf hybrids, yes," Selina said. "That will be horrible. And I won't do it." She made a move to slap him, but he grabbed her wrist with one hand and her waist with the other and pulled her to him, sinking his fangs into her neck. She let out a scream and then he let her flop backward, placing her on the bed. Her eyes opened just barely and she moaned. "You don't have a choice," Klaus said. He turned to Mason. "Take care of her, will you?" he asked. "Don't let her out of your sight for the next two days."
That night, Alistair was awakened by a sudden knock at his bedroom door. He got up to open it. His eyes widened at the sight of Andria standing on the other side. "Can we talk?" She asked.
Alistair rubbed his eyes and turned the light on, leading her inside. "How did you get here?" he asked.
"I had to sneak away from my parents and then I jimmied the lock of the front door open with a hairpin," Andria said.
"And why are you here?" Alistair asked. "To apologize for standing me up at the party?"
"My parents found out and they wouldn't let me leave," Andria said. "I wanted to come, trust me. Anyway, that's not what I came about. I need to talk to Klaus and I was hoping you might help me see him."
Alistair frowned. "What do you need to talk to him about?"
"Well," Andria said, "Two of our guys came back today and told Elijah how Klaus plans to use Elena as the vampire in the sacrifice and I was wondering if he might consider using me instead."
"You?" Alistair said, looking shocked. "What on earth would cause you to make such an offer?"
"Elena is Selina's best friend," Andria said. "And it would pain them both to be one without the other. If you use me, Klaus gets his vampire and Elena and Selina still get each other."
"It's a nice thought," Alistair said. "And very touching. But I think it would be best if you went home."
"Look," Andria said. "I was turned by Katerina Petrova. Would that change anything?"
Alistair's eyes widened again. "You were? I had no idea. That fact alone could make trade possible." He stood up and took her hand. "Come with me and we'll see."
Two days later, it was time. Everyone was ready. Elijah had met with George and Jacob and gotten the full account of Klaus' plan for the sacrifice. When he heard what was going to happen, Damon had to be locked in his room with Stefan as guard to stop him from doing anything foolish.
"Don't worry," Stefan said as Damon paced. "It won't turn out so bad. You know he isn't going to kill Selina."
Damon stopped pacing and turned to face him. "You're awfully calm about this," he said. "Aren't you worried about Elena and what Klaus is going to do to her?"
"I don't have any reason to be worried about Elena," Stefan said. "Elijah got a note from Alistair saying that Klaus doesn't want to use her in the ritual; that they'd gotten someone else instead. But even if that hadn't happened, I trust Elena's judgment about this. I trust that she can make the right decision."
Damon groaned and turned to face his brother. "I can't take much more of this!" He said. "I'm going to lose my mind before this is all over."
"Klaus needs Selina," Stefan said. "He wouldn't kill her permanently. The worst that could happen is that you end up with a wife who's a vampire-werewolf hybrid. That's better than her being dead, right?"
Damon sat down hard on the bed. "You're right," he said. "But I still don't like this. I don't like this at all."
"Is it time to go?" Selina asked Klaus.
He looked at her for a moment, at the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. "Don't look so down," he said. "After this is all over, you'll be happy as never before." He opened the front door. Squaring her shoulders, Selina headed out the front door and got into the car.
They drove to a field that was just outside of the town. "Oh, look," Klaus said. "Everyone else is here. Alistair did a wonderful job getting this prepared, didn't he?" Klaus parked the car and pulled Selina out, dragging her along behind him. "We're here," he announced to Alistair. "How much longer to we have?"
Alistair looked up at the sky. "Another hour, I'd say."
"Isn't that nice?" Klaus asked. Selina glared at him and removed her jacket. She was wearing a low cut white dress with capped sleeves. "You're so beautiful," Klaus said. "Just like the sacrificial would-be virgin you are."
"Gee, thanks," Selina said dryly. She looked over and gasped as she noticed the other person there. "Andria," she breathed. She grabbed Alistair by the collar. "What the hell is she doing here? You weren't supposed to sacrifice her!"
"She made a deal," Alistair said. "Her life for Elena's. She apparently thought that you'd be happier if you came back from this and Elena wasn't dead, so she came to us two nights ago and offered to take Elena's place." He grimaced.
Selina glared at him for a moment before striding over to where Andria stood. She punched her on the shoulder. "Are you out of your freaking mind?" She whispered angrily. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Don't pester me about this," Andria said, her causing Selina to start. "It's my decision and nothing is going to change my mind."
"Do your parents know you're doing this?" Selina asked. "What about your mother? Stella was a bad enough wreck when she thought you were dead before. When she finds out you're actually dead, she might just get upset enough to end it all."
Andria's face was expressionless. "Then it won't be long before we meet again, will it?"
As the moon rose, Selina shut her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to control her sudden urge to kill everyone in sight. Alistair chanted and two rings of fire appeared. Andria stood in one. The other remained empty. "Who's supposed to be in that one?" Selina whispered.
"Our werewolf," Alistair said. "You'll see him in a minute." All of a sudden, Selina heard the deep, guttural growl that never failed to chill her to the bone. She turned and saw the wolf stand before her. "Mason," she breathed. She got down on her knees. "Go ahead," she told him. "I'm not going to fight you."
The wolf cocked his head and did nothing. Klaus came up behind her, holding a stone that supposedly helped with werewolf transformations. "Come on, Selina. Challenge him a little. For the hunter, there's nothing more thrilling then when the prey runs." He pulled her up and plunged a small stake into her back. "Run," he said. "If you don't want another one." He paused. "But wait," he said. "We still have to do one more thing. Slowly, he put his lips to her neck and bit down. As he drank, she screamed. Then, he let her go, handing her a silver knife. "Here's something to fight back with."
She ran and the wolf gave chase. Just as they were about to head into a nearby patch of trees, the wolf sprung and pinned Selina to the ground. Once again, drool was dripping down his chin. Selina plunged the knife into his side, wounding him, but he was still able to sink his fangs into her. As she breathed her temporary last, Alistair, still chanting, grabbed Mason and threw him into the other circle. Klaus stabbed him with Selina's silver knife and he fell, dead.
Then, Alstair pulled a stake from the pocket of his coat and plunged it into Andria's heart, his face barely changing as she screamed. Then, once she was silent, the realization of what he'd just done hit him. He looked at Andria's still body, turned and ran out of the clearing.
Just as Klaus' transformation was coming to a head, he was suddenly knocked to the ground. He looked up, shocked. "Elijah," he whispered.
"Hello, brother," Elijah replied. Before Klaus could say another word, Elijah produced the white ash dagger and plunged it into his brother's chest. Klaus was still. When Elijah was sure that his brother was no longer alive, he got up and hurried to Selina's side. Her eyes were closed, but she was breathing again. He opened one eye. It looked strange. He cut his wrist and let blood drip into her mouth, breathing a sigh of relief as her fangs began to lengthen. He pulled her up to a sitting position and her eyes opened. "How do you feel?" He asked. Selina eyed him. "Better than I have in a long time," she said.
