I had given away way, way too much.

I knew this, and groaned inwardly as I brushed my teeth the next morning.

I had gone over every detail of yesterday, and realized trying to 'empathize', or whatever it was I had been thinking of doing at the time, with a homicidal vampire probably only inflamed the situation.

And I knew from experience, that when you tried to be nice to Damon he would only prove how mean he could be in retaliation. So Stefan probably wasn't much different.

I really needed to grow a backbone. I needed to take a page out of the Salvatore handbook and just not feel any emotions at all. Or, at least, try my best to hide them.

And, also, I needed to find a subtle way of telling Damon that maybe we didn't have to kill Klaus and that using all the things he had done or the fact that we hated him as an excuse, didn't really mean killing was okay, and that really we should just be the better people and not try and start a fight with the most powerful vampire on earth.

But subtlety wasn't really my strong point.

I also really needed to clean the house, seeing as in my absence everyone had obviously thought the house would clean itself.

'Welcome home, Rayna. Here's the hoover. Have fun, now!'

I bent over the sink and spat out the toothpaste before rinsing my mouth, gurgling the water like a four year old and spitting it out. I tied my hair into a bun, and took a deep breath. Elena, Jeremy and Ric were going to the history lights-thing which I would have loved to have gone to, but I was the only real adult around here, so it was up to me to clean the house.

I ran downstairs and got to work on the entire house. There were even dishes in the sink which hadn't been washed since God knew when. I didn't mind much, though. It was sort of therapeutic.

And I needed all the mental help I could get.

I still hadn't found where my vervain bracelet had gotten to, so staying in the house also made me feel a lot safer. I knew that sooner or later I would receive a call from one of my supernatural friends to tell me that another crisis was occurring. So, I worked as fast as I could, vacuum-ing, polishing, dusting, wiping, scraping, mopping, washing, etc.

Until I heard my phone ringing.

I dropped the dirty plate into the sink and gingerly took off my gloves before washing my hands and running to my phone as fast as humanly possible.

Bonnie was calling me. I picked up, having already forgiven her for ditching me at the Bonfire after she had explained her reasoning to me last night. "Hello, Bonita."

"Ray, we have a problem."

"Hit me."

"I'm in the old witches house with Care, and," she sighed, "long story short," dramatic pause, "my Grams is here with me."

I sighed. "Of course she is, Bonnie. She'll always be with you. Just like my parents will always be with me. Right here." I said, putting my hand on my heart as though she could see it.

"No, I mean she is literally here."

I was about to question her sanity, or the whether the witch herbs she sometimes used were actually 'witch herbs' and not something my brother had given her, when a voice cut me off. "Hello, Rayna."

My eyes widened. "Aunt-ty S-Sheila?" I stuttered, using the name I had called Bonnie's Grams since I was a child.

"It's me." she said in her wise, old voice.

I swallowed, "Bonnie, what have you done?"

I probably shouldn't have been shocked, but, could you blame me? Vampires, witches, 'Prophets', werewolves and now ghosts, too? What else existed? Was I going to run into a demi— God anytime soon?

Then again, if it was Logan Lerman I wouldn't really mind.

Bonnie explained to me that the veil to the Other Side had been broken, at that spirits with unfinished business could be seen, touched and heard. After ending the call, I couldn't help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, my parents would come back as spirits too. They weren't supernatural, but... Well, in a town like this, I reasoned, it was more than likely that they were.

At least, that's what I hoped.

I was brought back to the present when my phone began ringing again.

Stefan.

"What do you want?" I asked agitatedly. I had to go help Bonnie. Now was not the time to be dealing with him too.

"Wow, you've changed. I remember you being much nicer."

"Lexi?!" I gaped. Of course. The one time Stefan has no emotions his best friend is brought back from the other side.

But I was happy to hear her voice again.

"The one and only." I could hear her smile. "I'm here to help Stefan turn on his humanity again. You in?"

I bit my lip.

Do I help Bonnie, or do I help Stefan?

Well, to help Bonnie would be like helping her save the world. But to help Stefan would ultimately save many lives. "Yeah." I said, feeling guilty immediately.

"Good. We'll be at the Lockwood cellar." With that, she ended the call.

I left the house but frowned slightly, realizing that Elena had obviously taken the car— leaving me with only one option. I had to walk.

I untied my hair and got my phone out and plugged in my earphones so I could at least have some form of entertainment on my way there. Although it was a small town, the roads were small and winding, so it took a lot longer to get to places on foot.

It was already beginning to get dark, and I realised that I must have spent hours cleaning the house— and I hadn't even started upstairs yet. I didn't even want to know what dirty washing was in Jeremy's room... No. My siblings would just have to do their own washing for a change. I wondered how Elena always had such neat things— considering she never did any housework.

I continued to walk and quietly hummed along to my music, but felt a cold chill run through me. I stopped walking, and looked around. The street was dark, quiet, and empty. So I turned back and continued to walk, keeping my headphones in but turning the music off, listening to my surroundings.

Something wasn't right...

I took out my earphones and wrapped them around my phone slowly as I looked at the pavement. I could vaguely make out my own shadow as I walked, and put my phone in my pocket.

I turned the corner, and walked straight into someone.

Hands steadied me by my shoulders.

I looked up into a pair of unfamiliar yet cold dark eyes. "Hello," the man said, grinning from ear to ear, not letting go of me.

I tried to shrug him off, but his grip on me was firm. "Look," I said, glaring at this stranger who thought it was okay to touch me. "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but—"

"You're the Gilbert girl. The one that's important to Klaus." he said, looking into my eyes as if to sense if that was indeed the case. "The one he cares about."

I was scared. He knew who Klaus was. Was this guy a vampire?

At least I had my vervain bracelet on. Oh wait...

"Uh—" I said, suddenly feeling a lot less brave with out my bracelet. "Yes. I am a girl, and I am a Gilbert. But I'm not important to Claus or Klaus or whoever you're on about."

"You are a terrible liar, you know." he pressed his fingers against the skin of my neck. "I can feel your heart beat."

I couldn't help but think about that one song when he said those words.

"I know exactly who and what you are." he told me. He said it almost victoriously. And yet, it sounded malicious at the same time.

"Say it. Out loud. Say it."

"Vampire!"

"You're Rayna." he said. "On the other side, ghosts talk. So, as you can imagine there's been a lot of talk about you and your Doppelganger sister. What was her name... Elena?"

I clenched my fists. "Look here, oxygen thief. Just cut the crap already and tell me what the hell you want."

He raised an eyebrow, "Well, you see, many years ago Klaus took something from me. Now— I want to make him suffer. And, I have a feeling that you are the perfect solution."

I swallowed. "He killed you." I said in realization. "You're a ghost."

"Bravo, Rayna. They said you were intelligent."

"Then they were right." I said, before bringing my knee up to his crotch. His eyes widened considerably and he released by shoulders.

"You little b—" His sentence was cut short as my hands swiftly made their way to his neck.

With a quick twist, he was on the floor, unconscious. I looked around, unsure of what made me more relieved. That no one had seen or that there was no one else after me.

I ran around his body and down the road, towards the main square. My heart was racing— and I had to admit, I couldn't wait to tell Alaric of what a good Vampire Hunter I had already proved myself to be.

I had to get to Lexi before another ghost showed up wanting me dead. The only strange thing was that that vampire ghost had said 'The one he cares about.'

They had to be wrong on the other side about me, because, Klaus doesn't care. About anyone. Except Rebekah, and even then it's in his own twisted way.

I reached the square and walked past Elena. I frowned at her.

"Shouldn't you be—"

"I can't." she shook her head. "I just can't watch him suffer." she told me.

I nodded in understanding. "It's okay." I told her, bringing her in for a hug. "I'll go."

"Really?"

"No, Elena. I'm joking." I said dully, rolling my eyes. "Yes, really."

She hit me playfully on the arm and smiled. I grinned.

"I'm gonna go find Jere and see what happened here exactly." she said looking around at all the police cars.

"Well," I said, looking around. "too many police cars to be a burglary. Too many scared looking people to be anything short of... a murder, I guess."

Her eyebrows shot up.

A murder. In Mystic Falls. How shocking.

"Well with all the ghosts back I'll be surprised if one of the dead ones isn't Damon." I said bluntly.

Her eyes widened in panic and I laughed, "Kidding, Elena."

But I wasn't. Damon was probably currently trying to escape someone he had murdered or wronged in some way.

"Jeremy's over there." Elena said, looking past me. "Did you know, when all of this started I walked in on him kissing Anna."

"Yeah, I gotta -What?!" I yelled. "But... him and Bonnie."

"I know."

"Does Bonnie know?"

"If he doesn't tell her, I will."

"Right," I said. "Look, I'll deal with him later. But, Elena, give him a chance to tell Bon, okay? There's probably a perfectly logical explanation anyway."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Okay maybe not. But seriously I gotta go now. Oh, and if any tall, dark, mean looking vampires wander by, run to the house, okay?"

She looked like she was about to ask me what I was talking about, but I didn't give her a chance as I walked past her and towards the cellar.

I ran down the winding stairs and walked past the doorway to see Lexi plunge a stake into Stefan's stomach and twist it. He was tied to a chair.

I immediately stopped and she turned around to my bewildered expression. "When you said you were going to help him... I didn't think you meant—"

"There's no other way." Lexi said. "Good to see you again, Rayna."

I blinked and nodded. "You too."

"Rayna," Stefan said, breathing heavily and obviously in pain, "Please. Help me. You're my best friend, please. Save me like I saved you."

I looked into his eyes and knew he was lying. He was still emotionless Stefan, and he was just trying to mess with my mind so that I would help him get out.

"You're my best friend. I owe you."

My words from the previous night echoed through my mind, and once more I became aware of how stupid I had been to say those things. I had opened myself up to his manipulation.

Well, I wasn't going to let him win.

He was referring to when he had tried to save me from Gloria. I'd been in a pretty similar situation to him now.

"He's manipulating you." Lexi said. "He—"

"I know." I said, and just like that Stefan's expression changed from one of hope to one of anger and disgust.

"I don't need you anyway." he said darkly. "All you are is a blood bag I'm assigned to protect. When really, all I'm doing is trying not to drain you myself."

"And so the inner Ripper emerges." Lexi said. "Quit fighting me, Stefan. I know you're in there."

"Not anymore, Lexi." he said, but was looking up at me. "You know you say that every time." she shrugged. "Until I make you feel again." She plunged the stake back into his stomach and he groaned in pain.

"You know you wasted your entire life taking care of me, and now you're dead and you still have nothing better to do."

Lexi ripped the stake from his stomach.

"We're running out of time." Elena said, walking until stopping next to me.

"You gotta get me more." Lexi said. "I can't."

"No-N... Not until I break through."

"I can't, Lexi. They have the necklace. They're going to close the door."

I assumed that by this she meant the door to the other side.

"The necklace," Lexi said, turning back to Stefan. "Okay," she knelt down. "That necklace— at least tell me you remember how you felt about that. You found it during your darkest time. And you said, when you made it through that that necklace represented hope."

"Ironic that it's about to get blown to pieces." he said. Slowly Lexi stood, and looked at Elena and I.

"He's still in there... You just have to break through."

"It's okay, Lexi," Elena said. "I know what to do now." Which was good because I sure as hell didn't.

It was only then that I noticed the tears in Lexi's eyes and I knew Elena had probably said that to make her feel better.

"You don't have to worry about him." I told her. "You can be free."

She smiled, and then, just like that, she was gone.

"Bonnie must have closed the door." Elena said. "To the other side."

I nodded and then my eyes widened. Without an explanation I ran past Elena and out of there, out of the square, past the cemetery until I found myself on the Wickery Bridge.

Alone.

I wasn't sure how long I spent looking out over the water, until I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"They weren't supernatural, Rayna," he said. "They didn't go to the other side... they found peace."

"I know." I said. "I just convinced myself that they were. So that maybe I could see them again... Or Jenna, even. Jenna was a vampire when she died. I don't understand how — how we didn't see her."

He didn't reply for a while, before saying, "I think she found peace. She died a vampire but Jenna was always... good."

I nodded. At least she was at peace. "How did you know I was here?"

"Call it a lucky guess." Ric said. "Damon wants to see us.

He says it's important."

"He's probably drunk, then."

"Probably."

"Elena, tie up your hair." I told my sister who was training with Damon.

Meaning she was trying her hardest, and he wasn't trying at all, but still winning.

"Don't tell me what to do, Rain, I'm older." she said authoritatively in a joking way.

"I'm maturer."

"No you're not." She replied, attempting to kick Damon.

"Yes, actually, I am."

"These images tell a story... To learn the story you have to decipher these images." Ric said.

I ignored Elena and Damon's banter as I looked over all of the pictures of the markings in the cave with Ric.

"These images at the very least might tell us what that weapon is." Ric said.

"Then all we have to do is find out what they mean." Elena said.

"That's what Ric just said." I told her, and she stuck her tongue out at me. "You're right, Elena, you are much more mature than I."

"Fine. Fine. If I'm being irritatingly optimistic like you three— how do you suppose we do that?" Damon asked.

"Well," Elena spoke, "If the story's about the original family living here, then we go straight to the source."

"Rebekah won't tell you anything." I said.

"But if I mention Mikael," Elena said. "Maybe—"

"No. No, no, no. Elena, look. You aren't going to threaten one of the world's most dangerous vampires. Okay? Okay. Moving on—"

"—But how else are we going to find out?" she asked me.

"Well why don't we just not find out?" I asked. "Guys, Klaus is gone. We don't have to try and kill him. We don't have to find out the original's back story. Why can't we just let things be— 'cause every time we make ourselves involved in something someone gets hurt... Maybe we should just go on as normal."

There was silence, and I thought maybe I had gotten through to them, until Damon's laughter filled the room.

"Good one, Ray. Good one."

I sat with Ric, looking over the symbols as Elena returned from wherever she had been.

"I've got this, Damon." she said into the phone. "If we can figure out a way to kill Klaus, we can free Stefan of his compulsion."

Oh. So that's what Elena meant when she told Lexi she knew what to do.

If Klaus dies, I get Stefan back. That's good, right? Why don't I feel better about this?

"So how does he look?" She asked Damon, referring to Stefan. "He'll have to get over it. Call me later."

"Rebekah will come around." Elena told Ric and I as she hung up on Damon.

Ric and I shared a look. "You sure about that?" he asked. "She's a thousand year old vampire who I'm sure has learned the art of patience."

"She's a thousand year old vampire who's joined the cheer leading squad." Elena said. "There's a whole different set of rules in play here, Ric." she held up her phone showing us a text from Rebekah.

Bring Rayna over for a chat. Rebekah.

"Oh no." I shook my head. "I'm not going to threaten her or pester her for information."

"Why?" Elena asked.

"I like Rebekah." I shrugged.

She gave me an 'Are you serious' look. "She's Klaus' sister, Rain."

"Jeremy's my brother and he gets C's on like every test. She's Klaus' sister, Elena. She isn't Klaus... I should get home anyway." I said. "See if Jeremy actually went to school today." I added quite bitterly.

Ric gave me a guilty look for making me skive off of school. I smiled anyway and rolled my eyes.

Most teens would love their guardian to let them do that, but I didn't. School was important to me. I could forget about all the supernatural stuff and talk to normal people.

I got home and ran upstairs to see Jeremy, in his room sleeping.

I jumped on his legs and he woke up with a yell. "What the hell, Rain?!"

"Don't you 'What the hell' me. Bonnie is the best thing that's ever happened to you and you messed it all up because you can't keep your pants on! Anna was a ghost, Jere. A ghost! She is dead. Gone. But Bonnie was right there and you screwed it up!"

"Can we talk about this later?" he groaned. "I'm tired and everyone's yelling at me lately."

"Is it any wonder why?! Look, can you at least just explain why you did what you did."

"I don't know, okay?" he shrugged. "I just— I still loved her. I missed her and she was right there... I had to kiss her. One last time. I thought I'd never see her again and then I could."

I looked at him for a while, calming down and thinking about what to say. "Okay. Okay, I get it. I understand but if you still loved Anna why would you date Bonnie?"

"Because I love her too. I loved them both. But Anna being back brought back all my feelings for her."

"I get it, Jere. I understand. Believe me, I do. But do you understand why everybody's mad at you? I mean, this is Bonnie freaking Bennett we're talking about. She's basically a Saint and you hurt her."

"I know... I messed up."

"Yeah. You did. And I'm going to give you an anneurism if you don't go to school now."

He frowned. "But humans can't get anneurisms."

"Oh. They can. Vampires heal from them. Humans? Not so much."

His laughed. "I'm going, I'm going."

I smiled, and picked up my phone as it started ringing. "Y'ello?"

"Hey, Ray." Caroline replied. "Hey, that rhymed!" I could tell she was grinning.

"I know. You say that every time you call me." She chuckled. "Wanna go shopping?"

"You're ditching school too, aren't you?"

"Duh."

"Why doesn't anyone in this town go to school anymore?!"

After dumping my shopping bags at home, Elena picked me up and took us to the Boarding House.

She told me everything Rebekah had told her about the originals, and then that Klaus had killed their mother. That was the most shocking part, that someone could kill their own mother. Even Klaus.

"Elena, maybe you shouldn't tell her it was Klaus."

"We need her on our side." Elena reasoned.

"There are other ways... And I don't feel comfortable telling her. She'll find out Klaus lied to her for a thousand years. That has to hurt. I'd be upset, wouldn't you? It seems cruel. Shouldn't we get Klaus to tell her? She might take her anger out on us too."

"You're not changing my mind." Elena said. "She needs to know."

"Yeah... Just promise me to break it to her gently."

I felt incredibly bad for Rebekah. She'd obviously been through a lot.

"I promise." Elena said, smiling at me. "It's good to have you back, Rain. I missed you."

"Who can blame you?" She laughed.

We pulled up outside the Boarding House and I followed Elena inside.

"I thought I told you to leave." Rebekah said. "Twice. Hello, Rayna."

"Hi."

"How do you know Mikael killed your mother?" Elena asked.

Rebekah turned around and looked at Elena. "Nik was there. He told me."

Elena sighed and shook her head. "He lied to you."

"And how do you know that?"

"That cave where you carved your family's names is full of symbols. The story of your family, how your parents arrived..." Elena said, placing three photographs of the symbols on the table. "How they made peace. The spell that turned them into vampires and is the symbol for Hybrid. It's a combination of the werewolf and the vampire symbol. And this is the one for your mother."

"My necklace." Rebekah whispered.

"And this is the story of her death." Elena continued. "The hybrid killed the original witch." Elena said without a trace of sympathy in her voice. "Not Mikael— Klaus."

"No..." Rebekah said, shaking her head. "No he wouldn't."

"She put the hybrid curse on him, made it so he was the only one of his kind and then she rejected him. With the werewolf gene comes aggression and violence. And when he was turned all of that was heightened. He killed her, Rebekah. And then he made up this entire lie so that he wouldn't lose you."

"These mean nothing!" Rebekah yelled. She picked up the photos and walked towards the fire. "They're just stupid drawings by stupid people who had no idea who my family was!" She threw the photos into the fire. Her eyes filled with tears.

"Then why are you so upset?" Elena continued.

"Stop." I told her. "That's enough, Elena."

"Why are you doing this to me?" Rebekah demanded. "I've done nothing to you!"

"Klaus killed your mother." Elena said. "He has a hold on you, on me, on everyone."

"Elena!" I yelled.

"We have to make it stop!" My sister yelled.

"SHUT UP, JUST SHUT UP!" Rebekah screamed, pinning my sister to the wall by her throat. "DON'T TALK ANYMORE, NOTHING!"

I watched as slowly, the veins from Rebekah's face disappeared along with her fangs and she took a step back form Elena. Rebekah's body shook with sobs as she fell to the floor.

I looked at my sister who was just standing there, watching.

"Get out." I told her. "You took this way too far. Get out."

"Rayn—"

"Get out!"

She looked at me, and then Rebekah before walking out of the Boarding House. I turned back to Rebekah as she sat on the floor, tears flowing freely down her cheeks and I knelt beside her, wrapping by arms around her neck.

"He— He k-killed her." she cried.

"Ssshhh," I whispered, stroking her hair softly and soothingly. I didn't tell her it was okay, or that everything would turn out alright. Because they were lies and we both knew it. Instead I just let her cry on my shoulder, over the death of her mother and the complete betrayal of her brother.

Betrayed by the person she trusted most... I couldn't began to imagine how that must feel.

OG AUTHOR'S NOTE: A/N— There we go. Chapter Seven and we've finished eight episodes already! This chapter, I would love it if you could review or PM me, telling me what you think of Rayna as a character, what you like or don't like about her. I have decided to make Rebekah and Rayna friends in this story, and despite their difference as characters I think they both have quite a lot in common. Once again, Team Stefan or Team Klaus? Please let me know. I will try and update again soon, but life looks like it might get in the way and a lot will be happening in the next few chapters, so...

UPLOADER'S NOTE: So I had a lot of trouble uploading this chapter. First, the formatting kept going away (and I had to reupload the entire chapter like twice before I gave up) so I tried it another way and I think it's easier for me. I do get some odd breaks/squished quotes here and there so I just gave it a quick skim. Please let me know if there are any errors I missed. I'm going to try to upload one more chapter right now but its 2 AM where I'm at so we'll see. Also, bold and underline are not working right now. Thankfully, the italic words are still italic.