Hi my lovelies, sorry it's been such a long time.

I have finally found my muse for writing this story again, hopefully it sticks around. I can honestly say that I have lost a lot of love for the fandom over the last couple of months which has made it hard to write. I haven't lost my love for Klaus and he keep haunting me to continue with this story.

I will honestly say now that a lot of things will be changing from her on out. I doubt I will follow much of the storyline from now on. The basic plotline will be the same but not all the scenes. I have come to the decision that since Ethel is here in this version of my world, things won't be the same. If for some reason, this bothers you, here is your que to leave as I don't want to upset anyone by writing what I want to write. This is a fanfiction which is written to be made different from the original fandom.

With that said, I hope you all enjoy this chapter even thought I do not like it and think it's rubbish. I just feel like I needed to get it out as I was just stuck there.

Sorry for any mistakes.

Please find comments in the end notes. Many thanks, my loves.

A Gathering of Ghosts

"Well, this wasn't what we were expecting," I muttered, sharing a look with Jeremy and Henrik as we took in Damon chained to a chair, and who I assumed to be Mason Lockwood standing over him, torturing him. "Hello, Uncle Mason."

Yeah. Don't know why I said that.

It seemed Jeremy seemed to be on the same page as me as he gave me a confused look.

"What?" I whispered not understanding why he was giving me the death look.

"What are you doing?"

"I have no idea, Jer, I haven't dealt with a situation like this before in my life. Have you?"

"It's becoming a regular experience, one I don't intend to chase every week," he grumbled, finally looking over to Damon, who was looking flabbergasted as we left him tied to the chair.

"At least we know that ghosts are actually back," I grumbled. Taking a step into the room, I gave Mason a weary look before glancing at Damon, "To be fair, you kind of deserve it." He didn't look impressed but at the end of the day, Damon needed to learn that his actions had consequences, even if those consequences where getting tortured by a ghost.

"Effie, come on," Jeremy muttered, nudging my arm as he glanced between the two as they stared at us intensely.

"Alright, alright," I grumbled, giving Jeremy a pointed look before taking a step closer to them. "Sorry, Mason, but I can't let you torture Damon anymore, we've got important things to do."

"Important things?"

"Yeah you know, staking vampires, vanquishing ghosts, burning witches. Classic, typical Scooby-Doo stuff," I replied, wandering further into the room. "It just seems that the stress levels in this area keep growing which isn't good for the baby."

"The super miracle hybrid baby," Mason said, his attention moving away from Damon which gave me the chance to magically remove his bindings. "Yes, I've heard a lot about the child my niece is carrying."

"Well as your niece, I would like it if we could move on from all this torture shit and focus on how we're going to use your temporary ability to be here to actually help with the plan on stopping Mikael."

"We want to stop him?"

"Of course we do, Mason," I muttered, rolling my eyes as I stepped forward and almost stumbled when his cold aura hit me. It was a similar feeling to when Henrik first touched me.

"Whoa, steady there," Mason said, his hand coming into contact with my elbow and helping steady me. I sneezed as soon as his fingers grazed my arm, and quickly gave him a bashful look as I dropped onto the sofa.

"Sorry," I mumbled, looking at Damon as he flung the chains away and gave me a curious look. "I must be getting a cold."

"Let's talk about Klaus and Mikael and these ghosts," Damon said, walking over to the bourbon and pouring himself a glass.

"Yes, let's talk about all that," Elena agreed, appearing from the stairs, a blonde woman following her.

"Lexi?"

From the look on his face this was someone he wasn't expecting to ever see again. I also had the feeling this might have been someone to add to the list of people he's killed.

"Let me guess, you killed her too?" I was completely surprised by the laugh that flew from Lexi's lips as she come down the stairs and bounced over to me. She reminded me of an older version of Caroline. I had the feeling I was going to like her.

"You must be Ethel, I've heard a lot about you." Her eyes slid over to Elena and I could only imagine what she had been saying about me. "You're very popular in the Inbetween."

That made more sense. Henrik had shared all he knew on the way over here and by the sound of it, I was a very common conversation starter.

"So I've heard."

"It's lovely to meet you," Lexi said, holding out her hand which I found strange. How many supernatural creatures offered a greeting with a handshake? I took her hand, shivering as my nose started to tingle and another sneeze squeaked out.

"I'm sorry. It's lovely to meet you too, Lexi."

"As nice as this is, we have things to be doing," Elena muttered, sending me a dark glare as if I'd just stolen her favourite toy.

"I'm off to find Stefan and bully him into switching his humanity back on," Lexi told me, the smile on her face growing larger as if it was the most exciting thing ever.

"Okay?" I shared a look with Jeremy, almost smiling as Elena was glaring at him too. "Have fun with that."

"I'm sure I will. I'll catch you later, Ethel, there's something I want to ask you." And with that she grabbed Elena and they both disappeared.

"Okay?" What was that all about? What did she need to ask me later? "Right, I think we should just, you know, come up with a plan."

I knew Jeremy had been seeing ghosts. What I didn't know was that he was currently talking to his ex-girlfriend Anna, until I walked in on them kissing.

To say Jeremy was mortified was an understatement.

He'd gone so red I was afraid he would explode.

Anna looked just looked ashamed and I gathered it was to do with Jeremy having a girlfriend that wasn't her.

"Please don't tell Bonnie," Jeremy begged, grabbing my arm before I could quietly leave and never look at him the same again. "I'll tell her but I need to figure out how."

"Okay, but promise me you'll actually tell her, Jer, she needs to know. And trust me, she will find out if you don't tell her."

Receiving a nod from the confused teen, I closed his door, almost regretting giving him the downstairs room if this was what he was planning to use his room for.

Jenna was waiting in the kitchen, talking to Henrik and guiding him through his first cup of hot chocolate. From the look on his face, I could only assume this was the first time he'd ever tried chocolate.

"We should tell Klaus you're here," I said, causing them both to look at me. Jenna had a frown on her face as if I'd just interrupted something important. Henrik looked just as frustrated by the interruption. "Or not?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea," he said slowly, his eyes flickering around the room as if looking for something to help him out. "Niklaus blames himself for my death. Mikael did too and so did mother. Everyone blamed him. I don't think telling him I'm here would be good for him. What happens if he decides to make his way back here only for me to already be gone?"

"I didn't think about that." He had a point. I could only imagine how angry and devastated Klaus would be if Henrik was gone by the time he arrived. "What about Rebekah then? Can we tell her you're here?"

"It wouldn't be fair to Niklaus or any of my other siblings."

"Why do I get the feeling you don't want anyone knowing you're here, Henrik? Even if it's just for a little while?"

He gave me a smile, one I had seen on Klaus a few times, when he knew he was causing trouble. Henrik knew he was being sly and I wanted to press him further but stopped. What if he was being so secretive for a reason?

"Fine, okay, we won't tell any of your siblings."

"Thank you." He took another sip of his hot chocolate. "You should really try some of this," he recommended, gesturing to his cup and looking at it as if it was the best thing he'd ever seen and tasted. I suppose it was the best thing he'd tasted.

"I'm alright thank you, I've got some things to sort out." I looked at Jenna giving her a pointed look as she slowly slipped a chocolate bar toward the out of time boy. "Jenna will make you something to eat soon. Seeing as you're able to consume food, I reckon you should get to eat something tasty before you're sent back." His eyes seemed to widen as Jenna handed him a cookbook, one I knew was her favourite as it made the best comfort meals. "If you need me, I'll be in the sunroom."