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Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries


It took over a week before I was back on my feet again. But I wasn't the same as before. Wherever I went, I was haunted by a strange and disturbing numbness; like my body's way of coping was shutting down and shielding me from every sensory input. Food was bland. Loud noises pain. Not so loud noises, I didn't even hear.

I hadn't had an attack in a few days. I didn't expect another one, but I still found myself hoping, whenever I thought about it, that I'd never have to experience one ever again.

Work was still postponed, mostly by my mother's orders. She was confident enough in my recovery to leave me alone at home, calling my current emotional state ''expected'' and ''passing''. She kept telling me things would be alright, and I supposed maybe they would if I just struggled through the mess I was.

Of course I could do it. But that didn't make it any less difficult.

I knew I could. I had to.

The not doing anything all day was beginning to drive me crazy. Once I'd gotten my strength up and my ability to estimate time had returned, the boredom set in. I was used to working, whether it be at the Grill, school, or just around the house – and once all the chores were done I couldn't very well do them again without feeling like I was losing my mind completely.

The days went by slowly. Damon had sent me two texts since the day he came by. Two concise, and I think very much needed, texts that I sometimes found myself looking at when I felt discouraged. His hands on approach and pragmatic way of seeing things reminded me that I just... I just had to keep going. Build everything up again. I just... I wasn't sure how. Somehow, everything had changed.

The guilt of not contributing at home I had learned to push aside whenever it surfaced. I kept myself busy though, at least for a while. Since Damon dropped them off, I'd taken several looks at the photos.

Every symbol was different.

A moon cycle. A wolf. A vampire.

One symbol had me preoccupied for several hours before I realised where I'd seen it before. Elena's necklace. But I still didn't know what it meant. They'd found it next to several symbols, so it was probably all over the wall.

Massacre. Chaos. A tree.

The runes took a Google search to figure out. When I wrote them down and saw what they all meant I really, really wished that Damon had prepared me, or that I hadn't been so inert and asked him for more information.

Niklaus. Rebekah. Elijah.

I stared at Elijah's name a few seconds longer than the others. Then I shook the strange feeling that had swept over me off and continued working.

There was one name I didn't recognise. Mikael.

His name was carved above the others, so maybe he was more meaningful. The question was how.

Damon was bringing Alaric by one of the nights my mother was at work, so we could go through it together. I knew Elena had wanted to come, and if she had I wouldn't have objected even though every time I saw her the image of her unconscious body flashed before my eyes. But, she was with Stefan. Coming back from how he'd been, what he'd done – that had to take time.

My memory of the night of the ceremony was coming back to me in snippets. Mostly, it centred around that woman. Had I seen her? Had my mind just made something up of the few sane bits it had left? I couldn't recall what she looked like other than what I'd told Damon. And, if it was as both he and Elena said, that Mystic Falls had been flooded by supernaturals with unfinished business, then... well. At least it was giving me something to do.

The first thing I tried was digging through online archives. A few offered two-three-week trials, but I soon realised that without finding a picture of her I wasn't going to get anywhere.

It was Tuesday, and I was tapping my fingers on the table impatiently, glancing at the clock every other second. She was supposed to be home any minute now. Taking a sip from my cup of tea, I threw a glance out the window. Our car just pulled up the driveway.

''I'm home!'' she called, when she stepped through the door, probably thinking I was upstairs in my room. ''Oh,'' she added, when she came into the kitchen, jacket still on and a shopping bag in hand. ''Hi, honey.''

''Hey.''

''Did you take a walk today?'' she asked, pulling out a couple of soaps and cartons from the bag, putting them on the table.

''No... but-''

''Did you at least go outside for a while? Open a window? You need fresh air.''

''I know...'' I hesitated, not sure how to tell her I'd spent all day searching for a ghost.

''We can take one later,'' she decided. Humming quietly to herself, she put away the stuff from the bag, folded it up and turned on the tap to wash off.

''Mum?'' I began, wringing my hands. ''Do we have any old photos? Like, family photos?''

''Sure,'' she said. ''Why do you ask?''

I shrugged. ''Just interested.''

''Sure, just let me unwind first. Okay?''

''Mhm,'' I hummed. Maybe I was looking for something that wasn't there. Maybe I wasn't. But if I had any lead to go on, I knew I had to.


''Evangeline?'' My mother came into the living room carrying an old shoe box. She sat down next to me and began to empty the contents on the table.

''Oh,'' she exclaimed when she picked up one of the photos. ''See? I was such a cute baby.'' Leaning over, I nodded in agreement. ''You looked more like your dad,'' she continued, smiling. ''I don't know what happened, now it's like staring into a mirror going back twenty years.''

''Are there any of him in there?'' I asked.

''I think so, somewhere.''

Some of the photos had just been put in there on their own, others in envelopes. Some were framed. I stumbled upon a picture of my dad. It was so strange. I'd seen him in pictures so many times, seen his smile, but I always felt like I had no idea who he was.

I cleared my throat, trying to direct my thoughts elsewhere. ''Do we have any older ones?''

''Yes, but they're in my grandmother's old things. You wanna see them?'' I nodded. ''Okay, wait a second.'' She got up, went out in the hall. Then it sounded like she was tearing the place apart, but I knew she was just rummaging through the storage. She could be graceful when she wanted, but if she was tired she'd just barge through anything to get what she was looking for.

''This is as old as it gets,'' she said. ''There's more letters than pictures in here, but I think we have some of my grandmother when she was young, and maybe her parents too.''

I reached out for the box. ''Can I?''

''Sure,'' Mum said. ''Do you want some tea?''

I mumbled yes and picked up a picture of a woman holding a baby. The baby was familiar. I turned it around, and saw something written in the bottom right corner. Grandma Madeleine and Janine, May 1969.

The next picture was of a younger Madeleine and a young man, standing close together. She rocked victory rolls and he wore a uniform. They looked happy.

My mother came back into the room, gave the picture a quick once over and let out a little laugh. ''My grandparents. Gee, I haven't seen that one in a long time. They look so in love, don't they?''

''He came back, right?'' I asked.

''He did,'' she nodded, and called over her shoulder as she returned to the kitchen. ''They had my mother after the war.''

There were a few baby pictures of my grandmother, a few wedding photos, and postcards. The deeper into the pile I dug the older everything seemed to get, and eventually there were only three pictures left.

They were all old, dated around the turn of the century, and were of different people. Two were wedding photographs, one a family picture. None of the people were familiar.

Maybe I had been wrong. Maybe it was just some random stranger wondering about what was going on. Maybe I had been hallucinating.

There was an old envelope at the bottom of the box. Out of pure curiosity, I picked it up with careful hands, and pulled out a letter written with delicate handwriting on yellowing paper. It was signed Madeleine, but dated earlier than when she would have been old enough to write. When I went to put it pack, I noticed another piece of paper in the envelope.

I almost gasped when I saw what it was.

It was her.

She looked stern and serious, but I could see a twinkle in her eye. The picture filled in the blanks in my memory, and now I saw her clear as day. It was her. My eyes scanned the content of the letter quickly. She was writing to her sister about her marrying, and it seemed as normal as could be.

''Mum?'' I called, while carefully searching the box for any more letters written by this other Madeleine.

''Coming!'' she shouted from the kitchen, and came some thirty seconds later, balancing a tray with two mugs and some cookies.

''Who's this?''

My mother frowned, put the tray down on the table and leaned in over me to take a closer look. ''Oh, that's probably my great-grandmother. It's not nana at least.''

''It's dated 1901,'' I said, pointing.

''Yes, that's probably her,'' she nodded.

I handed her the letter, and reached for the tea, keeping it well away from all the documents.

''My grandmother lived here, you know,'' she said. ''In Mystic Falls. Maybe this Madeleine did too. You could check the archives in the library.''

''Good idea,'' I said, wanting to jump off the sofa, grab whatever I could need and run off to the library – but hesitant about leaving the house.

''What's gotten you so interested in genealogy all of a sudden?''

''Just wanted something to do, that's all.''

''Hm,'' she sounded, looking at me curiously. ''Come on. Let's take that walk now and you can look these through later.''


Wednesday night, and my mother had a night shift. She left at six, and half an hour later Damon and Alaric rang the doorbell.

''So, exactly how much have you been feeling sorry for yourself since I last saw you?'' Damon asked loudly. Alaric's eyes went between Damon and me, then he concentrated on placing out pictures and notes on the kitchen table.

I couldn't come up with a good enough answer, so I resorted to a shrug. I wasn't doing that bad. I knew I wasn't doing good, but it was still nowhere near as bad as before.

Damon gave me a look. ''What's up with you?''

Avoiding his gaze, I instead focused on the post-its Alaric had put on the photos. ''What do you mean?''

''Don't know.'' I felt his eyes burning holes through me.

''You guys ready?'' Alaric mumbled from the table, pen in hand moving quickly over the paper.

''Yeah,'' I said tiredly. ''I just have to get my notes.''

When I came back from upstairs they were both sitting down, Alaric deeply engrossed in work, shooting annoyed glances at Damon for his impatient tapping of fingers.

''So,'' Alaric began. ''What've you got?''

I flipped to the right page and handed my notebook to him. While he skimmed through, Damon started telling me about Mikael. Someone Klaus was terrified of. Somehow the thought of the bad guy being scared of something made my toes curl.

''So you found him?''

''And lost him,'' Damon replied sourly. ''Who knows where he is now.''

''And he knows how to... he has a weapon?''

''Supposedly.''

''These images could tell us what kind of weapon that is,'' Alaric, who was finished skimming my notes, added.

''Well, all this obviously has to do with more than just Klaus,'' I said, pointing at the photo of the runes.

''We think it's a story,'' Alaric said. ''About the Original family.''

''You think they carved these in?''

Alaric nodded.

''Elena came up with the brilliant idea of asking Barbie Klaus herself,'' Damon chimed in.

Rebekah. She had walked the edges of my life since she came into town. Something in me guessed I hadn't seen the last of her. She had told Elena her story. Why? It was one thing hearing the short and direct version from Alaric, but I knew Elena. She picked up on things.

''You're right,'' Alaric's voice interrupted my musings. ''That's the symbol for vampire, and that's the one for werewolf.'' When I looked at him, he had my notebook in his hands.

''There was one I'm not quite sure of,'' I said, stepping forward and leaning over the table to take a closer look at the pictures ''It's the one of Elena's necklace.''

''Until I saw your notes I didn't know where I'd seen it before,'' Alaric said. ''Could someone give Bonnie a call?''


The two of them left with the promise of coming back to converge with the girls the next night, since I had the house to myself and we had to show what we'd come up with. I thought they'd want to go to the cavern where the carvings were, but before anyone suggested anything else Alaric had proposed to meet up at my house again.

It was stupid of me to agree. I should have pushed for the cavern, not shrink back and stay inside.

Before I went to bed, I forced myself to go for a walk. The air was heavy and the dark sky was covered in clouds. It didn't come as a surprise when the first drops hit my face. My feet met the ground with soft thuds, the only sound except for the rain. All the houses down the street were dark.

Being around Damon and Alaric today hadn't been as hard as Elena. I tried to call it progress, but to be honest I wasn't sure that it was. Whatever Damon had picked up on, probably.

As long as I could get back to work and be around people again, I was happy. I think.

Before I knew it, I had walked around the block and found myself further from home than I'd been in days.

For a moment, I just stopped and stared towards the sky. There and then, with the rain pouring down on me, I decided to get the meeting out of my house.

I took a deep breath, licked a drop of rain from my lip, and turned home with a sigh.


No one objected when the news spread that we were to meet up by the old Lockwood cellar, which apparently held the entrance to the carvings.

Damon picked me up in his car, and drove it to the edge of the woods. It wasn't too dark out yet, but the sun was on its way down. Give it an hour and we wouldn't see our feet in front of us. Well, me at least.

''Do they know about this place?'' I asked Damon as we walked further into the woods. ''The Lockwood's, I mean.''

''Tyler does,'' Damon said. ''It's his full moon hideout.''

''Oh,'' I replied, looking up towards the sky.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard a howl next to me. ''Shut up,'' I hissed, my heart beating fast in my chest, and I punched Damon on the arm a little harder than I intended.

The rest of the way to the cellar, which fortunately was short, he spent laughing and I cradling sore knuckles.

The place was fairly incognito, apart from the stairs leading down to a heavy set door.

''Ladies first,'' Damon said and held his arm out towards the stairs.

''Just don't push me or something,'' I mumbled, stepping down.

''Don't worry,'' Damon said, and it seemed as one of those rare moments when he spoke in complete sincerity.

The door – which by the was was almost as heavy as it looked – opened with a screeching sound.

Metal gates, chains attached to the wall... scratch marks all over. I shuddered at the thought of what took place here once a month. But better Tyler being in here than out roaming the woods.

''It's through there,'' Damons said, pointing towards a big hole in the brick wall.

It was dark and damp. Stuffy. I turned on the flashlight on my phone held it up.

''You're on your own from here,'' Damon said from behind me. When I turned around, he'd stopped. ''Think you can handle it? It's only a couple of feet.''

''Can't you-''

''Anti-vampire,'' he smiled, irritated, reached his hand out and touched an invisible barrier in front of him.

''Huh,'' I said in surprise. ''Effective.''

''Guys?'' Alaric appeared from deeper down in the tunnel.

''I'll just stay here,'' Damon said, smiling wryly. ''And listen.''

I followed Alaric down the tunnel. When we turned a corner, Bonnie and Elena was there.

''Hi guys,'' Bonnie greeted. ''Ev.'' She didn't have to say anything for me to understand her. I gave her a small smile to let her know, and even if it didn't reach my eyes she'd know I was at least okay. Elena gave me an encouraging smile.

When Alaric lit up the big rock wall in front of us with his light I didn't know what to say. All I could muster was a weak ''woah''. It was very impressive. Somehow, the pictures on their own didn't do it justice. The whole wall was filled, and laid out like that in front of me it really did look like a story.

''We, uh, filled in what we could,'' Alaric explained, putting up post-its on the wall. ''Vampire. Werewolf.'' He threw a glance at me, and I cleared my throat before adding:

''Slaughter and mayhem.'' As I spoke he put up post-its next to the pictures on the wall. My voice sounded strange to my ears. Small, carried far – an echoing whisper against the rough stone surrounding us.

''That's the white oak tree that was used in the spell to create the vampires,'' Elena said, and pointed to a tree at the top of the wall. ''Which means... that was when they burned down the tree.'' She pointed to the tree with what looked like a flame beneath it. ''Destroying the only way that they could be killed.''

''Okay, so tree equals weapon, sort of,'' Alaric said. ''We already knew that. Elena's necklace,'' he added, nodding towards Elena, ''belonged to...'' He looked at Bonnie to fill in.

She inhaled, looking uncomfortable. ''It belonged to the witch who put the hybrid curse on Klaus.''

That did bring an uneasy feeling. How could someone be so powerful? I didn't know enough about witchcraft to tell feats apart, but something that major was just... scary.

''So, it means witch,'' Elena concluded, staring at the symbol on the wall with a confused look in her eye.

Alaric hummed in response, then continued. ''What we're not sure about is this: we've got the witch symbol, and what looks like a bleeding heart.''

''Upside down figures usually signified death,'' I put in when nobody said anything for a while. ''The witch died?''

''Rebekah said Mikael killed the witch by ripping out her heart,'' Elena said.

''Wait a second,'' I said slowly, momentarily forgetting my glumness. ''Look at how close the symbols are. How they're kind of mirroring each other? That's not two symbols, that's one.'' I paused. ''Hybrid.''

An eerie silence settled in the cave as it dawned on us.

''Oh my god,'' Elena whispered. ''Rebekah doesn't know the real story.''

''The hybrid killed the witch,'' I said, still staring at the symbol.

''Klaus killed his mother?'' Bonnie asked with disgust.

''Seems like it,'' Alaric said.

''I have to go,'' Elena said, and looked at the pile of pictures we'd brought. ''Can I borrow these pictures?''

''Sure,'' Alaric said.

I couldn't pull away from the scratched symbol on the wall. It was disturbing. Not only that there had been a brutal murder, or that a son had killed his own mother – but it was disturbing that I couldn't seem to take it in. I could wrap my mind around the horror of it all, but I couldn't feel it. Not quite. Only a tinge of unease somewhere deep inside.

I turned my gaze elsewhere, hoping to escape the strange feeling. Elena was wringing her hands, biting down on her lip. She looked around at all of us. ''Rebekah needs to know.''

''Do you think it'll turn her to our side?'' Bonnie asked doubtfully.

''I don't know,'' Elena replied, ''but it's worth a shot.''


I had dinner alone that night. The stereo was on – I'd chosen some random radio station to avoid sitting in silence.

Not that it mattered much. It didn't drown out the quiet. I tried putting on the microwave, but not even that noise dragged me out of it, whatever it was. If this was the body coping – how long would it go on for?

Somehow, everything we had learned the last few hours didn't bother me as much as it probably should. It was there, in the back of my mind, but I wasn't the least worried about it. It was all so... so grand. Somehow so beyond comprehension.

I stared out the window. The sky was dark and cloudy, and in the dim glow of a street light I could make out small drops of rain.

The timer on the microwave rang. No, wait – the doorbell. Someone was at the door.

I dropped the fork with a clang. This was maddening. The silence, the confusion – getting so lost in... in nothing to not even notice the difference between the two sounds. I stood up and went to open the door.

''Hi,'' I said, coming face to face with Elena.

''Hey,'' she said hesitantly. ''Can I come in?''

''Yeah,'' I said, blinking and shaking my head when I realised I'd been gazing into nothing. ''Yeah, of course.''

We went into the living room. Elena fidgeted, opening her mouth and closing it as if to speak several times, and then closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.

''We would never tell on you,'' she blurted out suddenly. ''You know that, right?''

I frowned. ''Tell on me?''

''If Klaus comes back,'' Elena said. ''You... you need to know that none of us would ever tell him about you.''

''I didn't think you would.'' I really didn't. Of all the things she could've said, I wasn't expecting that.

''Oh,'' she said with a frown. ''I thought... I mean... you've been kinda... closed off. I thought maybe it had to do with you and me, you know, or that you're scared.''

''It's not that,'' I began, phrasing my words carefully. ''It's just... a lot's happened.''

''I know.'' She looked at me worriedly. ''I just want to know we're okay.''

''We are,'' I smiled, annoyed at how the corners of my mouth felt strained.

''We'll get through this,'' she promised. Before I knew it, she held my bare hand in between hers. My arm twitched to pull away, but she held on.

''I promise. Whatever you need, I'll be there for you.''

Inhaling deeply and lowering my shoulders, I relaxed. ''Thank you. I mean it.''

''Step one,'' Elena said and smiled warmly at me. ''Sit down?''

I exhaled and let out a nervous laugh. ''Yeah. Sit down.'' The couch was soft and welcoming. I pulled me knees up under my chin and hugged them close.

''Did you talk to Rebekah?''

Elena nodded. ''Yeah.''

''What did you learn from her?''

''I learned, that's she's just a girl,'' Elena said, her voice tinged with sadness. ''That she lost her mum too young, and she loves blindly and recklessly, even if it consumes her. And when it's all said and done, there's nothing more important than the bond of family.''

''Family,'' I echoed. Probably the most dysfunctional family of all time, and yet they seemed to stick together like glue.

Elena proceeded to tell me Rebekah's story. It was amazing, and absolutely terrible. To think someone had to go through something like that was just... it was unfathomable. Dying, at such a young age. A life forced on her. Loved ones being ripped from her. Dying, and growing, without a mother or father.

''I wondered why she seemed so interested in high school,'' I said. ''So she just wanted a try at being normal.''

''Don't we all,'' Elena muttered. ''I mean, at least without so much drama all the time.''

I nodded silently, playing with the hem of my shirt.

''Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever have a day that's just a day, you know?'' Elena said.

''Your boyfriend's a vampire, your friends too,'' I pointed out. ''Add in a witch and whatever this is.'' I gestured towards myself.

''Yeah,'' she laughed. ''I guess you're right.''

''We just have to make do with what we have,'' I continued, wincing. I felt like I was lying.

Elena grinned and threw her arm around my shoulder in a sideways hug. ''You know what we should do? Get Bonnie and Caroline and have a movie night. If you're up for it.''

The idea shouldn't scare me. But it did, and that's why I had to agree.

''I could do with a good rom-com,'' I admitted. ''And maybe pizza. Or Chinese.''

Elena smiled. ''It's a plan.''


And there's another chapter! There's something special coming, and soon. Anyone care to take a guess? ;)