Ayla knocked on the door of the Salvatore Boarding House, wondering why it seemed as though they haven't upgraded the home to fit the twenty-first century. She waited there for someone to answer the door. She had no idea why they would practically summon her to the home, but she figured that maybe it was best not to make further enemies with the eldest Salvatore. She just hoped that Stefan would be there to mediate the tension between the two of them.

"Heard your little brother ran away from home last night." Damon answered the door, allowing her entry.

"Yeah, thanks for the concern." She snarled. "Why the hell have I been summoned here, Damon?"

"Elijah. He knew you." Damon spoke up. "Tell me what you know about him."

"All that I know is that he's some ultra powerful vampire who wants to protect me."

"Come on, little Lockwood. I know that can't be all of it. Use your witchy voodoo powers to figure it out."

"It's Cabot." She reminded him. "And why would I help you?"

"Because I asked you so nicely." He smirked. "Plus, your little werewolf friends came by to try and kill me last night."

"If only they had succeeded."

"You owe me."

"Owe you?" She scoffed, completely offended. "I helped save your life when they all came after you and Stefan the other night. You would have ended up a burnt vampire shishkabob if it wasn't for me keeping them down as long as I did."

"It was your fault they even came here." Damon raised his voice at her. "You called that bitch, Jules."

"Yeah, because you killed Mason!"

"They tried to kill Elena at the lake house last night!" Damon screamed, anger flooding the air as he moved closer to her, almost in a threatening stance. "Does that help you change your mind?"

"No, not really." She spat, pushing him out of her face roughly. "I don't know anything! I don't know what the fuck is happening because everyone lies to me! Everyone keeps things from me!" Ayla yelled. "I don't know what Elijah wants or anything about him. I don't know why Mason wanted that moonstone. I don't know why the werewolves would go after Elena. I don't know anything!"

"Well, you are particularly useless." She clenched her fist causing his arm to snap as he screamed in pain.

"Am I still particularly useless, Damon?" She unclenched her fist.

"Damn, I hate that power." Damon said coolly, popping his arm back into place through clenched teeth.

"I love it." Ayla smirked, enjoying having the ability to inflict pain on the older Salvatore. "Look, I don't know what you want from me. Or what anyone else wants from me. I am being used like some pawn by the vampires, the werewolves. I don't have an agenda, and I don't know what anyone else's agenda is either."

"You know nothing about what your uncle wanted? Why he was working with Katherine?"

"I don't even know who Katherine is! The only thing I know about her is that she's Elena's twin or some shit and that she's an evil bitch who manipulated my uncle into doing her bidding." She sat down on his couch. "I told you. I don't know anything. I have lost everything and everyone, okay? And now, I am here just trying to survive. Day in, day out. That's what I've been trying to do since you killed my uncle!" He looked at her with a look of pity and she felt it. She hated when people felt pity for her.

"Your uncle was working with Katherine. He was trying to break a curse. The Sun and The Moon curse. If a vampire breaks it, the whole species can walk in the sun without burning."

"And if a werewolf breaks it, we won't have to change anymore?" Ayla realized what he was hinting at.

"Your uncle needed the moonstone for it but he would also need blood of the doppleganger. Elena would be killed. There are a lot of people trying to kill Elena."

"That's why you killed him? Because he was trying to break the curse?"

"No. I didn't know about any of this until afterwards. I killed him because werewolves and vampires are enemies. He would have killed me the first chance he had."

"No, he wouldn't have." Ayla stood up from the couch. "You're the one who made that first move, Damon. Remember that. If I wanted to, I could have let your brother and you die at the hands of all of those wolves. Your death is well-deserved, I'm sure. And I want nothing more than to crush every bone in your body until you are a withering mess of pain, only to rip your throat out with my teeth and watch you suffer a gruesome death caused by my bite. But I won't. Because I don't kill people, Damon. I am not a monster. I am just a girl with nothing left who is trying to survive. So please, whatever plans you have, leave me out of it."

"So you won't help us protect Elena?"

"Why should I? I have no one on my side to protect me. No one who remotely cares about protecting me. I am the only one who is watching my back. Me!" Ayla pointed to her chest with tears in her eyes. "Elena has you, Stefan, Caroline, and Bonnie. And I'm sure a bunch of other people, too. I have no one, okay? So I'm sorry, but Elena is the least of my worries right now."

Ayla had barely left her room since Tyler left. She didn't want the tension between her and Carol, especially after she embarrassed her at the Historical Society tea party the other morning. So Ayla had been looking at her mother's grimoire more in depth, trying to teach herself some new spells despite the shame she had once felt.

Her mind started to travel off on its own, moving her into one of her trances. She had barely even realized it happened until she looked at her sketchpad and realized that she had drawn what looked like a silver dagger. She felt a pain in her chest for a moment as if it was a pinch that caused her to gasp out in pain. She looked down at her chest, seeing no evidence of why she would feel a slight pain.

But that night, she dreamt of a body with a dagger in his heart and skin that had begun to grey. There were black veins traveling up the neck, but when the face was about to make itself present, she woke up to a knocking on her bedroom door.

"Yeah?" She said hoarsely, her voice filled with exhaustion.

"Ayla." Carol opened the door to her room and went over to the blinds, opening them up. Ayla covered her eyes with her blanket and groaned. "Get up, you're gonna be late."

"Late for what?"

"School. I talked to Principal Webber and sent all of your transcripts over. You're going back to Mystic Falls High School."

"Why would you do that?" Ayla sighed.

"Because... if you're going to live here, you need to be in school."

"Great." Ayla said, sitting up in her bed. "Just... wonderful."

Ayla had gotten up and dressed before she made her way down to the kitchen for breakfast. Carol had surprisingly laid out a few different pastry options, Ayla knew that the woman missed her son. So she picked up a blueberry muffin and took the keys to Tyler's car before she drove to the school. The secretary greeted her with a class schedule and a locker and combination. Ayla had about a thousand places she would rather be than school, but she figured it would be easier not to ruffle the evil step mother's feathers.

"Hey, Ayla." Matt spoke with a small smile, seeing the girl shoving her bag into a locker near his own.

"Hi, Matt."

"You're back for good?"

"I guess so." She smiled slightly, not wanting to finish her junior year and then her senior year at this high school.

"Have you heard from Tyler at all?"

"No. He left me a letter saying he needed to leave. To figure himself out."

"I tried calling him, leaving him messages. I haven't heard from him since he came to the Grill to talk the night he left."

"You two talked? About what?"

"Not much, really. I mean... I think to say goodbye without really saying goodbye. I just didn't know."

"Yeah, sounds like Tyler."

"Well, I'm glad you're back."

"Thanks, Matt." She smiled, he nodded before walking away. She walked away from her locker and saw Bonnie and Jeremy kissing. She thought it would hurt more than it did, but when he made eye contact with her after Bonnie walked away, she felt nothing. It was the first time in a long time that she felt absolutely nothing and she relished in it.

Her dreams that night were once again strange. She dreamt of a house. A house that looked old and run down. But she could hear the voices and feel the power that encompassed it.

Ayla was once again woken up from her dreams by her step-mother the next morning. She sat up in bed, wondering why the woman would be waking her up so early on a Saturday morning. But she looked to the older woman with a small smile on her face, knowing that she was fragile right now.

"The Historical Society luncheon is today. I would like it if you were there."

"Of course, Carol."

"Good." She smiled at the girl and walked out of the room but before closing the door she stopped. "Have you... have you talked to Tyler?"

"I haven't heard from him at all. I'm sorry."

"I just... I miss him. If you hear from him, will you please tell him that?"

"Yeah." Carol nodded and closed the door, walking out of the bedroom. Ayla was able to see the sadness in her eyes and frowned. As much as her and Carol didn't get along, she still didn't want the woman to feel another loss. First her husband had passed and now her son had willingly disappeared. She knew that it would be hard on any mother. Which is why Ayla had done exactly what her step-mother wanted. She dressed into a nice, expensive dress, curled her hair, and put on an adequate amount of makeup before making her way to the luncheon early.

It was boring, but she didn't argue. She watched as Elena accepted an award from Carol before she began her speech. Ayla walked out of the room and went to use the restroom when she saw John Gilbert being pushed down the stairs by a woman with dark hair.

Ayla gasped and ran over to the man who was unconscious on the floor. She looked up and saw that Stefan was the first one who came out and stood next to her.

"He was just being bit by a vampire. Older woman, dark hair. She pushed him down the stairs. Then vamp-sped away." Ayla told him quietly. "Do something, Stefan."

"Like what?" He asked, seeing everyone run out to see what the commotion was. "I can't feed him my blood here."

"Let the Sheriff do her job." Carol spoke up.

"Where's Elena?" Stefan stood up, moving quickly towards where Elena was just doing her speech. Ayla followed him and saw Elena on the phone. "You okay?"

"I'm calling Damon." Elena said. Ayla just walked a little bit closer, her hand grazing Elena's. She knew instantly it wasn't her. She looked to Stefan as 'Elena' left a message for Damon as they walked out to the car. Stefan saw her face and when he saw Ayla shake her head, indicating that she knew it wasn't Elena. Stefan pushed the doppelgänger onto the car.

"Katherine." Stefan said, angrily. "Where the hell is she? Huh?"

"I'm sorry, Stef." Katherine said, shoving a syringe into Stefan's stomach. "I can't have you following me." Ayla tried to stop her with her magic but was stopped when her head was smashed into the side of the car. Ayla fell to the ground and blinked away the blurry vision.

"Stefan?" Ayla called out, seeing his feet in the branches. When he was still out, and she knew she couldn't pick him up she took his cell phone from his pocket.

"Stefan?" The voice answered. "How'd I beat you and Elena home?"

"It's Ayla." She started. "Stefan was knocked out cold. Katherine must have vervained him, right after she helped someone kill John Gilbert and kidnap Elena."

"What?"

"Come get your little brother."

Damon took all of ten minutes to get to the mansion. Ayla quickly helped him get Stefan into the car and was about to turn around to go back to the Lockwood Estate when Damon cleared his throat.

"Get in the car, Ayla."

"What?"

"Get in the fucking car." Ayla looked at him with wide eyes, not expecting the venom that he spoke to her in but she did as she was told. She got in the front seat and looked at Stefan who was still out cold. "What happened?"

"I don't know. All I saw was some dark haired woman push John down the stairs and vamp speed away. Then I touched Katherine and knew she was impersonating Elena."

"How do you do that?"

"I don't know. I feel what other people feel. Sometimes, I can see what they've done."

"Like you get in their heads."

"I guess." Stefan started stirring from the back seat.

"Hey, Stef. You good?"

"Yeah." He cleared his throat as they pulled up to a nice house. "Think this is where she has Elena?"

"Better be. Nicest foreclosure in town." Damon looked at Ayla. "Keep your witchy voodoo powers on standby."

"Swear to God, if she's not here-"

"Don't be such a pessimist." Damon told his brother, as Stefan walked in the house first and immediately went up the stairs.

"She's not here." Ayla said. "I don't feel her energy."

"It's Isobel's stuff. This is definitely the right place."

"Where are they?" Stefan asked in a rushed tone.

"I don't know, Stefan." He looked to Ayla. "Do something, some kind of spell and figure out where she is."

"It doesn't work like that."

"Then how does it work?"

"I don't know, Damon. I'm a witch who has nothing other than my mother's grimoire to help me learn magic. I'm not exactly a walking magic encyclopedia." She walked out the door. Stefan and Damon followed her out, slamming the door behind them.

They were driving around for several minutes before Elena called Stefan and told him what happened with Isobel. She told them where she was and they immediately dropped Ayla off at the mansion to go pick up the doppelgänger.

Stefan thanked her for her help while Damon practically ignored her. Ayla just prayed that this was the last time they would ever ask her for help to save Elena's life.