If it hadn't been for her own set of ears, Elena would have scarcely believed even half of what Bonnie's ancestor had painstakingly recounted to her for what felt like the last several hours. For her part, she decided to hold off interrupting the older witch. They did take occasional breaks and at least once she felt the call of nature, it was as if she had no other outdoor experiences. Back before her life had turned upside down with the discovery of the supernatural world and her inevitable ties with that very same world her family had gone camping almost every year before her adoptive parent's death, but even they always had toilet paper and if she knew her history thanks to her teacher and would be vampire hunter mentor, she knew that paper wouldn't become widely available until the 15th century and thanks to another student's rather crude question and morbid need to Google it, Elena also understood it wouldn't be invented for eight more centuries give or take a few decades.

"Is everything alright dear? You'd seemed to have been drifting off in amongst your own thoughts." Ayana chided, forcing Elena to refocus.

"I'm fine Ayana this is just-" Elena didn't know exactly how to finish her thoughts were all over the place.

"Quite understandable, my dear child considering your ah… rather unorthodox arrival into my personnel spell chamber and I should say that I've been talking for hours now. We still need to eat before we retire for the evening. How about helping me to prepare our dinner and while doing so you can ask me any of the questions you might have wanted to but were polite enough to wait."

Ayana assigned her the task of cutting up some vegetables for a venison stew while the witch started working with the other ingredients. To Elena it felt strangely comforting being able to perform a chore that felt so domestic she had to fight the urge not to cry when it brought unbidden memories of her parents and her home in the too distant future. Tamping down on her turbulent emotions, she somehow cleared her throat and asked her first question.

"If your friend Esther and her sister ah… Da… lia?" Elena asked hesitantly, looking up from her work.

"Her name is Dahlia, child. She is the older sister of my close friend Esther."

"Yes, thank you. If your friend Esther and her sister Dahlia are both very powerful witches, how did Mikael Mikaelson capture them?" Elena questioned. She honestly didn't know much about how powerful witches truly were, but the feats her best friend managed to achieve still left her in awe. She would've once loved to be able to do something like that.

"They were both captured when they were both still fairly immature both physically and magically. Only one of them, Dahlia was strong enough to put up a fight and that only resulted in her using magic to kill a Viking warrior that was attempting to rape her sister. The Vikings who witnessed this forced her to agree to perform Dark Magic for them in exchange that Esther wouldn't be harmed."

"Why didn't they just escape later on?" Elena asked, scooping the cut carrots into the pot Ayana had provided.

"They would have if the Vikings hadn't returned with their spoils back to their homeland." The older woman paused, looking at her companion before speaking. "Consider your current situation stranded in the past with a familiar yet it is not environment. What would you do?"

Elena immediately focused on the word 'stranded' and didn't want to consider it full implications yet but then considered why the older woman had broached the question in such a manner, and it was then she thought she knew the answer. "They were strangers in a strange foreign land and they needed to adapt or eventually succumb to whatever dark fate awaited them." Elena said, feeling more confident with each spoken word till she truly believed in what she had just said aloud.

"Very good Child I knew that someone of your bloodline would be as sharp minded as you would be." Ayana spoke somewhat absently and yet it still took Elena a moment to question the meaning behind it the older woman pressed on. "Then what do you think happened next?"

"Well at some point afterwards Esther caught the eye of a wealthy landowner named Mikael and they eventually fell in love and were married. But in doing so, it caused a rift to form between the two sisters. Dahlia felt it was a betrayal to the memories of their slain kinfolk."

"Correct and like all newly wed couples that are in a similar situation they wanted to start a family, but despite their best efforts they had yet to conceive a child. Do you remember what I said that Esther had come to the conclusion as to the reason why?"

Elena paused in her chopping of the unfamiliar tubers, trying to recall what Ayana had mentioned only a few hours ago. "Uh… She had come to believe that in her life she had been cursed and she needed to break it in order to conceive?"

"Go on." Ayana prompted.

"She went to the only person she was aware of who could break whatever curse had been placed on her. If I recall correctly what you'd said that at first Dahlia outright refused, but eventually she agreed. Afterwards Esther and her husband brought little Freya Mikaelson into the world, and she was quickly followed with a son they named Finn. But there is something that bothers me about this whole curse business." Elena said frowning down at her work as if it was the source of her problem.

"And what would that be?" Ayana asked absently, stirring in yet another bowl of the chopped vegetables Elena had just handed her.

"Who would've placed a curse on Esther in the first place? Could it be her own sister? But if that is the case, why would she have done such a thing to someone of her own bloodline?" Elena was about to add another question that had come to mind when she finally noticed that the older witch had stopped whatever she'd been doing and was now staring at her directly.

"I… I h… have never considered that possibility. It sure would explain a few things afterwards b… but why would she do that?" Ayana spoke. Elena observed as if the witch had just discovered that the Great Wizard Oz was just another charlatan.

"What do you mean that it would 'explain a few things afterwards'?" Elena questioned.

The witch waved her wooden spoon in the air dismissively. "We'll get to that possibility later. Do you recall what I said happened next?"

"Um… Yes, while Mikael was away leading another raiding party into the Germanic lands, little Freya was quickly struck down from a plague that had wiped out at least half of their community. Both parents were devastated by the loss of their eldest child, and even the news that she was pregnant with her third child didn't help to ease their suffering. But that is when you finally decided to intervene."

"Yes. I felt that I had no other choice but not to. Considering what the sickness had done to our community, the loss of little Freya, the effects it had on her parents, and not to mention how her little brother had withdrawn into himself after her death," she paused, taking the last of their food preparations and dumping into the pot before covering it with a heavy iron lid to cook over the hot coals.

"Thanks to my magic and my connection with nature, I knew of a place that at the time suited all of their needs. Mikael had always been an ambitious young man: he had grown wealthy but chaffed under the Norse Kingdom his and his household were a part of. Add in the fact that he was worried about the potential loss of anymore of his children he wanted no… he demanded that if such a place existed that they should move his family and his followers there." Ayana said pulling out a chair for her and Elena to sit while they waited for their meal to finish cooking. Elena eyed the cast-iron pot speculatively, wondering if her witch companion was using her own magic to help speed the process along. She would never admit to anyone, but despite her poor cooking skills she had a fair idea how long a would take for a stew to cook. Once they were both seated, Ayana continued with this part of the story.

"In retrospect I believe coming to this new land despite its plentiful resources it might have been a mistake." Ayana sighed, rubbing her knotted brow. "Regardless, we are here now. So through my magic at the time I knew of this place's existence and the people that already lived here. When I made my suggestion to the grieving couple, they jumped at the chance to start anew."

"But that is part of the reason I'm struggling with understanding. Why did you suggest that they make a home amongst people that are werewolves of all things." Elena started, but fell silent when she snapped at the witch. The older woman's eyes regarded her coldly before the familiar warmth she always felt when looking into what would eventually become her childhood friend's eyes returned. It still amazed her that she was sitting here having a conversation with Bonnie's direct ancestor.

"Well, in a vain attempt of defending myself," she paused when she noticed Elena's worry on her upper lip as she reached out putting her hand over Elena's own. "But at the time we or more appropriately, I myself didn't honestly know the true extent of their true nature. Yes, they are all healthy and strong its part of who they are but you need to understand as a witch we are always seeking to insure the balance of nature. Back in the old country at the time, there was no such thing as werewolves. Just an ever-growing number of people, and that was causing an imbalance in nature itself. On this new continent the balance of nature is purer and less contaminated."

Elena froze and looked at the older witch considering if she should ask her next question and already knowing that it could be somewhat problematic in that it could change history, but she was still tempted to try to be surprised when she spoke next. "Out of general curiosity, do you have an idea how many people worldwide are currently alive at this time?"

As she had expected her seemingly out of the blue question had thrown the older woman, but instead of pressing her question further she chose to wait. She didn't have to wait long.

"Um… I could ask the spirits directly, but if I had to guess, I would say that the world's populace is about one hundred million souls." Ayana paused, looking at Elena speculatively before reaching for a pitcher and filling two earthen mugs with water. "But you probably have a better idea considering you're from the future. What is the correct number and for my curiosity what is the world's population in your time?" She said lifting the mug to her lips.

Crap! Elena thought. Well I stepped into this. Knowing she had no other choice, she blew out the air she'd sucked in almost in anticipation of Ayana asking the question. Thankfully, thanks to Alaric tutelage, she knew the answer to both of Ayana question. Not wanting to delay the inevitable any longer, she decided to speak bluntly.

"About three hundred million people by our best historical evidence to the contrary, but if that doesn't blow your mind in the year 2010 the number of people is on the lower side of seven billion souls."

Ayana almost choked on the water. Elena acting on pure instinct jumped up and started to strike the older woman's back, trying to aid in clearing her airways while cursing herself for causing this to someone that has so far given her nothing but friendly companionship.

"I'm so sorry Ayana I shouldn't have been so careless. I… I think we really should stick with your telling of the recent past, instead of dwelling on what will happen 1000 years from now." Elena said once she noted that that Ayana was looking much better than before.

"But… seven billion?" Ayana choked out, and Elena could see the inner struggle the older woman endured as she fought her own curiosity. If she was being honest with herself, Elena didn't blame her either.

"Yeah, I believe you're right. So now let's see… Ah yes the Mikaelsons specifically Mikael wanted to ensure that his bloodline would be strengthened with what he called suitable infusion of suitable stock from the natives we eventually made contact with and at a time everything was working towards that lofty goal. The people we found here while they were not as advanced as us they welcomed us of course. When we first settled here we numbered less than hundred."

"Out of curiosity, how many people are living in your ah… settlement now?" Elena asked.

"We have two hundred and thirty-one people in our settlement, but we are expecting a new group of settlers from the old world to be arriving in the next two weeks or so. But in the last twenty years we've made contact with other native villages and settlers from the old world are showing up on a increasing level of regularity. It has Mikael regretting allowing others to know about the beauty and sheer abundance of resources in this new world. But some families or individuals have for their own reasons have returned to the world we left behind. So it was only a matter of time that someone back there learned about this place."

"You said that up until about five years ago things here were relatively calm and peaceful. What exactly happened to change how things are going around here?" Elena asked. The witch was just about to speak when the lid of the pot started to clatter about.

"I think our venison stew is just about ready. How about you set the table and we can continue?" Ayana said and stood to go check on their evening meal. Elena was about to argue that they should continue when her own stomach started to growl and she realized that other than the bread and cheese they had for their what Ayana had called their midday meal, Elena was going to have to remember that. Depending on exactly how long she was going to stranded in the past, her modern perceptions as well as her beliefs were almost definitely ahead of the current times. As she busied herself, Elena couldn't help wondering how things were progressing in the future. Not good, not good at all if she had to guess.

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Mystic Falls Hospital
October 11, 2010

Bonnie groaned inaudibly as she tried to move but found she couldn't move her right arm. It was almost as if it was caught in a vise. Cracking an eyelid just enough, she soon figured out why. Oh well she thought it could be worse at least she isn't crushing my hand.

"Care I think you can let go now, I think my fingers are starting to go numb." Bonnie coughed aloud as she tried to sit up, but felt someone else push her back into whatever she was lying on. Where the hell am I she thought. Based on the chemical smells and faint sounds surrounding her, she had a pretty reliable guess as to where her current location was.

"Oh sorry about that!" Caroline said apologetically and the pressure on her hand quickly lessened.

"Geez… Guys you didn't need to take me to hospital I… I just passed out is all." Bonnie said still trying to sit up, but a quick glance showed that both Damon and Jeremy were in what she strongly suspected was an examination room.

"I wouldn't call extreme exhaustion boarding on realm of hazardous repercussions, Miss Bennett. As it is you're in the hospital because when you finally passed out your head hit against something sharp causing minor lacerations just above your right ear. I'm afraid it required staples." A female's voice called from just outside the curtain entry. Bonnie reflexively reached up and after a hesitant touch found the first offending staple, then the next. After counting four she couldn't help thinking about the potential of having a scar. Fortunately, she could still cover it with her hair.

"W…Who are you?" Bonnie asked. Finally, sitting up after Jeremy grudgingly allowed her to do so now that a doctor was present. Taking in her appearance with a white lab coat, the classical stethoscope slung around her neck if she had to guess she was probably the attending physician.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Fell, Meredith Fell I was just starting my shift when your friends brought you into the emergency room." Doctor Fell said, stepping into the exam room with a clipboard in her hand.

"Fell? As in being Fell of one of Mystic Falls founding families?" Damon asked, his voice tinged with suspicion.

"The very same and who just might you all be? I know who you are Miss Bennett for obvious reasons and I also know you Jeremy Gilbert."

"H… How did? Oh, you must have known my father then right?" Jeremy asked. The doctor smiled sadly at him and stepped closer, touching on the upper arm. "I did as was your mother, and I heard about the tragic loss of your uncle Johnathan Gilbert. I'm truly sorry for your loss." She said softly.

"And I'm Caroline Forbes. My mother is Elizabeth Forbes our town's sheriff." Caroline beamed, holding out her hand to shake which the doctor accepted. Shifting her gaze in Damon's direction, she held out her hand which he choose to ignore.

"And that just leaves who you are? Do you have a name, sir?" Doctor Fell said acting nonplussed by Damon's seemingly standoffish behavior. Bonnie felt very tempted to roll her eyes at him, but she just wanted this whole experience to be over with so she could actually get back to work.

"I'm Damon Salvatore and while it's nice that we are having a quasi founding family reunion right here, could you perhaps tell me why we have never met before and what exactly is wrong with Miss Bennett." Damon asked rather pointedly Bonnie considered and she knew if Elena had been here she would've called him on it.

"Well, since you asked so nicely." Doctor Fell said rather sarcastically, and Bonnie found herself liking whoever this woman was. "I was doing volunteer work out of state, and I only just recently returned to my position here. But as to what is wrong with her, I won't breach any doctor patient confidentially without her permission, Mister Salvatore." She said acidly.

"It's alright Doc, you might as well tell me now." Bonnie said, trying to hurry things along. The doctor nodded and after consulting what she assumed was her own specific patient chart, looked directly at Bonnie and snapped her clip board shut with a flick of her wrist.

"Put simply Miss Bennett you're suffering from exhaustion I can't for certain say if its mental or physical but based on your vitals when you came in here and the fact we had to also rehydrate you I would probably say a little of both. I would strongly suggest you spend the night here and we can reevaluate in the morning after some more fluids and rest. Its really just as a precaution you understand."

"Doctor Fell I really don't think that is necessary I feel fine." Bonnie spoke firmly reading herself to get out of bed to prove to them all and that is when she noticed the empty IV bag off to the side and the line going into her left arm. Why had she missed that, she wondered? Probably because you're trying to take on too much her hated inner voice said.

"Bon, I think it would be a good idea. You gave us quite a scare. We've been here waiting for you to wake up its now past midnight." Caroline pleaded griping Bonnie's hand a little more firmly.

"Midnight~?" Bonnie croaked. But before she could say anything else, Damon of all people spoke up.

"Doctor Fell, I was wondering if we could have a little chat somewhere nearby?" Damon asked so sincerely that while a part of her wanted to warn the good doctor, Bonnie was oddly hopeful that Damon of all people could help accelerate her eventual departure from this place. She had always somehow disliked hospitals and never knew just quite why.

"Oh… Ah course, if you just follow me I will find us a more suitable location." She stated and allowed Damon to fall in behind her as she quickly departed their vicinity.

"Bonnie, I really think you should listen to the Doctor's recommendation." Caroline started once she was assured that Damon was busy.

"Look guys, I'm fine." Bonnie said with a sigh.

"But-" Caroline started, but Bonnie cut her off. "I just really want to sleep in my own bed tonight. I promise to take it easy for the next couple of days." Bonnie tried reassuring her friends. Jeremy by his expression seemed willing to giving her the benefit of the doubt. Her other friend looked like she was chewing on broken glass. She knew that Caroline was about to say something when Damon reappeared in her exam room with an oddly tight expression.

"Judgy you owe me big time. Good news you're going to be released. Doctor Fell is sending a nurse into remove your intravenous line while she's busy filling out your discharge paperwork. Hey Little Gilbert, you and Vampire Barbie here can both make sure she gets safely home." Damon asked. Even as drained as Bonnie felt, she could tell that he seemed off his game and was half tempted to ask what's going on. But in all honesty, she just cared about was getting out of this place. Alas, Caroline wasn't willing to just let it go. She loved her friend, but sometimes she wished Caroline would be more selective in picking her battles. This was not one of them, she decided.

"Damon, how did you get her to change her mind?" Caroline hissed after checking that no one without the knowledge might overhear. "Did you compel her?" She whispered.

"No… Yes… I mean its complicated. Look, everything is fine. Promise. I just need to hang around here and do Doctor Fell a small favor." Damon smiled stiffly, its clearing obvious that he is in a position he can't charm his way out of and before they could ask what he meant the nurse, he'd promised picked that inopportune time to show up. When they finally looked back to where he'd been standing, all of them noted that he disappeared from sight and the only thing they could do was look at each other. The expression they each shared was virtually identical. What the Hell!?

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Elena pushed her bowl away and smiled warmly at Ayana there was no possible way she could eat another spoonful. She absolutely had no idea what the woman had done but that was the best stew that she had ever tasted. The knowing look which was too reminiscent of her best friend now in the distant future felt both comforting and sad at the same time. Will I ever find a way of getting back to my time Elena thought. Sensing the change in Elena's mood Ayana pushed back her own bowl away with a wain smile.

"So where were we before deciding to break for our evening meal?" Ayana asked.

"Um… I believe that we were just starting to go over why everything started going to hell in a handbasket." Elena answered. To her own surprise the woman sitting across from her. Was just staring at her with the oddest expression on her all to reminiscent features of her childhood friend before she finally broke down in laughter. "What? Did I say something that was funny?" Elena asked her confusion growing. She'd always hated not being taken seriously. That is part of the reason she didn't like Damon's heavy handiness when it comes to how he treated her as if she couldn't have a single useful idea in her pretty little head. Elena found herself getting angry but did her best not to show any indication of it building within her and she was only partially successful.

"My apologies Elena I've just never heard our current plight being described in such a colorful manner. Going to hell in a handbasket indeed. You are rather talented with your choice of descriptive wording aren't you?" Ayana said in a tone that helped to ease Elena's building anger.

"It's just an old expression from my time period, and before you ask I have absolutely no idea where it originated." Elena said her earlier tension having greatly eased with the comradery she and Bonnie's ancestor were sharing with one another.

"Anyway back to our sad tale. The original inhabitants of this new world while not advanced as us for example they hadn't discovered how to forge metal into anything useful but for trinkets and the like. They were still somewhat peaceful," She said sadly. Elena thought her last statement sounded oddly out of contrast with what she knew of the werewolf gene or curse that it seemed to almost encourage aggression in the individual that it afflicted. She knew that she must be missing something important that perhaps was lost between her time and now. Elena was sorely tempted to allow her companion to continue but she deep down wanted this particular question answered.

"Ah… Ayana what exactly do you mean by 'somewhat peaceful?' The few werewolves I've known or even heard about are naturally quite aggressive. How could that have changed from in the past… Uh… Sorry I meant right now, Ayana?" Elena stumbled she didn't have any idea how long she would have to be in the past but she was going to need to work harder in adjusting her current time reference.

"Do you recall when I said that when we first arrived in what would become our new home?" Ayana asked speculatively. Elena wasn't sure but she felt that they were getting closer to whatever Ayana was trying to explain.

"Yes." Elena spoke hesitantly formulating how best to respond. "You all arrived in the new world shortly after the events we've been talking about. But I still don't…." Elena stopped as she tried her best to trace the loose thought that only just occurred to her. Ayana as if she knew what Elena was on the cusp of realization simply waited.

"Exactly how big was the Mikealsons first group of Vikings that arrived in this new world verses how many native people were here when they settled here?" Elena asked. Ayana smiled brightly at her young charge.

"Now you're getting to the heart of the issue. Nearly twenty years ago we departed our old homeland with nearly eighty souls, but because of disease and other more human frailties only fifty of us arrived it what became our new home. It was a stroke of luck at the time that we found a small but thriving community of the native people to this region."

"How many of them were living in this community at the time?" Elena found herself asking not realizing that she had unintentionally interrupted the older witch, but Ayana didn't seem to mind. "Their settlement was over hundred people but to be fair we could never get a precise number since their group was quite fluid in nature. Their numbers would seemingly increase for a few nights and then quickly dwindle, it took us a few weeks to realize that the majority of their people were in fact nomadic and where we had chosen to settle amongst their number was a central gathering hub for their people."

"But how does this relate to the werewolves becoming a problem?" Elena asked not bothering to hide her confusion from her voice.

"Because at the time very few of their kind were around," Ayana held up a hand to forestall Elena from interrupting her again. "Yes, they did exist and as we later learned they were sometimes a part of these small nomadic groups that made up their people. They would arrive, pick up whatever they needed, and then move on. The original settlement's chief elder had very strict rules about no violence within the community; anyone that was found guilty of such an act or behavior was cast out. As time went on, however, our numbers started to increase either by birth of a child or as more unsettling to the natives more settlers from the old world started showing up wanting to join our growing settlement."

"How did the indigenous people take that?" Elena asked aloud.

"I really don't think they themselves at the time knew how to handle the matter. We were teaching them so much about some of the ways of our old world. For instance, metal work and agriculture. To be fair they were already starting to move down that path. We, however, just accelerated the process with our shared knowledge and experiences. But as our numbers started to take over theirs; that is when problems started to arise."

"Problems?"

"It's the nature of man. I wouldn't be too surprised if it wasn't the same in your time as it is in ours. Throw in people together and add in a little drink. At some point a spark of aggression will erupt and then what do you have?"

"Fire or in this case outright violence. Let me guess at that point some people on both sides were killed?" Elena asked.

"Yes, but in truth tensions amongst our two peoples had only been slowly building. With every new settler from the old world who joined, our community only started to alienate the original inhabitants of these lands. The first elder when we first merged our two groups together had been a very kind, but quite wise person and had forbidden acts of violence within the confines of the settlement as I said. At the time we just thought he wanted peace. We were not aware of their true nature but the elder did and had taken steps to insure our safety."

"How so?" Elena asked. She never heard this part of the story from Elijah or his semi psychotic sister. Ayana smiled and waved arms wide.

"The cave network is an excellent place for our people to wait out the full moon. It turns out that the size of this place is quite extensive. But back to the story. In the beginning, we were never given a straight reason why we needed to go underground every full moon. Until the fatal day when two of our own people had been caught outside and only one of them survived long enough to tell us about a larger than normal wolf that had stalked them like prey and killed the first man with one strike before it had mauled the poor fool, but strangely it just abandoned him for a reason we never quite figured out why."

"Perhaps it could have been meant as a message?" Elena offered.

"It's possible we tried to capture one alive but the beasts were surprisingly quite intelligent and escaped every time. Mikael was personally furious with me when I refused to use magic to help in capturing one of them. But I'm getting off the story." Ayana responded.

"The Village Elder that we formed a friendship with from the very beginning was sadly severely injured in a tragic accident and his son took his place. Unlike his father he preferred to practice what he called his people's old ways. That is when the milk really started to sour. The new Elder stopped enforcing his father's edicts of nonviolence and incidents started occurring on an increasing basis. Until a drunken brawl resulted in the death of eight people all from our side of the community. Unfortunately, one of them had been a childhood friend of my best friend's husband, and the perpetrator was none other than the new Elder Ansel himself. If it hadn't been for Esther and the friendship she had formed with the new Elder in the earlier years when we were still establishing ourselves in this new land, the encounter would've ended in bloodshed. But as it was, Ansel took the majority of his people who agreed with his desire to return to the old ways, as he called them, and created another community several days' journey away from here."

"So that's it then?!" Elena huffed it still left so many of her questions answered when she caught sight of the harsh look the older witch was giving her. She turned her faced downward and apologized for interrupting once again.

"Unfortunately, if only that were the case. Ansel almost immediately afterwards started raiding our community, stealing supplies and whatnot and during the full moon the number of werewolves increased quite dramatically. If it hadn't been for our magic we would have perished. Two of Esther's own children, Finn and Kol, who are both turning out to be quite the witches themselves, made two discoveries that helped us immensely in dealing with the werewolves," Ayana paused purposefully, and it took Elena a moment to realize that she was giving her a chance to ask a question but she'd chosen instead to decline for now. As interesting as Ayana's story about the past was, and the growing questions building inside of her, she was starting to feel rather tired. Ayana smiled and stood up and went over to one of her tables and returned with the dried out remains of a plant, holding it for Elena to see more clearly.

"Quite by accident, Finn discovered that this particular plant seems to cause weakness in the Werewolves; and although it doesn't outright kill them, it causes them immense pain. But…" Ayana sighed and put the plant back in its container. "It's not always effective and we have yet to figure out why. It was clever Kol who had ultimately discovered the truth about our former neighbors. He'd taken the initiative to create a very simple but still quite deadly trap to catch one of the werewolves during a full moon. The body we found in the morning was not of a wolf but of a man we had come to know as one of Ansel's closest friends that had sided with him. It was then we learned the large wolves that threatened us so were also some of the people many of us had at one time befriended. I know you have many questions still, but I think it's getting late. We should retire for the night. I think I have something in your size to wear just for tonight," Ayana said and moved to a nearby chest and started searching through its contents.

"I'm fine, really Ayana. It's just jet …err I mean, time lag. I'm quite sure that all time travelers experience it at some point. After all, if the Doctor can do it then so can I, right?" Elena yawned, not realizing that Ayana was helping her out of her clothes. A part of her knew that she was exhausted and it had suddenly hit her as if by magic, but she still had so many questions and the lack of sleep she'd been experiencing lately was starting to make her both compliant and silly at the same time.

"Child, I think it would be better if you got a good night's rest first. I really don't think you're making much sense at the moment. What is this lag you speak of, and who is this Doctor person?" Ayana asked, pulling a night shirt over Elena's bare form and patiently ignoring the girl's sudden fit of laughter. "I have someone I would really want you to meet tomorrow so off to bed with you." She helped Elena to stand and navigated her over to a large bed. A part of Elena wondered where Ayana was going to sleep but was too tired to ask. Instead she allowed the older witch to put her under the thick wool sheets and rolled on to her side.

"O…Okay" Elena mumbled and before she could form a single coherent question she was fast asleep.