November 4, 1001
Wilderness around the Town:

Elena was still trying to understand what had occurred in their family home only a few scant hours ago. Had or hadn't she somehow lit those half dozen candles that Kol had apparently been trying to do that exact thing she might have done?

Before anyone could have seen what she had done or not, she extinguished all of them and simply waited for everyone, including Finn, to join her in the main hall. Although Elena had fed from Elijah before, her gums were starting to ache and, based on everyone else's expression, they were feeling the same as she was. Elena didn't quite comprehend how to really internally process this shared connection they now had. Even once they managed to walk in the daylight again, Elena knew that they were no longer human and she and her family, with the minor exception of Esther and Elena's twins, were predators of the night. Besides, the animal life in the surrounding wilderness, the humans in their community, were now her family's potential prey and that realization alone terrified Elena.

They'd paced and waited until the last harmful rays of setting sun disappeared once again beyond the horizon and like a damn breaking they all moved into the night air. With her new senses the world exploded into being for her the sounds, her new vision acuity, not to mention the heavenly aroma of blood. Thankfully, not many humans were around and the few that were, at least to Elena, appeared to by quickly moving inside their respective homes.

Their muttering and whispers were clear, as if they had been standing right next to them and their fearful overlapping tones both exhilarated and terrified her at the same time. Everyone but Elena and Elijah moved into the trees in search of prey. Hopefully, Elena thought, none of them would encounter a person outside. Still, it made her wonder if anything bad had happened so far. She'd asked if anyone had yet killed anyone while feeding and the collective chorus of No's had been a small relief for Elena, but she knew it was only a matter of time before one of them killed. They might all be vampires now, but Elena was now resolving herself to keep her brother-in-law's true parentage a secret from Mikael as well as everyone else. She'd actually considered taking him aside and telling him the truth, but that would have only hurt him more, and she had come to love him as a brother.

"Elena, are you ready to give this a try?" Elijah's gentle prodding returned her back to the present. Elijah had promised to take her hunting with him and before that, she needed to learn how to move thanks to the changes wrought on her by the dark ritual. Pushing aside all her concerns away for the time being, she returned her attention back to her husband.

"Sorry I was thinking about, well everything. What were you saying?" Elena responded, turning her chin up to look at her husband. God, part of her really wanted him right now, but so far she was tamping down on that particular carnal urge. It didn't help matters that every time he put his hands on her hips, her mind started to blank and it was starting to drive her crazy with need.

"Understandable, I think we are all dealing with similar thinking, but for now let's focus on this, shall we?" his voice purred into her hair and somehow she clamped down on her raging hormones.

"Okay, what do I do first?"

"Think you're on the starting line of a race. Just push off and use every ounce of strength to propel you forward. If you're worried about hitting the trees, don't be. You'll see them way before you even reach them and your reaction time is now faster than before. You'll easily dodge around it as if it wasn't even there."

Feeling daring, she looked mischievously at her husband. "Care for a little game of tag?"

"You haven't even tried it and you're already asking me to go chasing after you in a foot race?" he chuckled.

"Yes, are you game?"

"What are the stakes?"

"Hmm… Let's say if you catch me you get a kiss. If not... well there is always tomorrow."

"That does sound reasonable, I so love when you negotiate with me," Elijah growled.

"Give me a five second head start."

"Why five seconds?"

"Well I did just wake up from being dead after the last four days," Elena pouted, giving him her best doe eyed look and groan of resignation from her husband meant she'd succeeded.

"Fine I'll count, but I will catch you lovely Elena Mikaelson."

"In your dreams, mister Mikaelson."

"One."

Elena bolted away as fast as she could. The world zipped by her and she laughed when she easily dodged around one oncoming tree, then another. Even though it was now night and the sky was pitch black, casting everything into darkness, she could still see everything as if it were still lit up by the sun.

"Two."

Realizing that she for the most part had been running in a straight line away from him, she dodged to the left, dodging through a thicket of smaller brush before randomly changing her heading.

"Three."

She was about to go around a large rock outcropping but feeling daring she leaped with all her might and easily sailed to the very top. Based on its height it was just slightly taller than the Mikaelson's Longhouse. From her perch, she could see some of the tops of distant yet easily reachable trees.

"Four."

"Crap!" Elena mentally kicked herself for stopping and looking about. She jumped down easily, landing on her two feet before taking off to the right.

"Five. Ready or not lovely Elena, but here I come!" he said in a soft voice, yet she could still hear him even from where she was running. Although his voice had sounded somewhat distorted by the rushing of air around her, it then hit her she couldn't hear as well if she stood still and now with her putting on the speed, not only was the world zipping past her, she could barely make out anything else. She came to an abrupt halt and waited a half second. There! The sound of twig breaking was enough to make her bolt and push herself further. She didn't know if it had been a forest animal or her husband; she just needed to get away. It had sounded far too close to her taste.

Less than a minute later she was spun around, her back pressed firmly against the bark of a nearby tree. Her arms were pinned above her head and her smirking husband stared down at her.

"I win!"

"You cheated!" Elena humphed.

"Did not, but if you consider that I've been hunting in these very woods since I was old enough to carry a bow, then perhaps I am guilty. Although you did come to a complete stop at least twice by my count," he teased her. His hot breath against her skin was once again driving her insane with need.

"Fine, I concede you won, but as to your reward, it will only be a small kiss and only on your cheek," Elena huffed before giving him a soft but still chaste peck on his jawline. It was the best she could do. He was so tall compared to her stature. Besides, she wasn't exactly sure what might have transpired if it had been on the lips. They were out here for him to teach her how to hunt, after all.

"Now I feel cheated," Elijah humphed. But he must have been feeling the need as well, because when his wife backed away, he allowed her to put at least six feet between them before speaking again.

"Okay now with our little game concluded for now, let me teach you how to hunt."

Twenty-Five Minutes Later:

Elena had to admit Elijah was thorough in his tutelage on the finer points of first stalking her intended prey. It had turned out to be easier than she first expected. Thanks impart that they could hear the heartbeat of the large buck he picked for her to feed from. They were almost fifty yards away from him and, thanks to Elijah's guidance, downwind of him so he didn't pick up their scent.

The buck didn't yet see them, which Elena found surprising, but Elijah had cautioned her to keep the talking to a minimum. So she could question him about it. Its heart beat was bringing out the predator in her and she just wanted to sink her teeth into its neck.

"Elena, I want you to take the lead now. Don't worry if he tries to bolt away from you if the buck catches sight of you before you strike. Remember what I said: we aren't going to kill it, so do your best in taking it down. A broken leg is just as much a death sentence as a broken neck is. So try to be careful."

Elena nodded her head in understanding. Before they had gone their separate ways to hunt, Elijah had warned them that all of them showing back home with the carcass of an animal would make their neighbors ask uncomfortable questions about the amount of animals their family was harvesting for food. Plus, if they did that, they would have fewer animals to feed from if they significantly reduced the animal population.

"Once you get him down, bite him in this region." She moved slightly closer to see where he was indicating.

"I'll be right by your side once you take him down. Remember Niklaus's advice about listening to the heart as you feed. When it starts to falter, stop. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand. I… I just feel bad that we are forced to do this." Elena suddenly felt like crying.

"I know, sweetheart, but we are what we are. Whenever you're ready."

For a minute she stood there as if she'd turned into stone, but before he could do or say anything, she moved. Her take down was swift, and she prayed to whatever deity existed that she also didn't hear a single bone break. Her blow had only stunned the hapless animal. Acting on instinct, she found the best location to feed from and despite getting a mouthful of deer fur, she began to drink. The instant she started to feed, she could already tell the difference in the taste. In truth, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. If anything Elijah's blood had been like a well aged wine meant to be savored. Idunn's blood had been good too. Still the animal blood seemed to be lacking something from the first time she fed, but she pushed those troubling thoughts out of her head as she concentrated on the mule deer's heartbeat.

"Very good Elena!" Elijah beamed, but Elena chose to ignore his compliment. Instead, she waited until the animal's heart started to slow before backing away. She watched in amazement as the animal slowly climbed to his feet as he stood there before them in stunned shock. Before it shook its coat and moved away from them, Elijah held her tight just in case she went after him, but her mind was elsewhere. This is what Stefan did every day? It had been so easy. Then another stray thought came when she realized that it had been Klaus who'd given her the advice. It really never occurred to her that he would have the best control of his bloodlust before traveling back into the past; she would have sworn that as an Original Vampire Klaus Mikaelson was a blood-thirsty monster. How wrong was she? It made her feel ashamed that she once thought that of her brother-in-law.

After cleaning up the blood that streaked her face and neck, they set off to find and, in Elijah's case, kill an even larger animal. He lucked out and found the largest bull moose she had seen short of a museum. Having his fill of the animal's blood, he allowed Elena to finish draining the animal of his blood.

Then she waited as Elijah removed his hunting knife and started to field dress the animal. They wouldn't eat very much of it since they were still unsure that they could consume regular food anymore. Elena, knowing otherwise, only made slight reassuring comments to him as he worked. Elena felt wonderful she was alive, granted she and her family were vampires, but the fresh blood in her felt amazing. That all came crashing down when something she pushed into the back of her mind came back to the surface of her consciousness.

"Lijah! After we get the meat back home. I want to go see how our babies are doing."


"What the hell do you mean, I can't take Eirik and Astrid home!" Elena yelled at her husband. She so much wanted to punch him in the throat for his refusal to let her collect their children. Elena was already feeling that she failed them as a mother, considering she hadn't seen or fed them in the last four days. The fact notwithstanding that she was technically dead was beside the point. She had just finished tying off the last knot, leaving the moose spread eagled now with all of its limbs pulled away from the animal's body to give him better access to start field dressing the animal for them to carry back to their sleeping town.

Elijah took one more swipe of his hunting knife over his whetstone before looking up at his rather incensed wife.

"Because you are not ready to, my Kærasta!" His raised voice was the only thing that stopped her from lashing back at him with what would have been a rather scathing retort. He hardly ever raised his voice to her. Elena's shoulders slumped in frustration.

"Why?"

He put his whetstone and blade beside the still warm moose carcass. He took her into his arms and lifted her chin up so he could look her in the eye better. She was not ashamed to say but the hot unshed tears refused to move from her now clouded vision of her husband. He sighed, and using his thumb, helped to wipe them away.

"My Kærasta, I know how much you want to hold them and take them home with us, but you've been awake for less than a full day. I know it's hard to understand. Our family, including myself, have had four days of living as we now are. The need for blood is just too great right now. Although it seems to be a curse that the sun burns us so, it is also a blessing in disguise for both us and our neighbors."

She didn't want to agree with him, but she now understood what he was really talking about. Most everyone was supposedly safe in their homes, which did make her wonder if the inability for a vampire to enter someone's home unless invited inside had always been there or might it have happened shortly after the birth of her new species. She closed her eyes and forced herself to relax, listening to her own slow but steady heartbeat to calm herself down. He was right and Damn the man she also understood why on an intellectual level as well.

"You're right Lijah I know, but it's been four days that neither one of them have been held by their own mother. Me! Please tell me that they are being fed. I haven't-" she stopped when a horrid thought suddenly bubbled to the surface of her thoughts. Could she even breast feed her children anymore?

"Elijah, can I even nurse my own children after being changed into… to this blood drinking v… immortal?" she demanded. She almost slipped and called themselves vampires. When would that formal descriptive name for themselves be officially adopted, anyway?

"I don't know… This is something you need to discuss with mother. But I do have it on good authority that the same wet nurse that was taking care of our children is now temporarily staying with Ayana."

Elena breathed out a silent prayer of thanks for her former guardian's foresight. Privately, she resolved to do what she could to protect the woman from helping her family. There was a means of protection from her kind, but she highly doubted they had yet found how toxic vervain was to them now. Besides being able to block compulsion, it also made blood poisonous to them if consumed.

"As much as I want to argue with you, husband, I understand. Could we at least see if they need anything? Their cradles or Astrid's blanket, maybe?" Elena asked hopefully. She really needed to see her children. She might be a vampire now, but she was still a mother.

Elijah regarded her and her heart melted for the man when he sighed and then nodded his head in silent acquiescence to her request.

"While I'm busy here, can you find a tall sapling we can use to help us carry this back home?"

"I don't have a wood axe with me, uh… never mind." It took her some effort not to roll her eyes when her husband gave her his patented look. The same one which seemed to say why she wasn't thinking and truth be told, she hadn't been in retrospect. She was still thinking about her former limitations as a human.

As they busied themselves with their agreed to tasking, Elena's mind wandered as she searched for a suitable sapling. If she was an Original Vampire now, then where the hell was she in the future or did she somehow create a different timeline. That had to be it, she guessed. As she considered the possibilities, would Rebekah, or Elijah, have treated her the same way if they already knew who she was and if they didn't, how did they seemingly forget her? And more importantly, if there wasn't a separate timeline then exactly where was she? Did she die somehow? Or maybe she had a dagger in her chest. To many questions and not enough answers, she wanted to see her babies and barring that talk to Ayana alone.

It didn't take very long for her to find a sapling that would work for them. It scared her how strong she was now. All it took to bring it down was her forcibly pushing on the trunk before a resounding crack reverberated in both the air and the ground at the base of the now toppled tree. After the removal of outlying branches, she easily lifted the wood pole above her and brought it back to her waiting husband, who, it seemed, had also just finished field dressing the moose carcass.

"Thank you Elena, now can you help me secure its legs to the pole? Then we can head back home."


November 25, 1001

Dear Diary,

I must have the oddest luck of any person on this planet. I have literally died twice in my life; the second time was a thousand years before I was even born. As it turns out, my father-in-law's compulsion wasn't the only one that broke when I was magically changed into a vampire. The fact that I'd met Damon before Stefan is shocking. It still bothers me that he confused me with Katherine. The second time was after they'd rescued me from Elijah.

My dreams lately have been filled with Isobel and I don't quite remember why I feel like she is with me. Before now, that would have alarmed me, considering the last time I really remember spending any time with her was in the cemetery where my grandparents had placed a headstone for her after her alleged death. However, I feel like somehow I know more about her than I previously did before. And yet I still feel like I'm forgetting something. It's like I have foreknowledge of what is the ultimate question of life, the universe, and, well, everything. But not the actual answer, as if they were mutually exclusive of each other. Yet another sad chapter of my life.

As much as I wanted to go home in the beginning, I had made my peace with the fact that I would never see my friends and family from my own time period. Now, despite my efforts to alter the past, I just might be able to see them all again, but a thousand year wait is a very long time. My immortality is too new to consider the real implications if I'm now an Original Vampire. What happened to me in the future? None of my family members that I had encountered in my timeline recognized me or did they recognize me and keep it a secret so as not to change the outcome? If that is the case, then where are my children? Were they changed as well, or did they grow up and have families of their own before eventually succumbing to old age?

Ayana still won't let me be alone with my children I'm both relieved and angered by her attempts to protect them from me. Elijah and I are still struggling with our bloodlust, as is everyone else in our family, with exception to Mikael and surprisingly my brother-in-law Niklaus. We are still feeding on the animal population of the forests that surround our town.

While the larger animals can recover quicker from the blood loss, the smaller animals are not so fortunate. I think we have decimated the rabbit population in the area. It doesn't help that people in our community have noticed that decline and even though we have tried to hide the animal remains, enough of them have been found to concern townsfolk. Fortunately, they think that there is a previously encountered wild animal only native to the new world that has staked out its territory with humans presiding in it.

Still, people are not happy even with our isolation from them during the day. Thanks to our enhanced hearing, we can all hear their conversations. A growing number of them are talking about moving back to Europe. Some are in the process of moving to one of the outposts to help build or repair the viking longships which didn't make the return journey from the previous group of immigrants.

I've tried to repeat the incident that scared me the same day I had returned to the living, but despite my best efforts, I can't seem to light the blasted candles and I don't know why. Finn is still locked in his room reading and only grudgingly leaves to feed when he can't hold back any longer. Kol is furious. His magic was important to him and now that is forever lost to him. I haven't told him or anyone else what I might have or might not have done. Ironically, we are using the excuse that it was Kol who was trying a practical joke on the family when it backfired on us, making sunlight very painful to us if it touches our skin. Our neighbors over the last several weeks have become concerned that we haven't been seeing during the day and this was the best we could come up with.

Klaus is always the last one inside when the sun starts its day and when I have asked him about it, he tells me he is enjoying the night. Then he simply refuses to elaborate anything further than that.

The good news is that Esther thinks she might have a solution to our newly acquired sunlight allergy. She asked Elijah and I if she could borrow our wedding bands. Elijah was naturally hesitant, but I'm hopeful that this is the start of the Daylight Amulet.


November 25, 1001
Mikaelson's Longhouse
Main Hall:

Everyone watched anxiously as Esther, still muttering her incantation, opened the shuttered window, allowing the sun's rays to lighten the semi-darkened interior of their home. Although the sunlight could only injure them, every one of them backed away slightly as the shaft of light penetrated deep inside before finally settling on the table where Elijah and Elena's wedding bands sat. The others had their rings already picked out, but Esther specifically wanted theirs because they already had lapis lazuli gemstones settings. Esther had already acquired enough of them for her husband and remaining family members. Elena already had some idea, but the moment Esther stopped chanting and re-closed the window shutter she felt something radiating from her and Elijah's wedding bands. Before she could really process the feeling, it was gone as quickly as it appeared.
Esther handed their rings back to them and smiled at the forever young married couple.

"My incantation is complete. They should now help protect you from the sun," Esther informed them. Everyone watched as first Elena, then Elijah, slipped their respective Daylight Amulets back onto their fingers.

"So which one of you is going to be the first?" Kol asked.

Elena opened her mouth to speak when Elijah spoke up before she could volunteer to be their guinea pig. It did both irritate her that he was trying to protect her and warmed her heart towards her husband. Except for her, everyone else in one manner or other have experienced the burning effects of sunlight on their unprotected skin. Elena would have sworn that Elijah was going out of his way to protect her, but she decided to drop the matter for now.

The family watched as Elijah opened the shutter his mother had closed and deliberately stuck his outreached hand in the path of the sun's rays. Everyone watched with bated breath as one second turned into two, then after what felt like a solid minute, he resealed the shutter and smiled back at his family.

"Thanks to mother, I believe that we can enjoy the feel of the sun's warmth on our faces once more." Elijah declared. He held out his hand for Elena, which she gladly accepted.

"We'll join you as soon as mother enchants our own Daylight Amulets," Rebekah exclaimed happily to the departing backs of her brother and sister-in-law.

"And we will be waiting, Bekah," Elena laughed as her husband opened the front door, bathing them both in the light. Elena could hear their heartbeats pick up and the faint tang of fear that peppered the air. Yet neither Elena nor Elijah showed any ill effects with their entire bodies being bathed in the sunlight.

Elijah smiled back at his family before shutting the door and walking with his wife's hand in his. Another thing they noticed was that they weren't as sensitive to temperature changes as they once had been when they were still human. The air had grown colder and even in the late morning hours, they could just barely feel the chill in the air, but now it was severely muted. If Elena hazarded a guess, they might even be able to shrug off the worst effect of a full blown snow blizzard.

Breathing through her mouth, Elena did her best to ignore the sounds of the beating hearts of their neighbors as they greeted them during their walk. It had been Klaus's suggestion that they try to limit their senses when around others, it helped control their craving for blood. It helped somewhat, but the predator side of her wanted to tear into someone's throat. If it hadn't been for the reassuring presence of her husband, she might have done that very deed when they meet up with her old friend Romona and the witch Allison.

"Ella! We haven't seen any one of you for weeks! I have a surprise for you!" Romona beamed as she awkwardly leaned to give Elena a hug. Elena had to mentally fight the urge to bite her friend's neck when she returned the gesture. It helped that she didn't want to ever harm a child and the fact her new senses picked up the rapid heartbeat coming from her friend's womb.

"Oh! What is this surprise of yours?" Elijah asked for them both, but by his amused expression Elena could probably guess he too knew Romona's condition. It was a relief that she was so far controlling her urge to feed. The thought of snacking on her friend neck was something she had to push out of her mind.

"Anton and I are expecting our first child, Allison just confirmed it for me and we are on our way to find my husband to give him the good news!" Romana said in hushed tones. Although that didn't matter for the two vampires, they could hear everything even more so if they opened their senses up more than they were right now.

"That's fantastic news, Romona. Elijah and I are very happy for you both."

"And how are you both doing? I heard the rumors that Kol struck again but this time around he got himself and all of you in the process," Allison asked, finally joining in on their conversation.

"We're doing better. We are still suffering from the aftereffects, but his practical joke of making us sensitive to light has been rather tiresome. I'm surprised that my father didn't punish him more than forcing him to stand in the sunlight in our home for about an half hour," Elijah sighed, looking over at his wife in support.

"It was painful to watch. I still don't know what possessed him to cast a sunlight sensitivity spell. It was even more of a shock when it didn't exactly wear off as he promised it would. It took Esther to find a solution," Elena added.

"Understandable, but I think we should be off on our way. I still need to tell Anton the good news," Romona said. Elijah, being the gentleman she'd grown to love, extended a hand to her pregnant friend before offering his hand to Allison. Elena should have warned him not to, but the moment they touched hands, the young witch's eyes lit up with alarm as she backed away, eying them both wearily.

"Allison, is everything okay?" Romona asked, concerned. She had already turned away when the startled gasp from Allison made her turn back and look at them with worry.

"Uh… Yes, everything is fine. But I really do think we should be on our way now," Allison said, taking her friend by the shoulders and starting to walk away from them.

"Well, that was somewhat unexpected," Elijah muttered.

"Yes, I agree I think we need to bring it up to Esther when we return home tonight."

"Agreed."

Twenty-Five Minutes Later:

They continued to walk together, enjoying the simple fact of the sun shining down on them and neither of them were bursting into flame. Kol had been curious and had endured the excruciating pain of keeping his arm in the sunlight. After the skin had blistered and blacken quite without warning, it had suddenly burst into flames. Yet despite the obvious pain the flesh on his arm continued to repair itself.

"I'm sorry," Elijah apologized, finally breaking the awkward silence between them.

"Apology accepted, Lijah I know you're just trying to protect me and I love you for that, but sometimes I don't need to be protected," Elena started and after looking around, leaned closer, not that she needed to, but old habits were hard to break. "I'm immortal, just as you Elijah, there is hardly anything that can permanently harm us, anyway."

"I know. It's just hard for me to see you in pain."

"I understand, trust me. I always have worried about you whenever you went out into the forest in search of deer or a wild boar for our table."

"Well… Excuse me, but it looks like mother finished enchanting the rings for the remainder of our family members."

Taken slightly aback by the change in topic, Elena turned enough to see her sister walking alone admiring her ring. Elena frowned when she noticed that people were actively avoiding her sister, many of them retreating into the relative safety of their homes. It wasn't like this when they had left their family home, what had changed? Elena worried. Could Allison have sensed something about them when she shook hands with Elijah?

"It looks like that might be the case. Come let's go see how she is doing," Elena observed and started dragging her husband over to greet their sister. Rebekah was standing by the Great White Oak tree and admiring the flowers at its base. Elena quickened her pace to try to stop Rebekah from picking the planet, but it was already too late.

It was like she was watching the scene playing out in slow motion. Rebekah bending down at the waist to admire the purple flowering herb. Esther, more than once, had asked both of them to pick a few of the sprigs of the herb for some of her potions. Ironically, Elena had always liked the fruity citrus scent of the plant that was toxic to her kind now.

"Bekah!" Elena cried out just as her sister-in-law dropped the piece of vervain she plucked from the plant with a cry of pain.

"It… It burned me Ella! Why did it do that?" Rebekah asked. She stepped closer to her brother while Elena knelt next to the plant. The scent of the Vervain now irritated her nose and Elena had no doubt that if she inhaled deeply of the once pleasant scent, it would send her into a fit of coughing.

"I don't know Bekah, but we should take some of it back with us for Mother to look at," Elena answered. She didn't feel as if she were lying since she honestly didn't understand why this plant which had multitude of uses now was so harmful to them.

Elijah handed her a piece of cloth which she then used to pick up the dropped sprig of Vervain. Being extremely careful not to touch it to her exposed skin, she stood up and, as a group, they went in search of Esther Mikaelson.


November 25, 1001
Mikaelson Longhouse:
Main Hall

The Mikaelson Family were all arranged in their usual sitting positions at the family table, staring wearily at the Vervain plant Elena had brought back with her a few minutes ago. She tried not to smirk as did her sister Rebekah, when Kol not believing their claims about the once useful plant was now harmful to them. He'd rather blatantly picked it up before immediately dropping it back on to the scrap of cloth Elijah had thoughtfully given her to carry it back home with.

"I told you, brother, that it burned me!" Rebekah chided her older brother. This time Elena didn't suppress her grin when she winked at her sister-in-law.

"Well… How the Hades was I supposed to know that you were telling the truth and not trying to trick me?" Kol humphed dejectedly.

"Enough! Children," Esther admonished everyone, including Elena, when her gaze swept through the room, catching everyone's eyes before moving onto the next of her family.

"But why is Vervain poisonous to us, Mother?" Rebekah probed. Elena felt sorry for her sister; she knew that Rebekah had always enjoyed the purple flowering herb. More than once, she had woven it into her hair when they took turns braiding each other's hair.

"I might know why," Finn announced suddenly, which was odd for them since he hardly spoke to anyone, especially after their parents had changed them into the undead beings they were now.

Everyone waited as Finn closed his personal Grimoire before he regarded everyone in the family. "I think that Nature has turned its back on us. For every strength Nature has given us a weakness. Until Mother found a solution for us to once again walk in the light of the sun."

"Brother, I understand why in the case of the sun, but why Vervain?" Elijah asked.

Finn rubbed his eyes and sighed. "Just an educated guess, but I believe that is an accidental residual side effect for the plant having grown at the base of the Great White Oak Tree."

"What is so important about that?" Klaus asked, sounding at least to Elena's keen ears, as if he was rather distracted and uninterested in the family discussion. He'd been the last to return after Esther had summoned her children to return home from whatever they were doing. It was brief, but Elena caught him wiping what could only be blood from the corner of his mouth.

"It's important since it is the one component Mother used to curse us with our immortality and thanks to my careful study of the spell our Mother used, it is also the means of reversing it and possibly our one greatest weakness," Finn declared proudly.

Everyone in the family understood that Finn hated what they had become and, to a lesser extent, so had Kol, but for different reasons of his own, more selfish in nature. Everyone's thoughts were interrupted when Mikael slammed his fist on the wood table, splintering it from his enhanced strength.

"Explain!"

Finn looked nervously at his father before he started to explain that he discovered that by using the wood of the White Oak Tree and some additional spell ingredient he hasn't identified yet, he could reverse their mother's immortality spell if given enough time. Elena held her breath when it finally occurred to her that Tatia must have voluntarily given some of her blood to Esther for the spell and that bit of knowledge confused her. Why had she done such a thing? Ayana had warned them both not to. Elena was still lost in thought when Mikael jumped to his feet, giving his son and then his wife a hard glare.

"I will not allow this threat to my family to exist any longer!" Mikael declared. Mikael stood up and walked briskly out of their Longhouse.

"Father, wait!" Finn called after him, which seemed to stun everyone, including his father.

"Why?"

"I don't want to be like this!" Finn retorted. His hands motioned over his entire body.

"Son, I will not have insolence in my home!" Mikael roared. Everyone, including Elena, had followed the father and son pair outside. The sky was now dark, the sun having set already. A few of their neighbors were about, Elena noted, many of them mindful of the temper of the Elder Mikaelson and retreated to the safety of their homes. Mikael picked up a torch and marched towards the Great White Oak.

"Father, if you do this I will leave and never return!" Finn snapped. Elena watched in shock as Kol moved to stand next to his older brother.

"I will do the same. I want my magic back!" Kol demanded.

That had been the final straw for the Patriarch of the Mikaelson Family. Elena as well as her siblings-in-law Understood that challenging him when he was angry was the worst possible blunder. Given the fact that all of their emotions were heighten since the change only exacerbated the issue further.

Mikael glared at his two defiant children before gazing up at the great tree. Which stood proudly in their growing community. It had survived multiple lightning strikes and come out stronger than before. It seemed to taunt the tiny man standing at its base, which only angered him even more. Elena, as if she could sense what was coming, backed away before bumping into her husband.

"Then go while I do what I have to protect my family!" Mikael declared and before anyone could tell him to stop he threw the flaming torch up into the tree, catching part of it on fire. At first it seemed that the great tree would weather this latest affront to its existence, but Elena felt a tingle and her gaze moved over to where Esther was standing with her outreached hand towards the tree. Before she could demand to know what she intended to accomplish, the small fire from the torch suddenly spread throughout the tree. Some of the town's inhabitants, still awake, backed away in fear while a small few tried in vain to put the fire out. It was a futile gesture.

Elena and the others didn't see first Finn, then later Kol, disappear into their home before then running off into the darkness with all the belongings they could carry. Elena and Elijah stood watching the tree burn, and she started to cry at the sight of the once great tree, now a conflagration of flame and smoke. Elijah tried taking her into his arms but she resisted the urge to be comforted; she could almost feel the tree calling out in agony.

That would have been the end of it if Elena hadn't heard a nearby sob coming from, to her surprise, her own sister-in-law. Elena spun to see Rebekah standing over a prone human form. She had seen enough death in her short life and the fact she could no longer hear a heartbeat coming from the now dead man was more than enough for Elena to realize that Rebekah Mikaelson had finally killed her first human. How many more would there be in the future for all of them?


December 2, 1001
One day till the full moon:

Elena was alone hunting while Elijah was busy with helping Mikael and Esther calm the growing anxiety of their neighbors as well as others in their community. It has been a full week since both the Patriarch and the Matriarch of the Mikaelson Family burned the Great White Oak Tree that had once stood proudly in their growing town. Since that fateful day, they'd discovered that Finn and Kol had made good on their threat to leave. They had somehow convinced enough people at the outpost to take one of the larger longships and made a hasty departure for some unknown destination back in Europe.

It didn't take a genius to know that this latest revelation from the terrified keepers of said outpost had sent Mikael to a whole new level of anger that his will had so blatantly been defied by two of his own children. Not that it really surprised her, having become accustomed to his temper for now. Elena just wanted to temporarily distance herself from the oncoming storm and had gone in search of her quarterstaff to take with her. The fact that it was made from the same wood of the now burnt remains of the White Oak wasn't missed on her part, so it was a shock to find it missing.

Elijah eventually informed her when she finally asked out of desperation about its whereabouts that their father had destroyed it after he too remembered what it was made from. Elena didn't know why, but she felt he was lying to her and that both angered her and worried her. She needed to think and hanging around doing nothing only made the matter worse for her.

After excusing herself, she disappeared into the surrounding forest in search of a larger animal to slake her growing thirst upon. She was proud of how well she has managed to control her bloodlust. It was being kept hushed that five more human bodies have been found in the forest drained of their blood. Rebekah admitted to two of them. Elijah, in his eternal shame, admitted to the two as well. Elena to date hadn't killed a single soul, so that left either Niklaus or Mikael and for the life of her, she didn't know who had drained the poor human. Klaus had become secretive and seemed to disappear for hours before returning home with almost a pleasant smile plastered over his face.

She'd been tempted to ask if it was him, but he wasn't acting like the psychotic Original Vampire she personally experienced in the future. In fact, he seemed almost happy.

Elena shook her wool gathering out of her head and focused on her current task. She'd been stalking this particular large bull Elk for some time. As a family, they have been having to range further than previously to find the larger animals to feed on. After trying her first rabbit, then squirrel, Elena resolved never to tease Stefan if or when she encountered him in the distant future. The blood had tasted like week old wet gym socks and she had almost vomited the blood up shortly after draining the hapless creature dry.

Going down wind of the majestic beast and climbing up into a tree, Elena prepared herself to jump down the moment the creature passed under her. That was until another heart beat from somewhere behind her moved closer to her position.

Dammit, don't interfere whoever you are with my hunt, Elena groused as she waited for the interloper to leave. Sadly the fates were not on Elena's side. Her stomach growled in protest as the Elk neared her position but stopped abruptly when it and she heard a twig snap close by. The animal didn't hesitate to bolt in the direction it had come.

"Did I spoil whatever you were doing, my mate?"

Elena froze in spite of herself. It had been a while, but she would never forget the voice of the man, no, the werewolf who had abducted her from Ayana's home.

Jade moved into view and glanced up to her hiding place with a leer that made her blood boil. If she were still human, her heart would be pounding in her chest with the flight or fight instinct all beings had warming up for whatever best suited the situation. To her own surprise, she found that her heart rate hadn't changed and that at first puzzled her before it finally dawned on her and she felt like slapping her forehead with her palm.

Elena jumped down, doing her best to look like the act hadn't knocked the wind out of her, which was far from the contrary she was instead sizing up the offending interloper who unwittingly spoiled her hunt.

"Hello Jade, what brings you into these parts?" Elena asked pleasantly. She didn't understand why she was acting this way, but decided to go along with it for now. Her question had seemed to confuse the werewolf, which pleased her, making her predatory instincts kick into overdrive.

"My pack is concerned with the number of wild game your people are taking from our lands. My Alpha wanted me to scout around finding the culprits. What are you doing out here all alone? Are you scouting for your husband? I don't smell him on the air. Or are you lost?" Jade asked, his eyes lingering over her chest, which sent waves of nausea coursing through her blood.

"Nope, just little old me out here alone," Elena said in a rather cajoling manner, which shocked her to some degree. She felt her gums ache and the back of her throat felt dry. She needed to feed and after a quick glance around, she made her decision. Like a predator she inched closer to him, keeping him in front of her. He seemed both amused and taken slightly aback by her actions.

Elena was within arms reach of him and she let him make the move. He didn't disappoint her. In a move that would have terrified her once, he pinned her back to a nearby tree and held her up, his mouth almost salivating as he gazed down at her chest.

"Your mistake," Jade crooned, but froze when Elena looked him in the eye. She had never tried this before, but Stefan and Caroline had once explained it to her, so she had the theoretical aspect of what to do down. Time for the practical, Elena decided as she peered into his eyes, pushing what she hoped was the right trigger to activate her compulsion.

"No Jade, I believe it is your mistake. Now listen to everything I tell you. I want you to stand there and not move nor scream or say anything unless I ask you to. Do you understand?" Elena compelled the now very alarmed werewolf.

"I understand," Jade answered in a monotone, which would have made her laugh, but she had other pressing needs.

"Jade, I'm normally a compassionate person and willing to give others another chance, but with you, I think I will make an exception. First off, let me start by saying you're going to die tonight and I just wanted you to know that the darkness that resides in part of me really wants this."

Jade couldn't move even though he desperately wanted it to, and yet his body refused to budge an inch. Which, thanks to his own heightened senses, took in the change in her features as he did something rather uncharacteristic of a predator. One drawback from enhanced vampire senses was the putrid scent of humanity. Elena wrinkled her nose at the acrid smell of urine. Still, it wasn't enough to deter her.

"Goodbye Jade, I really hope this is as good for you as it will be for me," Elena purred in his ear before pulling back enough so he could watch her features change fully. It felt strange yet was amusing for her, watching this werewolf be the first of its kind to know a new apex predator walked this world with them.

Her fangs elongated just before Elena forcibly pulled his head, exposing his bare neck. Elena let her nose guide her as she traced the tantalizing path along his blood rich carotid artery, finding the sweet spot that would suffice for her needs. She teased the skin with her lips, drawing the warm blood to the surface. As much as she hated to admit it, it was hard to deny that she craved the scent of fresh blood.

Piercing the flesh was so tantalizingly easy she briefly relished the faint coppery tang of the few droplets of blood that reached her taste buds before tearing into the flesh to increase the blood flow, fully intending to make her bite hurt as much as possible. Thanks to her compulsion, Jade couldn't even make a whimper as she started to greedily drink. The human side of her was horrified by her action and pleaded for her to stop, but the vampire inside that was finally unleashed was having none of that. Pulling him tight as if he was her lover she held him upright as she continued to drink the euphoric crimson colored fluid. It was almost too erotic for her. but still she continued to drink. Even when his heart started to fade she didn't want to stop herself.

She felt a build up of something starting at her core and exploding outward as it hit her in a never ending avalanche of intense waves of heat and blueish light. Whatever it was had a feeling of something ancient. Elena felt powerful and didn't want to stop, not even when she could no longer pull anymore blood from the drained corpse. She didn't remember collapsing to her knees besides Jade's cooling body. She might have imagined the sudden onslaught of intense pain all over her body, but what surprised as well as terrified her the most was the burnt out region that was reminiscent of the circle of flame she once sat in waiting to be sacrificed. Although in this particular circumstance, everything within the twenty foot circumference around her was a smoldering blacked pile of ash with exception to herself. Stunned, and still coming down from her blood high, Elena slowly climbed to her feet, looking around herself in awe before it morphed into absolute horror. Beyond that, all the surrounding trees were laid out flat as if a detonation had flattened out the offending trees in a radial pattern at least a football field wide.

"What the Hell!"