Mikaelson Mansion
November 3, 2010

When the SUV came to a complete stop, Sage thanked Elena, then Rebekah for including her on the girls' day trip to New York. They would have been home earlier, but because of a freak snowstorm in November, their flight was canceled and it wasn't until the following afternoon they had a chance to fly home. The one positive thing was Elena had her makeover and her hair now was waist length. She missed having straight hair and after a bit of patience and a flat iron her hair was styled rather similar to what it was before her trip into the past. Rebekah had been insistent and Caroline had, on this occasion, sided with her sister-in-law. It was probably a good thing Elijah had given her a credit card because of the small fortune her updated wardrobe and other accessories, as Rebekah had so blandly called the Andreoli Diamond Necklace hanging around her neckline currently, had cost. All of her purchases combined would have made a serious dent in the trust fund her adoptive parents had set up for her. She'd tried to pick the cheapest items, but neither Rebekah nor Sage had been very receptive to her thrifty spending habits. Caroline at first agreed, but when Rebekah said it was their treat and she was included on just about any potential purchase her friend had quickly changed her mind. Not without, of course, promising to pay it back, but Elena had seen the receipts. Not that she intended to hold Caroline to her promise, but if she did, it was probably a very good thing her friend was immortal like she was. Caroline was going to knock Tyler on his hybrid ass when she showed him one of the outfits she acquired.

To her surprise Caroline and Rebekah had gotten along rather well during their shopping excursion and both of them had bought several dozen outfits and matching shoes as well. Elena had insisted on paying for Caroline after she initially balked at the price of one dress she'd fallen in love with. Sage had even gotten into the shopping but still was reserved and the experience left her wondering if it was something with herself.

"Welcome back Lady Elena and Lady Rebekah," Vera and Lily said in unison as they curtsied before them. Elena wanted to throttle her sister for her reaction to her own. She was still upset that they had compelled all the human servants to behave like this around them. A part of her was mortified and just relieved that they had already dropped Caroline, along with her purchases, off at her mom's house.

Caroline had promised to return to the boarding house to check on everyone, especially little Eirik and Astrid.

"Thank you, Vera and Lily. You will need to find some help with the packages. We packed the storage compartment to near bursting," Elena smiled at the two housemaids. If it wasn't for their two pilots and Captain Nuttall's niece coming along with the remainder of their packages, they might have shipped it home.

"We will take care of everything, my Lady. Your other guests have already arrived and are currently waiting for you in the east sitting room. Will there be anything else?" Vera said, not meeting Elena's gaze. Elena knew she had to do something about this use of honorific business, but they had more pressing issues to deal with now.

"Thank you, no, that will be all ladies." Given their assigned tasks, both of them once again curtsied to the two Mikaelson women and moved to the rear of the SUV to start carefully pulling their packages out for sorting to which apartments they were destined for.

Elena leaned over to her sister and lowered her voice so only she could hear her. "Thanks Bekah I've already begun to dread being addressed as my Lady or Ma'am. I already feel old as it is."

"Well, maybe next time you should have let us keep our memories of you and stayed with us from the start, sister." Rebekah chided.

"As much as I wanted to, Bekah, it wasn't going to happen. You're lucky I love you Bekah," Elena sighed, pulling them towards the front entrance.

"Right back at you Sis, are you ready for this? I'm still trying to process everything he's already told us," Rebekah asked in hushed tones, following Elena's lead.

"No, but thank god he was our pilot. We might have never known."

"Well, once into the breach dear sister, at least you're gonna look great for this," Rebekah said in appreciation of her overall appearance. Elena blushed at her urge to admire Rebekah and Caroline's fashion fusion of her outfit winning out and she looked down to examine how she looked.

Elena had to admit Rebekah had been absolutely right about her dress the first time she picked it out for her. While it was a black sleeveless dress with an asymmetrical side slit that she still felt self conscious for putting too much of her upper thigh on display. It was how well the fitted bodice, which led right into a figure-flaunting midi skirt. The dress fit her like it was a second skin. Then paired with Caroline's selection of Christian Louboutin ankle strap sandals with stiletto heels had melded into an eye popping ensemble. The lecherous side of her brain really wanted to know how Elijah would react upon seeing his long, separated wife dressed to the nines.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Ella," Rebekah scoffed, peering over at her. Elena couldn't help the red tint that colored her cheekbones.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about Bekah," Elena said innocently but her heart skipped and the knowing glint in Rebekah's eyes let her know her sister had most definitely heard it too. Sometimes she truly hated vampire heightened senses.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you and my brother will find some alone time at some point. Just don't let him destroy that dress while attempting to free you of it."

"Bekah!" Elena hissed more out of self embarrassment than anything else.

"Come on, let's get this show on the road," Rebekah said, ignoring Elena's protest. Elena trailed after her sister-in-law as they made their way to the east sitting room. Truth be told Elena hadn't even been aware that their dwelling had an East Sitting room. Did that imply they had a West one as well? She shook her head in an attempt to reorder her thoughts. Thanks to Rebekah's comment it was doing pleasant things to her core, but now was not the time for that and Elijah and the others would agree.

Rebekah was reaching for the door handle when, as if by its own accord it opened, revealing their brother Klaus waiting impatiently for them.

"It's about time you two- Ella!?" Klaus started, but stopped when he looked at her from top to bottom before slowly returning to her face. The stunned expression was quickly replaced with one that matched their sister's and Elena wanted to smack both of them.

"Ah… Yes, well we've been waiting for you both to explain why you saw fit to compel your two pilots and a flight attendant to intrude into our home for some reason we all must bear witness to?"

Klaus moved aside, giving Elena and Rebekah a clear view of the sitting room's interior. True to its name there were plenty of expensive looking chairs and couches strategically placed about the room. On one of the couches sat Captain Nuttall and next to him was his great grand niece Amy, then next to her was her vampire boyfriend and copilot whose name Elena had learned was Daniel Miller. Her husband was standing, examining an open book. Everyone else sat in random seats, waiting. The one face she hadn't expected but shouldn't be too much of surprise was Katherine Pierce standing next to the bookcase making a show of examining the book covers.

"Afternoon. Sorry for our delay, we had to drop Caroline off at her house with her purchases," Elena greeted her family.

"Purchases made from our pockets, right Ella?" Kol asked. Before she could respond, Elijah, who had his back partially turned to them, snapped the book he was holding shut before turning to face his brother but stopped dead in his tracks when he finally caught sight of his wife still standing just in the entryway. The air around her suddenly felt electrified and in a blink he was touching her face with his strong yet gentle fingers.

"You're breathtaking," he murmured as he drew her in for a kiss.

"I think I'm going to gag," Katherine said. Although Elena's view was currently blocked by her husband, she could almost see her Doppelgänger making gagging motions. She wanted to snap her neck, but she was otherwise preoccupied. Klaus wasn't and had her pinned against the bookcase she'd been standing in front of, the impact of Katherine's body slamming against it jostled several thick tomes on the shelves.

"You're lucky that my lovely sister needs you for something. Now be a good little Doppelgänger and go scamper off to your little room we've given you like a good little vampire guest," Klaus said in a deceptively calm voice.

Elena pulled away from her husband just in time to see Katherine speed past her, running as if the devil himself were chasing her. With a sigh and a desire to be with her husband, Elena sat on the couch next to him, which also was directly opposite of the couch where her and Rebekah's guests were seated. The two vampires appeared to be calm, and she wondered if that was their professionalism showing in a potentially lethal environment or something else. Amy seemed nervous, but the comforting hand of her boyfriend, Elena absently noted, seemed to be anchoring her. Had she looked like that when she was with Stefan, she wondered.

"Thank you for being here everyone, this is important. Nik, did you say that all the rooms have been spelled with charms to keep unwanted ears at bay?" Elena started.

"Yes, all of them, for that matter. I might point out that your apartment suite has been spelled as well," Klaus said pleasantly.

"Niklaus," Elijah warned.

"Can we get on with it? I want to go explore the town," Kol said, annoyed.

Elena sighed and after introducing their guests, she sat back and waited for Captain Nuttall to tell everyone what he had told Rebekah and her on the tarmac the previous day. Once he was done, no one spoke. The clear shock on everyone's expression seemed to suck the air from the room.

"They died afterwards? And you're sure that neither one of them were staked or shot with a lucky wood bullet, perhaps?" Klaus was the first to ask.

"No sir, when I arrived at my brother's condo there was no sign of forced entry or any evidence that anyone but themselves had been there. They just died. Other than gray skin or the black blood, both of them must have been coughing up together, there was no other sign of foul play." Captain Nuttall explained to the room.

"Why did our father have need of your brother? What was so special about him? I've only met two vampires that our father sired and they managed to escape with their lives from his clutches," Kol asked.

"Sir, when your brother found me dying in that New Orleans sanatorium I had already lost a little sister and unbeknown to me at the time my older sister as well. Fortunately, my baby brother survived the pandemic that was sweeping the world at the time. But after I was turned, I had to watch him grow up from afar. It didn't help that I had to temporarily flee my home when a vampire I learned was named Mikael burned most of the city down. My little brother had a gift for finding things, or people for that matter. When I finally returned home, he had started a family and was a rather prosperous private investigator. I didn't find this out until he told me afterwards, but he spent every spare moment of his time looking for who was responsible for burning down his city. Eventually he cornered Mikael and something must have impressed your former father because he was given a choice to join him with the promise that he'd be released once he found one specific thing," Captain Nuttall continued.

"What was my father looking for?" Finn asked.

"He couldn't tell me because he was compelled not to reveal anything, but that changed one day for some reason I never understood why. One day he just showed up on my doorstep with a story that didn't make much sense at the time. But I didn't know Originals could compel vampires, so how would I have?"

"Interesting, but that really didn't answer my question," Finn elaborated.

"He was looking for me, Finn. And he managed to find me, too. I should know. I was there in Astral Form when Mikael arrived with a witch and another vampire to try to collect me. I wasn't even three years old when he seemingly showed up on the doorstep of the Gilbert family home, out of the blue. If I hadn't been there in Astral Form and felt his presence, he might have gained entry. As it was, I had enough magical reserves to warn Bonnie's mom. Call it a mental push of pending danger," Elena breathed out a sigh.

"Our father found you when you were still a child… I… We have never done that to little ones…" Klaus asked, looking about the room each in turn greeted him with nods of agreement. Finn looked pale at the thought of his father taking and possibly harming a child.

"I was watching as he tried to convince Abby that once I had served his purposes, I would be returned unharmed and my parents compensated for my time and as a reward for their willing participation. Thank god Bonnie's mom was there, but the act cost her dearly in the end," Elena said regretfully, looking down at her hands.

"What happened Ella? What cost her so dearly to make you ashamed to look at us?" Rebekah asked after no else did.

"The desiccation spell she used required a lot of magical power, and she needed a boost so she channeled her unborn son. But the strain was too great, and she lost her baby," Elena choked out. Elijah pulled her into his comforting embrace.

"I'm sorry Ella, I had no idea that…" Klaus started but stopped himself, as if thinking better of it. He changed course mid sentence. His features schooled into an expression Elena had seen over the centuries that only meant he was planning something; she just didn't know what it entailed. As it would seem, they didn't have very long to wait.

Klaus, in a blink, was standing before their three guests who peered up at the Original Hybrid with puzzled expressions.

"I want to say thank you for your service to our family and continued service to us as well. This information, while disturbing, is of utmost importance to us. However, knowledge of this must not get beyond this room or dire repercussions will result. I want all three of you to forget that you have revealed this information to us unless one of my family tells you otherwise. If asked about your brother's death and of his fiancee, you found they had been staked by a random vampire hunter. Do you understand?" Klaus asked, compelling the two still seated vampires and the lone human sandwiched between them.

"We understand," all three of them responded. Elena could understand the need to safeguard this information, but there had to be a better way. She was still considering the possibilities when she realized that Klaus had pulled Amy to her feet.

"Nik, what are you doing?" Elena asked, still tangled in her husband's arms.

"Just covering our bases, Ella. Now do I understand that the two of you are dating and at some point you are going to be turned into a vampire?" Klaus asked calmly.

"Yes, I've been drinking my Great Uncle's blood in case any kind of accident happened, as a precaution," Amy said robotically.

"Niklaus," Elijah said.

"Good to know. Now have you drank any of it recently, like, say in the last twelve hours?"

"Yes." Elena started to climb to her feet but her efforts were counterproductive because Elijah was attempting to do the same and their combined efforts canceled each other's out. It wouldn't have mattered Klaus was too close, regardless. Elena started to form a spell to pull him away, but even as she gathered her magic it was too late.

"That's all I wanted to know Love." Klaus said sadly and before Elena could even tell him to stop his hands already enclosed about the young woman's head and with a quick jerk to the right and the resulting audible crack of her spinal column being instantly severed. The east sitting room was plunged into stunned silence as he then gently laid the now dead girl between her Great Uncle and her boyfriend who were both too stunned to react.


Mikaelson Mansion
November 3, 2010

Their apartment suite doors shuddered in their frames from the sheer amount of force Elena used to slam them shut. Either it was the hardness of the heavy doors themselves or maybe the witches under Klaus's employ had hardened the wood, either way Elena didn't really care. She was angry and the hushed sounds of the human servants she and Elijah passed on their way up to their rooms was evident enough they knew as well.

"Why? Elijah, he didn't have to kill her- no correction- turn her into a freaking vampire, just because they were talking about it in the possible future! They were dating, for heaven's sake! They weren't betrothed or whatever!" Elena yelled at her husband. She knew he had nothing to do with it, but he was the only one present for anger to find a target. He knew it, yet he was still there, so it did slightly mollify her, but she felt the sudden need to break something.

"I know, but he was only looking out for our family," Elijah said, his stoic mask not slipping as he stood before his still enraged wife.

"Don't you think I don't know that, Lijah? Family above all I know… I know this is my family too and I will fight to protect it just as much as any one of us will, but this- Do you know what this sort of reminds me of? It's sadly ironic if you think about it," Elena sighed, looking around for the sidebar her brother-in-law had placed in every apartment for them.

"Here, let me fix you a drink, what will you have? What are you referring to?" Elijah said, moving to the sidebar first and pulling out a glass.

"Anything you're having is fine… What Nik did brought back memories of the night before he broke his curse," Elena started. Elijah dropped some ice into each glass, waiting for it to melt slightly before pouring the bottle of Bourbon he selected.

"I'm not sure how that is relatable," Elijah offered, trying to keep the dialog going between them.

"You had just presented me with a possible means of surviving the ritual, you remember?"

"Of course I do. Thinking back on it now, it shames me that I would even consider doing that to you."

"I'm not blaming you, Elijah. It had to be done. Nik had to be made whole; besides both his and your memories were altered. How could either of you know at the time? But getting back to the point. Damon didn't trust you even though I did and when he suggested that it might not work he didn't take me saying that I guess I'll be dead very well," Elena sighed.

"I recall there was a slim chance that it might not have worked."

"I know, but at least you gave me that option. But like Damon, Klaus didn't give us any time to come up with other options." Elena jumped slightly after hearing the glass Elijah was holding, getting ready to pour the amber liquid into it, shattered into glass shards that stuck into his bleeding palm.

"Elijah!" Elena said, moving to stand next to him, she watched as he pulled a rather sharp piece out of his palm and tossed it into a nearby rubbish bin. Cursing under his breath, he wiped the blood from his already healed hand in annoyance.

"Sorry about that, but getting back to what you just said. I don't think Niklaus would appreciate being compared to Damon. But I can see your reasoning. I gave you a choice, but neither of them wanted to wait to hear or possibly consider other options."

"I don't think anyone wants to be compared to him in all honesty, Lijah. I was already considering the possibility of using a similar spell that altered all of your memories on the three of them. But like the Elixir, that spell would be redundant now that Amy has transitioned and will be none the wiser after being compelled by Klaus again."

Elijah nodded his head in silent agreement, handing her a new glass filled with the aromatic scent of the Bourbon being chilled by the ice in the glass. They had waited for Amy to wake up and that is when Elena had finally stepped in offering the crying girl a blood bag. Elena had felt bad for the girl; she was only dating the vampire. She could have decided to marry a human and have a family, but that wasn't an option for her any longer. She'd only been reduced to two lives: as a vampire or refuse to transition. Fortunately, she had her boyfriend and uncle with her, so the choice had been relatively pain free. Klaus had to compel all of them to think that she'd been attacked by one of his recently turned hybrids while exploring the ground floor and had ended up in a room she shouldn't have ventured into.

Afterwards Klaus had one of his witches create a daylight ring for her and after thanking them for the safe return of family members and a few blood bags for the newly turned vampire, they were on their way back to their plane.

Elena did have a gnawing urge to call them to recommend that the other flight attendant who was still human waiting for them with the plane might be given a few days or weeks off while Amy adjusted to new bloodlust. Better yet reassigned until they could be safely around each other but at least her Uncle had been a vampire for quite sometime If he didn't take precautions then it's on him for losing a fellow flight crew member, Elena decided offhandedly.

Instead, she peered over the rim of her glass, taking a sensual pull of the fiery liquid while her husband watched her over his own glass. Putting her own glass down, she did the same to him and looked at Elijah in his dark brown orbs. Thanks to her heels they were almost eye level, but he still felt like a mountain next to her. Even though they'd been separated for at most twenty-four hours, she still had missed him terribly.

"Penny for your thoughts, mister Mikaelson?" Elena purred, looping her arms around his neck. His warm breath on her clavicle bone was sending jolts of electricity shooting into her nipples. She couldn't help molding herself into his firm body.

"Are you trying to seduce me, missus Mikaelson?" He growled softly, now teasing her neck with his lips.

"Is it working?" she moaned softly as his hands roamed over her body, tracing her curves through her dress. Her nipples hardened when he cupped one of her breasts, flicking his fingers over them. Lustful thoughts chased away the events earlier, and she growled as she nibbled on his earlobe, feeling his harden member pressing into lower belly.

"Ask me in a few hours. Right now I need to reacquaint myself with my wife and her breathtaking body first," his breathing became harder as he tried to control his growing need for her.

"I think I'm amenable to that. Only let me remove my dress first or our sister will have a fit if you trash it," Elena managed to get her own desire briefly under control to step away from him to slip the dress over her bare olive toned shoulders.

"Only if you keep the heels on, and that lovely necklace as well."

"Mmmmm… sounds rather lascivious to me, Lijah." Elena couldn't help eying him with undiluted desire as he quickly removed his own clothing.

"Come to bed with me." Elijah held out his hand to his nearly naked wife except for the items he specifically told her to keep. Her bare breasts and black thong glistened with her need for him, as it couldn't keep her wetness hidden from him. Not that it mattered- he could already smell her arousal.

Taking his hand, he led her into their bedroom then closed the door behind them, cutting off the world around them at least for a few hours.


Mikaelson Mansion
November 3, 2010

She waited until she was sure that everyone had retreated to his or her room. Katherine shuddered, recalling seeing of all people Elena Gilbert, no Elena Mikaelson, being so openly affectionate to her husband. She was still trying to get her head around how or when that occurred. The last time she had even seen her was months ago, and as for Elijah, she had managed to sneak a kiss while he was still daggered in the back of the truck.

Shaking her head, right now she needed to focus. Opening her vampire senses as wide as she could, she listened for sounds that might indicate she wasn't alone, but so far nothing. Most of them had retired to their bedrooms, except for Klaus. However, she knew his precise location was in his art studio on the other side of the mansion. Most likely lost in one of his silly paintings Katherine mused as she slowly made her way back to the east sitting room. The compelled servants ignored her and for this occasion she didn't mind in the slightest. She wisely waited until Kol and Rebekah had departed. From what she had overheard, his sister was going to show her older brother around.

Katherine crept into the room she had been ordered to leave earlier and moved swiftly to the bookcase. Moving her hand to the back of it, she found what she was looking for. Pulling her previously hidden cell phone out, she stopped the recording and after verifying that it had picked up the conversation she was excluded from she quickly hid her phone and returned to her room.

She didn't want to listen to it just yet. She needed to find a safe location to listen to her recording. Then she would know what they were hiding. It bothered her that Elena was now somehow a part of the Mikaelson inner circle and she didn't know how, and that worried her.

"Elena, how did you finagle yourself into their hearts?" Katherine muttered aloud. If the room had the answer, it refused to give it to her. After finding a decent hiding space for her phone in the back of a drawer cabinet after pulling it back, revealing a spot she could put it. She returned everything back to its proper place then went to the kitchen to find a blood bag. Feeling a little parched, she needed nourishment. She had no idea what Elena needed her for that was so important, but whatever happened she would be ready.


Salvatore Boarding House
November 3, 2010

"Where the hell have you been, Blondie?" Damon's voice greeted her and Caroline rolled her eyes in annoyance. Couldn't he see that her hands were full with goodies? Caroline was severely tempted to go back home, but instead she just glared at him over the stack of pizza boxes.

"Duh… Getting food and extra blood bags, just in case we need them," Caroline quipped, then waited until grudgingly Damon took the stack of pizza boxes from her.

"You better have not gotten anything with pineapple," Damon huffed, then moved aside to let Caroline walk past him. As she passed, she couldn't resist, so the next words that slipped past her lips were by far completely intentional on her part.

"Oops!" Caroline said innocently. She'd learned long ago how to hide her feelings. Growing up, she had always felt that she was in second place when it came to Elena Gilbert. It wasn't that she disliked her friend, it was that Elena had always gotten people to do what she wanted without trying very hard. In retrospect, she often wondered if it was a genetic trait of being a Petrova Doppelgänger or something else entirely. Either way, for a long time, she'd been jealous of one of her best friends. Then everything changed when one night her mom brought a stunned Jeremy to their house and much later when the hospital had cleared Elena's release, they had stayed at Caroline's home for several weeks until arrangements had been made for Jeremy and Elena's aunt to take legal custody of them. Caroline hadn't known what to say. Who does really? when faced with such loss, the only thing she did was be there for her friend. The first night Elena hadn't cried and although she hadn't told anyone Caroline had been worried about the mental state of her friend, the only thing she did was hold her. It wasn't until the second day when Elena finally broke down.

Back then she had so desperately wished she could take the pain away, she might have done anything. If she had already been a vampire, she just might have done so, but could she have lived with herself if she had? Caroline had wanted to visit her every day, but her mom had told her to give them some time to adjust, and she had. It actually hurt that her childhood friend was so emotionally destroyed. What might have happened if Klaus had shown up then? Would Elena have put up any sort of fight or would she have welcomed death and its finality? It wasn't until the first day of their Junior year of High School that she once again saw her friend and she had foolishly assumed that Elena Gilbert was back. Now she wondered if that girl was forever lost to time.

"Care, are you okay? You've been standing there staring off into space. Did something happen to you on this shopping trip you were invited to go on?" Bonnie asked, a look of concern crest her brow as she peered over the thick tome she was reading.

Caroline stopped and realized she had been working on autopilot. She was so lost in her thoughts she hadn't realized she continued walking into the boarding house. They were all in the main room, except for Abby who still refused to be released less she give in to her bloodlust. Enzo looked dubiously at the boxes, opening one of them and looked baffled at the contents.

"Yeah, Bonnie everything is fine. I was just thinking about how much our lives have changed," Caroline said. The non-verbal exchange she was having with Bonnie conveyed so much more than mere words ever could.

"Sorry to interrupt Love, I'm a bit behind the times, but what in god's name are these things? They look like flat pies?" Enzo asked.

"Oh, sorry everyone. I might have forgotten to introduce Enzo to the amazing world of Pizza," Damon smirked, moving the boxes around till he found a slice of his favorite kind.

"What have I told you about calling me 'Enzo' Damon?" Enzo sighed. After looking through the selection, he selected what he would later learn was a cheese pizza and took a slice for himself. After one bite and then another until the pizza slice, to no surprise to everyone else, was gone, and another had barely replaced it before the newest member to their little gang started to down his next slice as well.

"How long are you going to be mad at me? I did eventually come back for you, so can you give me a time frame, perhaps?" Damon said around his own mouthful.

"Well, let's see. You abandoned me back in nineteen fifty seven and it's twenty ten now, you do that math. I say that is long enough, what do you ladies say?" Enzo said around his own mouthful of pizza.

Caroline glanced over at Bonnie who looked up from her tome and she couldn't help to shift her eyes to indicate Damon and Enzo before mouthing the words 'Why do boys talk with their mouths full of food.' Bonnie rolled her eyes before returning her attention back to her Tome. Caroline didn't need her vampire senses to tell her witch friend was upset about something.

"Bonnie, what's wrong?" Caroline asked, moving to sit next to her and tried reading the page Bonnie was glaring at and she thought she might understand the problem. "What is that? It doesn't look like any language I have ever seen. Is it Arabic or something?"

"I don't know. I've been trying to figure out a way of translating this tome and I can't make any headway. It's driving me crazy, Care," Bonnie groaned in frustration, pushing the still open tome away from her.

"I've seen this one before, but I don't ever remember you trying to read it. I could be wrong, it always seemed to be the lone book on your shelf space at home. Why did you even bring it?"

"When we were still trying to open the last locked coffin of theirs, Abby and I were getting desperate and at one point we had Jamie go home and grab every grimoire and scroll I had at home. If I had to guess, I think this was once one of the items that belonged to Luke and doctor Martin. I'm about to give up on it… Hey, do you mind?" Bonnie demanded, indignant of the gall of the vampire that had barely said two words to her since their introduction. Enzo backed away from them, holding up his hands in mock surrender.

"Fine, just trying to help… Oh, before I leave you to it then, but I'll give you a hint: Sanskrit is one of the oldest languages in the world," Enzo said by way of explanation before returning his attention to the pizza boxes. This time he selected the one that had pepperoni.

"What?" Enzo asked around a mouthful of pepperoni pizza. He much preferred his vampire diet, but he still preferred to eat food with meat in it. Ironic because, growing up, he absolutely hated blood sausages his mother always made for him and his siblings.

"You can understand, uh… Sanskrit is it? How can you-" Bonnie started but stopped when Enzo started to grin broadly at her.

"Read it? If he were still alive, you could perhaps blame my father. It was all the rage back in my day to read languages forgotten to time, for some unfathomable reason I never understood. My father had an obsession with trying to decipher Sanskrit's secrets."

"Can you help me translate some of this?" Bonnie asked. Caroline narrowed her eyes as she studied the pair. Maybe it was her matchmaker side of her, but did she see some spark of possible interest between them? Deciding to use this as an excuse to go check on Jeremy and Elena's angels, she excused herself and proceeded to go upstairs, not before grabbing two paper plates with two slices each for Jeremy and Elena's Doppelgänger.

Damon being Damon stopped her before she even took the first step. "Don't think I'm going to let you duck my original question, Barbie. Where were you and why did it almost take you a full day to get back to us? Unlike the others, I'm not going to accept that lame ass text message you sent," Damon demanded, holding the back of her bicep. It really annoyed her that he felt he could still touch her after some of the things he pulled.

"Damon, let go of my arm!" Caroline ordered with a raised voice.

"Tell me and I will let you go!" Damon pressed, squeezing her bicep just enough for her to wince in pain.

"We went shopping for clothes and shoes. Now let go!" Damon surprised her by releasing his hold. If she hadn't been a vampire, she most likely would be sporting a bruise.

"Clothes and shoe shopping doesn't take an entire day."

"It does if you take a private jet to New York for a girls day, you ass!" Caroline hissed. Before Damon or Caroline could add to her last stinging statement, both vampires felt a presence at the top of the stairs.

"Do you two mind? Tatia, or whoever she is just managed to get Eirik and Astrid back to sleep. I would really appreciate keeping it down?" Jeremy's voice came out as a harsh whisper.

"Sorry Jer, I was just on my way up to give you this. I'll go take this plate up for her to try," Caroline said, handing the offered plate to Elena's brother before climbing the stairs to the next level. On the way up, she heard Damon talking to him. Being a vampire had its advantages, one being their sense of hearing was far sharper than humans.

"I was going to come get you, we are going to discuss ways of getting Elena back to us. My baby bro is hunting outside, so he might be joining us later," Damon started and Caroline groaned inwardly as she started down the hallway to the guest room. Caroline did pause and consider Damon's last remark about his brother. She could have sworn that Stefan had said he had enough animal blood for several days. Did he suddenly go ripper on animal blood? Is that even possible? She absolutely hated the taste of it; if anything, it was worse when it was below body temperature too and drinking that way was revolting. Caroline shuddered just recalling her first taste.


Salvatore Boarding House
November 3, 2010

Stefan was hunting alright, but his prey was normally the two-legged variety the majority of the time. He waited until his target took his fateful step into the snare he set earlier. Stefan, being a vampire, knew all too well that most snares or traps were an annoyance for his kind. But it would give him a chance to strike when the still oblivious hybrid stepped into his camouflaged deadfall trap.

The branch swung around in an arc, slamming home the four sharpened wood stakes he fashioned earlier. Although injured, none of them had struck the right spot to kill his prey. Cursing as he rushed from his hiding spot behind the salt line, he shoved the wood stake he had in the correct spot. He grinned at the still shocked expression of the rapidly fading hybrid.

"Where the hell does Klaus find you guys, some second-rate puppy mill?" Stefan said to the now dead hybrid. After admiring his handiwork for a second or two, he moved to clean up the mess and reset the trap for the next one. Chances were, with the lingering smell of death still in the air, the likelihood of lightning striking the very same place or, in this particular circumstance, his trap, was unlikely today, but it couldn't hurt. This was potentially the most lethal of the traps he set around the forest, marking the very edge of the Salvatore property. He had three others just like it, but those were elsewhere. In the old days, he would have had to map them out by hand or attempt to remember where they were. Granted his memory was better than a human's, it wasn't perfect. It wouldn't do him or anyone in their group if they blundered into a forgotten trap. Thankfully, the GPS tracker on his phone had every trap marked, and he had already sent the map with the markers to Damon.

Dumping the body next to the one he killed earlier, he dumped the contents of the gas can over them both and set them ablaze. He cleared as much brush as he could around the impromptu funeral pyre. He couldn't stay close by to monitor the fire, but he did the best he could before finally retreating to the safety of the salt line.

He had just crossed the line when he felt a familiar presence standing on the other side of the barrier. He tensed only slightly before he turned to find the blonde vampire he once was in love with.

"Hello Rebekah. What are doing out here?" He paused still Rebekah didn't respond, so he continued.

"I figured you'd be home with your recently reunited family," Stefan said calmly, which surprised even him as he said it.

"I could say the same for you, but based on the gas can and the two burning hybrid bodies I have a fair idea what you have been doing. You know that Nik isn't going to be very happy when he finds out," Rebekah said and he couldn't help but laugh. Not at her, but at the notion he really cared anymore.

"I suppose you're going to tell him, then?" Stefan asked.

"Why should I tell him? I never understood his need for his stupid hybrids when he could have undaggered us and been reunited as a family," Rebekah sighed, leaning next to a tree on her side.

"And now that family of yours includes Elena. Rebekah, what are you doing here? Are you here to gloat?"

"No, if you must know Kol and I went out tonight. I was showing him around before I grew bored with his antics. So I left him at the Grille, shooting billiards with the locals. Does it bother you that Elena has ties to my family now?"

Stefan looked up and from the gas can he still held in his hand, considering how best to respond to her question. He could lie and say it didn't, but what would that really accomplish in the long run? He lost her the moment he took off with Klaus. Coming back and having his humanity switched off hadn't helped either.

"Would it really change anything if I said it did?" He paused, then added, "Rebekah, I'm still finding it hard to believe that time travel is even possible. But can I ask, what was she like in the past? I mean how do you reconcile between the human girl you thought you knew when we first returned to Mystic Falls versus the woman she's become now?" Stefan asked, not exactly sure why he was even asking her.

"Thanks to my restored memories, I first encountered Elena in our home. She had exhausted herself from a long trek from one of our outposts, where newest settlers would be waiting for an escort to their new homes. At the time, We initially thought she was one of them and it turns out that Ayana and Tatia were using this as a cover to bring Elena into our midst. It also gave her a few days to acclimate to being in the past. Rather bloody clever of them. Afterwards she got caught up in what I guess you would call a prank war between me and my brother Kol. We bonded as friends. It was hard, as other girls my age feared our mother's magic, but Elena didn't. Much later, Elijah started courting her and finally she became my sister."

"Restored memories?" Stefan asked confused. He was having trouble believing Rebekah's story he wondered Elena would be able to collaborate it at some point.

Rebekah seemed to hesitate and right when Stefan thought she would ignore his question she described as best she could what she knew about them and how Elena's surprise return had somehow restored them.

"Almost sounds like compulsion, but by magic." Stefan said skeptically.

"I guess it does. The only of us that experienced compulsion would be Elena. I just found out that it was my own father who compelled her to stab me with the dagger."

"I hadn't known part of that considering the compulsion Klaus had put myself under. Damon told me after the fact it sounded like your father didn't exactly trust any of us. If I had to guess, Damon and your father weren't confident enough that neither you nor Elena would follow through," Stefan observed, looking up to the sky. One thing he disliked about the modern world was light pollution at night he missed seeing the stars. Granted, his vampire enhanced senses let him see much more than the average human, but even he had noticed that the ambient light made seeing some stars almost impossible to view. Rebekah cough brought his attention back to Original who had been watching him with unreadable expression.

"Stefan, I know you don't want to hear this, but Elena is a Mikaelson now, and as much as she still cares for all of you… If any of you hurt Tatia or Elena and my brother's children, it won't be just my family coming after you. It will be Elena as well. Just think about it," Rebekah said and after a minute of awkward silence, she disappeared into the night.

Turning back to the house, he knew he needed to talk with the others. They needed to get Elena back on their side. Maybe Bonnie had a spell or something that could help, break whatever hold the Originals had over her.