Journalism wasn't something that Elena was particularly interested in at the moment. To be quite honest she chose the journalism course because in high school her teacher said that she had a distinct voice that she should harness.

Maybe before the accident Elena would have found more enjoyment in her journalism class, but she was just glad that it was over now. Elena scuffed her shoe on the ground and pulled out her phone. She had time to spare before her next class. Maybe she should go find something to eat?

The thought of food made her stomach twist. Okay, so food was out, maybe she should just head to the library and try and tackle some homework. That thought appealed to her a lot more. Elena resettled her backpack on her back and walked towards the library.

The quad was covered in people. People throwing a frisbee around and other sitting in the sun, soaking in the last rays of warm sunshine that they could. Elena liked going to Whitmore. While the college was a considerable thirty minute commute from Mystic Falls, it was in a world of its own. The school was mired in people with different experiences and walks of life that it was easy to get lost. Elena found a sense of peace here that she could not find in the sleepy town of Mystic Falls.

Maybe it was because everyone in Mystic Falls knew one another. They were all caught in the expectations of routine and habit. But here, at Whitmore, Elena didn't have to be Elena Gilbert, orphaned girl and pity party eternal. Here at Whitmore she could simple just be Elena and that was enough. That was all they expected from her.

Elena let a smile grace her face. She was free here. She could be anyone that she wanted here. She gripped the straps of her backpack a little tighter and then made her way across the quad to the library. The main floor of the library was not quiet. Home to the school sports shop and some offices, it was bustling with people many of them sporting the school colors.

With the smile on her face growing, Elena made her way to the stair climbing them until she had reached the second floor. One half of the floor was dedicated to a collaborative space, where many students liked to have lunch and talk to one another. The other half was a quiet side of the library where Elena liked to study. She went deeper into the quieter side of the library, listening as the din of laughter and people talking grew quieter and quieter. Elena found a cubby where she could sit and sat herself down.

She opened her trig book and stared at the figures and everything that was on the page. She could barely understand half of what was being said in class, the book was another monster all together. Pushing aside her trig book, Elena opted for the more simple of the two and pulled out her laptop. Her creative writing class was the easiest of all the classes that she had and she rather do that than college algebra.

"Elena?"

Elena turned her head at the question and found herself staring into the blue eyes of Caroline and another blonde girl. The other girl was thin and taller than Caroline who was wearing a Whitmore T-Shirt and jeans. The other girl looked like she just stepped off the page of Vogue, with high heels and a cool look on her face. Caroline smiled and walked closer to Elena, the other girl hot on her heels.

"I knew that was you from the moment I saw you," Caroline said with a grin. She pulled a vacant chair and sat down in it. Elena's smile was watery at best but Caroline didn't even seem to notice gesturing towards the other blonde. "This is my sister in law, Rebekah."

"Charmed, I'm sure," Rebekah drawled with a bored look on her face. Rebekah's eyes scanned over Elena and for a moment Elena felt like she was being sized up. Rebekah looking over her worth, Caroline shot a look to her sister in law, but the girl was not even looking at Caroline or Elena anymore, her eyes trained at some point in the distance.

"Ignore her," Caroline said with a wave of her hand. She reached over and gripped Elena's hands in her own. "I need your help! I heard that Professor Jenkins is a stickler when it comes to answering questions correctly, but I just started here and I don't have all the notes."

"Oh!" Elena said. A vampire that was worried about her grades. There was a first for everything, Elena thought. Or they could be like Stefan just trying their best to coast by in life, a small part of her thought. Elena nodded her head and tried to smile at Caroline. "Don't worry I can lend you my notes."

"I think I need a little more help than that. I was wondering if maybe you could tutor me. You know give me a crash course on everything."

She remembered Stefan's words. Vampire. These people were vampires. They wanted nothing more than to drink her blood and have their dastardly ways with her. The thought almost made her giggle. But Stefan and Damon were nothing like that and just because they were vampires weren't a reason to write them off. Besides, she had vervain. Elena reached a hand to the necklace that sat at her throat. Elena nodded her head.

"Sure, I can help you," Elena felt herself answer. The smile that Caroline gave her shone through her eyes and for a moment Elena forgot that the word vampire even existed. This was just another college student who needed help desperately and was looking for it in her friend. Caroline lunged and hugged her.

"Thank God," Caroline breathed in her ear. "I was worried about what I would do if you said no." Caroline pulled away, that smile still reaching her eyes.

And Elena thought to herself, how could someone who looked at her with such earnestness be a bad person.

It was a simple text, nothing that would hint at anything bad. It was a simple come over text, one that would not have raised eyebrows if it had been sent by anyone else. But this message was sent with Katherine so there was always a catch.

Stefan parked his car in front of the motel that Katherine had made her center of operations. Grams was getting out of her car also with a frown on her face. Her face was drawn as she got out of the car and neared the motel. Stefan caught her eyes as they stood in front of the door to the motel.

"You get the text also?" Stefan asked. Shiela Bennett nodded her head, her eyes scanning over his form. She stood a careful distance away from him as though she was scared that he was going to lash out and bite her. It was a good thing that Stefan wasn't that person anymore.

"Yeah. I don't really trust this Katherine," Shiela sucked her teeth. Stefan had to agree with her. After everything that went down when Stefan was still human and the way Katherine jus appeared screamed that she had something planned. Stefan could never believe that Katherine was just doing this out of good will, because she cared about her descendent. No with Katherine everything came with a price.

"I don't trust her either, but it is better to hear her out," Stefan said. Shiela nodded her head and they walked into the motel.

The motel was a quaint little place with green wallpaper and a plush yellow carpet. The welcome desk sat empty, with a guest book open on the desk along with a bell. Stefan turned his head this way and that, looking for any sign of life in the motel lobby.

"Is there anyone here?" Shiela called out. Stefan stalked deeper into the lobby, going to the desk and ringing the bell. Stefan could smell blood in the air moments before he saw it.

A woman with a tight bun came out from the back room and smiled at Stefan and Shiela with the dead eyed smile that only customer service reps could give. Two small puncture wounds were scabbing over in her neck and Stefan brought his sleeve up to his face so that he could block the scent.

"Welcome. Katherine has been waiting for you," the woman said. She said it with no inflection in her voice, just like she was stating that the sky was blue. Stefan sighed.

The woman led them up the stairs and into a bedroom that was wide open. In there laid the body of a sleeping man and Katherine flipping through channels on the TV.

"Do you know how to keep a low profile?" Stefan dared to ask as he saw the woman laying on the bed. The man also had two puncture wounds on his neck, but Katherine didn't seem bothered by the red flags that she was leaving around. She simply flipped the channel on the television.

"How many Teen Moms are they going to make. At this rate MTV is going to solely be Teen Mom," Katherine complained from her perch on the bed. The woman from before, simple nodded her head and stared at Katherine with the same bland stare that she stared at Stefan and Shiela. "You can leave Heather."

The woman nodded her head and left them in the room. Katherine turned her eyes away from the TV and finally rested on both Shiela and Stefan. She frowned as though she was expecting something more than the two of them.

"Katherine you have to do a better job of hiding. You can't have people walking around with bites on their necks. You are going to give everyone away!"

Katherine shook her head, her curls bouncing around her head. "That isn't important. I found a spell that can stop Klaus."

Shiela nodded her head. "And where is this spell?"

She rose from the bed and pulled out a piece of paper from the bedside table. Katherine brought the paper out and pushed the sleeping man off her bed. She unfolded the paper and beckoned the two of them closer.

"Look it's a sleeping spell. It is a spell that, will put Klaus to sleep if we get him to drink this tonic," Katherine said as she pointed to the paper.

"Sleeping spells are notoriously hard to create," Shiela said as she looked over the ingredients for the spell. "They usually require an anchor of some sort in order to keep the target asleep for so long."

"Yeah, but this spell requires a tonic and an anchor and who better to make the anchor than Elena herself?" Katherine said with a small smile.

"What?" Stefan asked with a frown on his face. "No, Elena stays out of this."

"You are doing all this to protect her, I think she should have some say in how it is done," Katherine said with a curve of her lips. Stefan shook his head.

There was no way that he was going to involve Elena in all this. She was barely making it out of her shell after the accident. Elena was still adjusting to life after her life had been so ruthlessly upended. No, Elena could not be involved in any of this.

"Think about it this way Stefan," Katherine said as she fingered a curl. "We anchor the sleeping spell to Klaus and then Elena gets to live out the rest of her human life and Klaus stays asleep."

"But then you have the problem of Klaus after Elena passes in her human life," Shiela said as she looked over the sleeping spell. Katherine flapped a hand at her as though she was wiping away the concerns.

"That's something you worry about when Klaus wakes up," Katherine said.

Shiela cut her eyes to Katherine and looked at the older vampire. "Why do you want Klaus to be put down so badly? What do you gain from this?"

Katherine stayed quiet for a moment and Stefan swore he saw something dark cross her features. It was nothing that suggested anger or hatred, but it was a bone chilling sadness that haunted her features, one that you could only gain when you have been through a trial. In that moment Stefan saw the woman who he had originally fell in love with, not the calculating and taciturn woman that she had become.

"Klaus killed my whole family. Slaughtered them like they were cattle. I want nothing more than to make sure that the same thing happens to him," Katherine said through gritted teeth. Her hands were fists at her side.

The room was silent as the weight of her words settled over them. She wanted nothing more. Shiela then sighed and nodded her head.

"Fine. We'll go with your plan," Shiela said. "Given it's the only plan that we have."

"What about the others?" Stefan asked. They weren't dealing with just Klaus, but with a whole family of vampires. Katherine waved her hand at him again. "Don't worry. I have something in store for the rest of them."

Shiela looked over the spell one more time and nodded her head. Stefan turned and left the room along with Shiela. Once they were outside Shiela grabbed Stefan's hand and pulled him close to her.

"We need to be prepared and find another way to stop Klaus," was all that she said. Stefan nodded his head. Katherine was too invested in this. She was too guided by her own vengeance. Shiela shook her head. "We need to find a different way to stop Klaus, permanently."

"I take it you have been doing your own research," Stefan supplied. Shiela nodded her head.

"I'll tell you when I have all the kinks worked out." Shiela said with a nod of her head. She let go of Stefan and turned towards her car. Stefan looked at his car.

Everything was moving so fast. Protecting Elena was his first priority. It always had been and always would be. He would make sure that she lived out a beautiful and full life, even if it cost him everything.

It was Tuesday which meant that Bonnie had no classes. That was the beauty of college you get to make your own schedule and enjoy all the free time in the world. Sure she had a myriad of things that she needed to do, projects that needed to get done and homework that needed finishing, but Tuesdays were her new favorite weekday.

Grams left because she said she had a meeting somewhere so Bonnie had the lay of the house to herself. Bonnie rolled out of bed, happy to have the house to herself. She was still in her pajamas when she went down the stairs and made herself breakfast.

When she was done with breakfast, she rose and got ready for the day. She decided almost instantly that she did not want to be cooped up in the house all day and decided to make her way to the Mystic Grill.

After getting dressed and grabbing her things, she was out the door in a matter of moments. The town was still enjoying the last of the summer heat. People were out in their yards soaking up the sun and enjoying the few moments of warmth before fall settled in.

Bonnie took a look at the flowers that were still blooming in the square and passed a hand over them. The flowers seemed to sigh into her touch and then straighten, but Bonnie didn't notice that as her eyes were taken with the form of the body that she met while she was at the Mikaelson house.

Kol sat in the sun, a pair of sunglasses perched low on his nose. He was looking over some large book that was resting on the table before him. Bonnie pulled out a compact from her purse. She checked her features over again. Her hair wasn't a mess today and she was wearing a crop top and jeans that she thought made her look suitably cute. She looked good.

She walked over to the Mystic Grill and hoped that she looked nonchalant when she noticed him there. "Oh!" Bonnie said with planned surprise. Kol looked up from the book. His eyes were glazed over from looking at the book and Bonnie knew the expression. She looked like that when she was deep into her studying and someone tried to disturb her. "Hey Kol!"

Kol shook his head and graced with her a wide smile. His teeth were blazing white in the sun and Bonnie felt butterflies in her stomach as the full force of that smile was turned on to her.

"Bonnie," he seemed to breathe and the butterflies in Bonnie's stomach multiplied. Bonnie hope that the smile on her face was more of a smirk. She leaned over and looked at the book. It had whorls of script and diagrams and Bonnie could not understand any of it.

"What are you reading?" Bonnie asked. She dropped her bags on the floor and slid into the chair across from Kol. Kol shrugged his shoulders and pushed the book closer to Bonnie. Bonnie grabbed the book and dragged it closer to her.

The book was describing arcane rituals and curses, and the importance of certain herbs and the moon phases. It looked like a prop out of some production of Hocus Pocus.

Bonnie raised her eyebrows and looked back at Kol. "Magic?" was all she asked, sliding the book back over to him. Kol let a smirk turn up his lips and Bonnie's stomach did a backflip.

"Haven't you ever wondered if there was more to the world than just science to the world. A little bit of magic?" Kol asked as he pulled the book back over to him.

"Who hasn't wished that there was a little more magic in the world," Bonnie said. She remembered when she was in middle school and wished that there was some magic in the world. She had wished that there was some place like Narnia where she could be whisked away and taken on some adventure that would make life worth it. She grew out of it, but Kol was looking like he still thought he was going to get a letter from Hogwarts.

Kol reached across and patted her hand, a zinging sensation running through her body. The butterflies in her body were sent a flutter with the tingling sensation. Kol sent a half smile in her direction and Bonnie felt the blood rush to her head.

"So why are you looking into all this?" Bonnie asked.

"No reason, just a passing interest of mine," Kol said, closing the book. "Tell me Bonnie what are you up to on such a fine day?"

"Oh, nothing really. I just came out to enjoy the last of the warm weather."

"Does it get awfully cold here?"

"The worst," Bonnie said. She thought about the bundles and bundles of clothing that she would don when the temperature finally dropped. She shivered as though she could already feel the icy wind on her. "It gets really bad and it feel like you'd freeze to death."

"Well I shouldn't take more of your time," Kol said looking down at his book. He grabbed it, lifting the book from the table and gave one last smile to Bonnie before he walked away.

Bonnie rose from the table and walked back to her house. "The weather? You couldn't find anything better to talk about?" She muttered to herself. She slammed the door to her home closed behind her. She poured herself a glass of water, but in her haste spilled the drink. Bonnie let out a sound of frustration.

She stared at the water hoping that it would spontaneously burst into flames. The water bubbled for a moment before it settled. Bonnie turned to grab a paper towel and when she turned back around the water was on fire. Bonnie let out a shocked gasp and pulled away from the water.

"Bonnie?" She could hear Grams calling from the door. Bonnie's eyes widened and she smacked at the flames with the paper towels. The flame did not diminish and Bonnie tried smacking the water harder in order to bring the flames down but it did nothing to diminish the flames.

"Bonnie?" Grams said appearing at the door of the kitchen. Bonnie was still trying to stomp out the flames, but when Grams caught sight of the flames she just sighed and with a motion of her hands the flames went out.

Bonnie eyes widened and she looked to her grandmother. Grams just looked tired as she saw the amazement in her granddaughter's eyes. She sighed.

"Bonnie dear, there is something that you need to know about our family," Grams said.

Author's Note: Make sure to review and tell me what you thought of this chapter!