Tegan zipped up the last of her bags, looking around the almost empty room now. She was doing the right thing, getting away from here – from everything that happened over the past years is a good thing. More than good. The events that started with the Salvatore brothers coming back to town cost her her family. Not only did her father die, Uncle Mason and now her mother did as well. It would be hard seeing Aunt Natalie again but… She just had to get out of there and Beacon Hills was the only place she could think of. It was the only place that still held the people she trusted.

"All packed, I see," a voice startled the Lockwood into dropping the bag she had just picked up. It hit the ground with a dull thud, causing Tegan to let out a curse.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered, stiffening when she felt the presence get closer to her back "I told you to stay away from me."

Klaus let out a small laugh "Well as I told you. Your brother was a very bad puppy. He turned a good chunk of my Hybrids against me. What I want to know is how he did it?"

"How should I know?" Tegan asked, pushing past him to bring the bag to the car. She was taking her brother's truck to Beacon Hills. Not that he would care… He never did anymore. The only thing on his mind was his stupid revenge. Tegan didn't understand why her brother hated Klaus as much as he did. After all, the Original stopped them from having to turn every full moon. In truth, while the younger Lockwood didn't hold any love for the Original either, she was thankful. He gave her something that the curse took from her "He didn't exactly write his plans into a diary."

"I find it hard to believe that he would just leave you behind," Klaus crossed his arms, staring at the girl across from him. She looked tired and done. While he didn't care for most of his Hybrids, there was this small group who were loyal to him. They were thankful. And Tegan was one of them. It didn't mean that he felt guilty about what he did. Tyler was out of line and had to be punished.

Tegan reached up to close the trunk of the car with a loud bang "Better believe it, then," she muttered "Tyler doesn't care about much more than killing you. He's an idiot and got our mother killed. I want no part of it."

Klaus studied the girl for a short moment before seeing that she was indeed speaking the truth and a small spark of disgust rose in him. Despite what he did to his siblings, he tried to do what was best. He might have gone about it the wrong way but… He still loved them in his own way "You better answer your phone when I need you. Don't forget. You're still mine."

"Yeah," the youngest Lockwood mumbled, wrapping her arms around her middle "As if I could forget."

"Good," the Original Hybrid nodded sharply before he was gone.

Tegan's phone rang for the fourth time today. And each time it was the same person. That one person she really didn't want to talk to at the moment. Tyler. He had been calling for hours and seemed to not want to quit anytime soon.

With a reluctant sigh, the younger Lockwood pulled into the parking lot of a store and answered the call "What?"

"Tegs," Tyler breathed in relief "Thank God. You're okay. Where are you?"

"Why do you care?" Tegan demanded, leaning back in the driver's seat.

Tyler let out another breath "Tegan, Mom is dead. Klaus killed her. I'm so sorry."

"I know."

"I have a plan, Tegs," Tyler told her "I know of a way to break the sire bond. We don't have to be bound to that person."

Tegan gritted her teeth in frustration "Tyler. I don't care."

"What?" her older brother frowned "He killed our mother, Tegan. He has to be stopped."

"No," the girl snapped "You have to be stopped. For the record, Tyler. I don't blame Klaus for Mom's death. This is all on you. If you could have just accepted that we're Hybrids now then this wouldn't have happened." She let out a growl "I really don't understand why you're complaining. Did you love having to change every month? Because I sure as hell didn't. Klaus did us all a favour and you want to go after him?" Tegan shook her head "Go right ahead. But leave me out of it."

Tyler clenched his hands, looking at Hayley who was on the bed next to him "You're seriously blaming me for this?"

"Yes. You chose revenge over your life. Revenge over Caroline, revenge over mom and revenge over me. Do me a favour and never contact me again," the girl finished and hung up. The short call had drained her. Despite the fact that he was an idiot, Tyler was still her idiot older brother. Even if he had it better than he knew. Hopefully, he would see that he was wrong before Klaus decided that he would be better off dead.

Two days after she had left Mystic Falls, Tegan drove past the sign that welcomed her into Beacon Hills. She was exhausted, barely stopping long enough to get something to eat and maybe an hour or two of sleep occasionally.

She drove the somewhat familiar route through the small town, ignoring the stares her car got from several people and made her way to her aunt's house. There was a straange car in her driveway but Tegan didn't think too much of it. It was probably one of Lydia's friends or they had gotten a new car or something. She would have loved to puzzle more but Tegan just wanted to go to sleep and never wake up. That, and she needed to feed.

"Tegan," Lydia gasped when she opened the door to see her cousin standing in front of her. The younger girl looked ready to drop, her short black hair a mess "You look like hell. Come on in."

Tegan's shoulders relaxed a little. She had been thinking about having to explain that she needed to be invited in but it seemed like all her worries were unfounded. For now, at least "Hey, Dia," she smiled shakily, looking past her cousin at the black-haired girl who was standing behind her.

"Oh," Lydia let out a breath when she noticed Allison standing behind her awkwardly "Sorry. Tegan, that's Allison Argent. Allison, this is my cousin Tegan."

"Hey," Allison smiled at the girl. Lydia had told her that her cousin was coming because of something that happened but whatever she expected… This girl looked ready to pass out on the spot. Honestly, she could see why Lydia had been this worried for her cousin. The strawberry blonde had been practically fluttering around for the past four days or so, drawing quite a few looks from everyone who didn't know what was going on. Even Jackson seemed to contemplate talking to Lydia a few times.

Tegan gave a little wave and stumbled after Lydia when the older girl pulled her into the house "Mom isn't home yet," the Martin explained, pushing her cousin down on the couch in the living room "Are you hungry?"

"Dia, I just want to go to sleep if that's alright?" Tegan spoke up, her voice faint and barely audible. Everything was catching up with her, now that she was safe. How she found her mother lying dead on the ground, Tyler disappearing, Klaus constantly popping up…

"Alright," Lydia nodded, once again studying her cousin worriedly. She could see that something was more than wrong. Something that went further than just her mother's death. There was something in Tegan's eyes, something that didn't bode well. It was so different from the happy girl that had visited when they were younger "Come on, I'll show you to your room." She looked at Allison "Do you mind…?"

Allison shook her head "I need to go home anyway," she said with an apologetic smile "It was nice to meet you, Tegan. I'll see the two of you soon."

"See you at school, Allison," Lydia nodded, leading her cousin up the stairs and to the room that her mother and she had decorated "Do you want me to get your stuff out of your car?"

"No," the Lockwood mumbled "Heavy. I'll do it later." When Lydia went to leave the room, Tegan caught her arm "And Dia? Thanks. I know I kind of sprang this at you. But I just had to…"

"Don't worry about it," the strawberry blonde waved her off "You're family. Mom and I don't mind. I missed you, Tegs. It's been too long."

Tegan stared after her "Yeah," she whispered to herself "Maybe it has…"