Within an hour of house emptying, Elena and Katherine bundled Jenna into a car and took her out to the Salvatore lake house.

They had just got out of the car, when Katherine sighed. "Elena."

"What?" Elena asked.

"Did you pack the blood bags?"

Elena sighed as well now. "You said you were going to."

"And then I forgot," Katherine said, handing her the keys.

"You forgot, and I'm going back," Elena said. "Shouldn't I stay with Jenna?"

Katherine didn't answer.

Jenna watched, a little fascinated, as the two seemed to get into a staring contest. Finally, Elena broke their gaze. "Fine. I won't be long."

Katherine smirked. "Excellent. Come on in, Jenna."

"I thought we needed to be invited in by a human," Jenna said, following her inside.

"Only if the house has a human owner," Katherine said. "This one doesn't. Make yourself at home; Elena won't be long."

"You know, I remember more now," Jenna said. "I wasn't really paying attention when I turned but … You compelled me to stab myself."

Katherine pulled a face. "I'd forgotten about that. Sorry."

"Why?" Jenna asked. "I mean, why did you do it?"

"I was trying to keep Elena safe from Klaus," Katherine answered.

Jenna was quiet for a few moments. "Sorry, I don't see the connection."

Katherine sighed. "I was trying to destroy the moonstone before Klaus could get it, so he'd have no use for Elena. I was also trying to protect Damon from Klaus by convincing everyone that I was in love with Stefan, so Klaus would have no reason to go after him. However, if that worked, Klaus might go after Stefan, in which case he'd find Elena, so I was trying to break them up."

"So you compelled me to stab myself … so Elena and Stefan would break up?" Jenna asked.

"I never said it was a great plan," Katherine said. "Although it did work for a bit. Then they found out about Klaus and it all went to hell."

"I get the feeling it would have gone to hell with or without you," Jenna said heavily.

Katherine reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle. "You're a tequila girl, right?"

Jenna raised an eyebrow. "You forgot the blood bags but remembered the alcohol."

"I didn't forget the blood bags," Katherine said. "I left them behind."

"Why?" Jenna asked.

"Because if you're having trouble adjusting, we both know Elena will blame herself," Katherine said. "And we also both know that you'll pretend you're fine so she doesn't. So I figured if I could get her out of the way for a bit, you'll have a bit of space to deal with it. So … How are you really coping?"

Jenna didn't answer.

"Come on, I brought tequila," Katherine said coaxingly.

Jenna cracked a smile. "Yeah, that was a bad idea. You've clearly never seen me drunk."

"I bet you're fun though," Katherine said.

"That was me," Jenna said with a sigh. "Then Miranda died."

Katherine observed her for a few moments. "Hardest thing about being a vampire," she said, "is knowing I will never see my first daughter again. Even if I do die, Anastasia was human, so she's gone to a place I never will."

"I don't remember the last conversation I had with Miranda," Jenna blurted out. "Elena called me, you know, after that party, because she knew she wouldn't get into trouble with me. But I couldn't go and pick her up, because I'd been smoking pot. And Miranda knew that. She'd never admit it, but she knew. So instead she and Grayson went to pick Elena up, because Gray was sober, and Miranda would know how to handle it if Elena and Matt had had a fight, and … I don't remember what I said. I don't remember the last time I told her I loved her; I just …"

Katherine reached across and took her hand. "Let it in," she murmured. "Blocking it out is the first step to a dangerous slope."

"I probably sorted it out," Jenna whispered. "And I don't remember it. And now I'm never going to see her again." She wiped her eyes with her free hand. "Don't get me wrong - I'm not going anywhere. But I didn't want this, Katherine. I didn't want any of this."

Two weeks later, Hope stood in the basement of the plantation house, fidgeting. "Mom, why is Dad waiting in the bayou and why is Mariella stripping off?"

"Think you'll find the second half of that is the answer to the first," Mariella said cheerfully, wiggling out of her jeans.

Hope sighed. "Okay, so what's the answer to the second half?"

"Your clothes are going to rip, sweetheart," Caroline said, pulling her own shirt off. "It doesn't bother your father, but it does bother me."

Hope hesitated. "You know I could have done this at the school."

"I stayed with Mariella for her first transformation," Caroline said. "I'm not leaving you on your own."

"I wouldn't be on my own," Hope said. "There are other people there."

Her mother caught her eye and waited.

"I don't you to think any less of me," Hope admitted finally. "I don't know if I'm going to deal with the pain gracefully."

"No one does, honey," Caroline said gently. It wasn't a surprising revelation - and certainly explained why Hope had insisted Mariella come home for the full moon as well.

"I didn't," Mariella added.

"I'll stay human for as long as I can," Caroline continued. "Then I'll turn as well and we'll head out the hatch into the bayou to find your father, alright?"

Hope nodded, finally following her mother and cousin's example - and just in time too.

Caroline forced herself to watch.

Mariella had been through the transformation enough times that she bore it with some stoicism, but Hope let out a bloodcurdling scream of pain.

A howl went up outside - Klaus - and Caroline tried to catch her daughter's eye, silently pleading with her husband to remain where he was. "Breathe through it, Hope. The more you fight it, the more it hurts."

As Hope fell to the floor and her body began to change, Caroline pushed through her own transformation.

Unlike Klaus - or any of the other hybrids for that matter - Caroline did not turn a lot. She had noticed, however, that with each transformation the pain dulled a little, just as Klaus had said it would.

By the time her vision cleared, there were two wolves sitting in front of her - Mariella's slightly-auburn coloured one, and Hope's white, matching her father's.

Hope was panting, clearly exhausted from the ordeal, and Caroline trotted forwards without thinking, nuzzling her daughter comfortingly.

Hope whined, and Caroline nudged her more insistently, encouraging her to get to her feet, so she could lead them both up the basement steps and out the hatch into the moonlight.

Klaus was waiting for them and he immediately ran to Hope's side, urging her on.

The four ran all night, darting in and out of the bayou, occasionally joining with the Crescents before breaking off again.

As time passed, Hope began to relax, playing hide and seek with Mariella under her parents' watchful eyes.

When the sky began to lighten, the sun's rays just drifting up over the horizon, Caroline urged the girls back towards the house and back down into the basement.

She shifted back as the girls began their transformation, shaking off the weariness of the experience and reaching for a blood bag.

As she drained it, she pulled the basement hatch closed and made her way back down the stairs to where Hope and Mariella were lying on the floor.

"No wonder you're all so tired the day after," Hope mumbled.

Caroline hushed her, helping the half-asleep teenagers into the sweats she'd left out for them.

The interior basement door opened.

"Everyone covered?"

Caroline slipped on a robe and tied it around her waist. "We are now."

Klaus made his way down. "She did well."

"She did," Caroline agreed, pressing a kiss to her daughter's head. "Let's get them to bed."

Klaus nodded, scooping Hope into his arms, leaving Caroline to pick up their niece.

Mariella cuddled into her the same way she had when she was nine, when she and Caroline had first made this trip. "Thanks Aunt Care."

"You're welcome honey."

They put the girls in the same room, unsurprised when Hope immediately curled into her cousin, nor when Mariella wrapped protective arms around her, having taken on the role of big sister as soon as she felt comfortable enough to remember that she was older than Hope (albeit only by a few months).

The girls were asleep before they had even reached the door.

"Will she be okay?" Caroline murmured as they made their way down the hall.

"In time," Klaus answered, knowing better than to give his wife platitudes he couldn't back up.

"I should start getting ready for breakfast," Caroline said, unsurprised when he caught her around the waist and tugged her into the next bedroom.

"They'll sleep for a few hours at least," Klaus said, his eyes still alight with adrenaline. "I can think of a far better use of our time."

Once the anniversary of Miranda and Grayson's death had passed, Jenna began to relax into her new reality, taking note of everything Katherine, Elena and Damon taught her and, to everyone's relief, she ended up taking to vampirism with the same ease Elena had.

She and Lizzie spoke on the phone almost every day - far more often that she and Alaric did. They did most of their communicating via text, and almost always without saying anything important.

Jenna's only concern was than Lizzie did not seem to be handling her transition as well as she was - and she was fairly sure the school counsellor wasn't helping.

And, of course …

"I can't stay here forever."

"Jenna," Elena said tiredly, "you are welcome here. You know that."

Jenna smiled, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand. "I know that, honey. And I appreciate it. But you and Jeremy have your own lives now. And," she added before Elena could say anything, "the entire town knows I died twenty years ago. I know that you're fairly sure that vampires are the worst kept secret in this town, but I don't think opening up the idea of resurrection is a good idea. What's to stop someone getting an idea in their head and trying to resurrect their loved ones?"

Elena grimaced. "Yeah, fair point."

"I can't just stay in this house, Elena," Jenna said. "I'm bored stiff. Not that I don't enjoy morning coffee dates on your days off."

Elena smiled sadly. "Where are you going to go?"

"I don't know," Jenna said. "I always said I'd go travelling after I graduated. London, maybe, or Thailand, or …"

"New Orleans?" Elena asked with a sly smile.

Jenna hid her own smile in her coffee mug. "Maybe." Her phone buzzed with an incoming call, and she checked the screen before answering. "Hi Lizzie."

"Jenna?"

Lizzie's voice was shaking. With what, Jenna wasn't sure, but whatever it was, it caused her to jump to her feet, reaching for her purse. "What happened?"

"I … Am I a monster?"

Elena sucked in a breath, having clearly started listening as soon as Jenna reacted.

"No, honey, you're not." Jenna forced herself to calm down, speaking to Lizzie in slow, gentle tones, the way she would with a patient, rather than someone she had come to care for. "Where's this coming from?"

"Did I make a bad choice?"

Jenna caught the keys Elena tossed to her - clearly her niece knew what was going through her head, even if she hadn't realised. "I don't think so. Where are you?"

"I was selfish," Lizzie whispered. "I couldn't deal with dying."

"Not many people could at sixteen," Jenna said, sliding into the driver's seat of Elena's car. "I … Did you have a counselling session this morning?"

"I'm going mad," Lizzie said. "I hear her say things she doesn't say, but … She does say it, Jenna - I'm not mad."

"You're not mad, Lizzie," Jenna said soothingly. "I'm on my way to the airport, okay? Just … You're not selfish, you're not mad, you're not a monster, and you didn't make a bad decision."

"But what if I did?"

"Well, why did you make that decision?" Jenna asked. "What would have happened if you didn't?"

"I'd be dead," Lizzie answered with a slight hiccup. "Or Josie would."

"Then I'd say you made the right choice," Jenna said.

"I could have rigged it, so I'd die," Lizzie said.

Jenna bit back her instinctive response. "And what would that do to Josie, do you think?"

Lizzie was worryingly quiet for a few moments. "She'd be devastated."

"I think so too," Jenna said. "And I'm very glad that you're not dead."

"What if I am going mad?"

"You're not," Jenna said. "I promise you're not. Tell me about your classes yesterday."

Distraction was not the ideal path to take, but Lizzie was nearly a thousand miles away, and telephone counselling was only effective when the patient wasn't practically on the edge - which it sounded like Lizzie was.

She pulled into the airport parking lot, more than ready to compel herself a flight to New Orleans, but was stopped short when she saw a woman standing outside the terminal holding a board with her name on it.

She smiled as Jenna approached. "Miss Sommers?"

Jenna nodded. "Lizzie, I'm at the airport, honey; I just need to sort out a flight."

"Dr Salvatore called Mrs Mikaelson and she asked us to fly you to New Orleans."

A chartered flight. She wouldn't need a ticket after all, nor would she be confined to the airport timetable.

"Thank you," Jenna said. "Will I …?"

"I'm afraid you will need to end your call for the flight."

Jenna pulled a face, but nodded, following the woman through the terminal to the runway. "Lizzie, honey, I'm going to need to hang up. Where are you right now?"

"In the grounds," Lizzie answered. "I'm not quite sure where."

"Okay, sweetheart, I want you to get somewhere safe," Jenna said. "If you can find Josie or Hope or your dad, then do that, but if you can't without making things worse, then just find somewhere safe, okay?"

"Okay." Lizzie let out a sob. "It's never been this bad."

"I know," Jenna said soothingly. "I know it's bad; you're doing really well, Lizzie. I'll call you as soon as I land. Promise me you'll answer."

Promise me you won't do anything stupid.

"I promise."

"Good girl." Jenna hung up and hurried up the steps to the plane.

The woman who had met her was already seated, her seatbelt on.

"Let me guess," Jenna said. "Seatbelt, tray table, window blind?"

She smiled. "Same as a regular flight."

"You know," Jenna said, sitting down and strapping in, "I've never actually been on a plane before. Just seen the movies."

"We're going to spoil you."

Jenna smiled weakly. "Probably."

"My name is Angela," she said, raising her voice to be heard over the engine. "I'll be your flight attendant for today. In the event of an emergency, try to get out of the plane before it catches fire."

Jenna would have laughed, but she suddenly realised that the woman beside her had a human heartbeat, so naturally she would be worrying about her own safety if anything happened.

At least, she should be.

As soon as the plane levelled out, Angela undid her seatbelt. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Oh, no, thank you," Jenna said automatically.

"Blood?" Angela asked.

Jenna hesitated. "Do you have blood bags on board?"

"We do," Angela said. "Or we have it on tap, so to speak."

"A bag would be lovely, thanks," Jenna said. "Are you …?"

"I'm not under compulsion," Angela said. "Mrs Mikaelson doesn't like it. The only compulsion we're under is keep their secrets."

"So … what do you get out of it?" Jenna asked.

"A very easy job, excellent pay and fantastic benefits," Angela answered. "I really don't mind if you'd rather have it from the vein."

"Thank you," Jenna said, reassured that she wasn't lying. "But I'm a rather new vampire and my technique is a little messy. So a bag please."

Even with the blood, the flight felt as though it lasted forever. By the time they landed in New Orleans, Jenna was about ready to jump out of her skin. She bid a hasty goodbye to Angela and the pilot, not surprised in the least to find Caroline waiting for her in the driver's seat of a smart convertible.

"I'll take you to the school," she said in greeting. "Elena said Lizzie called."

"She did," Jenna said, already calling back. "Thanks for the ride."

"Jenna?"

"I'm here," Jenna said, as Caroline pulled out of the parking lot. "Where are you?"

"I'm in the Old Mill."

"I know where that is," Caroline murmured. "Ten minutes."

"Ten minutes," Jenna repeated. "We'll be there soon, Lizzie."

There was a little sniffle on the other end of the phone. "Kay."

"What happened?" Jenna asked. "What triggered this one?"

Lizzie didn't answer at first. Then, very quietly …

"Would Mom be disappointed in me?"

"No!" Jenna said automatically, comforted by the fact that Caroline had done the same thing. "Of course not, Lizzie; there's nothing to be disappointed about."

"But what if she would?"

"Honey, I never met your mom," Jenna said, trying to keep her voice calm. "But I do know your dad. And I know your dad loved your mom. And that means that your mom was not the sort of person who would be disappointed in you for trying to protect your sister."

"But what if there was another way?"

They were back at the beginning again.

"Where's Hope?" Jenna asked instead.

"I think they're looking for me," Lizzie whispered. "She probably came here first but I wasn't there then."

"She's not answering her phone," Caroline said. "Probably because she's trying to call Lizzie."

"I couldn't … She's blaming herself," Lizzie said. "Because she made me like this, even though I agreed to it - she hates herself for turning me into a monster."

The words were starting to send chills down Jenna's back. Something about them wasn't right - they didn't sound like some dark corner of Lizzie's mind.

"Who told you that, Lizzie?" Jenna asked.

"I'm going mad."

Caroline was pulling up at wrought-iron gates that would not have looked out of place in a horror movie, behind which a long drive swept up to an old manor house.

Stopping just outside the gates, Caroline reached out and pressed the intercom button.

"Laughlin Academy …"

"It's Caroline," she said briskly. "Let me in please."

With a creaking noise, the gates began to swing open, but Jenna was already out of the car. "Where's …?"

"Through the woods that way," Caroline said, pointing. "Follow the river; you'll know it when you see it. I'll get Ric."

Jenna was already running, grateful for her new speed. Sure enough, the old building stuck out like a sore thumb against the forest greenery, broken down and uninviting (and exactly the kind of place she and her friends would have gone for parties when she was younger).

"Lizzie?"

To her relief, when she stepped through the door, Lizzie was curled up in the corner, shaking and in tears, but in one piece and apparently unharmed.

Without thinking, Jenna hung up her phone and blurred to her side, wrapping the girl in her arms. "It's alright," she murmured, as Lizzie curled into her embrace. "It's going to be alright."