I feel like I should add a warning for gaslighting in this chapter. It's not something that triggers me, but I got under my own skin writing it.

Jenna had no idea how long she'd sat there with Lizzie before she heard footsteps. "I think your dad's coming, sweetheart. Do you want to tell me what happened?"

Lizzie sniffled. "I'm going mad."

Jenna pressed a kiss to her head. "You're not, honey. What happened?"

"I had a counselling session," Lizzie whispered. "Miss Tig has this way of … She makes me feel like I'm going mad."

A shadow fell across them and Jenna glanced up. Sure enough, Alaric and Caroline had arrived, along with Josie and Hope, and two adults she didn't know.

Josie immediately rushed to her sister's side, but Lizzie froze in Jenna's arms.

"I can't," she whispered. "I don't want to talk to her right now."

"Now, Elizabeth," the unknown woman said gently. "I know this morning was difficult, but you can't run away every time you don't want to talk about something."

If this was the school counsellor, Jenna didn't blame Lizzie for having issues with her. She wasn't even the one being spoken to and she was bristling.

"Lizzie," she said, her voice just as calm. "Look at me."

Lizzie met her eyes and Jenna bit back a curse at the pure emotion in them.

"Ignore her for right now," she said, ignoring the woman's protest. "Just focus on me. You're on the verge of a panic attack, honey, and that's not helping."

Her last words were not-so-subtly aimed at Miss Tig, who shut her mouth, glaring at Jenna as though she had been outright insulted.

"That's it," Jenna continued, focusing back on Lizzie. "Deep breaths. Good girl."

Something cold and metal pressed into Jenna's hand and she glanced down to see Lizzie's phone.

A voice recording app was open, with one saved recording.

"I want you to listen to it," she whispered. "I need … I need to know I'm not going mad."

Jenna nodded, pressing play and lifting the phone to her ear. She didn't need to, of course, but she was fairly sure Lizzie didn't want the whole room to hear.

"Now, Elizabeth, if this is going to work; we really need to talk to each other."

"What is there to say?" Lizzie's voice asked. "I've been coming to you since I was twelve. And you haven't helped yet."

"That's because you don't let me. You need to talk to me. Do you feel your decision in May was a mistake?"

"No. I did what I had to do. It wasn't a mistake."

"What wasn't?"

"Becoming a vampire."

"You think it was a mistake?"

"No - you asked if I thought it was a mistake."

"I asked you if it had been bothering you. You said mistake. Do you feel it's turned you into a monster?"

"I'm not a monster."

"I never said you were. Is that how you feel?"

"No! You said …"

"Elizabeth. We've talked about this. The bipolar makes you paranoid. How do you think your mother would feel?"

"About the bipolar?"

"About you being a monster."

"You just said monster again."

"No, I said vampire. Lizzie, I'm concerned that you're getting worse."

"I'm not getting worse! You're saying things and then insisting you didn't!"

"Elizabeth - I am not your enemy. I am trying to help you. Your mother would want you to take my help, however disappointed she'd be in what you've become."

"You … You think Mom would be disappointed in me?"

"Lizzie … Where's that come from?"

"You … Never mind - I'm leaving."

"Lizzie, you can't leave; I'm worried about you. I'm calling your father and suggesting we try some more rigorous therapy."

"I don't want you anywhere near me anymore."

"Elizabeth, you are getting into a state. I don't want you leaving like this - I'm concerned you'll just walk into the sun."

"I am not suicidal!"

"I never said you were - are you sure?"

Jenna paused the recording and set it back to the beginning, closing her eyes to take deep calming breaths herself.

"Jenna?" Lizzie asked in a small voice.

"You are not mad," Jenna said firmly, opening her eyes again to meet Lizzie's eyes. "You are not mad. I heard everything as well. And you will not have to deal with that woman ever again."

"Now just one moment," Miss Tig protested, "I don't know who you think you are but you have no say in this. Elizabeth …"

In a blur, Jenna disappeared from Lizzie's side and stopped just short of running into her. "If you take one more step towards her," she said, her voice dripping with venom, "I will rip your head off."

"Jenna!" Alaric protested, reaching for her arm as the unknown man moved to intervene.

"Lizzie?" Jenna asked.

"It's okay."

Jenna thrust the phone at Ric. "Listen to it. Listen to what she's been doing."

"I have been counselling …"

"That is not counselling; that is gaslighting," Jenna snapped.

Ric's hand had stilled on her arm and she chanced a glance at him, reading in his face the same horror that she was sure had crossed own.

Beside him, Caroline sucked in a breath, clearly listening in.

Finally, Ric nodded. "Lizzie, I'm going to need to hang on to this for a bit."

Lizzie sniffled a little, tucked up in her sister's arms. "That's okay."

"Ric …" Miss Tig began.

"Emma, if you take one more step towards my daughter, I will let Jenna rip your head off," Alaric said darkly. "Dorian, take her up to my office, please."

Beside Caroline, Hope let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God."

Ric turned to her. "Hope, I'm sorry. You tried to tell me, didn't you?"

Hope shrugged. "I wasn't sure if maybe I was imagining things."

"What do you mean, honey?" Caroline asked. "Did you hear that?"

Hope shook her head. "I didn't listen in. If Lizzie wants me to know, she'll tell me." She finally left her mother's side to approach her girlfriend, taking the hand reaching out to her. "A lot of people had issues with Miss Tig. I know Roman felt that she was implying that he should never have saved my life. And I always felt like she was focusing more on my family being psychopaths than on helping me deal with being kidnapped."

"And she told you that?" Caroline asked Ric, aghast.

"Not in those words," Alaric said tiredly. "She just said it wasn't helping. Why didn't you say something else?"

"Because she's clever with it," Hope said. "She never says anything, just heavily implies. And if you call her out, she tells you that you've misunderstood. I guess with Lizzie she felt she could be more blatant because the bipolar can make her paranoid anyway."

"Paranoid, yes," Jenna said. "But it doesn't put words in people's mouths."

"I was so worried when you didn't come back," Hope murmured.

"Sorry," Lizzie whispered. "I just … I don't know."

"How did this even happen?" Ric asked. "We did a background check, right?"

"There wasn't anything that jumped out," Caroline said. "But then this was her first job."

"She's supernatural?" Jenna asked.

"A witch," Ric confirmed. "It was ideal. She was already in the know; she knew at least some of what these kids are going through; and she had all the degrees."

"Well, I've got that," Jenna said, rolling her eyes. "It doesn't automatically make someone a good counsellor."

"You never graduated though," Ric said.

"I did finish my course though," Jenna said. "I passed my Masters with first class honours."

"Jenna, that's …" Ric trailed off. "Can you do me a favour?"

"I think the words you were looking for was 'You passed your Masters in an online setting despite becoming guardian to two teenagers barely younger than you and exceeded all expectations in doing so - well done; you're amazing,'" Jenna said. "What kind of favour?"

"Well, that goes without saying," Ric said. "If Hope can gather up the students that had complaints, are you okay to talk to them and just clarify what those complaints are? You're going to have more of an idea if it was 'normal counselling' or something more."

Jenna hesitated. "I will. But I want to make sure Lizzie's settled first."

"I'll go and get started," Hope said.

She darted off in the direction of the school, as Josie pulled Lizzie to her feet. "Come on. Can't sleep here."

"I'm tired," Lizzie murmured.

"I'm not surprised," Jenna said, falling into step beside them. "You did really well today, Lizzie."

"Didn't feel like it," Lizzie said with a sigh.

"You did," Josie agreed. "Remember when you used to have an episode and you'd make things explode? You did it in the kitchen once."

"Dad made me meditate for two weeks straight," Lizzie grumbled.

"Well, you nearly took his head off with a kitchen knife," Josie said.

Jenna choked back a laugh. "I should not find that funny, should I?"

"Well, you know he's okay," Josie said. "So I guess it's fine."

Hope's reasoning for running ahead became clear when the entered the school to find an empty lobby.

Lizzie managed a tiny smile. "How many did she scare, do you reckon?"

Jenna tilted her head. "It sounds like they're all through that door."

"That's the main hall," Josie said. "That's where we have meals, and where Dad gives announcements. I'm guessing Hope figured that was the easiest place to take them to talk."

"Well, it sounds like a lot of people," Jenna said. "Did they all have issues with her?"

"Wouldn't surprise me," Josie said with a sigh. "She's …"

"A bitch," Lizzie finished. "She's had it in for me since she got here. And I bet she didn't help you at all after our birthday, did she?"

"No," Josie admitted. "She just … She never came out and said that you were wrong, but she said enough that it just reinforced things."

Jenna followed the girls all the way up to the top floor, to an attic room with two beds. A curtain hung in the middle, which could clearly be drawn across to give them their own spaces if necessary.

Lizzie more or less collapsed on to one of the beds and Jenna hovered by her side for a moment. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I'm fine," Lizzie said into her pillow. "Thanks."

"Alright," Jenna said, a little reluctantly. "I'm going to go down to the hall then, and find out who I need to talk to."

Just as she reached the door, arms were suddenly flung around her waist and she faltered, hugging Josie back after a split-second of shock.

"Thank you," Josie whispered, "for looking after my sister."

Down in Alaric's office, he and Caroline were quietly sharing a glass of bourbon.

"Why?" Ric asked after a few moments.

Caroline sighed. "Pass."

"Not helpful. We'll need a new counsellor," Ric continued.

Caroline smiled. "Why do I think you've already got one in mind?"

"She'd be perfect for the job, Caroline," Ric pointed out.

"If she wants the job," Caroline said. "Given that two of her patients would be your daughters."

There was a soft tap at the door and Jenna poked her head in. "Is this a private party?"

"Not at all." Ric pulled out a new glass and poured her a drink. "I know you're more of a tequila girl, but I don't have any onsite."

"Probably a good idea," Jenna said. "Although I have learned to appreciate a good whisky. I blame Damon. Where's …?"

"Miss Tig's employment has been terminated," Caroline said calmly. "Dorian is helping her pack her things. Did you find anything else?"

Jenna sighed. "Not really, no. Hope was right about that. For the most part it was just implications. If it wasn't for Lizzie, I'd say that she was just a bad counsellor - you do need to help draw out issues that the patient might not even realise they had, but … there's a good way to do that and a bad way to do it, and Emma was definitely not doing it the right way."

"If it wasn't for Lizzie?" Caroline prompted.

"Well, that's more than just heavy implication," Jenna said. "It's downright cruel. Intentional gaslighting. She almost certainly made the episodes worse at times, and could easily have driven Lizzie to doing something stupid to make it stop."

"But why?" Ric asked.

Jenna shrugged. "I doubt we'll ever know. It could be that she gets some kind of sick kick out of it. Or she just took a disliking to Lizzie. Or she likes the thrill of someone breaking and being the only person to put them back together."

"Well," Caroline said with certainty, "I've submitted a complaint to the authorities. She certainly won't be working with children again, if at all."

"Speaking of," Ric said, "we need a new counsellor."

Jenna paused, the glass halfway to her lips. "Oh?"

"Emma was convinced that we'd never fire her because she's uniquely qualified," Ric said. "Because she can understand what some of the kids are going through and she can deal with the general insanity round here with a certain degree of calm. You do have those qualifications as well."

"I wouldn't say my reaction to Emma was calm," Jenna pointed out.

"That doesn't count," Caroline said, almost dismissively. "Any mother would have reacted like that."

"I'm not Lizzie's mother," Jenna said slowly, painfully aware of Alaric's eyes on her.

"Mother, stepmother." Caroline shrugged. "Jo certainly never made the distinction with Elena." She finally seemed to catch on to the way both of her companions had frozen. "And … you two haven't had that talk. I'll just … I have some paperwork to see to."

She disappeared from the office, the banging door and empty glass the only sign she had been there in the first place.

Jenna forced herself to turn back to meet Ric's eyes. When she did so, he gave her a weak smile and refilled her glass. "Maybe it's time for that talk now."