October 15th 2016

Dear Freya,

I am sorry for my abrupt departure. I knew that had I waited and said goodbye, you would only have tried to stop me.

I am nearing my destination. I have stopped for the evening in a village near the manor where my friend currently resides. I could easily reach it tonight however my hunger is growing so I feel that it is better to stop. I will sate my thirst and rest. I know that there is a gathering planned for tomorrow night and I intend to gate crash. I know it may seem counter intuitive to do this when there are more people there as I am aware that my visit will be unwelcome and my contact will not be pleased by my appearance, however I wish to show the guests what a coward their host is. Maybe I will be able to shame him into helping this way.

This country is beautiful. It lies somewhere between the past and the present, wild and tamed. From my room I heard wolves howling. Three in the forest and then a lone wolf further up the mountains. It sounded so sad. I feel pity for the poor creature, wherever it is. Perhaps it too has been separated from someone it loves.

The full moon is tomorrow night. The sound reminded me. If this letter reaches you in time, tell Jackson to follow his wolf visitor should it appear again. Perhaps as a wolf himself, he will be able to see what we cannot.

Once again, I apologise for my departure. I hope Niklaus is behaving himself. I promise I will not be gone long but I cannot continue to sit at home and do nothing.

All my love,

Elijah.

There was a knock at the bedroom door. I opened it to see one of Tristan's maids.

"Yes?"

"You have a visitor, Miss. Downstairs."

"Umm… thanks." I looked at the girls, who were drawing together. "You two stay here, I'll be back soon."

I followed the maid downstairs and spotted one of the sisters standing in the entrance hall.

"Hi…?" I asked tentatively. "You're… Ariane? Right?"

"Yes, that's me."

"Did you want Tristan? I can get him for you."

"No!" I frowned. "I was hoping I could talk to you?"

"Umm, sure I guess." I led her into the library which I figured would give us a level of privacy. "What can I do for you?"

She perched on the arm of a chair and looked down at her hands before looking back up at me.

"When you visited us, you exhibited a strange kind of power that I've not witnessed before and I wanted to discuss it with you."

"Why?"

"I joined the sisters for a number of reason, one of them being a desire to learn about all types of magic. You're not a witch are you?"

"No. I had magic for a little bit when I was pregnant but that was my children's not mine. And it left my system after their birth. I mean, I'm not human. I'm a doppelganger so my existence in general has magic to it but it's not magic I can make use of."

"It's something else that I feel. A great untapped power."

"I understand wanting to learn but I'm not a witch, even if I have magic, I can't make use of it. It seems kind of pointless to look into it."

"Nothing's pointless. Everything has a purpose, a meaning. And while you may not be able to perform spells, magic has many other uses."

"Right…"

"I am a seer, I know the future and yours is very dark Elena. I would advise that you learn more about your own powers and limitations if you have any hopes of overcoming it." She got up and touched my hand "Believe me."

She pulled back and her nail caught on my skin, scratching me slightly. I frowned and tucked my hands away.

"I don't know what to tell you. Maybe it's cause I died." I was being sarcastic but Ariane froze as I spoke.

"You died?"

"Well… not exactly. I was connected to this vampire and I stabbed myself in the chest so that he would die. And he died but I am alive."

"That could certainly account for it… It's rare for people to be brought back from death without considerable magical effort."

"I was found by werewolves. No witches involved."

"Hmm… Thank you for this Elena. It's given me a great deal to think about."

"Well if you come up with an answer, let me know."

I opened the library door and let her out. She seemed distracted, deep in thought. Tristan was crossing the main hall and he paused when he saw Ariane with me.

"Ariane?" He said.

"Oh… hello Tristan."

"Can I help you with something?"

"No, I was just leaving." She hurried to the door, suddenly visibly afraid. Tristan looked at me and then looked at Ariane, frowning. Keeping his eyes on the witch, he pulled his phone from his pocket and texted something.

Ariane left the building and Tristan turned to me, a smile forming.

"Everything okay Elena?"

"Yeah. Just… weird witches."

"Anything I need to be concerned about?"

"No. I'm more concerned about your sister if I'm honest."

He crossed over to me quickly and touched my hand. His eyes ran over me in a way that reminded me of how Elijah used to check me for injuries whenever anything bad happened.

"Did she hurt you?"

"No. She threatened me. And I threatened her. She was worried I'm getting close to you."

"She's used to being the centre of my universe. I told you before that she has issues with jealousy."

"Yes but I thought that only applied to Klaus. I didn't think she'd be the same when it came to you. But it doesn't matter. I have no intention of breaking up your pseudo-incestuous relationship with your sister."

Tristan smiled slightly, looking like he was suppressing the desire to laugh.

"Elena, you're starting to sound like a jealous girlfriend."

We were only a few inches apart. I smiled to myself and took a step closer, closing the tiny space between us. I stood on my tiptoes so that my lips almost brushed his.

"You wish Tristan," I whispered.

I went back upstairs and into the girls' room. They were still drawing. I went over and sat beside them to see what they'd drawn. Lilah smiled brightly at me and lifted her picture to let me get a better view.

"That's lovely darling." I bit my lip. "I have an idea. Why don't you two do an extra special picture and we'll try to send it to your daddies?"

"Mama, why don't our daddies live with us?" Blair asked innocently.

"Umm… it's complicated." They both looked at me expectantly, clearly wanting more. I bit my lip. I'd told them stories before about their fathers, but I'd never really told them the facts of how we came to be separated. I'd always figured they were too young to understand. Then again, they were very smart for their age. "Okay, you want me to tell you?"

"Yes please mama!"

The two of them clambered into my lap. I played with their hair, deep in thought of how to explain this.

"A long time ago, when you were just babies, we all lived together. We lived in a big city called New Orleans. And your mommy was queen of the city. There were lots of different people who lived there. There were vampires, like Lucien and Tristan. There were werewolves. There were witches. And I was so happy. We all were. But then… a bad man… a monster… decided to take us prisoner. Because he wanted to be… a king of his own kingdom. And he took you two because he knew that I loved you so much that I would do anything to stay with you. And your daddies couldn't come with us because if they did, the bad man would hurt us. But… we'll be home soon, I promise. Mommy is going to make sure we get home."

They both sat silently, snuggled up against me. I stroked their hair. All my doubts had completely gone about what I'd done with Tristan. The way he'd acted earlier… maybe I'd been a bit too convincing with my act. I wasn't trying to make him have feelings for me. I knew that I could use it to my advantage though. I couldn't let myself get caught up in it. I simply had to switch myself off. I would do what I needed to, I'd use him however I had to. He'd been nice to me but my children needed their family.

"Can I show you something?" I asked them. The girls nodded. I moved them off my lap, got to my feet and led them to the window. The sun was starting to set. I placed them both on the sill so they could see out, watching as the sun slowly disappeared. "In our family, there are four brothers. Three are vampires. The other is a little bit of a vampire and a little bit of a werewolf. And wolves are very special. They look after their family. They never give up. And you two both are part of the werewolf family. And they will always look after you." I opened the window. "All three of us are part of the wolf pack. And we can talk to them anytime, and they will hear us."

I brought my hands up to my mouth, closed my eyes and howled into the air. My cry faded and I waited. After a moment of silence, faint howls sounded from the trees around the garden. First one, then more. Lilah's face lit up and she looked at me excitedly.

"See? They hear us. They want us to know that they're here for us."

Lilah moved into a better position on the ledge and closed her eyes. She opened her mouth and howled softly. The sound was more animal than human. A melancholic song that carried across the trees. I leaned against the window, my arms wrapped around Blair, listening to Lilah's song.