Since she was a little girl, Bonnie had longed for a real family. Sheila had loved her granddaughter with every square inch of her heart. In fact, she once told Bonnie that she loved her so much that there wasn't room in her heart for anyone else. Bonnie knew that her grandmother's declaration was truthful. There had been nothing and no one more important than Bonnie was from the moment that Abby had cut bait. However, the saying that it takes a village to raise a child is an accurate one. Sheila could never make up for the love that Bonnie did not receive from her parents—no matter how much she tried.

Abby received the lion's share of scorn because she abandoned Bonnie and never looked back. Few could understand how deeply Bonnie was wounded by the discovery of her mother's 'adopted' son. Abby had plenty of excuses for why she could be a mother to Jamie but pretended as if Bonnie never existed. Nevertheless, it made the teenager feel even more unloved and unwanted. Most people would commend Rudy for accepting the responsibilities of a single father but it was merely a façade. Bonnie gave him some credit for not abandoning her physically. However, there were some days when the emotional distance was so painful that Bonnie wished he would leave for good. Fortunately, Rudy's job often required him to go on extended business trips. Bonnie was never happier than when she was at her grandmother's house.

However, she was beginning to think that family was more trouble than it was worth. Bonnie was listening to her newfound 'family' bicker. In fact, she had been listening to them bicker for nearly an hour. No one seemed particularly interested in Bonnie's opinion. The older members of her family seemed content to dominate the conversation. They were supposed to be sorting out the traveler situation but everyone seemed more concerned about the werewolf curse. Bonnie would have left thirty minutes ago if the meeting wasn't being held in her house. Elodie had suggested using her house as the meeting place because it was steeped in Bennett magic. Bonnie was the most recent occupant, but the property had been in the Bennett family since the early 1900's. Long ago, the house was little more than a shotgun shack her family rented while sharecropping for a wealthy landowner.

She found herself studying the faces of the older women. Della and Joanna were Sheila's sisters. Meanwhile, Faye and Pauline were Sheila's first cousins. They all reminded her of Grams despite the minute variations in certain facial features. Bonnie was only vaguely listening when she heard one of her great-aunts mention the word 'hybrid'. She wondered if they had moved on to complaining about Lucy's predicament. She began listening to the conversation in earnest.

"Now we are connected to the Original Hybrid! We are part of his bloodline and his pack," Della said. Her voice was drenched with disgust.

"Well, we wouldn't even know about this if Qetsiyah hadn't resurrected the girl. What's dead should stay dead," Faye replied with conviction.

Bonnie's green eyes were alive with rage. She sneered, "I was taught to respect my elders. But the next person that suggests that I should still be dead can get out of my house."

Every head in the room turned to look at the girl in shock. She hadn't said one word since the meeting began.

Faye looked contrite as she replied, "I am sorry but you have to understand the position we are in now, dear heart. We are abominations and it is because you were resurrected."

Bonnie was not interested in the woman's half apology. She corrected her, "No, it is because our ancestor knowingly had an affair with a werewolf. She knew very well what the consequences might be but still had three children with him. I mistakenly broke a curse that I didn't even know about. If you are mad about being hybrids then take it up with Ayana. But I will not apologize for being alive."

Elodie bit her lip to keep from laughing. She recognized so many qualities that her older sister, Amelia, had possessed. "It does not matter how we got here. It only matters what we decide to do now. There is no putting genie back into the bottle."

Faye scoffed, "Of course you would say that. You are already an abomination...by choice."

Elodie said, "I think the word you are looking for is 'survivor' and that is what all of you should be concerned about right now. Abomination or not, the travelers are coming for all witches. We are going to need every advantage we can get to stop them. They are expecting witches. They will not see a pack of hybrids coming for their necks."

A petite woman with tawny colored skin and a few freckles stood. Pauline spoke in a soft voice, "I agree that we need to focus on the travelers but first I have a question about this hybrid situation. It is not a complaint. I am just concerned…"

Bonnie understood the woman's apprehension. Bonnie had a dozen questions when she realized her true nature. Some of those questions still didn't have answers. She said, "I am in the dark about many things. But I am willing to answer any questions that I can."

"I have heard a great deal about the Original Hybrid and how he went around the country creating a hybrid army. A two-step process that required a special type of blood was necessary. The first few batches of hybrids died because he didn't have the blood," Tamara said.

Bonnie nodded at the very practical question. She said, "Klaus needed the blood of a doppelganger because of the way that his mother, Esther, cursed him. We do not require doppelganger blood because Ayana tied the curse to our magic. I wish I could explain why my actions broke the curse for everyone. However, I have not been able to figure that out yet."

Della frowned as she swept her graying curls away from her face. She said, "Ayana's curse must have linked her bloodline together in some way."

Lucy looked perplexed, "Why would she do something like that?"

Della explained, "Think of the curse Ayana placed on us as a genetic trait. She was probably concerned that the curse would stop being passed along after a handful of generations. Constructing the spell to link the Bennett bloodline together ensured that each generation would inherit the curse and pass it on to their offspring. It was ingenuous and probably would have continued to work as planned…"

"If Qetsiyah had not resurrected me," Bonnie finished for her.

Lucy rolled her eyes because she was tired of people putting the blame on Bonnie. "Some things are just fated. How else do you explain Bonnie growing up in the same town as her mate? Tyler biting Bonnie is what actually broke the curse. Her death and resurrection only weakened the curse."

Faye's eyebrows furrowed because it was hard to argue with Lucy. As servants of nature, they all knew the part that fate played.

Lucy added, "Besides, the curse could have been broken just by the two of them mating."

"What do you mean?" Faye asked suspiciously.

Bonnie chewed at her bottom lip. She was not interested in sharing anything personal with these judgmental crones. However, behaving petulantly wasn't the way to gain their cooperation. "Tyler was drawn to me as soon as he broke his curse. It was only derailed because Klaus turned him into a hybrid. The sire bond clouded all of his natural instincts but the connection to me returned the moment he broke the sire bond."

Della nodded with a look of acceptance. "The soul mate bond would have eventually compelled the two of you to act."

Faye murmured, "Nature must always take its course."

Elodie said, "I am glad that is settled. Now we can focus on the business of stopping the travelers. We do not know how many are in Mystic Falls."

Della looked thoughtful for a few seconds. "We need to find at least one. Then we can cast a summoning spell. It will draw all the travelers within a certain area to us."

Faye agreed with her cousin's plan. It was the simplest way to cleanse the town of travelers. However, there was one sticking point. She opined, "That will take a massive amount of power. Surely, they will use their own magic to counter the summoning spell."

Elodie nodded and said, "My granddaughter encountered travelers earlier and said that their magic is powerful."

Zoe agreed, "I did not believe that travelers' magic could be so potent."

Bonnie remained silent but she had questions. If Zoe was Elodie's granddaughter, it meant that she had turned her into a vampire. She wondered how many members of Elodie's coven were her children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren. Bonnie knew from Lucy that siphoner witches were rare but it was the only way to practice magic as a vampire.

Elodie said, "The veil between living and dead is especially thin here in Mystic Falls. The travelers are likely drawing power from the veil."

Della looked alarmed. "Has anyone inspected the veil? Do we know how much it has been weakened?"

Bonnie shook her head. She said, "No, it never occurred to me to do that. I actually don't know how to do that."

Della gave a kind smile. "You are still a witchling. I would not have expected you to think of it. But it should have been the first thing that Lucy did."

Joanna scowled at her sister. "Do not start in on my daughter. She has been through enough."

"Perhaps Lucy wouldn't be in her current situation if you had done a better job of raising her the right way," Della replied.

Lucy muttered, "And if if was a fifth we'd all be drunk."

Bonnie and Zoe both tried to stifle a giggle.

Della's shoulders drew up. "What did you say, Lucy Marie?"

Tamara rolled her eyes and said, "You heard her."

Faye looked at her granddaughter in disapproval even if she found it funny, too.

Elodie said, "Let's not start arguing again. We do not have time for that. We are all in serious danger if Markos is in town. I agree with Faye. It will take a great deal of power to cast the summoning spell. Therefore, we will cast it together as a coven."

Della was hesitant about working with Elodie and her coven. However, she knew it was hypocritical. She was an abomination now, too. "First, we need to find a traveler."

Bonnie said, "We might have some viable leads soon. My boyfriend and best friend are working with two of the men that the travelers were possessing. We're hoping that they noticed something. We already have a list of places they have been in the last weeks thanks to their cars' GPS systems."

Della nodded curtly. "Then we will start there. Did any of the locations overlap?"

"Quite a few places overlapped. Unfortunately, the two men possessed are from the same family. It is possible that they visited those places as themselves and not while the travelers were in control of their bodies. Tyler and Damon are trying to filter out the useful information now," Bonnie explained.

Della did not like that a vampire and a hybrid were handling the situation. There were not family and she did not trust them. However, Elodie was right that more arguing would not solve anything. She said, "Then we will inspect the integrity of the veil first. Where is the best place to access it?"

Bonnie said, "Uh, there is an abandoned house where 100 witches were killed. I have always found it easy to communicate with the other side while I was there."

Elodie added, "The cemetery is also a good choice. It is consecrated ground and many of our own are buried there. It should be steeped in our magic."

Della stood up and ordered, "Favian, Joanna, Pauline, and Hannah will come with me to inspect the veil. The rest of you…"

Bonnie interjected, "Lucy and I need to get started preparing the ritual to protect us from possession. This tete-a-tete has delayed that long enough. We could actually use a few extra hands to help."

Tamara, Zoe, and Kim all volunteered to help.

Della did not appreciate the girl countermanding her orders. She sniffed derisively, "Very well then. The rest of you should fan out and acquaint yourselves with the town. We need to know every square inch of Mystic Falls if we plan to protect it."

Bonnie watched as the living room slowly emptied until only a handful of people remained. She looked at Lucy with an exasperated expression. She asked, "Is it always like this?"

Lucy chuckled and said, "Yes. You wanted family and now you have them. Happy?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Happy about people I don't know calling me an abomination? Not likely."

Tamara said, "Aunt Della and my grandmother are abrasive sometimes but they aren't as terrible as they acted today. They are just cranky because they shifted last night. I shifted, too. It was not fun."

Bonnie looked shocked. "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't realize..."

Tamara pulled her chestnut brown hair into a ponytail. "You don't have any reason to apologize. You only revealed what we truly were. Anyway, I don't mind being a werewolf. After I got over the pain of shifting for the first time, it was an amazing experience."

Bonnie bit her lip and replied, "I should point out that as a hybrid you aren't tethered to the full moon."

Kim was perhaps the tallest of the cousins. She was nearly 6 ft tall with unblemished dark brown skin. "What does that mean?"

"Well, normal werewolves can only shift during a full moon. As hybrids, we can shift whenever we like," she explained.

Lucy said, "We're also stronger and faster than normal werewolves are."

Tamara huffed and said, "That's good to know."

Elodie said, "I need someone to drive me to the boarding house. We are going to need more ingredients to make the ritual large enough to protect everyone."

Lucy winced but nodded. "I barely had enough on hand for Bonnie and her friends."

Kim picked up her purse. "I can drive you. You will just have to give me directions."

"I can do that." She looked at Bonnie and said, "I will be back soon."

Bonnie said, "Okay. Lucy, can you help me carry the cauldron up the stairs?"

Lucy nodded and said, "Sure."

Tamara asked, "What can we do to help?"

Bonnie said, "Uh, you two can start building a fire in the backyard. There should be plenty of firewood out there."

Lucy and Bonnie went down to the basement to retrieve the cauldron.

The younger woman whispered, "Is everything okay with Klaus?"

Lucy stopped pulling the cauldron from the utility room. She shrugged her shoulders. "It is complicated. He wants to see Mari."

"Who knew Klaus had a paternal side?" Bonnie quipped.

Lucy ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "I have learned from experience that Nik has a multitude of hidden depths—some good."

"But mostly bad," she finished.

Lucy nodded and said, "Bingo. Nik was always possessive of the people he allows himself to love. I expect that possessive streak to be tenfold now that he has unleashed his werewolf side. I think barring him for seeing Mari would be more trouble than it is worth. Anyway, he only let me leave because I promised to bring Mari for a visit. Going back on my word would not be wise."

"Do you need back up? I'll come with you," she offered.

"Are you being serious? You aren't exactly Nik's biggest fan."

Bonnie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't like him. I definitely don't trust him, but I understand that he is part of our lives now. The same blood that runs in his veins runs in ours. We all share a connection with him that is undeniable. When I was at the house earlier, I felt this contentment from being close to Klaus. He licked my hand and I scratched his head. In hindsight, it was all very unsettling."

Lucy laughed uproariously. She was imagining the scene that Bonnie had just laid out for her. "I wish I could have seen your face."

She rolled her eyes at her cousin. "It wasn't that funny. Anyway, I probably just looked relieved. When I first saw Klaus, I was worried that he was going to attack me."

"Nik probably would have attacked if you weren't a member of his pack," Lucy replied with a serious expression.

Bonnie snorted, "As if my life wasn't already strange…"

Lucy chuckled.

Suddenly footsteps thudded down the wooden stairs. Zoe said, "There is an original on your doorstep."

Bonnie tensed. She muttered, "Speak of the devil."

Lucy asked, "Blonde or brunette?"

Zoe said, "He is brunette with a posh accent."

Bonnie rolled her eyes and said, "Different devil. I'll be right up."

Zoe said, "Uh, he is actually here to see Lucy."

"Well, la-di-da," Bonnie replied with a smirk.

Zoe said, "Go. I'll help Bonnie with the cauldron."

Lucy nodded in thanks and then raced up the basement stairs. She did not know why Elijah had turned up on Bonnie's doorstep but it could not be good. Lucy glanced upstairs briefly. Mari was still upstairs napping. There was no way that she was letting Elijah anywhere near her daughter.

She opened the door but stayed in the safety of the house. "Why are you here?"

"Straight to the point then?" Elijah asked with a wry smile.

Lucy gave him a sour look. She replied, "You have to know that you are not welcome here, Elijah."

He was taken aback by Lucy's standoffish attitude. Niklaus swore that they parted on good terms. Elijah should have known better than to take his brother's word on anything. He said, "I apologize if my brother has done anything to jeopardize this partnership."

Lucy said, "Your actions directly led to the death of my cousin simply because you were incapable of controlling your half-wit mother. If you somehow thought that was water under the bridge, let me assure you that bridge has yet to be built. I understand that we have to work together but not here-not in her daughter's home. Not in the place where she was raised."

He had to assume that Lucy's vitriol was largely on behalf of Bonnie. Elijah immediately remembered the young witch mentioning her mother's plight when she visited the mansion. Bonnie had recounted his misdeeds in a pleasant voice but he had noticed a sharper emotion beneath the surface. However, he had not been able to determine her true feelings on the issue at the time. Elijah had been far more concerned about protecting Niklaus from the witches on The Other Side.

He conceded, "You are right, Miss Bennett. I erred in coming here. I only wanted to share information that may prove useful. I have crossed paths with Markos and his coven in the past. They are unique from other covens in a few important ways. I compiled a dossier on the group in the off chance that we might one day become enemies."

Lucy gave the red file folder a skeptical look as she took it from Elijah. She nodded. "Thank you. I will keep you updated on any developments."

"I know there is a great deal of mistrust on both sides but it would be wise for us to work in concert," he suggested.

"I agree but we have not reached that point yet. We are still assessing the situation and coordinating with other covens. Linking the travelers with their progenitor on the Other Side is a complicated process that cannot begin until everyone is in position. We only have one chance to get this right," Lucy explained.

Elijah had an uneasy feeling but there was nothing he could do to change Lucy's mind. He would just have to keep a closer eye on the witches to ensure the travelers were the only ones on the chopping block. He nodded. "I hope to hear from you soon."

Lucy nodded and then closed the door.

Tamara commented, "He's a slick one, isn't he? Like butter wouldn't melt..."

"You have no idea…"