a/n: Thanks for all the amazing reviews to my last chapter! I hope you enjoy this one as well. =) Also, remember to follow me on Twitter at rachel_leann58 to receive updates about the fic and my life. I'd love to talk about anything, so just mention me!

Chapter Two Conversations With the Dead

I'm coming up only to hold you under,
I'm coming up only to show you wrong...
-The Funeral by Band of Horses

Two Weeks Later…

Elena stood in the center of her kitchen and sighed. The place was an absolute mess with papers thrown everywhere, books open precariously to pages that held only a slight interest, and journals lying in awkward places. Ever since she had transitioned, her house had become a headquarters for finding a cure for vampirism. Bonnie currently sat at a chair at the table while leafing through a book.

"I know there has to be a way to reverse this besides death," Bonnie spoke passionately without looking up from the page. "We will find a way to give you back your humanity."

Every day seemed to go like this. After school, Bonnie would come to the house and try to find some way to reverse the act that had taken away Elena's humanity. Caroline would come in at some point and help Elena deal with her new strengths and weaknesses. Before nightfall, both Damon and Stefan would spend moments with her and ask her how she was coping. She would always respond with a smile, and mutter, "I'm fine." Both knew her better than to believe what she said, but neither pushed for more details. They waited patiently for her to give the information herself.

Right after she had transitioned, they had attended Alaric's funeral. It had been absolutely perfect, and both Elena and Jeremy had spent hours afterward holding each other and crying. They were now the only two family members they had left.

The group had also held a secret funeral for Tyler. Caroline had sputtered out the details of his death between choking sobs. At the funeral, her eulogy had been short and to the point. Her tears had told the majority of the story, but her words had filled in the rest. She spoke of her overwhelming love for him, and how he had always been there when she needed him to be. She talked of the sacrifices he had made for her, and how even though he was gone, she had never loved someone so much.

Afterward, Caroline had gone to Carol Lockwood and explained that Tyler had left town. During the conversation, Caroline didn't cry, and she held a bag in her hand to give the façade that she was leaving too. Ever since that day, however, she had resided in Alaric's old room in Elena's home. It wasn't the perfect living condition, but it helped all of them feel a little closer, and a little less alone.

Matt had also been able to come home from the hospital. Most of the time he appeared with a somber expression on his face, as if the knowledge that Elena was a vampire was too much for him to bear.

Bonnie had always known about Elena's feelings to remain human. And she had been there when Elena had first transitioned and told her that they'd find a way to give her back her humanity. But right now, Elena just wanted to accept everything that had happened and try to start this new phase of her life. It seemed like that was her only choice now.

When the kitchen clock chimed that it was now seven o'clock, Bonnie stood up and offered her normal apologetic smile.

"I need to head out so I can work on some homework. I'll see you tomorrow at school, okay?"

"Of course," Elena smiled back before she hugged her friend. "Don't study too hard."

"I'll try not to," Bonnie responded with a laugh before she grabbed her bag and left the house.

Only a moment later, Damon appeared inside the kitchen. A frown crossed his otherwise perfect face, and his eyes reflected a growing uneasiness.

"What's wrong, Damon?" Elena asked quickly as she rushed to him. She reached out to touch him, but instantly stopped. Ever since she had transitioned, the feeling of being destroyed by fire consumed her anytime she was around Damon. She made sure to not even test the limits of her restraint by staying as far away from him as possible.

"I just…" he shook his head as if to clear it. "Elijah came to speak to me earlier today. He had heard that you had changed, and wanted to grant both his sympathies and congratulations before he left. While he was there, I thought I would ask him a few questions while he was still with us."

A few seconds later, a very tired looking Caroline appeared in view. Although she had been a huge help to Elena during her adjustment period, Caroline had also spent a good amount of time in her room crying or sleeping. Personally, Elena thought Caroline was dealing with Tyler's death much better than she would have been able to. She wasn't sure how to even begin to mourn over someone she literally could have spent eternity with.

Damon leaned against the wall before continuing, "I had to know which bloodline we were sired from. After everything we have been put through, I think Elijah knew he owed it to me to tell me the truth. But what he said didn't make sense."

"And that was?" Caroline's asked from the kitchen. She was in the process of pouring blood into a glass from one of the many blood bags the refrigerator now contained.

"He found it odd that we didn't die as well. He's absolutely positive that our bloodline didn't come from either himself or Rebekah."

"We know it wasn't Finn," Elena spoke up as she crossed her arms. "We saw what happened to his bloodline."

"Which really only leaves Kol," Caroline shrugged. "So we know who sired us? So we can destroy the rest?"

Damon sighed. "Which is the statement I made to Elijah. But Elijah insisted on the fact that it was Klaus who turned Mary."

"But you're still alive," Elena pointed out. "There's no way Klaus could have turned Mary. If he had, then none of us would be alive."

"It's probably just a story Elijah invented to keep the rest of them safe," Caroline shrugged. "Kol being the originator of our bloodline makes the most sense."

"Regardless," Damon continued, "What Elijah said to me gave me enough pause that I wanted to do some investigating of my own. I told Stefan about what Elijah had said, which instantly made him dash off to have a conversation with Elijah and Rebekah on his own."

Caroline sat down on one of the stools and crossed her legs gracefully. "I understand that at some point we will need to know who we descended from, but right now, no one is coming after us. Why do we need to know right now?"

"Because Elijah and Rebekah are looking for the truth," Damon replied. "They are persistent and want to know how we're still alive. They think we performed some spell to make sure we didn't die."

Realization finally dawned on Elena's face. "So how are we going to figure out for sure who we descended from?"

Damon smiled smugly. "I was hoping Jeremy could help with that."

Elena raised a suspicious eyebrow. "By doing what?"

"Esther has been watching her children from a long time now. She would know who we descended from."

Suppressing a shudder, Elena shook her head. "I'm not letting Jeremy become connected with her. She was psychotic."

"Understatement," Caroline coughed underneath her breath.

"You know it's the only way," Damon spoke up. "If Klaus sired us and died, we have a lot of questions to be answered. And if he didn't, at least we'll know."

"And you actually think we can trust what she says?" Caroline asked. Her expression proved that she clearly thought otherwise.

"It's worth a shot," Damon shrugged after a few moments of silence.

"I'm not going to put Jeremy into that type of danger," Elena replied fiercely. "There's no telling what she can do, even if she is dead."

"I want to do it," Jeremy's voice called from the other side of the room. Elena turned to look at him. "It's not just about their bloodline anymore, Elena. It's your bloodline now too. If something is up with Klaus' death, I want to know too."

"Let's at least wait and get Bonnie here," Elena spoke up. "That way if something goes wrong, we'll have her here to help."

"That isn't going to happen," Damon made clear. "If something happened and we are from Klaus' bloodline, if some form of spell was cast to keep us safe, I'm not sure Bonnie needs to be here when that revelation is made. I will be forever thankful of that, but it also means she hid that information from us. Why hide something that helped us?"

Elena had a few explanations, but chose to keep them silent instead.

"What if she doesn't want to talk to Jeremy?" Caroline spoke as the group moved into the living room and sat down. "She has to push through for Jeremy to make contact, correct?"

"Jeremy's human," Damon shrugged. "Maybe she'll hope he will complete the task she set out to do."

"She's smart," Elena said as she sunk back into the couch. Damon and Jeremy sat there as well and she tried her hardest not to touch Damon's skin. "I doubt she'll believe anything we have to say."

Jeremy sat up straight as he closed his eyes. Elena watched as her brother blocked out everything around him and focused on the task at hand. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and smirked slightly, apparently pleased with himself.

"I'm sure you know what-"

Stopping mid-sentence, Jeremy's eyes grew to the size of saucers. The lights in the house flickered before finally going off and staying that way.

"Break the connection!" Elena shouted as she jumped up. Although she tried to get to Jeremy to shake him to stop, she ended up tripping and falling onto Damon. Annoyed, she pushed herself off. Fire burned along her skin in every place it contacted with Damon.

"Jeremy!" she screamed as she shook his shoulders. "JEREMY!"

Finally, Jeremy snapped out of his trace. The lights flickered back on, and he blinked his eyes frantically. "Whoa."

For a few moments, they all remained motionless. Finally, Damon spoke, "I take it you found her?"

"Yeah," Jeremy replied slowly as he shook his head to clear it. "She wasn't happy about the things that have happened."

"And what has happened?" Elena asked. She still stood over her brother, as if standing over him protected him somehow from everything that had happened.

Jeremy's brown eyes looked up to Elena with a seriousness that took her by surprise. Whatever was coming wasn't good.

"She spent the majority of the time calling us traitors," Jeremy spoke slowly. "But the other things she told me were quite clear. Someone, my guess is Bonnie, cast a spell on Klaus before Alaric stabbed him with that dagger." Letting out a deep breath, he frowned at the group. "When he was staked, Klaus didn't die. He's still alive somehow."

The shock of it almost knocked Elena backwards. Collapsing onto the floor, she stared wide eyed at the group. The only person who didn't have a somber expression on her face was Caroline. Hope spread out from her eyes and lit up her entire face. As if moving through fog, she slowly stood up and glanced to Elena with shock on her face.

"If Klaus is alive…" she trailed off as she shook her head. Her next few words came out as a gasp that Elena had to strain her ears to even hear. "Tyler's alive too."

a/n: Had to catch up everything a little. The story will start moving quicker in the next few chapters. As always, review! =)