Her dreams were filled with strange faces, places, and feelings, all that connected together in a big spider's web, and at the same time didn't have any connection at all. It was all backwards, not making any sense to her. She saw Jeremy, dead at Damon's feet, and Stefan coming to save her. But... that's wasn't how it was supposed to be. Damon saved her from Stefan, right? A flash of Klaus handing her something that burned, but she drank it anyway. That had become a tradition of their visits. Klaus would give her some wine, and the wine would burn. But then he would give her blood, and sometimes it wouldn't burn at all. There was a bar, and a school, and too much alcohol to be healthy (or legal), and a lot of tears, from all of them. She woke finally with a start, when Klaus' eyes turned yellow and his teeth sharpened.

Dim light filtered through her drapes, casting the room in a peaceful glow. She was alone in the room, but after a lot of work, that was where she felt safe. The other's had gone back to their houses, and stopped breathing down her neck. It was only her and Jeremy left. Downstairs she could smell breakfast cooking, bacon and eggs, and burning toast. She smiled at the thought of Jeremy trying to handle all those things at once and shook her head, leaving to help him.

"Good morning," he said, smiling towards the stairs.

"Morning," she smiled back, fully so that it reached her eyes.

Jeremy loved that his sister was so happy. Sometimes he almost wished that she would never get her memories back, so that she wouldn't have to relive the pain of all she'd lost. In a way he knew that she didn't need those memories. This was a new life for her, she wasn't human anymore. What good would all that hurt do for her?

Smoke began to float out of the toaster. "Would you get that?" He asked, scrunching his nose at the smell. Giggling, she obliged and pulled the charred bread out. "Just throw it out the window or something, that's terrible." He shook his head, trying to ignore the smell but failing.

Elena was laughing as she opened the window and tossed out the still burning breakfast. "Need any help?" She asked, bouncing up next to him.

"No, no that's ok, it's almost done." He turned the bacon one last time and began putting the scrambled eggs onto plates.

"I'll make toast," she teased, and set to work. There was a vibration from upstairs; she knew Jeremy couldn't hear it. "I'll be right back," she said as she took to the upper floor, leaving a very suspicious brother behind.

In her room, the vibrating sound was louder, coming from inside her bedside drawer. Hurriedly, she opened it and took out the light up phone, pressing to answer. "Hello?"

"Hello, love, how are you today?" A smiling voice asked her.

"I'm good," she flipped her hair over her shoulder, smiling. "How can I help you, Klaus?"

The British voice spoke again, full of energy. "I just wanted to see how you're doing, I haven't seen you in a few days."

Guilt suddenly filled her, twisting her stomach into knots. "Klaus, I'm sorry, it's just that Damon left and everyone and-"

"You don't need to apologize to me, Elena, just come see me when you can." The demand was evident, but she could still hear the smile as he hung up.

Excited, like a little girl, Elena put back the shiny toy he'd gotten her. She'd just used it for the first time.

"Elena!" She heard from the kitchen, and quickly she ran to see her brother. "Elena, it's getting cold, what were you doing?"

"Oh, nothing," she said unconvincingly as she sat down to eat.

"Bonnie wanted to try that new spell today," Jeremy reminded her.

Nervously, Elena laughed. Bonnie had tried many spells to bring back Elena's memory, or even find the source of her amnesia, but all had prevailed. She was worried to see the memories, she'd gone so long without them, what if they changed everything? "Right," she said, pulling away from the table. "Actually, I'm not hungry, I'll see you later."

"Where are you going?" Jeremy called as she walked out the door. He stared from the hall for a moment, no thoughts in his mind, only concern for his sister. Quickly, he took out his phone and dialed. It picked up on the first ring. "Stefan, we might have a problem."

:

Coughing, Elena covered her mouth to prevent the blood from coming back out. Again. Klaus was growing frustrated with her lack of will power. Six times today he'd given her blood that burned, and each time, she'd coughed, having it spill out of her mouth, and all over her shirt and his fancy couch.

"Elena," he scolded. "Just drink it." His voice was harsh, angry, but he never scared her.

"I'm trying, it hurts." She complained

"I know that, I've had it myself a thousand times."

Half giving up, she put the cup down beside her. Klaus tried to soften his face as he kneeled in front of her. "You need to drink it." He said reassuringly. It will help you.

"It will help me what?"

"It will help you to be stronger, to resist compulsion and-"

Elena waited. "And what?"

Klaus silently poured another glass, handing it to her. "Drink." He guided her hand to her lips, half forcing her to drink the syrupy fluid. "Just get it over with and we won't have to do this anymore." He promised.

Desperate for it to end, she gulped back the blood fast, ever last drop until it was safely in her stomach. He grabbed her as she lurched forward, throbbing pain filling her core. He help her for a moment, stroking her hair while she gasped. "There, there, Elena, you see? It's all gone."