EIGHTEEN

I was giddy with hope after that and was even more happy when John and Pearl came into the house not long after the phone call. I told them about Tyler's uncle and though they were a little uneasy, they had no other choice but to be somewhat relieved that there was more help on the way. "It does seem a little strange that we're recruiting all this help for only two people," I said as we sat in the living room.

Pearl put the invention down on the table and Bonnie flipped through her spell book. "It won't be enough," Pearl said, raining on my parade. "He is incredibly strong."

"I know that," I said and straightened up. "I'm not stupid; I've seen what he can do."

"You've seen what Roarke can do," she corrected and I realized she was right.

I turned my attention to John. "Has Damon called you?"

He shook his head. "No, I wasn't aware he had left."

"He and Stefan left. They said they would be back tonight, but they were supposed to call frequently. It's been at least two hours since they left."

He put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. "He'll call. If he said he was going to, he will."

I bit my lip and then shook my head. "He better," I mumbled before we both sat down. "What are we doing with this again?" I asked Bonnie.

"Emily originally spelled this to hurt vampires when it was turned on. To expose them so that the council could put them in the tomb. I could redirect the spell to make it so that it would only hurt Klaus."

"Don't you need something that belonged to him?" John asked.

"That would be the easy way," she agreed and looked at Pearl and I. "There is a way I can do this experimentally. If you're up for it."

"What do you mean?"

She lifted up the spell book to show us a page with an illustration of the invention and a spell written underneath it. "With the original spell, I can alter it so that it doesn't effect young vampires. It might affect the older ones like Pearl and Anna, but it will be like the older you are, the stronger the effect. But I don't know which variation will work unless I test it."

She was looking at Pearl the way a child looks at a parent for approval. She had subconsciously moved farther into the couch in an attempt to make herself more comfortable. Pearl flickered her gaze to me and then nodded. "The group of vampires Anna and Harper have gone to meet contains one vampire who is a little older than I. By about five or six centuries."

Bonnie nodded, taking it into consideration. I noticed her body relaxed at Pearl's acceptance. "I could do the spell with you and then adjust later. Would that be alright?"

Pearl inclined her head. "That would be fine with me."

"Sounds good," I agreed.

"I'm going to need to do a test run of the original spell first. Sorry," Bonnie apologized and cleared her throat as she looked at the illustration and then at the invention. "Ready?"

"As ready as we're going to be," I said weakly and made sure I was sitting before she activated it. Pearl, Tyler, and I all immediately clutched our heads from the sharp, high pitched noise. It lasted for all of five seconds before it stopped and I still felt a little weak as I lifted my head up.

Bonnie and John were looking at Tyler with concern. "I thought this was only supposed to work on vampires," John mused aloud.

Bonnie nodded slowly, but her eyes were wide with fright. "If it's any consolation, witches aren't affected."

She smiled slyly and I narrowed my eyes in mock anger at her. "Thank you for sharing."

Her smile died as she looked at me and immediately came to stand beside me. She lifted my chin up and turned my head from side to side. "You're bleeding."

"What?" I asked and tried to get up from the couch, but my legs were unmovable.

Even Pearl was curious as she appeared at Bonnie's side to inspect me. "Damon has mentioned that you are very strong for a fledgling. Have you ever tested your strength before?"

I shook my head lightly and then stopped. "If I want to be, I'm stronger than Damon. I don't like to show it very much because he only likes it in certain situations," I said and then realized I should have kept that bit of information to myself.

"You are different from any vampire I have ever met. I have never heard of one having the talents that you do or the ability to retain werewolf blood for as long as you have. If what I know is true, maybe you are the only person we need to get rid of Klaus."

That sparked something in my memory. "Just a thought, but Katherine's blood was mixed with Klaus' when he turned her. If I have the same blood as she does, would my blood work for altering the spell?"

There was a moment of silence before Bonnie shrugged. "I don't know. The only way to test that theory would be when we face him and if we're wrong, it would be too late."

In an instant, Pearl had me off the couch and in a chokehold that had me dangling off of the floor. I clawed at her hands and tried everything I could to throw her off balance to make her let go of me. I didn't need to breathe so the need to be put down wasn't urgent, but the struggle was still similar. I felt something binding in my head and I pushed out mentally. The result was something no one could have seen coming. Pearl had been thrown across the room as if she had been hit by a car and smashed into the wall right next to the fireplace. I dropped to the floor and rubbed my throat out of habit as I looked at her in complete shock. She picked herself up out of the imprint her impact had made in the wall and I could hear her bones repairing themselves. She simply dusted off her sleeves and moved forward with pure satisfaction on her face. "What the hell was that?" John asked as he came to help me to my feet.

I blinked and shook my head. "She was seeing if I was strong enough to break her hold."

Pearl inclined her head. "It seems that you have unlocked yet another ability. You have an extraordinary daughter John. That was the mental push of a telekinetic."

My face froze. "Damon was just joking with me about that the other day," I whispered in a barely audible voice. I groaned as I realized what had happened and leaned on John for support. "I just found out about my psychometry and now I'm a telekinetic too? Is it ever going to end?" The question was a rhetorical one, but John swallowed hard as he tried to think of an answer.

Pearl looked at Bonnie. "You can try every variation possible, but if she is within its range, it will hurt her."

Bonnie sighed and closed her book. "So much for that plan."

Pearl took the invention from the coffee table and then approached me. I knew she had done her attack to test me, but I involuntarily flinched when she approached. "I am going to make sure this is secure and then check on Anna," she said and then disappeared faster than I could keep up with.

I swayed on my feet and John returned me to the couch. "You okay?" he asked before returning to his chair.

"I really want to know why, out of all of Katherine's descendants, that I'm the one who gets all of the magick. And why it's all deciding to show up now," I muttered and put my head in my hands to rub at my temples.

"You have to admit, that mind blast thing is incredible. That could really come in handy," Tyler mused as he looked at me in awe. "I think you should try out the telekinetic thing and see how easy it is."

I lifted my head to see small nods from John and Bonnie as well as the curiosity gleaming in their eyes. "Fine," I mumbled and looked around the room for something I could pick up rather easily. Then I remembered Damon's necklace that was still on the nightstand upstairs. I closed my eyes and concentrated on nothing but the necklace. I held out my hand and waited. In about forty-five seconds, something cold and delicate landed in my palm and I opened my eyes to see the ring on my palm with the chain hanging off to the side. "Wow. That's so weird." I wasn't sure which was more enthralling; the fact that I had retrieved the necklace without leaving the couch or I didn't get any images when I touched the ring.

"Try something else," Bonnie said eagerly.

I concentrated on Stefan's keys there were on the table by the door and I kept my eyes open this time. I figured if this was going to come in handy during a fight, it would be better to not have to close my eyes. Sure enough, they zipped across the room and landed in my hand next to the ring. "Holy shit!" Tyler said as he sat up.

"That is incredible," John said and then Bonnie's phone rang.

"Shit," she muttered as she looked at the caller ID. "Hi Mom," she said and went to the other room. When she returned, she did not look happy. "I forgot I promised them I would be home today for some bonding time."

"I'll take you home," John said and stood up. "Be back soon."

They waved as they left and I tossed the keys onto the coffee table. "What else can you do?" Tyler asked.

"I have no idea, but I'm sure I'll find out as time goes on," I said and studied the ring. I was debating on searching the ring for the past, but was apprehensive about what I would see. I tossed it next to the keys and stretched out on the couch, putting my legs across Tyler's lap. I sighed and scooted down so that I could use the armrest as a pillow. "I'm restless and bored and worried."

"Yeah, well, given the circumstances..." he started and let me fill in the blanks.

"Thank you, that was very reassuring."

He grinned. "What do you want to do?"

"I want to find out where Damon ran off to so I can go after him and kick his ass for not telling me in the first place."

He laughed at that. "I was thinking more like video games or movies."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course. You can play a game if you want. I'll watch."

"You sure?"

I nodded. "If you have somewhere else to be, you can go."

"No, our instructions were to not leave you alone. Besides, the only person I would be hanging out with is Matt and Stefan compelled him to stay away from here until he says otherwise."

"Oh," I said quietly. I had never really asked Stefan what he did to make Matt stay away. "Yes, I'll just watch," I added, answering his earlier question.

"Alright," he said and moved my legs so he could get up and set up his game. I watched him play for maybe a half an hour before I drifted off to sleep due to the mental blast that had taken a toll on my mind.