A few minutes later, Roxie came into the kitchen and glared at her. "I hate you."

Selina frowned. "Well I don't have the jolliest feelings about you either but we're going to have to live together for who knows how long, so you might as well get used to me." She looked up at the clock. "It's time to go see Uncle Jake."

Roxie shook her head. "I don't want to. Take me to Grandma's instead. She has candy."

Selina cleared her throat. "Roxanne, the point of our meetings with Uncle Jake is that they help you and me understand one another and that can't happen if you aren't there with me. Now would you please come with me to the car?"

Roxie nodded. "If we're going to Grandma's I will."

Selina sighed. "Fine, I'll drop you off at your grandmother's and go meet Uncle Jake by myself. Maybe that means we'll actually get something done today."

Roxie smiled smugly. "Sounds good to me!"

They got into the car and Selina began driving toward Elissavetta's. Finally, Roxie looked up at her and said, "Why did Daddy go away?"

Selina decided to tell her the truth. "He left partially because I suggested he do so in to make it easier for me to get to know you and partially to help your brother deal with Helene's death."

Roxie's eyes widened. "You made Daddy go away? It's your fault?"

She picked up the half-drunk can of pop that was in Selina's cup holder and dumped it in Selina's lap, causing her to swerve. Luckily, though, Selina managed to get the brakes on before she hurt anyone.

When they stopped at a stoplight, Selina gave Roxie a look. "What did you do that for?"

Roxie shrugged. "Dunno. Felt like it."

They finished the drive to Elissavetta's in silence, and once she had dropped Roxie off, Selina headed for Uncle Jake's.

"What happened to your pants?" Jake asked her when he answered the door.

"Well," Selina tried to smile. "Roxie got mad at me because I told her that Klaus going away to spend time with Adrian was my idea and she spilled a half-drunk can of pop in my lap."

Jake winced as she sat down. "So the two of you don't seem to be doing any better."

Selina shook her head sadly. "No. I just hope we don't end up like Mama and me all over again."

Jake leaned forward. "Have you told Roxie anything about your encounters with your werewolf heritage? Her gene is activated now. Maybe if you told her about the incident with the overseer where you almost turned, she'll feel closer to you. I gave your mother the same advice, but she didn't take it. She didn't tell you that our parents' earliest fears about the townsfolk discovering the family curse had as much to do with her as it did with me."

Selina did a doubletake. "What do you mean by that? What happened?"

Jake sighed. "That's not really my story to tell you, Lina. I want you to hear it from her. From your mother."

Selina's eyes widened. "No, Uncle Jake. You can't. I can't. Please, why can't you just tell me? It would be so much simpler."

"Lina," Jake eyed his niece sadly. "Sometimes the best things to do aren't the easiest things. You were like Roxie at one point, admit it. In a way, you still are."

"I am not!" Selina said, affronted. She stood up quickly, breathing hard.

Jake nodded. "Yes, you are. You wanted the werewolf life from your youngest days, didn't you? And don't deny that there was always a part of you when you were growing up that resented your mother for holding you back. For refusing to let you live to your full potential. That's why you left home to be with Klaus and have rarely been back since."

Selina sat a moment, her mouth open to protest some more, but as she thought about it, her protests died on her lips. He was telling the truth. After all these years, she finally realized that. "My God," she said quietly. "And all these years, I always thought I was angry at her because she lied to me about Daddy and married Robert Pierce, thus subjecting me what seemed like a lifetime of misery at his hands."

Jake sighed. "Well, I'm sure you were angry about that too, but the curse was the bigger issue. You knew about it long before your mother thought you ought to."

"Yeah, I did," Selina nodded. "Michael had to give me some reason about why he pulled me away from the overseer so quickly. And he decided to tell me the truth."

"He did," Jake nodded. "He told you you had the potential to be a thing of power, something that would be feared by everyone around you. It intrigued you, didn't it?"

Selina sighed. "Yeah, it did. And I looked at Mama, how miserable she was every day, married to a brute of a man who abused her in every possible way, and I wondered why she let herself live like she did when she could be so much more than she was. She could become someone with the capability to rip Robert Pierce's spine out of his back if she chose to. Who could kill him for all he'd made her suffer. But Mama never went that route. Suicide was her solution to her problems, and she would have gone through with it too, if I hadn't walked in on her both times. The second time, I remember asking her why she didn't just kill Robert and turn. She became angry and hit me, the only time I remember her raising a hand to me. She told me that that was cowardly, and that if I went that road, I would regret it because there was no way to turn back. That becoming a killer wasn't the answer to any problem and I should be ashamed for ever thinking it was. With tears in my eyes, I nodded. I told her I was sorry. I looked her in the eye and told her that I had been wrong. I lied to her. Because I never thought I was wrong. I always knew she was."

"Yes," Jake nodded. "But she had her reasons, even if you didn't know them. Come with me now."

Selina rose slowly from the chair and dragged her feet as she followed her uncle out the door. They made the long drive back to Mystic Falls in silence. When Jake pulled up to the front doors of her parents' house, she spoke. "Wow," she said as she got out of the car. "This place has sure changed."

"The span of years often changes things. Not everything," Jake said. "But a lot of things." He gestured for her to go ahead of him up the crumbling steps of the gray house. The sky above them was the same color and the clouds threatened rain. Selina shivered and wished she was wearing a coat. "Chilly for summer, isn't it?" She asked as they reached the front door. "Do we knock and wait for somebody to come answer or what?"

"No," Jake shook his head and pushed the door open. "Go right on in." Taking a breath, Selina hesitantly stepped across the threshold. The front entryway was completely dark. She wondered if anyone was actually home. "Mama?" She called quietly, her voice breaking a little.

Jake put a hand on her back. Encouraged, she called out again. "Mama, it's Selina. I need to speak with you, please."

She heard some rustling in one of the rooms on the upper floor and a moment later, her mother appeared and descended the staircase. She was wearing a simple blue dress and her hair was down. She addressed her brother first. "Was this your idea, Jacob?"

Jake sighed. "This has to happen, Rosie. You have to tell her everything about why Father even had me study lycanthropy in the first place."

Selina turned to him. "I always thought it was because you wanted to."

Amelia shook her head, her gaze averted from her daughter's face. "It wasn't because he wanted to. It was all my fault. When I was a little girl, around six, there was a little girl that I didn't get along with. She teased me mercilessly. One day, I lashed out. I didn't kill her, but I hurt her pretty badly."

"What?" Selina asked in surprise. "I don't believe it."

Amelia sighed heavily and it was so long before she spoke again that Selina wasn't sure if she was going to say anymore. "I did," her mother said quietly. "Believe it. It's true. After my parents found out about it, they panicked. At that point, your grandfather knew that lycanthropy ran in the family, but he didn't know what triggered it, or what happened once a person became a werewolf. They decided to go on the side of caution and assume that I was well on my way to transformation. They chained me up in the attic and wouldn't let me out until the following full moon passed and they were certain nothing was wrong with me."

"Grandfather locked you up?" Selina asked.

"Yes," Amelia nodded. "And he wouldn't speak my name to anyone. If people asked about me, he told them I was dead. I stopped having visitors, I wasn't allowed to go outside in the sun, or pick flowers, or do anything like that. All I could do was sit in the attic and listen to other people talk downstairs."

Jake nodded. "And while that was going on, Father dispatched me to find out everything I could so that nothing bad would happen to Charlie, or any of our future descendants. He told me I was to gather up every bit of information on werewolves I could find and give it to him so he could be educated."

"So Grandfather got all that information from you and did nothing with it?" Selina asked incredulously. "It would have made more sense if he would have studied what you found and then let the chips fall where they may."

"Which is exactly what Charlie did when he sent George off to fight in the war," Amelia said. "He knew that killing somebody was what triggered the curse, and that George undoubtedly would kill while he was fighting, so he made George go through everything so he'd be good and prepared for his first transformation."

Selina nodded. "That seems much more sensible."

Amelia eyed her daughter. "But do you understand why I panicked when it happened to you? You were just a teeny little thing. What did you know?"

"More than you thought," Selina said quietly.

"I guess so," Amelia said. "I should have just let it go."

Selina looked up at her. "But I understand why you didn't...now I do, anyway. Being locked up like that couldn't have been pleasant."

"Thank you," Amelia said. She looked at her brother. "Why are we bringing this up now?"

Selina rolled her eyes. "History is repeating itself," she told Amelia. "My daughter has an active gene. She's only six and we've been butting heads forever."

"Is that so?" Amelia asked. "A little early, I think. Your husband's influence, of course."

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "My son technically had his activated early too, but I got a spell to delay it several years until he was old enough to deal. But Roxie...well, she's something else entirely."

Amelia nodded. "Well, tell her about the incident with the overseer. Tell her everything and don't leave anything out. It could be the beginning of something good."

Selina nodded. "All right. Thanks, Mama." She gave her surprised mother a hug. Amelia hugged back. Then, she and Jake left the house.

"Are you going to be all right?" He asked her.

"Yeah," Selina nodded. "If we're done here, I'm going to pick up Roxie now."

Jake grinned and nodded. "Good luck!"

Selina waved goodbye, and, feeling much better than she had before, she went to pick up Roxie.

She sat in Elissavetta's living room for a very long time before Roxie agreed to come out. "Hello, Mommy," she said ruefully, when Elissavetta finally herded her out.

"Hello," Selina said. Without thinking about what might happen, she gave Roxie a hug. When they pulled apart, Roxie was looking at her in surprise. "What did you do that for?"

Selina shrugged. "Because I wanted to. I've never done it before and I'm sorry."

"Really?" Roxie sat hard on the chair. "So you don't hate me?"

"What?" Selina said in shock. "You think I hate you? I don't hate you."

Roxie leaned forward. "Then how come you yell at me all the time?"

Selina sighed. "I don't mean to. It's just that sometimes it seems like you spend all your time with Daddy and don't want to spend any with me, and that makes me feel hurt."

"Really?" Roxie asked, her voice a squeak, her eyes wide.

"Yeah," Selina grinned and ruffled her hair. "When I was the same age as you, I almost became a werewolf. Did you know that?"

Roxie shook her head, her eyes not moving from her mother's face. "No."

"Uh-huh," Selina nodded. "But my cousin stopped me from killing anyone. And when my mother found out, she got scared and told me that I wasn't allowed to become a werewolf because we lived among normal people and if I wanted to be one, that meant I was a bad girl."

Roxie frowned. "That's not very nice!"

Selina nodded. "I know. It's not. But that's just how my mother was. And she passed that fear on to me, even though I hated her for it, just like you resented me."

"Uh-huh," Roxie nodded. "So you're sorry? And you like me?"

Selina nodded. "Yes to all of the above."

Roxie stood up and tiptoed to Selina, then slowly reached over to put her arms around her mother as if the action were foreign to her, even though she'd hugged Klaus a million times.

"Well!" Elissavetta said, "Isn't this lovely?"

"Yes," Roxie nodded. She looked at Selina. "When we get home, can we have ice cream?"

Selina nodded. "Yes, we can."

But that didn't happen. When they reached the front door of the house, Selina realized she left her house key in the car.

"Does this mean we won't be able to get into the house, Mommy?" Roxie asked.

Selina sighed. "I suppose we could go through a window. Or call Uncle Elijah to come let us in. He has a key."

But then Klaus' words rang in her ears. "Honestly, the thought just makes me laugh. Well think about it, she's six and you're really bad at being a vampire and a werewolf. The two of you wouldn't last five seconds without me or Adrian here to look after you." She growled.

"What?" Roxie asked nervously.

"Nothing," Selina perked up. "I just think that we shouldn't call anyone. We can manage by ourselves."

"So we have to go through a window?"

"No," Selina shook her head. "We can go to the woods and have an adventure. Your father told me before he left that he didn't think you and I were capable of handling ourselves without him and your brother around.

Roxie thrust her chin out and put a hand firmly in Selina's. "Well that's silly. We can do it! What does Daddy know?"

Selina laughed. "Exactly." They made their way into the woods. "So," Selina asked, "How do you think Daddy and Adrian are doing right now?"

They weren't doing well. Everyone in the car except Klaus was grumpy. "Why are we doing this again?" Adrian asked.

"Because I need more hybrids and you need something to distract you so you don't keep talking to yourself day and night," Klaus said.

"But I'm not talking to myself," Adrian said. "I'm talking to Helene. She comes and talks to me all the time!"

Klaus looked at Alistair. "Is that possible?"

Alistair nodded. "Technically yes. All supernatural species are capable of at least hearing spirits, but only witches and warlocks have the psychic know-how to see them."

"What?" Adrian howled. "You mean, I'm never going to see Helene, ever?"

"I'm afraid not," Alistair said. "But I can't wait til I do." He looked in the review mirror and gasped. She was sitting in the backseat next to Adrian. "Hello, dear," Alistair said cheerfully.

Helene frowned. "Hello, Father," she said resentfully. "How lovely to see you."

He turned. "What's the matter?"

Helene frowned. "I'm dead! What do you think the matter is?"

"Well," Alistair told her, "if you'd have stayed home from prom like I asked you, you wouldn't be dead."

Helene narrowed her eyes. "This is all your fault," she said to him. "If you hadn't stopped us from getting married in Vegas, everything would have been fine. If you hadn't told Adrian all that stuff that made him move away from me, none of this would have happened. I hope you're proud of yourself!" She yelled and all the glass surfaces in the car broke.

"Well I'm sorry," Alistair said. "But there's nothing we can do about it now."

"Actually there is," she whispered in Adrian's ear. "We just need to find me another body."