The next day, Cora was headed downstairs when she passed by some blonde girl. "Oh, I see they have help. Mind helping me with my bags?" She asked her.

Cora was surprised and had no idea what she was talking about. "Um, I'm sorry, who are you and what are you doing here?"

"My brother left me here and I'm assuming you're the help."

"Wrong, I'm not the help. I'm Cora." She told her coldly. "Cora Salvatore."

"I didn't know they had a sister."

"Well, it's kind of a long story and not many people know about me." Cora told her. "And you are?"

"Rebekah. I believe you've heard of my brother, he has yours protecting some doppelganger bitch." Cora was surprised.

"Hey, is everything okay up here?" Damon asked.

"Yeah, I was just leaving." Cora said. "Damon, can we talk?"

"I think I know a good place."

He led Cora to the outdoor patio behind the house. Even though it was autumn, several of the plants were still in bloom. "Wow, this place is beautiful."

"I thought you'd like it out here."

"It reminds me of the gardens back in Ireland." Cora said. "So, what's our Original visitor doing here?"

"Apparently she's moving in because Klaus left her here." Damon said. "I don't know much about her, but you might not want to get on her bad side. Originals are much stronger than normal vampires. Promise me you'll never take this vervain charm off."

"I won't." Cora said. "After all, it has a lot of value to me." She remembered how Stefan had found it when it'd fallen off her and gave it back to her. "So, what's our strategy?"

"For now, we do our best to help Elena." Damon said. "Speaking of which, she should know about this." He headed into the house. Cora stayed outside to admire the view a little longer, before going back inside and joining him.

When she did, he was already on the phone with Elena. "You might not want to come here for a while. We have a new housemate. Barbie Klaus."

"Rebekah? She's living with you now?" Cora heard Elena say over the phone. "Why?"

"She's stranded. Apparently Klaus left her in the dust after I name-dropped Mikael." Damon said.

"What about Stefan? What is he up to?"

"Oh, you know. Journaling, reading, shaping his hair."

"Come on, Damon. I can handle it." Elena said.

"To be honest, even I'm not sure what he's up to." Cora said. "But I know the one we have to look out for is Rebekah. Seems like she could be trouble."

"That would be an understatement." Elena said. "See you later." She hung up.

A few hours later, Cora followed Damon to the gym. "Any reason why you decided to drag me along?" She asked.

"Would you rather be dueling it out with that Original girl back home?" He pointed out. "Besides, I figured you'd be better at the girl talk thing."

Once they got inside, they found Elena lifting weights. "What? Are you going to bench press a vampire?" Damon asked her.

"Do you actually know what's happening right now? Stefan called me a human blood bag. He's a completely different person." Elena told them.

"I should've guessed. We spent two hours cleaning the living room." Cora said. Damon pressed on the weight.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked him.

"Helping you out."

"Damon!"

"Come on, Buffy!"

"Enough, she's human. Do you want to break her spine?" Cora asked him. He let go so she could get up.

"Like one obnoxious Salvatore isn't bad enough." Elena said once she finally got into a sitting position.

"Trust me, you'd be surprised how often they fought more than they worked together." Cora told her, sitting next to her.

"You called. I'm here. What's your plan, oh warrior princess?"

"I want to lock Stefan up, at least until this Mikael guy comes, kills Klaus, and the compulsion breaks." Cora and Damon looked at each other.

"Compulsion or not, Stefan's high on human blood. A lot of it." Damon said.

"You've gotten him off of it before." Elena pointed out.

"This is different. It's not a stint in rehab, Elena. His humanity's gone. Light's out. No one's home."

"Then do it for me, Damon. Every single time I look at him, I feel like I'm going to break." Elena said. "And I'm not going to give him that satisfaction." She got up.

"Hey, you know we're here for you." Cora said. "We've got you're back. Here," She handed her a piece of paper. Elena looked and saw there was a phone number. "If you ever want to talk about it, you can call me."

"Thanks, Cora."

"I'll be out in the hallway if you need me." Cora said, heading out of the room. A few minutes later, they came out.

"If we're going to lock him up, we're going to need help." Elena was saying.

"Okay, but how do we know this is going to work?"

"I don't, but we need to do something about this." Elena said.

"Yeah, but even the three of us alone won't be able to lock him down." Cora said. Elena and Damon looked at each other. He nodded to her.

"You should come with us." Elena told her. "I'm calling a group meeting."

A few minutes later, they were in a classroom with a few other people. They were going over the plan. "I'll lure Stefan away from the bonfire." Elena said. "Then when he's distracted..."

"I'll shoot him." Alaric said. "Just long enough to incapacitate him." He clarified.

"Can't Bonnie just ju-ju him or something?" Damon asked.

"I'm trying to keep Bonnie out of this. I don't trust that Stefan won't hurt her." Elena said. "Caroline, are you covered?"

"Yes! I will make sure that the old Forbes jail cell is prepped and ready." Caroline said.

"We're forgetting a key player here." Damon said. "Rebekah? Wherever Stefan goes, the blond ponytail tends to follow."

"Which is why it's your job to keep her away."

"Wouldn't it be easier just to knock her out?" Cora asked.

"She's an Original, remember? Even a regular stake to the heart won't work on her." Damon pointed out.

"I'm sorry, this is off topic, but who are you?" Caroline asked. She didn't say it in a mean tone, she had no idea why she was there.

"She's…" Damon looked at Cora. "She's our sister."

"How many of you are there?" Caroline asked.

"I'm adopted." Cora explained. "Don't tell anyone, though. This secret, this one stays between the five of us, okay?" Everyone nodded. "So, how are you two involved?"

Elena answered for her. "Caroline's like you guys, Cora. She got turned last year, but Stefan helped her get through it." Caroline nodded, smiling.

"And the teacher?" Cora asked.

"Alaric's a vampire slayer." Damon told her. She seemed surprised. "And a sort-of friend of ours."

"He's also my guardian." Elena explained. "Since my parents are dead-birth and adoptive."

"So he's one of the good guys." Cora said. Elena nodded.

"Back to getting back to distracting Rebekah…" Caroline said, getting them back on topic.

"Right, Damon can handle that." Elena said.

"How?! She's an original. Last time I checked, we're out of daggers." Damon said.

"So then preoccupy her with your charm." Elena said.

"Might have better luck finding the dagger." Alaric said.

"Are ever not going to be mad at me for a day?" Damon asked him.

"Doubtful." Cora looked at them.

"Let me guess, they got into a fight."

"Apparently." Elena said. Just then, a dark haired kid entered the room.

"Sorry I'm late. What's going on?" He asked.

"We need you to raid your mom's vervain supply. Enough to keep Stefan down for a while." Elena told him.

"You can't do that to Stefan."

"Why not?" Caroline asked.

"Trust me, Tyler, it's in his best interest."

"Yeah. It's not in Klaus's." Tyler said. Cora was really confused as to what was going on. Just then, her phone buzzed. Damon had texted her about the new kid who'd just entered.

-Tyler Lockwood, Mayor's son, Klaus turned him into a vampire-werewolf hybrid.

Cora looked up at him, concerned.

"But Klaus is the bad guy, Tyler. You know, why are you acting like some freaky, hybrid, slave minion?" Caroline asked.

"Uh-oh." Damon said. At that moment, Cora knew that Damon knew what was going on with him. Alaric seemed to notice, too.

"Klaus made me who I am, Caroline. I owe him everything." Tyler said. Suddenly, Damon shoved a vervain dart into him. Tyler passed out on the spot.

"What are you doing?!" Caroline asked.

"He's been sired." Damon told the group.

"What?"

"Sired. He feels loyal to Klaus because Klaus's blood turned him." Damon explained.

"Loyal how?"

"He'll seek acceptance from his master. It's really rare. But maybe not so much in hybrids."

"So how do I fix him?" Caroline asked.

"Get a new boyfriend." Damon said.

"Wait, you two are…" Cora began.

"Well, we were, are, I'm not so sure about now, but..." Caroline sighed. "I'll take care of this."

"I'll help." Cora said. The two of them picked up Tyler, who was still unconscious, and carried him out of the classroom.

"Let's get him to my car." Caroline told her as they pulled him through the hallways. "I'll take him home."

"Okay." Cora said. "So, you're dating?"

"Well, sort of. It just kinda happened." Caroline told her. "After I became a vampire and he became a werewolf, we started hanging out, trying to help each other deal with the changes that came with them, running from the bad guys, you know, the usual."

Cora laughed. "Well, that's refreshing. Considering how most werewolves consider vampires enemies."

"Well, to be fair, we grew up together." Caroline said. "We just hadn't gotten to know each other until we'd both changed." They placed Tyler in the passenger's side of Caroline's car. "What about you? Any guys?" She asked as they closed the car door.

Cora hesitated. While she had loved her husband, she had never actually been in love before. "Nothing serious," She finally said. "I've dated a lot of different guys, human and vampire, but there was never any…passion, I guess. Granted, I was widowed for a year before I turned"

"But you're eighteen." Caroline pointed out, surprised.

"It was still the eighteen hundreds, things were different then." Cora told her.

"Well, I'm sure one day you'll find the right guy for you." Caroline said.

"Thanks, Caroline." Cora said, smiling.

"Okay, you better get back and help the others." Caroline said. "You have a phone?" Cora nodded and handed it to her. Caroline did something with it, then handed it back to her. "If you ever need anything, call me. No matter how tired I am, I'll answer." She got into her car and drove off.

Cora looked at her phone and saw that Caroline had added her number. She headed back into the school and almost collided with two people in the hallway.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you." She said.

"It's okay." The girl said. Cora thought she was beautiful. Her dark hair flowed just below her shoulders. She noticed a guy with dark hair and blue eyes behind her.

"Are you okay?" He asked. That brought her back to reality. She hadn't realized she'd been staring at him.

"Yeah, just trying to find my way around here." Cora said. "I'm Cora."

"My name's Bonnie." The girl told her, holding out her hand. Cora shook it. Bonnie's expression became a mix of confusion and surprise.

"Bon, you okay?" The guy asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Jeremy."

"Wait. Jeremy Gilbert?" Cora asked.

"How do you know who I am?"

"I'm a friend of Elena." She explained. "I came here so I could help you guys."

"Do…do you know Stefan?" Bonnie asked her.

"We're family." Cora told them.

"So, you're…one of them?" Jeremy asked. Cora nodded, knowing that he was trying to avoid saying the v word so he wouldn't offend her.

"What brings you here?" Bonnie asked. She didn't seem surprised, exactly, since she was used to new vampires showing up, but she also wasn't sure if she should trust Cora yet.

"Elena and Damon asked me to help them." Cora told her. "But first, I need to find them. Which way's the bonfire?"

"You show her." Bonnie told Jeremy. "I'm going to find Matt." Bonnie headed down the hall.

"What happened?" Cora asked.

"It's nothing. We're…sort of in a fight." Jeremy admitted. "It's complicated."

"Well, I hope you guys make up." Cora told him.

"I hope so, too." Jeremy said. "Come on, I think they set it up near the woods behind the field house. I'll show you." He led her outside of the school and toward the forest area.

"So, I'm guessing you heard about what happened to Stefan." He said as they walked.

"That an Original vampire known as Klaus compelled him to shut off his humanity and act as your sister's bodyguard? Yeah, I'm caught up on that much." Cora said. "I can't believe you guys got into this mess in the first place."

"How do you know about Originals anyway?" Jeremy asked.

"A friend of mine warned me to never make a deal with an Original, said it was like a double-edged sword." Cora said. "There's always too much risk of an innocent person getting hurt."

"You don't sound like you're from around here." Jeremy said.

"I'm from Ireland." Cora explained. "I moved to London in 1887. That's where I met the Salvatore brothers. It's a long story, really, you probably don't want to hear all this."

"I don't mind. Stefan's been a friend of ours for a while." Jeremy said. "And while I don't like Damon, I appreciate that he's been helping us. Besides, with these Original vampires popping up, it's nice to have another good one on our side."

"Uh, thanks." Cora blushed. "Is there anything else you can tell me about your friends? I've already met the teacher/hunter, Caroline, and Tyler."

"Well, I don't want to get in any more trouble with Bonnie as it is." Jeremy told her. "She'll tell you about herself."

"Are you two together?" Cora asked. Jeremy seemed surprised. "I have a tendency to notice small things and the way you talk about her, it's kind of obvious you like her."

"Really?" Jeremy asked.

"Hey, it's cool. She seems nice, though kind of distant."

"Believe me, she has her reasons…whoa."

By one of the fire pits, they found Damon on the ground with a branch in his abdomen. They walked over to him. Cora pulled the branch out. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"She figured out I was stalling her, skewered me, and left." Damon told her. He winced in pain.

"You'll heal, right?" Cora asked, sitting next to him.

"Yeah, though it might take a while."

"Hey, where's Elena?" Jeremy asked.

"She's still working on her part of the plan." He told him. "I hope."

"Is she in trouble?"

"No, she's fine. This plan was her idea in the first place." Cora pointed out. "We should trust that she knows what she's doing."

A few minutes later, they were helping Damon up. His phone beeped and he looked at it. "It's Ric."

"What's up?" Jeremy asked.

"Oh, that's not good." He said, looking at the message.

"Did something happen?" Cora asked, concerned.

"According to him, the ghost of some girl we used to know blew up his car." Cora and Jeremy looked at him horrified. "They're all okay, though."

"Thank god!" Jeremy said. "Elena could've been killed."

"You mean again?" Damon pointed out. He'd said it sarcastically, but Cora could see he was relieved they'd all survived. She put a comforting hand on Jeremy's shoulder.

"We should help them." Cora said. "Someone's gotta give them a ride home, considering their first one exploded."

"Hang on." They turned to Jeremy. "Tell Elena that I'm going home. With the way this night's been going..."

Cora understood. She'd been human before and she knew how hard the supernatural stuff could be. "Go on. I'm sure she'll meet you there."

"Thanks." Jeremy said. He turned around and left.

"I'm sure Alaric will make sure they're both okay." Damon said as they started walking toward the parking lot

A few hours later, they were at the Boarding House. Cora walked in as they started fighting about applying medicine. "Give it to me. I can do it." Elena was saying.

"No, let me." Damon insisted.

"Damon, come on."

"Elena, you almost got barbecued. The least I can do is apply first aid." Damon pointed out. She accepted and let him apply it.

"Are you sure you don't want us to help heal you?" Cora asked. "You've gotten a lot of injuries in the past few days."

"It's fine, Cora." Elena told her.

"Besides, she's not really a fan of vampire blood." Damon added. Elena flinched involuntarily. "Sorry." He stopped applying the aid cream.

"It's okay, keep going." She told him. As he healed her, Cora headed back into the hallway and nearly bumped into Alaric.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Alaric told her. "So, you're their sister?"

"Adopted sister, technically." Cora said. "But they're family to me."

"I understand." Alaric said. "I feel the same way about Elena and Jeremy." Cora seemed surprised, but then she smiled. "Have you considered enrolling at the school?"

"Me? A student?" Cora said.

"Why not? I saw how you tried to help us get up unharmed after what happened back there. Besides, it'd give you an opportunity to bond with the rest of the group."

"I'm not sure all of them will trust me." Cora said, remembering how Bonnie had practically run off.

"It doesn't matter. From what I've seen, you'll fit in just fine with them."

"Thank you." Cora told him. She headed back down the hall. Damon had given her a room halfway down the hall from his. She hadn't had to unpack much (one of the perks of being a vampire-at least in her books).

There was a small window that overlooked the garden out back, a small dresser with a mirror was pressed against one wall. There was also an old chestnut desk on the side. She guessed the room used to belong to a writer. Currently, she had a few books lying on it. There was a small bathroom with a walk-in shower and what looked like a canopy over her bed.

She changed into a sky blue nightgown and lay back against her bed. There was a knock at the door. Damon entered. "Hey."

"Hey." Cora said, sitting up. "Checking up on me?"

"Just wanted to see if you were okay. That fire was nasty."

"I'm fine, Damon." Cora said. "So, your friend seems nice. You know, the history teacher?"

"Right."

"I've been thinking about our plan. Maybe I should try and get close with the others."

"Go for it." He said. "From what I've seen, you're already part of our little club anyway. And it's not like you need my permission to do this."

"I know, but I thought you should know about it." Cora told him. He started to leave the room.

"Oh, if it helps, most of us are going to be setting up for some town event tomorrow. Most of them are always helping out at those things."

"Thanks, Damon." Cora said.

"No problem." He headed toward the door. When he got there, he turned to ask her something, he found her asleep on her bed. He smiled, turned her light off, and left her room.