Anna ended up meeting Ben at some hotel the following morning. "I thought you were dead."
"Technically, you're dead, too." Anna pointed out.
"But, I saw you're body. You were staked from behind."
"Please, like anyone else will find it." Anna said. "Speaking of finding things…"
"You found the Gilbert journal?" He asked.
"I don't have it with me, but I can get it." Anna told him. Ben looked around the room. "You seem distracted."
"It's Bonnie." He explained. "I don't want to hurt her or anything, but if it's for the mission…"
"No." Anna said firmly. "There are other ways than forcing them to do something against their free will."
"Why'd you turn me?"
"I needed someone to be my eyes and ears. Any bartender could've done it really, but you seemed like a good fit." Anna explained. "Please don't make me regret this. I already regret getting Noah involved. I mean it, Ben. Don't do anything stupid."
At the school, Anna got in easily since no one else was around. She entered one of the classrooms. Just then, she heard a noise. She went into another classroom to find the teacher aiming some kind of firearm at Stefan. For a second, she panicked. She knew that the teacher probably couldn't see her, but Stefan could. Quickly and quietly, she found the journal on his desk.
While they were talking, she quickly got out of the room. She had no idea how she could still use some of her vampire abilities, but it came in handy sometimes.
"Where's the Gilbert journal?" Stefan asked him.
"It's on my desk."
"No, it's not." He pointed out. That's when he noticed the journal was missing.
"It was on my desk." The teacher corrected.
"So, find anything?" Anna jumped. She hadn't heard Ben come up behind her.
"Not yet. It's hard to read." She told him. "Some people shouldn't journal, you know?"
"That's why I don't keep one."
"I thought you were going on a date." Anna said.
"I am." Ben told her. "It'll be fun."
"I'm going to the library. I'll see you later." Anna told him. She was gone in an instant.
A few hours later, she was waiting at the Grill. Jeremy found her in the corner near the pool table. "Hey."
"Hey. You always find me so fast."
"Well, you're always hidden in these weird places." Jeremy pointed out.
"I have my reasons. I don't ask you why you decided to write on supernatural myths." Anna said.
"So, are we gonna play, or what?" The two of them started playing a game. Anna almost felt alive again. Almost. "Man, things at home are weird."
"Wanna tell me about it?"
"It's like everyone's looking for that journal I told you about." Jeremy told her. "It's kinda like I'm in the middle of something when I have no idea what's going on."
"I know how that feels." Anna said. Did she ever. When she first saw her body when after she had died, she'd panicked. She had no idea how she was going to save her mother if she was a ghost. Worse, what if Pearl couldn't see her? She decided to continue with the plan, but on her own, without harming anyone.
"It's been nice seeing you again."
"You too." Anna said. "I have to meet a friend, but I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" She walked out of the Grill. It wasn't long before she was back in Ben's hotel room.
What she wasn't expecting was for Damon Salvatore to come up behind her. He tried to grab her, but his hand went through her as though she were transparent. "You're…"
"I know. You don't have to say it." Anna told him. "I wondered if you'd be able to see me."
"How long have you been like this?" Damon asked.
"A few weeks. One of the guys I was working with literally stabbed me in the back with a stake." Anna explained. "They've gotten out of control."
"How long ago did you get here?"
"I arrived around half-past comet, watching you mess up every chance you had to open the tomb."
"How do you know about the spell?"
"I didn't say much back in those days, so I heard everything." Anna told him. "That, and Emily was protecting someone I'm close to as well."
"If you've been here the whole time, how come I never saw you when you were still a vampire?"
"I used others to do my dirty work."
"Like that Logan Fell jerk? By the way, thanks for turning him. That idiot shot at me."
"He was an idiot. I gave him some blood when he decided to start playing the vampire slayer, especially with the compass." Anna said. "I needed his family's journal, so I wasn't going to let him die yet."
"Why did you need the Fell journal?"
"I thought it had the location of the spell book, but I was wrong." Anna said. "According to the journal, Honoria gave it to Jonathan Gilbert. And after going through this…" She held up the Gilbert journal. "He gave it to your father. And now I need your help."
"Why would I help you?"
"Because I think my only partner is planning to do something that'll endanger a lot of people." Anna said. "And we both want to open the tomb."
"Can't you stop him yourself?"
"My powers are limited." Anna explained. "I can't do much in the physical world without another person helping."
"That's your problem." Damon turned to go. "No offense, but I work alone." Anna sighed. She knew this wouldn't be easy. A few minutes later, Ben came in, carrying an unconscious girl.
"What did you do?" Anna asked.
"We need her help, Anna. She's a witch."
"I told you we weren't going to do this." Anna said. "Besides, now she's less likely to help."
"That's why I arranged to kidnap her little friend. The one who was responsible for our friend's death."
"No." Anna said. "I won't let you do this." She disappeared and found herself in Jeremy's house. Or outside it, actually. She went inside to see if the girl was okay.
"Anna, what are you doing here?" Jeremy asked.
"I'm not here for long." She told him. "I think I gave something to your sister and wanted to see if she still had it."
"Go ahead." Anna followed him upstairs. She found the girl's room, but didn't see any sign of her. Then she noticed the curtain blowing. She was too late. She heard someone coming upstairs, fast. She left just as quickly as she'd come in. She knew that right now, she was the only one who could try to help the girls Ben kidnapped.