Riley's return to Mystic Falls was welcomed back with open arms and excitement. Her friends, especially those who knew where she had really been all summer, nearly crushed her with hugs when they saw her at the grill. Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie had to be pried off of her by her father when they would not let go of her after about ten minutes. Everyone was curious about what happened during her road trip with Klaus and Stefan. Riley remained tight-lipped, not wanting to tell them the truth about her near-death experience with the witches in Chicago. When they questioned why Klaus would suddenly change his mind about keeping her with him, she lied that she had annoyed him enough that he let her return home. Most of her friends accepted that as the truth, except Damon and her parents who were aware that Klaus would not easily let go of Riley, whether it was due to her strong magical abilities or his interest in her. In all honesty, the only person she felt comfortable with telling the truth was Bonnie, the only other witch in town.

While Riley continued with her attempts to find out the identity of the hunter from her parents, Katherine followed through with their plan to steal the necklace from Bonnie. She had masqueraded as Elena and during their short conversation, she learned that Jeremy was able to see ghosts, a side effect of Bonnie bringing him back to life. He was able to see both Vicki and Anna, his vampire ex-girlfriend. Riley's parents, knowing that she had her own secrets, turned the tables on her. They refused to discuss the hunter with her until she confessed the real reason that Klaus allowed her to return home. It slowly turned into a battle of wills between them.

Riley was inside the trigonometry classroom, setting up mouse traps on the floor with Elena, Bonnie, Tyler, and Caroline. Tonight was senior prank night and all of the seniors were working together to put together various pranks all over the school. As she put down another mouse trap, she glanced at her phone. Katherine had not texted her since this afternoon, only telling her that she and Damon were on a road trip to find out information about the hunter. Riley was distracted by the door opening, followed by all of the traps snapping shut. She jumped up quickly to avoid the traps snapping on her fingers. The light switched on, revealing Matt in the doorway. Caroline stamped her foot repeatedly, whining to him about how long it took them to put the traps on the floor.

"Forgot about senior prank night, huh?" asked Tyler.

"Clearly"

"How could you forget? We've only been waiting for this since like freshman year" said Caroline.

Matt was surprised that any of them wanted to participate in prank night. Caroline gave him the Memories are forever lecture. Riley left the classroom with Tyler. Jayden, Cameron, and Garrett were waiting by the door. Tyler handed them containers of plastic wrap to put over the toilets in the faculty restroom. As she walked with them, Jayden nudged her side.

"Happy to be back?"

"How could I miss prank night? This night was made for troublemakers like us"

She felt a small shiver down her spine, along with a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Jayden looked at her, concerned.

"You okay?"

She nodded, feigning a smile. While she covered the toilet seats in plastic wrap, her phone vibrated in the pocket of her shorts. She answered, hearing Damon's voice.

"Where are you right now?"

"Still on the road, keeping Katherine's hands off of me"

"Oh please" she heard Katherine say in disgust.

"Any luck getting the truth from your parents?"

"No. It's bad enough they had to tell me that they used to work for Klaus. I think they want to keep any other secrets to themselves"

"Well maybe if you're honest about why Klaus let you go"

"I told the truth"

"You and I both know that's a lie, shorty. The only way Klaus would let you leave is if—did you two have some sexy time behind Stefan's back…or even worse, was Stefan involved?"

Riley rolled her eyes. "Shut up. I did not kiss Klaus. Just find out about this hunter so we can use him to get rid of Klaus for good"

She hung up her phone and opened the door. Tyler was standing outside the stall. She hoped that, with his werewolf hearing, he did not overhear any of that conversation. He handed her multiple rolls of toilet paper.

"Help out Bonnie and Matt at the pool?"

"You got it, boss"

"Who were you on the phone with before?"

"Damon. He wanted to come here but I told him that no old people were allowed" she replied, making Tyler laugh.

Riley headed over to the indoor pool. Toilet paper had been thrown around like streamers. She handed the new rolls to Bonnie and Matt. As they threw around the toilet paper, Matt was definitely not in the mood for pranks. Bonnie tried to lift his spirits. When he asked her about Jeremy, she told him that she had not seen him all day and admitted that Jeremy was seeing Vicki's ghost. Riley pretended to be surprised. Matt looked relieved since Jeremy had mentioned it to him first.

"Seeing ghosts? Really?" asked Riley, throwing another roll of toilet paper.

"From the Other Side. The witches said there would be consequences to bringing him back"

"Can he control it or they just pop up in front of him?"

"I think he can control if he sees them. This is not the kind of problem couples should have, right? We should be fighting over him not paying for dinner, not seeing ghosts of his ex-girlfriends. It's weird"

"For us, weird is normal"

Matt sighed. "Just last summer, Bonnie and I were lifeguards at the pool and you were living it up in Europe. My only two problems were Elena breaking up with me and sucking at CPR. Now Elena is dating a vampire, you and Bonnie are witches, my sister's a ghost…"

"Trust me, Matt, if I could trade places with you, I would. Be happy that you're one of the only normal people in this town"

He left to get more rolls of toilet paper. Riley snuck small glances at Bonnie, tossing an empty roll into the air. She was struggling to bring up her witch problems.

"Are you going to talk to me or just keep making little faces at me?" asked Bonnie with a giggle.

"I have a problem. I lied about why Klaus let me come home"

"What's wrong, Ri? Is he asking you to spy on someone? Does he know about Elena?"

"No, it doesn't have to do with Elena. When I was in Chicago, something bad happened"

Riley opened up to her about the incident with the Chicago witches. With each passing minute, Bonnie looked more and more worried. She was shocked when Riley revealed that the coven in Chicago planned to kill her as a means to take her magic and that other witches were after her. A huge weight had been lifted from Riley's shoulders after telling the truth to her. Bonnie questioned why the witches would suddenly turn on her if they knew about her bloodline since she was a little girl.

"No idea. All I know is they think I'm going to be a real life Voldemort"

"That's ridiculous. Did John know about this? He was the one who told you about your ancestors"

"I don't think so. He only knew that I was descended from the Original bloodline. He never mentioned this Romeo and Juliet stuff"

"Do your parents"

"No. I can't tell them this, Bonnie. You get it because you're a witch. Can we just keep it between us for now?"

"Sure. What are you going to do?"

"Hope that not all other witches outside of here aren't as psychotic as the ones in Chicago"

"Maybe we could try a spell to keep out other witches from here"

"I think there's a spell like that in one of my books"

The door opened and Jayden entered the pool room. He wanted Riley's help with pranking the chemistry classroom. She promised to meet up with Bonnie later in the gym and followed Jayden down the hallway. For the next five minutes, they set up pranks in the classroom. He placed paint bombs in the desk drawer while Riley switched out some harmless chemicals for vials of water mixed with color dye. After they covered every inch of the room with pranks, they walked over to the gym to meet with the other seniors who were placing cups of water all over the floor. Jayden put his arm around her waist, telling her that he missed her over the summer. As he opened the door to the gym, her smile faltered. Elena, Bonnie, and Matt were standing around an unconscious Tyler, whose mouth was covered with blood. Dana and Chad were sitting on the floor, shaking with fear.

"Is that Tyler? What happened?" asked Jayden.

Klaus appeared in front of them. "Hello, love. This is a quick reunion, isn't it?"

Jayden tightened his grip. "Who the hell are you?"

Seeing his arm around Riley, Klaus glared slightly. He grabbed Jayden by the front of his shirt and compelled him to leave the school, return to his house, and go straight to sleep. With a dazed expression on his face, he let go of Riley and opened the door. Riley tried to stop Jayden from leaving but the compulsion was too strong. She heard Rebekah let out a small laugh while sitting on the bleachers.

"I'm quite hurt, Riley. I allowed you to return home and you repay my kindness by lying to me. You knew Elena was alive the entire time"

She crossed her arms. "Are you waiting for me to deny that? I won't. I did lie to you. You can go cry about it over a bowl of ice cream, if you want. What did you do to Tyler?"

"I fed him some of my blood. If Bonnie is successful, he'll live through his transition. Go on and fetch your grimoires and enchantments and whatnot, Bonnie"

"I'll need Riley's help too"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be fine on your own. I'll hold onto Riley and Elena for safekeeping" he said, grabbing Elena's arm.

Reluctantly, Bonnie and Matt left the gym. Riley struggled against Klaus's grip on her waist. Rebekah circled Elena, scrunching her nose. She insulted Elena, stating that the original Petrova was prettier than her. Riley cast a small spell, causing a gash to form on Rebekah's cheek. Klaus stopped her from attacking Riley in retaliation.

"Stop protecting your little witch"

"Enough, Rebekah. Take the wolf boy elsewhere"

Rebekah dragged Tyler out of the gym. Elena sat on the floor to comfort Dana and Chad. Klaus forced Riley over to the bleachers, placing her on his lap. He brushed her hair aside and nuzzled her neck.

"You have no idea how good you smell…how hard it is to not taste your blood"

"I guess Elijah had better self-control"

A low growl escaped his lips. "My brother has always been boring. You deserve far better"

"Even daggered in a box, he's better than you. You should be in there"

"Daggers have no effect on me, love"

"You know, you act like you're not afraid of anything but you are…and my parents know it. Whatever it is, it's enough to keep you running all the time"

"Would you like to know what happened to those witches attacked you in the woods? Some did survive and then I killed them…every last one"

"Is that supposed to make me think you're my hero? I never asked you to kill anyone"

"I would do anything for you"

Stefan entered the gym, his shirt stained with blood. Riley sensed tension between him and Klaus. Like she expected, Klaus was angered that Stefan lied about Elena being alive in Mystic Falls. Stefan insisted that Elena meant nothing to him and offered his complete loyalty. Smirking, Klaus stood up from the bleachers and asked Stefan to kill Dana and Chad.

"Klaus, don't. They have nothing to do with this"

"This isn't your concern, Riley. Sit down"

"Don't talk to me like I'm a dog!"

Elena pleaded with Stefan. She assured him that Klaus would not hurt her. Klaus backhanded her across the face roughly. Both Riley and Stefan ran towards him. He grabbed Stefan by the neck. Riley helped Elena up from the floor. Elena stopped her from using magic on him.

"Don't. He'll hurt you, Riley" she whispered.

Klaus was compelling Stefan to obey his every word. When he asked Stefan to kill Dana and Chad again, he did it without any hesitation. Riley turned Elena away from the scene in front of them. Klaus did not look the least bit remorseful. He watched Stefan rip into Dana's neck with amusement.

"You're a monster"

"Oh, you don't mean that, love"

"They didn't do anything to you. Tell Stefan to stop…get rid of that compulsion now"

"You're in no position to make demands, Riley. You lied to me all summer"

"To protect my family. Get rid of the compulsion or I will"

Riley moved towards Stefan. Klaus grabbed her wrist, pulling her against his chest. As they locked eyes, Riley began to have strange visions in her head. The visions passed by in flashes. She saw Klaus and Elijah, wearing clothes that looked like it was from the Middle Ages, having a pretend sword fight, a middle-aged man interrupting their fight then attacking Klaus for real, and a middle-aged woman stopping him. The man was named Mikael. In another vision, Mikael was again hurting Klaus, calling him a bastard. The last vision was of Klaus and Rebekah running from Gloria's bar during the raid in the 1920s and Klaus telling Rebekah that he was there. She found herself back in the gym. Though it felt like she had been having those visions for a long time, it had only been a few seconds. Putting the pieces together, she realized that Mikael was Klaus's father and the hunter. Dana was laying dead on the floor as Stefan now focused on attacking Chad.

Taking a chance, she kneed Klaus in the groin and ran out of the gym. She quickly called Katherine, knowing that she had little time before Klaus found her again.

"Hello, mini Gilbert"

"Where the hell are you and Damon?"

"Your cousin isn't being very helpful in our mission. He's trying to contact his little girlfriend Anna and failing miserably"

"Jeremy? Why is Jeremy with—forget it. I know who Klaus is scared of, Katherine. Ask him to find out about Mikael. He's"

Stefan appeared in front of her. He threw her phone against the wall.

"Seriously? How many phones am I going to lose because of a vampire?"

"Klaus wants you back in the gym"

"Stefan, you don't need to listen to him. Just fight the compulsion. Think about Elena and"

Ignoring her, he dragged her back to the gym, pinning her arms behind her back. Rebekah was showing Klaus a picture on Caroline's phone, claiming that Elena had her necklace. He looked over at Riley and Stefan. Elena told them that she did not the necklace but Rebekah thought she was lying and attacked her. Klaus pulled her off of Elena, who held her neck in pain. Calmly, he questioned her about the necklace.

"I'm telling the truth. Katherine stole it"

"Katerina, of course"

Riley tied her hair up in a ponytail. Taking off her boots, she tossed them over to the bleachers and tackled Rebekah to the floor. She sprayed her eyes with vervain. Rebekah cried out, wiping her eyes. They were having a typical girl fight with scratching and hair-pulling.

"You don't bite my cousin"

"Get off me, you little brat!"

Arms wrapped around her, lifting her off of Rebekah. Klaus slung her over his shoulder. She beat on his back, angrily.

"Let go of me!"

"Enough with the fighting. It's unfortunate that we don't have the necklace. It would have made things easier for your witch. Since we're doing this the hard way, let's put a clock on it, shall we?"

Klaus turned on the timer on the scoreboard. He told Stefan that if Bonnie did not find a solution to his hybrid problem within twenty minutes, Stefan had to feed on Elena. If Elena tried to escape, Stefan would fracture her spine. He grabbed Riley's boots and left the gym with her and Rebekah.

"Go check on the wolf, Rebekah"

Rebekah was glaring at Riley, her fangs out. "Now, Rebekah"

Muttering to herself, Rebekah walked down the hallway. Riley hit Klaus's back again and again. Her blows had little effect on him.

"Put me down"

"Is that wise? Each time I let you go, you get yourself in trouble. Deadly witches, my sister…"

"Maybe you're just bad luck"

Klaus placed her down on the floor. She put her boots back on and noticed that he had that wounded puppy expression on his face.

"This is the second time you've lied to me"

Riley scoffed. "Are you serious right now? What about your lies to me? How my parents used to work for you?"

"I see they have finally been honest"

"I don't know why you think I'm going to be your friend, Klaus. I'm not two years old anymore. If you want to get some sympathy, go back in time and you can bounce my two year old self on your lap while I tell you how you're super nice"

Klaus pinned you against a locker. "If you betray me again"

"You'll kill me? Be less of a cliché"

"That little girl is still in there"

"Well maybe she disappeared on the night you took a chunk out of my neck"

"I let you return home"

"You're so generous" she said, sarcastically.

His eyes flickered to her lips. As he leaned closer, she headbutted him. The impact made her slightly dizzy. He rubbed his nose, chuckling.

"I adore that fire in you"

"I'll set you on fire if you try that again"

"Leave with me. Such a powerful little witch shouldn't be stuck in this boring town. Your talents are wasted here"

"I'd sooner get in bed with your harpy sister than go anywhere with you"

Riley heard Bonnie and Matt nearby. Peeking around the wall, she saw that Matt was soaking wet. He told Bonnie that he had seen Vicki's ghost. Vicki had a message for Bonnie from the Original witch herself. According to the witch, Klaus's hybrids were not successful because Elena did not die during the sacrifice. Riley did not want to choose between Elena or Tyler.

"Tyler's going to die, isn't he?" said Matt.

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that. Given the choice, doppelganger or hybrid, I go hybrid every time" said Klaus, who heard their conversation.

Klaus brought her to the chemistry classroom. Caroline was comforting Tyler while Rebekah with Caroline's phone.

"I'll be back in a minute. Rebekah, behave yourself"

"Don't talk to me like a child"

"No fighting, sweetheart" he told Riley, kissing the top of her head.

Riley wrinkled her nose in disgust. She sat next to Caroline and held Tyler's hand, assuring him that he would make it through the transition. Rebekah taunted that he would be dead in minutes.

"Just shut up"

"Oh, did I hit a nerve?"

"Don't make me fight you again. Your brother isn't here to protect you"

"I don't need his protection. You shouldn't be so confident. You barely know how to use your magic"

"I know it well enough to make you rot from the inside out"

Klaus returned with a vial of Elena's blood. Despite the Original witch's claims, he believed that Elena's blood was the key to create a hybrid. Tyler drank the blood and crashed to the floor, groaning in pain. Klaus kept Riley from helping him. Caroline panicked, wrestling against Rebekah's grip. Tyler's eyes turned golden with veins protruding under his eyes, similar to a vampire.

"That's a good sign"

Tyler rolled around on the floor. Klaus leaned close to her ear.

"You can go home. I'll come back for you later. I'd warn your parents not to try to stop me"

Reluctantly, Riley left the classroom. She found her phone in the hallway, repairing it with magic. Getting in her car, she drove to the town line instead of her house. She grabbed one of the spell books from the backseat. Flipping through the book, she found a spell that repelled anyone of her choosing from the town. Reciting the spell, she focused on keeping any witches out of Mystic Falls. She repeated the spell a dozen times. Blood seeped from her nose. A thin golden line formed across the road.

"That's it?"

Riley jumped back when a beam of light shot up from the line. Zooming past the tall trees, the light moved into the night sky and covered the entire town like a dome. She reached her hand out past the town line. Little ripples formed in front of her, showing the barrier. She smiled, amazed that she performed the spell by herself. Her moment of triumph was interrupted by a text from Damon. Klaus ran away from Mystic Falls after Damon told him that he and Katherine found Mikael. With any good news came the bad. While they were free from Klaus for now, they had to deal with Stefan, who had been compelled to turn off his humanity and watch over Elena. Riley returned to her car. She caught her reflection in the mirror, seeing shadows in the iris of her eyes. The shadows vanished in an instant. She passed it off as a trick of light and drove back to her house…

A/N: Thanks for reading. That scene towards the end is important. The shadows that Riley saw are going to come up again. Since Bonnie is the only one who knows the truth about Riley's problem with the witches, they are going to spend a lot of time alone, thinking of how to deal with the problem. Even though Klaus is gone, Rebekah is still in Mystic Falls and she is going to continue to clash with Riley. The next chapter will give some reasons to why Rebekah dislikes Riley and another classmate will be exposed to the supernatural world in an unexpected way.