A/N: I didn't want to leave you guys in suspense for too long

"ELENA!"

She was torn away from the pond and thrown to the ground. Klaus held her down while Elijah retrieved the two sodden infants from the water. Freya came over to him and murmured under her breath. After a moment, they let out a few choking sobs and began to bawl. The courtyard was full, the siblings there along with the wolf and a number of the guards.

"Thank you Freya," said Elijah, the relief clear in his voice. Klaus got up, pulling her with him.

"Let go of me Niklaus!"

Klaus' grip loosened and he groaned.

"Of course… Esther." Elijah came over.

"How can you tell?"

"Well, Elena never calls me Niklaus. Her pet wolf," he gestured to the animal that was snarling nearby. "Is growling at her and she tried to DROWN OUR BABIES. None of that sounds like Elena! And I can only think of one person who is psychotic enough to try something this malicious."

"I was trying to protect you!" Esther snapped.

"Of course you were… just like when you changed us, right?" Klaus muttered. "And I will take great delight in draining the life out of you once again."

"Klaus, stay calm." Elijah touched his arm. "If you kill her, she'll just skip off to the afterlife and we'll lose Elena."

Finn came over with a set of manacles. He shackled Esther to a chair and the men circled her, glaring at her.

"Why do you do this mother?" Elijah asked.

"I was trying to protect you. Dahlia will kill you all and I didn't want that to happen."

"So you decided he best way to do that was to have Elena murder her children?" Rebekah demanded, standing a few feet back with Freya and the children. "That's disgusting even for you."

"She's not good for you! Being with her will bring you nothing but trouble! If I got rid of her and the children, you could have a fresh start!"

"You are delusional if you think Dahlia would be so easily robbed of what she wants," said Freya. "She would take vengeance on all of us if your plan had succeeded!"

Esther looked down at her feet, tears in her eyes.

"I was only trying to protect my children…" She looked up, her eyes running over her sons in search of someone who might offer her mercy. Her gaze landed on Finn. "Finn, darling, you were always such a good boy… you know that I care about you all, that I would never try to hurt you… I just want what's best for you!"

"I believe that you truly believe you have our best interests in heart. But I find it hard to think that you even have a heart after this. We love them. We love her. And we would die for them."

"And their lives are worth a lot more to us than your miserable skin," muttered Kol, glaring at his mother. "Now give us Elena back."

"I can't."

"You mean you won't," said Kol.

"No, I mean I can't. I have no power in this body. I'm stuck."

Elijah pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath.

"Freya, can you get her out?"

"I think so. It just might take me a little while…" She stepped forward and raised her hands "Hreinsa líkamann af skuggum, sendu sálina aftur heim hennar. Endurheimta anda lífshættu skipsins hennar."

Esther began to tremble as Freya chanted.

"No… Freya, don't send me back there! Please!" Freya ignored her, eyes closed, focusing on her chant.

"Hreinsa líkamann af skuggum, sendu sálina aftur heim hennar. Endurheimta anda lífshættu skipsins hennar."

Esther's head suddenly shot back, letting out a ragged gasp. Blood dripped from her nose, her eyes rolling back in her head. Her body began to spasm,

"What's happening?" demanded Klaus.

"The ancestors…" said Esther. "Elena… she's been…. communing with them… Freya's spell… is opening Elena's mind… letting them in…"

"Freya stop," said Finn. "They're trying to hurt Elena."

Freya's eyes opened and a small smile spread across her features, a wicked smile that seemed out of place on her usually angelic face.

"No they're not Finn… they're after Esther."

The courtyard seemed to shake. The candles on the wall flared up to blindingly bright and the assembled group recoiled, shielding their eyes from the light. When the lights dimmed back down to the normal level, Genevieve was stood in front of Esther, watching the group. Rebekah was the first to register her and she let out a small squeak of fear. Genevieve glanced over at her and the tiniest hint of a smile played across her lips before she turned her attention back to the assembled brothers.

"Hello."

"Who are you…?" Freya asked.

"My name is Genevieve. I am speaking to you on behalf of the ancestors. This woman was not sent by us to harm your children or your family. While we have no love for your species, she has disgraced our kind by attempting to bring harm on innocents."

"That's great an all but maybe you could skip the apology, stop making Elena's body haemorrhage blood and get that bitch out of there?" Kol suggested. Genevieve laughed softly.

"Elena was communing with us in an effort to find the final ingredient for a spell to defeat the dark one. Esther promised that she would aid her, which is how she came to be inside your lover. I do intend to remove her, however I am also going to ensure that she keeps her promise." She closed her eyes and raised her arms. The candles flared up once more. When they died down, Elena's body was slumped forward and Genevieve was gone.

Kol stepped forward and gently touched Elena's arm. The wolf came over and nuzzled her leg.

"Elena…?" Elijah asked tentatively.

I opened my eyes. Everything was spinning and out of focus. As I began to regain my faculties, the realisation of what had happened hit me.

"LILAH! BLAIR! NO!" I vaulted upright, eyes searching wildly for my babies. I felt a restraining hand on my arm, holding me still but the owner of it was still too out of focus to really register. I thrashed wildly, desperate to get away and find my children.

"Elena, Elena calm down… they're fine. I promise you, our children are fine." The voice was reassuring but I still wasn't satisfied, seeking out my children.

"They're here Elena," said Rebekah's voice. Things were becoming clearer and I could see the people around me. Finn unfastened the manacles on my wrist and my children were carefully placed in my arms.

I felt tears rising up as relief washed over me. I'd been so scared… I thought I was going to lose them.

"My babies…" I rocked them gently. "I'll never let anyone hurt you again…"

"Elena you should go to bed and rest," said Elijah.

"No… I don't want to be away from anyone…"

"Okay… Kol, get Elena's blanket. We'll camp out in the living room tonight. Is that okay?" I nodded, clinging to my children. Klaus carefully ushered me to the living room and got me situated. Kol fetched my blanket and wrapped it around me. All of the siblings gathered around the room. No one seemed to feel like sleeping but no one wanted to talk either. I held the twins close, occasionally stroking their cheeks, reassuring myself that they were still there. None of the brothers seemed to want to distance themselves from me either. Kol played with my hair, Klaus gently rubbed my shoulders, Elijah kept an arm around me and Finn held my hand. I couldn't get the feeling of Esther out of my head. It had felt like I was trapped inside a glass box, able to see everything that was going on but unable to do anything to stop it. I'd tried to scream but my voice had been stolen and I was stuck in silence, helpless.

I shuddered at the thought. The wolf nuzzled my leg. He'd put his dislike of vampires aside and was resting at the edge of the group. I looked over at him and thought about what Esther had said to him.

"Klaus," I said softly. "I think I met your dad…"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Well… I could see everything when Esther was in my head… she spoke to the wolf… she called him 'my love'… and Genevieve told me that he was a werewolf who had died…" Klaus looked over at the wolf who lifted his head to look back.

"I… I don't think this is something I can really focus on right now Elena. For now, I'm just glad that he's looking out for you."

"It was him who came and got us," said Elijah. "He ate his way out of your bedroom and made a racket until we got up."

"That's my boy…" I rested my head on Elijah's shoulder and closed my eyes. Kol hummed softly, continuing to toy with my hair.

"Kol, shush," said Rebekah suddenly.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I can hear something…"

Everyone shifted into a sitting position, listening intently.

"I hear it too," said Elijah. The brothers got to their feet and I made to follow. "You can wait here Elena."

"No, I want to stay with you."

They didn't argue. I gave the twins to Freya and we headed down to the cellar. As we descended, I began to hear the noise too. It was a faint thumping noise that grew louder as we entered the cellar. Klaus was leading the way and he stopped abruptly on the bottom step. I peered around him and saw a coffin with a large silver M emblazoned on it.

"Umm… do you guys have another relative I don't know about?" I asked softly.

"No…" Klaus said. "This is someone else…"

He strode over to the coffin and wrenched it open. A woman sat up, coughing hard. She was wearing black funeral garb and had long blonde hair, which hung dishevelled over her face. I blinked.

"Esther?" I couldn't believe it. This was like a nightmare come true.

"Well this is great," said Kol. "Now we can kill her ourselves."

"I guess this is what Genevieve meant about ensuring she kept her promise…" muttered Rebekah.

Klaus, a twisted smirk on his face, crouched down and yanked Esther to her feet. He shook her roughly.

"Hello again Mother."

I heard a rustle in the air behind us and Finn stepped forward, brandishing the manacles again. He passed them to Klaus, who fastened them on Esther. She seemed too dazed to resist, trembling slightly in Klaus' grasp.

"I think it's time we had a little talk with mother dearest," said Klaus.

We returned to the living room and Klaus shoved Esther into a chair. Rebekah took the twins from Freya and left the room with them. Klaus turned to me and offered me his hand.

"Elena would you care to do the honours?"

"I would love to." I stepped forward until I was stood in front of her, arms folded and glaring down at her. "You told me that you'd help me find the blood of the witch who broke Dahlia's heart. Now, you have… hmm… five minutes… to give me an answer. And if you lie, I will step aside and let your sons take turns in torturing you for what you did to my daughters."

She flicked her hands out, trying to cast a spell. I automatically stepped back but nothing happened. She looked down at her hands, staring in shock and confusion.

"Oh and those manacles? They're something I had made to stop witches from doing magic," said Kol. "So you really should cooperate."

Esther stayed quiet.

"Tick tock," said Klaus softly. "I'm sure we can convince you to talk… but you really don't want that to happen."

She looked away, face set stubbornly. She let out a sharp gasp of pain and I saw a drop of blood running down her cheek from her eyes.

"Looks like the ancestors want you to talk too," I said. "And they can torment you for a lot longer than we can."

"Fine!" she said. "I was the witch. I broke Dahlia's heart. We were taken by the Vikings and we vowed to stay together… but I fell in love and chose to stay… I broke her heart."

"Well that's very convenient," said Klaus. "Freya, how much blood do you need?"

"A bowlful?"

"I heard all of it. Let's skin her," said Kol.

"I also heard all of it." Klaus smirked and advanced on his mother. Elijah disappeared for a moment and returned with a bowl and a knife.

"Let's get what Elena and Freya need first. Then you can do what you like to her, Klaus." Klaus scowled but nodded.

"Fine." He sliced open her wrist and let the blood drain into a bowl which he handed to Freya.

"We still need the ashes…" she said, looking at me. I pulled the small pouch of ashes from my jeans pocket where I'd left them. I held them up.

"We're good."

Freya took the ashes, smiled and left the room. I looked at Klaus and the others, standing around Esther.

"You may want to leave," said Elijah. "This will not be pleasant."

I looked at Esther. She pleaded silently with her eyes, hoping for mercy. I looked at the wolf. He had known her, he had even loved her once. He looked back at me, perfectly still. He didn't want me to try and save her.

"Try not to make too much mess."

I left the room and followed Freya. We went to her room and she retrieved some candles, setting them around the room.

"You got the soil?" I asked.

"Yes. It was relatively easy." She fetched a small envelope from her drawer and held it up. I sat down on the ground and she sat opposite me.

"So what happens now?"

"We mix them together and that means they can be bound to a weapon or a place. The weapon will kill her but if we bind it to a place, just being in that area will make her mortal."

"The church, yeah?"

"Yes. I'll make up the compound now and then when you go there tomorrow night, I'll come with you and activate it." She lit a stick of sage, took the bowl of blood and upended the envelope. Dirt fell into the bowl. She added in the ash and held her hands over the bowl. "Drende moral associeres. Drende moral associeres."

The candles flared up. The mixture in the bowl seemed to crystalize into a dark powder. I reached over and gently ran my fingers through it.

"This will do it?"

"Yes. With this, we can defeat Dahlia."