A/n: Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of the Vampire Dairies or L.j. Smith's work.

Season 2: The Awakening (Part 2)

When Sophia reawakens, sunlight shines through Bonnie's bedroom window.

Bonnie is sitting beside the bed in an armchair, studying her grimoire.

"I died, I'm dead. How am I here?" Sophia says in a frantic voice as she rises from the bed.

Bonnie shuts her book and puts it to the side before grabbing her hands.

Staring into Sophie's eyes, Bonnie tells her, "You're Sophia Gilbert. Daughter of Miranda and Grayson Gilbert, older sister of Elena and Jeremy. You're safe. You're not dead. You were reliving a past life."

Bonnie's voice has a meditative quality to it, and Sophia's senses are overwhelmed with a fresh, forest scent that reminds her of the times she played with her sister and friends in the woods.

Sophia slowly recalls her parents, her family, and squeezed Bonnie's hands with surprising strength.

"I'm Sophia Gilbert," Sophia says, a sob stuck in her throat.

"You were speaking in a language I didn't recognize, I don't think I've heard it before."

Bonnie and Sophia sat on Bonnie's bedroom floor, their backs against the bed with a box of leftover pizza between them.

The potion had knocked Sophia out for the rest of the day yesterday and the better part of the night. She had awoken around 2 in the morning when Bonnie put her back to sleep with a spell.

"I was Sofia Rakovsky of Bulgaria," says Sophie in her former life's native language, just to see if she could.

Bonnie simply raises her eyebrows.

Sophia gives Bonnie the highlights of her previous life and only hints at how awful her family was. She doesn't mention how Klaus gave her mercy and concludes with being killed by Trevor.

"Well, now we both understand why witches don't think it's good for old souls to remember past lives. You had no idea who you were when you woke up Sophie. You were displaying some major PTSD," says Bonnie, looking worriedly at her.

Sophie takes in a deep breath. "I just feel like it was all for nothing. I didn't find out anything important that Katherine hasn't already told us. At best, I confirmed she was telling the truth. Now I'm stuck with traumatic memories and I feel like I'm going to have to remind myself I'm Sophia Gilbert every other hour!" Sophie started off at a reasonable volume, but by the end, she was practically shouting at Bonnie.

"I'm sorry, I insisted on taking the potion, you tried to talk me out of it," says Sophia after a beat in a lower voice.

"I used a spell to help calm you down when you woke up this morning, the same one Grams apparently used to help that woman back then. She didn't really mention how bad it was for her after reliving her past life. But she also left a spell for a charm to help ground her, I made one for you awhile ago. I don't know how much it'll help."Bonnie looked at a loss for what to do next.

"Do you think you can track down that woman your Grams helped?"

When Sophia gets back home that evening, she finds the unwelcome surprise of one John Gilbert, who Stephan tracked down, claiming that he knew how to kill an original.

Sophia was skeptical of his claims.

She also learned that Elena spent all day trapped with a ravenous Rose who suffered from and died of a werewolf bite.

John begins to wreak his own brand of havoc and tells Aunt Jenna that he's Elena's biological father, and Jenna is hurt at being the last to know. In hindsight, Elena really should've told her herself at some point.

The charm Bonnie made for her, which Sophia attached to an old charm bracelet, has indeed helped to ground her. But now she suffers from nightmares from her previous life. Surprisingly, it's not her death that causes her to thrash around in her bed at night, but her father's treatment of her. She doesn't let herself think of Niklaus, and how drawn she was to him.

Whenever she gets too upset or too excited she suddenly begins to speak in Bulgarian without noticing. Luckily, it's only been around Jenna or Jeremy so she was able to redirect their attention.

While the charm helps her with the emotional highs and lows, Sophia consistently catches herself in fugue states and it's all she can do to remind herself she's a Gilbert and not a Rakovsky. Elena is Elena and not Katerina. There is no Andon to keep an eye on. That she grew up loved and wanted.

While Sophia is still wrapping her head around the side effects of re-living another life, Caroline gets kidnapped by a pack of wolves in Mystic Falls, and Elena's deal with Elijah becomes beneficial as his witches come to the rescue.

Then damn wolves get it into their heads they need to break the curse before the vampires can and try to gather the ingredients, including the moonstone and Elena. The ones who make it out of the situation alive realize exactly who they're up against and leave town, and Tyler tags along with them.

Sophie manages to pull herself together long enough to join Bonnie, Jeremy, and Caroline to try and get Luka to cough up what Elijah's intentions are with Elena.

Sophia is angry at herself for not catching what wasn't said when he made his deal with Elena. That she may not get out of this alive.

"Sophia, Bonnie's here!"

Sophia was in the kitchen looking forlornly at the coffee machine. She had taken to staying up through the night in an effort to not have to deal with the nightmares.

"Hi Bonnie," Sophia greeted.

Both teenagers were soon sitting at the outside porch, warm mugs in hand.

"Damn Soph, this is strong," says Bonnie, eyeing her coffee suspiciously before setting it down on the table.

"Sorry, I haven't been getting much sleep lately." Says Sophie, halfway done with hers.

"Did you find her?"

"All I had to go on was initials, H.S. Then, I went through Gram's old student roster's, and a name matched up with a woman I met at Gram's funeral. I wasn't… I was distracted then so I didn't put it together right away. Anyway, her name is Hannah Snow. I found her number in Grams things. I called her and told her I needed her address to forward to some things Grams wanted her to have." Bonnie's voice was energetic, and she was obviously proud of her accomplishment.

Her joy was contagious, and Sophia smiled back. Bonnie continued.

"Turns out, she's a grad student at Duke University. Lives near the area to" said Bonnie.

Sophia put together a quick plan in her head.

"I'm going to see her today," says Sophia determinedly.

Bonnie tried to tell her they shouldn't ambush the girl.

"I can't keep going on like this Bonnie. She's been through this, she went to your Grams for help 7 years ago. She must've figured out a way to deal with the side effects of the potion by now" said Sophia.

With Elena and Jenna busy at the dinner at the lake house, and Jeremy not the type to track her every move, Sophia wouldn't have to explain where she was going to anyone other than Bonnie.

'Perhaps I didn't entirely think this through,' thought Sophia as she waited in her car for Hannah to get home. Hannah Snow lived in the second story of a house near Duke University.

Sophia had gotten here nearly an hour ago, and it was about to turn 4.

She had a description of what Hannah looked like from Bonnie, as well as her phone number.

There was only one car in the driveway, but Sophie had observed it belonged to her downstairs neighbor.

Feeling her stomach grumble, Sophia decided to go get an early dinner and come back after.

When Sophia pulled in back to her earlier parking spot, she now saw a second car in the driveway. Stilling her nerves, Sophia slowly got out of the car and headed towards Hannah's apartment.

She knocked on the green painted door and shifted her weight to her other foot as she waited for it to be answered.

"Hi there, can I help you?" said a kind voice once the door had opened.

Hannah Snow was beautiful. She was an inch or two shorter than Sophia, her honey blonde hair fell a few inches below her shoulders, and her upturned grey eyes were somehow politely wary.

Not thinking this far ahead, Sophia says the first thing that comes to her.

"I used to know Sheila Bennett and I'm friends with her granddaughter Bonnie. I know you went to Sheila for help a few years ago because of the voices you heard in your head, and I have the same problem."

Hannah tilts her head to the side, her expression contemplative.

She opens the door wider and stands to the side.

"We shouldn't talk about this out here," and nods with her head for Sophie to go in.

Her eyebrows furrowed at the roundabout invitation, but she walks in. Hannah's apartment is painted all white and decorated in shades of blue furniture, with plants and herbs cluttered on the wall where there was a large window. Sophia startles at the sight of one herb in particular.

"Please take a seat, I just finished brewing some tea. Do you want some?" offers Hannah.

"Yes, please," says Sophia.

Taking a seat on the soft couch, Sophia asks, "Did you think I was a vampire?"

Without blinking an eye, Hannah says matter of factly, "No, I honestly didn't, but as a rule, I always take precaution before inviting someone in."

"Even though I'm not, I could still be dangerous, and you invited me into your home anyways. Seems a bit reckless." Sophia says, stunned by the turn of events.

"I have the same charm that you're wearing on your bracelet and I'm guessing I had the same look on my face when I knocked on Sheila Bennetts door. You're like me."

Placing a mug of tea and a small plate of sugar cubes on the table in front of the couch, Hannah takes a seat next to Sophia.

"Why'd you have Bonnie Bennett track me down?"

Sophia only gives Hannah the bullet points. That at the beginning of the school year she started to hear voices in her head, how she felt driven to take the potion to relive her past life, and the dissociative states she was experiencing now.

Hannah looks at her sympathetically.

"Look, you don't know me and I don't know you. I was following my gut when I invited you in. I was such a wreck a few years ago and I promised myself that if I was in the position to help someone with all the bullshit that ties in with being an old soul, that I would."

Strength radiated off of the woman only a few years older than herself, and Sophia was taken aback at the overwhelming compassion in her eyes.

"How did you learn you were an old soul? What drove you to take the potion?" Sophia questions, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"Well, I grew up in Pennsylvania and went to Whitemore for my bachelor's…"

Hannah goes on to say how halfway through her first year of college, she and her boyfriend were attacked by a vampire when they were out one night. The vampire had killed her boyfriend quickly but fed on her for hours. While she found herself able to resist his compulsion, something in her told her not to anger him.

When the vampire suddenly disappeared, she gathered the courage to run away. She was weakened and disoriented from being fed on. The vampire came back to her, taking his time when another man came out of nowhere and pulled him away from her.

Hannah then passed out and woke up at a hospital.

"His name is Thierry. He gave a statement to the cops that I and my boyfriend were held at gunpoint by a drug addict. They never recovered Nick's body and I couldn't exactly counteract Theirry's statement with the truth, not unless I wanted to be committed."

Hannah went on to say that she began to have dreams of Thierry, what she later learned were actually memories. It was always the same memory, with him feeding and killing a man right before her eyes, and then her.

"I caught him following me home one night, or, I should say, he let me catch him. When I confronted him he told me he just wanted to make sure I was safe. I told him that I knew what he was and that I wanted him to stay away from me. And he has ever since." Hannah kept her expression neutral throughout her story, but by the end her gray eyes were doleful.

Hannah smiled wryly at Sophia's baffled expression.

"I had to deal with weeks of voices in my head berating me for asking him to stay away, and on some level, I was heartbroken that he listened. It was kismet that Sheila Bennet gave a guest lecture for my class when I was in the thick of things. There were rumors among the students that she was an actual witch, and I was desperate enough to track her down at her home." Hannah arched an eyebrow at Sophia, who felt her face heating.

"She kindly explained that I wasn't exactly going insane and said my past lives were likely trying to communicate with me.

"Sheila tried everything she could do to talk me out of taking the potion, but my dreams were becoming more intense. I had to make sense of the dreams I was having. And so I took the potion"

"What'd you find out?" asked Sophia, enraptured by her story.

Hannah smiled bitterly.

"Thierry was my husband in my first life. A witch had informed my mom of what I was, and I loved Thierry so much that during our ceremony I said vows that would anchor my soul to his. It was more symbolic than anything, since as far as I knew he was a regular soul."

"Anchored?"

"With a witch to oversee the ceremony, old souls have the ability to anchor themselves to each other so that they find each other again in their next life. Except, after my death, Thierry became a vampire, and I was somehow still anchored to him."

The anchoring ceremony gave Hannah some kind of internal compass that she unknowingly followed to return to the soul she bound herself to.

"When I stumbled across Thierry in my next life, I was remarried and he was a bloodthirsty vampire with his soul shut off. He thought I was a figment of his imagination. When he realized what he did, it gave him the incentive he needed to 'turn it back on'".

Thierry had cleaned up his act by the next time Hannah found him. Hannah, of course, was terrified of him but she didn't know why.

"I used the potion to relive all my past lives. In every life after, Thierry went out of his way to make sure I was taken care of and safe. I was always terrified and wanted nothing to do with him because of dreams that never gave me the full picture. I never had the full context until this time around when I found a witch willing to help me sort through everything."

"What did you do after learning all that?"

"I tried to track down Thierry after I graduated. Sheila put me into contact with another witch who helped me figure out why I couldn't get a good sense of direction on where he was, and she concluded he must have put some sort of cloaking spell on himself so I wouldn't unknowingly track him down again."

Hannah's gaze was far away.

"It just feels unfinished, you know. I don't think I'll ever feel settled until I hash things out with him. The fact that my souls bonded to his probably has a lot to with that, but -"

Shaking her head ruefully, Hannah meets her eyes again.

"Anyways, in the meantime, I applied to Duke. Partly for their decent folklore studies department, but mostly to study under Isobel Flemming, vampire connoisseur. I met her at Whitmore when she was giving a lecture on vampires, of all things. I corrected her on some of the lore without thinking, and she picked up that I had a real run-in with the supernatural."

Sophia felt a jolt at hearing Isobel's name.

"What ?" Hannah wondered.

"I just- I've met Isobel's husband. Small world."

After a second, Sophia asked," How did you deal with it all after reliving all your past lives. I only relived one and I can barely make it through the week coherently."

"Witches' charms can help to deal with the brunt of it. But honestly, I got really into mediation. I found activities to ground me." Hannah glanced at her makeshift garden.

"I tried to take it as slowly as I could when I made the decision to relive all my past lives. Therapy can help, if only for stress and PTSD management techniques if a past life was particularly traumatic." Hannah looks at Sophia with a resolute look in her eyes.

"I know this probably wasn't the kind of help you were looking for, and it's going to take a lot of work to manage this, but I am confident that you will be able to manage it."

"How would you know that, you just met me," says Sophia irritably.

"From the little, I've found on old souls, more often than not, we're incredibly resilient. We have to be. And now you have me. I can see you're not exactly eager to tell me what you're dealing with, but I'm here and I'll help you with what I can."

Sophia felt moisture gathering in her eyes, and before she knew it, she was crying in Hannah's arms.

After all was said and done, it had gotten pretty late and Hannah insisted she stay the night.

"This usually helps me to sleep soundly through the night, but don't take it more than three times a week. The dissociative fugue states are a bitch. Stuff like slapping a rubber band against your wrist works in a pinch, but I don't want you to hurt yourself trying to snap out of it so begin learning meditation and grounding techniques ASAP. And this is the good stuff, so don't let it go to waste. Just for when things start to get really overwhelming."

"Is this weed?" Exclaimed Sophia, opening the baggie Hannah gave her to smell.

"Like I said, it helps." said the honey blonde with a shrug.

"You have my number if you need anything," finishes Hannah.

"One more thing," began Sophia, "do you really need the vervain you're growing? To resist the compulsion, I mean."

"I've noticed that with newbie vamps, I can fight it off pretty easily. The older they are, the more challenging it can be. How about you?"

"About the same as you," said Sophie in agreement. Since she now wore vervain regularly, all she had was her experience with Damon to go by. She wondered what Hannah considered old.

Hannah walked Sophie to her car that morning, gave her a tight hug, and sent her on her way.

Sophie gets back home around noon and finds aunt Jenna in the living room.

"Did you just get home? And shouldn't you be at school?" her aunt asks tiredly.

"I spent the night at Caroline's and overslept?" said Sophia with an unturned inflection in her voice.

"You know what, it's fine. I'm the last one to lecture you about playing rookie. But don't tell Jeremy," says Aunt Jenna sternly.

"There's a pot of tea in the kitchen, I think we both need to start laying off the coffee," says Aunt Jenna, massaging her temples.

Sophia scrunched her nose in distaste as she poured herself some green tea and met Aunt Jenna in the living room.

"Is everything okay?" she asked as she sat down.

"John pointed out how some things with Ric didn't add up. I thought he was full of it, but… Alaric can't look me in the eye and tell me that his wife is dead. He can't give me a straight answer." says aunt Jenna morosely.

It's after Sophia showers and changes her clothes that she finally sees Elena, who tells her she staked Elijah, and that his body is at the Salvatore's cellar. Oh, and as a side effect, Katherine is out of the tomb

The new plan: kill Klaus.

For some reason, Katherine is also keeping quiet on how Sophia is a "doppelganger" with everybody else, which gives Elena's theory that she didn't tell them everything credence.

Sophia loves Elena, would die for her and any of their family in a heartbeat. Better her than them, in all honesty. Odds are she'll be reborn, sooner or later. Maybe that was the point of figuring out there was more to her than met the eye.

Killing one of the first vampires will be no simple task. And there is something nagging at her, telling her there's more to Niklaus than just being a vampire. It's the same feeling she has about the curse of the sun and the moon.

But for now, she has girl's night to contend with.

Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline rope her and Jenna for girls night at the Grill. Bonnie needed a night to let loose since she lost her powers to Dr. Martin in the aftermath with Elijah and Caroline and Matt had broken up… again? Sophia had a hard time keeping track of those two. Not wanting to tip Caroline off about her extracurricular activities, Sophia texted Bonnie that she would give her the full story of what she found out another time.

Their girls' night at the Grill had literally gone up in flames, courtesy of Dr. Martin. But before that, the night was actually pretty fun. Caroline had effectively serenaded Matt, and Bonnie had finally told her and Elena that she was interested in Jeremy.

Enter Dr. Martin.

Stephan had pulled her out of the Grill with Elena and then pulled a switcheroo with Katherine, who killed Martin.

Just when things had calmed down at the end of the night, the doorbell rang.

Sophia had gotten to the door before her aunt could, but Jenna stood right by her side as Isobel introduced herself as Elena's mom.

Sophia studied her with wide eyes. This was her first time seeing Isobel.

"Hello, Elena. It's nice to see you again."

After reminding Jenna that she was dating her husband, Isobel tried to get herself an invite into the house. Acting quickly, Elena shut the door on her.

Jenna teared up and ran to her room after realizing that Elena, John, and Alaric all knew about Isobel.

A nightmare featuring her little brother Andon woke up Sophia at 5 in the morning. Knowing she wasn't going to get any more sleep, Sophia heads downstairs to the kitchen.

After reluctantly brewing some tea, Sophia rolls her eyes to herself, takes a deep breath, and practices a meditation technique she read about on the internet.

She softly closes her eyes and begins to focus on the rise and fall of her breaths.

"Did you know?"

Sophia snaps her eyes open to see a rumpled Aunt Jenna.

"Yes."

Aunt Jenna looks at her, stung.

"I'm sorry Aunt Jenna. Elena made me promise not to tell you, and I thought she would do it eventually…"

At that moment, Sophia wants to tell her aunt everything. Vampires, werewolves, witches. Living multiple lives.

Before she can…

"I can't believe this." Tears rolling down her cheeks, Jenna goes back to her room.

Sophia isolates herself for the day, focusing on mindfulness meditation and wondering how they're going to get through this alive.

Elena is stoic when she arrives home, but when they're alone in their room, she breaks down sobbing in Sophia's arms.

Isobel had burst into flames right before her eyes and, perhaps unwillingly, offered Elena to Klaus for the taking.

"Useless girl!"

"Do you have no family loyalty girl! Well, he won't want you when I'm through with you."

Sophia winced as she walked through the school, wanting to find a corner to collapse in and curl up in the fetal position as people who were long dead haunted her in her mind.

Sophia was mildly suspicious when Elena didn't insist she go to the decades dance, but frankly, she didn't have it in her to worry about it. She didn't see her sister at all that evening since Elena got ready at Stephan's house.

"Sophie what are you-"

"Aunt Jenna!" shouted Sophie, holding her arms out in glee, before she was overtaken by a bout of giggles.

"Are you high?" her aunt asked, shocked.

Jenna picked up the bag of weed Hannah had given her from the coffee table.

"This is the good stuff. Did you break into Jeremy's old stash?" Jenna wondered.

"You're so pretty Aunt Jenna," says Sophia, smiling sunnily at her aunt.

"You're high," said Jenna flatly.

Eyeing the makeshift apple pipe on the table, Jenna looked stuck.

Shrugging she said, "What the hell? As it turns out, I'm not exactly parent of the year."

As she sat by Sophia on the couch, Jenna turned to Sophia and said, "Don't tell Elena and Jeremy about this. Jeremy in particular."

Sophia woke up groggily thanks to the sunlight peeking through the windows. She stretched languidly, feeling better than she had in days

Jenna and Sophia had spent the evening giggling over melodramatic teen shows before the need to sleep overweighed Sophia. Jenna must have made it back up to her bedroom sometime after that.

Checking her phone for the time, Sophia saw she had a text from Elena.

Can u pick me up at Stephans? And bring the keys to the lake house.

It was 6:54 in the morning, and it was sent 5 minutes ago. Wondering why Elena wanted the keys, Sophia replied.

On my way.

Sophia went upstairs to brush her teeth and wrangle her hair into a ponytail. Her vanity getting the better of her, she touched up her face concealer and some blush. Less than 10 minutes later, Sophia was on her way out.

Sophia pulled up into the driveway and furrowed her eyebrows at the sight of Elena guiding a pale and zombie- esque Elijah to the passenger seat.

Quickly buckling up in the backseat, Elena said, "We need to leave. Now." in an affirmative tone.

Sophia took a second to gape at Elijah across from her, who was sucking on a blood bag, before pulling out.

As Sophia began to drive to the lake house, she asked Elena what was going on. Elena had assured her she would tell her everything later and began bargaining with Elijah for his help. They were interrupted by a call from Stephan, who after assuring him that she was safe, Elena hung up on. Elijah then politely directed Sophia to the Lockwood mansion.

Elijah had apparently weaned Carol Lockwood off of vervain before he was daggered. After cleaning himself up and finding a fresh suit, Elena shared that they need his help because Klaus had returned. Shortly after that, he admitted that he was Klaus's brother.

Elena was appropriately stunned while Sophia didn't bat an eye. It felt like another puzzle piece had fallen into place. She probably should have put more effort into acting shocked based on the speculative look Elijah was giving her.

"Are you aware of your lineage, Sophia?" Elijah asked.

Sophia frowned.

"If you're asking if we know that she's another doppelganger, then yes. Katherine told us," responded Elena.

Right, Sophia thought. She had forgotten everyone else had been under that impression.

Eyes minutely narrowed, Elijah inquired, "And how would she have known that?"

"She mentioned how she knew m- my doppelganger when she was still human. Sofia, from back then. I guess her face was pretty disfigured, but she mentioned she knew her before the worst of it had happened." Sophia felt herself babbling, oversharing. Being in such close proximity to him made her feel on edge.

Elijah narrowed his eyes just the slightest bit at Sophia before his expression calmed, betraying nothing.

"That wasn't the doppelganger you were talking about, was it?" asked Sophia before she could stop herself. Elijah didn't know her from her time with Katherine, she would bet on it.

Seeing Elena looking confused by the turn in the conversation, Sophia knew she had to get it back on track. She asked the question a part of her was dying to know.

"Why would you want to kill your brother?"

Elijah elaborated on how he and his siblings were human in the beginning, before they became the original vampires and that all other vampires were, in one way or another, sired from. He touched on his once undying loyalty to Klaus.

"The curse if the sun and the moon… is fake," admitted Elijah, amused.

Elena grabbed Sophia's forearm, looking at her stunned. She tried to match her sister's expression.

Ah-hah, someone in her commented.

Elena had just asked what the real curse was when Elijah couldn't take the constant vibrations from her phone.

It was Stephan calling. Elena picked it up and learned of Jenna's run-in with Klaus.

After promising along with Elena that they would return, they took off to the Salvatore house to check in on their aunt.

Aunt Jenna was in rough shape, and she was scared. They had comforted her the best they could but it was a lot to take in. Standing outside of the closed bedroom door she and Elena had set up Jenna in, Sophia proposed, "Maybe I should just stay here with Aunt Jenna. I seriously doubt Elijah would care if I made it back to continue the conversation."

Elena shook her head. "We shouldn't risk it. We both gave him our word and I don't want to lose his trust."

After a standoff between Stephan and Damon, the latter who didn't want Elena to leave the premises, Sophia and Elena eventually made it back to the Lockwood mansion.

Elena entered first and Sophie shut the door behind them.

"Tell us. What is Klaus's curse?" Elena asked.

Elijah told them of his mother's affair with a werewolf that resulted in Klaus, and how the truth came out when they transitioned to vampires.

Sophia's heart twisted at hearing Elijah's words, how his father hunted Klaus's birth father and family, lighting the spark for the feud that existed today. She struggled to keep her face as neutral as possible, but fortunately, it was natural for her to look surprised by this information.

Elijah admitted to being another sucker for Katherine's charms, even going as far as to find a way for her to survive the sacrifice.

Then again, Sophia had to admit she had fallen for Katerina's allure as well. She wasn't in a position to judge.

Sophia, Elena, and Elijah walked into a Salvatore brothers scuffle. After they separated, Elena explained how Bonnie would be able to kill Klaus without dying, as well as how she would be able to survive the sacrifice.

Stephan gave Elijah the apology he desired, and Damon told them they could all go to hell.

Sophia sat in the Salvatore manor's living room with Elena and Stephan the next morning as Elijah stood before them to confirm the plan and explain the ritual. Damon insisted on using plan A, despite how it would end in Bonnie's death.

Elijah told them how his elixir might resuscitate Elena after her death. Might.

Sophia was with Jenna when Alaric turned back up. Genuine Ric, not the possessed one she heard so much about, who came with the warning that the sacrifice is happening tonight.

Sophia ran up the stairs with Jenna and Alaric after hearing loud crashes.

"Get him out of here," cried Elena as she comforted Stephan, wanting Damon out of her sight.

"He fed me vampire blood," said Elena, looking at her with bloodshot eyes.

Sophia wandered off to the porch while Elena stayed with Stephan and Jenna caught up with Ric.

She focused on breathing in and out. So far, no lapses and headaches had occurred.

Stephen took out Elena somewhere, while Sophia hung out with Jenna at the boarding house.

Jenna poured two shots of whisky and nudged one over to Sophia.

"Aunt Jenna?" Sophia asked, her eyebrows raised.

"I think we both deserve one. Or two," said Jenna before downing hers.

Sophia looked contemplatively at hers for a second before following her aunts lead.

A few hours later they got a call from Elena, who sounded frantic, telling Jenna to meet her outside. Sophia insisted on going with her, something not seeming right about the phone call.

"Well, this is an unexpected surprise. The elusive Sophia Gilbert. I don't believe we've made an acquaintance." said an accented voice.

Sophia narrowed her eyes at the man who she remembered as Lord Niklaus, and instantly grabbed Jenna's arm. In spite of all the awfulness, a part of her was ecstatic to see him. Sophia gritted her teeth and told the voices in her to shut up, her resolve against Niklaus hardening.

"W-Where's Elena?" demanded Jenna with surprising strength.

In the blink of an eye, Klaus had Jenna right before him, and they were both a few yards across from Sophia, who was still on the porch.

Dimpling at Sophie, Klaus said "You have Damon to thank for this," before taking a bite of his wrist and forcing it into Jenna's mouth.

"No!" shouted Sophia, who put things together very quickly, recalling the details of the ritual.

"Damon took away your vampire, is that it? Take me instead, me and Elena were raised as twins all our life, she's my sister! It'll hurt more if you choose me." pleaded Sophia as she looked into the Original vampire's mirthful eyes.

Jenna spluttered as she shook her head aggressively. Holding his wrist more firmly against her mouth, Klaus let out a slow smile.

"Both Gilbert sisters, so quick to be martyrs. Interesting. I'm afraid I've made my decision, love." said Klaus before snapping Jenna's neck.

Crying, Sophia sprinted to Jenna's still body and fell to her knees as Klaus backed away.

Her eyes burning, Sophia glared up at Klaus who was watching over them.

"You monster! Get away from her! I said to take me instead!" Sophie was breathing hard as the blonde vampire eyed her appraisingly. In the back of her mind, she was aware that she was speaking in Bulgarian.

He's fluent, a voice reminded her.

Klaus suddenly nodded at another man who came out of the woodwork.

"Change of plans, we're taking the both of them."

Before she knew it, darkness overcame Sophia.

Sophia was groggy as she came back to herself. "Ow," she murmured as she began to sit up, massaging her lower back. She was in the forest, shrouded in darkness. A dark figure stood tall a few feet away from her, it's back towards her.

"Zdraveĭ, Sophia."

"Zdraveĭ Niklaus," Sophie replied automatically, her voice hoarse and her throat dry.

"I'm curious, what reason do you have to be fluent in Bulgarian in this backwater town?" he said derisively.

Sophie struggled as she began to stand up, using a tree for leverage, feeling about as graceful as Bambi learning to walk for the first when she began to take steps towards Klaus.

As she got closer, she was able to see over into the quarry. Sophia squinted as she tried to make sense of the rings of fire over there, and the figures that stood in them.

"No," she gasped as she tried to bystep Klaus to run over to Elena and Jenna.

"Ah ah ah," Klaus said as he held his arm out, not letting Sophia pass him.

"Why wouldn't you trade me for Jenna?" she asked desperately.

"I don't take orders from humans," he sneered, keeping his eyes on the preparations for his ritual.

"Why even bring me here then?" Sophia tried again, feeling dizzy. Without thinking, she grabbed on to Klaus's elbow to keep from falling over.

Encircling one arm around her waist, Klaus steadied her.

"I must admit, I was skeptical when Katerina told me of another doppelganger, one she originally met in her lifetime. Imagine my surprise when I realized I met an ancestor of yours over a 1,000 years ago, before Katerina's time. It would appear every time your face crops up, it happens to coincide with the birth of a Petrova doppelganger. I don't believe in coincidences, sweetheart." Klaus whispered the last bit softly into Sophia's ear.

Dark spots began to cloud her vision. "I don't-"

"I intend to figure out your part in all this. By design or by luck, you've all been named some iteration of Sofija."

Sophia shivered at Klaus's enunciation of her name.

"Is this your doing?" Klaus asked as Sophia nearly dropped to the ground. The ancient vampire picked her up and cradled her against him. Sophia felt her head nestle against his neck, some part of her relishing this moment.

"It's not me." another man said.

No, it wasn't. It was some fail-safe in Sophia, some part of her who knew that everything that was happening was too much for her to reasonably handle.

'I can still save Jenna,' Sophia tried to argue.

No, you can't. Sleep now, it's better this way, she felt herself respond back as she was unwillingly pulled back to sleep.

Sophia woke up in darkness. Recalling the events of last night, she immediately sat up to look at her surroundings. She was at home, on the couch in her living room.

"I didn't want to wake you up," said the monotone voice of Elena, who sat in an armchair

"What happened? Klaus force-fed Jenna blood right in front of me and he-he snapped her neck. I tried to get him to take me instead- I did." Sophia babbled.

"Shh, I know Sophie."

Elena moved to sit next to Sophia on the couch.

"Jenna told me when I saw her. I tried to help her escape but- Anyways, she preferred it was her instead of you if it had to be someone." Elena told her.

Not wanting to let that sink in, Sophia barreled on.

"Klaus kidnapped me afterward. He didn't know I was a doppelganger until he met Katherine, and, well it piqued his interest. I think that's why he spared me. I passed out and next thing I know I woke up here." Sophia grimaced.

"You've been asleep all day. It's already 7."

Sophia stood up and walked over to peer out a window. The sun was going down. She walked through the living room and the kitchen, turning on the lights.

"What happened at the ritual, Elena?"

"It happened like Elijah said it would. Klaus killed the werewolf. Jenna tried to kill the witch instead of running away, but Klaus was too fast for her, and he killed her next. Then me."

Elena's face was blank as she shared this with Sophia.

"Did Bonnie kill Klaus?"

"No. Bonnie weakened him but left it to Elijah to kill Klaus, as planned, but Klaus told him that he could reunite Elijah with their siblings. He went back on his word."

"Are you a vampire now?" Sophia asked nervously.

For the first time since she woke up, Elena's face shifted into regret.

"No. John found a spell that exchanged my life for his, and he had Bonnie perform it. Jenna's dead, and John is too. It's just me, you, and Jeremy."

Elena's face crumpled as she gave way to tears. Sophia walked over to her and hugged her as she sobbed into arms. Before long, Sophia joined her.

Damon and Stephan helped them put together a quick burial and funeral for Jenna and John the next day.

The day after that, what was supposed to be a relaxful day went all to hell. It ended with Stephan sacrificing himself to Klaus in return for the cure to his brother's fatal werewolf bite, and Jeremy being brought back to life by Bonnie after being mortally wounded by Sheriff Forbes.

Elena must've told Bonnie at some point that Klaus was interested in Sophia's "doppelganger" status because Bonnie tried to convince her earlier in the day to tell her family the truth so they could all figure out what to do next. Sophia promised she would once things settled down a bit.

Sofija smiled as she made her way through the village, picking up a lock of her hair to admire it. Her mother had woven small flowers into her sable hair, signifying it was her name day. Her three and tenth name day, to be precise.

As she came upon her friend's family's hut, Sofia hesitated. Her friend was bickering with one of her older brothers, and Sofia pondered if she could soundly hide behind the large tree trunk nearby.

"See what you're doing Nik, you're making Sofija feel unwelcome" Bekah exclaimed, gesturing emphatically in her direction.

Letting out a sigh of disappointment, Sophia felt her heart beat faster as she neared the fair-haired siblings.

As she drew closer, Bekah's brother turned towards and she lost her footing. Before she could fall over, he grasped her arms and steadied her.

"Thh- Thank you Niklaus." Sofija felt her face burn under his stare.

"Happy name day Sofija." Niklaus smiled warmly, his cheeks creasing.

Sofia smiled crookedly at him, unable to help herself.

Looking amused, he brought one wrist up and placed a kiss at the back of her hand, before stepping away from her entirely.

"I'll let you girls attend to your chores," said Niklaus as he strode away.

Sofia turned to Rebekah, who was eyeing her, unimpressed.

"Of all the brothers I have, it's Nik you're sweet on? Your face looks like a sunset, by the way."

"I can help it," said Sofija shamefully.

"I overhear him and Elijah laughing about your affections over dinner. He views you as his simple, silly little sister's silly, simple little friend."

"I know, Bekah," says Sofija defensively, stung by her friend's remark.

Looking instantly regretful, Rebekah softens her expression and says, "I'm sorry, I'm taking out my anger towards Niklaus on you. I do not mean what I said."

"What you said was the truth. It's okay. Apology accepted," said Sophia with a hesitant smile.

As they began the walk to complete their chores, Rebekah presented her with a bracelet made of flowers to Sofija.

"He's a fool. All my brothers are, really. Anyhow, my mother helped me make this for you. She spelled it so that the flowers shall never wilt. Happy name day. That should have been the first thing I told you."

Sofija eyes the daisy interlaced bracelet her friend gifted her. It was lovely.

Sophia felt lips upturn, and she hugged her friend.

"Thank you."

Sophia woke up with a gasp.