Damon was sitting in the living room the next morning with a glass of bourbon in his hand. There was no such thing as too early to drink for him, especially with Elena upstairs unable to feed.

Stefan came in few minutes later. "She's still sleeping."

"Not surprising, given that she hasn't slept in days," Damon said before taking a sip of his drink. "When's Elijah going to be here?"

"Probably soon. He said he'd be here this morning," Stefan said.

"What the hell were you even thinking calling an original to town? Are two of those psychos not enough for you?" Damon asked.

"I didn't have a choice. It was his blood that she transitioned with," Stefan said.

"We don't know that for sure. It could still be mine," Damon said.

"I doubt it. Elijah seemed to know what was going on. He figured out that Elena can't take blood bags before I even told him. I was hoping he'd just tell me what was going on so we could help her on our own," Stefan said.

Damon snorted. "Since when do originals ever make life easier for us? Hey, is there a reason you haven't told Elena any of this?" he asked. Stefan hadn't even told him about it until a couple of hours ago, when Elena finally fell asleep. Damon had not been happy about that. Stefan should've prepared him immediately.

"Yeah, because I don't want to worry her when I don't know anything. She has enough stress right now. I figured it was just better to wait until Elijah showed up," Stefan said.

Just then, they both heard the front door open and then close. Moments later, Elijah walked into the room. "Where is Elena?"

"Hi, Elijah. Please, let yourself in," Damon said sarcastically.

"Where is Elena?" Elijah asked again, ignoring the older Salvatore's sarcasm.

"Elijah, just tell us what's wrong with Elena and how to help her. We can take it from there," Stefan said. He really didn't want Elijah around if at all possible. He didn't even see the point of him being there now. All he had to do was tell them how to help Elena.

"I asked you a question twice. You don't want me to ask it a third time," Elijah warned.

"She's sleeping. She hasn't slept much lately. Elijah, just tell me how to help her. How can I get to keep down blood bags?" Stefan asked.

"You can't," Elijah said bluntly.

"Tried to tell you that," Damon said.

"Elijah?" a shaky voice called out.

Elijah turned around to see Elena several feet away. She looked awful. Her skin was slightly discolored and her body was shaking. She was clearly starving and exhausted. He hadn't expected it to be this bad. He was beginning to regret not letting Niklaus do as he wanted last night. Elena would have at least been fed by now. "Dear Lord. Come here please, Elena."

Elena walked over to him. "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

"I'm here to help you. When was the last time you successfully fed?" Elijah asked.

"Maybe two weeks ago. I fed on Matt, but then I almost killed another friend of mine. I couldn't do that again," Elena said.

Elijah turned and glared at the Salvatore brothers. They had allowed this to go way two far. Two weeks without feeding was completely unacceptable. They clearly could not be trusted to help her with this transition, which solidified a decision Elijah had made before he even arrived.

"I'm so hungry. If I'd known it was going to be like this, I wouldn't have transitioned," Elena cried.

"Okay, we're going to take care of this right now. Come," Elijah said before leading her over to the couch. He took off his blazer and placed it on the couch before rolling up his sleeve and sitting down.

"What the hell are you doing?" Damon asked with narrowed eyes. He sure knew what it looked like the original was doing, and that wasn't going to happen. There was no way Elena was drinking from him.

Elijah narrowed his eyes at Damon. "Interfere, and you will find yourself with a broken neck," he said before moving to bite his wrist.

"Elijah, it won't work. I tried to feed from Damon. I couldn't keep his blood down either," Elena said.

"My blood will work. It is my blood that courses through you now from your transition," Elijah told her.

"It is? I thought it was Damon's," she said.

"We'll discuss it later. Right now, you need to feed," Elijah said before biting his wrist.

Elena took a step back and looked at Stefan. He had been really upset when she'd fed from Damon. She couldn't imagine it being any better with Elijah. She was really hungry though. "It… It's personal."

"It is. It's also a necessity right now," Elijah said before reaching forward and taking her by the arm. He pulled her down next to him and held her firmly in his arms with one arm while bringing his bleeding wrist to her mouth. He wasn't taking no for an answer.

Elena barely hesitated for a second before latching onto his wrist with her mouth and feeding on him.

"That's a girl. Take as much as you need," Elijah said gently as he held her. Being fed from wasn't the most comfortable thing, but he could endure it so Elena could be properly fed.

Elena fed until she didn't feel she could anymore and then let go of Elijah's wrist and then sat there waiting to see if anything went wrong. She was able to hold Damon's blood down for a while before she threw it up.

Elijah held her and rubbed her back in comfort.

"Thank you," Elena said tiredly. She felt so much better now. She might still throw it up, but she felt a lot better about it than any other time she tried and failed to feed. Now she just wanted to sleep.

"You can go now," Damon told Elijah while glaring at him, still pissed that he had Elena feed from him.

Elijah ignored him and focused on Elena, who was beginning to fall asleep. "Elena, I know you want to sleep. I promise you will be able to soon, but right now I need you sit up and talk with me for."

"Okay," Elena said quietly before pulling out of his arms.

"Unfortunately, this was just a band aid. The problem isn't going to go away," Elijah said as gently as he could.

"You can't help me?" Elena asked shakily.

"I can help you, and I will, but it's not going to be easy and it won't be pretty. You cannot feed the way most vampires do. Most vampires have a multitude of options. You don't," Elijah said bluntly. He thought the best option was to be brutally honest. She needed to accept the truth now.

"Why? Why am I different than other vampires? Is it because I'm a doppelganger?" Elena asked. Damon had once suggested that was the reason. He said that she wouldn't be able to feed the normal ways because of that.

"In a sense, yes. Elena, do you know how my family was turned?" Elijah asked.

Elena nodded. "Rebekah told me. Your mother performed a spell to make you immortal. You had to drink blood."

"Yes. The blood of your ancestor, who you are a doppelganger for. That blood was mixed was enchanted with the spell. Elena, that blood flows through every inch of your body, and now that blood is mixed with the blood of an original," Elijah explained.

Damon's eyes widened as he realized what Elijah was telling Elena. "Oh, hell!"

"What?" Stefan asked. He didn't get what his brother had realized.

"She's an original," Damon said in disbelief.

Elena looked at Elijah in disbelief. "What? That's not true, is it?"

"It is. Your strength and inability to feed as a normal vampire makes me certain. A witch will be able to tell you a hundred percent, but I'm certain. Your stronger than other vampires, and your feeding abilities are like ours," Elijah said.

"But you've fed from blood bags. I've seen it," Elena said.

"It took decades for me to be able to do that, and it is still not very pleasant. Niklaus and Kol still can't do it. They have to drink from the vein," Elijah said. Well, in Niklaus' case, he could drink from a glass as long as he did so right after it came from the human's vein. Kol couldn't even do that, and he was fairly certain Finn would not have been able to feed any other way than from the vein. He and Rebekah were the only ones capable of using blood bags when necessary.

"I can't feed that way. I'll hurt someone," Elena said.

"I'm afraid that you don't have a choice. However, we can discuss that later. Right now, there are some things I need to say to you, and I need you to understand that those things are not negotiable. They are for your well-being and the safety of those you love," Elijah said in a calm but firm tone.

"Hey, you don't get to tell her what to do, even if she is like you," Stefan protested.

Elijah ignored him and kept his focus on Elena. He would've preferred to do this privately, but that was obviously not possible right now. "The first thing is that I'm going to have to limit your contact with humans, other than when feeding."

"I can't go back to school?" Elena asked.

"I'm sorry, but no. It is too dangerous. You will not be able to control yourself, especially if someone spills blood," he said.

"Okay," Elena said. She didn't like it, but she didn't want to risk hurting anyone, so she would do as he asked.

"The next thing is that you will not touch a blood bag. I won't have you making yourself sick," Elijah said firmly.

"Alright, that's enough. You don't get to come in here and tell her what to do. Thanks for getting her fed, but you're not needed anymore. Get the hell out now!" Damon snarled. He agreed with Elijah about the blood bags, but that wasn't the point. The bastard had no right coming in here and demanding anything.

"The last thing is that I can't allow you to go home or to stay here. You're going to return with me to the mansion today," Elijah said. He knew that was going to be the hardest thing for her to comply with, but it had to happen. Elena couldn't handle this by herself, and the Salvatore's couldn't be trusted to see to her needs.

"No way in Hell!" Damon screamed as he jumped up from his chair.

"No, you're not taking her anywhere!" Stefan yelled before approaching them.

Elijah had had enough. He got up and swiftly broke both their necks. He probably should've done it sooner, but he hadn't wanted to upset Elena any more than necessary. However, their interference was only going to make things harder for her.

"Why?" Elena asked in a shaky tone. She wasn't talking about Stefan and Damon. She knew perfectly well why Elijah broke their necks. She wanted to know why she had to leave.

Elijah sat back down next to her and took her hand. "Because you can't handle what is happening to you on your own. Your emotions are going to be everywhere, and your control will be almost nonexistent. You need help feeding and figuring out how to deal with your new abilities."

"Stefan…"

"Stefan has already proven himself unable to give you what you need. I can't even blame him fully for that, as being an original is different than being a normal vampire. Everything is more difficult for us," Elijah said.

"Please don't make me live with Klaus and Rebekah. Rebekah is the reason I'm like this," Elena said. She was well aware that she couldn't fight Elijah. Even if she was an original, she knew he was still stronger than her. She wasn't above begging though.

Elijah was not pleased to hear that. He hadn't known Rebekah was responsible for what happened to Elena. He would be having words with her the next time he saw her. "Neither Niklaus nor Rebekah will hurt you again. I won't allow it, and I think you'll find you do pretty well at fighting back if they tried anything. I'm sorry. It has to happen, and I will need at least Niklaus around to help in necessary."

"Please. I'll do anything else…" Elena started, but was cut off by Elijah raising a hand to stop her.

Elijah got up and pulled Elena to her feet with him. "There are no deals to be made here. You're coming with me. It will only be until I'm certain you are able to control yourself. I have no desire to control your every move for eternity. Now, please go and get your things together."

Elena sighed in defeat, realizing that Elijah wasn't going to change his mind, and left to get her things. She considered running briefly, but she knew he would catch her. At the moment, she had no choice but to do what he said.