Damon paced the living room of the manor as he and Stefan tried to think about their next move. Elena was still stuck in the Mikaelson's house. He had wanted to storm the place the minute Rebekah slammed the door in his face, but Stefan had dragged him away.
"Look, we know she's safe. They're not going to hurt her. Klaus needs her for her blood," Stefan said.
"He needs her alive. He doesn't need her in perfect health. Who knows what he or his psychotic family members could be doing to her? We need to go back and get her," Damon said.
"We can't storm the place, Damon. That's not going to help Elena. It's just going to get us killed," Stefan pointed out.
"Well, we can't leave her there! You saw her house. It was practically destroyed! They obviously did it getting to her!" Damon snapped as he stopped pacing and glared at his brother.
"No, they didn't," a new voice said.
Damon turned to see Alaric enter the room. "What?"
"I just got off the phone with Elena. The Originals didn't turn the house upside down," Alaric said.
"You talked to Elena? Is she okay?" Stefan asked.
Alaric nodded. "She sounded a little shaky, but she seemed okay. She's the one that did the damage to the house. Apparently, she's a witch, and her magic got out of control when her emotions went haywire."
"What? That's ridiculous. She's not a witch. It's not in her bloodline," Damon said.
"Yes, she is."
They all turned towards the doorway at the sound of another voice. It was Bonnie. She and Caroline were standing in the doorway, having arrived at the same time.
"My mom confirmed it. Elena is a witch," Bonnie said.
"And how would she know that?" Damon asked.
"Look, I don't know exactly what happened, but my mother found her when she was a baby," Bonnie said. She'd questioned her mom as soon as they'd left Esther and her children. She wouldn't tell her much. She said that Elena deserved to hear it before anyone else, but she did tell her that Elena appeared on their doorstep when she was an infant, and that she was a witch.
"What? But Elena was given to the Gilberts right after she was born," Caroline said.
Bonnie shook her head and went over to the couch to sit down. "I don't know the specifics. I didn't know any of this until last night when we went to help Esther kill Klaus. Apparently that wasn't what she really wanted though."
"What did she want then?" Alaric asked.
"Who cares? They're obviously not dead. What matters now is getting Elena back," Damon said.
"I agree, but that's going to be easier said than done. The Mikaelsons believes Elena is one of them," Bonnie said.
"What do you mean? One of them as in an Original?" Stefan asked in confusion. That didn't make sense, but he couldn't think of anything else Bonnie could mean by that.
"No, as in their family, their blood," Bonnie said.
"That's impossible," Damon said.
"Maybe, but they definitely believe it," Bonnie said. She'd seen the way they were acting last night. This wasn't a game they were playing. They had been angry about it, protective even. Bonnie wasn't sure what she believed anymore. She hadn't believed any of it until her mom confirmed that Elena was a witch. The rest of it seemed impossible, but she just didn't know. All she knew for sure was that they had to get Elena out of there. Even if Elena was technically their family, that didn't mean she should be anywhere near them. They were vampires, monsters. Elena was a witch. She didn't belong around them.
"This makes sense," Stefan said. He replayed the events of last night and things started to click.
"What?" Damon asked his brother as though he was speaking nonsense. "What could possibly make sense about any of this?"
"The way Klaus and Rebekah acted last night. It wasn't like they normally would've acted," Stefan said.
"What do you mean? How did they act?" Caroline asked.
"Like overprotective family members. It definitely wasn't just about Elena's blood. Klaus told us that we weren't allowed to see Elena anymore. Rebekah basically repeated that. She told Damon she'd kill him if he came near her again. Then she said something weird. She said she was calling the shots, not Klaus. A day before that, she wanted Elena dead. Last night, she was protective in her own screwed up way. The whole exchange was just too strange for it to just be about Elena's blood for Klaus' hybrids," Stefan explained.
"Did either of you see Elena?" Caroline asked.
Stefan shook his head. "No, she wasn't visible, and if she was nearby, she didn't speak. The place was kind of trashed though. We saw broken windows as we drove up."
"Kind of like our house. That fits with what Elena told me. She said that her emotions caused her magic to become out of control. That might have happened at the mansion too," Alaric said.
"You talked to her? I tried to call her all night and it went straight to voicemail," Bonnie said.
"I spoke to her for a few minutes this morning. All she would say was that she was okay and that the damage to the house was her doing. She said she had to stay with the Mikaelsons so that she couldn't hurt anyone. I tried to ask her questions, but she wouldn't answer," Alaric explained.
"Or couldn't. Who knows what they're threatening her with?" Damon asked.
"If they think they're her family, I doubt they're threatening her," Caroline said.
"I don't know about that. Klaus puts his family members in coffins," Alaric said.
"They're not her family! That's not even possible," Damon said.
"No, but for some reason, they believe it's true," Stefan said.
"Are we absolutely certain it's not?" Caroline asked, earning her looks of disbelief from the Salvatores and Alaric. "Look, the Originals are the oldest beings to exist. They're not naïve. If they believe this is true, they must have a good reason."
"I don't know what's true anymore. My mother doesn't even know that much," Bonnie said.
"Well, what does she know?" Damon asked in an irritated tone.
"She didn't tell me anymore than I've told you. She said that she needs to explain it to Elena before anyone else. She wants to go over there today. I'm going to go with her," Bonnie said.
"Good luck. We couldn't even get in the door," Stefan said.
Bonnie scoffed at the idea of her not being able to get in. "We're witches. We'll get inside one way or another."
"Bonnie, Elena is inside. You can't just burst in and try to take her by force. She could get hurt," Caroline said.
"Caroline, I'm not leaving her there. It's even more important to get her away from those people now that she's a witch. She doesn't belong around a bunch of vampires," Bonnie said.
Caroline looked away so that her friend wouldn't see the hurt in her eyes at the way she spoke about Caroline's kind. This wasn't the first time Bonnie had made a comment like that in front of Caroline. She either didn't know or didn't care how hurtful her words were.
"You do remember that majority of us are vampires, right?" Damon asked with a glare.
Bonnie smirked in response. "What's your point? Look, we can all agree that Elena needs to get out of that house. My mom and I will handle it. I'll let you all know how it goes when it's over. I should go for now," she said before heading out of the room.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Elena got turned around as she headed for her room. This house was massive. It had about a hundred rooms, and the hallways all looked far too similar. She needed a freaking map to get around. She was lucky she was able to find the kitchen to get breakfast.
Elena came to a room that was open. She peered inside to see Elijah sitting at his desk. It must have been his office.
Elijah looked up as soon as he heard someone at his door. He smiled when he saw his niece. "Elena, is everything okay?"
"Uh, yeah. I just got a little lost," Elena said.
Elijah motioned for her to come inside. "Come sit for a minute. I was going to come look for you to see how you're doing."
Elena reluctantly walked inside. She should talk to him, if for no other reason than to apologize for her behavior last night. She walked over and sat in a chair in front of Elijah's desk.
"Are you alright? You were very quiet at breakfast, not that I can blame you for that. You should be commended for even coming down," Elijah said.
"I don't know how I am. Everything is really confusing. I…I'm sorry for how reacted last night," Elena said.
Elijah waved off the apology. "There is nothing for you to apologize for. I knew you were going to lose control of your emotions. No one could stay calm with that information. There was no permanent harm done. Everything that was broken can be replaced."
"Well, there's that too, but I meant for calling you a liar. I know you'd never lie to me," Elena said. If there was anything she knew for certain about Elijah it was that he was not a liar. He might be insanely careful with his words to leave himself room to do what he pleased, but his words were always truthful.
"Oh, I know that, dear. I didn't take anything you said personally. You were upset. You weren't ready to face the truth," Elijah said.
"I still don't know that I believe this is true. I know you didn't lie to me. I know you believe it. I know Rebekah believes it. But that doesn't mean it's true. Esther is a liar. I don't believe anything she had to say to you. She's already lied to both of us," Elena reasoned.
"I understand. I believe it because in that moment, my mother had no reason to lie. In fact, she had more reason to keep this from us. She knew we'd be furious. Frankly, she's lucky she's linked to the Bennett witches. I may have just killed her on the spot otherwise," Elijah told her.
"I've been through this before, Elijah. I've gone though the realization that my parents aren't who I thought they were. It was painful the first time, and not nearly as traumatizing," Elena said.
"I know, sweetheart. I know that you're not happy about this. I can understand that," Elijah said. It saddened him, but it was absolutely understandable that she would be upset by this. His family had not been kind to her.
"Rebekah tried to kill me. Klaus did kill me and my aunt. He terrorized me and my loved ones. Now I'm supposed to accept that one of them is my mother and the other is my uncle?" Elena asked.
"I want you to know that none of that would've happened if we'd known. That isn't meant to be an excuse because there is no excuse. It's just a fact," Elijah said.
"That just makes it worse. I don't know what to think right now. I just know that I'm not going to believe it until I talk to Abby and Esther," Elena said.
Elijah sighed. "Yes, I heard that you asked to speak to my mother. I must admit that I have cautioned Rebekah not to allow it."
Elena started to get angry again, and the things on Elijah's desk began to rattle. "Why does everyone think they get to decide who I talk to? I am not a child, Elijah!"
"Please calm down," Elijah said a firm, yet gentle tone. He didn't want to see her lose control again. "I know you're not a child, but my mother has already proven that she's dangerous, especially to you. She's very manipulative, and she's already managed to manipulate you once. She is the reason that you grew up destined to be someone's sacrifice more than a thousand years after your birth."
Elena took a few deep breaths to try to calm down. Things stopped rattling moments later. "That's why I need to talk to her. If this is true, she ruined my life. I have to hear it all from her. It's the only way I can move one, one way or another."
"I understand where you're coming from. I don't like it, but I do get it. If the choice was mine, the answer would be no, but it isn't. I will respect Rebekah's decision, and I hope you will too. I know you're not a child, but you're still very vulnerable right now," Elijah said. He didn't want to control his niece's life indefinitely, and he knew Rebekah wouldn't either, but she very fragile, both because of everything she'd just learned and because of her unstable magic. He believed she needed guidance for a little while.
"It doesn't sound like I'm going to have much of a choice," Elena said before standing up. "I think I need to go lay down for a while."
"Of course. Would you like some help finding your room?" Elijah asked. He recalled her saying she'd gotten lost.
Elena nodded.
Elijah got up and escorted her out of the room.