Elena felt like everything was crashing down around her, and it was, both figuratively and literally. The things Elijah told her kept replaying in her mind. Rebekah had a child that was brought into the future eighteen years ago, around the same time she was born, and she was a doppelganger. It didn't take an expert to connect the dots. He was saying that it was her. She was the child that Esther had stolen from Rebekah. That was impossible though. Her parents were Isobel Flemming and John Gilbert. Then again, before that, she thought her parents were the people who raised her.
Elijah watched as the entire room started to fall apart. Furniture tipped over, vases and mirrors broke, the windows shattered. Elena was losing complete control of her magic, which was understandable under the circumstances. "Elena, I know this is difficult, but it's going to be okay."
"No," Elena said before getting up and backing away. "It's not true! It's not me, Elijah! Tell me it's not me!"
Elijah stood up and took a step forward. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I can't. I know that you're scared, but everything is going to be alright. We're here, Elena. We're your family, and we will make things okay."
"No! You're lying!" Elena cried. Deep down, she knew he wasn't. She wasn't sure Elijah had ever told a lie, but this couldn't be true. It had to be a lie.
"Elena, you know that I would not ever lie to you," Elijah said calmly. He didn't hold the accusation against her. He knew that she knew he wasn't lying. He'd just given her life-changing information about herself. She was in denial. She wasn't ready to face the truth.
"Then Esther is lying. She's a liar. She told you she wanted to forgive you, but then told me she wanted you dead. She's playing games," Elena said. Just then, the fireplace lit up without any prompting.
"Elena, calm down," Rebekah said as she stepped closer. She didn't know how to deal with all of this herself, but she did know that Elena was her daughter and she needed to put aside her own trauma to help her.
"No! Stay away from me!" Elena yelled. She then felt a pair of arms take ahold of her upper arms. She turned to see Kol there.
"Shh. It's okay, darling. I know it's upsetting, but just take some deep breaths and count with me. One," Kol started. This was what he was taught to do as a child if his magic ever got out of hand. He wasn't nearly as powerful as his niece, but he'd had a few magical outbursts in the past.
Elena took a deep breath. If nothing else, she knew she had to stop the magical destruction. It was only making her nerves worse. "One."
"That's it. Two, three," Kol continued before releasing her arms.
Elena counted with him until everything stopped falling apart. "I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to apologize for," Rebekah said.
Elena shook her head. "It's not true. It can't be."
"I'm afraid it is, Elena. I know it's upsetting, but it's true," Elijah said gently.
"Why? Because Esther told you it was? You can't trust her," Elena said.
"She has no reason to lie about this. It certainly didn't help her gain our trust. And it's not the only reason we believe it. You said yourself that you don't come from a line of witches, at least not if you're from the Petrova and Gilbert lines. Neither of those families have the gene. Our family does," Elijah said.
"Then I was wrong. One of them must have had it," Elena said.
"Elena, Abby Bennett told us that you appeared on her doorstep as an infant, just as our mother said you had," Elijah said.
"No!" Elena yelled as she backed away.
"Elena, please stop. Believe me, I know it's hard to hear this," Rebekah said. It was hard for her too, just for other reasons.
"No, I need to get out of here," Elena said before turning to run out. She didn't know where she was going, but she needed to get out of that house.
Klaus flashed in front of her and took her by the arm. His hold was gentle enough not to hurt her, but firm enough to keep her in place. "Not going to happen, love. You're not going anywhere."
"Get off me!" Elena screamed. The next thing she knew, he went flying into the next room and hit a wall, denting it in the process. Then she felt someone else's hands on her. She turned and found Rebekah with her hands on her shoulder. "No, let go!"
"Elena, stop!" Rebekah said in a strong, parental tone. She had to take charge right now. The gentle approach wasn't helping at the moment. "You need to listen to me very carefully. Your emotions are out of control! Believe me, I understand that. I'd be more worried if you didn't handle this badly, but for you, it's destructive. You've torn this house apart with it, and I am not judging you for that. It isn't your fault, but if you were to do this outside this house, people could be hurt, do you understand?"
Elena didn't answer, but she looked around at the damage she'd caused. She'd destroyed the living room almost completely.
"Please answer me, Elena. Do you understand?" Rebekah asked again.
"Yes," Elena said quietly.
"Good because I need you to understand what I'm about to say next. In a perfect world, I'd let you leave here so that we could both process what we've learned and figure out how to move forward, but I cannot do that. You may not leave. You will stay here where you're safe and everyone else is safe, at least until your magic is under control. Have I made myself clear on that?" Rebekah asked in a firm tone. She didn't like starting things off that way, but she didn't have a choice. If she allowed Elena to leave, she could end up unintentionally destroying half the town.
Elena heard things begin to rattle as she got upset again, but she practiced the same techniques Kol showed her until things calmed down again. She wanted to fight Rebekah, she really did. Even if this was true, she didn't feel like she had a right to tell her what to do, but Rebekah wasn't wrong. She could hurt people if she left. "Yes, you're clear. I won't leave."
Rebekah sighed before letting her go.
Elena was suddenly overcome with pure exhaustion. She felt like she could literally fall to the floor at any second. "I feel like I'm going to pass out."
Kol went to her side. "You've hit magical exhaustion. The power you've exerted was just a little too much for you all at once. Let's get you to a bed."
"Go. I'll be up soon," Rebekah said. She figured Kol would be the better option to help Elena right now anyway. She'd probably feel more comfortable with him since she didn't know him that well. She didn't have any expectations on how she was supposed to feel.
Elijah went to his sister and put a hand on his arm once Kol had taken Elena upstairs. "Are you alright?"
Rebekah pushed him away. "Damn it, Elijah, you should've told me first! I should've known before she did! I could've handled it better!"
Elijah sighed. He knew his sister might be angry about that. "I'm sorry, Rebekah. I would've liked to tell you first, but under the circumstances, I didn't think that was wise. However, you handed it exactly right. You did very well. You put your own pain aside to help your daughter. You gave the right amount of comfort and firmness she needed in order to accept that she couldn't leave. You were a good mother tonight."
"I tried to kill her, Elijah. Not even a week ago, I tried to kill my own child," Rebekah sobbed. She would never forgive herself for that. Even if Elena did, she never could. She would give anything to take that moment back. She could only thank God that Elijah showed up to stop her.
"That was Mother's fault, not yours," Klaus said. His mother had hidden this from all of them. If she hadn't done what she did, the bad blood between Elena and the rest of them never would've happened.
"She stole my baby! She told me she was dead. My own mother," Rebekah cried.
Elijah pulled her into his arms. "I'm so sorry, Rebekah.
Just then, they all heard a knock at the door. Rebekah pulled out of Elijah's arms and there was a rage in her eyes. "I swear, if that's Mother, I will rip her bloody heart out."
"I doubt Mother would knock," Klaus said before leaving the room to go answer the door. When he opened it, he almost wished it had been his mother. Instead, it was the Salvatores. "What?"
"Hey, Klaus. I see someone destroyed your place. Who'd you piss off this time?" Damon asked.
Klaus chuckled. "You know, I'm in the perfect mood to tear someone's head off, and I would be more than happy to make that person you."
"Where's Elena?" Damon demanded to know. After Rebekah hung up on him, he and Stefan had gone to Elena's. The place was trashed, and Ric had said he arrived to find it like that. Given that he knew Elena was with Rebekah, his next logical step was here. Of course, Stefan made him wait while he searched a few other places as to not needlessly get into a fight with a bunch of Originals, which was annoying.
"None of your business," Klaus said as he went to slam the door in his face.
Damon pushed the door open again. "Tell us where she is now!"
"Or what?" Klaus asked with a smirk.
"Klaus, what did you do to her. Whatever's going on with your mother, she's not a part of it," Stefan said.
Klaus chuckled. "I see you were brought up to speed in my mother's supposed plan to kill us all. Well, suffice it to say, it didn't work out how you were hoping."
"So, then you don't need Elena. Let her go," Stefan said.
"Elena is no longer your problem. You won't be seeing her again," Klaus said. There was no possible way that either of these unworthy men would be around his niece any longer.
"Like hell!" Damon said as he stepped up to Klaus.
"You really have no self-preservation whatsoever, do you?" Rebekah asked as she made her way over. "How is it that no one's killed you yet?"
"Where is she? You had Elena's phone. I know she's here," Damon told Rebekah.
"Good for you. No one cares. Leave before you make me angry. I'm already angry, so it wouldn't take much to convince me to remove all your body parts one by one," Rebekah said.
"We're not leaving without Elena," Damon said.
Rebekah pushed past her brother and got into Damon's personal space. "Listen, you pompous little bastard. You're done with Elena. If you want to keep breathing you will stay away from her." He didn't want this controlling, infantile vampire near her daughter any longer. Elena had had to ignore his calls because talking to him would've caused her to have a magical outburst. That wasn't the kind of person she needed in her life.
"Rebekah, don't do this. Get your brother to let her go. Whatever he wants…" Stefan trailed off as he was interrupted by Rebekah.
"This isn't Nik's decision, Stefan. It's mine. Elena is staying here. That's the end of that. Your brother is not welcome in her life. The fact that he slept with me to punish her is enough of a reason for that. I haven't decided about you yet. Now, goodnight!" Rebekah said before slamming the door in their faces.
"Nice work, sister," Klaus said with a smirk.
"I'm going to check on Elena and make sure she's asleep. Then I'm going to attempt to stop myself from going out and killing our mother for what she's done to me and my child," Rebekah said before heading for the stairs.