Elijah opened the front door after hearing a knock. They'd sent the staff away to prevent anyone accidentally getting hurt by Elena's magic. When he opened the door, he found Bonnie and Abby Bennett waiting. "Ms. Bennett, Bonnie."
"We want to see Elena! Now!" Bonnie demanded.
"Bonnie, I asked you to let me handle this," Abby said. She didn't like this situation any better than her daughter did. She didn't trust vampires, and she didn't like that a young witch was under their control. However, they were on their turf right now. It was best to play things safe, to be polite. Plus, it was very possible that Elena was related to them.
Bonnie said nothing, but she glared at Elijah.
"Can we please speak with Elena. There are some things I need to explain to her," Abby told Elijah.
"Certainly. Please come in. We had planned to contact you. Elena has asked to speak with you," Elijah said before stepping aside to let them both in.
Abby entered first, followed by Bonnie.
Elijah closed the door before addressing them again. "We do ask that you do your best not to upset Elena. She's in a very fragile state right now, and any stress causes her magic to lash out. I realize that some stress is unavoidable under the circumstances, but please try."
"I'm sure being kidnapped has her plenty stressed," Bonnie said with a glare.
"Bonnie," Abby admonished before turning to Elijah. "We will do our best not to upset her."
"I appreciate that. Please follow me," Elijah said before leading the way to the dining room. "I hope you will find this room acceptable for this conversation. Normally, I'd show you to the living room, but I'm afraid it's under reconstruction at the moment."
"It's fine. Thank you," Abby said.
"Please have a seat. I'll get the others," Elijah said before heading out of the room. His siblings had probably heard, but he would make sure. They all needed to hear this.
Once Elijah was gone, Bonnie turned to her mother and spoke in a very low whisper. "Why are you being nice to these people? They're vampires, and they kidnapped Elena."
"Bonnie, it's important to be aware of when you do and don't have the upper hand, and how to handle the situation when you don't. We don't have the upper hand. We're on their turf," Abby said.
Bonnie scoffed. "We're witches."
Abby was not impressed with the way her daughter said that. She was making a mistake that many witches made, one that she'd made herself once upon a time. "Bonnie, I'm glad you're confident in your abilities, but do not become overconfident. Arrogance is dangerous. Don't make the mistake of thinking you're more powerful than anyone else. There will always be someone more powerful.
Elijah walked back in moments later with Kol and Finn. Klaus was behind them. "Rebekah and Elena should be down shortly."
"We want to talk to Elena alone," Bonnie said.
"Not going to happen, love," Klaus said.
Rebekah and Elena came in moments later. Elena headed towards her friend. "Bonnie."
Bonnie hugged her friend. "Hey. Are you okay?"
Elena pulled away. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just a little shaky from all of it still."
"Well, I can't blame you after being kidnapped," Bonnie said.
"Bonnie, no one kidnapped me. I came here of my own free will," Elena said.
"Why?" Bonnie asked.
"I'd just essentially destroyed my house. When Elijah showed up, I was huddled in a corner as I broke nearly everything in my room. I couldn't make it stop. The only thing I could be grateful for was that Ric wasn't home. Elijah and Kol suggested I come here. I agreed because I didn't want to hurt anyone," Elena explained.
"That's understandable. Elena, would you mind if we sat down. I want to explain some things to you, and I'm sure you have questions for me," Abby said.
Elena nodded and took a seat at the table. The others all sat as well. Rebekah and Kol sat on either side of her and the others took empty seats. Abby and Bonnie sat across from her. "Elijah said that you found me when I was a baby. Is that true?"
"Yes. I want you to know that I had nothing to do with whatever Esther did. I never even met her until after we opened the coffin. You just appeared on our doorstep one day. It was like you appeared out of nowhere. You were likely only a few days old," Abby told her.
Elena shuddered. She'd already figured that this much was probably true, since Elijah told her that Abby had admitted to finding her, but she'd still been hoping it was some kind of mistake. At the very least, it meant she wasn't who she thought she was, again. "Did you know anything about me."
"Yeah. I didn't know much, but I knew a little. There was a letter. The witch who wrote it said that she was an ancestor of mine and that you had been sent into the future for your protection," Abby said.
"I didn't even know witches could do that," Bonnie said.
"Time travel is possible, but it's very rare for witches to use it because it can be unpredictable if you don't get the spell exactly right. The person time traveling could end up anywhere," Abby explained before turning back to Elena. "The letter explained that you were a witch, but that your magic had been blocked. That concerned me because it's not safe to block a witch's magic. It can have devastating consequences if the block breaks."
"Yes, I believe we've discovered that," Klaus said.
"My ancestor, I believe she said her name was Anna or…"
"Ayana," Rebekah spat angrily. It didn't surprise her that Ayana had helped her mother, but it did anger her. Ayana had been there to consol her over the loss of her child, just as her mother had. They'd both made a fool out of her.
"Yes, I think that was it. Anyway, the letter said to protect the child at all costs and to keep her away from vampires," Abby said.
"But I ended up with the Gilberts," Elena pointed out.
Abby nodded. "The first thing I did was call Grayson. I had just discovered a newborn on my doorstep and thought it best that she be examined. I couldn't take you to just any doctor though. Grayson knew about me, so I could be honest with him. After that, I talked with him and my mother about what to do next. I had a baby of my own, plus I didn't know what to tell my husband. He knew about me, but the whole thing made him uncomfortable. Grayson and Melinda had just lost their baby. They were devastated. Grayson suggested that they take you and I could keep an eye on you from a distance. It seemed to be the best option."
"They lost their baby?" Elena asked in a shaky tone.
"Yeah. The baby died about a month after they brought her home," Abby told her.
"There's no record of that. I looked into my birth when I realized I was adopted. There is no record of a baby dying in their care," Elena said.
"Very few people knew about it by that time. It had only been a few days. Grayson managed to cover it up. He took you home and just acted as though you were the child they lost," she explained.
"Just like that. They just pretended the baby they were supposed to raise never existed, never lived," Elena asked in a disgusted tone. He just felt wrong. They just treated that baby like she was nothing.
"Elena, no one liked what we had to do, but there was a baby that needed to be protected. We thought it was our best option," Abby said.
"Really? And did it ever occur to you to try to find the child's parents?" Rebekah asked. She knew it was very unlikely that anyone would've linked Elena back to her, but she would've liked someone to try.
"I knew that Elena was brought at least centuries into the future. I thought that her parents were long dead," Abby said.
"Well, you were wrong?" Rebekah said with pain and anger laced in her voice.
Abby could hear the anguish as the blond vampire spoke. It was her. She was Elena's mother. Abby didn't know how, but she was. "I'm sorry. I was only trying to do what was asked of me."
"Did John and Isobel know? Did they know their baby was dead?" Elena wondered.
"I don't know, but I don't think so. Grayson didn't want to deliver that news to his brother," Abby said.
"Yeah, I figured as much. John gave his life for me. I doubt he would've done that for someone else's kid. How could you do this? You erased that baby's life because of a letter. You took it as fact that what you were doing was noble because of a letter!" Elena snapped.
"Elena, my mom did what she thought was right," Bonnie said.
"No, it's okay, Bonnie. I understand Elena's anger," Abby said before turning back to Elena. "You have every right to be angry, but I was trying to do what my ancestor wanted. I had to believe she had a good reason for it."
"It was a freaking letter! You never met this woman! You didn't even know that she was truly your ancestor! You left my fate up to a letter!" Elena yelled. Things began to rattle, and a window broke.
"Lovely, another broken window. You were told not to upset her!" Klaus told the Bennett witch sharply. He didn't blame his niece for the outburst. He blamed the woman who caused it.
Rebekah put a hand on Elena's shoulder to try to calm her, but she knew it had very little effect. She was angry, and rightfully so. She was right. What Abby Bennett had done was reckless at the very least.
"You need to calm down, darling. I know you don't want to lose control again. Take some deep breaths," Kol said gently.
Elena took several deep breaths to try to calm down. It worked for the moment, but she was still really angry. "Make her leave please."
"Elena, no, we're not going to leave you here," Bonnie said.
Klaus laughed. "If you think she's leaving with you, you've got another thing coming, love."
"She's not staying here with you!" Bonnie snapped.
"Bonnie, you and your mother will either leave on your own or unconscious!" Rebekah warned. They were lucky they were even being given the option to walk about the door, especially Abby Benett. What she'd done wasn't as bad as what Rebekah's mother did, but she still made choices for her daughter with little evidence that it was the right thing. The only reason she wasn't killing her was because it worked out for Elena in the end.
Bonnie glared at her. "Give it a try."
"Stop! Bonnie, just go!" Elena yelled. She heard things crash to the floor from behind her.
Kol stood up and helped Elena to her feet. "Come with me, darling. Let's get you someplace quiet and calm."
"No, she's not going with you!" Bonnie yelled.
"Bonnie, enough. You're making it worse," Abby said.
Elena let Kol lead her out of the room. It was the only hope she had of calming down.
Rebekah glared at Bonnie. "Leave now, both of you. You should consider yourself lucky that Elena calls you a friend, Bonnie, otherwise, you would not be leaving in one piece."
Bonnie scoffed. "Like you give a damn about Elena."
"Elena is my daughter. There is no one who cares more than me," Rebekah said.
"What?" Bonnie asked taken aback. She knew that Elena might be related to the Mikaelsons, but she didn't think it was through Rebekah. Although, it made a little sense with what Stefan told her about Rebekah's behavior the night before.
"The two of you need to leave, now," Elijah said as he stood up.
"We're leaving. Come on, Bonnie," Abby said.
"No, I'm not leaving Elena with them," Bonnie said.
"Yes, you are. I don't like it either, but Elena doesn't seem to want to leave. She does want us to leave, and given everything I've put on her, she's entitled to that. Come on," Abby said before taking her daughter by the arm.
"This isn't over," Bonnie told the Originals before reluctantly going with her mother.
