Bonnie and Caroline were once again sitting in Elena's kitchen with Jeremy. It had been a day since they'd brought Elena home, and her condition didn't seem to be improving. She kept having debilitating headaches and flashes that she didn't understand.
"Any word from Stefan?" Bonnie asked Caroline. Her friend had been trying to get in touch with him since she and Tyler brought Elena home.
Caroline shook her head. "He isn't answering any of my calls. I even broke down and called Damon, but his only answer was 'I'm a little busy' before hanging up."
"I thought Elena didn't want you to call Stefan," Jeremy said.
"She didn't, but he and Damon are the only ones I can think of that might know how to help Elena. I don't get why she doesn't want him here. He would usually be the first person she'd want to see," Caroline said.
"Maybe she just doesn't want to worry him. Anyway, I think I know someone who can help better than he can," Bonnie said.
Before anything else could be said, Jenna came into the room.
"How is she?" Bonnie asked.
"She's finally sleeping, but it's not really restful. She's talking in her sleep, asking for her dad. She keeps saying 'Daddy, help me'," Jenna said sadly.
"Oh, God. Why is this happening to her?" Jeremy asked.
Jenna went into the fridge and pulled out a blood bag. Alaric had brought her a bunch so she could feed. "Could it be because of that ritual?"
"I wondered the same thing. I called someone for help. I called my cousin, Lucy. She's a more experienced witch than me. I'm hoping she can shed some light on what might be happening," Bonnie said.
"Isn't that the witch that linked Elena to Katherine?" Caroline asked distrustfully.
"Yes, but then she helped us. She's on our side. She didn't know what Katherine was really doing," Bonnie said.
"If she can help Elena, I don't care who she is. When will she be here?" Jenna asked.
"It'll be a few hours," Bonnie said.
Jenna nodded and sat down with the kids. There didn't seem to be anything she could do right now but wait.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Hours later, Elena made her way downstairs. The flashes had stopped long enough to let her walk on her own at least. She went down to the living room, where she found her friends, as well as Jenna and Jeremy.
"Hey, Elena. Come sit. Is it any better?" Jenna asked as she took her by the arm and guided her to the couch.
"Not really," Elena said before sitting down. "Some of the flashes have formed full memories, but I'm not sure that's a good thing."
"I called someone who I think can help," Bonnie said.
"You didn't call Stefan or Damon, did you?" Elena asked. She didn't want to be around either Salvatore right now. She'd prefer to talk to pretty much anyone else.
"We tried, but Stefan isn't picking up and Damon's being Damon. Why don't you want to see Stefan?" Caroline asked.
"I don't know. I just know the thought of being around him makes me cringe," Elena said.
Caroline blinked a couple of times. That was how she'd felt about Damon right after she became a vampire and the compulsions came off. That wasn't what was happening to Elena though, right? No, it couldn't be. Elena was experiencing something that was physically painful. That hadn't happened to her. Besides, Stefan would never do anything like that.
Soon, they all heard a knock at the door.
"That's probably Lucy. I'll get it," Bonnie said before going to answer the door. Sure enough, she was greeted by her cousin when she got there. "Hi. Thanks for coming."
"It's the least I could do after last time. I owe Elena this much," Lucy said before stepping inside.
Bonnie led her into the living room. "Guys, this is my cousin, Lucy."
Lucy greeted them before taking a seat next to Elena. "Hi, Elena. We were never properly introduced. Let me first apologize for my part in Katherine using you."
"It's okay. You helped us in the end," Elena said.
"Bonnie says you're having memory flashes," Bonnie said.
"You could call it that. It's mostly been like a bunch of images flooding my brain, one after another. Other than a couple, they didn't start to form into actual memories until an hour or so ago. They can't be real though. It's impossible. It's like someone's trying to rewrite my life through my memory," Elena explained.
"When did this start?" Lucy asked.
"The night of the full moon. I started turning into a werewolf. That's when the flashes began," Elena told her.
"It's not the werewolf thing though, right? We have a werewolf friend, and nothing like this happened to him," Caroline said.
"It's not the werewolf thing alone, but it sounds like that was the catalyst. Are these flashes always there?" Lucy asked Elena.
"Mostly. Sometimes I have a break in between, but they're mostly always there. I have dreams too," Elena said. She'd had a dream earlier. Someone had grabbed her and she was screaming for her father. She didn't think it was her dad, Grayson, she was calling out for though. She was pretty sure it was Klaus.
"How far back to these memories go? Can you tell?" Lucy asked.
"At least through childhood. I had a full memory of something from when I was a small child, but it can't be real. It seemed to take place long before it should've, before I should've even been alive," Elena told her. She didn't want to tell them what she was remembering. They would think she was crazy. Hell, Elena thought she was crazy.
Lucy held out her hand for the young girl. "May I? There are certain things that I can sense by touching somebody."
Elena nodded before placing her hand in Lucy's.
Lucy put her free hand on top of Elena's and concentrated. She let go after a couple of minutes and appeared concerned.
"What is it?" Bonnie asked.
"Uh, I noticed a couple of things that aren't what I expected. Elena, you said that some of your flashes took place years earlier, before your birth?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah, I think so. Everything looks really old fashioned in it, like it took place possibly centuries ago," Elena said.
"When I sensed you, I noticed that you seemed older than you should be, a lot older. I can't tell how old, but definitely older than a human's lifespan," Lucy said.
"You… You're saying I'm not human?" Elena asked in a shaky tone.
"I don't see how you could be. You're at least somewhat immortal," Lucy said. It was actually quite shocking because Elena was a doppelganger. Doppelgangers were literally created to offset another person's immortality. Something had obviously gone wrong, and nature hadn't picked up on it.
Elena shook her head wildly. "That's not possible. I've been hurt before."
"Hurt, not killed. I'm not sure how your immortality works. I just know that you won't die from natural causes. I can also tell that you won't age anymore, and that you probably haven't aged for a long time," Lucy said.
"No, that's not true. She's aged. She's seventeen. We've watched her grow up," Caroline said.
"I don't know what to tell you about that. I don't know how this happened. I'm merely telling you what I can sense. Any other answers about it, you're going to have to find elsewhere," Lucy said.
"Okay, forget about that for a second. What's causing the flashes?" Jenna asked. She was concerned about all of it, but right now, she was most concerned about the mental and physical toll things were taking on her niece.
As if on cue, Elena grabbed her head. "They're back."
"Can you tell me what you see?" Lucy asked.
"A lot of things all at once. Some of them seem to be from centuries ago and some more recent. Some of the people in them I know, some I don't. Stefan is in a couple," Elena said.
"Yeah, she said that her feelings for Stefan have changed too. This isn't just affecting her memory," Caroline said.
"And it all happened when she transformed," Lucy said as she appeared to be in deep thought.
"What is it, Lucy?" Bonnie asked.
"I hope I'm wrong, but I don't' think I am. Her symptoms are consistent with compulsion. I think when she shifted, all compulsions she had on her broke, and now her mind is struggling to work it all out," Lucy explained.
"But I've been compelled before. Mine wore off when I became a vampire, but it wasn't anything like this," Caroline said.
"It depends on how many compulsions there were. From what she's said so far, these compulsions go back most of her life, and that's a very long life for her," Lucy said. If she was right, she couldn't imagine what it was doing to Elena. She was frankly surprised that it didn't destroy the girl's mind.
Elena barely heard what Lucy was saying, but it apparently triggered a specific memory for her.
Elena was in the cemetery with Stefan. She'd noticed him around quite a lot and it was getting creepy. He appeared everywhere that she was. It was stalkerish. "Look, you need to leave me alone. I don't know why you keep following me, but you have to stop.
"That's not what you want," Stefan said.
"Yes, it is," Elena argued.
"No, it's not," Stefan said before putting his hands on either side of her face and capturing her eyes with his own. "You like me. You like that I'm always around. You always want to be around me. You want to be with me."
"I want to be with you," Elena said in trance.
Elena gasped as the memory came to an end.
"Elena, are you okay?" Jenna asked.
"No! I'm going to be sick," Elena said before jumping up and running to the kitchen. She barely made it to the sink before emptying the contents of her stomach. Stefan compelled her to love him. He compelled her to be with him. What that meant was not lost on her.
"Elena, what is it? What did you remember?" Bonnie asked as they all followed her into the kitchen.
Elena threw up again before letting out a sob. "Stefan. I didn't love him. I didn't want to be with him. I didn't want him to touch me."
Caroline put a hand over her mouth to stop the horrific gasp as she realized what her friend was telling them. She knew all too well what it meant. She just never imagined that Stefan would do such a thing.
"How could I let him touch me?" Elena asked in a shaky voice. She then fell to the floor in a heap.
Jenna rushed to her niece's side and took hold of her arms so that she'd look at her. "Elena, no! Listen to me. I don't know a lot about this world yet, but from what I understand, compulsion is a form of mind control. Am I right?"
"That's right. No one can fight off compulsion. Elena, this isn't your fault. That man forced himself on you," Lucy said.
"Do you understand that, Elena. It wasn't consensual. Stefan raped you," Jenna said.
Elena collapsed in her aunts arms and cried. "What is happening to me?"
"It's going to be okay," Jenna said as she sat there and let her cry in her arms.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Stefan met with Katherine in a wooded area just outside Virgina. As soon as she was free of Klaus, she told him to get out of Mystic Falls. He hadn't wanted to leave his brother, but there wasn't much he could do for Damon. His brother was dying. And if Stefan had stayed long enough for Klaus to find out the truth, Stefan would be joining him.
"Well, I see you're not a complete idiot," Katherine said as she approached him.
"Klaus let you go. He doesn't know yet," Stefan surmised.
"It's only a matter of time at this point," Katherine said while glaring at him. He'd screwed everything up. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. Klaus was supposed to kill his hell spawn and fail to break his curse in one fell swoop. It was the perfect revenge. "You had two jobs. Keep mini-Klaus compliant and ignorant and don't let her kill anybody!"
"I didn't know daggering Elijah would activate the curse," Stefan said.
"Neither did I. You know why? No one has ever tested the theory! You shouldn't have either!" Katherine snapped.
"Look, something had to be done. Elijah was too close to Elena. It risked the entire plan," Stefan said.
"Don't give me that, Stefan. You were no longer following the plan. You wanted to save her. You fell for her," Katherine said with a sneer.
"That's not true," Stefan lied.
Katherine laughed. "Of course, it is. You compelled her to be your girlfriend when it wasn't necessary. You undermined every step I took. You betrayed me for the stupid hell spawn. You know she didn't love you, right? You compelled her to even like you."
"You mean like you did with me and my brother?" Stefan asked.
Katherine laughed again. "No. I may have compelled you later, but I didn't have to compel you into my bed. That was all you. None of this matters anyway. We need to get the hell out of here before Elena remembers everything and tells her daddy all about it. We're both worse than dead if that happens."
"How'd you get him to let you go anyway?" Stefan wondered.
"I didn't. He was pissed about the curse not breaking. He tortured me for a bit and then let me leave. He said he had too much to take care of to properly punish me. He made sure to tell me that he would find me again though. My guess is that he plans to find some other way to break the curse and doesn't want to worry about lugging me around with him," Katherine explained.
"What do we do now?" Stefan asked.
"'We' aren't doing anything. This is where we go separate ways, and you should be glad for that because if Klaus catches up to me, I will not hesitate to make him want to hurt you more than he wants to hurt me," Katherine said with a smirk. She had no delusions that she would survive another encounter with Klaus, but she could make her death a tab bit quicker if she played her cards right.
"This was your idea," Stefan reminded her.
"It doesn't matter. All I have to tell him is that you raped his little girl, and there won't be anywhere you can hide. That's if Elena doesn't tell him first. You just might be the first person he goes after. Good luck, Stefan. Its been fun. I suggest you run as far as you can and don't even stop," Katherine said before walking away.