Rosalie was like a child walking through a candy store in the Salvatore boarding house. The place was huge — unnecessarily huge if you asked her. Where she came from, a hut was about as good as a home would get. The boarding house seemed endless.

"Don't touch anything," Damon startled her just as her finger grazed a vintage-looking vase.

She quickly fixated a glare on him. "Someone should put a bell on you."

"Lots have tried," Damon said and gestured for her to follow him. "The cavalry's waiting for you."

"The cavalry?" Rosalie repeated, confused, especially when she saw Jeremy Gilbert sitting on the couch in the living room. "I know you. You're the one who can talk to ghosts…and you're also the ghost that's not a ghost anymore. Congratulations, by the way."

"Great, friends already," Damon said, clapping a hand on Rosalie's shoulder a tad stronger than he intended. She glared at him after regaining her balance.

"Uh, who the hell is this?" Jeremy stood up from the couch, eyes fixated on Rosalie suspiciously.

"This is my new friend, Rosalie," Damon introduced.

"I would go easy on that label," Rosalie muttered. She wasn't all that sure about him but he was about the only one who seemed to align with her interests at the moment since Stefan had no memories.

"And she is here to help us with our little problem — problems," Damon finished with a wide smile.

"Problems?" Both Rosalie and Jeremy gave Damon the same puzzled stare.

"So, as we know, in a psychotic lapse of judgment, Bonnie brought you" — Damon pointed at Jeremy — "back to life and died in the process. May she rest in peace."

"She's actually right over there," Jeremy nodded over at an empty chair across from them.

"Wait, Bonnie Bennett?" Rosalie blinked with understanding and began to look around. "She's here?"

"You know her?" Jeremy asked, although he sounded doubtful already.

"I don't know her personally but I know of her," Rosalie chuckled. "She's got a lot of family on the Other Side and she's Tessa's descendant."

Unseen (except from Jeremy of course), Bonnie Bennett got up from her comfy spot and walked over to Rosalie for a closer look. "I can't actually argue that point…"

"And she's pretty much known for the things she's done," Rosalie finished, "It's not every day that a witch switches one dead life for a live one."

"Funny you should mention that," Damon pointed at her, drawing everyone's attention over to him again. "Because I just happen to know a supernatural being who just so happens to want to die, and in the spirit of nature needing balance and life for a life and all that stuff, I just think it would be a huge waste of a perfectly good death."

Rosalie stared at him for a long minute. Next to her, Bonnie was doing the same thing.

"What are you talking about?" Jeremy broke the silence.

"Something Elena doesn't need to know about until it works."

"Oh my God, you want to use Silas," Rosalie frowned. "You want to work with him?"

"Hey, dial back the incredulity. I'm working with you, aren't I?" Damon retorted.

"Yeah, but I'm not evil like Silas!"

"From the beginning, Silas' whole bad-guy plan was to kill himself, pass on to wherever he was gonna pass on to, and reunite with his dead girlfriend, Amara. I want to use his death to bring Bonnie back to life."

"You're forgetting the part where if he dies as a witch, he's stuck on the Other Side forever," Rosalie said, crossing her arms. "Which would serve him right for everything he did."

"He already tried to bring down the veil to the Other Side," reminded Jeremy. "And he failed."

"Maybe he has a plan B. Maybe he wants to do more than just drop the veil and let all the ghosts out," Bonnie spoke to him.

Damon sensed that Bonnie had spoken to Jeremy because the hunter was glancing in the open direction. "She knows we can't hear her, right?"

"She thinks Silas wants to destroy the Other Side completely," Jeremy said.

"Powerful spells are bound by something even more powerful — the moon, a comet, a doppelgänger," Bonnie explained to him. "The Other Side was made 2,000 years ago, and it still exists. That means Qetsiyah and this girl must have bound it to something that could exist just as long."

"He can't do that," Rosalie remarked much too confidently for everyone's taste. "He can't destroy the Other Side. He wouldn't."

"How do you know?" Jeremy then asked the woman.

Rosalie gave him a certain look, her lips slowly spreading into a smile. "Because I know."

Jeremy then looked at Damon with a 'Now what?' expression on his face.

"Rose," Damon came around the witch's side and put an arm around her shoulders, "Rosie-kins — can I call you Rosie?"

"No," Rosalie said flatly, not that it made much of a difference as Damon went on regardless.

"Since you know what and where this mystical object might be, now would be a good time to tell the group and show your honest intentions."

"First of all," Rosalie pushed his arm off her, "it's called an Anchor. Second of all, while I know what it was tied to, I don't actually know where it is anymore. I've sort of been dead for 2000 years, in case you forgot. But in the spirit of me feeling sympathy for Bonnie Bennett, I will tell you all — especially Bonnie — that if you are banking on Silas destroying that Anchor, you're gonna be very disappointed when he doesn't do it."

"Silas is all powerful — at least that's the rumor," Damon remarked. "You're so sure he can't break that Anchor?"

"It's not that he can't…it's that he won't," Rosalie corrected, smiling quite smugly. "We made sure of that. It was Qetsiyah's idea, of course, but in solidarity I followed. Plus, it was plain genius."

"Okay, I'm gonna file that under 'deal with later' and go back to my original question," Damon resolved. "Let's say Silas does destroy the Other Side, cures himself, becomes a witch. Is it supernaturally possible that he can do a spell that swaps her life for his life once he-pfft-kills himself?"

"Yeah, it's possible," Rosalie shrugged. She didn't think they could actually do it but she would keep that to herself.

"This is the same Silas who murdered my father," Bonnie said to Jeremy. "He's ruthless, and whatever spell he could do, there'll be some consequences. There always is. So no. My answer is, definitely not."

Damon watched Jeremy seemingly pay attention to what Bonnie was no doubt saying. "What'd she say? Tell me?"

"…she's in!" Jeremy said after a moment, ignoring the outraged Bonnie beside him.

~0~

When Damom returned home from his short encounter with Silas, he found Rosalie sifting through the books on the bookshelves.

"You know, most people who get left behind in a huge house with an even bigger stock of alcohol, usually go for that instead of old dusty books," he made the comment and walked straight for the stock of bourbon.

"Never been much for that stuff," Rosalie said distractedly. She had a book in her arms and was skimming through a page. "I do want to try one of those iced coffee things I see everyone pass by with. They look pretty good."

"I take it there were no Starbucks in the ancient times?" Damon raised his bourbon glass to her in a mock salute then drank.

"No," Rosalie said, snapping the book shut. "So, how'd it go with Silas? Did he buy it?"

"Absolutely," nodded Damon. "He also told me that Tessa is going to be at the Whitmore party. Something you know about?"

Rosalie smiled in the face of his suspicions. "Maybe. She doesn't exactly know that I'm here and for all our sakes, let's keep it that way. She's not exactly the forgiving type, as you know."

"Yeah, I think we all got that." Damon refilled his empty glass and started making his way towards Rosalie. "And just so we're all on the same page, Silas wants to get into her head tonight. Find the location of that damn anchor so for the last time, do you know where it is?"

"I don't," Rosalie said without missing a beat. It still wasn't enough for Damon.

He grabbed her by the chin and raised her head up. "Tell me where the anchor is," he ordered her through compulsion.

Rosalie scowled at him and shoved his hand off her. "Nice try. Doesn't work on me."

Damon seemed disappointed with the news but not surprised. She wasn't the first he came across that couldn't be compelled. He just wondered where the ability came from. "What kind of witch are you again?"

Rosalie's lips spread into a smile. "Wouldn't you like to know…"

"I would, actually, considering it could put a big dent into my plans."

Rosakie scoffed. "So even after I swore to you that I was on your side, you were still planning on compelling me to do everything you want?"

Damon shrugged. "Don't take it personally. You're not the first enemy who swears the same thing and then betrays me at the first chance."

"Mm, sounds like you took that personally then," Rosalie said, crossing her arms. "Rest assured that the only way I would betray you is if you tried anything to put me down. I told you that I don't want to go back there. The Other Side is not all that it's cracked up to be. All I want is to stay alive until I die of natural causes that will hopefully be at a very old age. Simple as that."

"Alright, then here's your first test," Damom said, "Silas wants to get into Tessa's head at this college party and find out where the Anchor is."

"He can't do that," frowned Rosalie. "She and I fried—"

"My brother's brain — not cool by the way," Damon pointed at her like he was reprimanding a child. "Anyways, Apparently he can sever the connection to Stefan if we snap his neck and he dies for a bit. That true?"

"Unfortunately yes," Rosalie muttered. "If Stefan is out cold — dead — then Silas would temporarily get his powers back. But I hardly see Stefan agreeing to that plan."

"Aw, you're so naive," Damon smiled innocently, "I can see why you were murdered."

Rosalie full on scowled at him and demanded what the hell she was meant to do about this plan.

"Simple, just play nice with Tessa," Damon shrugged.

"Play nice?" Rosalie said incredulously. "I'm not five — I'm a lot older than you if we're getting technical."

"Not really since you've been dead more than you've been alive. Now tonight, you're going to pretend to be Tessa's friend and act like nothing is wrong. Got it?"

"I am friends with her," Rosalie said flatly. "We just don't agree on what our endings should be."

"You mean you want to not die and she does?" Damon did very little to hide his thoughts on the matter.

"Our relationship is just more complicated," Rosalie said. "I wouldn't expect you to understand it."

"Nor do I want to," Damon was happy to retort. "All I want is to get what we need from her and find the stupid mystical anchor. So you better not ruin it. Silas has a plan and that includes you."

"I'm sure it does," said Rosalie grimly.

~0~

On the night of the supposed college party, Rosalie had already returned to Tessa at the cabin. She was surprised to find that not only had Tessa purchased a Cleopatra costume for herself but a costume for Rosalie as well.

"I'm supposed to be Queen Mary?" Rosalie did not hide her disgust for the costume.

"Bloody Mary if we're being exact," Tessa said, grinning from ear to ear. " What's the issue? I thought this is what you wanted?"

"I want to live in this world, not pay homage to a queen ridiculed by history."

"It's a party, Rose," Tessa took the costume from Rosalie's arms and laid it down on the latter's bed. "A college party and that in itself is life. So get ready. We also have a job to do."

"Yeah, what is this job anyways?" Rosalie stopped her by the doorway of her room.

"One of my old talismans is being held there and we need to retrieve it."

"Got it. So we're not actually partying. This is just one of those errands that we have to run in order to continue this ludicrous plan of yours."

"Ours," Tessa reminded the woman. "You want as much revenge as I do."

"Yes, and to live, in case you forgot."

Tessa rolled her eyes. "How can I forget when that's all you say these days. Get dressed." She closed the door on her way out.

Rosalie turned to her queen-ly dress and gazed at it with disdain. Suddenly, she wasn't all that against Damon Salvatore's stupid plan.

~0~

Rosalie and Tessa arrived at the party about halfway through the night. It was crowded with college students, none the wiser about who either one of them was.

"You need to go look for the pendant," Tessa instructed as soon as they were inside.

"Right now?" Rosalie blinked. "We literally just got here."

"And we have a job to do," Tessa said, though she seemed to be gazing at something ahead of them.

"Then let's both go do it!"

"Go," Tessa reiterated and walked off before Rosalie could say another word.

"Ouch…" Damon Salvatore appeared less than a minute afterwards, "That's your bestie?" He came to stand beside her, watching Tessa approach none other than Stefan Salvatore at the bar. "Gotta say that's cold even for me."

Rosalie barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Lucky for me, I don't exactly care about the weight of your words." She looked at him up and down in what she thought was a horrible costume. "What the hell are you supposed to be anyways?"

"Isn't it obvious? Henry?"

"Ah, what a coincidence. I'm Queen Mary, the cast aside daughter. Once again, lucky for me, you're not my father."

"And this is getting boring. Shall we?" Damon made a gesture towards the bar.

"Go ahead. I have to go find something for Tessa, otherwise I won't hear the end of it."

"You're supposed to help," frowned Damon. "Silas—"

"Wants me to help find the Anchor and that's what I'm doing. Tessa needs the pendant for that exact reason, so…" Rosalie gave a light pat on Damon's shoulder, "I'll see you in a bit."

~0~

Rosalie wouldn't lie. It was absolutely irritating that while she was stuck with the boring duty of searching unknown rooms for a stupid pendant, her best friend got to be downstairs, drinking and dancing…even if it was with the lowlife of Silas.

She had already gone through several rooms when she bumped into Tessa herself. "What are you doing here?" she asked, "Weren't you partying or something?"

"Don't sound so bitter, Rose, it's unbecoming," Tessa said and walked right past her into the room. "You were taking too long."

"There's like a gazillion rooms in this place," Rosalie said with a frown. "Not to mention various people coming in and out of them. Are you sure it's even here?"

"Yes, I can feel it," Tessa said certainly. "It's a magical talisman that enhances my power so you best believe I have a connection to it."

"Then you should have been the one looking for it, not me."

"You know, I'm getting tired of your little moods lately," Tessa remarked distractedly. She'd gone up to a display case across the room. "It's like you don't want to be here. Makes me wonder if I made a wrong choice by pulling you out of the Other Side with me."

"I am grateful to be alive again, make no mistake about that," sighed Rosalie. "I just wish you would give me the choice to choose how I am to die."

"But nobody rarely gets to pick how they die," Tessa reminded her. "That's the hard truth about life."

"Well I'm not picky. I just don't want to be murdered by your crazy ex or die by your hands. Simple as that."

Tessa threw her an unamused glance over her shoulder. Rosalie smiled widely and, of course, innocently, then began to help with the search for the pendant. It was Tessa who finally found it lying on a display closest to the window overlooking the campus.

Rosalie felt a new presence and looked back just as Stefan walked in. She knew better.

"Stefan," Tessa turned around, lips curving upwards, "Come to see the show?

'Stefan' briefly exchanged glances with Rosalie and half smiled. "What are you doing?" He said oh-so innocently.

"I'm using this pendant to find something I'm looking for, and I found it."

"Good," Silas said, his smile full this time. He took one step towards the witches only to feel a huge pain in his head.

Rosalie started as he fell to his feet crying out in pain. Stefan must have woken up already.

"Stefan...Stefan, are you okay?" Tessa actually forgot about the pendant and left it in Rosalie's hands when she hurried to Stefan's side.

Rosalie was genuinely surprised by such an urgency. She really can't let go.

"Tessa, that's Silas!" The real Stefan strode into the room, wasting no time in reaching Silas to punch him. He grabbed his daylight ring from Silas and slid it over his finger. "He's working with my brother. Everything he said to you was a lie." And with that, Stefan left the room.

Rosalie was baffled by him but, upon reviewing the facts including that Stefan held none of his memories, things made more sense. She gazed down at Silas still wallowing in pain and smirked. A change in plans wasn't at all undesirable at the moment.

"Well, well, now, what are we going to do with this oh-so special prize?" She was practically beaming at the opportunities, while Tessa was raging.

"He knows where the anchor is," Tessa said, her voice shaking with ire.

"Well then maybe we should make sure he doesn't get to find it and I am very happy to assist with that…" Rosalie gripped the pendant in her hand and smirked down at Silas.

Tessa recognized the spell as one of her own and so she easily joined. The two changed together and a whirl of wind burst through the windows, shattering the glass.

"You can't kill me!" Silas exclaimed, still grinning despite the situation.

"We don't have to kill you yet!" Tessa said in-between chants.

"You love me. You know you love me!"

"I did love you…" Tessa nodded, "And then you broke my heart…"

"And then you killed me…" Rosalie scowled. "So now we're gonna stop your rotten heart."

Tessa walked forward and plunged her hand through Silas' chest. "Stopping your heart from working will make it so that your blood can't flow and your veins dry up and you rot from the inside out so the world can see you exactly as you are — a cold, gray, hideous monster."

"We'll send our regards to dear ole Amara," Rosalie said wickedly.

Silas' veins became visible until he was all gray like a staked vampire.

"That felt good," Rosalie said, letting the chain of Tessa's pendant slip through her fingers so that it dangled under her hand. "Let's just find a way to kill him and get it over with."

"No," Tessa said sternly. She Rose to her feet, wiping her bloody hand on the side of her dress. "We have a plan and we're gonna follow it." She snatched her pendant back from Rosalie and headed out the room. "Now let's go, we have work to do."

~ 0 ~

Stefan woke up to a familiar face who very quickly warned him with a finger on her mouth to stay quiet. Rosalie sat on the coffee table and watched him sit up on the couch.

"Where are…?" Stefan's question died as Rosalie quietly shushed him and pointed at one of the closed doors behind them. He heard the distinct noise of someone showering. He rubbed his face then noticed the bottles of alcohol on the table Rosalie was sitting on. "Did we…?"

Rosalie shook her head. "You and Tessa. I don't like the drinks. You, uh, bonded over your mutual misery. I'm sorry about your brother."

At the reminder of Damon and his atrocious brotherly self, Stefan glowered.

"But I must say, he did have good intentions," Rosalie said, and Stefan soon understood that she had been in the loop about Damon's doings. Before he could ask her about it, she spoke again. "Listen, we only have a few minutes before Tessa comes out. You should know that Silas took the cure so he's mortal now and we can kill him."

"Great," Stefan said, suddenly feeling the last of the grogginess disappear from his head. He was ready to start his day well. "Let's go."

"Problem," Rosalie stopped him from getting up. "You're brother and friends aren't gonna let us do that until Silas raises Bonnie Bennett from the dead."

"And how do you know this?"

Rosalie glanced at Tessa's shut door before answering. "Because I was there when Damon made the deal with Silas. He dies and uses his power to bring back Bonnie. Now to do that, they have to find the Anchor first and destroy it."

"Another problem is, I imagine, that Tessa doesn't know you were there for that deal?" Stefan saw the answer clear as day on Rosalie's nervous face.

"You don't understand, I don't want to die. It's not fair!" she broke into rambles, "All Tessa wants is to kill Silas and reunite with him on the Other Side. But what about me? I'm just collateral damage — again. Silas killed me as vengeance for what he thinks we did to Amara. I owe everything to Tessa but I don't want to die for either of them again, Stefan. I just want a chance to live. I want a chance to live my full life and when I'm all old and senile, I will cross back to the Other Side as a fulfilled woman. Please, I don't want my life taken from me again."

"Like collateral damage…" Stefan said with a sour smile. He was no stranger to that. He looked at Rosalie with sympathy.

"I know you have no reason to trust me and I don't blame you but I also made a deal with your brother about you. I can try to give you your memories back."

"Yeah?"

"I can do it. Tonight, even. You just have to play along for today. Please."

"Why?" Stefan's brows furrowed.

"Because the others are going to find the anchor today and my part is already in play," Rosalie said, eyes flickering to Tessa's door. The water had stopped running. "So as far as Tessa knows, you and I never had this conversation. In fact, we never even crossed a word."

Stefan didn't really know who to trust but at the moment, Rosalie seemed the least harmful. He gave her a nod and watched her visibly relax.

"Breakfast?" She said before getting up. "I'm still practicing with the cooking stuff but I'm not burning things as much anymore!" She hurried around the couch towards the kitchen.

Stefan watched her curiously as she started raiding the cabinets for ingredients. Five minutes later, Tessa came into the living room, freshly showered.

"Good morning sleepy head," she greeted him with a wide smile.

"Morning…" Stefan said, subtly glancing at Rosalie who had quieted down in the kitchen, her movements more slow and cautious like she was waiting to see if he was going to keep his word.

"I trust that Rosalie told you the spectacular news?" Tessa stopped by the kitchen table for a bowl of berries.

"Yeah," nodded Stefan.

A promising smile spread across Tessa's face as she popped a berry into her mouth. "Get up gorgeous, your doppelgänger dies today."

~0~

After breakfast, the three sat down to discuss the matters of the day.

"Silas is looking for the anchor. It's the object we used to bind the spell when we created the Other Side," Tessa explained. "Destroy it - the spell is broken. No more supernatural limbo and Silas can die and find peace. I would rather his lying, cheating ass not have that."

Stefan shrugged. "Great. Fine. I approve. Where is it?"

"New Jersey."

Rosalie sent a narrow-eyed look at her friend. "You found out and you didn't tell me?"

"I had to make sure Silas couldn't get it out of your head," Tessa said plainly. Stefan noted the irritated glint in Rosalie's dark eyes.

"Okay, so now what?" He asked to keep the conversation going.

"You know that old, ancient story I told you about the Travelers? Oh, wait. You don't," Tessa chuckled as if she'd made a joke. "We fried your brain and took your memories. Sorry. Well, the Travelers...you know how Silas wants to destroy the other side, so he can be at peace with that slut Amara that he calls his one true love? The Travelers don't want that."

"Why not?"

"Not important. Scratch that. Very important. I'm just not going to answer it."

Rosalie rolled her eyes in secret. Of course they both knew why the Travelers were hell bent on keeping the Other Side together, at least for the moment.

"Um, you know what? I...think I still need to be drunk to understand this story…" Stefan reached for the closest tequila bottle and poured himself a shot.

"The Travelers have been in possession of the anchor for two thousand years," Tessa continued. "They constantly move it so it doesn't fall into the wrong hands and they're not going to let Silas get near it. At least not before I kill him."

"Yeah? Well, what if they fail?"

"He won't destroy it," Rosalie said confidently. "He won't be able to."

"Why not?"

Tessa was about to open her mouth when Rosalie cut her off. "We basically made it so that he would have to choose one thing out of his wishlist."

"Well, the one good thing about having amnesia is that I don't remember how I got in the middle of all this," Stefan said before taking another shot.

Tessa laughed. "Rest easy, sweet pea. Don't you worry about the details. Silas is going to die today, and he will spend eternity on the Other Side as far away from Amara, and peace, as possible." She started making her way towards the door. "We have it all covered. You don't scheme as long as I have without considering every possibility."

And yet when she opened the door and tried stepping out, she crashed face first into an invisible force field. At the third try, she realized what happened.

"What's wrong?" Rosalie frowned as she rose up to her feet.

Tessa growled and turned away from the door. "Silas put a spell on this cabin. We're stuck here until sundown."

"How do you know that?" Stefan asked, getting up to go see for himself. Like Tessa, he crashed into the barrier.

"Because I taught him the damn spell," Tessa gritted her teeth together. "Rosalie, how could you not have noticed?"

"What?" Rosalie startled. "How did I — how is this my fault!?"

"You were on look-out!"

"And you were busy doing body shots so who's the real irresponsible witch in this cabin!?"

"Uuh, I don't think it really matters," Stefan intervened, making both witches turn to him. "I mean" — he cleared his throat — "we're trapped. Doesn't matter what happened, we're all trapped in here."

Tessa still huffed at Rosalie. Meanwhile, Rosalie looked away, disgruntled.

~0~

It wasn't until late in the afternoon that Rosalie emerged from her room again. And she only did it because she heard a new voice, although not of a stranger's. She had seen Elena Gilbert at the party but hadn't spoken to her. It was truly a strange thing seeing Amara in front of her but knowing it wasn't Amara. It didn't help that they also had the same exact voice.

"What are you doing here?" Rosalie looked at Elena with confusion.

"Who are you?" Elena gave Rosalie the same look. Rosalie was actually thankful that Damon had not talked about her with Elena because it meant Tessa would be none the wiser about their secret plans.

"I'm Rosalie, friend of, uh, Tessa over there…" Rosalie gave a nod towards Tessa. "Who invited you here?"

Elena seemed unsure who to address next considering she was in the middle of the cabin and Tessa had already worked her last nerve. "I'm really sorry, Stefan. I wouldn't have let Damon do what he did to you."

"Sure you would've," Stefan said, his confidence in his words making Elena pause. "You have this annoying tendency to do anything he tells you to do."

"I'm no shrink, but I think it's called co-dependence," Tessa remarked.

"I'm no shrink, but I think this is none of our business," Rosalie muttered to her. She noticed Tessa holding Stefan's phone in her hands and instantly knew why the hell Elena Gilbert got here in the first place.

"Stefan, look," Elena walked over to Stefan, "I get that you're upset with us for pretty much everything, but do you really think that sleeping with Tessa is gonna solve anything?"

Stefan made a face, as did Rosalie. "Who said I was sleeping with Tessa?"

One by one, they all ended up looking at Tessa who began to laugh. "I'm so bad with messages. Oh, look!" She waved Stefan's phone in her hands. "Elena called. She's wondering why you're here. I may have embellished for effect."

Rosalie rubbed her forehead; sometimes Tessa acted like the younger of the two when she wasn't by a longshot.

Elena decided she had enough for the day. "Okay. I just came by to make sure that she hadn't done some, like, fatal attraction spell on you," she said to Stefan. "Now that I know you're good, I'm gonna go."

"I wouldn't be so sure…" Rosalie sighed as Elena made to stride out of the cabin.

Elena crashed into the barrier and stumbled back a step, rubbing her nose.

"Yeah…you really shouldn't have come inside…" Stefan said, leaving Elena to realize she was now also trapped with them.

"Who-who put that up there?" Elena pressed her palms on the barrier, putting all her strength into breaking out.

"Who do you think?" Tessa crossed the cabin sourly, tossing Stefan's phone to the couch. "Silas."

Elena turned around, her expression in disbelief. "Well — can't either of you take it down?" She looked between Tessa and Rosalie.

"Silas thought of that," Rosalie said glumly. "We're stuck until sundown. Do you want some coffee?"

~ 0 ~

Things couldn't be more awkward in the cabin. Rosalie had busied herself in the kitchen to try and keep an eye on everybody. One wrong move and everyone would suffer. She couldn't wait for things to just be over.

"What are you making?" Tessa came over and eyed the different ingredients on the counter.

"Something to ease everyone's nerves," Rosalie said, then side-glanced Tessa. "Since you fucking lured one of the doppelgangers in here."

"Oof," Tessa chuckled, "I see you've been learning the new lingo of this world."

"Get out of here, Qetsiyah," Rosalie basically snapped and turned to face the woman. Her brows were furrowed, lips pursed.

Tessa chuckling didn't help either. "You're mad? You're really mad about the doppelganger? We hate them, Rosalie."

"I hate Amara," Rosalie corrected. She subtly glanced at Elena who had kept herself in a corner of the cabin looking out the window. "I don't know who the hell this girl is and neither do you. There was no need to bring her in here."

"Oh, Rose," Tessa patted the woman on her arm, "That's where you're wrong. Watch and learn."

"Watch and learn?" Rosalie repeated, confused as she watched Tessa make her way to the living room. "What are you—?"

Tessa grabbed Stefan's phone from the couch and dialed somebody. At this, Elena turned around. Tessa put the call on speaker-phone and soon, they heard Damon Salvatore on the other end.

"Well. Isn't this a pleasant surprise!"

"Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet," Tessa said with a chuckle. "Since I'm occupied at the moment, I need you to go ahead and kill Silas for me."

"Gladly, but he's such a control freak, he wants to off himself."

"You mean, after he destroys the Other Side? Yeah, that's not gonna happen, plus I want him dead before he has the pleasure of finding the anchor."

"Yeah. I'm not following."

"Kill him. Now," Tessa ordered.

Elena panicked and called to Damon.

"Did I mention I lured your girlfriend here to me? I used the oldest trick in the book — jealousy of Stefan! Thought you should know."

Rosalie closed her eyes and shook her head.

Tessa suddenly thrust a hand towards Elena and caused her an aneurysm. Elena shrieked in pain and fell to the ground.

"Tessa!" Stefan rushed over to Elena.

"Tessa, stop this!" Rosalie exclaimed. "You kill her, Damon's not gonna do anything for you!"

"I have a vision, Rosalie!" Tessa exclaimed, though the big grin on her face implied Elena's misery wasn't all in the name of this so-called vision.

"Stop it!" Damon barked from the other end. "I can't kill him yet. He has to do something for me first."

"Mm, is that something more important than Elena?" taunted Tessa. "Because Silas put a spell on this house and bound it to the sun, which means we're trapped here until sundown, which means you have until then to kill Silas or I kill Elena. With a face like Amara's, it might be cathartic. Bye now." She hung up and tossed the phone to the couch again.

Elena's pain stopped but when she looked up, Tessa was gone.

"Here," Stefan helped her stand up.

"She's-she's crazy!" Elena exclaimed. She reached the couch and sank down to settle herself after the pain. "How the hell did she even get here in the first place! She shouldn't be here!" She met Rosalie's gaze and grew even angrier. "None of you should be here!"

Rosalie pursed her lips together. "Well, you're a vampire so technically speaking you shouldn't be here either. The dead don't seem to stay dead like they used to, huh?"

Elena glared at the girl, unable to say another word. Stefan asked her if she was alright and although she was bitter, she said she was okay. Stefan then left her side and walked over to Rosalie, lowering his voice when he spoke to her.

"You said 'play along'…" He watched her nod slowly, "When exactly does this end?"

Rosalie was very guarded and so although she was gazing at Tessa's shut bedroom door, she still hesitated to answer. Stefan followed her gaze then looked at her face.

"Are you always afraid of her?" he then asked.

Her dark eyes widened and flickered to him. "Afraid?"

He gave her a knowing look. "My memories are gone but I can still read faces. You're afraid of her. Why?"

Rosalie shook her head lightly. "I'm not afraid of her."

"At the very least, you're wary. Exactly how deep does your relationship with her go?"

"Very deep," Rosalie whispered, "She taught me everything I know."

"So that means she gets to treat you like that?"

"It wasn't always like that," Rosalie sighed to herself. "She was a good teacher, a good friend; she was a bright witch — she still is, but she's been blinded by rage and heartbreak."

"Tragic, but it's still not an excuse to treat you like this."

Rosalie didn't want to keep talking about it, especially when they had an audience. "You should be careful of how close you stand to me."

"Why?" Stefan raised an eyebrow at her. "Going to hurt me like Tessa did to Elena?"

"No," Rosalie said, her gaze flickering ahead of them, "Because Elena is looking for any excuse to grab me by the throat. Isn't that right?"

Elena turned her head to see them both now looking at her. She rolled her eyes, clearly still angry.

"I didn't attack you," Rosalie pointed out. "And I'm not the one threatening Damon to kill Silas off either."

"But you still want him dead," Elena said.

"Absolutely," Rosalie said immediately, "he killed me. But I know what's at stake so cool it with me, alright? I have nothing against Bonnie Bennett."

"How the hell are you two even here?" Elena asked, or rather demanded from her. "I mean — you were dead for a millenia! Two!"

"We were," Rosalie nodded, "And then your friend Bonnie got really distracted bringing your brother back to life. Tessa literally walked through the door and dragged me with her." She glanced at Stefan and thought of his question. "It's not fear," she reiterated, "My family — we fled from our own coven and we met the Travelers. They took us in and helped us stay hidden. Out of every other child in our little mini-coven, Qetsiyah chose me to mentor and trust me when I say I made big mistakes growing up. But she still chose me. She taught me everything she knew, made me believe in my power. It's not fear. It's gratitude. I owe her everything."

Stefan nodded, acknowledging her words. It made perfect sense. He still, however, thought that Tessa definitely took advantage of that gratitude to treat Rosalie the way she did.

Elena had also stopped when she heard Rosalie. It was easier to be angry at two complete strangers, but Rosalie didn't sound like Tessa…

~ 0 ~

Tessa made the announcement that Damon had not yet called back with the news that Silas was dead, which meant Elena had only about an hour left before the sun went down.

"Rosalie, how about some dinner?" she asked the girl. "You've been so busy in the kitchen, there must be something done by now?" Before anyone said anything, Tessa heard Elena's scoff from the couch. "Still angry?"

"Well today, Silas was going to bring my friend Bonnie back to life from the Other Side after he got the anchor, but you told my boyfriend, who has never put anyone's life before mine, including his own, to kill Silas before he could do that. So yeah, I'm a little bit angry."

Tessa smirked. "Oh, well…we can't win them all, right?"

Elena rolled her eyes heavily.

"Why don't you just call Damon, Tessa?" Rosalie suggested instead, even going to retrieve Stefan's phone to help out. "See if he did it already?" She walked over to Tessa and handed her the phone. "C'mon, we're both anxious, right?"

Tessa took the phone from Rosalie and made the call. "Why isn't he picking up for—"

"What?" came Damon's snappish voice.

"Is he dead yet?"

"No! He's not dead yet. I was just ambushed by some of your inbred cousins. Any idea why Travelers, who hate Silas, would want to stop me from killing him?"

"They probably want his blood," Tessa said dismissively.

"For what?"

"Silas drank the cure from Katherine. Now his blood is the cure."

"But they're not immortal, so who do they want it for?"

"Think about it, Damon. The Travelers aren't fans of immortality. I had to bind the Other Side to something, something that would last forever, something that Silas couldn't destroy."

"What? His favorite childhood sled?"

Tessa began to smirk so wide that Stefan and Elena noticed it. "Something a little closer to his heart. Two thousand years old, immortal, indestructible. You're a quick boy, Damon. Figure it out."

Rosalie subtly met Stefan's eye, her expression becoming just as prideful as Tessa's. She had told him the same thing and he had yet to figure out the answer.

"He won't do it," she promised Stefan. "Not a chance in the world."

"What is the anchor, Rosalie?" Stefan began to ask and behind them, Elena started getting up from the couch.

"The one thing that Silas would never be able to bring himself to destroy. Sometimes death really is too easy, you know?"

"Absolutely," Tessa said as she hung up the phone. "Now then, what about that dinner?" She handed Rosalie the cellphone and strode towards the kitchen.

Rosalie checked the time on the phone then gave it to Stefan. "Still 50 more minutes to go…"

"And counting," Tessa said distractedly as she sifted through the things that Rosalie had left on the counter.

Rosalie thrust a hand towards Tessa and knocked her headfirst into the cabinets. She fell back, unconscious.

"What did you do!?" Elena freaked out.

Rosalie ignored her and turned towards the door, using her power to fling it open. She muttered a few words then lowered her hand. "You're free to go."

"Wait, what?" Elena sped up to the door and reached a hand forwards. She was stunned that it went through and so she stepped out. "How did you do that?"

"Silas didn't put the barrier up, I did." Rosalie felt Stefan's hand come down on her shoulder. She then revealed Tessa's talisman sitting around her wrist like a bracelet. It had been her job to keep Tessa away long enough for Damon to get Silas to swap places with Bonnie.

Stefan lowered his head to look her directly in her eyes. "Thank you," he said earnestly. She had unknowingly earned his trust.

Rosalie nodded at him. "Go. Hurry."

"Stefan, let's go!" Elena called from outside.

Stefan made to leave but was halfway out when he realized something. He stopped at the doorway and looked back at Rosalie. "Come with us."

"What?" Rosalie blinked a few times, dumbfounded.

Behind Stefan, Elena was incredulous. "What!? Stefan, what are you doing?" She rushed back to pull him with her, but Stefan wasn't budging.

"We both know Tessa's not going to take this lightly, Rosalie," he insisted. "Silas is still paying for that mistake."

"I can put the blame on you," Rosalie said with a halfhearted smile. "Unlike Silas, you actually care. I'm sure I can get away with this somehow."

"Yeah," Stefan smiled lightly, "but something tells me you won't be able to uphold the lie for very long. Come with us, Rosalie. You can trust me."

Rosalie swallowed hard and Stefan could hear her nervous heartbeat. She glanced over her shoulder to where Tessa had fallen unconscious. When she woke up, Tessa would be furious.

"Come on," Stefan held his hand out to her. "I can be your first real friend in this world. No gratitude needed."

Rosalie's lips twitched, wanting to smile again. She walked to Stefan and reached for his hand. The moment she touched him, he swept her out of the cabin.

~ 0 ~

Returning to the boarding house wasn't exactly what Rosalie wanted, but her options of where to stay were very limited, almost nonexistent.

"Nu-uh, what is she doing here?" Damon Salvatore was the first to make noise when Rosalie followed Stefan and Elena inside.

"Easy," warned Stefan. "She's on our side."

Jeremy scoffed. "Right."

"Forgive our doubt," Damon said, bringing a hand to his chest, "But our day has been quite horrible. Fun fact, did you know that the mystical anchor turned out to be none other than Amara herself? Silas' long lost love?" His eyes were set directly on Rosalie who didn't seem very phased.

"You want me to be sorry?" She said flatly. "She got what she deserved."

"A little heads up would've been nice," Damon said with a wide forced smile, his arms open on either side of him.

"And have Silas find out about it by reading your mind?" Rosalie scoffed. "Only thing I'm sorry about is missing his reaction. It must have been priceless!"

"She's on our side?" Jeremy asked his sister, his voice severely doubtful.

Elena shrugged and made a gesture towards Stefan, washing her hands free of the problem. "He brought her."

"She saved us," Stefan reminded her.

"By putting a barrier imprisoning you in a cabin," argued Elena. "She wouldn't have had to save you if she hadn't put up the barrier in the first place."

Rosalie moved past Stefan to stand up for herself and give Elena a little reality check. "The only reason I put up that barrier was because Silas and Damon," — she pointed a finger at the vampire in question "told me I had to keep Tessa away. Everything would've been fine if you hadn't shown up!"

"What?" Elena's sights set on Damon, eyes wide and mighty confused. "You told her to do that!?" It certainly changed a few things!

"Yes, he did!" Rosalie was happy to clarify.

Damon gave a casual shrug to confirm her words. "Best if we kept it on a need to know basis."

"So I did exactly what your side wanted," Rosalie flashed a sarcastic smile at Elena. "Happy?"

"Not until Bonnie is here, actually," Elena retorted. "Any clue how to do that?"

"Not without exchanging her life for his, no," Rosalie said, glancing at Damon. "Where is this murderer anyways? On a date?"

"Silas is M.I.A. and out and about, which is pretty bad, truthfully," he admitted. "And Amara's been cured, which is even worse because now she's easy to kill, so the fate of the Other Side, where Bonnie currently resides, rests on a living, breathing human being that we now need to protect."

"We need to protect?" Elena repeated, confused.

Rosalie, however, rolled her eyes. "Of course. Let me know when we can kill her off already. Got any coffee?"

Stefan nodded and motioned her to follow him. "She's staying, by the way," he made the announcement just before disappearing in the hallway.

~0~

The steaming hot coffee in front of Rosalie had slowly turned into a cold cup of coffee. She had mindlessly stirred her spoon in the cup, lost in thoughts that were too much even for her 2000 lifespan.

"Did I not make that decaf or something?"

Rosalie's eyes shifted up to Stefan, who was sitting opposite of her. She mustered a small smile for his effort of cheering her up. "It's fine, thank you."

"But you haven't even tasted it yet. I swear my memories don't interfere with my cooking."

Rosalie chuckled. "I'm sure they didn't. Unfortunately, my life cannot be fixed with a good cup of coffee and that's unfortunate because your world's coffee has quickly turned into my favorite thing of this time period. Iced coffees, warm coffees, flavored coffees — iced lattes? I love them all."

It was Stefan's turn to chuckle. Of all the things to like, she settled for something so common. "We could go get some right now, if you want. There are places that stay open late."

"Starbucks?" Rosalie said immediately, then flushed. "I haven't been there yet." She lowered her head and stared at her cup. "Tessa says there's no time. It's silly, you know. In the grand scheme of things…it's silly."

"That's because she hasn't had the taste of a good cup of coffee — and life."

Rosalie hummed. "You have no idea." She took her spoon out of her cup and placed it on the table. "But I told you, she wasn't like this before...all this Silas stuff. I mean, I know that's what people must say all the time about people who make bad decisions but it's true for this situation. Before Silas, Qetsiyah was just another witch. She was happy, helpful, kind…"

"So she never treated you like her maid?" Stefan asked bluntly. Rosalie ducked her head and reached for her coffee cup. Stefan got the answer. "Maybe it wasn't all Silas, then."

"Wow, you're defending the guy now?" Rosalie said with genuine curiosity. She would think Stefan would hate Silas almost as much as she and Qetsiyah.

"Oh, never," Stefan shook his head, "but maybe he wasn't completely responsible for how Tessa turned out."

"She was a friend—"

"Whom you owed gratitude for by serving her?"

Rosalie sighed. "No, I — I'm just used to the role, not so much from Tessa but by the rest of her people."

"The Travelers?"

She nodded and took refuge in her cold cup of coffee.

"Help me out here," Stefan placed his arms on the table and leaned forward, "What exactly do you owe Tessa and the Travelers for? You said your family was hiding from someone? And that you made big mistakes? I'm trying to think of a mistake that's so big it would require so much gratitude from you."

Rosalie appreciated his gentleness even when he was being serious. "When I was young, my family and a few other families broke away from our coven because me and, uh, my friends, became a target for them. We ran and met the Travelers. They were kind and took us in, despite our situation. They helped keep us hidden and in return, we got to live a peaceful life with other witches."

"Yeah, but, how peaceful was it really if you traded away your liberty for it?"

"A few extra spells and work was nothing in exchange for a better life," Rosalie countered. "At least at that moment, it was. Tessa was by far the most powerful Traveler and to have her pick me to train was…an incredible honor. As far as my mistakes went, I'm not quite ready to talk about them just yet…"

"Well, I know we just met and all but it looks like you may have been taken advantage of," Stefan said, giving her a sharp look in hopes that she would understand the fact. "I mean, you said you helped create the immortality elixir and the Other Side?"

Rosalie nodded at that. "I did. I'm a low level psychic so it was this ability that helped solidify the Other Side."

"But you don't really get credit for that work like Qetsiyah did, right?"

A small smile came to Rosalie then, and quickly soured. "It's better to be forgotten than villainized like Qetsiyah. When people learn about the story, they feel sorry for Silas because the vindictive witch screwed him over and his true love. If they knew what Silas had really done, they would understand that Qetsiyah had every right to be angry and heartbroken. But they don't see that, nobody does…so I would much rather be forgotten than to have her story be mine."

"Alright, that's fair," Stefan conceded, "But it's a new time period. You shouldn't be serving anyone, much less under the disguise of friendship because let me tell you, that's not being friends. What about your family? Your lineage must have continued, didn't it?"

Rosalie bobbed her head. "Yeah, it did…but I have no idea where they could be today. And even then, what am I supposed to do? Show up on their front door step and announce I'm their 2000 year old great aunt or something?"

Stefan smiled wryly. "Okay, so not that easy but not impossible either. I could help you with that if you'd like. No gratitude needed, of course " He raised his hands in front of him to show that he was completely innocent.

Rosalie laughed. "Of course. I'll consider it, thank you."

"No problem," Stefan nodded. He started getting up from the table. "Pick any room you want, okay? It's yours."

"Are you sure it's okay to stay?" Rosalie raised a brow at him. "Elena's not very fond of me…"

"She'll get over it once she realizes you're not trying to kill us. Besides, if she and my brother want to gain some points with me, they're gonna let my new friend stay here too."

Rosalie smiled at him. "Thank you, Stefan. Really. It's sad but you really are my first real friend after 2000 years. Wow, it's sadder when I hear myself say it. It's not my fault, you know…I did have friends besides Tessa but they're all dead now."

Stefan only laughed slightly to not fully offend her. Luckily, she thought it was funny too.

The two headed up the stairs together and parted to their bedrooms, Rosalie taking the very first empty one she saw. It was there that she realized she had absolutely nothing to change into.

Actually, she had nothing.

She had no toothbrush, no pajamas, no slippers, not even one sad scrunchie to tie her hair. Talk about real sadness.

She stepped in front of the mirror over the dresser and gazed at herself. I guess I'll have to sleep like this, she thought to herself. She doubted Elena Gilbert would want to let her borrow anything.

"So sad…" A voice made her flinch and spin away from the mirror.

"Tessa…" Rosalie gulped at the woman who freely walked into her room. "I know you're mad…" She saw the angry red blood from Tessa's forehead and genuinely felt guilt.

"You put the barrier up…" Tessa accused angrily, "You betrayed me. You're working with Silas! Silas! How could you!?"

"It's not what you think, I hate that guy! He killed me! But unlike him and you, I don't want to die! I don't know how many times I have to say that before you get it! I don't want to go back to the Other Side!" Rosalie shouted. "It's an endless lifetime of misery there!"

"That is where we belong!" Tessa exclaimed.

"That is where you decided we all belonged!" Rosalie snapped. "I want to live a full life and when it's over, when Time decides that my life is done, I will move onto the Other Side like every supernatural creature does. Hell, I might even find peace then and move on! Because at the end of a lifetime, that is what I deserve!"

"Mm, really?" Tessa raised an eyebrow. She walked towards Rosalie, leaving the girl to backtrack until her back hit the dresser. "You and I created the Other Side, don't forget."

"To help you!" Rosalie exclaimed. "Because I thought you deserved some retribution for everything that happened! But I never intended on going there so early! Why is it such a crime to want to live? I am owed that and more, and you know it! I didn't work with Silas, I worked with Damon Salvatore and his friends because we all wanted the same things!"

"Don't you think we've caused enough harm as it is to go and break another rule?"

"…perhaps," Rosalie said, swallowing hard, "But if everyone else gets to break them, why can't I? I'm not here to be a menace to the world. I just want to live."

"And die," said Tessa sharply, "So let me help you get there." Without hesitation, she plunged something into Rosalie's stomach.

Rosalie's breath caught in her throat, her hands shaking as she clapped them over the foreign object stuck in her abdomen. Looking down, she found a silver kitchen knife embedded in her. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked up to Tessa in disbelief.

The older witch stared on stoically as Rosalie inevitably fell to the ground, choking on her own blood. "I'm very sorry, Rose, but I hate betrayal."

‿︵‿︵‿୨ ୧‿︵‿︵‿

Author's Note:

Poor Rosie, all she wants is to liiiiiiive, can't anyone get that!

As always, I have AO3/Wattpad accounts under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)