Stefan, Damon, Elena and I were standing in the living room at home, talking about how we were going to get Caroline under lock and key so we could finally get her humanity turned back on.

"First step, convince her that my humanity is still off," Stefan told us. "I'll tell her that my run-in with our mother had no effect on me, and I want to keep the party going."

"Ah, look at that," Damon told us in amusement. "Saint Stefan has a plan. Let me guess. Whoever's holding the kitten gets to talk about their feelings?"

"Torture her until she breaks," Stefan told us.

I smiled, impressed. "Sold!"

"So, do I need to remind you three that the last time Caroline thought that we were trying to flip her switch, she went on a killing spree?" Elena asked.

"Well, she's not gonna find out this time," Stefan told us.

We looked at Stefan curiously.

Stefan picked up the phone to dial a number.

******

I looked Damon and Elena. "See? He'll be convincing."

Elena looked at Stefan. "Fine. Say she believes you. How do you know she's gonna even want to see you again?"

Damon smirked. "Oh, she'll want to see him."

"Damon," Stefan told him, slightly embarrassed. "Shut up."

"I mean, it's a bit of a tricky bet for you, isn't it, brother?" Damon asked. "She's gonna expect a lot."

I smiled.

"Okay, what am I missing here?" Elena asked.

"Nothing," Stefan told her quickly.

Elena gasped in realization. "Hang on a second. Did you and Caroline—"

I was so amused, dancing by swinging my arm around, rocking my hips. "Do it?" I popped the 'p' on the next word. "Yep!"

"Oh," Elena said in shock. "This was after she flipped..." She noticed Stefan's look of total humiliation, stopping herself. "Never mind."

"It's not exactly how I wanted things to go down, but I can't change it now, so can we just drop it?" Stefan asked.

"Okay," I told him. "Sore subject. Understood. So, what do we do once you earn her trust?"

"We drain her of her blood, make her weak, and then bombard her with everything she used to care about," Stefan answered. "Memories of who she was, her friendships, her mom." He looked at Elena. "Did you bring it?"

"Yes," Elena answered, pulling out an envelope from her bag, handing it over to Stefan.

"What is that?" Damon asked.

"Caroline got rid of everything from her former life," Elena explained. "Her mom had sent this letter, intending for it to arrive after she died, which it did, but Caroline had already flipped her switch."

"It could work," Stefan told us.

"Sure," I told him. "Unless she wants sexy-Stefan-time instead of an assault on Memory Lane."

Stefan was determined. "I'm not gonna let that happen."

******

While Stefan, Damon and Elena were handling Caroline, I went to Whitmore to talk to Bonnie about the vampire family that my mom wanted out of the prison world, who just so happened to have the same magic sucking power that Kai did, so that meant even while they were vampires, they had an endless supply of magic to suck dry, which made them vampire-witches, having coffee as an ice breaker.

Bonnie walked down the busy campus hallway, flipping through a book.

I walked toward her with the coffee. "Hello."

Bonnie looked up, taking one of the coffees I offered. "Hey. This is a surprise."

"Well, you know, I was just in the hood," I told her. "I thought I might stop by and bring my friend that I have barely seen or talked to since she got back from the prison world a little morning pick-me-up."

We walked down the hallway.

"Thanks," Bonnie told me. "What is this?"

"Uh, it's a mocha-latte-frappi-something," I told her. Bonnie gave me an amused look. I shrugged. "I don't know. I guessed."

"Clearly," Bonnie told me. "So, Elena told me that you guys found Caroline, which is great."

"You ever hear a April Lyrids?" I asked. Bonnie looked at me in confusion. "Yeah, me neither. Anyway, it's a stupid comet that my mom thinks she's gonna use to pull her friends out of the 1903 prison world."

"Okay, but we're not letting her people out," Bonnie told me.

I hesitated, grimacing. "Well, Damon may have reinforced that possibility... when he gave the Ascendant to her for safe-keepings."

Bonnie looked at me angrily, stunned. "He what?"

I looked around, pulling Bonnie into an empty classroom to speak privately. "Come here."

I closed the door behind us.

"Kaylin, Jo said that her friends are vampires who can do magic," Bonnie told me.

"I think the PC term is 'witchpire'," I told her.

"The term is 'freaks we've never dealt with before'," Bonnie told me.

"But it doesn't matter, because she still needs you to do the spell to open up the door to 1903, Bonnie," I told her.

"Oh, so, that means she's gonna come looking for me," Bonnie told me.

"So we stall her," I told her. "Look, Lily's like a bill collector. You dodge her calls long enough, eventually she shuts your power off. I'm trying to fix my brother's mistake before it becomes everybody else's problem, but I might need your help."

Bonnie sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

"Look, I know that this is going to piss her off, but even I can't risk letting the witchpires out loose on the world," I told her. "Do you think you can destroy the Ascendant?"

Bonnie thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think so."

"Okay," I told her. "I'll be at the Grill later, distracting her. You go to the house and get the Ascendant and destroy it, all right?"

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Bonnie asked. "Like you said, your mother's gonna be angry."

"I can handle my mother," I told her. "And I'll make sure she doesn't find out."

"Yeah, until one of your brothers slip up and ruin it," Bonnie told me.

"Yeah, considering our luck, that sounds very likely," I agreed.

"Gee, you think?" Bonnie asked.

I shrugged. "Look, it doesn't matter if she finds out or not."

"But what if she does?" Bonnie asked. "Do you think she'll snap?"

"Probably," I answered. "But which to you prefer loose out in the world? An angry Lily Salvatore or six super-strong Kai Parkers? I don't want to betray her, I really, really don't. But I wanna destroy the Ascendant so that the heretics don't get out and kill everybody. How about you?"

Bonnie hesitated, sighing, not answering, but I knew that she was in.

******

At the Grill, I sat with Mom at a table.

Mom chuckled, looking over her clothes. "I like this attire. Thank you for taking me to get them."

"Yeah, well, we never really had the motherly-daughterly shopping spree before, so I figured that now was a better time than never," I told her. "And the food in here might be ordinary, but you'll come to love it. Besides, it's better than staying at home alone."

"What about that boy that was in our home a few days ago?" Mom asked.

"Ah, things may be a little weird between us at the moment," I told her.

"Why?" Mom asked.

I put my menu down. "You really didn't recognize him, did you? When I think about you two knowing each other, the phrase, 'small world' comes to mind, and so does, 'epic understatement'." Mom looked at me in confusion. "His name is Enzo."

Mom looked confused until she remembered. "Enzo? As in... Lorenzo?"

"From South Hampton, England, 1903," I answered. "You're the one that turned him."

"Oh, my God," Mom said. "I didn't realize."

I raised my eyebrows. "Clearly."

Mom hesitated. "Oh. I understand why this would be... uncomfortable for you."

"No offense, Mom, but I don't think you can," I told her.

Mom sighed, hesitating. "I know what I said to Damon hurt the both of you. And what I told him was the truth. But I also told you the truth. We have an eternity to try to make that change. Please let me try."

I looked at Mom for a moment.

******

The waitress brought us a couple of drinks, taking our order.

Mom ordered off a menu for the first time. "Uh... May I please have a chicken sandwich and a bowl of coup?"

"You bet," the waitress answered. "And that comes with a side of fries or skins."

Mom looked at the waitress in confused nervousness. "Um, I'm sorry. Did you say skins? I... I'm afraid I don't know what that is."

I rolled my eyes in slight annoyance, looking at the waitress. "I'll take the fries and skins, thanks."

The waitress walked away, leaving.

Mom looked at me. "How did I do? Was I a blithering idiot?"

"You'll get better," I told her.

"So, uh, would you want to talk about Lorenzo?" Mom asked. "I'd like to know what he has been up to for the past century."

"Well, you turned him on a passenger ship full of headless corpses," I told her. "He, uh... See, he hates you, because all this time, he didn't know that the night you turned him, your friends and you were captures by the Gemini Coven." Mom looked surprised. "All this time, he thought that you abandoned him. Like you abandoned us."

Mom hesitated. "Kaylin, this might hurt you, this might not. I just pray that you understand. It's not your fault, but you and your brothers reminded me of a very dark time in my life."

I didn't show a reaction, looking at the menu that I no longer needed. "Not one for the maternal instincts, I see."

"On the contrary," Mom told me. "They were directed elsewhere. You see, I was trapped in that prison world with six others. Caring for them as we starved, surviving on two drops of blood a week just to preserve our rations."

"Sounds like a chore," I told her.

"Loyalty is never a chore, Kaylin," Mom told me. "At any rate, it's ill-bred to speak of such personal matters."

"Is that so?" I asked.

"You're hurt," Mom told me.

"No, I'm not hurt," I told her. "I don't get hurt."

Mom smiled a small smile, shaking her head. "When did you change so much?"

"In the '20s," I answered. "You wouldn't believe the kind of monster that I became."

"Oh, I think I could," Mom told me. I didn't answer. Mom sighed. "I'm trying, Kaylin."

"I know you are," I told her. "But you got to admit that it's gonna take a lot more than that."

Mom hesitated, looking at down. "I'll just show myself home."

"Mom..." I trailed off.

Mom stood, walking toward the door without a word.

I looked across the restaurant, toward where Matt was, raising my arms.

Matt was on the phone with Bonnie, because he was in on it, too, nodding to me to let me know that Bonnie was already out of the house.

I sighed, putting my hands to my head, turning away.

******

After dark, Bonnie had called to tell me that she had destroyed the Ascendant, and that Mom had threatened Damon to destroy the Cure that Bonnie had gotten back from the 1994 prison world if she didn't get the Ascendant. Damon had been holding onto it since they had gotten Mom out of the 1903 prison world, planning to give it to Elena, but he hadn't even told her. Mom had given it to Elena as revenge instead of destroying it, thinking that it would cause problems between them.

Mom had called me.

I drove down the road, pulling over, turning off the ignition, getting out, walking toward Mom.

Mom had her back to me, holding a handkerchief in her hand, staring ahead with expressionless eyes. "You came."

"Your still my mother," I told her. "No matter what happens, that won't change. As it turns out, loyalty is important to me, too."

"They make cars so quiet now," Mom told me. "One hardly hears them coming. I was out for a walk to clear my head."

******

Flashback

Lily walked across the same road they were standing on now.

Headlights of a car approached her, coming to a quick halt before it could hit Lily, its tires screeching to a stop. The driver honked its horn.

Lily turned toward the car, giving a hand gesture to apologize.

Lily: (voice over) "I apologized, of course, but I'd given the driver quite a shock by walking in front of his car." Lily approached the driver's side window to apologize to the man. "His heart was beating like a drum. I could see the pulse in his neck, and in that moment, I forgot all my troubles. I felt no pain, no despair, no loneliness."

******

Now

Mom let a tear fall.

I walked around Mom until i was facing her, finding that her handkerchief was covered in blood, as well as her neck and clothes, slightly shocked.

Mom just looked expressionless. "I fear it got the best of me."

******

Flashback

Lily transformed, attacking the driver, biting his neck, feeding, killing him.

******

Now

Mom looked over to the car next to her.

I looked in the window to see that the driver was still fastened in his seat belt, headless, the head in his lap, the windshield splattered in blood.

Mom started to cry openly. "What have I done? What have I done?"

I turned to Mom worriedly, knowing that this was Damon, Bonnie's and my fault, but it was still better than letting out her 'family' and letting them kill everyone.

But she didn't know that I had been involved.

I pulled Mom into my arms. "It's okay. You're okay."

Mom cried harder.

I closed my eyes, feeling slightly guilty, but I knew that things would have been a lot worse if we had let her open up that prison world and let everyone inside out into the real world.