Damon was throwing Alaric a bachelor party at the house because he was getting married to pregnant Jo not that far down the road. The whole house was filled with people.

Alaric was seated in a chair, a hood over his face.

I took the hood off his head, shining a light into his face, Stefan and Damon on either side of me.

"What the hell's going on?" Alaric asked.

Stefan, Damon and I yelled happily. "Happy bachelor party!"

Alaric realized what was happening, starting to laugh happily.

We moved to reveal that we had thrown a party full of people and copious amounts of alcohol.

I walked through the raging bachelor party, holding two jello shots, seeing Enzo walk in. "Who invited you?"

"Damon," Enzo answered. "Never been to bachelor party before." He took one of the jello shots in my hands, looking me over, smirking. "I can see the appeal."

"Okay, are you just gonna flirt your way through to me?" I asked in amusement. "Because that is just so..."

"So what?" Enzo asked. "Obvious? Cliche?"

I smirked. "Both. But I was gonna say..."

I didn't finish, smiling a small, teasing smile, leaning closer to kiss him.

Enzo smirked. "And here I thought that things were left at a bit of an awkward place. How mistaken was I?"

I smiled. "Drink." Enzo went to drink the shot, but since he didn't know what jello shots were, he became incredibly confused when he couldn't simply drink it. I smiled, trying not to laugh. Enzo turned the shot glass upside down, shaking it, causing the jello to wobble, frowning, sniffing at it. I laughed. "You're doing it all wrong."

"So I concluded," Enzo told me.

I held up my jello shot glass for him to see, lightly scooping the jello off the bottom, tilting the glass to my mouth and letting the jello fall into it to show him how to take it.

Enzo used his thumb to wipe a bit of the jello away from my lips.

I smiled, biting my lip slightly. "Your turn."

******

I found Stefan upstairs in his room, trying to Caroline, but getting voicemail.

"Hey! It's Caroline, but duh. You knew that, because you called. So, leave a message, and I'll call you back. Bye!"

Stefan smiled a small smile, leaving a message. "You're so happy in your voicemail." He hesitated. "Speaking of happy, uh, that thumping bass you hear in the background? That's, um, Damon's genius idea to host Ric's bachelor party, despite the fact that our mother apparently lives here now... Who I've been ducking, by the way, in case you haven't noticed. I guess what I'm saying is... call me back. Otherwise, I'm gonna start out of reasons to avoid everything that is going on in my life right now. Kind of like what you're doing, which is completely understandable, but just really crappy timing for me and my problems. You should be here. Come home."

Stefan hung up.

I leaned against the doorway, smiling a small smile. "That was utterly adorable, brother. Bravado."

Stefan stood, turning to me. "What are you doing here?"

"Our mother," I answered.

"Our mother?" Stefan repeated in confusion.

I sighed, stepping further into the room. "Bonnie and I came up with a plan to destroy the Ascendant so that Kai and the other witchpires couldn't get out of the prison world. Mom threatened Damon to get the Ascendant back or she would destroy the Cure that Bonnie had gotten back from the 1994 prison world. Damon let Bonnie destroy the Ascendant, and Mom gave the Cure to Elena in a better form of revenge. Now, she's pissed at Damon, and she hates Bonnie, but, uh, she doesn't know that I was involved. And as of right now, she's in bad shape. Could use a bit of your time."

Stefan sighed. "Kaylin..."

"What?" I asked.

"Why do your plans always end up backfiring, no matter how good your intentions?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah, look who's talking," I replied.

"Why don't you just talk to her?" Stefan asked.

"Because it's my turn to duck her," I answered. "Damon's acting as if he doesn't want anything to do with her, and you've been avoiding her since you turned it back on. I've spent so much time with her that I found out that she's the one who turned Enzo into a vampire and that I just betrayed her without her knowing."

"Wait," Stefan told me. "What?"

"I. Betrayed her," I told him.

"No, not that," Stefan told me. "She turned Enzo?"

"You didn't know that?" I asked sarcastically.

Stefan gave me a look.

I smiled sweetly.

******

I walked through the party, finding Damon.

"There you are," Damon told me. "Surprised you're not dancing o the table."

"Tempting," I told him. "But I'm kind of busy."

"Yeah, whatever," Damon told me. "Where's Stefan? And please tell me he's with a stripper."

I rolled my eyes. "Picture that, and then picture the exact opposite. He's with our mother."

Damon groaned in disgust. "Now I don't want to picture anything."

"Did you know that she was the one who turned Enzo?" I asked.

Damon scoffed in disbelief. "That's mathematically impossible. Enzo turned in 19—"

"03," I finished. "Apparently, they were on a boat together back in England. He was sick, and she took pity on him, got to New York where she was captured by the Geminis."

"And here we thought she didn't have a maternal bone in her body," Damon told me.

"She also has a bit of a Ripper-thing going on," I told him. "That little stunt we pulled with the Ascendant put her in a blood tizzy."

"Well, then why is she out and about?" Damon asked. "Lock her ass up and rejoin the party, sister."

"Yeah, we will, if it comes to that," I told him. "Anything else?"

Damon looked slightly nervous. "Nope. Just love to Mom. Heh. Kidding."

"All right, well, I'm gonna go help Stefan lock her up if I have to," I told him. "If we call, you help."

"Got it," Damon told me.

I smiled, raising my eyebrows, walking out, leaving.

******

I walked into the Grill to see that Stefan was compelling a vampire-attacked girl. "You left dinner early because you weren't feeling well. You won't remember anything unusual that happened here tonight. Now, go home."

The girl turned, walking out of the Grill.

I walked toward Stefan. "Ah. Broken glassware, the overwhelming scent of fresh blood... I see the family reunion went without a hitch."

"And what the hell took you so long?" Stefan asked in annoyance. "I had to compel the entire restaurant myself."

"I was talking to Damon," I answered. "Telling him the plan. But then he took off with Elena. And I might not have Damon here to help, but I do have someone else."

Enzo walked in.

Stefan looked at me. "Seriously?"

"Get over your macho showdown," I told them. "It got boring. And I'm not gonna be trapped in the middle of your guys' fight anymore. Understand? Damon's not picking up his cell phone right now, which means it's just us. So, why don't you two lose the ignorant bigotry for maybe two seconds so we can stop Lily from killing anyone else and get this under control before it gets even more out of hand?"

Enzo looked at Stefan. "She is lovely when she's taking control, isn't she?" Stefan looked at him in annoyance. I gave Enzo a look. "And she is also correct. It is just us. Aw. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Suppose we ought to get used to it."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Stefan asked.

"Ah, that's right," Enzo told us. "You two haven't heard. Damon has the Cure, and if we're to believe his bluster, he plans on taking it with Elena."

I raised my eyebrows. "What?"

Stefan chuckled in disbelief. "I think we would know if our brother were planning on turning human."

"Based on the looks of shock on your faces, you don't," Enzo told us. Stefan and I exchanged a look, surprised. Enzo walked toward the door. "So, we can either stand here and debate the merits of Damon's word, or we can split up and find your mum before she rips their heads off. Which is it gonna be?"

Stefan and I exchanged a torn look, following Enzo.

******

I called Damon.

"Better be good, sister. Elena and I are having a moment."

"Damon, do not take that Cure."

"What? How do you even know that I was planning to?"

"Lily got away from Stefan, so it's a really bad time to be a human."

"What's going on?"

"You were right. We've go to lock her up."

I could hear Elena's voice on the other line. "What is she saying? I... I can't hear anymore."

"Apparently, Mama Salvatore's—" Damon was cut off by the sound of bones breaking and the phone falling.

"I'm sorry, but I won't be imprisoned again," Mom told him. "I didn't have to turn into this person. I kept her at bay for so long, but my children? They ruined everything."

"They were just trying to help," Elena told her anxiously.

"Look at me!" Mom told her angrily. "They're not helping! You're bleeding. You took the Cure. You're human."

"You don't want to feed on me," Elena told her.

"Yes—"

"Please."

"Elena, I do."

"No. No!"

I heard Mom groan in pain and footsteps retreating, turning to Stefan. "How about we find them now, huh?"

Stefan nodded.

******

Stefan and I found Damon outside of the Grill, unconscious.

Stefan was on the phone with Elena.

"I got to the tunnels. She came through the Grill. She might still be there."

"We're right outside, so get home. We'll deal with her."

Stefan hung up.

Damon started to wake.

I helped Damon stand. "Elena's safe. Get up. We need to find Lily."

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking," Damon told me sarcastically, groaning in pain.

I looked at Damon, unimpressed, shaking my head. "So, were you gonna tell us, or was it just... easier to be your normal, dickish self?"

"What do you think?" Damon asked.

"I think being a human is the last thing you want," I told him.

"I want to be with Elena, Kaylin," Damon told me.

"Do yo have any idea what it feels like for us to have to hear it from Enzo?" I asked. "To have no say as to whether we lose our brother or not?"

Damon groaned. "Of course I know what it feels like. Why do you think I didn't tell you? Can we go find our mother?"

I gave Damon a look, walking inside.

Mom was sobbing desperately inside.

I looked at Mom sadly.

Mom noticed me, looking embarrassed and exhausted. "Look what you've done to your mother. I'm a mess."

"In a few days, or months, or years, you'll feel different," I told her.

"What does it matter if I'm alone, terrified of falling off of the edge?" Mom asked. I didn't answer. "I supposed I'd be like Stefan, wouldn't I? Sad and alone. Or maybe you. Pretending to be completely free of my worries and putting on a show of a lifetime of the girl that has nothing to fear or worry about. Or Damon. Becoming a vampire that is a mere push away from becoming a monster."

Mom became overwhelmed by all of her various feelings, breaking a piece of wood off of the wall, pointing it at herself, preparing to stake herself to death.

I slowly stepped toward her worriedly. "No! No, no, no, no. You don't want to do that. Please don't do that." Mom didn't move, the stake still pointed at herself. "Stay alive for us. Your children. The ones who I know that, deep down inside you, you still care about. And who still care about you."

Mom looked surprised. "You're looking into my eyes. You always had such pretty eyes." For a moment, it looked as if she was about to consider my offer. Her voice turned cold and angry. "But this is because of you."

Mom rushed toward me, trying to stake me in the heart. I gasped in surprise, struggling to hold the stake back, merely inches from my chest.

Stefan and Damon rushed toward us, pulling Mom away, restraining her.

I tossed the stake aside, taking a vervain syringe, injecting Mom in the neck, making her fall unconscious in their arms.

Stefan, Damon and I exchanged an exhausted look.

Stefan looked at me. "You okay?"

I didn't answer, looking down, knowing that my mom had just tried to kill me.

But maybe that was what I deserved.

******

We had gotten Mom back to the cell in the basement at home after the party was over and everyone was gone.

I stood just outside the cell.

Mom woke. "Hello?"

"Look who's awake," I told her.

"Kaylin, what are you doing here?" Mom asked weakly.

"Just wanted you to know why I did what I did," I answered.

Mom stood weakly, walking toward me pleadingly. "Let me out, so we can speak like civilized people."

"That's not gonna happen," I told her. "They may have been your fake family, but they were going to kill everyone in this town. And maybe more. You might not care about that, but I do."

"A little late to win me over," Mom told me.

"It's never too late," I told her. "That's the upside of eternity. You'll be my mother for the next century, and the one after that, and the one after that. And one day, maybe not soon, but one day... You'll see me as your daughter."

Mom looked at me timidly. "Kaylin..." I looked at her hopefully. Her voice became colder. "You have no idea what devastation feels like... But you will. Because I am going to find a way to get my people back, no matter what it takes."