"Are you sure you want to do this? Like really, really, really sure?" Elena asks Jordan for what might seem like the tenth time that hour, but Jordan doesn't min. She would too, if Elena were to be the one to suddenly decide to take a break.

"I'm sure Elena. Ever since we found out we are adopted, there has been this wrenching feeling in my gut and now that someone has told me I'm not human, that feeling has increased in huge numbers."

Elena sighs. She doesn't want Jordan to go. Jordan is her rock in a storming sea, she keeps Elena's head - and those of a lot more – above water. She, however, also knows that Jordan is restless. She hasn't been herself lately, and Elena hopes that her journey to London will help her find her way onto the right track again.

"Alright then," Elena says, and she gives Jordan a big, tight hug.

Yesterday, Jordan said goodbye to Jeremy. She didn't want to lie to him, but he doesn't know the whole truth yet, so she had to. She told him she had to go back to London for a school project. Jeremy was hesitant to believe her, but he felt that whatever she had to do was important, so he let her go.

Telling Caroline she had to leave wasn't as easy. Caroline would have none of her lies, and she fired angry remarks at Jordan until her throat was hoarse and her breathing laboured. Jordan knows that Caroline didn't really mean anything she said, but her words still hurt like the stinger of a bee. Behind Care's fuming barrier, she could see her lower lip trembling and she saw tears well up in the corners of her sparkling eyes. In the end, Jordan merely whispered sorry.

The contrast between Stefan and Caroline was striking. Whereas Caroline was hectic, Stefan was calm an understanding. But Jordan figures it must have had to do with the fact that Stefan knew the whole truth while Caroline was left in the dark. Before Jordan had left the boarding house, Stefan had slipped a notebook into her backpack. He told her to look at it when she was alone. Although Jordan was curious, she trusted Stefan. So she bobbed her head at him and closed not only the door of the boarding house, but the door of her simple and human life as well.

♛

Jordan is currently seated in the passenger's seat of Damon's familiar Chevrolet. Her purple tinted backpack rests between her legs. Jordan isn't planning on staying for too long, so she only packed her necessaries. Her favourite sweater along with a fresh pair of jeans and enough undergarments to survive a few days, her toiletries, her phone plus charger plus earbuds, and a navy blue t-shirt that belongs to Damon. She had stolen – borrowed, as she likes to call it – it from Damon when they had stayed up late one night, looking into something Jordan doesn't remember.

Damon kills the sound of the radio as he looks from the corners of his eyes at Jordan. "I could come with you," Damon says, startling Jordan. "Whatever is bothering you, I can help."

Jordan shakes her head and she misses the hurt look that flashes across Damon's eyes. "You can't, and besides, I know that you are close to finding Katherine."

Her name rolls off Jordan's lips uncomfortably, and although she isn't too fond of the doppelgänger of her sister, for Damon's sake, she keeps her opinions for herself. She knows he loved her, and deep in his heart he might still do.

Jordan feels as if her heart is locked in a cage with gilded flowers, and with every syllable of Katherine's name the cage decreases in size. The thought of Damon loving another woman leaves her breathless.

Jordan averts her eyes, but no matter where they land, she can always feel Damon's eyes burning holes.

The car is eerie silent as they pull up at the airport. Damon nor Jordan makes any indication of moving. They are glued to their seats, savouring the precious time they have together, because when they see each other again their world could be flipped over a thousand times. Damon will have Katherine. Jordan will have answers. But will there be any of them?

"Damon, I-," Jordan starts, but Damon cuts her off.

"Stay safe."

Jordan takes Damon's rough hands in hers. "I will," she whispers. With one last look full of longing on both ends, Jordan opens the door and steps out. She slips her backpack over her shoulders and before she can say anything else, Damon speeds off.

And Jordan just stands there. In front of these enormous glass doors of the airport, while people of different ethnics rush pass her. Some are crying, some are relieved, some are stressed, but Jordan doesn't feel a connection to any of them. She just stands there. And for the first time in her life she has acknowledged the fact that she is slowly crumbling.

♛

As the plane takes off with Jordan sitting on the stool closest to the small window, she feels truly alone for the first time in months. She has been by herself, locked in her room or taking a walk, but wherever she went she was surrounded by Mystic Falls. The café, her school, her friends, even the trees were always pestering her. There is something special about Mystic Falls, no doubt about it. It takes a look into parts of your soul you so desperately want to keep hidden, and only when you leave the town do you realise that have been drowning all along. Because if Jordan is the rock everyone leans on for support, who will be the one keeping her from sinking to the bottom?

Jordan shuts her eyes. Tightly. Dismissing her swivelling thoughts until they are nothing but a mere whisper in her ears.

A woman with chocolate coloured skin and descending curls and a hot pink pencil skirt with matching blazer makes her way over to Jordan with a friendly, but practiced smile gracing her features, "Hello miss, can I get you anything? A glass of water or some soda?"

Jordan shakes her head and politely declines. The woman nods and pushes her trolley further down the aisle, repeating the same thing over and over again.

Jordan's eyes glide over the plane, and only when she is sure nobody is paying any attention to the blonde, does she open her backpack. Her backpack is small and light enough to be defined as hand luggage, so she didn't have too much complication with passing airport customs or stressing over her luggage.

With her hand she rummages through her stuff until they find what she is looking for. They clasp around a small, sort of notebook, and she fishes it out with curiosity burning through her veins.

The notebook is very Stefan like, and it won't surprise Jordan if it actually originates back to the late 19th century. It is brown, obviously, but it has a nice touch to it. The surface of the notebook is rough which, when you stroke over the cover, gives you feeling of touching real trees. Jordan loves it, and a small smile escapes her lips at the generous gesture of Stefan. Although the cover is very pretty, Jordan can't wait to know what is written inside of it. Stefan was very secretive when he handed it over, so Jordan figures it most have hold some sort of importance.

She opens the notebook on the first page, and her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. The notebook doesn't actually qualify as a notebook. It fits more into the description of a diary. Why in the world would Stefan give her a diary? Jordan shrugs her shoulders and makes herself comfortable. She props her legs underneath her so that she is sitting half on her knees and the lower part of her leg. She drapes the blanket – that was given to her at start of the plane ride – over her legs and starts reading.

1476, a horrendous day

Dear Diary,

My mother is dead. My father is dead. My sister is dead. I wish I was dead. It has been four days since the fire hit my village, and it has been five days since I knew. A fire was brewing in the heart of the forest, and the pain was unbearable. Trees were screaming, leaves were crying, the earth itself was burning, and there was nothing I could do. I knew it was only a matter of time before the fire wormed itself into what I called home, but my parents reacted different from what I expected.

When I came home that day my mother and father's backs were turned to me. My mother was seated in the old rocking chair in front of the fireplace, while my father was standing behind her, stroking her hair while humming a soft lullaby. I knew something was up, because my father only sang lullabies when someone cried.

"Mom? Dad?"

My parents turned around, and I was right, tears were streaming down my mother's face.

"We have to go, there is a fire headed towards our village, and if we don't leave right now, we are going to burn. So you pack all the necessaries to survive, I will collect my sister." But when my parents made no indication of moving, I almost broke down right there and then.

My mother stood up from her chair and made her way over to me. "Oh, sweetie, we know, and we need you to run."

I was perplexed. Why did they want me to run, while they dissolved to ashes?

Four days later and I still don't know.

There was no arguing with my mother, father, or sister. They were all hellbent on dying, while they wanted me to survive. My head was telling me to die with them, but in my heart I knew that they were right, how twisted that may be.

So I fled. I fled the village and have been running ever since. My tears have been cried, my feelings have been numbed, and the only thing going through my mind is running.

I think I have finally lost my sanity.

Love, Marilynn

Jordan's lips are parted and her eyes are wide. She feels so sorry for this woman and what she had to go through. Jordan doesn't think that she would survive if Jeremy, or Elena, or Jenna would die. She would rather die for them, then have them ripped away from her grasp.

Jordan flipped the page, and was surprised to see that the next entry was written many years later.

1483, a magical evening

Dear Diary,

I think I'm in love.

Yesterday, a letter was delivered to me. Written in cursive handwriting, it invited me to join a ball in the city hall. It didn't say who wrote it, or what the occasion was, it just told me to dress nicely and come to the city hall when the sun set.

I was so happy to finally experience something that is considered fun. I opened my closet and eyed the one gown that I had carried with me for years. The bottom of the skirt was light pink, at the waist it turned into a peachy colour, and the corset was a warm and welcoming orange. Tiny yellow flowers were sewed all across the skirt, and the upper edge of the corset was decorated with yellow, sparkling stones which accented my skin tone beautifully.

Now, what I was wearing wasn't all that important – although, when I stepped into the gown, it did made me feel as radiant as the sun. What is important is who I met.

He was the most handsome man I had ever laid my eyes on, and I think that everyone who has met him agrees with me on that. He walked with grace and I couldn't help but curtesy when he walked over to me.

He smiled and gave my hand a feathery kiss.

We danced the whole night, and as the minutes ticked by I was falling deeper and deeper. His hand rested politely on my waist, never slipping or inching higher, and his hand fit perfectly in mine.

He dismissed everyone who made his way over to him, telling them he was dancing with a beautiful woman who deserved his fullest attention. It made my cheeks tint red every time he said those words.

He talked to me about his life, and his problems, and his fears. And I talked to him about my life, my problems, and my fears. And by the end of the night I wanted nothing more to have our own life, our own problems, and our own fears.

I think I'm in love.

Love, Marilynn

While reading, Jordan's heart started to beat faster. An aching formed itself inside of her mind, her heart, her bones, her veins. An aching to love so passionately, and to share your life with someone and know that no matter how hard you might fall, that one person would always lift you back up.

Jordan dismissed her thoughts and read on.

1486, an unexpected day

Dear Diary,

I am pregnant.

Love, Marilynn

Drawn to the life of Marilynn, Jordan wants to continue reading, but the voice of the pilot echoes around the plane, "Good day passengers aboard the plane from Ronald Reagen Washington National Airport. I'm delighted to tell you that we have arrived at Heathrow Airport London. Have a nice day, and thank you for flying with American Airlines."