VIOLET STANDS OUTSIDE IN THE WOODS along with Alaric and Elena, the two girls wearing athletic attire and watching Alaric demonstrate how to stake a vampire on a training mannequin.

The man roughly punches the fake body, the two stakes from the weapon make to fit under a sleeve eject and impale themselves into the mannequin.

"So the pressure of your punch ejects the stakes." Alaric explains.

The brunette takes a step forward. "Easy enough." She breathes. Elena quickly punches the doll and frowns when the stakes don't eject.

"That's weird." The doppelgänger mumbles. She once again attempts to stake the mannequin and fails for the second time making Violet snigger from her spot. "Must be jammed or something."

"You're not strong enough. Better start lifting some weights, put some meat on your bones." Alaric tells her. Elena makes a face. "Thanks for not sugar-coating it."

The history teacher motions for Violet to take her turn. "No,  you try." The blonde walks closer and with the past few months on her mind, she pulls her arm back only to quickly punch the mannequin with all her strength, the stakes easily flying out and stabbing the fake body.

Elena's mouth gapes open while Alaric gives her an impressed and proud look. "Nice job, kiddo." He tells her, giving her a gentle pat on the back.

"How did you go that?" Elena asks her friend incredulously. Violet shrugs. "It's been a stressful few months."

Alaric bends over and takes an object out of his bag, showing it to the girls. "You know what this is?"

"A vervain grenade." Elena responds. "I've used one before.

"Then you know the element of surprise is your only advantage when it comes to a vampire. Surprise." The man takes the pin out of the explosive and throws it at Violet who panics and quickly tosses it to Elena. "Oh, my god." She gasps before throwing it between a clearing of trees.

"This isn't a joke to me, Ric." Elena scowls after the grenade had exploded, taking off her stake sleeve.

Alaric narrows his eyes. "You think I'm joking? Vampires will take whatever they want. They will hurt whoever they want. And they'll do it without remorse. It's their nature." He explains with a stern expression.

Elena swallows thickly. "You don't have to use pronouns. You can say Stefan."

"Look, I get why you two are here. You want to learn how to defend yourself." He says to Violet and then looks over to the taller teenager. "Stefan hurt you. You don't want it to happen again."

"But you think that we're crazy. To believe that we can protect ourselves from a vampire who's flipped the switch on his humanity. Or any vampire for that matter." Elena says bitterly, Violet's expression showing that she felt the same. Klaus would never hurt her and he would kill anyone that did, so he wasn't her concern. But ever since the Salvatore's showed up in Mystic Falls, Violet has been taken and tortured and hurt more times than she could count. That needed to stop.

"I think you both found a way to get out of bed this morning. And that makes you two the strongest people I know. I think that you can do pretty much anything."

━

Elena, Caroline, Bonnie and Violet stand in front of the school, looking up at heir high school with various expressions.

"Here we are. Senior year." Caroline says like she was in a daze.

Bonnie furrows her eyebrows as she looks at the school with her hands on her hips. "Anyone else think it should feel slightly more empowering?"

Caroline glanced at her friends expressions and sighs. "Okay. So prank night was a bust. But we are accepting it, and we are moving on."

"You're right. I mean, why should I let the fact that my boyfriend is seeing the ghost of his dead girlfriends hinder this experience?" Bonnie says as they begin to walk towards the building.

"Yes! And why should I let the fact that my boyfriend was turned into a hybrid put a damper on an otherwise fabulous day." Says the taller blonde girl with a grin.

"Let's not forget that my soulmate is a psychotic hybrid who daggers his siblings and has tried to kill all of my friends at least once?" Violet speaks up sarcastically.

Elena slows down her steps. "Today's our anniversary." She voices causing the others to turn around. "Technically, Stefan and I met on the first day of school last year."

"Yeah. You win." Caroline tells her with a frown. Violet didn't think she won, but she didn't say anything and instead gave her friend a sympathetic smile.

"Are you sure you want to be here?" Bonnie questions, concerned for the doppelgänger.

"I have to be here. I have to put it behind me. New year. New life." Elena insists, taking a deep breath before walking passed the three girls.

Caroline, Bonnie and Violet glance at each other before grins grow on the Their faces and the enter the school.

━

As Elena and Violet make their way to the brunettes locker, Elena's phone rings. "It's Damon." She tells Violet with a sigh.

"Hey. Are you checking up on me? Because I'm fine." The doppelgänger speaks into the phone. "Rebekah? She's living with you now?"
She suddenly says catching Violet's attention. There was a pause where Elena glanced at Violet before replying to whatever Damon was saying. "What about Stefan? What is he up to?"

Violet assumed he gave her some vague answer when Elena rolled her eyes. "Come on, Damon. I can handle it. What?"

Elena then huffs angrily while looking at her phone. "He hung up didn't he?" The blonde asks. The brunette nods and slams her locker shut.

From the corner of her eye, Violet sees Caroline putting up a flyer that read Spirit Squad Back-to-school Bonfire and nudging Elena.

"I forgot about the bonfire." Elena sighs as the two approach Caroline.

Caroline gives her a disbelieving look. "You have to go! It's our first spirit squad event. And it sets the bar for the whole year-"

"Relax, Caroline. I'll be there." Elena assures. The taller blonde looks down at Violet with an expectant look. "Yes, Care, I'll be there too."

Caroline smiled softly. "Thank you. It's just that--" Suddenly, Tyler arrived and locks his lips with Caroline. "Happy first day!"

Violet spots a small red stain on the collar of his shirt, her eyebrows furrowing. "Is that blood?" Elena asks, noticing the spot also.

"Oh my God!" Caroline mumbles, pushing her boyfriend into the boys bathroom, the two other girls following.

"What's going on?" He questions as his girlfriend glares at him. "Vampire 101--don't wear your breakfast to school!" She scolds him. Elena quickly checks the stalls to make sure no one is occupying any of them and nods at Violet.

Tyler rolls his eyes. "Chill out. It was just a blood bag." He says. "From where?"

"Rebekah hooked me up." The hybrid tells her making Violet face palm as Caroline makes a face. "Rebekah? And what are you even talking to her for?"

"Klaus told her to keep a watch on me. Protect his new asset."

Caroline looks at him, puzzled and angry. "His what? Why are you amused by this?"

"I'm his first successful hybrid, Caroline. Don't you think that's the tiniest bit awesome?" Tyler asks only making his girlfriend more aggravated. "Oh, wow! I cannot believe you just said that."

Elena and Violet glance at each other. "So, we're going to go. Good luck." The brunette mumbles and hands Tyler a bunch of paper towels. As the two girls make their way out of he restroom, the doppelgänger runs into none other than Stefan.

"Hello, Elena. Violet." He smirks.

Elena looks at him, slightly frightened. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? I'm going back to school. Go Timberwolves!" He cheers enthusiastically. "What? Why?"

"Klaus wants me to keep an eye on you two, especially Violet. I'm just doing what I'm told." Stefan replies with a smirk.

Elena sneers at him. "We're going to be late for class." She tries to leave but
Stefan grabs her by the arm. "Oh, class is this way."

Elena glares at him. "Let go of me, Stefan."

Stefan smiled bitterly at her. "Elena, do you think I want to be a senior for the 100th time? No. But if I don't have a choice in the matter, then neither do you."

"I said let go of me." The doppelgänger repeats. Violet's sighs in relief as she spots Alaric approaching them, scowling at the vampire.

"Let her go." Alaric demands. Stefan begins to back away with a smile but pushes the teacher against the lockers. "Stefan, stop it!" Elena hisses as they draw attention.

"You're not gonna want to get in my way. Okay Ric? I will see you three in history." He tells them with a smile before turning around and walking off.

Before history class started, Alaric along with the two teenager girls were in his classroom, the said teacher pacing angrily.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Alaric questions.

"Klaus compelled him to watch over me and Elena." Violet responds with an annoyed sigh.
"Apparently I'm one of Klaus's assets now that my blood is the only way to create a hybrid." Elena adds.

"Now he's a bodyguard?"

"I don't know what he is. But he's definitely not Stefan." The brunette whispers just as the bell rings.

Violet clears her throat and lowers her voice to a whisper. "Look, his being here is not good for any of us. We have to do something."

As students begin to enter the room, Violet and Elena take their seats along with Caroline and Tyler as Alaric writes AP AMERICAN HISTORY on the chalk board.

Stefan the enters the classroom, stopping at the desk next to Elena's and looking down at the student occupying it. "You're in my seat."

As the boy gets up, Stefan smiled at Elena and sits down. "Hey you."

"Welcome back, seniors. Let's turn our brains back on, starting with this country's original founders--the Native Americans." Alaric begins just as a familiar blonde walks in.

"What about the Vikings?" Rebekah asks as she takes a seat at the front, smiling at Violet and ignoring the looks the rest of the group gave her. "There's no evidence that Viking explorers actually settled in the United States. Who are you?" The history teacher questions.

"My name's Rebekah. I'm new. And history's my favorite subject." She replies with a small grin.

━

When nighttime rolled around, the usual group of friends along with Damon and Alaric, discussing their plan to take down Stefan.

"I'll lure Stefan away from the bonfire. Then when he's distracted--" Elena begins.

"I'll shoot him." Alaric finishes. Damon makes a face from his spot seated by the window. "Can't Bonnie just ju-ju him or something?"

Elena sighs. "I'm trying to keep Bonnie out of this. I don't trust that Stefan won't hurt her. Caroline, are you covered?"

"Yes!" Caroline responds. "I will make sure that the old Forbes jail cell is prepped and ready." She tells them.

"We're forgetting a key player here. Rebekah? Wherever Stefan goes, the blonde ponytail tends to follow." Damon speaks up resulting in Elena to turn around with a slightly uncomfortable look that she masks with a smile. "Which is why it's your job to keep her away. And if that fails, then Violet can just talk to her and keep her distracted."

"How? She's an Original. Last time I checked, we're out of daggers."

Elena smiles sarcastically. "So then preoccupy her with your charm."

"Might have better luck finding the dagger." Alaric says making Caroline and Violet chuckle.

The raven haired vampire rolls his eyes. "Are you ever not going to be mad at me, Ric?" He mumbles with a bored expression.

"Doubtful." The man replies.

The newbie hybrid then walks in. "Sorry I'm late. What's going on?"

The doppelgänger leans on the desk using her arms to hold her up. "We need you to raid your mom's vervain supply. Enough to keep Stefan down for a while." She tells him. Tyler looks at her weirdly. "You can't do that to Stefan."

Caroline looks at her boyfriend with furrowed eyebrows. "Why not?"

"Trust me, Tyler, it's in his best interest." Elena reassures. "Yeah. It's not in Klaus's." The hybrid says simply. Violet perks up suddenly, her soulmates name catching her attention.

"But Klaus is the bad guy, Tyler." Caroline tells him as if speaking to a child. "You know, why are you acting like some freaky, hybrid, slave minion." The blonde vampire questions.

From across the room, Damon silently examines Tyler. "Uh-oh." He comments. "What?" Alaric asks him.

Tyler gives his girlfriend a hard look. "Klaus made me who I am, Caroline. I owe him everything."

"Oh, boy." Damon says with a roll of his eyes.

Caroline turns to them with an annoyed look. "Okay, can we cool it on the commentary, please?"

Elena looks at the couple with a confused expression. "What is going on?" The brunette asks as Damon silently takes a vervain dart off of Alaric's desk.

"I'm just going to go." Tyler says looking uncomfortable. He turns to walk away but just as he reaches the door, Damon speeds over and injects the hybrid with the vervain causing him to collapse to the ground, unconscious.

"What are you doing?!" Caroline asks incredulously, shoving past the older vampire and crouching down next to Tyler's body.

Damon glares at the inert hybrid. "He's been sired." He states.

"What?" Violet asks. "Sired." Damon repeats. "He feels loyal to Klaus because Klaus's blood created him."

"Loyal how?" Asks the doppelgänger.

"He'll seek acceptance from his master. It's really rare. But maybe not so much in hybrids." Damon tells them, eyeing the body.

Caroline looks up at him. "So how do I fix him?"

"Get a new boyfriend." Damon tells her.

━

Violet and Alaric stand a few yards away from the bleachers, watching as Elena lies on the metal and blows air through her lips.

"I used to know every constellation. How did I forget them all?" She slurs as Stefan climbs up to her.

"You're drunk." Stefan says, amused. "You need to go home." Elena struggles to pick herself up. "Fine. Unh. Let me find my car." She tells him only to stumble and grab on to the railing.

"You're joking, right?" The vampire asks.

Elena rolls her eyes and sighs. "Uh-oh. It's the fun police. I thought that ripper Stefan was supposed to be the life of the party."

"Well, all right, I'm driving you home. Come on." He says, beginning to walk down the bleachers.

When he's not looking, Elena climbs over the railing and looks at him with a wide grin.

"What are you, five? Get down."

"Why?" Elena questions and laughs. "Are you afraid that I'm going to--" Her foot slips but she quickly grabs onto the metal.

"Oh." The brunette giggles. "That was close. Klaus would not be happy with you." She says pointing at him.

Stefan puts his hands around his mouth. "You're hilarious."

Elena takes her hands off the railing. "Look, Stefan, no hands." For the second time she begins to fall but quickly catches herself, Stefan now looking not so amused. Elena starts laughing only to actually fall back, screaming as she braces for impact.

Just before her body hits the ground, Stefan speeds over and heroically catches her. "I knew you'd catch me." She breaths. Stefan looks at her intensely before grunting and falling to the ground, two vervain darts stuck in his back.

The doppelgänger looks over at Alaric and Violet. "You okay?" Alaric asks.

"Yeah. I'm...Fine." Elena replies, breathless. Violet gives her friend a weary look. "You look, uh, not sober." She points out.

"The plan worked. That's all that matters. Let's just get him out of here." Says the brunette.

As Alaric placed Stefan in the back of his SUV, Elena hops into the passenger seat while Violet sits in the back. The history teacher closes the trunk and as he's walking back, his foot hits an empty can of gasoline.

"I see all the geniuses came out to the bonfire tonight." Alaric mutters to himself.

Unknown to them, the ghost of Vicki Donovan stands a few feet away from the vehicle, dropping a lit cigarette on the ground causing flames to erupt from the spilt gas.

Alaric panics as the fire reaches his truck, yelling for the two girls inside. "Violet! Elena!"

As the car begins to be engulfed by he flames, he sprints to the side of the car where Elena and Violet are attempting to escape. "Open the door!" Alaric yells.

Violet and Elena pull at the door handle but are unsuccessful. "We can't! It won't open! What the hell?" Violet exclaims.

As Alaric hurried to find something to break the windows, Vicki appears in he drivers seat, looking at the two clueless girls with a guilty expression.

"I'm sorry." Vicki says though they are unable to hear her.

Alaric returns, trying to break the door window with a lacrosse stick whilst Violet and Elena kick the glass with their feet but he fire only grows stronger.

As the smoke enters her lungs, Violet along with Elena began to cough violently. "Stefan. Stefan!" Elena chokes out.

The vampire begins to slowly regain consciousness, looking around confused before kicking the back door and sending it flying away. Right before Vicki could keep Elena inside the vehicle, she disappears due to Bonnie's spell.

"Hurry up before it blows!" Alaric shouts as he helps the girls crawl out of the burning truck. "Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" Elena yells, going to drag Stefan out. The three of them pull out the vampire and rushing away far enough to be able to dodge the flames as the car explodes.

━

After the accident, Stefan had vamp sped Violet to her house and then took Alaric and Elena to the Salvatore Boarding House.

Violet wondered what Klaus had compelled her parents to think when she left with him. The day before, when she had come home for the first time in the last three months, it was like she never left. Her parents treated her just the same and had no idea that she had been gone for the summer.

As Violet stood in her bathroom examining her burn marks, the doorbell rang. She quickly ran downstairs and opened the door, revealing a woman. She had tan skin, long raven hair and a wide smile. Violet smiled back but looked at her, confused. "Hi, um, who are you?"

The woman chuckled. "I'm Jeanette. I'm one of Klaus' hybrids." She replied.

"Oh, uh, okay." There was a small awkward pause as Violet just looked at Jeanette. "I'm sorry, not to be rude, but why are you here?"

Jeanette's smile brightened as she opened purse and pulled out a small plastic cup. Before Violet could ask what she was doing, her face vamped out as she bit into her wrist, letting the blood fill the cup about halfway before the wound healed. "Klaus got word that you were hurt." Jeanette told Violet while handing her the cup. "He sent me here to give this to you. To heal you."

Violet's mouth gaped open and she slowly reached out and took the cup from her hands. Avoiding Jeanette's gaze, Violet quickly drank the metallic tasting liquid. She felt her face as the burns healed and looked up at the hybrid. "Thank you."

Jeanette smiled and pivoted on her heal, beginning to walk away. Just as she stepped off the porch, Jeanette turn her head and gave Violet a smile. "By the way, Klaus says he misses you." She said before speeding away.

Violet felt her cheeks heat up as she closed the door and made her way up to her room. She shut off the lights and climbed into her bed, and grabbing her phone off the night stand. Tapping on the text message icon, she opened the bar that said Nik at the top and quickly typed her message.

- I miss you too, Nik.

━

Violet followed behind Alaric and Elena behind her through the Lockwood tunnels, shining her flashlight around so she wouldn't trip on anything.

"So, the Lockwoods really have no idea that these tunnels are underneath their property?" Elena questioned.

"Careful where you shine that thing. Bats hate the light." Alaric joked. Elena stops with a startled look on her face. "Wait, what?"

Damon slowly creeps up behind her, whispering, "Elena!"

The doppelgänger jumps and shines her light on the vampire. "Boo!"

Elena gasps and hits Damon in the chest. "Ah! God, Damon!"

"Scaredy-cat!" The raven haired vampire taunts with a smirk.

Alaric and Violet simultaneously roll their eyes. "Just ignore him." Alaric tells him. "That's what we do."

Elena sighs. "So, you really can't get in?"

Damon makes an irritated face. "No. Seems even the ancient Lockwoods were anti-vampire." He says walking passed her. "What do you mean, ancient?" She asks. "See for yourself."

They four of them walk deeper into the tunnels, Damon stopping and letting Elena go by. "Well, this is as far as I get to go."

Elena enters and shines her flashlight on the walls with the drawings.

"What is all this?" Violet asks, her eyes flickering over all of the little images carved into the rock.

"Well, as far as I can tell, it's a story." Alaric responds. "In simple, archaeological terms, it's a really, really old story." He points at the wall with his flashlight. "That right there, is the moon cycle. A man, a wolf."

Elena looks at the drawings with a puzzled expression. "A werewolf."

"Yeah, it's the "Lockwood Diaries: Pictionary-Style." Damon tells them.

Violet looks over at the history teacher with furrowed eyebrows. "I'm confused. I thought the Lockwoods came here with the Original Founders in the 1860s."

Alaric let's his bag slip from his shoulder. "I don't know. Maybe the Lockwoods did, but according to this wall, these werewolves have been here a lot longer than that."

"How long?" Violet questions.

Damon replies with, "Long. It gets better. Show them, Ric." Alaric walks over and shines his light on a different wall. "Names. They're not native. They're written in Runic, a Viking script."

Elena raised her eyebrows. "Vikings?"

"This name here, when translated it reads...Niklaus."

"Klaus." Elena whispered at the same time as Violet did, "Nik."

The history teacher moved the flashlight over. "And Elijah...and Rebekah." He said, the girls mouths falling open.

"These are the names of the Original Family?" Elena breathes. "Carved into a cave that's been here since way before the founding of Mystic Falls. Or even the entire New World, for that matter." Alaric says.

The doppelgänger shakes her head. "Okay, this has gotta be one of Klaus's fakes." She spoke, Damon agreeing with her.

Violet opens her mouth to defend her soulmate when Alaric speaks up. "That could be true, except the last name up here made us think otherwise."

"What's the name?" Asks the blonde. "Mikael." Alaric tells them.

Elena's eyes widened. "Mikael...Mikael, as in, the vampire hunter who knows how to kill Klaus?" Violet bites her tongue, stopping herself from saying something that would only make the situation worse.

"Yep. I now like to call him "Papa Original""

↠

"Which one do you think I should wear?" Rebekah asks. Violet had been invited over to the Salvatore House by Rebekah who said that they needed to 'bond' a bit more since she was her brothers soulmate.

Violet shrugs, scanning each dress worn by a compelled girl. "I'm thinking green or red. They would both look great."

The sound of the front door opening catches both of the blondes attention, the two walking out to see Elena looking around, confused.

Rebekah smiles brightly at the doppelgänger, holding some and bottle of champagne and some glasses. "Hey! What's up?"

Elena gives the Original a weird look. "You invited me over? To talk?"

"All right girls, have at it!" Six girls in homecoming dresses enter the room with black faces. "Okay, now twirl please."

"You compelled your own private runway show?" Elena questioned.

The female vampire looked at her like she was stupid. "I need a Homecoming dress. So, what do you think? Pick one." Elena scoffed. "I'm not here to help you shop. I'm here to talk about why you don't want me to wake up Mikael."

Rebekah speeds over to one of the girls, pushing her head to the side and placing her fangs just centimeters from the girls neck.

"I said pick one, Elena." She repeats. Violet sighs. "Elena just pick one."

"The...red one." Elena stutters. Rebekah smooths down the frightened girls hair. "There. It wasn't so hard, was it? Go away. Remember nothing."

The girls leave and she picks up her champagne glass, giving another to Violet and walks to Elena.

"You do not threaten me. You'll learn what I allow you to learn. Is that clear?" Rebekah said sternly. Elena gulps and nods, watching as she walks away before her and Violet follow.

The three of them make their way upstairs, Rebekah opening Stefan's door with a grin. "How fun is this?" She beams.

Elena looks uncomfortable as Rebekah begins to open drawers. "We shouldn't be here..." The brunette mutters.

"'Course we should! Come on, like you've never wanted to snoop." Rebekah says, holding up a pair of Stefan's underwear. "Boxer briefs. A lot has changed since the twenties."

Elena sighs. "Are you gonna root through his stuff all night or are you gonna start to tell me your story?"

"Ah...you really are no fun. What do you want to know?" Rebekah spoke.

Elena walks into the room. "Well, Elijah said that your father was a landowner in Europe. How did you guys end up here?"

Rebekah continues to look through Stefan's things. "My parents had just started a family, when a plague struck their homeland. They lost a child to it. They wanted to escape and protect their future family from the same fate."

"So, how did you end up here?" Elena repeats. "This part of the world hadn't even been discovered yet."

Rebekah chuckled. "Not by anyone in your history books. But my mother knew the witch Ayana, who heard from the spirits of a mystical land where everyone was healthy...blessed by the gifts of speed and strength. That lead my family here, where we lived amongst those people."

"The werewolves?" Elena speaks up after a minute. Violet thought it was a bit annoying how Elena asked so many questions and didn't just listen to the story. She believed Rebekah when she said that waking Mikael was one of the stupidest things they could do. She would have no part in it, especially if they wanted Mikael to kill Klaus.

"To us, they were just our neighbors. My family lived in peace with them for over 20 years, during which time my family had more children, including me." Rebekah explains, walking around the bedroom. "You make it sound so normal." Says Elena.

Rebekah smiles almost fondly. "It was. Once a month our family retreated into the caves beneath our village. The wolves would howl through the night and by morning we'd return home. One full moon, Klaus and my youngest brother Henrik snuck out to watch the men turn into beasts. That was forbidden. Henrik payed the price. And that was the beginning of the end of piece with our neighbors." Rebekah turns to face Elena. "And one of the last moments my family had together as humans."

Elena's phone suddenly begins to vibrate, breaking the silence and making Rebekah clear her throat. "You better get that. That'll be Damon checking up on you."

Elena answers her phone. "Hello?"

"Hey!" Damon responds from the other line. "Damon, where are you?" Elena asks, hearing music in the background.

"No idea, but I'm pretty sure I'm overdressed...Still standing?" He asks, the two blondes looking at each other and rolling their eyes. She didn't know why, but for some reason ever since she came back from being with Klaus over the summer, Violet noticed something had changed between her and her friends. She just didn't know what.

The brunette sighs. "Yes, I'm fine, but I can't talk right now."

"I'll be at the bar." A new voice says. Elena furrows her eyebrows. "Is that Stefan?"

"Yeah, I kinda went off a bit. Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

"Damon! How could you let him out?" Elena questions, raising her voice. "I've got this, Elena." Was the last thing Violet heard before Elena sighed angrily and turned her phone off.

Violet curses under her breath as she fails another level of a game on her phone, looking up when Elena speaks.

"Did you get your fill of snooping yet? Can we get on with the story?" She utters to Rebekah who is laid on the bed, flipping through one of Stefan's diaries.

Rebekah tosses the book on the bed, walking over to Elena but she stops when she spots a framed picture of the doppelgänger and vampire. "Honestly, I don't get you two as a couple."

"Why would you? You don't know anything about who he really is." Elena says, Violet's eyes rolling as she pinches the bridge of her nose.

Rebekah places the photo on the table, leaning down to Elena with a false smile. "I know exactly who he is. He's a vampire. We're a predatory species. We don't have time to care about humans and their silly little lives."

"Is that why you did that runway show earlier? 'Cause you don't care about the Homecoming Dance...You know what, I'm just gonna go." Good idea. Violet thought.

"You haven't even heard half the story." The female Original calls.

Elena pivots on her heal. "And you are not going to tell it. You're just bored and looking for someone to push around. Find someone else to play with...maybe you can compel yourself a friend other than Violet." The brunette begins to walk away.

"The necklace wasn't Stefan's to give. It belonged to the Original Witch." Rebekah speaks up.

The doppelgänger completely turns around. "The one who put the hybrid curse on Klaus?"

"Not just the hybrid curse." The vampire tells her. "She's the one who turned us into vampires."

Rebekah begins to tell the story of when her parents asked the witch Ayana to make their children vampires to protect them, and then stops. "I'm thirsty. Do you want a drink?"

The three girls head downstairs and Elena once again starts with her questions. "So, vampirism was a form of protection?"

"What else would it be?"

"A curse?" Elena suggests.

Rebekah looks at her. "My parents only saw a way of keeping their children alive."

Elena continues to look confused. "Yeah, but why stay, if they were so afraid of the werewolves? Why not...leave?" The blonde Original responds with, "Pride..." Just as she steps off of the last stair. "My father didn't want to run anymore. He wanted to fight and be superior to the wolves. Where they could bite, we had to bite harder. Where they had speed, we had to be faster. Agility, strength, senses..."

The story continues, their mother, Esther, and their father, Mikael, begged Ayana to make their children immortal and unable to die. But the witch refused, saying that the kind of magic they needed came with consequences.

"In her hands? How could she do anything?" The doppelgänger asks, referring to the part where the spell had to now be done by Esther herself as a last resort.

Rebekah glanced at Elena. "Because my mother was also a witch."

"What?" She questioned. Violet rolled her eyes. "The witch of the Original Family, Elena. The Original Witch?" The blonde human told her, following Rebekah and leaving the brunette dumbfounded.

"Where do they keep their best vintage?" Rebekah asked as they entered the Salvatore Library.

Elena trailed behind the two blondes with a puzzled expression. "But if your mother was a witch, then–"

"Am I?" Rebekah finished. "No, a witch is nature's servant; a vampire is an abomination of nature. You can either be one or the other, never both." She told them, taking a wine bottle from one of the cabinets. "My mother did this for us. She did not turn."

"How did you turn?" Violet asks curiously.

The vampire walks over to the fire place, staring blankly into the flames. "She called upon the sun for life, and the ancient white oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects, for immortality. That night, my father offered us wine laced with blood. And then he drove his sword through our hearts."

Elena and Violet stand there, stunned. "He killed you?" Elena whispered.

Rebekah turned around and Violet frowned when she noticed the tears that had welled up in the vampires eyes. Vampirism wasn't a choice for The Original Family. It was forced upon them by their wretched parents who refused to back down when their family was in danger. And no one deserved to be turned into a immortal being that survives off of blood against their will.

"And he wasn't delicate about it either." She adds, breaking off the neck of the bottle with one swift motion and throwing it into the fire.

Rebekah explains the moment when her and Klaus had woken up from their first temporary death. Mikael had come in with a random girl, spitting her wrist and forcing Rebekah to drink.

"It was euphoric!" She explained. "The feeling of power was indescribable...but the witch Ayana was right about the consequences. The spirits turned on us, and nature fought back...For every strength there would be a weakness..." Rebekah told them. "The sun became our enemy. It kept us indoors for weeks...and though my mother found a solution, there were other problems...neighbors who had opened their homes to us could now keep us out. Flowers at the base of the white oak burned, and prevented compulsion. And the spell decreed that the tree that gave us life could also take it away...so we burned it to the ground."

A distant look took over the Originals eyes. "But the darkest consequence was something my parents never anticipated...the hunger. Blood...had made us reborn and it was blood that we craved above all else. We could not control it...and with that, the predatory species was born."

━

"Why did Mikael start hunting Klaus?" Elena inquired.

Rebekah sighed uncomfortably and hesitated before answering. "When Nik made his first human kill, it triggered his werewolf gene. With that, he became my father's greatest shame."

"Yeah. Elijah told us this part of the story. Your mother had had an affair with one of the werewolf villagers. Klaus wasn't his son." The brunette said.

"She tried to make it right." Rebekah spoke. "She put the hybrid curse on Nik to suppress his werewolf side, and then she turned her back on him. But Mikael's greatest weakness as a human was his pride. As a vampire, that was magnified. He went on a rampage and killed half the village. Then he came home and killed her."

Violet's jaw dropped along with Elena's as they stared at the vampire in shock and sympathy. "Mikael killed your mother?" Violet whispered.

Rebekah swallowed thickly. "He said she broke his heart so he would break hers. He tore it from her chest as Nik watched." Violet could tell the memory of her mother made Rebekah upset. Her and her siblings didn't deserve any of the things they had to go through all because of their fathers selfish pride.

She wondered what it was like, to lose someone close to you. It had never really happened before apart from when Elena had been in the accident with her parents and almost died.

"Afterwards, my father took off in a rage, and the rest of my family scattered. Nik stayed, so he could help me bury her. He knew I had to say goodbye to my mother."

When she began to tell the part of the story where her, Klaus, and Elijah made their vow of 'always and forever' Violet felt her heart clench. Klaus hadn't always been the monster people think of him as now. He was just a boy who had been beaten down by his father, and payed the price for something he had now control over, while his mother just watched from the sidelines and did nothing. Violet knew how that felt from personal experience.

"Always and forever..." Elena repeated. "Even though he locked you in a coffin for ninety years?" Violet gave her friend a look. "Elena, he's her brother."

"We're vampires. Our emotions are heightened. I'm stubborn, Elijah moral, and Nik...Nik has no tolerance for those who disappoint him. Over a thousand years as a family we've all made that mistake at least once. I've made it several times." The blonde vampire said quietly, sounding ashamed.

Elena looked at the vampire in disbelief and confusion "But you still love him?"

"He's my brother." Rebekah restated. "And I'm immortal. Should I spend an eternity alone instead?"

Rebekah's eyes flickered around the room, avoiding each of their gazed and blinking away the tears that had welled up in her eyes. "You've heard the story, it's time to go. I said leave, Elena! I don't know what you're up to, but I'm no longer playing along."

"I'm just looking for one good reason why we shouldn't wake Mikael." Elena told her, Violet looking at her friend in disbelief. What part did Elena not understand that Mikael is a monster?

"And I've given you a thousand! But you will anyway. I know you want him to help you kill my brother, I'm not stupid." Rebekah sneered.

Elena scoffed. "It's no secret that I want Klaus dead. He has a hold over Stefan's life, and over mine."

Rebekah scowled and leaned closer to Elena, intimidating the brunette. "Do what you need. Wake Mikael at your own peril. But make no mistake, if you come after my brother, I will rip you apart. And I get my temper from my father. Now leave."

━

Rebekah poured herself and Violet a glass of scotch, handing over the drink with a soft smile.

"I'm sorry your family had to go through all of that." Violet said, taking a sip of her drink. "And I'm also sorry that you had to explain it all. I can imagine that it's hard to think about."

Rebekah sighed and smiled at the smaller blonde girl. "Don't apologize. You've done nothing wrong. It's those pesky little friends of yours that have been working my last nerve." The vampire said.

And as if she had heard herself being described, Elena entered the house once again.

"I thought I told you to leave. Twice."

"How do you know that Mikael killed your mother?" Elena asked, causing Rebekah to turn her head. "Nik was there. He told me." She said like it was obvious.

Elena sighed and looked at the vampire with pity. "He lied to you."

"And how do you know that?" Rebekah gave her a sarcastic smile.

"The cave where you carved your family's names is covered in symbols." She showed Rebekah the various pictures. "The story of your family, how your parents arrived, how they made peace, the spell that turned them into vampires, and this." Elena placed down a picture that showed the hybrid symbol. "This is the symbol for hybrid. It's a combination of the werewolf and the vampire symbol." She then put down the picture of another picture, this one showing he familiar design of the necklace that Stefan had given to Elena which was Rebekah's and The Original Witch's originally. "And this is the one for your mother."

"Her necklace." Rebekah breathed. "And this is the story of her death. The hybrid killed the Original Witch. Not Mikael. Klaus."

Rebekah began to shake her head. "No. No, he wouldn't."

Violet looked on with a worried expression. "Elena I think you need to stop."

"She put the curse on him, made it so that he would be the only one of his kind, and then she rejected him." Elena continued, ignoring her words. "With the werewolf gene comes aggression and violence...when he turned, all of that was heightened. He killed her, Rebekah. And then he made up this entire lie about your father, so that he wouldn't lose you."

The Original glared at the doppelgänger. "These mean nothing! They're just stupid drawings, done by stupid people who had no idea who my family was!" She shouted, throwing the pictures into the fireplace.

"Then why are you so upset?" Elena questioned.

Rebekah started to breathe heavily as tears welled up in her eyes. "Why are you doing this to me? I've done nothing to you!"

"Klaus killed your mother. He has a hold on you, on me, on everyone. He has for a thousand years. We have to make it stop!" Rebekah speeds at Elena, grabbing her by the throats and pinning her against the wall. "Shut up! Shut up! Don't talk anymore! Nothing!"

The vampire begins to calm down slightly, letting go of Elena and stepping back, looking like a kicked puppy. Rebekah backs away, her lip trembling as she slowly kneels down on the floor.

Violet rushes to her, putting a comforting arm around her shoulder. "You need to go." Violet mutters. Elena sighs guiltily. "Viol-"

"Just go, Elena."

The doppelgänger finally does, leaving Violet to hug Rebekah as she cried over truth of her mothers death.

━

filler chapter yes I know but it would have been even more boring if I did add episode 7. Don't worry Klaus will be back next chapter and I already have some juicy stuffed planned so be prepared. Love y'all!

– alexis