"Mikael is dead."

It was a little around midnight when Julie received that text. Katherine had left early in the morning, so early that when Julie woke up at 8 the vampire was already gone. There was a note on the kitchen counter "Don't leave the house, K." That was it. Katherine was never good at goodbyes.

Julie knew it would be stupid to leave the house, it was perfectly safe there for her as Katherine was the only one who knew about it. She texted Rebekah but she never answered, which worried her. The blonde had been eager to be her friend, it was unlike her not to answer.

Julie paced up and down, worrying. If Katherine was successful tonight, she'll see the vampire again and even her boyfriend. But if she failed, she will need to leave the continent or worse, she might die. Which, in any case, meant Julie will never see her again. But what annoyed her above all else is that she worried about Klaus. The hybrid had done so many terrible things, but still, she worried. It felt silly to worry about a thousand years old hybrid. He could take care of himself. And tonight, once again, he did. Julie had no idea what to do. It was late but going to bed now felt wrong. She had no idea what had really happened. Just that Mikael was dead.

Suddenly, her phone started to ring. A knot formed in her stomach when she saw Klaus' name. Did he know she knew about the plan? Why was he calling her? She took a deep breath and picked up.

"Hello?" she tried to keep a steady voice but failed.

"Julie, love, I need to know where my sister is."

"You don't know?" Julie asked, confused. Wasn't she supposed to help the Salvatores kill him?

"Know what?" he sighed.

"I...I don't know where Rebekah is. Have you checked the Salvatores'? She lived there while you were...doing whatever it was you were doing."

"And where are you staying, love?" he asked.

"...I found a place."

Klaus chuckled. "It sounds like you don't want me to know where that place is."

"Tell Rebekah to call me when you find her."

"I see you've befriended my sister. What else have you been up to?" he asked with a more serious tone.

"Nothing much," she shrugged. "You? I guess you've been making hybrids all this time."

Klaus chuckled. "I was. It turned out to come handy tonight."

"What do you mean?" she faked.

"You're a terrible liar, Julie. How did you know I was even back in town?"

Julie took a deep breath. He knew.

"I knew they were planning something. I just didn't know what."

"Again. You're a terrible liar. But that's ok. I'm not mad at you. I get it. Got your boyfriend in a box and all that."

"Again. Tell Rebekah to call me when you find her."

"I will."

"And Klaus..."

"What is it, love?"

"...I'm glad you're alive." Klaus didn't say anything but didn't hang up either. He was surprised and speechless. "Good night Klaus."

Julie got to her bedroom and let herself fall on the bed. She tried to call Katherine again but she didn't pick up. She sighed as she let the phone slip out of her hand. She sat up and sighed again. What was she going to do now? Katherine was gone and she lived in a town full of vampires. She needed to be able to defend herself.

She walked towards the dresser and opened the first drawer. She took the bracelet out and stared at it for a minute before she put it on. There was no way she could sleep tonight anyway. It was time she embraced what she was. She had powers, she should be able to use them. If Klaus wasn't going to free Elijah, she was going to have to do it herself. She had found candles while she was looking around one day and she decided it was probably the easiest thing to begin with. She settled three candles on the kitchen counter, near the sink, and focused on them. They lit up almost instantly. It was even easier to put them out. She thought she should try something bigger, like the chimney. But she started the fire and put it out so easily it scared her a little. The smell of smoke invaded the house while she got used to the feeling of power coursing through her veins. With her bracelet on, it seemed like she could do anything. Reviving the almost dead plants of the house was as easy as creating wind. She almost made a shelf full of old books fall but she managed to stop in time. Managing water and air together was fun. She liked creating bubbles of all sizes, strong bubbles that don't burst so easily.

Using her power exhausted her and she fell asleep on the couch. When she woke up, it was around noon and she had tones of missed calls from Klaus. Barely awake, she called him, wondering what he wanted.

"Finally, love, I was starting to worry."

"I'm sorry, what's going on?" she yawned.

"Did you just wake up?" he mocked.

"I had a long night," she sighed. "Any word from Rebekah."

"No. I'm looking for Stefan," he told her.

"Stefan? Why? Isn't he supposed to do everything you tell him?"

"I gave him his freedom back last night," he growled. "He stole the coffins."

Julie's heart skipped a beat. "What?"

"So you don't know where he is?"

"You don't know where Elijah is?" Julie shouted. Klaus sighed.

"Calm down. I will find him."

"Where are you?"

"Mystic Grill."

"I'll be there in half an hour," she said, hanging up. She took the quickest shower and changed her clothes and got in her car and drove her way to the restaurant.

When she entered the Grill, Klaus was talking with Damon and Elena. She hesitated to approach them but she figured Damon wasn't going to hurt her in front of all these people.

"Julie, finally you're here," Klaus grinned. "Missed me?"

"What's going on here?" she asked.

"Well, my sister seems to be missing. Need to sort that out," he said looking back at Damon and Elena. The vampire gave a bad look to Julie who didn't show him her fear. She would set him on fire if she had to.

"Cute? Blonde bombshell? Psycho? Shouldn't be too hard to find," Damon said.

"I know you did something to her," Julie said. "She stopped answering her phone yesterday afternoon. And I know she was with you."

"Why do you care?" Damon asked.

Klaus laughed at Julie's attitude. "Truth is, I've grown to like your little town. Thinking I might fancy a home here. I imagine you're wondering how does this affect you. And the answer is, not in the slightest. As long as I get what I want, and everyone behaves themselves, you can go on living your little lives however you choose. You have my word," he grinned.

"What more could you possibly want?" Elena asked.

"You could tell him where Stefan is," Julie asked with a cold tone. "Now."

Klaus chuckled. "You heard her. Where is your brother?"

"Stefan skipped town the second he saved your ass," he answered. Julie frowned. Stefan saved Klaus' life? That must be why Klaus gave him his freedom back last night.

"Well, you see, that is a shame. Your brother stole from me. I need him found so I can take back what's mine."

"That sounds like a Klaus and Stefan problem," Elena said.

Klaus didn't appreciate her remark and took a step forward but Damon stopped him and placed himself between him and Elena which made Klaus laugh.

"Well this is me broadening the scope, sweetheart," he grinned. Julie knew this meant people were going to get hurt. "So you better find him fast," he said, walking away from them. Elena turned around and looked at Julie with disgust.

"So you really are working with him?"

"Stefan took something important to me," she answered. "So yeah...I'm working with him," she said before following Klaus outside.

"You're not going to be of any help to me, love," he told her once they were on the streets.

"I could be," she said, looking up at him. "There's something you don't know about me." This got his attention. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell him but she wanted to help him get Elijah back and she was going to do anything to find Stefan. "I found out why I can't be compelled."

"Don't tell me you're a witch, sweetheart, I don't like witches."

"I'm not a witch, Klaus. I'm an elemental."

Klaus looked at her, doubtful. "Elementals are all dead."

"That's what I've been told," she said, keeping a serious tone. "I can control the four elements. I can help you."

"You've been practicing?" he asked. "You do know elementals are like witches, just...powerful."

Julie frowned. "You mean...I can do what a witch can do?"

"Yes and more," he grinned. "You might be helpful to me," he said. "I'll keep you informed."

"Where are you going?"

"Don't worry," he sighed. "I'll get my family back."

"What about Rebekah?"

"All my family. I'll call you when I need you," he said before he left.

Julie sighed. She wanted to do so much but she could do so little. If what Klaus just told her was true, she had so much to learn and she had no idea how to learn them.

When night came, she still hadn't heard from Klaus. Finally, she received a text from him telling her he knew where Rebekah was. When she asked him if she could talk to her he said she couldn't talk right now and that could only mean one thing.

"You're the worst brother ever."

"Need a place to live? I'm renovating a huge house. There's a room for you here."

"Is that your way of telling me you need my help?"

"We can't help each other if we don't know where we are."

"Call me when your house doesn't need renovating anymore and I might think about it."

"Where's your sense of adventure?"

"In Chicago."

"Good one. See you tomorrow."

"What for?"

"Threatening, compelling, killing..."

"Good one. Have a good night Klaus."

The next morning, Julie drove to Klaus' house. It was even bigger than Elijah's. And Klaus was right, it did need renovating. She tried not to walk on tools or paint and finally found Klaus after getting lost in the huge property.

"You need to make a map of this place, Nik," she sighed and he chuckled. "Wine? Really? It's not even 10," she told him as she saw the glass in his hand which made him laugh.

"That's not wine, love."

"Oh..." Julie felt stupid. "Of course not," she sighed as she walked towards him. "So, what have you been up to?"

"Same old, same old," he sighed. "Threatening my way to what I want."

"And how's that working for you so far?"

Julie gasped and jumped as she heard Stefan behind her. He didn't expect to see her here but he was amused by her reaction.

"I'm surprised you're still in town," Klaus said. "I gave you your freedom, you could have gone anywhere."

"I live here, Klaus," Stefan told him.

"Well, if we're playing this game, then, I was here first."

"You know, I don't like you hybrids friends. They're everywhere, kinda like fleas. I want them gone," merely he said.

"Yeah, well, I kinda like having them around," Klaus answered. "You know, I'm hurt. I hoped that, uh, I'd free you and we'd pick up where we left off, but here you are, guzzling vervain like the rest of them, I'm sure. So much for friendship."

"Friends don't strip friends of their free will."

"Ok, granted, yeah, that was a little extreme."

"A little?" Julie raised an eyebrow and looked up at Klaus who chuckled.

"But I get a little moody. Just ask my siblings." Julie rolled her eyes and shook her head then crossed her arms over her chest. "Speaking of whom...Isn't it time you handed them over?"

"Klaus," Stefan sighed. "Get your hybrids out of Mystic Falls or I will remove them myself," he threatened.

"Hmm," Klaus nodded. "You see, if you keep to threaten me, I'm going to be forced to retaliate," he said. "Kill people. And it'll get messy again."

"Really? And you're okay with that?" Stefan chuckled and asked Julie.

"It's not about if I'm okay with it. It's about you keeping Elijah in a box somewhere," she told him and Klaus seemed happy with her answer.

"Do whatever you want. I don't really care," he shrugged. "Or, you know what? Maybe I do. Yeah... Maybe I care so much that," he stopped and grinned at Julie. "That I drop Elijah in the artic."

As soon as he said those words everything flammable in the room got on fire. Julie didn't do it on purpose but she knew she could control it. Stefan looked around, confused and worried for an instant before he composed himself and tried to take a step forward but instead his feet got off the ground and in the next second his back was banging on the wall behind him.

"Love, I'm trying to renovate this house please don't burn it to the ground," Klaus said.

Julie watched Stefan try to get back on his feet and he looked up at her, confused. She gave him a look that could have killed him right on the spot and tilted her head a little before she took a step back and doing so, the fire was gone.

"How are you doing this?" he asked but she had no intention of answering him.

"Well," Klaus cleared his throat. "Just know if you hurt my brother I'll hurt yours."

"I'll help," Julie said. She had no problem whatsoever with hurting Damon.

"Is everything okay?" one of Klaus' hybrids asked, entering the room.

"Everything's fine, Mindy. Stefan was just leaving." Stefan frowned then chuckled. Faster than Julie could see it, Stefan took the saw that was lying on the table next to him and cut Mindy's head off. Julie gasped, terrified and Stefan looked proud of himself.

"Well, one down. You may want to send the rest of them away before it gets messy...Again," he grinned before he let the saw fall on the ground and then left.

"What are you going to do now?" Julie asked with a trembling voice.

"Retaliate," he growled. She looked up at him, doubtful.

"How?"

"I have a few ideas."

"You're not gonna kill anyone, are you?"

"I'm just doing what it takes to get my brothers back," he sighed. "I will call if I need you."

"Wait...You said I could do anything a witch can... Can't a locator spell help us find them?"

"And who is going to teach you how to do one?" Klaus had a point. Who could teach her magic?

Then, a thought crossed her mind. The chest. Her mother's chest that was in the storage and that she couldn't open. She had no idea what was in it. It could be anything. There was no way her mother didn't leave her anything about who she really was.

"Klaus, could you....help me with something?" she asked.

"What?"

"I have this...chest, I can't open. There's a lock but I don't have the key. I'm thinking...maybe my mother kept...books in it...like..."

"Like a spell book?" Klaus said, skeptical.

"Yeah..." she shrugged. "Maybe all she never told me is in it."

Klaus sighed. "And you want me to break the lock."

"Please?"

"Well, it might be helpful in the future," he shrugged. "Where is that chest?"

Julie led Klaus to the storage and as soon as he saw the chest he recognized some symbols Julie just thought it was some random patterns.

"What do they mean?" she asked.

"You see this one," he pointed at the first one painted in blue. "That's the symbol of water. The one in green represents earth, the yellow one is air and the red one is fire. Now, I don't really know what the purple one is or..." he walked over to look at the back of the chest where he found more symbols. "Or what the clear blue one is but I guess the dark symbol and the white one talk for themselves."

"Do they?"

Klaus chuckled. "I guess darkness and light and maybe electricity and ice."

"I thought elementals could control the four elements not..."

"Depends on how powerful they are, I guess," Klaus told her. "You said you could control all four of them?"

"I can. It's...scaring me how easily it happens..."

"Well, let's open this thing, shall we? You might find out more about yourself."

Klaus easily tore the lock from the chest before he opened it. Inside, there was a huge book so big it could only be an old grimoire. The kind you see in movies. There were a few opened letters and other crystals like the one on her bracelet and other diaries.

"Your mother left you quite the arsenal, love."

Julie kneeled and took the grimoire out. It was so heavy she looked up at Klaus and silently asked for help.

"This look...old," she said.

"Must be at least 800 years old," he nodded.

She slowly and carefully opened it and noticed that the first page wasn't written in English.

"Do you know this language?"

"I do. This says "The Practice of the Sacred Elements.""

"The sacred elements?"

"It's an old book, at that time, magic was either a gift from God or Satan. I guess your ancestors chose their side."

"What else does it say?" she asked. She sounded curious and excited.

"Love, I'd be happy to translate this for you but maybe at a better time?"

"Right," she nodded, disappointed. "Can you help me bring this to my car?"

"I can help you get all those boxes in my house," he grinned. "My offer still stands."

Julie sighed. "Sure," she shrugged. "But I'm not moving in until your house has running water."

Klaus laughed and nodded. Once the boxes were in his car and the chest in hers they drove their way back to their own house.

Back at Elijah's place, she went through the entire book without stopping to eat or sleep. She couldn't read it, though she thought she recognized some words but it didn't make much sense. The book was full of drawings of mystical creatures and she wished she could speak the language because it all made her more and more curious. Vampires and werewolves didn't surprise her but she found drawings of what appeared to be mermaids, fairies, giants, dwarves and other legendary creatures there was no way could exist.

When the sun went up she still hadn't finished going through the grimoire and she wasn't going to stop. A little after noon, she could not not notice the hunger anymore. Though she decided to ignore her need for sleep she ate an apple and went back to the book. Around midnight, she finally closed the grimoire and took one of her mother's diaries and settled in the couch and started reading it.

She found out her mother always knew what she was. Her grandmother was a mermaid and her father controlled both fire and ice, which was unusual, even for the most powerful elementals. All the elements had been controlled by her ancestors but none of them ever controlled all of them at once. Her own mother controlled the four elements and electricity. Apparently, it was uncommon for a member of the Johnson's family not to control at least all the primary elements. Julie learned she was part of one of the most powerful families of elementals and one of the oldest.

Julie woke up on the couch, the diary had fallen on the floor. It was past noon when she opened her tired eyes. She was so hungry she took an apple from the kitchen, the last one, and ate it while she climbed up the stairs. She decided she needed a bath to relax. The bathroom was invaded with bubbles, small and big, while she relaxed in the hot water where she fell asleep again. When she woke up, she was freezing but it only took her a second to warm the water again so she wouldn't be so cold when she got out. It was around 5 when she took her phone and noticed she had tones of missed calls from Klaus.