As soon as he'd left the Park home, Kol was dialling numbers on his phone. He first tried Rebekah, suspecting he'd have more luck with her. However, his sister's phone kept ringing with no response. He rolled his eyes, wondering whether she was ignoring him for some pointless cause like apologizing to Matt Donovan for the thousandth time. If that turned out to be the case, then damn promises, he'd kill the boy himself.

After a second attempt at calling her, Kol finally gave up on trying to reach for his sister and opted to call his brother next. Elijah would have been his choice before Klaus, his loyalty to those who are loyal to him making Kol certain he'd join him in his task. But sadly, Elijah wasn't there. So Klaus was the only option left. Luckily, he did pick up his phone, and on the first try too.

"Where are you?" Kol questioned, having already started to head in the direction of the mansion in which he expected his brother to be. However, Klaus' reply had Kol changing directions in the blink of an eye.

"I'm at the Salvatore house, and whatever you need Kol, it will have to wait a couple of days. Rebekah and I are leaving town, I've already called the plane." Klaus announced dismissively just as he was heading out of the Boarding House.

"You're going to put your trip on hold." Kol didn't bother with niceties and asking politely. He was either getting his brother to help, or he was doing this on his own. Once Samuel was dead, Emma could scold him for not doing as he said he would.

"Well someone's cranky. Trouble in paradise, little brother?" Klaus taunted, smirking as he listened to his brothers angry breath coming from the other end of the line. "Should I assume Emma's met an untimely demise?"

"Klaus, I do not have time for your taunts." Kol snarled impatiently, not even giving Klaus a chance to begin questioning his reactions. The hybrid knew his brother had a short fuse, but hearing the amount of rage within his voice made Klaus actually stop taunting him for a moment to listen. "I assume you know about Emma's father?"

"Ah, so she finally told the torrid tale." Klaus was back to smirking again, thinking Kol's anger merely stemmed from the fact that he himself hadn't told him. "The whole tale?"

"Yes, Nik, I know she's dying." Kol said, his voice much more strained as he momentarily thought back to that part. No, that was something he'd focus on later. With that he still had some time, but not if they didn't take care of the other problem. "I'm not calling to rip you apart about that. I'm calling because she's in danger."

And Klaus instantly sobered up, amusement entirely gone from his face. "Where are you? Where is she?" Klaus demanded over the phone, ready to run in whichever direction he had to.

"I'm near the Square, heading out of town to the warehouses. I was hoping you'd join me since I promised Emma I wouldn't go kill her father alone?" Kol couldn't miss the shift in his brother, and just based on that he knew he wouldn't have to break his promise to Emma about not going alone.

Kol was expecting Klaus' answer to come over the phone. However, it took only a few seconds before his brother's voice sounded off right next to him. "I would be my pleasure." The murderous gleam was present in full force on Klaus' face. And it was just what Kol wanted to see.

There were no more words spoken between the two as the older brother motioned for Kol to lead the way, and soon enough they set off, running as fast as their vampire speed would allow them. However, only once they reached the warehouses, would they realize their mistake...

"You have him wrapped around your little finger, don't you?" Marissa questioned when she and Emma found themselves alone in the house again. The look on her face seemed to be both impressed and teasing at the same time, making Emma give out a small laugh.

"It goes both ways." Emma revealed, smiling as she glanced back to the door through which Kol had left only moments ago. She turned back to her mother, watching the look on her face change and wondering what it might mean. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm realizing how much you've changed here since we arrived." Marissa said, a smile spreading over her face that made Emma believe she wasn't judging her for it.

"And you approve?" Still, she had to ask.

"I do." Marissa revealed with a warm smile on her face. "I know I can't say I've done everything right, but at least I can be proud of who you became in the end. Despite my screw-ups." Marissa told her daughter, pulling her into a hug.

And none of it was a lie. In the four months they'd been in Mystic Falls, she'd watched her daughter grow into a strong woman who stood her ground, despite what anyone else told her or believed she should do. Marissa admired her for being all the things she herself couldn't be at her age.

"Okay, mom, you're being mushy." Emma laughed, but still hugged her mother back. She could understand why. The thought of finally not having to run and constantly look over their shoulder, something Marissa had been dealing with for years alone, could certainly bring the mushy out in anyone.

"You're right. I'll save that for grad-" Marissa started to pull away, laughing as she was about to horrify her daughter with plans on how much worse she'll be at her graduation. Instead, the doorbell cut her off. "That must be the Sheriff. She said she'd come over sometime in the evening." Marissa announced, moving to the door. Just as she told Emma only days ago, having the Sheriff as a friend and aware of their situation, certainly came with its perks.

Marissa headed for the door, leaving Emma alone in the kitchen. With a small smile on her face, Emma moved around the area, plucking a glass out of one of the cabinets as she got ready to take her medication for the night. She let the tap run, waiting for the cold water. The sound of it splashing against the metal of the sink wasn't enough to tune out her mother's voice in the hall.

"No!" And then the door slammed so hard Emma thought the house vibrated along with it. It made her instantly drop what she was doing, as she headed out into the hall.

"Mom? What's going on?"

Marissa never got to give her daughter a reply. Instead, the door smashed open, the wood cracking apart as it flew off the hinges. A large piece of metal sailed across the hallway, forcing the two women to duck out of the way and back into the kitchen. But not before Emma caught sight of who was standing at the door.

"It's ok, it's ok. He can't come inside." She reassured both her mother and herself as she felt Marissa's hand tremble in her own. She looked around, her eyes instantly falling on her mother's phone, but then she remembered it was dead. And her own was in her bedroom... Across the hall.

"I don't have to come inside. All I need is for you to come outside to me." Her father's voice called into the house, and Emma felt a shiver go down her spine as she heard it. It was both familiar and foreign. She remembered the warmth with which it used to be fuelled, but now it was just cold and sadistic.

"Good luck with that!" Emma snarled, moving to the edge of the room to judge the distance separating her from her bedroom, and the phone inside. If she could just get to it, and call someone. Hell, she'd even call Damon if she couldn't reach anyone else.

"What are you doing, get back from there!" Marissa hissed at her daughter as she leaned her head forward just a bit, looking towards the front entrance only to find it empty.

"He's gone." Emma announced, using her chance to start moving. "I just need to get to my phone in my room." She whispered running across the hall and pushing the door open. She stepped inside, ready to rush to her nightstand and grab the device. And then the glass of her window shattered and something sailed through the air before slamming into the ground, flames erupting instantly and blocking her path. Especially once her bed covers started to catch fire too.

"Fuck!" Emma cursed as she tried to reach for the phone despite it, only for the flames to lick her arm and force her to pull it back. Letting out a string of coughs, she thought quickly, remembering the obsidian stone sitting on the dining room table.

She rushed back out of her room, nearly slipping on the liquid she only then noticed coating the floor. Looking to the end of the hall, only then did she notice what it was her father used to break the door open. It was a fucking gas tank, and the flammable liquid coated the floor of the main hall.

"It's good to see you again, peanut." Her father's voice came from the door, making Emma's eyes widen. The use of her childhood pet name sounded completely foreign, more threatening than loving. But she had no time to focus on that as she saw him raise his arm, and spotted the bottle in his hands, already starting to flame.

Without hesitation, she ran across the hall, back into her mother's arms just as Samuel threw the bottle into the hallway. Seconds after flames burst from the floor, much stronger than the ones in her bedroom had been.

"Bastard is using Molotov cocktails!" Emma announced. The smoke from the hallway was quickly spreading through the house, making her lungs strain in struggle and forcing her to let out a couple of coughs. She did her best to ignore it as she rushed to the dining table, grabbing the stone she held it firmly in her hand.

"Has he taught you spells to defend yourself?" Marissa questioned her daughter, appearing by her side in an instant. If Emma didn't know any then it would be smarter for her to be the one to siphon the magic from the stone. It had been years since she even felt magic, much less used it, and she knew getting back to it wasn't as easy as riding a bike, but at least she knew them.

"He did." Emma said. It was one of the things Kol liked to teach her the most, getting to it even without her ever having to ask. Even if it was spells which she could use against him too.

She was about to siphon the stone when the window on the other side of the table shattered just like the one in her bedroom. The table in front of them exploded with heat, forcing Emma and Marissa to stagger back just as another window broke, this time in the living room.

Emma was quickly realizing what her father was doing. He was leaving them with only two choices. Either the house would burn to the ground taking with it any protections which would make him need to be invited inside if they even survived that. And they weren't likely too. Her own body reminded her of it as another string of violent coughs escaped her. The only other option was to go outside.

"That's not how I planned it, but beggars can't be choosers." Emma couldn't pinpoint the sound of her father's call, whether it came from the window or the door. But she wondered what it meant.

This was planned, the fire and flames spread in an almost organised manner, blocking them in the kitchen with no other ways out but the back door which remained untouched. So which part was unplanned?

She turned to her mother, thinking Marissa might have an answers, and then she found it herself. She tried to reach for her mother as the woman staggered back, her eyes wide in shock. But Emma didn't catch her in time before she fell to the floor, a large shard of glass sticking out of her neck.

"No, no, no!" Emma rushed to her side, falling to her knees next to her mother and working through a coughing fit as she started to siphon the stone. "I can fix this." She breathed out, but before she could think of one of the many healing spells she'd found in her journal or start an incantation, Marissa grabbed her arm in a fierce grip.

"Don't...." The mother started to speak, her voice coming out in a weak croak, struggling to get any sounds out but still she put so much conviction behind the words. "Waste... It!" Speaking only made the blood pour out of the wound even more, and it was already soaking through Emma's jeans as she knelt by her side on the floor.

"No, mum! No! I'm going to help, okay, just hold on." Emma tried to ignore her, but Marissa wouldn't have it. So she did the only thing she could. She knew she needed to give her daughter a fighting change. If she knew defensive magic, then that is what the magic in the obsidian had to go into. Not healing her. And Emma was clearly going to do it if she wasn't stopped.

Marissa reached up with one of her arms, face scrunching up in pain at any movement, but she forced her body to obey. Ignoring Emma's questions of what she was doing, Marissa's fingers grabbed onto the glass in her neck, ignoring the cuts it made as she yanked it forward. She tried to hold in a scream of pain, but by the time her resolve cracked barely anything came out.

"No!" Emma tried to stop her once she realized what was happening, but she was too late, leaving her with only the option of pressing her hands into her mother's neck in an attempt to hold back the bleeding. But even with the pressure, blood kept pouring out, coating her hand until she couldn't see anything but red on them.

"I... I love you." Her mother whispered, hoping Emma could hear her despite the sounds of the fire cracking as it rose louder and her own sobs, one that she was entirely unaware of as she held on to her mother. But with those words spoke, knowing she got a chance to say it one last time, Marissa's body finally stilled, and her eyes fluttered until they fully closed. And Emma could feel her breaths stop beneath her fingers.

"Mom, please! No, no, no!" Emma cried, her heart breaking as she tried to shake her mother awake, but it didn't work. Marissa didn't move. Emma's tears came out in floods, sobs shaking her body, and then a violent coughing fit came again. Reminding her of where she was. Making her feel the flames which continued to spread, heating her skin and making breathing nearly impossible.

She looked around, everywhere her eyes turned the flames blocked her path. All ways but one. Out the back door and into the yard. Emma looked back to her mother's body, coughs starting to come without a stop. Her mother who sacrificed herself so Emma could fight. So she could survive. Emma wasn't about to let it go to waste.

She used the countertops to pull herself up, refusing do double over as much as her body wanted to while she coughed again. And then she reached for the door. Rushing to it. And as soon as it was open... Emma stepped outside.