Elena, a girl called April and Rebekah stood in the school library. April undaggered Rebekah when she went to the Lockwood Cellar after Klaus killed the Hybrids.

Elena grabbed April's hand and tried to drag her out of the room but Rebekah stopped her.

"Sorry. Not allowed." Rebekah told the brunette vampire. "Why don't you take a seat?" Rebekah compelled Elena. "The rest of the class will be here shortly."

-------

"What?" Stefan answered his phone as an unknown caller called him.

"Guess who." Rebekah said as she walked through the school hallway. "I'm back, Dagger-free, and I'm holding Elena hostage at the high school. Just thought you should know."

"Who the hell was dumb enough to pull that dagger out of you?" Stefan asked.

"I'll be asking the questions today. See ya soon"

--------

Astrid sat on a coach alone. She sighed when she felt someone's presence near her.

"What do you want, Stephanie?" Astrid asked, opening one eyes to look at Stefan.

"Would you like to see your sister again?" Stefan asked.

"If I remember correctly, she's daggered in the Lockwood Cellar."

"Yes, well, someone was dumb enough to undagger her" Stefan said as Astrid stood up quickly.

"Who?" She asked, tilting her head like a confused puppy.

"I don't know who. All i know is that she's in the high school, holding Elena hostage." Stefan told the tribrid.

"Thanks" Astrid vamp sped out of the house.

"You're welcome..." Stefan said as he headed to the high school.

-------

Astrid walked slowly towards to the school, knowing the Rebekah won't leave any time soon.

She walked through the hallways when she heard Rebekah speak. "Class is in session. You've all been compelled. You know the rules. Answer my questions honestly, no disobedience, no one leaves. April, my sweet, take notes. This is how you get answers in this town. Let's start with a little quiz." Astrid leaned on a wall outside the library, listening to what Rebekah was doing. "In the year 1114, my brother learned... thanks to yours truly... about a brotherhood of vampire hunters with tattoos that grew with each kill. And these tattoos reveal what? Elena?"

"A map to the cure for vampirism" Astrid said as she entered the room.

"Astrid?" Rebekah asked, surprised that her sister was there.

"Hi, love. You're as beautiful as ever!" Astrid said as she hugged her sister tightly. "You mind if I join the lesson?"

"Not at all, big sister. Sit next to April." Rebekah told her. She sat next to April as she was taking notes.

"Okay. Stefan Salvatore, the last time we saw each other, you had a vampire hunter, but in order to decode the map, you needed the location of the Hunter's sword, which you got out of me using some very dirty tricks." Rebekah said.

"Stephanie... that is not nice" Astrid gasped and put a hand on her chest. Rebekah chuckled.

"Assuming you found the sword, you must have found the cure, and yet you're all still vampires, which means something went wrong." Rebekah stopped to look at April "What are you doing?"

"You asked me to take notes." April replied, confused.

Astrid snorted "she wasn't serious, darling"

"Exactly, but now that you mention it, a flow chart would be nice, which means index cards and push pins. Go fetch." Rebekah told April. April stood up and left the room.

"You're wasting your time" Stefan. Told Rebekah. "We don't know anything."

"So you just gave up?" Rebekah asked. "I thought you'd do anything to save Elena, even if it meant taking the cure yourself so you could grow old and die with her." Rebekah said. Elena looked at Stefan surprised. "Why do you look so surprised? I'm missing something. What is it?"

"They broke up" Astrid told her younger sister "and... she's sired to Damon"

"Sire Bond. That's fascinating" Rebekah said, sitting down on a chair next to Astrid.

Astrid fell asleep at the table, the situation boring her.

"Sister" she heard Kol say and she woke up.

"Kol!" Astrid exclaimed as she vamp sped towards him, giving him a bone-crushing hug.

"Hello, Astrid." He hugged back.

"You're even worse than Klaus, Rebekah" Kol told his little sister as he pulled away from Astrid.

"Kol. Finally" Rebekah said, holding Caroline's phone. "Did you bring what I asked for?"

Kol grabbed someone from behind the door and pushed him inside. He had curly hair and a beard. Astrid went to Rebekah as Kol closed the library door.

"You must be Shane" Rebekah said to the man.

"This will be good" Astrid said. Rebekah grabbed the man's arm and pulled him out of the room. Astrid and Kol following her. She pushed him into the janitors closet, which was surprisingly big. The three originals entered behind him.

Astrid heard her phone ring so she took it out, Scott sent her a message.

- how's everything going?

not bad, like I said, it's just family drama.

"Kol..." Shane pointed at him. "And Rebekah Mikaelson, two members of the original vampire family. This is such a trip.."

"Ummm" Astrid interrupted. "Forgetting about me, love?" Astrid asked "Astrid Mikaelson. You know, second youngest"

"Sorry..." Shane apologised.

do you need help with anything?

No, it's fine. Just a problem with some vampires. Nothing we can't take care of.

"Where's the cure?" Rebekah compelled Shane.

now I'm worried. Are you sure you don't need our help?

I'm sure. How is everything going in beacon hills? Did any new supernatural creatures arrive?

"Compulsion won't work" Shane told Rebekah "Its a little trick I picked up in Tibet."

"Right, well, we'll have to this the old-fashioned way." Rebekah said. "Beat him until he tells you where to find it." Rebekah said as she left, leaving Kol and Astrid alone with Shane.

nothing's changed so far. But, ever since that night, I've been having hallucinations. I sometimes lose control and turn.

I'll come back soon, okay? I can't come back right now so go to Deaton and tell him everything. I'll see you soon.

As she was texting Scott, Kol was beating Shane. Shane was grunting loudly as he bled.

"Right. Kol, stop" Astrid said and Kol stopped. "Phasmatos Morsinus Pyrox Allum" Astrid said and Shane grabbed his head, screaming from the pain.

"I guess we can do it that way" Kol smiled.

"Where is the cure?" Kol asked Shane.

"Just tell us where the bloody cure is and we'll stop!" Astrid added.

"You're a human... why do you want it anyway?" Rebekah asked as she walked inside.

Astrid stopped the incantation and Shane looked at the three originals. "You can have it. I just want Silas" Shane answered.

"No." Kol said as he grabbed his collar. "What do you know about Silas?" Kol asked.

"He's the world's first immortal being" Shane answered. "Who just happens to be imprisoned with the cure. And I want to free him."

"No!" Kol shouted as he began drowning him.

"Stop!" Rebekah shouted as Kol almost killed Shane. "He's of no use dead!"

"Did you not hear what he said?" Kol shouted at Rebekah. "Silas will kill us all, sister."

"Silas does not exist. He is a fairy tale." Rebekah told Kol.

"How can you be so sure?" Astrid asked and the two originals looked at her. "Fairy tale... Just like vampires, werewolves, witches and many other supernatural beings. You can't be sure that he doesn't exist..."

"Silas is very real" Shane said weakly. "I know where he's buried, and soon I'll have the spell that wakes him."

"Wait a second. You're lying." Kol said, not believing the man's words. "You can't get to him without his..."

"Tombstone? Dozens to die in a blood sacrifice? Believe me, I know. I've done it. Those massacres are a pain to engineer."

"Wow." Astrid laughed. "And I thought this town is boring."

"You're the one who got the council blown up." Rebekah said.

"It was a noble sacrifice... and temporary." Shane told Rebekah.

"Great... more sacrifices." Astrid sighed.

"Once I raise Silas, he will raise the dead. He will bring back every last soul... who died on his behalf."

"No!" Kol shouted as he stabbed Shane with a metal pole.

"Right. This is getting messy. I'm going to go back. I'll see you soon, darlings" Astrid told her siblings as she left the high school.

"I missed her" Rebekah said.

-------

"You let yourself in" Stefan said as Rebekah entered the Salvatore mansion.

"You called me, should I be checking for hidden daggers?" Rebekah asked.

"Do you still want to find the cure?" Stefan asked.

"More than anything. I want to ram it down Niklaus' throat and look into his eyes as he realizes he's mortal again. But shane's dead and you are useless, so I'm right back where I started."

"Shane's not dead" Stefan corrected her.

"But I watched Kol impale him."

"Well, you probably shouldn't have left him alone. Bonnie did a little spell. He's perfectly fine." Stefan said as he poured himself some whiskey.

"You didn't have to tell me that. Why am I really here?"

"You were right. I'm gonna be here for an eternity, and I will go insane if I don't know how Elena truly feels about my brother." Stefan sat down on the couch.

"If you really want the cure, you should know that Shane has an agenda, and it's a dark one. He said he organised dozens of people to die in a sacrifice. He admitted to the council explosion where 12 people died, and I'm guessing it's no coincidence that 12 died at the hand of my brother."

"12... channelling the energy from a mass death is used in witchcraft to perform dark spells. It's called expression. Shane admitted all this to you?"

"Proudly... after my sister tortured him with Kol."

"Well, then I guess we'll have to figure out how to manage him while we find the cure for ourselves."

"We?" Rebekah chuckled. "There's no 'we' Stefan."

"Listen, I hate my brother and you hate yours." Stefan said. "But Damon's got Jeremy, and Klaus has the sword, and Shane has Bonnie. You and I are the only ones left with nothing. You said it yourself, right? Whoever finds the cure first gets to decide what to do with it. What do you say? You want to be partners?"

"It won't be so easy getting to Niklaus. Not when Astrid's here."

---------

Astrid walked around the Mikaelson mansion, bored as no one else was there. Klaus was out helping Jeremy kill more vampires and her other siblings were somewhere in town. She had no idea where Elijah was.

She stopped when she stumbled on a white door which was locked. Being the curious person she is, she decided to go inside. She broke the lock and entered the room.

The room was filled with Klaus' old paintings which brought a smile to her face. Some paintings were of their family and some of places they visited. There was also a painting of the white oak which Astrid painted 300 years ago. She smiled to herself, happy that her brother kept it.

One painting in particular caught her eye, it was covered with a black material so no one could see it.

Astrid walked towards the painting slowly and grabbed the material, pulling it off gently. She looked at the painting as tears welled up in her eyes. It was a painting which Astrid thought was lost forever. She painted it in 1921. It was of a beautiful ginger girl who Astrid fell in love with.

Tears rolled down Astrid's cheeks as she remembered the first time she met her.

Astrid walked through the busy streets of New Orleans with her brother Elijah. Children were playing, people were laughing, everyone was happy... including the originals.

"Sorry" a ginger girl apologised as she ran into Astrid, falling on the ground.

"I'll be right back, sister" Elijah said as he walked away.

"It's alright, dear" Astrid said as she held out her arm for the girl. She took it hesitantly and Astrid helped her get up. "What's your name?"

"Stella. Stella Allen." The redhead responded. "What about you, miss"

"Astrid Mikaelson" the blonde vampire smiled. Stella turned around, breathing heavily. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes.. of course, Astrid."

"Tell me the truth" Astrid compelled the girl.

"These men were following me for 10 minutes now. I'm scared" the woman replied, looking at three men who stood 20 metres away from them.

"Come with me, love." Astrid linked arms with Stella and began walking away. The men also began walking. "They won't hurt you while you're with me. How old are you?"

"16."

"I'm 17" Astrid smiled. "You shouldn't be walking around New Orleans alone, darling. It's a beautiful city but it's still dangerous."

"Where are we going?" Stella asked.

"Somewhere they won't follow us... My home." Astrid replied as she lead her to the Mikaelson compound.

Astrid and Stella entered the compound quietly and everyone inside turned around to look at them. Astrid smiled at them while Kol walked towards them.

"I see you've brought food, sister" Kol smiled and licked his lips.

Astrid grabbed his neck "she is not food, brother" Astrid answered and threw him against a wall. "Forget that happened" Astrid compelled the redhead.

"Stella, these are my brothers Kol, Niklaus and Elijah, my sister Rebekah and friend Marcel." Astrid told Stella, pointing at everyone inside the compound.

"Everyone, this is my new friend Stella Allen." Astrid smiled.

Astrid smiled as she touched the painting gently. She used to be so close with Stella and now, she doesn't even know if she's alive. She doesn't know what happened to her after the Mikaelsons left New Orleans and she feels guilty for leaving her.

Astrid picked up the black material and covered the painting. She rushed out of the room, slamming the door as she wiped the tears off her cheeks.