Redamancy | Elena Gilbert

Chapter 58

"Ric's teaching a class right now," said Damon, ruffling her hair as she came to hug him. "You can thank your girlfriend for that, she got him to teach again."

"Hey," said Lexi from the other side of the room, making a face. "I also helped to convince him."

"Lexi," said Rosalind with a smile. "It's good to see you. And Jesse—" she hugged him first before greeting the blonde. "Everyone..." she drew back to take Ruby's hand, leading her into the room. "I promise we're going to explain everything soon. But before we do that, I want to introduce you to... Ruby Collins. My mother."

Damon didn't seem to understand the concept of sitting down and shutting up to give them a chance to tell their story. But, despite his insistence on asking questions, they managed to explain to all of them what had happened after they died, and how they'd gotten here. Rosalind refrained from mentioning the cure, wishing to tell Elena privately after Ruby had gotten a drink.

What Rosalind didn't anticipate was having to hear their side of it. How everything had changed since she and Bonnie 'died.'

They couldn't live in Mystic Falls anymore. Try as they might, they hadn't found a way to remove the Traveler spell, which could apparently undo compulsion if someone they compelled went back into the town borders. Rosalind cursed when she realized the man who gave them a ride to Whitmore would probably remember everything by tonight.

Liz and Carol had helped them move their things to apartments in Whitmore. Stefan and Damon had settled for a much less luxurious house, which Lexi happily moved into and decorated to her liking. Stefan didn't mind, but according to Damon, he was sick of having to take his shoes off in the doorway.

Alaric had become a Professor at Whitmore, but struggled with remaining an Original vampire who now had to feed. Meanwhile, Tyler was dealing with being a regular human with a wolf gene all over again. He was struggling to control his temper, which had become easier after triggering his curse the previous time. He was being careful, trying not to repeat the past, but having lost his hybrid abilities really did stress him out the first few weeks. He'd almost killed someone just a few days prior, apparently, but Damon had snapped the person's neck so that the death would be on his hands, not Tyler's. According to Damon, he figured it was what Rosalind would have done for Tyler. Being weaker wasn't fun for him, just like being stronger reminded Alaric of a dark time he'd rather forget.

Enzo, apparently, had been helping them search for a way to 'resurrect' Rosalind and Bonnie. He was currently driving to Portland to follow a lead. Damon had already sent a text telling him to come back. Rosalind was surprised that he'd cared enough to do that, but she quickly found out that Caroline had threatened him into helping. That part made more sense.

Jeremy was on a flight back from Colorado, where he'd gone to look at an art school he might attend after graduation. He had been in a very dark place shortly after he thought Bonnie was gone for good, and he'd only recently decided he probably needed to leave to feel sane again. Hearing this made Bonnie tense guiltily. She hadn't given Jeremy much of a heads up before the Other Side collapsed.

Then, came the worst revelation of all. Elena had been explaining how she'd entered a new Pre-Med program that was allowing her to shadow doctors at Whitmore Hospital when she let slip that they almost didn't accept her because she'd been in New Orleans.

"New Orleans?" asked Rosalind curiously. "Why did you go there?"

Elena faltered. "Shit. Rosalind... I..."

She was confused. "Did you go to help out with Klaus's baby?"

The doppelgänger's eyes watered. "Rosalind, there is no baby."