"You are hard to keep up with," Elena commented when she got out of her car and met Emma at the door.
Emma smiled, "I have a love for danger."
"That explains your love for Damon," Elena smiled knowingly at Emma.
"Bit of a stretch Elena," Emma said as she opened the door and entered the house.
The girls entered and heard music playing in the foyer and saw Rebekah with a champagne glass.
"Hey! What's up?" she greeted them, "Oh good you brought Emma, one more person to help."
"Help?" Elena asked, "You invited me over here to talk."
Rebekah turned toward someone they couldn't see, "All right girls, have at it."
With her order six women came out and lined up, all of them wearing different long gowns in vibrant colors, in front of Rebekah.
"Okay, now twirl please," the women followed the command mindlessly.
"What the hell," Emma watched almost amused.
Elena was disgusted, "You compelled your own runway show?
"I need a Homecoming dress, so what do you think?" Rebekah took a sip of her champagne, "Pick one."
"I'm not here to help you shop," Elena crossed her arms, "I'm here to find out why you don't want to wake up Mikael."
Rebekah slowly put her drink down before rushing one of the girls, showing her fangs and threatening to kill her. Emma's stance changed from careless to alert and on defense.
"I said pick one Elena," Rebekah began lowering her mouth closer to the woman's neck.
"The-The red one," Elena said panicked, as soon as she spoke Rebekah let go of the girl.
"There, was that so hard?" Rebekah turned to all the girls, "Go away, remember nothing."
"I might be a bit over my head here with this mean girl crap," Emma commented as she relaxed slightly.
Rebekah strolled over to her glass and picked it back up, "Do not threaten me. You'll learn what I allow you to learn. Is that clear?"
Elena nodded and moved closer to Emma, who in turn rolled her eyes.
"Want to go exploring ladies?" Rebekah led the charge.
Elena and Emma followed Rebekah upstairs, Rebekah stopped at Stefan's room and entered it without a second thought.
"How fun is this?" She asked as she started rummaging through some of Stefan's drawers.
Elena looked cautious, "We shouldn't be here."
"Course we should! Come on, like you've never wanted to snoop," she help up a pair of Stefan's briefs, "boxer briefs. A lot has changed since the twenties."
Emma crossed her arms, "Are you gonna tell us your story or root through his stuff all night?"
"You really are no fun," Rebekah pouted, "what do you want to know?"
Elena stepped forward, "Elijah said that your father was a landowner in Europe. How did you end up here?"
"My parents had just started a family when a plaque stuck their homeland, they lost a child to it," Rebekah moved over to the bookshelf, "they wanted to escape and protect their future family from the same fate."
"So how did you end up here?" Elena was confused, "This part of the world hadn't even been discovered yet."
Rebekah laughed, "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," Emma guessed.
"To us, they were just our neighbors," Rebekah shrugged, "my family lived in peace with them for over 20 years, during which time my family had more children, including me."
Elena picked up a piece of paper on Stefan's desk but set it back down, "You make it sound so normal."
"It was," Rebekah recalled, "until one full moon, Klaus and my youngest brother Henrik snuck out to watch the men turn into beast. That was forbidden and Henrik paid the price. That was the end of peace with our neighbors, and some of the last moments my family had together as humans."
Emma jumped as her ringtone started singing, she pulled her phone out and looked at the caller ID, it was Damon.
"Hey handsome," Emma answered, trying to sound cheerful.
"Hey!" He answered her back, she could hear loud music in the background.
"Damon, where are you?"
"No idea, but I'm pretty sure I'm overdressed. Still standing? Ric told me you went to see Rebekah with Elena."
"Yeah, I'm fine, but I can't talk right now," Emma heard someone yell to Damon in the background about being at the bar, "is that Stefan?"
"Uh, yea I kind of went off plan a bit, but don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Damon said confidently.
Emma gripped the phone tighter, "How could you let him out? Damon, he isn't safe to be around people right now."
"Don't worry, I got this."
Emma heard the phone cut out and looked at her screen, he had hung up on her, she angrily pushed the phone into her pocket and turned back to Elena and Rebekah.
"He didn't," Elena said defeated.
"He did," Emma confirmed with a growl.
Elena turned back to Rebekah, "Did you get your fill of snooping yet? Can we get on with the story"
"Honestly, I don't get you two as a couple," Rebekah said as she picked up a picture of Elena and Stefan, "Emma and Damon I get, they both understand what the other is, the danger, it was drives the passion."
Emma crossed her arms, there was nothing to deny, the danger was what originally attracted her to Damon, and that hadn't changed much.
Elena was quick to defend herself, "Why would you? You have no idea about who he really is?"
"I know exactly who he is. He's a vampire, we're a predatory species," Rebekah got into Elena's face, "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," Elena turned to Emma, "are you staying or going?"
"But you haven't even heard half the story," Rebekah shouted before Emma could answer.
"And you aren't going to tell it. You're just bored and looking for someone to push around. Find someone else to play with," Elena sighed, "maybe you can compel yourself a friend."
"Nice," Emma commented, slightly impressed with Elena's attitude.
Elena began to head for the door.
"That necklace wasn't Stefan's to give. It belonged to the Original witch," Rebekah tried to lure both girls back, it worked, Elena turned around, without thinking she raised her hand and grasped her necklace.
"The one who put the hybrid curse on Klaus?" Elena asked.
Rebekah looked intently at Elena, "Not just the curse, she's the one who turned us into vampires; as a form of protection."
All three girls walked down to the library, Emma's curiosity was spiked, "So vampirism is a form of protection?"
"What else would it be?" Rebekah answered as if Emma had asked her the square root of pie.
"A curse," Elena said confidently.
"My parents saw it as a way of keeping their children alive."
"Yeah, but why stay, if they were so afraid of the werewolves, why not just leave?"
Rebekah crossed her arms, "Pride. 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."
"That is amazing," Emma said, referring to the story, earning her a glare from Elena.
"The village witch refused to help, which left everything in my mother's hands," Rebekah had turned so it seemed as if she was only speaking to Emma.
"Your mother's hands?" Emma asked.
"Because my mother was also a witch," Rebekah explained.
Elena couldn't believe was she was hearing, "What?"
"The witch of the Original family," Rebekah began looking for something, "the Original witch."
"The necklace Stefan gave to Elena belonged to the Original witch?" Emma said stunned.
Rebekah nodded, "Where do they keep their best vintage?"
Emma pointed to a shelf just across from her, "But if your mother was a witch then..."
"Am I? No, a witch is nature's servant; a vampire is an abomination of nature," Rebekah looked at one of the bottles, "you can either be one or the other, never both. My mother did this for us. She did not turn."
Elena leaned against a table, "So how did you turn?"
"She called upon the sun for life, and the ancient white oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects, for immortality," Rebekah was silent for a moment, "that night, my father offered us wine laced with blood. And then he drove his sword through our hearts."
"He killed you?" Elena stood straight again as she whispered in shock.
Rebekah nodded, "And he wasn't delicate about it either."
"I can't even imagine," Elena said sadly.
"It was euphoric! 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. 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. The 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. 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," Rebekah finished her story with a long sip of a vintage wine that she had found.
"Why did Mikael start hunting Klaus?" Elena asked.
"When Nik made his first human kill, it triggered his werewolf gene," Rebekah sighed, "with that, he became my father's greatest shame."
Elena nodded, "Yeah. Elijah told me this part of the story. Your mother had had an affair with one of the werewolf villagers. Klaus wasn't his son."
"She tried to make it right, 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," Rebekah let out a sad sigh, "then he came home and killed her."
Both Emma and Elena both inhaled sharply in shock, but it was Emma who was brave enough to speak for them both, "Mikael killed your mother?"
"He said she broke his heart so he would break hers. He tore it from her chest as Nik watched," Rebekah closed her eyes for a moment before continuing, "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."
All three girls sat in a silence for a minute, letting the story digest.
"We stick together as one; always and forever," Rebekah had finally finished her story.
Elena put her hand on her hip, "Always and forever, even though he locked you in a coffin for ninety years?"
Rebekah rolled her eyes as if the answer was obvious, "We're vampires, our emotions are heightened. I'm stubborn, Elijah moral, and Nik, well, 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."
"But you still love him," Elena said with empathy.
"He's my brother, and I'm immortal. Should I spend an eternity alone instead?" Rebekah seemed to be done with the girls, "You've heard the story, it's time to go. I don't know what you're up to, but I'm no longer playing along."
Emma threw her hands up in the air in a feigned defeat, "I'm just looking for one tiny reason I shouldn't go wake up a guy who could give me some bad ass tips on kicking Original ass, but that's just me."
"It is no wonder why Damon likes you," Rebekah looked at Emma with disgust, "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."
Elena defended her plans, "Its no secret that I want Klaus dead, he has a hold over Stefan's life, and over mine."
"Do what you need," Rebekah waved them off, "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!"
Elena grabbed her bag and headed for the door. Emma hung back for a moment, almost feeling bad for the ignorant love Rebekah held for her sibling, but she decided to go with Elena back to Alaric's.
"Hey Bonnie," Emma greeted the witch as they joined Alaric and her in the cave.
Bonnie smiled back before looking back at the symbols.
"We, filled in what we could," Alaric began pointing his flashlight at each drawing, "a vampire, werewolf, slaughter, mayhem, etcetera."
Emma pointed to one she could now decipher with the help of Rebekah's story, "I'm guessing that is the white oak the villagers burned down, which means that symbol equals some sort of weapon."
"Yea we knew that," Alaric said nonchalantly.
"Well, some of us are playing catch up," Emma grumbled.
Alaric ignored her, "What we are not sure about is this: we've got the witch symbol, and what looks like a bleeding heart. Upside down figures usually signified death, of some kind."
"Mikael killed the witch by ripping her heart out, but that's the hybrid symbol, that doesn't match Rebekah's story," Emma pointed out.
Elena's eyes got wide, "I don't think she knows the real story."
Before anyone could stop her Elena left the cave and headed back to the boarding house to tell Rebekah what they had found.
"There goes my ride," Emma commented, not really that upset that she was missing out on that conversation.
"You can ride back with me," Bonnie offered as they all started to head out together after taking more photos.
Emma smiled, "Thanks."