"What are you thinking about?"

Katherine broke the silence in the dark hotel room, where both girls were lying in bed, trying to sleep. Julie had many things to think about. Elijah was one thought that usually kept her awake but tonight, she was preoccupied by something else.

"I'm just trying not to set my sheets on fire," she said with an unamused tone. The bracelet, the witch Andrea had given her earlier in the day, was safely hidden away in the drawer of the night table. She had been practicing all day, trying to focus on her newly discovered powers rather than think about the fact that she had absolutely no idea who she was. She had been lighting candles all afternoon, turning them on and off, manipulating the elements of fire and air. Something that confused her even more, as she had been told an elemental, which she was, could only manipulate one element.

She had felt both powers coursing through her body as she was using them. She had felt strong the moment she completely destroyed that candle but also confused and scared as she had completely lost control over her new ability.

"You removed the bracelet, right?" Katherine asked, nervous. She had seen what Julie was capable of and even though she would never admit it, she was scared of her powers. Not because she couldn't control them, though that was a pretty scary thought, but because once she would master them, she would be more powerful than any other witch she had met in her long life.

"Yes," Julie sighed, turning in her bed to face Katherine's even though it was too dark to see anything.

"Then, don't worry about it."

"Do you think I'll ever be able to use my powers without the bracelet?"

"Of course," Katherine said. Julie heard her move in her bed. "It would have been easier if you had started practicing when you were a child."

"Sorry, there wasn't any class for elemental children when I was a kid, just dance practice."

Katherine laughed. "You would have been better at it than dancing."

"Hey! I'm a pretty good dancer, if you must know," Julie told her.

"Really?" she chuckled. "Is there anything you're not good at?"

"Staying at school," she said. There was a second of silence before they both started laughing.

"You're not gonna need school," Katherine said. "If it doesn't work out with Elijah, and if Klaus doesn't kill me...You can always travel the world with me. You're never gonna need anything."

"That's a lot of "ifs"," Julie said. What her vampire friend had just said was a pinch in the heart. She was touched by her proposition but she couldn't imagine leaving with her without Elijah. Sure, she knew their relationship was new. And they had never talked about it. She knew what she was feeling didn't make any sense but all she could think about was him. She had to help him. What she would do after that was a total mystery. "What are you gonna do after we help Elijah?" she asked.

"Run as far away as possible," she said, faking amusement. "He's probably going to kill me the second he sees me..."

"Elijah would never do that," Julie said and Katherine knew she was right.

"I meant Klaus...If we help Elijah...it would be a miracle we don't face Klaus," she said.

"Do you think we're ever going to find a way to get to the coffins?"

Katherine didn't answer right away. "There will be a moment," she said. "We just need that one moment..."

Julie sighed. "Good night, Katherine."

The vampire smiled. "Good night, Julie."

When Julie woke up, Katherine wasn't in the room. She frowned when she saw her bags were packed and started to gather her own stuffs, wondering where Katherine was. The door opened suddenly and Katherine entered in a hurry.

"You're awake," she said almost out of breath. "Good, I see you've started packing."

"Where were you?"

"Had a phone call to make."

Julie frowned. "To whom?"

"Does it matter?"

"Was it Damon?" Julie grinned.

"Shut up," she sighed.

"I didn't say anything!"

"Just pack your bags, we're leaving Tennessee."

"Where to?"

"Chicago."

"Why?"

"Because Klaus is going there."

Julie rolled her eyes. "Okay. Why is he going there?"

"My best guess is, after he realized he couldn't make any hybrids, he decided to seek the help of a witch."

"There's a witch willing to help him?"

"Sure, if she cares about her life," Katherine sighed and sat down on her bed. "He'll be distracted," she said, looking up at Julie who immediately understood what she meant.

"Chicago it is."

Katherine drove all the way from Tennessee to Illinois, refusing Julie the wheel, telling her that she had driven her car into a tree one night and that she wasn't particularly eager to experience it herself.

"Wait here," Katherine told Julie as she was about to leave the hotel room they just got.

"What? Why?"

"Just wait here. Trust me," she said before she left.

Julie sighed, annoyed. She was feeling useless and she was getting to get really impatient. She looked down at the bracelet and decided to practice as she had nothing better to do. Fire was way too dangerous to practice inside and alone so she decided to test a theory. If she could practice air as well as fire, maybe she had other powers. Nature had given their power to elementals, maybe she could control nature too. She took the small plant that was next to the TV and settled it on the dinner table and sat down. She focused on it for half an hour when she decided to give up after nothing had happened. She sighed and leaned back on the chair and at that same exact moment when her breath escaped her mouth, the plant immediately turned brown and completely faded.

"Oh, no," Julie whispered as she looked terrified at the dead flower. She had just did that. Her powers had killed that plant. "Okay, "she breathed out, placing her hands above the flower. If she had killed it maybe she could revive it. She closed her eyes and focused and tried to fix her mistake. But soon she could feel heat coming from the plant and she saw she had set it on fire. "Damn it!" She took the plant and rushed to the bathroom and put it in the sink to stop the flames.

She placed both her hands on the sink and sighed. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She was a catastrophe. But when she opened her eyes she saw the plant had grown and was more beautiful than it was when she first saw it.

"What the f..." she breathed out a laugh. She took the soaking plant and looked carefully at it. She decided not to mess with it anymore and put it back where she had found it as she had no idea how she had done it.

She lied down on her bed and put her headphones on and started playing the music in her phone. She stared at the ceiling as the song was playing. Of course, it had to be that song.

Heart beats fast

Colors and promises

How to be brave?

How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?

But watching you stand alone

All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow

One step closer

I have died every day waiting for you

Darling, don't be afraid

I have loved you for a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more

Time stands still

Julie sighed and decided not to listen to it and changed it to another random song.

Take me I'm alive

Never was a girl with a wicked mind

But everything looks better when the sun goes down

I had everything

Opportunities for eternity

And I could belong to the night

Your eyes, your eyes

I can see in your eyes, your eyes

You make me wanna die

I'll never be good enough

You make me wanna die

And everything you love will burn up in the light

Every time I look inside your eyes

You make me wanna die

"You've gotta be kidding me," she sighed and removed her headphones. She got up from the bed and started looking though Katherine's stuff. She found a small notebook and started reading through it. Finally she noticed something interesting. An address of an apartment there, in Chicago. The most stupid idea crossed her mind. She put her jacket on and took her phone and left the room.

She walked around the city, which was a really stupid thing to do and she was aware of it. Any minute she could meet with Klaus or Stefan and she would have no chance of helping Elijah. She put the address in her phone and just followed the map. It lead her to an old building and she wondered what Katherine could be doing there. She passed by an old blue car she didn't recognized. But she should have. Because it would have warned her that, Katherine might not be there, but Damon Salvatore, for sure, was.

Julie stopped in front of the apartment door with no idea what to do. Should she knocked? Maybe the door was opened. What if Katherine wasn't there? What if Klaus was there? So many things could be hiding behind this door. She took a deep breath and placed her hand on the handle. Something very natural happened but it still surprised her. The door opened. Her heart was beating fast. The adrenaline made her forget she was terrified. She entered the old place and closed the door behind her. She heard footsteps and she knew someone was coming her way.

"Katherine! There you are! What are you doing here? What is this place?" she asked.

"Julie?! What are you doing here? And...what are you doing with Katherine?"

Julie's eyes grew big as she looked the girl in front of her up and down. Her hair was straight and those were clothes Katherine would never wear. "Elena?! What are you doing here?"

"I asked first," she said.

"Actually, I asked first."

Men voices came from the hallway and Elena shushed Julie up.

"Klaus!" she looked up at the Gilbert girl.

"He can't know I'm alive," she told her.

"I know," she whispered. "Hide!"

"What about you?"

"Just hide, Elena!"

Elena rushed out of the kitchen/bedroom and hid in the only place she could, in the closet. Julie barely had time to remove her bracelet and put it in her jean pocket before the door slammed opened and Julie turned around quickly to see Klaus standing in the doorway.

"Julie! What a pleasant surprise!"

"Klaus!" she breathed out. She looked at the hybrid with big eyes and she took one step back when he took one step forward.

"Missed me already?" he grinned.

"No offense, but not really..."

Stefan chuckled which made her move her eyes from Klaus to him for a second before her eyes laid on the hybrid again.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. He didn't seem angry. He seemed...amused.

"Visiting?"

Klaus laughed. "I meant, here, in Stefan's old apartment."

"Hu," she breathed out. "See, I swear I didn't know that," she laughed, nervously and took one more step back. It wasn't a lie but it certainly explained why Elena was there.

"How did you find this place?" Klaus asked her with a more serious tone. Julie swallowed nervously as she had no idea what to answer. One more joke could really piss him off. She couldn't tell him about Katherine and she had to get him out of here before he discovered Elena was hiding in the only other room of the place. Klaus was getting impatient at her silence and he placed his hands on her arms and his grip hurt her. "How did you find this place?" he repeated each word slowly.

"Damon told me about it!" she lied.

"Damon is here?" Stefan asked.

"No," Julie said and it wasn't a lie, she had no idea where he was. "I was looking for you," she lied.

"Why?" Stefan asked but Klaus chuckled.

"Because she knew you were with me," he said and let go of her. She was sure she was going to have bruises. "You're missing my brother?" he mocked. "Who told you I had him? Only Katherine knew."

"She stopped by my house that night," she told him. "Told me what you did before she left town," she said with a trembling voice.

"Now, Julie, I like you," the hybrid said. "And it was very courageous to come after me but also very stupid. Go back home. My brother's dead."

"I don't have a home anymore," she told him, angry, tears filling her eyes. "I don't have anyone. I want him back!"

Both men raised their eyebrows as she demanded to get her boyfriend back. Klaus grinned then chuckled. "Well, I suppose if my brother cares about you that makes you family. You always have a home with me, love." Julie frowned at his serious tone.

"I know how you treat your family," she said. "You dagger them and move them around in boxes!"

"Do you want to see Elijah again or not?" Klaus sighed.

Julie's heart stopped for a split second at his question and then nodded.

"Then, come with me," he said, taking one step on the side to let her walk out the door. Julie looked down and passed by the hybrid. She looked up at Stefan as she walked pass him. There was a time she would have trusted the vampire. It wasn't the case anymore.

She watched both of them step outside the apartment, relieved they didn't discover Elena.

"How about a drink, love? You look like you need one," he mocked.

Julie had never been one to drink, but a couple of months on the road with Katherine had changed that.

"Sure..."

Klaus took her and Stefan to a bar. They sat at the counter and he ordered two beers.

"And for you?"

"Tequila," she said. The bartender didn't answer right away. Julie saw she was staring at her and wondered if she could tell she was an elemental. She hoped she wouldn't say anything, she didn't want Klaus to know. But she didn't say anything and served the drinks as asked.

As soon as the glass of alcohol was in front of Julie she took it and drank it all in one shot. Stefan raised his eyebrows, surprised, where Klaus just laughed.

"When can I see Elijah?" she asked.

Klaus sighed and rolled his eyes. "Tonight, I'll show where he is. But I'm not removing the dagger."

Julie looked up at him and frowned. "Why not?"

"He tried to kill me."

"You did kill him. And your other brothers. And your sister," she told him.

"Elijah told you about that, uh," he sighed, taking a sip of his beer.

"I asked him why he would want to kill his own brother, that's what he answered."

"And what did you tell him?" he asked, not looking away from her.

"I asked him not to kill you."

Her answer surprised him. "Why?" he asked, confused.

"Because you just can't go around killing people the way you do. Especially not your brother," she said, looking away from him.

"You're still living in a world where vampires don't exist. You need to wake up, your boyfriend is one."

She looked up at him and gave him an angry look. "I don't have a boyfriend, thanks to you," she spat at him. She thought she saw guilt on his face for a second but they were interrupted by the bartender.

"So, where's Rebekah?" she asked.

"She'll be here," he answered with a smile. "You can't just conjure her on demand." She shrugged and went back to work. Klaus turned his head towards Stefan and asked. "What's with you? I thought Chicago was your playground?" he mocked.

"So, this is why you asked me to be your wing man?" Stefan asked. "Because you like the way that I tortured innocent people?"

Julie's eyes grew big and she looked up at the vampire. She thought Stefan was a good vampire, not a sadist like Klaus or his brother.

"Well, that's certainly half of it."

"What's the other half?"

"The other half, Stefan, is that you used to want to be my wingman," he smiled. Stefan was as confused as Julie if not more. "We used to be friends, Stefan," he said, pushing his beer away and pouring shots in two small glasses.

Julie kept drinking tequila as if it was water and Klaus and Stefan weren't far from being drunk either.

"So, I'm confused," Stefan said, a glass in his hand. "If we were such great friends, why do I only know you as the hybrid dick?" Julie laughed at his question and Klaus looked at the girl before he looked back at Stefan. "Who sacrificed my girlfriend, uh?"

Klaus smiled and laughed. "All good things must come to an end," he said before he explained.

"You compelled me to forget," Stefan said.

Klaus didn't look very happy. Maybe Julie was too drunk but she thought he might even be sad about it. "It was time for Rebekah and I to move on. Better to have a clean slate," he said before he finished his drink.

"But why? You shouldn't have to cover your tracks, unless you're running from someone," he said. Klaus now looked angry.

"Story time's over," he said.

Julie frowned as she saw Stefan was looking at her. But in fact, he wasn't. He was looking at someone behind her. She turned but saw no one and she was too drunk to find it interesting anyway.

"I wanna see Elijah," she whined.

"I need another drink," Stefan said. "A real one." Klaus didn't even look at him. He let him go without asking any questions.

"Why can he go and I can't?" Julie asked, completely drunk.

Klaus grinned and chuckled when he saw the state she was in. "Because he's a big vampire who can take care of himself," he said.

"I'm hungry too," she said and then she laughed. "Real food," she specified.

"I'll get you something to eat when Stefan comes back," he said.

Julie sighed and rested her head in the palm of her hand, playing with her empty glass. "Can I have another drink?" she asked.

"No, you had enough," he said, taking the glass from her. She sighed again and rested her chin on his shoulder, her face dangerously closed to his.

"You're no fun," she complained and he chuckled. She wasn't looking at his face but he was looking at hers. They stayed like that for a few minutes, without saying a word. He wondered how he had never noticed before how beautiful she was, even drunk.

But then, someone sat next to Klaus and her eyes grew big and she got up from her stool, almost falling from it. Klaus frowned and turned his head to see who was scaring her like that.

"You don't give up, do you?" he sighed. "Sit down, love. Calm down," he said as he took her hand and squeezed it. She did as he told her, not moving her eyes from Damon.

"Give me my brother back, you'll never have to see me again," Damon answered with a light tone.

Klaus smiled. "Well, I am torn, you see, I promised Stefan I wouldn't let you die but how many freebies did I really sign up for? And clearly you want to die, otherwise you wouldn't be here, so..."

"Well, what can I say? I'm a thrill seeker."

Klaus laughed before he took Damon by the throat and started strangling him. The bar was now empty as it was late and the owner had asked her customers to leave. The situation reminded Julie of the time when Damon had done the same thing to her.

"I'm a little boozy, so you'll forgive me if I miss your heart the first time," he said.

"Klaus, stop!" Julie told the hybrid, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You wanted to go? You can go now, love, you don't have to see this," Klaus said.