[Salvatore's cellar.]
"Where is my ring?" Damon asked, knowing that his ring was his own chance at surviving once he got out of her. Vampires with daylight rings guarded them fiercer than dragons guarded treasure hoards.
Stefan shook his head, dismissing Damon's concern, "Won't be needing it anymore."
"Try the bottom of the ocean that was my idea for it" Claire said taunting Damon.
"How long have I been here?" He asked knowing that the lack of blood and daylight was contributing to his weaken state of confusion.
"Not long enough" Claire scoffed as Stefan replied glaring at his sister, "Three days."
"What are you doing?" Damon questioned weakly.
"During the dark ages when a vampire's actions threatened to expose or bring harm upon the entire race, they would face judgment. They sought to reeducate them rather than to punish them. " Stefan nodded to Claire.
"To reinforce this idea, we need to strip the blood from your system." She began chanting over Damon stripping the blood from his body much to Damon's screams of agony. Claire flashed a snarky smile, "Like that? It's a spell a learned from Emily Bennet. You'll be too weak to hurt anyone else until we allow you too. You will have all the time in the world to reflect and dwell on your issues."
Damon screamed in pain before sputtering out, "You know what will happen if I don't... Feed on blood."
Stefan nodded, "You'll grow weaker and weaker. Eventually you won't be able to move or speak. In a week your skin will desiccate, and you'll mummify. A living corpse. Unable to hurt anyone. Ever."
"So what, you're just going to leave me in the basement, forever?" Damon said in near disbelief unable to process that his siblings' long term plan was to keep him locked up for near eternity.
"Yes, that is the current plan." Claire replied
Stefan shook his head, "I've injected you with enough vervain to keep you weak, and Claire has stripped a large majority of the blood left in your system. Once your circulation stops, I'll move you to the family crypt, and then in 50 years, we can reevaluate."
"Think of it as a supernatural time out. Given your recent toddler like antics, it's quite fitting." Claire taunted throwing the same smirk back at him as he had often given to them.
"I'm stronger than you think." Damon replied.
Stefan nodded, "You always have been. But you're not stronger than the vervain. And we both know it. I'm sorry. Didn't have to be this way."
"Claire, please don't leave me here." Damon begged trying to appeal to his sister's soft spot.
"I'm sorry D. I never wanted this." She replied before following Stefan upstairs. "Please come back to me, to us." She thought to herself. More than anything, she wanted her family reunited again, to be an actual family again.
[Elena's house.] Elena is waking up and going to the bathroom. She meets Vicki.
"I-I'm sorry, I'm almost done. " Vicki sputters out.
Elena throws a kind smile at Vicki, "It's-it's ok. Take your time."
Vicki walks back into Jeremy's room and says, "I think you might be in trouble."
Jeremy looks puzzled, "What did you do?"
Vicki laughed, "Oh, she saw me. "
Jeremy shrugged his arms, "I'm a drug-using delinquent. A girl in bed doesn't really rank."
"Jenna! Are you aware of what's going on upstairs?" Elena told her aunt freaked out by finding Vicki in the house this morning.
"Uh-huh." Jenna nodded.
A look of frustration crossed Elena's face, "And you have no objection?" She whispered aggressively.
Jenna smirked, "He could be craftier about it, at least make an effort to sneak her in and out. Oh, and just so you know, I won't be home for dinner. "
Elena laughed, "Oh, so you're actually going to do it. You're going to go out with Logan. " She teased saying Logan's name in a sing-song voice.
Jenna shook her head, "I'm going to show up and torture him, yes. And have you heard from Stefan or Claire?"
Elena shook her head, "Not since that very vague message three days ago. "Hi, um, Elena, I, um, have something I have to do. I'll, uh, explain in a few days." Claire has been totally radio silent."
"Haven't you called them?" Jenna asked.
"Nope. Not going to, either. " Elena replied determinedly.
"And you're ok with everything?" Jenna asked concerned.
Elena shook her head in protest, "No, I'm not ok with any of it. But I'm not going to cry about it, either. You know, I was going to write in my diary this morning and then I thought, what am I going to write? Honestly, I'm not going to be one of those pathetic girls whose world stops spinning because of some guy. Claire and I will figure things out. I'm sure she's keep her distance until Stefan says something"
"Ok, then." Jenna replied.
"I'll be fine." Elena said more trying to convince herself than Jenna.
[Salvatore's house.]
"He's awake. He's weak, but it's probably best to stay out of the basement. He's Damon. I'm not sure how dangerous he still might be." Stefan instructed Zach. Knowing that just because Damon appeared weak, did not mean that he wasn't dangerous.
"I stripped him of as much blood as I could, but Damon's always got an out. Please be careful Zach." Claire said looking at her nephew of sorts. Claire wasn't like her brothers. She held family above all, even her human family meant a great deal to her. She supposed it was the longstanding influence of her closest friend.
Zach smiled, "Thanks Aunt Claire. You're going to school?" He appreciated her concern. He may hate vampires with a burning passion due to most of his ancestors being killed off by the Salvatore siblings, but Claire was different. She was still a monster, but she seemed to have somewhat of a moral compass.
"Came here to live a life. It's about time we get back to that, otherwise Damon wins." Claire said. She then turned to Stefan, "How are you going to handle the Elena situation Stefan? She keeps asking more and more questions. I promised I would fill her in on the Katherine situation, but I don't know what to tell her." She resented Stefan for dragging humans in their life. Humans that he had known she would have to lie to. Her foremost duty was to protect the Bennet line, but she knew that Elena was going to face a maelstrom.
"Elena, if she's still speaking to me." Stefan said
Zach looked concerned, knowing that one small mistake could reveal everything, "Why haven't you called her?"
Stefan shook his head, "What am I supposed to do, feed her another lie? I hate lying to her, Zach. I'm not good at it. She already thinks I'm hiding something."
"What choice do you have? You came here because you wanted to live as normal a life as you could. You knew this was going to be a part of it." Zach replied.
Claire glared at her brother, "You lie to her Stefan. And you better lie well because we can't afford to have her asking questions." She wanted to keep Elena out of the supernatural as long as possible knowing the tragic fate she would most likely endure.
[Caroline's bedroom. ]
"I remember the party. Damon came up behind me, and he was kissing my neck, or biting my neck. I passed out. I woke up without any scars like it never happened. It's like there's holes in my memory lately. It's just weird. Maybe I let him bite me. "Caroline recount still slightly confused over the events. So much of her time with Damon was a haze.
Bonnie looked concerned, "Why would you do that?" she asked wondering what had happened to cause Care to lose her memory.
Caroline shook her head, done with the topic, "Can we just not talk about it, ok? Don't want to talk about Damon. I don't want to talk about any of it. Just want to go back to normal. What are you doing with that candle?"
"Um... Nothing. What's this?" Bonnie said pointing to Caroline's necklace.
Caroline shrugged, "Damon gave it to me. Or he was going to give it to me. All I know is, it's mine now."
"It's ugly. " Bonnie replied reaching out to touch it. The necklace seemed familiar to her, like it was calling to her.
"Well, get your hands off it." Caroline snapped.
[At school.]
"The sexy suds car wash is tomorrow. The football team and the band have committed. Well, not all the band. Just the ones who could pull off the bikini. I want, in your face, sexy. I mean, it's a fund raiser, for god's sake." Caroline instructed to her minions.
Elena looked on in disbelief, "Unbelievable. It's like nothing happened."
Bonnie shook her head, "Lies and denial."
"Hey." Stefan said walking up to the pair of friends.
Bonnie looked on at the awkward pair, before saying, "Hey. You know, I got to go find Claire."
"I'm so sorry I haven't called." Stefan apologized.
"No worries. I'll live." Elena replied bleakly wishing Claire was there to ease the tension with her sarcastic comments.
"Claire and I were dealing with Damon. It took longer than we expected" Stefan said cryptically.
"And did you... deal with Damon?" Elena shuddered as she said his name. Something about the eldest Salvatore gave her the creeps.
"Yes. Yeah. We did. He's getting the help he needs." Stefan replied trying to assuage Elena's concerns. Damon, at least for now, was out of the way, and unable to hurt innocent people. But if history had anything to say about Damon, it was that he was the most dangerous when underestimated and back into a corner.
"For four days?" Elena asked puzzled wondering how the twins had managed to fall completely off the grid for four days to deal with their brother.
"You have every right to be upset with me. But can I explain it all to you? Please." Stefan begged trying to persuade Elena to understand. He was so drawn to this girl, and he also knew that it placed him, and Claire by proxy in a very dangerous situation if anything went sideways. Life for the Salvatore siblings had a way of almost always going sideways.
Elena smiled, "Sure. When?"
"I got to be home after school because Claire and I have a family meeting with Uncle Zach, but The Grill, on four o'clock?" Stefan said.
"Ok." Elena said hesitantly wanting to give Stefan the benefit of the doubt.
"Thanks." Stefan replied gratefully.
Caroline walked up to the pair and turned to Stefan saying, "Stefan, where is Damon? He has some serious apologizing to do."
Stefan shook his head, "He's gone, Caroline." He's gone for now, he thought to himself, and if I have anything to say about it, he'll be gone forever.
"When is he coming back?" Caroline asked puzzled.
"He's not coming back. I'm sorry." Stefan replied trying to ease the confused blonde's pain.
Elena put her arm gently on Caroline's shoulder and said, "This is a good thing, Caroline."
Caroline nodded, "I know that." She replied weakly.
[At Mystic Grill.]
"Hey, Matt, um, have you seen Stefan?" Elena asked.
"Nope. If you want to kill some time, um, you can rack. Come on. We haven't played in forever. I'll let you brick." Matt offered.
[Salvatore's house. Zach is going to the cellar.]
Zach shook his head at Damon, "I'm full of vervain. I've been putting it in my coffee for 16 years. My blood will only make you worse. Damon?"
Damon scoffed, "So it was your vervain. Good for you. Good for you. Family only runs so deep." He said pretending to be hurt by Zach's betrayal.
"Actually the plan was Claire's idea, and we're not family, Damon. Only in the most dysfunctional sense. In fact, I avoided having a living, breathing, loving family because of you and your brother. Hell, you're not even family with your own siblings." Zach replied bitterly.
"I don't guess I could talk you into bringing me a rabbit or something? I'd settle for Stefan's diet at this point." Damon plead feeling the agony of blood deprivation. Claire's blood stripping cells were agonizing to endure.
"You know I can't do that. Wait more like I won't do that, I'd rather see you painfully starve to nothingness." Zach replied.
Damon chuckled, "Each word dripping with disdain, you have Claire down to a tee. You succeeded, Zach. I'm shutting down. You're like your grandfather. He didn't like it when I came to visit, either."
Zach shook his head, "But you don't visit, Damon. You appear, unannounced, reminding me that this isn't my house; that you're just permitting me to live here. Hell that you're permitting me to live. Where ever you and Stefan go, death and pain follows. It's the Salvatore legacy, our family curse."
"Someone had to mow the lawn." Damon smirked.
"I came to say good-bye, Damon. Zach said before turning to walk away.
"Unlock it. Unlock the door, Zach. " Damon yelled.
"Keep it up, Damon. The more energy you expend, the faster you'll go." Claire said, hearing Damon's screams to be let out. She turned to Stefan "You are so late. El is going to kick your ass."
"Shut up." Stefan replied
[At Mystic Grill.]
"And there's Vicki, all nonchalant in the bathroom like it's no big deal that they're hooking up." Elena said venting in frustration. There was only so much chaos a girl could handle.
Matt laughed, "Yeah, I'm not going to lie. Your brother and my sister, that's weird."
"Yeah." Elena replied with a smile before looking down at her watch in anger.
"How late is he?" Matt asked concerned.
"Hitting the hour mark. Hope there's nothing wrong. Which means I'm not talking boy problems with you." Elena said frustrated at the current Stefan situation.
"Good. I mean, it's not like we were ever best friends or anything." Matt joked.
"Ok. Here goes- What do you think of Stefan? Is he a good guy?" Elena asked genuinely.
"Why? What's he done?" Matt asked defensively, ready to kick Stefan's ass if he done anything stupid.
Elena shook her head, "Not any one thing. He's just so secretive all the time. I think there's something that he doesn't want me to know, which makes me want to know all the more."
Matt looked puzzled, "Like what? Like that he's a serial killer and he keeps a clown suit in his trunk?" Sure, Stefan was a bit of a loner, but surely that meant he was just shy among new people. Vivacious and sarcastic Claire seemed to balance out her twin's socially awkward and intense personality.
Elena shook her head, "No, of course not. But what do we know about him, really? We know more about Claire than we know about him."
Matt shrugged, "He's great at football. A little bit of a loner. Claire's his twin, and as much as I hate saying it, he might be a nice guy."
"So you think I'm just being paranoid?" Elena asked
"I think you should talk to him." Matt replied knowing that answers from Stefan himself were better than any speculation the pair could generate.
"Talk to who? I'm so sorry that I'm late." Stefan said walking up to the pair of exes.
"What happened?" Elena asked her frustration still quite evident in her tone.
Stefan held his hands up, "I got held up."
Elena looked concerned, "Is everything ok?" she asked.
"There was this thing with my uncle and my sister." Stefan said knowing Claire would vouch for him if Elena asked her.
"And you couldn't call and tell me that you were going to be an hour late?" Elena said clearly pissed at having to wait.
"Ok. You two have fun." Matt said before walking away to get away from a conversation he could tell was going to be very unpleasant.
"I'm really sorry. It was unavoidable." Stefan said apologetically. He couldn't have left earlier. He had to personally make sure that Damon was secure, for Elena's sake.
"What was unavoidable? Ok." Elena said beyond pissed with Stefan's evasiveness.
Stefan pled, "Oh, uh, Elena, please..."
Elena shook her head, "No, Stefan, don't you get it? Every question gets a vague non-answer. What is so awful that you're afraid to tell me?"
"I know you. My god." An old man said to Stefan
"I'm sorry?" Stefan asked confused.
"I know you. How can it be?" The old man replied perplex and slightly in awe.
Stefan shook his head, "I think you have the wrong person, sir. "
"You haven't aged a day.' The old man said in wonder.
"I'm sorry. Excuse me. Hey, can we- can I take you home and we can talk about it? Is that ok?" Stefan stammered nervous due to the old man's comments.
Elena looked confused, "Wait, what was that?"
Stefan continued to stutter, "I-i don't know. uh, nothing."
"Right, nothing. Ok, um... I got to go, Stefan. Excuse me." Elena replied in frustration before storming away.
[Elena's bedroom.]
"I tried. I want so much to make things right, but every instinct in my body is telling me to be careful. What you don't know can hurt you." Elena wrote.
[Elena's house.]
"Jenna? Jenna? Stefan? What are you doing here?" Elena asked surprised to see her boyfriend after their previous argument over Damon's involvement with Caroline and her strange marks.
Stefan gestured to the grocery bags he carried, "Dinner. Jeremy told me that chicken parmesan is one of your favorites, and I happen to be a good cook. The Italian roots demand it. I can even make my own homemade mozzarella. Only tonight, it is unfortunately store bought. Sorry. Claire would be ashamed, she makes everything homemade."
Elena laughed, imagining Claire hand rolling out dough, "I don't know what you're trying to accomplish." She said confused that Stefan would suddenly open up.
Stefan shot her a warm smile that was becoming a habit to see on the usually broody Salvatore's face. "You want to know me, right? Well, I figure if you're going to dump me, you should at least, um, know who you're dumping. So let's start with Katherine."
"Stefan..." Elena trailed almost hiding her surprise that Stefan would chose to lead with this particular topic.
"She was... the most beautiful girl that I had ever met. She had this perfect olive skin. And she had this laugh. It was ridiculous. I mean, her laugh made you laugh. And she was fun. She knew how to have a good time. But Katherine was also very impatient and entitled and selfish, and, um, and impulsive. Enter Damon. He claims that he was with her first. I don't know. I do know that I did some things that...I'm not proud of. And my biggest regret... Is not being able to make it right before she died. I miss her, but... I'm no longer crippled by her loss. "Stefan said awkwardly like Claire after all these years, it still bothered him to talk about Katherine.
"And Claire?" Elena asked.
"Katherine practically adopted Claire. Our mother died of consumption when we were really young. Claire never really had any close female companionship. She and Katherine were like sisters, if Katherine did anything right, she helped Claire become a strong and independent. They were close until Claire saw how she was playing both of her brothers. She was so angry at us for letting Katherine destroy our relationship." Stefan replied recount Claire's complicated feelings for Katherine.
Vicki smiled, "It was very nice what you did for Stefan. Very romantic."
Jeremy returned her smile kindly leaning in for a kiss, "Well, I was feeling romantic."
Vicki said picking through the bathroom cabinet, "Look what I found. "Elena Gilbert, take one tablet every 4 to 6 hours, as needed for pain."
"Those are left over from the car accident." Jeremy said.
"So she won't miss them. " Vicki said
Jeremy grabbed the bottle from her hands lightly, and stuck it back in the cabinet, "No not with that, that's an antique. I feel like we're always getting high."
"That's the beauty of choice. Vicki replied.
"Well, then let's choose not to. I mean, we don't have to be high all the time, right?" He said pleadingly.
Vicki rolled her eyes, "I really hope you're not one of those guys who, now that we're together, tries to change everything about me."
Jeremy shook his head, "No."
"Good." Vicki said giving him a passionate kiss.
"I'm an avid reader, a huge Fitzgerald fan, "The Great Gatsby", his masterpiece. But I'm no snob. I love some good Grisham. I think Seinfeld is the best American television show for the past 50 years, but I Love Lucy is all-time. "The loving cup" episode was the best, I think. Huge Scorsese fan. I can watch Taxi Driver over and over again." Stefan said recounting some of his favorite things in the world.
"Here, let me." Elena said
"As far as music, it's pretty much across the board. Um, Dylan, Hendrix, Patsy, Willie. Oh, Kanye. You know what, I even like that one Miley song. Easy." Stefan offered light-heartedly.
Elena shrugged, " I didn't say anything. Hey, this is for the garlic bread, right? Because I'm not eating garlic unless you agree to, too. "
"Are you kidding? I love garlic." His Italian heritage definitely contributed to his love of garlic. Claire in her cooking considered it an essential ingredient.
Elena is cut with the knife. "Ow! ahh." She says crying out in pain.
Stefan looked concerned as he tried to control his body's reaction to blood, "You ok? um..."
Elena nodded, "Yeah. Think so. Your face..."
Stefan stepped back, "I-I, uh, I think i got something in my eye."
"Stefan. Hey. Stefan! Um, I think that my paranoia has turned into full-blown hallucinations." Elena said reaching out to him.
Stefan smiled, "Part of your charm."
"Hey is it okay if I text Claire, and have her join us?" Elena asked.
"Actually I have to head out, but shoot Claire a text, I know for a fact she's free. Invite to the grill and order her a raspberry tea, it's her kryptonite" Stefan smiled.
[Caroline's bedroom. Caroline is calling someone.]
"Caroline. Caroline." Damon's voice echoes in the back of Caroline's mind.
Caroline shook her head, "No, Tiki, do not do the one-piece, ok? I've seen it on you. Trust me. Yeah, but you're going for stripper pole vibe this year."
"Caroline." Damon whispered at the back of her mind.
"Yeah, maybe we should wash the cars in slow motion. No." Caroline replied.
"Caroline." Damon whispered.
"What? Oh, um, no, sorry. Um, so I'll just see you tomorrow. Two-piece. Ok, bye. "Caroline said into the phone before hanging up on her minion. A crow is at her window. "Shoo, shoo! Shoo! God!" she said waving at the bird.
[Salvatore's cellar.]
Stefan walked in to see Claire standing guard. She smiled at him, "Want to switch off?"
"Guessing you got the text from Elena." Stefan replied.
"You fill her in on the Kat-catrosphe?" Claire asked
"As much as I could, I told a little bit of your story as well."
Claire frowned. She didn't like people revealing her past. She tried to control the information the outside world knew about her, but she supposed in this particular instance it couldn't have been helped. "I guess I head out. Stay Damon, sit good boy." She said verbally jabbing at her brother before laughing away. Stefan laughed.
"I bet you're feeling pretty good about yourself, aren't you?" Damon spat
Stefan shook his head, "Not particularly."
"You won. You got the bad guy. Now nothing could come between you and Elena. Except the truth. The lies will catch up to you, Stefan. As long as you keep lying to yourself about what you are. Take some notes from our sister, at least she embraces what we are." Damon taunted knowing that Stefan's blood issues were one of the primary issues between the twins. Stefan resented Claire's control and acceptance of their vampire nature, and Claire resented Stefan's lack of control and his sadistic murderous impulse during his ripper phases.
"The beauty of you in there and me out here... Is that I can walk away." Stefan said not letting Damon's jabs have any effect on him.
[Mystic Grill]
Claire walked in to see Elena already sitting at a table. She walked over, and sat across from the Gilbert girl.
"I ordered you a raspberry ice tea, Stefan said it was your favorite." Elena said pushing the glass towards her friend.
"Thanks Elena. I promised to give you more answers. So ask me whatever you like." Claire said smiling brightly. She was using the signature Salvatore smile, meant to charm and disarm.
"What was your family like growing up?" Elena asked curiously hoping Claire could shed some light on the mysterious Salvatore family.
"My mother died when I was very young. I don't have many memories of her. I do remember that she was very intelligent, fiercely protective, loved reading, and always smelled like vanilla. My father was difficult. He was very hard on all of us, but especially Damon. He had very antiquated ideas of who I was supposed to be as his daughter. Damon, Stefan, and I were very close, but I was especially close to Damon. He always protected me. He knew what it was like to constantly be told that he was a disappointment. He knew what it was like to fail our father like I did." Clarissa said
"You and Damon were close?" Elena asked surprised. The pair seemed to have a very antagonistic relationship right now, even more so than Stefan and Damon.
"I know it doesn't seem like it now, but Damon was my hero. He practically raised me and Stefan. He taught me how to read. Hell, my first word was his name. I followed him everywhere, in fact he used to call me Shadow." Claire replied ruefully. She missed those times. She missed the closeness she once had with both of her brothers. It had been too long since they were a family. Ever since Katherine, Claire had been pulled between her brothers in their attempts to wound and one up one another.
"Katherine changed all that?" Elena asked curiously
Claire shot Elena a wry smile, "Hmm, I thought that might come up at some point." She looked in the eyes of the young Gilbert who wore Katerina Petrova's face and said, "Kat changed everything. She had this way of looking at you, and making you feel like you were the best thing in the world. I had always wanted an older sister, and Kat was wise, independent, and authentic. She was everything I dreamed of being until she wasn't."
"Stefan said you hated her because she got with both of your brothers."
"It was more than that. She ruined their relationship. She damaged them, and left me to deal with the broken pieces." Claire spat out.
"I'm sorry, Claire." Elena replied, "Hobbies, music choices, favorite tv shows?"
"I'm a classic rock & roll girl with sprinkles of songs from other genres. I love to read, write music, shoot archery, and I am nasty card shark. I am a killer cook, but I am a terrible artist, even my stick figures are horrendous. People have tried to teach me various forms of art, I am slightly less terrible at painting after many, many lessons. My favorite TV shows have to be Friends and the classic Bewitched." Claire said appreciating the lighter tone. Claire looked down at her phone, "Oh, crap Caroline is going to kill us. "
Elena laughed. It was hard to imagine the gorgeous brunette struggling, but it was nice to know that the seemingly flawless girl was indeed human. She double checked the time on her phone, "Yup, we are so late." They headed out from the grill to the car wash that Caroline had volunteered them for.
[At the sexy suds carwash.]
"No friend discounts. No freebies. No pay ya laters. We are not running a charity here. No, we are not." Caroline said as she prepped her staff for the event.
"Hi." Stefan said greeting his sister with a short hug before turning to Elena to do the same. He hoped that Claire's explanation had eased some of Elena's suspiciousness.
"Hey!" Elena replied
"The event is called sexy suds, you know. Stefan, Elena take notes from Claire." Caroline said nodding at Claire who had stripped her shirt off to reveal a red string bikini top. Stefan looked very uncomfortable as his twin sister did her mini strip.
"Thanks Care, where do you want me to start?" Claire laughed, knowing that Elena and Stefan were about to have an awkward moment.
"Go help Bonnie" Caroline replied nodding towards the Bennet girl who was talking to Matt Donovan. Claire smiled and then walked over to the pair.
Stefan chuckled, "Did we just get scolded?"
Elena smiled, "And judged, yeah."
"Wow, how was the grill with Claire?" Stefan asked unable to contain his curiosity much longer.
Elena smiled, "It was good. I felt like I got to know Claire much better. She really shared a lot." Elena then blushed and gestured to Stefan's shirt, "I'm sorry, but I guess you're going to have to take that off."
Stefan smirked, "I think you have to go first."
Elena struggled, "Ok. Ok, um-sorry, So not sexy. Ugh."
Stefan shook his head throwing Elena a signature Salvatore smile, "I disagree."
Bonnie shook her head, "Uh-uh, no. None of that tortured pining stuff."
Matt shook his head, "I'm just observing."
"Hey, guys what are we talking about?" Claire said with a bright smile as she greeted her friends. She hadn't missed Matt's longing look toward Elena.
"Not much Claire, heard you went to the Founder's Party with Tyler". Matt said trying to avoid the topic he and Bonnie had been discussing. He knew that mentioning his feelings for Elena would immediately make Stefan's sister uncomfortable.
Claire nodded, "Yeah, I did. I had quite a good time unexpectedly. Stuffy parties were never my favorite thing." Her statement couldn't be closer to the truth. She had always hated the Mystic Falls parties when she was growing up, they were full of self-important people grasping for power and trying to outdo each other to climb higher on the social latter. Tyler's presence had certainly made her more comfortable, and gave her a more secure place in the community. She couldn't afford to be deemed a loner especially with the counsel on high alert for vampires.
"Mm-hmm. Oh. Tiki. This one's yours. " Bonnie said gesturing to the incoming car.
Tiki groaned as the newest car pulled in, "Why do I always get the homely cars? Just to be clear, your car's a p.o.s. I mean, we can wash it, but it's still a p.o.s."
"You don't have to be rude." Bonnie replied irked that Tiki could be so stuck up towards people who were trying to giving money to help their school.
"Rude is uglying up the road with that junk. " Tiki replied. Bonnie uses her powers to water Ticki.
"Whoa! What the hell?" Tiki screams.
"Wet and wild, Tik." Matt laughed.
"All proceeds are going to the school's athletic department still healing from the tragic death of their football coach William Tanner. The citizens of Mystic Falls coming together in support of one of their own. Cut it. " Logan said recording the bit for the news later.
Jenna walked up and smirked, "Classy." She said wanting to roll her eyes at her ex, a common impulse she supposed.
"Thank you." He said smiling brightly.
"But you're still going to video the girls in bikinis, right?" Jenna asked disgusted.
Logan nodded, "We, 53% of Americans watch the news with the sound off."
Jenna ignored his gross comment, "Thank you for dinner. I had a nice time."
"Do you remember the last time we were in the school parking lot?" He asked wistfully.
Jenna shook her head, "Nope. Doesn't ring a bell. "
"Really?" He asked surprised.
Jenna shook her head again, "Nada. Especially not having sex in the minivan." She had tried her hardest to ignore that part of her past.
Logan smiled, "That was a good day. What?" he asked when Jenna rolled her eyes.
'You're getting soap in that.' Elena said concerned that the piece could be easily ruined.
Stefan waved her off, "Oh, it's fine."
"I noticed that Damon and Claire have one, too. Is there a story behind it?" Elena asked hoping this was at least a topic that Stefan was willing to talk about. Stefan always seemed to shut down her questions.
Stefan nodded, "Yeah, it's the family crest from the Italian renaissance."
Elena said looking at the unfamiliar gem that made the ring one of the most unique pieces she had ever seen. "Hmm. What's the stone?"
"It's called lapis lazuli. We all have one. They have been passed down in our family for generations."
Elena marveled over the piece, noting that Claire and Damon did indeed have similar rings. "Oh. You should really take it off. I could put it in my bag."
Stefan waved her off, "No, it's- it's fine, really. Thanks, though." His ring wasn't something he could afford to lose right not especially in the middle of a bright sun day outside, not if He didn't want to become a pile of ashes.
Elena smiled awkwardly, "Ok. I'm going to get some towels." She said before walking away.
"Ok." Stefan replied relieved that the conversation about his ring seemed done, at least for now. He hadn't lied to Elena per say. The Salvatore rings were indeed family heirlooms, though that was no longer their primary purpose.
"Hey, we're out of towels and those shimmy things. " Elena said to Caroline.
"I'll go get some more. Mind the money. " Caroline replied delegating.
"Caroline. Caroline, help me. Caroline. Help me. Help me." Damon's voice plays in the back of Caroline's mind.
Elena smiles at the next customer. It was the man that claimed to know Stefan the night before, Tiki's grandfather. "That'll be $20. I saw you last night. You were talking to a friend of mine, at the grill?"
"Well, I-I thought it was somebody I knew." The old man says grimacing.
"Stefan Salvatore." Elena prods, "He has a sister named Clarissa, brunette, green eyes." She says pointing to Claire washing a car with Bonnie and Matt.
Claire's vampire hearing catches Elena question. She knew after their conversation about Kat, plus all of the incidents surrounding Damon, that Elena's damn Gilbert curiosity wouldn't let this mystery go.
The old man shook his head, dismissing Elena's questions, "Nah, it can't be. It's just my mind playing tricks on me."
Elena pushed, not willing to let this go, "Where do you think you'd seen him before?" She was so close to potential answers about her mysterious boyfriend and his equally confusing sister.
"When I first moved here, I stayed at the Salvatore boarding house." He said.
"Oh." Elena replied.
"Stefan and Clarissa were just passing through to visit their uncle. I mean, none of us knew they was even here until the attack. "The man continued recounting the experience so many years ago.
Elena questioned, "The attack?"
"His uncle got killed. Mauled by an animal in the woods." He replied.
"His uncle, Zach?" Elena asked.
The old man shook his head, "No, mm-mmm. Joseph. Joseph Salvatore."
"I'm sorry, sir. I don't think I'm familiar with the story." Elena replied. She had never heard of the story of Joseph Salvatore.
The old man smiled ruefully, "Oh, how could you? I mean, this happened years ago."
"Grandpa, you got to go. Mom wants you home. Ok?" Tki said to her grandfather embarrassed by his ramblings,
The old man nodded, "Ah."
Tiki turned her attention to Elena and said, "He wasn't bugging you, was he? He's a little alzy-heimer."
Elena shook her head, "No, he was sweet. Hey, sir, I'm sorry. Um, are you sure that the man that you saw, that you knew, his name was Stefan Salvatore?"
"Yes. I remember his ring and his brother— And his sister, you can't forget a face like hers." The man said nodding as if it had be yesterday.
"Damon?" Elena asked curiously.
The man nodded, "Yeah. Stefan and Damon Salvatore, and their sister Clarissa Salvatore."
"When was this?" She asked urging the man on.
"It was early June, 1953. Yeah. June, 1953." He replied before walking away.
"Caroline finally freed you, huh?" Stefan said as Elena walked closer to him, the conversation with Tiki's grandfather continuing to play in the back of her mind.
"Uh, I don't know where she went. She abandoned me. Hey, I realized earlier, I had no idea that your family was from Italy." Elena asked trying once again to pry information from her enigmatic boyfriend.
Stefan scoffed, "No? Last name Salvatore didn't do it for you? Claire's full name is Clarissa Guiliana, and mine is Stefan Alessandro."
Elena laughed lightly, "Right. Duh. Are there any other Salvatores in Mystic Falls?" She asked curious to see if Stefan would mention Joseph or any other mysterious relatives.
Stefan shook his head, "Not for a long time, It's just us and our uncle Zach." The fate of the rest of the Mystic Falls Salvatore clan was usually an unfortunate, premature and typically painful death.
"Where did everyone else go?" She disbelievingly. How did they not have any other family?
"Kinda just spread out all over." Stefan said. Across the parking lot, Claire internally groaned, ripper Stefan was such a more convincing liar. She knew that right now Stefan wasn't coming off as charming or convincing, but shady and suspicious putting their existence in a tenuous place.
"Hmm." Elena replied.
Stefan looked suspicious and asked, "Why?" If he blew their cover and put them in danger over Elena, Claire would probably kill him. She hadn't exactly come back to Mystic Falls of her own volition.
"I'm just trying to learn more about you." She said trying to play off her curiosity.
"Hmm." Stefan replied in the same tone Elena had earlier.
[In the wood.]
"Where are you taking me?" Jeremy asked as he and Vicki walked through the woods together.
Vicki smiled, "We can't hide out in your room all the time. Welcome to my other favorite party place." She said gesturing to the cemetery that they now found themselves entering.
Jeremy scoffed, "What, a cemetery?" A cemetery wasn't his go to place for getting high and having fun.
"Yeah. It's cool, huh?" Vicki said before dragging him over to greet her friends that were already present at the grave yard.
"Yo, Vick!" One of the guys yelled at the Donovan sister.
"What's up, Jared?" Vicki said.
Jared laughed, "You baby-sitting, Donovan?" He asked gesturing to Jeremy.
"This is Jeremy. He's cool." She said trying to make her friends at ease with Jeremy's presence.
"Smoke up." Jared said offering Jeremy and Vicki some drugs.
Later on Jeremy and Vicki fight over Vicki's drug use, and Jeremy storms off mad leaving Vicki alone with her friends at the grave yard.
[At the sexy suds carwash.]
Tyler walks over to Claire and whistled, "Damn Salvatore, casual looks good on you."
Claire laughed, "Tyler Lockwood, can't you tell this is my Sunday best." She joked gesturing to her bikini top, shorts, flip flops and sunglasses propped on the top of her head.
"You look pretty good to me, Claire. Thanks for hearing me out the other night." Tyler said genuinely. There was something captivating about the brunette beyond her looks. She was someone that gave off the vibe of compassion in all she did.
"See there is a real person behind all of that macho perverted arrogantness." Claire jibed sarcastically before smiling at him and saying, "I had a good time, who knows we may be friends yet." If anything good came out of her time so far in Mystic Falls, she seemed to have shaken off her perpetual seriousness and embraced a lighter, more carefree side of herself. "If only I could get Eli to embrace it too" she thought to herself trying to imagine her often stiff suit clad friend at the sexy suds car wash.
Tyler nodded, knowing Claire's humor was all in good fun and well deserved, "You wound me Salvatore." He said dramatically clutching his heart.
"Someone besides Matt has to tell you like it is." Claire said playfully.
"Hey Salvatore, Lockwood quit flirting with each other and get back to work." Tiki called to the pair rolling her eyes at Mystic Falls newest potential couple.
"Well, we'd better go before Caroline comes back." Tyler suggested
Claire shuddered knowing that a pissed off Caroline was something to fear indeed, "Later." She said before leaning up to kiss him lightly on the cheek before walking away to rejoin Bonnie.
"Your car was done an hour ago." Jenna said caustically
Logan ignored Jenna's comment and turned to her niece extending a hand which Elena shook, "Hi. Elena, right? I think I met you once when you were 9."
Elena smiled awkwardly, "Oh."
"Your emotional maturity level when we were together." Jenna sniped back more fiery than ever. Logan had a way of pressing her buttons in a way that few other people could.
Logan feigned a hurt look on his face, "Ouch. Here I thought we were making progress."
Elena turned to Jenna and said hopefully, "Is he enough in your good graces that i can ask him for a favor?" She knew that Logan would have access to new records. It was her best chance at getting information on the Salvatores.
"If I do her a favor, will I get back in your good graces?" Logan asked also focusing his attention on Jenna. He really did want to make peace with his ex-girlfriend.
"Uh, a very reluctant maybe to both." Jenna replied shakily.
"Done. Wait. One condition. Dinner, tonight, your house. "Logan said confidently seizing the moment to not only woo Jenna, but get access to the Gilbert house and retrieve the pocket watch for the Founder's Council.
Jenna threw up her hands in frustration, "Fine. But you're eating leftovers."
"Ooh. What do you need?' He asked Elena.
"Do you have access to old news stories, say, fifties?" She asked giving a general time so she wouldn't necessarily have to explain what exactly she was looking into.
"Yeah, at the station. Between the archives and the internet, we pretty much have everything." Logan replied, "But they are super dusty and not particularly exciting, what exactly are you looking for?"
"I have this report way past due. It'd be a life saver. "Elena said trying to play off her curiosity into a nonchalant response.
Logan smiled, "Well I'm heading there now. Let's go."
Elena turned to Jenna, "If anyone asks, you don't know where I went. I don't want Caroline to know that I left." She said knowing her aunt would understand her desire to avoid of Caroline's wrath.
[Salvatore's house. Caroline enters and goes in the cellar.]
"Caroline, help me. Caroline. Help me." Damon says weakly calling to the blonde.
A shocked Caroline looks at the imprisoned Salvatore confused, "Damon? Damon? Damon? Oh, my god! What is this? How did I know that you were here?"
"Because I wanted you to. Very, very badly. Let me out of here. Please." Damon said continuing his weak voice between the lack of blood, the vervain in his system and the spells that Claire had applied on him, his strength was dangerously low.
Caroline remembered bits and pieces from the other night, "You bit me." She said still in a little bit of a haze from Damon's mind manipulation.
Damon smiled, "You liked it. Remember?"
Caroline shook her head, still trying to put the pieces of her broken memory together, "Why do I keep remembering the same things, but in different ways?"
"You remember what I want you to remember. And now that the vervain has passed out of your system, you won't remember what you're about to do." Damon replied reaching the end of his very thin patience, barely concealing the violence from his tone.
"What am I about to do?" She asked curiously.
Damon dilated his eyes making contact with the blonde, "You're going to open the door. You're going to open the door. "Caroline opens the latch of the cells door as Zach hearing the commotion rushes towards the cell door pushing Caroline away, but it was too late, Damon was free.
"No! No! Get out of here. Run! Run!" Zach yells at Caroline. Caroline runs. Damon kills Zach breaking his neck in one swift motion before running after Caroline. Damon tries to catch Caroline, but the she runs outside and the sun burns him. It is then that he remembers that Stefan and Claire hid his ring as an extra precaution.
[At the sexy suds carwash.]
"Sweeper duty." Tiki said handing Bonnie the supplies, "And if you see Salvatore, she'd better help you."
"What?" Bonnie asked irritated at Tiki's continued bad attitude.
"We have to clean the pavement." Tiki replied in a voice that said she was done answering what she perceived to be stupid questions.
Bonnie shook her head, "It's a car wash. By definition, the pavement's clean."
"But not dry." Tiki replied.
"And I'm doing this why?" Bonnie asked.
"Caroline bailed, so that leaves me in charge. Fabulous." She said dismissing Bonnie and walking away.
An uncontrollable rage fills Bonnie, and with her powers, Bonnie causes fire burning Tiki's car.
"Bonnie! Bonnie! Bonnie! Hey, what's going on?" Claire said rushing to her friend's side. She could tell that Bonnie's powers were continuing to emerge. She knew sooner than later, she would have to reveal herself in order to fulfill her obligation to the Bennet's and protect Bonnie.
Bonnie snap out her haze, and the world around her felt blurry and unreal, "What just happened?" She said turning to Claire, feeling a sense of comfort at the presence of the Salvatore sister.
"You were in some kind of a trance." Stefan would had walked up on the pair after trying to find Elena chime in. Claire shot him a look that clearly told her twin that his presence was most definetly unwanted.
"Did I do this?" Bonnie questioned confused at the appearance of the burning car and the flames. Claire knew how she felt acutely. When her powers emerged, she had experienced the same confusion, the same daze of unbelievablity, and the same acute fear.
"I think so, yes." Claire added gently, "Bonnie are you okay?" She asked gently trying not to spoke the girl.
"What do you remember?" Stefan asked. Claire continued to glare at him. Stefan knew that Bennet witches were her specific area of knowledge, and he had been told many times not to interfere.
"Rage." Bonnie whispered, "Nobody else saw, did they? Don't tell anybody. Please." Bonnie said hysterically pleading.
"Bonnie, breathe its okay." Claire said pulling Bonnie into a hug. "Breathe in, breathe out."
"Stefan, I'm going to take Bonnie home, can you pick me up later please?" Claire asked not letting go of the crying Bennett.
Stefan nodded.
[At the station.]
"We digitized all our archives last year. You can pull all the remote footage right up on screen. What is it exactly you're looking for?" Logan said showing Elena the equipment that station had.
"An incident from 1953, If it even happened- At the old Salvatore boarding house." Elena replied.
Logan's cell phone rings. "Sorry, one second. Yeah? All right, be right there." He ends the call and turns to Elena saying, "I got to go. You believe there's actual news to cover in this town? All right, use keywords to search the database. It's pretty easy to navigate. And Brady down in tech will help you out with anything you need. "
"Ok." Elena said brightly.
Logan walked over to the door, getting ready to leave and said, "All right? Oh, hey. Could you put in a good word for me with Jenna"
Elena nodded, "You got it."
"All right. Good luck." He replied before walking away in a rush.
[At the sexy suds carwash.]
Stefan spotted Matt, and walked over to him saying, "Hey, have you seen Elena?"
Matt shook his head, "No, not for a while."
"You think she went home?" Stefan asked curiously. Elena's behavior and questions had been so weird as of late. He needed to find and assuage her concerns before it became a problem for his family.
"Not sure. " Matt said, not particularly sure when Elena had ditched the event.
Stefan smiled wryly saying, "Thanks." He then turned to walk away, Matt reached out and grabbed his arm.
"Hey. I'm not saying this for you. I'm saying it for her. But she's big on trust. So whatever you're holding back from her, the more you try to hide it, the more she won't stop till she figures it out." Matt warned.
[At the station. Elena looks a documentary.]
"This is Michael Fell reporting to you from the Salvatore boarding house, where a brutal animal attack has ended in tragedy. Ok, they're bringing out the bodies. See if you can get closer. Is that the nephew and niece?" At the background, she sees Stefan and Claire looking the same as they did today, years later.
[Salvatore's house.]
Stefan and Claire walk in and see Zach's dead body, "Zach! Oh, no, Zach..." Claire says tearing up at the loss of their last blood relation. Stefan wraps his arms around his twin hoping to offer her a little solace.
"This is your fault." Claire screamed angrily. "You put him in danger by leaving to pursue Elena today. You were the one who insisted we come back here. You knew Damon would follow, and now Zach is dead." She said pushing across the room in anger. She had endeavored to protect this last member of their family. Damon, Stefan and herself had some much blood on their hands especially when it had come to their relatives.
[Bennet House]
Claire after she had spent the last few hours wiping away her tears over Zach, stood at Sheila's door determine not to fail another person she was charged with protecting. She knocked the door lightly.
"Clarissa, I was wondering when you would show up at my door, old friend." Sheila said pulling the brunette into a warm hug, she pulled away from the Salvatore saying, "You haven't aged a day dear, not that I expected you too. I assume you are here about Bonnie?"
Claire nodded, "Yes, Sheila, I think it's time." It was good to see an old face, a face of friend, a face of someone she hadn't failed.
"Well, come on in." Sheila replied inviting the vampire in without hesitation. "We have much to talk about." She trusted the vampire implicitly always. Claire had always been there to protect and guide her.
[Caroline's bedroom.]
Mrs Forbes pops her head into Caroline's room, "I didn't see you at the car wash."
Caroline still shaken from the day's events and knowing her mom was likely not to care said, "Left early."
"Honey, are you ok? Anything you want to talk about? Is it a boy thing?" She says walk into Caroline's room and placing an arm tenderly on her daughters shoulder.
"Mom, if I want to talk boys, I'll call dad. At least he's successfully dating one. " Caroline said brushing her mom's arm off of her shoulder in frustration.
[Caroline's bedroom.]
"Dear diary, I'm not a believer. People are born, they grow old, and then they die. That's the world we live in. There's no magic, no mysticism, no immortality. There's nothing that defies rational thought. "Elena writes in her journal trying to process what she had learned today with what her rationale told her.
[Bonnie goes to her grandmother.]
"I don't know what's happening to me." Bonnie says crying into her grandmother's arms.
"I know, dear." Sheila replies, pulling back from her granddaughter, and gesturing to the Salvatore girl who stood awkwardly looking on the situation.
"Bonnie there is something that you need to know about you, me and your grandmother." Claire said kindly reaching to give her friend a short, sweet hug of reassurance.
[Elena's house. Logan steals Jeremy's watch.]
"Logan? Logan?" Jenna called.
"People are supposed to be who they say they are. And not lie or hide their true selves." Elena continues write.
Jeremy finds Logan upstairs near the family bedrooms and asks, "What are you doing here?"
Logan shrugs, "Oh, hey, man. Just looking for the bathroom. "
"It's not possible. I'm not a believer, I can't be. But how can I deny what's right in front of me? People who never grows old..." Elena said as the series of weird incidents that had occurred over since the Salvatores moved to town flooded over her.
.
[At the cemetery. Music stops.]
"Donovan?" Jared asked.
Vicki waved him off, "No, I'm good."
"Not it. Not it. Not it. Ah, Vicki." Said the group of guys.
Vicki goes to the car. Damon is here, coughing, groaning.
"Hey, man, you ok?" She asked from a distance not able to make out exactly who it was.
"Come here. Come here. "Damon said weakly bidding the girl to come closer to him. He was weak from the high concentration of vervain in his system, and he knew that once Claire found out that he had sucked the last of their relatives dry, he would need each bit of strength he could get. He didn't think his sister could kill him, the weakness of her love for him would keep him alive, but the odds that she would flay him alive with one of her spells was pretty high. Her temper superseded his by a long shot.
Vicki walked closer concerned, "You don't look good."
Damon motioned towards himself, each movement hurt painfully, "Come closer. I have something- That I have to tell you." He stuttered and stumble towards Vicki.
Vicki ran towards him, catching him before he fell, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I got you, I got you. It's ok. It's ok. "Damon bits her as she cries in pain.
[Salvatore's house.]
Elena arrives and meet Stefan. "What are you?" She asks very confused and afraid.
