At the lake house, Marina noticed Elena inside, reading through something. Terra had already gone back to Mystic Falls. She was going to help the other girls out with their plan. "Hey, how are you?"
"I'm okay." Elena told her, not glancing up.
"Look, you shouldn't…" Marina watched as she looked at the book in surprise, then out the window. Marina followed her gaze and saw Stefan outside. "Is that your ancestor's journal?"
"Yeah." Elena said. "He mentioned something about Stefan." She got up. "I'm sorry, could you give me a minute?"
"Sure." Marina said. She put on her sweatshirt and headed outside. When she got out there, Stefan was on the phone with someone. Then she felt something vibrate and answered. "Hey, guys."
"How is it up at the lake house?" Vanessa asked.
"Very tense." Marina said. "They haven't spoken since last night. What's it like on your end?"
"Well, according to Damon, Tyler left town last night. We're trying to help figure out how to take down Elijah."
"Can't you just use your powers?" Marina pointed out.
"That's true, but we need to do it in a way where he won't notice us." Vanessa pointed out. "Besides, to use that one attack, we'd need you with us." Then Marina heard a voice.
"What are you doing here?"
"Gotta go, Marina." Vanessa said. She hung up on her. It was then that she and Stefan looked up at each other.
"How long have you been here?"
"Long enough to know what you two are planning." Marina said. "The other girls' are in on it, too."
"Look, this has to stay between us, okay?" Stefan told her. "If Elena finds out, it'll just upset her."
"Hey, I'm on your side with this one." Marina said. "But we need to convince her to live if we have any hope of keeping her safe."
At the Grill, Terra was talking with Bonnie. "So, are you two together or what?" She asked.
"Well, it's kinda awkward." Bonnie said. "And I want to make sure Elena's cool with it, considering I'd be dating her brother."
"I understand completely." Terra said. "I had a crush on this guy's brother once. I ended up moving, but we never really dated or anything."
"Why not?"
"There was just no spark between us. Didn't stop us from being good friends, though." Terra said. Jeremy came over to sit with them.
"Hey, whatcha doin'?"
"Thinking about last night." Bonnie said.
"Yeah, yeah. Me, too"
"It was a tough spell. I could feel it draining me." Bonnie said. "I need practice."
"It took a lot out of us, too, Bon." Terra pointed out. "Though, you might be right."
"Maybe you should come over tonight. We can practice. Get stronger." Jeremy said.
"Yeah, sure. Thanks." Bonnie said.
"I'd love to help, but the girls and I have to get our plan straight." Terra said. "I'll see if I can stop by later, okay?" Just then she tensed. She could feel Luka coming over to them.
"Ah, incoming." Jeremy said.
"You want to tell me what the hell happened yesterday?" He asked them.
"Sorry?" Bonnie said.
"Don't play dumb. You both were here and..." He cut off.
"And?"
"And that's all I remember. One minute I'm playing pool and the next I'm waking up in a bathroom stall." Luka said. Terra looked at them in confusion.
"Really?" Bonnie heard her thinking.
"It was all we could think of." Bonnie thought back to her. "You guys had all left." She turned to Luka and spoke. "Sorry, Luka, but everything seemed normal yesterday. I brought you coffee and we played pool."
"See, I think you're lying." Luka said.
"And I think you need to back off." Jeremy told him. Luka looked at them and then left.
"Now that was cool." Terra said.
"I know." Bonnie told her.
At the lake house, Stefan and Marina walked in while Elena was still reading the journal.
"Are you still mad?" She asked him.
"Yeah, I'm still mad." He told her. Marina looked nervous. This was not the way she was expecting the conversation to go.
"We had a difference of opinion, Stefan, we're not always gonna agree on everything." Elena pointed out.
"Elena, you've agreed to sacrifice yourself to Klaus. To say that we have a difference of opinion is the understatement of the century."
"You would know."
"What does Jonathan Gilbert have to say?" He asked her.
"A lot. It's insane the things he wrote in his journal that he kept from the founding families." Elena explained. "Stuff that nobody knows. Stuff that... You never told me."
"We were, uh... We were angry at the founding families for what they did to Katherine. We wanted revenge." Stefan explained. "I didn't know about Jonathan Gilbert's ring yet. I didn't know that he would... that he would survive."
"He describes you as a monster."
"That's what I was." Stefan said. Marina remembered something then.
"After our ancestors disbanded, they left fearing what would happen following Emily's fate." Marina added, coming in. "A few of them stayed, living in secrecy. Mira wrote about it. She said that she saw you." They looked at her.
"I want you to know the truth... But I want you to hear it from me." Stefan told them. "In the weeks after I became a vampire, I relished in it. I took it to the darkest place I could. I wasn't myself then. I was full of guilt. What I did to my father, to my brother. I had to turn it off. It was the only way I could survive."
"It sounds like you were Damon." Elena said.
"I was worse."
"And I thought Lea had a dark side." Marina said.
At the Grill, the rest of the group was sitting down together. Vanessa was sitting behind Damon, so she heard everything. "Other than the lecture on the history of Mystic Falls, did you get anything out of Elijah?"
"Why are we eavesdropping on them again?" Vanessa thought.
"Because we need to get a plan straight. Now clear your minds and listen." Terra thought back.
"Okay, just wanted to know what we were doing here." Lea thought. The girls stopped communicating and listened.
"Of course, Jenna thinks he's charming." Alaric said.
"He's dating Elena's aunt?" Lea asked.
"You act like that's something new." Vanessa said.
"Maybe we shouldn't talk about this here." Alaric said. The girls instantly shut up.
"Andie, she's been compelled not to divulge my secrets." Damon told him. "Haven't you?"
"My lips are sealed."
"That is so typical of him." Lea said.
"Jealous, Lea?" Terra asked.
"I am not…"
"Ah, there's Jenna with her new boyfriend. Hi." The girls listened in again.
"Hey, guys." Jenna said.
"So I hear you two had quite a meeting of historical minds today." Damon said.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that."
"Well, as much as I'd love to continue this, I've got papers to grade." Alaric said, getting up.
"No, you know what? We should continue this. Let's have a dinner party." Andie suggested.
"Ooh, my girl. Full of good ideas. I'll be happy to host." Damon said.
"I'll bet it was his idea." Lea said to the girls. They nodded in agreement.
"It's good for me. Jenna?"
"I don't know if tonight works..." Alaric said.
"I'm free." Jenna said.
"It'd be a pleasure." Terra heard Elijah say.
"Great." The group got up and left. Damon stayed behind. "Okay, I know you're there. You can come out now." The girls walked over to him.
"So, this is you're plan?" Vanessa asked.
"I haven't got any better ideas." Damon pointed out.
"Well, we're in." Lea said. "Just tell us what you want us to do."
"You mean you want to help?"
"Are you kidding? We've been waiting a month to get some pay back after that kidnapping stunt." Vanessa said.
"I don't know if I can go, you guys." Terra said. "I promised I'd tutor Bonnie on channeling earth."
"You can help her as soon as we're done." Lea pointed out.
"I guess you're right." Terra said.
Back at the lake house, Marina and Elena were still with Stefan. "How come no one caught on to what you were doing?"
"There was a war going on." Stefan pointed out. "The thing about wartime. Endless, anonymous blood supply."
"Mira noticed what was going on." Marina explained. "Under the cover of night, she'd heal some of the wounded. About three of them mysteriously died anyway. It wasn't until a certain girl caught her attention and helped her realize what was really happening. I believe you may have known her." She turned to Stefan. Then she knew he knew who she meant.
"Alexia Branson, as she was known back then."
"Lexi? Your best friend Lexi?" Elena asked. "That's how you met her? What was she even doing in Mystic Falls?"
"She had heard it was a good place for vampires. You know, had no idea that they'd all been massacred." Stefan explained. "Needed a place to crash, so I brought her home with me."
"Yeah, Mira said she was close with you. At the time, I'd suspected you guys were together." Marina said.
"Trust me, we've all made that mistake once." Elena told her. She noticed Stefan then. "Are you okay?"
"Talking about her brings up things I'd rather forget." He admitted.
"Like Damon killing her?"
"What happened?" Marina asked.
"Later." Elena told her. Marina nodded, understanding.
Meanwhile, the girls met Damon and Alaric in the Boarding House's library.
"This is a bad idea." Alaric was saying.
"There's no such thing as a bad idea. Just poorly executed awesome ones." Damon told him. He handed him a glass. "Here"
"No. I don't like the idea of Elijah being in the same house with Jenna." Alaric said.
"He's totally jealous." Vanessa whispered.
"Jenna's perfectly safe. Besides, it's just a fact-finding mission. It's totally harmless." Damon told him. Terra knew right away he wasn't telling him the truth.
"Listen, no sneak attacks. No surprise plans. Nothing that's gonna put Jenna in harm's way. Okay?" Alaric said.
"Scout's honor." Just then, Andie showed up.
"Hey, Jenna needs help with the wine." Alaric left the room.
"You just lied to him." Terra said.
"Had to be done." Damon pointed out. "Besides, it's probably better if he doesn't know." He took out the dagger. Terra recognized it.
"I'm not sure this is a good idea." Terra said.
"Do you have a better one?" He asked.
"Never mind." Terra said. "Girls, in the hall. Now."
"What's up, Terra?" Vanessa said once they were out of hearing range.
"That dagger's made of white oak. It's just like the one Nicole mentioned her diary." Terra said.
"What are you saying?" Lea asked.
"If Damon goes through with the plan, he'll die, too." Terra said.
"Is that really such a bad thing?"
"Lea, this is serious." Vanessa said. "If he dies, we're one less fighter to help take down Klaus."
"Well, it's not like we can stop him from using the dagger." Lea pointed out.
"We have to let him know sometime, guys." Terra said. "Come on, let's go downstairs. I think someone's coming."
All of a sudden, the bell rang. "Okay, now that is scary." Vanessa said. When they joined the others, they found John.
"Oh, God!" Lea said. "Not again."
"Who invited him?" Jenna asked.
"John! Surprise... Leave." Damon said.
"You know that guy?" Terra asked.
"That's Elena's uncle or was he her father?" Lea said. "It's complicated."
"When Jenna told me she was coming to a dinner party for Elijah, I decided I couldn't miss out on all the fun and games." John told them.
"There are not going to be any games tonight, John." Alaric said. "It's just a friendly dinner party."
A few minutes later, the group sat around the table. "I hate to break it to you, Damon, but according to Elijah, your family is so not a founder of this town." Jenna told him.
"Hmm, do tell."
"Well, as I mentioned to Jenna earlier, a faction of settlers migrated from Salem after the witch trials in the 1690s." Elijah explained. The girls exchanged a glance at each other. "Over the next hundred years they developed this community where they could feel safe from persecution."
"Because they were witches." Jenna guessed.
"Yeah, but there's no tangible proof there were witches in Salem." Andie said.
"Who is she again?" Lea asked.
"Some news woman he compelled into helping us." Terra thought, but the other two witches heard it.
"Andie's a journalist. Big on facts." Damon said.
"Well, the lore says that there was this wave of anti-witch hysteria. It broke out in the neighboring settlement, so these witches were rounded up." Elijah continued. "They were tied to stakes in a field together and, uh, burned. Some say you could hear the screams from miles around us. They were consumed by the fire. Could you pass the..".
"I wouldn't repeat this to the Historical Society." Jenna said.
"It's starting to sound a little like a ghost story to me." John added.
"Hopefully it is just a ghost story." Vanessa said. She and the other girls were uncomfortable.
"So why do you want to know the location of these alleged massacres?" Damon asked.
"You know... a healthy historian's curiosity, of course." Elijah told him.
"Of course." But the girls didn't seem so sure.
Marina was sitting with Elena when Stefan returned. "Jonathan Gilbert got crazier and crazier. I guess that's what happens when you spend your life obsessed with vampires." Elena said.
"Or any other supernatural." Marina said. "When I found out about my powers, my grandmother kept insisting that Mom and I take her grimoire collection of the other witches gifted with water-based powers in our family."
"He researched the Originals." Elena said, looking at a journal.
"You're kidding." Stefan said. He sat down with them.
"Later in life, look." She showed them the journal. "Pages and pages of questions and scribbles. What's that?" She found a drawing of the dagger and started reading it. She shared a glance with Stefan.
"The wood from one tree and one tree alone, an ancient white oak would bring death to an Original vampire. When the tree burned, all hope was thought lost." He was trying to figure out how to kill an Original." Elena realized. She read more. "But the ash from the tree was saved and witches forged a dagger to which the ash could be bonded. This alchemic bond provides the necessary poison"
"Elena..."
"I wonder if this is true. I mean, do you think this dagger actually exists?" Elena asked them.
"I know it does... Because John gave it to Damon." Stefan told her.
"He gave it to Damon?!" Marina repeated. She knew the dagger would be fatal to him if he used it.
"John gave Damon the weapon that's supposed to kill Elijah? This one?" Elena asked. She read again. "It must be brandished by humans alone, for it will bring death to all demons who wield it."
"John's trying to get Damon killed." Stefan realized. He headed to his phone. "Why is your phone off? Call me."
Meanwhile, Marina contacted the other girls. "That's right. Stefan's trying to warn him now, but it's not working."
"I don't believe this." Lea said. "You'd think the idiot would keep his phone on."
"I told you we should've thought of a back-up plan!" Terra yelled at her.
"No time. Just do whatever it takes to keep him from killing Elijah." Marina said.
At the Boarding House, the girls were in the hallway. They had just got off with Marina. "So, now what?" Terra asked.
"We should tell Ric what's going on." Vanessa said. "Maybe he can help."
"Help with what?" The group jumped.
"We have got to start paying more attention." Lea said. The girls explained the situation to him.
"…and we have no time to warn him." Terra finished.
"I'll let him know." Alaric said.
In the library, Damon was with Elijah. "So, let me guess. In addition to the moonstone, the doppelganger, the lion, the witch and the wardrobe, you need to find this witch burial ground." Damon said. Vanessa heard it through the door.
"Because I feel as though we've grown so close, Damon, I'll tell you yes." Elijah said. "Do you know where it is?"
"Maybe. Tell me why it's so important."
"We're not that close." Elijah told him. He glanced at the books. "It's quite a collection you have here. It's a funny thing about books. Before they existed, people actually had memories."
"Some of us have better memories than others." Lea said, glaring at Damon as she entered the room.
"Some things should stay in the past though, Lea." Vanessa told her. "Then again, everyone deserves to know the truth right away."
"When are you ever going to let that go?" Damon asked them.
"Gentlemen, we forgot about dessert." Alaric interrupted. The girls looked back as Terra joined them. Elijah left the room with Andie. Damon looked at the note Alaric gave him.
"Is this true?" Terra nodded.
"According to our ancestor's, only a human can use it." Vanessa explained.
The group headed back to the kitchen, trying to act like nothing was wrong. "Sorry, guys, dessert is taking longer than I thought." Jenna said. "I usually just unwrap food."
"Yeah, I used to do the same thing." Vanessa said.
"Until you took that cooking class." Lea said, remembering.
"Yeah, that was…interesting." Terra said.
"So... I know this is a social thing, but I... I would really love to ask you some more questions about the work that you're doing here." Andie told Elijah.
"I'd love to answer."
"Great." Just then, Damon and Alaric returned. "Ric, would you do me a favor and grab the notebook out of my bag?" Alaric went and looked at the bag.
"Elijah, did John tell you he's Elena's uncle/father?" Damon asked.
"Yes, I'm well aware of that."
"Yeah, the rest of us are still trying to figure that one out." Lea said.
"Of course, she hates him, so there's absolutely no need to keep him on the endangered species list." Vanessa tried not to laugh.
"Ric, it's in the front pocket. On the... you know what?" Andie got up. "Excuse me, guys. Sorry." She went to help him out.
"What I'd like to know, Elijah, is how do you intend on killing Klaus?" John asked.
"Gentlemen, there's a few things we should probably get clear right now. I allow you to live solely to keep on eye on Elena." Elijah told them. "I allow Elena to remain in her house living her life with her friends as she does as a courtesy. If you become a liability, I'll take her away from you and you'll never see her again." The girls turned to each other.
"If he tries anything, he's so dead." Terra thought. Andie came back with her journal.
"Ok. My first question is when you got here to Mystic..." Her question was cut off as Alaric suddenly stabbed Elijah with the dagger. Everyone was surprised.
"Now, get rid of him before Jenna comes back with dessert." Alaric said.
"All right."
"Okay…" Lea said.
"Let's just get rid of him." Terra said, trying to shove the awkwardness down.
At the lake house, Elena was out on the deck. Marina was with her, feeling guilty for not telling her about their plan, but she knew she couldn't have if she wanted to. It wasn't the only secret she was hiding from her, from everyone.
Stefan joined them. "Elena, we need to talk about this." He said.
"What good is talking if you and Damon are just gonna lie to me? If you don't like my decisions, that's fine." Elena said. "There's nothing I can do about that but if you ever go behind my back again, I'll..."
"You're gonna what? What are you gonna do, Elena?"
"It's bad enough that she was in on it."
"I had nothing to do with it, Lena." Marina said. "But there are some secrets that even my team has to keep. I didn't know they were planning to kill him tonight, I swear."
"So you just knew they were planning to kill him, like that's any better?" Elena pointed out. "It's my life, guys."
"Yeah, exactly. It's your life and I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure that you live it." Stefan told her. Marina nodded.
"Then what? This... this... this trip through the past. You being honest. Was there any truth to that or were you just distracting me?" Elena asked him.
"I was telling you about a time when I thought everything was lost. When I had given up because that's exactly what you're doing right now."
"That is not what..." Elena protested.
"Yes, it is! Even if you don't want to admit it." Stefan told her. "You are giving up... and Lexi? she wouldn't let me give up. I'm not gonna let you."
"And neither am I." Marina said. "Cause if you go through with this, who's to say they won't go back on their word?" She pointed out.
"Lexi showed me that there was another way. And from that day forward, I started fighting for it. For my own survival." Stefan explained. "That's all I want you to do. I just want you to fight for it." He headed back inside to give them some alone time.
"Elena, do you really want to die?" Marina asked.
"No, I don't." Elena admitted. "I just don't see another way of stopping him."
"He's right, though. It's your life, Elena. Don't just throw it away." Marina went inside.
Meanwhile, the rest of the girls were in the basement with Alaric and Damon.
"Now, you said there wasn't going to be any violence." He pointed out.
"Says the guy that did all the killing." Damon said.
"Hey, I took the shot because I saw an opening, not because I planned to do this with Jenna in the house." Alaric told him.
"He wouldn't have had to do it at all if you would've listened when we said this was a bad idea." Terra added.
"Next time, you better listen. At least us witches are less impulsive then you guys." Lea said. The girls left the room.
"I'm leaving. I think something's going on with Bonnie." Terra told them.
"Okay."
"Later, Terra."
At the lake house, Marina was sitting on the couch. "Elijah's dead. Alaric did it." Stefan told the girls. Elena was still reading the journal.
"Originals believed in truth and honor. It was forbidden for a vampire to kill another vampire. So, the dagger would take both lives. And as long as the dagger stays in place, the Original, for all intents and purposes, is dead."
"Wait, so he might not be dead, then?" Marina said.
"Considering we just found this out now…" Elena began.
"Okay, don't panic. We just need to figure out a plan in case he comes here." Marina told them.
At the Gilberts, Bonnie was practicing using candles. The flames from them disappeared, and then showed up in her hands before vanishing. "Wow. That's awesome." Terra said. "Lea would be very impressed."
"She showed it to me once." Bonnie told her.
"How does it work?" Jeremy asked.
"It's called channeling. Siphoning power from something... another witch... the Moon, an element." Bonnie explained.
"It helps focus our powers when we need to be together." Terra added. "At least, for four of us."
"So, technically, you could channel me." Jeremy said.
"What?" Bonnie asked.
"Well, I'm an element, sort of. I mean, isn't... isn't the human body mostly water?"
"You're right. Let's... see what happens." Hestitantly, she put her hand on his chest, but Terra gasped.
"Dr. Martin's here. And he's angry." She said. Sure enough, the door burst open then.
"That is scarily accurate." Jeremy said.
"It's a gift and a curse." Terra told him. Suddenly, he was thrown against a wall.
"Jeremy!" Bonnie called.
"What did my son tell you?" Dr. Martin asked her. Terra had ducked into the hallway. There was no way she could take on a full-powered warlock by herself.
"He told me about your daughter. I know Klaus has her and I want to help you get her back." Bonnie told him. "But I want us to work together. Please."
"This is for your own good." He did a spell on her. "If any harm comes to my son because of what you did, you will answer to me." He left the house.
Terra came back into the room and got Jeremy down using telekinesis. "You okay?"
"I'm fine." Jeremy said. They rushed over to Bonnie. "You okay? What happened?"
"He took my powers." Bonnie told them. Terra touched her hand.
"They're really gone." She held onto her. "We'll find a way to get them back, Bonnie. I know we will."
At the lake house, Marina stayed hidden behind a wall. "He's here." Stefan said. Suddenly, there was a loud sound.
"You have to go. I need to talk to him alone." Elena told him.
"Elena..."
"Stefan, I'm ok. He can't come in the house." She pointed out. He headed inside and joined Marina.
"You think it'll work?" Marina asked.
"I hope so." Stefan told her. He was listening to the conversation.
"What's going on?" Marina asked.
"He doesn't believe her." Stefan said. A few minutes later, he rushed outside. Marina found Elijah daggered on the ground and Elena collapsed in Stefan's arms.
"Was that really necessary?" Marina asked. Stefan had given her his blood, but she didn't want to take chances. She put her hand on her stomach.
"Little tip." They looked up and saw Damon. "Don't pull the dagger out." Marina noticed Vanessa with him.
"How'd you get here?"
"The usual way." Vanessa told her.
The group met up back at the Boarding House. They were all downstairs with the guys. "Hopefully that's the last of him." Lea said.
"Yeah." Vanessa said. Damon found the moonstone on him.
"You know, if Terra were here, she'd have been able to find it instantly." Marina said.
"Really?" Stefan asked.
"She's good at finding things." Vanessa said. "You should know that by now."
"I'll hold on to this." Damon told them, holding the moonstone.
"Better keep it somewhere no one will find it."
"I'm not an idiot, Lee."
"So, that's it. I mean, as long as we keep the dagger in there, then he stays dead." Elena said.
"Pretty much."
"Ok, then... Good night." The group started to leave. "You know, you guys want me to fight, fine, I'll fight. But if we're gonna do this, you can't keep anything from me anymore." Elena told them. "From this moment on, we're doing it my way."
"That seems fair."
"Okay."
"We can respect that." Marina said. The girls nodded.
"Okay." Elena left.
The girls were walking home afterward. "So, what happened at that lake house, anyway?" Lea asked.
"We convinced her that she had to live." Marina said. "All we had to do really was to get her to believe it."
"Well, looks like it worked." Vanessa said.
"That girl certainly has a lot of fire in her, I can tell that much." Lea said.
"Yeah, hopefully we can still keep her safe from them." Marina said.