Sitting on Stefan's bed, Brie is writing an email to Bonnie "Hey Bonnie, How is the summer almost over, and yet I feel like I got nothing done? Sounds like you're having fun traveling with your mom. I still don't know how I'm supposed to do this whole college thing without you. And Caroline agrees; she spent the whole summer designing the color palette for our dorm room, while Tyler's been away helping some wolf pack in Tennessee. Matt and Rebekah have been sending postcards. I think they're in Amsterdam now...or was it Prague? I can't keep track, and honestly, I'm not sure I really want to know. Anyway, I can't wait to see you. When do you get back? Love, Brie"
Jeremy sitting on a park bench, texting on a cell phone. Bonnie stands behind him "Dear Brie..."
Bonnie was sitting beside him looking over at his shoulder "Wait, don't start with "dear"
Jeremy looks up from her phone and faces her "It's bad enough you're dead – now you're a control freak?"
Bonnie shrugs her shoulders "I'm just saying, people don't say "dear" anymore"
Jeremy sighs "All right, fine. How about, "Hey Brie, what's up?"
"Thank you" Jeremy sits on the bench, apparently alone; Bonnie isn't visible anymore. Bonnie's voice narrates the message Jeremy sends to Brie on her behalf.
"Hey Brie, what's up? You guys have no idea how much I miss you. I've been emailing with Jeremy...he says it's been surreal to be alive. If Katherine ingesting the only cure on this earth and having to live as a human isn't justice, I don't know what is" Brie is in Stefan's bathtub, reading the message from Bonnie "I miss you guys. I'm glad you're having a great summer" Brie jumps out the bath and wraps herself with a towel and goes out the bathroom before her phones beeps again. Another message from Bonnie "P.S. Have you heard from Stefan?" Brie ponders this last question.
Damon walks down the hallway and notices Brie looking down at her phone, rubbing the screen with her thumb "You okay?"
Brie looks up from her phone and nods "Yeah, I've just got this weird feeling like something bad has to happen, he should be back by now Damon, he's been gone for the full summer"
Damon rubs her arm for comfort "Don't worry, Stefan has probably bumped into some people and has lost track of time, I'm sure he is probably on his way back after dumping Silas's body 100's of feet in water" He pauses before he leaves the room. Brie's smile fades before she sighs and pulls up the contact list on her phone. Her thumb hovers over "Stefan", but after a few seconds she walks to Stefan's room and puts her phone aside and submerges herself on the bed.
The campus is crawling with students and parents moving in while Caroline and Brie make their own way to their dorm. "You're dreaming about Stefan?"
"They're not dreams, it's more of a feeling. Maybe you should call him"
Caroline shakes her head "He'll call you when he's ready, he cares about you so much Brianna, he wouldn't want you to be worrying about him, he would want you to enjoy your first day of college"
Brie nods her head and brings a smile onto her face "We're in college, Caroline"
"We actually made it. We're here!" Caroline said jumping up and down excitingly.
They smile together as Bonnie, unseen, smiles with them "We're all here together"
Brie and Caroline unpack their stuff in their new dorm. Brie looks in a box and looks at the items in the box with a strange look on her face and looks up at Caroline "You brought a panini press?"
"Small appliances, by the fridge.
Liz carries a box into the room "Okay, that's the last one. All right, give me a goodbye hug before I change my mind and drag you home with me" Caroline hugs her mother "You can call as much as you want, you know?" She says tearfully.
"Mom, we'll be fine.
Liz laughs and steps back and looks at Brie "Come here" Brie smiles and gives Liz a hug. "This is where your mom fell in love with medicine, you know? She would be really proud to see you here"
Brie smiles at Liz "Thank you and thank you for letting me stay with you"
Liz lingers for a long moment while they all look at each other, and the girls laugh "Okay, go! Before I change my mind and make you stay"
"I'm going, I'm going! I love you. Bye, girls" Liz leaves and closes the door behind her.
The girls turn to each other excitedly "So? Roomie, I think we should drink to something"
"Well, I couldn't agree more...roomie" Caroline opens her suitcase and pulls out two blood bags; she tosses one to Brie.
Brie raises her blood bag up in the air "To us, and college, and being functional vampires"
"To the next chapter in our lives" They "clink" their bags in a mock toast when there's a knock at the door. With vampire speed, they stash their blood bags and turn to face whoever the visitor is. The door opens and an unfamiliar girl walks in, carrying a load of stuff.
Brie and Caroline look at each other "Uh, who are you?" Caroline asks looking confused.
"Oh, I'm Megan. Your roommate" Brie and Caroline look at each other, shocked and confused. Megan walks and talks with Brie and Caroline on the campus "So you and Stefan are together, but three months ago he left without saying goodbye?"
"Do you think that I should call him?" Brie asks eagerly.
Megan and Caroline respond in unison "Absolutely not!" Megan turns to Caroline "Do you have a boyfriend, Caroline?"
Caroline nods her head and smiles "I do. His name's Tyler. He had to miss move-in day, but he'll be here for the first day of classes"
"Assuming he registers. And picks a dorm. And buys books"
Caroline ignores Brie's comment "Speaking of minding one's own business, let's talk roommate ground rules. Privacy is very important to me" Megan nods her head understandingly "I have low blood sugar. My diet's finicky, so keep your paws off my stuff and if I suddenly get up to leave or disappear for a while, don't follow me or look for me"
Megan looked a little confused at the last bit "Okay...sounds good"
"Great, then we agree on everything" Brie smiles.
Another student approaches them with a flyer "Excuse me, ladies. Party at Whitmore House tonight" No one says anything while Caroline looks at the flyer he handed her.
Brie nods and smiles at him "We'll be there."
Jesse looks at Caroline "I hope so"
Brie, smiling giddily, wraps an arm around Caroline's shoulders while they watch him walk away "I love college"
Meanwhile in the Quarry, still locked in the safe underwater, Stefan regains consciousness and bangs furiously against it. Soon, however, he loses consciousness again, and begins to have a hallucination. He imagines he is standing at a window, bright light streaming inside, when Damon approaches him from behind, handing him a glass of bourbon. "Wish I could say it gets better"
"The answer's 'no,' Damon"
"Why? So you can keep dying and coming back to life? You've felt nothing but sheer agony for three months. You hallucinate conversations with me to have something to do. Just turn off that pesky humanity switch"
Stefan shakes his head "Won't take the pain away"
"Yeah, but it'll turn off your misery. Your fear, your hopelessness"
"And then what, huh? Let's just say that you actually notice that I'm gone, let's say I get out of this. What good is it if I'm a monster again? How is that better than any of this?" Hallucination-Damon is silent. Real-Stefan lies dead in the water.
Back in the dorms, Brie puts on earrings while watching herself in the mirror, seeming lost in thought until Caroline loudly shuts a drawer and Brie snaps out of it. The shower can be heard running in the background. "Did you notice how Megan's juicer takes up all the small appliance space? She has an entire drawer dedicated to organic linen"
Brie looks in the mirror, looking at Caroline behind her "What happened to privacy?"
"Maybe if she didn't take such long showers, I wouldn't have time to go through her stuff. How are you okay with a third roommate?"
"Because we're trying to be functional, and being functional means we need friends"
"We also need personal space. I mean, what if we suddenly get a craving, and I want to eat her? Or our blood bags go bad because we can't store them in the mini-fridge? Ugh, and what the hell is protein water?" Caroline pulls out the bottle in question, and Brie shrugs. "You know what, maybe if I drink it all, she'll wanna move out" Caroline opens the bottle and takes a sip.
As Caroline picks the bottle up, Brie has a bad feeling about it quickly turna around to stop her "Caroline, no– "
Suddenly Caroline coughs up the water as it sizzles in her mouth, collapsing to the floor. "Vervain.
The door to the bathroom opens and Megan appears, wrapped in a towel "What's going on? Are you okay?"
Caroline straightens up as Megan walks over with a clean towel to give her "Yeah, she's, uh, she's fine"
"What happened?" Megan wondered.
"Water just went down the wrong pipe. I'm okay, really. I shouldn't have touched your stuff, I'm really sorry" Caroline said haltingly.
"It's fine. It just sounded like someone was dying out here. Well, I'm glad you're okay!" Megan returns to the bathroom, shutting the door.
Caroline quickly turns around to Brie, whispering to her so Megan doesn't hear "She knows who we are – she drinks vervain water!"
Brie shakes her head "That doesn't mean she knows about us"
"Seriously? We share a bathroom with this girl! What if she's a hunter, and she stakes us when we're in the shower? Or she steals our daylight rings while we're asleep and then we burst into flames when the sun comes up?!"
Brie rolls her eyes as she thought Caroline was being a little over dramatic "Don't you think that, if she was a hunter, we'd be dead by now?"
"I think we should lock her up. You know, let the vervain get out of her system, and then we compel her to forget about us"
"Caroline, I'm not kidnapping our roommate! The best way to convince her that we're normal, is to act normal. And do normal, human, freshman-y stuff"
"Such as?" Caroline asks as a grin spreads across Brie's face and she moves her shoulders like she's dancing.
The party is well underway when Jesse, the flyer guy, approaches Caroline and Brie "Hey, I remember you"
Brie looks at Jesse and remembers him "Hey I'm Brie, this is Caroline" Caroline smiles and turns away without another word. Brie looks at Jesse apologetically and follows Caroline. "You can't be nice to the guy?"
"I'm with Tyler"
"Are you? Because he hasn't called, I'm just saying, I don't want you to get your hopes up thinking that he's coming, when he hasn't really shown much interest" They stop suddenly at the entrance to the house, unable to go any further "What the hell?"
"Someone must own this place. We have to be invited in"
"Hey! I was wondering if you guys were gonna make it" Megan said walking up from behind them. Brie and Caroline stand awkwardly in the doorway when Jesse catches up with them.
"You guys going in, or...?" Jesse asks as he looks at Brie and Caroline just standing at the doorway.
"Go ahead" Jesse walks around them into the house.
Megan looks at the girls with a weird look on her face "Why are you guys just standing there?"
Brie looked at Caroline trying to find an excuse then looks back at Megan "We were just waiting for someone, she's late"
Megan looks at her, not convinced but plays along "Right. Well, I'm gonna go hang.
Megan goes back into the house, and Elena and Caroline drop their too-bright smiles "Like I said, she knows"
Meanwhile at The Grill, Damon was in having a few drinks at the bar, wondering what has happened with his brother. He takes his phone out his back pocket and looks at his phone and see's he doesn't have any messages from Stefan. He sighs and puts his phone back in his pocket and takes the last slip of his Bourbon and then gets up from the bar stool and turns to see Silas approaching him in Stefan's form "Hello, Damon"
Damon looks at him with a smile on his face "Stefan. Welcome home"
"Thanks" They go in for a hug, Silas pumping a hand on Damon's back with brotherly gusto. Standing back, Silas smiles, and Damon half-smiles awkwardly back.
Back at the Whitmore House, Brie and Caroline hover on the edge of the party outside while Brie leaves a voicemail "Hey, Megan, it's Brie. Just calling to let you know why we left, so call me when you get this. Bye" she says before hanging up the phone.
"Okay, it's settled. When she leaves, we grab her" Brie rolls her eyes "Brie, she saw us stuck at the threshold, we might as well have flashed her our fangs"
Brie shakes her head "There's no way that out of the thousands of freshmen, we were randomly paired with someone who knows about vampires" Brie's phone rings and she looks at the caller ID. "Megan's calling. Hey, Megan"
"Brie! You have to help me! He's chasing me!
Alarmed at the panic in Megan's voice, Brie puts the phone on speaker as Caroline leans closer "Megan, who's chasing you?"
"Help me! Oh, my god!" They look up at the upper story of the house, but don't see anything unusual.
Caroline takes the phone as Megan starts screaming over the phone "Megan, can you hear me? Get outside and we can help you"
Suddenly something falls to the ground beside them, and they whirl around toward it. "Oh, my god!" It's Megan. Brie crouches down beside her. Her neck is ripped open.
Caroline examines her neck and looks at Brie "Who did this to her?"
"This was a vampire" Brie and Caroline exchange looks before looking back down at Megan's body.
Damon and Silas sit at the bar as Damon pours drinks. Silas reads Damon's thoughts while they each sip their drinks.
"So Katherine's living at Château Salvatore"
Damon lowers his glass as he looks at his brother confusingly "How do you know that?"
"Because I can read your mind!" Silas pauses "I'm kidding, buddy. Katherine called me first. Remember? It's always been me first"
Jeremy walks up to them at the bar. Silas places a hand on Jeremy's arm "Hey, Jeremy. Looking good, man"
Jeremy gets a chill from Silas's touch "Hey, Stefan. Glad you're back"
"Yeah...yeah" Silas looks at Damon "All right, I'll, uh, see you at home" Silas leaves.
Jeremy watches 'Stefan' walk out the Grill and then turns to Damon "Something's wrong. When he touched me, I felt a chill where my tattoo was"
Damon raises his eyebrows at the little Gilbert "What are you talking about?"
"Right before I died, Silas grabbed me and I felt the same thing" Jeremy says trying to convince Damon.
"Silas is gone. Bonnie turned him into a big piece of rock, remember?"
Bonnie appears next to Jeremy, unseen by Damon "I died. Jeremy, I bound the magic that took down Silas. When I died, the spell must've broken. He's free"
Jeremy listens to Bonnie "That was Silas"
Damon shakes his head in disbelief "That's impossible"
"I'm a hunter. Our whole reason for existing is to kill him. I know what I'm feeling, Damon. That - that was Silas"
"I just watched him walk through a crowd of people that saw Stefan. There's no way he could fool that many people at once. I mean, he's psychic, but no one's that psychic"
"What did he want?" Damon thinks, then looks at Jeremy.
Back at the Salvatore House, Katherine sits in Damon's bathtub, shaving her legs with an old-fashioned straight razor, when there's a knock and Silas walks in. "Why are you in my brother's bathtub?"
"Why aren't you?"
Silas sits beside the bath "I will say that's a tempting offer"
Katherine smirks "Mmm, he flirts. I like Brie-less Stefan"
"You know, human looks better on you than I would've guessed, Katherine" Katherine smiles at Silas "No, I mean it. You, sitting here all weak and vulnerable. It works" He brushes a hand against her cheek and her smile fades. Suddenly Silas attacks her, grabbing her by the throat "Time for a field trip" Katherine grabs the razor blade and swipes it across Silas' cheek. He loses his grip on her and she runs out of the bathroom, wrapping herself in a robe. She hurries down the staircase while Silas follows slowly.
On the main floor Katherine runs into Damon, who hands her off to Jeremy "Get her out of here. Don't tell me where you're going"
They leave. Damon turns to Silas "God, you're slow. Guess vamp-speed came with the upgrade"
Silas tries to get past Damon but he blocks his path Get out of my way and give me Katherine.
"First, drop the Stefan look" Silas gives a small laugh. "What?" Silas explained to Damon that Stefan's look was his real form "If I have to hear the word 'doppelgänger' one more time, I think I'm gonna actually have to learn how to spell it, well whatever you are, your plan didn't work. The cure's gone. Now, what do you want with Katherine?"
"I could tell you, but wouldn't it be so much more fun if it were a surprise?"
"You're not getting her"
"Damon, how well do you know your brother? Do you really think he would leave town for three months without so much as a phone call"?
"Where's Stefan?"
"He's suffering, like I suffered. So, call the hunter, bring me Katherine, and then I will tell you where your little brother is"
Jeremy drives Katherine to an unknown destination. "Where are we going?" Jeremy ignores her. "Are you deaf? I said where are we going?"
Jeremy's phone rings and he answers it. The shots alternate between Jeremy and Katherine in the car and Damon at the Salvatore mansion "How far'd you get?"
"You said not to tell you" Jeremy said keeping his eyes on the road.
"Turn around, bring her back"
"What? No!" They hang up and Jeremy makes a U-turn "What are you doing? Jeremy, stop! You can't take me back there, Jeremy. Damon wouldn't just hand me over. Silas clearly got in his head"
"Shut up, Katherine!" Katherine looks around wildly, desperate. She jabs her hand at Jeremy's seatbelt buckle "Hey, what the hell!" The tires squeal as Jeremy starts to lose control of the car. Katherine grabs the wheel and drives them head on into a utility pole.
Officials surround Megan's body and cover it up while Brie and Caroline observe from a short distance away "What is happening? Our roommate is dead, there was a vampire at the party..."
"We don't know what she knew or who she told. We should get out of here" Caroline as she turned on her heels.
Brie turns to Caroline, realizing something "Caroline, I left that message in her voicemail!"
Caroline shows Megan's phone to Brie "Don't worry, I took her phone"
A policewoman approaches them. "Hey, girls? I'm Dianne Freeman, I'm head of Campus Security. Are you okay?" They both nod "I understand Megan was your roommate. I'm so sorry you had to find her like this"
"Do they know what happened?" Caroline asked as she crossed her arms.
"We found a note. Apparently, she was struggling with severe depression. Your roommate took her own life"
Caroline raises her eyebrow "You think this was a suicide?"
The officer nods her head "We're convinced it was a suicide, but we can't seem to find her cell phone. Have you seen it?" They both shake her head "Okay. If it turns up, let us know?"
They nod, and the officer walks away. Brie turns to Caroline "What is going on?"
Back at the College, Caroline listens to Brie's voicemail on Megan's phone "Delete" She hits the necessary button. She and Brie arrive at the door to their room, which is ajar.
Brie cautiously pushes the door open "Someone's been in here"
"Megan's tablet's gone"
"Along with her so-called suicide note. Can I see the phone for a second?" Caroline hands it over and Brie looks through the photos in it.
"It just doesn't make any sense. First, the roommate we're not supposed to have might know about vampires, and then happens to be killed by a vampire, and now the school's covering it up? Seriously, who is this girl?"
"Whatever's going on, it's not just about our roommate. It's about me" She holds up the phone to show Caroline a photo "That's Megan – with my mom"
Katherine stumbles outside of the wrecked car while Jeremy lies immobile on the ground several yards away. "Hey...please.." Katherine, her face scratched up, glares at Jeremy, who struggles to breathe and reaches a hand out toward her. She turns and hobbles away.
Sometime later, Jeremy lies unconscious while Bonnie speaks to him "Jeremy, hold on. Hey, I know you can hear me. Jeremy" Bonnie turns at the sound of a car pulling up behind her. It's Damon's car. He vamp-speeds over to Jeremy.
"Jeremy! Gah!" Damon bites into his wrist and shoves it over Jeremy's mouth, feeding him his blood "Open your eyes, Jer. You do not get to die on me, you hear me? I'm supposed to be taking care of you, you little punk! Wake up, or I'll kill you myself!"
After a beat, Jeremy moves and wakes up "Katherine – is gone" He said, struggling to get his words out.
Damon sighs in relief and hugs Jeremy's head close to him "I don't care"
Caroline is in bed listening to a voicemail from Tyler "Hey, Caroline. I've put a lot of thought into this, and decided to defer school for now. This werewolf pack I'm helping...they need me. I know it's lame to do this over the phone, but I figure this way it's harder for you to kill me. I'm really, really sorry, Care...but this is important"
The message ends and Caroline hangs up. Brie is lying in her bed awake and hears Caroline start to cry "You okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine" Caroline said wiping away her tears.
Brie turns in bed to face Caroline. "I'm sorry, Caroline"
Caroline turns toward Brie "I'm really glad that you're here"
"I'm really glad you're here, too" They each turn back to go back to sleep, though Brie looks pensive.
Stefan continues to struggle underwater, with more hallucinations. In his hallucination, he's back in front of the window with sunlight streaming in and Damon standing behind him. "You're thinking about it. Flip the switch, brother. Put yourself out of this misery. Please"
"Did you forget how long it took me to come back last time? Everything I lost in the process?"
"You don't deserve this, Stefan. You did the right thing – you walked away. You let us be happy, and this is what you get in return? How is that fair? Hey" Hallucination-Damon turns Stefan round to face him, and he looks into Stefan's eyes "Just turn it off. Turn it off"
Stefan closes his eyes; in real life, he's stopped thrashing in the water. Suddenly, Brie appears to him in the hallucination "Wait. Stay with me, Stefan" She puts a hand to his cheek.
Stefan was shock to see the love of his life in front of him, he thought he'd never see her again "What are you doing here?"
"I know this is torture, but stay with me. Your humanity is the one thing that makes you who you are. Don't let go. Please, Stefan. For me" Stefan nods in the hallucination, and lies still in the water. Stefan hallucinates that he is lying on a blanket near the quarry with Brie "We could be doing anything right now, Stefan. Be anywhere. Why here? Why this?"
"These are the good moments...the simple ones, the ones that matter. These are the moments that keep me from falling apart"
Brie smiles, and leans down to kiss Stefan "This can't last forever. You're just distracting yourself" Suddenly Brie starts choking and spitting up water. In real life, Stefan starts drowning again.
It's daytime. Outside the dorm building, students lay flowers at a memorial for Megan. Brie enters her dorm room to find Caroline rifling through the contents of a cardboard box "Megan's memorial outside is growing by the minute"
"Ugh, college kids are so dramatic. She was on campus for, like, one day. She couldn't have made that many friends"
Brie thought she was being insensitive "Caroline, she's dead. You can stop competing with her"
Caroline sighs "Sorry, I'm in a mood"
"You talked to Tyler?" Brie said looking at her.
"He's deferring from enrolling and deferring from returning my phone calls, so I'm deferring from having sex with him ever again"
"How's the snooping going? Any explanation why our vervain-laced" Brie looks back to check for eavesdroppers "vampire-slaughtered roommate had a picture of my dad on her phone?" Caroline shakes her head as Brie suddenly remembers something, and hands a folder to Caroline "Oh, um, I went by the hospital this morning — Megan's death certificate. It says she died of suicide. No mention of the gaping vampire-bites on her neck. So, whoever signed off on the cause of death was part of the cover-up, just like the Founders Council back home"
"Dr. Wesley Maxfield"
"A.K.A., our Applied Microbiology professor. I switched our classes around, so that we could—" Brie says until she gets interrupted by Caroline.
"Applied — what, what? Uh, Brie, we are supposed to be taking Intro to Communication. What happened to getting drunk and making bad decisions about boys? What happened to our fun freshman year at college? I am supposed to be a drama major!"
"You're not going to be an Anything major if we get exposed as vampires!" Brie stops, realizing her voice had been rising. Both she and Caroline take a deep breath, and Brie smiles "We are still gonna have our fun year, Caroline, but we have to protect ourselves. The way Damon kept his secret in Mystic Falls was because he infiltrated the Founders Council. So, bust out those alleged acting skills, and let's get on it, okay?" Brie smiles at her, and finally Caroline relaxes and smiles back.
Damon stands at the edge above the quarry with Sheriff Forbes "Damon, I know I said I'd help you find your brother, but I can't dredge this entire quarry. It's enormous"
"I'm aware of that. I mean, clearly that's why we wanted to dump Silas' body, here — because it's big and deep and no one would find him. Now, say I'm Silas, and I wanna take over my doppelgänger's life. Why wouldn't I dump him in a place that's big and deep, where no one would find him"
"Damon, I already agreed to hold off on telling anyone about the Mayor's death until you figured this all out, but I can't devote those kinds of resources to finding one person who may or may not be down there"
"But it's a place to start. And if Stefan's down there, that means he's been drowning over and over again all summer. Do I need to further elaborate the source of my urgency?"
Liz nods her head "I'll get some deputies on it"
Damon puts his hand on her shoulder "Thank you, Liz"
Caroline and Brie enter the lecture hall for Dr. Maxfield's class. They pass by Jesse on their way to their seats "Hey, Blow-Off Girl. Aren't you a freshman? How are you in this class?"
"What? I love" Caroline stutters, looking at the blackboard "Applied Microbiology...It's, like, my favorite biology. You know, little things are just so...cute"
"Are you going to the bonfire tonight? Or are you just gonna get really close and then turn around and leave again?"
"She'll be there" Brie gives him a thumbs up and Caroline pushes her away to a few rows back. Caroline gives Brie a look "What? You said you wanted to make bad decisions about boys. He's cute, he's interested, and most importantly, unlike Tyler, he's here"
Caroline narrows her eyes at Brie, but doesn't respond. Just then, Dr. Maxfield walks into the lecture hall "Morning, everyone. I'm Dr. Maxfield. First name is Wes, but call me Dr. Maxfield. One day, when you're out of med school, you'll understand. So, you're all going to this bonfire tonight, right? Well, here's a quick history lesson for you. Whitmore was founded as a hospital during the Civil War. Deadliest war in American history — over 600,000 casualties. Disease was so prevalent that once a week, they had to gather all the dead, rotting bodies, put them in a pile, and light the whole thing on fire. So tonight, when you're getting drunk and partying, stop for a second, close your eyes, and imagine the rancid smell of a hundred rotting corpses"
"Creep-y" Caroline says as she mumbles to Brie.
"But hott-ie." Brie mumbles back to Caroline.
"Which brings us to microbiology because that rancid smell comes from a very specific bacteria. Isn't that right, chatty girls in the back? Brie and Caroline, still smiling from laughing quietly together, turn to face Dr. Maxfield, their smiles fading "And what is that bacteria?"
Brie looks around the classroom, awkwardly as everyone was watching her waiting for her answer "Uh, that's the, um...um...I don't know"
"Maybe because you're freshmen, who shouldn't be in this class. How do I know? I'm observant — a skill you'll learn in Bio 101, down the hall"
Dr. Maxfield points to the door, while Caroline and Brie shift uncomfortably in their seats. Later, outside, Brie talks to Damon on the phone. The shots alternate between Brie at Whitmore and Damon at the quarry. The Sheriff's deputies have arrived at the quarry and are readying an inflatable boat "It was mortifying. We just sat there in silence"
"You want me to beat him up?" Damon joked.
"Not yet. Whatever he knows, I'm gonna get it out of him" Brie runs into Silas. "Stefan?" Damon was still on the other line "Stefan's here, right now"
"Turn off your phone" Brie, under Silas' mind-control, smiles and pulls her phone away.
"Brie, woah, that is not S-" Brie ends the call, and Damon hangs up, thinking. Silas gives Brie a small smile.
"I know you're upset that I didn't call, so I just wanted to apologize in person" Brie hugs him.
"Never do that again, okay? I thought something terrible happened to you" Brie said still hugging him tightly, she missed him soo much. "Where did you go?"
"Well, that's not important. I'm sure Damon will fill you in eventually"
Brie pulls away from Silas "You talked to Damon? Because I just spoke to him, and he didn't really say anything"
"Oh, weird. Maybe he has his hands full with the whole, you know, Jeremy situation"
Brie raises her eyebrow "What Jeremy situation?"
"Oh, it's not a big deal. Jeremy got expelled and then he and Damon got in this fight, and Jeremy bolted..."
Brie tries to catch up "Wait, how do I not know about this? Where the hell is Jeremy?"
"That's why I'm here. I was hoping maybe you'd know" Brie just looks at Silas, incredulous.
Back at the Dorms, Damon walks in and shuts the door behind him. Caroline is wearing only a towel and turns around, expecting Brie, but is shocked to find Damon instead. "Damon! Towel, knock!"
Damon looks around the room for Brie "Caroline. No one cares, no. Hey, where's Brie?"
Caroline shrugs her shoulders "I don't know. She probably went to the bonfire to get more intel on our weirdo professor"
"Silas is here. He's with Brie, pretending to be Stefan. Get dressed"
"I thought that Stefan dropped his body in the quarry..." Caroline remembers something "Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Brie was right. All summer, she's had this pit in her stomach about Stefan" Damon gives her a look "I don't know. She just said that she had this weird feeling that something was wrong with him"
Damon throws some more clothes at Caroline "Just put some clothes on. Meet me out there. We have to find her"
Silas and Brie are still walking around outside "Jeremy's still not answering. I'm gonna hold onto your phone in case he calls back"
"Why are you so worried about him?"
"Damon made a mess, and I wanna clean it up" Brie's phone buzzes in Silas' pocket. He reads the text message from 'unknown' which says "Katherine Pierce. Route 9" "Sorry, I don't mean to cut this short, but someone says they just saw Jeremy on Route 9. Do you know where he might be going?"
"Route 9? Wait, who texted you?"
Elsewhere on the campus, Damon walks through crowds of students looking for Brie. Suddenly Silas talks to him "Hello, brother. But I suppose distant nephew is probably more accurate"
Damon walks up to him and grabs a hand around Silas' neck "Where the hell's Brie?"
Silas uses mind control "There's no need for violence, Damon. You'll find her eventually" He pulls Damon's hand off his neck; Damon seems unwilling, but can't resist Silas' mind-control forcing him to "There you go. Look, I get why you like her. I mean, I have a soft spot for brunettes, too."
"You expect me to believe you came all this way just to talk to her?"
"No, that doesn't really make much sense, does it? But if I told you exactly what I did, then it would ruin the fun. Enjoy the bonfire, Damon" Silas pats Damon on the arm and walks away.
Elsewhere at the bonfire party, Brie fills a cup with beer from a keg. She has some difficulty with tap when Jesse lays a hand on her arm suddenly, surprising her "I got that" He finishes filling her cup and hands it to her. Brie chugs the beer "Whoa...uh"
"Boyfriend drama" Brie said putting down the beer down.
"Wow. Boyfriend drama, kicked out of class...today's not your day"
"What is his deal, anyway?"
"Tell you what — help me grab some more firewood, and I will tell you everything you need to know" Jesse leads Brie to a well-lit shed. "I had Dr. Maxfield for a few classes last year. He's a jerk, but he's brilliant, so I'll give him a pass. Jesse grabs a block of firewood with a sharp end and holds it casually in front of him while he speaks "There's a rumor that he's...a part of this secret society on campus. All I know is that a few times a week, they supposedly meet at Whitmore House. But you didn't hear that from me"
Damon suddenly vampire runs into the shed and knocks Jesse over the head. "Damon? What the hell?"
Caroline walks in and sees Jesse on the floor "Seriously? That's Jesse. I kind of liked him"
Katherine is sitting at a campfire at their campsite, staring at one of the shotguns across the fire, when Jeremy and Matt return "Don't even think about it"
"Please. I wouldn't even know how to use it. I've never shot a gun in my life. Didn't need to — I was much more deadly"
"I'm gonna go get some wood for the fire. I'll be back" Matt leaves the campsite.
"I survived childbirth, the death of my entire family and five hundred years of running from an immortal hybrid. You can understand why I'm a little upset that I'm on the verge of being defeated by a sinus infection" Katherine coughs and shivers, rubbing her hands together. Jeremy stands and drapes a blanket over Katherine's shoulders without a word, leaving Katherine more than a little surprised. Elsewhere in the woods, Matt holds a lantern aloft when Silas appears behind him. At Silas' voice, Matt whirls around.
"Not a word out of you. You can't talk, and you can't scream" Silas saying using mind control on Matt.
Matt looks confused, but realizes that his will is still intact "Yeah, actually I can" Matt starts to shout "Jeremy, run!"
At the campsite, Jeremy grabs Katherine's hand and they start running "Why can't I get inside your head?" Silas grabs Matt's head between his hands, trying to read his thoughts.
He snaps Matt's neck. Matt falls to the ground, dead, but wearing the Gilbert ring. After a few seconds, he gasps and stands up, looking around. "Jeremy?" He sees Jeremy and Katherine running towards him "Jeremy, hey, there you are, man. What" They run past Matt without acknowledging him "What the hell?"
Bonnie walks up behind him "Freaky, isn't it? The feeling...the void...the emptiness"
Matt turns around "Bonnie, what's going on? Where the hell am I?"
"The Other Side. The Gilbert ring brought you here when you died. That's how it works — temporarily brings your spirit here. To go back, you have to reconnect to your body"
Matt looks around and doesn't even see his body in sight "My body's not even here"
"That's because each time you die, you wake up farther and farther away from it...and you wander the Other Side until you find it"
"Wait. If I'm on the Other Side, how can you see me?"
Bonnie sighs as she knew she had to tell him the truth "There's something you should know..."
Back in the dorm room, Brie gets up, picks up a water bottle, smiling. She opens it, tips it into Damon mouth and holds his face upright while the water burns him — it's Megan's vervain water. Damon slaps it away, choking and coughing. Brie starts tying Damon to the chair with pieces of clothing "Silas got into your head, didn't he? What did "Stefan" tell you to do?"
Brie picks up a field hockey stick and breaks it in half "Get you alone, weaken you, and then kill you" She pours more vervain water down Damon's throat. After she pulls the bottle away, she goes to stab the sharp end of the broken stick into Damon, but he sprays a mouthful of vervain water at her, and she backs away, shouting in pain. She seems to snap out of her trance. "Damon, I'm so sorry, I— What the hell is happening?"
"You're in some sort of Silas-trance, but I think you snapped out of it"
Brie looks confused "Silas? But I—"
"Before you ask, no, he's not in the quarry. It's a common misconception. You talked to him today."
"How is that possible? I was in a crowd full of people. I hugged him, I was talking to him about my life, wait, if that was Silas...where's Stefan? What happened to Stefan, Damon?" She starts shouting "Where is he?"
"Can we talk about this when you don't have that murdery look in your eyes?"
"You're right. Every time I look at you, all I wanna do is kill you" Brie said throwing more anger and aggression towards Damon.
"It must be Silas' mind-control. He's using your anger at me, like a trigger. You have to resist it"
"I'm trying!" Brie throws down the broken stick and puts her head in her hands, trying to calm down. She sits in a chair, grabs the iron poker from next to the fireplace, and stabs herself in the thigh with it, pinning herself to the chair. She yells out, shuddering in pain "Tell me what's going on"