Chapter Thirty Six: Crying Wolf
In the woods, dead werewolves lie in a pile next to a bonfire. Brady carries another body of a dead friend over his shoulder and places him on the pile. He looks over at Jules, who is watching the fire burn the bodies; she looks up at him, sadly. Wordlessly, they walk over to Stevie, who is pacing in front of the trailer.
"Go ahead." Brady says. "Tell her."
Stevie turns to Jules. "Let me just preface this with a big disclaimer that screams, 'I should have known better.'"
"What is it, Stevie?" She asks.
"When Brady told me what that Tyler kid said about Mason being here for the moonstone, something clicked. There was this moment back in Florida when I suspected Mason was up to something because he was banging that hot, vampire chick Kathy and he didn't want anyone to know."
Jules looks agitated. "All right. Just get to the point, Stevie."
"That is the point, Jules. It's the sun and moon curse. Mason was asking me all kinds of questions about it, if it could be broken, and when that evil man-witch showed up last night, double-click. Witches, vampires, moonstone. They're putting everything in place to break the curse."
"We can't let them do that, even if we have to kill every last vampire in this town." Brady says.
At the Forbes house, Elena's cell phone goes off; waking up the trio of girls, Caroline promptly pushes her out of bed. "Go away!" She says.
"Ugh." Elena grunts as she lands on the floor. She shoots an angry look at Caroline and crawls across the floor towards her phone and takes it off the dresser. "Hello?"
Caroline and Bonnie look over at Elena from the bed, both incredibly annoyed with being awaken.
"Shhh." Bonnie glares through bleary eyes.
"Elena!" Caroline groans.
Elena drags herself out of Caroline's room and continues her conversation in the hallway.
"How was the slumber party?" Stefan asks.
"Good and much needed." She tells him before grinning. "When can you and I have one?"
"Mmm. That can be arranged."
"Okay. Now. Today. Take me far, far away."
"Even with everything that's going on?"
"Because of everything that's going on."
"And you're sure this has nothing to do with dodging your father who just got into town?"
"Uh, this has everything to do with that."
"Well, in that case, where would you like to go?"
Elena smiles as an idea comes to mind.
Trinity smiles as she gazes at Katherine's sleeping form before carefully moving away. She shifts into her puppy form and begins to quietly walk away when a voice stops her.
"Where do you think you're going?" Katherine asks, opening her eyes. Trinity turns and widens her eyes. Katherine shakes her head. "Don't give me the puppy dog eyes."
Trinity shifts back into her human form. "I didn't want to wake you."
"I was already awake. I just wanted to see how long you'd stare at me."
Trinity feigns an offended look. "I was not staring, I was gazing. It's totally different."
"You make a habit of watching girls sleep?"
"Relax." Trinity laughs. "I'm not gonna go all twilight on you."
Katherine sits up. "So you're leaving?"
"Yeah, just for a bit."
"Should I look forward to your story about how you fought the evil monsters and saved the town?"
"Don't jinx it." Trinity tells her. "It would be nice to have a peaceful day for once." She pauses. "Oh damn, I think I just jinxed it."
"What I'm more concerned about is that you were leaving without giving me a kiss."
"That didn't work out so well last time."
"Didn't sound like it." Katherine smiles.
Trinity steps closer and kneels down. "Once kiss, and then I'm leaving." She says. Katherine nods. Trinity leans forwards and presses her lips to Katherine's, who snakes a hand into Trinity's hair and pulls her to the ground, their lips still connected.
Andie checks her watch and puts on her jacket as she walks down the stairs. Damon follows behind her, carrying her scarf. "I'm late. This is such a crazy day." She says, checking her appearance in the mirror. "I'm, uh, covering the historical society's high tea."
Damon tosses the scarf into the air. "Ooh! Thrilling." He says sarcastically, catching the scarf. They walk together down the main hallway leading to the front door.
"Yeah. It's for some visiting writer. He's writing a book on small-town Virginia. It's a big snooze."
"Writer? What's his name?"
"Uh, Elijah Smith."
"Smith. He's using Smith?" Damon says to himself. Andie looks at herself, yet again, in a different mirror. Damon places the scarf around her neck and ties it. "Ok. You have your story straight in your mind, right?"
"I can't say that you bit me or drank my blood, just that we hit it off and I really like you. You are terrific, though. You're sweet, funny, you're honest."
He smiles before placing his hands on either side of her head, and compels her. "And you're falling hard."
"You might be the one." She tells him, an adoring look in her eyes.
"Perfect." Damon smiles and opens the front door for Andie. Alaric, not having knocked yet, stands on the front porch. "Have a great day, honey." He kisses her, they pull apart and Andie walks out the front door, acknowledging Alaric.
"Oh. Hey, Alaric. Later." She gets into her car and drives away.
Damon waves goodbye to her. Alaric moves to stand in front of him. "My new girlfriend." Damon explains. "Andie Star, action news."
"It's not called action news." Alaric tells him.
"I know. I just like saying it. Come on." He lets Alaric in and closes the door before leading him into the parlor. "So, John Gilbert gave me this to kill Elijah." He unrolls the dagger from its protective cloth. "Said you have to dip the dagger in the remains of an old white ash tree that dates back to the Originals, if there's any truth in that." He explains, handing the dagger to Alaric.
"So you think it's a setup?" He asks, looking at the dagger.
"It could be. Guy's a weasel. Wouldn't put anything past him." Damon turns around and heads to the bar. "What are you up to today, Mr. Saltzman?"
Alaric gets up and walks over to Damon. "Well, Jenna and I were supposed to go to her family's lake house, but somehow, we both got roped into doing this historical society thing at the Lockwood's."
"Where Elijah's the guest of honor."
"Tell me you're not gonna kill him at the tea party."
"No. That would be stupid." He says. Alaric shoots him a skeptical look. "I want to know his endgame before I kill him, but I do think it's time Elijah and I officially met." Damon annoyingly taps Alaric with the dagger, who looks on at him, clearly not amused.
At the Grill, Bonnie and Caroline sit at a table.
"Ok. So tell me about this big, witchy plan you've been cooking up." Caroline says.
"We still don't know the extent of what Elijah's up to."
"No, we don't."
"So, I'm gonna ask Luka to tell me what he knows." Bonnie tells her.
"And he's not gonna tell you anything."
"I didn't say he was gonna have a choice." She says. Caroline looks past her. "What?" She turns around and sees that Caroline is looking at Matt. Caroline gives him a small wave and a smile, but Matt's face remains stony and he walks away without any acknowledgement towards her. Bonnie turns back towards Caroline. "What was that about?"
"Uh, I don't know. I thought that we were…I don't know."
Trinity walks into her house and drops her keys onto a nearby table. She sets down her bag and begins heading towards the stairs when she sees a shadow. Stopping, she slowly steps towards the kitchen, claws out. Upon entering the kitchen, she sees nothing. Taking a deep breath she detects no unfamiliar scent in the air. She turns around only for a grey cloud of mist to rush through her. "Ahh!" She screams, falling into a cabinet and slipping towards the ground. Her muscles clench as an icy feeling fills her body. She clutches her head as whispers fill her eyes, the pain increasing with each voice.
"Potentia."
"Salus."
"Spes."
Trinity screams from the pain and blacks out.
Flash
Trinity is back in the meadow. She sees a small pond and walks towards it. Looking into the pond she sees a sparkle and leans closer. Suddenly, a force pushes her into what is no longer a pond, but the wild waves of an ocean. Trinity tries to swim back up but the waves push her further down. Water fills her lungs and she begins to panic as she tries to reach the surface, only for the waves to beat against her once again. Her world begins to darken as a shrill ringing fills her ears.
Ring! A phone sounds.
Trinity's eyes snap open and she gasp, coughing as she desperately breathes in air. She reaches into her pocket and answers her phone. "Hello?" She pants.
"What's up with you?" She hears.
"Damon?"
"Come over. We got an Original to deal with."
"What?"
"Elijah's in town, posing as a writer. With my handy new weapon from John; you, me, and Alaric are going to take him down. I'm gonna do a little research first and see what I can find out before I try it."
"Do you really need me?" She asks.
"What?"
"Damon, I can't deal with this right now. Something…strange has been happening. I think it might be my Quickening. I'd only be a liability."
"What's wrong?" Damon asks, concern in his voice.
"I don't know." She answers. "But I'm going to find out."
"Will you be okay?"
"I'll be fine. Good luck with Elijah."
"Thanks." He says. "And good look with your…weird, Quickening thing."
"Thanks." She says. "Bye."
"Mm-hmm." He hangs up.
Trinity sets her phone down and leans against the cabinet, looking up at the ceiling.
In the woods, Jules is waiting outside the trailer, gazing off into the distance when Tyler walks up to her. "Tyler, hi."
"You're still here." He says.
"Is that all right with you?"
"That guy last night made it pretty clear that you needed to go."
"And we will soon." She tells him. Brady and Stevie walk around the other side of the trailer and approach them. Tyler looks at them, nervously. "Listen. We kind of need your help with something."
"We need you to help us find the moonstone." Brady says.
Tyler looks at them. "Somebody needs to explain to me what the big deal is about a rock."
"That rock helps break the curse of the sun and the moon." Stevie tells him.
"I don't know what that means."
"It's an old curse placed on both vampires and werewolves." Jules says.
"Vampires break the curse, they're free to walk in the sunlight, but we're stuck only turning at the full moon, aka werewolf Armageddon." Stevie explains.
"But if we break it, they're stuck as night-walkers, and we can turn whenever we want." Brady adds.
"Aka werewolf domination." Stevie smiles. Tyler sighs heavily.
"Tyler, if we can turn at will, that means we never have to turn at all, not if we don't want to." Jules says.
He looks at her. "I'd never have to turn again?"
"There's more." Brady says. "Stevie?"
"If those vamps are gearing up to break the curse, they must have also found the doppelgänger."
"The doppelgänger?" Tyler asks.
"Evil twin shadow person. We're betting Mason's hot, vampire chick Kathy knows all about it, so we need you to help us find Kathy. I-I have a picture. Mason brought her to the bar once. No one liked her. She was a vampire. Bad news." Stevie looks through his phone for the picture. "Right-right here. The girl next to Mason." He shows the picture of Mason and Katherine to Tyler.
Tyler looks at it and then up at Stevie with skepticism. "That's Elena Gilbert."
"You know her?" Jules asks.
"I've known her my whole life."
Jules and Brady exchange a look.
Trinity looks through her family journals and rereads an entry about the Quickening. She was pushed to the brink of desperation in her mind, body, and soul. She reads. Her eyes scan over the last few words. Mind, body, and soul.
Trinity looks up. Am I going crazy?
Matt is bussing a table when Caroline walks up to him. "Hi." She greets.
"I'm…I'm working." He walks away and Caroline follows him.
"Yeah, I can see that, but can you work and talk?"
Matt stops abruptly and turns to face Caroline who stops as well. "What do you want, Caroline?"
"Uh, I want to talk about what we were supposed to talk about last night before I had to cancel on you. I want us to clear up the weirdness. I just want us to talk about us."
"Now you're just making it worse."
She places her hands on either side of her face. "Uh, I…I don't know what's going on, Matt."
"Where were you last night when you were supposed to be with me?" He asks.
"I…"
"And don't say you were with Bonnie because Bonnie was here, Caroline. I saw her."
Caroline is speechless. "Oh."
"Yeah." He turns around and walks away.
"Matt!" She struggles to find words and gives up.
Tyler approaches her. "Caroline."
She turns to look at him. "You stay away from me." She starts to walk away.
"It's important."
Caroline and Tyler knock shoulders, causing her bag to fall to the floor, spilling out its contents. She kneels down to retrieve her bag and things, while Tyler kneels down to help. "Just stop it, Tyler, ok? You're just…you're just making it worse."
As Tyler and Caroline place her things back in her bag, Tyler picks up her phone and swiftly puts it in his back pocket without her noticing. "Please, Caroline. I'm sorry about what happened, ok, but there's so much we need to talk about."
Caroline grabs her bag and gets up from the floor. "I said just leave me alone." She storms out of the Grill.
Tyler gets up from the floor and Matt approaches him. "The two of you want to get together, fine. There's nothing I can do about it, but do me a favor, and both of you stop lying about it." He says before turning around.
Tyler grabs his arm. "Matt, there's nothing going on."
Matt turns back around and grabs Tyler by the collar of his jacket. "Hey! I said stop lying." He releases Tyler and walks away.
At the Gilbert house, Stefan and Elena are in the hallway with their bags packed, ready to leave. "Ready for our romantic weekend?" He asks.
"Beyond ready. Let's go before John shows up and pretends to be a concerned father."
"Mmm. I'll go put these in the car." He opens the front door and starts to walk out, but stops when he hears Elena's phone start to buzz.
Elena takes out her phone seeing that she has received a text message from Caroline. "Need to talk. Where are you?"
Elena sends a text back to Caroline saying, "Headed to lake house w Stefan. U ok?"
"Uh, please tell me there's nothing wrong." Stefan says.
Elena looks up at Stefan, but before she has time to comment, Caroline sends her another text. "All good, never mind. Have fun."
Elena looks relieved. "Nothing's wrong. Just Caroline." She smiles. "Come on. Let's go." She walks out the front door. Stefan shuts the door behind them and follows her.
In the woods, Tyler looks down at the texts he exchanged with Elena via Caroline's phone. "She's going to Dunham Lake. Her family has a house up there." He says.
Brady smiles. "Nice. Let's go get our doppelgänger." He walks away and Tyler reluctantly follows.
Elena and Stefan pull up to the lake house in Stefan's Porsche. Elena stares up at the house and sighs. Stefan looks at her with concern. "You all right?" He asks.
"I'm good." She says. "I just haven't been back here since before…"
"Oh, my god." He turns to fully face Elena, slinging his arm over the back of her seat. "Elena, listen, just say the word, all right? We'll get back on that highway, we'll go anywhere else."
She smiles and looks at Stefan. "I've always loved it here. I want it to stay that way; I was just…having a moment."
"Okay." Stefan squeezes her shoulder gently and they get out of the car and go up to the house.
Elena unlocks the front door and walks in. She looks around nostalgically and walks further into the house. Stefan, right behind her, comes up on the porch and stands awkwardly at the front door. Elena places her bags on a counter and looks over at him. "You don't have to wait out there. I'm all good."
"Oh, that's great because I'm, uh…I'm stuck."
"Oh, my god. You can't get in." She realizes.
"Not gonna be a very romantic weekend unless you, uh, invite me inside."
"Stefan, I can't."
"What?"
"My parent's left this place to John Gilbert. He's the only one who can invite you in. I'm sorry. I-I completely forgot."
"You're kidding me, right?"
Elena looks at him seriously for a moment, before she finally cracks a smile. "Stefan Salvatore, I hereby invite you into this home."
He gives her a disbelieving smile and shakes his head. "You are such a liar." He enters the house and picks Elena up.
She giggles. "Hey, hey, hey!" Elena kisses him and wraps her legs around his waist as he carries her over to the counter. They continue to kiss passionately as Stefan sits her down.
Trinity walks back into the tomb with a solemn look on her face.
Katherine looks up at her. "What's wrong."
"Oh nothing." Trinity says, sitting down next to her. "Just my deteriorating sanity."
"What do you mean? What happened?"
"There's something that I didn't tell you about shapeshifter's." She says.
"What?"
"It's very rare. Very rare." She emphasizes. "Some of us go through a trial called the Quickening."
"What's that?"
"It's when a shapeshifter become immortal. Naturally. No vampire blood, no witches. It's an awakening of our power. They become an elder to their race."
"You're going to be immortal?" Katherine asks, a hopeful look in her eyes.
"If I survive it."
Katherine looks at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"The Quickening…going through it is very hard. It only started a few months ago. When I got angry, I blacked out and apparently killed any threat in sight. Only Elena and Stefan have been able to call me back when I get like that."
"Why?"
"Because they're my friends. My family, and I love them." She explains. "Part of my Quickening is being overprotective. I'd die to save their lives." She says, staring ahead. She misses the concerned and slightly horrified look in Katherine's eyes. "But another thing about it is that it's literally going to drive me insane. At least, that's what I read. Apparently it will drive me to the brink of desperation in mind, body, and soul."
"How do you become immortal?"
"If I have enough will power, I most likely won't kill myself."
"What?!"
"Like I said, I'm going insane."
"Does this have anything to do with why you passed out?"
Trinity shrugs. "Most likely."
"So…you just have to wait this out and bear through it?"
Trinity nods. "Pretty much."
"You said that it was an awakening of your power. What else can you do?"
"I don't know, but when someone goes through the Quickening, a gift is bestowed upon them."
"Does your journal's tell you what?"
"It's different with everybody. My ancestor, Laylah, had the gift of clairvoyance."
"She went through the Quickening too?"
She nods. "Yeah."
"So where is she?" Katherine asks. "If she's immortal, why isn't she here, helping you?"
"She dead."
"But you just said…"
"The only way an elder can die is if they give up their life willingly. They give their energy back to the earth, leaving it up to another to become the next elder."
"Why would they kill themselves?"
"I guess after a while it gets painful. Shapeshifter's can live longer than the average human. We might get an extra hundred years but we still age. We're not immortal." She explains. "They have to watch as all their friends and family die, over and over again. After a while, they want to join them."
"Well I guess you're lucky that you're friends with vampires." Katherine says.
"Yeah. I guess I am."
At the Lockwood mansion, the Historical Society's Tea Party has commenced. Elijah and Carol are speaking with each other as they sip their tea.
"Have you spent much time in Richmond for your book? There's such a wealth of history there." She says.
Elijah shakes his head. "No, I'm focusing mostly on the smaller regions of Virginia. Lots of research. Strictly academic."
"That's fascinating."
Damon enters the house and Jenna intercepts him. "Damon, what are you doing here?" She asks.
Suddenly, Andie walks up to them, notepad in hand. Damon looks over at her and smiles. "Hi." She greets. "You came."
"Hi." He says.
"Hi."
Damon pecks Andie on the lips and Jenna looks at the two, surprised. "Thanks for introducing us, Jenna." He smiles and walks out of the room.
Andie smiles at Jenna and stands next to her as they watch Damon walk away. "Ahhh. Wow."
Damon approaches Carol and Elijah.
"Damon." Carol says.
"Carol." He smiles.
"What a surprise."
"Hi." He and Carol exchange kisses on the cheek.
"Hi." She turns to Elijah. "Elijah, I want you to meet Damon Salvatore. His family is one of Mystic Falls' founding families."
"Mm-hm." He looks at Elijah. "Such a pleasure to meet you."
"No. Pleasure's mine." He and Damon shake hands.
At the Grill, Luka is playing pool when Bonnie approaches him with two coffees in hand. "I come bearing coffee gifts." She hands one of the coffees to him and he accepts it.
"So you're talking to me now."
"I found out what your dad did, saving my friends from the wolf pack."
"Well, had I had known that's all it took…"
At the other end of the Grill, Caroline is sitting at a table.
Jeremy walks in and goes over to Caroline. "Hey. How's it going?" He asks.
"What are you doing here?"
"Bonnie called. I wanted to help. How's it going?" They look over at Luka and Bonnie.
"She's selling it and he's buying it. She's giving him the sex smile."
"All right, Caroline. I get it." He says shortly.
Caroline looks at Jeremy, noting his jealousy, and looks away with a knowing smirk.
"What do you say? You want to play a game?" Luka asks.
"Yeah." Bonnie nods.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Luka starts to move to set up the game, but suddenly he stumbles. He places his hands on the pool table to maintain his balance. "What's happening to me?"
Bonnie moves closer to him. "You'll be ok." Luka begins to fall over and Bonnie grabs his shoulders, trying to keep him upright. Jeremy and Caroline quickly walk over to help. "Why don't we go over here?" She starts to lead Luka around the pool table.
Jeremy approaches them first. "I got him. I got him." He says. Bonnie moves out of the way and Jeremy places Luka's arm around his shoulder and drags him away from the eyes of the bar patrons. "What kind of witch roofie was that?"
"A strong one." She smiles, satisfied with her abilities.
At the lake house, Elena stands on the dock, a large blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
Stefan walks up from behind her. "Having another moment?" He wraps his arms around Elena and kisses her on the cheek.
She smiles and places her hands on his arms. "Jeremy broke his arm diving off this dock when he was 6. My dad taught me how to fish right off the edge over there. So many memories. Do you ever think about us, what our future will be like, our memories?"
"I think there are a lot of conversations to be had about our future, about the kind of life we could have together."
"Now there's a box that we shouldn't open."
"Oh, we can open it. Whenever you're ready."
"No. I'd rather just be here…now." She says, stroking his arm with her thumb.
"You know, this is a future memory. It's where your boyfriend whispered to you that he loved you." He puts his lips by her ear. "I love you." He whispers.
She smiles as Stefan kisses her on the cheek. Elena grabs onto Stefan's arms, making their embrace tighter.
Trinity leans against Katherine, who holds her in her arms. "This is nice."
"It is." Katherine smiles, nuzzling the girl's hair.
"We should do this more often." Trinity says. "Just enjoy each other's company."
"I thoroughly enjoy your company every time I'm with you." Katherine playfully nibbles on her ear.
Trinity laughs. "You know what I mean." She sobers. "But I like this, being with you. It's nice."
"Just nice?"
"It's great." Trinity leans up, kissing Katherine on the cheek.
"Oh, you missed." Katherine smiles.
"Did I?"
She nods. "Mm-hmm." She presses her lips to Trinity's.
Alaric watches as Damon opens the door to the study and gestures for Elijah to enter. Damon follows Elijah in and shuts the door behind him.
John walks up to Alaric. "What's Damon doing with Elijah?" He asks.
Alaric shrugs. "How would I know?"
"Because you're his little helper."
"If you say so, John."
"Does Jenna know about your extracurricular activities? Maybe it's time we tell her. I mean, she can't stay in the dark forever."
"You're a dick." He says.
"I don't think you should sleep over anymore. It's inappropriate with children in the house, and that ring that Isobel gave you, that's mine. I'm gonna want that back."
Alaric smiles smugly at John, who walks away.
In the study, Elijah and Damon are speaking.
"What can I do for you, Damon?"
"I was hoping we could have a word."
"Where's Elena?" Elijah asks.
"Safe with Stefan. They're laying low, you know, bit of a werewolf problem." He says.
Elijah nods. "Oh, yeah, I heard about that."
"I'm sure you did since it was your witch that saved the day."
"You are welcome."
Damon sits down on the desk. "Which adds to my confusion on exactly why you're here."
"Why don't you just stay focused on keeping Elena safe and leave the rest to me." Elijah moves to exit the room, but Damon flashes in front of him, blocking the way out.
"Not good enough."
Elijah grabs Damon by the throat and flashes him into a wall. Damon, in retaliation, grabs Elijah's throat. Elijah grabs Damon's hand and easily pulls it off of his neck, making sure to crush it as he does so. Damon groans in pain. "You young vampires, so arrogant." He says, dropping Damon's hand from his own, but continues to hold him up against the wall by the throat. "How dare you come in here and challenge me?"
"You can't kill me, man. It's not part of the deal."
"Silence." Elijah grabs a pencil lying on the desk and stabs him in the neck. Damon clutches at the pencil and yells in pain. Elijah lets go of Damon, who falls against the desk and removes the pencil, painfully and puts his hand over the bloody wound. Elijah whips out a handkerchief from his pocket and wipes the blood off his hands. "I'm an Original. Show a little respect." He dangles the handkerchief in front of Damon, who grabs it hastily, and places it on his wound. "The moment you cease to be of use to me, you're dead, so you should do what I say. Keep Elena safe." He orders before leaving.
Stefan is preparing dinner in the kitchen. He looks over at Elena who is watching him from the couch, a glass of wine in her hand.
"My dad did all the cooking, too." She tells him.
"And your mom?"
Elena smiles. "She sat right here and watched. She couldn't cook either." She says, making Stefan smiles. She looks at the fireplace before looking back at Stefan. "Fire's dying."
"Oh, yeah. I'll go get more wood." Stefan stops chopping and walks towards Elena.
"I got it." She says.
"No, no. It's cold outside."
Elena gets up and walks over to Stefan, placing her hands on his chest. "So, I'll get a jacket." She turns around and walks off into her parent's old bedroom. Elena stops and looks over at the vanity. She picks up a bottle of perfume, uncorks it, and smells it. Stefan enters the room as she puts the cork back in and places the perfume bottle back on the vanity. "My mom's perfume." She turns around and walks over to the closet. "Jenna was supposed to pack all this up, but…she kept putting it off." She turns the light on in the closet and looks inside. "I don't blame her." She looks at the closet door and takes one of the sweaters off its hook before turning back to Stefan. "Here." She tosses it to Stefan, who catches it. "Bundle up. It was my great-granddad's." She tells him. He puts the jacket on and pops the collar. "And you look very hot in it."
"I look hot in your dead great-granddad's jacket?"
"Beyond hot." Elena smiles. Stefan walks over to her and kisses her, unexpectedly. She kisses him back awkwardly. Stefan and Elena walk back into the closet and continue to kiss. He pushes her into the back wall of the closet. Elena pulls away for a moment. "Stefan! It's my parents' bedroom."
He doesn't respond and kisses Elena again, who smiles and finally gives in, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him back. Stefan hears a hollow thud when Elena's back hits the wall. He breaks their makeout session and looks up at the wall.
"What?" She asks.
Stefan raps his knuckles on the wall. Elena turns her head and watches him. "Huh."
She looks back at him. "What?"
"This is hollow inside." He tells her. Elena moves out of the way and Stefan breaks off one of the panels and removes the rest with ease. A hidden door lies behind the wall.
"What is it?"
"It's a really good hiding place." He breaks the lock off the door and opens it. He flips the light on and they see an arsenal of weaponry for hunting vampires within the hidden closet.
"Oh, my god."
At the Forbes house, Bonnie and Jeremy are kneeling next to Luka's unconscious body in the living room.
Caroline walks in with an armful of candles. "We only have, like, an hour or two before my mom gets home, and these are all I could find." She says. Jeremy stands up and Caroline hands him the candles, one by one.
"Place these evenly around the room." Bonnie tells them. Caroline hands the remaining candles to her.
Jeremy begins placing the candles around the room. "How does this work?"
"Um, I'll put him in a trance and ask him questions. It's like hypnosis."
"You sure you're strong enough for this?"
"That's what the candles are for. I'll draw power from the flames."
"I'll get the matches." Caroline starts to leave the room.
"I got it." Bonnie shuts her eyes and the candles flare up. Caroline turns around and smiles.
"Never gonna get used to that." Jeremy says.
Caroline places her hands on her hips and smiles. "Oh, come on. That's pretty hot, and you know it."
Jeremy smiles and Bonnie looks up at him. "I need a bowl of water."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll-I'll go get it." He leaves the room.
Caroline smiles broadly down at Bonnie, who looks up at her. "Ok. What was that? 'It's hot'?"
"He is so crushing on you." Caroline whispers.
"So?"
She sits down on the floor across from Bonnie. "So…what, you'd rather be with traitor warlock over here?"
"I'm not into Luka. It's just, you know, he understood me, and he was new and different."
"And you've known Jeremy since forever, and you only see him one way, as Elena's brother, but you're a witch, and I'm a vampire. You know, it's not like we're in any position…"
"To be picky."
She laughs. "No. To judge." They smile at each other. Jeremy walks back in the room with a bowl of water. Bonnie takes the bowl from him and places it on the floor by Luka's head.
"Looks like he's waking up." He says.
Bonnie dips her hands in the water and places them on either side of Luka's head. She shuts her eyes and performs a non-verbal spell which is shown to be working by the flames of the candles flaring up intensely. Luka starts to breathe heavily.
At the boarding house, Damon and Alaric are sitting in the library, drinking bourbon.
"Today was a bust." Damon sighs.
"Yeah. How's the throat?" Alaric asks.
"Sore."
"Yeah. That Elijah's one scary dude, but with nice hair. Hey. You want another one?" Alaric gets up, Damon hands him his glass, which he takes and walks over to the bar.
"He's gonna be hard to kill."
"Yeah. I'd think twice before I'd trust that dagger and some ashes to do the job." He pours more bourbon in their glasses. "You're gonna need more info."
"I'm out of sources."
"What's up with you and this news chick?" He hands Damon his glass.
"Ooh. She's got spunk, huh?"
Alaric sits back down on the couch and sends Damon a significant look. "Just don't kill her, please."
"If I did, who would report her death?"
"Just don't do it, all right? She's friends with Jenna, and it's bad enough that I'm lying to her about everything else. I hate the lies." He takes his phone out of his pocket and looks at it. "Oh, God. I got to go. I got to pick Jenna up." He stands up. "Don't worry. I'll, uh, show myself out."
Damon places his hands behind his head and shuts his eyes. "Good luck."
Alaric walks out of the library. Damon remains in his relaxed position until he hears a loud, crashing noise from the hallway. His eyes fly open and he walks out of the library and into the hallway. Out in the hallway, Damon sees that Alaric has a large knife plunged into his stomach. Alaric looks at Damon as he clutches at the knife and groans as he falls to the floor. Suddenly, from the rafters of the parlor's ceiling, Stevie drops down and stabs Damon in the neck with a syringe full of vervain.
Damon grunts but is not completely affected by the vervain and flashes around the room, crashing Stevie into several walls. Finally, he weakens and falls to the ground.
Stevie removes the syringe from his neck and stands up. "Whew! Damn, you're strong. It took the whole syringe." He says. Two more werewolves walk through the front and look down at Alaric's dead body. Damon, weak, but still awake looks up from the floor. "Grab that one. He's dead."
Jules enters the house with a shotgun over her shoulder. She looks down at Damon. "Hi, Damon. Nice to see you again."
Trinity trails kisses up Katherine's neck, leading to her lips. She pulls back and looks into her eyes.
"What?" Katherine asks.
"I…" She trails off, losing her nerve. "Never mind." She kisses her again.
Elena removes a journal from a bookcase in the hidden room. Stefan, leaning against the door-frame, watches her. "These must be the other Jonathan Gilbert journals. Jeremy had the one, but John said that there were others." She flips through the pages. "His whole life's in here." She says, looking around the room in awe.
"I'll go get the firewood. I'll let you have a moment." Stefan says.
Elena crouches down on the floor and grabs a handful of wooden bullets. Stefan leaves the room as she continues to examine the weaponry in the hidden room.
At his RV, Brady looks down at his phone, having received a text. "We're good to go." He walks to the door and looks back at Tyler, who is still sitting at the table. "You up for this?" Tyler doesn't respond or move from his spot. Brady sits down across the table from him. "These people have done nothing but lie to you. This girl that you've known since birth, she's with the vampires now, the ones who killed Mason. They're the enemy, and if they break that curse, well…all of us are as good as dead. Are you up for this?"
"Yes."
"Good. Because if you wuss out, you're gonna have me to deal with, you got it?"
Tyler nods.
At the Gilbert house, John pours himself a glass of wine in the kitchen as Jenna enters the kitchen. He looks up at her. "Where's Elena?"
"At the lake house for the weekend." She tells him.
"With Stefan?"
"Yes, with Stefan."
"And who gave her permission for that?"
"I did. Until you get a lawyer, file for guardianship, it's my call, and there's nothing you can do about it."
"I always knew you were lax with them, but I didn't think you were negligent."
"She wanted to get away from you, ok, and so do I, so I'll be staying with Ric." She turns around and starts to leave the room.
"'Cause he's such a great guy, right?"
Jenna, biting her tongue, turns back around and strides closer to John. "You are on dangerous ground."
"He's a liar, Jenna."
"What?"
"Did he ever tell you what happened to his wife?"
"She died."
John moves around the island in the kitchen and closes the gap between Jenna and himself. "Really? So they found her body?"
"What are you saying?"
"Why don't you ask Ric? I'd love to hear his answer. Have a great night." He walks out with purpose. Jenna turns around and looks at him with a hint of skepticism.
Alaric's body lies on the floor of the parlor room. Damon has been chained to a chair with a wooden spiked metal collar around his neck. He has become less weakened by the vervain, but is still unable to move much. He sees Ric's dead body on the floor and looks worried for a moment, before spotting the Gilbert ring on his finger. Damon sighs with relief and glances over to his right.
Stevie is standing there, holding the ends of two chains which attach to Damon's spiked collar. "Morning, sunshine." He says, walking in front of him. "I saw this movie once, some torture porn flick. Anyway, they had this collar device that was really cool, so I just modified it some with some wooden nails, and when I pull…" He pulls the ends of the chains forward. The wooden spikes insert themselves in Damon's neck, who groans in pain.
Suddenly, Jules speaks up from the corner. "So I hear you have the moonstone." She and two other werewolves walk farther into the room.
Damon laughs. "Oh, if you only knew the irony of this moment right now. Let me tell you how this is gonna go. You're gonna torture me, I don't talk, someone loses a heart. Last time, it was your boy Mason."
Stevie wraps the chains around his hand and Jules inches closer to Damon. "This time, it'll be you." She looks at Stevie and nods. He pulls on the chain again, impaling Damon's neck, making him groan in pain.
"How long is this gonna take?" Caroline asks.
Bonnie shakes her head. "I don't know. He's fighting me." She watches as Luka moves around, fighting the spell. Bonnie keeps her hands placed on either side of his head.
"Please stop. Please." He whispers.
Bonnie closes her eyes and Luka soon follows suit, successfully having been put into a trance. "There. All right. Why are you working with Elijah?" She asks.
"Klaus. We both want him dead."
"You want to kill Klaus, too. Why?"
"Because he has her and we have to get her away from him."
"Who…who are you talking about?"
"My sister."
"His sister?" Jeremy asks.
"Why does he have her?" Bonnie continues her questioning.
"He's searching for a way to undo the curse without the doppelgänger. He's forced generations of witches to help him for centuries."
"What has Elijah promised you?"
"If we help Elijah kill Klaus, he's promised to return her to us."
"And how do you kill Klaus? How do you kill an Original vampire?"
Luka starts to fight the spell again. "He'll kill me if I tell you. Don't make me."
"It's ok, Bonnie. We can find another way." Jeremy says.
"No." She puts Luka back in a trance. "How will you kill Klaus?"
"After the sacrifice, Klaus will be vulnerable, weak. It's our only chance."
Caroline looks confused. "After the sacrifice?"
"What do you mean, after?" Bonnie asks.
"Klaus will be vulnerable."
"But Elena will be dead."
"Yes. Elena has to die." He reveals.
Bonnie looks up at Jeremy, who shakes his head. "No." He whispers.
Trinity pants as Katherine trails kisses back up her body. "Wow."
Katherine chuckles. "Indeed."
Trinity looks at her with dark eyes before switching their positions. "My turn."
Stefan dumps an armful of wood onto the porch and returns to the garage. He opens the door, flips on the light, and walks in to get more firewood. Before he picks any firewood up, Stefan freezes. He stands back up and turns around. Brady is behind him, with a gun pointing straight at Stefan. Brady shoots him in the chest with a wooden bullet. Stefan falls to the floor and groans in pain. Tyler enters behind Brady.
"Keep him down. If he moves…" He hands the gun to Tyler, also giving him a stake. "Kill him." He leaves the garage.
Stefan continues to groan and writhe in pain. Tyler points the gun at him. "Don't move!"
"Just let me get the bullet out. It punctured my heart." He explains. "I need to get it out. I'm not gonna fight you."
Tyler moves around Stefan, keeping the gun pointed at him. He looks at the door before looking back. "I don't think so."
"Tyler, why are you doing this?"
"I can't let you break the curse."
"You know about the curse?" He asks.
"You're liars, all of you."
"No. I swear to you. We don't want to break the curse, Tyler. We don't want to do that."
"Oh, yeah? But I do." He shoots Stefan in the leg, making him yell in pain. "I can't be like this forever."
"Tyler, I'm just trying to save Elena."
"Elena will be fine!" He yells.
Stefan looks up at him, realization in his eyes. "They didn't tell you that part, did they? Who are the liars now?"
"Tell me what?"
"In order to break the curse, Elena has to die."
Tyler looks uneasy and begins to lower the gun.
Elena walks out into the living room, rubbing her arms due to the cold. She looks out the open front door for Stefan. "Are you growing the trees out there?" She shouts. Stefan doesn't respond. Elena glances around, nervously and begins to inch closer to the front door. "Stefan?" She continues to look out the door. Brady hides from view against the wall next to the front door. Quietly, Elena picks up a knife from the countertop and slowly walks to the front door and out on the porch. "Stefan, what are you doing out there?"
Suddenly, Brady comes up from behind Elena, who gasps in shock, turns around, and stabs him in the stomach with the knife.
He falls to his knees as Elena rushes back into the house, shutting and locking the front door behind her. Brady painfully removes the knife from his stomach. Elena rushes up the staircase. Brady kicks open the front door with ease. Elena rushes across the landing and into a room.
Brady enters the house and shuts his eyes. "I can smell you." He calls.
Elena, in a frenzy, removes her sweater and places it on the bed. She quietly exits and enters the room across the hallway, shutting the door softly behind her, and covering her mouth so Brady can't hear her breathing. Brady walks up the stairs, the knife clutched in his hand, he enters a room and sees Elena's sweater lying on the bed. He picks it up and sniffs it. Elena quietly opens the door from the other room and sneaks down the stairs. When she gets to the bottom, she looks back up, places her hands on the front door and slams it shut; trying to trick Brady into thinking she went outside. Brady hears the loud noise and turns his head. Elena rushes into her parent's room.
Brady descends the stairs and glares around the room. He enters Elena's parent's room and searches for her, eventually opening up the door to the hidden room. Suddenly, Elena comes up from behind him and stabs him in the shoulder with a wooden stake. He falls to the floor, again, and writhes in pain. Elena grabs the bloody knife and rushes out of the room. Brady removes the stake from his back and stands up. Elena runs out the front door with Brady close behind her. As he makes it out the front door, Stefan intercepts and plunges his hand into Brady's chest. Elena looks back in shock as Stefan rips his heart out and tosses it to the ground. Elena drops the knife and rushes towards Stefan.
"It's OK. It's OK. You're OK. You're OK." He wraps his arms around her.
Tyler walks around the corner. Elena looks up from Stefan's shoulder and sees him. "Tyler?" She asks, confused.
"I didn't know what they were gonna do to you. I didn't. I just…I don't want to be like this anymore." He says. Elena pulls away from Stefan and walks over to him. They stare at each other for a moment and Elena embraces him. Tyler wraps his arms around Elena. "I'm sorry, Elena."
"It's okay."
Stefan watches them and sighs in relief.
Jules leans against a shotgun as she talks to Damon. "You know what the great thing about buckshot is? It scatters through the body, maximum damage." She says. Damon looks at her with feigned intrigue. Jules lifts the shotgun up and points it at him. "Where's the moonstone?"
"Get over it, honey. You're never gonna get it."
"You looking for this?" Elijah, leaning against a banister, twirls the moonstone in his hand. Everyone turns to look at him. He walks down the stairs and places the moonstone on an end table and backs away. "Go ahead. Take it."
One of the werewolf's flashes towards the moonstone, but Elijah, being quicker, plunges his hand into the wolf's chest and rips out his heart. The wolf falls down onto the couch, dead. Two other wolves rush at Elijah, who without any effort, plunges his arms into their chests and rips out their hearts as well. Jules speeds out of the house before she is killed. Elijah walks over to Stevie, who crouches down and pulls his jacket over his face in fear. Elijah pulls him up from the ground. "What about you, sweetheart, hmm? You want to take a shot? Yes? No? Yes? Where's the girl?"
Damon looks around. "I don't know."
"It doesn't really matter." Elijah punches Stevie in the face and he falls to the floor. He then removes the chains strapping Damon down into the chair. "So you realize this is the third time I've saved your life now?"
Damon doesn't respond. Elijah turns around, grabs the moonstone, and walks out of the house.
Damon moves the chair back to its original place. He talks on the phone with Bonnie who is still at Caroline's house. "So he planned to kill her all along."
"Yeah. The sacrifice is part of Elijah's plan."
"Got it loud and clear." He hands up. Alaric suddenly comes back from the dead. "Finally. You missed all the fun." He says, picking up one of the chairs from the floor.
At the Gilbert house, Jenna is at the dining room table, writing a paper. Her phone goes off and she answers it. "There you are. Are you OK?"
"Yeah, sorry. I…I…I've just been grading papers. Honestly, uh…I fell asleep. I'm sorry. Jenna, I'm a jerk."
"No. It's fine. I'm just glad you're OK."
"Sorry. Tomorrow I'm all yours, OK?"
"Sure. Sounds great."
"All right. Good night, Jenna."
"Good night." Jenna hangs up as well, looking at her phone with skepticism.
Stefan speaks on the phone with Damon.
"It was straight from the witch's mouth. He was gonna go through with the whole sacrifice. You should probably just keep her away a little longer." Damon tells him.
"Be careful. Try not to get yourself killed."
"Yeah. It's been a day for that."
Stefan hangs up and sees Elena walk into the room. "That was, um…that was Damon. We need to talk."
"What is it?" She asks.
"He learned that Elijah's planning for you to die in the sacrifice ritual."
Elena looks down and takes a deep breath before walking closer to him. "I know the deal I made, Stefan. Elijah's very careful with his words. He promised to protect my friends. He never said a word about me."
He looks at her. "You mean, you knew that you weren't gonna survive this?"
"If it comes down to the people that I love getting killed or me, I know what my choice is gonna be."
"Elena, how…how could you stand out there earlier with me, talking about making plans for our future, when you don't even expect to have one?"
"I'm sorry, Stefan. I'm just trying to keep the people that I love safe. I'm trying to keep you safe."
"No. What you're doing is you're being a martyr."
"How is that any different from when you say that you would die to keep me safe?"
"Because I've already lived. 162 years I have lived, and you've barely begun, and now you want to let yourself get killed? That's not heroic. It's tragic." Stefan gives Elena an indignant look and walks past her and out of the room.
Bonnie and Jeremy walk out of the living room.
"So will Luka remember anything?" He asks.
"No. He'll know he lost consciousness, that's all." She says.
"Should we wait for Caroline?"
"She was just gonna drop Luka back at the Grill. Said to lock the door on our way out."
"Yeah. Well, I hope she drops him hard." He walks to the front door but Bonnie remains where she was.
"Wait." She says. Jeremy turns and looks at her. "You're Elena's little brother, I've known you forever. You're that punk kid. I remember your awkward phase, and then your emo phase, your druggie phase." Jeremy laughs. "And overnight, you turned into this hot guy who's really sweet and…"
"You think I'm hot?" He walks over to her.
"With everything that's going on, you know, curses and sacrifice…"
"Enough already." He kisses her passionately and they pull apart after an intense moment.
Bonnie looks up at him. "Wow."
Jeremy smiles at her and pushes a strand of hair out of her face before kissing her again.
Carol walks up the stairs and flips the lights off. As she ascends the stairs, she hears a floorboard creak and looks back. "Hello?" She walks down the stairs. "Hello?" She looks at the table where a giant vase of flowers are and sees a letter from Tyler leaning against it. She picks the letter up and looks around for a sign of him.
Tyler enters the Grill and looks around. He sees Matt, placing dirty dishes into a bin, and walks up to him. "Matt."
"I'm not in the mood, man."
"I need to say something."
Matt faces Tyler. "All right. Say it."
"I've been going through a rough time, something I can't really talk about, and Caroline's been helping me through it. She's been there for me more than anyone's ever been there in my entire life, and I kind of fell for her. I don't know how anyone wouldn't, because she's pretty incredible. But she loves you, and she needs you, and to be honest, she deserves someone like you. So you be good to her, OK?"
"Yeah, man. Of course."
"See you around, Matt."
"Yeah."
Tyler walks out of the Grill. Matt watches him go, confused.
Caroline is sitting on her bed, flipping through a magazine, when she hears a sudden noise. She jerks her head up and gets out of bed. She walks out into the hallway. "Mom?" She calls. She walks over to the front door and looks out the window. She does not see anything and proceeds to lock the door and walk back into her room.
From a shadowy corner, Tyler watches Caroline, sighs, and walks off the porch. He walks down the street, bag slung over his shoulder, and approaches an idling car. He opens the passenger door and gets in. Jules looks over at him from the driver's seat. "I'm sorry about Brady and your friends, but if I'm gonna go with you, no more lies." He tells her.
She nods. "No more lies. You're doing the right thing."
"I can't stay here, not like this."
Jules puts the car in forward gear and drives off with Tyler, away from Mystic Falls.
"I have to go." Trinity says.
Katherine groans. "Again?"
"Hey." She smiles. "We got a whole day to ourselves. Apart from my weird shapeshifter drama, we were able to just enjoy the day. That's rare."
Katherine reaches out and brushes a strand of hair out of Trinity's face. "Yeah."
"So it's back to real life." Trinity says before pressing her lips to Katherine's, who moans and tries to deepen the kiss. Trinity pulls away. "Not this time." She kisses her cheek and stands up. "I see you later." She smiles and leaves the tomb.
Katherine sits up and leans against the wall, thinking of her plan on getting out of the tomb and hoping Trinity won't hate her too much.