Elowen, Alaric and Jeremy were sitting outside The Grill. Across the way in the town square, everyone was preparing for the annual town lighting. Josiah was off helping Caroline, as usual, and Toby was over with Elena. They'd been on a couple of dates when Elowen was gone, but they hadn't put a label on in. In fact, nobody thought they ever would. It didn't seem like Toby's heart was in it. That was obvious to everyone. They all assumed it was because Elowen was still with Klaus, but it also had something to do with the fact that Toby realized he was still in love with her. Esmeralda, Eliana and Sydney were there, too, and Elowen was currently playing the dodging game. Esmeralda wouldn't stop looking at her and it was making Elowen squirm. Alaric had been put in a tough situation. He wanted to be there for Elowen and respect her wishes, but Esmeralda kept asking him to talk to her, see if maybe he could get her to come around, except Ric didn't want to overstep. He didn't want to upset either of them, and he wasn't sure he could get around without someone getting hurt. He sighed as he looked between Esmeralda and Elowen. Eliana glanced over and said something in Esmeralda's ear. She cast one last glance at her daughter before finally giving up and moving away.

Elowen pulled out one of Stefan's old journals out of her bag that she'd snagged from the boarding house when she had been staying there. Marisol told her to grab them.

"Okay, look, I know this is asking a lot, Jeremy, but I was hoping you could help me with something. Well, more like Marisol. This was her idea."

Jeremy shrugged. "Alright. What's up?"

"Marisol genuinely thinks there's a way to bring Stefan back, so I led her to his journals that he'd written in decades ago. She noticed a pattern. Stefan's best friend, Lexi, always seemed to be there whenever he went off the rails and, in her words, made him better."

"So, where is she now that we need her?" Alaric asked.

Elowen sighed. "Katherine killed her. Marisol thought that maybe Jeremy could reach her. I told her it was a longshot, but she's stubborn."

Alaric smirked. "Sounds a lot like someone else I know."

Elowen rolled her eyes. "Shut up, dad."

Jeremy looked over the journal on the table. "I don't even know if she's on the other side."

"Is that what it's called?"

"That's what Anna calls it. There's not like an official brochure or anything."

"So, what is it, like some sort of supernatural purgatory?" Alaric questioned.

"Well, Anna said it's like being here with all of us, only we can't see her or hear her, and she can't interact with anyone. She's all alone."

"Vicki could interact. She blew up my car."

"Vicki had help from a witch on the other side. Anna… she's doing this all by herself."

"I'm just saying, maybe we learned our lesson about summoning dead people."

Suddenly, Elowen let out a loud gasp. Jeremy and Alaric looked at her in concern.

"Do you think you could still try?" Marisol asked him curiously and hopefully. Jeremy shot Alaric a look of mild confusion at Marisol's appearance. He'd yet to meet her, just heard stories of her popping up every now and then.

"Marisol, what did we tell you about putting Elowen to sleep without her permission?" Alaric lightly scolded. Marisol looked down in shame.

"I'm sorry. I just really think this Lexi woman could help. Elowen said she was really fun and laidback. I don't know what laidback means, but it's good, right?"

Jeremy couldn't help but smile at her innocence. Damon was right. She was like a child.

"Marisol, I think maybe we should drop it," Alaric told her gently. "This ghost business isn't something to play around with."

Marisol shot him a look of hurt. "What else can we do? Do you have any other ideas?"

"Look, I don't even know if it's possible to contact Lexi," Jeremy said quickly before she did something like cry. "I didn't have an emotional connection with her. I never even met her."

"But… but…"

Jeremy sighed and pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "I need to check my work schedule. I'm sorry."

Marisol watched him go with sadness in her eyes. Alaric placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Stefan walked over and took Jeremy's seat. Marisol immediately went quiet.

"Hey, guys," he greeted. "Who forgot to invite me to the family summit?" He picked up the journal on the table and skimmed through the pages. "Wow. All these words. I forgot how much I used to care." He tossed the journal back on the table and took notice on how silent Marisol was being. She was playing around with the straw in her drink and avoiding eye contact. Stefan smirked. "Hello, Marisol. Nice to see you again. I heard you tried to kiss my brother."

Alaric, having not heard about this, furrowed his eyebrows and looked between Marisol and Stefan. Marisol clenched her jaw and sunk down in her chair in embarrassment.

"Did Damon tell you?"

"No. I overheard. Guess looking like our girlfriend isn't enough for him."

"Can we not talk about this?"

Alaric, sensing how uncomfortable Marisol was, loudly cleared his throat. "You don't have to be here, Stefan."

"You know what, Alaric, you're right. I don't. But, Elowen and Marisol are here, and I look out for the both of them. Besides, there's going to be people everywhere tonight, so there's going to be lots to eat."

Marisol's eyes widened. She was so naive that she believed everything Stefan just said. Stefan laughed at the sight of her face.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Don't be so literal, Mary. Loosen up."

He got up and left. Marisol looked at Alaric confusedly.

"Mary? Who's Mary?"

"You," Alaric replied. "It's a nickname. It's something you give a person to call them by instead of their full name. It's like how everyone calls me Ric sometimes instead of Alaric."

"Oh. Okay. Do you want me to bring Elowen back?"

"That would be nice."

Marisol nodded. She closed her eyes and when they opened again, Elowen was sitting there instead. She rubbed her hands down her face.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with her."

xxxx

Caroline, Bonnie and Josiah descended the stairs to the basement in the witch house. They'd been hanging up lanterns when Bonnie's grimoire fell out of her bag and flipped to a page on its own. They were here to cast said spell.

"So, this is where you brought Jeremy back to life?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah. Sorry, I know it's creepy, but we needed a private place around here to do the spell."

"Hm. There's no chance it's haunted by the hundred dead witches who were horrifically burned to death in this very spot, is there?"

"They're still here because they're still allowing Elowen to channel them, but they won't make an appearance with us. They've made it clear that they're mad at me and don't want anything to do with me."

"And they're okay with you being here?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Not really, but they won't do anything. Trust me."

Caroline nodded, but she was clearly nervous. Josiah put his hand on the small of her back and kissed her temple.

"We'll be fine. Come on. Let's get these candles lit."

A few minutes went by as Caroline went around lighting the candles. Josiah and Bonnie were on the floor, looking over the spell. When Caroline was finished, she turned around to face them.

"Ready? Do you need me too…"

She couldn't finish her sentence, because Bonnie had already grabbed onto Josiah's hands and started chanting the spell. Josiah joined in. Caroline awkwardly nodded her head.

"Right. Okay."

A breeze immediately started to blow through the room. It steadily started to pick up more and more the longer Josiah and Bonnie chanted. Caroline looked around the room warily.

"Guys, I don't like this. Guys…"

Suddenly, someone grabbed onto Bonnie and Josiah's hands. They opened their eyes and both froze when they saw Sheila Bennett sitting there with them.

"Oh my god," Caroline gasped. "Is that your…?"

"Grams," Bonnie breathed in shock.

xxxx

Damon, Alaric and Elowen were all sitting at the bar in The Grill. Damon had just showed up and told Alaric and Elowen about how he thought Mason Lockwood's vengeful ghost was haunting him. A hand shot out in front of them and grabbed onto the glass of alcohol setting in front of Damon. They all looked over and saw Mason standing there.

"God, I miss whiskey," he said before he shot down the drink. Then, he smashed the glass against Damon's forehead. He winced in pain as he turned to Alaric and Elowen.

"Told ya."

Instead of making sure Damon was okay, Elowen was pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"I have to tell Toby. He's gonna be so happy to see you-!"

"No," Mason cut her off sharply. "You can't tell him I'm here."

Elowen furrowed her eyebrows. "What? Why?"

Before Mason could answer, Elowen's phone started to ring in her hands. She looked down and saw Caroline's name on the screen. She shot a confused glance at Mason before leaving the bar to answer the call.

"Caroline?"

"Elle, thank god you answered. Look, I'm at the witch house with Josiah and Bonnie and Sheila appeared-"

"Sheila…? She what?" Elowen asked in disbelief. The corners of her eyes pricked with tears. "Is she okay? How is she?"

Caroline sighed on the other line. She remembered quite vividly how badly Elowen had taken Shelia's death and how Bonnie had convinced her it was her fault. That felt like such a distant memory when it had only been a year ago.

"She's fine. She said to give you her regards and that she never held you accountable for what happened. That's not what I'm calling about. She told Bonnie that when she brought Jeremy back to life, she opened the door to the other side, and when she sent Vicki back, an old witch over there took advantage of that and made sure the door stayed open."

"Well, that explains why I'm watching Mason Lockwood drink The Grill out of house and home."

"What?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Sheila said there's a way to send all the ghosts back."

"How do we do that?"

"Apparently the old witch can draw power from this side because of her talisman."

"Talisman? You mean my necklace?"

"It's some ju-ju power source, and I know you're not going to like this, but Bonnie and Josiah have to destroy it."

"Caroline, this means it's the Original Witch who's doing this."

"Original Witch? Who's that?"

"I don't know, but Klaus needed the necklace to contact her when his hybrids failed and I hid it from him because I didn't want him figuring it out. I don't think she's good news, Care."

"Agreed. Where's your necklace? Do you have it?"

"Damon stole it back from Katherine from me, but I hid it so Rebekah couldn't take it. It's in Damon's room."

"Got it. We'll go and find it and then send the ghosts back."

"Okay. Is that all?"

"Yeah. I'll talk to you later."

Elowen ended the call and turned around to head back to Damon, Alaric and Mason when she bumped into somebody.

"Oh, I'm so sorry- Lexi?"

Sure enough, Lexi was standing in front of Elowen with a smile as she looked at her in surprise. First Mason, then Sheila and now Lexi? Who else was going to pop up today?

"Looks like today was a good day to be thinking about me, Elowen."

Elowen shook her head. "No, it wasn't me-"

"Right. Marisol. What's with that, anyway?"

"It's a long story."

"Hmm, well, we'll have time for that later. Come with me."

"Where?"

"Ripper detox 101. Crash course."

Lexi grabbed Elowen by the wrist and started pulling her towards the exit when Elowen glanced back at the bar.

"I'm sorry, did your little friend not just say how desperate she was for my help in saving Stefan's life?"

Making the decision to leave Damon and Alaric to deal with Mason on their own, Elowen nodded her head.

"Let's go."

Back at the bar, Mason was drinking from another shot glass.

"One of you will pay for this, right? Cheers." He downed the alcohol. Damon looked around The Grill for Elowen.

"Where did she go? The call couldn't have been that important." He sighed and turned back to Mason. "Alright, let's get to it. I killed you. You want revenge. Get in line."

"Actually, I want an apology."

Alaric laughed. "Good luck with that."

"Don't you have a family to haunt?" Damon asked, annoyed. "You know, your nephew and your son have turned into mindless hybrid minions."

"That's why I'm here, to help Toby and Tyler. It's why Toby can't know I'm here."

"Well, sorry to break it to you, buddy, but neither Toby nor Tyler can be helped. At least not while Klaus is alive, which is like, always."

"No necessarily. Not if you found a weapon that could kill him."

"There is no weapon that…" Damon trailed off. It finally clicked what Mason was saying. "What do you know?"

"I know you need to apologize."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Are you incapable of remorse?" Alaric questioned. "Has Elowen not taught you anything? Just apologize!"

Damon groaned and glared at Mason for a second. "You're right," he said at last. "I didn't have to kill you. I do a lot of things I don't have to do."

Mason laughed. "That's good enough." He stood up. "Meet me at the Lockwood cellar. Bring a shovel." He glanced at Alaric. "Come alone."

"What, you're going to bury me alive?"

"Don't tempt me."

Mason turned and left.

xxxx

Lexi and Elowen entered the old Forbes jail cell. Stefan was chained to the chair in the room. He was unconscious and his head was bowed forward.

"Klaus really did a number on him, huh?" Lexi asked as she stopped in front of Stefan.

"He compelled him to turn off his humanity," Elowen explained.

"Well, we're just going to have to convince him to turn it back on. I have to warn you, it's not going to be pretty."

"I can handle it."

"Oh, I'm sure you can. What about Marisol?"

"I'll make sure she stays dormant. She's fighting me right now, but I've got it under control."

Lexi shrugged and kicked Stefan in the leg. He woke up and looked around at his surroundings.

"How you feelin'?"

Stefen started struggling against the chains wrapped around him. He growled when he realized he couldn't break free.

"What is this? Let me out of here!"

"Shh. Inside voices, please. I'm trying to get inside your head."

Stefan's eyes flickered to Elowen. "Elowen, get rid of her, please."

Elowen simply shook her head. "Nope. You've gotta try harder than that, Stef."

Lexi crossed her arms. "First step, drying him out. Starve away the bloodlust. Strip away the temptation."

"This isn't gonna work, Lexi," Stefan spat. "You can't do this."

"You heard the not pretty part?" Lexi asked over her shoulder. Elowen nodded.

"I heard you."

Lexi leaned forward, placing her hands on her thighs and focusing on Stefan. Stefan fought against the restraints again.

"What are you doing?"

A few seconds later he started yelling in pain through his teeth. His hands and arms were starting to desiccate.

"What are you doing, Lexi?!"

She gave a sarcastic smile. "Doing what I do best, sweetness. I'm saving your life."

xxxx

"I'm surprised you showed," Mason said to Damon as Damon arrived with a shovel.

"You put a snag in my only other Klaus lead, so I'd say I'm highly motivated," Damon replied.

Mason stood from lighting a lantern and handed one of them to Damon.

"Mikael? Yeah, that didn't turn out so great, did it? There's not much to do on the other side but sit around and watch other people screw things up."

"What are we looking for?"

"There's an old Lockwood family legend about a weapon that can kill an Original vampire. Like the rest of their secrets, they kept it buried."

"So that's why you didn't want Toby to know you're here. He'd just go blabbing to Klaus or Rebekah because he's been sired."

"Exactly."

Mason took the shovel from Damon and started hitting a brick wall that blocked off a passageway. Damon rolled his eyes at his attempts.

"Oh, come on, give me the thing. Move."

Damon took back the shovel and used his heightened strength to easily break through the wall. Both Damon and Mason grabbed their lanterns and poked their heads through the hole.

Mason nodded his head through the hole. "Go for it."

"You first."

"What, you think I'm leading you into a trap?"

"The thought crossed my mind."

Mason rolled his eyes, but entered first. Damon followed closely behind.