Stefan was still strapped to the chair. He was drenched in sweat and thrashing around wildly.

"I'm starving! I'm starving! I'm starving! Let me out! Let me out! Please let me out."

Elowen watched on without moving a muscle. She was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Lexi was slowly circling Stefan.

"He's hallucinating," Lexi started to explain. "That's three months without any blood."

Stefan growled. "Let me out!"

"Now he's at nine months."

Stefan started to look worse and worse the longer Lexi went on.

"Two years… Five."

"Did I ever tell you how glad I am that you're dead?" Stefan hissed. Lexi faux pouted.

"Oh, I missed you, too, friend."

Elowen's phone rang and she stepped out of the room to answer it.

"Caroline. What's up?"

"So, the necklace isn't where you said it would be," Caroline said as soon as the line connected.

"What? No, it should be there. I'm certain that's where I hid it." Elowen glanced back into the cell. "Listen, I need you to get Bonnie and Jo to hold off on sending the ghosts back."

"What?! I thought you said that you were in full support of getting rid of them."

"I never exactly said that. I just told you where to find the necklace. Look, Lexi's here and she's helping with Stefan."

"Okay, let's just find it first and then we'll choose between boyfriend ghost dramas."

"Dramas? Plural? Want to fill me in?"

"I will, later. I call you when we find it."

"Okay."

Elowen hung up and went back into the cell. Stefan was panting heavily.

"Elowen. Elowen. I'm hurting. Please help me."

"Don't listen," Lexi instructed. "Shut him out."

Elowen nodded. She could feel Marisol fighting to put her asleep and she was doing everything she could to keep her at bay. She kept telling Marisol that she wouldn't be able to handle this, but she didn't appear to care.

"I'll do anything. I'll change. I promise." Stefan was looking at Elowen with pleading eyes, but she ignored him.

"It's a lie," Lexi told her. "He'll say anything right now."

"Elowen, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Just make it stop. Please, just make it stop."

Lexi turned her back on Stefan to face Elowen. "You have to separate yourself from your emotions. Don't let him play on them."

"I spent a whole summer separating myself from my emotions," Elowen replied. "I'm fine, Lexi. Trust me."

"Hey, look at me. Look at me," Stefan said from behind Lexi. Both her and Elowen turned to him. "Elowen, I love you, okay? I love you. I love you so much. I love you so much, Elowen."

"I already told you. You have to try harder than that."

Stefan's entire demeanor changed as his face morphed into a deep sneer. "You know what? I don't want your help, anyway. I wish I'd never met you. Every single moment that I've spent with you has been a complete and total waste."

"Then it must really suck to be you, Stefan."

Lexi pointed at Stefan. "That's the ripper talking. Once he's weak enough, you have to cause him pain. Make him feel things. Anger, rage, anything. You have to make him see past the blood." She picked up a lone piece of wood and drove it through Stefan's shoulder, then pulled it out. "Think of it as a regimen. Day in and day out. Like running a treadmill, like making coffee, until he's ready to be saved."

"I will rip you apart, Lexi!" Stefan snarled.

"You can't. I'm already dead."

She stabbed the stake through his body again and as he yelled in pain, Elowen tilted her head and concentrated. Stefan started screaming and lashing around. Lexi looked at Elowen over her shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

"It's a simple spell that makes your blood vessels pop, except because vampires heal quickly, I do it over and over again. I've heard it's really painful. One of my favorite spells to use."

Lexi nodded in approval. "Maybe you can handle this after all."

Suddenly, Elowen stopped and looked up towards the stairs. "Something's wrong."

"What?"

"I don't know. I'm gonna go see what it is. Don't stop."

Lexi thrust the stake into Stefan again as Elowen turned and left. She rounded the corner when she got out of the cell and saw police lights everywhere. She squinted and saw the paramedics rolling a body wrapped in a body bag towards the ambulance parked in the town square. She furrowed her eyebrows. What happened? Quickly, she crossed the street and looked for somebody she knew. Caroline, Bonnie and Josiah were at the boarding house, that she was aware of. Jeremy and Elena were who knows where, and Alaric was no doubt with Esmeralda, Sydney and Eliana. She eventually came across Toby.

"Hey. What the hell happened?" She asked as she approached him.

"The tomb vampires killed Tobias Fell. Don't comment on the name or else I'll punch you," he said quickly when an amused grin crossed Elowen's face. "I don't know where they are now, but we've gotta find Jeremy and Elena."

"Definitely. Caroline, Jo and Bonnie better find that necklace before it's too late."

"Last I heard, everyone thinks Anna stole it."

"Anna? How would she even know where to look?"

"Elena thinks she overheard your conversation with Caroline at The Grill."

"Well, whatever it was, she needs to hand it back ASAP."

"Let's just find Jeremy and Elena before the tomb vamps do."

Elowen and Toby headed off in one direction to start their search. They hoped that maybe they were with Alaric and everyone else.

xxxx

"I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop," Damon said to Mason as they walked through the caves under the Lockwood cellar. "Your motives are deceptively pure."

"You talk the talk, but I know you'll do anything for your brother and your girl. Attacking her was what got me killed, after all. You won't screw me over as long as we have the same agenda."

"I'm supposed to believe you're not gonna screw me over?"

They stopped when they came across a fork in the caves. One went one way while the other went another.

"Alright. Which way?" Damon asked.

Mason shrugged. "I don't know. Flip a coin."

"Aren't you supposed to be all knowing?"

"I think that's a role reserved for Elowen. Besides, I'm a ghost. I'm not god. Go left."

Of course, Damon did the exact opposite and went right. Mason rolled his eyes.

"Or not. You have trust issues. Anyone ever tell you that? I have no idea how Elowen managed to break through your walls."

"Can we stop name dropping my girlfriend, please?"

Damon took another step further when suddenly, sharp wooden poles shot out from the walls and stabbed through his body. He yelled in pain and tried grabbing them to pull them out when he discovered they were covered in vervain. Mason had disappeared somewhere, but since he had his back to him, Damon didn't notice.

"Yo," Damon strained out. "Help a brother out? Mason?"

A few slow, agonizing minutes ticked by when Mason finally came back. He was holding the shovel they'd discarded before entering the tunnels.

"Oh, I'm having a bad day," Damon groaned when he heard Mason coming back.

"Sorry. Thought you might need this."

Mason lifted the shovel and used it to break the long stakes in half.

"You're welcome."

Naturally, Damon didn't say thank you. Mason started to pull the stakes out of Damon's body, who moaned in pain as every single one was removed.

"What's your game, man? I killed you. I jammed my fist into your chest. I ripped your heart out. There's no way this whole buddy trust act is real."

"You know what the other side is like? We're all alone," Mason explained. "We watch the people we left behind and we regret our decisions. That's it. Look, I can't change what happened to me, but maybe I can change what happens to Tyler and Toby. I don't need revenge, Damon. I need redemption."

"It had to have stung a little bit when Toby didn't have much of a reaction to you dying. I mean, yeah, he decked me in the face, but it didn't go farther than that."

Mason sighed as he finished pulling the stakes out. "He only knew me for a year. He'd only been calling me dad for not even two months before you killed me. I was still practically a stranger to him. If it had been his mom, Mickey, then it would've been different. Besides, not to name drop your girlfriend again, he obviously cared a lot more about her than he cared about me. Going after her was a mistake."

"Oh, a big one."

"And I paid the price. It's just how life goes. Come on. We should get going."

xxxx

"Jeremy has the necklace," Toby said as he checked his phone. "He's gonna meet Caroline, Josiah and Bonnie at the witch house."

Elowen breathed a sigh of relief. "Good." She suddenly stopped. Toby followed her line of sight. A few yards away, Esmeralda was standing there, watching them. Elowen started walking backwards. "I need to warn Lexi. I'll be right back."

"Wait." Toby grabbed Elowen's wrist before she got too far. "You have to talk to her eventually. She knows what you told her was a lie now that you're back."

Elowen shook her head and gently took Toby's hand off of hers. "Doesn't matter. I'm not ready to face her. I'm sorry, Toby."

Elowen turned and left. She made it back to the jail cell just as Lexi stabbed Stefan again.

"You wasted your whole life taking care of me," Stefan spat. "Now you're dead and you still have nothing better to do."

Elowen walked in and looked at Lexi. "We're running out of time."

Lexi shook her head. "You've got to get me more."

"I can't. I'm sorry. There are some other really bad vampires who crossed over when you did and they're killing people. We have to stop them."

"No! No, not until I break through."

"We found the necklace we need. They're going to close the door."

"The necklace. Okay. That necklace." Lexi crouched down in front of Stefan so he'd look at her. "At least tell me you remember how you felt about that. You found it during your darkest time, and you said, when you made it through, that that necklace represented hope."

"Ironic, then, that it's about to be blown to pieces," Stefan spat.

xxxx

Mason and Damon were still walking through the tunnels when suddenly, Damon hit an invisible barrier that kept him from going any further. He pushed against it with all his might, but he was stuck.

"God! This is not happening."

Mason glanced over his shoulder. "What now?"

"I can't get through. It's like I'm not invited in. Wait!"

"I'm not stopping just 'cause you're stuck. I'll let you know what I find."

"Yeah, but…"

"Looks like you're gonna have to trust me."

Mason made his way over to the opening and turned around to face a wall. He held his lantern up so he could see the writings and drawings better.

"So? Damon asked expectantly. "What'd you find?"

"It's…"

Mason couldn't finish his sentence because the spell worked and sent him back to the other side. The lantern dropped and shattered against the rocks. Damon looked around for him.

"No, no, no, no, no! No, where'd you go? Mason? Mason!"

xxxx

Lexi was getting ready to plunge the stake into Stefan's stomach when she raised her head and looked at Elowen. She could sense what was about to happen.

"He's still in there, Elowen. You just have to break through."

Elowen nodded. "It's okay, Lexi. I know what to do now. You can be free."

Lexi smiled, nodded, looked at Stefan and then disappeared.

xxxx

Damon was sitting at the entrance to the caves when Alaric and Esmeralda arrived.

"You're here. It's about time."

"Didn't you have anyone else to call?" Alaric asked, annoyed.

"No, actually, I don't, because I need a non vampire to get in the cave, and other than Elowen and maybe her kid brother and his control freak girlfriend, you two are pretty much the only ones I trust."

Esmeralda snorted. "Well, you have a crappy way of showing it. Remind me again why my daughter fell in love with you?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Look, if Mason Lockwood can get over the fact that I killed him, can't you cut me a little slack?"

"I shouldn't have to get over you killing me," Alaric said. "I was your friend, Damon. We both were. You shouldn't have done it in the first place."

"Well… sometimes… I do things I don't have to do."

"You're going to recycle that same crap ass apology you gave Mason Lockwood?"

"Yeah, well, I didn't mean it with him."

Damon smiled a little as Alaric sighed, turned on his flashlight and went to go enter the caves. Esmeralda smiled a bit as well as she leaned over to speak to Damon.

"You need to work on apologizing, but I know you meant it. I also know that Ric'll come around. He didn't need to come when you called, but he did."

"Are you sure he didn't come because you forced him?"

"Hey, I was just as mad as he was. I don't care if you're my daughter's boyfriend. You're a dick."

"Then why did you let her date me?"

Esmeralda shrugged. "I'm not sure. I guess I felt how you really felt about her and I knew she was in safe hands. I'll admit, I thought her taste in you was questionable after dating people like Toby and your brother, even Olivia, but you're not bad, kid."

"Kid? I'm older than you."

"Maybe, but physically you're not. You were what, 25? 26? I'm 34. I win."

"What's the deal with this Olivia chick, anyway? Elowen never talks about her."

"Olivia Parker. We called her Liv for short. They only dated for 2, 3 months tops, so she says it doesn't really count."

Alaric emerged from the entrance to the caves. "Are you guys coming or not?"

"Right behind you, Ric," Damon told him. Him and Esmeralda shared a look before following behind him.

xxxx

"So, what are you going to do, Elowen?" Stefan asked. Elowen was still standing in the jail cell with him. "You just going to stand there? Wait for me to dry out?"

"No. I'm gonna go back to my dad's place, maybe meet up with Damon and see what Mason Lockwood had to offer, ignore my mom some more. Oh, and of course, deal with Marisol."

Elowen turned towards the exit when Stefan spoke up again.

"That's good for you. You know, I was wondering when you were going to give up. Lexi gave you enough of a glimpse into your tragic future."

Elowen turned back around. "I haven't given up, Stefan. Marisol won't let me. She still has hope." She slowly started walking towards Stefan. "But, there's nothing either of us can do until you get yours back." She took his face in her hands. "You can break through this. Fight for it. Feel something. Anything, Stefan, because if you don't, you're going to lose me forever. I won't love a ghost for the rest of my life."

"Why are you so bent on getting me to feel again? You have Damon, not to mention your little puppy dog Toby, who will follow you anywhere. You always were selfish that way, having us both like Katherine did instead of choosing. You're just like her."

Elowen sighed and stood up. "I love you in a way I'll never love Damon. I know that, you know that, and Damon knows that. He's accepted it for what it is. You were my first love. You don't just forget that. Goodbye, Stefan."

She took a step backwards before turning around and leaving the cell. She closed the door and locked it, then ventured up the stairs and back onto the street.

xxxx

Damon, Alaric and Esmeralda made it back to where Damon couldn't get through. Damon stood on the other side while Alaric and Esmeralda went ahead.

"So, was Mason screwing with me, or is there something there?" Damon asked as Alaric and Esmeralda stopped at the same wall as before and shined Ric's flashlight on it. When they didn't say anything, Damon furrowed his eyebrows. "Ric? Esmeralda?"

"We found something," Esmeralda breathed in amazement. There were writings and drawings completely covering the wall.

"What is it?"

Esmeralda and Alaric both shook their heads.

"I have no idea," Alaric said.

They shared a look before going back to the drawings.

xxxx

Author's Note: This wasn't one of my fave chapters to write since I mostly copied and pasted the dialogue/canon scenes and not much adlibing was here. I got better at writing in non-canon scenes as the story went on and I started adding more ocs that I had to do things with. Also, we finally get to learn a little more about Elowen's ex girlfriend. Can you connect the dots? I had fun with that little twist. Hope you enjoyed!