Elena had quickly grabbed Damon's spare key to his Mustang when she was rushing out of the Salvatore boarding house to catch up with her twin. Thankfully the human girl did or she and Emily would have had to walk to their childhood home and that would have taken the sisters at least forty minutes if they jogged.
It only took the Radkova witch fifteen minutes before she parked Damon's mustang behind her aunt's red vehicle in the driveway. The twin sisters exited out of the car before they silently walked up the porch to the Gilbert house together.
Emily wrapped her fingers around the bronze doorknob before she twisted it and opened the front door. The Radkova witch let Elena walk enter first before she followed soon after.
Emily quietly closed the door behind them before the Radkova witch paused in the foyer to listen to see where Jenna and Alaric were. The brunette girl quickly noticed the sound of the TV blaring from the living room.
Emily lightly tapped her sister's wrist to alert Elena where she was going before Emily led her twin towards the living room. The Gilbert twins walked into the large area and found their aunt cuddled underneath a fluffy blue blanket on the couch with Alaric while an old black and white film was playing on the TV.
The Radkova witch immediately recognized the film as Roman Holiday. It was something Jenna would always watch when she was sick or feeling down.
The thought of what this film meant for her aunt made Emily feel guilty that this was the first time that she was seeing Jenna since the death of her close friend. Emily really wished she could have came sooner to check on her aunt but everything else just got in the way after she found out the truth from Damon.
"Hey, Jen," the Radkova witch gently called out to alert the Sommers vampire and the Saltzman hunter to her and Elena's presence.
Jenna quickly looked up from the pillow that her head was resting against before a tiny smile rose to her lips. "Hey, girls," the Sommers vampire greeted her nieces.
Emily crossed the living room until she was standing in front of her aunt in her laid down position on the couch. The Radkova witch bent her knees until she eye level with Jenna before she shot her aunt a soft smile. "How are you feeling?" Emily gently asked as she grasped her aunt's hand and began to stroke it.
Jenna lightly lifted up her right shoulder in a shrugging motion. "I could be better," the Sommers vampire admitted with a quiet chuckle.
The Radkova witch felt sorrow fill up her heart as she stared across at the Sommers vampire. Emily wished more than anything to be able to change what happened last night at the news studio. Emily wished she could take away her aunt's pain from what she witnessed.
"I'm so sorry about Andie," the Radkova witch told her aunt as she squeezed the vampire's hand. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you," Emily mumbled with a deep frown embedded on her face.
"Hey, it's okay," Jenna quickly promised her niece as she placed her other hand on top of Emily's warmer one. "Ric has been with me the whole time," the Sommers vampire assured Emily before she joked, "so much that I'm starting to get sick of him."
"Hey!" The Saltzman hunter loudly exclaimed as he looked at his girlfriend with an offended expression before the trio of women in his life giggled at his expense.
Emily was the one to break the laughter as she focused back onto her aunt with a serious look to her green eyes. "I really am sorry," the Radkova witch quietly mumbled as she moved her gaze down to their conjoined hands, "I'm so sorry Stefan would do something this." Emily shook her head before she muttered, "I still can't believe it."
Jenna squeezed her niece's hand until Emily looked up at her. "It's not your fault," the Sommers vampire slowly uttered to make sure Emily knew that she wasn't upset with her.
Jenna let out a heavy sigh before she uttered, "and as much as I want to hate Stefan for this, I know it wasn't his fault." The Sommers vampire shook her head before she stated, "I know it was because of Klaus."
Emily let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. The Radkova witch, of course, knew it wasn't her fault but she still felt responsible because Stefan is her boyfriend. However, despite that, Emily was glad that her aunt didn't have this new found hatred for Stefan because of it.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Emily gently asked her aunt as she squeezed the Sommers vampire's hand, "anything to help?" Emily hated sitting back when someone she loved was hurting. Emily just wanted to help in anyway she could.
Jenna brought her hand up to her niece's face and lightly tapped Emily's cheek with a soft chuckle. "I'm okay," the Sommers vampire assured Emily once more before she added, "I just need a few days and then I'll be fine."
"Alright," Emily murmured in understanding before she leaned over and placed a soft kiss onto her aunt's forehead. "I'm here if you need anything," the Radkova witch reminded Jenna before she stood back up to her full height.
The Saltzman vampire hunter silently watched Emily return to her spot beside her twin sister before he became curious from the way it looked like something else was on the sisters' minds.
"What are you girls doing here today?" Alaric inquired as he relaxed back against the couch with his hand resting on the Sommers vampire's thigh underneath the blue blanket. "You usually don't come until Sunday night when you need your laundry done," the Saltzman hunter joked.
"Actually, we came to talk to you," the human one of the Gilbert twins informed Alaric.
"Oh?" The Saltzman hunter asked in surprise. Alaric removed his hand from his girlfriend's thigh and pushed the blanket from his body before he sat at the edge of the couch. "What do you need?" Alaric curiously asked as he glanced between the two sisters.
"Memphis," Emily simply uttered.
The Saltzman hunter nervously scratched the side of his neck as he asked, "uh, what about it?"
"We need to know everything you found in Memphis," Emily requested, "and anything else you know about what Stefan has been doing over the summer."
Alaric quickly shook his head in disagreement. "Uh-uh. I don't think so," the Saltzman hunter muttered before he stated, "it's too dangerous for you guys to get involved."
Emily rolled her green eyes. "When hasn't anything not been dangerous in our lives?" The Radkova witch asked Alaric with a raise of her eyebrow. There was no point in hiding this information from them. They've been involved since the moment Emily was born and she became Darina's doppelganger and the next Protector of the Innocence.
"Damon won't tell us anything," Elena informed the Saltzman vampire hunter before she uttered, "you're our next best option."
"You should listen to your boyfriend, then," Alaric muttered to the human one of the two Gilbert sisters as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"That's not an option, Ric," the Gilbert girl argued. Elena slid her fingers through her sister's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze before Elena confidently stated, "we have to find Stefan and help him."
Alaric let out a heavy sigh before he shook his head. "It's not a good idea," the Saltzman hunter mumbled. "Stefan is completely off the rails," Alaric stated before he advised, "it would be stupid of you guys to go looking for him. It's not safe."
"I agree with Ric," the Sommers vampire jumped in as she worriedly furrowed her brows at her nieces. "I saw first hand what Stefan can do when he's like this," Jenna mumbled as her mind instantly went back to last night when she saw the aforementioned Salvatore kill her close friend.
"That's exactly my point, though!" Emily exclaimed. "Do you guys really want another Andie situation to happen when we could have done something to stop it?" The Radkova witch asked the couple of the vampire and the vampire hunter.
Emily knew it was a low blow to bring up Andie, especially when her aunt was dealing with the lost of the Star woman. However, the Radkova witch really needed Alaric's help if she ever wished to bring her boyfriend back home to her.
"No, I don't," Jenna mumbled with a deep frown quickly appearing on her face. The Sommers vampire knew she would feel extremely guilty if someone else were to die like Andie did when there was a possibility that they could put a stop to it - just like Emily was mentioning in her argument.
The Radkova witch could see her aunt slowly understanding her point by the concern in Jenna's hazel eyes. Emily knew she was winning the Sommers vampire over and she now had to worry about the Saltzman hunter.
"We have to bring him home," Emily softly murmured. The Radkova witch shook her head before she stated, "I know he's dangerous right now but the real Stefan is still there, I know it." Emily stared into the vampire hunter's eyes for a few intense seconds before she desperately expressed, "we just have to break through and save him."
Alaric let out another heavy sigh as he silently stared back at the Radkova witch.
It wasn't that the Saltzman vampire hunter didn't believe there was a way to bring Stefan back to his normal self. Hell, Emily was proof that there is always a way to bring someone back. It was the danger factor that bothered Alaric. He just didn't want to put the three women in front of him in anymore danger than they already was in on a daily basis.
"Why do you have to be the one to save him?" Alaric curiously inquired with his brows furrowed as he stared at the Radkova witch.
Emily shot the vampire hunter a lazy grin. "It's not in me to give up," the Radkova witch murmured.
Emily knew the gravity of this conversation, so the Radkova witch quickly grew serious as she continued, "Stefan never quit on me when I was going through my problems, so I'm not gonna quit on him, either." The Radkova witch stared deeply into Alaric's eyes as she exclaimed, "I will fight tooth and nail to bring him home, so you can either help me or I'll have to do this alone."
"What she mean is, could you please tell us what you know?" Elena quickly jumped in for her sister with a polite smile shinning across her face. The Gilbert girl knew some people may take offense to Emily's strong words and they really needed Alaric's help, so Elena tried to smooth it out as best as she could.
The Saltzman vampire hunter silently glanced between the two sisters before he let out a loud groan. "This family is going to be the death of me," Alaric muttered under his breath.
Alaric honestly didn't want to be anywhere near trying to bring the youngest Salvatore back when the dangerous hybrid was always keeping a watchful eye on him. However, Alaric refused to let the Gilbert twins go out there alone and get themselves killed.
A wide grin quickly found its place on Emily's lips before the Radkova witch asked with hope running all throughout her voice, "does that mean you will help us?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Alaric muttered before he ran this hand down the side of his face for the dread the vampire hunter knew was going to come his way for agreeing to help the Gilbert twins locate Stefan Salvatore.
"You're doing the right thing," Jenna softly told her boyfriend as she stroked his arm before the Sommers vampire laid a kiss onto Alaric's cheek. Jenna completely understood Alaric's apprehension but they needed to find Stefan and help him before anyone got seriously hurt again.
The Saltzman hunter squeezed Jenna's hand with a small smile as he appreciated his girlfriend's comfort before Alaric focused his attention onto the Gilbert twins.
Alaric clapped his hands together before he began, "alright, so I noticed a few weeks after the sacrifice that there was a lot of animal attacks coming out of North Carolina." The Saltzman hunter glanced over at Jenna before he recalled, "we looked into the attacks and it was just a bunch of ripped bodies."
Alaric shook his head before he commented, "I wasn't sure if it was connected to Stefan and Klaus but I wrote everything done and kept an eye on the surrounding states encase it happened again."
"When did you tell Damon about this?" Elena curiously asked as her eyebrows slowly pulled together.
"It wasn't until I noticed a pattern hitting the eastern seaboard," Alaric answered the human girl's question. "The so-called animal attacks continued all through North Carolina before it headed to South Carolina and then west to Kentucky," Alaric remembered before he stated, "that's when I told Damon when I realized it was getting serious."
"Why did they start heading towards the inner states like Kentucky and Tennessee if they were sticking towards the eastern seaboard?" Emily wondered.
"We first thought that it was coincidence and that there was no pattern until I looked further into it," the Saltzman hunter stated. "I found out that all these killings were all sites of where werewolves would meet," Alaric informed the Gilbert twins.
"Werewolves?" Elena asked with confusion, "why would they be messing around with werewolves?"
"Well, Klaus is part werewolf," Emily reminded her twin.
"Exactly," the Saltzman hunter murmured as he agreed with Emily's thought process. "It wasn't coincidence, either," Alaric stated. "The Memphis lead with the two girls?" The vampire hunter reminded the Gilbert twins before he uttered, "the basement was filled with chains made for one thing and one thing only."
"Werewolves," Emily murmured.
Alaric nodded his head before he stated, "it became obvious that Klaus and Stefan were tracking werewolves." The Saltzman hunter lightly shrugged his shoulders before he figured, "they probably wanted something with the werewolves and when they couldn't get it, Klaus would have Stefan kill them."
"Do you have any idea of what they could want with the werewolves?" Elena curiously inquired.
"Not exactly," Alaric admitted. "We luckily found out about the Memphis killing pretty quickly, so the crime scene was still fresh when we got there," the Saltzman hunter recalled before he stated, "we thought we were catching up to them but, uh, I think realized we were close."
Alaric looked over to his girlfriend with a softened look before he grasped ahold of Jenna's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "I believe that's why Andie died," the Saltzman hunter informed the Gilbert twins once he focused back onto the sisters, "I think Klaus knew we were there."
"Klaus wanted to make sure you didn't follow them," the Radkova witch realized.
"Yup," Alaric muttered as he slowly pushed himself up from the couch. "It's a dead end now," the Saltzman hunter stated as he headed into the kitchen before he commented, "they're probably out of Tennessee and long gone."
Emily furrowed her brows as she silently thought over the vampire hunter's words before a thought came to mind. The Radkova witch moved her green eyes around the living room before she locked her gaze onto the calendar hanging on the wall. Emily silently walked over to the calendar before she realized what today is.
"I don't think so," Emily called out to the vampire hunter in the kitchen. "Stefan called me last night from a Memphis number," the Radkova witch mentioned before Emily furthered her argument as she stated, "and tonight is the full moon."
"If they were looking for werewolves, then they would have the most success tonight," Emily figured before she uttered, "I think Klaus will be searching for places in Tennessee where werewolves can hide to transform like in the mountains."
"Wait," the Sommers vampire jumped in as she looked over to her eldest niece. "He called? What did he say to you?" Jenna worriedly asked.
Jenna didn't like the idea of the younger Salvatore reaching out to Emily. The Sommers vampire knew Stefan wasn't the same anymore and she didn't trust him at all at the moment. Jenna was afraid that her niece's boyfriend would try to lure Emily out and hurt her.
"He didn't say anything," Emily swiftly assured her aunt when she noticed Jenna's concern. "We didn't speak to each other but I know it was him," the Radkova witch murmured.
The Saltzman hunter slowly walked back to the living room with a glass of water in his hand. "Even if they were still in Tennessee, we don't have a way to track them anymore," Alaric uttered as he leaned his side against the archway that connects the kitchen to the living room.
Emily silently nodded her head before she reminded her aunt's boyfriend, "we don't but we do have a werewolf who could know where they went."
"Tyler?" The Saltzman hunter asked with his brows pulled together in confusion.
"Yeah," Emily murmured before she explained, "if anyone were to know where they are heading, it would Tyler since he knows where packs like to hide out during the full moon."
Alaric let out a heavy sigh as he realized that the Radkova witch right. The Saltzman hunter didn't want to involve anymore people in this dangerous plan of theirs but the Lockwood werewolf would be able to get them on the right direction. "Alright," Alaric muttered before he told the eldest Gilbert twin, "call him."
"Great," Emily murmured with a grin before she pulled her cell phone out of her Tyler's grey sweatpants. "I'll tell him to come over," the Radkova witch stated.
Alaric shook his head before he told the eldest twin, "make the meeting at the Grill." The Saltzman hunter downed the rest of his water before he mumbled, "I'm going to need a real drink if we're really doing this."
Emily lightly chuckled before she murmured, "you got it, Ric."
The Radkova witch focused down on her cell phone before she pulled up her message app. The brunette girl clicked onto Tyler's name that was under wolfboy? ﾟﾧﾡ.
To wolfboy? ﾟﾧﾡ: can u meet me the grill in 15 mins?
Emily, thankfully, didn't have to wait too long before the Lockwood werewolf swiftly responded back.
From wolfboy? ﾟﾧﾡ: already here ? see u soon
The Radkova witch sent Tyler a smile emoji before she slipped her cell phone back into her pocket. "Tyler said he'll be there," Emily informed the group in the living room.
Alaric nodded his head before he muttered, "let me go get changed and grab a few things then we can go."
"Take your time," Emily told the vampire hunter as she lightly waved her right hand. "I told Ty fifteen minutes," the Radkova witch explained.
"Alright," Alaric mumbled before he headed down the hall and towards the staircase that would lead him to his and Jenna's bedroom.
The Saltzman hunter wasn't exactly pumped and excited to leave the Gilbert house for this plan of theirs. If Alaric had a choice, he wouldn't have the twin sisters anywhere near Klaus and Stefan. However, he knew if he didn't help then Emily would go off alone and that was the last thing Alaric wanted when this plan was extremely dangerous along with the fact that Alaric felt a sense of responsible for the sisters.
The living room of the Gilbert house soon grew silent after Alaric headed to the second floor to get ready. Emily wasn't sure how long the vampire hunter would take, so the Radkova witch plopped down on the couch beside her aunt with Elena following a second later.
The aunt and nieces trio sat in stillness for a few minutes before the Sommers vampire was the one to break the silence as she turned her body to the side to look at the twin sisters. "I, uh, I think I'm going to sit this one out," Jenna admitted.
Emily swiftly turned towards her aunt with her brows pulled together. "Why? Is something wrong?" The Radkova witch worriedly asked.
"No, nothing like that," Jenna quickly assured her nieces before she placed her hand on top of Emily's warmer one to relax her anxiety. "It's just with Andie's death," the Sommers vampire mumbled with a heavy sigh, "it's a lot to deal with right now."
"It's okay. We understand," Elena consoled her aunt as she reached over from her place at the end of the couch and placed her palm on top of Jenna's as she joined the pile of hands. "We know how hard this must be for you," the human girl softly murmured.
"Thank you, girls," the Sommers vampire praised her nieces with a small smile raising onto her lips. "I just need to clear my mind before I can be ready to jump back in," Jenna uttered.
"Take all the time you need," Emily told her aunt as she turned her palm around and gave Jenna's hand a comforting squeeze. "You should just relax and enjoy some quiet time," the Radkova witch advised.
"It'll be the first time the house has been quiet in a long time," Jenna joked as she shot her nieces a playful grin.
"Hey!" The Gilbert twins shouted together before their expressions mirrored each other's perfectly as Emily and Elena pouted at their aunt.
Jenna softly chuckled as she stared at her nieces with a sense of love in her gaze. "I'm only joking," the Sommers vampire promised before she added, "besides, Jeremy will probably appear some time today."
"He's the loud one," Emily childishly mumbled with that same pout glued to her lips.
Jenna placed her hand onto the elder girl's shoulder and gave it a light shake. "Of course he is," the Sommers vampire uttered in amusement.
The vampire, the witch, and the human shared a series of giggles together before Emily was the one to grow serious and speak first. Emily connected her green eyes with her aunt's hazel ones before she told the Sommers vampire, "call us if you need anything, okay?"
Jenna lightly waved her hand to wave off her niece's concern for her. "I'll be okay," the Sommers vampire promised. "I'll just be sitting right here watching movies all day," Jenna added with a chuckle.
"Well, still," Elena jumped in as she backed up her sister's worry. "Call us or Jeremy if you need anything at all," the human girl told her aunt.
"I will," Jenna promised to ease her nieces' concern. The last thing Jenna wanted was for the sisters to be worried for her when they needed to focus on their plan to find Stefan. "Now," the Sommers vampire began as she glanced between Emily and Elena before she advised, "you girls need to be careful."
"We will," Emily swore.
"Yeah," Elena agreed with her twin sister. "Besides, we'll have Ric with us," the human girl reminded Jenna.
The Sommers vampire nodded her head as she let out a deep breath to calm her worries for the sisters. "Good," Jenna murmured as she felt calmer as she knew Alaric wouldn't let anything happen to the girls. A smile quickly moved onto Jenna's face before she ordered as the Sommers vampire held out her arms, "now come here."
The Gilbert twins let out a small chuckle together before they stood up from the couch. Emily and Elena moved until they were standing directly in front of their aunt. The sisters leaned down before they wrapped their arms around Jenna.
The sweet embrace between the twin sisters and their aunt soon came to a stop when the loud sound of Alaric jogging down the stairs was heard. The Saltzman hunter walked into the living room in a pair of jeans and a black jacket thrown over a navy blue shirt with a brown duffle bag slung over his shoulder.
"You girls ready?" Alaric inquired before the vampire hunter paused in confusion when he saw Jenna still resting in the place he left her in. "You aren't coming?" Alaric asked his girlfriend.
The Sommers vampire shook her head as she relaxed back on the couch. "I'm gonna hold down the fort while you guys are gone," Jenna stated with a grin stretched across her lips.
Alaric silently nodded his head before he murmured, "that's probably for the best." The Saltzman hunter walked across the living room until he was standing in front of his girlfriend. "At least I'll know you're safe," Alaric added before he leaned down and pecked Jenna's lips.
Jenna smiled up at her boyfriend before she ordered, "take care of our girls for me."
"I will," Alaric swore. The Saltzman hunter had a soft spot for the Gilbert twins for a while now, so he would never let anything bad happen to them. Alaric practically loved the sisters as if they were his own daughters.
"We'll be back soon," the Saltzman hunter promised as he rubbed his thumb gently across Jenna's cheek before he told his girlfriend, "call me if you need anything."
The Sommers vampire let out an amused giggle from the fact that she got told the same thing by all three people in the room. "I will be fine," Jenna promised with a grin playing on her lips before she pushed on her boyfriend's chest. "Now get going," the Sommers vampire ordered.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Alaric muttered with a playful roll of his blue eyes. The Saltzman hunter placed one last kiss onto Jenna's forehead before he turned around to face the twin sisters. "You ready?" Alaric asked as he fixed the dufflebag strap on his shoulder.
The Radkova witch shot Alaric a wide grin as she murmured, "let's do this."
Alaric glanced between the Gilbert twins, who both had smiles shinning across their faces before he slowly shook his head. "I'm gonna regret this, ain't I?" The Saltzman hunter muttered under his breath.
"Oh, come on," Emily uttered with a chuckle of amusement. The Radkova witch grasped Alaric's arm before she began pulling the vampire hunter towards the front door with Elena giggling from behind them.
The Radkova witch couldn't help but smile the whole way as she and Elena followed the vampire hunter to his black SUV that was parked by the mailbox. Emily was happy that they were one step closer to finding Stefan and brining him home.
Of course Emily knew it wasn't going to be a walk in the park. The Radkova witch also knew that this was just a tiny step in their plan but it was something. This was more progress Emily made all summer with Damon purposely keeping her in the dark.
Emily finally found out the truth of what really happened in Memphis, Tennessee. It was now time for the Radkova witch to find herself a werewolf pack.