Author's Note: Hey y'all! Quick note just as a warning. Elvira is a terrible person and will exhibit subtle homophobia with Eliana and racist microaggressions with Sydney. I wanted to put that out there before anyone continued in case it made them uncomfortable.

xxxx

"She's what?!"

Elowen cringed at the volume of Esmeralda's voice and quickly tried to do damage control.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't think she would even pick up the phone, let alone come here, to Mystic Falls!"

"Well, why did you even call her in the first place?" Esmeralda's voice still loud and now a little accusatory. She didn't mean for it to be, she was just stressed.

"I just wanted to see if she knew anything about the travelers that we didn't. You know, she's older, wiser. When I asked about them, she kind of freaked out and demanded to know why I was asking, so I told her that they were here, and she said that she was going to come. She said that the travelers were dangerous, like… super dangerous, and I guess the thought of her only granddaughter having to face them didn't sit right with her."

Esmeralda sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose She shook a small deep breath before replying. "Okay. Okay, I can deal with this. Or maybe I can't. Your grandmother will lecture me to the ends of the earth when she finds out what we've been up to since we moved to Mystic Falls. If she finds out I let my children date vampires…"

"Then we don't tell her."

"Hang on," Sydney cut in. "She doesn't know about Elijah?"

"Hell, I didn't even know about Elijah," Eliana piped up. "And I'm her sister! Our mother is very judgy. You know that."

"I know. She hates me."

"You're not the one related to her. If I came out while I was still in high school, she probably would've kicked me out. Except, of course, I was in college and living in the dorms on campus, so she couldn't touch me."

"I think having two teen pregnancies out of wedlock beats being a lesbian," Esmeralda commented in a small deadpan. "We're both the family disappointment."

Eliana huffed. "It's okay. We'll get through this together. Mom will come, help us defeat the travelers, and then she'll leave! So the sooner we figure out why these freaks want doppelganger blood, the sooner she'll go back to San Juan."

"Okay, well, as fun as this has been, I have to get back to campus," Elowen spoke up. "Elena, Veronica and Bonnie are all doing some kind of sociology study group and they asked Stefan and I to help them out. If I don't leave now, I'll be late."

"I'll come with," Esmeralda said quickly as Elowen turned to leave.

"Oh, no. You are not leaving me to deal with mom alone," Eliana told her. "It's only a three hour flight from San Juan to Richmond, which means that she'll be calling any minute now so she can get picked up from the airport! I'm not doing that alone!"

"Okay, relax!" Elowen held her hands out. "She told me that she's going to rent a car. Nobody has to be stuck picking her up from the airport."

"Oh my god," Esmeralda blurted loudly.

Eliana, Sydney and Elowen looked over at her curiously. Esmeralda looked up at them.

"Josiah. She doesn't know."

"Shit," Eliana whispered under her breath.

"That's my cue to leave." Elowen hastily turned and tried to make a run for the door, but Esmeralda stopped her.

"Oh, no you don't." Esmeralda went after her and grabbed her wrist. "You're staying here. Send a duplicate to campus. She'll take the news better if you tell her. She's still mad at me for divorcing Luis, and we all know she hasn't looked at Eliana the same since she came out. Please?"

Elowen sighed deeply. "Fine, fine, okay. I'll stay. We're in this together. Besides, it's kind of my fault she's coming."

Binx came in from outside and his paws clicked under the wood flooring as he walked over to his water bowl. Elowen grimaced.

"Shit. I forgot, she hated Binx."

"And, uh… your hair." Eliana pointed at her head. "If she sees you with the blue, you'll never hear the end of it."

Elowen groaned and rubbed her hands down her face. "Okay, I'm going to run to the store really fast and buy brown hair dye and hope to god I can dye it back before she gets here."

"Teleporting might be faster," Sydney suggested. "Just don't get caught."

Elowen nodded. "Right. Okay, I'll be right back."

Golden light engulfed Elowen, and then she was gone.

xxxx

Elowen's duplicate burst through the doors of the restaurant on campus, her hair frazzled and her bag loosely draped over her shoulders. She made a beeline for Stefan and Elena and practically threw herself on the couch across from Elena. She let out a deep exhale and ran her fingers through her hair. Elena watched her worriedly.

"Is everything okay?" She asked.

"Her grandma is coming to Mystic Falls from Puerto Rico," Stefan explained when Elowen didn't. "Her grandma is, uh… strict."

"Oh."

"Let's just get on with this, okay?" Elowen asked, setting her bag on the floor. "The sooner this is over, the sooner this version of myself can disappear and I can give my full attention to my grandmother from hell."

Elena frowned. "Wait, this is a duplicate?"

"Uh-huh."

"Sorry, I'm still not used to that. You can't even tell the difference. This must be what people felt whenever they saw Katherine and I in the same room."

Stefan held up flash cards. "Moving on. Psychology, sociology and anthropology share the assumption that…"

"Scientific methods can be used to understand human behavior," Elena answered easily.

"That's very good, as in verbatim, which means I need to ask you more difficult questions."

Bonnie came over and sat down next to Elena. "Hey. I'm sorry I'm late. What did I miss?"

Elowen looked over Bonnie's head. "Where's Veronica?"

Bonnie looked over her shoulder and frowned. "I don't know. She wasn't in the dorm when I woke up. I just assumed she was already here."

"Huh. I'll text her."

Elena looked over at Bonnie. "I'm surprised that you're up for studying, you know, considering…"

Bonnie looked at Elena expectantly. "Considering?"

"The other side, falling apart." Elena looked at Stefan. "She's in denial."

Stefan nodded. "So I see."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "I'm not in denial. The other side is disintegrating. As the anchor to the other side, I'm only alive as long as there is an other side. I'm perfectly aware of the threat of my impending doom. There is nothing I can do about it. It's called acceptance, fifth stage of grief. Look it up, tutor guy."

"Definitely in denial."

Elena nodded. "Yeah. Look, Bonnie, I've already lost you once. We're not doing this again. It's not an option, okay? Not to mention what's gonna happen to Alaric, Josiah and your Grams and everyone else over there." She looked at Elowen. "Is there anything we can do?"

Elowen looked up from her phone, having just sent a text to Veronica, and shrugged.

"No idea. I could ask my grandma. She might know."

Bonnie furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait, your grandma?"

Elowen looked at Bonnie. "She's currently on a flight to Mystic Falls. Don't ask."

"I wasn't gonna. It's just… my Grams talked about her a couple of times when I was younger. Elvira, right?"

Elowen nodded. "Yeah. What did Sheila used to say about her?"

"Not much. Just that they were friends and that Esmeralda was around Abby's age. I never made the connection until you guys moved to Mystic Falls."

"Huh." Elowen's eyes flickered over to Liv, who was working behind the bar. "We could always ask Liv if she knows anything."

"Don't we have bigger things to worry about? Like the travelers trying to take over Mystic Falls?"

"Oh, no," Stefan spoke up. "Damon's already on that."

Elowen widened her eyes. "What?"

Stefan looked over at Elowen. "Is that… bad?"

"If my grandma meets Damon, she will not hesitate to rip him apart. His tendency to make jokes out of everything will be… very, very unamusing to her. Oh my god. If he makes a Mistress of the Dark joke around her… let's just say, it'll end really badly."

Elowen quickly stood up, searching through her contacts for her mom's number.

"Excuse me. I have to warn my mom before a disaster happens."

They all watched her go. Bonnie turned to Stefan.

"Is it just me, or is she freaking out a little?"

Stefan snorted. "A little? She's past freaking out. She's having a crisis. All I know about her grandma is that she's really old fashioned, strict, and that she disowned Esmeralda after she divorced Luis, despite knowing about what he did to her."

"Oh my god. Now I kind of feel bad."

"Well, all we can do is continue studying while she's gone. Next question."

xxxx

Elowen hurried down the stairs of her house, her hair wet from having just gotten out of the shower from dyeing her hair back to brown. The doorbell had rung, which only meant one thing. Elvira was here. Elowen reached the door, stopped to take a deep breath and to straighten out her shirt, then put on a smile and opened the door. Instead of her grandma, it was Damon. She sighed in relief.

"What's got you tied up in knots?" Damon asked as he stepped in the house.

Elowen closed the door behind him. "My grandma's coming."

"Grandma? The one who shut you guys out after the divorce?"

"That's the one."

"Uh, why is she coming?"

"I called to ask about the travelers and she made up her mind that she was going to physically come and help instead of just offering advice. In my defense, I didn't know she was even going to answer the phone! It was a shot in the dark. Damon, please don't say or do anything stupid around her. I'm literally begging you. Keep the smart comments to yourself."

The doorbell rang again and Elowen's heart jumped into her throat. She started pushing Damon out of the foyer and into the kitchen.

"Go, go, go! Get out of here!"

"Okay, okay! I'm going, I'm going! Stop pushing."

As Damon disappeared from sight, Elowen turned back towards the front door, paused for a moment to collect herself, and then opened the door once more. This time, Elvira was standing out on the porch instead of Damon. Elowen pushed another smile onto her face.

"Grandma! You're here."

Elvira smiled and stepped into the house to give Elowen a hug.

"Mija! It's so good to see you."

Elowen immediately called bullshit on this in her head, but didn't say anything. Instead, she pulled away from the hug and nodded.

"It's good to see you, too. I missed you."

The front door closed behind Elvira and she looked around the house.

"You have a nice home." Her eyes settled back on Elowen. "Where's Joey?"

The smile on Elowen's face twitched. She cleared her throat. "Um, grandma… remember when my mom tried to call you at the beginning of last summer?"

Elvira wrinkled her nose, but nodded. "Yes."

"Um, she was calling to tell you that… Josiah passed away."

Elvira's face went slack. She cleared her throat.

"I see. What happened?"

Knowing that if she explained it had been magic, Elvira would've lectured Esmeralda about allowing Josiah to use spells he shouldn't be using and try to place his death on her shoulders, Elowen gave a little white lie.

"He died saving one of our friends."

"Hm. This friend must've been worth it."

"He was. Joey didn't die for nothing."

"Good. Where's your mother?"

"In the kitchen. Um, you should know, Eliana and Sydney moved in with us."

Elvira turned her nose up at the sound of Sydney's name, but nodded nonetheless.

In the kitchen, Damon leaned over to Esmeralda.

"Relax your shoulders a little bit, would you? Something tells me your mother would eat you alive if she saw that you were tense."

Esmeralda let her shoulders fall into a more calm stance, and he nodded.

"Better."

"Do you think she'll comment on my hair?" Sydney asked Eliana in a whisper.

Unlike the small afro Sydney had had when she first moved to Mystic Falls, she now wore box braids. Eliana shrugged.

"Honestly? I don't know."

"Tell me, why do you guys care so much about what an old hag thinks about you?" Damon asked. "I didn't peg you as- Ow!"

Esmeralda had elbowed Damon in the side, hard.

"That 'old hag' is my mother!" Esmeralda hissed.

"A mother that turned her back on you when you broke away from your abusive husband! What she thinks doesn't matter, Esmeralda. Trust me."

At that moment, Elowen and Elvira walked into the kitchen. Eliana and Sydney sat up straighter in their chairs while Esmeralda gave Elvira her full attention and plastered a smile on her face. Sydney dared to give her a wave.

"Hi, Ms. Ramirez."

"Ms. Ramirez?" Damon mumbled under his breath. "Sydney's been with Eliana for how long, and she can't even call her by her first name?"

"Shut up," Esmeralda mumbled back.

Elvira sized Sydney up.

"Nice hair."

Sydney bit her tongue. That meant she didn't like it. Instead, she smiled.

"Thank you."

Elvira's eyes landed on Damon, who was leaning against the island. She raised an eyebrow slightly at the sight of him.

"And you are?"

Damon stepped forward and offered her his hand. "Damon Salvatore. I'm a friend of the family."

Elvira didn't shake his hand, but she took notice of the ring on his finger and looked up at Damon with a sneer. Damon cleared his throat and withdrew his hand. Elvira turned her attention to Esmeralda.

"You invited a vampire into your home? Let him be around your children? I thought I taught you better than that."

Eliana closed her eyes and Elowen clenched her jaw. Esmeralda's fake smile faltered, but she managed to respond.

"Mother, Damon is one of the good ones. I wouldn't have invited him in if I thought he posed a threat."

"There are no 'good' vampires," Elvira snapped. "Just ones that aren't as evil as the others."

Damon put on one of his award winning smiles and stepped in to diffuse the situation.

"I don't think I caught your name."

Elvira bristled, but answered anyway. "Elvira."

"Elvira? That's…"

From behind Elvira, Elowen was shaking her head, indicating that his answer shouldn't be a funny one.

"... a lovely name. Very old school."

"Thank you." Elvira looked at Esmeralda again. "At least you had the decency to pick up a vampire with good manners."

Elowen cleared her throat. "Grandma, Damon is helping us with the traveler problem."

Suddenly, Binx barked at something that passed the window from the living room, catching Elvira's attention.

"I see you still have…. the mutt," Elvira commented.

"And he's as well behaved as you remember, mom," Eliana quipped.

"The traveler problem!" Elowen cut in before Elvira would say anything to Eliana. "So, um, their leader, Markos, he managed to come back from the other side, and now they're, um… trying to draw the doppelgangers together."

Elvira raised her eyebrow. "Doppelgangers?"

"Silas and Amara's doppelgangers."

"Ah, I see that the story I used to tell you about Silas came in handy."

"Uh, yeah, it did. Thank you."

"The travelers have passengered themselves into the residents of Mystic Falls," Damon started to explain to take the heat off of Elowen. "We have a traveler knife that expels the passenger from the body. I was actually about to go get it."

"Okay," Elvira said after a beat. "Let's go get it."

"Uh… what?"

"You said you were going to get the traveler's knife. I'm coming with."

"Oh, uh… there's no need-"

"Whose car are we taking?"

Damon stopped trying to argue. "Mine. It's the one parked in front of the house."

Without a word, Elvira turned and walked back towards the door. He walked over to Elowen and grabbed her arm.

"You're coming with," he muttered into her ear. "I am not going to be stuck in a car alone with this lady."

"I'm really sorry about her," Elowen whispered as they walked back towards the foyer.

"Don't be. You can't control her. This isn't your fault." Damon returned his voice to normal volume when they reached the front door. "Off we-"

Elvira held her hand out and Damon looked down at it, then back up at her in confusion.

"Keys," Elvira said as if it were obvious. "I'll drive."

Damon laughed, but when Elvira kept looking at him with an unamused expression, he realized she wasn't joking.

"Oh. You're serious."

Clearing his throat, Damon reached into his pocket and pulled out his car keys. He handed them over, but when Elvira tried to take them, Damon wouldn't let go. With a quick yank, Damon finally let her take the keys. She turned, opened the door, and left.

"If she so much as scratches the paint on my car…" Damon mumbled as he stepped out onto the front porch, along with Elowen. The door closed behind them.

"Please don't back seat drive," Elowen told him. "She hates that, and don't play music on the radio. She hates that, too."

"Who put the stick up her ass?"

"Damon!"

Damon sighed. "Fine. Let's just get this over with. The four stooges, baby vamp and their female friend moved from the apartment to Toby's place after Bonnie caught them there the other day. You know, gotta keep this thing as secretive as possible."

"Oh my god. Angel. If my grandma finds out he's a vampire, too, she'll kill me."

"Wait till she meets Stefan. Or Caroline. Ooh. Wonder how she'll react when she finds out hybrids are a thing."

"Please don't say that. I don't want to think about it, and please don't tell her that we were ever together."

"What, you don't want grandmother dearest to know what a dirty little-"

"Damon!"

Damon threw his hands up with a smirk. With a small glare, Elowen walked down the steps of the porch towards Damon's car, where Elvira was waiting for them, watching them suspiciously.

xxxx

Elowen, Damon and Elvira walked up the steps to Toby's house, which was open when they reached it.

"Ding dong!" Damon said to announce himself. "Invite me in."

"We can hear you just fine from there," Matt retorted. Damon rolled his eyes.

Adriana came to the door and stopped when she saw Elvira. A kind, friendly smile appeared on her lips.

"Hello. I'm Adriana. Who's this?"

"This is my grandma," Elowen replied. "Elvira."

From behind Elvira, Elowen mouthed a sentence towards them.

'Be nice.'

Adriana politely held her hand out for Elvira to shake.

"Well, it's nice to meet you."

Elvira looked down at her hand, but, just like with Damon, didn't shake it.

"Likewise," Elvira replied flatly.

Adriana awkwardly cleared her throat and slowly drew her hand away, allowing it to drop to her side. Angel appeared by Adriana's side. Elowen made a gesture to her ring finger at Angel and shook her head. Angel understood the cue and quickly put his hands in his pockets so his daylight ring was hidden. Elowen cleared her throat.

"We're just here for the traveler knife."

"Yeah, bozos," Damon spoke up. "Hand it over."

"That's gonna be a problem," Toby told him, coming over to the door. He paused when he saw Elvira. "Elvira?"

Elvira smiled when she saw him. "Tobias, is that you?"

"Um, it's just Toby now, actually."

Damon leaned down to whisper into Elowen's ear. "The she-devil cracks a smile."

Elowen stamped her foot down on Damon's. He grimaced, but otherwise pushed through the pain.

"What's going on with the knife?" Elowen asked, gaining Toby's attention.

"We can't find it."

"As in you lost it?" Damon asked.

"As in, it's not here," Matt explained.

"You are so lucky that I'm not invited in, Donovan."

"Tyler said he hid it in the piano," Jeremy told him.

"And when was the last time you heard from Tyler?"

Nobody answered.

xxxx

Damon, Elowen and Elvira were walking through town square while Damon was on the phone with Enzo. Elowen offered to take Elvira home, but she was stubborn and refused.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure?" Enzo asked as he answered the phone.

"You don't happen to know where I can find a traveler, do you?" Damon got to the point.

"You know travelers, vagabonds and the like. Haven't seen any. Why?"

"I've got a group of brain dead teenagers who didn't realize two plus two equals one hijacked hybrid."

Elowen's eyes widened and she looked over at Damon, who made a face as if he realized his mistake. Elvira frowned and turned to Elowen.

"Hybrid? As in, half vampire, half werewolf? The rumors are true?"

Elowen tilted her head. "Rumors?"

"In the witch community. Word spread that a new kind of monster was created. A vampire, werewolf hybrid. They're here, in Mystic Falls?"

"Well… not so much any more. We kind of had an infestation a couple of years ago, but we took care of it."

Damon hung up the phone with Enzo and turned to face Elowen, but paused when he saw the confused look on her face.

"What?" He asked. "What is it?"

"Enzo," she said. "He's at Whitmore."

"What?"

"Don't worry, there's already a version of me there. It'll be fine."

"Version of you?" Elvira asked.

Elowen blinked and looked over at Elvira. "Oh, um… I came into a second power. I can make duplicates of myself now."

Elvira hummed. "I see."

Elowen turned to Damon. "Let's just see if we can find Tyler. Come on."

xxxx

The door to the restaurant opened and Enzo sauntered in. He walked over to where Elowen, Stefan and Elena were. Bonnie was at the bar with Liv. Stefan looked up at Enzo.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I can't join my friends for a cup of tea?" Enzo asked back.

"Damon, your friend, uh, singular, isn't here, and we're a little busy right now, but by all means, have a seat."

"No need to be rude. I've come here for a chat. Perhaps you've heard that I've been searching for someone I once knew. A woman named Maggie."

Elena nodded. "Your elusive girlfriend from the Augustine days."

"Maggie worked there as an observer, taking notes on my behavior. She never got too close, never took off her vervain bracelet, but we spent hours and hours talking, and we developed an attachment. Now, she left in 1950. I imagined her one day teaching at one of these fancy universities, starting a family, living her life to the fullest. I'm sure you can appreciate it."

Elowen leaned over to Stefan. "What's going on?"

"That traveler girl, Sloan, gave me this yesterday, making good on a promise," Enzo interjected. "From the Augustine files left behind by our good Dr. Wes."

Enzo handed the picture in his hand over to Elowen. She swallowed when she saw it. It was a picture of Maggie, dead, with her head torn from her shoulders. She passed it over to Stefan.

"Yes. Imagine how I felt when I saw it. Turns out, Maggie died in 1960 in Mystic Falls. Someone tore her head right off her body."

Elowen looked over at Stefan. "In 1960, were you-"

"A ripper?" Enzo cut off. "Clearly."

Stefan shook his head. "I wasn't a ripper then. I'm really sorry about your friend, but I had nothing to do with it."

"Thought you might say that." Enzo turned towards the bar. "Liv! A little service here, please."

Liv came over, lifted her hand towards Stefan and Elena and cast a spell.

"What are you guys doing?" Bonnie asked them. "Stop!"

Liv shook her head. "I can't stop. Sorry."

"That's my fault, really," Enzo said. "Where's Luke?"

One of the back doors opened and a group of boys dragged Luke in.

"And to make sure you," Enzo pointed at Elowen, "don't cause any witchy interference, I kidnapped your friend. Veronica, was it?"

Elowen's eyes widened and she turned around in time to see another set of men pull Veronica into the room.

"I compelled a few blokes from the rugby team to keep their lives in jeopardy so that if any of the witches disobey, they die. Okay, Stefan. Are you ready to talk about what you did to the love of my life?"

xxxx

Elena and Stefan now sat at the bar with their hands bound with ropes that had been seeped in vervain. Elowen was over with Veronica, making sure she was okay.

"This is the last time I decide to get an early start to study for school," Veronica grumbled. "I got here when the stupid restaurant opened and he was here, which I thought was weird but I didn't say anything, and then I realized he was compelling everyone in the building. He tried to compel me to hurt myself if you tried anything, but I told him I was on vervain. This was the next best thing, I guess. And to think that I thought he was kinda hot."

"You think every guy you come across is hot," Elowen pointed out.

"Nuh-uh. I didn't think Damon was hot. He's like… a 3 out of 10."

"I'm pretty sure Damon would resent that if he were here."

"Yeah, but he's not, so I can say whatever I want."

"Don't act like you wouldn't say it in front of him anyway."

"You're right, I totally would. No idea why you recruited a 3 when you're easily a 9 and Stefan's a 10."

"Are you girls finished gossiping over there?" Enzo called over to him. "You're missing the show." He nodded at Luke. "Get him out of here now."

Liv stepped forward. "Wait. What are you doing?"

"Get him out. Too many witches under one roof makes me nervous. I'll let you know if he needs to die." Enzo faced Elena and Stefan. "That vervain water is going to hurt even worse if you struggle against those knots. Chap's in the sailing club."

"How did you compel everyone here?" Elena asked.

Enzo shrugged. "Place opens at eight, you got here at nine. Do the math, college girl." He faced Stefan. "I will gladly release them once you admit that you killed Maggie."

"I would love to," Stefan replied. "Except I have absolutely no idea who she is."

Elowen looked over. "If he says he didn't do it, he didn't do it. Stefan used to write down the names of his victims when he was a ripper. He would remember Maggie if he'd done that."

Enzo glanced at her. "Nice try, darling. I'm not falling for that."

Veronica's upper lip curled. "Just listen to her, you dumb-"

Elowen quickly slapped her hand over Veronica's mouth and shot her a look. Enzo glanced at her, but turned back to Stefan without addressing her, pulling out a small book from his inside jacket pocket.

"Police found this on her body at the crime scene.

'June 10, 1951. I found a job at a preschool. I love kids, but still I feel lost, listless.'

'March, 1953. While my girlfriends have all found love, for some reason, I can't seem to connect with anyone, as if a part of my soul is missing or dead. My sister said there are more men in the city. Maybe I'll move.'

Now, it turns out she did move to the city in 1958, and in the move, she uncovered a box that she hadn't touched in years. Medical journals from 1950, covered in notes about a special vampire patient named 12144. Of course, when she came back, Whitmore had burned, and it was concluded that I had perished in the fire. You're a journal man, aren't you, Stefan?"

Stefan shook his head. "This is ridiculous. In 1960, I was cleaned up. I was barely feeding on people, let alone killing them."

Bonnie, who was sitting by herself at one of the empty tables, was trying to send out an S.O.S message, but Enzo heard the clacking of her fingers hitting the keyboard and sped over to her to snatch it from her hands.

"Good idea. Let's call Damon."

xxxx

Damon, Elowen and Elvira walked through the front door of the boarding house when Damon's phone went off. Elowen watched him pull it out of his pocket.

"That'll be Enzo. He has us hostage on campus."

Damon frowned. "What? Why?"

"Answer the phone and find out."

Damon pressed the answer button and put his phone to his ear.

"Enzo. What's up?"

"You don't happen to have Stefan's diaries handy, do you? I need you to check his journal for an entry on November 8th, 1960."

"Stefan burned his journals awhile ago. He was in a mood. Why?"

"Well, just trying to settle a little debate. No matter, I'm right."

"What debate, Enzo?"

"The problem, if you must know, is that Maggie, the one who got away, it turns out she didn't get away for long. Your ripper of a brother took a big bite out of her neck membrane in the 60s."

"60s? Stefan wasn't even-"

"Got to jet, mate. Nothing personal, just a bit of revenge, you understand?"

Enzo hung up. Damon brought his phone away from his ear and looked at it in alarm. He looked over to Elowen.

"Get the sheriff on the phone. We need to find out what happened on November 8th, 1960."

xxxx

Enzo turned back to Elena, Stefan, Elowen and Veronica.

"Any history majors in the house?" He asked loudly. "Ah. Trick question. I compelled them all not to speak or react. Nevermind. We'll use this." Enzo held up his phone. "1960. Let's see. Ford thunderbirds, Lincoln continentals, unseasonably cold that year. Tuesday, November 8th. John F. Kennedy was running for president."

"Election night," Stefan mumbled. "There was a woman who found me. She said she was looking for Damon. She said her name was Maggie James."

"That was Maggie?" Elowen asked.

"Now we're getting somewhere," Enzo said.

Stefan shook his head. "I didn't kill her. I was just trying to scare her into leaving town."

"So it was the other ripper in Mystic Falls then?"

"I have no reason to lie to you, Enzo."

Enzo walked over to Bonnie and grabbed her roughly, wrapping his hand around her neck.

"Are your lies worth Bonnie's life?"

Elena gasped. "Bonnie!"

"What exactly happens if you die anyway?" Enzo asked Bonnie. "Aren't you technically already dead? Should we find out?"

"Stop!" Stefan yelled. "You're right. I killed Maggie. I tore her throat out, and I ripped her head off. I completely forgot about her until now. That's the truth. Now let her go."

Veronica leaned over to Elowen. "Why is he lying?" She asked in a whisper.

"To save Bonnie's life," Elowen whispered back. "If she dies, the other side collapses. We don't want that."

Enzo pushed Bonnie over towards Liv. "Take her upstairs."

Liv took her and escorted her up the steps.

"Are you okay?" Liv asked once they were settled at a table.

"You can cut the scared hostage act," Bonnie snapped.

Liv raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Enzo may be using you as his little pocket witch, but if he kills either of them, the travelers can't do whatever they need to do with the doppelganger blood, and the witches win."

"Well aren't you clever."

Downstairs, Enzo ripped the leg off of a nearby chair and threw it, where it embedded itself into Stefan's abdomen. He groaned in pain and Elowen quickly stood up in worry. Enzo pointed at her.

"You, sit back down. The party's just getting started."

Elowen felt a jolt as she was sucked into a premonition.

Maggie was standing in front of Enzo's cell.

"It's the only way to get you out of here," Maggie was saying to Enzo. "Make me a vampire. I'll save you. We'll run away together. Don't you want to be with me?"

"More than anything in this world," Enzo replied.

"Then I'm ready."

There was the sound of a door closing in the distance. Maggie looked over her shoulder before looking back at Enzo.

"Dr. Whitmore's back. You need to hurry."

"Come closer. Take my hand."

Enzo bit into his wrist and put his hand through the bars. Maggie approached the cell and took Enzo's hand. In one swift movement, Enzo ripped off her vervain bracelet and started to compel her.

"Leave, Maggie. Leave and never come back, and when you go, forget I ever existed. Forget that I love you."

Maggie started to turn away, but Enzo stopped her.

"Wait." He crouched down and picked up her bracelet. "Must have fallen from your wrist."

Maggie reached out and took the bracelet. "Sorry."

Then, she left.

Elowen slowly sank back down in her seat next to Veronica.

"Oh my god," she breathed.

Veronica nudged her. "What? What did you see?"

"He let her go."

"Where were we, then?" Enzo asked as he approached Stefan. He grabbed the stake in Stefan's stomach and twisted it, causing Stefan to grunt in pain.

"Stop!" Elena shouted. "You made your point."

"What was that? I couldn't hear you over all the-" Enzo put more pressure on the stake.

Upstairs, Liv flinched at the sounds of Stefan's cries. Bonnie sat across from her, staring at her with a hard look. Liv looked over and saw her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is there a more appropriate reaction to torture?"

"Does your coven know the other side is falling apart?" Bonnie asked instead.

"Why?" Liv asked. "You scared you're not gonna make it through to finals?"

"It's not about me. I have friends there, my Grams. I mean, there's gotta be something that can be done to save it. A spell, a ritual, something."

Instead of answering, Liv once again cringed when Stefan's screams echoed upstairs.

"I used to scream, too, but for me, it wasn't so much the sharp instruments as it was the fingers," Enzo was saying to Stefan. "Those bloody fingers. Like I was a ball of dough."

The door to the restaurant opened and Damon walked in. The other Elowen stayed back in Mystic Falls with Elvira so she could take her back home, and let Damon deal with this on his own.

"Well, this is depressing," he said. "Stadium really necessary? These people are starting to creep me out."

Enzo turned to face Damon. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that was a veiled attempt to get me to release the damn hostages."

"Oh, I'm sorry, was that veiled? Release the damn hostages."

"Whose side are you on?"

"There are sides now?"

"You were there with me in Augustine. Look, don't tell me you've forgotten what it was like to cling onto the one thing that kept you from feeling pain!"

"Enzo, I get it. The prospect of seeing Maggie again was your safety line to the outside world, the one thing that kept you from shutting it off. There's probably a chapter in Elena and Veronica's psych book about it. What, are you guys study buddies now?"

Elowen frowned.

'What are you doing?' She mouthed to Damon, who shrugged at her.

Damon paused before sighing. "The thing is, I didn't know she was your Maggie."

Enzo furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

"She didn't tell me her name when we met."

"And when exactly was that?"

"November 8th, 1960. I'd gotten a message at the house saying a lady wanted to buy me a drink. Naturally, I was curious. She said she wanted to interview me for an article she was writing about the fire. She tried to vervain me, but it didn't work. Had she gotten me with that vervain injection, things would've been very different. She didn't stand a chance against me."

"And you made it look like I did it?" Stefan asked from behind Enzo.

Damon glanced at Stefan. "Maggie was the hope Enzo clung to. You were mine, and when you didn't notice that I was missing for five years, let just say I held a grudge."

"You killed Maggie," Enzo whispered.

"I didn't even bat an eye. My switch was off, Enzo, but I didn't do it to make your life miserable from every angle. I did it because I didn't care. Just do whatever it is you gotta do. You want to kill me, you want to hate me, do it. This is between us."

Enzo shook his head, getting emotional. "Well, that's the problem, Damon. I don't want to hate you, because if I hate you, then I have nothing left." He paused, staring at Damon with tears in his eyes for a moment. "There is another option."

Enzo closed his eyes and Elowen immediately knew what was happening. She stood up.

"He's going to shut it off! Damon, stop him!"

Damon sped over to Enzo and grabbed the front of his shirt, shaking him.

"Don't you dare! Hey, Enzo!"

Except, it was too late. Enzo opened his eyes a second later and smirked.

"There we are. You're right! I don't have a care in the world."

Enzo turned around and walked over to the bar.

"Aah, this is fun, not caring."

He grabbed a bottle that was on the bar and tossed it in the air, where it promptly crashed onto the floor and shattered into pieces. Damon watched him intently.

"Yep. Emotion free. Bye bye humanity."

While Enzo had his back turned and was distracted, Elowen slowly crouched down so she was out of sight and carefully crawled over to Stefan. She reached out and touched the ropes, allowing her powers to freeze them over. Frost and ice slowly coated the binds until they were completely covered, rendering them frail and weak. If Stefan forcefully yanked his hands apart, the ropes would break and he'd be free. Not wanting to risk doing the same with Elena and being caught, Elowen made herself small and hid against the other side of the bar, out of Enzo's sight.

Enzo lifted up another bottle in a mock toast.

"To Maggie James! For whom I feel absolute and blissful detachment."

"What do you say we get out of here?" Damon asked, approaching Enzo tentatively. "Where was it that you wanted to go? Cape Town?"

"Cape Horn," Enzo replied offhandedly.

"Even better."

"Alright, everyone's free to go!" Enzo announced to the rest of the room. "Show's over! Don't worry, I compelled you all to think you spent the day studying like the good, little students are you." He pointed at Liv, who had come downstairs with Bonnie. "Except you. Stay. I want to test something."

Enzo lunged at Liv and sank his fangs into her neck, drinking from her.

"No!" Elowen yelled.

"Look at that," Enzo drawled as he let Liv's body drop to the ground. "I don't even feel obliged to say thank you."

Damon tried to attack Enzo, but Enzo broke a nearby bottle and stabbed Damon in the throat. Stefan snapped the frozen ropes on his wrist in one swift movement, sped over and jumped up, his fist coming into contact with Enzo's face. Without hesitation, Enzo grabbed the bucket of vervain water and tossed it at Stefan. He hissed in pain and stumbled back, momentarily disarmed. With both Stefan and Damon out of commission, Enzo sped over, snatched Elena and zoomed out of the restaurant.

Elowen quickly scrambled back to her feet and ran over to Veronica, freezing the ropes on her wrists over so she could get out. Veronica brought her hands up and banged them against the table, hard, causing them to smash to bits. Shaking the flakes of ice off of her wrists, Veronica stood up from the table and her and Elowen ran over to Liv, who was unconscious on the floor.

"You deal with them," Damon told Stefan. "I'll find Enzo."

"He's gonna kill her," Stefan replied. "You know that, right?"

"Since when do I care if Elena lives or dies?"

"Damon!"

"Fine. I got this. I can handle him."

"Damon…"

"I said I could handle him." Damon nodded at Liv. "The witch is dying."

Without another word, Damon turned and sped off. Stefan squatted down to Liv and bit his wrist.

"Drink."

After Liv had drank enough, he looked over at Bonnie when he was done.

"You got this?"

"I'm coming with you," Elowen said quickly. "You're going to need help."

Stefan shook his head. "No, stay here."

Before Elowen could reply, Stefan sped out of the restaurant, leaving her alone with everyone else.

"Damn it, Stefan," she swore under her breath. She turned to face Veronica, who nodded.

"It's fine. Bonnie and I can handle this. Go."

With a quick nod, Elowen turned and hurried out of the building.

xxxx

Elowen ran through the campus, looking around for either Stefan or Damon, maybe even Enzo. She didn't really care who she found first at this point. She just wanted to make sure nobody was going to get killed. From somewhere in the distance, she heard a loud crash echo in the night and turned towards it, taking off in that direction. She came into a parking lot and listened hard for any type of movement, when a pair of voices came into earshot.

"... not with your emotions off," she heard Stefan say. "You won't stop until you kill Damon."

"Better yet, wouldn't it be a sweet piece of revenge when Damon finds out you killed his best friend?" Enzo asked, causing Elowen to quicken her pace to find them in the parking lot. "Have fun sorting this out with your brother."

Elowen came around the corner just in time to see Enzo push himself away from Stefan, who had his hand in his chest, his fingers wrapped around his heart, effectively killing himself. Elowen stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide as her and Stefan stared at Enzo's heart in Stefan's palm. Stefan swallowed and looked over at her, dropping the heart onto the ground. Elowen stood there, shellshocked, as Stefan slowly stood up. He bent down and retrieved Enzo's phone, playing the last voicemail left on the phone. It was from Damon. Stefan put it on speaker so Elowen could hear.

"Enzo, I need you to come find me, okay?"

"We can't tell him," Stefan said suddenly after a long pause. He looked over at Elowen. "It's been a tough year for Damon. Don't you think it would be easier if no humanity Enzo just left for parts unknown and was never heard from again?"

"Stefan…" Elowen mumbled. "I don't know if I can-"

"Listen, Elowen, if Damon thinks Enzo left town, he'll stop looking for him. We barely just got him back. This would destroy him. Please."

Elowen thought this over, a conflicted look on her face. Finally, she nodded reluctantly.

"Okay. You're right. It's for the best, but if Damon finds out we lied… we're gonna lose him. Are you sure?"

Stefan glanced down at Enzo's body. "No, but like you said… it's for the best."

Elowen looked down at Enzo's body. "We need to take care of his body."

"I got it," Stefan said in a soft voice. "You go."

Elowen nodded, and then disappeared, leaving Stefan alone to bury Enzo.