Elowen sat on the couch inside the dorm common room, holding Stefan's body against her chest. Her arms were wrapped around him tightly as she silently cried into his hair. Esmeralda, Toby, Veronica, Eliana and Caroline all sat around her, watching her sadly. Caroline was crying as well, and Toby had a comforting arm wrapped around her shoulders with her head resting on his shoulder. Elvira was standing off to the side, watching them.
"Hmph. Witches getting caught up in vampire business, as usual," she was muttering under her breath. "Allowing my granddaughter to be around nightcrawlers. Nonsense."
"Will you shut up?!" Eliana snapped, blowing up on Elvira as she turned to look at her.
Elvira blinked, taken aback as everyone else looked over in surprise. Eliana stood up and faced Elvira, standing up to her mother for the first time in her life.
"We get it. We're a disgrace to you. You'll never approve of anything we do, but you know what? I'm done caring! Yes, we're friends with vampires, so what?" Eliana pointed over at Elowen. "Elowen just lost the love of her life. Yeah, you heard me right. I never once judged her for falling in love with a vampire, and it shouldn't matter that much! We were doing just fine without you, and we didn't even need you here in the first place, but you decided to play the role of a good mother for once in your life and came to help when we didn't need it! You can't pick and choose when you want to be a parent. That's not how it works. Now, unless you can think of some other genius idea like the one about bringing Joey back, I'd advise you keep your mouth shut."
Elvira was silent for a moment before she said something.
"If that's how you really feel, then I'll leave once Josiah is safe and sound." Elvira looked over at Esmeralda. "Make sure the spell is done by both a Traditional and an Elemental. Spells are always stronger when two different types of magic team together."
Eliana blinked. "That's all?"
She had been expecting some kind of rebuttal argument, and she was shocked when she got none. Elvira was calm about it all, and Eliana wasn't sure if she could be worried. Elvira turned her attention back to Eliana and nodded.
"That's all."
Before Eliana could reply, Damon rushed into the room, followed by Elena. Damon came to a slow stop at the sight of Elowen, face streaked with tears, holding onto Stefan like her life depended on it. A pained expression settled onto his features as Elowen looked up at him.
"I didn't know where to bring him," she sobbed hoarsely. "I couldn't just leave him outside."
"Bonnie has a plan, right?" Caroline asked, looking up at Damon hopefully. "Elowen's grandma gave us a way to bring people back, and Bonnie said she could do it. Tell me that she can bring him back!"
It took Damon a minute to respond, but he nodded.
"We'll bring him back. Come on. Let's get away from prying eyes."
Damon walked around the couch to pick Stefan up, but Elowen held him closer, refusing to let him go.
"No!" She shouted. "Don't touch him! Leave him alone!"
Damon held his hands up. "Wen," he said softly. "We have to put him somewhere where he won't be seen. I won't hurt him. I'll be gentle. I promise."
Elowen sniffled, but slowly let Stefan go. Damon carefully lifted Stefan in his arms and started to move him. Elowen stayed on the couch, staring at nothing, when Esmeralda came over and sat next to her. The second Esmeralda wrapped her arms around Elowen and brought her close, she started to cry again.
From the other side, Stefan watched her with sorrowful eyes. Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling noise and his surroundings started to tremble. A strong gust of wind started to blow through the room, easily knocking Stefan backwards and off of his feet. He tried to hold himself against a column, but the winds were too strong. He started getting dragged down the hallway and quickly reached out and grabbed onto the corner of a wall as he was pulled into the air. Just as his fingers began to slip, someone grabbed onto him.
"I got you!" They said.
Another hand shot out and together, both people pulled Stefan back down and out of harm's way. He caught his breath and looked over to see who saved him. He was unsurprised to see Josiah, but was shocked to see Lexi standing next to him.
Lexi smirked. "Looks like I've now saved you from both metaphorical darkness and actual darkness. I think you owe me a beer."
xxxx
"Are you sure they're going to be coming this way?" Elena asked Elowen as they stood in the middle of a road going out of town.
Elowen nodded. "I'm sure. What other roads would they take? They don't know Mystic Falls like we do."
"Okay. How are we gonna do this?"
Elowen pointed to a spot a few feet in front of them. "You stand there. They'll stop when they see you. Caroline and I will be on the other side to prevent them from going backwards. You said that's how they did it with you and Stefan, right?"
"Uh-huh."
"Use their own tricks against them. Always a good tactic."
Elena nodded, getting into position. Elowen looked over her shoulder.
"They should be here soon." She walked over and grabbed Caroline, pulling her from sight. "Come on."
Sure enough, after a few more minutes of waiting, Liv and Luke's car came through the roads. When they saw Elena standing in the road, Luke slammed on the brakes, mere inches away from Elena's body. They both turned in their seats and saw Caroline and Elowen standing behind them. They got out of their car when they saw that they had nowhere else to go, and Elena, Caroline and Elowen approached them.
"A little tip. If you're going to flee the scene of the crime, take back roads," Elena told them when she was in earshot.
Liv sighed. "Do you really want to do this again?"
"You mean the part where you try to kill a doppelganger? There's no point. Stefan's already dead."
Liv paused. She looked back at Elowen.
"I know you don't believe me, but I am sorry."
"You can help us bring him back," Elowen said softly. "We need both an Elemental and a Traditional for the spell."
"Look, I get what you need from us, but if both doppelgangers are alive again, the travelers can restart the spell. Witch magic goes bye-bye, and all you vamps, you're goners."
Elowen shook her head. "They're not gonna have the chance to start again because in order to bring Stefan back, we're gonna have to kill them. A lot of them, including Markos."
Luke turned to look at Elowen. Once upon a time, she was his friend, and he felt bad for not being able to help her. He sighed.
"We can't help you. Even if we wanted to, our coven would kill us."
"Stefan saved your life," Caroline said in an accusatory tone, hoping that would help change his mind.
"I know he did, but…"
Liv shook her head. "We can't risk it."
Caroline suddenly sped over and snapped Luke's neck, effectively killing him. Elowen gasped in surprise and took a step back.
"No!" Liv shouted.
"Your brother is officially on the other side," Caroline snapped. "Think you can risk it now?"
xxxx
"What the hell did you do that for?!" Elowen hissed at Caroline after they had a moment alone.
"Liv needed a reason to do the spell!" Caroline defended herself. "She wasn't going to help otherwise!"
"I had it, Caroline! Liv and Luke were my friends! Luke didn't have to die, so excuse me for being pissed at you." Elowen turned to leave, but whirled back around. "Actually, you know what? I'm not done. Liv did not deserve to know what it felt like to lose her brother. Yeah, she might be getting him back, whatever, but that does not give you permission to just kill him in front of her! She won't be able to forget that. Trust me."
Elowen made a move to leave again, but Caroline tried to reach out for her.
"Elle, wait-"
A sudden piercing noise hit Caroline's ears and she cried out, her hands coming up to grab her head. The sound faded away just as fast as it had hit. She looked up to see Elowen glaring at her.
"Don't touch me."
Without another word, Elowen left Caroline by herself.
xxxx
Jeremy, Matt, Sydney and Adriana were in one of the classrooms, standing in front of the desk as Damon walked in.
"Class is in session," Damon announced loudly. "First assignment, anti magic perimeter. Gilbert and Garcia, whatcha got? Ooh, that's a nice law firm name. Gilbert and Garcia, at your service."
Jeremy ignored him. "Adriana and I walked around Mystic Falls this morning to see where our hunter instincts disappeared."
"Meaning, what? You biceps shrunk and your brain got smaller?"
"Meaning that we have a supernatural urge to kill vampires, so wherever I hated you less, there was no magic."
They all looked down at a map of Mystic Falls that was spread along the table, where a big, red circle was drawn to indicate where the barrier was.
"The cemetery's outside of the no magic barrier," Damon commented. "A couple of unpopulated areas other than that."
"Hey, Professor Salvatore," Caroline piped up from over the phone. "Not everyone can see the map."
"Yeah, don't forget about us," Elena also spoke up.
Damon frowned down at the phone. "Where's Elowen?"
There was a short awkward silence. Caroline cleared her throat.
"She's with Liv."
Caroline turned and saw Elowen helping Liv put Luke's body in the car. Liv had tears in her eyes and one spilled over. She quickly wiped it. Elowen reached out and put a tentative hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I had no part in this, I swear. If it were up to me, Luke wouldn't have been collateral damage."
Liv shied away from Elowen's hand. "You don't have to pretend."
"I'm not pretending. Luke was my friend. You were my friend. You were more than my friend, actually."
"Maybe, but that was in the past. We're in the present, where your freaky blonde vampire friend just snapped my brother's neck. That changes things. I'm sorry."
"Liv-"
"Stop! Just stop. I'll help you and your friends with your stupid spell, but that's it. No more."
Elowen watched helplessly as Liv slammed the car door shut and walked off. She could physically feel her friendship with Liv shattering and knew anything they had built back up after reuniting was gone in that instant. She turned to look back at Caroline, who was watching her. Caroline quickly looked away when her eyes met Elowen's glare.
xxxx
Lexi, Stefan and Josiah all walked into The Grill, looking for Alaric.
"Huh," Lexi hummed. "I thought for sure he'd be here. If you were a history teacher turned vampire, where else would you be?"
Stefan chuckled. "You seem very intent on finding somebody you barely know."
"Well, I have a thing for day drinkers. Plus, he has a cute name. Alaric. Hm."
Josiah made a face. "Ew. That's my dad you're talking about."
Lexi laughed. "Calm down, cowboy. I'm not looking to swoop in and steal him from your mom, who, by the way, is drop dead gorgeous. What happened with you?"
Josiah grumbled. "You're starting to sound like my sister."
Lexi grinned. "Aw, come on. I'm joking. You're very handsome." She ruffled his hair, causing Josiah to pull away with a whine. She looked up at Stefan as Josiah fixed his curls. "So, you and Elowen."
Stefan shrugged. "What about her?"
"Are you gonna fight for her, or what?"
Stefan sighed. "She said that she needed space, and I'm going to give it to her."
"No, what she said was she felt like she wasn't being fair to you, and that because she wasn't the same girl you fell in love with, you shouldn't be together. That's different, and now some random ex girlfriend is back in her life the same time she breaks up with you? How is that not suspicious?"
Josiah snorted. "It's just Liv," he stated as if it weren't a big deal. "Her relationship with Liv was very one sided, to be honest. Elowen liked Liv more than Liv liked her, and yeah, sure, the one who got away appears the second she's single, which seems like it poses a threat, but trust me, it doesn't." He nudged Stefan. "She loves you, man." He paused. "And Damon, unfortunately. Nobody could change that, not even Liv. She also said, and I quote, 'One day I'll be ready to get back together with you', which means that she's not giving up. You also said, quote, 'I'm a vampire. I have all the time in the world to wait for you'. If that's not another chapter in an epic love story, then I don't know what is."
"Sounds like you favor your sister with one Salvatore over the other," Lexi commented with a smirk.
"What, and you don't?"
"Ah, how did Caroline word it? Team Stelowen?"
Stefan laughed. "What are you two, teenage fangirls shipping their favorite tv show characters?"
Josiah and Lexi shared a look before both nodding.
"Uh-huh."
"Yep."
Were their respective replies. The doors to The Grill opened and Sheriff Forbes and Markos walked in.
"Listen, I might not carry a lot of weight with you people, but I am still the Sheriff and I still represent the people who live here," Liz was saying.
"Travelers haven't been able to gather together for centuries. The last thing they'll tolerate is a list of your ground rules."
Liz looked around. "What if there's an open bar?"
Stefan frowned. "She's trying to gather the travelers. They're planning something."
xxxx
Bonnie stood in the mausoleum with Silas, the replacement traveler that Enzo had found to help them with the spell. She wasn't happy about it, but he was currently their only hope. He was telling her the spell, and she was repeating it back to make sure she had it right.
"Esvet, not vat," Silas chided. "I feel like I'm teaching calculus to an infant."
"I'm sorry," Bonnie snapped. "I'm a little nervous about unleashing a plague onto humanity."
"Ooh! I've been upgraded to a plague? Oh. How biblical and fitting, seeing as I probably will kill a lot of people in an epic, all inclusive way once I'm out of here."
Bonnie shot him a glare, but he ignored her.
"Oh! Speaking of, how is my shadow self? Is it a crime for someone so good looking to be so sad all the time? He still has that girlfriend of his, doesn't he? Either she's a terrible lover, or he just makes a self conscious decision to brood all the time."
"Just teach me the damn spell."
Elowen and Liv walked into the crypt with Bonnie, unaware that Silas was there.
"Hey," Elowen said, doing her best to not think about the fact that Liv was refusing to talk to her. "Did you find a traveler that's going to get us out of here?"
Bonnie nodded. "Yep. Learning the spell as we speak. I'd introduce you, but-"
"Holy shit," Elowen whispered before Bonnie could finish. She turned wide eyes onto her. "Silas? You got Silas?"
Bonnie grimaced. "Look, he wasn't my first choice, but he's the only one left around here who will help."
Elowen looked around the room. "You were so hellbent on dying and now that you're dead, you want back? Do you see the irony in that?"
Silas sighed. "See, the problem is, if I stay dead, then I get sucked off into la-la-land and disappear from existence. You can imagine why I wouldn't want that."
Elowen obviously couldn't hear him, and Bonnie didn't relay the message. Elowen wagged her index finger.
"I know what this is about. If you blink out of here, you'll never be reunited with your one true love and never find peace together. There's no way that's not a motivator. You gave us hell over it, if I remember right."
Silas tsked. "Your friend is getting increasingly more annoying the longer she talks, but alas, she's one of the witches doing the spell, so I have to play nice. For now."
Elowen shook her head and changed the subject. She turned to Bonnie.
"My mom is taking my spot tonight. She'll be here soon so you can teach her the spell."
Bonnie furrowed her eyebrows. "What? Why?"
Elowen cast a quick glance at Liv, which Silas caught.
"Oh, I see what this is. These two must've," he clicked his tongue twice, "at some point, and now things are awkward. How scandalous."
"Will you please shut up?" Bonnie said to Silas, fully irritated. "You're not helping."
"Of course I'm helping. I'm teaching you the spell that will save all of your friends, myself included."
Esmeralda entered the crypt at that moment.
"Okay, I'm here. Are we ready?"
Elowen pointed behind her shoulder. "I'm gonna go call Damon and let him know that we're ready."
Before anyone could say anything, she turned and left.
xxxx
Matt, Jeremy, Adriana and Sydney all ventured through the tunnels under Mystic Falls in order to find the gas line beneath The Grill so they could turn it on.
"Can we talk about the irony in us blowing up the only place dumb enough to hire us?" Matt asked Jeremy.
"I'm sure the Salvatore's will make a generous contribution to help fix it," Jeremy replied.
"Yeah, if they can come home. No one said killing the travelers will get rid of this anti magic thing, although Mystic Falls might be a half decent place to live in again. No more vampire attacks, crazy blood rituals, you know? Safe, like it used to be."
"Except I wouldn't be able to live with my brother anymore," Adriana commented softly.
"And my girlfriend would be magic-less if she came back," Sydney added. "Not everyone can be blissfully uninvolved, Matt."
They all came to an opening within the tunnels, where a pipeline stood in the middle. Jeremy compared the pipes illustrated on the map to make sure they were correct, and then nodded.
"We're here."
xxxx
Elowen met up with Damon in the woods. Eliana, Veronica and Toby were around there somewhere, not having a role to do but still wanting to be there when the spell started.
"Are you good?" She asked as she approached him.
"Operation Massacre, assuming Donovan knows the difference between a water main and a gas main, yeah, I'm good."
Elowen grinned. "Sydney's with them. They'll be fine."
Damon paused. "Listen… I wanted to spare you the gory details, and then I figured, well, I'll be lying, and then the whole point of saving the universe would be moot because you'd be pissed, so here it is. Project Kaboom needs someone to trigger the explosion, so to speak."
Elowen frowned for a moment until it clicked in her head.
"Wait, you? No! Damon, no. Absolutely not."
"Go with your first instinct, Damon," he muttered to himself. "Lesson learned."
"Oh, your first instinct was correct. I would've been pissed you lied and that would've been a whole other can of worms you wouldn't have wanted to open. You dodged a bullet, but walked into another one. I've just got to ask. Are you crazy?"
Damon sighed. "Wen, listen to me. If I do this, then you get to see your brother again. Your dad. I want to do this, for you, and I'm the only one with enough loose screws to do it. Look at it this way. I'll only be dead for like, five minutes, because we're bringing people back anyway!"
Elowen chewed on her bottom lip for a moment.
"What if… something goes wrong?" She asked in a whisper, looking up at Damon. "I've already lost Stefan. I can't lose you, too."
Damon gently cupped Elowen's face in his hands. "I will make it back to you. I promise. Let me do this for you. Before the night is up, everyone you've ever loved will be back, breathing and alive, but only if you let me go. Don't you want that?"
Elowen sniffled, but slowly nodded her head.
"Then let me do this."
Damon leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.
"I'll come back to you," he mumbled against her skin. "I swear on it."
He pulled back and started to walk away when Elowen quickly whirled around.
"Damon?"
Damon stopped a few feet away and turned back.
"Yeah?"
Elowen took a few long strides towards him, grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him in for a passionate kiss.
"What was that for?" Damon asked breathlessly after pulling away.
"Just in case you don't come back," Elowen replied.
"What do I get if I do come back?"
Elowen slowly smirked. "Undecided."
"You're such a tease."
"Hey, we're technically still broken up. Now go, before I change my mind."
Damon smirked back before turning and leaving, this time Elowen allowing him to go.
xxxx
Elowen walked over to where Toby was sitting on a tombstone near Elena. Veronica was settled on the ground with her legs crossed, Eliana was leaning against a tree and Elvira was sitting on a nearby bench. Elowen nudged Toby on the shoulder.
"Can I talk to you?" She asked.
Toby looked up. "Yeah, sure."
They walked over to a more secluded area where nobody could hear, hopefully Elena included.
"I need you to talk me out of doing something really stupid," she said quietly once they were alone.
Toby furrowed his eyebrows. "How stupid are we talking?"
"Well… you know how Damon volunteered to be the one to trigger the explosion at The Grill?"
Toby nodded warily.
"Well, I was thinking about it, and really, it would be much more poetic if two people madly in love with each other died together to save the world, don't you think?"
Toby's eyes widened. "Hang on, are you saying that you want to hop on Damon's suicide mission train?"
"Yes, which is why I need you to tell me no."
"I know you. You don't listen when people tell you no."
"So you're not going to tell me no?"
"Of course I'm going to tell you no! Are you insane? Except I know that the second I turn my back, you're gonna go do it anyway."
"So… what are you gonna do?"
Toby sighed, looking over his shoulder where he knew Elena was, and then back at Elowen.
"The stupid best friend thing where we tag team to do the stupid thing together so I know you're not doing something stupid by yourself."
Elowen peered behind Toby, also looking where Elena was.
"What about-"
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her. Besides, we're coming back anyway, right?"
Elowen stared at Toby for a moment before slowly grinning. She held her hand out for him to take.
"Let's go die, shall we?"
Toby shook his head, but also grinned. "Not a sentence I ever thought I'd hear."
Toby took her hand, and together, they snuck off to find Damon.
xxxx
Elowen pulled open the passenger side door to Damon's car and slid into the seat. Damon looked over at her in surprise.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Elowen shrugged nonchalantly. "Dying for the greater good."
The back door opened and this time, Toby hopped in. Damon looked over his shoulder and groaned.
"Oh, no, not you."
"If you think I was gonna let my best friend go on some stupid kamikaze mission with her evil ex boyfriend by herself, you're severely mistaken," Toby shot back without missing a beat.
Damon looked between Elowen and Toby, shocked into silence, when Elowen looked at him expectantly.
"What are you waiting for? Go!"
Damon's eyes found Elowen's, staring at her for a second before slowly grinning. He started the ignition to his car, put it into drive, and took off into Mystic Falls. It wasn't until they were almost to town square that the spell took effect. In the backseat, Toby started choking and gasping for air. He reached up to grab at his throat as Elowen looked over at him in worry. She shifted her eyes onto Damon.
"Damon, hurry!"
Damon nodded and slammed his foot on the accelerator. They sped through town square, and as The Grill came into sight, Damon reached over and grabbed Elowen's hand. She gave his hand a squeeze, and he squeezed it back just as they braced themselves for impact. Damon's car smashed through the window of The Grill, and the whole place exploded.
xxxx
Elowen came running up to Bonnie as the last traveler passed through her.
"Bonnie!" She called out.
Bonnie turned to look at her. "Elowen?"
Toby came up behind her a second later and Bonnie's eyes widened.
"Toby?!" Her mouth dropped open. "Oh my god. Elena's been looking everywhere for you, and this whole time you've been dead? She's going to kill you."
Elowen shook her head. "Nevermind that. Where's Damon?"
"I'm right here."
Elowen turned around and sighed in relief when she saw him. She faced Bonnie.
"Okay, how does this work?"
Bonnie brushed her questions aside. "When you guys pass through me, you're going to wake up with your bodies on the other side. I need you to get back here as fast as you can."
Toby, Elowen and Damon all nodded, and then they touched Bonnie.
xxxx
Elowen groaned as she woke up on her back behind the bar of The Grill. Her body must've been ejected from the car upon the crash. She looked over and saw her burned, mutilated body, the only indicator that it had once been her being the necklace Stefan had given her around her neck. She pushed herself into a sitting position and then crawled to her feet, looking around what used to be The Grill.
"Damon?" She called out tentatively. "Toby?"
"Hey, kid," a voice said from behind her.
She turned around and grinned widely when she saw that it was Alaric.
"Dad!" She jumped forward, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Alaric laughed, hugging her back before pulling away.
"Listen, you need to get out of here."
Elowen shook her head. "No, I have to find Damon and Toby. I'm not leaving them."
"No, you need to go home to your family. I'll find Damon and Toby."
"Damon and Toby are my family! Nobody gets left behind. Not this time."
Alaric sighed. "I almost forgot how stubborn you were. Fine, come on, but we have to be quick. This place is about to go any second."
Elowen nodded, and the two of them left the bar to find Damon and Toby. They found Toby first. His body was still in the backseat, so he woke up next to the car.
"Did you seriously wear your seatbelt?" Alaric asked when they reached him.
Toby looked over. "Ric? Long time, no see, man."
"Same to you."
Elowen got Toby's attention. "We need to find Damon."
Toby nodded. "Okay. If he's not out here, he must be in the backroom."
The three of them all ventured to the back stockroom, where they found Damon trying to lift a ceiling beam off of Sheriff Forbes. Alaric and Toby came over to help, and together, they all easily lifted it off of her. Once it was off of her, Elowen nudged a piece of debris underneath to keep it from crushing her again.
"Friendly advice," Alaric said to Damon once they were done. "When you're trying to win your girl back, don't blow her up."
Elowen hit Alaric across the shoulder. "Hey! Getting blown up was on me, and it had nothing to do with Damon. I'm just reckless and impulsive."
On the ground, Liz started to wake up, groaning in pain. Toby looked down at her.
"I think she's going to be okay. Let's get out of here."
xxxx
Luke was watching Liv and Esmeralda perform the spell in worry. Both of them were crying from the pain they were feeling and were bleeding from their noses. Luke got up and hurriedly walked outside.
"Bonnie! Bonnie, hey! It's too much for them. We need to start now!"
Stefan shook his head. "No! We need to go together. Damon, Elowen and Toby aren't here yet."
"I don't care."
Luke walked forward, grabbed ahold of Bonnie, and passed through her. Once he was back in the land of the living, he ran back into the crypt.
"Hey," he said softly to Liv, crouching down next to her. Liv opened her eyes and smiled at him, but almost collapsed on the floor.
"You need to stop now, okay? If you keep going, it's going to kill you."
Liv shook her head. "No. I promised that I'd help them, and if I save myself, Esmeralda will die instead of me."
Luke looked over at Esmeralda, who had also opened her eyes and looked over at Luke. She was still chanting, and Liv joined in a second later.
Back outside, Bonnie talked to Tyler.
"You need to come through."
"What about everybody else?" Tyler asked.
"You don't have to tell me twice," Enzo said as he walked forward and touched Bonnie to pass through. As soon as he was gone, a soft, innocent voice spoke up from behind Stefan at the same time Tyler passed through.
"Stefan?"
Stefan turned around and saw that the voice had come from Marisol.
"Marisol?"
"What's going on? What's happening?"
"Marisol, take my hand," Bonnie said to her, reaching out towards her. "Trust me."
Marisol looked down at her hand, but didn't take it.
"What for?"
"I can bring you back, but you need to touch me. Don't you want to live again? It's not everyday that you're given a third chance at life."
"I can come back?"
Bonnie nodded. Marisol started to smile, but it faded as soon as it came.
"Oh my god. Kol. I need to find-"
Marisol started to turn to leave, but before she could, Bonnie quickly stepped forward and grabbed her wrist. Marisol stumbled as she was brought back to the land of the living, and she turned around to see that everyone else was missing, except now Caroline and Eliana were standing there, along with another girl with red hair and a boy with curly hair that she remembered were Angel and Veronica. Caroline breathed a sigh of relief, at first thinking Marisol was Elowen, until Marisol started to panic.
"No, no, no! Bonnie, why would you do that? I can't leave without him! I can't leave without Kol!"
"We'll find him," Bonnie told her. "I promise."
"Marisol?" Caroline asked when the dots finally connected in her head. "Is that you?"
Before Marisol could respond, Bonnie started coughing. When she pulled her hand back, it was covered in blood.
"Are you okay?" Elena asked worriedly.
"Oh my god!" Caroline gasped. "Bonnie?"
Bonnie stumbled and both Stefan and Josiah caught her, although touching her sent them both back to the land of the living.
"No, no, no," Stefan mumbled as Caroline and Eliana both stepped forward at the sight of Josiah.
"Josiah!" Caroline called out, gaining his attention, but she frowned when she saw the look on his and Stefan's faces. "What's wrong?"
"She fell," Stefan said. "I was just trying…"
"What?"
"Damon, Elowen and Toby," Josiah explained. "They're not here yet."
Eliana shook her head. "This isn't happening."
Bonnie nodded her head. "It's okay. I can do this."
Inside the crypt, Esmeralda and Liv continued to chant the spell, but as the seconds ticked by, Esmeralda's breathing started to get shallower and shallower. She coughed violently, wheezing as she tried to breath before her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell over, dead. Luke saw her go down and shook his head.
"Screw those guys," he mumbled, standing up. "I won't let you die for them."
He chanted a different spell, and the candles inside the crypt went out.
xxxx
"Bonnie?" Esmeralda asked as she appeared in front of her moments later.
"Esmeralda?" Bonnie asked back when she saw her.
Elowen, Damon and Toby, who was standing in front of Bonnie after she sent Alaric through, all shot her alarmed looks.
"Mom?" Elowen called out, even though she couldn't see her. "No, no, no."
Bonnie held her hand out. "Quick, you need to touch me and then get back here as soon as you're over. We don't have much time left."
Esmeralda nodded, and then touched Bonnie. When she woke up next to her body inside the crypt, she saw that it was empty.
"No," she whispered. "No."
Esmeralda quickly ran outside of the crypt where everyone else was just as Bonnie touched Damon to try and send him back.
"Bonnie!" She called out frantically as she reached them. "Liv and Luke are gone. The spell's stopped."
Everyone went quiet as the news sank in.
"Well, would you look at that," Damon mumbled, breaking the silence.
xxxx
Stefan was sitting alone on a bench when Caroline came over and sat next to him.
"I lost all of them," he mumbled. "The two people I've known longest in the world, and the love of my life. Gone."
"Are you talking about Lexi?" Caroline asked softly.
"She never came out. Neither did Markos. I know that's not a coincidence. It was, uh, her unfinished business... and Damon and Elowen… they were working things out, but they were happy. They should be here."
Stefan bowed his head and put his face in his hands, beginning to cry.
Elsewhere, Eliana had tears streaming down her face as Josiah held her, silently crying himself. Alaric walked over and hugged them both. Nearby, Veronica and Angel watched them with sad eyes while Marisol stood off to the side with a pained expression on her face, also quietly crying. Elvira had done what she said she was going to do; leave once Josiah was safe and back from the other side, so she didn't even have a clue that Esmeralda or Elowen were dead.
Veronica gently placed a hand on Marisol's shoulder, who jumped. Veronica was a little confused about the Marisol thing, as she had only been told a little bit about it, but she could see that she was hurting. Without missing a beat, Marisol crashed into Veronica's arms, taking her by surprise.
"He's gone," she sobbed. "Kol's gone."
Veronica remembered who Kol was from when he died, back when they were trying to find the cure. She slowly wrapped her arms around Marisol so she could comfort her.
"I know," she whispered. "I'm sorry."
"Wait, where's Bonnie?" Angel asked suddenly, looking around. "Bonnie?"
He took off just as Sydney ran up, having been called to break the news to her a couple of minutes ago. She stopped at the sight of Eliana and Josiah, and reality came crashing down on her. She sniffled, walking into Alaric's extended arm to join the hug.
"Bonnie!" Angel continued to yell, frantically looking for her. "Bonnie!"
He came to a stop when he spotted her across the graveyard. Before he could reach her, the other side started to disintegrate. The winds had picked up even more, and they all had to yell in order to hear each other.
"This place is going down, isn't it?" Toby asked loudly.
Large holes of light poked through the trees, getting brighter and brighter as the seconds ticked by.
Bonnie nodded. "It is."
Elowen walked over to Esmeralda and took her hand.
"I don't know about you guys, but I couldn't think of a better group of people to go down with."
"I beg to differ," Damon said. "The mutt is here."
"You know that you've learned to love me," Toby quipped.
The other side began to shatter, their surroundings disappearing completely until nothing but a bright, white light was left. Esmeralda held her hand out for Damon, who looked down at it for a moment before taking it. Toby came over and took Elowen's other hand, and Bonnie walked over and took his free hand.
"Do you think it'll hurt?" Bonnie asked.
Esmeralda shook her head. "I don't kn-"
She wasn't able to finish her sentence as the other side was finally destroyed, taking them with it.
xxxx
Author's Note: aaaaand that's it for season 5! I kind of wanted to explain why I decided to send Esmeralda, Elowen and Toby to the prison world in case anyone was confused.
Toby: he's basically Damon's replacement for Elena since I paired Damon with Elowen, and Elena compelling her memories of Damon away in season 6 was a huge key part in the plot for at least the first story arc, so he had to go.
Esmeralda: I had to make room for Alaric and Jo to get together and have the twins. Sending Esmeralda off to the prison world was always the plan from the get go, the second I decided to pair her with Alaric because I knew there would be no logical way for them to split and have Alaric move on with Jo. Ric has been dead this whole time so there was no way to find some "natural" way to make them grow apart, so... bye-bye Esmeralda.
Elowen: Stefan abandoning Caroline in the show is something this Stefan would never do to Elowen, and that was also a sort of significant plot to the very first episodes of season 6. He's still so deeply in love with Elowen and he also cares for her family like they're his own, so the only real way I could hurt him enough to make him leave the way he did is to take both Damon and Elowen away from him. Double the pain, but more effective and helps the plot move along.
Now, onto more important news. Unfortunately, I only have about 5-6 chapters of season 6 written because I had to take a break from writing. I've been working on this story nonstop for 4 years (!) and finally needed to step away. When I felt like I was good enough to come back, I had to start getting ready for college, which means an extra delay. So, for the first time ever since I've started this series, the next season will not immediately be uploaded once a story is completed. I don't know how long it will take me to complete season 6 now that the term is starting, so... I guess PTL will have to go on a small hiatus until then. I promise I won't forget about this story and I will finish it. It's just gonna take a minute. Please be patient with me, and I hope you enjoyed season 5. I hope that you all will stick around and wait, but I'll understand if you don't.
Thanks for reading! Until next time, if you're all still here :)
