Elowen wasn't even in The Grill 5 seconds before Bonnie pounced at her.
"Why didn't you tell me that Elena knew about us?"
Elowen blinked, trying to catch up with what was happening. "What?" She asked dumbly.
Bonnie glanced around them before grabbing Elowen's wrist and dragging her to the bathroom. She quickly made sure all the stalls were empty before she spoke again. "I told Elena that I was a witch earlier today. She said, and I quote, 'I didn't know you were a witch too'. When I asked about it she said that you told her. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I'm sorry, okay? It's been…. Hectic lately," Elowen started to explain. "The reason she knows is because she knew something was…. 'off' with Stefan and I was there when she confronted him about it. I didn't know what else to do!"
"So she knows everything then?"
"Not everything everything." Elowen sighed. "But she knows the supernatural exists. Is that all?"
Bonnie sighed as well. "I guess so." She made to leave the bathroom, but Elowen stopped her. She grabbed the amulet around her neck and tucked it in her shirt.
"Be careful with that thing."
They left the bathrooms and parted ways. She noticed Stefan and Lexi enter and waved at them. They started making their way over when Matt spotted her through the crowd. He pushed his way through and engulfed her in a hug.
"Thank you," he murmured in her ear. He pulled back, his hands on her shoulders. "Vic called earlier to tell me she was okay. Explained that you're the one helping her with rehab after she relapsed on Halloween. She said you didn't tell me because she wanted to herself."
It took Elowen a second to realize what he was saying. "Oh… So… you're not mad?"
"Are you kidding? Because of you, she's trying to become a better person. I couldn't be more grateful."
"In that case." Elowen smiled. "You're welcome, Matt."
Lexi and Stefan finally made their way through the crowd. Matt started to back away. "I'll let you guys enjoy the party."
"What was that about?" Stefan asked.
"Vicki," replied Elowen.
"Aah."
"Well, I dunno about you guys, but I'm in the mood to dance." Lexi grabbed Stefan's arm. "I'm stealing your boyfriend. Be right back!" She dragged him off, leaving no room to argue. Elowen laughed as Stefan sent her a pleading look. She threw her hands up in surrender, signaling that she wasn't about to tell Lexi otherwise. She glanced around and spotted Caroline trying to get Josiah to dance with her. It gave her a nice laugh, watching her brother awkwardly shuffle around the floor (not that Stefan wasn't doing any better).
"Having fun?"
Elowen jumped and whipped around. Standing behind her was a smirking Damon, staring down at her. She caught her breath and rolled her eyes.
"What do you want?"
"Kinda wondering why you're not the one out there with my baby brother." It was hard to tell whether he was poking fun or genuinely asking. That was a fine line with him.
Elowen shrugged. "Lexi and Stefan don't see each other often. I see him practically everyday. This one time won't kill me."
For a minute, Elowen and Damon stood there, watching Lexi and Stefan. Finally, Lexi got Stefan to dance, really dance. He spun her around and the two laughed. They look like they were having a good time.
"Stefan smiles. Alert the media," drawled Damon.
"Ha. Ha," Elowen sarcastically laughed. "Why are you still here?"
"Well, I kinda sorrrrta need that crystal Bonnie has back."
"No," Elowen immediately replied.
Damon's face morphed into one of irritance. "And why not?"
"I don't care what you want the crystal for." She crossed her arms in defiance. It belongs to the Bennett family, so with Bonnie is where it'll stay."
"You don't understand," Damon hissed. "I need that crystal."
"No, what you don't understand is what things like talismans mean to us. Ergo, I don't care what you need. I'm not taking anything from Bonnie. End of discussion." Elowen turned and walked away, missing how Damon's eyes darkened.
When Elowen found Stefan and Lexi again, they were playing pool.
"Hey, there you are! We were just about to break. Wanna join?" Lexi handed her a cue and Elowen took it. Lexi started the game and then Stefan went, easily landing a ball in the pocket.
"I don't think I ever officially said happy birthday, so. Happy birthday!" Elowen fauxed excitement, giving Stefan and big, wide cheesy smile. It distracted him so much that he missed his next shot.
"Was that on purpose?" He playfully accused.
"No! You're just a bad multitasker." She shot back, going to take her turn. "Wait, am I stripes or solids?"
"Solids," Lexi piped up. "You and Stef can team up, considering you two are all, kissy kissy together. Now, I'm gonna go get some drinks!"
"She does realize it's her turn, right? I completely missed that shot."
"It's because your form is all wrong. Here." Stefan came behind her and leaned over to where his arms were guiding hers. "Pool is basic geometry. Once you've got that figured out, it's easy."
"Yeah, I'm not gonna willing do geometry outside of school."
Stefan laughed and successfully shot Elowen's ball into a pocket. "See? Nothin' to it."
"And I'm back!" Lexi announced, handing Stefan and Elowen each a shot. Stefan and Lexi downed theirs while Elowen stood there holding hers. Lexi noticed and gestured to the shot glass. "You gonna drink that?"
Elowen shook her head and handed it over. Lexi shrugged and took the glass. She shot it back in one swift movement.
"Thanks, kid." Lexi patted Elowen on the back. She surged forward, grabbing hold of the pool table as she was swept into a premonition.
Lexi being injected with vervain and being dragged out of The Grill. She fights back against her captors and Sheriff Forbes shoots her with wooden bullets. Lexi is too strong. She starts to approach, however, Damon appears out of nowhere and stakes her.
Stefan put a comforting hand on the small of her back as she came out of the vision, her eyes wild and wide.
"You need to get out of here," she told Lexi. She quickly seized her wrist and started pulling her through the party with so much urgency, it took the older vampire off guard. Lexi actually stumbled a bit before catching herself.
"What's going on?" Stefan asked, though he got no response as Elowen continued her mission. "Elle, hey." He stepped in front of her and took hold of her shoulders to stop her. "What did you see?"
"I'll explain later," Elowen dodged hastily. "First, we have to get Lexi back to the boarding house. Now." She turned to continue pulling Lexi along, but Damon appeared in front of them.
"Leaving so soon?" He asked, pouting down at Elowen.
"Get out of my way," she bit out from behind gritted teeth.
"Where's the fun in that?" He taunted.
"I'm serious, Damon. Move."
"Make me," he provoked lowly, towering over her on purpose. He should've learned by now that he didn't intimidate her.
In a few seconds he would find that to be a mistake (duh) and clutched his head in pain. He tried to be subtle about it, but some of the partygoers still looked over in concern. Elowen waved them off.
"Don't worry, everyone. He's had a bit too much to drink."
With Damon out of the way, Elowen stepped around him and led Lexi to the back door of The Grill.
"Elowen, seriously, what's going on?" Lexi asked, gently pulling her arm from her grip as they reached the exit. "I doubt you'd risk using your magic like that if this weren't serious."
"Please, Lexi, go," Elowen begged, her eyes desperate. "I swear I'll give you an explanation, but now is not the time."
"Lex, listen, if Elowen is this shaken, you should probably to listen to her. Move now, questions later." Stefan stepped in. "Trust me."
Lexi and Stefan stared at one another in silent communication. Finally, Lexi gave in and nodded her head. "Alright. But, you better clue me in later."
"I will. Now go." Elowen opened the back door and watched as Lexi sped off.
"Do you want me to stay?" Stefan asked once she was gone.
Elowen shook her head. "No. I'd feel better if you went with her. Besides, I have to let Jo know where I'm going. I can't just leave him here."
"Okay. I'll see you soon." He gave her a quick kiss on the side of her head and sped after Lexi. She closed the door once they were both gone and sighed with relief.
"I should've known you were gonna foil my plan somehow."
Elowen clenched her jaw in anger at the sound of his voice. She turned to face Damon, fuming. "You were going to kill her."
"Well there's no use in hiding anything from you, now is there?" He rolled his eyes. "Yes, I was going to drive a stake through her heart," he admitted carelessly. "What's your point?"
"My point? You're kidding, right? What did she- Actually, y'know what? Nevermind." She threw her hands up and started to walk away. "You're just upset that I won't get that stupid amulet back from Bonnie, so this is how you were planning on getting back at me. You're such a goddamn child. Good luck finding a witch to help you, jackass."
Damon zoomed in front of her and grabbed her by the arms with a vice grip. "You are going to help me one way or another, whether or not you want to. I'll make sure of it," he threatened.
"Hey! Get the hell away from my sister!"
Damon was knocked slightly forwards and hissed in pain. He released his hold on Elowen and turned to face the culprit. His leather jacket was smoking and there was a slight hole from where Josiah had struck him. Before Damon could cause any more damage, Josiah was ready with another fireball in his hand.
"Take another step and I won't hesitate to turn you to ash."
Damon was silent as he gauged the situation. Finally, he stood up straighter and clenched his jaw. "Fine. I know when I'm not wanted." He maneuvered around Josiah and headed back towards the party. On this way, he discarded his jacket and tossed it in the trash. "I really liked that jacket, too."
Once he was gone, Josiah turned his hand into a fist, extinguishing the fire. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Look, I have to go. Do you mind?"
"No." Josiah shook his head. "I'm sure Caroline can give me a lift. What's going on? I saw you barge in here like your life depended on it."
"Premonition," was her hasty reply. "You should get Caroline out of here, too. The police are about to crash the party."
"Got it. Be careful, alright?"
"When am I not careful?" Elowen asked with a gleam in her eyes.
Josiah shook his head. He gave her a quick hug and then returned to the party. Now with that out of the way, Elowen snuck through the back exit and walked around the building to make it to her car. Sure enough, there were police cars practically surrounding the place. She did her best to climb into the driver's seat unnoticed. For all she knew, they would try to stop her if she was caught.
When she pulled up to the boarding house, Stefan was outside in a second. He pulled her into a tight hug.
"I was getting worried." He pulled back to look Elowen in the face. "What's going on? What did you see?"
Lexi and Vicki were outside now, too. Elowen swallowed. Now that it was time for her to say it, and she had a crowd nonetheless, she grew nervous.
"Lexi…. Dying," she answered carefully. She didn't take pleasure in saying that outloud.
"What?" Stefan blurted in disbelief.
"Damon-"
"Of course he was behind this!" He exploded, not giving her time to explain. Elowen flinched back at his outburst; she didn't do well with yelling. Lexi, noticing this, immediately jumped into action and grabbed onto either side of Stefan's arms.
"Hey! Hey, you need to breathe."
"No! Don't you see?" Stefan threw Lexi's hands off of him and stepped away. "He killed Zach. He killed Tanner. He was going to kill you! No more. I have to kill him."
"No! Stefan, listen to me!"
"Why are you defending him?!" Stefan burst; he was nearly at screaming volume. Again, Elowen recoiled. Vicki came over to try and comfort her. Elowen had even gone as far as putting her hands over to ears to try and block out his yelling. "Lexi, he's never gonna change!"
"I am not defending him!"
Stefan shook his head and started for the boarding house. "I have to end this."
Lexi, running out of options, did the only thing she could think of. She slapped him. "Listen to yourself, Stefan! This isn't who you are! I'm trying to save you, not him. You have no idea what killing him will do to you. Think about this. Really think about it." Her gaze briefly flashed towards Elowen. "And think about how this is affecting her, too."
Stefan turned and looked at Elowen. She was rocking against Vicki and whispering to herself.
"I'm hiding in the closet, I'm hiding in the closet, I'm hiding in the closet," was the mantra she kept repeating.
Stefan stayed silent as he watched her. Mentally, he was beating himself up. He caused that? He triggered a PTSD attack? He wanted to go over and help console her, but thought it might be a bad idea. It looked as if, maybe, he really was stopping for a second to think. Seeing Elowen's state of mind must've been a wake up call.
"Lexi, you need to leave town. Tonight," came a very quiet, very hoarse voice that broke the silence.
Everyone's attention went straight towards the source of the voice. Elowen was still leaning onto Vicki for support, but she wasn't plugging her ears anymore and her murmuring stopped.
Her eyes flickered to Vicki. "And take Vic with you. She needs to go under the radar for awhile."
Lexi nodded. She turned and nodded her head towards the house. "C'mon. Let's go get ready."
Vicki gently pulled away from Elowen and looked for confirmation that is was okay to leave her on her own. Elowen nodded. Vicki stepped away and followed Lexi inside, leaving Stefan and Elowen alone.
Elowen took a cautious step towards Stefan. Her heart rate was still beating faster than normal, but it was slowly coming back down the more she tried to ground herself. "Stef? Are you okay?"
"I think you should go home."
"Oh." She blinked. Truthfully, she was a little hurt. It might've been because she was still sensitive from her panic attack, or maybe she just felt like he was pushing her away. Either way, she cleared her throat and tried to act like she was fine.
"Um, okay. You're probably right. Uh.. see you later, I guess." Elowen awkwardly backed up and headed over to her car. When she looked back through her windshield, Stefan was gone. Dejected, she pulled out of the driveway and left.
By the time she got home, she wanted nothing more than to go to bed, which is exactly what she did. When she plopped on her bed, the gleam of the amethyst amulet caught her eye. On impulse, she grabbed the crystal and put it around her neck.
Elowen was running blindly through the woods, unsure of what she was running from. All she knew was that she needed to get away. She came to a clearing, revealing the old ruins of a church nearby. Confused and out of breath, she turned and attempted to leave. Instead, she came face to face with none other than Esperanza Ramirez.
"Be careful, little one. It's coming," she ominously warned.
"What?" Elowen asked hurriedly. "What's coming?" She kept looking over her shoulder. This place gave her a bad feeling and it almost felt like she was being watched. Like something was about to jump out at her any second.
"You'll find out soon enough. It's time to wake up now."
Elowen shot up with a loud gasp. She found herself in the middle of the woods near the church from her dreams. That wasn't even the weirdest part. A few feet away from her was Bonnie, who looked even more lost than she did.
"Elowen?!" She exclaimed when she saw her. "What the hell is going on here?"
Slowly, Elowen shook her head. "I don't know, Bon. I really don't know."