"It's really nice to have a guy not go running for the hills the second he finds out I'm a mother of two teenagers at age 33," Esmeralda was telling Alaric, taking a sip of her punch. "You're so…. Calm whenever I talk about them."

Alaric shrugged. "Eh, it's the least I can do, considering you weren't put off when you found out my wife is dead. Seems like a fair trade to me."

Esmeralda gave a sad, sympathetic smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right…. I'm sure the hardest part is not knowing what actually happened to her, huh?"

Alaric nodded, looking down at the ground. Esmeralda grimaced a little.

"Is it alright to talk about her?" She asked. The last thing she wanted to do with accidentally cross a line she shouldn't have. Alaric shrugged.

"There's not a lot to talk about."

Esmeralda sighed, beginning to feel his sorrow in the pit of her stomach. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Well, if you ever need someone to talk to about it, I'm right here. It won't make me feel weird, I promise."

Alaric managed a smile, albeit a bit rueful. "If that's the case," he started jokingly. They both gave a small laugh. The next second, Ric's face suddenly got serious. "I would be lying if I said it didn't keep me up at night. Wondering why, by who."

"Maybe one day, you'll find out the truth."

"I hope so."

"Where did Bonnie go?" Elowen asked as her, Stefan and Elena approached Damon, Josiah and Caroline.

"Dunno, why don't you ask him?" Josiah nodded his head towards Damon, who narrowed his eyes. Caroline bit on her tongue to hold back a laugh.

"Fyi, I was perfectly polite," Damon told Elowen. He held out a hand. "Would you like to dance?"

"I would love to." Elowen gave him a sickeningly sweet smile and turned to Stefan. "Stefan?" She offered her hand, which Stefan took hold of and lead her to the dance floor. Caroline couldn't hold it in anymore and let out a single, loud laugh. Josiah elbowed her, but snickered a bit himself. Damon glowered at the both of them. Caroline covered her mouth and pointed a thumb in the direction of the dance floor, then pulled Josiah away. They started giggling amongst themselves before they were completely gone.

Damon rolled his eyes and turned to Elena. He raised his eyebrows and offered her his hand instead. Elena crossed her arms and ignored him. Damon scoffed and dropped his hand back to his side.

"Really?"

Elena didn't budge.

"Fine, suit yourself." Damon made to leave, but, realizing that meant she'd be left alone with a vampire intent on killing her on the loose, quickly grabbed onto his jacket sleeve.

"Wait." She waited until he came to a stop. "Humor me."

Damon grinned and once again held out his hand. This time, Elena took it and allowed him to take her to the dance floor.

"Please tell me there are pictures of you from the 50s," Elowen begged. Her and Stefan were swayed to the music playing, both of them looking over the other's shoulder for anyone suspicious.

"Nope. Burned. Buried."

"Darn," she feigned disappointment. "I wanted to see what you looked like with a pompadour."

Stefan winced, making a face. "Not one of our best trends."

"Segregation wasn't a good one, either."

"Or McCarthyism. Or the nuclear arms race," Stefan provided. Elowen shook her head.

"God, we really need to stop romanticizing shitty eras."

"You can say that again. I'm just glad that decade is far behind me."

Elowen gave him a devilish smile. "You're still teaching me the jitterbug, though."

Stefan quickly shook his head. "No. Not gonna happen."

Elowen pouted at him and smooshed her face on his shoulder. "You're no fun," she mumbled into his jacket. She lifted her head to find Damon and Elena (semi awkwardly) dancing a few feet away from them. "Maybe I'll ask Damon instead."

"Very funny," Stefan sarcastically drawled. "I guess I can try to… loosen up a bit."

"Swear on it."

Stefan chuckled, shaking his head. "I swear."

Elena had eventually pried herself away from Damon and made her way off the dance floor. She found Caroline and Josiah, who were hanging around one of the tables with cups of punch. They were laughing about Josiah's slight inability to dance ("You have two left feet!" / "Hey! At least I have rhythm!") before they noticed her.

"You look like you need this more than I do." Josiah handed her his (untouched) cup of punch. Elena chugged it in seconds.

"Whoa, you alright?" Caroline asked. Elena sighed and refilled her cup.

"I'm just stressed."

Before Caroline could ask her to elaborate, Jeremy made his way through the crowd.

"Dude, you remember that girl from the library, right?" He asked, coming to a stop near Josiah.

"Uhh, yeah. Anna?"

Jeremy nodded. "Yeah. She's here."

Josiah's eyebrows crinkled together. "What? Why? I thought she said she was homeschooled."

"She is, but she's like, obsessed with me, or something and followed me here." Jeremy looked over his shoulder, as if he were on the lookout for her. "She's being weird."

"Weird how?" Josiah asked.

"She kept pressuring me to give her that stupid journal. Freaked out when I told her I didn't have it. Her eye did this… thing and then she left." Jeremy looked over his shoulder again, as if making sure she wasn't still in the crowd somewhere.

"Wait. Her eye?" Elena inquired. "What did it do?"

"How should I know?" Jeremy shrugged. "It looked like there was something in it. Look, that's not why I came over here." He shook his head. "Can you stick by my punch bowl in case she comes back or something?" He asked, directing his question to Josiah.

"Sure…..?" Josiah looked to Caroline, who nodded. "We'll just, dance over there or whatever."

"Thank god. C'mon." Jeremy nodded his head towards the crowd and the three of them made their way through the floor, back to where Jeremy was working. Elena was left to her own devices, choosing to people watch.

"D'you think he's gonna show?" Elowen asked. Her and Stefan were still swaying to the music on the dance floor.

"It's hard to say," replied Stefan. "But I do know that we didn't do all this dancing for nothing."

"You're damn right we didn't," laughed Elowen. As the current song came to an end, a much more upbeat tune filled the speakers. She grinned up at the music and started to swivel her hips. "You said you'd loosen up, so prove it!"

Stefan gave a big, dramatic sigh, but complied. He grabbed her hands and together, they started to do the twist.

"C'mon, you can do better than that!" Elowen egged on. "I know you picked up more than just the twist."

Before she could process what was happening, Stefan spun her out and then back in. Once she was back in his arms, he lifted her in the air and dipped her down on one side, then the other. When he was finished, he held her in the dip, smirking down at her as she looked up, absolutely shocked.

"How was that for loosening up?" He asked as he set her back on her feet. She shook her head in disbelief. Before she can answer, Elena came rushing up to them, a look of terror in her eyes.

"He's here," she frantically told them. "Back corner."

"Get Damon," Stefan ordered, pushing through the crowd to go after him. Elowen tried to reach for his arm, but he was already gone. Instead, she turned and pulled Elena close to her.

"Stay close. That was a trap for Stefan to leave you alone."

"We should find Damon," Elena said shakily. Elowen shook her head.

"Damon can protect himself. It's Jeremy we need to worry about."

Elowen took hold of Elena's wrist and, as fast as she could, made her way through the crowd to the punch bowl Jeremy was working. They made it about halfway when suddenly, two students came out of nowhere and sandwiched Elowen in between them, preventing her from moving any farther. As she tried her best to fight her way out of their hold, Elena's phone rang.

"Don't answer it!" Elowen yelled over the loud music, but the second she spoke, the two students started dragging her away. "Elena!"

"Elowen!" Elena shouted, trying to chase after her. The crowd got too dense and soon, she was left on her own. Breathing heavy and on the verge of a panic attack, Elena answered her phone.

"Hello, Elena," The vampire's voice rang through the line, causing her heart to race. "Your witch friend was smarter than I was expecting. Had to compel some kids to take care of her."

Elena, beginning to feel suffocated on the dance floor, fought her way out and did her best to breathe.

"Here's what you're going to do. There's an exit door behind you. You have five seconds."

She mustered up as much courage as she could to reply. "No," she bit out, keeping her voice as stable as she could.

"Or your brother dies."

Elena's blood ran cold. She hurriedly looked around for the vampire's whereabouts and spotted him standing a few feet away from Jeremy. Elena's eyes flickered to Josiah, who was laughing with Caroline nearby. If she could just get his attention….

"Don't even think about it," he cut in. "I can snap his neck before witch #2 can do anything. Now start walking."

Meanwhile, Elowen was still lost in the crowd.

"Stefan!" She called out. "Damon!" At this point, she didn't care who came to her rescue, all she knew was that she didn't want to hurt the two innocent male students. The more she tried to struggle, the tighter their grip got. She could vaguely feel blood dripping down her arms from their nails digging into her skin.

"Someone help! Please!"

The music must've been too loud for anyone to hear her and the students around them must've thought they were dancing together, because almost nobody glanced her way. Finally, both students were pulled off of her and Stefan swooped in to look over her arms.

"Where's Elena?" Damon asked, his eyes scanning their surroundings.

"I don't-" Elowen started to say, but she stopped mid sentence. "Cafeteria. Come on!" She pushed Stefan's hands away from her and shoved her way out of the crowd.

They made it to the cafeteria in the knick of time. Stefan sped forward, ripped the vampire away from Elena and threw him across the room. Elowen ran towards Elena and pushed her out of the way, shielding her from the vampire, who got up from the floor.

"Hey, dickhead." Damon gained his attention. "Nobody wants to kill you. We just wanna talk." A sadistic smile crossed his lips and instead, he zoomed back towards Elena. Elowen's arm shot out just in time, because he stopped and doubled over in pain a couple feet in front of her. It gave Stefan enough time to catch the makeshift stake Damon tossed him and stake it into his stomach. He fell to his knees.

"Now you feel like talkin'?" Stefan asked, leaning over the vampire. Elowen released her hold on him just enough for him to talk, but kept the spell intact.

"Screw you," he snapped, doing his best to mask his pain. Stefan dug the stake deeper into his stomach, this time causing his face to contort.

"Wrong answer. Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's fun."

Another dig of the stake. Elowen increased the spell a little, too, to get the point across. The vampire grunted, his teeth clenched together, at the influx of pain.

"The longer you take to answer, the stronger the spell gets. Start talking," Elowen advised, careful not to break her focus.

"She… looks like Katherine," he managed to splutter out. Elena backed further behind Elowen at this answer. Stefan glanced back at Elowen, remembering how she had suggested the same thing earlier that day. Damon, however, was the most surprised.

"You knew Katherine?" He asked in disbelief. The vampire managed a scoff, or at least, something that sounded like one.

"You thought you were the only ones?"

Damon scowled. He towered over the vampire and grabbed him by his shirt. "Tell me how to get into the tomb," he demanded.

"No."

Once again, Stefan plunged the stake deeper into his gut.

"Emily's grimoire," he gasped.

"Where is it?"

At no immediate reply, Stefan pushed the stake farther in, but this time angled it upwards towards his heart. Elowen closed the palm of her hand, sending the most powerful stream of the spell she could towards him. The vampire screamed, doubling over in pain against Stefan.

"Check the journal! The journal! Jonathan's journal. Jonathan Gilbert's."

Stefan looked back at Elowen. There was a stream of blood running from her nose due to the amount of power she was using. Wanting to finish this up so she could recover, Stefan quickly moved on.

"Who else is working with you?" Stefan interrogated, keeping extra pressure on his weapon. In too much pain to say anything, the vampire opted for shaking his head. Damon crouched down.

"We're gonna ask one more time. Who else is there?"

Again, he shook his head. Damon sighed, disappointed. He nodded at Stefan, signaling that they were done and stood. Stefan nodded back in confirmation and shot a brief look Elowen's way to warn her. The second she knew what was happening, she dropped the spell, grabbed Elena and turned them both away. While it wasn't exactly the same, she knew that if she witnessed him getting staked, she would get flashbacks to Tanner's death. It wasn't until she heard the body crumple to the floor that she dared to look back. Elena still gaped in shock at the vampire's dead body.

"What do we… how are we gonna find the others now?" She asked.

"He had to die," Damon replied.

"But…."

"Elena," Elowen cut in. "He was invited in. We had no choice."

After Stefan disposed of the body, Damon took care of Alaric, and Elena was safely back in the gym, Elowen, Stefan and Damon all crashed in the hallway. Stefan and Damon were leaning against a doorway, but Elowen was sitting against the lockers.

"There's no way that idiot was working alone," Damon said.

Elowen shook her head. "He wasn't. Elena mentioned there was a girl asking Jeremy for the journal. Apparently, she 'had something wrong with her eye'."

"You catch her name?"

"Nope."

"Well that's a bust."

"Something doesn't add up, though," Elowen mused. "He only mentioned Emily's grimoire, but there were two crystals. I don't think he had all the pieces." She ran her hands over her face and tangled them in her hair. "God, I don't know why I didn't think of that. Of course there would've been a loophole spell in their grimoires."

"My offer still stands," Stefan spoke up.

Elowen looked up, quizzically. Damon looked down at her and filled her in.

"Your boyfriend offered to help me open the tomb." He crossed his arms and looked back to Stefan. "With some hidden caveats, no doubt."

"No," Stefan shook his head. "Nothing hidden about it. No lies. No deception. I'm there when you open that tomb. You and Katherine go, and the other 26 vampires die."

"If I agree?"

"I'll help you."

"Me, too." Elowen pushed herself onto her feet. "You can count me in."

Stefan stared at Elowen. He could tell she was serious about helping Damon, but he wasn't. Damnit. There was no way she'd follow his plan now.

"See, the thing is, I trust you." Damon pointed at Elowen. "However, I don't trust him." He pointed at Stefan. "Give me one good reason why I should."

"I'm your brother."

"Yeah, that's not gonna cut it."

"Because I want you gone."

Damon blinked, thinking it over. Seeing it as a solid reason, he nodded. "Fair enough." He offered his arm to Elowen, turning away from Stefan. "Now, let's get you home."

Stefan stood up straight. Damon tsked.

"Calm down. I'm not gonna hurt her. Go check on Elena, or something."

Stefan's eyes flickered to Elowen. She nodded. Stefan pushed himself off of the doorsill and started heading down the corridor. He decided that if Elowen wasn't gonna be able to help with his plan, then he'd ask Elena instead. He spotted her inside the gym and headed for her.

"I can drive my own car, y'know."

"I know," Damon said as he parked her car in front of her house. Elowen rolled her eyes and got out. Damon walked her up the steps.

"Did you need something, or are you just being annoying?" She asked once they reached the door. Damon stopped in front of her and sighed.

"Thank you," he said after a long pause. Elowen tilted her head.

"What for?"

"For agreeing to help me. For sure, this time."

Elowen gave him a lopsided smile. "You loved her. She sounds like a terrible person, but so are you. You deserve each other." The two of them laughed at the jab. "Goodnight, Damon."

"Night, Wen. I can call you that, right? It's not Elle."

"Goodnight, Damon," she repeated, ignoring his question and instead heading inside.

Damon chuckled to himself.

"Goodnight."