Elowen laid on her bed, staring emotionlessly at the ceiling.

Shortly after they had completed the spell at the tomb, Sheila passed away. The spell had been too powerful for someone her age and she couldn't handle the power. Bonnie had confronted her after the funeral.

"This is all your fault!" She had said. "If you had just told us Katherine wasn't in there, we wouldn't have done the spell and Grams would still be alive! She's dead because of you."

Needless to say, Bonnie's words had gotten to Elowen. She practically forced the rest of them to do the spell. She pushed through even though she knew Katherine was gone. She had been selfish and it resulted in someone dying.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about it.

There was a knock on her door and she quickly wiped around her eyes.

"Come in."

It was Esmeralda, followed by Elena. Elowen sat up. Elena was the last person she was expecting.

"Hey…" Elena awkwardly greeted. "Um, sorry for barging in like this."

"No, no," Elowen shook her head. "What's up?"

"Well… You remember how Stefan told me I was adopted?"

"Yeah?"

Elowen was confused as to why Elena would come to her with this.

"Originally, I was just coming to tell you that my aunt Jenna found an address to an old friend of my birth mom. But…." She trailed off, glancing at Esmeralda, who took over.

"Elena filled me in, and, I know this is could be a reach, but…. Ric told me that his wife was named Isobel. She was from around here."

Elowen tilted her head, a little lost. "What does Mr. Saltzman's wife have to do with this?"

"My birth mom's name is Isobel."

Elowen's eyebrows shot up in shock as she stared at Elena and her mom.

"So you're saying that Alaric's wife might've been your mother?"

Elowen had called Stefan when she'd heard the revelation and they were all now sitting in the kitchen. Elena nodded.

"But it can't be true, right? The coincidence alone is just crazy." Elena looked to Elowen. "Can you tell?"

Elowen shook her head. "No. It doesn't work that way."

Elena sighed. She held up the note with Trudie's address.

"You wanna talk to her," Stefan guessed.

"I don't know." Elena shrugged. "I… I- I really don't know. If it's true and they are the same person, then that means my birth mother is dead and I don't know if I can handle that."

As Stefan and Elena continued to talk, Elowen felt her phone buzz in her pocket. For a second, her heart jumped to her throat. What if it was Bonnie?

Her anxiety died down when she saw it was just Damon.

Where's my favorite little witch? I'm lonely :(

"Well, guess I should go check on someone's brother." She cast a glance at Stefan, wiggling her phone in front of him. Stefan took the phone from her and frowned down at the message.

"What would he want with you?"

"I dunno." She shrugged. "He sees me as a friend and I'd like to keep it that way. Come on."

Stefan flipped the light on in the room Damon was in. There were sorority girls surrounding him, all covered in bites. Damon, squinting, looked up at the doorway and groaned when he saw Stefan.

"No! Buzzkill Bob."

However, when Elowen trailed in behind him, a lazy, lopsided grin appeared on his face. "Ah, there's my little witch. Get rid of the party pooper, will you?"

Stefan rolled his eyes and shut the music off. Damon pouted slightly at Elowen.

"Siding with Mr. Brooder? No fair."

It registered that Stefan was asking Damon if he could talk, but Elowen wasn't exactly paying attention. She was still out of it from earlier, so instead she followed them to the corner of the room and crashed on the chair next to the shelf of books.

It wasn't until Stefan was gone that Damon came back over.

"So, wanna tell me why Stefan is suddenly asking about a woman I may or may have not killed?"

"Some stupid coincidence that I'm pretty sure isn't even real," she answered, feeling slightly detached from the conversation. "Don't worry about it."

"'S up with you?" Damon asked, coming to sit on the arm of the chair she was in. Elowen eyed the bottle of booze he had in his lap. Even though Damon wasn't in the most lucid state of mind, he could tell something must be wrong if she were thinking about drinking again. He slowly edged the bottle out of her reach and set it on the small coffee table nearby. Elowen glanced at the compelled sorority girls that were milling about the room.

"Don't worry about them. They won't remember anything you say in the next few hours," Damon reassured. "Now spill. What's wrong?"

"I killed Bonnie's Grams, didn't I?" She asked softly, looking up at Damon. Her eyes glossed over with unshed tears. "She's dead because of me."

"No, no, no." Damon got down on one knee in front of her, placing his hands on top of hers. "If there's anyone to blame, it's me. I killed her. I'm the one who wanted the tomb open. Nobody would've ever performed that spell if it weren't for me." He reached up and wiped a lone tear from her cheek. "Understand?"

Reluctantly, she nodded her head. Damon pulled her to her feet.

"Come on. You need to let loose." He walked over to the speakers and turned the music back on. "Let's dance!"

He bounced back over to her and took hold of her arms, swinging them around to make her dance with him. When her arms stayed limp, he started making her hit herself. That didn't work, so he made her hands stretch his face into weird expressions instead. Finally, she cracked a smile.

"There is it!" He shook her arms around in celebration. "Now," he tugged her over to the open floor, "I won't let you leave until you're feeling better about yourself. Chop, chop!"

Esmeralda and Alaric were outside The Grill, hanging up a banner for the fundraiser later that night.

"Don't you think this whole thing is…. I don't know, weird?" Alaric asked. "I'm being auctioned off like some Disney cruise."

Esmeralda shrugged. "In my year living here, I've learned that getting roped into these things is like a rite of passage. When we first moved here, I was asked to participate in a career fair. I really didn't have a choice."

Alaric chuckled. He finished his side of the banner and moved over to help Esmeralda get her side done. When it was properly hung, Esmeralda gave him a smile as a thanks. The smile faded a bit as she stared into his eyes. Alaric took this opportunity and leaned in, planting a kiss on her lips.

Her power kicked in and she sensed that while he liked her, part of him was wishing she were Isobel. Esmeralda pulled back, biting her lip. Being reminded of Isobel made her think of earlier this morning.

"Ah, sorry," Alaric apologized, taking her silence as a bad sign. "Too soon?"

She shook her head. "No, it's not that…. Okay, this is gonna sound really weird, but…. Did Isobel have any kids before she met you?"

Alaric blinked, taken off guard by the unexpected question. He shook his head. "No. There's no way. Why the sudden curiosity?"

"Well, it's just… Elena, Jeremy's sister, recently found out she was adopted. I know it's probably just a weird similarity, but her birth mom was named Isobel."

Alaric's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh, wow. Yeah, that is pretty…. Freaky."

"You're sure she never had a baby?" Esmeralda tried again. She could already feel in the pit of her stomach that he was sure, but she asked anyway.

"Positive. I think I'd know if my wife was a mother."

Esmeralda nodded, sighing. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and pulled up the picture of Isobel. "Maybe you could still help us find her, though. Elena sent me this earlier. She figured having a face to the name would help."

She handed Alaric the phone. Almost instantly, his face went slack, his eyes alarmed as he stared at the picture. He shook his head in disbelief.

"This…. This can't be right. This is my Isobel." He gulped. "Sh- She never told me," he said after a long pause. He handed Esmeralda her phone back. "I'm… uh, I'm gonna go. Yeah, I'm gonna- gonna go. Sorry." Alaric awkwardly walked off, retreating the scene.

Esmeralda heavily sighed. At least they knew for sure now that Elena's Isobel and Alaric's Isobel were the same person.

Elowen received a text from Alaric that made her double-take. She had forgotten they'd exchanged numbers that night at the school, when he gave Stefan a copy of Jeremy's journal.

Meet me at town square. It's urgent.

Damon whined loudly when she announced she had to leave.

"You're gonna leave me alone with the Tri-Delts?"

"Don't act like you weren't having fun with them before I showed up."

"Yeah, but not as much fun. Blow whoever that was off."

"Can't. It's important."

She actually wasn't sure if it was, but considering Alaric said it was urgent, it probably was. Damon pouted. She rolled her eyes and left the library. Damon followed her.

"Look, I'll see you later. Chill out." She patted him on the head and opened the front door. Damon squinted at the light that poured into the room and stepped back into the shadows. She shook her head. "You should try getting out more. It's a lotta fun."

Damon rolled his eyes at her as she closed the door behind herself.

"Whatever, little witch," he grumbled to himself. "Go have your fun! I'll stay here and…. Drink all the bourbon by myself." He cast a glare at the now closed front door and wandered back to the library. "Alright, ladies. Guess you've got me all to yourselves yet again."

Stefan was already waiting in the square when Elowen arrived. Alaric walked up to them shortly after.

"Thanks for coming, guys. Something came up."

Elowen's eyes widened ever so slightly. "Oh my god," she breathed. "It's true. Your wife is Elena's birth mom."

Alaric looked a bit uncomfortable, but nodded in confirmation anyway. How did she keep doing that? "What does Elena know?"

"She knows about the supernatural world, if that's what you're asking," Elowen answered. "She knows about Stefan and Damon. And-" She stopped herself when she realized she was about to out herself to Alaric. It's bad enough Josiah wasn't able to tell Caroline on his own terms.

"And she knows that you know about us," Stefan cut in, saving Elowen from an unnecessary questioning. She cast him a thankful side eye.

"What about Damon and Isobel?"

Stefan and Elowen shared an uneasy look. Alaric seemed to understand the cue.

"You didn't tell her."

"No." Elowen shook her head. "She didn't find out about Isobel until this morning. I didn't think it was appropriate to tell her that her possible birth mom was supposedly killed by Damon."

"Supposedly?" Alaric questioned. "I saw Damon kill her."

"And I said I'd help you. But think about it, Mr. Saltzman-"

"Ric," Alaric interrupted. "You can just call me Ric."

"Ric," Elowen corrected. "Her body was never found. What if….. Damon didn't kill her?"

Stefan tilted his head as he registered what she was saying. "Wait a minute… you think…..?"

Elowen gave a long shrug. "It's a possibility, isn't it?"

"What? What's a possibility? What are you two not telling me?" Alaric pressed, eyeing them down. Elowen sighed, crossing her arms.

"You mean, after all this time, no other theories regarding her 'death' crossed your mind?"

Alaric shook his head uncertainly. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying…. Damon might have turned her."

"No. No way," Alaric denied immediately. "She wouldn't have left me like this. Can't you just ask Damon? That's what you meant by helping, isn't it?"

"I tried asking him about Isobel this morning without saying too much. He doesn't remember," said Stefan.

"He still got suspicious, though," Elowen informed Stefan. "Asked me what it was about after you left."

"Just ask him again," Alaric quickly said.

"Didn't you hear me?" Elowen asked. "He's already suspecting something. Besides, he's not stable right now. It's not safe."

"Y'know, he murdered my wife, or at the very least made a meal out of her. When has he ever been stable?"

Stefan stepped forward to intervene, but Elowen put her hand out to stop him. "Ric, you've got to trust me. Asking Damon is not the way I plan on helping you." Alaric furrowed his eyebrows together, confused at this. How else was she supposed to help? "I'm not telling you to forget about it. I'm telling you that we need to switch gears. You still have her things, right? I need something that belonged to her. Something personal. I know it's a weird request, but, like I said, you've gotta trust me."

Alaric sighed and dug his hand into his jacket pocket. He retrieved his wallet and pulled out a picture of Isobel. He handed it over to Elowen.

"Will this work?"

Elowen took the picture in between her fingers and waited a few moments.

"Anything?" Stefan asked quietly, but Elowen just shook her head.

"No. I need something more personal than this. An article of clothing or a piece of jewelry."

Alaric still wasn't sure what was going on, but he was desperate. "I'll see what I can do. But no promises."

Later on that day, Elowen found herself back at the boarding house. Her and Stefan were going to the fundraiser tonight because her mom asked them to come (since she was going with Alaric). The sorority girls were gone, thank god. She situated herself in Stefan's room, waiting for Stefan to finish up his hunt in the woods out back. Just as she fell backwards on his bed, Damon sauntered out of the bathroom without a shirt.

"Did you know that I'm one of Mystic Falls' most eligible bachelors?" He asked casually, plucking a shirt off the nightstand.

"I told you I'd see you later," Elowen replied, sitting up. Damon narrowed his eyes at her.

"Of course you knew." He rolled his eyes and put the button down on. Elena knocked on the door, gaining both of their attention.

"Hey…." she greeted softly. "Where's Stefan?"

"Out back. What's up?" Elowen asked.

Damon, most likely just pretending, struggled with the buttons on his shirt. He lolled his head to the side and pouted down at Elowen. "Help a guy out? I can't get these." Elowen sighed deeply and beckoned him over with her finger. Damon smirked and came to stand in between her legs so she could button it up.

"Um.." Elena awkwardly cleared her throat. "So, I, uhh… Found out who my birth mother is."

Elowen knitted her eyebrows, but still continued working on Damon's shirt. Damon, on the other hand, made a sound of disgust. "Who cares?"

Elena's face dropped, hurt in her eyes. Damon glanced at her from the corner of his eyes.

"She left you. She sucks."

Elowen was just finishing up with Damon's shirt when she heard footsteps approaching. Looking over, she saw Stefan standing in the doorway.

"Welcome back, stranger."

Damon back away and allowed Elowen to stand. He grabbed his jacket and started to put it on, but groaned when he realized it was too small.

"Ugh. I need a bigger jacket. Y'know, an occasional sorority girl might, uh, help fill you out a bit." He shot his signature smirk in Elowen's direction. "Or, you could put your girlfriend to use. I'm sure she wouldn't mind." He tossed the jacket on the bed and started to leave the room, but stopped when he reached Stefan. "She tastes divine by the way."

Elena shook her head once he left the room. "He's fine."

"He's not," Elowen shot back. She recognized the behavior from when Josiah used to act similarly.

"He's Damon." Stefan cut in to diffuse the situation.

It was quiet for a moment.

"So… I went to see Trudie Peterson," Elena said at last. Stefan's face became serious. Elowen did her best to remember that conversation from this morning. She'd been so out of it that she didn't even remember half of the things she had said today.

"I know," sighed Elena when she saw the look Stefan gave her. "I'm sorry. I didn't plan it."

Elowen suddenly started to feel the way she felt this morning and once again felt disconnected from the conversation. It didn't matter that Damon had tried to reassure her. It was her fault. Stefan had just convinced Elena to hold off on talking to Alaric when he noticed Elowen staring at the ground, eyes unfocused and seemingly lost in thought. He nodded at Elena, telling her to go on without them. Once she was gone, he carefully approached his girlfriend.

"Elle?" He called out softly, setting a gentle hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly and jolted out of her stupor.

"Hmm?" She blinked, glancing around the room. "What happened? Where's Elena?"

"She left a couple of minutes ago…." He explained slowly. He brought his other hand over and set it on her opposite shoulder. "Are you okay? You've been a bit standoffish today."

Elowen broke down then and there. She couldn't stop the tears from flowing this time. Hazily, she was aware of Stefan pulling her into his embrace as she sobbed into his neck.

"It- It's my fault," she wept. "Sheila… she's- she's dead, Stefan, and it's all my fault. I killed her."

"What? No, no, no, no, no. Where did you get that idea?"

"Bonnie said so," she sniffed. "At the funeral. She's right, isn't she?"

Stefan pulled back and placed his hands on either side of her face. "No," he stated, voice assertive and firm. "You did not kill Sheila. The spell did."

"The spell that I made her do!" Elowen exploded, pushing Stefan away. "Why doesn't anyone get that? I was gonna do it myself and she gave in because of me!"

Stefan held his hands in front of himself, showing her that he wasn't against her. Slowly, he tried approaching her again. "Elle…. She made the choice to help you. You didn't make her do anything unwillingly. It's not anyone's fault. It was just her time."

Another wave of tears hit Elowen. Her head hurt from sobbing so hard and she could feel snot pouring from her nose. Stefan took this chance to wrap his arms around her again, holding her as she cried.

"She's dead," she hiccuped. "Sh-She's really dead."

"I know. I know," Stefan cooed in her ear, rubbing circles on her back. "Ssshhhh, just breathe. It'll be okay. Breathe."

A few minutes later, Stefan walked downstairs where Damon was putting a different jacket on. He heard his footsteps and smirked.

"Where'd our girlfriend go?"

"She uhh… she needed a moment to herself." Stefan cleared his throat. Damon furrowed his eyebrows and used his enhanced hearing to listen out for her. He heard sniffling and uneven deep breaths a moment later.

"It was about Sheila, wasn't it?" Damon guessed, turning around to meet Stefan's surprised expression. He shrugged. "She might've mentioned something earlier. I did my best to get her mind off of it. Guess it didn't work."

Stefan gave a long sigh. There was a pause between them. Stefan reached into his pocket and pulled out the picture of Isobel that Alaric had given him earlier. Just before he could show it to Damon, Elowen's soft footsteps sounded behind them. Damon spotted her over Stefan's shoulder and shot her his usual smug grin.

"There she is! You comin'? The Real Housewives of Mystic Falls await." He hoped humor would cheer her up a bit, but all he got was a small, forced half smile. His own smile dropped when he realized how serious the situation was. Her eyes were swollen and bloodshot and her nose was red. She still had tear streaks staining her cheeks, too. Stefan hastily stuffed the picture back into his pocket (not without Damon catching a glimpse of it, though) and walked over to her.

"Hey," he greeted softly, cupping her face. "Feelin' any better?"

"Yeah," was her weak reply. Stefan nodded and pulled her in for another hug. She pulled back and met eyes with Damon. She gestured her head towards the door and held out her arm, her other hand grabbing hold of Stefan's. Wordlessly, Damon looped his arm through hers and together, the three of them left the boarding house.

Thankfully, Elowen had makeup in her car that she was able to use to hide the evidence of crying. When they arrived at The Grill, her mom, Caroline, Josiah, Elena and Alaric were already there.

"Oh my god, Elle!" Caroline quickly waved her over when she caught sight of her. "Your brother has been hit on, like, 35 fives. He's total cougar bait." She laughed.

Josiah groaned loudly. "Stop telling people that! It's embarrassing."

"Aww, wittle Joey is embarrassed," Elowen said in a baby voice, her hands coming up to pinch Josiah's cheeks. He quickly pulled her hands off of him, scowling. "Oh, knock it off. If I'm not there to talk shit, someone's gotta do it. Who's better suited for that than your girlfriend?"

Caroline beamed, causing Josiah to pout. Elowen smiled, but pointed over her shoulder. "I'm gonna go sit down." She retreated pretty fast and grabbed an empty table. Damon had already gone his separate ways and Stefan had gone to talk to Elena, so for now, she was by herself. To pass time, she rested her head on the table and shut her eyes. If she managed to fall asleep, then she wouldn't have to deal with anything.

"Psst. Wake up." Damon prodded her shoulder a couple of seconds later. Elowen lifted her head and for a moment, Damon had to pause. She looked…. Empty. This Sheila thing was hitting her much deeper than he'd initially thought.

"What?" She tiredly asked. Damon took a seat across from her.

"I had Sheriff Forbes do a background check on your new history teacher." At her questioning expression, he quickly elaborated. "I don't trust him. Anyway, you know that coincidence you were talking about earlier? What does his wife got to do with that?"

"What?" She blurted, caught off guard.

"Liz told me he had a wife named Isobel. Stefan asked me about a woman also named Isobel this morning." He quirked an eyebrow. "You said not to worry about it. If it's not that big a deal, you can fill me in."

Elowen opened her mouth to reply, but Carol came over and interrupted her. "Damon, we're about to get started. We need you on stage."

Damon cast Elowen one last look before he got up and followed Carol to the stage. Elowen, not in the right state of mind to deal with this at the moment, got up and quickly exited the building. Stefan noticed her rush out from his spot next to Elena and got up to follow her. She was pacing back and forth and breathing heavy when he caught up to her.

"What's wrong?"

"Damon knows."

"Knows what?"

"About Isobel. Or at least that she's Ric's wife. He was asking me about it and I just- I can't deal with this right now!" She raised her voice. Feeling overwhelmed, she felt another wave of tears try to break through. "Goddammit!" She screamed, frustrated. She was done with crying today. In a fit of irritation, she turned and kicked the wall. She hissed in pain once her foot made contact.

Stefan tried to step forward to help her, but she pushed him away. "Look, just go back in there and do damage control. Damon's gonna do something, I know it. I'll meet you back at the boarding house or something." She wiped the fresh batch of tears off of her face and limped back towards her car. Stefan watched as she left, then walked back into The Grill when he saw her safely leave the parking lot.

It was a miracle she had made it back to the boarding house at all. She was a wreck of emotions today. The second she made it through the door, she passed out on the couch in the parlor, completely mentally and emotionally drained from today's events.

Damon made it home before Stefan. He was slightly surprised to see Elowen's car parked out front, and even more surprised when he saw her sound asleep in his living room. After today, he figured she would want to be alone.

He sighed and picked her up as gently as he could and took her to Stefan's room. Once she was placed on the bed, Damon pulled her shoes and jacket off and set them next to the nightstand. On his way back to the parlor, Damon removed his own jacket and tossed it on the couch. He was about to prepare himself a drink when he sensed someone trying to sneak up on him.

"Are you seriously this stupid?" He asked, turning once he'd poured himself his drink. Alaric was standing a few feet behind him, stake in hand. "Guess so." He took a sip from his glass and then set it down to vamp-run at Alaric at full speed. Alaric flew across the room and landed with a loud crash.

Upstairs, the muffled thud was enough to wake up (a very sensitive) Elowen. At first, she was confused as to where she was and blindly reached around her surroundings until she found the bedside lamp. As soon as the light flicked on, she relaxed. She assumed it was Stefan who relocated her and gave a long sigh, leaning back against the headboard. She stayed like that for a long while before she decided to get up and look for Stefan.

Elowen turned the corner of the parlor and froze in her spot when she saw Alaric's body lying lifelessly on the ground in front of Damon. She rushed over in a frenzy, her eyes already stinging with more tears.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no." She quickly dropped to the floor next to him and checked his pulse. "No, no, no," she continued her mantra under her breath as she rolled the sleeves of her sweater up and started to perform CPR.

"What's the point?" Damon asked rhetorically. "He's dead. He's been dead for ages now."

Slowly, Elowen stopped her efforts and sobbed over Alaric's dead body. God, she was so sick of crying. It wasn't until she felt someone's hands draped over her shoulders that she realized Stefan was there. When she looked up, Damon was gone. Stefan pulled her into his arms and allowed her to cry into the crook of his neck.

Minutes ticked by when suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Stefan swore he saw Alaric's fingers move. As carefully as he could with Elowen in his grip, he leaned over to get a better look. Alaric sat up with a loud gasp. Elowen leaned out of Stefan's hold faster than you could blink, her eyes wide in shock.

"What happened?" He asked. "What's going on?"

Elowen and Stefan shared an equally bewildered look.

"You were just…. Did Damon turn you?" Stefan asked, trying to look into Alaric's eyes for signs of a turn.

"No," Ric shook his head. "I- I went for him and then he, uh… he stabbed me."

"No, no, no," Stefan shook his head. "You must have vampire blood in your system. Somebody slipped it to you."

Alaric flexed his fingers and gave his head a shake of its own. "No. It's, uh, it's something else."

"Then how?"

Elowen gasped in realization. "The ring." She turned to Alaric. "Your ring. Gimme me the ring." She leaned over him and grabbed his other hand that wore the ring. "Where did you get this?"

Alaric looked down at his hand, the same thought seemingly registering in his head. "Isobel," he breathed. "The ring protected me."