Elowen went home that night and crashed the second she got into her room. Hearing that the tomb vampires were all free and living in town was enough to drain her battery.

That morning, she woke to Damon frantically shaking her shoulders. Squinting, she sat up in bed, confused.

"Damon? What's wrong?"

"I can't find Stefan."

That was enough to wake her up.

"What? What do you mean you can't find him?"

"He went into the woods and never came back. I can't get him on his phone. I figured he was here with you, but," Damon cast a glance around the room, "I can see that he's not."

Elowen reached over and grabbed her phone. She quickly dialed Stefan's number, but it went straight to voicemail. She looked up, wide eyed at Damon, who was able to hear the automated voice message droning on.

"Shit," he swore under his breath. "I think I might know where he is. And you're not gonna like it."

So, without even telling her mom, her and Damon got in her car and drove to the house Pearl was housing the vampires. She didn't even bother to change out of her pjs. Damon told her to stay in the car while he went to the door to confront Pearl. A couple minutes later, Damon came running back down the hill. Elowen scrambled out of the car, barefoot and without an umbrella, to meet him halfway.

"What happened? Where is he?" She asked hurriedly.

"Get back in the car," he told her. "You're gonna get sick." He grabbed her arm and tried leading her back to the car, but she pried her arm out of his grip.

"Just tell me what happened, Damon."

Damon sighed and clenched his jaw. "They have him. I can't get in."

"They took refuge in a house that belongs to a human." Elowen gave a bitter laugh. "Clever." She ran her fingers through her now soaking hair and finally turned back to the car.

"What, you're just gonna give up?" Damon asked, surprised. "You're gonna leave him there?"

"Of course not!" She raised her voice in response. "I'm thinking. You're not invited in and there's no way I can go in there with no backup." She wrapped her arms around herself. "I'm also freezing."

Damon was inches away from taking his jacket off to give her, but realized a second later that giving her a wet jacket wouldn't help. Instead, he lifted her by the waist so she was just far enough off the ground (as she had no shoes on) and helped her to the car. Once she was safely in the passenger's seat, Damon turned the ignition back on so the heater would kick on.

"You're bleeding," he told her as he pulled away from the house. Sure enough, when Elowen checked the bottoms of her feet, one of them had been cut open from the slippery rocks she had been stepping on outside. She made a face, but didn't do anything else.

"That's the least of my worries. Go back to my house. My mom will know what to do."

At first, Esmeralda was livid upon finding out Elowen was gone. She knew that she was alright with unplanned errands as long as she was told first! That was her number 1 parenting rule: knowing where you are at all times. Now she was worried out of her mind. Elowen had left her phone in her room, so there was no way of contacting her. Was she okay? Was she hurt? Who was she with?

Esmeralda was out the front door and onto the patio in a heartbeat when Elowen's car pulled into the driveway. She had so many lecture starters on the tip of her tongue, but when she saw her daughter exit the car, dripping wet, still in her pjs, barefoot and limping, her arguments died out. Instead, she pulled her in for a hug.

"Don't you ever do that again," she warned, but there was no malice in her voice.

"I won't. I'm sorry."

"I hate to break up the moment, but my brother is sorta in danger. Think we can speed this up?" Damon came up behind them, car keys in hand. Esmeralda pulled back from the hug and shot them both a confused look.

"Stefan is-? What's going on?"

"I'll explain later," said Elowen. "First, I need to get out of these clothes."

15-ish minutes later (and pretending like Damon still hadn't been invited in), Elowen was in dry clothes and was squeezing the water out of her hair with a towel. Damon, having been invited in a second time by Esmeralda, was stuck in his cold clothes. Josiah was smaller than he was, so nothing in his closet would fit. He told them not to worry, since he was dead and it wouldn't bother him anyway, but they still made him stand in front of the heater.

"So, lemme make sure I'm understanding this right," Esmeralda said after they finished telling her the rundown. "Somehow, the spell went wrong and we accidentally brought down the barrier keeping the vampires in the tomb and now they're running around Mystic Falls?"

"Yup," Damon confirmed, popping the 'p'. "Now, they want revenge, so they kidnapped Stefan and are planning to torture and kill him. Amazing, isn't it?"

"Mom, please, we don't know what to do. We need your help."

Esmeralda sat in silence for a second.

"Okay…. I think I have an idea."

They found themselves meeting with Alaric at the empty high school. He went tense when he realized Damon was with them, but Esmeralda was able to draw his attention away.

"Look, I know this is a lot to ask from you." Esmeralda looked back at Elowen. "But Stefan is a good guy. Three witches and a vampire is nothing against a whole house of them."

"And you think adding a human vampire hunter is gonna help your cause?" Alaric asked.

"You have your ring," Elowen reminded him. "Ric, please," she begged, voice watery. "I understand if you say no. It's not exactly your problem and you and my mom are on some weird time out because of supernatural bullshit," Alaric cleared his throat and Esmeralda facepalmed in embarrassment, "you don't owe either of us anything. But these vampires don't know you. One of them knows me, which means chances of them knowing mom or Jo are pretty high. You're our only hope at an in to that house."

Alaric and Elowen stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, Alaric sighed, giving in. "Alright. I'll help." He glanced at Esmeralda. "But you're gonna owe me dinner."

Elowen bit back a smile and shared a victory look with Josiah.

"Deal."

A few minutes later, after Alaric had spread his hunting weapons out on his desk, they heard footsteps out in the hallway. Quickly, Elowen and Josiah stood in front of the desk to block the weapons from eyesight.

"Mr. Saltzman, are you here? I wanted to ask you about..." Elena turned the corner and saw them all huddled in the room. "... the recent assignment," she finished. "What's going on here?"

"None of your business," Damon snarked back.

She was able to catch a glimpse of what was on the desk and crossed her arms. "I'm not going until you tell me what's going on," she said stubbornly.

"Stefan's been kidnapped," Elowen said curtly, not even bothering to look at her. Seeing Elena reminded her that Bonnie wanted nothing to do with her and she'd rather not dwell on it.

"What?" Elena asked in disbelief. "Let me come with, I can hel-"

"No," Elowen cut her off. "You'll just get yourself killed." She grabbed one of the vervain darts and a sleeve cuff of some sort that clipped onto her wrist. There was a little compartment for her to slip the dart into. It seemed to work like Spider-Man's web slinger.

Elena's nostrils flared in irritance. The way Elowen was talking to her was making her blood boil. "I'm going," she stated defiantly. "I'm not some useless human."

"No offense, Elena, but yes you are. Damon's a vampire. We're witches. Alaric knows how to fight. He understands vampire's maneuvers and typical fighting techniques. He also has a magic ring as a backup plan. What can you contribute to this?"

When Elena stayed silent, Elowen pointed two fingers in her direction. "Exactly. We don't have time to worry about you. You're not going."

Elena turned and stormed out of the room. Everyone else shared quiet looks as Elowen put the second dart shooter on her other wrist with a stoic expression.

"Well, if we're gonna go, let's go," Alaric said, breaking the stifling silence. He rolled his weapons back up and headed for the door. The rest followed his lead.

Elowen, Damon, Josiah and Esmeralda rode in one car while Alaric had his own. They pulled into a secluded area away from the house so the vampires wouldn't hear them. The second Elowen got out of her car, she scowled.

"What's wrong?" Josiah asked when he saw her face, but she only stomped over to Alaric's car and flung open the back door. Hiding halfway behind the front seats and halfway under the back seats was none other than Elena Gilbert.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

After finding Elena, they locked her in Elowen's car with the child safety locks on. Esmeralda and Josiah were to stay and watch Elena, as well as stay behind for backup. Alaric was going to knock on the door and ask to use the phone. He'd meet Damon and Elowen at the backdoor with the owner and hopefully, the compulsion spell would override the vampire compulsion.

Everything seemed to be running smoothly so far. Alaric had turned on the sink and a blender to keep the others from overhearing anything, then lead the owner over to Damon and Elowen. She entered and quickly performed the spell, watching as her eyes glossed over.

"Can you invite this man in?"

The owner looked over at Damon in a daze. She paused. Just as they were starting to grow impatient, the owner nodded her head.

"Yes. He can come in." Damon quickly entered the house and pushed Alaric out, telling him to go. Elowen kept her focus on the owner.

"You're to go upstairs and take a nap. You never saw us." She let go and the lady blinked, then walked passed them as if they weren't there and headed for the stairs.

"I'll sweep the inside. You check for anything suspicious outside," Damon instructed. Elowen nodded and headed back outside. It didn't take her long to find the entrance to what looked like a cellar or a basement.

She headed down as stealthily as she could. Once at the bottom, she carefully peeked around the corner and saw someone sitting in front of a door, standing guard. He had music blasting in his ears, so he couldn't hear her. Looking at her surroundings, Elowen noticed old gardening equipment in the corner. She quickly knocked over a rake and went back in hiding. When the vampire was close enough, she pressed on the button that released the vervain dart. It shot out and dug itself into his shoulder. He collapsed, knocked unconscious.

"Good work."

Elowen jumped slightly, but relaxed when she realized it was only Damon. He nodded his head towards the door. "Let's go."

Damon went through first, in case there was someone guarding the inside. There wasn't. When Elowen saw Stefan tied up she made a b-line for him.

"Oh my god, Stefan," she breathed. She placed her hands on his face and took in his disheveled appearance.

"You shouldn't…. Be here," he pushed himself to say, his voice weak and horse.

"Like hell I shouldn't," she told him.

"Remember, Stef," Damon spoke up. "You have a fiery witch for a girlfriend. It's hot." He casually picked up a piece of wood and was about to stab the other vampire that was tied up when Stefan stopped him.

"Mm!" He grunted in disapproval. "Not him."

"Whatever," Damon carelessly dropped his weapon. "Let's just get you down."

"Vervain on the ropes."

Damon circled back away from the lever that released Stefan and pointed to Elowen. "Wen, go be a dear and pull that please."

Elowen let go of Stefan and loosened the ropes. Stefan lowered down into Damon's arms, groaning in pain in the process. She moved across the room and unbound his hands. Damon found Stefan's shirt and jacket discarded on the floor and tossed them to Elowen, who took over holding Stefan up. Damon went back to the door to make sure it was clear, but when Elowen tried to follow, Stefan resisted.

"Wait." He nodded towards Harper, the other person tied up. Elowen got the message and pulled both stakes out of his legs as quickly as she could. Damon was coming back to see what the holdup was just as she loosened the ropes on his wrists.

"We don't have time for this," he hissed. "We need to go. Can you get him back to the car on your own?"

"Yeah," Elowen nodded, taking hold of Stefan again.

"Okay, if Frederick is as smart as I think he is, he'll start getting suspicious that his buddies are missing by now. I'll distract, you rescue. Go."

Alaric was still waiting a few feet away from the house, wanting to make sure they made it out safely. He was holding a crossbow in his hands in case he had to jump into action. When Elowen and Stefan emerged from the house, his face flooded with relief.

"Thank god," he mumbled under his breath.

"Damon is gonna need help," Elowen said breathlessly as she passed him. He nodded and headed back for the house. She continued her trek back towards the car. About halfway through, Stefan's knees buckled underneath him and they both fell towards the ground.

"Ellie!"

Elowen looked up and saw Josiah running towards her.

"Mom was getting worried. I offered to go check." He filled her in on why he was there and helped her pick Stefan up. With an extra hand, they were able to make it back to the car safely. Elena was still sitting in the backseat, pouting with her arms crossed. Esmeralda was sitting on the hood. She gave a small cry when she saw them and ran over to help them bring Stefan over faster. Elena perked up when she saw Stefan and put her hands on the window, leaning forward. Her breath started to fog up the glass.

"Stefan!" She called out. Stefan's eyes widened at the sight of her.

"What is she doing here?"

Elowen rolled her eyes. "She's a stowaway. I'll explain later."

"Where's Ric?" Esmeralda asked once they got Stefan in the backseat with Elena.

"He went to help Damon."

"Wha-?" She turned and looked back in the direction of the house, worried. However, her kids needed her protection a lot more. Understanding the situation, Elowen gave her mom a small push forward.

"Go. We'll be fine."

"Are you-"

"Go!"

Esmeralda gave a short nod and disappeared the way they came. Frederick made his attack once she was gone. He zoomed by Elowen and Josiah, knocking them off balance, then busted the window and dragged Stefan out of the car. Elena screamed and pushed herself against the opposite car door.

Frederick lifted Stefan in the air and started stabbing him with a tree branch.

"This is for Beth-Anne." Stab.

"This is for the tomb." Stab.

Unfortunately, Josiah had been knocked out from landing on the ground so hard. On the upside, Elowen had collided with the car. The most damage made was a sore back and a dent in one of the car doors. She was slightly disoriented, but was able to focus enough to attempt to incapacitate Frederick.

Either having a concussion was throwing her powers off or Frederick knew a few tricks, because the spell didn't seem to hurt him like she was used to. He had dropped Stefan and was now headed for her. He was snarling in pain, but was able to slowly heave himself towards her. She tried her best to step back every time he came forward, but she was still dazed from the throw and lost her balance. She fell over and broke the spell. Frederick rolled his shoulders back as he felt the spell lift.

"Finally," he gruffed. "I'll kill you first to get you out of the way." His fangs elongated and his eyes changed color. Elowen tried to crawl away, but Frederick grabbed hold of her and yanked her back onto her feet. He was about to bite her when….

"No!"

A piece of wood jutted through his chest, just missing his heart. Frederick growled and dropped Elowen. He turned on Elena (who had climbed out of the broken window), though he was shortly blindsided by her resemblance to Katherine. It gave her another chance to stab him, this time in the shoulder. He sent her flying, where she landed next to Stefan with a hard thump.

"You're all a bunch of nuisances," he spat. He turned when he heard Elowen trying to pull herself up and smirked. "You're still alive? Guess I'll have to change that." He grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back, exposing her neck. He was going for a second attempt at a bite when this time, Stefan sped up and threw him against a nearby tree. Going faster than she'd ever seen him go, Stefan plunged his hand into Frederick's chest and ripped his heart out. Even after his body went limp, Stefan continued to attack.

"Stefan," Elena tried, still on the ground where she landed near him. He ignored her and kept his pursuit up. It wasn't until there was a sickening snap of Frederick's neck that Elowen was lucid enough to say anything.

"Stefan!" She yelled, leaning against the car. "Stop, please!"

At the sound of Elowen's frightened pleas, Stefan snapped out of it. He saw how terrified both her and Elena were and looked down to see the damage he had done. A horrified look of his own settled onto his face.

Pearl had come home to only a handful of her vampires left. They were all circling the outside of the house. Some of them are writhing on the ground while others were withstanding something. She found Damon, Alaric and Esmeralda in the house near the front door. Esmeralda's nose was bleeding from an overuse of her powers to hold the ambush of tomb vamps back. She dropped the spell at the sight of Pearl and leaned onto Alaric for support. He helped her back to the car as Damon filled Pearl in.

All of them were exhausted by the time they were finally able to leave. Elena was dropped off back at the high school, where her own car still resided. Then they all parted ways. Damon and Stefan went back to the boarding house, Ric went…. Who knows where, and Esmeralda, Josiah and Elowen went back to their house to nurse their injuries.

Both Josiah and Elowen had ice packs to their heads while Esmeralda only needed rest.

Elowen's phone blared loudly through the house, making her and Josiah wince from the noise. Matt's name flashed across the screen and she looked down at it, confused. What was Matt doing calling her so late?

"Hello?" She answered.

"Elowen, hey." It sounded like he'd been crying. She heard him sniffle as he replied. "Uhh, god, I don't know how to say this…. They found Vicki's body by country's road."

Elowen felt her heart stop. What?

"No, that- that can't be right. They've made a mistake. Vicki is safe with my friend Lexi."

"Sheriff Forbes said they found another woman with her. I'm sorry."

Elowen's phone slipped slightly from her grip. What were Vicki and Lexi doing back in town? And better yet, who killed them? She swallowed down a sob so she could answer Matt.

"Thank you for letting me know. I'm sorry about Vicki."

"Me, too."

Matt hung up. Elowen stood there for a second as her brain fully processed the information. Josiah was looking at her, wide eyed and expectant.

"What? What happened?"

"V…" She tried to say, but for a moment, she wasn't able to bring herself to say it. "Vicki and Lexi…. Are dead."