"Josiah!"

Josiah turned and found Jeremy jogging up to him. He grinned in greeting. He hadn't heard from Jeremy in awhile and it was good to see him again.

"Hey, dude! How've you been?"

"Good. Listen, do you have a second?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"Well, it's Anna. I've left her all these messages and she hasn't gotten back to me. Not even a text."

Josiah tilted his head, curious. "I thought Anna moved away?"

"No. Nevermind that. Something could be seriously wrong and if you know anything, you've gotta tell me."

Josiah shook his head. "I haven't heard anything. If I do, I'll be sure to tell you."

Jeremy leaned closer and dropped his voice. "You aren't lying to me right now… are you?"

Josiah blinked in surprise, eyes going wide as the accusation. He shook his head. "No! Jer, is there something going on here?"

"I know what Anna is and I know that you know. Please, if you know anything, tell me."

Josiah's eyebrows hiked up. "You know again?"

Jeremy instantly jumped at his slip up. "Again? So you knew that Elena had my memory wiped?"

"No, no, Jeremy, that's not what happened-"

"Just forget I said anything, alright?" He saw Elena exiting the cafeteria and decided he'd ask her instead. "See you around."

"Jeremy! Hey, wait up!"

But Jeremy was already gone.

xxxx

Elowen was trying to find Stefan in the mess of people. She needed to find him to tell him what her and Bonnie had found. She'd gotten on her tiptoes to try and spot him over the crowd when suddenly, there was a loud ruckus and a lot of yelling. She followed the sound and found Matt crushed underneath a trailer. Her, Tyler and a few other students rushed forward and tried to push the trailer off. Stefan arrived and lifted it easily. Once Matt was free, Caroline tried her best to examine his arm.

Elowen, sensing trouble, spun around in a circle, trying to see if she could spot anything out of the ordinary. Finally, she saw Isobel talking with Elena. She started heading in that direction when she saw Isobel glance at Jeremy. Making a split second decision, Elowen changed her course and headed for Jeremy instead. She was almost there when someone appeared behind him.

"Jeremy!" She yelled. Elowen took off in a run to try and get to him in time. Jeremy looked up from his phone in confusion. What was all the fuss about? "Behind you! Look behind you!"

She reached Jeremy just as he turned and spotted the figure. In one swift movement, the attacker jabbed Elowen with a sedative and grabbed the back of Jeremy's shirt. She immediately slumped against Jeremy. The last thing she saw before everything went black was Jeremy's increasingly worried face.

xxxx

"What do you mean she's gone?!"

Stefan, Elena, Josiah and Alaric were at Esmeralda's house. Caroline had gone to the hospital with Matt and Tyler and Bonnie… well, you know that story. They'd just broke the news that Isobel captured both Elowen and Jeremy.

"Isobel was there, at the school," Elena explained. "She took both of them as leverage."

"All of this for a stupid device that doesn't even work?" Esmeralda practically had steam coming out of her ears. None of the people in the room dared to try and reason with an angry mom. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself down. "Y'know what? I don't have time for this. I'm just gonna do a locator spell and get this over with."

"And then do what?" Stefan asked. "Isobel will hear us from a mile away. Elowen could be dead before we even reach the door."

"So what do you propose then?" She crossed her arms and waited for somebody to say something useful.

Elena stepped forward as an idea struck her. "What if… what if we take the power away from the device?"

The room went quiet as everyone looked at each other.

xxxx

John and Luis both sauntered into the house Isobel was staying at. There were various suitcases scattered throughout the foyer.

"I see you're packing," John noted. "That's a good sign."

"Does that mean you got the missing piece?" Luis asked. He was holding up an article of clothing in his hands. Isobel came over and snatched it away.

"Not yet."

"Then why did you call us here?"

"Because, I have the next best thing."

John and Luis shared a look as Isobel walked off to another room. They both followed her. Jeremy was sitting in a lone chair and Elowen was on the floor, still unconscious. Cherie and Frank, two humans Isobel had picked up, surrounded them both.

"What the hell are you doing?" John demanded to know at the sight of Jeremy.

"Getting what I want."

"Yeah, but he is my nephew and you're going to let him go right this second!"

Isobel crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "That gaudy ring on your finger comes off."

John's eyes flickered to Luis. "And you- you're okay that your daughter is passed out on the floor? You aren't even the least bit concerned that she's been kidnapped and drugged?"

Luis shrugged his shoulders. "If it gets us the device, no."

"See? Someone gets it!" Isobel cried. John stared at Luis with disbelief. He thought back to when Elowen asked him if he knew the real story. Luis had told him that after the divorce, Esmeralda had taken off with the kids and that he hadn't seen them since. Was that a lie?

"Why do you want the device, anyway?" John asked Luis.

"If the vampire boyfriend and his brother are gone, they'll have one less thing keeping them in this pathetic town. If their life here gets destroyed, they'll have no choice but to come home with me."

John shook his head and turned his attention to Isobel. "Come on, Isobel. I know you, okay? You can't hurt a kid." He tried to reason with her. There had to be a way for them to be let go.

"I'll kill them both to prove you wrong."

"... Really?" John uttered quietly. "Are you that far gone? Look, I know you've changed, but the old Isobel is in there somewhere, isn't she? Just let them go."

Isobel took a step towards John, putting on a front that his speech worked. She stopped in front of him and gave Cherie and Frank an order in French. Frank grabbed John and punched him, knocking him to the ground. From there, him and Cherie beat him until he was bleeding. Isobel grabbed his hand and slid the ring off.

"Let's see how you do without this."

xxxx

"Absolutely not!"

Everyone was back at the boarding house now, this time with Bonnie in tow. She'd agreed to help with the spell and had brought Emily's grimoire. Elowen had left Esperanza's in the car, so Esmeralda and Josiah had access to the second book. It was just up to Damon to agree to the plan. So far, he wasn't for it.

"Damon, please," Esmeralda begged. She set the spellbook on the couch and walked over to him. "Elowen's in danger. She could die. If that happened, I don't think I could live with myself, knowing we could've done something to save her. I don't think you can either. Please."

Damon stared down at Esmeralda for a moment, jaw clenched. There was a couple beats of silence as Damon thought this over. "There's one problem with that. I don't trust any of you."

"Do you really think we would risk double crossing you when my sister's life is at stake?" Josiah questioned. "We aren't idiots, Damon. Look, the spell says that both a Bennett and a Ramirez have to perform the spell for it to work. Bonnie wouldn't be here if she weren't serious about helping."

"Elowen and I aren't on good terms, but I don't want her in trouble like this," Bonnie added. "For her sake, let us do this."

"Elowen risked her life to open that tomb for you," Esmeralda reminded him. "You owe her." She put her hand out expectantly. "If you won't trust us, trust her."

Everyone using Elowen as their primary argument was enough to teeter totter Damon's emotions. He was fighting himself internally. If he handed this over, there was a chance they would just give it to John Gilbert so he could use it to kill him. It was no secret that everyone in the room hated him and probably wished he was dead anyway. But Elowen… Elowen, Elowen, Elowen. Damon didn't want to see her get hurt. Not now, not ever. He had to bear in mind that there was also a chance that this would work and she would be safe. Stefan seemed to pick up on Damon's struggle. He was giving in the more and more Elowen was brought up. Did he actually care about her?

Ultimately, Damon made the decision to let them do the spell. He reached into his pocket and placed the device into Esmeralda's open hand. Her fingers enclosed around it.

"Thank you."

Josiah, Bonnie and Esmeralda gathered around a table. Both grimoires were opened in front of them. The device was set off to the side as they looked over the spell. When everyone was ready, the three of them stood around the contraption and hovered their hands over it. Josiah and Esmeralda started chanting a spell. The device started to float in the air. Lights began to flicker and the fire roared higher behind them. Nobody seemed to notice that Bonnie was mouthing nonsense.

As soon as the spell started, it ended. The device landed back on the table with a thud and everything in the room returned to normal.

"It's done."

xxxx

Elowen started to stir from her spot on the ground. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked around, disoriented. She was barely able to recognize that she was in an unknown place. Someone was kneeling beside her. They were saying something, but it was all muffled to her. It took a second for her eyes to focus and for her hearing to come back.

"Jeremy?" She muttered weakly. "What happened? Where are we?"

Jeremy helped her into a sitting up position. He carefully tilted her head back so he could examine her. Other than her drowsiness, she seemed okay. He was relieved that whatever sedative they her gave didn't have a negative impact.

"Isobel kidnapped us. They drugged you when you tried to interfere. I think she was betting on you to do that. Guess it was an extra advantage."

"Wha- Advantage?" She shook her head to try and clear her thoughts, but everything was still extremely muddled.

"You're experiencing side effects from the sedative they used on you," John clarified. "Just take it easy."

The sound of the door being unlocked drew all of their attention to that direction. Isobel stepped into the room and tossed the keys carelessly to the side.

"Good, you're awake," she noted. "It would've been a pain in the ass to have to carry you to the car. Let's go. Don't wanna be late getting home, do we?"

Jeremy and John had been dropped off at the Gilbert house. It would be too suspicious for Jenna if they'd left Elowen there, so they took her with. She was still extremely groggy from the drugs. She was barely able to process Frank and Cherie dragging her into the town square.

"Did you really think I came alone?" She heard Elena challenge.

Stefan and Damon arrived behind Isobel. At the sight of Elowen drooped against Frank and Cherie, Stefan tried to take a step towards her.

"Ah, ah. Stop right there," Isobel instructed. "One more move and I will kill her."

"And my brother?" Elena demanded.

Isobel rolled her eyes. "For god sakes, call home."

"What?"

"Call home and ask to speak to your brother Jeremy."

Elowen wasn't able to register much of what happened next. She tried to stand on her own two feet but they still felt like jelly. Frank and Cherie both tightened their grip on her at the feeling of her movement.

"You were never going to hurt him," Elena denounced with confidence. "You were never going to hurt either of them."

"No, I was going to kill both of them," Isobel corrected. "Don't look for any redeeming qualities in me. I don't have any."

"But, you took a risk with Damon. How did you know he was going to hand it over?"

"Because he's in love with Elowen," Isobel stated like it was obvious. "He would never want to see her in jeopardy. Why do you think I took her, too?"

"No…" Elowen muttered sickly. "You're wrong."

"Oh?" Isobel glanced from Elowen to Damon. "Because his face tells a different story."

Elowen could barely make out Stefan or Damon, but it wasn't that hard to see that he was looking off to the side. He was refusing to look at her. Stefan was glaring at him from the corner of his eye. Elowen couldn't take her eyes off Damon. He could feel her scrutinizing him, because he uncomfortably shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

Elena and Isobel were done talking and she came over to Elowen. She lifted her face so Elowen could face her.

"As long as you have a Salvatore on each arm, you're doomed. Katherine was smart. She got out. But we all know that you're not Katherine." Isobel said something in French and Frank and Cherie dropped her to the ground. They all left and within seconds, both Stefan and Damon were at her side. Actually, Stefan was the one helping her back to her feet. Damon kept his distance, but still made sure she was okay.

"C'mon, let's get you home."