Grove Hill Residence
Damon and Alaric are at the apartment.
"This is the one here. The records show is was paid 3 months in advance". Alaric said.
"This is where it gets tricky. I may or may not be able to get in". Damon replied.
"Yeah, how does that work? You always have to be invited in?"
"By the owner or the person of entitlement. Short-term rentals and hotels are a bit of a gray area. You kind of gotta play it by ear".
"Heh. Could we not kill anyone tonight, please?"
"You mean, you just brought me along for my company?"
Damon opens the door.
"It doesn't look like anyone's home".
"Yeah. I'm good. No permanent resident, apparently".
Damon opens the fridge and see blood bags.
"Uh, Ric, we have company".
A man jumps on Alaric. Alaric stabs him with wood knuckles. The man attacks again. Damon throws him off of Alaric.
"Boys, boys, that's enough. I know you". Damon said turning to the vampire.
"Damon?" Henry asked.
"Your name is Henry. You were in the tomb". Damon said.
"Yes, sir. What are you doing here?"
*Salvatore Estate 1864*
Stefan is approaching his house. He hears Johnathan and his father talking.
"May I offer you a drink, Mr. Gilbert?" Giuseppe asked.
"Thank you, Mr. Salvatore". Jonathan replied.
"This won't take much longer".
"I want to make sure the founders' archives are accurate".
"Be sure you document the loss of civilian life in the church".
"They were hardly civilians, Mr. Salvatore".
"As far as anyone needs to know, they were. As the record keeper for the Council, what you write will be passed down through generations. Certain details should be kept only between you and me".
"For example?"
"My sons. They will be remembered as the innocent victims of the Battle of Willow Creek, not for their shame".
"Certainly, Mr. Salvatore".
*Back to reality*
Salvatore Boarding House
Elena and Grace walk back down to the cellar.
"You know, Damon hasn't fed me vervain in a while. I could be at those bars in a flash, and you'd be dead". Stefan said.
"You won't hurt us Uncle Stefan, I know you better than that". Grace said.
"Yeah, you could. But you won't". Elena said.
"Please just go away. I don't want either of you here. Especially you Gracie".
Elena and Grace enters the cellar.
"What are you doing? Get out of here".
"No Uncle Stefan". Grace said forcefully.
"No". Elena said.
"You're taking a stupid risk. I could hurt you. Both of you".
"You won't Uncle Stefan I know you better than anyone, you won't hurt me or Elena". Grace said.
"Then I'm stupid. You need to drink this". Elena said handing him the bottle of blood.
"Elena, Gracie, get out of here, or you'll regret it".
"I don't want you to die Uncle Stefan just drink it please". Grace cried.
"Drink". Elena said.
Stefan shouts, "I said get out!"
He knocks the bottle of blood from her hand. His face transformed. Grace then slowly backed out of the room.
"No". Elena said.
Grove Hill Residence
Damon and Alaric talk with Henry.
"So, how do you know John Gilbert?" Henry asked.
"Well, I've known him for years. He's a good friend. How do you know him?" Damon replied.
"I met him right after I got out of the tomb. He's been helping me out".
"Helping you out how?" Alaric asked.
"Adapting. It's a whole new world...Cars, computers, . There's so much to learn. He helped me get this place".
"So, do you live here alone or is there someone else here?"
"That's my friend's very passive-aggressive way of asking, uh, do you know a woman named Isobel?" Damon asked.
"Uh, no. No, I don't know an Isobel. I know John. He's my only real friend. He really showed me the ropes...how to use a microwave, separate my whites". Henry replied.
"What else do you do for him?" Alaric asked.
"I help keep an eye on things...You know, with the others".
"The others?" Damon asked.
"From the tomb. They're still pissed at the founding families for trying to burn them alive. I'm cool, but those tomb boys, they want revenge".
"What does John want with them?" Alaric asked.
"He's just keeping an eye on them, you know? Trying to make sure they stay out of trouble".
"Well, that's John. Heh. He's such a do-gooder". Damon said.
Henry receives a call.
"Heh. That's John now".
"Oh. Hey, let me talk to him". Damon said.
"All right. Yeah. Are you gonna answer that?"
"Am I gonna...answer that?"
Alaric shakes his head.
"What's going on?"
Henry senses a trap and runs at Alaric. Damon grabs him. Alaric stabs him with a stake.
"Let's not not kill anyone tonight." Your words. Just pointing that out". Damon says.
Salvatore Boarding House
Elena is sitting in the cellar with Stefan. Grace had went back inside and sat on the other side of Stefan leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Talk to us, Stefan. Why are you doing this?" Elena asked.
"I'm making the decision I should have made years ago". Stefan said.
Grace the lifted her head off his shoulder and looked at him with a horrified stare.
"What are you talking about?"
"You have to feed in order to complete the transition".
"I know that".
"It was a choice I shouldn't have made".
*Salvatore Estate 1864*
Stefan enters his father's office. Giuseppe looks up from his desk and stands up in surprise.
"Dear God!" Giuseppe exclaimed.
"Even in our death, you only feel shame?" Stefan asked.
"You're one of them now".
"No. Father, I came to say good-bye".
"I watched you die".
"You were there when we were shot?"
"I pulled the trigger myself".
"You killed your own sons?"
"You were both dead to me the moment you sided with the vampires. I only thank God that your mother isn't alive to see the disgrace you've become".
"I haven't turned yet. I don't want to. I'm going to let myself die, father. Please".
"Yes, you are".
Giuseppe gets out at wooden rod, breaks it in two, and attempts to stab Stefan. Stefan throws him against the wall. The stake has impaled his father. Stefan rushes towards him.
"Uhh!"
"Father, I didn't mean to".
"Get away from me".
"No, let me help you. Please".
Stefan removes the stake from his father's chest. He sees the blood on the stake and his fingers. He licks his fingers. He touches his father's wound and licks more blood from his fingers. His eyes start to transform.
"Ohh. Ohh".
"Uhh. Uhh! Oh, God. What's happening to me?"
Stefan feels the fangs that have grown in his mouth.
*Back to reality*
Salvatore Boarding House
Stefan and Elena are still talking in the cellar. By this time Grace had silent tears running down her face, she never knew that her uncle actually wanted to die and it killed her inside to hear it for herself she then wrapped her arms around one of his hiding her face. Stefan wanted to comfort his niece but he was afraid he'd lose control again.
"How can either of you even look at me right now?"
Grace sniffed and answered. "Because we care Uncle Stefan we want you to get better and we don't want you to die, I don't wanna lose one of my uncles".
"You need to be able to talk about these things, Stefan. I need to hear them. Come upstairs. We can talk about it more, and we'll keep talking as long as you need". Elena said.
"You're so sure I'm ready?"
Elena pulls out Stefan's ring and places it on the cot next to him.
"And when you feel the same way...we'll be upstairs. Come on Grace".
Grove Hill Residence
Damon empties the blood bags.
"Find anything yet?" Damon asked.
"No, I looked everywhere. The place is...The place is clean". Alaric replied.
"Well, I found this. Behind the blood in the fridge".
"Oh, man, this was a real dead-end".
"I wouldn't beat myself up over it, man. What did you think you were gonna find, huh? Isobel with a cigar and slippers?"
"Oh, man. I...I gotta stop this. I can't...I can't keep searching for her".
"Really? After only two years? That's actually moderately healthy".
"What are you going on? 146?"
"Well, I figure the 200 mark is probably a good stopping point".
"Ahh. I mean, no answer is enough. I keep thinking I wanna know why, when, you know, the precise moment. When my wife decided life with me wasn't enough".
"She charmed me, your wife Isobel. She talked a good game, man. She was smart. She had this excitement in her eyes. I probably should have known there was something different about her, some tie to Katherine. There had to be some reason I didn't kill her".
"That's enough, Damon. I don't wanna hear anymore. I just don't want to waste any more of my life. Searching for answers that I really don't want. I'm through with Isobel. I...I'm done with all of this. Yeah".
Salvatore Boarding House
Once Elena and Grace were back in the living room the ten year old had spoken up. "I'm gonna go to bed Elena I'm tired".
"Alright good night Grace".
"Good night".
The young girl had ran up to her room and quickly changed for bed, she quickly went to Stefan's room and took one of his pillows returning to her room. She had laid down hugging the pillow close to her. 'You'll be back to normal soon Uncle Stefan I believe in you, I always have and always will' Grace thought to herself.
Elena is writing in her diary. Damon enters the room.
"Ugh. God. You're still here?" Damon asked annoyed. He then looked around and didn't see his niece. "Where's Gracie?"
"Were you expecting anything else? And Grace went to bed already". Elena replied.
"No. Ahh".
Damon picks up Elena's legs and sits down on the couch. He places her legs over his lap.
"So, how was the "errand"?"
"Futile. Although, I think I witnessed the teacher having an existential crisis. Has Stefan eaten yet?"
"I thought you didn't care".
"Chalk it up to morbid curiosity".
"I think he's getting there. But he's got a lot of guilt that he has to deal with. And it doesn't help that you've spent the last 145 years punishing him for Katherine getting caught".
"This is my fault now?"
"No, it's no one's fault, Damon. I'm just...saying you're not exactly innocent. You've made it your life's mission to make him miserable".
Damon gets up.
"Let me ask you a question. In all this important soul-searching and cleansing of the demons of Stefan's past, did you ever manage to get the rest of the story?"
"He said there was more".
"Yeah. That's an understatement".
Elena gets up and goes towards Damon.
"Damon...Damon. Tell me".
*Quarry 1864*
In a flashback, Stefan returns with a girl.
"What are you doing? Who is that?" Damon asked.
"I brought her for you. She's a gift. Have a seat, please". Stefan replied.
"What have you done, Stefan?"
"Damon, I've been to see father. He came at me. I didn't know my own strength. There was blood everywhere. He was dying, and the blood was too strong. I needed it. I had to have it".
"You fed".
"Yes. And it's incredible. My body is exploding with power, Damon".
"No".
"I can hear things from far away. I can see through the darkness. I can move, like it's magic. And the guilt, the pain...Damon, I can turn it off. Like a switch. Katherine was right. It's a whole nother world out there, Damon".
"Katherine is dead, Stefan. There's no world without her".
"No. You can turn that off, too. You don't have to feel that pain anymore".
"I don't want it".
"You're weak. You'll be dead soon. You need this".
"No".
"You'll die".
"No. I can't".
"Please. I won't let you die".
"No. I can't".
"Don't fight it. We can do this...together".
Damon drinks the blood of the girl.
*Back to reality*
Salvatore Boarding House
"From the moment Stefan had his first taste of human blood, he was a different person. I suppose I should thank him. It's been a hell of a ride. Heh". Damon said.
"Oh, my God. He said he wanted to die. That's why he won't feed. Now I understand why, but..." Elena said trailing off.
"His choice. If he's stupid enough to make it, so be it".
"Don't do that. Okay? Don't pretend like you don't care".
"Where are you going?"
Elena goes down into the cellar. Stefan is gone, but his ring is still on the cot. Elena picks it up and runs out of the cell. Stefan was up in Grace's room watching her as she slept hugging his pillow close to her chest he had gotten down on one knee and brushed some hair off her forehead, he then placed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "I love you Gracie, always have. Always will". He muttered. He then quietly left her room by jumping out of the window and speeding away.
Quarry
Stefan is at the quarry where Damon turned.
*Quarry 1864*
Stefan and Damon are both vampires now.
"How do you feel?" Stefan asked.
"You were right. It is a whole new world". Damon replied.
"We can explore it together".
"You got what you wanted...You and me for all eternity. But here this, brother. I will make it an eternity of misery for you".
"Damon!"
Damon leaves. Stefan, in the present, is looking weak. In the past, Emily finds Stefan.
"You've transitioned". Emily said.
"You'd have rather found me dead?" Stefan asked.
"Katherine saved my life once. I owed her. That doesn't mean I'd wish her curse on anyone".
"It feels more like a gift".
"That will change".
"Why is that?"
"Because even in death, your heart is pure, Stefan. I sense that about you. That will be your curse".
"Emily, wait".
Quarry
Stefan is still at the quarry. Elena approaches him.
"Stefan. Damon told me the rest of the story. I thought I might find you here". Elena said.
"I should have died that night, just like I had chosen. I should have let Damon die, too". Stefan said.
"But you didn't. And if you die now, it's not gonna change what happened. Besides think about Grace, your niece. Do you know how devastated she'll be? It's bad enough she lost her parents, don't make her lose someone else she loves".
"Every single person that's been hurt...Every single life that's been lost, it's because of me. Elena I had my niece, someone I love more than anyone terrified of me".
"The night that my parents died...I blew off family night so that I could go to some party. I ended up getting stranded, and they had to come pick me up. That's why we ended up in the car at Wickery Bridge. And that's why they died. Our actions are what set things in motion. But we have to live with that.
"I made a choice, Elena. Because of that choice, a lot of people were hurt".
"You also made a choice to stop, to reject the person that the blood made you. You made a choice to be good, Stefan".
"No. Please don't do that".
"That's the person who jumped in the water to save the family whose car had driven off the bridge".
"Please. Don't make this all okay".
"That's the person who saved my life".
"You don't understand, Elena".
"Then tell me".
"It hurts me. It hurts me, knowing what I've done, and that pain...That pain is with me all the time. And every day, I think that if I just...If I just give myself over to the blood, I can make that pain stop. It would be that easy, and every day, I fight that. And I am so terrified that one day, I'm not gonna want to fight that anymore, Elena. And the next time I hurt somebody...It could be you. It could be Gracie".
"There will be no next time".
"You don't know that".
Maybe I don't. But what I do know. Is that you can take this, throw it in the quarry, and let the sun rise. Or you could take this ring and put it on and keep fighting".
Elena gives him his ring and she kisses him.
"It's your choice".
Elena starts to walk away.
"Elena".
Stefan puts on his ring and runs to Elena and kisses her passionately.
Salvatore Boarding House
Elena and Stefan walk into the library. Damon is sitting there.
"Little boy lost". Damon says.
"I'll be upstairs, Ok?" Elena said.
"Okay". Stefan replies.
"Good night, Damon".
Elena goes away.
"Thank you". Stefan tells his brother.
"No, Stefan, thank you. You're back on Bambi blood, and I'm the big badass brother and uncle again. All is right in the world". Damon replies.
"I mean it. Thank you. For...helping her take care of me".
"You brood too much. Everything on this planet is not your fault. My actions, what I do, it's not your fault. I own them. They belong to me. You are not allowed to feel my guilt".
"Do you feel guilt?"
"If I wanted to, it's there. Emily waited till after I turned to tell me she'd been successful in protecting Katherine with her spell. She didn't want me to know about the tomb. She thought it would impact my decision".
"She didn't want either one of us to turn. She said it was a curse".
"Witches...Judgy little thing".
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"'Cause I didn't want you to know. 'Cause I hated you and I still do".
"I know".
"But not because you forced me to turn".
"Then why?"
"Because she turned you. It was just supposed to be me, Stefan...Just me".
"I'm gonna go check on Gracie".
Stefan then disappears upstairs to check on his niece while Damon poured a drink, when Stefan got to his niece's room he gently opened the door to see her still sleeping peacefully while clutching his pillow he quietly went in. Grace had started whimpering in her sleep so Stefan was by her side in a minute.
"Shh Gracie it's alright, everything's alright sweetheart. I'm here, I'm here Gracie you're safe". He soothed her.
He then laid beside her and held her close kissing her head he then laid his cheek on her head. "You'll be alright Gracie I promise". He muttered.
Damon was still down in the living room having another drink when there was a knock on the door, "Now what". He muttered. He went to open the door and when he opened it he saw a woman about Stefan's height, she had long dark brown wavy hair, chocolate brown eyes, she was wearing a simple t shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers. Damon had thought about how this woman looked, 'Could this be the same woman that Grace had seen?'
"Well it's the famous Damon Salvatore who could have guessed". The woman said.
"Clearly you know me but I don't know you, so who are you?" Damon replied.
"I'm sorry I forgot to introduce myself my name's Anna. I'm Grace's mother".