The living room of the Salvatore boarding house was painfully tense with silence after the Radkova witch had announced her arrival and shocked everyone with the new her. The strained quietness inside of the boarding house lasted for about three minutes before someone finally decided to break it. "What in the ever-loving fuck just happened?" The Lockwood werewolf loudly questioned as he glanced at each shocked face around the room as if they would have the answer to what he had just seen from his best friend.
"I-I don't know," the younger Salvatore mumbled as he continued to stare at the door that Emily had previously walked through. Stefan was honestly still shocked just like everyone else was. He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that his girlfriend was now someone who didn't care anymore. It especially stunned him by the way Emily spoke about her deceased twin when Emily had always been about protecting and keeping Elena safe.
"It was like she was an emotionless vampire," Damon added his own two cents from his own personal experience. "I mean, come on," the older Salvatore exclaimed as he threw his hands in the air before he further proved his point when everyone began to look at him confusion, "our Emily would have never killed anyone." Damon rose one of his dark eyebrows before he inquired as he continued his argument, "and did you see how she didn't even care?"
The Forbes vampire shook her head in denial to what Damon was suggesting. "That doesn't make sense, though," Caroline mumbled before she stated the obvious, "Emily's not a vampire."
The group of vampires, a witch, a werewolf, a human, and a hunter slowly moved to take a seat around the living room while they silently tried to think and understand what was happening to their Emily. The silence lasted for a good ten minutes or so before the Bennett witch's brown irises widened as she released a loud gasp. "Oh, no," Bonnie mumbled as she finally realized what was going on with her best friend.
"Bonnie, what is it?" The younger Salvatore vampire hurriedly asked the Bennett witch as he swiftly locked his worried green irises with Bonnie's furrowed brown ones.
The Bennett witch anxiously bit down on her bottom lip for a moment as she ran through her thoughts to make sure she was right before she informed everyone, "I know what's going on with Emily."
"Well, spit it out," the blued eyed Salvatore irritatingly exclaimed from the fact that the Bennett witch had ended her sentence like that. They did not have time for Bonnie to go silent on them when they were dealing with something so severe as the sweet Gilbert girl going on killing rampages.
Bonnie chose to ignore the older Salvatore vampire's anger towards her for once as she began to explain to everyone what she knew, "Grams told me about this happening to witches." The Bennett girl shook her head as she stated, "it doesn't happen very often but sometimes witches can be so overcome with grief or guilt that they will essentially become emotionless. They will let this voice inside of their head control them. The witch will push all of their feelings to back of their mind and won't feel anything at all."
The group of supernatural beings grew silent as they took in the Bennett witch's words as it was slowly beginning to make sense as they knew Emily wouldn't purposely hurt innocent beings. "Well, how do we fix it?" The older Salvatore questioned as he broke the silence between everyone. Damon rose his eyebrow as he looked over to Bonnie before he exclaimed, "there isn't like a button we can flip."
The Bennett witch sluggishly shook her head as she bit down on her bottom lip. "I-I'm not sure," Bonnie anxiously mumbled before she explained, "Grams said it only has happened about six times in the last eight hundred years."
"Well, that's just great," Damon sarcastically exclaimed as he shot the Bennett witch an equally sarcastic smile before he slowly and painfully moved to his selections of alcohol. The older Salvatore was slowly becoming more and more irritated and impatient, so he figured a new bottle of bourbon was in order. Besides, it was helping with the bite, Damon thought.
"But I-I think I know who can help us!" The Bennett witch quickly added before everyone could start reacting like Damon was and completely dismiss her idea.
"Who is it, Bonnie?" The younger Salvatore instantly inquired as he was willing to try anything to get his girlfriend back to normal.
The Bennett witch furrowed her brows for a moment as she closed her brown irises while she tried to think of the name before she snapped her fingers together when she remembered who could help bring Emily back. "Grams always told me if I needed help then I should call him," Bonnie mentioned before she added who she was talking about, "his name is Alan - Alan Deaton."
The younger Salvatore's interest was immediately piqued when Bonnie said a physical name who could actually help them with their current problem. "Where can we find him?" Stefan asked the Bennett witch as he wanted to get this guy here as soon as possible, so he can get his sweet girlfriend back.
Bonnie didn't have to think very long now that she was remembering all of the things that her Grams mentioned to her about this Deaton man. "He's in Beacon Hills, California," the Bennett witch confidently answered Stefan's question.
"And how would he know how to fix Emily?" The worried and antsy Sommers vampire asked the younger girl. Jenna was still fairly new to the whole supernatural world but she knew what was happening to her niece was bad if everyone's facial expressions were anything to go by and that made her very worried for her last living niece.
"Grams told me that he's something called a druid," Bonnie explained after she shot the antsy Jenna an assuring smile as she could only imagine how the new vampire was feeling right now. "He knows everything about the supernatural world," the Bennett witch explained as she glanced at each face in the living room. Bonnie nodded her head in certainty as she concluded, "if anyone can help us, it will be him."
The Salvatore boarding house was slowly building with optimism from the Bennett witch's words that there was someone out there that could actually help them. "How do we get into contact with him?" The Forbes vampire was the next one to speak up as she asked the question that they were all wondering.
"I can call him right now," Bonnie uttered before she quickly grabbed her grey book bag that was beside the couch and pulled out her laptop. The Bennett witch jogged over to the grand piano as she began to set up her laptop for everyone to see. Bonnie knew this was deadly serious. She knew that they had to get in touch with Deaton as soon as possible or Emily could get worse if everything her Grams had told her about was true.
The Bennett witch quickly typed her password into her laptop before her jittery fingers clicked onto the Skype application. Bonnie then went to her list of contacts and pushed onto Alan Deaton's name before she pushed the call button while she herself and everyone nervously waited for the video call to be answered.
It took a long tense two minutes of everyone listening to the loud ringing sound before the call was answered and a bald, dark man in a white medical coat appeared onto the teenager's laptop screen. "Hi, my name is Bonnie Bennett," the brunette girl quickly introduced herself before she anxiously stated as if she was afraid the man would hang up on her, "I believe you may have known my Grams, Shelia Bennett."
"Yes, of course," Deaton murmured as his face lit up with a small smile from the sound of the familiar name. The older man curiously looked at each face on his computer screen before he complimented the young girl's relative, "your Grams was a very smart woman." Deaton got more comfortable in his desk chair before he continued as he stated, "I know this couldn't be just a random call, Ms. Bennett."
Bonnie sluggishly nodded her head as she mumbled, "you're right." The Bennett witch nervously crossed her arms over her chest before she mentioned to the older man, "Grams told me I could call you if I ever needed help with something supernatural." Bonnie briefly bit down on her bottom lip before she timidly asked, "does that offer still apply?"
Deaton's interest was instantly piqued as he recalled that he had told Shelia that he was always willing to help her and her family over fifteen years ago. "Yes, of course," Deaton assured the young witch before he curiously wondered, "what is it that you need?"
Bonnie took a deep breath as she prepared to explain everything to the older man. "My best friend, Emily, she was just recently turned into a witch," the Bennett girl mentioned before she added as she knew it was a very important detail, "a Radkova witch." Bonnie wasn't all that familiar with Radkova witches until Emily mentioned it but she knew they were very strong from what she had recently learned.
"A Radkova witch, really?" Deaton immediately questioned as he didn't even try to hide his surprise. "Wow," Deaton gaped as he shook his head before he commented with his brows slightly furrowed, "I thought they all went instinct centuries ago."
"They were," Bonnie told the older man from the little knowledge that she had about the Radkova coven. "Long story short, my best friend, Emily, she was supposed to die in a hybrid sacrifice but the last Radkova witch, Maria, gave up her powers to help her live and become the last and strongest Radkova witch," the Bennett girl told Deaton about what had recently happened.
"Wow," Deaton gaped in surprise, once more, as his dark brown irises slightly widened from this new information. "I would love to meet her," Deaton stated, "I have always been intrigued by the Radkova coven." The veterinarian and druid had learned and met a lot of different supernatural beings over his long career but a Radkova witch - the ones who created the Protectors of the Innocence - was one that he hadn't got the chance to meet. It excited Deaton because when he first began to be a druid, he briefly studied and took part of their practice as a Protector of the Innocence.
"That's the thing, Dr. Deaton," the Bennett witch mumbled as she interrupted the bald man's excitement. "Emily isn't herself," Bonnie solemnly explained as she recalled how her best friend had acted only less than an hour ago and how it hurt her to see Emily like that, "i-it's like she's a completely different person."
Deaton silently nodded his head for a moment before he commented as he tried to calm the young witch through his computer screen, "well, that's understandable after being a human for so long and then becoming a witch." The older man was quiet for a second as he thought about the Protectors of the Innocence before he continued, "a Radkova one at that. It must be a lot for her to handle."
Bonnie shook her head and released a heavy sigh before she muttered, "I don't think that is all what this is about." The Bennett witch briefly paused as she tried to hold in the emotion that was clouding her brown irises before she explained to the older man about what was happening to her best friend, "it's like she's not feeling anymore. Emily's twin sister died in the sacrifice a few days ago and she hasn't been the same sense. S-She even killed someone and she didn't care at all - about anything."
"Hmm," Deaton murmured to himself as he took in all of the things that the young witch was telling him about. "So, a big trauma and then she stopped caring, correct?" The druid inquired as he tried to make sure that he was getting the right information.
Bonnie instantly nodded her head in agreement. "Yes," the Bennett witch affirmed before she sadly mumbled, "it's like the Emily we knew is just gone."
Deaton didn't say anything at first as he got out of his desk chair and headed to a black filing cabinet behind him. The druid pulled a single key out of his white coat pocket before he unlocked the second drawer. Deaton pulled out the single item inside before he headed back towards his computer and his Skype call.
The older man silently and carefully flipped through the large book for a piece of information. Deaton knew he was probably correct but he wanted to be sure before he helped the group of supernatural beings. "Ah, yes," Deaton mumbled to himself before he focused back onto the video call and explained, "what is happening to your friend is called Anam Fuar. It essentially means 'cold soul' in ancient Scottish Gaelic."
Deaton shook his head as he stated, "it doesn't happen very often since humans don't usually obtain magic out of the blue like this." The druid silently settled his hands on top of his desk before he continued to explain what was going on, "your friend's emotions from her sister's death and the fact that she has all of these new powers running through her veins, is causing Emily to lose a sense of who she is."
The group of supernaturals beings grew silent as they took in the bald man's words before the younger Salvatore vampire was the one to finally speak up. "What can we do to help her?" Stefan worriedly asked the druid. The way Deaton was describing everything to them, it made Stefan feel like this might be more difficult than they were used to and that made Stefan incredibly anxious about his girlfriend's livelihood.
Deaton focused his brown eyes onto the brunette man that he couldn't tell what he was just yet with a small smile as he could tell how much he was being affected with what happening to their friend. "You need to somehow get her inside of a windowless room enforced with steel," Deaton explained, "you will also need to line the exit with ash of the flower called lobelia. It will stop her from being able to use her powers to escape."
The group of supernatural beings were silent for a few minutes as the Forbes vampire used her enhanced speed to find a pen and a notebook before she begin to write down the important details. Caroline stuck the end of her purple pen to the side of her cheek as she looked at the man on the other screen before she wondered, "what are we supposed to do after that?"
Deaton lightly cleared his throat before he explained what the next key factor in helping their friend, "well, the only way for Emily to get knocked out of this emotionless state that she is in, is for her to be awakened by a true alpha."
Everyone in the living room of the Salvatore boarding house were immediately confused by the term that the druid had used. Well, all except for the one hunter in the room. "You're kidding, right?" Alaric inquired with his left eyebrow raised as he stared Deaton. The hunter released an amused chuckle before he stated, "there hasn't been a true alpha in centuries."
"Wait, wait, wait," the older Salvatore vampire muttered before the druid had the chance to say anything as Damon waved his hand and approached his drinking budding with his other hand occupied by a new bottle of bourbon. "What the hell is a true alpha?" Damon questioned in confusion.
Deaton focused his brown irises onto the older man in the room, Alaric, as he uttered, "you are correct. There hasn't been a true alpha in existence since 1908 in Russia." The druid then focused his gaze onto the last man that had spoken, Damon, before he began to explain, " a true alpha is a special kind of werewolf."
However, before Deaton could continue to explain about how the true alpha would be able help their issue, the older Salvatore vampire, once again, interrupted the druid as he exclaimed loudly, "oh, hell no!" Damon pointed his finger over to the Lockwood boy, who was sandwiched between Jeremy and Caroline, before he continued to rant, "there is no way in hell we are letting anymore werewolves into Mystic Falls - especially not some special kind I never even heard about!"
"Let's not forget that you thought werewolves were fake a few months ago," Alaric reminded the irritated vampire, "so, I don't think it would be a big deal with you not knowing about the knowledge of a true alpha."
Damon rolled his blue eyes at the vampire hunter from pointing out that fact before he took a large gulp of his bourbon. "I don't care," the older Salvatore vampire mumbled as he carefully sat back onto the empty leather couch before he mumbled, "I'm not letting another werewolf bite me."
Everyone in the living room immediately grew tense from Damon's words as it all reminded them about what happened during the sacrifice. Damon was slowly dying from a bite that Tyler had gave him that night. The Bennett witch had slowed it down for the time being but the older Salvatore could still feel his insides slowly ruining his body from the venom in his system.
"I can assure you, this true alpha will not bite or cause you any harm," Deaton assured the vampire as if he didn't notice the tension in the room - especially between Damon and Tyler.
The bite had been an accident, of course. But the Lockwood werewolf felt guilty that he had bit the older Salvatore vampire - even though he had never really liked Damon. The group had decided soon after the sacrifice that they would wait to tell Emily but then everything had just went to shit and they didn't have time to focus on it. Luckily for Damon, the Bennett witch had found a spell to slow it down until they could figure out what to do.
"The Protectors of the Innocence and the true alpha are one in the same," Deaton continued to explain why a true alpha would be able to help their problem, "they weren't meant to kill people but to protect them, so the only way to bring one back is with the help of the other." Deaton brought his hands up to the camera and moved them like a seesaw before he stated, "they balance each other out."
"Well," the nervous Sommers vampire began as she briefly nibbled on her bottom pink lip before she asked the man through the laptop screen, "do you know where we can find a true alpha?"
Deaton nodded his head as he shot the strawberry blonde a small smile. "Yes, I do," the druid muttered before he explained, "Beacon Hills has one right in town. He is a friend of mine."
The younger Salvatore slowly shifted his body closer to Bonnie's laptop before he asked the one question that has been on his mind since the Bennett witch had mentioned the druid, "are... Are you two willing to help us?" Stefan was honestly riddled with anxiety at this point. Stefan knew his heart would break if they went through all this just for the druid to say he couldn't help bring back the love of his life.
"Of course," Deaton immediately assured the green eyed vampire with a small smile. The druid focused his brown irises onto Bonnie as he stated, "I do owe Ms. Bennett a favor and besides, it would be a great honor to meet a Radkova witch."
"And what about your wolf?" The irritated and pained Damon Salvatore growled through his clinched teeth as he glanced up towards the grey laptop. "Is your dog willing to come all this way to help?" The bitten vampire questioned as he tried to ignore the pain in his stomach from the wolf venom.
"Scott is always willing help anyone in trouble," Deaton stated as he had lost track how many times the true alpha had helped someone in need. It was just in his nature like it soon would be for the Radkova witch. "So, yes," Deaton continued as he nodded his head, "we will help you guys."
There was immediately breaths of relief passed around the living room of the Salvatore boarding house as everyone was glad that Deaton was willing to come to Mystic Falls and help bring Emily back. "Good, that's good," Stefan was the one to mumble before he shot the bald man a small smile as to show his gratitude.
"When do you think you will be able to come to Mystic Falls?" The Lockwood werewolf worriedly asked the older man through the laptop as he crossed his arms over his plain dark blue t-shirt and tapped his white sneakers against the hardwood flooring of the Salvatore boarding house. Tyler didn't like the idea of Emily continuing in the state that she was in when he knew the more damage she does, the more she is going to hate herself once this is all over - and pain is the last thing Tyler wanted for his best friend.
"Well," Deaton began as he leaned back in his rolling chair before he stated, "we need to fix your friend as soon as possible or her condition could get worse, so myself and Scott will be on the next flight out of California." The older man paused for a moment as he thought about how long it would take to travel from California to Virginia before he informed the group, "we should arrive sometime in the afternoon."
The Bennett witch nodded in understanding while everyone around her breathed sighs of relief from knowing that they would be able to help get Emily back to normal again soon. "Is there anything you need us to do until then?" Bonnie inquired as she wanted to do anything that she could to make this process go as smoothly as possible.
"Yes, actually I do," Deaton uttered before he focused his gaze solely onto the Bennett witch. "Bonnie, I will be emailing you my number, so we can stay in contact during my travels. I will also send you the location of where you can get some lobelia, as well. I have a friend in Virginia who can give you access to some, so all you will have to do is pick it up."
"Will this ash stuff hurt her?" The younger Salvatore worriedly inquired. The last thing Stefan wanted to do was hurt his girlfriend but then again, if this could be the way to get Emily back then Stefan would do whatever it took to get his girlfriend back to normal - no matter how much it pained him to do so.
Deaton immediately shook his head no. "It won't cause her any pain. It will just stop her from being able to use her magic on any of us," Deaton assured the group of supernatural beings. "It's more of a precaution to make sure we can get her out of this stage as smoothly as possible," the druid continued to explain the purpose of the lobelia ash.
The living room of the Salvatore boarding house was silent for a long minute before a thought suddenly popped into the youngest Gilbert's mind. "Has anyone thought about we are going to convince Emily to be locked in a steel room?" Jeremy wondered as he glanced at each face around him. "I mean, I don't think she's just going to go willing," Jeremy mumbled.
"Actually, I can help with that," Deaton uttered as he interrupted the tense silence. Once everyone's eyes were on him through the computer screen, Deaton spoke towards the Bennett witch as he told her, "I have a recipe that you can use. It's a liquid and all you have to do is inject it into her system and it will render her unconscious. It should last a few hours until we can arrive."
The Bennett witch silently nodded her head understanding while the Forbes vampire wrote down every detail into her notebook. "Got it," Bonnie murmured before she showed her praise for the older man, "thank you so much for doing this, Dr. Deaton." Bonnie was honestly so thankful that they found someone that would be able to help bring back the normal and sweet Emily.
The druid released a small chuckle before he lightly waved his hand and told the young witch, "please, just Deaton." The veterinarian shot Bonnie a small smile before he told her, "and it's really no trouble at all. I am happy to help." Deaton knew that he needed to getting on his way soon to inform Scott and go to the airport, so he mentioned to the Bennett witch, "make sure to send me the location as to where you guys will be. I'm not that familiar with Mystic Falls but I don't believe it will be too hard to find a temporarily steel room to use."
"I got it covered," Tyler instantly assured everyone in the Salvatore boarding house and through the computer screen as he knew his family has a few locations around Mystic Falls for werewolf transformations during the full moon. Tyler just had to look through his father's things to find the locations of the hideouts.
"Very well," Deaton murmured as he spoke towards the tanner boy through the computer screen before he told everyone else, "we should be arriving in Mystic Falls a little bit after two in the afternoon, so it would be best to get your friend inside of the steel room as soon as possible - then we can get straight to work on bringing the Emily that you all know back."
The Bennett witch silently nodded her head before she promised the older man, "we'll be ready for your arrival. And I'll send you the address as soon as we find a secure spot, so you can just meet us there as soon as you get into Mystic Falls."
Deaton shot the Bennett witch a small smile as he nodded his head to show he was in agreement with her. "Do not worry too much," Deaton told the young witch along with everyone in the room as he could see through his computer screen just how anxious the supernatural beings were, "we will fix your friend, I promise."
"Thank you, Deaton," the Bennett witch praised the older man as she gave him a small smile before she released a sigh of relief from the fact that Deaton was going to help them. Bonnie was honestly still in shock that their first try in finding someone to bring back Emily was possibly a success. Bonnie gave the druid one last smile and told him before she ended the Skype call, "we will see you soon."
The living room of the Salvatore boarding house grew tense with silence once the Bennett witch's laptop turned black as everyone took in everything that they have heard in the last thirty minutes. The one that broke the silence was the Lockwood werewolf as he anxiously glanced at each face around the room and nervously inquired, "d-do we really think he'll be able to help bring Emily back?"
"Well, it not like we have much of a choice," the older Salvatore muttered as he rolled his blue eyes at the werewolf that had bit him. "We don't know what the hell we are doing, so here's to hoping," the irritated Damon exclaimed before he drank straight from his bottle of bourbon while his right hand was clinched onto his burning stomach.
The younger Salvatore just completely ignored his brother and his antics as he knew it was just the bite causing Damon's irritation right now. Instead, Stefan told the Lockwood werewolf along with everyone else in the room, "Deaton could be our only chance, so we have to at least try." Stefan wasn't confident that Deaton's plan was going to work with the true alpha, something he has never heard about before, but Stefan wasn't going to give up. He had to bring back his girlfriend, no matter what he had to go through to do it. Stefan was not going to stop fighting until Emily was back in his arms again.
The group of supernaturals beings were all on the fence about trusting a man, a druid, that they never met before. They were nervous that this wasn't going to work and then they would be even more stuck with not knowing how they were supposed to help the Radkova witch. However, just like Stefan, they were all willing to try and do everything that they could to bring back the Emily Gilbert that they all knew and loved.
"Well," the vampire hunter exclaimed after a few tense minutes had passed by before he clapped his hands together, "let's get started." Alaric moved to stand in the middle of the Salvatore's living room and stated as they all had a lot to do before tomorrow came like finding a location and a plan to trap an emotionless witch, "we have a long night ahead of us."
