Maya shivered as she felt a piercing gaze on her back, like a sharp knife cutting through her skin. She put down her milkshake and turned around, only to lock eyes with a man who looked at her with a cold and calculating expression. His blue eyes seemed to scan her face, searching for something that she didn't know. He quickly averted his gaze when a woman joined him at his table, a woman that Maya recognized from her visit to the Boarding House the previous weekend, Damon had called her Pearl. She frowned and turned back to Stefan and Tyler who were chatting about the development of the impressionism movement in Paris.

She snapped out of her trance when she heard Stefan's voice. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked, concern evident in his tone. He and Tyler had been discussing the history of Impressionism, one of Maya's favourite topics, but she had zoned out completely.

She pointed at the man and the woman, hoping they wouldn't notice.

"Who is that?" She whispered.

Stefan and Tyler followed her gesture and their faces darkened in unison. They looked at each other, as if sharing a silent message.

"That's John Gilbert. Elena's uncle." Stefan said, his voice low and tense.

"The one Damon says is very bad news?" Maya asked, remembering the warning that Damon had given them.

"Yep. That's him." Tyler confirmed, his jaw clenched. "Guy is a complete As… Tool." He added, hurriedly changing whatever it was he was going to say at Stefan's warning glance.

Why did you want to know?" Stefan asked, turning back to Maya.

"He was staring at me." Maya said, feeling uneasy. "It was creepy."

Stefan and Tyler exchanged another glance, then looked at John Gilbert again. He was engrossed in his conversation with Pearl and seemingly oblivious to the attention they were paying to him.

"Try to stay away from him, if you can." Stefan warned her, as Tyler nodded in agreement. "If Damon think's he's bad news, then he's definitely someone you should avoid. He wants that device thing Pearl gave to Damon and we still don't know what it does."

Maya rolled her eyes, but nodded reluctantly. She knew Stefan and Tyler meant well, but she really didn't need the warning. If Damon thought he was bad news, that was good enough for her. She didn't look back at John Gilbert again, but she felt his presence like a dark cloud over her head. If he wanted the device, then maybe she could find out from his mind what it did. She relaxed her Occlumency shields and opened her mind to the surrounding thoughts, like tuning into a radio station.

It was a difficult task, given the noise and the crowd inside the Grill. She heard snippets of thoughts from the other customers and the waitstaff, like flashes of lightning in a stormy sky. Some were mundane, some were funny, some were sad, some were angry. She ignored them and focused on John Gilbert's voice, trying to filter out the rest. She wondered what he was thinking, and what he wanted from her. She hoped to find a clue, a hint, a crack in his facade. She hoped to find a weakness.

"… I wonder if he likes me…"

"… She's so gorgeous…"

"… Why did I order the salad, I should have gone for the burger…"

"… They'd better tip well after this…"

"… God, my feet are killing me, I can't wait to get off shift soon…"

"… I need that device!"

Maya felt a jolt of pain as she focused in on John Gilbert's mind, like a needle piercing her brain. His mind was a dark and twisted maze, full of thorns and traps. Not that dissimilar from some of the minds she had read when she had lived with the Dursley's. She suppressed a shudder and pushed away the memories, concentrating only on John Gilbert's thoughts, she needed to find out as much as she could. It wasn't easy, his mind was a little more closed off than most people's, but she did catch a few snippets.

"… maybe flirting with her will work… … Isobel is getting impatient, I need to get the device… … God I can't do this, how pathetic can you get… … Damon has it… …I'LL KILL HER..."

Maya gasped as she heard the last thought, loud and clear. She saw a flash of Pearl's face, grey-veined and lifeless, in his mind. She felt his rage and hatred, like a fire burning in his chest. She slammed her Occlumency shields back up, as if closing a door. But she couldn't stop trembling, his emotions and her own fear and shock mixing in a toxic cocktail.

"Maya!"

Stefan's voice snapped her out of her trance. He grabbed her hands and held them tightly, his touch warm and soothing. He rubbed his thumbs on her wrists, trying to calm her down and anchor her to reality.

"Maya, what is it? What did you see in his mind?"

She wasn't surprised that Stefan had figured out what she was doing. He knew her well enough by now to know she'd use her gifts if she thought she could help Damon and the rest of their family by doing so.

"He's going to kill her. Tonight."

"Pearl?" He asked, his brow furrowing.

Maya nodded.

"He knows where she lives!"

Stefan scanned the room and spotted Pearl leaving the Grill, her steps confident and graceful. He turned to Tyler, who had been watching them with a concerned expression.

"I'm going after Pearl. Can you take Maya home."

Tyler nodded, a serious look on his face.

"Be careful." He said, knowing the danger that Stefan was facing.

Stefan nodded back, then let go of Maya's hands and ran after Pearl, hoping to catch up with her before she could disappear. He couldn't risk letting her go home, not if Maya was correct and John Gilbert really did no where she lived. Tyler gently guided Maya to her feet and took her to the counter to pay their bill, so they could leave as quickly as possible. Neither of them looked John Gilbert's way, else they would have seen him surreptitiously watching them.

"Pearl!" Stefan's voice was urgent and desperate as he ran after her, dodging the pedestrians and cars on the busy street. He felt a surge of relief when she stopped and turned around, her dark eyes meeting his with a curious expression.

"What can I do for you Mr Salvatore." She asked, sounding polite but distant.

"You can't go home." He blurted out as he reached her side.

"Excuse me?"

"Listen. Call Anna, call Harper. Tell them to get out of whatever house you're currently staying in and go to the Boarding House. Tell them not to stop for anything but to go straight there as quickly as they can."

"What is this?" She demanded, looking at him with suspicion and annoyance.

"You know about wixen, yes?"

"Yes."

"Maya. Damon's daughter. She's a witch, she's also a natural born Legilimens, do you know what that means?"

"Someone who can divine the thoughts of others. I've met one or two in my time."

"In the Grill just now, while you were talking to John Gilbert, Maya was listening in on his thoughts. He knows where you live and his planning on killing you."

He revealed, his eyes wide with fear and concern. Pearl stared at him for a moment, completely silent. She felt a cold shiver run down her spine, but she didn't let it show on her face. She had faced many dangers in her long life, and she wasn't about to let a human threaten her, even one descended from Johnathan Gilbert.

"I assure you, Stefan. I am capable of protecting myself."

"All it takes is a single moment to put a stake through your heart. Do you really want your daughter to lose you again?" He pleaded, his voice cracking with emotion.

He knew how much Pearl loved Anna, and how much Anna had suffered when she thought Pearl was dead. What she's done to get her mother back. He didn't want them to go through that pain again. She pursed her lips, but nodded. She couldn't deny that he had a point. She loved her daughter more than anything, and she would do anything to keep her safe.

She pursed her lips, but nodded.

"Very well. Am I to assume that the invitation to go to the Boarding House extends to me as well?"

"Yes."

"And the wards that protect it?" She inquired her eyes curious.

"As long as you intend no harm to any of the residents, you'll be able to pass through them."

Pearl nodded and pulled out her phone, calling Harper and then Anna, telling them both to go straight to the Salvatore's house, before hanging up and putting her phone back in her bag. She felt a pang of worry for them, but also a flicker of hope that they would be safe soon.

"Would you like a lift?" She offered, gesturing to her car parked nearby.

Stefan nodded, and followed her to her car, relieved that he'd managed to convince her.

Alaric led Damon to the door of the apartment, he'd told him about earlier. Both of them were hoping to finally get some answers.

"This is the one here. The records show it was paid 3 months in advance."

"This is where it get's tricky. I may or may not be able to get in."

"Yeah, how does that work? You always have to be invited in?" Alaric asked curiously.

"By the owner of the person of entitlement. Short-term rentals and hotels are a bit of a grey 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 laughed at the look on Alaric's face and twisted the knob pushing open the door.

"It doesn't look like anyone's home."

Damon tested his foot on the doorway and when it passed straight through, stepped inside the apartment.

"Yeah. I'm good. No permanent resident, apparently."

He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, which contained a few beers and a larger quantity of blood bags.

"Uh, Ric." He called, "We have company."

Before Alaric could react to Damon's warning, a vampire sped out of the darkness and jumped on him, they tussled for a moment before he managed to punch him in the stomach with his sharpened wood carved knuckleduster. The vampire fell back with a groan and then attempted to attack again, but Damon threw him back onto the floor before he could make contact with Alaric.

"Boys, boys, that's enough." He looked down at the vampire, who's face he could now see clearly and frowned. "I know you."

"Damon?"

"Your name is Henry. You were in the tomb."

"Yes, sir. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know, thought I'd drop in on an old friend I thought lived here… John Gilbert?"

Henry smiled and stood up.

"He's not here, right now. Would you like a drink."

Damon took a seat and nodded.

"That would be great."

Henry grabbed a blood bag out of the fridge and began to pour it into two glasses.

"So, how do you know John Gilbert?" he asked.

"Well, I've known him for years. He's a good friend How do you know him?"

"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 to get this place."

"So, do you live here alone or is there someone else here?" Alaric pressed.

Henry looked questioningly at Damon.

"That's my friend's very passive-aggressive way of asking, uh, do you know a woman named Isobel?"

"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."

"What do you do for him in return?" Alaric questioned, not convinced of John's supposed altruism.

"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."

Damon frowned, the group from the tomb had been dealt with. All the one's who'd been with Pearl were being handled by Director Picquery, there was no danger from them anymore.

"That's all handled though, right? That whole group left town a few weeks ago."

"Nah, man. That was just the group with Pearl, there was another group that never managed to hook up with her. They're the ones I was keeping an eye on for John."

He supposed he should have thought of that, even Pearl had said not all of them had made it to her. They'd all figured the missing ones had split, smart enough to get out of town as quickly as possible. Apparently, they'd been wrong.

"What does John want with them?" Alaric asked, continuing the interrogation.

"He's just keeping an eye on them, you know? Trying to make sure they stay out of trouble."

Alaric met Damon's eyes, frowning. Neither of them believed for a minute that, John was truly just keeping an eye on them. He wanted them dead, and that device he was after was probably a way of ensuring it.

"Well, that's John." Damon said with a chuckle, "He's such a do-gooder."

Henry's phone began to ring, and he pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the caller-id.

"Heh. That's John now."

Damon stood up and reached for the phone.

"Oh. Hey, let me talk to him."

"All right. Yeah." He handed the phone over to Damon, who let it continue to ring. Henry's face dropped into a frown. "Are you gonna answer that?"

"Am I gonna answer that?" Damon asked, meeting Alaric's eyes. He shook his head.

"What's going on?" Henry asked looking between them.

Finally figuring out that something was wrong, Henry vamped out and ran at Alaric. Damon seized hold of him, pulling him away and Alaric shoved a stake through his heart. Damon watched as grey-veins crept across Henry's face before letting him drop to the floor.

"Let's not kill anyone tonight." He said patting Alaric's shoulder. "Your words. Just pointing that out."

The two of them split up to search the apartment. It didn't take long, there wasn't much of an apartment to search.

"Find anything yet?" Damon asked when Alaric came out of the bedroom.

"No, I looked everywhere. The place is… The place is clean."

"Well, I found this. Behind the blood in the fridge."

He tossed a bottle of beer to Alaric, who caught it and they both took a seat.

"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."

"Yeah? How long did it take you?"

"Forty-eight years. I didn't stop till I found out Katherine couldn't care less at me. I have Maya's great-great-grandfather to thank for that."

Alaric nodded.

"I thought if I got answers… I don't know. No answer is gonna be enough. I keep thinking, I wanna know why, when, you know, the precise moment… when my wife decided life with me wasn't enough."

"I thought like that for a while. Wondered what I'd done… what about me just wasn't enough for her… then I realised it didn't matter. Katherine wasn't worth the time I wasted on her… You spend all your time on Isobel and wondering why… and before you know it your life is over… all that wasted time, wasted energy… Just let it go."

"You're right. I 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."

"I think I witnessed the teacher have an existential crisis…" Damon stopped dead, looking around the living room.

Maya was curled up on the couch between Stefan and Tyler, hugging the dragon plushie he'd brought her, her first month in New York, her eyes haunted in a way they hadn't been for a long time. Maggie and Enzo were sitting together on another couch, with worried gazes that shifted between Maya and the three vampires sitting on the couch opposite them.

"… Okay. What did I miss?"