1912
Summer, 1912
Two men exit a Council Meeting at the Town Square, Sheriff Gerald Forbes and Zachariah Salvatore, heading back to their homes and families. "Will you get home all right, Mr Salvatore? I can send for one of the police vehicles," Gerald offers, looking at his friend.
"Oh, a winter chill never hurt anyone, Sheriff Forbes," Zachariah assures him, waving the kind offer away.
"I'm less concerned about the cold front, more for your safety," he argues, remembering what the meeting was about.
"One council man's murder doesn't make an epidemic, Gerald. Good night," Salvatore retorts, hiding his fear.
"Good night," Sheriff Forbes says, and Zachariah leaves and starts walking across the square, alone, when he hears a noise before he is suddenly stabbed and left to die alone.
October 24th, 2010
Sheriff Forbes and Mayor Lockwood walk towards the Police Station, discussing the current problem. "The mystery is not going to get solved any faster with you yelling at me, Carol." Liz argues.
"We have two council murders and an attempted murder on our hands. If you have a suspect, it is your duty to keep me in the loop," Carol snaps, wanting to be kept in the loop.
"No, it's my duty to make sure I don't accuse an innocent person of being a serial killer." She retorts, not wanting a Witch Hunt if someone is innocent in their small town.
"Just, tell me who it is, Liz," The Mayor demands, but Liz ignores her.
Alaric wakes up in a holding cell inside the Police Station; he looks around as he hears footsteps approaching. He stiffly gets to his feet and sees Sheriff Forbes and Damon coming towards him, needing to talk to the suspect. "I didn't do it," Alaric denies for the hundredth time since Liz began interrogating him.
"You're arresting him for what this nut job Dr Fell says?" Damon questions, growing frustrated as he sees his friend inside the cell.
"No, I'm detaining him. The cell is for his own good. You were shot; Dr Fell used Vampire blood to heal you," Liz explains calmly, not taking either of what they say too seriously.
"Dr Fell is the one who shot me," Alaric argues, wanting out of the cell.
"Because you came at her with a knife!" She snaps back at him.
"Yeah, with a knife I had found hidden in her things!" He retorts, telling her.
"Are we gonna ignore the part where he is one of the killer's victims? I mean, the guy was practically stabbed to death," Damon argues, siding with his only friend.
"Well, Dr Fell suggested his wounds could have been self-inflicting," Liz replies, looking at him.
"You think I stabbed myself?" Alaric asks in shock at the Sheriff.
"Look, I think I don't know what to think. I've got nothing, except murder weapons from your stash and a respected member of a Founding Family pointing a very long finger." She explains lightly, needing more evidence.
"She is setting me up. I'm being framed here!" He shouts, growing angry and frustrated at the situation.
"Well, that may be so, but I don't have any proof of that," The Sheriff retorts calmly.
"Well then we'll find some," Damon says, making them look at him.
"No, just stay out of this, Damon," Liz warns him. "You getting involved is only going to make matters worse."
"Listen, Liz…" He retorts, and she looks at him in warning.
"Don't make me put you in that cell with him!" She snaps at him, pointing a finger at him.
Meanwhile, Matt and Elena jog together through the neighbourhood, the Doppelganger needing to clear her head, while the Footballer is there for moral support. "What are we running, a marathon?" Matt asks, trying to keep pace with his ex-girlfriend.
"If you can't keep up," Elena jokes.
"Elena, you can't outrun your problems," he tells her. He breaks into a walk while Elena continues running ahead. "Though it looks like you're gonna try. I talked to Bonnie!" He shouts, making her stop and turn to look at him.
"What did she say?" She asks him as he walks towards her.
"They're at her mum's house. Abby is gonna complete the transition," the blond man informs her.
"She decided to become a Vampire?" The Doppelganger questions, surprised, after everything that Bonnie would allow her mum to do that.
"Yeah. Caroline's gonna help her through it. Teach her to control it and stuff," Matt replies, shrugging, not getting it either.
"Did Bonnie say - is there anything I can do?" She wonders, wanting to help her best friend.
"She knows it's not your fault, Elena, she's just upset," he assures her, though he remembers Bonnie not explicitly saying anything like that.
"Stefan turned her mum into a Vampire to save my life. It's absolutely my fault," The Doppelganger argues, feeling guilty.
"You're gonna make me run more, aren't you?" The quarterback questions, but she doesn't answer as her phone rings. "Who is it?"
"Sheriff Forbes, is everything okay?" Elena answers the phone. "He what?"
Elena storms into the Police Station with Damon calmly walking up to her, stopping her from going to the holding cells. "Were you just..?" Elena asks him, pointing behind him.
"Ric's fine. Sheriff wants me to stay out of it," Damon tells her.
"But you're not going to. Are you?" She argues, knowing Damon likes to get into these situations.
"Seems just as good a plan as any," he retorts, shrugging with a big smirk.
"Your friend's in jail for murder. You have to do something," the Doppelganger snaps at him, wanting Alaric out of jail.
"Well, I guess I could rip out Dr False Accusation's throat," the older Salvatore brother suggests, making her look at him. "Maybe her tongue. You know, I could chew it up into little tiny pieces and feed it to the squirrels." He mimics chewing like a squirrel.
"Stop it, Damon!" Elena yells at him, making him look at her.
"Guess me staying out of it suddenly sounds like a good idea, doesn't it?" Damon retorts. "I saved your life last night. You're welcome."
"You know, you could show a little compassion about Bonnie," she retorts, calming down a little.
"I know, you're right, her and her mum must be really hurting right now. Should I send lasagna?" He jokes, teasing her, making her glare at him.
"Okay, now you're just being mean," the Doppelganger pouts, making Damon look at her lips and wish he could kiss her.
"I'm mean, you hate me. The Earth is back on its axis," the cocky Vampire jokes, and Elena starts walking away from Damon but turns around, looking back at him.
"You know if you keep pushing people away, you're gonna end up alone." Elena warns him before leaving.
Stefan sits in his room at the Pack Den, writing in his journal as Blake prepares for the Wolf Run tonight with the other Werewolves. His phone rings, and he looks at the caller ID to see it's Damon, also known on his phone as "Demon Brother". He changed a few contact names. "Dear diary, a chipmunk asked me my name today," Damon jokes, teasing his little brother. "I told him it was Joe. That lie will haunt me forever." Stefan scoffs, putting his journal aside.
"How did you know I was writing in my journal? And what do you want?" Stefan demands, rolling his eyes. "Or I'll hang up."
"I was hoping we could hang. You know, a little brother bonding," he replies casually, having a secret agenda. "I know we don't actually "hang out". We team up, we join forces, we activate our Wonder Twin powers."
"What do you want, Damon?" the former Ripper repeats. "I'm growing bored of this. Why call me if it's not important?"
"Okay fine. I'm digging up clues. The Originals aren't responsible, but now we have a whodunnit in town." the cocky Vampire explains. "Hey, do you remember when we came back for Zachariah's funeral?"
"Vaguely. Why?" Stefan questions, thinking back to the time he went off the wagon.
"If memory serves, he wasn't the first Founders' Council member killed that year or even that month." Damon retorts, looking around the library in the Salvatore Boarding House.
"Your point being?" he asks, getting up from his desk and looking at his collection of journals on his bookshelf.
"I'm trying to remember what year it was," the older Salvatore brother replies, picking up a book randomly.
"1912," the younger Salvatore brother states, picking the journal of that year from the shelf.
"So much for vaguely," Damon remarks, returning his book. "1912. Or as I like to call it: last time Mystic Falls had a serial killer on its hands." Stefan opens his journal and reads it through the phone.
"'It feels strange to be home again after so long away. I thought I would never return. Certainly not for a funeral…" Stefan reads.
Summer, 1912
At the local cemetery, a funeral occurs outside the Salvatore crypt, and two women approach Stefan, who stands away from the others. "I'm sorry for your loss, Mr Salvatore. I'm told you're a distant cousin of Zachariah," Marianna Lockwood remarks, looking at the handsome stranger.
"His nephew, actually. Miss..?" Stefan questions, looking at her.
"Lockwood. Marianna Lockwood," she introduces herself. "And this is my friend, Samantha Gilbert."
"As in Johnathan Gilbert," he wonders, remembering the man well from his past.
"My late grandfather. Did you know him?" Samantha asks him, suspicious of the response.
"Crossed paths," the Vampire replies vaguely, trying to elude suspicion. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be inappropriate, but no one seems to be willing to discuss the details of Zachariah's death."
"He was murdered and he wasn't the first," she informs him, surprising Stefan about how open she is to talk to him.
"Samantha, don't be a gossip," Marianna scolds her dear friend.
"Why not? He should know," the Gilbert argues. "He's a Founding Family like us. Be careful, Mr Salvatore. It's not a good time to be a Founder in this town," she warns him before leaving with Marianna. Stefan looks at a nearby tombstone when he sees a crow fly away, and his brother, Damon, appears.
"Have you been eating the relatives again?" Damon muses, looking at his younger brother.
"Damon," Stefan greets him, staying calm.
"It's been a long time, brother," he replies coldly.
"It's been almost fifty years. I'm surprised you came," the younger Salvatore brother remarks, glancing sideways at him.
"And miss the funeral of, what do you call him? Uncle Zachariah?" the cold Vampire retorts.
"I see you're still mad at me," Stefan says, wishing he and his brother could reconcile.
"Why would I be mad at you, Stefan?" Damon snaps, turning to face him and glaring. "You made me become a Vampire and now I walk the world alone, drinking other people's blood."
"Any chance you took it all out on our nephew Zachariah?" He wonders aloud.
"If I'm not mistaken, you were the one who killed our family, remember? May father rest in peace," the older Salvatore brother sneers at him.
"I'm not like that anymore, Damon," the younger brother argues, trying to get his brother to forgive him.
"Well congratulations, Stefan. But if you'll excuse me, I'd like to live out my eternal existence as far away from you as possible." Damon snaps, pushing him aside and leaves.
"Damon, wait," he calls after him, making Damon stop. "Let's grab a drink, catch up." Damon turns around, looking at him. "I've missed you brother."
"Sure. Why not?" the sullen Vampire replies.
October, 2010
"What do you say, brother? You wanna go get drunk?" Damon asks him, crossing his fingers with hope as he wants to spend time with his brother.
"Ahhh, I get it, I get it. You're bored!" Stefan beams, and Damon sighs. "I heard your best friend was in jail this morning and you don't have anything better to do with yourself. That is sad, Damon." Damon frowns, wondering how Stefan found that out so quickly.
"Well, there's that and I was hoping you could help me solve a murder," he replies calmly. "So what will it be?"
In New York, Lorilei and Finn enter the university, and the older Original brother watches the students perk up in their seats as they walk into the lecture hall. "I'm unpleasantly disappointed," Lorilei states as she strolls to the podium, and Finn walks to a chair by the table. Finn can't help but remember Klaus; he knows the two are perfect for each other, and they balance each other out. "I left for a few months, and your potential has dropped. I hope this professor who replaced me at least taught you from my books." Lorilei remarks, looking around the room; none of the students meets her eye. "Unbelievable. No wonder I was called back." She grabs the book from the table before Finn with a few books piled on different Supernatural beings. "I hope you at least bought the book today?" She has yet to get a response. "I expect at least a response!" She snaps, making everyone jump, even Finn.
"Yes Professor McKnight!" The students shout, taking out the books as she starts her slides, showing an image of the earliest depiction of a Vampire.
"I would have gone over this already, but it seems your Professor struggles with teaching you the basics, well, let us begin," Lorilei grumbles, glaring at them. "The first time the word Vampire was whispered it was a word of horror, nowadays we unfortunately have sparkling brooding idiots." This makes some of the students laugh. "Before, it was all about the blood and gore and now it's about the romance and selling books."
Rebekah sits with Carol at a table in the Mystic Grill, the blond Original needing to find out if there is any more White Oak in Mystic Falls; though she believes she and Kol got everything, she has to be sure. "Thank you for meeting with me, Mayor. I figured as head of the Preservation Society, you'd be a good person to ask about the oldest trees in this community." Rebekah retorts, smiling kindly at the woman.
"A long line of Lockwood women used to keep those records, back before any of them had actual jobs." Carol jokes, laughing.
"I've been to the Founders' archive, but I can't seem to find any record of the tree I'm looking for." She explains vaguely.
"It probably got cut down. Big old trees built half of this town in the 1900s," the Mayor replies, and Stefan and Damon enter the Grill, heading toward the bar.
"Oh, She-Devil at nine o'clock," Damon mutters, staring at Rebekah, who stares back at him. Stefan looks at her, nodding as he knows why she's here talking to Carol.
"Do you happen to know who kept the milling ledgers during that period?" Rebekah wonders casually.
"Back then all the logging mills were owned by the Salvatores," Carol replies, and Rebekah glances at the Salvatore brothers at the bar.
"So what does a medical examiner, Bill Forbes, and Alaric Saltzman have in common?" Damon muses, wanting help with the murders. Stefan looks at his brother and orders them both drinks.
"No idea," Stefan replies, making Damon glare at him.
"That is not helpful, little brother," he retorts, taking his drink from the bar and gulping it down.
"What's got you so stressed?" The former Ripper wonders. "Is it cause your only friend is in jail? Or is it Elena again? I mean, you seem to have a lot of problems lately. You couldn't even kill the Originals with some help from a powerful Witch." Damon looks at his younger brother, glaring at him as he talks.
"What has gotten into you?" The cocky Vampire snaps, growing at Stefan, who looks back at him.
"Nothing. Just bored, I guess," Stefan retorts. "They were all on the Founders' Council, Damon. That's what they all have in common."
"But why them? Huh? Brian Walters and Alaric weren't from Founding Families. I mean, hey, if you're gonna slaughter Council Members, go A-list. At least in 1912 they killed a Salvatore," Damon argues, and Rebekah steps up behind the brothers.
"Which Salvatore would that be?" Rebekah wonders, looking between them. Stefan looks back at Rebekah, knowing she's trying to find information about the White Oak Tree and if there's any more, but he worries that Damon might catch on. The Originals and other Vampires might be in perilous trouble if there's any more.
Sheriff Forbes walks down to the holding cells to talk with Alaric. "You have to agree, Sheriff, there is no motive here," Alaric repeats, wanting out of the holding cell to find out who the real killer is.
"Look, both the medical examiner and my ex-husband got into altercations with Meredith Fell before their deaths. Now, she said you were a witness to her fight with Brian Walters," Liz snaps, missing Bill even if they were divorced.
"So, what are you saying, I was defending her honour? I barely knew her then," he retorts angrily.
"She said she also told you that Bill threatened to report her to the medical board for giving him Vampire blood," the Sheriff argues.
"No she didn't," The Vampire Slayer snaps, not remembering this particular conversation.
"A two a.m. call the night he was killed?" Liz reminds him, and she sees the frown growing on his face. "I pulled your records, you spoke with her for over an hour." Hearing this, Alaric sits on the cell bed.
"Okay, I, uh, yes I-I remember calling her, but I was drinking and I-I don't remember the conversation." Alaric tells her, rubbing at his tired eyes.
"Well, do you have an alibi for the night Brian Walters was killed?" She wonders, trying to help him.
"I was there the night of the bridge fundraiser, okay? Until midnight. You saw me there!" He exclaims, making her look at him.
"Time of death was between one and three am," Sheriff Forbes informs him calmly, not taking his yelling personally for now.
"Well, then, I-I must have been home, sleeping. I'm sure of it," the history teacher argues, shrugging.
Caroline hears a knock on the door and wonders who it is, hoping it's not Elena. She checks to see if Abby or Bonnie are moving towards the door, but they still talk in Abby's room. Caroline goes to the front door to see Bobby waiting at the door with a small smile; she answers the door. "Blood Deliveries, we aim to please," Bobby jokes, making her smile. Bonnie stops talking to Abby, hears other voices, and looks at her mum.
"Let me see what's going on," Bonnie tells her, moving into the hallway to see Caroline at the door with Bobby, whom she remembers from school and one of Klaus' Hybrids.
"Thank you for getting the blood, Bobby," Caroline says, making Bonnie stop.
"Sure, no problem. I'm sorry about Bonnie's mum," Bobby replies. "Klaus and Lorilei didn't want it to happen that way. If it helps, Lorilei has opened her network to help Abby and Bonnie in any way she can."
"Her network?" Bonnie asks, walking over, making Caroline and Bobby turn to look at her.
"Yeah, Lorilei runs a Supernatural network, she wants to help, but you don't have to take it if you don't want it. No pressure," he explains, and Bonnie wonders how he knows so much.
"So, Zachariah Salvatore was your nephew?" Rebekah wonders, looking at the brothers as they sit at the bar.
"Well, our father knocked up one of the maids during the Civil War, she had a son. But as far as everyone else knew, Stefan and I were dead. Family name had to go somewhere," Damon explains, glaring at his glass.
"And, uh, your family owned the logging mills back then?" She questions, earning a nudge from Stefan.
"You're full of a lot of questions," he remarks, glancing at her.
"I'm just researching the town's history. I grew up here after all," the blond Original argues, trying to sway him.
"You know you don't have to disguise your true motives Blondie-Bex, if you want more sex, just ask for it." The older Salvatore brother teases her, making her sneer at him.
"Not enough liquor in the world," Rebekah snaps, and Stefan tries hiding his laugh, but Damon hears him, glaring at his younger brother. Rebekah grabs the bottle and pours herself a drink, joining the brothers.
"Oh, come on, it was too good for you to be this hostile," Damon retorts, and Stefan grabs his glass and bottle, moving from between Rebekah and Damon to his brother's side. "You'll have to excuse my little brother, he's jonesing for some girlfriend time."
"I'm not jonesing," Stefan argues, rolling his eyes, and Rebekah moves into the seat next to Damon. "Blake is busy, I understand that. End of."
"So, did they ever catch the killer?" Rebekah asks, looking between the brothers.
"Nope. Wrote it all off on Vampires," Damon replies, shrugging.
"Maybe it was a Vampire," she argues.
"Yeah, yeah, maybe it was a Vampire, Damon," Stefan repeats, teasing his brother as he looks at him, accusing him.
"Don't think for a second you didn't cross my mind too, brother," Damon retorts, glaring at Stefan. "But these murders weren't your style, were they? Plus there were no other Vampires circulating then."
"Well, there was one other Vampire. Remember Sage?" He argues, remembering the older redheaded Vampire lingering in Mystic Falls.
"Ohh, right, Sage. Speaking of great sex. Ooh!" the cocky Vampire smirks, taking a swing from the bottle, remembering the woman well.
Summer, 1912
Damon drinks from a bottle as the Salvatore brothers walk around Mystic Falls, trying to bond again. "Damon, you've had enough," Stefan warns him, taking the bottle from Damon and drinking.
"Hit a man when he's down," Damon grumbles, and they head towards a tend to find a woman beating a man in a boxing match. The redheaded woman, Sage, knocks the man using an uppercut.
"Who's next? One hundred dollars to any man who can beat me," Sage declares and spots Damon, winking at him. Stefan steps towards Damon, wanting to help his brother.
"I can teach you how to survive without human blood, you know," Stefan assures him.
"You do not get to lecture me on how to live my life. Not any more," Damon snaps, walking away from his annoying little brother, and Sage comes up to the sullen Salvatore brother.
"What's your name?" Sage asks him, intrigued with Damon.
"Not interested," he retorts, turning away from her as he wants only to be with Katherine.
"Well, Mr Not-Interested, you seem to me like a gambling man," she remarks, looking at him.
"Afraid you have me all wrong," the older Salvatore brother argues, and Sage pulls a 100-dollar bill from her shirt, showing Damon. She puts it in his pants.
"Hm, well that's too bad," the red-haired Vampire muses, walking away.
October, 2010
"I knew a Sage once. Trashy little thing," Rebekah remarks, thinking of Finn's old girlfriend, who no one liked.
"You really think it was Sage who was killing all those Founders back then?" Damon wonders, looking at Stefan.
"Town questioned every grown man in Mystic Falls," Stefan argues. "Probably never occurred to them that a woman could have done it."
Elena waits by her car outside the hospital, needing to talk with Meredith about Alaric as Damon won't do it. Elena spots Meredith getting out of her car and goes up to her. "I'm due in surgery," Meredith groans, knowing why Elena is here and keeps walking towards the hospital with the Doppelganger keeping pace. "Whatever case you're gonna make against Alaric, make it quick."
"I don't have to make a case, he didn't do anything," Elena argues.
"How do you know? Sure you live with him, he takes care of you, but do you really know anything about him?" She retorts.
"I know enough," the Doppelganger replies, and Meredith stops walking and turns to face Elena.
"Let me tell you what I know," Dr Fell states, trying to get the teenage girl to see sense. "He was arrested for fighting four times before the age of 21. When he was at Duke, his future wife, Isobel, filed a restraining order against him. Twice. Although, then she married him, so I guess that says more about her."
"Okay, you're making all of this up," Elena argues, shaking her head.
"Am I? How would you know?" Meredith questions. "You took pity on a borderline alcoholic Vampire hunter and you never even thought to look any deeper."
"How could you do this to him? He didn't kill anyone and you know it," she snaps at the doctor.
"You date Vampires, Elena. It shouldn't come as a shock to learn that your guardian is a murderer." the doctor retorts before walking away.
Rebekah finishes the remaining bottle of whiskey before turning to the Salvatore brothers. "So, uh, tell me more about your old relatives. I heard they tore down half the woods to build this town," she wonders, not being discreet at all. A bartender gives them a new whiskey bottle, and Rebekah goes to grab the bottle, but Damon grabs it first, wanting her to leave them alone.
"Easy there, lushy pants. It's been a hoot and a half, but it's boy's night, and you weren't invited." Damon snaps, leaving with the bottle. Stefan looks at her, and she nods before he follows his brother with two glasses.
Elena calls Matt, and they head to Meredith's apartment; the Footballer picks the lock, and they enter the apartment. "Wow, nice job," Elena compliments him, looking at her ex-boyfriend.
"All that breaking and entering adds to the list of life favours you owe me." Matt warns her.
"Okay, look, I don't know how much longer Meredith is gonna be in surgery, so let's see what we can find." She tells him, and they begin searching through the doctor's place.
"Don't you think the police already combed through this place? She handed over everything she had," he wonders, looking at her as they search the apartment.
"Yeah, I'm looking for the evidence that she didn't hand over," the Doppelganger argues.
"And you're sure it's her we should be investigating?" the blond human questions, rifling through some papers.
"I know him, Matt. He's innocent. And I know that Meredith's a Fell, Founding Family." Elena argues, looking over at a closet. "Which means…" She walks over to the closet and opens the door. Elena turns on the light and starts looking through Meredith's things with Matt, who joins her. She finally finds a hidden panel at the back of the closet. She checks it, knocking on it and hearing the hollow sound. "Skeletons in the closet. Just like a true Founder." Matt steps into the small closet and pulls out the hidden panel, finding a cardboard box. he takes it out, and they start rifling through the folders inside. "Brian Walters. Bill Forbes." Matt finds out and pulls it out, showing it to Elena.
"Alaric Saltzman," Matt announces.
Jeremy races downstairs in the Mikaelson Manor as he hears the doorbell, knowing it must be Jenna, who is staying for the week. Elijah beats him to the door, making the Gilbert boy pout. Alexis joins him slowly from her room, and the couple has been snuggling in bed. "Jenna," Elijah greets her, smiling at the woman, who smiles back at him.
"Well, this is not awkward," Alexis mutters, though Elijah hears her and turns to the youngest McKnight sibling.
"You're early," Jeremy muses, looking at his aunt, who steps into the house, hugging her nephew.
"I wanted to get here as soon as possible," Jenna replies. "I could not stand another moment away."
"I'm sure," Alexis remarks, moving towards her and hugging Jenna, who hugs her back. "I doubt it was the handsome suit wearing Original that you danced with all night at the ball?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she denies, swatting at her. "I am here to see my nephew, his girlfriend, and…"
"The most amazing, awesome and terribly handsome Edward?" the teen himself announces, walking into the foyer.
"Remind you of anyone?" Klaus muses, coming into the foyer behind the male McKnight sibling with Kol.
"No idea what you mean," Kol argues, faking a glare at Klaus.
"Going out brothers?" Elijah asks, seeing his younger brothers with their coats on.
"Yes, I need to talk with the Alphas at the Pack Den, and Kol is tagging along," Klaus informs them. "Lovely seeing you Jenna," he waves before leaving with Kol.
"So, who wants pancakes?" Jeremy asks, craving them since Lorilei left for New York.
"Lei has been gone a day," Alexis laughs, rolling her eyes at him. "And it's the middle of the day."
"You can have pancakes anytime of the day," he argues, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into him. Jenna smiles, happy to see her nephew so at peace with everything around them.
Damon plays some darts, and Stefan sits at a table when Damon hits the bullseye. "So, let's just say Sage was killing everyone in 1912. Who the hell is doing it now?" Damon wonders. "It's not that psycho, Dr Fell. She's a woman. There's no way she could stab three grown men." He throws another dart, but Rebekah catches it before it hits the board.
"That's a bit sexist," Rebekah remarks, looking at them. "A woman could easily kill a man, with the right motivation."
"You just, uh, don't give up, do you?" Stefan asks, looking at her, wanting her to leave before she ruins their head start.
"Why are you so grumpy?" She asks, looking at him. "It can not be because Blake and the others are getting ready to change."
"It is so about that," Damon argues, looking at his little brother.
"You know, you were a lot more fun in the '20s," the blond Original teases him, and Damon bumps Rebekah with his elbow.
"Don't rile him up," he warns her, taking the whiskey bottle. "He seems testy without his little redheaded girlfriend."
"Leave Blake out of this, Damon. I'm just worried about her, considering she has to go through a bone-breaking change, and there's nothing I can do about it." Stefan argues, making Damon look at him and see how much his brother cares about Blake.
"Okay, fair enough. My mistake," the cocky Vampire replies. "By the way, you forgot one of your journals at the house," Damon declares, taking out Stefan's journal. "Dear diary, Damon has lost his way, though I have pulled my own life together he continues to waste his." he reads from the page, and Rebekah grabs the journal from Damon, looking at the passage.
"Ouch," Rebekah jokes, reading another passage. "His bitterness consumes him. He is nothing but blackness and vile." She closes it and winds the strap around it. "Oh, judgy."
"Well, this is fun," Stefan muses, glaring at them and taking his old journal.
"You know, if I'm being honest, you didn't seem like much fun either, Damon," she remarks, looking at him.
"I wasn't," Damon agrees. "The woman I was in love with was stuck in a tomb and she wasn't getting out for a hundred years. I wasn't having any fun at all."
Summer, 1912
Damon feeds on a woman outside the fighting tent; when he's finished, he throws her lifeless body to the ground. Sage watches him from behind, disappointed in his behaviour and etiquette. "How sad," Sage remarks, making herself known. "You're doing it all wrong. Bad Vampire." Damon pulls himself out a handkerchief and wipes his face of blood.
"I was hungry," Damon retorts. "Now I am not hungry. My quality of form is purely subjective."
"A woman isn't just for food. She's for pleasure," she argues, trying to mentor him.
"I do not need a woman for pleasure. I am spoken for," he argues, walking away, but Sage grabs his arm, stopping him.
"We are all spoken for, in some way," the red-haired woman retorts, thinking of Finn. "But what is being a Vampire if not relishing in the pleasure of it?" She walks back to the tent, motioning for Damon to follow. "Come along. Let me show you."
Back in the tent, two men are boxing each other, and Damon walks over to Sage, intrigued by her. "Look at the women, they're beautiful, aren't they?" Sage questions, looking over." Not them. They're too hungry for attention," she argues, showing him the other women. "You want the ones who button themselves up. Watch them. They can't tear their eyes away." She traces her finger along Damon's jaw, watching him. "Those are the women who secretly crave seduction. They'll put up a good fight, but the game isn't winning them over, making them beg for it."
"What if they don't?" Damon retorts, eyeing the women across the tent.
"You're a Vampire, you take it," she argues, and they look at a young woman on the other side of the tent. "Her." Damon moves towards the target before looking back at Sage; she looks at the girl and nods, then looks away.
October, 2010
"That sounds like Sage all right," Rebekah remarks, remembering Finn's old flame.
"How did you know her?" Damon asks, looking at her.
"She was obsessed with my brother Finn, over 900 years ago," she explains, rolling her eyes.
"What? Creepy suicidal guy?" He questions, making her glare at him.
"You know nothing," the blond Original snaps at him.
"Whatever," the cocky Vampire retorts, holding his hands up.
"Alright, you know what, I need to, uh, I gotta get out of here," Stefan announces, needing to talk with Blake at least.
"Sure. First, admit you're jonesing," Damon argues, making Stefan look at him.
"Damon, I'm not…" he argues, wanting to call Blake at least to see how everything is going. Damon rushes over to him and grabs his brother.
"Admit it," the older Salvatore brother says, and Stefan pushes him away.
"Okay, fine. I'm worried about Blake. I need to call her, just so I know she's okay. I know her family is there for her, but that's not the same as if I know," the former Ripper retorts, glaring at him.
"Good. That's all I want to hear. So call her," Damon tells him, and Stefan looks at him, and Rebekah nods.
"Fine," Stefan agrees, getting his phone.
Klaus and Kol arrive at the Pack Den, heading to the Alpha office. Kol looks around and is impressed with the place. "So, do I have to go to this meeting?" Kol asks, already a little bored.
"No, you can explore if you want," Klaus tells him, and Kol vanishes beside him.
"It's good to see you here, Klaus," Leo greets him, leading him into the office. "Did I see your brother here?"
"Yes, he wanted to have a look around the place. He shouldn't cause too much trouble," he assures him.
"That's fine, it's just that some are getting ready for the Wolf Run tonight," the Spokane Alpha warns him and closes the door as the meeting begins.
Kol strolls through the halls of the Pack Den and comes across the kitchen, hearing commotion inside. "But Mama!" He hears a boy yell, and a stunning, black-haired, tall, skinny woman storms out with a boy no younger than ten chasing after her.
"No! You can't stay in your room," she snaps, not glancing at the Original as the boy with sandy blond hair chases after his mother.
"But Mama! We did it before!" The boy argues, making the woman stop.
"I thought you liked playing in the Turning Woods?" The woman questions, crouching to the boy's level. "Nathan, sweetheart, everyone will be there, I'll be there, just like every time."
"But there's no one my age," Nathan pouts, and the woman brings him into a hug.
"That means you're cool," Kol voices, surprising them and himself.
"Who are you?" The woman asks, looking at the stranger.
"I'm Kol," he introduces himself with a devilish grin.
"Ah, the mischievous brother," she replies. "I'm Sandra."
"Lovely to meet you," the sadistic Original retorts and looks at the little boy.
"This is my son, Nathan," the Werewolf says, and Kol looks at the boy, not seeing anything similar between the two.
Elena and Matt continue looking through Meredith's file at her apartment on Alaric. "She's got everything on him: medical records, old court documents," Elena states, looking in shock, and Matt pulls out an old leather-bound journal from the box.
"What's this?" Matt wonders, looking at it, and Elena takes it from him and opens it, reading quickly.
"It's an old Gilbert journal," she realises.
"Why is one of your old family journals in her closet?" He questions, frowning.
"I…" the Doppelganger mutters, still trying to piece this all together.
"Didn't you say the medical examiner's time of death was between one and three a.m.?" the Donovan teen questions, glancing at the medical file.
"Yeah, why?" Elena asks, looking at her old boyfriend.
"Because the county coroner's office says that's wrong," Matt reveals, handing the paper to Elena, who looks at it. Suddenly, they hear footsteps approaching the apartment. "Oh my God." They quickly put the stuff back in the box and hide in the closet, hoping to stay hidden until Meredith leaves again. Dr Fell enters her apartment and puts her coffee cup and keys on the table. Matt tries to say something, but Elena puts her finger to his mouth, not wanting to be caught. Meredith comes out of her room and grabs her stuff. The teens hear the door open and close, thinking Meredith has left, and they turn the closet light back on and open the door, finding Meredith standing there, waiting for them.
Liz sighs, walking into her office to see Matt and Elena sitting in front of her desk after Meredith called them in. "What were you thinking?" Liz snaps at the teens.
"I know that we had no right," Elena replies, but she wants to help Alaric and doesn't see the problem.
"No right? You broke the law," she exclaims, glaring at the two teens.
"But, we found something that clears Alaric," the Doppelganger argues. "It gives him an alibi in the Brian Walters murder." Liz holds up a piece of paper to the two law-breakers.
"You mean this?" Sheriff Forbes questions sternly.
"What is that?" Elena asks.
"A letter from the county coroner's office correcting the error in the time of death of Brian Walters." Liz informs them, shocking the teens. "Meredith Fell received it today. She brought it to me several hours ago, full of apologies for accusing an innocent man."
"Why would she have a copy hidden in her closet?" Matt wonders, looking at the Sheriff.
"I can't ask those questions, Matt, because the very fact that you broke into her home to find it. Do you know how much I'm already protecting both of you?" She questions, trying to help them.
"I'm sorry," Elena apologises, but she wants to dig into Meredith further.
"Just...get out of my office and go home. Please," Sheriff Forbes tells the teens. "Alaric will be released as soon as the letter is authenticated. Go."
At the Mikaelson Manor, Jenna sits in the living room with Jeremy, Alexis, and Edward, discussing everyday things. "I can't believe the Wickery Bridge got burned down," Jenna utters, looking at the teens, who all turn their heads to the door as if expecting Rebekah and Kol to appear. "What happened?"
"Well, apparently…" Alexis tries saying, looking at Jeremy and Edward for help.
"Lorilei found that there was something that could kill me and my family," Elijah reveals, strolling into the room as he trusts Jenna with the secret.
"What could be so dangerous to burn a bridge?" Jenna questions, looking at them.
"White Oak," Edward replies, making her nod. She knows most about everything supernatural but doesn't want to know everything and still wants a somewhat everyday life.
"Right, that can kill an Original?" She asks, looking at the others.
"It can kill every Vampire in creation," Jeremy tells her, making her look around in shock. "Yeah, Lorilei figured that out before heading to New York with Finn."
"So you got it all?" The red-haired woman wonders as Elijah sits in the armchair across from them.
"Bridge and sign. Rebekah and Kol left nothing to chance," Elijah assures her. "Rebekah is making sure now if there is anything left."
"Yeah, well, Lei did the spell right and both me and Alexis have done it, twice, there is nothing left," Edward argues. "She's just wasting time and probably alerting the Scooby Gang to what we found."
Meanwhile, at the Mystic Grill, Stefan walks outside, needing some air, and Rebekah and Damon come out behind him. Stefan gets out his phone and calls Blake, waiting as the others talk behind her. "So, why are you so bothered about him wanting to talk to his girlfriend?" Rebekah wonders, looking at Damon.
"I'm not bothered," Damon argues. "I just think he needs not to worry about her so much. She's probably turned before."
"She has," she agrees, making Damon look at her. "I know Blake, we're friends, and I stayed at the Pack Den before. Her parents are Hybrids now, she's turning into a Hybrid in a few days when it's her birthday."
"See, she'll be fine," he exclaims, making her smile.
"But Stefan loves Blake, they seem to see something in each other that no one else ever did. I used to have that with someone a long time ago," the Sister Original muses, making Damon look at her.
"I thought I had that," the cocky Vampire retorts, and they watch Stefan as he smiles, talking on the phone with Blake.
"Yeah, no, I know… is that Nathan?" Stefan asks, hearing the boy shout in the background.
"Yeah, that's him. Apparently, Kol Mikaelson is at the Den, causing havoc," Blake tells him, smiling.
"Yeah, he has that effect," he replies. "I doubt you'll be in school tomorrow, but I was thinking, bunking and spending time in bed all day, how does that sound?"
"Sounds like heaven, I mean, I know this isn't my first change, and it is my hopeful last, but I could do with some TLC." She says, smiling. "There will be movies and pizza, right?"
"Of course, your favourite, Meat Feast, with fries, onion rings and coke," the younger Salvatore brother assures her.
"I don't know how you remember that after only one time seeing me order that at the Grill," the red-haired Werewolf jokes.
"How could I not," Stefan retorts, smiling.
"Who's the best boyfriend?" Blake exclaims. "Stefan Salvatore!" He hears someone shouting in the background. "I gotta go. It's almost time."
"Okay, no worries. I will be there in the morning with some aspirin and cake," he promises.
"I love you, Stefan Salvaotre," she confesses before hanging up.
"Did she just say 'I love you' and hang up?" Damon questions, having been eavesdropping on his little brother's conversation.
"Yeah, she did," Stefan agrees, looking at him.
"Harsh," he retorts, smirking.
"Don't start," the former Ripper snaps lightly, and Damon looks at him, raising his hands in mock surrender.
"I wasn't going to," the older Salvatore brother lies. "But I do wonder, have you never said it before? I mean, have you ever said 'I love you'?"
"No. No, we never have," Stefan replies, smiling. "But we will."
"Ah, that's adorable," Damon teases him, making Stefan roll his eyes. "We should have a celebratory drink."
"I agree," Rebekah announces, making the brothers look at her. "Did you forget about me?"
At the Pack Den, the Werewolves stand in the Turning Wood as the humans and Hybrids stand on the other side of the gate, locking them inside. Maggie sobs, like always, as she watches her daughters, waving at them, who wave back at them. Sara and Beth move away from the gate as the moon rises in the night sky, and the change begins. Cole moves his wife away with the others, all of those who do not have to change; they head into the Pack Den, not wanting to hear the bones breaking and screaming of pain.
At the Mikaelson Manor, the teens go to bed early; Jenna tells them, "They were giving her a migraine," but she just wants to spend some time alone with Elijah, the two of them conversing in secret the last few days since the Mikaelson Ball, where they danced with each other most of the night. The pair sit in the living room, enjoying each other's company and a bottle of wine undisturbed, at least, they think so as the three teens sit on the stairs, trying to listen as the adults talk. "You did not!" Jenna laughs after hearing a funny story about the Original's long past when the door opens, making everyone turn.
"You ruined it!" Edward shouts, jumping from the step and blowing the teens' cover.
"You dick!" Alexis shouts, jumping up and hitting her twin in the shoulder, making him wince in pain.
"Well, this is lovely, but I'm going to call my girlfriend," Klaus mutters, walking into the foyer with Kol, but veers off towards his painting room.
"I wanna come!" Edward shouts, jumping down the stairs and following after him. Kol looks at Elijah and Jenna, smirking at the couple.
"So, what is this then?" Kol wonders, making Jenna smile, shaking her head at him, and Elijah huffs, looking at his little brother.
"Kol, don't start," Elijah sighs, turning to look at his brother, who moves into the living room.
"Kol, leave Aunt Jenna and her boy toy alone," Alexis orders Kol, who looks at her in disbelief and then bursts out laughing.
"That is not -!" Jenna shouts, but Jeremy groans, wrapping his arms around Alexis' waist and hauling her out of the room and back upstairs.
Elena and Matt head to the Mystic Grill, needing to grab something to eat and a drink after exiting the police station. They head to the bar to order, and Elena notices three familiar faces at a table, Rebekah, Damon, and Stefan. Elena storms over to them, needing to talk with the brothers. "What are you doing?" Elena snaps at the Salvatore brothers, who turn to look at her in surprise. "Stefan?" She turns to her ex-boyfriend, who looks at her.
"Elena," Stefan replies, looking at her.
"What are you two doing?" She questions, looking at Damon and Stefan for answers.
"Relax, Elena. We're just having a little celebration. There's no need to make this more dramatic than it needs to be," Damon assures her, wanting to spend some time with his brother.
"Elena, let's just go," Matt tells her, but Elena continues to stare at Stefan. "Elena!" Matt forces Elena to move, and she eventually does. Stefan watches them before turning to his brother and Rebekah.
"Well, that was something," he jokes, making Rebekah snort her drink.
"Tell me about it," Rebekah laughs.
"God, she never gives up, does she?" Stefan muses, taking a gulp of his drink.
Elena sits at home at the dining room table as Matt makes her a mug of tea, and the pair of them are unsure what to say about what is going on around them lately. Matt brings the tea over, settling one in front of her and having one for himself, and he sits down beside her. "Just say it," Elena sighs, looking at her old boyfriend.
"I just don't get it. Your thing with them," Matt retorts, looking at her and seeing a completely different person from the one he used to know before the Salvatore brothers rocked up to town.
"I know it doesn't make sense, but at the beginning, after my parents died, there was something about being with Stefan that just felt safe." She tries explaining, though it sounds crazy.
"Safe?" He repeats, looking at her in shock. "Elena, he's a Vampire."
"I know, believe me, just saying it out loud it sounds crazy, but it's like I knew that he would never stop loving me. Like he would never…" the Doppelganger tells him, smiling fondly as she thinks about Stefan, her Stefan, not the one that came back to Mystic Falls after the summer.
"What?" the blond human asks, looking at her.
"Die. Like he would never die," Elena replies.
"Like your parents did. And Damon?" Matt wonders about the older Salvatore brother, who almost everyone tolerates.
"Damon just sort of snuck up on me," she confesses, smiling. "He got under my skin and no matter what I do I just… I can't shake him."
"Once you fall in love with someone, I don't know if… I don't know if you can ever shake them." He warns her, remembering their time together.
"I'm sorry. This...this is weird. Talking about them with you," the Doppelganger sighs.
"No. Not really. I got you something," the quarterback tells her, pulling out the Gilbert journal from his jacket pocket from Meredith's apartment and handing it to Elena.
"The journal?" Elena questions, shocked.
"It's your family's, you should have it," Matt replies, smiling. "Meredith and that idiot deputy were too busy questioning you to give a damn about me. Sometimes it pays to be the only normal one in a town of Vampires. I'm practically invisible." When the door opens, Elena looks at him, and Alaric suddenly enters the house. Elena moves away from Matt, ruining the moment, and gets up and walks over to Alaric.
"Are you okay?" She asks her friends.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm alright," Alaric assures her, and she hugs him tightly, glad he's home.
Stefan and Damon return to the Boarding House; the brothers sit in front of the fireplace, nursing more alcohol. "They let Ric go," Damon announces, sitting down after getting off the phone with Liz. "Sheriff Forbes says she's out of suspects again, but Ric is in the clear. That worked out well." He looks at Stefan, who looks at him. "Elena ruined the mood, didn't she?"
"Doesn't actually matter what Elena thinks," Stefan argues, drinking his bourbon.
"Uh-uh, none of that. Come on, we have to continue the celebration," he argues, but Stefan gets up, looking at his brother.
"Why do you even care, huh?" The younger Salvatore brother asks. "The whole brother bonding thing, getting Elena to hate you, what do you feel guilty because you kissed her, is that it, Damon? Because you can stop, go back to hating me. It was a lot easier."
"Can you for one minute actually believe that I'm trying to get along with you?" The cocky Vampire retorts.
"Why? Why do we need to get along?" Stefan argues, glaring at his brother.
"Why do we have to be on different sides all the time!" Damon snaps. "Do you remember what happened last time we were?"
"What are you talking about?" He questions, looking at him.
"1912, Stefan. The last time I convinced you to drink human blood. And I understand that you have it all under control. I get it. But we've always been on opposite sides," the older Salvatore brother retorts, and Stefan looks at Damon.
Summer, 1912
A few days later, Sage fights another man in the boxing ring. Damon brings Stefan back to the tent to watch the fight and spend some time together. "Go ahead, Stefan, pick one," Damon tells him.
"They're people, Damon," Stefan argues with his brother.
"Yes, they are people, Stefan," he agrees, but he doesn't care. "People with blood pumping through their veins, waiting to be opened up and sucked dry. You've just forgotten how good it feels."
"And so had I, but Sage, she reminded me. It's worth it, it's all worth it," Present Day Damon argues.
Stefan stares at the man being beaten by Sage, and he gets knocked out, bleeding. "Not him, Stefan, not him," Damon tells him, spotting a woman across the ring. "Her. She's the one."
"I don't do that anymore," Stefan argues, knowing he doesn't have control over his bloodlust.
"But you can, Stefan, we can. Let the past be the past. Have a drink with me, brother," assures his little brother.
Stefan feeds on a woman outside the fighting tent, and Damon supervises him. "I knew you still had it in you," Damon muses, watching, but Stefan continues to feed, and he walks over to stop him. "Don't be greedy." Stefan pushes his brother away, continuing to feed. "Stefan… Stefan." The Ripper feeds hungrily on the poor woman before ripping her head off. He drops her body and falls to his knees in despair at what he's done.
"Oh my God… Oh my God, I'm sorry," Stefan apologises, trying to put her head back on to fail.
"Stefan, stop. Stefan, stop," he says, trying to stop his brother from spiralling.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," the Ripper keeps apologising as he tries fixing his deathly mistake. Damon grabs Stefan's shoulder, but he pushes his brother away.
"Stefan…" the older Salvatore brother mutters, looking at his brother hopelessly trying to put the girl's head back.
"What did you do to me?!" Stefan shouts in despair.
"Shh, Stefan," Damon mutters, trying to calm him down.
"What did you do to me?" He repeats, looking at Damon.
"You just need to learn how to stop. I can help you," the sullen Vampire assures him, but Stefan gets up and retreats from the corpse.
"I don't need your help," the younger Salvatore brother snaps, running off into the woods and leaving Damon alone.
October, 2010
"The Founders' Council killer had nothing on you," Damon remarks, sitting in an armchair and looking at Stefan. "By the decade's end, they were calling you the Ripper of Monterey. I let you walk away. I watched you go over the edge, I didn't do anything to stop you."
"You couldn't have," Stefan argues, shaking his head.
"Sure I could've. But I just didn't want to. But I want to now," he retorts, looking at his little brother. "And I promise whenever you go too far, I will be there to pull you back. Every second, every day, till you don't need me."
"Why?" the former Ripper asks, sitting down.
"'Cause right now, you're all I got," the cocky Vampire retorts, and Stefan laughs. "Harsh."
Elena sits on the couch, reading the Gilbert journal after Matt leaves. Alaric comes downstairs after getting changed after coming home from the police station. "Hey, I was gonna make some coffee," Alaric announces, looking at Elena, who looks up from the book.
"I'm good. Gonna head to bed in a few," Elena replies, engrossed by the journal.
"Hey, listen, Elena, the uh- the Sheriff told me about everything you did today and while I appreciate it, I don't want you getting in trouble because of me. Okay?" He tells her, not wanting her to get into any more trouble.
"If not for you, for who?" She retorts, wanting to help.
"Well, still, I'm the one who's supposed to look after you, even if I suck at it." The Vampire Slayer argues, sighing.
"Okay, well, how about we just agree to take care of each other then?" The Doppelganger suggests, smiling.
"Deal. What are you reading there?" Alaric asks, glancing at the old Gilbert journal.
"Old family journal," Elena answers, showing him.
"Any juicy family secrets?" He wonders.
"It's hard to tell. I mean, at first I thought it was Johnathan Gilbert's journal, but it ended up being his granddaughter's, who apparently went just as crazy as he did. So, great genes, huh?" She muses, getting up from the couch.
"Well, at least you have something to look forward to," the history teacher jokes.
"Good night, Ric," the Doppelganger says, heading to the stairs.
"Good night," Alaric replies, and Elena goes upstairs to her bedroom.
Damon plays the piano in the parlour, wondering where Stefan has gone when he walks in with a large book. "So I dug into the old family archives from the 1900s," Stefan announces, placing the book down.
"So now you want to be helpful?" Damon questions, looking at his little brother.
"Want me to go back to being mad at you?" He retorts, glancing at him.
"What'd you find?" The older Salvatore brother asks.
"Well, nothing from 1912, they never did arrest anyone for the Founders' murders," the former Ripper explains, placing the open book in front of Damon. "But, they did get a confession ten years later."
"They did? Who?" Damon asks, frowning.
"Johnathan Gilbert's granddaughter, Samantha," Stefan announces. "They assumed she was crazy. Locked her up in an insane asylum."
"Then what?" He asks, looking at the page.
"Trail ends there," the younger Salvatore brother replies. "I mean, she was a Founder, you know how they like to look out for their own."
"Samantha Gilbert. That is very weird," the cocky Vampire muses, thinking of his dark past.
"Why?" Stefan asks him.
"Because I'm pretty sure I had already killed her," Damon replies, looking at Stefan.
Lorilei enters her New York apartment with Finn as it gets darker outside. "Make yourself at home," She tells him, removing her coat and hanging it on the hook by the door.
"Whose place is this?" Finn asks, taking off his jacket and looking around the place.
"It's mine," Lorilei answers, moving into the kitchen. "Want something to eat?"
"Uh… yes please," he replies, walking behind her as she opens the fridge, grabbing some items.
"I hope you don't mind butter chicken," she tells him, turning on the stove.
"I've never had it before," the older Original brother says, making Lorilei look at him.
"I keep forgetting that, sorry, Finn," the Siphon retorts, making a start on the meal. "I won't make it spicy, I promise."
"Thank you, I don't just mean for that," Finn replies, making Lorilei look at him.
"I don't mind, and honestly, when Elijah took me in when I was all alone, it was nice. It made me want to have a family, and I consider you all family." Lorilei confesses, smiling at him. "A very weird, dysfunctional, always violent family, but still, family."
"It's strange, seeing everyone so together, it seems like you've made them into the family we always wanted growing up," he remarks, sitting on the stool and watching her cook.
"Why? Because your father was an abusive dick, and your mother let him?" She asks, not looking at him. "I had both my parents beating me because of something I couldn't change." She turns, looking at her hand, which glows a faint red. "Then I killed them and ran away, and Elijah found me."
"I'm sorry," the sullen Original says, making her smile.
"I lived through it," the older McKnight argues. "It made me stronger and all that rubbish."
"Yeah," Finn smiles at her.
"I was thinking about something earlier," Lorilei confesses, plating up the food and sitting beside him at the counter. "The daggers, they easily go missing, I mean, before we left, Rebekah took one because she was going to get Kol for barging into her room and pulling a prank on her the other day. What would you say if I found a way to make you all immune to them?"
Meredith knocks on the Gilbert's door after finishing her shift at the hospital, and Alaric answers the door, not entirely happy to see her again after she shot him and sent him to jail. "I know what this looks like," Meredith says before he can.
"Yeah, well, I sure as hell don't," Alaric snaps at her. "You shoot me, you have me thrown in jail, and then you have me freed?"
"I did it for you, Ric. I forged the coroner's note to clear your name," she explains, needing to talk to him.
"Oh, you know what, people are right. You are psycho," he retorts, starting to close the door, but she stops him.
"No!" Dr Fell shouts, holding her hand on the door. "Now that you've been cleared, they'll look somewhere else, they won't look your way again. Please. You have no reason, but I need you to trust me anyway. If you let me in I can explain." Meanwhile, upstairs, Elena sits in her room, reading Samantha's journal.
"I don't feel like myself. I'm losing time. As though I'm going mad," Samantha says, her voice echoing through Elena's head.
"So you think Samantha Gilbert is still alive, running around Mystic Falls, killing Founders?" Stefan questions, looking at his brother, both of them still trying to figure out who killed the Founders in 1912.
"It's not possible, if she became a Vampire, we'd know about it, right?" Damon argues, looking at Stefan.
"Then she must have had a ring that brought her back to life, I mean she was a Gilbert, right?" He retorts. "Those rings were passed on for generations."
"Yeah, but even if she had a ring, she wouldn't be alive today. Doesn't protect her from old age," the older Salvatore brother says, and Stefan remembers something.
"Johnathan Gilbert only made two of those rings," the former Ripper tells him. "Jeremy has one of them and the other's..."
"Alaric's," Damon adds, the brothers' sharing a look.
Alaric looks through a crime scene evidence file with Meredith, standing in the kitchen. "Like the Sheriff said, the victims were killed with your weapons," Meredith tells him.
"Yeah, but I was attacked," Alaric argues, looking at her.
"With your own knife. A wound that could have been self-inflicted," she retorts.
"It's impossible! I would know if I were killing people," he snaps at her.
"Would you? Have you had any blackouts, instances of lost time?" Dr Fell asks him, trying to help.
"You're insane," the Vampire Hunter sneers, not believing her.
"No, but I think you might be," Meredith replies. "You wear a ring that lets you cheat death, Ric," she glances at the Gilbert ring. "How many times can you die before it changes you?" Alaric moves into the living room and sits on the couch with Meredith sitting with him. "I think you're sick and I want to help you. This has happened before, almost 100 years ago." She explains, and they hear Elena coming downstairs, standing in the doorway and looking at them.
"Elena," Alaric mutters.
"Ric, I think she's right," Elena replies, showing him the old Gilbert journal after reading it.
