Break On Through
Several days later, Alaric lies on an MRI couch, about to go into the MRI scanner at the hospital with Elena and Meredith in the control room, preparing for the scan. "What are you looking for?" Elena asks, looking at the Doctor.
"I don't know," Meredith replies, looking at the computer. "A tumour, vascular anomalies, anything physical that might explain his behaviour. If it's medical, I can treat it."
"And if it's not?" She wonders, glancing at Alaric, growing worried about him.
"Well, then we'll deal with that too," Dr Fell says as the technician slides Alaric inside the machine. Alaric stares at his reflection in the mirror above him, feeling overwhelmed with everything happening lately.
"When did you suspect him?" The Doppelganger asks the older woman. "That it was Alaric who was killing all of those people?"
"It was after he told me about his ring," Meredith answers, looking back at Elena. "I remembered a story my grandmother had told me about Samantha Gilbert and her secret journal. I don't know if you know this, but we Fells are notorious busy-bodies."
"But then, why did you protect him?" Elena wonders, not fully trusting the Doctor.
"Because I'm a Doctor, I don't like to see someone hurt by something they have no control over," she explains. "And because when he and I first met, I felt like...I don't know, I- I just kind of want to help him." Meanwhile, Alaric continues staring at his reflection in the mirror of the MRI machine. The reflection glares down at him, but the history teacher isn't making the same expression. Alaric starts to panic, and Meredith notices in the control room. "Everything alright in there?" Meredith asks him through the speaker. Alaric closes his eyes briefly before opening them, staring at his reflection again, the same expression mirroring his.
"Yeah. Yeah, everything's okay," Alaric assures them.
After the MRI scan, Alaric is led into a hospital room, getting ready to leave, when Elena comes in to check on him. "Meredith says that everything is normal," Elena announces, overseeing him.
"Yeah, well, everything is normal because there is nothing wrong with me," Alaric argues, still denying the facts. "I didn't kill Brian Walters, I didn't kill Bill Forbes, and I sure as hell didn't shove a hunting knife into my stomach." Alaric looks down at the ring, the only thing he doesn't pick back up. "Or I did, and I've gone insane, just like your ancestor who wore that ring."
"Look, I'm gonna call Bonnie, the rings were made by a Bennett Witch so maybe a Witch can reverse the damage." She tells him, trying to help, but he pushes the ring towards her.
"Take it. I don't want it any more," he replies, and she takes the ring, looking at Alaric when Damon enters the room.
"You ready to ditch this House of Horrors? Oof, you look terrible," Damon teases his only friend.
"Yeah, let me...let me check outta here," the Vampire Slayer says before leaving the room. Elena turns to Damon angrily, looking at him before following Alaric out.
Elena storms out of the hospital with Damon tailing after her. "Don't worry about him, take him out for chicken soup, get him a martini, make sure he doesn't kill anybody." Damon jokes, trying to get a rise out of her.
"What is wrong with you?" Elena snaps at him. "How could you just go out drinking with Stefan like some vampire pub crawl?"
"Oh right, I thought we were talking about Alaric, but of course, we're talking about Stefan." He grumbles, even though Stefan has a new girlfriend and hasn't thought about the Doppelganger since learning to control his bloodlust. Elena turns around and walks up to Damon.
"You stood there and drank with him and Rebekah," she sneers at the blue-eyed Salvatore, who closes the gap between them.
"We were bonding," the cocky Vampire argues, shrugging. "We need Stefan back on our side, don't we?"
"Well… yes, we do…but…" the Doppelganger tries arguing but can't find the right words.
"While bonding with Rebekah and Stefan, I can get in their little group and find out their plans before messing with them." Damon explains, making Elena look at him in surprise.
"Do you think that's going to work?" Elena asks him with hope.
"I don't see why not," he argues, walking around her. "I mean, Stefan clearly wants me back on his side, and Rebekah, well, she's still a girl that wants to find love in all the wrong places."
"If you can get into their inner circle, what do you think that will do?" She asks him. "What if they find out what you're doing?"
"We can only hope that they don't find out," the cocky Vampire retorts. "We need to know what they're doing. It's strange enough that we haven't seen Lorilei around lately, and apparently she's out of town with the depressing Original brother."
"What does that have to do with anything?" the Doppelganger asks him, getting fed up with him.
"It means they are up to something, and I have an idea that they're responsible for the bridge burning, and I plan to find out why." Damon tells her, and Elena scoffs, shaking her head.
"Do it soon, Damon," Elena demands and gets into her car before sending Damon a death glare. He shakes his head and walks away.
Bonnie walks out of Abby's house, leaving her mum alone for a little while in the garden, and she sees Caroline walking up to the house with an ice chest, probably filled with more blood, curtsy of Bobby, who keeps coming over to see the blond Vampire. "Hey," Caroline greets her, smiling softly.
"Hey," Bonnie replies, looking at her.
"Bobby totally lucked out. The hospital just had a blood drive, so he gave me some O negatives, some A's, and my personal favourite," she says, pulling out a blood bag, "B positive." They watch Abby in her garden, standing next to an empty birdbath, looking longingly at it.
"I made her a daylight ring," the young Witch informs her friend. "She's been standing out there all morning. I don't think she's taking this very well."
"Well, it's only been a few days since she turned. Your mum is still adjusting," the blond Vampire assures her, trying to comfort her.
Caroline and Bonnie walk outside into the garden and step up to Abby, watching her. "Ms Wilson, why don't you come inside? Have something to drink?" Caroline kindly offers, trying to help her.
"I can't feel it any more. My garden, it's gone. I can't feel anything," Abby says, fighting back the tears that threaten to fall and walks towards the house.
"I don't understand," she says, looking at Bonnie for help.
"Witches have a connection to the Earth. We can literally feel nature. Life," Bonnie explains and cups her hands on both sides of a dead plant. She quietly recites a spell, and suddenly, the plant blooms into a beautiful flower. "When Abby became a Vampire, she lost it. I don't know how to help her."
"Maybe there's someone who can," the young Vampire suggests, making Bonnie look at her.
"No," she says, walking back into the house, not wanting any help from Lorilei McKnight.
Construction workers began building the new Wickery Bridge after the fire tore down the last one. The townspeople are there for the rebuilding fundraiser, with noticeable people like Alaric, Meredith, and Damon arriving soon. The cocky Vampire notices Rebekah smiling as she talks with the Mayor, Carol Lockwood. "Rebekah's up to something," Damon says, glancing at her. "She's been snooping around in places she shouldn't be."
"Tell me again, why are we here?" Alaric asks, looking at his best friend.
"Ric, the world can't stop just because you're an accidental psycho killer," he retorts, smirking a little.
"Do you have any tact whatsoever?" Meredith questions, and Carol spots them, approaching them.
"Alaric, I'm glad you're here. Did you bring the sign?" Carol asks him, making him look confused. "The restored Wickery Bridge sign. The history department promised me you'd have it today. I know that the old sign was burned, but luckily we found a replica in storage."
"I- I don't have the sign actually it slipped...it slipped my mind. I've been...busy," Alaric tells her, though he doesn't remember receiving it at the time with everything that's been happening in private.
"Well, it's not an emergency. We'll just um- unveil it when the bridge is complete," she suggests before leaving.
"Get me outta here," he pleads with his girlfriend, who looks at him.
"My pleasure," Meredith retorts, but Damon stops them.
"I'm gonna stick around for a bit," Damon tells them, spotting a familiar face among the crowd and seeing Sage, his former mentor, who looks back at him and smiles.
"Who is that?" Alaric asks him, looking at the woman.
"Blast from the past," he retorts, walking away from them and over to Sage as Carol makes her speech.
"Damon Salvatore, my favourite student," Sage muses, looking at the man as he stands before her.
"Sage, my hottest teacher. What are you doing here?" the cocky Vampire asks, looking at her.
"I'm just passing through," she informs him, hiding her true intentions for now until it becomes crucial.
"Oh, come on, nobody just passes through Mystic Falls," Damon argues, glancing at her and knowing she doesn't do anything unless it benefits her too. Rebekah spots Damon and also sees Sage with him, so she decides to head over to them.
"Look what the cat dragged in," Rebekah remarks, looking at Damon and Sage, glaring at the red-haired harlot.
"Easy there, Rebekah. You know she used to beat men for sport," he warns her, remembering fondly about meeting her.
"She always was quite common," she retorts, sneering at Sage.
"Rebekah. What a happy surprise," Sage replies, looking at Rebekah.
"What are you doing here Sage?" the blond Original asks, wishing she would disappear.
"Well, I heard Finn was finally freed from that casket your rageaholic brother Klaus carted him around in." she tells her.
"Mmm, Finn, you just missed him," Rebekah tells her and comes up with a quick lie. "He left town and didn't tell a soul where he was going."
"He probably went looking for me," the red-haired Vampire argues, making Rebekah laugh.
"Or quite possibly he forgot all about you," she retorts, glaring at her.
"I doubt that," Sage snaps, hoping to find the man she loves.
"No? Cause he didn't seem to mention you," the Original Vampire says. "Sorry you came all this way for nothing. Have a nice life." She leaves quickly, needing to talk with her brothers.
"God, I hate that elitist Original bitch," she sneers, glaring at the retreating form of Rebekah.
Stefan heads to the Salvatore Boarding House, needing to pick up a few things before heading back to the Pack Den. He picks up a box of stuff from his old room and goes downstairs; hearing footsteps, Elena appears with a book in her hands. She stops and looks at her ex-boyfriend. "Hi," Elena greets him, looking at him longingly.
"Hey," Stefan replies, putting the box on the floor by his feet.
"I'm sorry, Damon told Alaric that there was no one home, otherwise I would have..." she says, looking at him and the box at his feet.
"I just got here," he tells her.
"I just came by to pick up this book that you found, on my ancestor, Samantha," the Doppelganger tells him, showing the book.
"That's fine," the former Ripper assures her. "I don't really care. I was just leaving." Elena walks over to Stefan, blocking his path.
"How are you doing? Damon said that you were…" Elena says, but he stops her.
"Yeah, I'm – I'm okay. Did you get everything you need?" Stefan asks her, grabbing his box of things.
"Yeah. Well, if there's anything I can do to help," she assures him and starts to leave.
"You don't have to read that, you know," he tells her, making her turn around with a little hope sparking inside her. "I can just tell you what happened. Samantha Gilbert was committed to an insane asylum, she tried to give herself a lobotomy with a knitting needle, and bled to death on the floor of her cell. If the same thing is happening to Alaric then there is nothing you can do."
"Okay, well, I'm gonna let you get back to...whatever it was you were doing," the Doppelganger says before leaving, and Stefan escorts her out, closing the door behind them.
A phone rings, waking Lorilei from her sleepless night. She hates that she's now so dependent on Klaus; the two can't seem to be away from each other, at least on her part. "What!" Lorilei snaps into the phone, realising it's her phone on the nightstand and doesn't bother looking at the caller ID.
"Now, love, what's wrong?" Niklaus asks, laughing at his girlfriend, though he is fighting sleep as he, too, had a sleepless night.
"Oh, Nik, sorry, you woke me up," she replies, sighing and sitting in bed, missing him lying beside her.
"That's okay, I just wanted to check on you and Finn," he informs her, and Lorilei gets out of bed, puts on her robe and heads out of her room into the kitchen to see Finn, already dressed and breakfast made on the counter.
"We're doing fine, brother," Finn assures, having heard some of the conversation,
"What is Finn doing in your room?!" The Hybrid snaps, making Lorilei move the phone away from her ear as he shouts.
"Your brother is a moron in the morning," Lorilei jokes, putting the phone down on the kitchen counter. "Done with your stupid little tantrum?" She hears silence as Klaus quietly fumes on the other line. "I was in bed. I got out of bed. I went into the kitchen. Finn is in the kitchen." She sees Finn smiling at her.
"Morning, Klaus," Finn says as they eat healthy yoghurt and granola cups with some fruit and a nice cup of coffee.
"Lovely morning, brother," Klaus replies, gritting through his teeth. "I need to inform you both about who Rebekah saw this morning."
"And who was that?" Lorilei wonders, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Sage."
Sage and Damon walk through the woods together, talking. "Finn, really?" Damon asks, not seeing the appeal after meeting the man once.
"He's my one true love," Sage replies, smiling at the fond memory of the man. "He turned me so we could be together forever. Then Klaus daggered him and locked him away and I've been waiting ever since. Please don't tell me that you and Rebekah are friends." She looks at Damon.
"Not unless you count hate sex," he retorts, smirking.
"Good, cause her and Klaus always treated me like some peasant whore," she tells him hatefully.
"Ah, she's just lurking around because she wants something from me. Can't figure out what it is though," the older Salvatore brother replies, sighing.
"Why don't you get inside her head and find out?" The red-haired Vampire questions, looking at him.
"Cause it's impossible. She's too strong," Damon argues, shrugging.
"I bet I could get in there," Sage retorts, smirking.
"Sage, she's an Original. It's not gonna happen," he snaps, though he would like to know.
"Have you forgotten everything I taught you?" She asks him. "Rebekah may be an Original, but she's a girl. You find her weakness and exploit it and I'll walk right in. That is if you want my help."
Damon returns to the Wickery Bridge fundraiser and finds Rebekah passing the catering table, taking a few samples. "Did I ever tell you you're sexy when you're bitchy?" Damon asks, appearing behind her.
"We're talking now, are we?" Rebekah asks, turning to look at him, not bothered by him at all. "Cause you were quite rude the other day, using me to help you with Stefan and then shooing me away like a stray dog."
"Oh, but that was brother business, you can't hold that against me. Besides I really did appreciate your help even if I don't show it," he assures her, and she knows he's up to something.
"You were mean," she fakes a pout, and Damon picks up a drink from the table.
"You like mean," the cocky Vampire retorts, smirking, and Rebekah smells a rat.
"No, I don't," the blond Original argues, not wanting to be a plaything for Damon.
"No? You didn't get a thrill back there pushing Sage down, crushing her dreams of true love?" Damon asks her.
"Maybe a little," Rebekah smirks, playing into his little game.
"See? Mean. Can Sage and I interest you in a drink back at the house?" He requests, and she definitely knows he and Sage are up to something.
"Not a chance in hell," she declines.
"Well, you know what they say: two's company, three's a party," the cocky Vampire retorts, playing it cool. Rebekah and Damon stare at each other for a while. "Fine." Damon puts his drink back on the table and leans towards Rebekah, brushing his hand past her hip and toying with her. "Enjoy the rest of your day," he whispers in her ear before walking away and leaving behind a puzzled Rebekah.
Jamie chops wood in the back of the house in the barn, wanting to be away from the mess inside; he swings the axe when Caroline walks up to him, wanting to talk with him. "Haven't seen you up at the house. Abby's been asking for you," Caroline tells him, trying to get him to come inside.
"I've been pretty busy," Jamie lies, and Caroline bends down to pick up some wood pieces, but that spooks the boy. "Hey, hey!" Caroline jumps at his shouting, standing up and ready for a fight. "Stay away from me!"
"Easy!" She yelps. "I was just gonna help you carry the fire wood up. You're scared of her."
"She's a Vampire," he snaps.
"She needs to feel connected to the people she loves," the blond Vampire explains, but he doesn't know if he can do this. "She needs to feel normal right now."
"She's not normal. None of this is normal!" the human argues, raising his voice.
"Well, Abby didn't choose this, this was forced on her," Carolien reminds him, trying to get him to help Abby and himself. "She could have let herself die, but she didn't. She's trying to make this work so she can be there for you and for Bonnie. So..." Her phone starts ringing, and she sees who it is. "So, just get over yourself, okay?" Caroline walks away and answers the phone with a snap. "What? I'm surprised you still have my number."
"Bonnie's not returning any of my calls," Elena replies, ignoring her previous angry words.
"She's still mad and seriously Abby's transition has been a little rough, so she's got a lot on her mind. Sorry she couldn't answer your little worrisome calls," she snaps, wanting to hang up on her.
"I know and I get it but, something really terrible has happened to Ric and...and I really need her help." The Doppelganger tells her, making Caroline scoff before hanging up and leaving Elena to wonder if she will tell Bonnie.
Alaric sits in the dining room at the Gilbert house, reading through Meredith's file on him as she walks over to the table with two glasses and a bottle of whiskey. "I really don't think you should be looking through that stuff," Meredith warns him.
"Ah, it's the truth, restraining orders and all," Alaric retorts, looking through his past life. "My life in a series of police reports."
"You don't strike me as an angry guy," she remarks, looking at him. "Which sounds weird, given everything, but you don't."
"Yeah, well I was stupid when I was younger," he argues. "But, listen, it's not like these guys didn't have it coming." He shows her a paper. "I mean, this guy here, broke a beer bottle over a bartender's head. This guy hit his girlfriend. This guy, okay, this guy was just a douche." He flicks through two more, and they share a laugh. "Everyone needs to find a way to deal with their dark side. Some people meditate. I became a Vampire Hunter."
"Mm, semi-retired," Dr Fell teases him.
"Listen, there's something that's not in these reports that I need to tell you about." the Vampire Slayer says, looking at her.
"Okay. Ominous. Shoot," Meredith replies, looking at him.
"Your cousin, Logan Fell, the one who was Vampire-slayed. I did the slaying," Alaric informs her.
"The Vampire thing, it's not my fight," she assures him, not really caring about her cousin, who was a major douche. "I use their blood for what I need and leave the judgement to everyone else. Although, I have kind of been wondering why you never drove a stake through Damon's heart." This makes Alaric laugh.
"I tried once. He killed me. Yeah, yeah, figures," he tells her, rubbing the finger where the ring used to sit. "The thing that started all this ring stuff was me being angry enough to think I could take on a vampire in the first place." Meredith takes his hand and puts it in between hers, smiling at him.
Stefan returns to the Pack Den and sees Blake waiting for him. "What are you doing here?" He asks her, and she takes the box from him.
"Well, I was talking with my mother and against her better judgement, she's allowing me to allow you into my room," Blake informs him, making Stefan look at her in shock. "I am a Hybrid now. I'm unstoppable."
"What do you mean?" He asks her, looking at his girlfriend.
"I'm saying, will you move into my room with me?" She requests, and Stefan smiles, moving towards her and pulling her into him.
"I think that sounds amazing," the younger Salvatore replies, kissing her on the lips. "How was your first taste of blood?"
"Interesting, mum's come up with a cookbook," the red-haired Hybrid tells him, smirking. "She made cookies and cake as a celebration."
"Sounds nice, so I take it you've already moved most of my things into your room already?" Stefan questions, making her smirk.
"Why, Mr Salvatore, I don't know what you mean," Blake retorts, laughing, but Beth and Sara come up behind them.
"She did," Sara confirms, making Blake turn and glare at them.
"She even had us help. I think your choice of underwear is interesting," Beth jokes, and Stefan laughs at the twins, finding them interesting.
"Thanks, Beth," Stefan laughs and pulls Blake back into his arms. "Why don't we head up to our room."
"Yeah, we can finish unpacking. I left a few things and some space for your things," Blake tells him, leading Stefan to the lift in the lobby, and they head up to their floor.
When Jamie comes inside, Bonnie decides to cook something for dinner in the kitchen, wanting to try with Abby for her sake. "Who are you again?" Bonnie asks him, glaring at him for abandoning Abby.
"The guy who lives out back. You know, the one you're not related to," Jamie retorts, looking at her.
"Right," She replies, looking back at the pot on the stove.
"Caroline and I had a little talk," he tells her.
"Sounds like code for Caroline lectured you," the young Witch retorts, glancing at him as she stirs the pot.
"Maybe, but I needed it. Abby's always been there for me, now it's my turn," the human retorts, holding up two pieces of firewood. "Thought I could build a fire."
"Please. Maybe it'll distract everyone from my crappy cooking," Bonnie jokes, and Jamie walks into the living room and places the firewood into the fireplace as Abby walks into the room.
"Jamie," Abby says, making him look at her.
"I'm so sorry, Abby. I'm sorry about everything," Jamie apologises, hugging her, but the smell of blood and the heartbeat is too much for Abby as she becomes overwhelmed with bloodlust and bites him. Jamie screams in pain, making Bonnie run into the living room over to them.
"Abby!" Bonnie screams, using her magic to stop her mother with an aneurysm spell, making Abby clutch her head in pain while releasing Jamie. Bonnie rushes over to the human and kneels beside him, both horrified.
A compelled man plays the piano in the parlour room of the Salvatore Boarding House. Sage sits beside him on the bench while Damon uncorks two bottles of wine, waiting for Rebekah to show. "Remember this song?" Sage asks her old lover and student.
"All right Miss Master Seductress, where's our victim?" Damon questions, pouring them two glasses of wine.
"Patience," she reminds him. "Between her craving for affection and her pathological fear of being left alone, our little get together is too tempting to resist." Sage bites into the man's wrist as he plays a tune.
"Finn's gone, you know," he tells her, making her stop feeding.
"I choose to believe otherwise," the red-haired Vampire argues, wanting to believe Finn is out looking for her.
"He strung you along for 900 years, didn't bother to call, he's gone," the cocky Vampire retorts, handing her a glass.
"You know, the Damon I knew was holding out for someone too," Sage remarks, looking at him.
"Yes, he was. Hope's a bitch, Sage. Get out while you can," Damon sneers, thinking of Katherine and her major betrayal and pours himself a healthy amount of wine when the doorbell rings.
"The sweet chime of desperation," she smirks as their plan begins to unfold. Rebekah walks into the house, heads into the room with a bottle of wine and holds it up to them.
"I stole it from Nik who stole it from a Queen. Not sure which one," Rebekah tells them and looks around the room. "Well this is depressing. What happened to the party?" Sage gets up and walks over to Rebekah seductively, taking the bottle from her, their fingers touching.
"It just arrived," the red-haired Vampire retorts, breaking the neck off the bottle.
A while later, after drinking a lot, Damon and Sage dance together in the middle of the room as Rebekah watches them, sitting beside the man at the piano. She bites into his neck and feeds him; Sage notices and gestures to Damon to go over to her. Damon complies, and Sage sits on the couch, watching them as the plan begins.
"How about a duet?" Damon asks her, making Rebekah stop feeding for a second and look at him before going back to feeding. Damon grabs the man's wrist and begins feeding as well; they both halt after a while and wipe the blood from their lips. Damon pushes the dead man off the bench and moves towards Rebekah. He gently grabs her face in his hand, and she stands up. They lean in, about to kiss, but Rebekah pulls away, looking at Sage.
"What about her?" Rebekah asks, looking at the redheaded Vampire harlot.
"I don't want her. I want you," he retorts, kissing Rebekah, and Sage watches from the couch and smiles as the plan begins, seeming fruitful already.
Abby paces around the outside of the barn at the back of her house when Bonnie walks up to her with a blood bag, wanting to help her mother. "You have to drink these, it'll help," Bonnie tells her, making Abby look at her.
"I almost killed him!" Abby snaps, glaring at her angrily at herself.
"Caroline said that this kind of thing happens a lot at first when you're still new," she assures her, wanting Abby to stop blaming herself, and she even feels back about what happened with Caroline when she first saw the blond Vampire.
"No, no!" The new Vampire yells, shaking her head, her emotion becoming overwhelming. "I should just go before I hurt Jamie again or you!"
"The only way you're gonna hurt me is if you leave," the young Witch argues, making Abby look at her. "Don't give up on this. Not again. We can make this work." Abby takes the blood bag from Bonnie reluctantly, but she knows she needs to try. Caroline hears that it's clear and approaches them slowly.
"He's fine," Caroline tells them. "Nothing a little Vampire blood can't cure."
" Thank you," Abby says, looking at the blond Vampire.
"Now, Elena needs a favour," she tells them, making Abby frown, and Bonnie looks at Caroline in shock.
Alaric pushes a pad of paper with writing on it towards Elena later in the day, wanting to help her later if everything goes wrong. "Listen, I want you to have this," he tells her, and she looks at the notepad. "This is a list of my bank accounts, passwords, where to find my will, and how to contact my family, just in case this doesn't go my way." Elena pushes the legal pad back to Alaric, not wanting to think the worst.
"No, no, no. Don't even think like that," Elena warns him, wanting everything to return to how it was.
"Elena, I need to know you are gonna be okay," Alaric tells her, though he thinks about Jeremy, but the boy still has his aunt, who has basically disowned Elena now.
"We're gonna be fine," she assures him, and her phone rings; noticing the caller ID, she answers. "Caroline?"
" So, Abby thinks Bonnie can reverse the damage of the spell," Caroline tells her. "I guess this same thing happens to Witches who get obsessed with Dark Magic. They lose control and start acting out their darkest impulses." Elena gets up and walks away from the table, smiling as she thinks that Bonnie and Caroline have forgiven her.
"Thank you so much," the Doppelganger says, smirking but quickly hides it as Alaric looks at her.
"I'm gonna hang back here with Abby, but Bonnie's leaving now, so…" the blond Vampire informs her, and the Bennett Witch walks up to Caroline, silently asking to talk with Elena on the phone. "Hold on." Caroline hands Bonnie her phone and goes to help Abby pack up some herbs before Bonnie heads out. Bonnie takes a deep breath, not wanting to talk with Elena right now, and she's holding in her anger towards her for everything, especially because she doesn't want to leave her mum for Elena, who needs her help again.
" I need a personal effect of Alaric's, something he wore before he started wearing the ring," Bonnie tells her.
"Okay, yeah, I-I'll get it," Elena tells her. "Bonnie, I'm so sorry for everything, thank you for doing this."
" Be ready to do the spell as soon as I get there," she replies. "We have to work fast. I'll see you soon." She quickly hangs up.
"Good news? Bad news?" Alaric asks, and Elena turns around, walking back over to the table.
"Bonnie thinks that she can help you with a spell," Elena tells him.
"Well, it's worth a try," he replies, shrugging.
"But she needs something that you wore before you put on the ring. Something personal," she explains, and Meredith walks into the kitchen.
"Well, there's uh - there's my wedding ring. It's at the loft," the Vampire Hunter tells her.
"Okay, yeah, uh - that's a… that's a good idea," the Doppelganger stutters and Alaric starts to get up, but Meredith pushes him back down.
"I think it's better if you stay here with me," Meredith suggests, and he looks at her.
"Okay, you and your tranquilisers," Alaric jokes. "it's in the dresser by the kitchen. It's in a…an aspirin bottle, probably covered in cobwebs."
"Okay," Elena replies, looking at Meredith before leaving quickly, wanting to help Alaric soon before something terrible happens again.
Damon and Rebekah end up lying in his bed naked with sheets draped over them. Rebekah lies asleep, and Damon is awake, waiting for Sage, who appears and enters the bedroom. He nods at her, and she quietly walks over to the bed and sits beside Rebekah, careful not to wake her. Sage places her hand on Rebekah's head and closes her eyes, getting inside the Original's head. After a while, she smiles, getting what they want. Damon looks at his old mentor and mouths, 'What?' to her, and she puts a finger to her lips. The redheaded Vampire nods towards the bathroom and gets up, walking over to it while taking her shirt off. Damon watches her and joins her in the shower. "I take it back; your plan is amazing," Damon retorts, looking at her through the steam.
"I told you if you got her comfortable enough, she's an open book," Sage retorts, and Damon moves closer to her.
"Well, are you gonna torture me or are you gonna tell me what she's up to?" He asks her.
"I'd rather show you," she says, kissing Damon, and he sees flashes of memories passing through about what Sage saw when she touched Rebekah.
"A White Oak Tree. There must have been a new tree to replace the old," Rebekah said to Klaus when Damon saw another memory.
"It probably got cut down," Carol told Rebekah at the Mystic Grill.
"Do you happen to know who kept the milling ledgers during that period?" Rebekah asked,
Damon breaks off the kiss and looks at Sage. "There's another tree," Damon realises and dashes out of the shower. He quickly grabs a towel and wraps it around his waist before going downstairs into the library, looking for the logging mill records. Sage walks in behind him, a towel around her as well.
"Milling records?" Sage asks, looking at him.
"Our family made one of its many fortunes selling lumber. It's why Rebekah's been digging around about this stuff. That tree was on our land and milled by our yard. The ledgers will tell me where it was shipped. Business archives should be around here somewhere," he explains, fluttering around the library and turning to Sage. "Get upstairs, make sure you keep her distracted." Sage agrees and goes back upstairs when Damon finds the milling archives he's been searching for and pulls out the one from 1912. He flips through it and finds where the tree was shipped to: the old Wickery Bridge. The one that was burned down. "You gotta be kidding me!" He snaps, throwing the book across the room. "They knew all along!"
Elena walks up the stairs to Alaric's loft. She gets to the top and is startled by Matt, who is leaning against the doorframe and waiting for her. "Missed you at the house," Matt says, looking at her. "Alaric told me you'd be here."
" I thought you weren't going to help me anymore, Matt. You made that very clear the last time we talked," Elena replies, looking at her old boyfriend. She walks over to Alaric's door and unlocks it with the key Alaric gave her.
"I'm not trying to hurt you, Elena," he tells her. "I will always help you, but it can't be like last time."
" So then, what are you doing here?" She wonders and enters the loft, Matt following her inside.
"Alaric told me about what's been going on, and I did a little digging on Samatha Gilbert," the quarterback explains, closing the door behind them and turning on the lights. "Founding Families were always pretty good about destroying their records, but I found a couple of newspaper articles. It seemed she killed two people while she was in the institution. A nurse and a guard."
" So, she was a psychopath. I get it," the Doppelganger retorts, looking around the apartment.
"She was under suicide watch. No personal effects, no jewellery," Matt tells her, making her look at him in shock.
"Wait, so you're saying that the violent behaviour can still happen even if the person isn't wearing the ring?" Elena asks, and he nods.
Alaric sleeps on the couch in the living room while Meredith is in the kitchen making them some coffee. "You still with me?" Meredith asks, waking Alaric up.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm still with you," Alaric replies, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"I'm half-dead too. Neither one of us has slept in two days. Don't worry, I've got coffee on," she tells him, and he gets up and enters the next room. He looks through Meredith's bag and grabs the tranquilisers in it. He takes off the caps, pours the clear liquid onto the floor, and does the same thing with the other.
Damon burns the milling records from the 1912 ledger, and Sage comes inside, looking at him. "Rebekah just left," Sage informs him.
" Happy, I hope," Damon retorts, sulking as his plan seems to be falling apart.
" Did you find what you were looking for?" She asks him.
"Yep. 1912, the Salvatore milling company chopped down a forest, its most valuable wood came from an old White Oak Tree that was used to make the Wickery Bridge. These aren't public records, so Rebekah's gonna chase her tail for a long time. But she didn't have to, because I wouldn't put it past them that they burnt the old bridge." He explains, huffing in disappointment.
"So all the wood burnt from the bridge was basically a weapon that could have killed an Original?" The redheaded Vampire questions.
"Yep," the older Salvatore brother replies, sighing.
"You see how this could have been a problem for me, right?" Sage asks him, frowning as she thinks about her old lover. Damon looks at Sage, getting up and starting to walk over to her.
"Why? Because of your true love Finn? Let me tell you something, I met the guy, you're not gonna miss him," Damon snaps, and Sage rushes over to Damon, pushing him angrily.
"I will rip your head off in two seconds if you take one more step," she sneers angrily at him.
"Alright, let's make a deal. You let me kill Rebekah, I consider Finn untouchable; you guys walk into the sunset together." He suggests though he's not sure how that will work with no known weapon to kill an Original with the bridge burnt to a crisp.
"Is that a promise?" The red-haired Vampire asks, not believing him.
" Yes. it's a promise," the cocky Vampire assures her.
Lorilei sighs as she gets into her car, needing to head to the university to sort a few things out before heading back to Mystic Falls. "Finn, are you coming or not?" She asks, looking at him as he stands on the sidewalk, looking around at the busy streets.
"Yeah," he mutters, getting into the corvette.
"Thinking about what Nik told us?" Loirlei question, starting the car.
"Yeah, I'm not sure what to do," Finn tells her, and she smiles.
"Do what you think is right," she replies. She drives off down the street and gets stuck in traffic. "I do not miss this about New York."
Elena looks for Alaric's old wedding ring in a chest of drawers. "What if Bonnie's spell doesn't work?" Matt asks her. "What are you gonna do with him?"
"I'm not gonna do anything, Matt. I'm gonna keep looking until we find something that'll help him," Elena retorts.
"You don't know how long this has been going on. Might be too late," he argues.
"It's my family's ring that's doing this to him. It's my responsibility to fix it," she snaps, wanting to help him.
"You can't put that on yourself. Not everyone is your responsibility. Not everyone can be saved," the blond human tells her, trying to stop her from self-destructing.
"Are we talking about Alaric here or are we talking about someone else? Because I wasn't planning on giving up on anyone," the Doppelganger retorts strongly, and they look at each other for a few moments before Matt then opens up the last drawer. Inside are photos of the dead bodies of Bill Forbes and Brian Walters, newspaper clippings, and other things about the murders." What is that?" Matt picks up one of the pictures.
"Pictures of his victims," Matt realises.
Damon returns to the library, dressed and looking around for Sage, but she's disappeared. "Sage, let's go, we have Originals to kill," Damon calls out, but she's not there. "Sage."
Matt and Elena look through the stuff in the drawer, and she finds an envelope with Jeremy's name on it. She opens it and takes out the papers, reading the note attached to all the other papers, reading it aloud.
"Jeremy,
If anything happens to me, carry on my work. You have the other ring; let the ring make you strong. The Council must be cleansed before the work can begin."
Matt takes Elena's papers and looks through them. "It's the Founder's Council roster," Matt tells her, recognising a few names. "Looks like some sort of hit list."
" No, Alaric didn't write this," Elena argues, shaking her head, not wanting to believe this.
" Who else would have written it, Elena?" He questions, looking at her. She tears up Alaric's note for Jeremy and continues searching for the wedding ring in the drawer. She finds the aspirin bottle and opens it, tipping the ring into her hand.
"I have to get back," she tells him, wanting to get back to Alaric before it's too late.
Meredith stands in the kitchen and grabs two cups from the cupboard; when Alaric enters the room, his demeanour is completely different, and he is almost confident. "Looking for something?" Alaric asks her.
"I don't know where anything is in this house," Meredith replies, pouring the coffee into the mugs. "I'm sorry, I can't remember, do you take cream?"
" No cream," he replies.
"I was gonna make sandwiches. I'm starving," she remarks, looking around as she makes the coffee.
"Can I ask you a question?" The Vampire Hunter asks, looking at her with a dark look in his eyes.
"No mustard. I hate mustard," Dr Fell replies, not letting him ask his question.
"Do you ever feel remorse?" Alaric wonders, making her look up and turn to face him.
"I'm sorry?" Meredith asks.
"Well," he says, picking up a knife from the counter and walking around it, coming closer towards Meredith as she stands there looking at him. "You are a Council Member. And the Council was formed to protect the people of this town from Vampires and yet, here you all are, just looking the other way, ignoring your responsibilities. Like you and your Vampire blood. So I'm asking you, do you ever feel remorse? Because you should," Alaric rushes towards her with the knife, cutting her across the side. Meredith spills the coffee on him and breaks the mug in her attempt to flee. She rushes into the living room and sees the tranquilisers are empty, realising he planned this. The Doctor goes towards the stairs, but Alaric cuts her off, grabbing her as she rushes up the stairs and stumbles into the bathroom, locks the two doors and tries getting to the third when Alaric appears and tries forcing the door open. Meredith keeps pushing the door back and grabs a pair of scissors, which she uses to stab him in the hand, making him scream and retract his hand from the doorway, allowing her to slam the door shut and lock it. She looks down at her wound, seeing it's bleeding profusely.
Damon drives towards the Wickery Bridge, sees the construction site, and looks around, trying to find anything that looks like wood from the old bridge, but there's nothing. Damon groans, punching a tree and making his knuckles bleed. Rebekah appears behind him. "Your grand plans always seem to get ruined, don't they? Sorry to disappoint you. Again," Rebekah taunts him, smirking largely before walking away. Damon turns around and spots Sage by his car.
"You set me up," Damon sneers as he storms towards her.
"No. I'm just looking out for myself," Sage argues, accepting the glare from her former student.
"I told you I'd save your creepy boyfriend!" He shouts, not understanding why she betrayed him.
"And you lied to me, Damon!" She snaps. "The Originals are linked, if one dies they all die. If I can get inside her head, don't you think I'd be able to get inside yours?" Damon rushes towards Sage, grabbing her by the throat and pushing her against his car.
"I should end you," the cocky Vampire sneers as he squeezes tighter.
"I'm 900 years old, Damon. You're not capable of ending me," Sage snaps, pushing Damon off of her and throwing him down onto the hood of his car, almost denting it. "Do you really think that I would risk Finn's life for one of your petty revenge fantasies?" Damon gets up and moves closer to her.
"Let me tell you something, your long lost love has a suicide wish. 'Cause when Mama Witch linked them together in a spell he's the one that volunteered to die." Damon informs her, making her look at him in horror.
"He wouldn't do that," she argues, shaking her head in disbelief.
"He didn't want to live. Not for you. Not for anyone. He doesn't love you, Sage. Now, when I do find another way to kill those Originals. I'll start with Finn," he vows with menace before getting in his car and driving off.
Elena and Matt quickly return to the Gilbert House, but he grabs her arm, signalling for her to stay and moves into the house. He goes into the kitchen and sees the shards of ceramic and blood on the floor. Elena closes the front door, and Alaric comes downstairs calmly, wrapping a towel around his hand and looking almost cheerful. "Hey there," Alaric greets her, not seeing Matt.
"Hi. Where's Meredith?" Elena asks him, looking around for her.
"Oh, she got called into the hospital for a last-minute surgery, but she'll be back later," he lies quickly, and Elena nods, looking at his hand.
"What happened?" She asks, looking at him.
"Oh, I…I broke a coffee cup and sliced my hand open trying to pick up the pieces," the Vampire Slayer replies cooly. "Did Matt catch up with you?"
" No," the Doppelganger fibs and Alaric takes another step down the stairs.
"Did you get my ring?" Alaric asks, looking at her.
"I couldn't find it," Elena tells him, not looking at him as she lies. Alaric comes downstairs, looking at her calmly.
"Yeah, well, my place is a bit of a disaster. I guess I'll just have to go get it," he suggests, wanting to get out of the house and away from them. Alaric looks down at the bloodstained knife lying on the floor. Elena also looks down at it and then back up at Alaric, who stares at her. Alaric tries to go for the knife when Matt grabs him from behind and puts him in a sleeper hold.
"Don't hurt him!" She shouts.
"I'm trying not to," the quarterback shouts back, trying to subdue Alaric as he thrashes around but eventually passes out. Matt lays him down on the floor, and they hear something coming upstairs. Damon suddenly opens the front door, having wanted to check on Elena.
"What's going on?" Damon asks them, looking between Matt and Elena and then at the unconscious Alaric. "Elena, I need you to come upstairs with me." He moves towards the stairs, having smelt blood, a lot of blood.
"Why?" Elena asks, and Damon moves towards the stairs.
"I might need your help," he tells her, and they walk upstairs, leaving Matt to deal with the unconscious Alaric. Damon breaks the bathroom door open, finding Meredith leaning against the sink with blood all over her. Elena flips on the light and rushes over to Meredith, trying to find the source of the bleeding.
"Meredith. Hey," she says. Damon looks around before moving past Elena and bites quickly into his wrist, feeding Meredith his blood. "You're gonna be okay." She promises, and Damon gets up, moving around as Elena stays with Meredith.
The following morning, Alaric is asleep in his bed at the loft, and Damon sits in a chair beside his bed when the Vampire Hunter wakes up. "What the hell are you doing here?" Alaric asks his friend, looking around.
"Just making sure the Witch didn't turn you into a toad or a block of salt," Damon retorts, thinking about last night. "Bonnie did a little spell, it's nothing to worry about, it's just something to keep the killer in you at bay." Alaric flexes his injured left hand and looks at it, not remembering what happened, but everything comes up blank.
"Did something happen?" He asks, moving around on his bed.
"Let's just say you've got an alter ego hell-bent on killing Council Members. So we're gonna go to the loft, just for a little bit. You know it's like house arrest. Polite," the cocky Vampire tells him, smirking as he hides his inner turmoil about what's happening to his best friend.
"Wait, where's Meredith?" The Vampire Hunter asks, looking for his so-called girlfriend.
"She'll be fine, Ric," Damon assures him, making Alaric look at him confused.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Elena does the dishes from breakfast when Bonnie comes into the room, still somewhat reluctantly. "Hey," Bonnie greets her, a little hostile towards the Doppelganger, who turns around at her friend's voice. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Elena replies, not asking about Abby or Bonnie, making the young Witch scoff in distaste.
"Abby says that all the dying and coming back to life might have chipped away at Alaric's psyche, making it easier for the darkness to take hold." She explains, and Elena can hear the tension in her voice as Bonnie holds up a glass container full of dry herbs. "These herbs are the binding element of the spell. He needs to take them twice a day." Elena goes over and takes the container, inspecting it. "I'll get you more. Abby and I are gonna work on the garden."
"How is she doing?" The Doppelganger asks her, looking at her friend with sincerity.
"The transition's been hard, but I think she'll be okay," the Bennett Witch replies coldly. "Eventually. I'm gonna go back and stay with her for a while. it'll give us a chance to work things through." Elena puts the container down and starts tearing up, making Bonnie look at her, unsure how to process this.
"I'm sorry, Bonnie, I-I didn't - I didn't want this to happen. If there was anything that I could do to make it different, I…" Elena sobs, playing at Bonnie's heartstrings, but she remembers what's happened the last few months because Elena and her mother paid the price.
"I know," Bonnie says, and Elena moves towards her.
"Please say that you forgive me," she begs, and Bonnie sighs.
"I need time," the young Witch replies and walks away, leaving Elena alone in the kitchen. Elena frowns, wiping away the tears as the front door closes and returns to the sink, washing the dishes.
Jamie and Caroline plant more in Abby's garden, trying to help a little with the transition. "Am I even doing this right?" Caroline asks, looking at her work, not liking getting her hands dirty unless necessary.
"Yeah, you're doing fine," Jamie assures her. "Hey - uh - thanks for helping out with Abby. Bonnie's really lucky to have a friend like you."
"Well, I went through the same thing once," she replies. "With my dad. But it didn't really work out, so…you know. Well, when Bonnie gets back, she can snap her fingers or wave her hands or whatever and make the herbs blood." Caroline stiffens as she hears something move inside the house. "I think Abby's up." Inside the house, Abby begins writing a letter with a stuffed suitcase, but Caroline comes inside, getting an idea about what she is doing.
"What are you doing?" The blond Vampire asks the new Vampire, realising she's writing a goodbye letter. "You're leaving." Caroline scoffs. "You're kidding me."
"I have to," Abby argues, not trusting herself around her daughter and stepson. "I don't know how to do this."
"Do what?" She asks, looking at her. "Be a Vampire or a parent? Because I can help you be a Vampire, I can teach you self-control, but being a parent, I mean that's all you. Bonnie grew up without a mum, because you ran away once, but now you have an eternity to make up for it and you're just gonna throw that away?"
"She's better off without me," the new Vampire retorts firmly.
" No, she's not. No one is better off without their parents. She wants to make this work. Please. Just stay," Caroline begs her, not wanting Bonnie to be heartbroken again after losing her mum, but Abby gets up and takes her bag. "Tell them I'm sorry." She walks out the door and holds her phone, looking at a contact number she found in Caroline's phone.
Klaus walks through the house, bored and needing to talk with Lorilei after Sage runs to the house with Rebekah after learning about Damon's attempt on their lives. Edward bursts into the office again, looking around at the painting, but sits in the chair facing the desk as Klaus dials Lorilei's number. "I can't believe you're calling my sister for something me or Alexis could do," Edward grumbles. Klaus rolls his eyes at him and puts the phone on loudspeaker.
"Hey, Nik, I just got to my supply shop, I got Bekah's text about Demon Salvatore's attempt. Lucky we found it all." Lorilei remarks, carrying a basket with Finn for everything around the shop.
"Indeed, I was just telling Nikky that," Edward retorts, making Klaus growl at him, and he laughs.
"Enough, both of you. I was talking with Finn earlier, and an idea came to me," she explains, making Klaus hum. Elijah comes into the room, joining Edward and Klaus. "How do you think your siblings will feel about never being Daggered again?"
"Are you serious?" Kol exclaims, rushing into the room with some ice cream.
"Hey, that was mine!" Alexis shouts, running into the office after him. "What's everyone doing in here?"
"Is it possible?" Elijah asks, and there's a pause on the other side of the phone.
"Is everyone there now?" Lorilei asks, picking up a few things and putting them in the basket. "Good, I won't have to repeat myself. While I was digging for a spell to unlink everyone, I thought about the Daggers. They're a tool you all use against each other and others use it against you."
"Good point, I mean, you use them against me all the time," Kol remarks, looking at his siblings.
"Anyway, what's been going on today? Tell me all the juicy gossip," She begs, looking at Finn as they go to the counter to pay.
"Well, apparently Alaric has gone darkside because of his ring," Jeremy informs her, wrapping his arms around Alexis' waist.
"Take that ring off, Jeremy, now!" The older McKnight orders, making them jump. "Black Magic is dangerous. Do not put it on again until I get back," Alexis takes Jeremy's hand and pulls the Gilbert ring off, throwing it to Elijah, who catches it. "We should be home soon. Nik, I might need your help with a few things."
"Already on my way," Klaus assures her, getting up from his desk and grabbing his keys.
Damon comes to Alaric's loft and heads into the living space with Alaric under lock and key because of his dark alter ego at large. Damon carries something wrapped in brown craft paper as he comes from Alaric's apartment. "Little early in the day for you, isn't it?" Damon asks, seeing Alaric in his cell, drinking away his sorrows.
"Why shouldn't I be?" Alaric questions, moving up from his little cot.
"I mean, I get it, but seriously, I don't remember giving you my good alcohol?" He wonders, frowning.
"Elena," the Vampire Slayer replies, making Damon scoff.
"Well, I'm extremely happy right now," the cocky Vampire retorts, smiling.
"Why are you in such a good mood?" Alaric questions, moving off his cot and going to the door. "Sage double-crossed you, tree's a pile of ash, I've got a psychopathic alter ego."
"You know, Alaric, I'm a philanthropist, I make the world a better place," Damon replies. "Rebuilding bridges, landmarks, and…" He rips the paper off what he's carrying into the room. It's the replacement Wickery Bridge sign. The one not made of White Oak Tree. But they don't know that. "Historical signs made of the same White Oak as the Wickery Bridge." Alaric looks at the sign, which is the same colour as the old sign, but that's just paint.
"They think all the wood burned?" He wonders, looking at his friend.
"I sold my rage. Whew! You should have seen me," the older Salvatore brother compliments himself.
"We have a weapon," the history teacher realises, looking at the sign.
"Game's back on, brother. Let's go kill some Originals," Damon grins, feeling overwhelmed at the idea of taking all the Originals out and having his brother back.
