Note : This chapter contains self harm. Please read on your own risk.
"Hello, my dear traitorous friend. How does it feel to be my mother's lapdog? By the way, we managed to rescue Caroline," Damon said after answering Enzo's call.
" Yeah, I know that, Damon. You don't need to brag. I just hope she's well. But I didn't call you for that. I wanted to inform you that Malcolm was buried in the Salvatore crypt next to Elena ," Enzo replied.
"That's impossible; it's sealed shut," Damon said.
" Yes, it is, but the town is overrun with Heretics. I called to inform you as soon as possible. Hopefully, you'll save your girlfriend ," Enzo added before ending the call.
Damon rushed to the crypt and found Lily waiting for him. "You know, I was just thinking about my next leverage, since Caroline was rescued. And what do I find? The golden bird for whom the whole of Mystic Falls would lay down their lives. You don't need to find her, she's already cloaked and only I can locate her so don't waste your witch's energy," Lily said.
"Listen, your problem is with me. Torture me, kill me, but leave Elena out of it," Damon shouted.
"Well, sorry to say, but this game now plays by my rules. You shouldn't have killed Malcolm. He was like a son to me and a sibling to the others. Now you will pay. Goodbye, Damon," Lily said coldly and walked out of there.
"We need leverage against Lily. She has Elena, and she's cloaked, so we can't do anything until we have something of hers," Damon said as he walked into the room where he had already gathered Stefan, Bonnie, and Caroline.
"Okay. I was thinking about the sixth Heretic we saw in the basement. Does anyone know anything about him?" Stefan asked.
"I can look in the Gemini Coven's entries from 1903," Bonnie offered.
"No need for that. I've already read it, and I know who it is," Caroline said.
"And where did you get this information?" Damon questioned.
"Don't be so paranoid, Damon. I found it while cleaning Liv's room. She was trying hard to save herself and her brother from the merge, so she had a library about the Gemini Coven," Caroline explained.
"Okay then, who is it?" Stefan asked.
"It's Oscar, and now we need to trace him, capture him, and trade him for Elena. Tada," Caroline revealed.
"Let's get to work. If we have anything of his, he would be easier to trace," Stefan said.
"We have his photograph; that might come in handy. Right, Bon?" Caroline asked.
"I'll look into the grimoire for such spells," Bonnie replied.
"Alright, you two work on that and send us the location as soon as possible. We'll head out and call our new sheriff to join us," Stefan concluded.
Stefan, Damon, and Matt headed out in search of Oscar. Meanwhile, in Whitmore, Alaric sat in front of Jo's body in the morgue, holding the Phoenix Stone in his hand. Bonnie had suggested destroying it because it was giving off bad vibes, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He decided to keep it, hoping it might resurrect his love.
When Bonnie sent them the location of Oscar, it was at a hotel where they learned that Lily had sent him on a job to find a body. They captured Oscar and Damon made a call to Lily.
"Hello, my dear mother. Do you want to know about your son named after an award?" Damon taunted Lily. "Well, he is now our dear guest. Want to make an exchange?"
"Where is Oscar? I want to talk to him ," Lily demanded frantically.
"Sorry to inform you, but right now he's having a sweet vervain nap. So listen carefully, Lily. If you want to see him healthy—not without his heart and veiny—you'd better return Elena to us. Until then, goodbye," Damon said before disconnecting the call.
When the trio returned to the room where they had left Oscar, they found his dead body with a wooden stake embedded in his heart.
They started searching for who did this but found no one. They decided to go back with the dead body, hoping to find a solution.
"Okay, so you want me to make him alive. But how? I know witchcraft, Damon, not necromancy," Bonnie said when Damon introduced her to Oscar's body and asked her to resurrect him.
"I just know you can do it, Bon Bon. Listen, we're already short on time. Lily has ordered her two lapdogs, Nora and Mary, to kill one human per hour until we return him to her. Blondie and Stefan are managing it, but we need to hurry. What about that stone Ric has?" Damon said.
"Well, I told him to destroy it because it was giving me very bad vibes, but okay, I'll call him," Bonnie replied.
Alaric joined them and informed them that he hadn't destroyed the stone. He also brought the book where he found some references about it.
After a few attempts, Bonnie was finally able to resurrect Oscar. They exchanged hostages, and Damon handed over Elena to Tyler to keep her out of his reach, as he always created messes for his loved ones.
Using the same method, Bonnie resurrected Jo, allowing Alaric to finally reunite with his deceased fiancée.
In the following days, Damon and Stefan tried to uncover who killed Oscar and what job Oscar had been assigned. They started by going to his room, where they discovered that Valerie had been there and got a lead on her location. When they arrived, they found Valerie.
"So, it was you who killed your own siblings. That's just terrible. Such manners are taught by Lily, and now you're here. Your first love really is quite lacking in morals, Stefan," Damon taunted Valerie.
In response, Valerie gave him a headache and said, "Listen, just mind your own business. I have an important job to do, so go away."
"Why don't you share with us? Maybe we can help you," Damon suggested.
Valerie thought for a moment before resigning and said, "Okay, inside there lies a man, or rather a madman, Julian—your mother's boyfriend. I'm here to kill him before he wakes up."
"Well, harming anyone close to Lily is always good for my health," Damon replied.
They went inside, but before they could kill Julian, Lily arrived with Beau and saved Julian.
"Why were you so intent on killing him?" Stefan asked Valerie when they were alone.
"Julian. He isn't good for Lily. Or maybe it's a personal grudge," Valerie replied.
She then told him how she had been pregnant with his child but Julian had killed the baby by repeatedly kicking her in the abdomen. Stefan was confused—he didn't know whether to be happy that he was going to be a father, sad that the child didn't survive, or furious at Julian. At that moment, he swore to take his revenge.
Valerie returned with them, as Julian would want to kill her and Lily would not support her.
Meanwhile, at Alaric's house, he was taking care of Jo, who didn't remember anything and struggled with basic things like understanding a light bulb. He noticed that she was always lost in her own thoughts. His ringing phone pulled him out of his deep thoughts, and he saw it was Bonnie calling.
" Hey Ric, can we meet? I have something to tell you ," Bonnie asked.
"Sure, why not? Come meet me at my house. You can also see Jo, as you haven't seen her since you resurrected her," Alaric replied.
" Okay, I'm coming over ," Bonnie said.
When Bonnie arrived, she informed Alaric that Oscar had gone rabid two days after his resurrection and was killed. She also told him that it wasn't Jo in Jo's body but the soul of a vampire that had been trapped in the Phoenix Stone, and that soon the human body would reject the vampire's soul, causing her death.
With tears in his eyes, Alaric replied, "I think this was a way for me to finally say my goodbye to her."
"Do you want me to stay with you as you say your goodbye?" Bonnie asked.
"No, Bonnie. I want to do this alone and spend her last moments with her," Alaric said before going to Jo's room.
He informed Jo about everything, and she smiled and said, "Hey, it will be okay. One day this pain will go away."
The next day, she took her last breath in his arms. He wanted to say that the pain wouldn't go away, as this was the third time he had lost his love. After that, he made a toast for himself, took out a gun, and shot himself, thinking he had nothing to live for, unaware that his two babies were still breathing.