Heart of Darkness
Over the past four days, the news about the fake White Oak stakes hit the Scooby Gang like a truck. They don't know what to do next about the Originals and Lorilei.
Stefan went to talk to Damon, who practically slammed the door in his brother's face, but Stefan has been persistent in talking to his brother.
Damon listened to Stefan, and he wasn't sure if he believed anything anymore. Damon loved Elena and needed to find answers.
Klaus spent time with his siblings, sometimes against his will, but Lorilei forced him, especially after learning they almost lost Finn to the Scooby Gang.
Jenna returned from college, using a little persuasion to do her courses online because she wanted to be closer to her nephew and her friends. And Elijah.
Elena walks downstairs into the basement with a bag full of things for Alaric, who has been locked in the cell for the last four days. She approaches the door to one of the cells and peers through the barred door windows. "Alaric?" Elena asks, looking at him.
"Yep. Still me," Alaric replies, and she unlocks the door before entering the cell. Alaric sits on the cot in the little cell. "You know, you shouldn't be in here. It defeats the point of the whole being locked in a cellar thing." Elena drops the bag on the ground by her feet.
"Well, you still need the basics," she argues, looking at him. "Toothbrush, clothes, some boring books to help you sleep." After reading the title, Alaric picks up one of the books and hands it to Elena.
"Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?" He questions.
"What? No, I grabbed...Damon," the Doppelganger sighs, thinking of the older Salvatore brother, who thinks he's funny and drops the book on the floor. "Thinks he's hilarious."
"At least one of us still has a sense of humour," the Vampire Slayer jokes, looking at the Doppelganger.
"Are you sure that you...? I mean you don't have to be kept in here," Elena argues, wanting to help him.
"Ah, no, this is...this is the right place for me to be," Alaric replies. "At least until you guys can convince my highly uncooperative alter ego to fess up to where I or he hid the white oak stake."
"We looked everywhere. You...the other you, hid it well," she says, wanting to fix him so she can be protected again.
"What's Klaus gonna do if you can't find it?" He wonders, looking at her. "Or Lorilei?"
"It was supposed to be the only thing that could have killed him, so wage war, murder people, you know Klaus and Lorilei stuff." The Doppelganger argues, sighing as she thinks about everything. She's still terrified about the Originals roaming around and trying to kill her. Elena pulls up a chair and sits in it. "Listen, John is gonna watch over you for a little while. Now, Damon and I need to find out who sired him and Stefan before we move forward in killing the Originals."
"Why do you say that like you're waiting for me to disapprove?" The Vampire Hunter questions, looking at her.
"I don't know. Me and Damon. Travelling across the country with Jeremy," Elena argues, looking at him. "I mean, we're technically going to be kidnapping Jeremy to find out answers."
"I guess that's true," Alaric sighs. "But I don't know if it's me or the darker side talking, but we need to find out who sired Rose."
"I know, but I don't know how Jeremy will react. I don't know if we can get back to how we were before Lorilei and his siblings messed with his head." She cries a little, and Alaric looks at her.
"Jeremy will be okay; he's a strong kid," he assures her, falling under her spell, sweet words, and fake emotions. "Be sure about how you feel after everything."
"I guess that's why I'm going on this trip. So I can figure it out," the Doppelganger replies, wiping away her crocodile tears.
John stands in front of the fireplace upstairs, staring into the flames. Damon is bringing down luggage for the trip. John still doesn't like this plan, mainly because his nephew is being dragged across the country to ensure they get answers. "You hear from Klaus?" Damon asks John.
"Not yet. I'm sure I will soon though," John retorts, picking up the fake White Oak stake from the fireplace. "He's expecting me to deliver two stakes, I only have one."
"Well, that's gonna be disappointing for him," he jokes, looking at John, who glares back at him.
"I'll get it out of Alaric. I just need some time," the older Gilbert assures him.
"I like that confidence, John. I don't share it, but I like it," the older Salvatore brother teases the man.
"You don't think I can do what it takes," John snaps, looking at the Vampire.
"Well, you're Elena's father, John. You're in control. Sorry, you might make it to the father of the year, but you know. That's if you know, you get the information we need." Elena walks into the room. "Have you ever flown first class?"
"Who did you have to compel for that?" Elena asks, looking at him as he holds out the plane tickets.
"Pft, please. I use miles," Damon retorts, smirking, picking up the luggage, and walking out the door. Elena looks at John.
"John…" She says.
"Be safe," John replies. "Keep Jeremy safe." Elena stares at him for a moment and then walks out the door.
Caroline walks into the cafeteria at school and looks around, watching people decorating for the 'Roaring 20s' decade dance. Caroline sees Matt and storms over to him as she's been busy the last few meetings. "What is this?" Caroline asks, gesturing to the new decorations.
"It's the decade dance. Remember, you made us sign up to help?" Matt replies, looking at his ex-girlfriend.
"No," she snaps, picking up a boa. "This. The 20s. We're doing the 70s."
"Too flashy, people. It's supposed to be speakeasy, not the World Fair," Rebekah snaps at Bobby and Blake, who are also helping. Rebekah sees Caroline and walks up to her. "Ah, good, you're here. I need help setting up the tables so, get to it."
"What do you think you're doing?" The younger blond Vampire asks her, though they are friends now.
"Somebody has to be in charge," she argues, smiling.
"Yeah, me. I'm the chair of the Dance Committee. The theme of the decade dance is the 1970s," Caroline snaps.
"So, you'd rather dress in tacky colours with bad hair than be a classic flapper from the jazz age?" The blond Original asks. "Honestly, I don't know what Bobby sees in you."
"Hey!" Bobby yelps, looking at the blonds.
"Maybe he sees a challenge. See, unlike some other people, I don't sleep with everyone I make eye contact with," Caroline retorts, earning a glare.
"Maybe we can do both decades?" He suggests, trying to defuse the situation.
"No!" The blond Vampires shout at him, making Bobby hold his hands up in surrender, and Blake laughs.
"Go on, Matt, don't be a coward. You know you loved my 20s idea when I presented it to the group," Rebekah voices and Caroline turns around and looks at Matt.
"Traitor!" Caroline snaps, looking at her ex-boyfriend.
"Bell bottoms and disco? I don't know, this just seemed cooler," Matt argues, looking at the blond Vampires.
"See? It's just cooler," Rebekah repeats, making Caroline turn back to her.
"Good idea, anger her more," Bobby mutters, earning another glare from Caroline.
"Whatever. Have fun at your stupid dance," Caroline mutters, walking away.
Caroline walks outside to her car with Bobby chasing after her, wanting to talk to her about the dance. "Caroline! Wait!" Bobby calls after her, making her pause at her car, and then turns around with a smile.
"What is it?" Caroline asks, looking at him.
"Would you like to go with me tonight?" He wonders, and Caroline looks at him in surprise.
"Tonight?" She repeats, looking at him. "To the dance?"
"Well, yeah, I mean it's the Decade Dance. I want to take you," the grumpy Hybrid replies, and Caroline smiles at him.
"I would love to," the blond Vampire says, smiling brightly at him, and Bobby smiles back at her. "Make sure to wear black." Bobby looks at her, a little confused. "It makes you look handsome, and I don't want to match too much." Caroline gets in her car and drives off, leaving Bobby, who can't help but smile. Suddenly, his phone rings, and he looks down to see Phoebe calling him.
"Phee? What's up?" Bobby asks, frowning.
"He's back," Phoebe says, making him pull his phone away. "Tyler's back. With more wolves."
John heads down to the basement to talk with Alaric and goes to the cellar holding him. Alaric lies on the cot with his eyes closed, trying to sleep, but it's not working. "Do you know how hard it is to fall asleep when that is what you're supposed to do?" Alaric remarks, turning to him.
"Well, look, I know it's not easy so," John says, holding up a whiskey bottle, "Damon suggested that I bring something to help speed up the process."
"What the hell," he replies, sitting up and putting the 'Moby Dick' book that's open on his chest on the bed beside him as John enters the cell. He hands the bottle to Alaric and grabs a chair. "You know, I'll feel decidedly less pathetic if I don't drink alone."
"Oh, I am one step ahead of you," the older Gilbert says, showing Alaric a glass and sitting in the chair. He holds his glass out, and Alaric pours some whiskey into it. They both drink, John from the glass and Alaric from the bottle.
"So, road trip, huh?" The Vampire Slayer muses, looking at him.
"Yeah, I needed to stay here," John replies, looking at the man, who has been looking after his daughter and nephew for a time.
"Why? I mean, why you? You know, it doesn't take much to babysit me while I sit here waiting for a psychotic break." Alaric argues.
"Well, unfortunately, we only have a limited amount of time," he tells him.
"Before what?" The Vampire Hunter asks.
"Before we have to resort to other methods," John informs him, though he's not that bothered about injuring the man.
"So, you're worried that you're gonna have to torture me. You don't think Damon could have done that?" Alaric muses, knowing John doesn't like him.
"Look, Elena needed to go on that road trip with Damon," he argues. "She needs to figure out things on her own. But I'm worried about what's going to happen while they have Jeremy."
Alexis rushes downstairs on her way to school with her school bag and heads into the kitchen to see Loirlei at the counter, plating everyone's breakfast, banana pancakes. "Where's Jer?" Alexis asks, looking around for her boyfriend. "He loves pancakes. I'm surprised he didn't smell the batter."
"He must be sleeping in," Edward retorts, looking at his younger twin.
"It is strange," Lorilei muses, putting the plates on the counter. "Kol, can you go check on Jeremy," she instructs him, and he stops shovelling his pancakes and looks at her.
"Why me?" Kol says through a mouthful of pancake.
"Because I asked you," she says, pulling his plate away. "And because you got blood on my desk."
"Fine," he grumbles, getting up and heading upstairs.
"I thought you got a new desk?" Alexis asks quietly so Kol won't hear.
"I did. I had to completely redecorate my whole office," Lorilei replies, sighing as she sits on the counter and eats. "Which he will be paying for in little chores for me."
"What the hell!" They hear Kol shout from upstairs, and he rushes into the kitchen using his Vampire speed. "What the hell!"
"What's going on?" Elijah asks, looking at his younger brother as Jenna sits beside him after spending the night, having only just gotten back from Whitmore late last night.
"He's gone," Kol informs everyone, who looks at him in shock.
"What do you mean, he's gone?" Jenna snaps, looking at him and thinking of everything that could be happening to her nephew right now.
"He's not in his room," he replies, looking at everyone.
"Where the hell is my nephew!" She demands, everyone abandoning their breakfast as they learn about Jeremy being missing.
"Upstairs, now," Lorilei orders everyone, moving away and heading to her office. "We're going to find Jeremy now."
Elena and Damon land in Denver with a barely conscious Jeremy in a wheelchair on a lot of sedatives. Damon carefully wheels Jeremy through the airport, and Elena looks around nervously as if someone will pop out and try to take Jeremy. "Calm down, we might have security looking at us if you keep acting squirrelly," Damon warns her as they make it to the baggage claim to get their luggage.
"I am not acting squirrelly," Elena snaps, grabbing their suitcases, even one for Jeremy, because they don't know how long they'll be in Denver.
Damon and Elena head outside with Jeremy, grabbing a taxi outside the airport, needing to get somewhere quiet before Jeremy wakes up and screams bloody murder at the two of them. "We need to be quick," Elena reminds Damon as they sit in the back of the taxi on their way to the no-name motel they'll be staying at while trying to get Jeremy to help them talk to Rose.
"I know," Damon replies, carefully placing Jeremy on his shoulder so it looks like he's just sleeping and not on a lot of sedatives. The taxi drives away from the airport and down the street out of Denver. It doesn't take too long to arrive at the motel. Damon quickly pays the driver as Elena gets out the wheelchair from the trunk before Damon carries Jeremy out of the backseat and into the wheelchair. Damon wheels Jeremy into the motel, and Elena grabs the key at the front desk before entering the room and locking the door. Damon places Jeremy on the bed, tying his arms and legs so he won't escape. "The sedatives should be wearing off soon." Damon tells Elena, who looks at him and then at her little brother.
Lorilei storms into her office, grabbing a map of Mystic Falls before placing it on her new dark oak desk that sits to the side. Her new office is entirely different. It's dark and Witchy, with her equipment and resources in the open. She doesn't want to hide it anymore, especially with the Scooby Gang continuing their assault on her family. "I need blood," Lorilei informs Jenna, grabbing a dagger from her desk drawer. Jenna looks around the room and sees some books on Witchcraft and other things to do with the Supernatural.
"What if he's not in Mystic Falls?" Edward questions, looking at his older sister, who turns to him.
"Grab the whole country map then," she tells him, and Edward grabs it and hands it over to his sister, who unrolls it over the desk. Jenna holds her hand out, and Lorilei pricks her finger, using a few drops of blood on the map.
"Don't you need to use more?" Alexis asks, watching.
"I don't know who taught you locator spells, but in most instances you don't need litres of blood. And this is pointless because I've already done the spell and it hasn't moved an inch." The McKnight Witch informs them, and they look at her.
"What does that mean?" Jenna asks, looking at the Witches in the room.
"It means someone is cloaking Jeremy," Kol tells her, sitting in the chair by the window.
"Bonnie," Alexis mutters, sighing.
"Yeah, Bennett's and their little power plays," Lorilei groans, moving around the room. "They're still trying to kill you guys. They want to know which one of you sired them."
"Well, this gets complicated," Edward remarks, making the others look at him. "How are we supposed to find Jeremy if he's been cloaked?"
"I have an idea," she informs them, moving around her office. "Kol, get me some candles, and Elijah get me a hanging plummet. We're doing a plummet locator spell."
"I've never seen one before," Alexis muses, watching her sister as she moves around the room.
"I would think not," Finn muses, watching from the doorway. "It's old magic. I've only ever seen it in one Grimoire."
"Your mother can be useful sometimes," Lorilei jokes as Elijah gives her what she asked. "Let's do this. Be quiet. Cerco il se ra ci. Cerco il se ra ci. Cerco il se ra ci."
Jeremy finally wakes up and looks around the motel room, not seeing anyone with him, when the door opens to Damon and Elena. Jeremy glares at them and tries shouting at them, but he's gagged for this reason. "Katherine sired us, Rose sired Katherine, all we need to do is find out who sired Rose," Damon tells Elena as they walk into the room after grabbing some food.
"So, we travelled across the country to get Jeremy to talk to a dead Vampire?" Elena questions, looking at him.
"Dead vampire is redundant, but yes," he replies, looking at Jeremy to see he's awake. "Ah, he's awake!" He moves towards Jeremy on the bed and takes off the tape.
"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Jeremy screams at them.
"Jeremy, please, we need your help!" Elena says, moving towards her little brother.
"I'm not helping you. Ever," he snaps, glaring at her.
"Good thing we took this," Damon muses, showing Jeremy's vervain bracelet.
"You know I take vervain, right?" Jeremy wonders, making them look at him. "I live with the Originals. Lorilei puts it in our drinks every day. So, you can't compel me to do your bidding."
"Helpful information. But see, I could just torture you into talking to Rose," he snaps, and Jeremy scoffs.
"Well, I can't. I could talk to Anna and Vicki because I knew them," the younger Gilbert argues. "I've never even met Rose."
"What good is you dying and coming back to life if you can't talk to a ghost when I need you to?" The cocky Vampire remarks, earning a look from Jeremy and a slap from Elena.
"Rose spent a long time running from Klaus as well. She and Damon were close, so maybe we can use him as a connection," Elena suggests, moving towards the bed and sitting beside him.
"I'm not helping you," Jeremy sneers, looking away from them.
"We don't have time," Damon groans, throwing his arms in annoyance.
"Yeah, I know," he retorts, smirking. "I have a very overprotective girlfriend and her big sister is a powerful Witch. You are screwed."
"Found him!" Lorilei announces and looks at the others. "Denver."
"I'll go," Kol volunteers.
"I'm coming too!" Alexis shouts, going after him.
"No!" Lorilei snaps, making everyone stop. "Kol, go! Alexis, we're going to send Jeremy a message. I think you should do it while I try to find a way to get us to Denver." Kol disappears from the office, and Alexis looks at her sister.
"We're going to Denver?" Edward asks, looking at them.
"I need you here, Eddie," she tells him. "We need to find out what they know. Go to the bookshop and talk to Maddox about doing a few protection spells and get Greta to interrogate the Bennett Witch."
"You're trusting me?" He wonders, looking at his sister, who looks back at him.
"Yeah. We need you to do this," the older McKnight tells him, and he smiles.
"You've got it," the McKnight boy says and rushes out of the room. Alexis grabs a piece of paper and writes a message to Jeremy before sending it wherever he is, as Lorilei looks for a specific Grimoire.
"For the record, she's the one who wanted to stay in a motel, not me," Damon argues, looking at Jeremy, who isn't paying any attention to him.
"So, where are we?" Jeremy asks, feeling something appear in his hand.
"Corner of somewhere and nowhere where the Originals or Lorilei can't find us," he replies, looking around the room.
"Yeah, whatever," the younger Gilbert grumbles, rolling his eyes at him. "Can I get some food? I'm hungry."
"Yeah, what would you like?" Elena asks, having talked to Bonnie about something that could help cleanse the vervain from Jeremy's system quickly.
"Burger," Jeremy answers, and Elena looks at Damon.
"I'll go get it," she says, heading out, and Jeremy closes his eyes, ignoring Damon, who huffs at the teenager and storms into the bathroom. Jeremy opens his eyes and looks around the room. He looks at his hand and sees a piece of paper with a note in his girlfriend's handwriting. 'Jer, get ready, Kol's coming to the rescue. X'' Damon walks out of the bathroom, looking at Jeremy, who quickly hides the piece of paper but not fast enough. Damon snatches the paper and reads.
"Crap!" Damon shouts and grabs the bags before heading to the car and passing Elena on the stairs. "We need to move. Now."
Lorilei and Alexis arrive in Denver with Kol in front of them. "This the place?" Alexis asks, looking at the crumbling motel.
"It was, I think they found the note," Kol informs the girls, who look at him.
"This is my fault," she grumbles, hanging her head.
"It's not. We need to keep moving. If they have enough time, the vervain will be out of his system," Lorilei warns them. She pauses, thinking of something, and then looks at Kol. "Do you think the Witch Bitch would know about it?"
"You think?" Kol muses, and Alexis looks at them, confused.
"What is it?" Alexis asks them, and they look back at her.
"There are some herbs that can help detox the vervain from Jeremy, if he eats or drinks anything they've given him. The vervain will be out of his system in a few hours," Lorilei informs her with a dreaded look.
"We need to find him, now!" She exclaims.
Elena helps feed Jeremy as they drive around Denver to avoid being tracked and waste time till the vervain is out of his system. Jeremy looks at his hands as they're tied with ropes along with his ankles. "Where are we going?" Jeremy asks as Elena finishes feeding him.
"What, so you can tell your girlfriend?" Damon snaps, steering around in the rented car to try and find anywhere to stay while they get some answers.
"They'll find me," he warns them. "You've got no chance of getting out of this alive."
Meanwhile, Lorilei and Kol find a place to stay and try another location spell, but because Damon, Elena, and Jeremy constantly move, it's becoming difficult. "It's been hours," Alexis sighs, looking at the map of Denver as they try to find Jeremy.
Damon stops the car on the side of the road, hoping the vervain is out of his system. "Jeremy, can you pull your hands?" Damon compels him, and Jeremy looks at him, thinking the vervain will work, but he finds himself pulling his hands up. "Looks like it's out." He looks at Elena. "Call Bonnie. We need another cloaking spell."
"I'll do that now," Elena says, avoiding Jeremy's glare. Damon quickly gets back behind the steering wheel and heads for another motel to stay at.
It doesn't take long, and they stop the car before finding a room, though they won't be staying for long with Kol tracking them down, unaware that Lorilei and Alexis have joined him to find Jeremy. "Well, this should work, right Jer?" Elena asks as Damon wheels Jeremy into the room.
"Yeah, whatever, doesn't really matter," Jeremy replies, looking around the room and hoping that they find him soon, even if he's compelled at the moment to help them talk to Rose and find out who Sired her.
"Alright Whoopi, what do you need?" Damon asks, drawing the curtains closed. "Candles? Incense? Pottery wheel?"
"That's not how it works," he argues, rolling his eyes.
"I know, I know. They push from the Other Side and you pull from this one," the older Salvatore brother retorts, rolling his eyes back at him.
"Alright, you uh- you got a picture of her?" The Gilbert boy wonders, the compulsion pulling at him to help Elena and Damon.
"Picture? What, a trip to Disneyland? Come on Rose, you're not gonna actually make us wait, are you? I know you're obsessed with me," Damon calls, and Elena scoffs, rolling her eyes and sitting on the bed.
"All right, uh- tell me something about her," Jeremy suggests, almost biting his tongue off, and Damon sits on the end of the other bed.
"Um, well she does this little thing with her tongue," he says, making the teen cringe at the thoughts invading his mind.
"Something that matters, Damon," Elena snaps at him.
"She spent her last day in paradise. Soaking in the sun and reminiscing about what it means to be human. And when death came, she didn't fear it," the cocky Vampire tells them, and Elena looks at him.
"I was with her on her last day, and she definitely wasn't in paradise," she argues, shaking her head and looking at Damon.
"It was in the dream he gave her. She's here," Jeremy informs them, and Damon looks around, but of course, he can't see her. Rose sits on the bed beside him, smiling softly at him.
Caroline walks through the woods towards the old Lockwood cellar and stops near the stairs, entering the basement and looking around. She hears a noise, smiling and turning around. Tyler is standing behind her. "Hi," Caroline says, looking at her ex-boyfriend, who smiles back at her.
"You have no idea how much I've missed you," Tyler replies, smiling and hugging. "It's good to be home."
"Yeah, so, did you call Phoebe?" She asks him, and her question is answered as Phoebe comes rushing down the steps.
"Seriously? We're meeting here?" Phoebe snaps, looking at Tyler, who smiles at the older Hybrid, who playfully glares at him. "Why here of all places?"
"I needed to talk to you and Caroline about something I heard on my way here with a few of the wolves," Tyler tells them, and Phoebe sighs, looking at him.
"What did you hear?" Caroline asks, breaking the tension.
"Some of them, they didn't come just to become Hybrids. They came to take Klaus down," he says.
Matt drives Rebekah to the house and parks his pickup truck after setting up the Decade Dance. "Here we are," Matt announces, looking at the mansion. "Home, sweet, home."
"Okay, spill. Why are you being nice to me?" Rebekah asks him, looking at the blond human.
"I drove you home. You don't have a car," he retorts, shrugging.
"Not just that, I mean, helping me with the dance and then standing up to Caroline. I don't buy it," she argues, wishing she could compel him to tell her the truth.
"Buy what?" The quarterback asks, avoiding her gaze.
"The whole gentlemanly thing. After everything my family has done to you. What are you up to?" The blond Original wonders.
"It's sad that you can't just get a ride home from school without thinking there is some ulterior motive." Matt teases her, avoiding the questions.
"You're right. I'm probably gonna organise the whole dance and then have to compel myself a date." Rebekah jokes, hiding her wish for love.
"Let's not get crazy. Good bye, Rebekah," he says, smiling.
"Goodbye, Matt. Thanks for the ride," she replies, getting out of the car, and Matt drives away. She stands there for a moment, smiling, before entering the house. She steps into the foyer, smiling, but stops, sensing someone nearby and turning around, she's faced with her mother. "Mother." She rushes toward her, trying to grab her throat, but goes through her. "What? How is that possible?"
"Because I'm dying. I can feel it," Esther says, dropping a bomb on her youngest daughter.
"Is she lonely on the other side?" Elena asks, worried about Rose.
"No. I enjoy it," Rose says. "I was running so much when I was alive, now I have the freedom to do whatever I want."
"She says not to worry, she's happy," Jeremy repeats, looking around the room.
"Is she still hot?" Damon asks, trying to find something to say.
"Tell him he's still dripping with sex too," Rose purrs, and Jermey stares at her in disgust. "Fine, tell him I miss him."
"She misses you," Jeremy tells Damon, not looking at him.
"And tell him I'm rooting for him and Elena," she says, looking at Elena and Damon as they sit opposite each other.
"She uh- she misses both of you," he repeats, gaining a look from Rose.
"Unfortunately, I don't have any news on the siring front. Klaus didn't sire me. No Original did. It was Mary Porter," the dead Vampire informs him, and Damon moves to Jeremy, seeing him fighting the compulsion to talk.
"What did she say?" Damon asks, compelling Jeremy further.
"She was sired by someone named Mary Porter," Jeremy blurts out under the compulsion and glares at the older Salvatore brother.
"Uh, Scary Mary. Well, where is she, Rose?" He asks, looking around the room.
"I didn't keep track of her when I was alive, much less now. Tell them to sit tight, relax. I'll see what I can find out," Rose says and looks at the boy. "He shouldn't be doing this to you, Jeremy."
Meanwhile, John and Alaric sit together in the cellar, still talking and waiting for Alaric to turn evil and dark. "I assume they've got Jeremy by now?" Alaric asks, looking at John.
"They should. Haven't heard from them," John replies, worried about his nephew. "Elena's worried about him, knowing that she can't count on his ring anymore."
"Who knows? Maybe his alter ego is a pot smoking, hippie pacifist," he jokes, looking at the ring on his finger.
"Yeah, maybe," the older Gilbert muses, looking at his phone.
"I can't say, I thought mine would be so hostile and militant," the Vampire Hunter retorts, lying on the cot.
"That actually makes perfect sense," John reasons. "Your ex-wife left you to become a Vampire and your ex-girlfriend was almost killed by one. She left you for a Vampire."
"You must really hate me. Here I am, the failed hunter slash drinking buddy of Vampires," Alaric says, looking at him. "I mean, you've had the practice of being a Vampire Hunter a lot longer than me. You must have died more. Surely."
"I think your alter ego is too judgmental," he jokes.
"The thing is, he's me. I'm not compelled, I'm not possessed, there's no humanity switch," the Vampire Slayer argues. "What drives him is me."
"No. No, he's not you. He's the darkest parts of you. The parts we all have," John replies, and Klaus enters the cell, hearing their conversation.
"Well, this is depressing, isn't it?" Klaus muses, looking at them, and John stands up, facing the Original Hybrid. "Oh, and I found this," he shows them the stake, "upstairs. Now, by my count, there should be one more."
"Yeah, well it's gonna take a little more time," he replies, looking at him.
"Why? Because we're waiting for that one to pass out?" The Original Hybrid questions, pointing at Alaric. "No thanks. I think I'll just kill him."
"Well, then you won't know the location of the other stake," John argues, shrugging.
"I can live with that. It's not like it will kill me," Klaus retorts. "I mean, if you kill an Original Vampire it kills our entire bloodline. Now, I know you are trying to find out who sired your friends. But I will warn you, I will protect my family. That includes Jenna and Jeremy. Are we clear?" He moves further into the cell. "I'd warn Damon about messing around. You may find out who sired them, but it won't change anything. The only reason we're doing this is a punishment for trying to kill me and my family. And to finish this punishment to find this stake. Which means that I feel totally justified doing this." Klaus rushes towards Alaric and breaks his neck, killing him. "There. Sleeping like a baby."
Damon stands outside the motel room; his phone rings, and he answers it with John on the other end. "There you are," Damon sighs, glad he's gotten a response from him since going into hiding. "Any sign of Evil-laric?"
"Nope, only dead Alaric," John replies, making Damon gape in shock.
"What?" He snaps.
"Don't worry, he was wearing his ring," the older Gilbert assures him. "Klaus was here, let's just say he's not very patient."
"Someone must have told him we were in Denver. How long has Ric been out?" The cocky Vampire asks, worried about his best friend.
"A few hours. I'm hoping when he wakes up, it won't be him, it'll be the other him. But how did they know you and Elena were in Denver?" John asks him.
"And if not? And I'm guessing they were able to locate us somehow even with a cloaking spell from Bonnie," Damon retorts, huffing.
"Yeah, I know. Whatever it takes. So, were you able to contact Rose?" He wonders, hoping for some news.
"Yeah, no answers yet. So, we're just stuck in this motel until she gets back to us," the older Salvatore brother informs him.
"A motel? You've got my daughter and nephew in a motel?" The older Gilbert blurts and looks around in shock, hoping Klaus hasn't heard.
"Yeah, we had to get away from Kol. I'll call you when I know more," Damon argues, hanging up the phone.
Jeremy and Elena are alone in the motel room. Jeremy is still in his wheelchair, tied up and watching TV as Elena goes through the luggage. "So, what's up with you and Damon?" Jeremy asks, trying to break the quiet and tension in the room.
"What do you mean? Nothing's up," Elena argues, shrugging and distracting herself.
"Are you sure about that? Cause even Rose said something," he mentions, making her look at him.
"What did she say?" She asks, but before he can answer, Damon enters the room.
"Everything okay in here?" Damon asks, looking at the siblings.
"Yeah. It's fine," the Doppelganger assures him.
"Okay, well, I'm gonna freshen up. You might want to get some rest," he advises, looking at Elena. "I'm sure Rose will make herself known when she gets back." Damon heads into the small motel bathroom. Jeremy looks between them, rolling his eyes and waiting for Kol to rescue him, even if the dope will lord it over his head for the rest of his life.
Rebekah stands before her mother, noticing that Esther isn't fully there. It's almost like an astral projection because she can't hear her mother's heartbeat. "How are you dying? I thought Ayana preserved your body with a spell," Rebekah questions, knowing that Lorilei has Esther under a sleeping enchantment. However, it doesn't affect the woman's health, so either something has gone wrong with Ayana's spell or Esther's lying, though Rebekah isn't sure what it is.
"She did. I'm drawing my power from the Bennett Witch line," Esther explains. "When Abby died the connection was severed. So my body has weakened, and with Lorilei keeping me under a sleeping enchantment has steadied for the moment."
"Well, if you've come to spend your last moments with your loving daughter, prepare to be disappointed. You should have spent less time plotting my death," she snaps, wanting nothing to do with her mother anymore.
"Is that what you think I've been doing on the Other Side?" The Original Witch muses. "I've been looking over you for a thousand years. Of joy and heartbreak. Your fights with Klaus, the nights you cried yourself to sleep calling out my name. Not a day has gone by that I wasn't right there with you."
"And yet you still tried to kill us," the blond Original argues, glaring at the woman who gave birth to her.
"Because it shouldn't have been a thousand years, Rebekah," Esther retorts. "No one should live that long."
"But I haven't lived at all," Rebekah snaps, wishing for more time to enjoy herself in this new time.
"I'm sorry, Rebekah. I'm so, so sorry," she says, taking Rebekah's hand and starts shaking before fading away. Rebekah's knees buckle suddenly, and she kneels down when Klaus enters the room.
"What's doing on?" Klaus asks, looking at his little sister.
"I don't know…" The blond Original replies, straightening up as Klaus helps her to her feet.
Tyler looks at Phoebe and Caroline as they process the news about the new wolves residing in the Pack Den under false pretences. "Are you telling me that there are enemies among our Pack?" Phoebe asks, glaring into space at the thought of her family and Pack getting hurt.
"I am. I don't know what to do about this. Should we tell the Alphas?" He wonders, and the girls look at each other.
"I think we need to tell Lorilei, too," Caroline suggests, and Phoebe cringes at the thought of telling her about this while also dealing with the Save Elena Squad trying to kill the Originals.
"I agree. But I think we should tell the Alphas first," Phoebe tells her. "Especially if we're not sure which ones are truly with us."
"I know, but how are we going to be able to tell?" Tyler wonders, and Caroline muses, thinking about it.
"I don't know, but that's why I think we should tell Lorilei, she might know what to do about this," Caroline argues, making Phoebe and Tyler look at her.
"I guess you're right, Caroline, but we need to be cautious about how we go about this," Phoebe reminds them, who nod in agreement. "If they overhear our plans, we could alert them, and they could do something we're not prepared for."
"Yeah, and with them learning about the White Oak stakes being fake, they could partner up with the Save Elena Gang," she says, and Tyler looks confused, feeling like he's missed a lot since being away.
"What exactly have I missed?" Tyler wonders, looking at the girls.
"They tried killing Finn awhile ago, and Lorilei figured out that if an Original dies then every Vampire that the Original turned would die." The blond Vampire explains, and Tyler looks at her in shock.
"But Klaus turned me. So if he dies, I die," he realises, and Caroline nods.
"Yeah. I think they've figured that out, but the difference is they don't care anymore," Phoebe argues, looking at him. "We'll stop them. We promise, Tyler."
Meanwhile, Damon walks out of the bathroom, shirtless, in another motel room in Denver after Kol nearly finds them again. The older Salvatore is tired of playing hide and seek with the chaotic Mikaelson brother. He grabs a bottle of whiskey in the ice box he's glad he took on this trip and puts on a shirt. Elena is in bed, watching him, her eyes never leaving his toned form. Damon pours himself a drink and sits down on the other bed, being careful of Jeremy, draining the liquor glass before looking over at Elena. The Doppelganger quickly closes her eyes and tries getting some sleep, though she feels a little guilty about Jeremy's sleeping arrangements, seeing as he's still tied up, but they let him sleep in the other bed, tied to the bed frame, though he's asleep for now thanks to Damon's compulsion.
Damon continues to watch Elena, thinking about things, and she opens her eyes again as they stare at each other for a while until Damon gives in, getting up and walking over to the bed, lying beside her but facing away from her. "You never told me about that. What you did for Rose," Elena wonders, looking at Damon.
"It wasn't about you," Damon argues.
"Why don't you let people see the good in you?" She asks him, wanting others to see the good in the older Salvatore Brother.
"Because when people see good, they expect good," he tells her, turning his head and looking at Elena. "And I don't want to have to live up to anyone's expectations." Elena turns on her back, placing her arm by her side, and Damon gently grabs it and caresses her hand. Elena breathes heavily, unsure of her growing feelings for the older Salvatore Brother. She quickly gets out of bed, grabs her coat and leaves the motel room, overwhelmed.
Elena puts on her coat and leans against the ice machine, needing to calm herself down after her moment with Damon. She is still confused about her growing feelings for the man when Damon comes out after her, checking on the Doppelganger. "Don't," Elena tells him.
"Why not? Elena…" Damon asks her, and she turns around, rushing towards Damon before passionately kissing him, giving into her desires. They continue to kiss as Damon pushes Elena against the pillar. He starts kissing her neck and chest, but she lifts his head back up to her lips. They look at each other and continue to kiss when Jeremy awakes inside from Rose returning from her search for answers.
"What the?!" Jeremy shouts, making Elena and Damon pull away from each other and rush back into the motel room.
Damon and Elena rush into the room to see Jeremy wide awake and alert; the pair look a little frazzled from their hot makeout session. Damon moves towards him, making sure his compulsion is still intact, with the boy fresh from his slumber. "Elena," Jeremy asks, looking at his sister.
"Oh my God, Jeremy. I…" Elena replies, looking back at him.
"Rose found Mary," he announces. "She lives in Kansas."
"Okay then. Let's go," Damon replies, heading to the other side of the room to pack their bags quickly. Jeremy looks at Elena, guessing something has happened between Elena and Damon outside while he is asleep.
John sits in the Salvatore Boarding House cellar reading Moby Dick while Alaric is dead because of Klaus when he comes back. "Welcome back," John remarks, looking at him.
"What happened?" Alaric asks, looking around the cell. "Did I uh…?"
"No, you pretty much laid there dead for half the night," he replies. "But on the uh - on the plus side, I did almost finish reading Moby Dick." John gets up and walks towards Alaric.
"This is stupid. Evil me or whatever you want to call him, he's not gonna make an appearance," the Vampire Hunter grumbles. "Why would he? I mean, the best hiding place is the one where you can't find the person who hid it."
"I know," the older Gilbert man sighs, knowing they must find the last fake White Oak stake before the Originals retaliate.
"So, how do you want to do this?" Alaric wonders, looking at him.
"I don't want to do any of this," John argues.
"Well, that makes two of us. But I don't think we have much choice in the matter," he replies, taking off his ring.
"Wait, wait, what are you doing? You need that ring," the Vampire Slayer snaps, frowning.
"No, what I need is hope that my alter ego doesn't have a death wish. So, I'm taking bets that my dark side has a sense of self-preservation. So, let's see if he defends himself against death," the History Teacher suggests.
"Look, Alaric, I'm not gonna kill you, okay? It wouldn't work anyway, I'm not Supernatural," John reminds him.
"If we have any chance at this, John, you're gonna have to try," Alaric argues, guessing that if his alter ego senses any danger coming from anyone, it hopefully will awaken him. John looks at Alaric before rushing towards him and punching him.
"COME ON!" Alexis shouts, making it to the other motel where Elena and Damon are keeping Jeremy, but they are too late again.
"I knew this would happen," Lorilei sighs, getting out her phone as she needs to talk to Edward. "Eddie, can you do another spell… Hang on, what was that?" She pulls her phone away from her ear and looks at Kol. "Did you hear that?"
"Yeah, and I know where to go," Kol replies, smirking.
Damon drives through the rest of the night, ending up outside an old, abandoned-looking house, and they get out of the car. "This is the address," Jeremy informs them, pulling on his restraints to free himself again.
"Looks about right," Damon remarks, looking at the place.
"Wait here," Elena tells her little brother.
"Why?! So you guys can make out some more?" Jeremy snaps, glaring at her before scoffing and sulking in the back of Damon's car.
"Thank you. Come on," Damon says, pulling Elena towards the house.
Damon and Elena enter the house, and she turns on a torch, finding the place completely dark. The room is full of books on the floor with other junk scattered around. "Oof, like Vampire Hoarders," Damon remarks, frowning as he looks around.
"Who is this Mary person?" Elena wonders, looking around.
"Scary Mary. She's really old, super creepy," he replies, shrugging.
"And how do you know her?" She asks him.
"I dated her," the older Salvatore Brother informs her, and Elena can't help but frown at the information.
"Of course," the Doppelganger grumbles.
"What? I said creepy, not ugly," Damon retorts, and they hear a loud noise coming from another room. Damon and Elena look at the door where the noise is coming from. Damon, followed by Elena, goes into the room. She moves the torchlight around the room, and the beam lands on a Vampire, who's been staked to the wall. "Mary." The lights come on in the darkened room to show Kol sitting in a chair with a baseball bat he found lying around, Alexis standing behind him with her arms folded and glaring at them, and Lorilei standing by his side, annoyed.
"Quite contrary," Kol muses, smirking at the look on Damon and Elena's face.
John hits Alaric again, who gets up and looks at him. "You're not putting enough into this," Alaric groans, getting up from the cell floor.
"If I put any more into it, I'm gonna break your spine," John warns him, hitting Alaric again. The Vampire Slayer falls to the floor, blood comes out of his mouth, and one of his teeth falls out.
"Well don't back down now," he groans.
"No, no, no, no, no, i can't," the older Gilbert man argues, and Alaric gets up again.
"Come on, you're past that," the Vampire Slayer grumbles, just wanting his alter ego to come out.
"No, I'm not," John snaps.
"Then use it! Give into it! Try and kill me, John. Come on!" Alaric shouts.
"Not like this, Alaric," he argues, not wanting to push it too far.
"Yes! Like this. You're gonna have to want to kill me for me to believe that you will," the History Teacher snaps.
"If I go this far, I may not be able to stop," the Vampire Hunter warns him.
"If you want the answers from my darkest side, you're gonna have to tap into yours. So, don't back down, don't fight it. Just do it. Do it!" Alaric shouts, grabbing John's shirt and shaking him. John gets angry and throws him against the brick wall, making the Vampire Slayer fall on the ground and laugh. "You're so weak." He gets back up. "Look at you, you're supposed to be a Vampire Hunter and you can't even get that right."
"You," John sighs, realising who's now out to play.
"Me," Dark Alaric replies, smirking at the Vampire Hunter.
"Shame about Mary," Kol remarks, glancing at the dead Mary. "She used to be a blast. Don't quite know what happened. I fear all the time she spent with my family might have ruined her. She was a bit of an Original groupie."
"And were you her favourite?" Elena wonders, looking at the chaotic Mikaelson.
"You mean, did I turn her? I think I did," he replies, musing. "But no, wait, maybe it was Rebekah. There was also a Klaus period." Kol looks at Lorilei. "Sorry, Lori, but it's true. And let's not forget the Elijah affair."
"We spoke to Elijah earlier; we know you're trying to find out who you descended from. Now, you never will. So, where did we leave off?" Lorilei wonders, moving towards them and raising her hand towards Damon. She crushes her hand, making Damon fall to the ground, and Kol moves over with his bat, smacking into Damon's fallen form.
"Elena, get out of here!" Damon shouts, cowering from the attack from Kol, and Elena runs for the door, but Alexis pops in front of her, blocking her path.
"According to Klaus, you're off limits. Please don't test us," Alexis warns her, magically throwing her across the floor. Damon gets up from the assault, rushing towards Alexis.
"Don't touch her," he snaps, but Kol growls, throwing him away from Alexis.
"Oh dear, I've hit a nerve. Heh heh. Relax, darling, I just want us to be even. You hide my boyfriend, you try to kill Finn, and then you try to attack me. Not cool," Alexis growls, magically strangling Damon as she talks. "There, now we're even."
"Where's the stake?" John asks Dark Alaric.
"You're worse than I ever was. Spineless, pathetic," Dark Alaric growls, glaring at John.
"Tell me where the stake is before I kill you," he demands.
"You know you're all gonna burn. Ashes to dust," the Dark alter ego snaps, and John hits Dark Alaric repeatedly.
"Where's the stake?!" The Vampire Hunter asks, getting tired of this little game of his, but Dark Alaric doesn't answer, so he hits him again, then grabs Dark Alaric into a chokehold. "I'm gonna kill you in three…two…one."
"It's in the cave. Where no Vampire can get it," Dark Alaric confesses, laughing, and John throws him onto the ground and leaves the cellar, locking the door behind him. He goes up the stairs while texting on his phone.
John comes upstairs to the parlour, still texting, where Klaus and Rebekah await him. "That wasn't too hard, was it?" Klaus asks, looking at John, who sighs, knowing they no longer have a head start.
Elena places her hand on Damon's chest, making sure he's alright. "Are you okay?" Elena asks him once Lorilei, Alexis, and Kol have gone.
"Yeah," Damon replies, popping his arm back into place after Kol and Alexis' assault. "That's better." He caresses Elena's face and touches the cut on her forehead, making her gasp. "Are you okay? You're bleeding."
"Yeah. I'll be fine," she assures him, grabbing his hand and taking it off her face. She releases his hand from her own and turns away.
"What are you doing?" He asks her, confused as she turns to face him again.
"What do you mean?" The Doppelganger wonders, playing with him.
"Well, this trip and you kissing me. What the hell is this?" The blue-eyed Salvatore questions, looking at the next Katherine Pierce in the making.
"Everyone thinks that I have feelings for you," Elena confesses, not meeting his eyes and acting coy.
"Do you?" Damon asks her, hoping Elena does feel something for him, but there's still that little part of him that screams to run away and hide from the Doppelganger.
"I-I don't - I don't know," Elena replies, stuttering over her words.
"Hm. I guess you thought this little trip could help you figure that out, didn't you?" He wonders, looking at her.
"No," she answers.
"Or maybe you were hoping I'd screw it up, so I could just make the decision for you, am I wrong?" The older Salvatore Brother questions.
"Damon…" The Doppelganger mutters, looking at him heartbroken.
"Am I wrong?" Damon asks her.
"It's what you do, Damon. You sabotage things, you…I mean, think about it, every time there's a bump in the road, you lash out." Elena argues.
"What if I didn't? What if there was no bump?" He wonders, and Elena says nothing back. "I'm sorry, Elena. This time, I'm not gonna make it so easy for you. This time, you'll have to figure it out for yourself." He leaves the room, heading back to the car to find Jeremy gone, probably because of Kol, Lorilei, and Alexis.
Klaus stays in the parlour, pouring himself a drink as Rebekah brings Alaric up from the basement. "That's a little gratuitous, don't you think, John?" Klaus questions, looking at the older Gilbert man. "I would have been more gentle."
"I'm gonna take him to the caves. You're gonna go inside and fetch me the stake and if you think you're gonna hide, you're wrong," Rebekah snaps, glaring at the Vampire Slayer and pushing him towards the door before leaving.
"And then there was one. I know about Damon's little mission to Denver. He failed. Not that that's news anymore," he remarks, looking at the more experienced Vampire Hunter.
"So, what are you gonna do now, Klaus? You gonna kill me?" John asks him, not backing down.
"I haven't actually decided yet," the Original Hybrid replies, sitting down.
"Aww, sure you have. See you've had every chance and every excuse imaginable to do it, but yet you haven't. Which means you don't want to," he remarks, not scared of the Original Hybrid.
"You know something, you're right. You see, I'm still waiting for a few things to happen," Klaus comments, smirking. "Well, I wanted to see how things played out with your little plan to find out which of us Sired who, but that didn't work out for you."
"I see," the Vampire Hunter mutters. "Are Elena and Damon still alive?"
"Of course. I still need Elena alive, and well I promised Stefan I'd let his brother live for now." He replies, smirking. "I don't think that will change any time soon, but who knows, things could change." He gets up and walks off, smirking to himself as he heads outside and gets out his phone. He needs to call Lorilei and check to see if she's back home.
Lorilei borrows a car, driving with Alexis and Jeremy in the back, clinging to each other, even though they've been apart for a few days. Kol sits in the front with Lorilei as she drives. Jeremy sighs, enjoying his hug with his girlfriend, but missing her a lot. "Are we there yet?" Rose asks, spooking the couple, Jeremy glances at her, surprised at her sudden appearance, and Alexis senses the dead Vampire. "Don't tell them I'm here. Damon and Elena had a fight. I know you want to stop it. Protect your sister from him. But you're young; you don't see what I see. It's not just that she makes him a better person, she does, but he changes her too." Jeremy frowns, thinking about Rose's words, and he's unsure how he feels about his sister and Damon. After they kidnapped him, Jeremy's done with his sister even more so now. "Damon challenges her, surprises her, he makes her question her life, beliefs. Stefan is different; his love was pure, he'd always be good for her. Damon is either the best thing for her or the worst." Rose disappears after her speech, and Alexis looks at Jeremy, wondering what the spirit is saying.
Elena and Damon return to the Gilbert house; she, for some reason, thought that Jeremy would be there waiting for her.
Meanwhile, at the Mikaelson mansion, Lorilei, Jeremy, and Alexis return to find Jenna and Elijah on the couch together, the noble Original comforting the strawberry-blond woman. "Are we interrupting something, Jen?" Lorilei asks, making them look at them.
"Jeremy!" Jenna exclaims, leaping at Jeremy and squashing him into a hug, making the teenage boy squirm, but he soon returns the hug.
"It's good to be home," Jeremy mutters in his aunt's tight embrace.
"Don't ever do something like that again," she says, holding onto him.
"To be fair, he was kidnapped by Damon and Elena," Alexis argues, making Jenna look at her, and Lorilei moves her little sister behind her.
"Not the time," Lorilei whispers.
"Thank you for getting him back," Jenna says, looking at them.
"Not a problem, glad to help," Kol teases, earning a look from his older brother.
"Shut up, Kol," Elijah snaps at his youngest brother, who moves behind Lorilei, who seems as if she's protecting him and Alexis from them.
"Elena isn't my sister anymore," Jeremy announces, shocking everyone, even Klaus, as he enters the front door.
"What did I walk into?" Klaus questions, looking at the others and moving towards Lorilei, pulling her into his arms and kissing her forehead.
"Apparently, Jer doesn't want to be related to the Doppelganger anymore," Alexis clarifies, looking at them.
"Please stop commenting on this," Lorilei sighs, looking at her little sister. "That's all nice and everything, but Jeremy, you can't just say something like that."
"I mean it, Lorilei, I do," Jeremy argues, looking at the older McKnight sibling as he pulls away from Jenna.
"Once you say that, you can't take it back," she warns him.
Dark Alaric and Rebekah walk down the steps in the caves under the old Lockwood cellar. Dark's alter ego walks inside, but Rebekah stops where the Vampire barrier stops her. "Go get it. You know I can't get in," Rebekah tells him, and Dark Alaric walks over to a crevice in the stone wall and pulls out the stake. He sits on Esther's old coffin, looking at her.
"Now why would I give you the one thing that requires everyone to keep me alive?" Dark Alaric asks, the alter ego not knowing about it being fake somehow.
"Are we bargaining now?" She questions. "Fine. What's your offer?"
"There's only one stake out there. Which means only one Original has to die. Help me and I'll make sure it's not you," he suggests, the hidden parts of his memory from Alaric not letting him know that the White Oak stake in his hand is fake.
"Tenuous, but points for effect. You see, I don't want one Original to die," the blond Original confesses, stepping over the Vampire barrier, surprising Dark Alaric. "I want them all to die."
"How the hell did you do that?" The Dark Alter Ego asks, looking at her, jumping up from Esther's coffin on guard.
"It was easy to fool Niklaus, but I thought you of all people would understand. After all, my son did use your body at one point," Rebekah-Esther remarks, smiling.
"You're not Rebekah," Dark Alaric mutters, looking at her.
"No. My name is Esther, and we have a great deal in common," she replies, and he looks at her, smirking, both thinking about what they could do.