They learned the next morning that Rose was sick.
"But I thought that was healed," Maddy said, examining her shoulder, where the oozing bite only seemed to be getting worse.
"That's what we thought," muttered Damon.
"It's okay," said Rose. "You know... I was born in 1450, that makes me five hundred and sixty year old. I can die, I've lived long enough."
Maddy frowned. "But there has to be something we can do. Even if you're willing to die, this is something pretty serious. We need to know if there's a cure, or something."
"You know," said Damon, looking at Rose as he opened a blood bag and poured its contents into a glass, "if you're gonna be morn, I'm just gonna kill you myself just to put me out of your misery. Come on, it's just a little werewolf bite."
"Damon," said Maddy sharply.
"It's alright," said Rose. "Just a little... fatal-to-a-vampire werewolf bite."
"Well," said the elder Salvatore, "according to a legend which is a notoriously unreliable source. Drink up. Blood heals." He slid the glass of blood to her.
Rose sighed, and drank it. "Yeah, I don't feel like it's working..."
Maddy swept her shirt to the side. Just in the time they'd been talking, the bite had grown worse. "How is it?" asked Rose.
"Definitely... better," said Damon, looking up as Elena entered the room. "Right, Elena?"
The doppelgänger hesitated. "Um... it's not bad."
Maddy shook her head. "Where's my other brother?"
"He left," she said. "I need you both to talk to him. He's convinced that he has to find Isobel but I think that's gonna upset Elijah. He wanted us to do nothing."
"No can do," said Damon. "I'm with Stefan on this one but if you could play nurse for a little while..."
"It's not necessary," said Rose quickly.
"You can't be left alone," said Maddy. "Damon has to go see Stefan and I'm... gonna go and find out if there's a cure."
"It'll be fine," said Damon. "Elena is a do-gooder. It's in her nature, she just can't resist. She'll take care of you, Rose."
Maddy cast them all a reassuring smile before getting to her feet. "I'll let you know if I find anything."
She left the house, her compulsion forcing her to go to a remote area to call Elijah to tell them that she'd be busy that day. However, as soon as her memories returned, she realized something.
"I need your help," she told him once he answered the phone. "Rose was bitten by a werewolf. There has to be a cure, right? You're over a thousand years old, if anyone knows about a cure to a wolf bite, it's you, otherwise you would have died long ago."
Elijah heaved a sigh. "A wolf bite cannot kill an Original. Even if there was a cure, I would have had no reason to find it. The only way to keep Rosemarie from suffering is to kill her before she begins to feel extreme pain."
"That can't be your answer! Elijah, please, there has to be something that you can do for her."
"There is nothing I can do. Are you going to tell me what's been going on, or not?"
Maddy wanted to scream, but the compulsion prevented that. "Stefan's trying to get in touch with Isobel Flemming, Elena's biological mother. With all her research, he must figure she knows about Klaus. He's still desperate, trying to keep Elena safe. I don't think there's anything I can do to—"
"I'll inform you what I need you to do. For now, I recommend that you have your friend die quickly before her symptoms progress. We will speak another time."
Maddy would have crushed the phone in her hands if she hadn't forgotten the conversation right after he hung up.
"Hey," she said, finding Damon on his way into the Mystic Grill. "Figured we might as well talk to Stefan together."
"Where did you go?" Damon asked curiously. "Thought you were gonna find a cure."
"I was going to call one of my old friends before I realized I don't actually have her contact information anymore. She knew the guy I dated who claimed to be a wolf. The one I told you about. I figured if anyone had word of a cure, it would be him. I had some wild hope that she would still know him. Bummer. Maybe Mason's mystery woman knows something?"
"Good idea," said Damon, opening the door for her and leading her into the restaurant.
The woman (Jules) was inside, eating, but instead of approaching her, they went up to Stefan, who was apparently leaving a voicemail. "Isobel, it's Stefan Salvatore. I need to speak with you, it's about Elena. Please know that it's important."
"What are you doing here?" asked Damon.
"Waiting for you," said Stefan. "Listen, there's a lot of people here."
"Oh, damn," said Damon sarcastically. "There goes my plan to rip her spleen through her back."
"Hey, listen," said Stefan. "I know you're upset about Rose—"
"Why does everyone think that I'm upset about Rose?" snapped the older Salvatore. "I'm fine. I don't know if you know this but sometimes, vampires die. I'm gonna have a friendly chat with lady wolf, brother. Ease up."
"And I thought you were here to talk to him," murmured Maddy. "Guess you weren't actually going to do that."
They walked up to Jules together. She stopped eating when she saw them. "Well, if it isn't the one I meant to kill," she said. "I'll have to get that right next time. Who's this?"
"His sister," said Maddy coldly. "Now..." she grabbed Jules by the back of the neck, squeezing hard, "Tell us how to cure a wolf bite, and I'll let you walk out of here with your head still attached to your body."
"Promise?" said Jules, going tense.
"Yes, I do promise."
Jules slid some money over the bar. "Bite me," she muttered. "I'm not afraid of you."
"Aw, did those very stupid words really just leave your mouth?" asked Maddy, squeezing harder. To her surprise, Jules swung herself forward, breaking out of her hold.
"How's your friend?" asked the woman. "Rose, is that her name? Have the chills started? The unbearable pain?"
Damon sneered, "If there's a cure, tell me or start watching your back."
"Did I mention the dementia?" said Jules. "It'll eat away at her brain. Soon she'll be rabid. You want a cure? I'll tell you the only cure that exists: take a stake and drive it through her heart."
She pushed past them and walked out of the restaurant.
"Maybe she's right," said Maddy. "Maybe we should just stake her and let her die a quick death."
"Are you insane?" snapped Damon. "Did you really just say that right now?"
Maddy leaned away from him. "I'm just trying to spare her the pain, Damon. Obviously, it isn't going to get better."
He just huffed. "Where's Stefan?"
"Don't know," said Maddy, not seeing him in the restaurant anymore. "Maybe Isobel finally answered. What now? Do we just go home?"
"Doesn't seem like there's anything else for us to do," said Damon.
Maddy let him give her a ride, since she had come on foot. When they got to the house, they found it was very quiet. They thought this to be odd, and left the door open. Suddenly, Elena appeared, holding a stake in her hand.
"What happened?" asked Maddy. "Why do you have that? Where's Rose?"
Elena gulped. "I-I don't know. She just— she thought I was Katherine, and she attacked me and I barricaded myself in Stefan's room."
"Damn it," said Damon. "That's not good. The whole town is gathering in the park tonight, and if Rose loses herself again..."
"Let's find her," said Maddy. "You two, take the car and go. I'll get there first and see if I find anything."
Maddy felt like she was looking for a specific needle in a pile full of needles. There were people everywhere, chattering and being very loud and unhelpful. She tried to isolate certain sounds, but none of them reminded her of Rose. She didn't even hear anyone crying out in pain. Was it possible that Rose had left town altogether, because she hadn't wanted Elena to babysit her?"
"Elijah," she said when he called her. "I really can't talk right now, I'm busy."
"Is Rosemarie dead?"
"No, she's not, we're looking for her. What do you want?"
"You need to update me far more often if this woman is out in the streets of Mystic Falls. She is far older than you and she can and will kill you if you get in her way. Get home this instant—"
"No!" she said, trying her hardest to resist. "Elijah, no, Damon will suspect, he'll know—"
"I don't care. Hurt yourself if you must, pretend that she staked you."
"B-But I'm not that weak, I wouldn't just give up because of that, are you sure you know me at all? Don't make me do this, please..."
She didn't realize she was already walking back home. Her phone chimed, and she stifled a frustrated sob, pulling the phone away from her ear to read the text she received. "It's Damon. The deputies found a body. He— he wants me to meet him by the dumpsters."
A pause, then a sigh. "Very well. Meet him. Tell me the truth, are you taking vervain?"
"No, I didn't take any! You told me not to!"
"Then why are you resisting?"
"Because I don't want to do this! I never wanted to become your spy! Do you understand what my brothers will do to me if they find out I betrayed them? Elijah..."
"Help your brother, for now. But I believe we may have to meet again. Clearly the compulsion has to be stronger. And... motivation may be necessary to keep you from trying to fight to keep your own free will."
"How could you take it from me in the first place?" she asked, starting to walk to the dumpsters. "You could have had anyone else as your spy..."
"It must be you. If it were your brothers, it would be too suspicious. Caroline has already been Katerina's spy, everyone would know if she were acting strange again. The witch cannot be compelled. You see, you were my only option. I require your help, and your help only. One day, you will understand."
He hung up just as she started to near the dumpsters, finding that Damon was already talking to Liz Forbes. She quickly wiped her eyes, removing any stray tears. "What happened?"
Liz (who no longer remembered that the Salvatores were vampires) seemed to know that Maddy was in on the 'vampfire hunting' that Damon participated in.
"A vampire attack," she said, looking down at the corpse. "Luckily, one of my deputies discovered it before anyone else saw him."
"We have to secure the area, then," said Damon.
Liz turned to her deputies. "Don't cause a panic, but let's take this party into the cafeteria." She faced Damon. "I take the East side of the school, you two go West?"
"Sure, okay," said Damon. "Mads, get going, I'm going to get Elena. She's calling Stefan."
Maddy went ahead, wringing her hands together, listening for any growling, snarling, screaming, or voices that sounded panicked. She heard them at last in the parking lot, and sped over, yanking Rose off of a young woman that she was trying to kill.
"Rose, no!" yelled Maddy, trying to pin her down. But Rose was stronger, and Maddy knew that it was only a matter of time before the older vampire overpowered her. "Damon! Damon, help—"
He appeared at her side, helping her slam Rose into the ground. "Rose! Rose! It's be, it's Damon. It's Damon..."
She started to calm down, and she sat up, seeing the nearly dead girl, and the body of the girl's boyfriend, which had been smashed into the window of the car.
"Did I do this?" she whispered. "Oh... I never meant to hurt anyone. I never wanted to hurt anyone." She looked at Elena. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
"Come on, let's get you home," said Damon, trying to help her up.
"No, I don't have a home," Rose sobbed uncontrollably. "I haven't had a home in so long. Oh make it stop, please make it stop! I hate it, make it stop!"
Damon picked Rose up, carrying her bridal style toward the car. Elena followed after him, and Maddy was left to go find Sheriff Forbes, informing about the bodies.
"Damon is in pursuit," said Maddy. "He'll probably kill... it... soon. I think it's wounded... rabid... I'm sure he'll be back soon."
"Thank you for your help," said Liz. "I um, I imagined your brother Stefan might be here helping, not you."
"Oh, well, Stefan's still in high school. I just turned twenty-one so I guess that gave Damon the idea to get me in on everything." She half-smiled, and found that Liz believed her. Maddy honestly wished that people would stop believing what came out of her mouth so easily.
When she got back home, Rose was already dead. She walked into Damon's room, where he was cradling her, a stake in the woman's heart.
"I tried to bring her some peace," he whispered. "Gave her a dream before she died."
"That was sweet of you, Damon," Maddy said gently. "I um... I spoke to the Sheriff. She'll probably be expecting to see the body. I can go with you, so that you're not alone."
"Yeah, I'd appreciate that," muttered Damon. "Can you put her in the car? I'll call Liz."
Maddy nodded, picking Rose up and carrying her down, placing her in the trunk of Damon's car. When he was ready, they both got inside, and drove out to an empty road by the forest, where the Sheriff was waiting for them.
"Here's your vampire," Damon said, popping the trunk to show Liz.
"Thank you, Damon," said Liz. "Once again, you've helped keep this town safe."
He half-smiled. "I'll take care of burying the body."
Maddy tried to make the grave look pretty. She plucked some flowers while Damon covered Rose up with dirt, and sprinkled them over where her head would be. She could tell that Damon was in a lot of pain, and though she offered him a pair of ears to listen while he got his feelings out, he brushed her off and went off on his own.
"Elijah," she said when she called him that night. "Rose is dead. Damon is... understandably distraught." She sighed. "So... what's the next step of your plan? What do I do now?"
"You don't need to know just yet. Keep watch for me. Continue to report to me as often as you can. And try not to get yourself killed. Goodnight."
She almost wanted to cry when the call ended. But by the time she was able to, she'd already forgotten what she was so sad about.
First thing the next morning, they'd learned that John Gilbert was back in town and apparently, he'd found it fitting to tell Jenna about how he was actually Elena's biological father. The doppelgänger was frustrated, as was Jenna, who was obviously hurt that she hadn't known sooner.
"You brought back John GIlbert?" asked Damon incredulously when he and Maddy went to speak to Stefan about it. "That was your big 'Save Elena' move?"
"Please tell me this is just an awful April Fool's Joke," mumbled Maddy. "Should we have Elena tell Jenna that that's what it was? An April Fool's Joke? Maybe she'll believe it..."
"No, John was pretty serious when he told her," said Damon. "Besides, it's the truth..."
Stefan sighed guiltily. "I went to go look for Isobel, and I get John instead. He said he can help us, and we're desperate."
"We're not that desperate, Stefan," Damon snapped. "The guy tried to barbecue me!"
"Damon," said Stefan, "I just learned that Bonnie's new witch friend is working with Elijah, so we have to assume that the moonstone was never destroyed. Elena is putting all of her faith into some deal that she made with Elijah to keep everyone safe. I mean, do you trust Elijah? I don't trust him. He's an Original, he can't be trusted. It's not like we can just go up and kill him, because apparently, he can't die!"
"I don't trust him," said Maddy, not sure why there was so much contempt in her voice as she spoke. "He could be lying to Elena."
Damon crossed his arms. "I'm still waiting for the part where John Gilbert is the answer."
"He knew about the sacrifice, Isobel told him. He said he knew of a way to keep Elena safe."
"And how do we do that?"
"He's not talking. At least not to me anyway."
Damon rolled his eyes. "Great work Stefan. Top notch. As if I didn't have enough problems. Mads, maybe you ought to take a shot."
"Hell no," she said. "I'm not going anywhere near that guy. I'm not about to pretend to seduce him or anything, ew."
Damon made a face. "I never implied anything like that. You're just nicer than me and you know how to be fake. John might be more inclined to talk to you. I'm... not in the mood for that."
Stefan cast him a sympathetic look. "Hey, I'm sorry about Rose."
"Whatever," said Damon dismissively. "I knew the woman for five minutes."
"Don't pretend she meant so little to you," said Maddy quietly. "Even for five minutes, she mattered to you."
"Yeah, and that means I care," said Damon gruffly. "It means I'm changing, evolving into a man capable of greatness. Better watch your back, because I may just have to go get a hero-hairdo of my own, and steal your thunder."
He left the room, and Maddy followed after him.
"What are you gonna do?" she asked him. "Damon..."
"Just gonna go see Elena," he said as her phone chimed.
Maddy withdrew the device from her pocket, but when she saw it was a text from Elijah, she quickly put it away.
"Who's texting you?" asked Damon suspiciously.
She forced a blush. "This guy I met before coming here. We've been talking and it's getting... more serious than I thought it would considering we're doing this whole long distance thing."
Damon didn't believe her. "You sure about that?" he asked. "You don't seem too excited."
"Well, why would I act all happy telling my brother about some guy I wanna hook up with?"
Damon's lip twitched. "So you're over Ric, then?"
"I was never into Ric. He's cute, and I'd be interested, but he's taken, you already said that several times. I didn't let myself get a crush."
Her phone chimed again, alerting her of another text. This time, Maddy didn't even withdraw her phone from her pocket.
"Not gonna answer this mystery guy?" asked Damon. "He's gonna think you're not interested if you're ghosting him."
Maddy gave a harsh laugh. "I'm not ghosting him. The conversation is just too inappropriate for me to be texting back where you might see it."
"So you're sending naughty pics and naughty texts."
"I never said that."
"Look, if you wanna do it, then fine, it's your choice, you're a big girl now. But seriously, those are the kind of conversations you have at nighttime when no one's gonna catch you. You don't discuss that in broad daylight. What if someone looks over your shoulder and sees you butt-ass naked on screen? Or what if they see a picture of your boyfriend's thing?"
"Can you just drop it?" said Maddy more defensively. Her phone chimed yet again. Elijah was expecting an answer and he was expecting it now. "I don't have time for this, Damon."
Damon wasn't going to drop it. "And what's so important that you have to do, huh? We didn't even give you a task. No one's stopping you from staying in all day to text your secret boyfriend."
Maddy felt like the walls were starting to close in on her. Why was Damon being so insistent? Did he already know something? She felt herself starting to tear up, and she tried to say, "It's making me really uncomfortable that you're being so nosy, Damon..."
"I didn't know you were that sensitive," said Damon. "Or secretive."
"Jesus christ it's my private life can you just stop?"
"What's going on?"
She turned to see Stefan there. "Damon won't leave me alone," she said desperately. "Make him stop, he's being an ass and won't let me have my private life!"
"Nah, she's being sneaky about something," said Damon. "Come on, Little Lily, I was a third parent to you, I know when you're lying. Who's this secret boyfriend? Is it someone we know, is that why you don't want us to find out?"
"For once in your life stop being so fucking annoying!" cried Maddy. "Why do you always have to butt into my life, huh? It's not bad enough that I'm the middle child and the only girl, now you have to ruin everything else?"
Even Stefan was finding this odd, and he couldn't quite claim to know Maddy as well as Damon did. The two brothers rushed at her, taking the phone out of her pocket. Stefan blanched when he saw the texts.
"Who the hell is 'E.M.'?" asked Stefan. "And why are they asking you to call them immediately for... an update about the plan. Seems pretty urgent to me."
Maddy started to cry when Damon snatched the phone away and dialed 'E.M.'s number. The line rang a few times before—
"Madeleine, finally," said Elijah sharply.
Damon immediately hung up, before Elijah could hear that it was him. "You've got to be kidding me," he said venomously. "No. No, tell me you aren't hooking up with our literal number one enemy!"
Maddy couldn't even speak. "Madeleine!" Damon snarled. "Tell me you're not conspiring with the douchebag that tried to kidnap Elena!"
"Damon, stop!" said Stefan, when he noticed that Maddy's mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out. "Stop... she's compelled. Look at her, Damon, she can't even say anything."
Her phone was ringing, and Elijah was calling her. Damon shoved the phone into Maddy's hands, and she answered.
"I'm sorry," she spluttered. "They know."
"Don't apologize to him!" Damon said, taking the phone back and putting it up to his own ear. "You're gonna have to find a new spy. If you ever come near my sister again, I'm gonna make sure you die on repeat every day for the rest of eternity, do you hear me?"
"There is no need to get so nasty with your threats," said Elijah. "I have no intention of hurting Madeleine. Just as I have no intention of harming Elena. Madeleine, don't say any—"
Damon hung up, but it was too late. Maddy went completely silent, staring at her brothers desperately, and bringing her hands up to her mouth, trying to open it, but it wouldn't budge.
"Mads, it's okay," said Stefan soothingly when she started to cry. "We're gonna find a way to break the compulsion, okay? But for now... we need to keep you in the cellar."