Back with Stefan, Ellie, and Caroline...
Ellie and Caroline had their heads on the table and Stefan placed his and Ellie's hands on the table, and he looked around.
Rebekah walked back in.
"Still glued to your seats? It's still thick with tension in here. Let's spice things up a bit. Ellie, truth or dare?" Asked Rebekah.
"We're done playing your stupid games, Rebekah." Stefan said.
"Truth or dare, Ellie? You're compelled, answer." Rebekah says.
"Dare." Ellie says.
"I dare you to tell Stefan how he makes you feel." Said Rebekah.
"Seriously? What are we, five?" Caroline asked, banging her hand on the table.
Ellie closed her eyes.
"Being with Stefan makes me happy." Ellie said.
Stefan stared at her.
"Makes you happy?" Rebekah asked, laughing. "Clowns make you happy, Ellie. Dig a little deeper."
Ellie groaned. This was embarrassing. They had broken up. Ellie grunted, and she tried to fight off the compulsion.
"When I'm with him... it feels unpredictable. Sometimes. Maybe he could be more unpredictable. I feel free. He lets me make my own choices without deciding them for me." Said Ellie.
"Okay. You've dated Tyler. How did you feel when you were with Tyler?" Rebekah asked.
"Stop." Caroline said.
"She can't. She's compelled." Rebekah said.
"Like he was... suffocating me. Always wanting sex. I was just with him because I didn't want to be alone. We argued a lot. After I lost my parents, Tyler looked at me like I was some broken toy." Ellie says, gritting her teeth.
Tyler ran into the library and saw Ellie, Stefan, and Caroline.
"Ah, good, you're here. We were just talking about you. It was just getting depressing." Rebekah said.
"What the hell is going on?" Tyler asked.
"You heard." Ellie said.
Tyler nodded. Ellie just looked down at the table, ashamed.
"It's fine. It's okay." Tyler says, nodding at her.
"Listen to the rules carefully. Stay in the building. No vamp running in the hallways." Rebekah said.
Stefan, Caroline, and Ellie frowned at each other then Ellie looked at Tyler, and it clicked.
"Oh, no." Ellie said, looking at Stefan.
"Vamp running from what?" Caroline asked.
"She's gonna make him turn." Ellie said.
Rebekah smiled at her.
"You are smart." Rebekah said, turning to Tyler.
Caroline turned to Tyler.
"Turn." Rebekah said, compelling him.
"What?" Stefan asked.
"No. You can't. He'll lose control." Said Caroline.
"That's the whole point. I've exhausted all your knowledge. I get the Professor to help me find the cure. You're just competition. Whoever finds it gets to decide what to do with it. Use it, share it, destroy it. Save it. I want that to be me." Rebekah said.
"But if I turn, I'll kill them."
"Yes, you will. Turn." Rebekah said, walking away.
Stefan, Ellie, and Caroline looked at each other worriedly, and Tyler looked at them.
Back with Matt, he found his phone and the girl appeared behind him...
"Did you find your phone?"
She ran at him and knocked into Matt. She growled at him and Jeremy runs in.
Jeremy ran over and pulled her off as he staked her in the chest.
Matt and Jeremy stood up as Damon walked in. Jeremy held his arm up, and he watched the tattoo begin to spread up his arm.
Later, Bonnie walked into a classroom where April was...
"Bonnie? How did you know everyone was here?"
Who's everyone? I came to find Shane." Bonnie said.
"Did you do a GPS magic locator spell or something? Rebekah told me that you're a witch."
"Rebekah? What the hell is going on?"
"Rebekah has Ellie, Stefan, and Caroline compelled. She's getting them to tell the truth for a change. What?"
"Shane can't be compelled. She'll happily torture him to find out what he knows." Said Bonnie.
"What are you looking for?"
"I need salt." Bonnie said, annoyed.
"I think I just saw some."
April grabbed it, and Bonnie poured salt into the beakers.
"What are you doing?"
"This pendant will connect me to Shane. Then I can do a protection spell." Bonnie tells her.
They stepped back and Bonnie held the necklace. She closed her eyes and held the necklace between her hands.
A fire started in the beakers and April gasped.
Back with Kol and Shane...
"Where is the cure?" Kol asked, putting his head underwater.
Kol pulls him back up after a few seconds.
"Where's the cure?" Kol asked.
Rebekah walked back in and Kol placed Shane back underwater.
Back with Bonnie and April...
April began coughing and Bonnie looked at her.
Back with Kol, Rebekah, and Shane...
Kol pulled Shane back up.
"You're human. Why do you want it?" Rebekah asked.
"That's the beauty of this. You can have it. I just want Silas." Shane said.
Kol grabbed him by his coat.
"What do you know about Silas?" Kol asked.
"He's the world's first immortal being. Who just happens to be imprisoned with the cure. And I want to free him." Shane said.
"No!" Kol shouted, putting his head back underwater.
Back with Bonnie and April...
April began coughing more. Bonnie looked at her.
"April? What's happening?" Bonnie asked.
April started coughing up water.
Back with Kol, Rebekah, and Shane...
"Stop!" Rebekah shouted.
Kol lifted him out the water and dropped him.
"He's no use to me dead." Rebekah says.
"Did you not hear what he said? Silas will kill us all, sister." Kol says.
"Silas does not exist. He is a fairy tale made up to scare children into eating their vegetables." Said Rebekah.
"Silas is very real. I know where he's buried. And soon I'll have a spell to wake him." Shane said.
"Wait a second. You're lying. You can't get to him." Kol says.
"Without his tombstone? Dozens to die in a blood sacrifice? Believe me, I know. I've done it. Those massacres are a pain to engineer." Said Shane.
"You're the one who got the Council blown up." Rebekah said.
"It was a noble sacrifice. And temporary. Because once I raised Silas... Silas will raise the dead. He will bring back every last soul... who died on his behalf." Shane said.
"No!" Kol shouted, stabbing Shane in the stomach with a metal pole.
Back with Bonnie and April...
April gasped and grabbed her stomach.
Bonnie saw the blood.
"Oh, my God."
Back with Stefan, Ellie, Caroline, and Tyler...
Tyler headed for Ellie and Stefan stepped in front of her.
"Move." Tyler said.
"No. I won't let you hurt her, Tyler. I'll die if I have to." Stefan says.
"I want the chair." Tyler grunted.
Stefan moved and grabbed Ellie's hand, pulled her from the chair. Tyler picked up the chair and smashed it against the shelves.
Tyler groaned and shouted, and his bones cracked.
"I can't fight this." Tyler said.
Stefan placed Ellie behind him.
"Tyler, you can. You can fight this." Ellie says.
Tyler grunted and dropping to all fours. He grabbed onto the table and pulled himself up, and his bones cracked some more.
Tyler looked at Caroline, Ellie, and Stefan and smashed his hands into the table, breaking it.
Tyler stood up and walked away from them.
"Get out of here!" Tyler shouted.
"Go." Stefan said.
Caroline ran out the door and Ellie and Stefan shut it.
"That door's not gonna hold him." Ellie said.
"It's gonna have to." Stefan said, grabbing her hand, and they ran the other way.
Tyler smashed through the doors, and Ellie and Stefan ran at their normal speed.
Ellie looked behind her, seeing Tyler chasing them.
"Uh, Stefan..."
"I know. I know. Keep running." He said.
They ran into another room, and they shut the double doors.
"Keep hold of it." He tells her.
She nodded and held on to the doors.
He used his elbow and broke the glass, grabbing an axe and placing it between the handles, and she lets go.
She heard Tyler growling, and he rammed into the doors.
"He's there." Ellie tells him.
Stefan and Ellie held the doors, preventing him from coming in. The axe broke in half, and Stefan and Ellie looked at each other.
Ellie ran over to one of the lockers and ripped one of the locker doors off its hinges, and she shrugged at Stefan.
Tyler broke down the doors and Stefan and Ellie backed away.
"Ty, stop. Please, Ty! Stop!" Ellie shouted.
Before Tyler could fully break through, Stefan and Ellie ran back to the doors and held them closed.
"Please, Ty. Stop. Please. Ty." Ellie begged.
Suddenly, it all stopped, and they looked at each other.
Back with Rebekah and Kol...
Shane's body was lying on the floor.
"You should be thanking me."
"You killed my chance at finding the cure." She says.
"Silas on the loose would be hell on earth. And frankly, sister... I don't think you could handle it."
She looked at the white oak stake in his hand.
"How did you get that?" She asked.
"Way too easily."
Kol left the room and so did Rebekah, shutting the door behind her. Shane's eyes opened and he gasped.
He grunted, and he sat up and pulled the pole from his stomach.
"Bonnie."
Back with Bonnie, she was kneeling beside April's body...
"Help! Someone help!" Bonnie shouted.
The door opened, Ellie and Stefan walked in.
"Bonnie? What's going on?" Ellie asked.
"She needs help." Bonnie says.
"What happened?" Stefan asked.
"I did a protection spell, but it accidentally linked Shane to April." Said Bonnie.
"You couldn't control it?" Ellie asked.
"I don't know. Usually, I feel pain or I bleed. But this time I just felt more power." Bonnie tells them.
Stefan bit into his wrist and fed April his blood.
April gasped and looked up at Stefan.
"It's okay. It's okay. You're okay. You're okay." Stefan said, wrapping his arms around April.
Ellie growled and Bonnie looked up at Ellie.
Stefan removed his arms and stood up. Understanding that had made Ellie jealous.
"Bonnie, get her out of this school. Just be careful. Tyler's out there and he's turned." Stefan said.
Bonnie helped April to her feet to prevent any further jealousy.
"What about you two?" Asked Bonnie.
"We can't leave. Rebekah's compelled us. Just go. We'll deal with it later. Come on."
Stefan led them towards the door, and Bonnie looked back at Ellie.
"Be careful." Bonnie says.
Ellie nodded.
Stefan shut and locked the door.
"Stefan..."
"No." He says.
"Stefan, we have to talk about this. Please."
"Talk about what, huh? I messed up. How many more ways are there for you to rip my heart out?"
"What you said in there... it's messed with my head. So, no. I don't wanna talk about it." He said.
"Are you for real? You're mad at me because I told the truth in there. I've always told you the truth, and you have no right to be mad at me. It's you that broke up with me. So, technically, you're ripping your own heart out."
The door opened, and they heard the lock break, and Rebekah walked in.
"Why are my least two favourite people the most durable?" Asked Rebekah.
With Caroline, she walked around holding a weapon...
She finds Tyler passed out on the floor.
"Tyler." She said, dropping the weapon and ran over to him.
She grabbed a blanket and covered his lower half, and she kneeled beside him.
She lifted him up onto her knees, and he groaned.
"Did I hurt them?"
"Who?" She asked.
"Stefan and Ellie. Where are they?"
"No... I don't know." She said truthfully.
"I think Ellie pulled me back. I don't know how, but she did. I'm so sorry."
"I know. It's not your fault." She said, kissing his arm.
"Yes, it was. This whole thing. This is all my fault."
She shook her head. "No."
"I should've saved her."
She kissed his head and cuddled him.
Back with Stefan, Rebekah, and Ellie...
Stefan stood in front of Rebekah.
"Leave her out of this. This is between you and me." He says.
"What's so special about you, Ellie? You have got such a caring boyfriend who would do just about anything to protect you. Must feel nice." Rebekah said.
"It is." Ellie says, nodding in agreement.
"Should I rip out your heart? I'll probably see Ellie's name written all over it." Said Rebekah.
"If you touch him, Rebekah-" Ellie said.
"There's a solution for all your problems, you know. I could compel you to forget her forever. Erase every memory of her from your brain. Every day you've spent together, every kiss... every lie, every ounce of pain. I could take away every bit of love you have for her, Stefan. If this will make it easier for you, then just say the word. I'll do it. If you think she's not worth it, and you have truly given up on her... but sire bond or not, you still love her." Said Rebekah.
He looked back at Ellie, then at Rebekah.
"Don't, Stefan. Don't do it." Ellie said.
"I can't. As much as I'd like to stay away from her, I can't erase anything." He said.
Rebekah released the compulsion on them, and they were free to go, and Rebekah walked out.
Stefan and Ellie stared at each other, and he walked towards the door.
"Stefan."
He stopped at the door, but didn't look at her.
"Would you have let her erase me?"
"No. I wouldn't have."
He walked away.
Later, Shane was in his office, putting on a clean shirt...
Bonnie walked in.
"Turns out I miscalculated. Kol's gonna be a problem."
"I almost killed someone. And that's what you miscalculated? April could've died today." She tells him.
"You didn't know the extent of your abilities."
"My father just became mayor. I can't be out doing black magic." She said, walking towards the door.
"That's not what Expression is."
"Then what is it?" She asked, looking at him.
"A way of doing magic that isn't monitored by nature or the spirits. It isn't good or bad. But it also has no limits. How you use it is up to you. That's what I'm here for. To help you. Bonnie, listen to me. You are the key to everything. I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to you."
Later, Stefan was lying on his bed when his phone rang...
He saw Ellie's name and signed. He debated if he should answer it or not.
He rolled his lip between his teeth and answered it.
Stefan: "Ellie. Hope your day is going better than mine."
Ellie: "We had the same day."
Stefan: "I was just being nice. But is there a reason you called or..."
Ellie: "Well, I realised something about us today, but then I also realised you already knew, you just didn't care."
Stefan: "I do care about you, Ellie. So, why don't you come on out and say it?"
Ellie: "You can say it's the sire bond. You know what, maybe it is. But I'm telling you, it's the most real, real thing that I've ever experienced in my entire life. I love you, Stefan."
Stefan lay in his bed and he stared up at the ceiling and inhaled deeply.
Stefan: "Look... I'm gonna get this cure for you. And I may have to do some things you're not gonna like."
Ellie: "Stefan-"
Stefan: "But listen carefully. Get your ass to the boarding house. I'm in my room."
Ellie smiled and hung up, and she ran off using her speed.
With Elena, she had been sitting in her bedroom for the past 30 minutes, staring at her phone...
Damon was digging up the hole to bury the dead vampire's body, and he pulled out his phone and smiled.
Damon: "Hey."
Elena: "Hey. How's Jeremy?"
Damon: "That depends on how much you trust me."
Elena: "You know that I trust you."
Damon: "I think he's gonna get through this."
Elena: "Ellie and I appreciate that you're looking out for him."
Damon: "Yeah, well, I told them if they were good, I'd buy them both ice cream. Look, I gotta go."
Elena: "Not yet. Something happened today. I was just thinking about you and realised something about us."
It's silent.
Elena: "I love you Damon. I love you."
Damon: "Elena... I promised you that I'd get this cure for your sister. You know, I'm gonna have to do some pretty bad stuff to get it; some stuff you're not gonna like."
Elena: "Damon."
Damon: "Get in your car. Right now..."
Elena signed.
Damon: "Come to me."
Elena: "I'll be there soon."
Later, Stefan and Ellie walked towards the front door and Rebekah walked in...
Ellie glared at her.
"Please, let yourself in." Stefan said.
"You called me. Should I be looking for any hidden daggers you two might have?" Asked Rebekah.
"Do you still want to find the cure?" Asked Stefan.
"More than anything. I want to ram it down Niklaus's throat... and look into his eyes as he realises he's mortal again. Shane's dead and you two are useless. I'm right back where I started." Rebekah says, signing softly.
"Shane's not dead." Ellie says.
"But I watched Kol impale him." Rebekah says.
"Rebekah, you probably shouldn't have left him alone. Bonnie did a little spell. He's perfectly fine." Ellie said.
"You two didn't have to tell me that. Why am I really here?" Asked Rebekah.
Ellie signed.
"If you really want the cure, you two should know that Shane has an agenda. And it's a dark one. He said he organised dozens of people to die in sacrifice. He admitted to the Council explosion, where 12 people died. And I'm guessing it's no coincidence that 12 hybrids died at the hand of my brother." Rebekah tells them.
"Twelve." Ellie said, looking at Stefan.
"Channeling the energy from a mass death is used in witchcraft to perform dark spells. It's called Expression. Shane admitted all this to you?" Asked Stefan.
"Proudly." Rebekah says.
"We'll have to figure out how to manage him while we find the cure for ourselves." Stefan says.
Rebekah scoffed. "We?"
"Mm." Ellie said.
"There's no "we," Ellie." Said Rebekah.
"You hate your brother. But Damon's has Jeremy. Klaus has the sword. And Shane has Bonnie. You, me, and Ellie are the ones left with nothing. You said it yourself, right?" Stefan asked.
"You said whoever finds the cure first gets to decide what to do with it. So, what do you say? Do you wanna be partners?" Ellie asked.
"Tell me why, first? Why do you wanna cure her?" Rebekah asked.
"You know why." Stefan said.
Later, April was at the Grill, and she spoke to Liz and Rudy...
"My father had no reason to kill 11 people. He had no reason to kill himself. He loved me. He loved Mystic Falls. He was brainwashed into sparking that fire. Professor Shane organised his death... and the 11 others who died with him. It's time this entire town started telling the truth."
Later, Jeremy, Matt, and Damon entered a bar, bodies were lying back unconscious...
Klaus was sitting at the bar having a drink.
"I was beginning to worry that you boys wouldn't find the place." Klaus says.
"What the hell? Did you kill all these people?" Matt asked.
"Not exactly. They're in transition. Killing them is your job." Said Klaus.
"You said you were gonna convince Klaus to do this another way." Jeremy tells Damon.
"Well, I thought about it. And then I realised his idea was better." Damon says.
Klaus smiled.
The bodies around them started waking up as Jeremy looked around.
Song: Nothing Will Ever Change (This Love of Mine), Jimmy Jules