twenty. what lies beneath
Salvatore Boarding House
Lucas Parker, with his silver blue eyes shut, is sitting on the middle of the three-seated couch in the parlor room, chanting an advanced locator spell under Damon's request, who is watching and waiting for him impatiently.
"Permisso laca tha tar."
The impulsive vampire grows more impatient at the opposite mini bar and throws an ice cube at him, which earns him a defensive statement from his current genuinely sympathetic ex-girlfriend, "That's not helping." Really.
"She's right." Luke nods at her with his defensive gaze on Damon.
Stefan steps into the room after Rosie, both former couple genuinely curious, to watch the suspicious interaction between the unsuited pair.
"Well, you've been failing now for an hour, Wonder-Twin, so at this point, I can't imagine it's hurting." Damon throws another ice cube at the witch.
"Stop that." Rosie snapped at him in constant defense over sympathy.
"Damon, I know you're out a friend, but uh, I'm not sure this guy's the best replacement." The eldest vampire in the room's brother judged him.
"I don't think this guy's the best anything if his locator spell skills are any indication. Yo! Where's your sister?" The blue-eyed vampire called out.
"Pardon his patience." The young hybrid told the partly liberal witch.
"She's tired of being almost murdered. Look. I can find any person anywhere on the planet, okay? There's just something weird with your friend Enzo. I can't get a read." The dirty blonde sophomore reported.
By the mention of the vampire's name, Rosie and Stefan share a look without getting noticed by either Damon or Luke that they keep a secret.
"Enzo? Didn't he, uh, go to..." She looks over at the younger brother.
"Cape Horn?" The green-eyed vampire brother finished the question.
"He flipped his humanity switch. There should have been a body count all the way to the airport." The older vampire brother reminded the pair.
"Well, why are you looking for him?" Stefan asked the obvious.
"Gee. I don't know, Stefan. Vampire with no humanity who wants me dead for killing his girl." His smug brother sarcastically reminded him, annoyed.
"Well, maybe he hired a witch to block whatever Luke's doing. Is that possible?" The former Ripper of Monterrey looks over at the young witch.
"You mean, a cloaking spell? I think so." The brothers' ex-girlfriend replied instead, which earns her a look from both Stefan and Damon, "The perks of being friends with the Originals. I get to read some grimoires." Mostly Esther's one, considering it was always in reach for her, thanks to Elijah.
"Okay, then I guess that would mean that he doesn't want to be found, so, uh, why don't you just drop it?" Stefan suggested before Tyler marches right into the house through the closed main front door and into the parlor.
Rosie raises her thick dark eyebrows briefly, "Sure, just barge right in."
The hybrid takes a seat on the couch opposite the witch, "We have a problem: Markos turned Sloan into a vampire, had her drink doppelgänger blood, and after some chanting ritual thing, she turned human again."
Rosie frowns, though amazed by the traveler magic, "He cured her?"
"He cured her to death. The blood took away her vampirism but left her in the state that she was in just before she turned." The witness reported.
"That state being dead. Got it." Stefan surmised in deep concern.
"So it kills vampires. What does the spell mean for the witches?" Luke asked, deeply concerned for his and his sister's kind as well about this.
"No one cares. Wait. Keep going." Damon asked the possessed hybrid.
"The point is, they feel if they can get rid of all magic, they'll break some lame-ass witch curse." Placed upon the travelers fifteen hundred years ago.
"The curse that was put on the travelers by the witches." Rosie highlighted.
"Yeah, because the immortal bitch Alexandra led them to it." Tyler snapped.
"No, their fear of Alexandra led them to it." Stefan corrected the teen.
"Markos said they can't settle anywhere without evoking earthquakes or hell-fire, which is why Agnes created the very first banshee, but they break that curse, and they just move right on into Mystic Falls." Damon recalled.
"And come after Rosie, Elena and me today, as in now." His brother finished.
"Oh, well. Markos had a good week or two in the land of the living. Now where is he so I can kill him?" Damon turns back to the victimized teen.
Tyler shakes his head, "No idea. They were moving camp when I got out."
"Well, good news. Our friend Luke here is an alleged genius at locator spells." Damon turns back to the utilised young sophomore.
"Travelers are always moving. They're impossible to track. They'll find Rosie, Stefan and Elena long before we can find them." Luke warned them.
"Well, what about one of those locator spell blocker deals? Is that simple enough for you?"
"If all doppelgängers are in the same place, yeah." Luke replied, nodding.
"Perfect." Damon turns back to the Lockwood hybrid, "You avoid the entire Czech language, figure out how to find Markos or Agnes, or Melissa."
"How am I supposed to do that?" Tyler asked, truly puzzled by now.
"Well, you have a traveler inside of you. I mean, I have probably-misplaced faith that you'll figure it out." Damon turns to Stefan and Rosie, "Meanwhile, you both and I, and my ex-girlfriend are going to go on a little secret trip."
"Sounds great." Rosie said with a small smile on her lovely face.
****
Bill Forbes' Cabin
Rosie Kartwright and Stefan Salvatore are alone outside, unloading their large bags from the trunk of her parked black Acura while they are talking about the horrible incident that occurred the previously threatening night, in hopes that they can successfully hide the raw truth and no one else will bring Enzo up as a topic to discuss any time soon. Caroline, Elena and Isaac, however, are already inside, organizing their things, completely oblivious of what has happened to Enzo and neither of them are eavesdropping on Stefan and Rosie's secret conversation outside, much to the duo's relief.
A shaky sigh of nervousness leaves Rosie, "I don't feel so good about this."
"Well, what did you want us to say? 'No, Damon. It will be awkward to have the six of us confined to Caroline's dad's cabin because I killed your best friend and Rosie's keeping that secret for me'? I think not." He snapped.
"Seriously, Stefan, no matter how bad something is, we should have told him. This is his best friend we're talking about." A desperate tone is heard.
"I know. Look. I don't trust that he'd be able to hold it together." The truth.
"What, the one where Enzo's dead or because you killed him?" She asked.
Stefan shakes his head a little, "Either, both. I don't know. Either way--"
"Good news!" Caroline comes outside and walks up to them, "So we don't have to be invited in, which is actually super sad if you think about it." He hums and she becomes suspicious of them, "Am I interrupting something?"
"Nope. We're just unpacking." Rosie replied, smiling innocently.
"Yeah, we're unpacking. Uh, here you go." Stefan hands the blonde a couple of bags to take inside as she is still suspicious but laughs the feeling off.
"Okay." Caroline takes the heavy, large bags inside without further words.
"So where's Damon now?" Rosie asked as she watches the girl go.
"Helping Luke set up." For a cloaking spell, Stefan simply answered.
"Helping Luke or avoiding me?" She avoids awkward eye contact with him by the latter, considering they both know he is the reason for the break-up.
"Pfft. You really don't think he wants to be around you?" He asked.
"Well, technically, he did say along the lines of 'I don't want to hear your voice, and I don't want to see your face' because it's too hard for him."
"Sure, I mean, that's why you slept together." Stefan sarcastically spoke.
Rosie blushes sheepishly at the mention and grabs her own duffel bag.
Caroline walks out onto the front porch and observes them, eavesdropping, "For a couple of targets, you two seem to be taking this all in stride."
"Yeah. Well, you know, a tribe of ancient wannabe witches want to drain of us our blood and eliminate supernatural beings? I've had worse." Stefan called out as he carries the supplies inside, followed by his short ex-lover.
Caroline goes to follow them but hesitates, sensing something. She looks out at the land in front of the cabin, but sees nothing. She goes inside, walking through Enzo's ghost, on the other side, without even seeing him.
Rosie heads to a bedroom upstairs where she unpacks her things when Elena walks up to the doorway, watching her, though the older one doesn't face her as she mentioned, "You should take a picture. It'll last longer."
Elena laughs slightly, "I almost forgot how cozy this place is." She examines the room, which has a queen-sized bed, a few books on the table and a few old picture frames, reminding her of her childhood with her best friends.
The old hybrid examines the room as well with a small smile, "Yeah."
"Caroline used to invite me, Minerva and Isaac here before her parents split. Her dad could tell a pretty good ghost story." The younger one recalled.
The caramel brunette turns around to face her, "Hmm. He was a good man." Even though he was a vampire hunter, who refused to complete transition.
Elena smiles warmly, "You don't have to pretend you like him. Damon doesn't. I mean, it's understandable. Caroline's dad was a vampire hunter."
Rosie returns the warm smile, "I never said I liked him. I respected him."
The teen nods a little, "Thank you, for your understanding." Of a loss.
Rosie only smiles and continues unpacking her things from her quilted duffel bag, avoiding Elena's eye since she is not really in the mood to have a conversation with anyone at the moment, though Elena continues to talk.
"Do you think, Damon's supposed to be avoiding you?" Being his ex.
"Well, I broke his heart, so I can't blame him." Rosie admitted guiltily.
"I see. Well, Luke did the cloaking spell. Stefan, Damon, Isaac and Caroline are here, so we should be good...But if it's too hard for you to be here--"
"You can't kick me out, Elena, not when I'm a doppelgänger too."
"What? No, I'm not kicking you out. It's just, look. Damon's really sorry Enzo came after you. He blamed himself for it for hurting him in the first place."
"It's not a big deal." Please stop talking.
"It is a big deal. He almost killed you, Rosie, so even though Damon is still avoiding you, I'm going to help hunt him down, he's going to whip some sense to him, and he's going to make him apologize in person, okay?"
"He won't, you should save your energy, alright? I just, uh-- I just remembered that Stefan asked me to help him bring some firewood in, so I'll be right back." Rosie walks out and Elena notices her odd behavior.
Outside of the cabin in a nearby shed owned by the late Bill Forbes as well, Rosie is talking to Stefan while they are getting firewood together; about Elena's spiel earlier that has a relation to Enzo, "It's not like it's my first time, but I don't usually lie to her. Because honesty is the best policy and all that." Although it seems that they have to lie about the death this time.
"Yeah, I know, but you know what? In situations like this is where it's necessary for you to do so. Think of it as a freebie, you know?" He spoke, "Listen, I'm sorry that you have to go through this. You shouldn't be."
Rosie sighs, "Look. I know that we're doing this for Damon, but it still seems wrong. I mean, can't we at least tell Elena to keep this a secret--"
"We've already told Bonnie. We can't risk telling another, and especially not someone who's not really a good secret keeper when it comes to her ex who she's desperately trying to get back with right now. I mean it, Rosie."
His ex-lover sighs, feeling let down by the pressure, "I know this is exactly what Enzo wanted. He wanted the blood to be on your hands, and you refuse to give him the satisfaction of feeling guilty about any of it. And, you think Damon is just going to forget and move on? I don't think so."
Stefan nods, "He's done it before. Come on. Let's get out of here."
Rosie trails after Stefan out, remaining reluctant and unsatisfied with their secret plan. Enzo's ghost, who's actually there in the dark shadows of the non-spacious room, lashes out and smacks a hanging lamp, and is surprised that he actually moves it, "Now there's an interesting development."
Inside the old cabin, Damon and Elena are awkwardly preparing drinks together and Isaac snacks on maraschino cherries nearby while Caroline is writing down prompts for charades on small slips of paper by the table.
"Hey, munchie. Those are not for you." Damon mentioned the junior.
"Shhh, I'm thinking." Caroline spoke up before Isaac can even retort back.
Isaac takes some of the slips of paper out of the hat, "'Area 51'."
The eldest vampire in the room frowns in confusion, "What?"
"Stop!" The Forbes girl tries to take the small papers from her friend.
"'J.F.K. Assassination'? What the hell is that--"
"You're ruining the game." The blonde spat at her childhood best friend.
Isaac grins mischievously at her as he leans closer, "Am I?"
Elena spoke up out of genuine curiosity, smiling at them, "What game?"
"Charades. Our theme is secrets that people think they're getting away with."
"Secrets?" The Gilbert girl repeated.
"Well, Meryl Streep, I'd love to know how we're going to act out Watergate." The doppelgängers' smug ex-boyfriend proclaimed.
"Well, I'm sure team 'Stosie' will figure it out." Caroline remarked.
"A) You just implied that we were on your team. Two, you just gave us that judgy little hinty voice. So what are we missing?" Damon asked curiously.
"It's probably nothing."
"Speak." Isaac demanded.
"Well, don't you guys think that Stefan and Rosie have been a little...you know?" Caroline begun that Damon and Elena share a puzzled look shortly.
"No. Clearly, we don't." The nineteen-year-old doppelgänger replied.
Her best friend continued, "Secretive? I caught them being all hushed and whispery at the car this morning, and now they're getting firewood out of the shed together, which apparently takes twenty minutes."
"You know, now that you mention it, Rosie got all cagey and weird when I brought up Enzo." The chestnut brunette recalled, "You don't think that..."
"What?" Damon turns to his older ex-girlfriend in confusion.
"No, no. I'm not talking about Enzo. I'm talking about Stefan and Rosie." Caroline highlighted and sees as her partner in crime rolls his eyes.
"Remind me again why their relationship matters?" Isaac snapped.
Both Caroline and Elena shushed him in unison at an assertive manner.
"How much have you had to drink?" Damon asked the blonde.
"Come on! He's single now, the two are on the outs." Caroline predicted.
"Yeah, they're both single." Elena stated and looks at her ex-boyfriend.
Rosie and Stefan come back inside through the main front door together.
"Oh. What do you know? Cocktails. Good call." The former mentioned.
"I'll, uh--I'll make a fire." Stefan proclaimed.
"I'll help. Ahem." Rosie hastily trails after him over to the fireplace.
Damon, Isaac, Caroline and Elena have watched the duo, feeling suspicious now by the Forbes girl's theory about their relationship. Damon spoke in a low voice to her as Elena and Isaac can hear him too, "Let the games begin."
Once the breezy time of night has fallen, Luke sits alone outside on the front porch of the cabin, strengthening the cloaking spell in full concentration, while Rosie, Stefan, Isaac, Elena, Damon and Caroline are playing charades inside. Elena, on her two feet, mimes while Rosie, in her seat, tries to guess.
"Uh, okay. Think. Ponder. Brain. I don't know. Uh, skull!"
"Yes!"
"Alright! Skull, skull. Okay. Limb. Joint. Bone. Bone, bone. Skull and bones."
"Yes!" Elena claps her hands once before she and Rosie did a hi five.
"Skull and bones! Got it! Five-zero, five-zero. Come on, guys. Zip."
"Okay. Let's play a game called 'never have I ever', hmm?" Isaac suggested.
"Oh, I don't think I'm drunk enough." Rosie forces out a short laugh.
"Oh, come on! It'll be fun!" The cabin owner's only daughter encouraged.
"Come on. It'll be fun." Her vampire best friend repeated suggestively.
"I'll go first. Never have I ever died." Caroline started.
"Cheers to that one." Damon declared before they all drink. "Cheers."
"Ooh! Okay. Um, never have I ever been um, possessed by my evil doppelgänger." His judgmental brother played and Rosie sighs in offense.
"Mean." The caramel brunette mentioned and darts her curious gaze to Elena, "Except it wasn't my doppelgänger. Never have I ever been fooled by Elena's evil doppelgänger while she was pretending to be me."
"Low blow." The Gilbert girl commented.
"Tough but fair." Isaac shrugs.
"Never have I ever kissed a Salvatore brother." Caroline begun, which Rosie laughs and hums at, "Today." An awkward silence suddenly fills the entire room when Caroline and Elena train their genuinely curious gaze on Rosie.
"So are you going to drink or--"
Rosie interrupted Elena with equal curiosity, "Are you implying something?"
Stefan piped in, "Well, I'm going to get another round. Does anybody--"
"Never have I ever lied about where Enzo is." His brother interrupted him.
They all look around at each other in another itching awkward silence until Caroline mentioned it in arising annoyance, "Okay. What is going on?"
"Nothing obviously because nobody's drinking." Stefan remarked defensively. Or do they know something that they're not supposed to?
"I mean, clearly you know the rules of the game, right, brother? If you lied, you drink." Damon reminded him and darts his curious gaze over to Rosie.
"Oh, no. I understand the rules." The younger vampire brother nods a little.
"And this just got weird. I'm officially buzzed, so I'm going to go and get ready for bed." Rosie gets up from her seat and heads over to her bedroom.
"Well, I could certainly use another round." Isaac drinks from his glass.
In the bathroom upstairs, Rosie runs the faucet and adds the bubble bath. The mirror is steamed up and she clears it with her left palm to look at her own reflection. The invisible ghost of Enzo shows up somewhere in the bathroom and he muttered to himself, "Avoiding, are we? Nothing a hot bath won't fix. Wash the guilt straight down the drain. I don't think so."
She turns off the faucet and gets in the bubbly bathtub, naked. She relaxes as she only looks up at the ceiling, contemplating the clear odd behavior which was displayed by Elena, Damon and Caroline earlier during the game; could they have known about Enzo's death already? But how? She shuts her big hazel doe eyes in deep thought, giving the perfect opportunity for Enzo to suddenly shove her head under the water aggressively; Rosie struggles for breath, shouting loudly when she gets her head above water, "Stefan!"
Stefan quickly rushes in, "Rosie!" He helps her out of the bathtub and wraps a dry towel around her body, "Come here. Come on. What happened?"
"There was someone in here." His anxious ex-lover looks around the spacious bathroom in fear as Stefan holds her protectively close.
"Who?" He looks around the room as well for any sign of another way in.
"I don't know. I--I couldn't see them clearly--"
"Why would anyone hurt you?" Her concerned ex-boyfriend asked, clueless.
"I don't know. Someone was pushing me under the water. Dr-drowning me."
Stefan looks around for another moment, "He must be a ghost."
Enzo. Rosie looks on in horror and realization, "I'm his target, Stefan."
Afterward, Bonnie answers an urgent phone call from Stefan as she paces back and forth in front of the fireplace in the parlor room of his boarding house while Matt and Jeremy are downstairs in the basement cellar, interrogating and torturing Tyler/Julian about where Markos and Agnes are.
"Stefan, hey. Remind me why I passed on the cloaking spell party again."
"Well, it's not exactly a relaxing getaway. Listen. Are things getting worse on the other side?" The anxious vampire questioned the supernatural anchor.
Her eyebrows furrow in deep concern by his serious tone, "Why?"
"Because something-- a ghost attacked Rosie. Is it possible that someone over there could physically affect this plane?" Stefan asked her hopefully.
"Actually, yeah. My grams knocked a lamp right off my desk today. I doubt it's easy, but if someone were emotional enough--"
"Enzo." Rosie's right. He must be trying to provoke them from over there.
From behind him, Caroline walks into the room in surprise, "Enzo's dead?"
Stefan instantly hangs up the phone, "Yeah. I, uh, I killed him." Kind of.
"Oh my God." Elena walks into the room as well, trailed after by Isaac.
"It's about time you spilled it." Isaac folds his long arms over his chest.
"So my powers of deduction really suck. Why didn't you say anything?" Caroline asked with a little shake of her head, frowning.
"Because it's complicated." In between him, Rosie and Damon, always.
"Enter the complication. Enzo's dead. You killed him. Rosie told me." Damon enters the room after them, leaving the mentioned girl upstairs.
"So you didn't know either?" The blonde asked him, who replied with a simple though casual no, "And their secret really was about Enzo."
Her partner in crime scoffs in disbelief, "Some secret you have."
"Yep." The older blue-eyed vampire brother added on.
"You guys think we could, um, talk about this some other time?" Stefan suggested, "Maybe when, you can give me and my brother some privacy?"
Damon simply nods once, "By all means, brother. At your convenience."
"Listen. The other side is falling apart, and I think it's allowing Enzo to mess with us." The younger green-eyed vampire brother announced as a warning.
"Enzo! You in here?" His impulsive brother hollered, "Because knock it off!"
"It doesn't make any sense." Elena said with a little shake of her head.
"Yeah, if Enzo wanted to kill Rosie, drowning her wouldn't have worked." Caroline considered aloud, desperate to figure out what the ghost wants.
"Smart girl. See why you like her so much." Enzo, who's present, spoke.
"Maybe he's just trying to scare us." The older freshman predicted.
"Getting warmer. Come on! You've almost got it. What is Enzo up to?" The invisible, vengeful ghost remarked, enjoying their concern by the minute.
"Drowning Rosie was just a distraction. He figured out a way to kill us all in one fell swoop." His own vampire best friend figured it out.
"Did I mention that I missed you?" Enzo remarked to his own best friend.
Elena, Damon, Stefan and Caroline walk out onto the front porch to find Luke missing, which made the eldest one amongst the foursome to curse.
"Oh my God." The compassionate Gilbert girl gasped in pure horror.
"Where's Luke?" Stefan asked anxiously with his thick brows furrowed.
"Who knows?" Enzo must've kidnapped him and brought him somewhere, Damon retorted, "We better find him before the travelers find us."
"Maybe they already did." Isaac wondered aloud as he shows up at the main open doorway, to which he earns horrified looks from the four vampires.
****
Out of the cabin in the cold dark night cautiously, Caroline, Elena and Rosie are searching for Luke, anxious that they start to run into the nearby woods while Stefan and Damon are heading in a different direction from the girls for their own search; it's either Luke ran away or somebody kidnapped him.
"Luke? Luke? Where are you?" The determined Forbes girl called out.
"Luke!" Her concerned vampire best friend trails after her from behind.
"Um, I really don't think we should attract attention to ourselves." The older hybrid doppelgänger trails after them anyway, ashamed of the secret.
"How can you say that?" The Gilbert girl asked with an unfriendly frown.
"Because the travelers could be out there somewhere. Need I say more?"
Elena stops in her tracks and turns around to face Rosie with restrained anger, stopping Caroline as well. Rosie sighs as she reads Elena's expression while Caroline tries to intervene as best and quick as she can if her two repelling friends are about to be having a heated argument in the middle of a very important search for their own safety in the edge of the forest.
"You're upset." The caramel brunette recognised the obvious tiredly.
"No, I'm not upset. I'm just looking for Luke, you know, Luke, who was here to protect you, me and Stefan, Luke, who's now missing because you and Stefan lied about where Enzo was, and now the travelers can find us, do their spell, and wipe us all off the face of the Earth!" Elena snapped at her.
"Elena, can we not do this now--" The perky blonde is completely ignored.
"Wow. Why don't you tell me how you really feel? Because you know, that's a really good idea to save us more time. As if we're not doomed already--"
Elena interrupted the older girl, "You could've just told me, you know."
"See, that's the problem, Elena. I don't trust that you'd be able to keep this a secret, too. We were worried about how Damon would react--"
"What, he'd flip out and spiral and kill a bunch of innocent people? Yeah, I get that. I, however, am not Damon, and neither is Caroline, so the fact that you lied to me about it makes less sense." Elena interrupted her again.
"I just didn't want to put you in an awkward position."
"Because it wasn't awkward when I accused you and Stefan of being makeout buddies?" Caroline piped in and the eldest girl turns to her.
"Actually, yes, it was. Where did that even come from?" Rosie spoke.
"I have no idea." The nineteen-year-old Forbes girl replied with a shrug.
"Well, I assume you're over it." Rosie hopefully nods a little, awkward.
"I am." Caroline simply nods once.
"Good. Now let's go find Luke." Rosie then leads their way this time.
Meanwhile, as they remain heading in a different direction from the girls, Damon and Stefan are arguing about the secret while searching for Luke.
"You need to know why I lied to you." The younger one begun guiltily.
"Nope, I don't." The older, impulsive one denied it.
"Damon, come on."
"Let's just cut to the chase, Stefan, because I'm not in a hash-out-our-differences kind of mood. Yes, I'm pissed that you killed Enzo. I'm even more pissed that you two lied to me about it. You know what, Stefan? If it was me and I was in your shoes, I would have done it too, except I would have done it months ago. The fact that you took this long--"
"He was your friend." Stefan reminded him, remaining guilty.
"Yes, Stefan, he was my friend, which is why I, above anyone else, should have known that he was dead. Let's just find the stupid witch."
"Who knew that Rosie's always going to be right?" Stefan mentioned.
His brother scoffs, "What'd you think I was going to do?"
"What are you talking about?" The judgmental one replied.
"When I found out Enzo was dead? Did you think I was going to go on a rampage, slaughter a bunch of innocent people, go bowling with human heads? What'd you think I was going to do?" Damon questioned again.
Stefan simply shrugs, "Hate me. I thought you would, uh, hate me."
An unfamiliar sloshing noise, coming from the shed, interrupts their talk.
"You hear that?" The older one mentioned as he looks over at the shelter.
"Yeah. Come on."
They waste no more time to rush into the shed, only to find an unconscious Luke tied up on the floor, fortunately still breathing with his significant heart beating after the ghost of Enzo to be the one who knocked him out.
"He's barely breathing." The younger brother reported in deep concern.
"Why the hell would Enzo dump him here?" Damon wondered aloud.
Distant and dark shed, Stefan shakes his head a little, "I don't know."
Damon sniffs the air, "Smell that?" They see an empty gasoline container sitting on the floor. Enzo, invisible, pulls down the electrical lamp and smashes it on the floor, igniting a rapidly spreading fire, "Grab him. Let's go." Enzo stabs Stefan with a long wooden pole, "Dick move, Enzo." The dead vampire smashes a large hunk of sharp wood into Damon's stomach, pinning him to the wooden shed wall, "If only this wasn't totally avoidable."
Suddenly, Caroline, Elena and Rosie finally show up with vamp-speed after the eldest amongst the trio sensed the boys' near-death while they were in the woods earlier. In seeing the rapid flames that are only increasing in size around the small wooden shed, Rosie retreats slowly in fear and anxiety.
"Oh, really? Now you're doing 'I told you so'?" Stefan spoke and notices the three alarmed girls right outside, "Whatever you do, just stay out of this."
"Seriously? We can't just--"
Damon interrupted Caroline in excruciating agony, "This isn't going to stop, Stefan. I killed his girl, you killed him. This is not going to stop." Ever.
"Well it has to!" Rosie spoke up from outside protectively in a panic.
"He's right. I like poetic justice. Damon Salvatore and his murderous brother die a fiery death." Enzo proclaimed, enjoying the moment even more, and shoves the wood even harder into Damon's stomach, who groans painfully.
"Oh my God." Elena gasped in pure horror and arising panic, pressured.
"Stop, please!" The caramel brunette cried out as she watches them.
"He's not going to stop, Rosie--" Damon groans louder in more agony.
"Oh God. What are we going to do?" The Forbes girl begins to panic.
"Enzo! Enzo, listen." Rosie gets his quick attention as she's finally able to catch sight of him, "It sounds impossible, but we can bring you back. Okay? You heard me. Bonnie came back, Luka came back, Markos came back. I'll find a way, and Damon's going to help, but this has to stop, okay? Please. Think of how you're able to do all this. The other side's falling apart, so you can either help us, or you can blink out of existence. It's your choice."
Enzo considers these words and Stefan finally gets the pole out of his body.
"Go on, guys. Get Luke out of here. He's the only one that can hide you three." Damon told them, though all the panicked Elena, Stefan and Rosie hesitate, watching the shed starting to deteriorate, "Stefan! Go now!"
"Damn it." Rosie vamp-speeds inside when she sees that Stefan isn't able to do it alone, in order for her to help her ex-lover assist Luke in standing up that the duo help him outside to rescue, followed by Caroline and Elena.
As the shed falls apart more and more, an overly anxious Rosie called out, "Damon!" On cue, Damon vamp-speeds out once Enzo lets go of him.
****
Once they have safely returned to the old cabin, a healed Luke is sitting on the ends of the steps of the staircase when Stefan walks up to him slowly.
A sad smile comes upon his warm, sympathetic expression, "Feeling okay?" Probably, considering Rosie already fed the witch her blood to heal earlier.
Luke scoffs, "Liv and I should have killed you when we had the chance."
Stefan nods once, "Yeah. Well, you didn't, and, you won't. Uh, I don't--"
"Because of Minerva. It would destroy her." The young witch reminded him, considering Minerva Devon remains as the doppelgängers' true friend.
"Yeah, and you wouldn't want to upset Rosie either." Stefan defended her.
"And let's just say my family's pretty screwed up, not a whole lot of compassion. You guys are different. You protect each other." Despite not being blood related, apart from the two biological brothers, Luke stated.
"Well, we still need you to protect us, so why don't you get your stuff and we can get the hell out of here?" Stefan said just as Rosie walks up to them.
"Yeah." Luke smiles a bit at Rosie, who returns it, "We'll talk later, okay?" He then heads upstairs just as Damon walks in through the main front door.
"I guess Enzo bought it." Damon begun with his gaze on his ex-girlfriend.
"Bought what?" Stefan asked as he turns to face his smug brother now.
"'Bring him back'. I mean, how do you plan on doing that, Rosie?"
"We'll find a way. Markos found his way back. It's not impossible unless you want him terrorizing us for the rest of eternity." Rosie reminded them.
"Not particularly." Stefan replied and Damon hums, "Uh, look. I know that--" He is interrupted when his own brother punches him in the face, hard, as their ex-girlfriend shuts her big doe hazel eyes for a moment guiltily.
"Had to do that for Enzo. That's the last time you'll hear about it from me." Damon uttered in defense of his recently-deceased vampire best friend.
"Damon." Elena shows up behind Damon with an accusatory tone.
The trio watch as Damon walks out of the cabin and shuts the front door behind him. Rosie shares a look with Stefan as Elena releases a tired sigh. Later, Rosie leaves her room to go down the staircase and almost makes it out the wide open front door when she overhears Damon and Elena talking outside by his car after he was amidst packing his own things into the trunk.
"I just came out to see how you're doing." The Gilbert girl told him, deeply concerned about the well-being of her own ex-boyfriend, in sympathy.
"I'm in a hurry. You should be too. The travelers can find us." Soon.
"So that's it? We're not going to talk about this?" Elena asked him.
Her ex-boyfriend turns to face her cluelessly, "What's there to talk about?"
"Did she say she's sorry that she lied to you?" She refers to his current ex.
He shrugs the slight ache off, "I don't care that she lied, really."
"Did she say she's sorry that she broke your heart?" She continued.
"What does it matter to you? Why do you care so much?" He asked.
"Because I care about you, Damon, because I still believe in us." Together.
"Well I'm sorry to hurt your feelings, Elena, but I'm still not over Rosie."
"Because she is that girl, and I'm the girl who's always going to remind you of the other girl who used to break your heart. I get it." The brunette nods.
"No, you're not Katherine. You're better. That's what I learned when we were together. Besides, that bitch is dead. I'm not hurt anymore." He said.
"You are because the girl you want is still in love with your brother. She's more like Katherine despite not being doppelgängers, and you deny that."
"I did it to secure my feelings, it's what I do. But she made her choice now." Of which brother she's truly in love with, it's obvious, and to remain with.
Elena stares at him in genuine sympathy, "She'll always love you, Damon." Like a brother, with Stefan; at least a little love is better than none, no?
"She loves Stefan better. But I get what you mean. Family and all that."
She nods a little, understanding what he means, "Exactly."
Damon frowns in defeat, "She was right, Elena. She wanted to protect me so I wouldn't spiral because if I spiraled then it would prove that I shouldn't be with anyone, but--but I didn't spiral. Despite every nerve in my body wanting to break something or hurt someone or do all the wrong things for all the right reasons, I'm holding it together the best I can, for her."
"But you're still mad at her?" Elena guessed, expecting a yes, regarding the dark secret his ex-girlfriend kept with his own brother about his best friend.
"No, not really. She made her choice, Elena, what else am I supposed to do? Despite being around her drives me nuts, and not being around her drives me nuts." Damon scoffs at his own unhealthy lovestruck mind.
"Okay. Now I'm really confused." His ex-girlfriend said about his feelings.
"I can't do this yet, Elena. I'm not ready." Damon shakes his head, desiring nothing more than to remain alone after the split he had with his ex.
Elena nods, "Take all the time you need, but I'll be waiting for you." Always.
"You always know just what I needed to hear, don't you?" He smiles.
"I know, because you've had a really crappy day, yeah." She smiles back.
Rosie takes the chance to finally walk outside, leaving the two awkward and uncomfortable as she packs the two bags into the trunk of the Camaro.
"I need to get my stuff." The chestnut brunette returns inside of the cabin.
"Impeccable timing." The icy blue-eyed one sarcastically mentioned her.
"I'm sorry." The caramel brunette finally expressed, meaning the two words.
"Start the car. There's a few more things I got to pack." Damon quickly hands her the car keys before walking back inside of the cabin as well.
Rosie is left alone outside. As she starts to make her way to the driver's side of the vehicle, she suddenly grabs her aching head with both hands after dropping the keys, groaning loudly in pain as the travelers are closing in on her, chanting in unison; Markos grabs her from behind, his hand covering her mouth and chanting a simple incantation which causes her to black out.
****
6643 Peachtree Drive, Mystic Falls
Lying on the carpet-floor of the spacious parlor room, side by side to each other, are the soundly unconscious Minerva and Melissa, who are closely watched over by an icy wavy blonde-haired young woman with a slim figure, standing for about five feet six in height-- being a traveler witch, who's chanting an incantation to a significant spell with her eyes closed as she's seated in between the two unconscious young ladies, linking the banshees.
"...Mluvim za oba, aby jeden držel majetek ve těle druhého..." She repeated the incantation over and over again until once she stops, Minerva's big eyes open to reveal equally jet-black colour instead of the original hazel ones-- revealing that the spell is actually a rare passenger spell to transfer Melissa's spirit to another mortal-- or more specifically, a banshee's vessel, "Vyjidt." The traveler witch watches as the young banshee's big jet-black eyes close and reopen to reveal the original hazel ones, confirming the completion of the special banshee/passenger spell; Melissa's own spirit in Minerva's host.
Remaining silent, 'Minerva' looks up at the young icy blonde traveler witch before her big hazel eyes avert to Melissa's unconscious, motionless form.
"It's done. Don't you want to check out your new body?" Said the traveler as she reaches her left hand out and helps the young banshee to sit up properly; she watches as 'Minerva' slowly gets up on her feet and moves them over to the direction of the tall, full-length mirror on the wall of the excessively spacious parlor room, examining her brand new body down as a triumphant smile grows on her lovely face, "Say something. Did it work?"
A cute giggle escapes the caramel brunette as she quickly turns around to face the icy blonde traveler gratefully, "What do you think? Is this better?" Being in the body of a much younger banshee, also known as her own descendant, more specifically as an eighteen-year-old college sophomore.
"You definitely look younger, and shorter. The others are capturing the doppelgängers, and their loved ones would be far too distracted with concern to realize that their own precious banshee is too occupied to 'see another friend'. You're welcome." The blonde traveler witch smiles in return.
"Great. Now it's up to me to sort things out in the life of dearest Minerva Devon, while your job is to keep my body safe. I'm really going to miss the original model though." Minerva/Melissa sends a quick glance at the original banshee's unconscious form on the carpet-floor of the parlor room, "So, I'm especially going to sort out my host's single mother for my own." To make it easier, according to plan, being Agnes' spirit soon in the vessel of Cassie.
The blonde nods a little, with a small smile, "Good luck with that. Try not to get yourself outed. This new body of yours is vulnerable. Take care of it."
"You don't think I know that? According to my mother, my original body can't exactly be destroyed in the spell to make my soul permanent in here, which means you're going to have to learn a lot more from her." On how exactly to make her own spirit permanent in this new body, said Melissa.
"You don't think I know that?" The blonde traveler witch defensively mirrored her reply, "I've been learning on my own with your mom's grimoire, courtesy to the boss herself. Anyway, be ready for anything. You need this new body more than anything, being that it's your first time, and being what and who you are, you need to be protected by our people."
"I'm aware, Kendall. With my father on the move with the others to create the magic purification spell to rid this wretched town of spirit magic, I can't imagine how easy it's going to be for me and my mother to capture Cassie." The triumphant smile shows up once again on Minerva/Melissa's lovely face, mirrored by the blonde traveler witch before her, as she contemplates this.