Salvatore Boarding House

[Stefan is locked up in a cell in the basement. He is hallucinating due to the lack of blood.]

Woods 1864

[In a flashback, the town is capturing vampires.]

Man: We have to get to the church. They're waiting.

Stefan (to Damon): Circle around that way. I'll distract them. Go. (To the group of men.) Over here! There's another one! Quick! Help me!

Johnathan: Arm yourselves.

[The men follow Stefan. Only one man is standing guard over the carriage containing the vampires. Damon hits him and knocks him out. Stefan returns. Damon grabs the keys out of the man's pocket and unlocks the carriage.]

Stefan: We don't have long.

Damon: Katherine. Katherine.

[Damon and Stefan lift Katherine out of the carriage. They untie her and take off the muzzle that covers her mouth.]

Stefan: We're going to get you out of here. Damon, hurry. Hurry.

[Damon is shot at. He dies. Stefan rushes over to him.]

Stefan: No! No. Damon.

Men: Come on. Let's go.

Stefan: Uhh!

[Stefan runs and grabs a gun, but he is shot down too.]

Salvatore Boarding House/Woods 1864

[Stefan is drifting in and out between the present and past.]

Damon: Stefan. Stefan.

Elena: Stefan.

Katherine/Elena: I love you, Stefan.

[Katherine is taken back into the carriage in the past. Damon leads Elena out in the present. She looks through the bars at him.]

Salvatore Boarding House

[Elena and Damon are in the cellar. Elena is watching Stefan.]

Elena: It's so hard to see him locked up like this.

Damon: You're the one who locked him up.

Elena: You helped.

Damon: I couldn't have him running around chewing on people. While the town was looking for vampires, now, could I?

Elena: It had nothing to do with you actually caring about him?

Damon: Your thing, not mine.

Quarry 1864

[In another flashback, Stefan awakes with a start. He opens his shirt and sees the bullet wound is gone. He also sees a ring on his hand and examines it. Emily is there.]

Emily: Katherine had me make that for you weeks ago.

Stefan: Where am I?

Emily: The quarry just north of town. My brother and I brought you here last night. We found you dead in the woods.

Stefan: Where's Damon? Am I...am I a...?

Emily: Not yet. You're in transition.

Stefan: But how? I...

Emily: You had Katherine's blood in your system when you died.

Stefan: No. I never...

Emily: She's been compelling you to drink it for weeks, Stefan.

Stefan: And Damon?

Emily: No compulsion was necessary. He drank from her willingly.

[Stefan joins Damon by the river.]

Damon: I woke up last night. I didn't know where I was. I went to the church. And I watched them drag her inside. Then they set fire to it. And the whole church went up into flames. They killed her, Stefan. She's gone.

Salvatore Boarding House

[Damon looks at the object which Pearl gave him, Elena enters the living room.]

Elena: Did you ever figure out what that is?

Damon: Nope. Whatever it is, it doesn't work.

Elena: Pearl didn't say anything else about it?

Damon: She thought she was stealing his vampire compass, but that was a pocket watch. That Johnathan Gilbert was a crazy scientist. Have you spoken to your uncle lately?

Elena: I've been avoiding him, actually. That, and I've been here most nights.

Damon: So, you'll be here again tonight?

Elena: Is that a problem?

Damon: Yes. You're a complete nuisance.

Elena: Heh. See you later.

Mystic Falls High School

[Jeremy is walking to class. Anna joins him.]

Anna: Hey. Surprise.

Jeremy: What are you doing here?

Anna: Picking up this.

Jeremy: A class schedule?

Anna: Starting tomorrow, I'm officially a student here.

Jeremy: You're kidding me, right?

Anna: No. I finally beat my mom down.

Jeremy: Heh. But why would you want to go to high school? It blows.

Anna: Do I really need to answer that?

Jeremy: You'd suffer through all this just to hang out with me?

Anna: Yeah. I would.

Jeremy: That's, um...

Anna: Stupid? Pathetic? Old lurky me?

Jeremy: It's awesome. It's awesome.

[They kiss.]

Salvatore Boarding House

[Damon brings a bottle of blood for Stefan.]

Damon: Brought you something to eat...100% Stefan diet approved. You know what will happen if you don't eat. You'll get all rotting and crusty.

Stefan: I'm not hungry.

Damon: Of course you are. We're eternally hungry. Take it. The human blood should be gone by now. You want to explain why you're still in here. Feeling sorry for yourself? Come on. Drink up. Fine. Starve. What do I care?

[Damon enters the living room. His phone rings.]

Damon: Hello?

Alaric: Hey, it's Alaric Saltzman.

Damon: Before I hang up, how did you get this number?

Alaric: Ah, it's a mystery. Listen, I've, uh, been doing some digging on Elena's uncle. You interested?

Damon: What kind of digging?

Alaric: I've got an old friend from Duke. Who studied criminology when we were there together. Let's just say he's become a very proficient digger.

Damon: Well, did he find anything?

Alaric: Well, I had him run a track on John's cell records. He was getting a call from a number...The same number that Elena dialed to get Isobel. And then the number was disconnected.

Damon: Isobel knows John. Whatever. We knew that.

Alaric: Right. Well, after that, he started getting calls from a new number. And I had my friend run a geotrack. Got the address. It's...It's an apartment in Grove Hill.

Damon: Isobel's in Grove Hill?

Alaric: I don't know. I thought we could take a look and see what we find.

Damon: Perfect. Give me the address.

Alaric: Oh, so you can go without me? No. I don't think so.

Damon: I'm not going with you. You tried to kill me.

Alaric: Yeah, well, you did kill me.

Damon: Hold on.

[Damon is getting another call.]

Damon: What?

Elena: I'm just grabbing some clothes, and then I'll be right over. How's Stefan?

Damon: Extra broody. Hold on. (He goes back to Alaric.) You drive. Pick me up in an hour.

Alaric: Done.

[Damon hangs up. He goes back to talking to Elena on the phone.]

Damon: He won't eat anything.

Elena: He has to eat what's his favorite...Kind of, um...

Damon: His favorite kind of what?

Elena: Type of animal blood that he prefers?

Damon: Ew. Gross.

Elena: Heh. Your joking doesn't help.

Damon: Helps me. Now, hurry up. I can't baby-sit all night. I have things to do.

Elena: I would say, "drop dead," but...

Damon: Ha ha. Stefan likes...Puppy blood...Little golden retriever puppies with cute, floppy ears. That's his favorite.

Gilbert Residence

[Elena hangs up on Damon, scoffing at him. She closes her closet door and John is standing behind it.]

John: Sorry.

Elena: Uncle John. I didn't see you there.

John: I thought we could talk. We haven't had a chance to catch up.

Elena: I'm actually just heading out, so...

John: Well, it won't take long.

Elena: What did you want to talk about?

John: Well...I know you know.

Elena: Know what?

John: It's really silly to keep pretending. What do you think your mother would say. If she knew you were dating a vampire?

Elena: Which mother?

[She raises an eyebrow at John before turning round and leaving.]

Salvatore Boarding House

[Stefan is sitting on the floor of the cell. He has a flashback.]

Quarry 1864

[Stefan gets a pail of water. He brings it over to where Damon is sitting. They wash out their shirts with the water.]

Stefan: I bet Johnathan Gilbert has told father by now. Wonder how he took the news that we're dead.

Damon: As if he cares. He betrayed us.

Stefan: He thought he was protecting us, Damon. He thought he was protecting this town.

Damon: God. This sun hurts my eyes.

Stefan: It's part of it. The muscle aches, the sick feeling...Emily says it's our bodies pushing us to feed, to complete the transition.

Damon: That's not gonna happen.

Stefan: Is that your choice, then? To die instead?

Damon: Isn't it yours? This was all to be with Katherine. But she's gone. I want it over.

Salvatore Boarding House

[Elena goes down to the basement to see Stefan.]

Elena: How you feelin'? Damon says you need to drink that. You need it, Stefan. Can't survive without it.

Stefan: I don't want to survive.

Elena: What? Don't say that.

Stefan: I'm sorry, Elena. No more. After what I've done, it has to end. I just want it over.

[Elena is sitting in the living room and talking to Damon.]

Damon: He's just being dramatic. He's not gonna starve himself.

Elena: Why would he say that?

Damon: He feels bad about hurting that girl. It's a very typical Stefan martyr stuff. It will pass.

Elena: Will it? Because he seemed to be in a lot of pain.

Damon: Yeah. Well, that will pass, too, once he eats.

Elena: I didn't mean physical pain.

Damon: I know what you meant. Look, are you gonna be okay here if I have to run out? I have to go to an errand with the teacher.

Elena: The teacher? Alaric? Are you two friends now?

Damon: I don't have any friends, Elena.

Elena: Right.

Damon: You should, um, you should stay up here. You shouldn't be down there by yourself.

Elena: I'll be fine.

Damon: You know...You're very trusting of him, given the circumstances.

Elena: So are you. Otherwise, you wouldn't be leaving.

Damon: I won't be long.

Mystic Grill

[Pearl joins John at a table.]

Pearl: Hello, Mr. Gilbert.

John: Pearl. What a pleasure. I must admit, I'm surprised that you came.

Pearl: Jenna tells me that you wanted to discuss the sale of the building in person.

John: Still, revealing yourself to me like this, it took quite a risk.

Pearl: I'm not stupid, Mr. Gilbert. You knew who I was when you requested the meeting. So, Damon tells me that you're looking for the device I took from Johnathan. I'm sure you realize I have no intention of giving it to you.

John: That's why I wanted to meet you. I'm planning on changing your mind.

Pearl: Really? How so?

John: With my Gilbert charm. I know that you have a weakness for it. May I buy you a drink?

[He signals a waiter.]

Gilbert Residence

[Jeremy and Anna are talking in his bedroom.]

Jeremy: So, your mother was in love with Johnathan Gilbert, and he betrayed her?

Anna: Yup.

Jeremy: And now my uncle John wants this invention-device thing that she gave to Damon.

Anna: That's pretty much it.

Jeremy: John mentioned there were more Gilbert journals. I bet that's how he knows everything.

Anna: Do we have to talk about this all night? I've told you everything. I probably shouldn't have, 'cause that could get us both in a lot of trouble.

Jeremy: I'm not gonna say anything.

Anna: Your uncle John wants us dead.

Jeremy: Oh, you don't know that.

Anna: Yes, I do. He's a hater, Jeremy.

Jeremy: Well, I'm not.

Anna: No. You're something else entirely.

Jeremy: Oh, yeah? What would that be?

Anna: My weakness.

[Jeremy and Anna start kissing and taking each other's clothes off.]

Jeremy: I don't want Jenna to walk in on us.

Anna: Jenna's in the kitchen. She just opened the refrigerator.

Jeremy: Wait. You can hear that? That is so cool.

[He goes back to kissing her.]

Grove Hill Residence

[Damon and Alaric are at the apartment.]

Alaric: This is the one here. The records show is was paid 3 months in advance.

Damon: This is where it gets tricky. I may or may not be able to get in.

Alaric: Yeah, how does that work? You always have to be invited in?

Damon: By the owner or the person of entitlement. Short-term rentals and hotels are a bit of a gray area. You kind of gotta play it by ear.

Alaric: Heh. Could we not kill anyone tonight, please?

Damon: You mean, you just brought me along for my company?

[Damon opens the door.]

Alaric: It doesn't look like anyone's home.

Damon: Yeah. I'm good. No permanent resident, apparently.

[Damon opens the fridge and see blood bags.]

Damon: Uh, Ric, we have company.

[A man jumps on Alaric. Alaric stabs him with wood knuckles. The man attacks again. Damon throws him off of Alaric.]

Damon: Boys, boys, that's enough. I know you.

Henry: Damon?

Damon: Your name is Henry. You were in the tomb.

Henry: Yes, sir. What are you doing here?

Salvatore Estate 1864

[Stefan is approaching his house. He hears Johnathan and his father talking.]

Giuseppe: May I offer you a drink, Mr. Gilbert?

Johnathan: Thank you, Mr. Salvatore.

Giuseppe: This won't take much longer.

Johnathan: I want to make sure the founders' archives are accurate.

Giuseppe: Be sure you document the loss of civilian life in the church.

Johnathan: They were hardly civilians, Mr. Salvatore.

Giuseppe: As far as anyone needs to know, they were. As the record keeper for the Council, what you write will be passed down through generations. Certain details should be kept only between you and me.

Johnathan: For example?

Giuseppe: My sons. They will be remembered as the innocent victims of the Battle of Willow Creek, not for their shame.

Johnathan: Certainly, Mr. Salvatore.

Salvatore Boarding House

[Elena walks back down to the cellar.]

Stefan: You know, Damon hasn't fed me vervain in a while. I could be at those bars in a flash, and you'd be dead.

Elena: Yeah, you could. But you won't.

Stefan: Please just go away. I don't want you here.

[Elena enters the cellar.]

Stefan: What are you doing? Get out of here.

Elena: No.

Stefan: You're taking a stupid risk. I could hurt you.

Elena: Then I'm stupid. You need to drink this.

Stefan: Elena, get out of here, or you'll regret it.

Elena: Drink.

Stefan: (Shouting.) I said get out!

[He knocks the bottle of blood from her hand. His face transformed.]

Elena: No.

Grove Hill Residence

[Damon and Alaric talk with Henry.]

Henry: So, how do you know John Gilbert?

Damon: Well, I've known him for years. He's a good friend. How do you know him?

Henry: I met him right after I got out of the tomb. He's been helping me out.

Alaric: Helping you out how?

Henry: Adapting. It's a whole new world...Cars, computers, match.com. There's so much to learn. He helped me get this place.

Alaric: So, do you live here alone or is there someone else here?

Damon: That's my friend's very passive-aggressive way of asking, uh, do you know a woman named Isobel?

Henry: Uh, no. No, I don't know an Isobel. I know John. He's my only real friend. He really showed me the ropes...how to use a microwave, separate my whites.

Alaric: What else do you do for him?

Henry: I help keep an eye on things...You know, with the others.

Damon: The others?

Henry: From the tomb. They're still pissed at the founding families for trying to burn them alive. I'm cool, but those tomb boys, they want revenge.

Alaric: What does John want with them?

Henry: He's just keeping an eye on them, you know? Trying to make sure they stay out of trouble.

Damon: Well, that's John. Heh. He's such a do-gooder.

[Henry receives a call.]

Henry: Heh. That's John now.

Damon: Oh. Hey, let me talk to him.

Henry: All right. Yeah. Are you gonna answer that?

Damon: Am I gonna...answer that?

[Alaric shakes his head.]

Henry: What's going on?

[Henry senses a trap and runs at Alaric. Damon grabs him. Alaric stabs him with a stake.]

Damon:"Let's not not kill anyone tonight." Your words. Just pointing that out.

Mystic Grill

[John returns to the table.]

John: My apologies.

Pearl: No apologies necessary. So, tell me, Mr. Gilbert, why should I let you have the device?

John: Because I can help you. I'm connected around here. The Town Council's eating out of my hand. They do whatever I say. And I know that you just want to live your life. Complete with a white picket fence, and I can help you do that.

Pearl: But the device doesn't work. Why would you even want it?

John: It's a family heirloom. Call me sentimental.

Pearl: Johnathan was ahead of his time.

John: I read his journals. They're very extensive. He actually wrote about you. You were his one regret. He loved you, and he hated himself for what he did to you.

Pearl: You're lying.

John: No. On his last days, he wrote how sorry he was. You were the only woman he ever loved.

[A smile slowly stretches across John's face and then he chuckles.]

John: Good God. You vampires...you're so emotional. Johnathan Gilbert hated you. His only regret was that he didn't drive a stake through your heart himself.

Pearl: I gave it to Damon.

John: What?

Pearl: I gave your device to Damon. Why don't you ask him for it yourself? I'm sure he'd be delighted to give it to you. And then, Mr. Gilbert, may you rot in hell.

[Pearl leaves.]

Salvatore Boarding House

[Elena is sitting in the cellar with Stefan.]

Elena: Talk to me, Stefan. Why are you doing this?

Stefan: I'm making the decision I should have made years ago.

Elena: What are you talking about?

Stefan: You have to feed in order to complete the transition.

Elena: I know that.

Stefan: It was a choice I shouldn't have made.

Salvatore Estate 1864

[Stefan enters his fathers office. Giuseppe looks up from his desk and stands up in surprise.]

Giuseppe: Dear God!

Stefan: Even in our death, you only feel shame?

Giuseppe: You're one of them now.

Stefan: No. Father, I came to say good-bye.

Giuseppe: I watched you die.

Stefan: You were there when we were shot?

Giuseppe: I pulled the trigger myself.

Stefan: You killed your own sons?

Giuseppe: You were both dead to me the moment you sided with the vampires. I only thank God that your mother isn't alive to see the disgrace you've become.

Stefan: I haven't turned yet. I don't want to. I'm going to let myself die, father. Please.

Giuseppe: Yes, you are.

[Giuseppe gets out at wooden rod, breaks it in two, and attempts to stab Stefan. Stefan throws him against the wall. The stake has impaled his father. Stefan rushes towards him.]

Giuseppe: Uhh!

Stefan: Father, I didn't mean to.

Giuseppe: Get away from me.

Stefan: No, let me help you. Please.

[Stefan removes the stake from his father's chest. He sees the blood on the stake and his fingers. He licks his fingers. He touches his father's wound and licks more blood from his fingers. His eyes start to transform.]

Giuseppe: Ohh. Ohh.

Stefan: Uhh. Uhh! Oh, God. What's happening to me?

[Stefan feels the fangs that have grown in his mouth.]

Salvatore Boarding House

[Stefan and Elena are still talking in the cellar.]

Stefan: How can you even look at me right now?

Elena: You need to be able to talk about these things, Stefan. I need to hear them. Come upstairs. We can talk about it more, and we'll keep talking as long as you need.

Stefan: You're so sure I'm ready?

[Elena pulls out Stefan's ring and places it on the cot next to him.]

Elena: And when you feel the same way...I'll be upstairs.

Grove Hill Residence

[Damon empties the blood bags.]

Damon: Find anything yet?

Alaric: No, I looked everywhere. The place is...The place is clean.

Damon: Well, I found this. Behind the blood in the fridge.

Alaric: Oh, man, this was a real dead-end.

Damon: I wouldn't beat myself up over it, man. What did you think you were gonna find, huh? Isobel with a cigar and slippers?

Alaric: Oh, man. I...I gotta stop this. I can't...I can't keep searching for her.

Damon: Really? After only two years? That's actually moderately healthy.

Alaric: What are you going on? 146?

Damon: Well, I figure the 200 mark is probably a good stopping point.

Alaric: Ahh. I mean, no answer is enough. I keep thinking I wanna know why, when, you know, the precise moment. When my wife decided life with me wasn't enough.

Damon: She charmed me, your wife Isobel. She talked a good game, man. She was smart. She had this excitement in her eyes. I probably should have known there was something different about her, some tie to Katherine. There had to be some reason I didn't kill her.

Alaric: That's enough, Damon. I don't wanna hear anymore. I just don't want to waste any more of my life. Searching for answers that I really don't want. I'm through with Isobel. I...I'm done with all of this. Yeah.

Pearl's Residence

[Anna enters the house.]

Anna: Hey. What's the matter?

Pearl: I need you to pack your things. We're leaving.

Anna: What? No.

Pearl: I was wrong to think that we could make a home here. It's time for us to move on.

Anna: But I don't want to move on. I want to stay.

Pearl: We can't stay. There's too many people here who know the truth...Too much history.

Anna: So, what, you're just gonna give up, pack us up, and move us out?

Pearl: It's not safe here. You know that.

Anna: Please.

Pearl: Is this is about Jeremy?

Anna: No. It's about me finally getting to build a life for myself. Please, mama.

Pearl: You gave me my life back. I am just trying to protect yours. I can't force you. It's your decision.

Salvatore Boarding House

[Elena is writing in her diary. Damon enters the room.]

Damon: Ugh. God. You're still here?

Elena: Were you expecting anything else?

Damon: No. Ahh.

[Damon picks up Elena's legs and sits down on the couch. He places her legs over his lap.]

Elena: So, how was the "errand"?

Damon: Futile. Although, I think I witnessed the teacher having an
existential crisis. Has Stefan eaten yet?

Elena: I thought you didn't care.

Damon: Chalk it up to morbid curiosity.

Elena: I think he's getting there. But he's got a lot of guilt that he has to deal with. And it doesn't help that you've spent the last 145 years punishing him for Katherine getting caught.

Damon: This is my fault now?

Elena: No, it's no one's fault, Damon. I'm just...saying you're not exactly innocent. You've made it your life's mission to make him miserable.

[Damon gets up.]

Damon: Let me ask you a question. In all this important soul-searching and cleansing of the demons of Stefan's past, did you ever manage to get the rest of the story?

Elena: He said there was more.

Damon: Yeah. That's an understatement.

[Elena gets up and goes towards Damon.]

Elena: Damon...Damon. Tell me.

Quarry 1864

[In a flashback, Stefan returns with a girl.]

Damon: What are you doing? Who is that?

Stefan: I brought her for you. She's a gift. Have a seat, please.

Damon: What have you done, Stefan?

Stefan: Damon, I've been to see father. He came at me. I didn't know my own strength. There was blood everywhere. He was dying, and the blood was too strong. I needed it. I had to have it.

Damon: You fed.

Stefan: Yes. And it's incredible. My body is exploding with power, Damon.

Damon: No.

Stefan: I can hear things from far away. I can see through the darkness. I can move, like it's magic. And the guilt, the pain...Damon, I can turn it off. Like a switch. Katherine was right. It's a whole another world out there, Damon.

Damon: Katherine is dead, Stefan. There's no world without her.

Stefan: No. You can turn that off, too. You don't have to feel that pain anymore.

Damon: I don't want it.

Stefan: You're weak. You'll be dead soon. You need this.

Damon: No.

Stefan: You'll die.

Damon: No. I can't.

Stefan: Please. I won't let you die.

Damon: No. I can't.

Stefan: Don't fight it. We can do this...together.

[Damon drinks the blood of the girl.]

Salvatore Boarding House

Damon: From the moment Stefan had his first taste of human blood, he was a different person. I suppose I should thank him. It's been a hell of a ride. Heh.

Elena: Oh, my God. He said he wanted to die. That's why he won't feed. Now I understand why, but...

Damon: His choice. If he's stupid enough to make it, so be it.

Elena: Don't do that. Okay? Don't pretend like you don't care.

Damon: Where are you going?

[Elena goes down into the cellar. Stefan is gone, but his ring is still on the cot. Elena picks it up and runs out of the cell.]

Gilbert Residence

[Jeremy is asleep in his bed, Anna joins him.]

Jeremy: Hey.

Anna: It's getting impossible to sneak up on you.

Jeremy: Nice try, though.

Anna: Sorry I woke you.

Jeremy: That's okay. You only woke me halfway.

Anna: So, listen. I...

Jeremy: That feels good.

[She kisses him.]

Anna: Good-bye.

Quarry

[Stefan is at the quarry where Damon turned.]

Quarry 1864

[Stefan and Damon are both vampires now.]

Stefan: How do you feel?

Damon: You were right. It is a whole new world.

Stefan: We can explore it together.

Damon: You got what you wanted...You and me for all eternity. But here this, brother. I will make it an eternity of misery for you.

Stefan: Damon!

[Damon leaves. Stefan, in the present, is looking weak. In the past, Emily finds Stefan.]

Emily: You've transitioned.

Stefan: You'd have rather found me dead?

Emily: Katherine saved my life once. I owed her. That doesn't mean I'd wish her curse on anyone.

Stefan: It feels more like a gift.

Emily: That will change.

Stefan: Why is that?

Emily: Because even in death, your heart is pure, Stefan. I sense that about you. That will be your curse.

Stefan: Emily, wait.

Quarry

[Stefan is still at the quarry. Elena approaches him.]

Elena: Stefan. Damon told me the rest of the story. I thought I might find you here.

Stefan: I should have died that night, just like I had chosen. I should have let Damon die, too.

Elena: But you didn't. And if you die now, it's not gonna change what happened.

Stefan: Every single person that's been hurt...Every single life that's been lost, it's because of me.

Elena: The night that my parents died...I blew off family night so that I could go to some party. I ended up getting stranded, and they had to come pick me up. That's why we ended up in the car at Wickery Bridge. And that's why they died. Our actions are what set things in motion. But we have to live with that.

Stefan: I made a choice, Elena. Because of that choice, a lot of people were hurt.

Elena: You also made a choice to stop, to reject the person that the blood made you. You made a choice to be good, Stefan.

Stefan: No. Please don't do that.

Elena: That's the person who jumped in the water to save the family whose car had driven off the bridge.

Stefan: Please. Don't make this all okay.

Elena: That's the person who saved my life.

Stefan: You don't understand, Elena.

Elena: Then tell me.

Stefan: It hurts me. It hurts me, knowing what I've done, and that pain...That pain is with me all the time. And every day, I think that if I just...If I just give myself over to the blood, I can make that pain stop.

It would be that easy, and every day, I fight that. And I am so terrified that one day, I'm not gonna want to fight that anymore, Elena. And the next time I hurt somebody...It could be you.

Elena: There will be no next time.

Stefan: You don't know that.

Elena: Maybe I don't. But what I do know. Is that you can take this, throw it in the quarry, and let the sun rise. Or you could take this ring and put it on and keep fighting.

[Elena gives him his ring and she kisses him.]

Elena: It's your choice.

[Elena starts to walk away.]

Stefan: Elena.

[Stefan puts on his ring and runs to Elena and kisses her passionately.]

Pearl's Residence

[Harper prepares the luggage of Pearl.]

Pearl: Thank you, Harper.

Harper: You're welcome.

Pearl: Annabelle should be back in a minute. You know, you don't have to come with us if you don't want to.

Harper: This was never my home, Miss Pearl. I was just a soldier who was left to die. You saved me. I'm coming with you.

Pearl: Let me help you with these.

[Pearl opens the main door and receives a pile in the heart. Harper catches her.]

Salvatore Boarding House

[Elena and Stefan walk into the library. Damon is sitting there.]

Damon: Little boy lost.

Elena: I'll be upstairs, OK?

Stefan: Okay.

Elena: Good night, Damon.

[Elena goes away.]

Stefan: Thank you.

Damon: No, Stefan, thank you. You're back on Bambi blood, and I'm the big badass brother again. All is right in the world.

Stefan: I mean it. Thank you. For...helping her take care of me.

Damon: You brood too much. Everything on this planet is not your fault. My actions, what I do, it's not your fault. I own them. They belong to me. You are not allowed to feel my guilt.

Stefan: Do you feel guilt?

Damon: If I wanted to, it's there. Emily waited till after I turned to tell me she'd been successful in protecting Katherine with her spell. She didn't want me to know about the tomb. She thought it would impact my decision.

Stefan: She didn't want either one of us to turn. She said it was a curse.

Damon: Witches...Judgy little thing.

Stefan: Why didn't you tell me?

Damon: 'Cause I didn't want you to know. 'Cause I hated you and I still do.

Stefan: I know.

Damon: But not because you forced me to turn.

Stefan: Then why?

Damon: Because she turned you. It was just supposed to be me, Stefan...Just me.

Pearl's Residence

[Anna enters the house and discovers her mother and Harper, staked in the heart.]

Anna: I'm back. Oh! Mom! Mama! Uhh! Please don't leave me again. No. Please wake up. You have to wake up. No.

Woods

[John puts some stakes in the trunk of his car and calls Sheriff Forbes.]

John: Sheriff Forbes, it's John Gilbert. Sorry to call so late. I have an update about the vampires.

Mystic Grill

[Alaric, sits at the bar, drinking alone. A woman approaches him.]

Isobel: Hello, Ric.

[Alaric slowly faces Isobel.]

Alaric: Isobel.