NARRATOR: Previously on The Vampire Diaries:
KATHERINE: I'm dying of old age. Goodbye.
STEFAN: You're Katherine Pierce. Suck it up.
I was 21051.
You were an Augustine vampire?
I'm sure Augustine will be thrilled to have you back.
ELENA: That's my dad.
Grayson Gilbert was one of the best doctors the Augustines ever had.
DAMON: Elena, wake up. ELENA: What the hell is going on?
I've been here before. Believe it or not, I made a friend.
My name's Enzo.
You have to tell me how you got out of here.
Damon, now!
(DAMON & ENZO GRUNTING)
-I'm sorry, Enzo. -Damon, please.
DAMON: I turned off my emotions.
ENZO: Damon! DAMON: And I left my friend to die.
ENZO: Welcome.
I'm 12144.
My name is Enzo.
(THUDDING) (DAMON GRUNTING)
DAMON: Slick hands, cowboy.
(BULLET CLANGS)
(GRUNTING)
Come on.
(GRUNTING)
Oh, my God. No.
-Hey. -Um--
Don't turn around.
-What are you doing? -Uh, just don't turn around.
-Where are you going? -Uh, everything's fine. Go back to bed.
Unh. Ow.
(KATHERINE CHUCKLES)
What the hell happened to you?
Ditto. Elena's not here by any chance, is she?
I haven't seen her.
-Not that I've been looking. -Stef, you awake?
You know, he hasn't seen her either. I know because we were together.
All night.
Look, I've had a crappy couple days. Okay?
If you're implying what I think you're implying--
Why? What were you thinking?
That our hot naked bodies collided in one unforgettable night of passion?
-I'm gonna barf. -Great.
Then my work here is done. Toodle-oo.
Ugh.
(CHILDREN LAUGHING)
Subject 83182 appears conscious.
Where am I?
Why? Look familiar?
What is that thing?
What are you doing to me?
WES: 83182 commence prep for blood dialysis.
Count from 10...
...nine, eight...
...seven...
...six, five....
Where the hell you been?
Being held against my will, shot in the head. Now I can't find Elena.
How was your evening? Anything happen?
-What do you mean you can't find Elena? -She's not picking up her phone.
She's not in her dorm. She's nowhere in this house.
Dr. Creepy Ken Doll has her somewhere.
The Whitmore bio teacher?
Yeah, the one that operates on vampires?
Yeah, that one. Put your hero hair on. Let's go get Elena.
You don't know where she is.
I don't. We're gonna have to find us some leverage. Come on.
(CHATTERING)
(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING OVER EARPHONES)
Pop quiz. Your girlfriend is taken by a mad scientist.
Now do you, A, get a new girlfriend...
...B, call the police...
...or C, kill someone close to that mad scientist?
Sit.
Four-point-one pints drained.
83182 still shows signs of consciousness.
Note that 15 years ago, subject 12144...
...faded into unconsciousness after losing 2.9 pints.
Evolution or luck?
A mystery for another day.
What are you doing to me?
What are these tubes?
Let me go.
Relax.
I plan to. Once I'm through with you.
My friends are gonna find me.
Your heroic vampire friends?
(GRUNTING)
Did you know Aaron Whitmore spent his entire life...
...thinking his family was haunted by some death curse?
Turns out that curse was your boyfriend.
Systematically killing every member on his family tree. I'm curious.
-How does one justify that in her mind? -And this?
Holding people against their will?
Torturing them?
-How do you justify that? -Science.
"June 25, 1999. Incredible findings today.
After enduring 3000 volts of electricity, the subject continues to have a heartbeat.
June 26. More success.
Subject was exposed to 4000 volts today.
Seizing continues after electrocution.
Flesh remains hot to the touch."
You're a monster.
This isn't my journal, Elena.
These are the handwritten medical findings of Dr. Grayson Gilbert.
Your father.
What?
Everything I'm doing to you...
...I learned from him.
I have no idea where Wes took her.
Well, they're not at his lab. So where else could he hide a vampire?
I'm sorry, am I supposed to know who you are?
That's my brother, Stefan.
Watch your tone because he's in the midst of a psychotic break.
I'm sorry. I'm what?
You don't think I know about you and Katherine?
Oh, I see.
-You're jealous. -More like disturbed.
See? He's off his rocker.
He's losing his mind. Teetering on the brink of insanity.
How are you not dead? I shot you.
You went for the head. You gotta go for the heart.
Go for the heart next time.
Now, where's Elena?
I have no idea.
All that Wes told me was to go about my life as usual.
Call Wes and tell him if he doesn't give us Elena...
...the next experiment that he conducts is gonna be sewing your arms back on.
This is my dad's clinic.
We're in the basement.
Was your dad's clinic.
Then your town council burned a whole bunch of vampires down here.
Now it's just a condemned building in Mystic Falls where no one will find us.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
(GRUNTING)
Aaron. Hey.
Do you have Elena?
Aaron, what's wrong?
Uh, Stefan and Damon are gonna kill me unless you give them Elena.
Damon Salvatore is locked in an impenetrable and inescapable fortified cell.
Or he's in front of me imagining what my kidney would taste like.
Fine. Meet me in my classroom.
Once I see you're safe, tell them I'll give them Elena.
Enzo?
Enzo, wake up.
When was the last time you were out in civilization?
What's that?
An insurance policy.
It guarantees you'll come back to me.
I'm giving you the day off.
You and Damon have some catching up to do.
(KATHERINE GRUNTING)
I don't hear you counting.
Three, four, five, six--
Good try.
Good try? That was horrible, Matt.
Come on. I'm paying you to make me hot again.
Whip me into shape and prolong this death thing as long as possible.
-Yeah, that'll happen. -What did you say?
No, seriously, I didn't hear you.
Oh, my God, I'm going deaf.
I'm going deaf. My entire body is falling apart.
(PANTING) Oh, God. I can't breathe.
I can't breathe. Water. Give me some water.
-Faster. -Deep breaths.
(INHALES THEN EXHALES)
If you're so anxious not to be dead...
...why don't you just have a vampire turn you?
Tried that.
Every time I ingest vampire blood...
...my body rejects it.
(BACK CRACKS THEN KATHERINE GROANS)
Who is that? I can't see.
It's Nadia. I told her you were here.
"Dear Nadia.
Sorry I had to kill your boyfriend, but it was the motherly thing to do.
Suicide, however, not very motherly of me."
Great, so, um, Stefan obviously gave you my suicide note.
What's your point?
Damn.
That's for trying to kill yourself without saying goodbye.
You wanna give me a little back story as to how you know one another?
Aaron is Aaron Whitmore.
He comes from a long line of vampire-probing, blood-testing...
...organ-removing freaks called Augustine.
-Why do you know this? -Because I was their test subject in the '50s.
-What do you mean test subject? -Meaning I donated my body to science.
Except I was alive and it was against my will.
Wait, hold on a minute. How do I not know about this?
(DAMON SIGHS)
Don't get all guilt-ridden Stefan on me. We were on the outs then.
And by the time it was over, you know, it was over.
-Why don't you finish the story? -I don't recall saying that you could talk.
Did I say he could talk?
-I don't remember anything. -I didn't think so.
I get it now.
If I was living here, I'd wanna kill myself too.
It was a moment of weakness. I'm over it.
In a moment of weakness, you eat chocolate or kiss the wrong boy.
You don't jump off a clock tower.
Do you see this?
This is raw kale.
In what universe would I put this inside of my body...
...unless I actually wanted to live another day?
Okay.
Then what changed your mind?
It's not so much a matter of what, as it is who.
Can I ask you something...
...absentee mother to mildly abusive daughter?
I'm listening.
Do you think...
...after all the horrible things that I've done...
...it would be possible to be forgiven?
Of course I do.
That's actually why I'm here.
I may have an idea that will keep you alive longer.
I'm listening.
(LOUD CRACK NEARBY)
(ELECTRICITY BUZZING)
When did you meet my dad?
He was working with Augustine to turn vampire blood into a magical cure-all...
...to fight disease...
...cure cancer, save the world.
Do you know if he ever brought a vampire down here?
I remember coming down here as a kid.
There was something about this place that always creeped me out.
Wes, I saw Enzo...
...when I woke up.
I know he's alive.
Where is he?
He's on a little day trip.
Apparently, he has some unresolved business with your boyfriend.
What did you do?
-Which one is it? -It's right here.
21051.
Enzo?
It's been a while, mate.
-Who the hell are you? -Lorenzo.
But my friends call me Enzo.
Ah. Kidding. I don't have any friends.
(CHUCKLES)
Enzo's another Augustine vampire.
Our cells were next to each other. So we're here to meet somebody.
-Wes. Do you know him? -That's your first question for me?
Not, "How are you? How did you survive in that fire I left you to die in?"
Uh, does somebody wanna tell me what's going on here?
I'd love to. Have a seat.
I've been waiting 70 years to tell my story.
Enzo is the Augustine vampire.
He killed my roommate Megan, didn't he?
Conserve your energy.
We've drained enough blood to start phase two.
Let me guess.
You're not gonna tell me what phase two is, are you?
If it works, you'll be the first one to know.
Why did Megan have a picture of my dad in her cell phone?
Maybe because her parents helped fund your father's projects.
They knew about Augustine too?
Well, no.
They knew your dad had an unregulated compound that could cure most injuries.
Vampire blood.
WES: Exactly.
But as Megan grew up, she got suspicious.
Enrolled at Whitmore. Roomed with Dr. Gilbert's daughter.
Then went to a party at Whitmore House and put her nose where it didn't belong.
She found Enzo in his cell.
And being clueless to what a starving vampire will do around human blood...
...I'm guessing she got too close.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
Aaron.
-Where's Elena? -Who's this?
We have Aaron and we're trying to decide how to kill him.
Funny. I have Elena and I'm wondering how she'll function without her cerebral cortex.
Touch him and you'll never see her again.
That threat works both ways.
Damon and I had been locked in those cells for years.
Tortured, beaten, humiliated.
But we weren't gonna let them break us.
No. We decided if we were gonna escape, we needed to work together.
We needed each other.
(DOOR OPENS)
-He's not sending her. -Tragic.
-Can I continue my story? -Doesn't he know we have Aaron?
He doesn't care. He's willing to risk it.
Let me talk to him. He'll listen to me.
What part of "he doesn't care" are you not registering?
Where were we?
Uh, oh, right. I was telling my story and you were all politely listening.
Eh? So I'd given Damon all of my blood rations...
...so he'd have the strength to escape and save me in the process.
Our plan began perfectly. Didn't it?
I was waiting in the cage for him to release me.
Waiting for my friend...
...my cell mate...
...the only soul with whom I'd connected with in all those years of captivity.
(PEOPLE CLAMORING)
Then a fire starts. Burns out of control.
But Damon just can't get the damn cage open.
(GRUNTING)
He looks me in the eye...
...as if he doesn't even recognize me, turns around, saves himself.
Leaving me to die.
You didn't die, obviously.
No, unfortunately I lived. I was spared by one of the scientists...
...so I could spend another 50 years on a table being opened and closed.
Now that we've all been acquainted...
...I'm gonna go find something to wet my whistle.
You didn't tell me about him.
It was the 1950s. I'm supposed to remember every moment of my life?
-You wanna kill Aaron or should I? -This guy was your cell mate.
You left him to die. He comes back and you're unfazed.
-Fine. I will. -Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Hold on, hold on. Wes gave me a bunch of files on my family history.
In my dorm. Maybe there's something in there you need.
A name? I mean, another lab?
That's a timely revelation.
Yeah, you know, he's not gonna help me, so why should I help him?
I don't like you. I don't like your family.
I don't like you messing with my relationship.
If you're lying, I'm gonna take my thumbs...
...and gouge out your sad little eyes out of your sad little head.
Ah! It's frightening what you can find on campus.
Knock yourself out. We're going with plan B.
Damon's not. Damon's staying right here.
He knows all my secrets...
...so he knows how ornery I can get when I don't get my way.
Call me if you find anything.
Kill him if you don't.
Let's go.
You didn't just propose spirit possession with a straight face?
You said my grandfather was a Traveler, which means your father was a Traveler...
...therefore you are a Traveler.
We just need one who can teach you the Passenger Spell.
Hang on. I'm hardly a Traveler, okay?
My father banned us from doing Traveler magic.
He said it was the Devil's work, or something dramatic that terrified us.
And then I became a vampire and never thought about it again.
But it's in your blood.
Which means you have the ability to keep living inside someone else's body.
Gregor was a Traveler.
He put his spirit inside Matt, so that even after his body died, he lived on.
Yes, he lived on. In a busboy.
Good idea, Nadia. Let's put my essence in some nobody.
Thing is, Stefan actually likes this body.
What are you talking about?
Stefan and I may have rekindled an old flame last night.
I see.
So when you asked me about forgiveness...
...you were asking about him...
...not me?
Look, maybe I don't wanna die...
...a sad, lonely 538-year-old.
If I have to bow out...
...knowing that Stefan still cares might not be the worst way to go.
No, you had it right the first time.
Go kill yourself. See if anyone misses you.
What about cricket?
Did that ever become a thing here?
-No. -Oh, shame.
Fun sport. Not that I can play.
Took up drawing for a while.
Of course I had no pencils.
I'd just prick my finger and paint the cell wall with my blood.
What do you want?
You want me to feel guilty? I couldn't save you.
Now, where's Elena?
(GRUNTING)
What's wrong with you?
Wes injected me with poison that'll stop my heart.
I'll desiccate if I don't return for the antidote.
All the more reason to tell me where he is.
You get the antidote, I'll save my girlfriend, we'll kill Wes together.
Did you even think about it after you left? The experiments, the cell?
Or did you just go out and live your merry life to its fullest?
Look at me. If you go back, we go back together.
We finish this for good.
Come on.
You're not gonna see your girl again, Damon.
Because I want the antidote, and Wes told me not to come back until you were dead.
(GROANS)
I imagine you just broke your clavicle.
Probably a few lumbar and thoracic vertebrae.
It's funny what you learn about your body when it's taken apart right before your eyes.
I'm not gonna fight you, Enzo.
What are you gonna do, then? Run?
You're good at that.
I wanna find my girlfriend.
All right?
While you were out running wild, I had one single thought...
...that of the pleasure of killing you.
(BOTH GRUNTING)
Enzo, look at me.
-Bloody poison! -Where is she?
-Where is Elena? Tell me where she is! -Or what? You'll never see her again.
It might be good for you to know what it's like to miss someone for 60 years.
Enzo, look at me.
Hey! Enzo! Where is she? Where is she?
Enzo, hey.
All the files of my family history are in here.
Hurry up.
Was this all a lie, huh?
If you want me to kill you, I will kill you. Do not test me.
I'm dead already. Damon's been planning my death since before I was born.
What are you talking about?
Damon left out the best part of the Augustine story, the part after he escaped.
(COUGHING)
Talk.
It wasn't enough for Damon to kill the doctors who tortured him.
He had to torture their families...
...and their future families.
He spent the last 60 years killing every one of my relatives.
Except he's a psychopath.
He keeps one alive so they can continue the family line.
So that he can destroy future generations of innocent people.
So go ahead and do it. Kill me.
Because I don't wanna give Damon the satisfaction, so do it.
Do it!
You know, not all of us are like my brother.
Stefan?
This is everything Wes gave me on Augustine.
I saw Elena's last name on a few pages. Maybe it'll help.
(MAN SCREAMING NEARBY)
(CHAINS RATTLING)
GRAYSON: Hey.
You're not supposed to be down here.
-Basement's a kid-free zone, remember? -I heard someone screaming.
Oh, it's okay. Everything's fine. In fact, today's a good day, Elena.
-Why? -Daddy's gonna save a little girl's life.
She's about the same age as you. Pretty cool, huh?
All right, get out of here. Doctor's orders.
Okay, Dad.
Good news. The sample cells mutated. My compound worked.
I don't follow.
You kicked me out of Bio, remember?
You've heard of Pavlov.
Conditioned his dog to salivate at the sound of a bell.
This compound is like that bell, except, instead of a ding...
...your body will salivate at the smell of vampire blood.
Oh, my God.
That's what you did to Jesse.
You turned him into some rabid vampire who only wanted to feed on other vampires.
Jesse was a fantastic case study, but he took too long to condition.
Considering the size of the vampire population...
...a single-dose injection is much more efficient.
Yeah, but he couldn't stop feeding.
He tried to kill Damon.
Exactly. Vampires are now one shot away from craving their own kind.
And you're about to be Patient Zero.
What?
No. No, you can't do that to me.
You'll turn me into a ripper.
I know.
Subject 83182, prep for compound injection.
No. No.
-Please, you can't do this to me. -You'll be doing the world a favor, Elena.
-I might not be able to kill vampires... -No. Let me go.
-...but you will. -No.
(ELENA YELLS)
STEFAN: Elena! -Stefan!
-I'm down here. I'm here. Stefan. -Oh, God.
(ELENA GROANING)
Come here.
You're okay. I got you.
I got you, I got you.
I got you.
Get me out of here.
STEFAN: Come on. Come on.
Wait. Wait, wait.
Look, we're closing, so....
We met on a little patio like this.
Remember?
The twinkly lights, music.
That was a fun night.
Yeah, I'd kind of rather just put us, uh...
...behind us.
Fine.
Will do.
But I need you to hold onto this for me.
The Traveler's knife?
-No way. I just got rid of that thing. -It's not about you.
I'm leaving Mystic Falls. I need to know it's safe.
Why? And why do people want it?
I thought I could convince Katherine to live longer.
I was wrong.
But if she changes her mind, she will need this.
That's all you need to know.
Well, she won't.
Because Katherine cares about Katherine and only Katherine.
If she doesn't wanna do something, she won't.
I spent 500 years searching for her.
I finally find her only to lose her all over again.
I don't know if I should hate her for giving up...
...or be at her side when she dies.
Listen.
I get the whole crappy parenting thing.
My mom kind of sucked.
She was selfish and...
...she drank too much and never really thought about how it would affect me.
Then you know what it's like to hold on to the hope...
...that maybe, just once...
...she'll do what you want.
If she changes her mind...
...the knife will be with me.
DAMON: Yeah.
Huh. Never mind.
What did you do now?
Well, I injected you with a bunch of these that say "antidote."
Apparently, one of them worked.
If this is some attempt to make amends, it's pathetic.
I don't care about amends.
My girlfriend's safe, so technically I'm not suffering.
And it would suck if you desiccated in vain.
And I wanted to tell you my side of the story.
You asked me if I thought about you after I escaped, and the answer is no.
And I didn't feel guilty about leaving you.
Because in order for me to save myself and leave you...
...I had to shut off my humanity, damn it.
So I flipped the switch.
And I felt nothing.
No remorse, no regret.
No pain.
And now...
...what do you feel...
...remorse?
Regret?
Pain?
Even if I forgave you, Damon, would that make you less horrible?
We're even, Enzo.
You were the most important person in my life, and you ruined me.
That's just who you are. It's who you'll always be.
A monster.
It's weird. Even as a kid, something about that basement creeped me out.
Sure you wanna give yourself nightmares reading that thing?
ELENA: Mm.
I remember my dad talking about this little girl.
I think he was talking about my roommate, Megan. Look, "January, 1999.
Saw Megan King today. Megan is 7 years old.
She suffers from a congenital heart defect with a life expectancy of two months.
A single injection of vampire blood appears to be an effective life-saving solution."
That's why Megan had a picture of my dad, because he saved her life.
Hundred pages of horrific torture and you find the one happy passage.
My dad used his research to save people, Damon.
Children, families.
Yeah, and dissected vampires along the way.
Newsflash, Elena, you are a vampire.
Do you honestly think that he would see you as anything more?
I don't know.
He's my dad. I can't not defend him.
No, I know you can't.
You do it for me all the time.
I'm not defending you.
I'm not defending your decision to kill Aaron's entire family.
To go out of town and kill his aunt while we were still together.
So why are you still here?
I'm bad, Elena. I am bad for you.
Why wouldn't you run away from me as far as possible?
Because I love you, Damon.
Because I chose you, and because I stand by my choice.
And now I'm choosing.
And I'm choosing to let you go.
What?
No, Damon--
I am choosing to not have to think about how you feel...
...every time some ghost from my past comes into our life.
I'm choosing to relieve you...
...of having to defend me for every awful thing I've ever done.
Stop acting like I'm perfect.
Damon, I've done horrible things too.
Think I'm gonna stand here and judge you...
-..after I find out you've been tortured? -Stop defending me!
I won't change who I am.
I can't.
But I refuse to change you.
(SIGHS)
(SOBBING)
Can I come in, or are you gonna freak out and run away again?
I'm getting wrinkles.
(STEFAN CHUCKLES)
Katherine Pierce's chickens come home to roost in the form of wrinkles.
It's kind of brilliant.
What's the opposite of funny? Oh, right. Not funny.
Hmm.
So, what are you, uh, doing in my room?
I wanna talk about last night.
Okay.
So talk.
Well, um....
It was a long day.
We had a moment, and we got swept up in it.
Did you memorize that from...
-...a textbook or something? -Katherine, what do you expect?
You want me to just forget everything that you've put me through...
...for the last 147 years?
I'm dying, Stefan.
I know you are, and I'm sure that you will figure a way out of it.
No. I mean, it's for real this time.
Look at me.
I'm dying.
What does someone have to go through to get a little redemption?
A hundred and forty-seven years...
...is a long time to forgive in one night.
One night.
An eternity.
You'd never look at me the way you look at Elena, would you?
Good night, Stefan.
Hey.
I'm sorry that you're dying.
Trust me...
...I am too.
Wes? Wes.
WES: Aaron.
What the hell is this place, huh?
One of Augustine's research labs.
You really think that you're helping people with this vampire crap?
You sold me out, used my life as a bargaining chip.
(WES GRUNTS)
Aaron, I'm sorry.
I never wanna see you again.
Get the hell out of my life.
Aaron!
So do we have a deal?
You'll find me a Traveler that'll teach me how to do the spell?
I guess this means you want to live?
I'm a survivor. Staying alive is my specialty.
Mm. Assuming, of course, it's on your terms.
Clearly Stefan inspired some profound thinking.
I think Stefan believes that a part of me can still be redeemed.
And what do you think? Is he right?
(SIGHS)
(GRUNTS)
Hello?
(GASPING)
Katherine?
(OVER PHONE) Katherine? s he right?