Age of Innocence/Transcript

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Age of Innocence
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season	7
number	3
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FLASH-FORWARD-- BROOKLYN, NEW YORK & UNKNOWN STREET, 2016

[Three years from now, Stefan has just arrived outside a storage facility in BROOKLYN, NEW YORK and is in the middle of dialing a number on his phone when he quickly gets out of his car. He's wearing the same gray tshirt and jeans that he was wearing in the flash-forward in Day One of Twenty-Two Thousand, Give or Take, and his tshirt has a large bloody stain right over his chest. It is presumably right before Stefan woke Damon up from his desiccation. After a moment, Tyler, who is driving on an UNKNOWN STREET in some metropolitan city and who is wearing a fancy suit, answers the phone using the bluetooth in his car]

TYLER: Hello?

STEFAN: [frantically] Tyler, it's Stefan. Have you spoken to Caroline?

TYLER: [sighs] No, and please don't ask me to. I have no desire to get mixed up in your drama with her.

STEFAN: [anxiously] Listen to me-- my scar opened up. I don't have much time. I need you to warn Caroline. She's not taking my calls.

[Tyler seems both stunned and concerned by this news and pauses before he finally responds]

TYLER: Okay, I'm on it. But you should be running.

STEFAN: I'm way ahead of you. Take care of yourself, Tyler.

[Stefan hangs up the phone and finishes packing a leather duffle bag with all of the important belongings in his car, including passports, money, stakes, and a change of clothes. Once he's finished, he removes the bag from the trunk of his car and pulls out a tank of gasoline, which he begins to pour all over the car and the rest of the contents of the trunk that he's leaving behind. Once he's done, he pulls out a lighter and lights it, but before he can throw it in the car, he pauses at the sight of his journal laying on top of the trunk's contents. Panting from exertion, he pulls the journal out of the car at the last minute and then throws the lighter into the trunk. He wastes no time turning and walking away as the flames grow larger and engulf his beloved Porsche]

TITLE CARD & OPENING CREDITS

PRESENT DAY-- WHITMORE COLLEGE / ALARIC'S APARTMENT, 2013

[Bonnie is sitting on the window seat in her dorm room at WHITMORE COLLEGE and writing in her diary. As she writes, Bonnie narrates her entry in voiceover]

BONNIE: [voiceover] Dear Elena... Not to dive into the bad news first, but there's a severe drought of good news lately. And, well... this sort of concerns you. Lily's hiding your coffin somewhere. She promised to keep you safe as long as Damon stays out of Mystic--

[Suddenly, Bonnie is overcome with more visions like the ones she got from touching the Phoenix Stone in the previous episode. The visions are once again about at least one man who is covered in blood and screaming in agony as he's tortured, and multiple flashes of a cross-shaped wound on his chest are seen as well]

[The scene cuts to some time later, where Bonnie is just beginning to come to after having fainted from the intensity of the visions. She jolts upright when she realizes what happened and looks panicked as she tries to catch her breath]

[Meanwhile, Damon, fresh out of the shower, walks into the living room of ALARIC'S APARTMENT, where he's sitting in a chair, reading a book and examining the Phoenix Stone. When Alaric hears him coming, he immediately hides the stone in his nearby duffle bag. The room is a mess-- his coffee table is covered in empty liquor and beer bottles, and there are clothes strewn everywhere]

DAMON: You seen my phone?

ALARIC: I've, uh, seen your empties, your dinner...

[He holds up a black and blue disposable razor that was laying on the coffee table as well]

ALARIC: Your razor.

[He tosses the razor back on the table before sitting back and sighing]

ALARIC: You know, some clothes would be nice.

[Damon sees his phone laying under Alaric's legs and smacks them playfully as he bends over to grab it from under him]

DAMON: Got it!

ALARIC: [exasperatedly] How long are you planning on crashing here, Damon? You know, you could compel yourself a whole sorority house if you wanted to.

DAMON: [smirks] And miss this Odd Couple squalor? I'm starting to enjoy the luxury of having one barely-functional shower-head after years of being tortured by the four that I have in my actual home.

[Alaric gives him an annoyed look, and Damon sighs]

DAMON: Relax! It's just 'til we hunt down Lily's lone-wolf Heretic and swap him out for my girlfriend in a coma.

ALARIC: [skeptically] Yeah? And, uh, how long until that happens, huh?

[Damon checks a message on his phone]

DAMON: Pretty soon, thanks to Donovan. A phrase no one has uttered... ever.

[He chuckles in amusement]

DAMON: He's checking Lily's cell phone records.

[Just then, Bonnie walks into the room with an irritated look on her face]

DAMON: Hi, Bon-Bon!

[When Bonnie sees Damon in a towel, she pauses, clearly creeped out]

BONNIE: Please tell me I'm not interrupting something...

ALARIC: [defensively] Oh, trust me-- you're not. What's up?

BONNIE: That Phoenix Stone that I touched yesterday... you did destroy it like you promised me, correct?

ALARIC: [alarmed] Why? What happened?

BONNIE: I just had another vision-- a flash of horrified people with x-shaped wounds on their skin. And, when I opened my eyes, ten minutes had gone by.

[Alaric squirms uncomfortably in his chair, but tries his best to look casual]

ALARIC: The stone's gone. I, you know, watched in dissolve in hydrofluoric acid.

BONNIE: [suspiciously] You're positive?

ALARIC: [scoffs] Bonnie, the stone's gone.

[Just then, Damon returns to the conversation]

DAMON: Who wants to go to Myrtle Beach?

BONNIE: I'm busy.

ALARIC: Pass.

DAMON: Well, that's too bad, because Lily made a bunch of phone calls that bounced off a cell tower there, and something tells me she's not making plans for her spring break.

BONNIE: [confused] Why would Lily send one of her Heretics to Myrtle Beach?

DAMON: Tell you what-- you ask him yourself after he's safe in my car's trunk, hmmm? So, anyone up for an old-fashioned hostage-swap?

ALARIC: Does agreeing to go mean you putting on pants?

[Damon smirks gleefully and pulls the towel off of his waist before throwing it at Alaric. Bonnie, getting an eyeful of Damon's now-naked body, covers her eyes with her hand]

DAMON: I'll even give you shotgun!

SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE / MYSTIC GRILL

[Caroline is sitting on Stefan's bed in his old bedroom, where she's continuing to read his journal. As she reads, Stefan's voice narrates the entry in voiceover]

STEFAN: [voiceover] Valerie was like a breath of fresh air. I'd been suffocating, and hadn't even realized it...

[Caroline's reading is interrupted by an music box, which appears on the nightstand next to her, playing a quiet song as the ballerina inside spins around. The music box then disappears, causing Caroline to frown in confusion until the music box pops onto the desk. It then disappears again and reappears in front of Caroline on the bed. Before Caroline can even process this, the box explodes like a bomb with such intensity that Caroline is thrown off of the bed. She tumbles onto the floor and is covered by a shower of splintered wood as the sound of two women giggling in the next room is heard. Caroline groans in annoyance and sighs]

CAROLINE: [shouts] UGH! Thanks, Nora and Mary Louise! Real classy!

[She props herself onto her elbows and lowers her voice]

CAROLINE: I hate you both.

[Just then, a cell phone on the floor begins to buzz, and Caroline, both confused and excited, scampers over to answer it. It's Stefan, who is at the MYSTIC GRILL]

CAROLINE: Hello?

STEFAN: [confused] Caroline?

CAROLINE: [relieved] Stefan!?

STEFAN: How are you on my phone right now?

CAROLINE: You must have dropped it when you got threshold-vacuumed out of here yesterday.

STEFAN: [worried] How are you? Are you okay?

CAROLINE: Well, I'm spelled into your room by a menagerie of mean girls, but other than that...

STEFAN: [sighs] I know. I'm still trying to figure out a way to get into the house.

CAROLINE: I'll be fine. Just keep Damon from killing any more Heretics.

STEFAN: I will. Lily's only keeping you there to turn me against Damon. I'll convince her that I hate his guts, and she'll have made her point.

[Caroline frowns, clearly uncomfortable with the subject she's about to bring up, but also too curious not to ask him about it]

CAROLINE: Who's Valerie Tulle? You wrote about her in your journal from 1863. She must have found a copy in the Prison World.

STEFAN: [stunned] Are you talking about one of the Heretics?

CAROLINE: Yeah. Dirty blonde hair, blue eyes? She's one of my new psycho housemates...

[Suddenly, Valerie appears behind her and squeezes the hand Caroline is using to hold the phone so tightly she's forced to drop it on the floor, even as Valerie is burned by the vervain in Caroline's skin]

CAROLINE: [moans] UGH!

STEFAN: [concerned] Caroline?

VALERIE: Dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, psycho-- summarized me to a tee!

[Valerie kicks Caroline's head so hard that she is knocked out, and she crumples in a heap on the floor]

MYSTIC GRILL

[Stefan, now very worried, continues to try to get a hold of Caroline on his phone, to no avail]

STEFAN: Caroline?

[When his phone beeps to indicate the call has ended, he groans in frustration and hangs up. Just then, he hears the sound of glass shattering behind the Grill and rushes outside to see what is going on. When he gets outside, he sees Lily, who is in the driver's seat of an older car and is in the middle of parking between Stefan's Porsche and another car. She hits the latter's front bumper, knocking it off, and sighs in annoyance before slowly inching forward. When Stefan sees her heading for his car, he vamp-speeds until he's standing in between the Porsche and Lily's car]

STEFAN: You can take my town, you can destroy my house, but you will not touch my car!

[Lily, realizing Stefan is behind her, turns off her car and gets out to greet him]

LILY: Good morning, Stefan.

STEFAN: [confused] What are you doing?

LILY: I was out practicing my driving and saw an opportunity to work on my parallel parking.

[Suddenly, the sound of hissing air is heard as Lily's car slumps slightly on one side. Stefan and Lily walk around the car to check out one of the driver's-side tires]

LILY: [embarrassed] I must have run over a nail or something. The streets around here are a disgrace.

STEFAN: Listen-- you need to tell those spoiled brats living in my house to stop torturing Caroline.

LILY: [calmly] Of course. As soon as you tell your brother to stop killing said spoiled brats.

[Lily opens up the trunk of her car to search for the tool box to start repairing her flat tire]

STEFAN: Damon and I aren't really speaking right now.

LILY: [surprised] Really?

STEFAN: [shrugs] I have no idea where he is. Apparently, you did both of us a favor when you told him to leave town.

LILY: Then I will give a lecture to the girls on their manners.

STEFAN: [frowns] Is one of those girls named Valerie Tulle?

LILY: [smiles] I was wondering when you might put those pieces together. I knew Valerie years before you did. She worked in my TB ward. After I turned, I took her under my wing. If memory serves me, you didn't meet her until 1863.

STEFAN: [suspiciously] How would you know that I met her?

LILY: Because, Stefan... I sent her to you.

[Suddenly, they're both transported to a flashback]

FLASHBACK-- MYSTIC FALLS COUNTY FAIR, 1863

[The county fair is underway near Mystic Falls, and the fairgrounds are full of people. Stefan, dressed in a fine day suit, is sitting on a bench and writing in his journal when Valerie, wearing the traditional day gown of the time period, approaches him]

VALERIE: You have to move.

STEFAN: [confused] Excuse me?

VALERIE: [smiles] Your sad mood is spoiling the fun for everyone!

[Both Valerie and Stefan laugh in amusement]

VALERIE: I'm Valerie Tulle.

STEFAN: Stefan Salvatore. Are you new to town?

VALERIE: Just passing through.

STEFAN: [smiles] I hope not too fast.

[Valerie seems surprised by his kindness and smiles back at him]

PRESENT DAY-- SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE

[Caroline finally comes to after being knocked out and moans in pain]

CAROLINE: Ohhh....

[Valerie, who is standing in front of where she's laying on the floor, holds up Stefan's journal. When Caroline sees her, she sits up quickly]

VALERIE: How do you have this?

CAROLINE: [hesitates] Nora gave it to me. What was the deal with you and Stefan?

[Valerie sits in a nearby chair and smirks at her]

VALERIE: Wouldn't you like to know?

[Caroline, unable to resist her curiosity, switches to mean-girl tactics]

CAROLINE: [sarcastically] You know what? You're right. I'm already in enough pain. The last thing I need to think about is some girl who batted her eyelashes at Stefan, like, a million years ago.

VALERIE: [amused] "Some girl?" I wasn't just some girl to him, Caroline. I was the first love of Stefan's life.

MYSTIC GRILL

[Stefan and Lily continue to talk outside while Stefan helps her change her flat tire]

STEFAN: Why did you send Valerie to me?

LILY: To check on you. Like any mother longing for her children, I was in a black hole of depression.

[Stefan's expression is skeptical, but Lily just shoots him a stern look]

LILY: Yes, Stefan, I'm more than the cold-hearted snake you and your brother wish me to be. It took me a long time to get over losing you.

[She sighs]

LILY: Anyway, I had been invited to travel to Europe with a... a vampire gentleman-friend of mine, but I refused to leave until I knew that my boys were okay.

STEFAN: [chuckles] Heh. A gentleman-friend. You had a boyfriend?

LILY: His name was Julian.

[Stefan continues to chuckle, which makes Lily blush]

LILY: What? You're acting as if that's absurd.

STEFAN: Well, your first husband shot and killed his own sons, so you'll have to excuse me if I don't trust your type.

[Lily's smile falls, and she's visibly offended by this insinuation]

LILY: Julian was nothing like your father.

STEFAN: [sarcastically] No? What was he? A nebbishy banker? Town butcher, perhaps?

LILY: [sighs] Julian was the man you are not supposed to fall for. So, of course, I did...

FLASHBACK-- MYSTIC FALLS COUNTY FAIR, 1863

[The county fair is still in full swing, and a well-dressed blonde man, Julian, is running a kissing booth where women can pay two pennies, which will be donated to the Confederate Army, to kiss him. He dips one of his customers as he kisses her, and when he breaks away and helps the woman upright, she gasps and fans herself. Julian then turns to the crowd to address them]

JULIAN: For the soldiers!

[The crowd cheers for him]

JULIAN: Have your tickets ready, ladies! The men on the battlefield need us!

[Julian smiles at the crowd, and looks at a nearby woman who has come up to kiss him]

JULIAN: [quietly] Hello.

[Julian's smile fades when he sees Valerie and Stefan sitting together on a nearby bench. Valerie tosses a piece of popcorn at Stefan, who tries to catch it in his mouth, but it misses and lands on the ground next to him]

VALERIE: You have to hold still! It will be delicious, I promise.

[She tosses a piece of popcorn at him again, but he just barely misses it, and the two laugh. Just then, Julian approaches them, looking displeased]

JULIAN: Oh, ho ho ho! Aren't we lady-like?

[Valerie's face becomes serious when she sees him]

VALERIE: Stefan... Meet Julian.

[Stefan, eager to make a good impression, stands to shake his hand]

STEFAN: Your daughter and I were just appreciating the scientific wonder of gravitational force!

[Stefan chuckles nervously, but Julian just looks at him condescendingly]

JULIAN: Hmm. How wise you must sound to less intelligent men.

[Valerie, visibly worried, stands to try to mediate]

VALERIE: Julian is not my father.

STEFAN: [embarrassed] Oh, uh, my apologies! I just assumed--

JULIAN: [cuts him off] Incorrectly, as it turns out.

[Julian gives Valerie a significant look]

JULIAN: Valerie, darling-- a word?

[He grabs her by the arm and pulls her aside, much to Valerie's displeasure]

VALERIE: [quietly] Ugh, you're wrinkling my dress, Julian!

JULIAN: [angrily] What are you doing?

VALERIE: Lily sent us here to get a sense of his mood...

JULIAN: Exactly. His mood, not his manhood. Remember, his mother gave very strict instructions for us to keep our distance. Do not displease her.

VALERIE: I have everything under control.

PRESENT-DAY-- SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE

[Caroline and Valerie are still sitting in Stefan's room, where Valerie continues to tell her story]

VALERIE: I was lying I wasn't prepared for how taken I was with him. He was gorgeous and sweet...

[Caroline scoffs and interrupts her]

CAROLINE: And that's when you compelled him to write all those nice things about you in his journal. Spoiler! I've heard this story before, when a sweet, little orphan girl named Katherine Pierce waltzed into his life.

VALERIE: [rolls her eyes] I suppose that would have been easier had I actually had the ability to compel people. I wasn't a vampire back then. I was just a witch, rejected from her coven for being an abomination of nature because I had no power of my own. The only magic I had was contained in an amulet, to be siphoned in times of need.

FLASHBACK-- MYSTIC FALLS COUNTY FAIR, 1863

[Stefan and Valerie are walking through the fair together as they get to know one another]

STEFAN: I have a brother who's away at war, a father who judges me for not joining him, and a mother who was strong and kind. She died when I was ten.

[Valerie looks slightly guilty for deceiving him]

VALERIE: I'm so sorry.

STEFAN: [shrugs] Oh, it was a long time ago.

VALERIE: [smiles] There's no shame in missing her. A man on the outside with the heart of a boy? There are worse things.

[As they walk, they see that Julian is heading right toward them, and looks very unhappy]

STEFAN: [concerned] Your chaperon is... quite persistent.

[Valerie grabs hold of the amulet around her neck and smiles]

VALERIE: Then we shall elude him!

[She takes him by the arm]

VALERIE: Come.

STEFAN: [confused] What are you doing?

VALERIE: [chants in a whisper] Invisique.

[Using the amulet, she casts a cloaking spell, causing them both to vanish and forcing a confused Julian to walk past them without seeing them. Stefan looks at her in amazement]

STEFAN: How did he not see us?

VALERIE: [smiles] Would you believe me if I said magic?

[She leads him toward the woods, and Stefan laughs happily]

PRESENT-DAY-- SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE

[Caroline and Valerie continue to sit in Stefan's old room while Valerie tells her story. Caroline looks at her expectantly]

CAROLINE: And then...?

VALERIE: [smirks] None of your business!

CAROLINE: I know why you put that burning spell on me. It's not so Mary Louise and Nora couldn't touch me. It's so Stefan wouldn't.

[Caroline rolls her eyes]

CAROLINE: [snarkily] Be more obvious.

VALERIE: Well, since you're so curious... Please, allow me to continue.

FLASHBACK-- MYSTIC FALLS WOODS, 1863

[Night has fallen, and Valerie is leading a nervous-looking Stefan into the woods]

STEFAN: Julian is going to kill me.

VALERIE: [smiles] Just compliment the whiteness of his teeth. He'll forget all about it.

[They find an abandoned cart with a lit lantern on it, and Valerie sits on it, smiling at Stefan flirtatiously. Stefan smiles back at her before kissing her gently, and the two make out for a long moment until Stefan breaks away, looking mildly embarrassed. Valerie looks at him with concern]

VALERIE: Is something wrong?

STEFAN: [bashfully] No, no. It's just that I've never...

[He trails off, and Valerie realizes that he's a virgin. She smiles sweetly at him, and Stefan hesitates for a moment before gesturing to the front of her dress]

STEFAN: Do you mind if I...?

[Valerie nods, and he starts to unbutton the bodice of her dress before the two begin to make out more passionately this time. Valerie shrugs off her jacket before turning away from him so Stefan can unlace her corset. Once he's finished, he moves closer behind her and kisses her neck, and Valerie holds tightly to the cart to support herself as they slowly make love]

PRESENT-DAY-- SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE

[Caroline looks stunned and a little upset after learning the details of their affair, but Valerie looks smug]

VALERIE: It was his first time. I'm sure you've been someone's first, so you know what it's like to have a completely unforgettable place in someone else's mind.

[Caroline gulps nervously and looks devastated for a moment before recovering enough to unconvincingly reply]

CAROLINE: ...Of course.

[Caroline's discomfort seems to satisfy Valerie, who chuckles at her]

VALERIE: That's what I thought.

MYRTLE BEACH HOTEL

[Alaric, Damon, and Bonnie have just gotten settled in the room they rented out while they quietly plan their hostage situation. Alaric is loading up one of his vervain dart guns as he turns to speak to Damon]

ALARIC: Okay, so... what's the plan?

DAMON: Okay-- fair trade. One Heretic in good condition for the coffin housing Elena.

ALARIC: [side-eyes him] No, I meant the plan where we try to capture a powerful Heretic who'd prefer we were dead.

DAMON: [nods] Easy!

[Damon gestures to Bonnie]

DAMON: B-Town stuns him with magic, you should him with vervain, I--

[Damon makes a clicking noise with his tongue]

DAMON: --Snap his neck.

BONNIE: Yeah, but after we get him to siphon away my visions.

ALARIC: [alarmed] Wait, what?

BONNIE: [shrugs] Well, the visions are magic. He's a Siphon. It's worth a shot, right?

[Damon gives Alaric a significant look]

DAMON: Any other suggestions of how we can rid Bonnie of this mysterious pain she's in, Ric?

[Alaric looks uncomfortable but ultimately shakes his head no. The three then leave to go to room 227, where the mysterious sixth Heretic, Oscar, has been staying. Damon knocks on the door before calling out to him]

DAMON: Room service! Free shrimp!

[After a moment, Oscar opens the door. His eyes are slightly swollen, and his hair is disheveled, suggesting that he's been indulging in alcohol and drugs]

OSCAR: Hey, you folks have the wrong-- holy!

[Suddenly, he recognizes Damon and breaks out in a smile]

OSCAR: Damon Salvatore!

DAMON: [confused] You know me...?

OSCAR: Of course I know you! It's good to see you're well, old friend. Come here, man!

[He opens his arms wide, and Damon, still a little creeped out, gives him a hug]

DAMON: Hey, all right...

[Once they're done, Oscar gestures for them to come into his room]

OSCAR: Haha! Come in, come in!

[After the break, Damon, Bonnie, and Alaric follow Oscar inside his room and look around warily at the half-dozen or so dead women laying on various pieces of furniture. Alaric pulls out his vervain gun to be on the safe side]

OSCAR: Uh, you caught me in the middle of a seventy-two hour social gathering...

[Oscar tosses the women's clothes onto their bodies and kicks some empty liquor bottles aside before he sits down on the couch and sighs in relief]

OSCAR: Ahhh... Make yourself at home!

[Oscar looks over at the very tense Alaric and gulps nervously]

OSCAR: Uh, friend with the vervain gun? If you could holster that, I sure would feel a lot more comfortable.

[Alaric looks at him sheepishly before putting his gun away. Bonnie looks eager to make up for the initial awkwardness]

BONNIE: How do you know Damon?

OSCAR: [laughs] Oh, he's Lily's son! The hero soldier. We... We met at a bar near Gettysburg, July of 1863.

[Oscar looks at Damon expectantly, but he doesn't appear to remember, which seems to disappoint Oscar slightly]

OSCAR: Nothing?

DAMON: I go to a lot of bars.

[Oscar chuckles nervously]

OSCAR: Heh, right, right, right. Uh, well, your mom was going through a rough patch. She could not move on until she knew her boys were okay, so she sent me out to find you.

DAMON: [scoffs] My mother abandoned her family and ran for the hills. She doesn't give a flying crap about me.

OSCAR: [nods] I sense hostility, and that's fine.

[Oscar gestures around the room dramatically]

OSCAR: All emotions are valid and welcome here. But, it's the truth. She just wanted to know you were happy, Damon. She loved you.

[This statement seems to overwhelm Damon, and Oscar, realizing how tense the atmosphere has gotten, changes the subject]

OSCAR: Hey, you guys, what can I get you? Cocktail? Joint?

[He gestures to one of the girls on the bed]

OSCAR: Jenny?

DAMON: [suspiciously] Does my mom know you're here?

[Oscar's eyes widen in alarm for a moment before he starts giggling]

OSCAR: Hey, hey, hey! Shhhh! Hahahahaha!

[Bonnie, Alaric, and Damon share a confused glance as Oscar continues to giggle like a stoner]

MYSTIC FALLS ROADS

[Lily is driving down one of the country roads of Mystic Falls in her car while Stefan sits in the passenger seat. Lily looks over at Stefan curiously, but he quickly admonishes her]

STEFAN: No, no, no! Keep the car on this side of the road!

[Lily does as she's told, slightly embarrassed by the mistake, and pauses for a moment before speaking]

LILY: Valerie never told me about your romance...

STEFAN: Well, Valerie never told me that you were alive.

LILY: [gives him a look] Would it have mattered?

STEFAN: [offended] Is that a real question?

[Lily seems deeply affected by this answer]

LILY: She told me that you'd forgotten all about me. She said you had moved on. That... That was the only way I was able to move on, as well.

STEFAN: My mother was practically ripped out of my arms and sent to a TB ward. You don't move on from that. You find distractions.

FLASHBACK-- MYSTIC FALLS WOODS, 1863

[Stefan and Valerie kiss each other and smile after their tryst in the cart. Once they're redressed, Stefan leads her farther into the woods]

STEFAN: Come with me. I want to show you something.

[He takes her hand, and they continue walking until they reach a grave in the cemetery]

VALERIE: [chuckles nervously] Heh, this is romantic.

STEFAN: This is my mother's grave.

[Valerie freezes when she realizes what Stefan is doing, and a flash of guilt crosses her face as Stefan kneels in front of the grave]

STEFAN; I come here every day to replace the flowers. She's been dead for six years, but I'm still trying to make up for my failure.

VALERIE: [concerned] What do you mean by that?

STEFAN: [sighs] She had consumption. One day, her coughing would not stop. My father sent me to go buy some flowers to make an herbal tonic. I ran to town as fast as I could, but by the time I got home with the flowers, she had been taken to the sanatorium.

VALERIE: [sympathetically] You never got to say goodbye...

STEFAN: [nods] She died in the TB ward shortly after.

[Valerie, looking sad, walks over and kneels beside him as Stefan continues in a shaky voice]

STEFAN: I always wonder what would have happened if I had just been able to run a little faster. The tonic would have helped her. She could have lived.

[Valerie looks at the flowers on Lily's grave]

VALERIE: Were these the kind of flowers you were sent for?

STEFAN: Yes. Cream...

VALERIE: Cream violets.

[Valerie smiles at him sympathetically once again]

VALERIE: That tonic would not have saved her.

STEFAN: [stunned] That's... That's very kind of you, but you cannot be certain.

VALERIE: But I am. I worked in a sanatorium, caring for patients who were just like your mother. Cream violets have no medicinal properties. It's an old wives' tale.

[She gently brushes a lock of hair off of his forehead]

VALERIE: Your father sent you on a fool's errand. You were only ten. He... probably wanted you out of the house to make it easier on himself.

[Stefan seems overwhelmed by this revelation, and Valerie leans forward so their faces are almost touching]

VALERIE: No matter what, you couldn't have saved your mother. Her death is not your fault.

[She caresses his cheek with her hand, and he reaches up to squeeze it gently. It looks as though he's about to kiss her again when a male voice calls out from behind them. It's Julian, who looks extremely unhappy]

JULIAN: Time to say goodbye.

[Valerie and Stefan quickly stand to their feet and turn toward him, looking guilty]

JULIAN: I expected you would visit here sooner or later.

STEFAN: [frantically] Sir, if you would just let me explain...

JULIAN: We are leaving for New York now.

VALERIE: [pleadingly] I did not mean to disobey you--

JULIAN: [cuts her off] It was not me who you disobeyed. Come with me now, and we will speak no more of it. The carriage awaits.

[He turns and leaves to head for the carriage, and Stefan, looking sad, takes Valerie's hand before she can go]

STEFAN: When will I see you again?

[Valerie squeezes his hands]

VALERIE: I will find my way back to you. I promise.

PRESENT DAY-- SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE

[Caroline, who has just heard Valerie's side of the story, rolls her eyes]

CAROLINE: [snidely] So, it was kind of like The Notebook, except you two never reconnect, and he totally forgot about you.

VALERIE: [unamused] Julian was in a hurry to get back to Europe. He convinced me to lie to Lily, to tell her that Stefan was happy. Believe me, Julian had a way of convincing anyone to do anything.

MYRTLE BEACH HOTEL

[Meanwhile, Alaric, Damon, Bonnie, and Oscar are still sitting in Oscar's room, getting to know each other. Oscar is laying on his back on the floor in front of the couch, twiddling with a gold lighter, presumably still high and/or drunk]

ALARIC: So, why did Lily send you here?

OSCAR: [chuckles] She didn't send me here, exactly... She had a job, and I volunteered. And she has the family on a short leash back home, with this whole, "I took you in as orphans, so I know what's best for you"-vibe. No, thank you.

[Damon and Bonnie share a wary glance]

OSCAR: You know you can get a drink served to you in a fishbowl here? Hahaha!

[Alaric rolls his eyes in annoyance, and Oscar sits up to see them better. He pulls a business card out of his wallet]

OSCAR: Oh, hey! The other day, I called a number on this card, and just like that, I had a girlfriend!

BONNIE: [hesitantly] ...It's called an escort service.

[Oscar frowns in confusion]

OSCAR: But she really got who I am, you know?

[Bonnie, Damon, and Alaric begin to look even more overwhelmed by Oscar's weirdness as he continues to ramble]

OSCAR: It was a beautiful human experience! And that's what I've discovered here... freedom. The bad trip inside that prison world has ended, my friends, and I am breathing in what my soul was craving: f-r-e-e-dom.

[Bonnie gets an idea]

BONNIE: [kindly] Well, in the spirit of helping others with their freedom, I have a favor to ask you... You know, as a Siphoner.

OSCAR: [confused] Huh?

DAMON: Let me translate for you-- my friends were playing with some mystical tool they didn't quite understand, and now Bonnie's chasing her own white rabbit around the farm...

OSCAR: [gives them a look] So, you want me to, what, siphon her problems away?

[Bonnie shrugs, and Damon just smirks]

DAMON: Just think of it as one big magical toke!

OSCAR: [giggles] I don't... I don't really like to mix mediums, if you know what I mean?

[Damon's smile falls, and his tone becomes stern]

DAMON: Siphon the damn visions, we don't tell Lily that we saw you avoiding whatever mission you were sent to do, and we'll call it a day.

[Oscar shrugs and stands to his feet]

OSCAR: Okay, then.

[He gestures to Bonnie, who stands up and walks toward him]

OSCAR: Come on.

[Oscar puts his hands on the sides of Bonnie's head]

OSCAR: Ready?

BONNIE: Yeah.

[Oscar closes his eyes, and his hands start to glow red where he's siphoning Bonnie's magical visions. Just then, he begins to see flashes of the visions she's seen recently, including the bloodied men screaming in agony and the x-shaped wounds on their skin. After a moment, he backs away and looks at his visitors in shock]

OSCAR: Where's the Phoenix Stone?

[Alaric, alarmed, stands to his feet, and Bonnie looks at him in confusion before turning back to Oscar]

BONNIE: [hesitantly] Uh... How do you know about the Phoenix Stone?

OSCAR: [suspiciously] How do you know about the Phoenix Stone? What are you people up to?

[Alaric pulls out his vervain gun and aims it at Oscar, but before anyone else can process what is happening, Oscar throws his hand in front of him and casts a spell]

OSCAR: [chants] Espirimus paratis!

[Alaric's gun goes flying across the room, and when Oscar clenches his hand into a fist, Bonnie, Damon, and Alaric all begin gagging violently. After a moment, Oscar flicks his wrist, using his telekinesis to snap Damon's neck]

[Some time later, a recovered Damon walks over to Bonnie, who passed out on the floor, and rolls her onto her back to wake her as he takes a swig from a bottle of bourbon]

DAMON: Good news? Your visions are gone. Bad news? So's Oscar.

[Bonnie rubs her sore throat, and both she and Alaric groan in pain as they get onto their feet]

ALARIC: Ohhh...

[Alaric frantically feels around in his pants pockets and looks panicked when he finds them empty]

ALARIC: He took the stone.

BONNIE: [appalled] Uh, how is that possible when you destroyed it, Ric?

[Damon, trying to focus on the task at hand, stands between them]

DAMON: We need to find him right now.

[Bonnie, still shocked at this revelation, gives Damon a withering look]

BONNIE: Did you know he still had it?

[Damon becomes flustered as he desperately looks back and forth between Alaric and Bonnie]

DAMON: Aw, come on! I mean, y... I... A litt...

[Bonnie continues to glare at Damon, and he finally caves]

DAMON: ...Kind of. Ric, tell her what happened.

BONNIE: [frustrated] No, I'm asking you.

[Damon sighs and hesitates before responding]

DAMON: ...I live with the guy! Guys know stuff.

BONNIE: [angrily] You lied to me.

DAMON: [defensively] I didn't lie to you! Ric lied to you! I just kept my mouth shut.

[He realizes he's still standing in between Bonnie and Alaric and immediately walks toward the door]

DAMON: Wait, I'm not gonna be stuck in the middle of this. No, no-- you sort this out. I'm gonna go find our bargaining chip.

[Damon leaves, and Bonnie turns her angry glare toward Alaric, who looks guilty and exhausted]

BONNIE: So the visions, the lost time, the crippling headaches... they don't mean anything? Doesn't it matter to you?

[Alaric sighs in exasperation and frustration and walks toward her]

ALARIC: Oh, of course they matter! But bringing Jo back matters more.

BONNIE: You don't even know what this stone does... if it will work!

ALARIC: I was dead. Gone. And so were you, Bonnie. We came back. We got our second chance.

BONNIE: [frustrated] We were on the Other Side, okay? It doesn't exist anymore.

ALARIC: [sighs] Look, Jo was the love of my life. And if there is even a 1% chance that this could work, I need to take it, no matter how dangerous or insane it may be. Because if I don't, I'm gonna spend the rest of my life wishing I had stayed dead.

[Bonnie's anger lessens slightly, and she looks at him sympathetically as she considers his words]

MYSTIC FALLS ROADS / SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE

[On the BACK ROADS of Mystic Falls, Stefan is still giving Lily a driving lesson on the outskirts of town as they continue to talk. Lily looks over at him, but when he catches her, he points at the windshield]

STEFAN: No, no. Keep your eyes on the road.

[After a moment of silence, Stefan speaks up again]

STEFAN: Make a left here. It'll take us back into town.

[Lily does as she's told before she breaks her silence]

LILY: Is there anything else you'd like to know?

STEFAN: No. I mean, it doesn't matter-- obviously, it was all a lie, right?

LILY: [frowns] What do you mean?

STEFAN: Well, Valerie was using me.

LILY: [shakes her head] No. No, Valerie wouldn't have hurt you, because that would have inadvertently hurt me, as well.

STEFAN: [skeptically] Hmm. did it ever occur to you that maybe Valerie doesn't give a crap about you or anyone else?

LILY: [firmly] I don't believe that.

STEFAN: No? How about the part where she sent me a telegram saying she was coming back?

LILY: [shocked] She what?

STEFAN: She'd been gone a few months...

FLASHBACK-- MYSTIC FALLS, 1863 [In the car on the MYSTIC FALLS BACKROADS, Stefan narrates the story in voiceover to Lily while Valerie narrates her side of the story (which she had learned from reading his journal) in voiceover for Caroline at the SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE]

[In FLASHBACK, Stefan sits in a room at the Salvatore Estate and reads a telegram he received from Valerie with a smile. She narrates the letter in voiceover]

VALERIE: [voiceover] I promised I would find my way back to you. I long to be in your arms again.

[The scene cuts to the PRESENT DAY SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE, where Valerie is reading her telegram, which Stefan kept in his journal from 1863, aloud to Caroline, who looks sad as she hears it, both for Stefan's sake and because of the implications for her relationship with him]

STEFAN: [voiceover (to Lily)] She said she wanted to run away with me. Her telegram said to meet her Friday at noon. Heh, I showed up two hours early.

VALERIE: [voiceover (to Caroline)] He waited and waited for me. With every passing footstep, he would turn, expecting to see me.

[Stefan, hearing someone approaching, turns and sighs when he realizes it's just an older couple walking through town. They nod at him politely, but he still looks disappointed]

STEFAN: [voiceover (to Lily)] I sat around all day like an idiot-- past sundown, after nightfall-- but she never showed up. So, yeah, I guess you could say I'm wondering what the whole point was.

END FLASHBACK

[Back in the PRESENT DAY, Stefan looks over at Lily, who looks sad to hear this story]

LILY: Surely you're not still angry with her...

STEFAN: [coldly] It was 150 years ago.

[Over at the SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE, Caroline's eyes look wet as she frowns at Valerie, who looks very sad herself]

VALERIE: Eventually, he accepted that he'd been abandoned all over again, and then he walked home under the cold and distant stars.

CAROLINE: [quietly] How could you do that to him?

[Valerie is close to tears as well, and she suddenly shuts down]

VALERIE: There was a change of plan. I'm done talking to you about this.

[Caroline looks slightly disappointed, but seems to understand, and Valerie stands to leave the room. However, when she walks through the doorway, she stops and leans against it as she has another flashback to 1863]

FLASHBACK-- NEW YORK, USA, 1863

[It's nighttime, and Valerie is carrying a packed suitcase to the harbor. A foghorn blows loudly, but before she can make it to the dock, Julian pops out of the shadows and blocks her way]

JULIAN: Slipping away before sunrise on the very day our ship leaves for England?

[Valerie angrily tries to walk past him, but he grabs her roughly by the arm and spins her around as she fights against him]

VALERIE: Let me pass! I'm not going.

JULIAN: [insistently] Yes, you are. Because Lily will not travel anywhere without her precious little orphans, and it is imperative that I leave today.

[Valerie's eyes widen in fear, and she backs away from Julian slowly, which seems to amuse him]

JULIAN: Do I frighten you?

VALERIE: [nervously] No.

JULIAN: [grins] Because I can hear your heart beating faster. Both of your hearts, in fact. Does Stefan Salvatore know that you are pregnant with his child?

[Valerie looks both shocked and ashamed by this statement and flinches away from him as her eyes fill with tears]

PRESENT DAY-- MYRTLE BEACH HOTEL

[A nervous-looking Oscar is on his way to the lobby when Damon appears behind him]

DAMON: I lied. I do remember you. I was fighting for the South. It's not exactly a time I like to reminisce about in front of my friends.

[Oscar turns to face him, but looks slightly relieved by these words]

OSCAR: Yeah, you had the same opinion back then. Hated everything your side believed in. Hey, you wanted to desert, but feared shaming your old man.

DAMON: [suspiciously] You compelled me to take sick leave. The next day, my entire regiment was slaughtered in Gettysburg. You saved my life.

OSCAR: [shakes his head] I couldn't compel you back then. All I did was talk to you, from one human to another. I told you to follow your heart. Now, it's my turn to desert. I don't want to be part of Lily's cavalry, okay? I-I don't want rules, or-or a chain of command. I just want to have fun.

[Oscar laughs, and then walks toward Damon]

OSCAR: You know what? A little extra piece of advice-- A lot of people want the Phoenix Stone. Mess with it, and you end up dead.

DAMON: [smirks] Full disclosure-- I don't care about the stone.

OSCAR: [confused] Then why are you chasing me, man?

DAMON: Let's just say I'd like to cash you in for something way better.

[Damon vamp-speeds to the wall, pulls off a wooden railing, and stabs Oscar in the stomach with it before punching him hard in the face two times and kicking him so hard he flips in the air and falls onto his back. Oscar groans in pain and supports the stake in his stomach with one hand while he thrusts the other toward Damon]

OSCAR: [chants] Aerodux motus!

[Damon flies up into the air until he bounces off the ceiling and lands on his knees on the floor. Oscar then vamp-speeds toward Damon and holds him high in the air in a choke hold with one hand, using the other to stake him in the stomach in return. Before Oscar can push the stake into his heart, Bonnie appears behind him and hits him with a pain infliction spell that causes him to fall to his knees in agony]

BONNIE: [chants] Phesmatos mosinus pyros allum. Phesmatos mosinus pyros allum.

OSCAR: AHHH!

[Oscar continues to yell in pain until Alaric walks into the hallway and shoots him in the back with three vervain darts, which knocks him out pretty quickly. While Damon recovers from being staked in the stomach, Bonnie searches Oscar's pockets until she finds the Phoenix Stone. She hesitates for a moment before walking down the hallway to Alaric and reluctantly handing it to him]

BONNIE: Never lie to me again.

[At this, Damon smiles widely]

DAMON: Aw, my besties are buds again! Let's go make a deal.

[Alaric, Bonnie, and Damon all look relieved to have their new bargaining chip]

SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE

[Caroline, who is alone and still locked in Stefan's old room, has gone back to reading his old journal. After a moment, Lily, who has just arrived home, walks into the room to talk to her]

LILY: Is Valerie here?

CAROLINE: [rolls her eyes] I hear her leave the house. I guess torture makes her hungry.

[Lily, unsure of what to say, pauses awkwardly for a moment before speaking]

LILY: Forgive me for prying, but I heard your mother died this last spring...

CAROLINE: [annoyed] I just spent the day reliving Stefan's first time. I really don't feel like talking about my dead mother with my hostage taker, but thanks.

LILY: [slightly embarrassed] I was simply curious about one's ability to heal after such a loss.

CAROLINE: [confused] Well, you must have had a mother. I mean, even Mussolini had a mother.

LILY: Of course I had a mother.

CAROLINE: Then you know that love is different than any other kind of love.

[Caroline stands to her feet and picks up the journal before walking over to where Lily is standing]

CAROLINE: Stefan wrote about you all the time. You can read for yourself.

[Lily looks at her as though she thinks it's a trick, but Caroline just waves the journal in front of her]

CAROLINE: Here.

[Lily takes the journal from her and starts to skim the pages. As she reads, she's unable to conceal her happiness at what Stefan had to say about her]

CAROLINE: He loved you. He missed you.

[After a moment, Lily raises her voice to call into the next room]

LILY: Nora, remove the barrier spell, please.

[Lily looks over at Caroline and smiles]

LILY: As of this moment, Miss Forbes is no longer a prisoner.

[Caroline looks at Lily, clearly both wary and suspicious of this reaction]

CAROLINE: What, is this one of those mean-girl tricks?

LILY: No, it's a reward for Stefan's honesty. Go... before I change my mind.

[Caroline seems genuinely touched by this gesture, and hesitates for a moment]

CAROLINE: I don't know what made your heart grow four sizes today... but thanks.

[Before Lily can respond, Caroline vamp-speeds down the stairs and out the door, leaving Lily to continue reading Stefan's journal]

MYSTIC FALLS HOSPITAL

[Stefan is sitting on a bench outside the hospital, which is right where the bench was where he met Valerie in 1863. He sits on the bench silently for a long moment until Valerie appears and sits next to him]