As Jasmine reveled in the blood that was currently in front of her, the newly formed group formed a plan on the other side of town. Stefan, Damon, and, surprisingly, Bonnie were all sitting in the Salvatore Boarding House waiting for Caroline to arrive. Once she did, the blonde looked around the room searching for their missing brunette friend.

"Where's Elena? She's still not mad at me for being Katherine's spy, is she?" Caroline said nervously as she looked over at Stefan with wide eyes.

Stefan shook his head before softly speaking, "no, but we still have to pretend that we're not together since Katherine is still in town."

Bonnie looked at Stefan with narrowed eyes and a questioning expression, "isn't that a little overwhelming? Fighting over a repetitive topic?"

"Oh, it is... on all sides." They all ignore Damon who finished his glass of bourbon with a sarcastic smile.

The all settled down and looked to one another, wondering who was going to begin speaking first. Moments following an awkward tension, Caroline smiled and clapped her hands once, "so, what's the plan?"

Bonnie addressed everyone there but kept her eyes trained on Caroline, "they sent me another letter. They want me to meet them in half an hour at the new coffee and book shop—One Last Page Café." She turned her head when she heard someone clear their throat.

They all turned to watch as Damon stood to put his glass away, "perfect, I'll join you."

Everyone looked at him skeptically and even expected Bonnie to quickly deny, but they were in for another shock when the Bennett witch rolled her eyes and nodded, "just don't make things worse."

Seeing as they couldn't do much else on that problem until Bonnie met with the coven, Stefan wasn't sure what else he could say. The only thing on his mind was getting Jasmine back and that itself was proving to be moot. She wasn't returning his calls or texts and it seemed the locator spell Bonnie so generously provided proved to be a dead end. He didn't know where she was and it made him worry not knowing if she was okay.

"Okay what happens next?" They all gave Caroline quizzical looks as she stood, "I mean it just seems like everything is piling up. Mason trying to expose us, Katherine overall ruining our lives, Jasmine going AWOL, and this coven who wants to kill us. How are we supposed to go up against all of that?"

She had a point. Through all their years of living, the Salvatores had never rendered to so many things hitting them at once. They were at cross roads, but they had a common goal: save the ones they love. This was their home and they weren't going to give it up without a fight.

"Right now we have to keep up pretenses of a normal life. We shouldn't take Jasmine's successful plan to rid of Sheriff Forbes suspicions lightly. We'll keep a close ear to the floor for anything that might lead us to Jasmine... she could be anywhere and I would like to find her before things get too out of hand." Stefan stood as he responded, getting ready to leave.

Damon snorted and followed after his brother, "you have been conscious for the past several months, haven't you? Things got out of hand from the moment Jasmine arrived, but yes, I agree. Our first priority should be finding Jasmine."

"Caroline, Elena, and I will be over at the Lockwood Mansion to help set up for the masquerade tonight. Damon, you'll accompany Bonnie to the meeting place but stay hidden, Bonnie's safety comes first." Still skeptical about Damon joining Bonnie, Stefan shot a warning look in his brother's direction which was met with a roll of the eyes.

"Nothing will get past us, right, Bon-Bon?"

"Don't call me that."

If there was ever a moment when Stefan needed Damon to take things seriously, it was now, but of course he couldn't count on his brother to do just that, "please, behave. We need this to work."

As if reading his thoughts, or more so sensing the pattern, Damon patted his brother's back before opening the door and handing Bonnie her coat, "I know the severity of the situation, Stefan. Don't worry... I won't mess this up, too."

Both mentally hoping they could work together, Damon and Bonnie walked out the door with Caroline softly yelling for them to be careful. Bonnie turned around and gave Caroline a small nod before letting Damon open his car door for her.

Once they drove off, Caroline looked at Stefan wondering what they should do. Stefan simply smiled at her and gestured out the door. They had a party to help set up for.

----

Back at Jasmine's current residence, Kol sat on the arm chair and watched as Jasmine lounged on the sofa with her mouth attached to a girl's neck. He really did miss feeding with her, hell he missed being with her in general. Looking at her now, it reminded him of how much time continues to be stolen from them.

His little stroll down memory lane and simply enjoying watching Jasmine feed was interrupted by the front door slamming open. In the threshold stood a very angry red head, who Kol swears he had never met before. She stalked into the room, placing her hands on her hips and staring angrily at Jasmine.

He made a mental note to ask Jasmine about her friend some other time as he watched Jasmine roll her eyes at the sight of the vampire, "hello, Alethea."

"Where have you been?"

Jasmine smirked and tossed the now dead girl off of herself, "oh here, there and everywhere. Why? Did we have an important engagement to attend?"

Exasperatedly throwing her hands in the air, Alethea scoffed and pondered if Jasmine was always so irritating, "you are unbelievable. I've been searching for you for days now and as your self control therapist person, I'd like to know when you've gone off the rails."

Kol smiled wickedly as he looked down towards Jasmine, "she's been off the rails since the day she killed three men—while human."

Jasmine smirked up at him, "one of my proudest moments if we're being honest."

Alethea looked to where Jasmine was staring to and furrowed her eyebrows, "what?"

Jasmine stood from her seat and kicked a corpse out of her way, "look, I don't need a 'therapist' anymore so you're free to go."

Her small gesture made Alethea finally take in her surroundings. There were only a handful of people on the floor near the couch, all drained of blood and some missing limbs. A small shiver of fear ran up Alethea's spine as she took a cautious step towards Jasmine, "you can't stop midway, Jasmine"

Growing irritated that Alethea didn't listen the first time, Jasmine narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest, "I said you're finished here, so please see yourself out."

"You snapped, didn't you? So, Katherine was right."

The clicking of a tongue made Jasmine look behind her as Kol shook her head slowly, "I never really like that girl."

"We should really take care of that."

Moving her gaze once more to where Jasmine's was directed, Alethea began piecing her mental puzzle together, "who are you talking to?"

"None of your concern."

Taking small cautious steps toward Jasmine, Alethea spoke to her in a small and calming voice, "we continue our lessons and try to bend your thirst—"

Alethea flinched when Jasmine rounded on her and yelled out, "I don't want to bend it! I like the way I am—who I am." Jasmine sighed and straightened herself out before continuing, "I'm a vampire and my instinct is to feed, so that's what I'm going to do. This is the last time I'm telling you... leave."

Shaking her head profusely and knowing that Jasmine needed her the most in this situations, Alethea stood her ground, "no, everyone's left you but I won't. I'm not leaving you.

Kol looked between the two before chuckling, "your funeral, love."

Jasmine smiled wickedly before stalking toward Alethea.

----

It was ten minutes after they're appointed meeting time and Bonnie was beginning to grow irritated. She tapped her finger against the mug full of coffee that sat in front of her and promised herself that she was only going to wait five more minutes before leaving. She wasn't the only impatient one as Damon sat in a bench in the middle of the town square, holding a newspaper over his face.

"For a coven that went through so much trouble to deliver me handwritten letters, they're not so big on punctuality, are they?"

Damon let out a chuckle before listening in attentively when the chair across from Bonnie was being dragged back. Bonnie looked to her new seat mate and raised her eyebrows.

"My apologies, my family can be a bit grouchy in the mornings." The blonde man smiled at her and placed his hands folded on the table, "Bonnie Bennett, it's nice to finally meet you." He grabbed the menu on the table and began to scan the options.

"So you know my name, what's yours?"

Without looking at her, the man held out his hand for her to shake, "I'm Francis Aldric." Not wanting to waste another minute, Francis set down the menu and smiled at Bonnie, "now to the reason that I'm here—"

"You want to eradicate the vampires. Yeah, that was pretty clear in your first letter." Francis gave her an amused look as she looked at him impatiently, "do you want to get to the point on how we're going to achieve that? Or why you're doing that in the first place?"

Chuckling, Francis smirked and obliged to her request, "as witches, it's our sole purpose to restore the balance. Vampires are undead—abominations that should not have occurred in the first place. Any living thing that dies must remain dead; it's the circle of life, Ms. Bennett. The process of how I'm going to do that..." Looking around them, Francis sees something in the distance before looking back at Bonnie, "take a walk with me."

Bonnie let out a disbelieving laugh and shook her head, immediately rejecting the request, "I don't particularly trust you, so I'm going to have to pass."

"I'm not here to hurt you, Ms. Bennett. Like I said in the letter, we need your help. It'd be foolish of me to attempt to destroy an alliance between us." He stood up from his seat and held a hand out towards Bonnie.

Bonnie takes a second to ponder her options before sighing and grabbing his hand, letting him help her up. She takes a step away from, not wanting to be too close to him when they began walking towards a more populated area, "aren't you afraid of someone hearing us?"

Francis placed his hands folded behind his back and smiled lightly, "don't fret, my family is concealing us at the moment. We're invisible to the human eye and ear. No one can hear us, none can see us."

Bonnie hummed approvingly, "clever."

Francis chuckled and leaned in closer to her to whisper, "I couldn't have your companion listening in now could I?" Bonnie's stoic expression faltered as she stopped walking. Francis let out an amused laugh and stood in front of her with his hands now in his front pockets, "we've been in town for months, Ms. Bennett. Do you really think we wouldn't know about your little protection detail?"

Letting out a scoff and coming up with a quick retort, Bonnie continued walking, "like I said before I don't trust you and you never specified in your letter that I had to come alone."

Francis followed after her, liking her presence already and also playing the part of being polite to win her over, "do you want to know why we called on you, Ms. Bennett?"

"Besides being the only witch in town that isn't a vampire?"

He couldn't fathom how an intelligent young lady such as Bonnie could actually believe that she was the only witch in town besides the coven. He supposed she didn't feel the magic radiating from the café they met up at, "you'd be surprised how many supernatural people were actually hiding in this town."

Francis made a mental note to tell her all about it some other time. But for the time being, he needed to stay focused, "it's because you're surrounded by the problem. Your best friend's boyfriend is a vampire, so is his brother, and let's not forget your other best friend—the blonde one. You're surrounded by death, Bonnie Bennett, and you're just letting them rampage your town."

"I lost my grams, so taking on a bunch of vampires on my own isn't exactly on my skill set just yet."

"Exactly my point, Ms. Bennett. My sources tell me that your grandmother died from exhaustion of doing a spell that only served to help those Salvatore vampires. You should be pushing yourself to avenge her—to restore peace in the name of your grandmother." He saw Bonnie start to retort, but held up his hand gently, "I know you think you're not powerful on your own and it may be true but with us, you could do great things, Ms. Bennett."

They continued on the path as they let silence loom over them. Bonnie was really taking in his words. Was he right? Should she do what her gut told her and follow through with his plans? To get rid of all the vampires in town? But then she remembered Caroline. Sweet Caroline who was thrown into this world against her will but did nothing but own her new life. She was still Caroline, albeit a bit more crazed, but still Caroline.

Francis stopped walking and looked down at Bonnie, who's mind was jumbling with the two options, "you've asked how I am to accomplish that. You see, Ms. Bennett, the only way to successfully erudite a species is from within. Once you plant a bad seed—one full of connections—the rest of them will be infected."

Remembering the events at the park clean up, Bonnie began to piece together their plan—well, of where they would start at, "so, Jasmine... she's your bad seed."

A sense of accomplishment shone in Francis' eyes as he realized how close he was to finishing this, "Jasmine... she's been our target for a long time. It's just a bonus that she's going to be the ending of her species."

----

At the Lockwood Mansion—far away from the Salvatore House, thanked Damon—was an irritated Stefan, who was up to his hero hair with Damon's antics, "what do you mean you lost her?"

Damon shrugged his shoulders, overlooking his shoulders to make sure his guests weren't listening in, "I'm saying the guy she was meeting with took her hand and poof they vanished. Listen, if anything is wrong, Bonnie knows to call us first thing. Besides I'm swamped with something else. I'll fill you in later." Quickly hanging up the phone, Damon sauntered over toward Alaric and Jeremy, who were in the middle of a conversation.

In the middle of the living area, Alaric stood in front of Jeremy with a large parchment with symbols on it and several books that Alaric had brought over to back up his research, "according to the legend, the werewolf part of the curse is sealed with the moonstone." Alaric gestured toward the parchment and Jeremy eagerly took hold of it, eyeing the symbols that made up a story of the Sun and the Moon curse.

"What do you mean sealed?"

Damon, who had made his way over to the fireplace, turned around to explain, "it's a witch thing. Whatever seals the curse is usually the key to unsealing the curse."

"Maybe Mason Lockwood believes he can use the moonstone to break the curse."

Still being very doubtful of the lack of factual evidence behind these things, Damon rolled his eyes and took a swig of his drink, "if we start believing in some supernatural withy-woo legend from a picture book then we're idiots." Though he was skeptical, Damon still wanted to be one step ahead of his enemies, "who has the stone now?"

All three of them looked startled when the front door slammed open and a very disheveled looking red head appeared in the door way. Pushing her hair out of her face, Alethea walked into the Salvatore House and made herself comfortable on the couch.

"I have the answer to that."

"And who are you?" Alaric sighed out as he pinched the bridge of his nose—annoyed.

Before she responded, she grabbed hold of the bourbon bottle sitting in the middle of the coffee table and taking a drink, "Alethea Sanchez and you're Alaric Saltzman, Damon Salvatore, and Jeremy Gilbert."

Damon walked towards her and snagged the bottle from her hands with a tight lipped smile. If there was something Damon fiercely disliked, it was strangers drinking his alcohol straight from the bottle—that was his thing.

"How do you know us?"

Shooting Damon an annoyed look, she shrugged towards Jeremy, "I've seen you in Jasmine's memories. I like to... channel surf, let's call it, while I tampered with her memories."

"So you're the one that's been helping Jasmine? Well, I got to say... you've done a horrible job." Damon retorted, resuming his previous position beside the fireplace.

There were many things that Alethea was horrible at, i.e. knitting and golfing, but one thing she prided herself on was her special skill. People around the world searched for her just for her talents. Everything always ran smoothly when they followed directions, so Alethea never had a problem—until she tried doing it to a very damaged soul.

Not liking his sarcastic smile, Alethea stood up and scoffed at Damon, "I wouldn't have if the stubborn—" Taking a deep breath, Alethea regained her composure before continuing and remembering why she was there in the first place, "Jasmine has the moonstone."

Furrowing his eyebrows, Damon asked confused, "what? What does she want with it?"

"The magic it possesses—" Alethea started.

"For the sun and the moon curse." Alaric looked away as Alethea gave him a look for interrupting her.

"She wants it as leverage on someone. On who and why, I don't know, but Jasmine will not be giving up the moonstone without a fight. Listen, there's something wrong with Jasmine."

Damon's wavering attention suddenly solidified on her. A sense of anger washing through him as his eyes narrowed, "what did you do to her?"

"Me? I did nothing! All I did was what she asked." Alethea advanced toward him as she raised her voice.

"And what she asked put her into her own demons even deeper than she already was! You suppressed her memories, you altered them—did you know of the inevitable consequences that would happen if something went wrong?!"

They were both face to face now, both angry and refusing to stand down. Alethea threw her hands in the air exasperated, "of course I knew! I warned her and she kept pestering me to go along with it, so whatever happened to Jasmine is her own fault, not mine."

"Because displacing blame is healthy." Alaric piped in.

Having enough of the hostility, Alethea turned to look at all of them, "look, I didn't come here for you all to judge me for the things I did because if I did the same to you guys then you'd both be on the floor with your necks snapped but that's beside the point—Jasmine is facing the consequences of memory altercation."

"What consequences?"

"I think she may be hallucinating."

Jeremy looked confused as he held a hand out to keep her from continuing, "what do you mean?"

Alethea gave him a look as if to say 'I was getting to that', "when I was with her this morning, she kept talking to someone who wasn't there—unless she was talking to the dead corpse in her arms, but I don't think she was. Anyway, I need your help. I know you've had your differences with her but she still cares for you, even though she claims the opposite."

Damon reached out to stop her flailing hands before returning his gaze to the fire place, "how do you know that?"

"When you go into someone's mind to find information, you don't get the whole experience. If they're willing and allow you to roam their memories, not only do you get to witness their memory perfectly but you get a rush of how they were feeling in those moments." She didn't stop to further explain when she saw their confused stares, "when we stumbled across either you or Stefan, she always felt peaceful and happy." Alethea sat on the couch and fiddled her thumbs together with her gaze cast to the floor, "she's a tough exterior with a gooey center and I can tell you honestly right now that... she's worth forgiving."

The males in the room all stared at each other, trying to convey what they were thinking by a single look. There was doubt, understandable doubt in the humans that maybe Jasmine wasn't worth fighting for. But there was also compassion because whether two of them knew it or not, Jasmine was one of the best people Damon Salvatore had ever known and they could all understand how much someone like that means.

With that in mind, the silence was broken as Jeremy sighed and turned his attention back on Alethea, "what do you need our help with?"

Alethea took a moment to process the fact that they actually agreed. She honestly didn't expect them to considering their recent interactions with the siphoner. Rambling a bit, not knowing where to begin, Alethea quickly gathered her thoughts, "when she thought I was unconscious, she received a call from her assistant—"

"Vampires have assistants?"

The red headed nodded, agreeing with the tone of amusement Alaric had, "some do, but they're quite inconvenient for me. He told her that everyone should know by noon today and that she should be expecting a visit by tomorrow night."

"Another vampire?" Alaric resided to sitting on the couch so that if he were to faint from realizing how bizarre his life had become then he would at least be comfortable.

"That's my first guess and I also think it's someone Jasmine was close with because she was quite excited as she paced around her living room." Placing her pointer finger against her chin, Alethea kept speaking but it was more so to herself than to the group, "though if it's the person she wanted to hurt, you would think she'd be less excited for his arrival, but then again I guess her excitement would be justified if she couldn't wait to harm him."

Damon pinched the bridge of his nose, "you're rambling... again."

With a tone of offense, Alethea looked away from them, "it's how I figure out my thoughts, okay? To the helping part, we have to figure out Jasmine's plan so, you know, we can save the town if it's too drastic."

Another moment of silence loomed over them as the males figured something out. Alethea had no clue what Jasmine was up to and had no way of telling them how they could be any help than what they have already been contributing.

"So you basically want us to help you with a plan that we've been trying to figure out and have gotten nowhere on." It wasn't a question, but the way Alaric looked at Alethea in utter disbelief made it questionable.

"Well, when you put it that way—"

Damon narrowed his eyes and sat beside his new friend, "we've never met you before and yet your first instinct was to come here for help, why?"

You had to be quick to catch it, but it was there—a slight change in Alethea's expression. The red head scoffed, "I've already explained this."

"If you knew who we were, then you would have known that there was a chance that we wouldn't have given a damn if Jasmine was after you nor we would have cared if something happened to Jasmine—"

Catching on to what Damon was implying, Alaric piped in, "you've only been here a couple months and you want to save the town?"

Still new to the hostility towards strangers thing, Jeremy shrugged his shoulders innocently and sent a smile towards Alethea, "maybe she just wants to help."

Alethea smiled graciously at Jeremy, "thank you, Jeremy."

"No, I don't buy it. There's something else." If there was something Damon thought he was good at, it was sniffing out manipulators. And this one reeked of it.

"What other ulterior motives would I possibly have? You know what, I was just trying to save you guys, but if you all want to burn down with this town then so be it." Alethea stood up to leave. As she made her way to the door, she felt something zoom past her and impale itself on the door frame. Turning around with a malicious look on her face, she saw Alaric standing with a crossbow in his hands, "so this is how it's going to be?"

A smug smirk plastered on his face, Damon nodded, "apparently so."

Alethea looked down at her wrist where a watch nestled and nodded to herself, "the truth? Jasmine almost killed me. She would have succeeded if she wasn't distracted with whatever is going on inside her head. I honestly don't give a flying crap about this town but I know that I cannot defeat Jasmine on my own. The whole saving the town plan was really just to coerce you into helping me."

"Where is she now?"

"Heading towards the Lockwood's. She said she needed some information from Mason."

Throwing on his coat and looking at Alaric and Jeremy with a grimace, Damon retorted with, "let's go catch a psychopath."

----

At the Lockwood Mansion, there were many people mingling and working on whatever Carol Lockwood instructed them to do. Many others were simply enjoying the free refreshments and snacks. Jasmine was among the latter as she stood relatively close to Jenna, talking with her. On the other side of the room Elena stood with her gaze not leaving Jasmine's position as she texted Stefan her whereabouts.

Jenna nodded her head and smiled at Jasmine, "I will."

Smiling back with a bit of triumph, Jasmine gently squeezed Jenna's arm, "I knew I could count on you, Jenna."

Before they could continue talking, Carol walked up to them and handed Jasmine a drink, "thank you so much for your donation, Ms. Saunders. I'm sure the elementary school will greatly appreciate their new technology."

Downing the drink in one go, Jasmine shrugged her shoulders, dismissing the tone of gratitude Carol had, "the kids are our future, right?"

"Absolutely."

Jasmine's conversation was once again interrupted by a Lockwood, this time by a Lockwood with a werewolf gene.

Mason Lockwood smiled at his sister-in-law before turning to look at Jasmine but directing his question to the group, "can I steal Jasmine for a second?"

Jasmine ignored Jenna's teasing expression, "if you'll excuse me." She rolled her eyes when she followed Mason out into the front porch, "what do you want?"

"I want the moonstone back."

Letting out a laugh, the siphoner shook her head, "no can do, werewolf. I have plans for it."

His frustration growing by the second, Mason grabbed her arm to try to scare her, "if you don't give me the m—"

Jasmine wasn't so easily scared though. She grabbed his wrist and twisted it to the side—they were sure they heard bones break—and spat out, "you'll what? Last time I checked, there's no full moon tonight. So, really, what threat can you actually pose to me?" She used the hand in her grasp to push him onto the floor, "the answer is none. I don't care whatever lie Kathy told you, but a word of advice? You don't know the full story."

Mason stayed on the floor as he looked at her with distaste, "then tell me it!"

Contrary to what she had just done, Jasmine looked around to make sure no one heard his outburst, "now, now, Mason, we don't want to cause a scene, do we? The curse you've been told about? It's not real. From my knowledge, there's nothing that can take away your curse. Unless you're willing to try a binding spell, but I hear those are quite painful."

"Try turning every full moon and breaking every bone in your body repeatedly."

Jasmine crouched down to his level, "can't imagine that'd be pleasant. Unfortunately for you, I don't care about your little furry problem." To taunt him further, Jasmine reached out and ruffled his hair, "now if you'll excuse me, I have people who aren't as annoying to speak to."

Standing up and turning on her heel, she approached the two figures walking towards her, "Stefan, Damon, what a surprise. I always knew you guys were the kind to volunteer. Come, I need help setting the outdoor patio."

She led them outside to the set up pavilion and handed them mountains of tablecloths then gestured to the bare tables. Stefan and Damon exchanged a look before doing what she asked.

Stefan cleared his throat causing Jasmine to look over to him, "your friend went to pay Damon a little visit."

She clicked her tongue and returned to her task, "I knew I should've finished her off right then and there."

Lounging against the banister, Kol reached out a hand and stroked the back of Jasmine's arm, "she's not important, Jasmine."

Damon decided to pipe in as Jasmine looked as if she was entering her own world, "what are you doing talking to Mason Lockwood?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Jasmine let out a laugh at their expressions before continuing, "there was some information I needed that only he could provide. He's also a very important piece to my plan, but he won't come in until everything is set up."

Tired of hearing the same old thing, Stefan stopped what he was doing to give her his full attention. "what plan, Jasmine? Aren't you tired of this? Because I am."

"On the contrary, my friend. I enjoy getting under your skin." Jasmine smiled wide at him before moving on to the next table with Stefan following after her.

"Can we just talk?" He said it in a low whisper but there was really no need to try to prevent Damon from listening considering he had enhanced hearing abilities.

Jasmine looked perplexed, "is that not what we are doing now?"

Though it was a while ago, Stefan couldn't help but play it over and over in his head. How he let things end, the things he said, "we said some things when we last saw each other—"

Recalling the moment, Jasmine snapped her eyes away from him and towards the overflowing bouquet on the bar counter, "ah, yes, well we said all that we needed to say, Stefan. I think it's best that we don't linger on our past and go our separate ways."

"You don't mean that."

Remembering what Damon had told her when they kicked her out, Jasmine decided to use the same words, "what can I say? It's not me, it's you."

Stefan was tired of fighting her, but for some reason he couldn't let her go. His attempts to get her to talk to him and to get her to turn over a new leaf were exhausting so that explained his sudden intense glare at her, "so was everything you said a lie? That you wanted to get better and be good? Was that a lie?"

"No, it wasn't but it's not my truth anymore, Stefan. I'm tired of trying to be good when all it did was have people doubt me entirely, so if people want to perceive me as the bad guy then I'm going to play my part right. And I'll be taking as many people as I can with me."

They were face to face at this point. One expression was filled with saddened anger and the other filled with mocking. Not liking how they were with each other, Damon decided to step in, "Jasmine, please."

Dramatically rolling her eyes, Jasmine clicked her tongue, "fine, I'll let you in on my little plan. There's someone coming into town soon and I need to gather up a few things before he arrives." She held up her hand, knowing they were about to ask what they were, "first, I needed the moonstone. Next are a handful of items that are hard to obtain but certainly not impossible—one vampire, one werewolf, and a very human doppelganger. What exactly I'm going to do with them? Well, I'll leave that up to your imagination."

Jasmine gave them a smile before speeding away leaving them on edge. Her plan involved Elena and they were positive that it wouldn't be good. Stefan looked at his brother exasperated, "did you see that?"

Damon gave him a tight lipped smile, "the way her eyes refused to show any emotion? Yeah, I saw it. Looks like our little Jasmine flipped the switch."

"As if she couldn't be any more dangerous."

Damon shrugged his shoulders, "who knows, maybe she'll be level headed as a humanity less vampire."

Doubt filling him, Stefan raised his eyebrow at him, "if she's anything like us and every vampire we've ever encountered without their humanity switch, let's just say it won't be long until Mystic Falls turns into a ghost town."

----

Jasmine and Kol trekked through the forest near the Lockwood property. The siphoner was being very discreet about their intentions out there which annoyed Kol. Having enough of the suspense, Kol spoke out, "what are we doing out here?"

"Something I've gathered from spending little time with Mason Lockwood is that he doesn't trust anybody."

Still not knowing how that's relevant, Kol rolled his eyes, "okay?"

Jasmine huffed out a sigh and continued, "which means he didn't even trust Katerina. So, if he didn't trust her but was still willing to find the moonstone for her to break his curse, do you really think he would give it up so easily?"

"It's Katherine, I'm sure she seduced him into making him do whatever she wanted."

Jasmine let out a laugh before she stopped walking to look at him, "if someone told you that they could give you your heart's desire but with the condition of retrieving something for them, what would you do?"

Kol shrugged his shoulders before releasing a puff of air, "I'd find the bloody thing and then..." His eyes lit up with mischief as he continued, "hide it where only I could access it."

"Bingo." She grabbed hold of his hand and they continued on their path. "So, my guess was that Mason was going to do just that, but where he was going to hide it was the question I wanted answered."

"And you got your answer?"

Jasmine nodded, "when I ruffled his hair, it gave me the opportunity to slip into his mind. The bloke hid it in a well near the old Lockwood property."

If it was in a well, it wasn't exactly unattainable. Kol tilted his head as he pondered that thought, "anyone would be able to get to it, though."

Lifting her hand up and giving him a look that subtly said 'I was getting to that,' Jasmine makes her way over to the well that appeared before the, "Katerina's a vampire, so how do you keep a vampire out?" She could smell it from ten feet away, a scent that was all too familiar to her—vervain. Jasmine placed her hands on the edge of the well and looked into it, "you fill the bloody thing with water laced in vervain."

Kol chuckled as he peered into the well, "clever man."

Letting Kol examine the well, Jasmine pulled out her phone and began typing away, "all we need is to entrap Katerina." She smirked as she reread the text she was about to send to Katherine. It was subtle and direct enough to get Katherine to meet her there. Looking back to Kol, she smiled, "now we wait."

----

It wasn't long until the crunching of leaves was heard. Jasmine didn't turn to acknowledge the doppelganger as she kept her gaze to the well. After waiting for a couple of seconds for Jasmine to say something, Katherine rolled her eyes, "okay, I'm here."

"I have to admit, I wasn't sure that you'd show up."

Katherine sauntered up beside her and nudged Jasmine to look at her, "well, I am, so hand over the moonstone."

Jasmine clicked her tongue and feigned sympathy, "it seems I have forgotten it at home in my haste to get here."

"I'm not here to play games, Jasmine."

Jasmine smiled, liking the fact that Katherine was beginning to grow irritated, "fine, fine. I'll give it to you, but I am a little curious, Katerina. If Mason failed to retrieve the moonstone then what would you have done?"

"Gone on to plan B, obviously."

"And what exactly is plan B?"

Katherine crossed her arms as she smirked, "wouldn't you like to know."

Jasmine clasped her hands together as she gathered her thoughts. She had been wondering about Katherine's true intentions ever since she arrived. The 500 year old vampire claimed to be doing anything to keep Elena safe even if it meant being the villain, but her actions seemed to be proving otherwise.

"I know that it wouldn't have ended well for Elena as you've been claiming."

"What are you talking about?"

Katherine took a step away from the siphoner and stood rigid as Jasmine began circling around her. A predator taunting her prey. Katherine believed she had good intentions but sometimes you can't easily shake off old habits.

"You know what I think, Katerina?"

"Careful, you don't want to hurt yourself."

Jasmine let out a sarcastic laugh, "funny. Your whole gist of wanting to save Elena by being cruel towards them is all an act. You see, you made a vampire... you've been harboring a werewolf, and you've been on the look out for the moonstone." She held up a finger at each task, "my guess is that you were never concerned for Elena. You were going to trade them all for your freedom, weren't you?"

Victory wasn't close to what was showing on Jasmine's face as Katherine sputtered.

"No, I wasn't."

Jasmine stopped her circling and gently walks towards Katherine causing her to reach the edge of the well, "I guess we'll never know, but your presence in general is going to disrupt my vendetta. You've already gone to Alethea about my extra curricular, what's to say you won't drop your fake or not fake act and go running to the Salvatores about this little rendezvous. I suppose there's only one thing to do to ensure that you won't get in my way."

"Jasmine..." Katherine spoke her name with confidence and defiance but Jasmine could hear the undertone of fear lacing her voice.

"Did you know where Mason was going to put the moonstone after he found it? No? Let me show you." Jasmine shoved Katherine backwards and smiled as she heard Katherine's scream.

The water splashed all around Katherine causing her to yell out in pain. Betrayal shone in her eyes as the herbs burned at her skin and snakes wrapped themselves around her limbs.

"It hurts!" Katherine managed to choke out.

Jasmine peered into the well and even though Katherine would have heard her if she spoke in a normal voice, she yelled down, "the vervain or the fact that you just now realized that Mason didn't trust you at all?"

"Get me out of here!"

"I will... soon enough. Bye!"

----

The sun had finally set and the town was quiet and peaceful as Jasmine and Kol walked through it, heading back to Jasmine's house. They talked about anything and everything—well, it was more of Jasmine telling him of everything she's been up to since he was last daggered. He wrapped his arm around her as they both laughed at one of her favorite escapades.

Once the laughter died down, Kol decided it was the time to clear his curiosity, "so, what do you have planned for poor Katherine?"

Jasmine knew it was only a matter of minutes before he asked and she was pleasantly surprised he had lasted this long, but she was ready to answer his question with a fully prepared answer, "you know how Nik needs a vampire for his ritual?"

Kol stopped for a second and let out a chuckle before resuming his pace beside Jasmine, "that's just perfect."

Always thriving from his praises, Jasmine smiled wide, "isn't it? The reason Katherine became a vampire in the first place is because she didn't want to be sacrificed in Nik's ritual and now, five hundred years later, that's exactly what's going to happen."

Talking about his brother—half-brother—made Kol grimace as he remembered Jasmine's public post, "they should be arriving soon."

Jasmine made a sound of agreement, "I'd suspect that they'd be here by tomorrow night at the latest."

Their talk as they headed into Jasmine's home was interrupted by the sound of Jasmine's phone ringing in her back pocket. Hesitantly gong to retrieve it, Jasmine was surprised when she saw the caller ID. With an exasperated sigh, she answered the call.

"I thought I was clear, Mason. I can't help you."

"Good thing he doesn't need your help anymore."

Once again Jasmine was caught by surprise as the voice certainly did not belong to Mason Lockwood, "Damon, well this is an interesting turn of events. You and Mason are buddies now? It won't last long, not with his temper."

"Ouch, I'm sure that would have broken Mason's heart to hear you say that, but I guess it's a good thing his heart is detached from his body."

She stopped in the middle of the hallway as she processed his words. Mason was dead. "What did you just say?"

Damon clicked his tongue, "oh, right, you needed him for your little devious plan, huh? Whoops."

Jasmine's expression turned annoyed before changing her voice into a calm tone, "that's alright. While it's inconvenient I guess I'll just have to move on to plan B and it that fails, well, I have a full alphabet of plans to go through." She strode through the house and draped her coat across the back of the couch before lounging on it and beckoning the waiting maid forward, "Damon, I do hope you know that I'm going to have to retaliate for what you did."

"Do your worst."

Jasmine grabbed the glass from the maid and bit into the lady's wrist, "oh, don't worry. I intend to hurt you in the easiest way possible." She ended the call and placed her fingers on the bridge of her nose. She looked to the maid and her face transformed, "seems I'm going to need more than a glass full."

Over the sound of Jasmine's feeding, Kol called out, "what's your plan B?"

Jasmine detached her mouth from the maid's neck and tossed her to the floor. Her face was slow to transform back but once it did she looked at Kol, "we'll get to that, my love." Grabbing her phone once more, she dialed a number and waited for them to pick up, "Jenna, hi, remember what we talked about? Yeah, go ahead and do it, understood? Pass the phone to Elena first."

On the other side of the line, Jenna robotically said, "I understand. Elena, it's for you."

"Who is it? Hello?"

Jasmine smirked when she heard the doppelganger's voice, "it's been a while since we last talked."

"Jasmine. What do you want?"

The siphoner swirled the splattered blood on the arm of the chair as she spoke, "did you know that Jenna was off her vervain? Yeah, Katherine managed to get Jenna to spy for her. It was a good thing for me because I just hijacked that plan. I need to send a message because you see, your boy toy numero dos, did something that is forcing me to readjust, so what better way to retaliate than to hurt the girl he loves? And how do I hurt said girl? I hurt someone she loves."

"Jenna, no!"

On the other side of the line a groan of pain can be heard as Jenna stabs herself in her stomach. Jasmine glances at the phone before ending the call and resuming her previous position of pinching the bridge of her nose.

Everything was going smoothly—perfectly, even—but of course her plans had to be deterred by the Salvatores. It wasn't long until they heard of Jenna's accident and the cause behind it. Damon and Stefan were quick to blame themselves—Elena being more irritated with Damon since Jasmine pinpointed him—and distanced themselves from Elena to give her space and time to think. This wasn't the time to wonder who she was going to choose, not when her family was in danger.

Jasmine finally looked up to Kol with a grimace, "and now for plan B."

----

Bonnie's mind was reeling from all the information she was given today. She only intended to spend an hour at most with Francis but one hour turned into several and now the sun was long gone from the sky.

Francis stood on the porch of the Bennett household in front of Bonnie, "you don't have to make a decision right away, Ms. Bennett."

Bonnie chuckled in disbelief, "seems like you're on a time crunch."

Francis let a smile graze his lips and his gaze, "we are, but we don't want to pressure you into joining us if you're not willing. You heard our story; the decision is entirely up to you."

"Will I ever get to meet your coven?"

"All you have to do is ask."

Francis lifted his hands, gesturing for the coven to show themselves from the shadows. Eleven people emerge from different places and all walk to stand on the front yard. Their sudden appearance made Bonnie stagger backwards and widened her eyes.

Francis smiled at his coven before turning back to a bewildered Bonnie, "we are a force to be reckoned with, Ms. Bennett and it'd be a great honor to have you join us. Have a good night."

They all turn on their heels and follow Francis down the street, disappearing back into the shadows. Once they're out of sight, Bonnie quickly goes into her home and pulls out her phone, immediately dialing Damon's number.

A couple rings pass by before an exasperated Damon answers the call, "not a good time, Bonnie."

Bonnie doesn't acknowledge his sudden tired tone and continues on to why she called, "I know what the coven is up to."