You are my Freedom

Fool Me Never

The Bennets, Elena, Damon, and Anna stand around outside the tomb,

Damon takes Elena's arm, "You ready?" he asks.

"What?" Elena asks confused.

Shiela sees where Damon is going and tells him she won't allow it,

"You think I'm gonna go in there by myself so you can seal me in?" He argues back grabbing Elena again.

"Don't take her in. I'll bring the walls down," Shiela warns.

Damon squints his eyes studying her, "You'll bring the walls down if I don't. You think I trust you?"

Shiela replies, "As much as I trust you," without missing a beat.

Elena sighs, "Enough! Both of you." 

She looks towards Bonnie and Grams, "look, he needs leverage. He needs to know that you're not going to shut the door when he gets inside. I get it. I'll go."

Damon grabs a torch from the circle and turns back to Elena gesturing for her to go in first, "after you."

Elena decides not to fight him on this and just to do what needs to be done to get tonight over with. She nods at Sheila and Bonnie, reassuring them she's alright and walks inside the tomb with Damon close behind her.

Once inside Damon is quick to abandon Elena and is off to search for Katherine eager to finally have his revenge. His right-hand itching to at last feel the weight of her cold dead heart. 

He searches and searches but after his second walkthrough realizes she isn't here. 

Furious he throws some of the blood bags he brought with him against the wall and then takes the one he has left and starts feeding the decaying vampires around him. Desperate to inflict as much pain on this town as possible since being denied the satisfaction of killing Katerine himself he settles for unleashing the twenty-something ancient vampires on this pathetic excuse for a town.

Meanwhile, Anna raced into the tomb attacking Elena, wanting it to be Gilbert blood that revived her mother.

Stefan hears Elena scream and runs in next.

"Stefan!" She shouts out trying to warn him not to but Sheila blocks Bonnie's efforts.

"You can't just leave him in there, Grams!"

"He made his choice," Shiela says very matter of fact.

Bonnie shakes her head refusing to believe Stefan will be trapped in there.

 "No, here," she says picking up the grimoire,"just show me what to do. I'll do it."

Shiela sighs, "We are not strong enough. Even if we were able to bring the seal down, there's no guarantee that we could get it back up again."

"You said it yourself, many things can fuel a witch's power. Help me or I'll do it alone." Bonnie says sticking her heels in.

A little while later...

Bonnie and Sheila are looking through the grimoire when Elena exits the tomb.

"Elena! Stefan..." she trails off not knowing how to tell her friend that her boyfriend might be trapped down here forever.

"He's right behind me," Elena says clueless as to what the rest of Bonnie's sentence was going to be.

Bonnie and Sheila look at the entrance to the tomb. Elena turns around and sees Stefan standing in the opening not understanding why he isn't following her out.

"Stefan, what are you doing?" She asks.

Bonnie speaks from behind her, "It's gonna be okay. We'll fix it."

Elena confused looks to Bonnie then back to Stefan, "what is it?"

Stefan looks sadly at her, "I can't." he explains.

"Can't? Can't what?" Elena asks still unclear about what is going on.

"The spell's still up. We can't get them out yet." Bonnie clarifies for her.

Elena walks closer to Stefan finally understanding, "you went in there not knowing if you could come back out?"

Stefan just shrugs, "I heard you scream."

Elena suddenly remembers Damon is trapped inside as well, "Damon...we can't leave him in there. We promised him. Both of us."

Stefan nods, "I know."

Grams breaks up this little moment reminding them of the realities, "even if we're able to lower the seal, we won't be able to hold it for long."

Stefan turns and goes to find Damon. Once he finds his brother he is disturbed to find him cradling a desiccated vampire... petting the side of her face so reverently. 

At first, he assumes it must be Katherine but upon closer look, it isn't which leaves Stefan even more disturbed and very confused.

Damon is in his own world, still in shock at discovering her in this place... as a starving vampire no less. He doesn't bother keeping up the ruse any longer when he hears Stefan approach.

"There wasn't enough blood to revive her, I gave too much of it away before I found her," his own voice sounding like a faraway echo.

Stefan studies his brother, "what do you mean giving it away? Who... Damon, who is that? Where's Katherine?"

Damon gives a humorless chuckle, "she must have traded places with her somehow... turned her and sent her in her place. All this time at least I had the satisfaction she was trapped and suffering but she's been free this whole time," he says mostly to himself.

Stefan carefully approaches his brother not understanding everything at play here but knowing he needs to tread carefully, "Damon, we need to get out of here."

"It doesn't make sense," Damon says still trying to come to terms with how he has come to hold this vampire in his arms. 

"How did she even know her... find her?" he asks.

Stefan crouches down, "I don't understand what you're saying but if we don't leave now, we're not getting out, It's not worth spending all of eternity down here. She's not worth it!"

Elena rushes into the room and spots Damon, "Damon! Please," she says beseeching him to listen to Stefan so they can all get out of there.  

Damon, seeing the face of Katherine on Elena shakes himself out of his fog and vows if it's the last thing he does he will find Katherine wherever she is and he will make her suffer.

Finally able to gain some perspective, he gathers the mystery woman further up in his arms and the four of them began rushing to get out of the tomb.

Bonnie and Sheila are still chanting the spell to keep the seal down but it's getting harder. Bonnie stops for a moment, gasping for air and keeling over.

"Oh my God. I can't!" She cries,

"Yes, you can." Her grandmother tells her strongly.

Damon exits the tomb first carrying followed by Elena, who turns around and embraces Stefan when he exits. The door to the tomb closes and the torches die out.

After checking on Jeremy Elena makes her way over to Damon who is seated by the base of a tree staring with disbelief at the woman in his arms.

"So..." she starts, "considering she doesn't look anything like me, I am guessing that's not Katherine."

Damon doesn't respond or give any indication he's even heard Elena.

"Who is she?" Elena tries again and finally succeeds in getting a response...

"She's my wife."

...but not one she ever saw coming.