Unstoppable | The Vampire Diaries

118. See You Again

Three Years Later. Present Day.

"I'm going home, packing my stuff and joining my family. You can come with us, or you can stay here and try to fix Stefan and Damon's mess... again."

Riley rolled her eyes, looking at Ric with a raised eyebrow. "What kind of ultimatum is that? Have I ever put anything above our family before?"

Sighing, Ric shook his head. "Sorry. I'm on edge."

"Understandable," Riley allowed. "But Care and the girls are out of harm's way, and soon, we will be too. Let's just get back to the house and regroup."

Ric's phone started ringing and he answered immediately, hoping it was Caroline. Instead, the voice was less welcome.

"I'm calling to warn you," Matt said quickly.

"We're hanging up," Riley responded automatically, her finger hovering over the correct button. "Enzo told me that you let Rayna out of the Armory... you let her use Caroline as bait!"

"I made sure that Caroline was safe," Matt argued, not denying his involvement in Rayna's escape.

Ric screwed up his face in confusion, wondering when Matt had stopped being on their side. "What the hell happened to you, man?"

"Look, something bad happened," Matt continued urgently. "I'm calling to warn you that I sent some visitors your way."

"No!" Ric raged. "Caroline is in hiding with the girls, waiting for me. My family is done with this mess."

"This affects everybody, Ric," Matt argued, his voice less harsh than it was before. "And I'm three states away."

Riley pressed the button to hang up the phone, just as they pulled up outside the home that Ric and Caroline shared. On the doorstep was Valerie, holding up an unconscious Rayna Cruz.

"Well, this is a surprise," Riley said with a hint of condescension. "Please tell me why you thought it would be a good idea to bring an Armory-escapee here?"

"This is bigger than the Armory," Valerie informed her, as Ric let them all into the house against his better judgement. "The Phoenix Stone was destroyed by Nora and Mary Louise. They blew up with it in their car." Riley raised her eyebrows in shock at the news that the Heretics were dead, but allowed Valerie to continue without interruption. "When it was destroyed, all the souls inside escaped – and now every vampire that Rayna ever killed with the sword is free."

"And why is this my problem?" Ric asked, struggling to care about anything other than his family.

"It's not. It's Riley's problem," Valerie clarified, glancing at her. "Stefan is among the missing, and she's a psychic... You are still a psychic, right?"

Riley shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't think that kind of thing goes away." Then she sighed. "What do you need me to do?"

"We need to find them, and kill them," Rayna said, waking up from the spot on the ground where Valerie had dropped her. "That stone was made for the worst of the worst... and now they're free."

Riley put a hand on her hip, glaring at Rayna. "Find and kill the most evil vampires of all time? Easy," she said sarcastically.

Valerie sighed, taking her cell phone out of her back pocket and handing it to Ric. "With any luck, Damon's already found whoever's in Stefan's body. Call him and tell him to keep them close – we're gonna need to put Stefan back into his rightful body when we find him." Despite his reservations and outward indifference, Ric took her phone and made the call, telling his former best friend that Stefan didn't have long to live if his soul was inhabiting a human body.