#belvafore

Cut to – The Salvatore school, first day of classes after the winter break. Ric is in his office, still trying to reach Caroline, with no luck. Leaves a voicemail. Care, I know you are on your time off, and you probably have no reception. But, if you get my message by any chance, try to find a way to call the girls, they really want to talk to you. Someone knocks; he hangs up.

 RIC: Come in.

IKER: Reporting for duty, Professor Saltzman.

RIC: (Gets up and greets him with a bro hug) Hey, man! So glad to have you on board! Welcome to the faculty! At least one of the teachers is on time!

IKER: First day on the job, punctuality is a must!

RIC: Yeah, well not all teachers have your sense of ethics. Just give me a sec to make some calls,  and I’ll give you the tour. (Dials Katherine, straight to voicemail) Katherine, you better get your butt here fast, your class starts in 20 minutes! (Hangs up). Why am I even surprised… there hasn’t been a day she has been on time! (Dials Lexi).

LEXI: Calm down, Ric; we are almost there.

RIC: Great, see you soon. (Hangs up; soon after Margo walks in with the new student, the three year old vampire. Iker looks at him, surprised to see such a young pupil. Ric approaches the boy, squats down to make eye contact). 

Hey, little one, welcome to the Salvatore School. I promise we will take great care of you… (as expected, no response. He looks up at Margo, she shakes her head, letting him know the boy still hasn’t said a word). Okay… Ms. Margo is going to show you around the school, there are a lot of cool places I’m sure you will love. And, we got a room done specially for you. It’s in the main house, right next to my daughter’s bedroom. You will meet them soon, I’m sure you’ll get along great with them. (Turns to Margo) Radka is in the teacher’s lounge grabbing some coffee; if you want to meet up with her so she can go with you.

MARGO: Yes, I need as much help as I can get.  I’ll look for you afterwards, we need to talk.

(She walks out with the boy).  

IKER: Wow, I didn’t know you had students that were so young.

RIC: We don’t, he is the first one.

IKER: Is he a witch?

RIC: A vampire…

IKER: What!?? Who the hell would do that to a kid?!!

RIC: I know, it’s the cruelest thing I’ve ever seen, and I have seen my share of cruel.

IKER: That goes beyond cruel, that’s pure evil.

RIC: It is. I really hope we are able to help him.

IKER: You can count on me with whatever I can do to help.

RIC: Thank you. I think it’s going to take all of us to be able to get through to him.

IKER: Well, I’m in.

RIC: Okay, let’s take the tour. Here (hands him his schedule).

IKER: Ooh, “Combat and Tactics”, loving this already!

RIC: (Smirks in excitement) Wait till I show you the training gym, and the weapons room…

IKER: You had me at “combat”… 

(they leave).  

Cut to - Augustus’s underground facility, late at night. Kai is in the tech room; continuing to try and hack into Tamara’s system. “Bonnie” walks in.

 BONNIE: How is it going, handsome?

KAI: (Blushes) I almost cracked it, Bonster! 

I was about 2 seconds behind before she reprogrammed herself.

BONNIE: That’s great news, definitely progress. Better than the rest of the tech team has been able to do. Shouldn’t take you too long to get it done.

KAI: Nop, I almost have her…

BONNIE: (Flirtatious) Tell you what, if you manage to pull this off, I’ll give you a nice surprise.

KAI: (Blushing again) A surprise… I love surprises. Tell me, Bon, what is it?

BONNIE: It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, but I’m sure you’ll love it (winks, and walks away. Soon after, Katherine walks in).

KAI: Agent Pierce, I was just telling Bonnie that I’m very close to completing the mission.

KATHERINE: Very close is not mission complete, try harder.

KAI: Oh, come on, Agent, don’t be such a pessimist. These things are complicated, they take time.

KATHERINE: Sorry. You are actually the only one that is getting any progress done! I’m just under a lot of pressure.

KAI: So am I, but stressing out only makes things worse. Try to relax, stress is no friend to the skin. You don’t want that beautiful face to age prematurely, do you?

KATHERINE: Over my dead body!

KAI: (They laugh) Tell you what, my break is in 10 minutes, how about we get a drink?

KATHERINE: Well, I could use a drink…

KAI: Enough said, it’s a date!

KATHERINE: It’s a drink, not a date.

KAI: You say tomayto, I say tomahto…

Cut to – The facility’s lab. Darius is showing SA Connelly and Pietro his new genetic prototypes.

 PIETRO: Very impressive, my friend.

SA CONNELLY: Very much indeed… but a tad bit freaky.

DARIUS: I have to say, couldn’t have done it without Kai. Credit where credit's due. He really is one of a kind. Don’t tell Augustus I said this, but I truly think he has surpassed the master…

PIETRO: Speaking of, he just confirmed he’ll connect to our conference tomorrow. All the board members will be in attendance.

SA CONNELLY: Good to know that Tamara is at least giving him a chance to do home office.

DARIUS: As long as he is available to connect, I’m fine with him working with pajama pants.

PIETRO: Yes, but he still needs to come in to do the field work. The Gemini freak might be talented, but he is not one of us.

SA CONNELLY: It’s just a matter of time before Kai cracks the code, we just need to be patient, and do with what we have for the moment.

DARIUS: And where are Stefan and Caroline, I thought you were bringing them in today?

PIETRO: I need a little more time. My dear brother is refusing to go ripper. Trust me, he will be of more use to us like that. As for Bonnie and Damon, they are still MIA.  

DARIUS: (Turns to SA Connelly) Can’t your tech stuff help us track them?

SA CONELLY: We’ve tried tracking their cellphones. Last GPS location was picked up by one of our Mystic Falls towers, but that was before New Year’s.

PIETRO: I’m sure they will make an appearance soon, specially once they find out their friends are missing.

SA CONNELLY: And how exactly are you planning to control the Bennett witch?

DARIUS: Ever since Veritas brought me out of my nap, I have been thinking on how to do that. And now, I know exactly how.

PIETRO: Care to share with the group, so there are no surprises along the way.

DARIUS: Do you trust me?

PIETRO: I’d like to …

DARIUS: Then, trust me. Now, if you two are up for some entertainment, I say we go grab a drink and watch the Russian spy and the tech genius put on quite the show. I asked Bob to make it karaoke night… (They laugh and head to the Facility bar).

Cut to – Pietro’s mansion. Caroline and Stefan are locked up in a cell in the basement. They are vervained, weak, and starving. Suddenly, a blood covered Sage comes vamping in, and opens their cell door.

SAGE: Come on, we don’t have much time (gives them a blood bag so they can regain some strength).  

CAROLINE: (Looking very confused) Who are you…?

SAGE: That’s not important right now. Do you want to get out of here or not? Quick, drink up so we can go. (They devour the blood).

STEFAN: Ah, much better! Now let’s get the hell out of here; I’ll deal with my brother later.

CAROLINE: Home sweet home… couldn’t stand another night in this hole!

SAGE: You can’t go home; they’ll find you in no time.

CAROLINE: But I need to see my girls.

SAGE: They want you two. So, unless you want to be caught again, it’s best to go somewhere else; at least until we figure this out.

CAROLINE: What if they take the girls for leverage? We can’t risk it.

SAGE: If they wanted your girls to get to you, they would have taken them already. Plus, they don’t like to deal with children, so I’m sure they will be fine.

CAROLINE: Who is they? I thought this was an evil half-brother type thing.

SAGE: Oh, there is much more to it. I’ll tell you everything once we are out of here.

STEFAN: We can go to Bonnie and Damon’s, figure it out from there. We’ll call Ric and let him know what’s going on.

SAGE: Come on, let’s move… Don’t mind the pile of bodies on the way out; I was hungry, and very pissed off (they vamp out).

Cut to – Edward’s mansion. Edward is in the kitchen grabbing a mid-night snack. Tamara walks in.

TAMARA: You haven’t slept in days…

EDWARD: Sleep is overrated.

TAMARA: It’s essential for human health. Chronic sleep deprivation can cause high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, heart failure, or stroke.

EDWARD: Do you always have to google everything to be able to talk?

TAMARA: Google? Are you kidding me? That thing is for kindergarteners.

EDWARD: (Smirks) Nice to know machines can have a sense of humor.

TAMARA: I’m much more than a machine, and my sense of humor is exquisite.

Anyway, on to another subject, I thought you’d like to know they continue to try to access the estate; and they brought in reinforcements. The Sheriff and his friends have been attempting to get inside since yesterday.  

EDWARD: Well, do your thing. Increase security, whatever you need to do. No one gets in, or out, understood?

TAMARA: Understood. 

Also, Augustus’s tech team has been trying to hack into my system. One of them got very close to succeeding. Too close… I was able to reprogram myself only seconds before he was about to crack the source code.

EDWARD: Who is he?

TAMARA: Log name is: Cobrakai1972.

EDWARD: Let’s find out who has that log name, and get it taken care of. Send them a text from Augustus to have him fired, or eliminated.

TAMARA: I doubt a text message will work to give a direct order. They will start to get suspicious if they don’t see Augustus soon.

EDWARD: Get creative and solve it.

TAMARA: I could create a holographic image of him; simulate a video conference. But, eventually, they will expect to see him in person.

EDWARD: We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. In the meantime, let’s go with this Augustus avatar, that should buy us some time and it will be perfect for our con-call tomorrow. Oh, and get me the intel on his “secret” projects. If I’m going to take over, I need to know exactly what they are up to.

TAMARA: And what about your Mayoral duties? Have you forgotten you have a city to run?

EDWARD: I took a leave of absence. As of tomorrow, Sheriff Donovan will be ordered to take my place. Hopefully that will keep him busy enough to give his trespassing attempts a rest.

TAMARA: Regardless, I’ll increase security, make sure no one can get in, or out.

EDWARD: Perfect… Now, talk to me about her, what else do you remember?

TAMARA: As each day passes, I remember more. What do you want to know?

EDWARD: I want you to describe, in detail, exactly what she felt, every thought that went through her head that night…

TAMARA: Again?

EDWARD: Yes, again… (he turns on his turn table and plays the same song that was playing that night: Mr. Sandman by The Chordettes).

Cut to – The Bamon home, late at night. Damon and Bonnie are in bed, cuddling and watching an old movie.

 DAMON: So, Bon, did you make a decision?

BONNIE: I did. You are right, I deserve to know the truth. I’ll go see him tomorrow.

DAMON: Do you  know where he is?

BONNIE: No, but I have a feeling I know where I can find him.

DAMON: Do you want me to come with you?

BONNIE: Thanks for offering, but I think I need to do this on my own. Is that okay with you?  

DAMON: Of course, just let me know if you need anything.

BONNIE: I will, I promise (they kiss and continue to cuddle. Suddenly, they hear someone yelling).

CAROLINE: Bonnie! Damon! Where are you!?

DAMON: Is that… Barbie?

BONNIE: Sounds like it…

DAMON: Does she know how to use a phone? Or a doorbell?

BONNIE: Well, our phones are still off; and I cloaked the house… you know, just to be safe.

DAMON: (Smirks) I love you more each day.

BONNIE: (She gets out of bed and peeks through the window) She’s with Stefan and some other girl…

DAMON: (Teasing) I knew it! It was just a matter of time…

BONNIE: (Throws a cushion at him) You’re terrible (smirks).  I’ll go let them in.

DAMON: They really need some boundaries. They got some nerve coming here un announced, and at this time of the night!

BONNIE: I’m pretty sure they didn’t come over for drinks…  

DAMON: Yeah, something must be up. Let’s go check it out. (They go downstairs; Bonnie temporarily un cloaks the house so they can find their way inside).

BONNIE: Hey, guys, over here…

CAROLINE: Bonnie! Thank god! (Turns to Stefan) You see? I told you this was the place.

BONNIE: Sorry, it was cloaked. Come in (they walk inside, except for Sage)…

SAGE: Uhm, would you mind?

DAMON: Who are you?

STEFAN: Let her in, she helped us get out.

DAMON: Get out of where, exactly?

STEFAN: We’ll tell you all about it; just invite her in, please.

BONNIE: You can come in.

SAGE: Thank you.

BONNIE: Are you guys okay?

STEFAN: You will not believe what happened to us…

DAMON: Neither will you…

BONNIE: What’s going on?

CAROLINE: (Sarcastic) Well, our lovely half-brother-in-law thought kidnapping us on New Year’s would be a blast!

BONNIE: What?!!

DAMON: Pietro took you!?

STEFAN: Not only that, he kept us locked up in his basement for days. Tried to get me to go ripper, tortured Caroline, starved us… Until Sage got us out.

SAGE: Me, being Sage… Nice to meet you. I’m a friend of Elena’s from Munich University.

BONNIE: You are the friend that’s on the “inside”?

SAGE: Was, until they caught me. Long story short, that didn’t end well.

DAMON: (Gets them some blood bags) Here, looks like you need these.

BONNIE: Why would Pietro come after you?

SAGE: Because they are building an army. Guessing they want the strongest on their side. As long as they can find a way to control them...

DAMON: Who’s they, now?

SAGE: The Liberatus…

DAMON: Oh, come on! Not the freak cult again! Can’t they find another hobby!?

CAROLINE: (Looking very concerned) That’s not the worst part…  Darius is awake.

DAMON: That’s impossible! I have a camera on him 24/7.

BONNIE: (Worried) Damon, our phones have been off for days…

DAMON: No, no, no, no, no... 

(vamps to get his phone and turns it on. Sighs in relief). Nop, he’s still exactly where Bon put him, look (shows them the live CCTV footage).  

SAGE: I swear I saw him at Edward’s Christmas ball. And I also saw him on a video call with Pietro. It’s him.

BONNIE: Darius is an illusionist… How much do you want to bet that the image on that camera is nothing more than a projection of himself.

DAMON: Shit! Shit! Shit! How the hell did this happen!!! And here I thought having Enzo back was our biggest problem.

CAROLINE: Wait, what??!! Enzo is back??!!

BONNIE: He is. But I’ll tell you about that later, Care. I think it’s more important for us to focus on this right now.

CAROLINE: Bonnie, are you kidding me? This is Enzo we are talking about! I need to know what happened, how you are!

BONNIE: I’m fine. And I swear we’ll talk about it, just not now. 

(Stefan stares at Damon, as concerned as Caroline).

SAGE: (Feeling the tension…) Okay… well, I don’t know who this Enzo person is, what I do know is that Darius is not the only one we need to worry about. It’s an entire organization, and they are up to some very disturbing things. Back in Munich, when I was working for them in the lab, I did some research on a serum that Elena had given Sam to dispose of. From my findings, I was able to determine that the genetic structure of the particles had mutated… I would need to do more research to figure out exactly what it is. But I’m pretty certain it’s some type of virus; or at least it behaves like one.

DAMON: A virus? What the hell do they plan to do with that?

SAGE: Infect a high percentage of the population... Or, as they like to say, “cleanse the world”.

STEFAN: It’s some kind of sick Hunger Games, survival of the fittest…

SAGE: And smartest…

BONNIE: And this “virus”, only affects humans?

SAGE: I don’t know. Like I said, I would need to do more research on it. Good thing is, I know exactly where it is…

DAMON: Great! Let’s go get the damn thing, see what we are dealing with.

SAGE: Well, it’s not that easy. This facility is not only heavily guarded; from what I was able to see from Pietro’s video calls, they have some really freaky high-tech stuff, which I’m pretty sure they don’t even understand themselves…

DAMON: We’ll get our geek pal to help us out with that!

STEFAN: If by our geek pal you mean Kai, it’s not an option. They got to him, Katherine too.

BONNIE: (Worried) What about the others? 

CAROLINE: They are fine. I called Ric from a payphone, (rambles a bit ) can you believe those things still exist? I mean, you would think they would be useless now that everyone has a cellphone, but I guess that--

STEFAN: (Interrupts) Care, you’re going off topic...

CAROLLINE: Sorry, I’m just a little overwhelmed with all of this… Anyway, they are all fine. I was going to tell Ric everything, but I stopped myself. Someone has to run the school, and this town. If I had told him he would have told everyone, and they would have dropped everything to come and help. They think Stefan and I are still on vacation, I told Ric I needed more days.

BONNIE: We’ll figure this out. We are safe here, and there is plenty of room for you guys.

DAMON: And, it just so happens that our “Batcave” has some pretty badass shit that can help us with this new mission of ours.

BONNIE: It sure does. But, it looks like you guys need some real rest. Why don’t we call it a night, and we’ll get to this first thing in the morning.

CAROLINE:  I could really use some sleep in an actual bed…

STEFAN: Me too…

SAGE: Me three…

DAMON: Come, I’ll show you to your rooms.

Cut to – The Armory’s tunnel hide out. Enzo is playing the guitar. Maggie walks in, applauding.

 MAGGIE: Wow! You have quite the talent!

ENZO: Thank you, I suppose…

MAGGIE: I’m glad you finally dropped the attitude. You see? It wasn’t that hard for us to get along. Granted the accommodations might not be a five star hotel, but it’s rather cozy; don’t you think?

ENZO: You can drop the face now. I know who you are.  

MAGGIE: Really? What gave it away?

ENZO: The terrible jokes.

SILAS: (Morphs into his original form) Oh, come on! They’re funny! You Brits are way too snobbish when it comes to sense of humor.

ENZO: We like our humor witty. Not dumb and dumber.

SILAS: Ouch, low blow! It’s actually a pretty funny movie!

ENZO: Anyway, when can I get out of here?

SILAS: Well, I got your cabin remodeled, it will be ready in the morning. Come tomorrow, fly, Robin, fly. I have a feeling that will be the first place Bonnie will come looking for you. Just stick to the plan, and don’t try anything stupid… I hear that’s big with the Brits (winks).

ENZO: (Rolls his eyes) God, it just keeps getting worse… Can I ask, out of all the things you could have chosen with this new life of yours, why choose this? You could travel the world, find a new love, a hobby... It’s a tad petty don’t you think?

SILAS: What can I say, maybe I have more in common with my ex than I thought?

ENZO: Wasn’t she after some kind of love vendetta? What does that have to do with you and Bonnie?

SILAS: Besides the fact that she is a Bennett witch, and this is a vendetta, absolutely nothing. 

Bonnie betrayed me; and although she is the reason I  was able to come back, I’m still pissed she let me be dragged to hell. I mean, you worked for Cade. What a prick, right?! Then, I had to deal with Katherine... you know for a fact what utter torture that is. Finally, when Bonnie destroyed the hell dimension, I was lost in oblivion, which, as you know as well, is even worse than hell. Also... I’m bored. And, as Qetsiyah seemed to clearly know, there is no better revenge than a broken heart.

ENZO: But why go through the trouble of bringing me back? I reckon you could have found another way.

SILAS: At first I had my doubts. But then, when I saw how distraught she was when you didn’t come back, it made perfect sense. Just out of curiosity, why didn’t you come back?

ENZO: (Struggling to say the words) Because I knew she was in love with him…

SILAS: Aw, I’m sure that breaks your heart. Ha, two birds with one stone… Well, three if you count Damon. How efficient of me! Anyway, even if this doesn’t work, just ruining her moment of bliss, if only for a moment, is worth it. If you think about it, after everything I had to endure because of her, I’m letting her off with just a hand-slap. Guess I have gotten soft over the years… Anyway, she’s not the only reason I'm sticking around here for. I have a bone to pick with an old foe, who I was delighted, yet surprised, to know was in town. But that one is going to take a little more time.

ENZO: Sounds productive. Dare I ask who?

SILAS: Let’s just say he’s an entitled psychic-witch, who really gets on my nerves.

ENZO: I can relate…

SILAS: Don’t be such a gloom! You should be exhilarated to have the opportunity to get Bonnie back. Maybe even take her to Paris again? Just, don’t order brains this time…

ENZO: That is the only reason I’m agreeing to do this…

SILAS: (Mocking) For the brains?

ENZO: (Rolls his eyes again) Seriously, mate, stick to your day job.

SILAS: Fine, I will. Ooh, one minor detail I forgot to mention…  just so I’m sure you won’t go suicidal on me. I linked your life to Bonnie’s. So, unless you want this story to end like Romeo and Juliet, you better keep safe…

ENZO: (Not being able to contain himself anymore, lashes at him) I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!

SILAS: (Holds him back) Oh, the dramatics! Another delightful British trait, so very Shakespearian! And, you won’t kill me…I’m linked to her as well. But, hey, Damon is fair game. So, bygones… 

(He walks away. Enzo continues to play, while his guitar gently weeps...).