but oh what a year

[patrols]

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[patrols]

[They all make their way inside, and Beck will be able to lead them down to the vampire cells. Stefan still hasn't moved from his spot, still hasn't put on his ring, but he does look over when the new footsteps arrive. His eyes meet Bonnie's briefly, holding her gaze and then letting his eyes drop to his knees again. Guilt radiates off him, but he's trying to pull it in.

Stefan's guilt isn't Bonnie's problem.

Lindsay looks at the group, rubbing her hands together.]

Okay. What have we got? Are we ready for me to actually stab something yet?

[telegraphs]

( beck catches that. as a watcher, he's always eyeing human (and demon) behavior. )

We got something you should be able to stab him with. Made from hellfire and his own bones.

[geminated]

["Now we're talking." That's a step in the right direction.

Liv moves to lean against the bars.]

We went to talk to Peter Maxwell. Apparently Ethan Maxwell, back in the 1790s, created the Maxwell Bell with Beatrice Bennett. He also reported in his journal being enticed by Sybill and Seline in order to try and corrupt the Bell but here's the catch - they wanted to use it to kill Cade. Apparently if he's summoned to this plane, he has a corporeal form, and that is a form we can kill, with the bone knife Beck mentioned.

[telegraphs]

We do need to find the bone knife. And pull him into this world so he's not in Stefan's mind.

( Or, Damon's. Or, anyone's. )

[geminated]

I think the Armory has it.

[She glances over at Tyler.]

Remember that skeleton we found in the vault where the sirens were? I think that was Ethan Maxwell. According to Peter, Beatrice Bennett sealed him in with the sirens when they tried to use Ethan to keep her from interfering in their plan and summoning Cade. I think he had the dagger.

[telegraphs]

( almost on cue, Liv's phone rings, Alaric on the line. )

That's one.

( "How are we going to bring Cade to this plane? Is it the bell that does it?" Bonnie asks, keeping her distance and staying close to Caroline.

[geminated]

Yeah. Seems like the bell getting rung a certain number of times pulls him more and more onto this plane.

[She pulls out her phone, and exhales when she sees it's her brother-in-law.]

Hang on, it's Ric.

[She answers the call and hits the speaker button.]

Hey, Ric, you're on speaker.

[daydrinker]

Hey, I went through Dorian's office and Georgie, my other intern, catalogued something she found in the fault.

( he puts his phone on speaker, setting it down. )

Dagger of unknown origin.

[geminated]

Any chance it looks like it was made of human bone?

[Because that seems like it could be their weapon of choice.]

[daydrinker]

( Ric picks it up from the red cloth it was wrapped in. )

More like, forged from human bone, in high temperatures.

[geminated]

[She snaps her fingers.]

That sounds like our weapon. So we have that and we have the bell, we just need a plan.

[And that's where she may be falling a little short. She glances over to Lindsay.]

If you're the one who's gonna stab him, I can cloak you. But that's not going to do much against a psychic, even Gemini style. We need him distracted.

[daydrinker]

Bell?

( "We'll fill you in," Damon says. "Any chance you can whisk yourself away to the sheriff's department?" )

Just say, bring it to you.

( "Fine. Bring it to us."

"He's already fixated on Stefan," Bonnie says, having stayed silently until now. )

[patrols]

[Stefan's eyes glance to Bonnie, and something akin to discomfort shifts across his face because she's not wrong. But there's something of a wild card still in terms of how much control Cade still has over him.

Lindsay glances over to Bonnie before nodding.]

That's one of the things we're worried about. Stefan says Cade let him go because he wasn't in a place to be useful, but he's worried that if we let him out, Cade will take him back.

[And they don't want that. Lindsay doesn't want to have to stake a vampire today on top of killing the devil.]

[moralitypolice]

( Bonnie looks away, hugging herself, and wandering over to look at a bulletin board of things that don't matter. She did bring that attention onto herself.

She thinks about the new tether she feels. Enzo in the background somewhere else, the power and grief she used to create what she did. She doesn't want to make any more sacrifices. But, what's their alternative. )

He won't show himself when he knows he's invulnerable from his realm. It's why he used emissaries. Sisters and brothers to do his dirty work. But, I can feel him.

[somanyadjectives]

Then maybe we should give him what he wants.

[The worlds feel so heavy as he says them, but everything feels heavy right now. He's so tired. Tired of being the pawn in someone else's game, a blunt weapon intended to cause carnage and destruction, to twist the knife into someone else.

Maybe it's long past time he be taken off the board.]

Use me to draw him here. If he takes me back, there's people there who can stop me before I hurt anyone else.

[And Caroline, despite her being fully Team Bonnie, still can't help but see right through that wish. Still can't help the sharp "Absolutely not" that flies from her lips, looking to Damon for some kind of solidarity on this point.]

[moralitypolice]

( "I'm looking for more of a Plan A, then a suicide run, brother," he says, not holding back. "But, F for effort," he adds, turning to Lindsay. "Let it be said for the record, Stefan stays put." )

He got what he wanted from you.

( The words feel bitter in her mouth, like bile threatening to choke up, but he's not about this make this about him. And his pity. )

He won't go back to that well.

[vampireboulevard]

Great. Then Stefan stays in the jail cell and doesn't do anything stupid.

[Caroline is glad they're all in agreement on that. She and Stefan will have a more serious conversation later while everyone else is saving the world.]

So what does Cade want? The one who got away?

[She looks over at Damon.]

[moralitypolice]

Anything more stupid.

( Sorry.

"Well, if the bell rains down hellfire, I bet he wants his world and I'll world to be one giant hellball. All the souls he could want." He turns to Liv, though, to see if he's understanding everything. )

[geminated]

[Liv thinks over the information in front of her, trying to break through their options.]

Either that or he wants to have more influence over this world. He could be stronger if he's material in the real world, even if it makes him more vulnerable. Either way he wants someone to ring that bell.

[moralitypolice]

( "For a bell to be rung, it has to be installed," Damon explains. "So, as long as Peter Maxwell keeps it wherever he's keeping it..."

"Do we," Beck asks, bringing an and off his crossed arms. "Have the upperhand?"

"We have a slayer. Feels upperhand to me." )

We still need a plan, Damon.

[geminated]

Peter is willing to help us.

[Liv and Beck have already covered that base.]

But I agree with Bonnie. We need a plan. We need somewhere to lure him to.

[moralitypolice]

( "Care to contribute to the proceedings, Stefan, unless whatever's going to come out of your mouth starts with the word 'Sacrifice' and ends with 'me.' He made second contact. Did he take you anywhere?"

Show him anything?

Stefan has the attention on him again and Bonnie ices over again, but listens. Hopefully, he has something that can help. )

[somanyadjectives]

[He's quiet for a long moment, because it's hard seeing past that end at the moment. But he does his best to shove down the despair, not in a way that makes him soulless again but in a way allows him to be helpful.]

There was a cave.

[He pauses as he tries to pin down where he's seen it before.]

It's familiar but ... I think I heard running water?

[moralitypolice]

It must be behind the Falls, then.

( It's the first time she's addressed him directly. She then addresses the rest of the group. )

For those of you who are new, kids go to the Falls to party. They have bonfires by the base, or swing into the watering hole. But, you can hike up them. And there's a system of caves back there. One entrance. Caroline, Elena, and I did the hike when we were teens.

( Just to see if they could, and because Tyler and Matt...

"Because Matt and me said you couldn't make it up there?" )

Yes, actually. And we did. We also did it responsibly. Packed water bottles, made it to the top, and had a picnic.

[vampireboulevard]

That was a good day.

[Caroline's smile is sad, because she isn't lying. That was a good day. But it reminds her of all the things that are missing. She misses Elena, misses Matt, misses the pieces of their world that are gaping.

She knows she'll at least see Elena again, one day, long from now, but the three of them will never be together again like they were that day and that hurts.

Focus, Forbes. Elena and Matt may be missing but she refuses to let Stefan or Bonnie join them.]

So is that where this all is going to go down? Lure him to the falls and go from there?