After realising that something was wrong with the Gilbert ring, Meredith got Alaric immediately booked in for an MRI.
He was laid flat out on the couch, waiting to go under the scanner. To say he was nervous was an understatement. Arabella, Elena and Meredith were stood in the control room, anxiously waiting to scan the history teacher.
"So what exactly are you looking for?" Arabella questioned as her eyes flickered from Alaric to the computer screen.
Meredith shrugged her shoulders and continued to tap away on the keyboard "I don't know. A tumor, vascular anomalies, anything physical that might explain his behaviour. If it's medical. I can treat it."
"And if its not?" Elena queried with a frown.
Meredith stayed silent for a moment before she smiled sadly "Well then we'll deal with that too."
One of the technicians started sliding Alaric under the scanner and Arabella quickly rushed over to the window, watching as the history teacher disappeared into the tunnel. "When did you suspect him? That it was Alaric killing those people?"
Meredith pushed the chair back from the computer and stood up "It was after he came clean about his magical ring. I remembered a story my grandmother had told me about Samantha Gilbert and her secret journal. I don't know if you know this, but we Fell's are notorious busy-bodies."
Inside the scanner, Alaric was staring up at his reflection in the mirror. His reflection was glaring down at him but Alaric wasn't making the same facial expression. This caused Alaric to slightly panic which gained the attention from Meredith and the Gilbert twins.
"Everything alright in there?" Meredith called to him through the speaker.
"Yeah, yeah, everything's okay."
A little while later Alaric was in a hospital room, getting himself ready to leave when Arabella and Elena entered the room. "So, Meredith said that everything is normal..." The older Gilbert twin said as she sauntered over to the bed and sat herself down, crossing her legs.
"Yeah, well, everything is normal, because there is nothing wrong with me. I didn't kill Brian Walters. I didn't kill Bill Forbes, and I sure as hell didn't shove a hunting knife into my stomach." The history teacher looked down at the magical ring and twirled it around his finger "Or maybe I did and I have gone insane, just like your ancestor who wore the same damn thing."
"Look, I'm gonna call Bonnie, the rings were made by a Bennett witch so maybe a witch can reverse the Damage." Elena said with a hopeful tone.
Alaric shook his head and slid the ring off his finger "Take it." He said walking over to Arabella and placing it in the palm of her hand. "I don't want it."
Suddenly the doors to his room opened and Arabella's smile reached her eyes and she jumped up from the bed when the older Salvatore entered the room "You ready to ditch this house of horrors?" He asked the history teacher before he wrapped his arms around Arabella and kissed her softly on the lips. "Oof, you look terrible." He joked.
Alaric glared at his vampire friend before he picked up his bags "Yeah, let me... let me check outta here." He said before he made his way out of the room. Elena scrunched her face up at the two lovers before she sent Damon a hateful look and followed after Alaric.
"God, what's her problem now?" Damon questioned as he wrapped his arms tighter around Arabella's waist.
"Let's face it, you're a dick!" Arabella replied with a shrug and an amused smile. "Come on, let's get out of this House of horrors." She said before she entwined their hands and lead him out of the room.
Alaric was already seated in Damon's car when they all left the hospital. Elena marched ahead as they all walked through the hospital car park.
"Don't worry about Alaric, Elena. I'll just take him out for chicken soup, buy him a martini and make sure he doesn't kill anybody." The older Salvatore jokingly called out as him and Arabella followed behind. The brunette squeezed his hand and glared up at him, knowing that he was purposely trying to rile up her younger sister.
Elena abruptly stopped in her tracks and spun around on her heels "What is wrong with you?" She spat as she stalked towards the couple, her brown eyes fixated on the older Salvatore "How could you just go out feeding with Stefan like some vampire pub crawl?"
"I thought we were talking about Alaric, but of course we're talking about Stefan." Arabella replied even though Elena was talking to Damon.
Elena ignored her twin sister and focused her attention on the blue-eyed vampire "You stood there and let him feed on an innocent girl."
Damon gritted his teeth and closed the gap between then "I didnt let him do anything. If you want to get nit-picky about it. I made him." He told her, almost like he was proud of himself which angered the younger twin.
"Why, why would you do that?"
"Because they're vampire's, Elena." Arabella stated as she stepped infront of her fiancée "They need human blood to survive, to be strong. They're predators, not puppies."
"Yeah, but Stefan found a way around it before." Elena retorted now focusing her attention on her twin sister as they approached Arabella's car.
"Yeah because Stef has built himself a delusional wagon which he has repeatedly fallen off of. Damon is trying to teach him control, Elena. Just stay out of it."
"I'm just saying, maybe he isn't the right person to be teaching Stefan about self-control." Elena replied with her arms folded across her chest.
"I'm trying to help him, Elena." Damon said. "We both are. And if you don't like it, then you know what you need to do." He placed a kiss on Arabella's lips "I'll see you soon, babe. Good luck." He said before he walked away.
********
After leaving Arabella, the older Salvatore drove himself and Alaric to Wickery Bridge, meeting up with meredith once they arrived. Construction workers were restoring the bridge and the townspeople had been invited to the restoration fundraiser.
"I think Rebekah's upto something, she's been snooping around in places she shouldn't be." Damon stated when he noticed the blonde original in deep conversation with Mayor Lockwood.
Alaric glanced across at the original vampire and shrugged his shoulders. He was physically drained from everything that had happened over the last couple of weeks and he just wanted to go home "Tell me again, why are we here?"
Damon rolled his eyes at the ex-hunter "Ric, the world can't just stop because you're an accidental psycho killer."
Meredith's eyes grew wide and she quickly looked around, hoping that nobody heard the egotistic vampire. She shook her head and let out a small scoff "Do you have any tact whatsoever?"
Damon shook his head with a self-satified grin on his lips, which only grew wider as Carol started to approach them.
"Alaric, I'm so glad you're here. Did you bring the sign?" She questioned the history teacher, who in return, sent her a puzzled look "The restored Wickery Bridge sign. The history department promised me you'd have it today."
"I- I don't have the sign actually, it slipped.... it slipped my mind." He looked at the mayor apologetically, he didn't like letting people down and he felt awful for forgetting. "I've been... busy."
