Vampire Diaries
Stefan (Paul Wesley) tries to help Caroline (Candice Accola) in new sneak peek videos for "The Vampire Diaries" Season 6, episode 16. CW

“The Vampire Diaries” Season 6 returns Thursday after a short hiatus to find everyone in a bit of a “Downward Spiral,” which happens to be the title of the episode. While Caroline (Candice Accola) has turned her humanity off in episode 16, Ian Somerhalder's character Damon (the actor directed the installment) has to deal with Bonnie’s (Kat Graham) video that showed his mother trapped in a prison world. Despite the evidence, he doesn’t believe it could possibly be his mother.

Sneak Peek No. 1

Kai (Chris Wood) watches as Damon tries to open his mother’s casket with a crowbar. Kai feels guilty and asks Damon if he needs help, but Damon doesn’t want any help. He just wants answers, but Kai thinks Damon already has them. Bonnie saw his mother in a prison world in 1903 and she had it on tape.

“My mother died of consumption in 1858," Damon explains. "We did not go through the trouble of moving this thing to the family crypt only to find out that she’s not even in here.”

“Oh, so you just called me here because you needed a friend?” Kai asks. “No, you wanted to know if it was possible for her to exist in another prison world, to which I responded yes, to which you responded with denial.”

Damon says it couldn’t be her, claiming it had to be a ghost or twin. If someone trapped her in 1903, she would be in her seventies. Kai pointed out that she wouldn’t have aged if she was a vampire.

“I know my mother,” Damon says. “She is not a vampire. She is not in a prison world."

Watch the first sneak peek video from “The Vampire Diaries” Season 6, episode 16 below:

Sneak Peek No. 2

In a behind-the-scenes sneak peek, executive producers Caroline Dries and Julie Plec show that Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Elena (Nina Dobrev) are trying to track down Caroline. Her house and dorm are completely empty.

“So what, she just flips her humanity switch, came back to the dorm, took all of her clothes and just left town? That makes no sense,” Elena says.

“This coming from the girl who burned her house down,” Stefan reminds her.

Plec explains that Stefan’s search for Caroline isn’t just because he loves her. He is going to feel responsible for her decision to turn off her emotions because he didn't admit his feelings for her.

"Her mother died, her world was turning upside down," Stefan tells Elena. "She asked me one simple question, and all I had to do was tell her the truth and I didn’t. Now look me in the eye and tell me that I couldn’t have stopped this."

Watch a second sneak peek video from “The Vampire Diaries” Season 6, episode 16 below:

“The Vampire Diaries” Season 6, episode 16, airs Thursday at 8 p.m. EDT on the CW. Do you think Damon will find an empty casket? Sound off in the comments section below!