In "The Downward Spiral," Damon (Somerhalder) learns some devastating news about his mother

Could Damon and Stefan’s mother be a vampire?

Though Damon (Ian Somerhalder) had always been under the impression that his mother died of consumption in 1858, the last episode of The Vampire Diaries revealed that Lily (Annie Wersching) was alive in a prison world in 1903 after Bonnie (Kat Graham) caught her on video.

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When TVD returns from hiatus Thursday, Somerhalder makes his directorial debut in an episode that has Damon trying to get to the truth about his mother.

In an exclusive sneak peek at “The Downward Spiral,” we see Kai (Chris Wood) taunting Damon about Lily, telling him that she must have been a vampire this whole time. “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 is distraught by the idea, however: “Whatever, whoever is on that tape is not her. I know my mother. She is not a vampire. She is not in a prison world. She died of consumption in 1858.”

The episode will also follow the consequences of Caroline’s (Candice Accola) decision to turn off her humanity to spare herself the pain of her mother’s death, as Stefan’s (Paul Wesley) attempted intervention sets off a dangerous chain of events.