‘Vampire Diaries’ Season 5 Spoilers: Has Damon Gone Evil Again? Ian Somerhalder Tweets Photo Clues

It’s time to break out the vervain necklaces! “Vampire Diaries” fans on Team Damon may be in a little bit of trouble … because it looks like the eldest Salvatore has taken a turn for evil again.

New episodes of the hit CW series don’t start up again until Thursday, Jan. 23, but Damon’s Ian Somerhalder has been busy teasing viewers with photos on Instagram. While we don’t know what “The Vampire Diaries” has in store for its fans in the second half of season 5, Somerhalder’s photos preview A LOT of blood.

“Season’s Greetings from Damon The Red-Nosed Reindeer Ripper …,” the actor posted along with a photo on Saturday, Dec. 14. The photo shows the 35-year-old with his fangs out and a pretty deadly amount of blood smeared from his nose, across his cheeks and down to his chin. With crazy eyes and a frightening smile on his face, “Vampire Diaries” fans will notice that the scene must be particularly gruesome because Damon has blood splatter not only by his eyes, but dripping down the little skin revealed in his V-neck shirt.

And that’s not all Somerhalder revealed from the Georgia “Vampire Diaries” set! On Wednesday, Dec. 11 he treated fans to a peak at his new partner-in-crime. And spoiler alert -- It’s NOT Stefan!

“Damon + Enzo = Denzo in the HOUSE!” Somerhalder Instagramed. “On the ‘Vampire Diaries’ set shooting great scenes with my new bro & Damon Salvatore’s partner-in-crime @mkmalarkey aka Michael Malarkey/Enzo Awwwww how sweet ….”

The photo appears to be anything but sweet because it looks as if the shot features a dozen blood bags for Damon and Enzo. (On the plus side, maybe Damon and Enzo won’t go around slaughtering innocent people?)

“Vampire Diaries” fans will remember that Damon and Enzo didn’t exactly have a joyous reunion in the midseason finale after Dr. Wes sent the Augustine vampire after Elena’s boyfriend. Wes had injected Enzo with a poison that would kill him if he didn’t return, and while it looked like Enzo would be dead by the end of episode 10, Damon was able to cure his old friend.

Whether the two vampires are “even” now remains a mystery, but it appears as if Damon will be getting over his break up with Elena by wreaking a little havoc with his formerly locked up buddy.

Are you happy Enzo is sticking around? Do you think Damon has turned evil again? Let us know your thoughts on upcoming “Vampire Diaries” drama in the comments section or send a tweet to @AmandaTVScoop.

“The Vampire Diaries” returns to the CW with new episodes on Thursday, Jan. 23.