Author's Notes:

This is my first foray into writing for Vampire Diaries, so be kind. I'd love some reviews and encouragement. I've previously written for Supernatural and X-Files (waaay back in the day) :)
No infringement intended. All recognizable characters belong to someone else ;)

Chapter 1

The grief in the clearing hung thick around them. The group seemed frozen, and for a moment Ric thought they really were. Maybe none of them can move, he thought, panicking-

But then Jeremy stumbled forward as if suddenly thawed, his legs heavy and awkward, feet dragging underneath him. He only made it a few steps closer to where Bonnie had been standing before giving up and falling to his knees.
No one else moved. Like statues, no tombstones, scattered in a half circle around him as they all stare at the empty air. Waiting.

And then Elena laughed.

Unfrozen, all heads whipped toward her, varied looks of worry and shock and widened eyes.

Her laugh bubbled up, manic, scratching across the frayed nerves of the group like nails on a chalkboard. For just a second she looked genuinely happy, all big white teeth and bubbly mirth, but a glance to her eyes and he can see its wild and desperate and pure disbelief.

She reined the morbid giggle in quickly, horrified, and slapped both hands against her mouth as her face crumbled. The wild outburst turned to something else, a wail that Ric would be grateful to never hear from her again.

She shuffled forward and collapsed, more or less, onto Jeremy, hugging him close. The two held onto each other, desperate and silent as the graveyard the group has transformed into. They swayed lightly and Alaric wondered how two people could have earned so much pain and loss.

Mesmerized by their silent swaying, Ric realized that he is the only one still standing frozen. Caroline and Stefan are clinging to each other now, looking for all the world like the shoulder they're leaning on is all that's keeping them upright. Stefan's eyes are haunted, red-rimmed and lost. Tyler's stepped back, holding up the fence post he's found to lean against and staring at his bloody hand as if the answers hide somewhere within.

Caroline just stares, alternating from the two on the ground, to the empty spot near the tree where Bonnie was supposed to be standing. She looked confused, as if she's trying to piece together what just happened and coming up all question marks.

Somewhere in the confusion, Matt has joined them. He arrived breathless, and Alaric watched the silent headcount Matt takes, trying to decipher who made it and who is being grieved. Caroline watched him, too, her face beginning to crumble, and they both seemed to come to the conclusion at the same time.

"No-"

It's the first word to be spoken in, well moments really, but it felt like hours. Matt's voice was loud in the grief-thick clearing. It shook everyone to a new level of understanding, of acceptance, that yes, this is real.

It happened and its real, and they're not coming back.

They're not coming back.

Alaric took a step back, knocked off his feet at the realization. He wanted to embrace the sadness and the sudden guilt that have settled in his stomach – his empty, ravenous, ohmygodIneedblood stomach – but he cleared his throat instead and pulled his voice together.
"We need to get out of here," he said, and his voice sounded like he gargled with rocks. The words drug across his throat and past his lips, dry and rough. He smelled blood on the air, a scent on the sudden gust of wind, but managed to keep from looking for the source.
I'm still a vampire. Okay then.

"Caroline, your mom was hurt in the explosion. She's OK," he reassured her quickly. "He… Damon stopped to help her, before... She was OK, banged up, but breathing, when we left."

Elena's head lifted at the mention of Damon, and Alaric watches her back tense up.

"Where is she? Are you sure-"

"You won't be able to get into Mystic Falls to check on her- not if the spell is still active."

"I'll go," Matt said, giving Caroline a nod. "Don't worry, Care, I'll get her."

"I'll help…" Tyler offers, trailing after Matt.

"My dad's cabin!" Caroline yelled after them. "Its outside Mystic Falls, we should go there. Regroup…" Her eyes travelled back to the empty space by the tree, and Ric can see her reluctance to leave. The pit in his stomach reminded him he felt the same way.

Leaving meant they were giving up.

Alaric bent down, putting a hand on Jeremy and Elena's shoulders. "We should go. Find a place to rest and –"

Elena stood, pulling a surprised Jeremy up with her. She turned quickly and wrapped her arms around Alaric, her grip strong enough to crush him, had he been human.

"I'm glad you made it back, Ric," she said, her voice was muffled against his chest.

He hugged her back, tears welling in his eyes. Glad to be back, but torn by guilt because of who wasn't here.

"I am, too, Elena." He pulled back, a hand on each of her shoulders, and looked her in the eye. "I am so sorry about Da-"

Elena shook free, nodding and swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. She kept her eyes down, not wanting to see the pity and grief and loss staring back at her.

"Just… take care of Jeremy, ok?"
She was gone, vanishing within the forest trees, before anyone could react.

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