Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or anything associated with it.

This is just a taste of the story I'd like to do but, since I already have another one in the works, I want to make sure people would be interested in reading it. I hope you all enjoy it! Reviews are welcomed!

The sun shines through the trees, leaving fractured patterns across the ground. Wind carrying the scents of the forest tosses my hair back and I close my eyes for a moment, listening to the leaves rustling. It's so peaceful out here, surrounded by nature and all the wonders it creates. Sometimes life gets so hectic that I forget to take it all in and absorb the warmth and light that life has to offer. I open my eyes and look at of one of the biggest sources of the light in my life, one that I often take for granted. His blue eyes are lined with thick, black lashes that match his unruly hair and they always express his emotions better than anything else. Damon. I drink in the sight of him in front of me.

Wait. I remember this.

My hands raise to wrap around his neck involuntarily.

"Do you see a future with me? Because that's all I see." I say.

"Elena, I've seen it since the second I laid eyes on you." His voice triggers a melancholy feeling deep in my core.

No. No, no, no. I remember. I remember where this leads.

The image starts to shimmer and change and I try to call to him but I'm no longer in control of my body. I watch, screaming inside, as his beautiful face slowly disappears.

I look around at the new scene materializing in front of me. I'm in the woods, still, but it's darker now and there is a building to my right, a mausoleum. The sounds of the forest that captivated me earlier are absent now. The whole world seems to be on mute, not even my footsteps leaving behind a sound. I walk towards the mausoleum, anxiety starting to creep into my chest. The doors are open, the building seemingly abandoned, and then I see her. She's me, leaning against the wall for support, crying, grasping at anything to make this pain stop.

All at once, the sound comes crashing back followed by a wave of emotion: regret, hopelessness, loss, and overwhelming pain, all crushing my chest, making it hard to breathe.

"You lied to me." I hear her say to the empty room. "Please don't leave me."

I want to stop watching. I don't want to see this again, I already lived it. But I can't stop. I'm stuck, reliving this moment over and over again.

I watch myself slide down the wall. I remember the feeling of the dirt covering the floor, the stones pressing into my back. I remember feeling his hand touch my face, even though I couldn't see him. I remember the loss I felt when I lost that, too.

"Please come back to me."

The scene shifts again and I'm back out in the sun, but it doesn't feel as warm. The colors of the grass, the sky, aren't as bright. Everything feels dead. I feel dead. I'm looking at a gravestone with his name on it. I want to touch it but I can't bring myself to. I don't want to feel the cool stone and realize that's the last part of him I'll feel beneath my fingertips.

The earth still looks freshly disturbed, powdery dirt covering the charred remains of the man I love. It should have grown over by now… enough time has passed even though, sometimes, it doesn't feel like it. It feels like yesterday and a million years ago all at once.

"Elena." I hear to my right. It's him. Damon. I turn to look, but, as I do, the scene fades and I wake up.

I sit up in bed, wiping away the remnants of tears that have soaked my pillow, and look around the empty room. Three months later and it doesn't feel any more like home. The only home I'd really had since Jenna's death, along with Damon's room and all his things, still sits within the magic-free zone of Mystic Falls, and this house, a foreclosure, just feels like a big, almost empty house.

Part of me wishes I could lay in the sheets that probably no longer smell like him, wear his shirts to bed… another part of me knows I probably wouldn't even disturb anything, wanting to leave things just as he left them. The only thing I have is his daylight ring, which I wear on chain around my neck. I was surprised that it survived the explosion and even more surprised when Sherriff Forbes was able to get it to me. I'm guessing it was spelled with a protective magic to shield it from being destroyed. Though it's little consolation, I'm grateful for this memento, at least, and I find myself playing with it often.

I can hear Stefan moving around in his room. He sleeps about as much as I do, too afraid to close his eyes and dream of what he's lost. The first night I woke crying Damon's name in my sleep, Stefan was here in an instant to comfort me. But after months of this never-ending torture, we've both come to accept that this is how things are now. You would think we would be brought together by the mutual pain of losing Damon, but sometimes it feels like we are just strangers sharing the same grief.

I get out of bed and get dressed. As much as it hurts to do anything, Stefan and I aren't the only ones that lost someone. We all lost Bonnie. I feel like this heartache is even worse than the first time I lost her because, now, she's really gone. Jeremy tries, still, to reach her, but there hasn't even been a glimmer of hope that she can hear him. It's just… emptiness, he says. He's the only thing keeping me going right now, but, some days, it's still too much for either of us to bear.

I go downstairs, catching a glimpse of one of the clocks. It's still early, just barely 5 AM. I am exhausted but sleep no longer helps quell the fatigue that plagues me. I sit on the couch and stare at nothing, spacing out like I tend to do these days. I'm not sure how long I sit there before my phone dings, but I ignore it. I'm not ready for any kind of interaction right now. After a few more messages, though, something close to curiosity blooms in my chest and I check my phone.

It's from Jeremy.

Are you awake? Call me ASAP. Reads the first message.

Elena, wake up and CALL ME.

It's Bonnie. Call me.

I take a deep breath and text him back instead, knowing Stefan will overhear if I call him. For the first time in months, I'm on the verge of hoping, but I don't want to get his hopes up for nothing. Instead, I grab my keys and leave to meet Jeremy at the edge of town, trying not to get too excited. I can't help it, though. This could be it. This could be our chance to see them again.

Three months earlier

When I open my eyes, I'm still holding Bonnie's hand and we are sitting in the middle of a field… or what looks like it used to be a field, but all the grass is dead. She stands and looks around us, confused. What is this? Where are we? I thought for sure we'd be just… gone. Apparently, we're not that lucky.

"What the hell is this place?" I say, more to myself than to Bonnie, though that doesn't stop her from replying.

"I don't know. I've never died and disappeared with a supernatural purgatory before."

I give her a look. "Me, neither. But at least we're somewhere… though, I'm not sure it's a 'somewhere' I would have picked."

We walk aimlessly, not sure where we're headed, and it doesn't help that it seems to be perpetually night. Trees litter the earth, sparsely placed, and dying just like everything else here. After a while, we come across a forest line and stop. It's even darker in there and something tells me it's not a place I want to go.

"You don't want to go in there." I hear to my right.

You've got to be kidding me. I turn just in time to see a figure step out from behind a tree.

"Katherine."