Elena & Alaric

Boarding House

I could see the sun filtering through the sheets but it wasn't welcome. I pulled them tightly over my face and buried it once more into the pillow, welcoming darkness. Bonnie was gone; again she had slipped through my fingers. My best friend was gone.

And he's gone too, my mind sang again.

The insistent, melancholic lullaby that plagued my spirits arose again, heaving the bile once more to my throat. I pulled my arms across my stomach, and tucked back into the fetal position.

"You have to eat, Elena" Alarics voice, seeped through the sheets. I felt the familiar drop of the mattress as he sat down on the edge. I shifted again to face away from him, the mention of feeding making me sick. The sheet slipped away from me as he pulled on them, the light once uninvited was now vexatious in its presence.

"I'm not hungry." I said, my voice low and hoarse.

"You can't do this to yourself, Elena"

"He's dead." I whispered, feeling the sting of oncoming tears.

"Yes, but you aren't." He snapped and pulled my shoulder downward, forcing me to face him. "You need to eat. You need to survive." He said. He spoke boldly but his eyes hinted sadness. He had spent so long waiting in the wings to see his best friend. But after only a fleeting moment he was separated once more.

"I'm glad your here, Alaric." I said, sliding my hand over his. "I never got a chance to tell you that, but I am."

"It's good to be back" Alaric said, but sounding reserved.

"I'll eat, I promise, but please, let me sleep for a while longer?" I pleaded.

"You've been lying here for two days." Alaric sighed.

I did my best to plead with my eyes until he finally gave up and left me alone once more in the confines of Damon's bedroom.

Stefan & Caroline

Boarding House

"There has to be something we can do." Stefan said pacing the living room floor. Caroline sat and watched him, her eyes sad and swelled with concern.

"Where would we even start? Bonnie's gone, Liv almost died trying to hold the spell together. Were a little low on options." She said, trying her best to keep the sound of complete hopelessness out of her voice.

Stefan finally broke the endless cycle of pacing and he walked of the realized briefly for a moment that he needed to hunt but shook it off.

"Damon would know what to do." He whispered.

Caroline tilted her head and pursed her lips. She had felt nothing but sadness and grief for two days but watching Stefan, so lost and broken made it nearly pulled herself from the sofa and walked over to him.

"Look at me." She ordered.

He turned and met her gaze, his eyes were red rimmed and weary.

"We'll figure it out. We always do." She said, wishing she believed her own words. He nodded slightly.

"Thank you." Stefan said reaching for her hand. She took it and studied her hand in his.

"For what?" She asked.

"Being such a good friend." He replied.

Something unfamiliar tugged at her heart and she nodded vacantly trying to understand what it was.

Tyler, Jeremy & Matt

Lockwood Estate

The midday light flooded the Lockwood estate. Tyler felt like he had been gone for ages but in the familiar milieu of the house he was beginning to feel settled back into his life. But just like before, his mothers absence was abundantly present.

"So what, you're human again?" Matt asked, the sound of hope was hard to ignore as he was beginning to feel alone in his humanity.

"I guess so." Tyler shrugged leaning back against the banister. He flexed his hands instinctively, feeling the absence of the power he once possessed. He struggled with the idea, not being able to decide if he was happy or disappointed. In a way it felt he had even been granted a second chance to be normal, but he just wasn't sure how welcome normalcy was.

"Well, you still have the werewolf gene. You were born into that. So, I guess try not to kill anyone and your good to go." Matt grinned.

Tyler's smile in return didn't reach his eyes. The door opened and Jeremy sauntered in. He looked disheveled and the dark shadows under his eyes were startling in the illuminated entrance hall.

"Wow, man. You look like shit." Tyler gawked. He felt a pang of regret in his comment. Jeremy was broken hearted, he missed Bonnie.

"I haven't been able to sleep. I know she's out there somewhere." Jeremy mumbled. He slid a the bag off of his shoulder and let it fall to his feet.

"What do you have in there?" Matt asked eyeing the bag.

"Well, since they blasted the Mystic grill to smithereens I figured I'd bring the bar to us." He said, leaning down and withdrawing a huge bottle of whiskey from inside.

Tyler and Matt gave each other a quick glance.

"Well, I suppose if there was a situation which called for getting wasted at noon, this would be it." Tyler said taking the bottle from Jeremy's hands. He cracked the seal and took a huge gulp, welcoming the burn it delivered on the way down and the instant glow of warmth from within. Matt grinned as he took the bottle from Matt.

"Don't over estimate your alcohol tolerance, human." He said, taking his own gulp and then passing the bottle to Jeremy.

Elena

Boarding House

It wasn't until the sun was down that that pulled my body reluctantly from the bed and padded across the dark wood floor to the bathroom. I stared at myself in the mirror, my eyes were red and puffy, not even vampirism could keep my sore, tear stained eyes at bay. I suddenly felt my breath hitch as I thought of him and and felt the pain begin to rip through me again. I needed him, I wanted him back. Every fiber of my being burned to see him standing in front of me once again. I couldn't live without him, especially forever. I turned on my heel and dashed to the closet and pulled one of his grey sweaters down and I breathed in his scent. The tears made there appearance again as I sank to the floor holding the sweater like a vice to my chest.

"Elena."

I looked up to see Jeremy standing in the doorway of the closet. He swayed on his feet and his eyes her glazed over but still held concern.

"Jeremy?" I sniffed.

He dropped to his knees and then crawled over to me. He pulled me into his arms and we laid back into the floor staring up at the ceiling of the closet.

"Are you drunk?" I asked, smelling whiskey.

"Very." He replied.

I buried my head into his chest. I didn't approve but I didn't blame him either. In fact, I realized I wanted to be just like him in that moment. Glazed and wavering and numbed.

"Where do you think they are?" I whispered.

"I don't know. But we have to get them back. We have to." Jeremy slurred.

"I know."

Suddenly the sound of Jeremy's pulse sent a startling hunger flaring up inside me and I sat up quickly.

"Here, I thought you might need this." Jeremy said holding a blood bag up towards me.

I took it and eyed him accusingly. "Alaric sent it in with you?" He smiled weakly and nodded.

I shook my head and just as I went to drink I heard a knock at the front door of the living room. We made our way in just as Stefan opened the door.
A tall, beautiful, dark skinned girl came through the door without an introduction or an invite. Caroline glanced nervously between her and me.

"Can I ask who you are?" Stefan said.

She smiled as she glanced around the room at each of us.

"My name is Lucy. I'm a Bennett witch, Bonnie's cousin." She said.

"I remember you. You were helping Katherine at the masquerade ball a while back." Stefan said, eyeing her with worry.

"Helping is a strong word." She said crossing the room and pouring herself a glass of bourbon. We all stood like statues, only our eyes following her. "I was settling some debts. I wanted to owe Katherine nothing. Tell me, how is that bitch doing these days?" She asked lazily as if she hasn't just barged into our house.

"She's dead." Caroline answered.

"Hmm." She said raising her brows with the news. "It was only a matter of time I suppose."

"Can I ask what you're doing here?" I said.

She took a long swig off of the bourbon and sat it down on the table. "I'm here to help you get her back."