A/N: Hey everyone, I'm really sorry but I have changed this since the original chapter was posted (Mystic Falls is now Magic-free; I wrote this before watching the final episode in its entirety, but now I need to change it to fit in with my plot twists) I intend to keep adding chapters to this until the start of season6. Please review if you have the time! Much love, Burnee xx
Turn It Off
Prologue
A month has passed, yet the memory is still fresh and burning in her conscience; Damon is dead. Every day is a battle against her own mind, to stop it from shutting down, to stop the switch from flipping. The world seems dead, all colour and life drained from it. What is the purpose of living when you had no-one to live it with? The magic-free zone that is Mystic Falls now feels hostile, although it has been her home for many years, the memories of that fateful day surface every time she even thinks about the Grill. They blamed it on a gas leak and everyone that had been evacuated, returned. It turns out that Damon and Ric had saved the Sheriff and that is why he had been too late. Nobody had the heart to tell Liz this because, she to, was mourning the loss of a friend.
Ever since Bonnie collapsed to the ground, hand stretched out to her side, Elena has stayed at the Lake house and taken up residence in the spare room. Nobody bar Matt, Tyler and Jeremy can return to Mystic Falls, and so, they are all staying out of town until the spell is reversed, if it can even be reversed in the first place. The once familiar scent of pine and feeling of peace that she associates with the Lake house is gone. This was the place that he had been, when she first told him that she loves him.
Before, there has always been hope; the other side existed and ghosts roamed the earth, and now, nothing. Jeremy has searched far and wide looking for Bonnie- the friend that has given up everything for the good of others- to no avail. She is gone too. There is no ghost, no spirit, nothing.
Saying goodbye to him was more painful than anything she has ever experienced; worse than drowning, worse than being drained of blood and worse than having her neck snapped. She would happily die ten times over, just to be able to see his face again. To be able to hear his farewell, his final words. She had begged him to stay, felt the soft touch of a hand against her cheek and she crumbled. How she has ever denied what is between them is beyond her. The realisation, however, has come far too late. He had promised to return, had promised to never leave her again, but both those promises had died along with him. At this point tears are rolling down her cheeks, as they did most days now. How she longed to feel his hand in hers, his body nestled close and his lips pressed lightly against her own. It was a fantasy that she clung onto, replaying in her head on multiple occasions a day, it was the anchor that kept her there. It was how she stopped herself from turning it off, from ceasing to feel. It was how she stopped herself from driving a stake through her own heart, from stopping the beat that struggled to cope with the loss of the one she loved.
"Every day she becomes more distant. Every day she comes one step closer to turning off her emotions" Stefan stated to the surrounding people he had come to call friends, a sad expression lined his face and bags underlined his green/hazel eyes. They were all gathered at Caroline's dad's old house, sat in a circle; Tyler, Care, Alaric, Jeremy, Stefan and Matt. There were three empty spaces that should have been filled; two they had lost and one they were losing.
"We know, but there's nothing we can do. Damon is gone, Stefan. I know he's your brother and you want to cling to every bit of hope you can find, but he's gone. So is Bonnie" her voice cracked when she said her best friend's name and her eyes unintentionally flicked to Jeremy's hunched over figure. It hadn't been easy for any of them. College plans had been completely abandoned, with Caroline unable to face the empty dorm room by herself, or the memories that swirled in the corners of the Whitmore house. The world had come to a stand-still, none of them ready to accept what had happened and non of them able and willing to move on. They had lost Bonnie before, but at least she was a ghost and they could talk to her through Jeremy. Now there was no other-side; that was gone. What happens beyond that? Nobody knows.
A bottle of whiskey sat in the middle of the table, half empty. Alaric picked up his glass and began to swirl the contents around, thinking. His best friend was also gone, the man he was supposed to hate and had, once upon a time, tried to kill, had died a hero. His drinking buddy, killing buddy and sounding board was gone and he had no idea where, or if he had suffered. Yet again, he felt like the useless parent; unable to get his own crap together to look after Elena and Jeremy and unable to save the one person that he had trusted like a brother. In the year that he had been on the other side, he had watched the two Gilberts cry, laugh and shout in anger and they now felt like the children he never had. Life was very different as a vampire, he had let Stefan help him adjust, but his guide had always seemed distant himself; grieving for his brother and long-time friend that had never made it through. They had all shed some tears on that night.
Tyler was now a human, yet still possessing the werewolf gene. He was terrified in case he killed anyone and then the whole cycle would start up again; turning on a full moon, his body tearing itself apart, breaking from the inside out, the monster unleashed. The story continued all around the circle; they had each lost someone. They all believed that they were never going to see that someone again. It had been hardest for Jeremy and Elena; each being promised something that was not presented, finding happiness, only for it to be ripped away as quickly as it arrived.
Jeremy stood up and stormed out of the lounge and his footsteps could be heard moving down the corridor, before being cut off by the slam of the front door closing. Matt made to get up and follow, but Ric placed a hand on his arm to stop him in a warning and fatherly gesture.
"It's going to take us all time to move on, some more than others" he said, looking from where Jeremy had just left to Matt's face. Nodding, Matt sat back down, sighing, looking emotionally deflated and exhausted, more so than the vampires because he was still human.
"Fine" was his reply. It was the last word uttered as they all sat in companionable silence, each in their own minds and thoughts, the original agenda for the meeting, lost. This is what had happened every week since the night in the woods; they were meant to discuss the problem that had presented itself since, but every time they met, other things came up and distracted them.
As soon as he left the log cabin, Jeremy strode over to his car- that he had borrowed from Stefan- opened the door and jumped inside. All they had done over the last few weeks was sit around doing nothing. Slamming his hands on the steering wheel, he cried out in anger and pain. How could they just give up? How could they not even try to find a solution? He reached into his pocket and took out a scrap of paper with a photo and an address. The person stared into the camera, emotionless. He may not know how to bring Bonnie back, but he sure as hell knew someone who might.