When I Was Gone

Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries. All the characters belong to their respective owners.

Prologue

And then there was nothing. When the car fell into the river, I looked Matt. I saw the horror in his eyes. I think I've never seen him this scared. He tried to break his window, but the pressure of the water was too big. The doors were locked. The last thing I saw were his scared eyes. And then I passed out.

The bright light woke me up. I opened my eyes. I was lying on a white floor. And around me were white floors. I remembered the accident. My insides were in a knot, suddenly the weight of Stonehenge. Is Matt okay? Is Damon okay? What about Stefan? The memory of the two Salvatore brothers hurt me. I love them. Both of them, and that is the problem. At one point I am going to have to choose one, or I will lose both of them. I couldn't bear that idea.

I sat up and started to look around. I have to admit, the room was freaking me out a bit. I was sitting on a small, one-person bed. The sheets are all white. I am dressed in a flowy, white, long dress. The floor is tiled white. The walls are white. There is a door at the other side of the room. It is closed.

I stood up, and walked over to the door. I could hear every step of my bare feet. Surprisingly, the floor isn't cold. It is warm. Strange. I stopped, and opened the door. I was amazed with what I found.

I found another room. I wasn't surprised when I the whiteness almost burned my eyes. There was one difference: the room was full of people. I saw my aunt Jenna, Anna, Jeremy's ex-girlfriend, Vickie, Jeremy's another ex-girlfriend, John, who saved my life last year, and a bunch of other people, whom I didn't know. I stepped inside, but nobody moved. Finally, someone spoke.

"Elena? What are you doing here, darling?" It was my mother, Miranda.

"I..." My throat felt dry, I didn't know what to say. I felt like crying, "Mom!" I cried. Tears started to flow over my cheeks, and I ran towards her to give her a hug.

"You look beautiful. We saw what happened. I am so sorry, my dear." She looked at me. Her brown eyes were glassy with tears.

"Mom! It's ok. Where am I?"

"You're on the other side, honey." said a deeper voice. My dad's here too! The contents of what he said shocked me. So I'm dead? Really? I was disappointed.

"What about Matt? Is he here, too?"

"No, not yet." replied my dad. My mom looked at me, and pointed at two doors on the other side of the room. One was blood-red and one was sky-blue. "Elena, you're going to have to make a choice. The vampire blood in your system, can get you back to Earth as a vampire. But it isn't definite, you don't have to. The blue room means you stay here. The red room sends you back."

Oh great! Even better! Now I have to make a literally life-or-death decision! Stefan and Damon or my parents? Jeremy or Jenna? On one hand, I will get rid of Klaus, and the Originals. But what about the Salvatores? Jeremy, Bonnie, Caroline, Matt,... I'd have to watch down from here at them.

Mom, dad, Jenna, Granny, Anna, Vickie... Seriously, how can one choose?

"Ehm, do I have a time limit?" I asked nervously.

"No, honey. You don't." said John with a smile. His eyes looked at me lovingly. It's strange, I never thought I would have positive feelings for him, let alone love him. But I do. And I miss him, at times. The problems with him seem so miniature and ridiculous, compared to Klaus and the Originals.

I started walking. I've made my decision. Everyone went out of my way. You know those slow-motion moments in movies where you can't hear anything else but your heartbeat? It was only about thirty feet and it felt like thirty miles.

I stopped right between the two doors. Blue or red? I stepped toward the blue one.

And then I backed up. I couldn't bear the idea of not seeing Stefan and Damon anymore.

I opened the red door and turned over my shoulder to look for the last time. "Sorry, mom. I can't."

She looked at me with love and understanding. Everyone nodded simultaneously.

I stepped inside. I felt immediately the coldness, of the outside air. I heard Stefan sitting next to me. I smiled in my head. I couldn't move my body yet. I heard him talking to himself, really quietly. I was happy.

And then I opened my eyes into the darkness.