"Stefan," the voice of Maybe-Elena echoed. it was the voice of elena. a voice long gone. the voice of humanity.

Stefan peered at the woods, eyebrows brooding with all the confusion. He had no idea what to think. was this really her? or was this some sick joke someone was playing on him. Someone like Damon, with all his boredom and free time he's had on his hands since he had made his way back into humanity. and Stefan knew Damon would joke about something as stupid as this, even as he was waiting- just as stefan was -for Elena to wake up.

"Damon," Stefan shouted into the woods.

There was no answer, only the sound of his name echoing inside his head. it was bouncing back and fourth and he could feel the pressure rising against his thoughts, against all of the feelings he was feeling.

He waited by the lifeless deer in silence. the only sound coming from the whistful wind and the occasional crack against the hard ground and his perpetual allusions of the faint voices. but these were not the voices he had heard earlier. these were just rattlings cranking against his brain. they felt real to him though. but he knew this couldnt actually be real. how could it? he would of heard about it already; Elena being awake; Bonnie being dead.

"Help me, Stefan" it said, and this time, with all of the Elena's rambling in his head, it wasn't in his head, it was real. as real as he.

he looked up into the woods, this time the opposite direction from where he had heard it before. there was a indistinguishable detail in the voice he couldn't quite figure out. all it hypothetically said was all past. it sounded oddly familiar, aside from it belonging to elena's voice. he couldn't quite figure it out, but with this familiarity he heard in the voice, came a pang of pain and sadness. stefan didn't know why, but he knew he had felt it before. it was a sadness that you couldn't really unveil, like you were sad but you didn't know why, all you knew was that it hurt, and it hurt just as before. all over again.

"Elena, where are you."

Stefan waited for another response. but it didn't come.

"ELENA!" he shouted, but still nothing. he sped past the trees to where he thought he had heard her last and as he worked his way to the last remnant of her voice he began to realize that he was beginning to head closer to the boarding house. it must be Damon, he thought, just before hearing the inviting words.

the voice wasn't as soothing this time, it was harsh but smooth as it said, "I love you, Stefan."

She needs my help is all that went through his head. he could not think about anything else. he didn't think about how Elena, Damons true love, had just stated that she loved him. no, all he wanted to do was find her. He raced through the woods to the place where he had thought he heard her voice, but it would change every few moments. one moment the voice sounded faint, coming from Mystic falls, the next it sounded like it was coming from the highway. Stefan was manic.

The boarding house. Stefan stopped moving. thats where the voice was coming from, the boarding house. and as Stefan came to this conclusion, he knew that Damon was definitly behind this unpleasant joke. "I love you". why i love you, he thought. but it didn't matter, it wasn't funny and he was angry.

Stefan used his newly restored strength and rushed to the boarding house, the veins pumping around his now darkened eyes.

The boarding house, big and broad, still looked the same from the outside as it had for all its years standing. Even- though surprising- after all of the things it had gone through; the takeover by the travelers, the parties thrown, the spells done, and the damage damon and Enzo ensued from their bender on the dark side. But that was all over now, the vault was sealed, they were back and the boarding house was still standing- more then not- on its foundation of memories and time. and its standing was the one thing that still kept Stefan and Damon in mystic fall. Maybe it even kept the rest of them here, too.

"Damon. Damon, where are you?" stefan shouted, entering the home, still frustrated.

"over here, little bro." Damon said.

Stefan walked into the bohemian living room-his footsteps booming echoes- with the large fireplace that has engulfed many smashed glasses of bourbon and other alcohols. He looked about the entire room before spotting Damon sitting on the antique couch, his mind focused on the board in front of him. Damon had a glass quarter full in front of him and a bottle of amber liquid. Stefan knew Damon had been drinking all day because the bottle was almost completely empty; this gave Damon more motive for this stupid act; being drunk and bored, and these were never good combinations for Damon.

"do you think everything is funny? is everything a joke to you?" Stefan asked annoyingly.

Damon kept his focus on the board in front of him, and it looked as he was thinking about something. "how can you beat yourself in chess if you can anticipate every single move you are about to make? its quite stupid." he said. He moved a chess piece from one end of the board all the way over to the king and queen and knocked them both down. "check mate." he smirked, pushing the board to the side.

He looked over at stefan now, totally unaware of anything that was said to him. He kicked his feet onto the couch, crossing his feet, arms behind his head, leaning comfortably on the couch. "come on brother, lets go hunting. Im starving and i am bored; this towns become quite boring."

"no. I'm not playing your little games. only because your boredom has taken over doesn't mean you are allowed to play games with others, Damon."

"what the hell are you taking about." this was more of a statement than a question.

"in the woods. you know exactly what I'm talking about."

"I don't know what kind of furry animal you've been on, but I've been here all day being the good little boy i am." Damon looked serious, with the hint of a never-ending sarcasm prowled over his face.

Stefan contemplated this. What if Damon was right. what if it wasn't him. it sure seemed like he had no idea what Stefan was talking about.

Stefan sat on the couch parallel to the one Damon was sitting on and began to tell Damon what happened in the woods. He told him about hearing her voice; how he knew it was hers. He told her that if this was Elena and not someone trying to mess with them, then she needed help, because that is exactly what she had said. The only thing Stefan left out was the last words he had heard. "I love you." he didn't want to say anything to damon because he didn't want damon to worry. Stefan wasn't even sure if the last words sounded like Elena's because they sounded so odd. They sounded different and old. In Addition he didn't want to tell Damon because it was for himself. He wanted to keep those words with him.

"are you sure it was Elena?" Damon asked once Stefan was done.

"Im positive, Damon. I can still hear her voice and i know her voice so well." Stefan immediately regretted saying that. It sounded awe-filled, but Damon didn't notice, he was to busy pacing holes into the carpet, wondering.

"ok. ok." he spoke. "if this is some screwed up prank, then someone is dead... but if this is real, we need to figure it out. She may be in there somewhere." Damon was condensed in hope. false hope maybe and he knew it.

"i'll go get bonnie. Do you still have the tape Kai made?" Damon was speaking fast, almost excitedly.

"yah, it should be around, why?" Stefan crossed him arms.

"just go find it. Meet me here in 2 hours." He swiftly made his way out. Stefan stood in the centre of the living room. His mind had started to ponder all the possibilities as he watched Damon blur through the door, past the driveway and into the woods.

"