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When Alaric walked into Damon's room that morning, he was surprised to find it deserted. The previous day, she had spent the entire day lying in his bed- not even bothering to eat anything or speak when she was spoken to.

"Elena?" Alaric walked into the bathroom, the closet- but she was nowhere to be found.

Ric descended the stairs to find Stefan on the phone, yelling angrily into his device.

"It's been one freaking day, for gods sake. My brother died yesterday, and your asking me for money to reconstruct the place of his death? Are you kidding me right now?" With that, he jabbed his finger angrily at the 'end call button' and threw his phone onto the couch. Caroline quickly picked the phone up and walked swiftly past Alaric before redialing the number. Alaric cleared his throat.

"I know you're not really in the mood to talk right now Stefan, but have you seen Elena?"

Stefan merely shook his head.

"Look Stefan. I understand how hard this is on you-"

"I'm fine Ric."

"So if you want me to deal with all the financial matters-"

"I said I'm fine Ric" Stefan said, his voice slightly stern.

Ric nodded and proceeded out of the room. He felt horrible for Stefan. He must surely feel responsible for Damon's death- but Alaric knew that it had been Damon's choice to make his sacrifice.

Ric was met by Enzo, who was lingering in the hallway- apparently eavesdropping.

"Look mate," Enzo said. Don't you think we should plan a funeral for Damon? Since Stefan isn't exactly 'in the mood'…"

"Now's not the time, Enzo. Stefan and Elena are still in shock- it would be wrong to make them re-live the tragic events."

"Yeah you're probably right."

"I appreciate it though, buddy."

"How's Elena holding up?" Enzo asked.

Alaric sighed. "I don't know. She hasn't spoken a word since that night."

Enzo nodded.

"Look Alaric" he said gently. "I know we barely know each other, but…" Enzo placed a hand on Alaric's shoulder and half smiled at him.

Ric nodded in acknowledgement, trying his best to fight back tears.

"Do you really think he's… gone?" Enzo asked after a moment of silence.

"I don't know, man. All we can hope for is the best."

Damon's POV

When Damon opened his eyes, he was staring into the night sky; dazzling stars surrounding the perfectly round-lit moon. Suddenly, he felt a searing pain in his right shoulder and he jolted up. He pulled his bloody collar off of his shoulder- revealing a bullet lodged inside his flesh. He winced at the severe agony. He hadn't felt that much pain since, well, this very moment, 150 years ago. He finally managed to sit up, his shoulder still throbbing. He looked over at Stefan- who was still lying on the dirt path. His shirt was drenched in blood, his expression blank. Is he going to wake up? Damon thought about what Qetsiyah had told him. Stefan was now a human, in 2014. His heart ached at the thought of his brother and Elena, presuming Damon to be dead, probably planning a funeral, burying his Camaro, cleaning out his room. His mind suddenly wondered to Katherine. If she had also been a human, that would mean she would still be running from Klaus…. but was Klaus a human or a vampire? Or a werewolf? It was Esther who had created their immortality spell, not Qetsiyah- Damon's head spun just thinking about it. When the pain had ceased, Damon stood- weighing his options. He remembered that Katherine's gentlewoman was Emily, another Bennet witch. 150 years ago, when Damon had woken up after being shot, he had gone to the Fell church, and watched as the flames engulfed it. It was there that he saw Emily, who had informed him that he had let a few vampires, including Katherine, escape. Perhaps she knew a way to get him back, or rather forward? He decided that it was worth a shot- so, after ripping the hem of his shirt to create a make-shift bandage for his wound and glancing at his brother one final time, Damon made his way back towards the church.

"Damon." Damon swiveled around to see his father standing before him, a shocked yet disappointed expression upon his face. He hadn't seen his father in over 150 years- so it came as surprise to Damon that he hadn't particularly missed him quite so much. "I thought-"

"You killed me? Apparently not." Damon said angrily.

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to… you know. But how could you and your brother be so foolish as to side with them?

Them? Who was his father talking about? Surely not vampires…

"Well I guess we'll never know." Damon said. "

Giuseppe nodded. "And your brother?"

Damon gulped. Was he going to tell his father the truth, or blatantly lie to his face? "He umm… never woke up." A horrified expression face came across his father's face. "Damon…"

"Look father, I don't have time for this. There's somewhere I have to be." He said, and that, he marched past his father and headed towards Mystic Falls.

Just then, Elena came barging through the door wearing a baggy T-Shirt, sweatpants- she had a blank expression on her face, and her hair in a messy bun.

"Elena!" Alaric rushed up to her.

"I've sent Enzo, Tyler and Matt to look for you- where the hell have you been?"

Elena walked swiftly past him, completely ignoring his question.

"Elena!" Alaric yelled. "Answer me!"

"I went for a walk," Elena said plainly. She wasn't deliberately trying to be rude to Alaric- she loved him very much, but her heart ached so heavily that she could not so much as turn the side of her mouth up by even a fraction.

"For 5 hours?" Alaric yelled.

Elena shrugged.

Alaric sighed, remembering how hard it must be on her. "How are you holding up?" he asked kindly.

Elena shrugged again. Ric was extremely surprised that she being more rude than upset. He narrowed his eyes.

"Where's Jeremy?" Elena biting into an apple she dug out from her backpack.

"He's spending the night at Tyler's…" Alaric said slowly. "Do you wanna go see him?"

"Nah," Elena replied scrunching her nose.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Elena asked, dumfounded.

"About… you know…"

"My best friend and boyfriend dying?" Elena said simply.

"…Yeah."

Elena snickered. "They aren't dead dead, Ric. I mean yes, they're dead, but they aren't gone for good."

Alaric stared at her for a moment. "What do you mean, Elena?"

Elena glared at him. "Do you honestly believe that Damon would give up that easily? Come on, Alaric. It's Damon. If anything he's over their trying to find way back to us as we speak."

It took Alaric a minute to formulate his response.

"Elena…"

"I know what you're going to say, you're just in denial but I'm not Ric, okay? I mean come on, you've died a dozen times, and so has Jeremy and even Bonnie- so we'll find a way, we always do."

"Elena, there is no way this time. The only reason I was able to come back was because of my ring- and Bonnie came back because of the existence of the other side, which no longer exists and-"

"Stop, Alaric. The other side was created by a witch, right? Qetsiyah. So, another witch can find a way to bring them back. It's just about finding the right one-"

"No, Elena, we aren't finding a witch, okay? What we need to do is plan a funeral, and box his stuff up."

"No! Alaric, Damon and Bonnie aren't dead! They aren't so just stop!" Elena screamed. "Damon said he would make it back to me and he isn't going to break his promise. We are going to see him again, okay?"

Alaric stayed silent for a moment. He really did feel for the poor girl. Loosing her lover and her best friend in one blow had to be hard. He walked slowly towards her before embracing her in a warm hug.

"Okay."

As Damon neared the Fell Church, he began to smell fumes. He quickened his pace, hoping Emily hadn't left the sight yet. A sudden thought popped into his head, and he stopped in his tracks. 150 years ago, it was vampires who were burnt in the church- but if vampires didn't exist, who were they murdering?

"Damon?" He heard a familiar voice behind him. It couldn't be.

"Katherine."

"Damon!" she exclaimed, before wrapping her arms around him. "I'm so glad you're alive!"

Damon was stunned. This was not the Katherine he remembered.

"Are you hurt?" she asked sympathetically, her hands on his wound.

"I'm fine," Damon replied, pulling away from her touch. This girl broke your heart. She made you believe she was in love with you for 150 years only to want your brother. She pretended to be Elena, breaking your heart again and sending you down a spiral eventuating in you killing Aaron. This is Katherine Pierce.

"What's wrong Damon? Have I said something to upset you?"

"Who's burning in there?" Damon asked harshly. What kind of trick was Katherine playing on him, trying to smother up to him?

Katherine gave him a confused look. "…The witches" she said slowly. "Are you sure you're okay Damon?"

"Why are they killing the witches?"

"Damon, I think we should take you inside-"

"Why are they killing the witches?" Damon yelled, his voice harsh and his face stern.

Katherine looked frightened. Genuinely frightened. It was a look Damon hadn't seen the girl wear in all the years that he'd known her.

"The council see them as dangerous. They don't want the towns people finding out about them. Emily told me that they're concocting a spell that put's everyone in danger."
"What kind of spell?" Damon asked. He might have just lost his only ticket back to Elena.

Katherine was silent for a moment. She put her hands on his shoulder before saying, "A spell for immortality."

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