"So he has a name now?" Bonnie asked incredulously.

Elena and Bonnie were sitting on the back counter, waiting for customers to come into the currently dead book store.

"Yeah...I know how strange this sounds...but I knew his name even though I didn't know his name. If that makes sense." Elena told her.

Bonnie thought for a second. "It's too bad you never found out what his last name was."

Elena looked confused, "Why would his last name matter?"

"Well, you could've looked him up and found him. I mean, there can't be that many Damons in the world." She explained.

"Bonnie, you know Damon isn't a real person, right?"

Her friend raised her hands in surrender. "I mean, you never know…"

Bonnie was cut off by the sound of the bell on the front door. She left Elena alone with her thoughts as she attended to the older customer.

There was no way that Damon was an actual person, right? They were just dreams...meaningless dreams.

The rest of her shift went by agonizingly slow as Elena's thoughts swirled around like a tornado in her mind. What did the dreams mean? Who is Damon?

When she finally got home from work, Stefan could tell she was distracted. He asked her what was wrong, but Elena had lied to him and said that she was having a migraine. She felt bad about lying to him, but what could she do? It's not like she could tell her boyfriend that she was having dreams about kissing a different man….

As she laid down on her bed, Elena felt her mental exhaustion wear her down. Her eyelids became heavier and heavier, and she was dragged back into her dream.

Damon's shout rang in Elena's ears as her feet carried her down the empty streets. Tears and rain blinded her as she ran, but she didn't let it deter her-she had to get out of there, for herself and Damon.

The safe house had to be around here somewhere, Elena thought as she looked around at her surroundings.

She recognized a tiny general store that she had stopped in earlier that week. The safe house was only three or four blocks away.

Elena could hear voices in the not so far off distance and broke off into a sprint. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she ran, the ache in her limbs temporarily fading.

She ducked through an alley to the back door of the bar and rapped on the door in a panic. The door opened, revealing an annoyed looking waitress.

"What do you want?" She rudely asked.

"Please let me in, I'm Elena Gilbert. Bree will know me. Please." Elena cried.

The waitress held the door open for her, and Elena rushed inside the crowded bar. She made a beeline for the back to the storage area. She pushed aside a rug, revealing a trap door. Elena lifted the latch and climbed down the ladder to the hidden basement. The basement was dim with candles providing the only bit of light. Her last bit of adrenaline left her body, leaving Elena on the verge of passing out from sheer exhaustion. She managed to make it to an antique sofa in one of the corners of the room, and she laid down, her last thought being of Damon.

Elena woke up the next morning with newfound determination-she was going to figure out her dreams no matter what it took. She had the day off from work, and Stefan was still soundly asleep in their shared bed.

She sighed as she stared at his sleeping face. As much as Elena felt bad for lying to him, or more like withholding the truth of her situation, she couldn't ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach every time she dreamt of Damon. So, as weird as it was going to be, Elena was going to go visit Bonnie's grandmother by herself. She was convinced from her last visit that the older woman was more than a palm reader.

Elena pulled up to the old house and knocked on the door-no answer. She tried the handle, finding it to be unlocked. The door creaked open, and Elena popped her head in.

"Mrs. Bennett?" She called.

There was no response.

Elena walked past the candles, crystals, and worn books like she had done the prior day. She headed to the back room where Sheila had been and found it to be cracked open. Elena pushed the door slightly more open and peered inside. Sure enough, Sheila was sitting in the same purple velvet armchair, but she seemed to be in a trance. Her eyes were wide open, but it was like she couldn't see Elena standing there.

Elena walked closer to the older woman to make sure she was okay. The wooden floor creaked underneath her sneakers, and Sheila's head twisted so that she was staring straight into Elena's eyes.

In a voice that was not hers, she spoke to Elena: "You are destined to love the one who is destined for death."

"Mrs. Bennett?" Elena asked, shell-shocked.

The older woman snapped out of her trance and stared at Elena in surprise. "Oh honey, I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"I'm really sorry for intruding. I'll see myself out…" Elena started to turn to the door.

"Wait." Sheila Bennett grabbed Elena's arm, holding her in place. "There's something you need to hear, child. You possess the gift."

"The gift?" She asked.

"You're a seer, Elena. You have the gift to see into the future." The older woman told her.

"That's not possible…" Elena started.

"The spirits told me. How else are you able to explain all of your dreams of the man with the blue eyes?"

"You mean the dreams of Damon." Elena said quietly.

"Damon? Your premonitions seem to be getting stronger. With a little practice, you might be able to develop your gift so that you can tap into your sight when you're awake." Sheila told her.

"Could you teach me?" She asked.

The older woman nodded and gestured for Elena to sit in the adjoining armchair.

"Close your eyes and open your mind. Let the spirits guide you." Mrs. Bennett said.

Elena followed her instructions. Nothing.

She opened her eyes. "It isn't working."

Sheila held her hand in support. "That's because you gotta put some emotion into it."

Elena tried again, this time picturing Damon's face in her mind. She thought about the panic in his smooth voice, his icy blue eyes piercing hers, his soft lips against hers…

Damon was lying on the ground. Elena touched his skin-all traces of warmth were gone. She sobbed into his chest, drowning his shirt in salty tears. There was no heartbeat to be heard.

Her body was being shaken…

"Elena, dear…"

She snapped out of her trance and completely lost it. Sheila embraced her quivering body and rubbed circles around her back in comfort.

She calmed down and stared into the woman's eyes. "He was dead."

"Well, the future can always change…" Mrs. Bennett started.

The tarot cards, Sheila's prophecy, and her vision came together in Elena's head. She was destined to love the one who was destined for death. Damon was going to die.

"Thank you so much for helping me, Mrs. Bennett." Elena said as she walked out of the house.

"Wait, Elena!" Sheila called.

But Elena didn't stop. Instead, she got into her car and started to drive. She was going to go find Damon.