Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or settings. Those belong specifically to the amazing writers of The Vampire Diaries.

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"I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is."
-Alan Watts

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Past Requiem

Chapter I

"Blackout"

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Cicadas joined the chorus of late afternoon's symphony, the sun beginning to make its descent from the sky. The summer had not yet reached its climax as far as heat, but the forecast promised of an increase in temperature as soon as the following week.

Unbeknownst to the general population of Mystic Falls, a great evil lurked and those who knew of him braced themselves in preparation for his inevitable emergence. But what sort of precautions could one take against the most powerful supernatural being in existence?

Damon Salvatore was circulating the same contemplations yet continued to try and formulate a defense strategy. It had only been a month since the 'veil' incident and, despite Stefan having supposedly dropped Silas into the bottom of a lake, blood continued to mysteriously disappear. Had something gone wrong? His brother had disappeared and Elena was predictably concerning herself over the incident.

He personally tried to remain fixated on creating a plan. What use could they even be to Stefan if Silas made a reappearance and they had no way to defend themselves? Once again, he was left looking to the big picture while Elena remained pinpointed on discovering his brother's whereabouts in order to alleviate her distress over the matter.

'Speaking of which…' Damon furrowed his brows as he looked up from the coffee he was pouring and inspected the kitchen. Where was she? He had woken up alone and assumed she had started breakfast or something.

Drawn by the familiar sounds of gun fire and the revving of virtual tanks, the vampire sauntered into the living room and looked to the boy lounging on the sofa.

Jeremy looked up and nodded in greeting before motioning to the seat beside him, "wanna play?"

It seemed he was enjoying the new Xbox Elena had bought in repayment for burning his old one. It continued to confuse Damon how the boy had managed to stay alive after the veil had been restored. The youngest Gilbert had appeared bewildered by the occurrence as well.

The vampire declined the offer with a wave of his hand before casting a glance about his immediate surroundings. "You seen your sister anywhere?"

Pausing the game, Jeremy leaned forward with a stretch and joined him in his scrutiny. "No, I haven't. I thought she was still sleeping."

"Hm," Damon replied before taking out his phone and dialing her number. Lifting the device to his ear, he waited patiently only to reach her voicemail. Narrowing his eyes, he instead keyed a quick text before looking up to meet Jeremy's gaze. "How long you been awake?"

The boy shrugged, "couple hours."

"You didn't hear her leave?"

"Nah."

Damon knew the girl would have at least said goodbye to her brother if her intentions were innocent. 'But she could be up to something.' He decided to simply wait for her to receive his text and rounded the couch to absently observe the game as Jeremy resumed playing.

"By the way," the vampire began as another thought presented itself. "Were you able to contact Bonnie? If we're gonna have any chance of survival against Silas we're gonna need a witch on our side."

Jeremy didn't look up, opting to use the distraction of 'Call of Duty' to conceal any inadvertent reaction from the Salvatore's keen eye. He feigned nonchalance, "nope. I haven't heard from her since she left."

Damon observed the boy silently, processing his response. It was just strange to him that Bonnie had disappeared on the same night she had finished replacing the veil. She and Stefan both. He would've assumed that Silas had managed to abduct them or something but the fact that Jeremy had known exactly where she'd gone only heightened his suspicions.

The boy had to know something. Why would she say goodbye to him and not also to Elena? And why would he not care that his girlfriend had fallen out of contact? He was alive, she was missing, and the veil had not been restored on the day they had planned. What was up with that?

He supposed he could always just compel Jeremy into telling the truth, but he was probably wearing vervain and Elena would definitely get on his case for it. With a sigh, he sat beside the boy and observed that he had even briefly tensed. He could also detect the slightest increase in his pulse. Something was definitely going on. Concealing a smirk, he scooted closer.

Jeremy sent the vampire a swift glance and then looked away, deciding to try and ignore his presence. The situation was very unnerving though. Why had Bonnie obligated him to conceal what had happened? He supposed, if worst came to worst, he could confide in Damon and not risk Elena also finding out. The Salvatore would probably agree that it was best.

Glancing to his left, the younger Gilbert met the eyes of Bonnie, her ethereal form every bit as beautiful as when she had been alive. She sighed before offering a nod of her head. It was time. Jeremy smiled to her slightly before looking to Damon and huffing loudly as he set down the controller. "You want something?"

The vampire merely shrugged before the smirk returned.

"Look," Jeremy began. "Just come out and say it. Enough with the games."

"Very well," Damon cleared his throat before scrutinizing him intently. "Where's Bonnie?" On top of everything else, the boy was just outright behaving oddly. He had been down about something and had been playing the avoidance game with his sister. He had also been talking aloud when he thought no one else was around. It was just like with…the ghost of Rose.

Eyes lowering, Jeremy inhaled deeply before looking back to Damon. "You can't tell Elena, alright? She made me promise."

"Bonnie did?"

He nodded. "Yeah…"

The vampire tilted his head, deliberating before deciding it best to simply agree. "Fine." He would decide after he'd heard the explanation before figuring out what to tell Elena.

"That night, with the whole veil thing, I went to see her and tell her I was ready to go. But instead, she cast a spell that would ensure I didn't have to return to the afterlife. She uhm, basically…"

"She's dead, isn't she?"

The bluntness of the question briefly surprised the Gilbert before he mutely nodded, eyes lowering again.

Damon fell silent and his jaw clenched slightly. His suspicion had been right after all. The blow was still harsh, but he had been prepared to hear it. As much as he hated to admit, the little witch had grown on him.

It was sure to devastate Elena and he saw why Bonnie had made Jeremy promise not to say anything. She wasn't ready to hear it. With a sigh, he narrowed his eyes as he inspected the empty space beside Jeremy. "She here?"

"Yeah," he responded as he turned his head to see Bonnie cast the vampire a saddened smile.

Damon blindly held his gaze in place before allowing for a humorless smirk, "Damn you, witchy."

Bonnie shook her head but maintained the smile as Jeremy leaned back and released a pent up breath.

The Salvatore glanced away and thought of the Silas situation. What were they supposed to do about that now? They didn't have a reserve of witches at their disposal or anything. He surmised that they would probably have to hunt one down but already knew that they wouldn't find one as powerful or as capable as Bonnie.

They were royally screwed.

Looking back to the empty space of air, he tilted his head. "Did you see where Elena went this morning?"

Bonnie shrugged.

Jeremy relayed the response, "she doesn't know."

A brief calm settled before the front door open and both men turned to see Elena herself as she walked through, an unsettled expression on her face. Damon stood, brows furrowed. "Where've you been?"

Ignoring him however, Elena immediately approached Jeremy before crossing her arms. "You lied to us."

Jeremy blinked, "what're you talking about?"

"I went to Bonnie's mom's but she said she hasn't seen her all summer," she shook her head. "What're you hiding, Jer?"

Damon looked to the boy as his mouth parted. What could they tell her? He supposed, rather than taking a direct approach and confronting her brother beforehand, Elena had once again decided to take matters into her own hands and seek Bonnie out for herself. She had probably worried herself over that too.

Jeremy feigned confusion, "that…doesn't make any sense. Bonnie told me she would be staying there."

Elena sighed as the evident worry crossed her face. Damon observed her shift in demeanor before sighing and striding forward, "I'm sure she's fine. Witchy's more than capable of handling herself and I'm sure there's a reason she's not telling us where she's at."

"Damon," she shook her head. "Stefan's missing and now Bonnie is too. What if Silas has them?"

"That's exactly why we need to keep calm and come up with a plan to get rid of the guy."

"How are we even going to do that without her?"

Damon clicked his tongue, "I might have a plan."

She tilted her head and Jeremy exchanged a glance with Bonnie before staring attentively at the vampire.

"He's been stealing large quantities of blood from nearby hospitals. What we need to do is try and determine his next hit and vervain the blood. He becomes weakened and we have an opening."

"You really think Silas will fall for that?" Jeremy asked. "I'm sure he knows how to detect vervain."

"I think he won't see it coming," the vampire insisted. "It's such a simple, grade school solution that it'll take him by surprise."

Elena remained skeptical and Jeremy sighed. It seemed implausible but Damon did have a knack for the surprise approach. It was worth a shot, right?

"Hey," Damon continued. "If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. At least we tried."

"It could piss him off," Jeremy stated. "We've managed to stay under the radar so far."

"Look, he's gonna come at us either way. I'm not just gonna sit by and let that happen. The two of you can either help or leave me to do it on my own."

Elena shook her head before sighing, "Fine. How do we find out where he'll go next?"

"There's only three major hospitals left within a fifty mile radius," he explained. "I figure each of us can hit up one and wait for him to show up."

"And if it doesn't work?" Jeremy asked. "We'll be stuck there alone with him. I don't think this is a good idea."

"Do you have a better one?"

Elena narrowed her eyes in thought, "what if we got some help? Maybe send Caroline and Tyler to one location, the three of us to another and Rebekah and Klaus to the third."

"Come on," Damon responded. "You really think Klaus is gonna be willing to help?"

She shrugged, "we're all on the same side here. We all want Silas gone. I think he'll help if we get Caroline to ask him. I mean, he healed you didn't he?"

"Hm…" the older Salvatore considered her suggestion and looked to Jeremy, who merely nodded. He supposed it was a better plan than the one he suggested but he hated involving so many different players. Too many past incidents had proven that it was safer to work alone. Rarely anyone could be trusted. Still, Elena had a point. They all wanted to be rid of the damn witch/vampire guy.

He sighed, "Fine. But it anyone decides to take on an ulterior motive the blames on you."

"They won't," Elena assured him.

Damon found little solace in her encouragement as her trust was more often misplaced than anyone. However, he relented and instructed her to give Caroline a call. She would take care of gathering everyone and meeting at the boarding house within the hour.

Looking then to Jeremy, he motioned his head and the boy followed him to where the weapons were located. They needed to be prepared to take the guy down.

"Can you help from the other side?" Damon asked the invisible witch.

Bonnie nodded and Jeremy explained that she could.

"Sweet," the vampire replied as he gathered their supplies. "We're gonna need it."

…

Night had fallen and the group stepped out of the car and entered the hospital, compelling the staff to allow them entrance into the blood supply room. Damon proceeded to inject the bags with vervain and instructed Klaus and Caroline to do the same in their locations. Jeremy stood at the door and kept watch in the hall while Elena aided her boyfriend with the task of filling several needles with the toxic substance. After they had finished, they all took up designated positions at various lookout points.

Jeremy shook his head, "hospitals are pretty creepy at night."

"Now's not the time to go all horror film on us," Damon whispered. "You need to be quiet."

Elena glanced to her brother and cast him a warning look before setting her gaze forward and scrutinizing the supply room. She couldn't help but feel nervous though. There was a great possibility that the plan would fail and that Silas would take out his anger on them.

The clock ticked ominously and Damon gripped his weapon tighter as he held his breath. After sending a quick text to check the status of the other teams, he merely waited in silence for the man himself to emerge.

Bonnie held Jeremy's hand in a show of comfort, despite the fact that he couldn't feel it. He smiled all the same and tried his best to slow his rapid heartbeat. He could do this. He could stay calm like Damon said.

Then, after a few more minutes had past, they tensed as they heard the approach of a soft set of footsteps. The sound echoed down the hall and Damon narrowed his eyes as he saw the nurse who opened the door to enter the supply room. He looked to both Elena and Jeremy before nodding and then notifying the other teams.

'He's here.'

He had passed himself off as the same nurse he had compelled into staying away from their ward. Waiting in silence, Damon listened for any movement and, upon hearing a prominent gag and subsequent thud onto the floor, he signaled for the pair to move forward.

They burst through the door and were immediately confused by who they saw kneeling on the ground with blood smeared across his face.

"Stefan?" Elena asked, horrified.

Damon furrowed his brows before directing Jeremy to aim his weapon at the man.

"What're you doing?" she asked, looking to him in astonishment.

"It's not Stefan," the vampire assured her. "Silas can impersonate anyone, remember?"

She looked to the man who was staring up at her through a set of convincing eyes before sighing and slowly nodding. Damon was right.

"Something isn't right," Bonnie stated with an anxious expression.

Jeremy furrowed his brows before looking back to Silas as Damon stepped forward to inject the man with another dose of vervain. They never had a chance to kill him but they had planned to at least immobilize him long enough to finish what Stefan had started.

But now that he was staring down at him and after hearing Bonnie's warning, he realized how foolish a plan it had been. If she could not successfully seal him in stone, then there was no hope of resorting to something as simple as vervain.

What had they been thinking?

"Damon, we need to get out of here," Jeremy urged in a panic.

The vampire only had a second to process the warning before his prey suddenly disappeared and stepped behind him within the blink of an eye. He turned but the man grabbed his wrist and delivered a harsh kick to his abdomen.

Damon doubled over and groaned before Silas shook his head as Jeremy aimed his crossbow and Elena adjusted her stance to the defensive.

"What am I going to do with you three?" the immortal declared nonchalantly. "Did you honestly believe," he lifted blood bag, "that you would be able to use these mediocre methods to capture me?"

Standing, the older Salvatore narrowed his eyes at the man as he immediately began to think of an escape strategy. This was bad.

"What have you done with Stefan and Bonnie?" Elena asked through gritted teeth.

Silas looked between Damon and Jeremy, who lowered their eyes to the ground. He smirked and returned his scrutiny to Elena. "You don't know what befell your witch friend? They didn't tell you?"

Her brows furrowed and she glanced to the men beside her, "what'd you mean?"

"Think about it," Silas responded. "The spell she cast on me was broken. That can only mean that she either reversed it herself or…" he raised his brows as silent realization dawned on her face. "There you go."

Hurt and denial crossed Elena's features and Damon swallowed as he regarded her. He should've just told her earlier. It would've spared her having to hear it from the damn immortal witch man. Jeremy exchanged a meek glance with Bonnie, who was looking to her friend apologetically.

"As far as Stefan," Silas shrugged. "Let's just say my little shadow self is enjoying the fate he would've bestowed upon me. I thought it was only fair."

Damon instantly understood what he meant. His brother had been thrown into the lake and left to desiccate there. The fact that Silas was revealing this to them meant that he didn't intend to let them leave.

"Now then," the man continued as he leaned against one of the shelves. "What to do with you? I could simply end you all right here but…where's the fun in that?" He tilted his head in thought. "There is something I've been longing to try and it should prove effective." A silence ensued in which he appeared to consider his proposition before nodding. "A little experimentation isin order, I think."

All three tensed as he stepped forward before they suddenly felt themselves unable to move. He began to chant and Jeremy glanced over to see that Bonnie was disappearing. What was happening? Damon met Elena's frightened stare and was only able to offer a consoling smile. He had no idea what was coming.

Their minds felt inebriated as the room began to blur and darken while the sound of Silas' voice faded. There was a final moment of confusion before everything went black and they lost consciousness.

To be continued…

A/N: Please follow/review! I always love to hear feedback ;P