Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or anything associated with it.

First, I just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone that reviewed this, added it to your favorites, or followed it. Your support pushes me to continue writing! Now, I wrote this earlier and, though it's not as long as I'd planned, I wanted to go ahead and upload it since there were several people that seemed very interested in it. I hope you continue to love this story and that you will continue to review it and let me know what you think. Thank you guys! Much love - K

Elena's POV

On my way to meet Jeremy, I get a text message saying to meet him at an abandoned house on the outskirts of town. I follow the dirt road that leads to it and try my best to not get my hopes up. In three months, we have followed countless other leads to get Damon and Bonnie back. Every time we find one, I tell myself I'm not going to let myself hope and, every time, when we fail, I realize I'd been hoping, anyway, without even realizing it.

We're starting to run out of options and I don't like the feeling it gives me… frantic, trapped, desperate… like a caged animal. But, with Bonnie gone and Liv and Luke God knows where, we're blind, completely without magic, which means we're severely limited on what we can do. Still, we have to try. We have to keep going. Even when it hurts so much to believe, I refuse to entertain the thought that they are just… gone.

I feel a knot forming in the back of my throat again, followed by a tight feeling in my chest, and I pull off on the side of the road to wait for it to pass. I try to breathe through it but the air feels thin and my head swims. It's not real, it's not real. This has become my mantra. Usually it helps, but, this time, all I can think of is my dream this morning, his blue eyes…

I lost so much when he left me. And the more time that passes, the more I feel stuck because I can't move on. Everything passes me by and I'm untouched, unmoved. A living ghost.

Thoughts I try hard to keep away creep into my mind in moments like this, when I'm weak with anxiety, when I let the grief overwhelm me.

I can't remember what his kiss felt like. The only time I can feel it is when I'm dreaming, but every dream comes with a price because it's only temporary… and I'm forced to lose him again and again.

I can't remember his voice. I held on to it for as long as I could, replaying the first night he said he loved me over and over. But, over the months, the memory of his voice slipped away, replaced by the flat, toneless voice inside my head.

More than the part of him that I lost, I lost parts of myself.

I don't remember what it's like to feel warm. I don't remember what it's like to feel happy. Sometimes I smile but it feels foreign, forced. It's just become a way to make others feel better.

I don't remember what it's like to look forward to the future. I'd come to accept my fate as a vampire. Damon helped me with that, he helped me see what the future could bring for someone who has eternity. But, now, immortality seems more of a punishment than a gift. The only reason I haven't shut out my humanity is that I know, if I do, I won't care about trying to find him and bring him back… and I can't let that happen because the prospect of never seeing him again is inconceivable.

The anxiety attack starts to subside. I wipe the tears from my face and go on my way. A vampire with anxiety issues… I'm sure Damon would have a joke to make about that. I almost smile but shut that thought out. If I remember the good times, it hurts too much. Right now, I just need to find Jeremy.

When I arrive at the abandoned house, Jeremy is already there, waiting on the porch.

"Jer, what's going on? Did you see Bonnie? Did you talk to her?"

He's shaking his head before I'm done with my sentence and my heart sinks.

"No, Elena. It wasn't like that." He looks down at me and puts his hands on my shoulders. "I woke up the other morning with… it was almost like a voice in my head, but it didn't speak with words, if that makes sense."

"It doesn't."

"It was like I woke up with renewed purpose."

I sigh and turn away, trying to hide my disappointment. "And what did it tell you to do?" I stop, realizing there is a familiar sound in the air. Another heartbeat. I turn and look at him but he continues to block the door.

"Who is in the house, Jeremy?"

He puts his hands up. "Elena, I need you to trust me on this, okay?"

My eyes dart from the door to his face. "Who is it?"

He sighs and leads me into the house. She backs against the wall when I come in, her blonde hair tangled and disheveled. Liv. Hate fills my chest and I flash across the room and pin her against the wall, slowly crushing her windpipe. I can feel her hands clawing at mine, getting weaker and weaker as her consciousness slowly leaves her.

"Elena! Elena!" I can hear Jeremy call my name, feel him trying to pull me back, but it's useless. I feel blood rush towards my eyes and I watch awareness rush into hers before I tear into her neck.

Damon's POV – Three months before

"Fancy meeting you here, Katherine." I say, looking her up and down. It's ironic that all I've wanted to do since I got here is see Elena, kiss her, tell her I love her again, hear her tell me that she loves me, too… And, yet, looking at Katherine does nothing for me. It doesn't even mollify my urge to see Elena again.

"Damon. Bon-bon." She nods at us, flashing her best Katherine-esque smile and tilting her head to the side. "I have to say, I was rather surprised to learn you were both trapped on The Other Side when it fell apart."

"How did you find out? Where are we?" Bonnie says, looking around at our dead surroundings.

"All in good time." She smiles. "First, let's get away from here. These woods give me the creeps. And we have somewhere to be."

"I don't remember making an appointment for today, thanks." This time I flash her my best screw-you-bitch smile and walk past her.

"Oh, believe me. You'll want to hear this."

I stop. "And why is that?"

"Let's just say Bonnie's Grams made a deal with a witch on her behalf… and she can send you back."

Elena's POV

I feel my teeth sink into Liv's skin and revel in the taste of her warm blood and the power that spreads through my body with every ounce drained. Somewhere deep in my subconscious, I'm sure I know I'll regret this later, especially if she dies, but, at the moment, I don't really care. Damon is dead because of her. He's gone because of her. Renewed anger courses through me and I bite harder, causing her to scream out in pain.

Suddenly, I'm thrown backwards into the wall.

"Alright, alright. You've had your fun. But we need Blondie alive."

I look up to find my attacker, though it's not really necessary. I'd recognize his lilting accent anywhere. Enzo. Well, this day just keeps getting better. I look back at Liv, sitting in the corner of the room with her hand covering her neck, and feel the heat rushing back towards my face involuntarily. I rush at her again but he grabs me, holding me back.

"Can you do something about your sister?" He says, struggling to keep me from her.

"Elena! We need her alive. She can help us get them back!"

I stop fighting Enzo but anger continues to course through my veins and I grab the couch, flipping it across the room and storming out of the house.

"It's her fault he's gone!" I scream at Jeremy, my voice breaking. I turn to see him frozen the doorway, clearly shocked at my reaction. "Damon is… dead." I say, choking on the last word. "Because of her."

"I know. I know. But she can help us. I need you to trust me. I need you to trust that I want this to work just as much as you do."

I nod, unable to speak.

"Well, now that the reunion is out of the way," Enzo says with a pointed look towards me, "how about we talk about what we really came here for?"

Liv sits in a chair in the middle of the room, casting wary glances at me every now and then, even though I personally gave her some blood to heal her.

"So, Luke took your powers to stop you from doing the spell?" I say skeptically.

"Yes. Because it was killing me."

"So, do you have them back or…?"

"No, I don't. Luke and I were ambushed by our coven outside Mystic Falls. They were pissed that we helped you. They took him and left me behind as punishment."

"And you want us to help you get him back." Well, isn't this ironic?

"And, in return, she'll help us." Jeremy adds.

I bite my lip. "How exactly do you plan on getting us close enough to get to him? I assume this coven is filled with some pretty powerful witches. And do you even know where he is? It's not like you can do a locator spell to find him."

"Yes. Please enlighten us on your plan to rescue your brother without getting us all killed." Enzo chimes in.

I shoot him a look.

"Why are you even here? I thought you shut off your humanity."

"Yes, well, then I died and, apparently, ghosts don't have that ability like we vampires do. So, now, I'm here for the same reason you are: to get Damon back."

Jeremy clears his throat.

"And your little witchy friend, too, I guess." He amends, rolling his eyes.

Damon's POV

We've been following Katherine for what seems like forever and have yet to see any sign of houses or life at all, anywhere. Death surrounds us. The dead grass wilts even more at our touch, which isn't exactly encouraging. Finally, I see a faint glow in the distance.

"What is that?" I mutter.

Katherine doesn't respond and, after a few more strides, I can make out the silhouette of a structure, small and drab with a single candle burning in the window. The building seems to be a little better off than the rest of this place, surrounded by bushes and trees that are alive within a small circle around it. That must mean a witch lives here. I touch one of the leaves and it withers instantly, seeming to pull away from my hand. Like I said, not very encouraging.

The door to the shack opens and out steps Quetsiyah.

Wow. I must have the worst luck in the universe to end up here, with these two for the rest of eternity. And Bonnie, though she's probably my favorite of the three, and that's saying something. I'm sure someone out there is having a great big laugh at my expense right now.

"Please, don't touch my plants. I've worked hard to keep them alive in this Wasteland."

"Well, if it isn't my favorite psychotic witch."

She looks at me, her expression stoic. "I made a deal to help Bonnie, but you're just an extra and an inconvenience. So, I'd watch my tongue, if I were you."

I nod slightly, trying to suppress my natural urge to retort in some sarcastic, yet hilarious, way.

She extends her arm and we walk into her home, if you could call it that. It's one room with a bed, table, a couple of chairs, and a fireplace complimented by a dirt floor and musty smell. Wonderful. I take one of the chairs and wait for someone to say something.

"What is this place?" Bonnie says, never one to disappoint. Actually, that's a lie. She disappoints on a regular basis.

"This is a Wasteland, as I said earlier. Dead and barren other than the Forest of Lost Souls."

"The what? Those creepy looking woods out there?" I say, not really in the mood to wait for answers.

She reluctantly looks at me. "The Forest of Lost Souls. It is a purgatory all its own where many have been lured through false promises and siren calls, unaware that, inside the forest, all hope of getting out is lost and you are forced to wander, alone, until you lose all sense of who you are. The Wanderers, as they are known, become savage and hate-filled creatures. It is not a place you want to go, but beware, for those inside will find ways to tempt you."

"O-kay." I say after a minute, "So, no camping in the woods. Got it. Now, Katherine said something about helping us get back home?"

"Wait." Bonnie interrupts. "Did you say a Wasteland? As in, there are more?"

"This plane is only one of many, Bonnie. When The Other Side disappeared, the souls were taken from there and sent to one of the hundreds of thousands of planes that exist out there, just as the souls of non-supernatural creatures."

"So, how is where we're placed determined?"

Quetsiyah scoffs. "You mean, how did you end up here? With us?"

Bonnie drops her head and nods slowly.

"A lot of where you go depends on your actions before death. I ended up here because of the choices I made, just as Katherine did. You weren't supposed to come here. Your Grams and I made a deal to save you and, in order to do so, you had to be where I was. Damon probably would have been here or worse if not for holding on to you." She gives me a glare.

"Yeah. So, anyway, how are we getting out of here?" I say, ready to move this along.

"What did you get out of this deal?"

I roll my eyes and shoot Bonnie a look. Who cares? Let's get this show on the road.

Quetsiyah grins. "We'll get to that. First, let's focus on the how instead of the why."

"What do you mean? How?"

Her grin widens. "We're going to contact Jeremy."