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Elena's POV

"Here, these are for protection. They won't ward off their attacks completely, but it's all we've got until Luke can restore my magic."

Enzo opens the pouch Liv hands him and sniffs it. "Oh, God. What the bloody hell is in this thing? It smells like arse."

I smell the pouch in my hand. The aroma is sickly sweet with an undertone of bitterness. Ugh. It makes me a little nauseous. Liv rolls her eyes.

"It has basil, Solomon's Seal, hyssop, ague root, and pennyroyal. They will also keep the witches from being able to sense us… for a time, at least."

"Basil, as in for cooking?" I ask skeptically.

"If you don't want them, I can take them back."

I hold my hands up. "No, no. You're the witch. If you say they'll work… Anyway, what else do you have for us?" I slip the herb pouch over my head and tuck it beneath my shirt, hoping to mask the smell that seeps through the fabric and continues to burn my nostrils.

"This is a mixture of myrrh, cypress, and knotweed. They will mute magic, or bind it temporarily. The only problem is we'll have to figure out how to get close enough to let them breathe it in."

"I think I can help with that." Alaric says, pulling out his bag of weapons. He reaches in and pulls out what I recognize as the pieces of vervain grenades. I remember putting them together with Damon when preparing to take down Klaus, only they were filled with wolfsbane.

Elena, if this thing blows up in our faces, just remember only one of us heals quickly. I can still see the look of determination and worry on his face as he pulled the grenade pieces from my hands.

"Elena."

"Huh?" I look around and everyone seems to be staring at me. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I just asked if you remembered how to put these together." Alaric says, obviously questioning my sanity.

"Oh, um, yeah."

He gives me a long look. "Good. You and I can fill them up with these ground up herbs. I think that's probably our best chance at getting them to breathe that stuff in. We'll also carry pouches with us to use if we have the chance to sneak up on them."

"Okay, then, let's talk strategy." Stefan says. "Liv, did you ever get back in touch with your friend and find out where they're keeping Luke?"

"She said they're keeping him in an old abandoned house where a bunch of witches burned hundreds of years ago. Even with the Other Side gone, it's apparently still holds a lot of mystical energy. It's just outside city limits. I have the address here." She pulls a piece of paper from her pocket.

"I don't think that will be necessary." I say, looking at Stefan with one of the first genuine smiles I've had in a while.

"You lot know where a bunch of witches burned to death?" Enzo says. "Well… that's not creepy."

I give him a look, but ignore his sarcasm. I can definitely see how he and Damon became friends. "He'll most likely be held in the basement. That's where the energy seems to be the most focused, according to what Bonnie told us. That means, in order to get to Luke, someone is going to have to go in the door, through two rooms, and down a flight of stairs. That's a lot of time for errors—"

"And a lot of time for those witches to makes our heads feel like they're in a vise grip. And why are we not killing them, again?" Enzo says in a slightly too serious voice.

"Enzo. We're not killing anyone because we don't need to. Plus, if anyone is going to get that barrier down, it will be them."

"We'll try it your way, but fair warning that I'll kill anyone that stands in my way."

From the corner of my eye, I see Liv drop her head, tears shining in her eyes, and I almost feel badly for her again. This coven is her family. Their betrayal has to hurt, but that doesn't mean it's easy for her to plan what could potentially lead to their deaths.

"We aren't killing anyone." I repeat.

"If I remember correctly, didn't you snack on our little blonde friend pretty fiercely the first time you ran into her again?"

I can feel Stefan and Caroline's eyes on me. I never shared that little detail.

"How many witches are in your coven?" I say, ignoring everyone's stares. I can see Enzo's look of satisfaction in my peripheral.

Liv looks up at me, seeming to be lost in thought. "Um, 12."

"What is it with the number twelve?" Caroline says, thinking of the same thing I am: the three massacres of twelve arranged and carried out for Silas. "Is that like, the magic number or something?"

Liv looks at her like she's stupid.

"Yeah, actually. The number twelve has a lot of magical properties throughout many different religions and mythologies. Twelve days of Christmas, twelve Olympians in Ancient Greece, Norse god Odin had twelve sons, Jesus had twelve disciples, Hinduism's Sun god, Surya, has twelve names… need I go on? It is a number of power that allows us to draw from the Earth with a stronger bond to each other and to nature."

Caroline purses her lips. "Well, there's no need to get snarky. I didn't know."

"Guys, focus. We need to talk about who is going to go in and get Luke while everyone else is trying to prevent us from being killed. There are ten of them without Liv and Luke, which means we'll each have two to worry about, if it works out in our favor. Liv, as much as you don't want to hear this, I think you should stay out of this." I hold up my finger in response to her look of outrage. "Without magic, you're an easy target and, if they catch you while we're trying to get Luke, he will put everyone in danger to save you, including himself."

"She's right." Jeremy says and Liv nods slightly.

"Jer, I think you should stay behind, too… take Liv into town where the witches won't have power."

He's already shaking his head before I can finish.

"No! I'm not staying behind. We're doing this for Bonnie. I'm coming."

"She needs to have someone look after her, protect her."

"Matt can do it at his place. You can't stop me, Elena. Plus, my new instincts, or whatever you want to call them, led us to Liv. They might come in handy."

"He's right, Elena." Alaric says and I scowl at him. He shrugs apologetically.

"Fine. Call Matt and see if he'll meet us at the edge of town. Now, for everyone else… Stefan, think you and Caroline could try to stall? You're both pretty good at that." They both nod. "Alaric, you want to help us distract whoever we run into while Enzo and I go in to get Luke?" And so I can keep an eye on him, I add silently. "I know where he is and Enzo is… resistant to pain. Any attempts they make to stop us may incapacitate me, but most likely won't work as well on him. He's our best shot at getting Luke out safely."

"I'm so glad my 70 years of torture are coming in handy."

Damon's POV – One month ago

It feels like I've been here for years, but, maybe, that's because I don't have a calendar or watch of any kind. Or, maybe, it really has been years and Elena has already moved on with her life. The thought makes me sad and happy at the same time. Still, it won't stop me from trying to get back to her. Even in death, my selfishness continues.

Since my encounter with the Freaks of the Forest, I've kept my distance. I'm not one to admit fear, but I have no desire to go through that again. It wasn't just that whatever that was looked like Elena, there was a thrall of some kind, pulling me towards the darkness. I can be brave when it benefits me or for someone I care about, I can even take it to the level of stupidity, but I'm not suicidal. I guess that's actually kind of redundant, since I'm already dead… times two, but something tells me that whatever is in there is worse than death.

Tessa, as she's demanding to be called, says that she's close to reaching Jeremy. That's practically all she does, now, is search for a way to contact him. It's making me suspicious about what she's getting out of this. Who in their right mind would spend so much time trying to help a descendent they don't care about and a stranger they hate? Something is going on…

"Something's happening!" Bonnie calls from the door.

I run inside, frowning at how slow I am now that I don't have my vampire speed. Tessa is sitting in the floor with her eyes open, but they've changed. They looked fogged over, like she's in that creepy trance Luke went into to hide us from the travelers. I want to ask her what's going on, but I'm afraid I'll pull her out of wherever she is. So, Bonnie and I share a look and wait.

At least an hour passes before she comes out of it, looking exhausted.

"So, any luck?"

She glares at me. "Give me a minute to regain my strength."

I scoff. Give her a minute? She's had weeks or months or longer to reach Jeremy and she hasn't and, now, she goes into some weird trance for hours, comes out, and wants me to wait for her to stop being tired to answer my questions? Screw that. I open my mouth to say just that when Bonnie hits my arm, giving me a look that clearly says "shut up".

I exhale sharply and bite my tongue, for now. I scowl at Bonnie, but I know she's looking out for me, which is strange. We've kind of developed this odd friendship since we've been here. Personally, I find that extremely ironic and very unexpected, considering how much we hated each other when we were alive. But, you know what they say: nothing brings people together like witnessing a purgatory fall apart and being sent to a second, unknown purgatory. Or something like that.

I don't know how much time passes, but, eventually, I can't hold it back anymore.

"So, are we getting out of here or what?"

Tessa glances at me like she's debating on whether she should threaten me or just answer my question. She decides on the latter, probably because she only has the one threat and it's wearing pretty thin.

"I was able to contact Jeremy. He was asleep, dreaming, and I was able to see him there, influence his dreams in a way that allowed me to communicate."

"And? He's on board?"

"You clearly don't know how this works. Yes, he's willing to help me, but there's no guarantee that he'll remember our conversation when he wakes. I'll have to speak to him for a while before his new purpose sets in and he is reawakened. It will take time. More time." She adds, seeing the look on my face.

"Can't you just do the spell mojo like your witch did with the original Five?"

"Again, it doesn't work that way. To perform that spell, a witch must be living, which is why I had her do it instead of doing it myself on the other side. Here, our magic is closer to expression. It is a manifestation of our will, but it has its limits. We cannot affect another realm so completely, otherwise chaos would ensue. The first task Jeremy will have is to find a witch on their side to do the spell to bring you back. Bonnie and I can lend our magic to whatever witch will help, but we aren't able to do it alone, otherwise we would have no need for Jeremy and you would already be home. However, because he is my hunter, I only need to train his subconscious mind while he sleeps so that, when he wakes, he will have a newfound purpose that leads him to seek out that which he needs to bring Bonnie home. He won't remember our conversations at first, if at all, but it will get the job done."

"So, how much longer until his 'new purpose' sets in?"

"I don't know. His connection to me is strong, stronger now that I found him, but it will be up to his mind to accept my instructions and overcome whatever blocks he might have. From what I understand, he was able to overcome his urge to kill vampires enough to not kill you, unfortunately, or Elena, which says something for the strength of his mind. Hopefully, he can do the same here."

"'Hopefully' doesn't inspire much confidence. This is Jeremy we're talking about." I say, mostly just to mess with Bonnie. Just as I suspected, she scowls and throws a pillow at me, missing me by a few feet. I can see the humor, though, behind her scowl and it stirs a feeling in me, close to what I felt when Enzo kept me sane inside that Augustine cell. Loyalty, friendship, things I never thought I'd feel towards Bonnie Bennett. But, in a way, we're trapped in another cell, now, tortured by memories of the people we love and miss, and we've found ways to keep each other sane.

Tessa is 'resting', though I'm not sure how. We don't sleep here. I don't even understand why she has a bed. Katherine is off doing whatever Katherine does. She's been kind of absent, recently. I should probably pay more attention to what she's up to. I doubt death has made her any less apt to screw us over. It's probably had the opposite effect, actually.

Bonnie and I are laying outside staring at the sky. There aren't stars here, just darkness with streaks and swirls of gray and blue, sometimes dark purple. Despite the barren world around us, I can find beauty here and, for some reason, I can conjure Elena's face easier here. That's another thing that keeps me from losing my mind: realizing I'll go back to her.

"Tessa said that she visited Jeremy in his dreams. Does that mean 'dreamland' is actually just another realm?"

I have no idea. Alternate realities were never my forte. I tell her this and she smiles.

"I don't think its most people's strength, but sometimes it makes me feel better to contemplate."

This strikes me as strange. "Why?"

She props up on her elbow and looks at me. "Because I can." She smiles again. "Because… there is a ton of knowledge out there just waiting to be discovered and I like to run the incredible amount of possibilities through my head. Maybe it makes me feel more prepared to try and think of all the possible outcomes of a situation. Before this, I had no idea how many realms existed or where we would go. The knowledge I've gained here… it gives me peace knowing that the people I loved that were good didn't just disappear. I like knowing there is still a link between me and the people I left behind or the people that have left me." When she finishes, her eyes are shining with tears and I feel compelled to say something, but I don't know what to say, so, I say nothing.

"Dreamland isn't a realm." Tessa says from behind us. "But you're not entirely off. When we dream, we can travel to other realms with our essence, switching from realm to realm as we go. It doesn't always happen, but it's possible."

"Does that mean that Jeremy or Elena could travel here and see us in their dreams?"

She shakes her head. "It's highly improbable. If a person only travels once a month or even once a week, and there are a seemingly endless number of planes, the chances are very small. It's possible, but not likely. And, even if, by chance, they were able to come here, most likely they wouldn't realize they'd interacted with their real loved one instead of just dreaming about them."

Bonnie sighs, obviously disappointed.

"How can we travel through the realms while sleeping?"

"What is a spirit but the mind and soul without the shell of our bodies? While we sleep, those can separate and we can know freedom with the comfort of being tied to our bodies."

Bonnie sits up all of a sudden. "Jeremy came to me once. I just remembered. When the expression was starting to get out of control, I set the couch on fire in my sleep and Jeremy woke me up. I know it was him; he told me there was a fire."

Tessa pauses. "Interesting…"

"Sorry to interrupt your theological discussion, here, but you might want to see this."

"Wow, Katherine, I didn't realize you knew big words like 'theological' and 'this.'" I smile at her.

I flips me off but otherwise ignores me and looks to Tessa.

"Seriously. You need to see this."

We walk outside and freeze. Hideous creatures line the edge of the forest, gaunt and grey with sunken eyes, petrified skin draped across their bones. I can hear their breathing, their hushed whispers, and shrieks all blending together. Wanderers, only this time, without the mirage they usually hide behind. I can see why they'd want to hide…

Suddenly, silence falls. My eyes travel the length of the line to the woods, trying to see how many are pushing against the invisible barrier that holds them back, but I've lost count. My mind can't comprehend that big of a number. They take a collective breath and, very clearly, we hear the breathless whisper "can't leave."