Hello, everyone. So...this is it for the rest of the summer! I strongly suggest you all turn your attention to Hurricane, which I will be updating regularly from now on in place of this story.

TVD Season 6 will be under this story, too, by the way, and there will be a Season 6 trailer for when the first promo comes out. Then we'll start the magical journey of Season 6 as it airs on the CW. As for this chapter, there is no A/N at the bottom because it's unnecessary for this long pause.

Goodbye for now! Thank you for all of the support on this story and I hope you all return once Season 6 starts! Enjoy the chapter and review at the end if you would, please!

Disclaimer: Chapter 1 please :)

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I'd never seen Damon drive so recklessly in my life—and he normally drove so recklessly that it was nauseating to me. Except, this time…oh, this time I didn't even flinch. I pushed him to go faster to get back to Whitmore, even though we'd just left. All we knew was that Audrey was weeping, Caroline was crying, and Stefan was dead.

Elena, Damon, and I rushed into the dormitory and found Caroline pacing near the fireplace, her eyes stained red, and Audrey holding Stefan's hand in hers and relentlessly crying, though I didn't blame her one bit. I, myself, was about to break out in tears.

Elena rushed to Stefan's side, never once slowing down to accommodate my human speed. Damon rushed faster than me, but he pulled my hand along with him so that I moved quicker. We stopped at the couch, where Stefan's dead body was lying, and Elena sank down onto the table right next to the couch Stefan was on with a sad, "Oh my God, Stefan!"

I couldn't speak. I couldn't say a word. The sight of Stefan on the couch was just too much. He was there, desiccated like I'd seen so many vampires turn when they've died. This was no longer a phone call that I was facing, I was facing the boy who acted like a brother to me…dead on the couch right in front of my eyes.

Audrey took in a sharp breath, recovering from her sobbing. Beside me, Damon was silent, and I could see the hurt and realization stain his face. God, I didn't even stop to think about any of this. Not only was the boy who acted like a brother to me was dead, but also Damon's actual brother was dead. Stefan would never see his brother again, and vice versa. Even after all the things Elena's done, if she died, I would never get over it. I didn't want to console Damon right now—I don't think neither he nor I could handle it. So we stayed there, side-by-side, listening as Audrey tried to form words.

"I-I didn't want to l-leave him outside so…so Caroline…" She shook her head and gave up speaking, hunching over so her head was right by his hand. Caroline took over now, her voice soft.

"I didn't know where else to put him so I brought him in…here." She, too, had been crying, it was no secret. Elena sat staring at Stefan's dead body with absolutely nothing—she just stood there. I didn't know what to do or how to react. I loved Stefan, so very, very much. He'd always been there for me, and I did the same for him. He couldn't just be…gone. We had to find a loophole.

"We need to find a way to get him back," I said, my voice soft and broken up. I was choking on my own held-back sobs, the solemn fire gleaming behind Caroline making it excruciatingly harder to pull everything into check.

Audrey snapped her head up, her eyes bloodshot from crying. Her porcelain face was stained with salted tears. "Bonnie has a plan. Bonnie has to have a plan to bring her back from the Other Side with Enzo." She looked up at Damon. "We can bring him back, right?" Damon was silent. "Right?"

All attention was focused on Damon, who tried to show no emotion on his features. But I saw right through him. I read him like one of my favorite books—and it made me want to cry. As much as I wanted to, though, I needed to stay strong for the bulk of us. We all did; we would bring Stefan back. It wasn't an option to leave him behind.

"Yes, Red," Damon said softly, his eyes trailing over his brother's dead body. "We'll bring him back." Desperately, he looked around. "Come on. Let's get away from prying eyes." He walked around the couch and took the blanket on top of it. Damon laid the red fabric across the length of his brother's deceased body—a symbolic sign of respect but a torturous gesture.

Damon went to talk to Bonnie after learning of Stefan's death, and Caroline and Elena went to go get Audrey something to eat after all the sobbing she'd done. I helped her get cleaned up in the dormitory bathrooms downstairs while we waited. I dabbed her eyes with cold water, and she sucked in a hard breath.

"I'll kill him," she whispered, her teeth grinding. "I will kill that Julian bastard. And he can rot in hell and I won't give a damn."

I understood everything she was feeling, but I sighed. "Easy with the language, Audrey. But don't worry. We'll kill him and we'll get Tyler back."

"I don't want him back," she snapped, turning her head towards me. "He plunged his hand into Stefan's heart. If I see Tyler, I'll just kill him."

I shook my head. "You don't mean that. Tyler wasn't the one who killed Stefan, it was Julian. Besides, we'll get Stefan back." Audrey said nothing to me in return, and I took this as a sign of doubt from her. "You listen to me, Audrey. We will get Stefan back. I don't care what we have to do to get him back, and if it's something I can do, you can bet your ass I'm going to do it." My words were cold, but nevertheless true.

"And if there isn't a way?" Audrey turned her head at me, and I could see tears threaten at the corners of her eyes. "Or if we can't do this—if we can't find a way to get rid of the Travelers once and for all and get Stefan back? What am I supposed to do then, Madeline? I can't…"

She trailed off, placed her hands on the sink before us, and tried so desperately to contain herself. I didn't know how this felt. Sure, I knew what it was like to think Damon was going to die, but he never actually did. I had no idea what I'd do if he died, but from the way Audrey was acting, I knew it couldn't be any better for me. She was breaking slowly, that tough exterior of hers when it came to Stefan slowly coming off. Audrey and I were alike in so many ways when it came to the walls we built around the people we loved. The difference was, she actually had people to build those walls around. I didn't. She was always more forthcoming than I was—always so straightforward. Those were our differences, but I was quite positive that our similarities outweighed them.

All I could do was hug her—to try and tell her that it was going to be okay. But, truth of the matter was, until we had Stefan back in our arms, we wouldn't know if everything would be okay. I knew there were words she wanted to speak that she couldn't. They were the exact words I thought of when Damon almost died not just once but four times: how am I supposed to be able to get past this?

It's a dark thought when you realize that the person you wanted to share your life with was so violently ripped away from you. It's an even darker thought when you relive the moment, which I'm sure Audrey has been. And now…well, now she was thinking of all the things she should've done before and all the things she wanted to do now.

I couldn't imagine a pain like that. I loved Stefan as a brother, but it's different with someone you feel deeply for. I'm sure it was even rougher for Damon, who has been through thick and thin with his brother—some of the times even inflicting the emotional turmoil they went through. But Damon was good at hiding his pain to the right people. Actually, he was even better at covering it with a different emotion.

Stefan watched as Madeline comforted Audrey, who was a shaking human mess in her arms. Lexi was by his side, waiting for the beer he promised her after almost getting sucked into oblivion. He just wanted to make sure that Audrey was okay first—and he was glad he saw it.

"She loves you, you know," Lexi said quietly to Stefan, who just stood there, silent. "Don't get me wrong, Elena was your epic love and all that but this girl…she's better for you."

Stefan tried to keep down the tears that wanted to come upon seeing these events. Audrey weeping, Madeline trying to keep herself together, Damon covering his emotions, Caroline completely wrecked, and Elena trying to fix things. His death had affected all of them in ways he never thought would affect them. Now, here they were, trying to get him back, when he knew that at any second, the darkness could come back and take him and there'd be no one to bring back. He could only thank Lexi for saving him yet again.

"I love her," Stefan said, not needing to think over the words. He'd said them before, but now they seemed ten times more important. "After all the fighting, I just…I wish we'd never fought. I wish I'd just denied her when she asked me if I still loved Elena." Before them, Madeline brushed a red strand of hair out of Audrey's face and wet the towel in her hand, trying to soak up the swelling around her friend's eyes. "I wish she knew how much I loved her when I…"

"Died?" Lexi finished softly. Stefan nodded, but he didn't want to say it. "Yeah, we all wish we could do things differently. And if your friends bring us back, hopefully we can." She gave Stefan a sad smile and then jerked her head over to the side. "Come on, Stefan. Let's get a drink. Leave your girl to do the saving this time."

Stefan watched as Lexi began to move out of the bathroom, and with one final glance to Madeline and Audrey, he followed her.

Bad news first: Bonnie lost the plan she had to get out from the Other Side.

Good news: Enzo came up with another way.

Elena, Caroline, Madeline, Audrey, go find us a witch and make her get on our side, no matter what the cost.

Okay? Okay.

That was pretty much how the conversation went.

Caroline and Elena took the "payback's a bitch" route, exacting the same scenario that Liv and Luke exacted on me, Stefan, and Elena when we were returning to Mystic Falls and they tried to murder the doppelgängers. Elena stopped their car, standing in front of it, and Caroline prevented the car from going anywhere, standing at the rear end.

"Using our own tricks against us," Liv sighed within the car just as Audrey and I walked up to the car on opposite sides, right at each door. "Jerks," she said, right in my face.

"Well, you started it." I shrugged and let her get out of the car. Liv was the only one who got out, and I crossed my arms at her. "Just as a future reference, most criminals who just attempted murder normally take back roads. You made it too easy."

"You really wanna do this again?" Liv challenged me, and Elena stepped up by my side.

"You mean the part where you try to kill a doppelgänger?" she questioned, her tone bitter. On the other side of the car, Luke stepped out, heavily guarded by the two Forbes girls. "There's no point. Stefan's already dead."

Liv silenced at this, and her head turned to look at Audrey, who just stood there, cold and emotionless, like she was trying to prove something. Liv looked back at both of us Gilberts and sighed.

"I know you don't believe me, but I am sorry."

"Wonderful!" I exclaimed, clapping my hands together and stepping forward. "But your apology is worthless to us. You, witch bitch, are going to help us bring him back."

"Look," Liv said pointedly. "I get what you need from us. But with both doppelgängers back, your blood works again, and the Travelers can restart their spell. Witch magic goes bye-bye and all you vamps—and you, Madeline—you're goners."

"They're not going to have a chance to start again," Elena clarified. "Because in order to bring Stefan back, we're going to have to kill them. A lot of them; including Markos."

"We can't help you," Luke said suddenly on the other side of the car. "And even if we wanted to, our coven would kill us."

"Sounds like a personal problem," Audrey snapped, turning around at Luke, who just stood there, staring. "Look, witchy, I don't care about you or what your coven might do to you if you do this spell, but that's a problem for another day—and by 'problem', I mean your problem. Stefan saved your life, you know."

"I know, but—"

"We can't risk it," Liv defended her brother, earning Audrey to turn around and face the blonde-haired witch.

Audrey and Liv started at each other intensely, but it only took one word out of Audrey's mouth to change things. "Caroline," she said simply, and in a flash, Caroline had her hands around Luke's neck and she snapped, causing Liv's twin to collapse onto the ground, deceased.

"No!" Liv shouted and tried to make her way over to Luke, but Audrey stopped her.

"And…your brother just joined Stefan on the Other Side." Liv looked up at Audrey, watching as the redheaded girl relaxed her bitter now. "Now, if you don't do this for us, Luke goes away like the rest of them," she stated coldly, crossing her arms. "So how about that spell?"

After Liv agreed to help us and, out of a sign of respect, brought her brother to the back of the SUV they'd been attempting to flee with, Elena, Caroline, Audrey, and I were busy with Damon, Matt, and Jeremy who were at Whitmore. Caroline had us all on speakerphone, and after a minute of gathering, we could finally hear Damon's loud and snappy voice over the phone.

"Class is in session. First assignment—anti-magic perimeter. Gilbert, what do you got?"

Jeremy's voice was prominent next; "I walked around Mystic Falls this morning to see where my Hunter instincts disappeared—"

Damon scoffed. "Meaning what? Your biceps shrunk and your brain got smaller?"

Jeremy ignored his comment and tried to clarify, yet he did it in a retorting manner. "Meaning that I have a supernatural urge to kill vampires. So, wherever I hated you less, there was no magic."

"Cemetery's outside of the no-magic perimeter. Couple unpopular areas other than that…"

On this side of the phone, Caroline was growing impatient with the banter and our blind spot—we couldn't see the map. Caroline said exactly this, snapping to Damon over the phone, "Hey, Professor Salvatore! Not everyone can see the map."

"Yeah, don't forget about us," Elena added. I could practically hear the eye-roll Damon gave on the other side of the phone.

"Donovan, you had one job!"

Matt sighed heavily and promised, "Elena, I'll send you a picture right now." We heard shuffling of the phone, and in another couple seconds, Elena's phone beeped, and she shared the phone with all of us so we could see the map of the town's new boundaries, outlined in a thick red marker.

As Elena looked over the map, she sighed. "We should be there."

"No, you should not be, because without crazy-locks, no one is rising from the dead," Damon retorted. Elena rolled her eyes. "So…next order of business: mass-murder. Quarterback? Thank you." There was a sound of a paper rolling, and Damon sighed. "Okay, I got these from the Sheriff. Apparently, there is some truth to her evacuation story. There is a major gas line that runs underneath the town. Now if it did leak, it could be deadly. As in, massive explosion kind of deadly."

Elena, Caroline, Audrey, and I all exchanged worried glances. Blowing up Mystic Falls?

Matt spoke the words for us, telling them to Damon in person. "We can't blow up our hometown!"

Damon's voice was ice-cold. "Says one of the only people left in this group who could actually live there!"

"We're not blowing up our town, Damon," Elena snapped to him, and I could hear Damon give a frustrated sigh. I shook my head beside her.

"No, we shouldn't have to. But, if we can lure the Travelers to the same place at the same time, then it would work."

"How?" Caroline asked me, confused. "We can't lure anyone anywhere stuck out here!"

"And that's where your mamma comes in," Damon practically sung over the phone. "She will convince them to gather somewhere…inside. Meanwhile, these two geniuses—at seven o'clock—will turn on the gas, let it leak, we'll have about ten minutes before anyone can smell it, you clear out—boom." Damon let the word drag on for emphasis. "Travelers gone, resurrection spell starts, loved ones return. Good?" No one said anything. "Good?" Again, no one said anything. "Class dismissed."

"But, wait, who's going to—" The line went dead before I was able to get the sentence out, and I sighed upon the sudden detachment, and I knew, just like that, that Damon was hiding something.

Elena, Caroline, and Audrey all went to get Liv to Bonnie so that our friend could teach the witch the spell to bring everyone back, and meanwhile, I called Damon up to tell him that we were ready. He took just a few minutes, and finally was able to get to the cemetery, where we were all allowed to convene without the threatening idea of turning into dying fools.

"So…you ready?" I asked him as we met up in front of the tomb that we had originally placed Stefan in when he lost his memories. I remembered the way I felt back then—in love with Damon but not at the same time. It was odd, remembering how the old Madeline felt. She was so frustrated and scared and…even angry. But, it was nice to know that both Stefan and I, memory-wiped psychos, found a way to be friends even without our history. Thinking about it only made me miss him more, until I realized that we would be getting him back soon enough.

"Operation Massacre," Damon agreed. "Assuming Donovan knows the difference between a water main and a gas main…yeah, I'm good." Though it was no time for jokes, I still laughed. Really, in a town like ours, when was it ever a time for a joke? Nevertheless, Damon always found a way to crack one. He bounced on his heels, and the thought that Damon was hiding something returned to me again.

"All right, spill," I told him, crossing my arms over my chest. Damon looked up at me over his eyelids and rose an eyebrow, confused. "I know you, Damon. You're hiding something. 'Fess up."

Damon hesitated, but eventually, he groaned. "I should've known better than to keep a secret from you…" he trailed off, biting the inside of his cheek. "Look, I wanted to spare you the gory details, but…well, you read me like a book, and I figured that if I lie, the whole point of saving the Universe would be moot…and you'd be pissed, too." His words were making me anxious and nervous, turning my stomach in a way that I didn't want it to turn. He took in a deep breath. "Okay. Here it is. Project Kaboom needs someone to trigger the explosion…so to speak."

I nodded. "Yeah, I figured that. It's what I was going to ask you before but you—" I stopped, dead cold, and my eyes snapped over to look at him. "Wait, what?"

"Madeline—"

"No!" I cut him off, shaking my head. "No! Absolutely not! You are not doing this, Damon! We'll find a way to rig the car or…or, we'll get a Traveler to do it against his or her will, but—"

"We don't have time for that," Damon cut me off, shaking his head, and I felt my heartbeat spike. He was right—it was already rapidly approaching seven o'clock. Damn it! Seeing my distressed face, he sighed. "Go with your first instinct, Damon…lesson learned," he muttered to himself.

"Damon…" I trailed off, looking over at him. He stared at me, and I moved forward, latching my hands around his neck and staring into his eyes. "Look at me and tell me that you don't see a future with me. Because, right now, that's all that's getting me through this."

"Madeline," Damon said, his tone obvious. "I've seen it since the second I laid eyes on you, you know that."

"Then don't go on a freaking suicide mission, you idiot!" I snapped, but despite my anger, it came out soft. "We've lost Stefan already, I-I don't think I'll be able to handle it if I lose you, too."

"You won't lose me," Damon promised, shaking his head. "Besides, it's only half a suicide mission. We're going to be bringing people back from the Other Side and I am going to be with them," he reasoned, bringing his own warm hands up to encircle around my wrists, but I thrust them down and shook my head.

"But what if something goes wrong? What if somehow, someway, you don't make it back? If you get sucked into oblivion before you can get to Bonnie or—"

"Hey, come on. Stop thinking like that," Damon urged me, but I scoffed and turned my head from him. He desperately searched for a way to make contact with my eyes as I shielded him from them. "Listen to me, Madeline. I promise I will come back to you, okay?"

I looked up at him to find him with no expression of amusement in his eyes, and I shook my head again. "I trust you, Damon, I do…and, I understand why you want to do this." I didn't need to say that Damon was doing this for Stefan because it was obvious. "But I don't know what I'd do if you don't come back from this, and it's not a risk that I want to take."

Damon gave an exasperated sigh, but he wasn't annoyed with me, I could tell. If the roles were reversed, he would do the same thing—actually, he would do something completely different; he would hold me against my will until this was done with. I wasn't strong enough—nor did I even want to do that to him. He might've done it to me countless times, but there was always a part of me that would stay back by my own will. When Damon made up his mind, he followed through with it—that's just how it had to be.

"I get that," he realized, turning his head to look into my eyes. "Which is why I have something for you."

I was confused—in the midst of a fight, he was giving me a gift? But when he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, iconic box, I froze. Of course. This wasn't just a gift from Damon, it was his motivation to return and my leverage that he would. He opened it slowly without getting down on one knee like I asked him not to a long time ago—what seriously resembled the length of a lifetime ago—and inside the box was, indeed, a diamond ring that had been mine for a long time. I didn't move, I didn't breathe. You would think, a twenty-year-old girl getting proposed to by a runway model would start jumping up and down at this point, but I didn't. It only made things more complicated, as much as I wanted this. Evil Madeline hadn't returned today, probably out of respect for Stefan, but she would eventually if I didn't die soon.

"Marry me, Madeline," Damon sighed, and I hesitantly brought my eyes up to meet his. "After all of this is over, marry me."

He said it like he'd been waiting a lifetime, which…I guess it had been for him. A lifetime of being a second choice, I was finally the one who chose him first. I was confused—I'd said yes to his question once before back at the Gilbert lake house near Christmastime the year before, but this time it was different. That was under circumstances so much different than these; circumstances such as my boyfriend sleeping with my sister under the influence of alcohol and depression over our recent fights. I was so naïve then—on that night, he seemed insistent upon making our engagement actually happen, and I somehow found no reason to decline. If I knew that, just a day before, he'd slept with my sister, I probably would've thrown the ring in his face and called it a day.

To Damon and I, this marriage business wasn't about a big, fancy white wedding. I could care less about that, and as good as Damon looks like a suit, I think he'd rather pass. But there were some things that he knew he couldn't have—like me for the rest of eternity. Once I had laid down the law about not becoming a vampire (one of the reasons that fight at the Miss Mystic pageant was so damning), he had lost all hope in ever spending the rest of our lives together, so he found a way to compensate. Maybe he couldn't spend the rest of his life with me, sharing an eternal bond, but he could spend the rest of my life with me under different ties. Martial ties, I guess.

The idea all spawned when he overheard me and Matt talking about what our human lives would've been like if there were no vampires. Our conversation consisted of three things: marriage, children, and safety. Though we were only joking, because I was madly in love with Damon and wouldn't have given that up for anything else in the world, Damon took it literally; and that's when the idea sparked in his head. From then on, even though I told him that he didn't have to, he soon realized that he wanted to, something so out of the ordinary for Damon Salvatore it made my head spin. I felt like he was becoming a different person, and…well, he was. He was no longer in the midst of a battle for affection between him and his brother. I was all his, and he was all mine, and he just wanted something to strengthen that, I guess.

I thought about the consequences of saying yes—if I didn't, it would break his heart and he would still go off on the suicide mission. If I did, then it would make him the happiest guy alive and he would…still go off on the suicide mission. The thought of my conversation with Stefan yesterday raced in my mind—I flat-out told him that I would have to off myself in order to get rid of Evil Madeline. The only loophole to that was to become a vampire. Then, the thought started worrying me: if I became a vampire, this whole idea of Damon's would be null and void. He would share a life with me, an eternal one—one where we wouldn't need the bond of a marital tie. Of course, if he died, all of that would be pointless.

And if there was one thing I was certain of more than anything else in the world, it was that I wanted to do this. I wanted to make the both of us happy, for once. If he decided later on that we shouldn't do it and I should become a vampire…well, we'd cross that bridge when we got to it.

"Yes," I breathed, thankful that I didn't stutter. Damon smiled in relief, letting out a breath of air. "Of course I—" Damon interrupted me as he pulled me closer to him and closed the distance between us, giving me one of the most dizzying kisses of all. His hands locked me to him, not that I wanted to get out of it, of course. I fell to his touch, one of his hands slipping around my waist and keeping me to him as we kissed. I was overwhelmed with emotions, but none of them mattered as he kissed me. Though a weight I couldn't bear sat on my shoulders, I let him exact whatever force he wanted onto me before he pulled away, letting me go, both of us returning to reality completely breathless.

After taking out the ring, Damon chucked the small black box carelessly, throwing it to the side, and he grabbed my hand and pull it towards him. I watched as the weight slipped onto my finger, the silver cool against the length of it. It was unnecessary, at least to me, but I realized that I would get used to it. I had to. Damon's electric gaze caught mine. "Now you know I'll come back."

"You better," I told him, the slightest hint of a smile at my lips. I could see one on his, and after looking down at the ring and clenching my hand, I looked up to find him staring at me. Without warning, I leaned forward and kissed him this time, bringing my hands up to the back of his neck and crushing my weight against his. He kissed me back passionately, and I was determined to make it last. If he didn't come back now, it would ruin me. That I was positive of.

I pulled away after a couple seconds—our eyes still closed, our bodies pressed together, our foreheads touching, and our noses brushing. I swallowed hard, fighting back a last goodbye that I knew he didn't want to hear from me, and Damon sighed.

"I promise you, Madeline," he whispered, and simultaneously, our eyes opened. "This won't be the end."

"It's just the beginning," I finished, nodding at him once before I pulled back, and he did, too. "You better get going now."

He nodded at me, and his hand found mine as it dropped and he grabbed it in his own. Damon's thumb brushed over my new piece of jewelry, and he kept it there, brushing back and forth, as he walked away, elongating my arm, and then dropping it when it became too short, returning my hand back to my side. He walked off, poetically into the sunset, and I stared after him, completely and utterly dissatisfied.

I returned to the tomb after a couple minutes of loitering, thinking over a lot of things that I needed to think over. I couldn't decide whether or not to tell my friends, so I decided upon letting nature take its course. Besides, Elena and Caroline probably heard everything with their super hearing. Finally, I walked into the tomb, where Bonnie was talking to Audrey while Liv was on the floor, setting up candles. Elena, Caroline, and Audrey were all watching, waiting and doing their part in this plan.

"How did things go with Damon?" Caroline asked me, but her eyes were practically glued on my hand. It was no use, I saw it in their eyes. They already heard the conversation, it was blatantly obvious.

"Fine. Not that you don't know already."

"You're really going to let him go off on his own like that?" Elena asked suddenly, making me look over at her. "I mean, you just got engaged and now you're—"

Both Audrey and Bonnie turned upon hearing the words, and I closed my eyes tight. Shit. "I'm sorry…Madeline just got what?" Bonnie asked, her jaw practically dropping to the floor.

"Yes, Madeline got engaged," I said, brushing it off. "But I think this is a topic for another time. Our first priority is Stefan. Let's get this show on the road, okay?"

"No, not okay," my sister returned, shaking her head. "Damon just walked off into the sunset and you're just going to sit here on your ass and let him go by himself? What if he doesn't come back?"

"Well, what am I supposed to do, Elena? You know that when Damon makes up his mind, that's the end of it. I can't stop him." I shrugged, but though the words I said were true, it didn't make me hate it any less.

"Wait, what happened?" Audrey asked, looking over at Elena. My sister wasted no time in explaining that Damon was going to set off the explosion in the Grill, which would kill him and bring him out on the Other Side.

"Madeline." I looked over to see Audrey walk over to me and grab me by the arm, yanking me up, and I hissed as a response. "I mean this sincerely. Stop being an asshat and go do this with him!" I shifted uncomfortably, but she shook her head. "You never know when something can go wrong and you'll never see him again."

I wanted to counter her argument—tell her that I was completely aware of that fact and it was precisely the reason I wanted to stop him, but couldn't. Instead, I stared at her and saw the pain that was eating her up alive. She would get Stefan back, that's what she was waiting for, but he was still, for the time being, dead. At any given moment, he could obliterate into nothing because of the Other Side's mechanical issues. Being here, in the real world, it was torture for her, waiting for Stefan.

"Okay," I said slowly. "Okay, you're right. I'll…I'll go after him," I promised, looking around at my friends. I looked up at Bonnie. "I'll come through on the Other Side, right?"

"Will she?" Bonnie asked this helping Traveler in the room, and after listening to the Traveler, Bonnie looked at me and nodded. "Yes, you will. Pure Bloods are supernatural if they're activated. You just have to make sure you die while you're still activated. Which means, if the full cut appears before you die—"

"I die human," I finished, nodding. Bonnie agreed with me, and I hesitantly looked at Caroline, Elena, and finally, Audrey. After a moment of hesitation, I leaned forward and gave her a hug, to which she returned.

"Thanks," I whispered in her ear, and she nodded against my shoulder and pushed me off, telling me to go. I turned on my heel and went back out into the fading sunlight, realizing that it was merely minutes before the sun set and Damon headed out on a suicide mission without me.

I found Damon's car just outside of the cemetery on the road, just as the darkness became prominent and the sun was merely a rosy image in the background behind the trees. I was out of breath from running, but nevertheless, I heard the sound of a car door and found myself relieved when I reached it in time and opened the passenger door, climbing inside, prepared to face Damon's wrath.

I closed the door and turned to him. Damon was staring at me with wild eyes. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

I took in a breath. "If you think I'm going to let you do this alone, you're crazy. I've already been talked out of staying behind. Besides, Pure Bloods are supernatural as long as they've been activated. I'll come out on the Other Side."

Damon began to panic. "No, no, no! That's not how this works, Madeline. The second we cross that border, you're going to feel everything that Silas did to you during that sacrifice ritual! Which means that you won't be activated, so you'll die a human."

I turned to him. "Damon, I'm not an idiot. I understand that." It was a risk—a huge one at that—but it was the price we paid for family. "But Stefan is about to be my brother, too, okay? As a matter of fact, he's been a brother to me ever since you two got to this town, so I'm doing this for him, okay? Let me do this with you."

Damon sighed heavily, now annoyed by the fact that I'd brought up our newfound family card, and when I realized that he was stalling and wasting time, I looked over at him with wide eyes.

"What the hell are you waiting for now, Damon? Drive!"

Damon eyed me carefully. "If you're going to be this bossy of a wife, I might have to reconsider."

But he said it with a smile, and I realized that he had now accepted the fact that I wasn't giving up. I smiled lightly back at him and he floored the gas pedal, bringing us across the boundary, speeding into Mystic Falls. I thought I'd seen the last of Damon's reckless driving, but earlier today was nothing compared to now. He must've gone up to the full capacity on the speedometer, bringing us closer to the Mystic Grill with force. As a result of this hasty driving, I put my seatbelt on, afraid that I'd die before we even got into the Grill. It never hurt to do such a thing with Damon's driving.

Regardless, we both knew that if we didn't get to Mystic Falls before we started to show signs of the ways we died, both of us wouldn't come back on the Other Side.

"How you doing?" Damon asked me as he pressed on the gas pedal harder, twisting and turning around the town square as fast as he could. I nodded at him.

"Good, I—" Unfortunately, I spoke too soon. Just as I began to speak, I felt a ripping pain in my neck as there was the beginning of an incision mark. Damon looked over at me with wide eyes.

"No," he breathed and tried to speed up the car. I brushed my hair back and felt my neck as he swerved around a corner. As I pulled my hand away, the faintest drop of black blood covered my finger. "Come on!" he shouted, willing the car faster. I could see the Mystic Grill in my sight, and I realized that it wouldn't be long until the end. The cut on my neck was gaining length by the second.

"Damon," I began, realizing that now was a better time than any. I didn't care if he didn't want to hear it, I had to say it. "I—"

Damon cut me off, his head turning sharply to face me as he spoke words that I was familiar with. "I know, baby. I know."

His hand fell on top of mine, gripping it hard, and we both shut our eyes as we braced for the impact of the car and the building before it exploded.

There was a crashing sound. A hot flash. Then nothing.

I was standing, now, in the middle of the dark cemetery, alone and confused. One moment, I was in the midst of an explosion and another in a cemetery? Well, I guess the Universe gets points for irony; I'll give them that. The sounds of grunting and groaning snapped me out of my confusion, and I remembered where I was and how I got there. I died, and now, I had to find Bonnie to pass through. I could now breathe evenly knowing that I had come through on the other side, but this was also only half of our journey, and yet, Damon was nowhere around.

I broke into a sprint to find Bonnie, and eventually, I saw her in the midst of the woods all by herself. "Bonnie!" I shouted as I ran to her.

The previously writhing anchor straightened in her position, gave me a smile, and said through her quickened breathing, "Madeline." She gave a few sighs of relief as I came to a stop in front of her. "Did it work? A-Are you—?"

"I guess so," I said, looking around the woods for any sign of the person I had died with. "Has Damon already made his way through? Where is he?" I asked, swiveling my head around. I eventually came back to Bonnie, who opened her mouth to speak, but someone took the words from her.

"Right here." Bonnie and I turned to see Damon behind us, just as dead as I was. I let out an immense sigh of relief upon seeing him, and he wore the same exact expression. Damon walked forward to my side, and we both turned to Bonnie, who nodded.

"Okay. When you guys pass through me, you're going to wake up with your bodies on the Other Side. I need you to get back here as fast as you can," she explained.

"Okay," Damon agreed as I nodded in complete understanding. Wake up in the crisp Mystic Grill, find Damon, and get back to the cemetery. Easy enough.

Bonnie took in a deep breath, braced, and then she reached forward and grabbed my upper arms, and I was no longer standing with her and Damon in the cemetery anymore. Instead, I was a few feet away from Damon's car, staring at a bunch of mini-fires and a burnt-to-crisp restaurant. The restaurant that I'd had my eleventh birthday in. The restaurant that I'd spent so many hours in with Bonnie, Caroline, Audrey, and Elena. It was all gone now, and in Damon's car was a charcoal body—my body—nothing but a mere skeleton.

"Did you seriously wear your seatbelt?"

I turned my body to face that of Alaric's, to my happy surprise. A smile spread across my face as I saw Alaric Saltzman, the man who had practically raised me, Elena, and Jeremy ever since Aunt Jenna died. Of course, the Gilbert ring drove him crazy, Esther turned him into an Original vampire that hunts Original vampires, and he died, along with Elena.

"Well…you know Damon's driving makes me nervous," I confessed, giving him a light shrug along with my pleased smile. Who would've thought that dying turned out to be probably one of the greatest moments of my life? The thought crossed my mind that, along with Stefan, we'd be getting Alaric back, too. Now, I really felt like crying—but tears of joy, of course. "Oh, my God, Ric, I—"

"Come on," he interrupted, jerking his head to the side. "You gotta go."

I nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I will, I just need to find Damon first—"

Ric shook his head. "No, you need to go home and be with your brother and sister."

"I'm not leaving without him. We'll find him together and—" Alaric looked at me sternly, but I was adamant about this. With or without his permission, I was going to find Damon. So, as stubborn as I've always been, I crossed my arms and tried to move past him. "Ric!" I shouted angrily as he blocked me.

"Madeline," he deadpanned. I frowned at him. "Go. I'll find Damon. Promise."

I wanted so badly to argue—to push him to the side and go find Damon on my own if he wouldn't help me, but Alaric seemed determined about me leaving Damon for Alaric to find. I could understand where he was coming from, in a sense. If I left Elena and Jeremy behind, they would be devastated, but the thing was, they did have each other. What Alaric didn't understand was, if he was so sure that Elena and Jeremy would be devastated upon my death, imagine how I would feel if I returned home without Damon. I couldn't argue, though, because Alaric was already kicking me out the door when I finally had the courage to speak. I was left with no other option than to go, and so I did, breaking off into another sprint to get back to the cemetery.

I reached it fairly quickly, despite my human pace. The Other Side was excruciatingly windy outside—my hair was blowing all over the place and the trees and leaves were dancing in the air. Nevertheless, I fought nature and finally found my way back to Bonnie, who was waiting with Stefan and Lexi. I stopped upon seeing Stefan and he did the same upon seeing me. I let myself break into the slightest smile as I caught my breath and jogged over to the rest of them, where Bonnie looked at me, and I knew her question.

"Alaric told me he's going to find Damon and bring him back," I said to her, shouting over the wind. "I tried to stay behind, but he wouldn't let me—"

"You go!" Stefan shouted behind me, and I turned around to face him. "I'll wait here for him!"

I shook my head. "Stefan, I'm not leaving without him!" The words came out more abrasive than I wanted them to, but it didn't matter. I was tired of everyone trying to bring me back without the absolute certainty of Damon with me. I'd already given into Alaric; I wouldn't give into Stefan, too. "You should go. I'll do the waiting!"

"The Other Side is falling apart," Stefan reasoned, and I spun back around to look at him.

"All the more reason for you to go instead!" I gave him a sad smile. "You know who you have to get back to, Stefan. I'll wait here."

I turned around upon hearing the silence from my best friend, Lexi, and Bonnie, but I intended to wait however long it took. Instead, I suddenly felt Bonnie surge forward and grab me, and I realized too late what she'd done.

I emerged out into the real world, visible to Caroline, Elena, and Audrey, who saw and rushed up to me. But I didn't even have time to be mad or say anything to them before my eyes rolled back into my head, and I fell.

My eyes, they snapped open, and all I saw was a black sky dusted lightly with stars. There was a pull with my eyes, I realized, but I couldn't quite place my finger on it. Something felt heavy—not my eyelids, but the actual pupils of my eyes, I guess. I shot forward, gasping for air. The sounds of crunching leaves were in my ear, but they sounded like they were on a volume of a hundred and ten. I shifted, and there those leaves were again, crunching loudly. I winced and looked around, the whole world ten times sharper than before. Every insect, every crevice in the entire space around me, I could point out. It was like I was on hyperdrive.

"Madeline?" It sounded loud, but at the same time, it was a whisper. I turned my head around, trying to find the source of the sound, and when my head and body made a twist so that I was looking directly behind me, I saw the faces of Audrey and Caroline, both of them looking at me with a high dose of concern. I said nothing as I looked down at my body. I was wearing the same clothes as I'd been when I died, the engagement ring was still on my finger, and it was like everything had been untouched. Nevertheless, it took a few moments for me to rise on my feet, stumbling slowly, with the help of Audrey keeping me steady.

I swallowed. "What…happened?" I forced out, the words coming out choppy and dazed.

"You blacked out for a minute there," Caroline explained. Again, I felt a pressure on my eyes from nothing more than an invisible force. "And…your eyes…"

So there was something wrong with my eyes? She could tell? I didn't know what exactly was wrong, but when Caroline gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, I knew it was something big.

"What is it?" I asked, looking between her and Audrey, who stood beside me and was extremely cautious. "What's wrong?"

Suddenly, there was a cough behind me, and I stiffened when the wind blew the scent towards me. That heavy feeling on my eyes pressured me again, and I whipped around—unusually gracefully—to see Bonnie hunched over, coughing up blood in her hand. She peered up at me, but I looked down at her with wonder. I wasn't looking at her, though, as weird as it sounded—I was looking at the blood. All of my thoughts disappeared into the wind, and I walked forward, slowly and carefully, my gaze transfixed on the blood.

"Madeline…" Bonnie whispered, confused. I reached forward and grabbed her hand, staring at the blood in it with a mesmerized expression, no doubt. "What are you—?"

I released her hand and whipped back around at Caroline, slowly coming to the realization. "Please tell me that there's another explanation for this."

Caroline held her mouth and her stomach, realizing exactly what I was beginning to. "I'm sorry Madeline, but you…there's no—"

There was another cough, and I turned around to see Bonnie as she coughed more blood and stumbled. I expected her to fall—we all did—but instead, an invisible force caught her, and suddenly, Stefan appeared before us, holding Bonnie in his arms.

"No," he whispered. "No! No, no!"

"Stefan!" Caroline shouted happily, and Audrey moved forward, but Stefan wore a worrisome expression on his face that stopped her in her tracks.

"What's wrong?" Audrey asked.

"She fell," Stefan said, his voice hurried. "I-I was just trying to—"

"What?" Elena pushed, forcing him to get it out. Stefan choked.

"Damon. He's not there yet."

Suddenly, all realization about my newfound transformation disappeared, and I felt a swarm of rage and sadness crush me like a boulder. As a tear formed in my eyes, I looked over at Bonnie. "Why did you bring me back? Why?" I grabbed a fistful of hair in my hand and I paced. "This cannot be happening right now."

"Madeline." Stefan said, and I turned to him, feeling a pressure on my eyes. He stiffened. Everyone looked at me, and I was starting to feel ten times more uncomfortable when tears began to come off of my eyes, streaking down my face. Bonnie looked at me, and I felt that same pressure on my eyes again. It was like I was showing them something, but I wasn't at the same time. It wasn't the traditional vampire veins; that I realized from their looks. This was something different. And I wasn't even a full vampire yet.

"It's okay," Bonnie said, her voice shaking. "I can do this."

She walked past me, but she only made it hurt more. And, then, I had to start planning. If Damon didn't come back, I wouldn't feed. It was as simple as that. It was just an option that I didn't want to have. I didn't want to off myself because Damon was gone, but I didn't want to be here if he wasn't. The darkening reality came over me when I realized that Damon, as of now, was dead, and I...well, in a way, I was, too. However, I was undead—at least, I would be. He, however, was...dead dead.

And it's a dark thought when you realize that the person you love was so violently ripped away from you. It's an even darker thought when you realize that your life, whether you like it or not, is technically over. Another few tears escaped, by no will of my own, and suddenly, I found myself in Elena's grasp. She examined me closely, and I felt that same pressure again.

"What the hell is happening to you?" she murmured.

"What is it?" I whispered, trying to hold back a sob. "What's happening?"

"Your eyes," she clarified, her thumb tracing right underneath of it. "They flash, Mads. They flash red."

They flash…red? I swallowed. Great. Not only was I a vampire, but also I have magical eyes that flash red as a transitional vampire. "I don't even understand how this could've happened."

"You died," Stefan said a little ways away from us. Elena and I both looked over at him. "You died with our blood in your system. Markos chocked you full of it. It wouldn't have passed through your system by today."

Elena looked him over and then realized. "And your body was burnt to a crisp. Vampire blood doesn't work if your body is ruined, but when you came back—"

"I turned," I filled in, realizing. I should've known sooner that doing this would turn me, but I wasn't thinking. And now, here I am, a transitional vampire because of one stupid slip. "God damn it! Damn it!" I snapped, pushing Elena's arms off of mine and turning around. I kicked the dirt angrily.

"Hey." Elena spun me around, her arm gripping mine tightly. I hadn't realized, but there were a few fears that escaped during my rage. My eyes flashed again, I suppose, and she stared at me despite the abnormality. "We'll help you get through this, but you need to feed and complete the transition."

I shook my head sternly. "Absolutely not."

"Madeline—"

"We can't force her to feed," Caroline interrupted, walking over to Elena and me. She looked over at me. "It's your choice, Madeline."

I looked at her, and back at my sister, but I soon realized that now was not the time to make a decision. I wiped my cheeks with the back of my hand straightened. "I have time. Let me wait until Damon comes back." If he does, a voice whispered inside of my head, and I tried to hold myself together. "Please," I added.

Elena and Caroline both nodded, but we all knew what my decision would be if he didn't come back—a decision that I didn't want to have to make. A decision that everyone thought I would be so fond of, but…really, I wasn't a hundred percent sure. I always thought I'd never have to make this decision, whether to leave behind everyone I ever knew because of my own selfish needs, but here I am—having it be worse because, if Damon didn't come back, I would be forced to spend an entire eternity without him.

There was no talking much after that—Stefan went somewhere alone, I stood by the tomb to wait for Bonnie to come back, and Caroline and Elena were helping Tyler, who apparently was now a regular werewolf again. It was when I heard the sound of a bang from inside of the tomb that I immediately rose. Caroline and Elena's heads turned to the sound, but I was the first one to reach the tomb doors. I pushed them wide open and, adding to my fear, I saw that no one was inside. The candles were burnt out, there was a puddle of blood in between two of them, but there was no one inside.

"Oh, my God," I whispered, realizing. The spell was over, and I hadn't seen Damon. If I had a beating heart, it would've beat out of my chest at a thunderous pace by now. "Liv!" I shouted angrily.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps, and I turned around to face Bonnie. Her expression didn't give anything away, which was exactly what I was afraid of.

"Bonnie," I said to her quickly. "Did he—?" She was silent, and it was deafening to me. But, this was Mystic Falls, there had to be another witch. "Fine. Fine! Let's just get another witch and start the spell. Now."

"We can't," Bonnie said, confirming my worst fears. "That was our one shot."

"No!" I shouted, turning my head, but I had no idea where I was looking. "It's never our one shot! Damon is on the Other Side, Bonnie, I am not leaving him there—"

"Madeline!" I stopped, and I knew my eyes flashed red by the pressure I felt on my eyes again. She stepped forward, not so much afraid as she was sorry for me. A tear, I presume, streamed down my cheek again, wetting my already moist cheeks. Bonnie choked seeing my tear, and she shook her head in pity for me. "It's…it's too late."

Just like that, I felt like my world was falling apart.

Bonnie watched as Madeline didn't even try to protect herself from tears that made their way down her face, and she crumbled right before her friend. Madeline, a reserved, rarely sentimental girl, was standing before Bonnie, realizing that the reason she'd accidentally turned into a transitional vampire was gone forever. The ex-witch didn't know what to say—really, who did? Nevertheless, she stayed silent as Madeline slowly began to realize, and a sight caught in Bonnie's eyes. She turned around to face Damon who was staring at the fading Madeline before them, his eyes full of hurt and pain. He said nothing, but he didn't have to. It was written all over his face.

Bonnie turned back to Madeline, eyeing the ring shown prominently on her finger, and the anchor shut her eyes tight. How terrible this was, to finally get engaged, to turn into a vampire, only to have that one source of happiness completely torn away. Regardless, there was nothing she could do but let Madeline and Damon have their last time together before the Other Side fell apart and took both her and Damon with it.

"He's here," Bonnie said slowly, her voice quiet. Madeline looked up at her through the pool of tears in her eyes, and Bonnie tried to swallow her own sob. The transitional vampire looked up, her eyes roaming across the room, searching for Damon's presence, and Bonnie gave her a slight smile. "You can say goodbye."

Bonnie left immediately after saying the words to Madeline, and once she was gone, the transitional vampire shook her head vigorously.

"No," she began, her word almost a sob. "No, no, no, no!" She didn't care if Damon was in the room, all she knew was that he was dead and there was no way to bring him back. Soon, he would be a goner like the rest of them, and that thought was too much to handle. Damon moved forward, his eyes filled with pain and regret. "You said you would come back! You promised!"

He was now standing just a few feet from her. He realized, all too quickly, that this wasn't just a matter of him dying. This was a matter of her turning and him dying all in one. The one person that she absolutely needed to help her through transitioning was dead, and that alone was too much to handle. She recognized that she was alone in this; at least, she thought she was.

"I never meant to break my promise," he whispered, his hand reaching out to brush Madeline's dark hair behind her ear. She shifted at the touch, finding it both comforting and abrupt at the same time. He was here, she knew that, but she couldn't see or hear him, and that was the hardest part. "And even if I wanted to apologize, you can't hear me. So I won't."

The touch, the subtle touch, was both filled with bitterness and sweetness at the same time, and Madeline thrust her head against the pillar she was propped against, her neck tilted up, trying to hold back the tears, but they just kept spilling. Hot, salty, transitional vampire tears wouldn't stop rushing down her face, and she couldn't stop them.

"Please don't leave me," she begged, crying harder.

Damon felt a kick in his chest. "I don't have a choice, baby," he said quietly, his eyes studying her as she cried. It was almost as if she could hear him, but he knew that she couldn't. "But you are, by far, the greatest thing to happen to me in my hundred and seventy-three years on this Earth. The fact that I got to die knowing that I was loved…not just by anyone, but by you, Madeline Gilbert. It's the epitome of a fulfilled life. I never expected to be loved by anyone so…so human, so pure," he admitted, smiling to himself. But she didn't smile. Instead, she shut her eyes and cried harder. "And I know I've…made a lot of mistakes, and, surprisingly, that never stopped you from loving me. I just wish some of those mistakes I could've taken back."

"I can't do this," she whispered, shaking her head back and forth. "I can't…I can't do this." Madeline opened her eyes, and they flashed red for a moment when she took off the engagement ring on her finger and threw it on the ground so that it slid towards the door. Damon looked back at it, watching as the expensive diamond ring was positioned just in front of the tomb doors, right by the unlit candles and the small pool of blood. When he looked back at Madeline, she was sinking to the ground as if holding herself together emotionally wouldn't cut it. Her knees were brought to her chest and she cried, harder than before. With heightened emotions and a loss so big, it wasn't a surprise. Damon felt a pain so big just looking at her, but he had no choice.

Then, he realized, there was something that he needed to do before getting sucked into oblivion. Something that he would've hoped she'd do on her own one day because of him—because he asked her to. He turned on his heel, walking to the tomb doors, but stopped just shy so that the engagement ring was at his feet. With one glance up to Madeline and then down at the ring, he kicked his foot, and the transitional vampire looked up to find her useless engagement ring sitting in the small puddle of blood that Liv left behind.

He waited, and watched, as she rose from her feet, choking back her sobs, and she walked over to the engagement ring. Madeline knelt down and pulled the ring out, seeing it covered in fresh, human blood, and he watched her eye it and start to form tears, realizing.

"You expect me to be forced to live an entire eternity without you, Damon?" she whispered, the blood coating her fingers as she examined the ring. "I can't do this without you."

"Yes," Damon countered, kneeling down so he was at the same height. "You can, Madeline, you can. Because if you die with me, then all of this would've been for nothing, and I can't leave knowing that." His hand extended, and he brushed her hair off of her shoulder and wrapped his fingers around the side of her face, brushing ever so slightly to the point where she shivered. "You have to take care of Elena, of Jeremy, of Audrey—of my brother. I can't do this without you."

He could see, very clearly that she was understanding all the words he was giving even though she couldn't hear him. Madeline pulled her fingers away from the engagement ring, the pads of her fingertips coated in red, just there for the taking. And he knew, to some extent, that she was sure he was right—she had to feed.

"I love you," she whispered slowly, and, for a second, he grew worried about what she was going to do. The confession, it sounded like an apology. Nevertheless, Damon ached as he waited.

With a shaking hand, she brought her fingers to her lips and sucked it all dry so not a single drop of blood was left on her fingers. The blood was enough to turn her—a single drop would've sufficed. He watched as she closed her eyes, her breath shaking, and then opened them, where they flashed red for a mere second, and then returned to her normal eye color. She relaxed, but they both knew that this was a decision she couldn't take back.

Damon said nothing, but took his other hand and grabbed the ring she held. He then slid it back onto her left ring finger, where he knew it belonged.

"I love you, Madeline," he said slowly, grabbing her left hand in his and holding it. She let him, now sobbing again.

"Please," Madeline begged again, shaking her head. "Please come back to me, Damon. Please, I need you here. I..." she trailed off, unable to finish, and he realized that this, even though it ruined her now—it would get better. It had to. At least, he had to think like that.

"Goodbye," he whispered, and then he let go of her hand, leaving her in the midst of a streaked puddle of blood, unlit candles, and an empty tomb for her to cry as long as she needed to.

There was the equivalent of a hole deep inside of my chest that I was afraid would never go away. Everything, my body, my mind, my heart, it hurt. I could barely move, even though as a vampire you're supposed to be oh-so-graceful and perfect. Instead, I was a vampire who had spent the last few minutes crying her eyes out because my dead boyfriend convinced me to live an eternity without him. On some level, I knew that he was right—I had to turn. I couldn't hear what he said about me, I couldn't see him, and that made it ten times worse. But he, I guess, said his goodbyes by turning me and slipping the engagement ring back on my finger as if I should keep it as a reminder of him. I, however, was afraid to. I was hurting so badly that I just wanted to make it go away. And, I realized, I had that ability now.

I stopped crying just long enough to find that switch, but I was debating. If I turned my emotions off, what would be left? If there was one thing that I prided myself on, it was my humanity, and I didn't even have that anymore. I was a vampire now, just like the rest of them. It didn't matter if I loved my vampire sister, my vampire friends, or my recently dead vampire boyfriend, I still believed what I first thought upon finding out about vampires. They're monsters. Killers. Now, I was one, too. And what kind of person would I be if I turned it all off, just like everyone else had at one point? It would hurt less, but it would only be prolonging the pain. I still had to deal with the very reality that the one man I had ever loved in a way other than familial was dead and would never return to me. How sickeningly ironic of this goddamned universe to give me so much joy and so much pain all in one day.

"Don't," I heard softly, and I turned my head to see Ric at the entrance of the tomb. "I know what you want to do, Madeline. It's not worth it."

I wiped my cheeks with the back of my hands seeing him, and I rose from my feet, only to have more tears stain my face. When I turned around to face him, I shook my head.

"He's gone, Ric. He's gone," I sobbed, refusing to believe any of it. I wanted to find a way to bring him back, but somewhere, I knew that it couldn't be possible. In a matter of minutes, the Other Side would be gone. I inhaled sharply, my breath taking in breaks. "H-How am I supposed to…? I turned, Ric, I'm a...I'm a..." I couldn't even say it.

Alaric realized this, and he just pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around me. I didn't want to be with anyone right now, really, I wanted to be alone, but this was Ric, and he was back. Some part of me wanted to say it was unfair, but I couldn't. Ric was a father to me, to Elena, to Jeremy—and it was selfish, but I wanted Ric, Damon, and Stefan to be back. How is it fair, though, that I only get two of them back? I cried harder as he held me and tried to make me feel better, but I think everyone was now fully aware that there was no turning this around for me. All in one day, I was engaged, turned into a special kind of vampire, and emotionally wrecked.

Only, suddenly, Alaric and I heard a sound.

"Bonnie!"

Ric and I pulled away from each other, hearing my little brother's voice, and we glanced towards each other. Bonnie? I repeated in my mind, and putting my brother's tone with the word, I knew something was wrong. I desperately tried to clean myself up in the spare two seconds I had, wiping my face again to rid the dry tears. Alaric and I left the tomb to find out what was going on, and we heard Jeremy yell our friend's name ten thousand times over. Outside, Stefan, Elena, Caroline, Audrey, and Tyler were gathered, and Alaric and I joined.

"What's going on?" Tyler asked, looking around. Elena and Caroline both looked at me.

"Did you…?"

I didn't have to say anything, I just nodded. Everyone fell silent at the gesture as they all realized that Miss Madeline was now a vampire—the one thing that I had foolishly convinced myself I would never become. There was no time for further questions when we heard Jeremy's voice again, shouting Bonnie's name again. We turned our heads to see him running out of the forest towards us, stopping at the rest of us. But, though our gaze was focused on him, he was focused on Bonnie, who stood just outside the fence of the cemetery, looking as if she was guilty as charged.

And, then, we all registered what was happening, and I stepped forward.

No.

Bonnie watched from afar as Caroline, Audrey, Stefan, Elena, Madeline, Alaric, Tyler, and Jeremy all looked at her, slowly coming to the realization that she, along with Damon and anyone else still on the Other Side, were goners. The Other Side...it was slowly fading away by the second, catching up to Bonnie. Ferocious winds blew Bonnie's hair back and forth, and the ground shook violently, anxiously waiting to take her and the lot of them.

Bonnie barely realized it when Damon approached her side, his own hair and clothes blowing in the wind as he came to her side. Lights peaked from the trees all around them, signalizing the demise about to come.

"This place is going down, isn't it?" asked Damon, but he already knew the answer.

"It is," Bonnie confirmed. A silence passed between the two former enemies. "I'm sure there are a million people we'd both rather be with, but…" Bonnie looked over at Damon and moved her hand forward so that her fingers were laced through his. Damon looked down at their joined hands and then looked back up at her.

Damon smiled at her lightly. "Couple thousand at most."

The Bennett chuckled, but it was bittersweet. The both of them knew that their death was coming, it was just a matter of time. A light encircled them, shaking the Other Side. It descended upon them, coming closer and closer, just waiting to take them.

"Do you think it'll hurt?" Bonnie asked tentatively as the light closed down on them. She was terrified, of course, but there was nothing she could do. As unfair as it was to Damon, too, he was in the same boat. They both died, and they hadn't been able to cheat that. The light came closer and closer, ready to suck them in, enclosing the Other Side for good. These few final moments, they were their last. Bonnie and Damon, Damon and Bonnie; the two most unlikely allies. The witch and the vampire. It was sort of ironic, but sad, too. Nevertheless, this was real. In a matter of seconds, they would be gone.

Damon shook his head. "I don't know—"

He wasn't able to finish the incomplete thought, because just like that, the light swallowed them both, leaving nothing but a bright, white flash in their wake.