Hello! I know you all are mad at me for the last chapter, but you have to read this chapter to understand where I am going with this. I have a plan, I PROMISE! Just Read this chapter and then you will see where I am going.

Elena's POV

I stand in front of a woman whose head is covered in black braids and gold beads. She has tattoos covering her body and piercings all over her ears and face. Her name is Imari. She is the woman who is going to bring Damon's family back from the dead.

19 hours earlier

"Get out!" he yells at me.

"Damon, I-"

"You're the reason that they are gone, if you hadn't come back than I would have gone home with my wife tonight and been able to protect my family, or at least die with them."

Tears roll down his cheeks. I know it is a long shot, but I had heard of a witch once who could bring people back from the dead. I heard that she traveled a lot, so it was a long shot that I would be able to find her, but I had to try. I had to try and not just because I feel guilty, but because I care about Damon whether he loves me or not.

"I know someone who might be able to bring them back," I scream back.

"That is impossible and you know that. Stop tormenting me with ways of unattainable hope. Do me a favor and just leave and never come back."

His words sting. My eyes start to water, but I will them to stop.

"Then why did you call me?"

This question stumps him. I know I regret it once it comes out my mouth, but I feel it is the only thing to get him to listen to me. In a calm and reassuring voice I continue, "Please. Give me the chance to try."

Xxxxxxx

I start calling everybody who might know where this witch is. After about two hours of phone calls and searching the web, I get a lead. Damon is passed out on the floor. He still mourns and grieves through liquor like he did 127 years ago and I don't blame him; it is the only thing that can bring you anywhere near forgetting your pain. I board a plane to Wisconsin, where Imari is said to be seen last.

It is noon by the time I walk into the bar where my friend Drake had a beer with the witch about a week ago. Imari may move around a lot, but she has a lot of friends in all kinds of places.

"Hey, what can I get for you?" the bartender asks me as I come up to the bar.

"No thanks, but do you have a minute to talk."

"Sweetheart, I have all day."

"Do you know where a woman named Imari Brendson might be?"

He laughs when he hears her name.

"That girl is the sassiest thing I've ever laid my eyes….and hands on."

"Where is she?"

"Probably half way to Memphis. She said she had to visit her parents down there before she heads back to California."

I lay my head down on the counter and take a minute to breathe. It sounds like I was going back to Tennessee.

Xxxxxxxx

When I get back to Nashville, I burst into Damon's house to see him closing the lid to the third coffin.

"Damon, I know where she is. She lives in Memphis," I exclaim.

"Where in Memphis?" he scoffs.

"I don't know, but she is visiting family, so I will just look up the Brendson family in the Phone book."

"It has been almost 15 hours since they've been gone. You're just giving me false hope."

"Please, Damon. I'll admit that our odds are slim, but if there is any chance that this could work, I think you should take it."

He looks at the ground with a long face and sad eyes.

"Ok," he says faintly with the voice of a truly broken man.

I drive the semi-truck that we rented to bring the coffins down to Memphis with us. Odds are that if she is even able to bring them back to life, she will need the bodies. Neither of us talk the entire drive. Occasionally I hear quiet sobs coming from the passenger seat, but his face is constantly towards the window.

I shouldn't have come. I should have left him alone for the rest of eternity. What the hell was I thinking coming to find Damon in the first place? I should have known he would have moved on. Now, this disaster is my entire fault. For the first time that day, I find myself wondering who could have possibly harmed his innocent family. I notice that Damon is sleeping, but wakes up when we enter the city at 7:30 pm.

I leave him in the car when I go inside the library. After I get a phone book, I decide to make the phone call inside. There are 4 families with the name of Brendson. Just my luck, the fourth family indeed has a daughter named Imari.

Xxxxxxxx

We get to the Brendsen house just before 9 o'clock. We ring the doorbell and are relieved when the woman I've been searching for answers the door.

"What can I do for y'all?" she asks.

"We need your help," I say calmly while Damon stands there without saying a word.

"Let me guess, you want me to bring somebody back from the dead," she sasses.

"How…how did you know?"

"Girl, please. I've been around a while. Don't waste your breath, because it ain't happenin."

"Please, we have money."

"So do I. I already told ya. It's not gonna happen. Bringing people back from the dead just upsets the balance of nature."

"We will give you anything you want. If we don't have what you want, then we will go find it."

Damon finally starts crying again until a little old woman comes to the front door.

"Damon," she mutters, "Damon Salvatore? Is that you?"

He nods with curious eyes.

"Imari, you better help these people because that man saved my life once."

She leads us to the very back of the house to a room that has at least two dozen dream catchers and wind chimes hanging from the ceiling. There are beautifully ornate rugs covering the floor. She motions us to sit on two pillows around a knee high table in the center of the room. Her room was a cross between a gypsy's room and a hippie van.

"I don't know why only three witches in the entire world can do this spell. I've only done it twice and each time there were consequences and specific conditions needed in order to perform the spell."

We sit there for over a minute before she continues. "You need three people to tie their lives to the three beings you want to bring back, meaning if one of you dies, so does the other."

"I'll do it," Damon whispers and after a few seconds I volunteer as well.

"We will need one more if you want to bring back all three," Imari glances at Damon and I.

"I need some air," Damon says and hurries out of the room.

"Is there anybody that you could call?" Imari suggests.

I sigh and think of one person. I pull my phone from my pocket and find his name in my contacts. My thumb hovers over the call button until I press it and when Damon returns, I have our third person. Stefan was coming to Memphis.

You see, I told you I had a plan! Lol. If you have any opinions, comments, or if you just want to say hello, feel free to comment.