Caroline Forbes had been through a lot in her short life. At the tender age of 17, she had been turned into a vampire, suffocated by a maniac who had her friend's face. Before this, her father had left her and her mother, her mother was too engrossed in her job as sheriff of the town and she had been used as a human blood bag/sex slave by the new boyfriend of her aforementioned friend, who just happened to be said friend's ex-boyfriends older brother.

Yeah. Confusing.

But, finally, she had found happiness. Her relationship with her mother had improved. Although her father had chosen to die rather than complete the transition to become a vampire and he had tortured her using the Sun's rays and blood, but she had found comfort within the arms of her saviour and boyfriend, Tyler Lockwood.

Tyler had surprised her. Never would she have guessed that beneath the douche-y exterior, there was a sensitive, loving, yet misunderstood young man just waiting for the right person to show it to. She was glad that she was that person.

The ringing of her mobile brought her out of her musings. Extracting herself from the warm circle of Tyler's arms, she quickly checked the caller ID and, rolling her eyes as she did so, begrudgingly answered the call.

"What do you want, Damon?"

"Caroline, I…I need your help." Sitting bolt upright in her bed, she frowned. Something was off. Never had she heard Damon sound so desperate, so despondent.

"What's going on? What's wrong?" She heard him take a deep breath before he answered, which only served to increase her anxiety.

"It's Bonnie, Caroline. She's dead. I'm so sor-" She didn't hear the rest of his sentence as she dropped her phone, hearing it shatter as it made contact with the hardwood floor. It was only when Tyler's arms wrapped around her and she heard his worried voice asking her what was wrong that she realised that the anguished screams she heard were coming from her.

There wasn't a lot that shocked Matt Donovan anymore. After finding out that vampires, werewolves, doppelgängers and witches existed and the very people that he cared about the most were included in the supernatural world, he could honestly say that there was little that he wouldn't believe anymore.

Yet, when he answered his phone to find out that Elena Gilbert, his ex-girlfriend and one of his closest friends, had murdered Bonnie Bennett, her own surrogate sister and another of his closest friends, he could honestly say that before the grief could set in, his initial reaction was shock. He had been stunned into silence, damn near confused as he tried to process the words that Tyler was spewing into his ear. He could hear the agonised sobs of Caroline in the background and the sorrow in Tyler's voice was palpable, and yet he was unable to comprehend that the one person who they had all fought so diligently to save and had lost so dearly to keep alive had turned out to be the one to take the life of one of their own.
After a few moments attempting to listen to Tyler explain the situation, he hung up and walked dazedly to his truck. After climbing in and inserting the keys into the ignition, he stared out of the wind shield, a frown marring his face. A few moments later, Tyler's words sunk in. Bonnie was dead. It was then that he began to cry.

She was hot. Too hot. Her eyes flicked open and she realised that she was in the direct glare of the Sun. Sitting up, she saw that she was in a desert. There was nothing around for miles other than sand.

"Bonnie." She whirled around and came face to face with her smiling grandmother.

"Grams?" Tears filled her eyes as she staggered to her feet and ran into her grandmother's open arms. "Grams, I missed you so much. What are you doing here? Where are we?"

"I don't have much time, baby." Bonnie frowned.

"What do you mean? What's going on?"

"Baby, you have to go back. Your time isn't up yet. He needs you just as much as you're going to need him." The ground beneath her feet began to shake.

"Grams, what are you talking about? What's going on? GRAMS!" She fell to the ground as it split open, leaving a gaping abyss between her and her grandmother.

"Hold on, baby! Be strong for me!"

"GRAMS!" A force pushed her and suddenly she was falling, her screams snatched by the wind rushing past her face. She braced herself for impact with the ground, but instead of the searing pain she should have felt, her eyes snapped open as she gasped for breath.

It had begun.