Dear diary,

I can't think of a moment when I felt such excitement. Some things aren't meant to be described, there are simply no words for me to fully express myself. At that moment, life was just a huge avalanche of feelings taking over my whole body.

At that moment, Elena couldn't possibly think about going to sleep. There was just too much excitement overflowing from her. As she looked around she couldn't stop herself from constantly certifying that it was all there, nothing was out of place. She was overjoyed by what all this could mean.

As Elena turned away from the bathroom she felt so comfortable. She didn't need to be too careful anymore. She rushed out of the room and down the stairs, going straight to her car in order to get her bag. She grabbed it and went back to Damon's room. It was time to get comfy. She took out her purple PJ's and put them on. It was a fact that she hadn't brought much stuff, but what she brought was carefully selected. She decided to open a drawer to store her things. It was empty. No black shirts in sight. Elena wasn't going to let this upset her. She was in the Salvatore's Boarding House. She was inside Damon's room. Everything was exactly as it was in her dream. Could she really complain?

As she was taking the rest of her things from the bag to put in the drawer, she passed by the full sized mirror. Elena stopped and looked at her reflexion. There was something that caught her attention. At first, she couldn't tell what was so peculiar about her image, but after a few seconds she got it. "Cute PJ's" she heard in her head. Looking at that mirror, Elena tilted her head slightly and smiled gently. She knew she was headed in the right direction. She was getting closer and closer to finding the truth. However, she still missed his voice, his smirk, his hands gently caressing her face, the warmth of his body, the protectiveness of his embraces.

When there was nothing else Elena could do, she decided to go downstairs and grab a blanket. She still felt the smell of burnt wood. Even though the house had been empty for hours, it wasn't cold at all. She was feeling more and more confident that he was somewhere near. Elena lit up the fireplace and sat on the couch. She listened to the crackling noises of the fire and she stared at it in deep thought. She couldn't sleep but her head was overwhelmed with thoughts. Slowly she was getting tired, she couldn't fight the exhaustion anymore and the adrenaline was fading. Elena closed her eyes and dreamt of happiness.

Elena woke up to the huge room filled with sunshine. She got up and looked around making sure she was in the right place. Everything was the same as the night before. No signs of ghosts, or crows, or any other presences. She decided to do her chores.

At lunch time, Jenna came by as promised.

"How was your night? Did you sleep well?" Jenna said as she entered the house and looked around.

"It was alright."

"Wow, this place is really tacky." Jenna noted when entering the foyer.

"Nah, it's just full of history." Elena replied.

"Isn't it…I don't know…scary? Being here, alone. Shouldn't someone be here with you?"

"It's fine Jenna," Elena was constantly finding it endearing that her aunt was there to worry about her. At moments like this, she couldn't help but feel extremely happy that she still had family to actually worry and take care of her. "I actually feel safe and really comfortable here."

As they started eating, Jenna couldn't help the uneasiness inside of her.

"This place gives me the creeps. I don't know how you were able to spend the night here."

"You know that ghosts don't exist, don't you?" said Elena mockingly.

"Well, you never know…"

This answer caught Elena off guard. The coyness on her aunt's tone made her experiences feel way too real. She remembered the time when she found out that supernatural beings existed, that her best friend was a witch, that vampires were roaming the town and ghosts were at some point able to cross worlds. She was trying to find out more about her dream, but she certainly wasn't expecting her aunt's words to hit so close to home.

Nevertheless, she decided to take this opportunity to check how plausible would be her alternative reality.

"What if they existed?" Elena asked.

"Ghosts?" said Jenna snickering, "Well," she started after composing herself "it could be kind of…cool".

Elena looked at her puzzled, waiting for her to elaborate.

"I mean, if you had some say in which ghosts you could have contact with, it could be really cool to see your parents again."

This was definitely a surprising answer. Elena had been so used to the idea that only supernatural beings would turn into ghosts that seeing her parents again wasn't something she'd fathom. At the same time, she knew these things would always come with a price and an overwhelming amount of complications.

"You're right. That would be cool." she said nodding without much enthusiasm.

Jenna felt that it might have been too soon to mention her parents in such a light tone. She kept forgetting that for Elena everything felt as if it had happened the day before.

"I'm sorry. I didn't meant to-"

"I'm fine aunt Jenna. I was just thinking that, if that were to really happen, if you could see ghosts and choose which ones to see, how would that affect people? I mean, vindictive people would go after revenge; others wouldn't be able to let go, spiralling, maybe, into a state of dependency; others, even though they might keep a healthy balance between the two words, could stop valuing the time they had with the people that were actually alive. What would that actually do to us?"

Jenna was startled by the seriousness in her niece's face and how much thought actually went into such a silly subject. At the same time, she was proud of the human being Elena was turning into. She never knew what to expect, how could a teenager handle such news as being the sole survivor of her family's accident? The level of maturity she was showing was incredible.

"Well, thank God there aren't any ghosts otherwise we'd have a dilemma to solve!"

The two of them finished lunch in a much lighter note. Jenna helped clear the table before going back to school and, after washing the dishes, Elena found herself without much to do. While roaming the house, she started to worry that there weren't any pictures on display. This was the first sign that slowly started wrecking her hope. She decided to go to Stefan's room, there would have to be some diary left somewhere. When she opened the door, there was once again some sort of calming effect at the sight of everything being just as she remembered. After a brief pause to absorb all that she was experiencing, she walked in confidently. The bookcases were filled with books, looking old and treasured. As she got closer, her eyes wandered the shelves, looking for Stefan's diaries, the true proof of the brother's existence. She initiated her mission slowly, as if she knew it would all work out soon enough and there was no need to rush anything. She just wanted to enjoy all the butterflies building up in her stomach. However, as she passed through books and books filled with uninteresting old tales, she quickly grew more and more impatient. How could it be that there were so many books and not one single hand-written piece of paper?! The thought of this whole thing being just a cruel trick of her mind was starting to sicken her.

After ravaging the entire room, there was nothing of value to be found. Upset at the outcome of her plan, she decided to go into every single room, open every single drawer, hoping that something would just be very well hidden.

Hours and hours passed and Elena was starting to despair. Her smile was long gone and hope was fading fast. As night set in, she was feeling physically and emotionally exhausted. While sitting in front of the fireplace, feeling beat and desperate, Elena pulled herself up and yelled.

"Damon! Are you there?! If you are there, please come to me. Stefan? Is anybody here? I know that you are real. I just know it. It is completely impossible that I would feel the way that I do about a fantasy. You were the ones that made me feel that I wasn't alone. That my life didn't end. That I still have a life to live, a world to see. If you are somewhere, please don't abandon me now."

Tears were streaming down her face. She couldn't control her emotions anymore. She needed him. The strength that had been stored inside her, that had been helping her carry on, was gone now. She had lost so much, she wasn't ready to accept that they had never even been hers to lose.

Elena curled up on the couch, sobbing and crying herself to sleep.

The night was calm and the house was quiet. Only the moonlight was coming through the windows. Elena was too tired to even dream, however, she was feeling as if something was out of place. This uneasiness woke her up and very slowly she opened her eyes. Without moving her head, she looked straight ahead and spotted a bottle on one of the side tables. She didn't remember it being there. But, at this point, she was feeling so discouraged that she just rolled over on the couch and went back to sleep. She didn't have in her the strength to keep believing in something that was seeming like such a fantasy. In her heart she knew Damon would never leave her. If, after being so close to the Salvatore's, there were no signs to be taken into account, it had to mean that they didn't exist. After all, he had promised her he would never leave her.

Morning finally came. The sun was shining brightly and filling the entire room. Elena woke up feeling much more relaxed. She slowly stretched her whole body and, it wasn't until she roller over to her side, that she saw the "Gone with the wind" book. She instantly pulled herself up and, while sitting on the bed, she looked around. She was in his bed. But she had fallen asleep on the couch in front of the fireplace. Elena was confused. It felt like a prank. After having lost all hope, it was as if someone had been watching her and playing a cruel trick. She looked at her phone to check the time and, that was when she thought that it must have been Jeremy. Jenna was probably worried about her and convinced her brother to come over and check on her. She got out of bed and went downstairs calling for him.

"Jer." she shouted. "Jer, where are you?"

Nobody answered. She picked up her phone and called him waiting to hear his phone ringing somewhere in the house. He picked up.

"Hey sis. What's up?"

"Hey Jer. Where are you?"

"I'm at home."

"Did you come here this morning?"

"To the Boarding House? No, I didn't. Was I supposed to?" he said while pausing his game.

"No, I just thought that maybe you had been here."

"Why?" he asked puzzled, "is someone there? Call the police!"

"No, no no no. It's nothing like that. I woke up with a strange feeling, that's all. I didn't mean to worry you."

"Are you sure? Do you want me to go there?"

"It's fine Jer, thanks. I must have been dreaming or something, I'm checking the house and everything's fine. I'll talk to you later, ok?"

Elena hung up the phone feeling stupid. Her family wasn't very happy with the idea of her being alone in that mansion, and now she had only given them even more reason to worry. Nevertheless, something wasn't right, so she gathered all her courage and started checking the house. Everything seemed just as it was supposed to be: old and untouched. Nothing was out of place until she got to the kitchen. There was a yummy smell in the hair and, when Elena looked at the dining table, there was a plate with pancakes and fresh strawberries. At this moment she started to feel somewhat scared. If this was a prank, it was getting too elaborate. She walked to the table and, next to the plate, there was a card which read: "I knew you wouldn't cook for yourself, so I bought breakfast. - Jenna". Elena laughed and her body relaxed. Next time she hoped her aunt would let her know she'd come over. Anyway, Elena sat down and ate the delicious pancakes. She couldn't even believe they were store bought.

The day went by slowly. Elena was feeling extremely bored. There was nothing else for her to go through. She didn't need to be there the entire day, she just had to keep the plants alive. However, leaving the house felt as if she was abandoning her beliefs. The previous day and night had left her hopeless, but there was still a feeling that she couldn't shake.

When night came, Elena found herself sitting in front the unlit fireplace, wondering what she would do if she saw Damon or Stefan. She had been so focused on the idea of finding them, that she didn't give much thought to what that would actually mean. To her, they meant the world, but it had been her dream. How could they even know she exists? How could they feel the same as her? Even if they existed and she found them, wouldn't it be awkward to face someone that doesn't know you at all? At that point, Elena knew she didn't want to go through that. Having to have to explain herself to someone to whom she was actually a stranger to was a daunting task. She was gradually coming to terms with the fact that she would be better off as she was.

Elena got up to go to the bedroom to sleep. As she turned around her eyes focused on the bottle that was still on the side table. Now she was more awake to actually pick it up and put it away. When she did so, she noticed it was a bourbon bottle, half empty. Her body shivered. She immediately shook her thoughts away, she had made the decision to let everything go. She walked to the kitchen confidently, she left the bourbon bottle on the counter and she poured herself a glass of water. After drinking it, she made her way to the room. When she walked out of the kitchen, light was coming from the living room. She could hear the crackling noise of the fireplace. She walked slowly, it felt as if she was in an alternate reality. Had she fallen asleep on the couch again?! She kept on walking, the distance was so short but the moment seemed to last a lifetime. Everything was happening in slow motion. As Elena turned her body towards the fireplace she couldn't believe it. She saw the silhouette. He was standing there. His body facing the fireplace, his right hand leaning on the wall while on the left one there was a glass filled with… bourbon. Elena's body stiffened. The reality she had found herself unable to face, was actually happening. She just mumbled, "Damon…."

His body straightened up. He let out a sight and, very slowly, he turned to face her.

"You couldn't leave it all alone, could you?"

Dear Elena,

I wish I could come to you, but I can't. Why won't you live your life? Didn't you have enough proof that we are no good to you? I'll keep my promise. I'll never leave you. But you have to stop searching. I don't want you to surround yourself with death. I want you to live!

Well, it's been so long since I wrote a word. I'm so sorry that I've left you hanging this whole time. I really want to finish this story, I hope I haven't lost touch with it. I truly hope you've enjoyed this chapter and, as always, feel free to review and contact me. I love hearing from you all.