Disclaimer: I don't own the vampire diaries

"Elena," the voice called.

Elena couldn't see who it was yet, it was too dark. She squinted into the storm, until Sheila Bennet appeared in front of her.

"Elena, you have to listen to me. This is important."

Elena woke with a gasp, sweating. This wasn't the first time she'd had that dream, but she'd never seen who it was that called for her before. What was grams doing in her dreams?

She rolled onto her side to look at the clock. It was only 7:30, and she couldn't sleep anymore. So she pulledherself out of bed and mechanically went through the motions, brushing her teeth, her hair, dressing, before lying back down for a moment.

Even 3 months later, just thinking of Damon sent her emotions through the roof. Elena was living in his room now. College didn't hold any appeal for her.

She walked to his closet and opened it up. His black button-up shirts sat there, still nicely folded. She picked one up and hugged it to her. She could smell him on it, his comforting scent. Elena missed it so much. The way his arms had curled around her, making her feel safe and protected and loved. She never felt that with anyone else.

Since she had been here, she hadn't moved a thing. It didn't feel right to change anything. It was too soon.

Elena heard the door beside hers open, and went to look out. Alaric had just woken, and looked extremely hungover. Enzo and him went out drinking last night, just like usual.

Enzo had surprisingly stuck around after they all came back. He didn't have anywhere else to go. None of them did anymore, except Caroline. She still lived with her mother. Caroline had given up on college without anyone else with her. Her grief for Bonnie was still too much.

Jeremy was living there too, but he didn't ever leave the house. Only Enzo and Alaric ever did, and they only left to drink. Stefan, Elena, and Jeremy didn't ever do much after what they had all lost, and Caroline usually joined them, and tried to keep them together. After all this, they were losing each other.

Matt had been out of the picture lately. He was working with Tyler, who was trying not to become a werewolf again. He needed to keep the anger in check, so he didn't get into a fight and kill someone by mistake.

Elena didn't want to try anymore. She sat downstairs, sometimes with a glass of bourbon. It had been his favourite. Sometimes she sat with her diary, but she didn't write anything. What was there to write? She stared at the blank page in silence.

How much more could she lose? She lost everything. It seemed that it all just diasppeared.

This morning, she just sat on a couch, staring at the empty fireplace. Alaric didn't speak, just stared at it with her. It hadn't been lit since then.

Elena couldn't stop herself from replaying their last conversations through her mind. His promise, their argument, even her one-sided goodbye. She was ready to burst with tears when a thump broke her from her thoughts.

Alaric had been building a fire. He was trying to move on and get life back to normal.

Elena couldn't breathe, she realized. Maybe it had been like this for a while.

She needed to get out, to run like Katherine had. Not from a threat, but all the walking reminders of HIM. There was too much to handle. Elena needed a break.

She abruptly stood and went back to her room. She lugged a suitcase from under the bed and stuffed whatever clothes she could get her hands on in. As an afterthought, she went to Damon's closet and took out one of his favourite shirts. She folded it and put it in a pocket. She grabbed the keys to Damon's convertible and stuffed them in the pocket of her jeans.

By the time she got downstairs again, Stefan, Jeremy and Enzo had joined Alaric, who had gotten the fire going. Enzo was drinking a blood bag, and Jeremy just stared into the fire, no doubt thinking of Bonnie.

Elena dropped her suitcase and all but Jeremy's eyes turned to her.

"I'm leaving," she said, her voice rough from unuse. "I don't know how long I'll be gone."

Jeremy looked at her once, got up and gave her a hug. "You'll come back?" he asked.

Elna nodded. "I promise I will. You won't lose me. I just... I need some space. Some air."

Aric gave her a hug, and so did Stefan, but neither of them said anything. Enzo looked bored, just like always.

Elena picked up her bag and went out to the car, to head on to a new place where she could learn to move on.

She placed her bag in the trunk. When she closed it, Enzo was siting against the car.

"Have room for one more passenger?" he asked.

With one look, she could tell he needed a break just as much as she did. Elena nodded. "Get in."

They drove on in silence, headed who-knows-where. Enzo would look at her once in a while as if he wanted to say something, but he never did. After a couple hours, Elena was hungry. They stopped off in a small town, and after snatch-eat-erase, they were back on their way.

They were in the middle of nowhere when night came. They kept going, until it was light again. By this point, Elena was on the verge of collapse, she was so tired. Enzo offered to drive, so Elena curled up in the passenger seat and closed her eyes.

It was dark in her dream. She stared into the dark, searching. This was the same dream as before. She waited for Grams to appear.

"Elena, you have to listen to me. This is important."

Elena waited for her to continue.

"Before I found peace, I needed to protect Bonnie. I made a deal with someone very powerful in order to save her."

"What do I have to do?" Elena asked.

"The spell locked her in time, so that, if you figure out the way to unlock her, she would survive the other side's collapse."

Elena could barely breathe. "Bonnie can come back?"

Grams smiled. "Yes, she can come back. However, there's one more thing you should know. Before the spell took effect, Damon was with her. They held hands, because they were afraid of what comes next, of death. The spell would have taken everything attached to her."

Elena didn't dare to hope just yet. "You mean..."

Grams smiled. "I mean Bonnie took him with her. If you find the spell, you can save them both."

Elena felt tears of joy sting her eyes. "What do I do?" She couldn't waste any time now.

"Listen, now, child, there is only one place the spell can be performed. I linked the spell to the cave underneath the waterfall. At the new moon, with a witch chanting, you can bring them back."

Elena nodded. "Where do I find a witch that knows the spell?"

"In New Orleans, there is a witch. She knows what to do for the chant. Her name is Annie."

"But what if..."

"Sorry, child, we're out of time. I only had so much time. Good luck, Elena. You must save them."

Elena felt herself tumble out of the dream. She was breathing heavy.

Enzo looked at her, surprised. The sun was high in the sky, almost evening. He looked tired now.

"Ah, so sleeping beauty finally awakes. Are you going to drive now?"

Elena ignored him. "Do you know how to get to New Orleans?" she asked.

"Yes. Why?"

"I'll tell you on the way," she promised. "We've gotta find a witch there."

"Are you sure? I know a witch not far from here. We could..."

"No," Elena said. "It has to be this witch."

"Why?" Enzo said.

"Well," she started, "I've just had this dream."

Bonnie walked around their prison of white. She had been there for 3 months, and she still hadn't found anyone but Damon. She had expected to see people she had lost, like her dad, but it was surprisingly lonely.

Damon just sat there, staring at her. No matter where she walked, she always ended up in the same place. If she walked away from Damon, she would see someone in the distance, and it would be Damon still, only she'd be approaching from the opposite direction. They were trapped there together.

If this was her eternity, she'd go mad. Bonnie needed people other than Damon to talk to. His speech was too many innuendoes, although he had been subdued lately. Damon was missing Elena and Stefan. Bonnie missed everyone too. Damon would not be her first choice for eternity, but Bonnie would have to live with it, at least until they found a way out of there.