Isolation [BOOK THREE]

hell

chapter four
" hell " 

    After the bright, white light took over my everything, I truly thought I'd entered what people called Heaven. Clearly it wasn't the perfect place believers thought it was, but I wouldn't know what else to call the place. I was alone there, but somehow content. I thought that if this was my now forever, I wouldn't mind. It was warm despite the lack of sun. I didn't feel sad, or guilty. I didn't feel anything. It reminded me of the fuzzy feeling drugs gave me. It was great.

   It was great. Until that nothingness itself disappeared, and I found myself back beside Bonnie and Damon where we first held hands. Bonnie dropped our hands after the awkwardness of it all hit. Pain, sadness and guilt hit me more than whatever awkward feelings Bonnie and Damon were feeling- I hid it, though. Letting my confusion take over as I pushed down all the negative feelings flowing through me. "What happened?" I asked, rubbing my hand on my jeans as if it were sweaty.

   "I don't know." Bonnie answered as Damon just looked around. His low hum confirmed that we were definitely still in the same spot as prior to the light. "Where are we?" Bonnie asked without expecting an answer. It was clear where we were; it was just that none of us knew how we were there.

   Everything was quiet, outside of the three of our footsteps as we walked out of the woods. It was too quiet. We weren't that close to downtown, but close enough that we should hear the cars of the living, and the drunks at the bar. Especially Damon and I. "Where are you going?" It was Damon's turn to ask a question. He and I were both behind Bonnie as she took the lead.

   We finally made it downtown. I watched as Damon pushed his fingers behind his lips. I mimicked his actions silently. "Well, I feel a fang. I'm still a vampire." He glanced at me, asking if I felt mine wordlessly. I gave him a nod. "Either we're dead vampires, or Mystic Falls is no longer magic free."

   Bonnie paused in the middle of the road. Damon and I stopping in our tracks as well. "Look." She muttered, not pointing anywhere, so we knew to follow her eyesight. Both shock and confusion ran through us as we stared at the Mystic Grill. I didn't get to see the Grill before I died again, but I recall Damon and Elena blowing it up being part of the plan.

   "I definitely blew that up about an hour ago." Damon confirmed. We all started glancing around town, our feet not moving. It didn't make sense. It was late, but still prime time for the drunkards to be roaming around. Even the homeless man who usually hangs out near the bank is gone.

   My confusion on the lack of people wasn't felt by me alone. "Where are all the people? If we're on the other side, we should at least be able to see the living." Nobody answered Bonnie, neither of us knew what to say. We started walking around more, hoping we see people- we'd be happy with fellow ghosts at this point, but there was nobody.

   "Where the hell are we? And I don't mean geographically." Damon spun around once more, confident that this wasn't the Mystic Falls we were used to.

   "I have no idea," Bonnie sighed. I just stood there. I didn't have answers and didn't want to waste my breath. 

   We decided that standing around wouldn't help anything. I finally spoke up, suggested that we split up and look for things. I think in the back of my head, I knew separating wasn't the smartest idea, but I started to feel uncomfortable around Damon. I didn't know what to say to him. Nothing about my existence on the other side was mentioned, nor was his and Elena's relationship, but I still had a lump in my throat around him.

   As my splitting up idea wasn't smart, it was shot down by both Bonnie and Damon. The three of us stuck together as we wondered Mystic Falls. I expected us to walk for an hour or so, then give up and find somewhere to rest. But it's been far more than a few hours. The sun was rising, and I would've welcomed it happily, as I was feeling chilly throughout the night. However, the second the sun started shining against out backs, I suddenly remembered Stefan took my daylight ring from my dead body.