She blinked. It was gone.

The cemetery was her shortcut. She didn’t avoid it anymore. The headstones were just… furniture now. She ran her fingers over her parents’ names, then her own—the empty space beside them that felt like a promise. A cold wind kicked up, rustling the dead leaves. For a second, she thought she saw a flicker of movement between the old mausoleums. A shadow that was too solid, too fast.

Stefan turned back to Elena, but she was already walking away, oblivious to the predator in the parking lot, oblivious to the one standing right beside her. She thought the first day of junior year was the hard part.

Today, she carefully pinned back a strand of hair. Act normal, she told herself. Survive the first day.

The morning air of Mystic Falls was thick with the scent of damp earth and dying hydrangeas. Elena Gilbert stood at her vanity mirror, her reflection a pale ghost she barely recognized. A year ago, she would have been racing downstairs, arguing with her brother Jeremy over the last Pop-Tart, her parents’ laughter echoing from the kitchen.

At school, the hallway was a blur of chatter and slammed lockers. Caroline Forbes was already orchestrating her social army, while Bonnie Bennett gave Elena a tight, worried hug. “You okay?” Bonnie whispered.