It had been three months since Stefan was gone and the summer was nearing its end. Eira was miserable without Stefan so she tried to find Stefan all summer with Damon searching out the leads she gave him. Damon had gotten considerably closer with Elena over the summer and he was letting her have her birthday party at the Salvatore boarding house.

Eira was already wide awake as the morning sun shined through her window. She had trouble sleeping now that Stefan was gone. She didn't feel completely whole, she felt like she was missing a piece of herself.

Eira got up as the morning sun shined and she showered and got dressed. She went downstairs and her phone rang. It was Caroline and she answered it.

"Hey, Care," Eira answered.

"Hey, so my mom wants you to call her," Caroline explained.

"She found a lead?" Eira questioned, her day becoming brighter.

"An animal attack in Memphis. It's the third one this week in Tennessee," Caroline said.

"And it's a vampire?" Eira questioned as Damon walked into the kitchen and gave her a look.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that it's Klaus," Caroline answered.

"Well, I'll take any lead I can get," Eira said. "Tell your mom thanks."

"Will do. I'll see you in a little bit to set up Elena's party," Caroline said and you could hear the excitement through the phone. "Oh, and wear something pretty."

Caroline hung up and and Eira smiled. She looked at Damon,"Liz has a lead."

"Eira, don't get your hopes up, okay?" Damon said, worriedly.

"I'll try not to," she lied, her hopes were already up.

Eira called Liz after eating breakfast and she got another location to check for Stefan. She gave it to Damon and he said he would look into it.

"I want to go with you," Eira said to Damon.

"No, no, no," Damon shook his finger at her. "Stefan's gone which means I have to look after you. So, you're not going anywhere in Klaus' vicinity."

"Fine," Eira huffed.

______________

Damon left to go check out the lead on Stefan. Elena, Caroline, and Tyler came over to set up Elena's party. Eira had invited Caroline inside the house before the summer started.

"Happy Birthday Elena," Eira smiled as Elena walked through the door.

"Thanks," she smiled. "Sorry, I'm late. Jenna was smothering me today in the spirit of being 18."

"So how is Jenna? I mean she knows now," Caroline said.

Elena came over and started sorting the birthday arrangements with Caroline, Eira and Tyler. "She seems happy, honestly. Especially with Ric."

Caroline and Eira smiled, happy something was working out for someone. Elena looked at Eira and asked,"So how is the search for Stefan going?"

"Damon went to go search a lead today," Eira answered. "But he never seems as interested in finding him as I am and he always wants me to stay out of it."

"Yeah, Ric went with him," Elena said. "You know he just wants to protect you."

Tyler inputted,"Or maybe he just doesn't want Stefan to come back so he can have all of Elena's attention. You did kiss him before but that was awhile ago. I mean he's into you, isn't he?"

Caroline turned to Tyler,"Tyler!"

Elena looked at Caroline and shook her head but smiled. Caroline looked at Elena and said,"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Elena said and then her phone beeped. "I did kiss Damon but it was forever ago, it doesn't affect anything now."

Elena's phone beeped and she said,"I missed a call from Bonnie. I'll be right back."

Eira went to another part of the house to set up decorations for Elena's party as Caroline and Tyler seemed to be having some couple moment that she didn't really understand.

___________

The party was in full swing and Eira wore a dress as Caroline demanded her to look pretty. Eira stayed outside and away from the partygoers, she didn't like the dances they did in this modern era. It wasn't for her.

Elena was enjoying her party, they had the cut the cake and now she was looking for Damon. She wanted to see him, she had been around him all summer.

She entered Damon's room and the lights were off. Elena thought that was weird considering a party was going on. She turned the lights on and she came face to face with Stefan.

Elena gasped and clutched her heart,"Stefan!"

"Hello, Elena," Stefan said and then veins under his eyes appeared, the white of his eyes turned red, revealing his vampire face.

Elena's eyes widened and Stefan ripped the necklace she wore from her neck. He compelled her,"You won't scream."

"I won't scream," Elena repeated in monotone. Stefan then lunged at her, sinking his fangs into her neck, drinking her blood.

_____________

Damon walked into his room and saw a trail of blood. He followed it with his eyes and he saw Stefan holding Elena, with a bite mark on her neck.

"Hello brother," Stefan said.

"What are you doing?" Damon questioned in worry for Elena.

"Need you to stop following me. Causing some problems," Stefan answered.

"Well, our sister isn't going to let me do that," Damon said.

"You know, maybe I haven't made my point," Stefan said and then bit into his wrist and he fed Elena his blood.

"If you don't stop following me, Elena will be a vampire," Stefan said.

"You wouldn't," Damon said in certainty.

"Are you sure about that?" Stefan said and then he grabbed Elena by her head and was about to snap her neck.

Damon vamp sped to Stefan and threw him away from Elena. Stefan stood back up immediately and said,"I said stop following me!"

Stefan vamp sped away and Damon looked at Elena. The wound on her neck was healing due to Stefan's blood. She was crying.

"Hey, hey," Damon held her face between his hands. "It's gonna be okay."

"He's a monster. He was gonna kill me," Elena cried. Damon just pulled Elena to him and held her as she cried into his shoulder.

___________

Eira went upstairs when the party was over and was looking for Damon to ask him how his search for Stefan went. She entered his room and she saw him cleaning up blood that was on the floor.

"What happened?" Eira questioned.

Damon sighed,"We need to have a little talk. You need to stop searching for Stefan."

"What? Why? Was he here?" Eira questioned looking around the room, hoping that he'd magically show up.

Eira's eyes found a closet that was half open and she walked to it. She opened the door all the way and she found a map of Klaus' victims.

"You've been tracking Klaus' victims without me. Why haven't you told me?" Eira questioned.

"Because they're not Klaus' victims, Eira, they're Stefan's!" Damon said.

"What?" Eira said in shock.

"He's left a trail of body parts up and down the eastern seaboard," Damon explained.

Eira shook her head,"I don't care."

"He's flipped the switch. He doesn't care. Full-blown ripper. He's never coming back," Damon said.

"Stop it, Damon," Eira said with tears coming to her eyes.

"No, you stop, Eira! Stop looking for him. Stop waiting for him to come home. Just stop! Stefan is gone and he's not coming back. Not in your lifetime," Damon yelled and he looked slightly remorseful after he said it.

A tear fell down Eira's cheek and she wiped it away, "I won't give up on Stefan. I won't."

Eira walked out of his room and went to her room. She closed the door and she got undressed and into her sleep wear. Tears were in her eyes but she didn't let them fall, she wouldn't. She would get Stefan back, she was sure of it.

Eira was about to go to bed when her phone rang. She picked up her phone and answered it,"Hello. Hello?

No one answered, whoever it was stayed silent and hope built up in her chest that it was Stefan.

"Stefan? Stefan, if this you, you'll be alright. I love you, Stef. I'm not gonna give up on you, not ever," Eira stated and Stefan just nodded tearfully on the other end of phone.

Author's Note: I'm sorry this update took so long guys, I was busy with homework and I was also watching season 3 episodes and working out how I wanted everything to go. But, it's all good now. It's the weekend so updates should come a lot.

I know some of you wanted her to go with Klaus over the summer. Trust me, I did too but it just wouldn't have worked out.