Although he feels that it is wrong to drink Elena's blood when she is unable to give reasoned consent, Elena makes gestures to insist that he drink, and Stefan does. Because of Elena's seeming impairments, Stefan Salvatore is protecting her from her best friends: Meredith Sulez, Bonnie McCullough, Matt Honeycutt and Caroline Forbes.

Her understanding is impaired but not completely absent. One week after Elena Gilbert has come back from the dead, she is in a childlike state, unable to read and almost completely unable to speak. The story continues in the next book, The Return: Shadow Souls. When Stefan is lured away from Fell's Church, Damon seizes his chance to convince her that he is the brother she is meant to be with…īut a darkness is infiltrating the town, and Damon, always the hunter, is now the hunted he becomes the prey of a malevolent creature that can possess him at will, and who desires not just Elena's blood but her death. Damon, however, is driven by an insatiable desire for power, and wants Elena to rule as his princess. Stefan wants to find a way to keep Elena safe so that they can make a life together.

What's more, her blood pulses with an overwhelming and unique force that makes her irresistible to any vampire. She has powers and gifts that were bestowed on her in the afterlife. Until a powerful supernatural force pulled her back. When Elena sacrificed herself to save the two vampire brothers who love her - the handsome, brooding Stefan and the sleek and dangerous Damon - she was consigned to a fate beyond death.

The return nightfall