This is a little sugarplum of a story brought on by the holiday season. It’s a fantasy, really, since I’m not sure you could work it into the two weeks Elena spent relearning to walk, talk, and identify the Senate Majority Whip on a television. It may exist only in Neverland, but I wanted to give a Christmas present.

To save the two vampire brothers who love her, Elena Gilbert sacrificed her life. Now that a supernatural force has brought Elena back from the dead, all handsome, brooding Stefan wants is to keep her safe. But when he is lured away from Fell's Church, sleek, powerful Damon seizes his chance to win Elena over, unaware of the danger they're both in. A malevolent being has infiltrated the town and is growing stronger. Able to possess Damon at will, the creature is also drawn to Elena and the new power she has acquired. But it's after more than Elena's power: It thirsts for her death. Elena's story continues in shadow souls!

On the run... Elena Gilbert's love, the vampire Stefan Salvatore, has been captured and imprisoned by demonic spirits who are wreaking havoc in Fell's Church. While her friends Bonnie and Meredith explore the evil that has taken over their town, Elena goes in search of Stefan. In order to find him, she entrusts her life to Stefan's brother, Damon Salvatore, the handsome but deadly vampire who wants Elena, body and soul. Along with her childhood friend Matt, they set out for the slums of the Dark Dimension, where Stefan is being held captive. It is rumored to be a world where vampires and demons roam free, but humans must live enslaved to their supernatural masters... Elena will stop at nothing to free Stefan. Yet with each passing day the tension between Elena and Damon grows, and she is faced with a terrible decision: Which brother does she really want? Back in Fell's Church, Bonnie and Meredith have made some dire discoveries. They hastily try to follow Elena and warn her—only to be caught up in Elena's most dangerous adventure yet.

Cut from The Vampire Diaries: Shadow Souls for space. Elena and Damon have had an argument while driving to the Gateway to the Dark Dimension.Damon has stopped the car at a crossroads, and now Elena is pacing angrily. Tumbleweeds are all around them—piled up in suspicious mounds. Elena is furious at Damon, who has scarcely spoken to her all day. She can’t understand why he won’t even look at her.

Not for the faint of stomach. This is a scene which my editor and I agreed to leave out of The Vampire Diaries Book 6,Shadow Souls. It’s definitely gruesome, but I would hate for these leftovers to go to waste. Read on at your own peril . . . and if you’re munching something, stop!

The devil you know . . . With the help of charming and devious Damon, Elena rescued her vampire love, Stefan, from the depths of the Dark Dimension. But neither brother returned unscathed. Stefan is weak from his long imprisonment and needs more blood than Elena alone can give him, while a strange magic has turned Damon into a human. Savage and desperate, Damon will do anything to become a vampire again, even travel back to hell. But what will happen when he accidentally takes Bonnie with him? Stefan and Elena hurry to rescue their innocent friend from the Dark Dimension, leaving Matt and Meredith to save their hometown from the dangerous spirits that have taken hold of Fell's Church. One by one, children are succumbing to demonic designs. But Matt and Meredith soon discover that the source of the evil is darker and closer than they ever could have imagined...