Fans of "The Vampire Diaries" can expect more shocking twists, surprising revelations and a highly anticipated crossover with "The Originals" during the second half of season 7.

The midseason finale ended last month after Julian stabbed Damon with the Phoenix stone sword. In turn, Damon's soul was sucked into a prison world that forces him to re-live every bad thing that he has ever done. Later on, Nora (Scarlett Byrne) stabbed his brother Stefan (Paul Wesley) with the Phoenix stone, leaving both of the Salvatore brothers trapped in their own hell-like universes.

A new sneak peek from the upcoming episode, which is titled "Hell Is Other People," reveals that Damon will be in utter shock after he is resurrected from the dead and realizes that he has been dead for three months. In the clip, which was published by Zap2It, Bonnie (Kat Graham) uses a spell to revive Damon and then tells him that he has been unconscious for the past few months while he was trapped in the Phoenix stone.

Meanwhile, the synopsis for the midseason premiere suggests that Damon will confront a traumatic experience from his past while trapped in the Phoenix stone.

"After finding himself on the wrong end of Julian's (guest star Todd Lasance) plan to avenge Lily's (guest star Annie Wersching) death, Damon (Ian Somerhalder) awakens to find himself trapped inside the Phoenix stone, tormented by a traumatic experience from his time in the Civil War and forced to face his darkest demon in order to get out. On the outside, Bonnie (Kat Graham) is in a race against the clock to get Damon out before the effects of the Phoenix stone take over and leave him changed forever," it reads, according to Carter Matt.

During a recent interview, executive producer Julie Plec also dropped spoilers about the show's upcoming crossover with its spinoff series "The Originals."

The crossover event will begin during Episode 14 of "The Vampire Diaries" when Stefan (Paul Wesley) decides to take a trip to New Orleans in order to find a refuge from magic. That's where he'll run into his old friend Klaus Mikaelson (Joseph Morgan).

"The crossover was born out Stefan needing a place to escape," executive producer Julie Plec tells TVLine. "He's on the run. He needs to go somewhere where magic can't find him, and we realized he can go to New Orleans where there's that bar where magic doesn't work," she explained.

However, Stefan will then decide to stay in the French Quarter a bit longer in order to help Klaus clear up a situation that has a direct impact on him.

"The sire line and the war [between] all the trinity, and the prophecy saying that one of these Originals will die or all of them will fall. The fear of that impacts Stefan directly, and so he sticks around for an Originals episode to participate in the latest dilemma to come out of that situation," explained the showrunner.

Plec went on to say that Stefan and Klaus will also discuss the topic of love and relationships, which may be ironic since Stefan is now dating Klaus' ex-girlfriend Caroline.

"Stefan's now with Caroline, and Klaus, of course, has just gone through everything he's gone through with Cami," Plec said. "They actually have a surprisingly civil and honest conversation about love - what it means and the sacrifices that you have to make in the name of it."

During another interview with TVLine, Plec hinted that there may be a chance that Nina Dobrev will return to the vampire drama before the series comes to an end. Dobrev starred on the first six seasons of the show as Elena before her character was induced into a comatose like state. However, Plec revealed that there is new avenues in Elena's life that she would like to explore before the series finale.

There "is still a chapter of [Elena's] story left to be told," said the showrunner, adding, "[I'll] take [Dobrev] for whatever she's willing to do to tell that story."

"The Vampire Diaries" returns with "Hell Is Other People" on Friday, Jan. 29, at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

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