The trailer for season 7 of "The Vampire Diaries" was released on Thursday, and it gave viewers the first look of Mystic Falls without its heroine Elena Gilbert, the role essayed by Nina Dobrev.

Things have changed drastically since the previous season when the Heretics first came to town. They have transformed Mystic Falls into a war zone, and neither humans nor the supernatural beings appear to be safe in the town anymore.

"We don't mess with them, they don't mess with us," Paul Wesley's Stefan tells Damon (Ian Somerhalder) of the new deal he has struck with Lily Salvatore, their mother.

However, Caroline Forbes is not sure this is such a good idea. "We making a huge mistake handing over our town to a bunch of supernatural terrorists," she asks Stefan, to which he replies: "Yeah, probably."

The first episode of the season is said to be titled "22190 Days" and there would have been an unspecified time-jump between the season 6 finale and the first episode of season 7.

"We're actually picking up all over the place," executive producer Julie Plec told Entertainment Weekly. "We're picking up a little bit in the future, we're picking up a lot in the future, we're doing a little bit of a time shuffle as we launch into the season. One timeline is set very much in the future and the other timeline will catch us up to the events of the final scene of last season."

Season 7 will all be about Damon and Stefan's (Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley) bromance, and their relationship with their mother Lily Salvatore. Viewers will also see how Elena's friends are doing since her departure and Alaric using unconventional methods to cope with the death of his wife and children.

Fans of Bonnie and Damon will also see a few interesting interactions between the characters.

"The Vampire Diaries" returns on Thursday, 8 October at 8 pm on The CW.