It’s time to return to Mystic Falls at last: The Vampire Diaries‘ third season premieres tonight on the CW!

Are you as excited as we are?! What’ll happen with Stefan and Klaus? How about Elena and Damon? Tyler and Caroline? Jeremy and his ghosts? Bonnie, Alaric, Matt… all the cliffhangers of season 2 have been plaguing our minds all summer, and finally we’re gonna get some answers!

The first episode of season 3, ‘The Birthday,’ airs tonight on the CW at 8/7c. The official description reads:

IT’S MY PARTY — On the morning of Elena’s (Nina Dobrev) 18th birthday, Caroline (Candice Accola) is busy planning a party, but Elena is focused on searching for any clues that might help her discover where Stefan (Paul Wesley) is. Damon (Ian Somerhalder) is also searching for Stefan, while trying to protect Elena and keep her from doing anything that would draw Klaus’ (Joseph Morgan) attention. Meanwhile, Klaus and Stefan are busy trailing a werewolf named Ray Sutton (guest star David Gallagher, “Super 8”). Now working at the Mystic Grill along with Matt (Zach Roerig), Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) is struggling to understand why he keeps seeing the ghosts of Vicki (guest star Kayla Ewell) and Anna (guest star Malese Jow) since he was brought back to life by Bonnie’s (Kat Graham) magic. Meanwhile, Alaric (Matt Davis) does his best to watch over Elena and Jeremy, while dealing with his grief over Jenna’s death. Finally, Caroline and Tyler (Michael Trevino) face a new and unexpected challenge.

Whoa! How will they fit all this into some 40-odd minutes?

Check out the trailer, and get PSYCHED!

Will you be watching? And will you stay on the CW to check out the new series The Secret Circle that follows?