We swear, The Vampire Diaries Season 4 will return at some point. January 17th, to be exact.

But with that date still nearly two weeks away, TV Fanatic wants to know: What are the main questions you hope will be answered in these early episodes? Among our more pressing inquiries...

What impact will Bonnie's father have on his daughter? Vampire Diaries spoilers alert: Rick Worthy debuts as the Bennett patriarch this month. Will his presence pull Bonnie away from Professor Shane? Push her toward the man who has truly been acting like a father figure of late?

How will Tyler react to his mother's death? A totally wild guess: with a lot of anger directed at Klaus. A related question: How will this development affect Caroline's flirtatious relationship with that Original? Safe to assume their fun and their games are over now, right?

Will Matt and Rebekah hit it? She's awake again. She's very attractive. She has feelings for the loyal bartender. What are missing here? Come on, Grill Employee of the Year!

Will Klaus say 'love' or 'mate' more times in 2013? Drinking game players around the nation are edges of their seats - and rims of their shot glasses - in anticipation!

Can Jeremy complete the map without harming someone close to him? My favorite storyline of Season 4 so far. We know Damon will be mentoring Jeremy upon the show's return, but we don't know how far Jeremy will need to go in order to finish his mark.

Will the cure be found? Or, perhaps a better one: Will it be used?

Will the sire bond storyline come to an end soon? Please? Pretty please?!?

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.