Chapter 1: Pilot

Crunch! The taste of popcorn filled my mouth as I watched the Season Six Finale of the Vampire Diaries. "So this is how they can have Niña Dobrev leave the show." I mattered to myself. Oh Kai, why do you have to be such a Dick? I thought. Although, technically it was the people writing the show, and not my favorite Siphoner, who had killed Alaric Salzmann's wife and children, and cast that nasty little curse. I sighed. There would be so many things I could change in this show. I wished that I could just transport myself into the world of the Vampire Diaries and the Originals, and be a person of significant importance. As the credits rolled down the screen, my eyes started to droop, and slowly, I drifted off into a deep, deep sleep.

My eyes fluttered open. All around, crickets chirped loudly. But there were no crickets in my basement. My beanbag was also not this uncomfortable. I sat up. I had been lying on a road in the middle of the woods, in the dead of night. How the hell had I gotten here?! I got to my feet, and headed to the side of the road. I started walking. I would hit a town eventually. Or so I hoped.

After several minutes of walking, I heard the sound of a car driving up behind me. I turned, and ran into the road, jumping up and down, and frantically waving my arms. The car slowed to a stop. The window rolled down, revealing a friendly looking couple that looked vaguely familiar. "You lost sweetheart?" said a blonde woman.

I nodded. "Hop in the back, we'll give you a ride to the nearest police station." The man said good naturedly.

I opened the door and stepped inside. "Thanks a lot. My name's Cutler, by the way."

"No problem. I'm Darren, and this is Brooke." Said the man, indicating his companion.

"Nice to meet you." Said Brooke. "Where're are you from?"

"New Jersey."

"How did you get all the way down here then?"

"Where is here?"

This time it was Darren who answered. "We're in Virginia, buddy."

"Virginia!" I exclaimed. I looked out the window. I supposed with the humidity that it could be Virginia, but the thickening fog was making it kind of difficult to gauge the surroundings, so it was hard to be sure. And if this was Virginia… my thoughts were interrupted by the shouts of the couple in the front seat. A figure stood in the road, directly in front of us. There was Thud! and the man spun over the car, and landed on the pavement behind us. I had watched someone get hit by a car, but being in the vehicle made it a thousand times worse. The car screeched to a halt. I turned back to look at the man who had been hit. He was wearing dark jeans, a black leather jacket, and on his hand, a large lapis lazuli ring. His head was covered in glossy black hair, and his closed eyelids covered what I knew to be two shiny green orbs. I knew who it was, and now I understood why I had thought I recognized the couple. Somehow, impossibly, I was in the first episode of The Vampire Diaries, and the man lying on the ground… was Damon Salvatore. I watched in horror, knowing what would happen, as Darren bent down to see if Damon was still alive. Hands flashed up, hands that I knew had enough strength to punch through someone's chest. Teeth that could tear through flesh like paper sank into the throat of the man that had wanted to help him. What hadn't fazed me at all on a TV screen terrified me more than anything in existence as I watched it up close and in person. I sank below the seat, trying to hide myself as much as I could. I heard the car door open and slam shut, and waited for- Crash! Darren's bloodless corpse dropped onto the hood of the car. A scream. The sound of running. Another scream. Then silence. Nothing but the sound of my heartbeat, thudding loud against my chest. My heartbeat! If I could hear my heartbeat… the handle on the door clicked. Well, if I was going to die, I supposed it would be with an insult upon my lips. "Katherine doesn't love you Da-" I never finished my sentence. The door flew off the car, then I felt something grab my shirt, and wind on my face, and white hot pain in my neck as two elongated canines sank into my throat. I struggled, pounding on the vampire's back with all my strength, but it was useless. I was no match for him. I felt my life force draining out of me, my strength fading with each passing second, and my strikes became weaker… and weaker… Darkness wrapped itself around me, and all I saw…. was black.

"The sun's gonna be up in a couple hours, and without your ring… poof! Just kidding. Here you go. Oh and by the way, I want this kid hale and healthy when I get back. I got some questions for him. If he's not… then I kill some more people." Whoosh!

Heat on my face. Fire. Something considerably more comfortable than a road underneath me. I cracked open one eye. I was in… the Salvatore Boarding House… I sat up, and winced in pain as my wound throbbed. I wished I were supernatural. Even me being an untriggered werewolf would have at least made the pain a lot smaller.

"You're awake." Said a familiar voice.

"Stefan?" I rasped. It was him alright, the same brown hair, a shade darker than my own, lighter than his brother's, and the green eyes, so like Damon's.

"You know me?" said the surprised Ripper.

"Stefan Salvatore, son of Giuseppe and Lillian Salvatore, younger brother of Damon, born, November 1st, 1846, turned by Katherine Pierce, on September 25th, 1864, killed by his father, shot in the chest with a musket. Inadvertently killed his father, and forced his brother to complete his transition into a vampire."

He stared at me, dumbstruck. "How do you know all that? How could you possibly know?"

Cheerily, I said. "See, I was told by a magical duck-"

He was suddenly right in front of me, face inches from mine. "How do you know that?" he asked in a low voice. His pupils were shrinking and growing, again and again.

I glared at him. "You trying to compel me? Then maybe you should go drink some human blood first, so you actually have the strength to do it." I raised my hand, and in a sarcastic voice, I said "Oh wait. You can't. Cuz' you're a Ripper, and you're too damn nice to kill somebody just so you can use compulsion properly."

The younger Salvatore's jaw dropped. "No wonder Damon wants you here. You know way too much."

Me being here. Yeah. That was pretty awesome. Stefan here was cool to. But wasn't he- "Crap!" I yelled. "Did you go to the party? Was Vicki Donovan attacked?"

"Yeeeess." He said slowly.

I closed my eyes and sighed. "Thank god. I haven't completely screwed up the timeline."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. I just have to leave before-"

"Before what?" said my favorite character. "Aww. Were you planning to sneak off before I got back?" he made a tsk tsk sound.

Uncontrollable anger gripped me, though I should have been terrified. I closed the distance between Damon and I in three quick strides, and with all my strength, punched him in in the face. His head turned slightly, and I had the satisfaction of seeing a bruise form on his cheek, right before his healing factor erased it. Damon regarded me coolly. "Let's be more civilized, shall we?" The bastard was trying to compel me! And… it wasn't working. Still, better not let him know that.

I smiled warmly at him. "Okay."

Damon raised his hands, and looked past me at Stefan. "Look at this, baby brother. Eating right makes life so much better." He turned back to me. "How did you know about Katherine?"

"Some guy told me." I said in a bored tone.

"What did he look like?"

I frowned. "I-I can't remember. He said… he said to say 'Katherine doesn't love you' if we ever met. He showed me a picture of you and-" I shook my head. "I'm sorry. I don't remember."

"Hmm. That's too bad. Oh well. I guess you can just stay and annoy Stefan for a little while." And with a rush of air, Damon was gone.

I turned back to Stefan. "He actually bought that! Thank you acting class!"

Stefan held up a hand. "Wait, so you're saying he couldn't compel you?"

I grinned. "I was a little surprised myself. But that's gonna come in real useful later on."

"So all this stuff you know, who really told you?"

"I can't say. But what I can tell you is certain things about the future."

"Such as?"

"Lexi's coming on your birthday." And Damon kills her. I wanted to say.

"Really?"

"Really. How about we make a bet? If Lexi does come on your birthday, you give me a hundred bucks."

"And what do I get if she doesn't?"

"I'll tell why Damon came back into town."

"Okay. One more thing."

"Yes?"

"You didn't tell me your name yet."

"Cutler. Cutler Walton. Now get to bed, Stefan. You have school in a couple hours. Don't want to be late."