A/N: The description makes this Fic seem a little cheesy but that's really not what I'm going for. It's not all about the love story this time. Enjoy!
13th January 1864
Dear Diary, Jeremy left to join the Confederacy today. Without any warning he just upped and left, claiming that it was his duty to fight. I and my mother tried assiduously to keep him at home for he is only fifteen years of age. But it was to no avail. I deeply wish that he would return home safe and sound for my mother is so worried that I fear she may not be able to take it if he were to be away for too long.
I myself am very worried, however my life must go on if we both are to eat and sleep with a roof above our heads. Working in the gardens of the Salvatore mansion has been tough as there is much shrubbery to attend to but I am in hope that I will soon be promoted to house-maid. This irrevocably means that I shall be working longer hours, however the work is better paid and there are benefits to be earned if I do well. As far as I know there is no woman of the house anymore and the mansion is occupied by Mr Salvatore and his two sons. According to rumours- which aren't very reliable around these parts- Mrs Salvatore died during childbirth many years ago and the family has not been the same since. There has been many times where the eldest Salvatore brother has been seen wandering the lower town and woods after an altercation with his father.
Hopefully, life will be kind and reward us with the safety of my family. But I know all too well that that is not always the case.
Yours Sincerely, Elena Gilbert.
Elena placed her diary underneath her tattered mattress for safe keeping. The pages of the diary were perfectly kept but they were quickly running out. The journal had been a gift from her father on her fourteenth birthday; shortly afterwards he had tragically died in a carriage accident on Wickery Bridge. He had been the cart driver for a rich family on the outsides of town. Elena would try to stay awake so that he could tuck her in to bed; but on one occasion, he never returned.
Walking into the desolate kitchen, Elena sighed, everything seemed so empty. The cupboards were glazed with dust and only her coat hung by the door. She could remember a time when the hook was full and her father's favourite hat sat proudly on top. She could remember a time when all that mattered was family.
She unhooked the coat and slid her arms into the warm fabric before bracing the chill of the autumn air.
"Wait, where did you learn this game?" The two brothers came bursting through the huge front door and scrambled out into the garden. Damon held the oval shaped ball in his hands before throwing into the air towards Stefan.
"One of the officers picked it up at Harvard. Catch!" He said as the ball he had thrown landed firmly in his brother's arms.
"Wait, what are the rules?" Stefan laughed breathlessly, dodging past Damon with the ball clasped between his arm and body.
"Why does there always have to be rules with you? Just throw the ball already!" When his brother failed to throw the ball, Damon dived in his direction, shoving Stefan to the floor as the ball slowly rolled away onto the grass.
A foot stopped it in its tracks and the two glanced up to see their father, towering above them with a smirk planted across his face. "It's nice to see you two boys getting along."
"We always get along. It's just you I argue with, remember?" Damon struggled to his feet and walked inside, never turning back to look at his father. He couldn't bear to. He was still torn up from their argument yesterday and how it had left him with the familiar sting of hand marks at the back of his head. Scars had ran down his pale legs and arms for so long that they had become just painless memories that reminded him how close he was to freedom. How far he'd come from the fragile child that had cried and screamed for his mother at night while the blood trickled onto the pure white sheets. They reminded him of a childhood that he'd never want to go back to- even if it did mean seeing his mother again. Because he had grown to know a world where happiness like that could never last, it would always turn sour in the face of evil. And there was a lot of evil lurking about.
Sometimes he's wonder what it'd be like if his mother was still here; if she had survived Stefan's birth. Would she love his brother more than she loved him? Would she be happy?
In a way, she got away from it all. He knew that he definitely wouldn't be happy if he were to stay in the tyrannical grip of his father for the rest of his life. He figured that Giuseppe wouldn't want him anyway near his respectable business anyway; but an easy escape could never be enough. But that's why his master plan was so ingenious. If you can't beat them, join them.
It was late in the evening and darkness encased the rooms of the mansion. Stefan climbed the grand staircase and confidently strolled towards Katherine's chambers; his smile wavering slightly as he reached the door. He could hear muffled talking behind the door and he hadn't expected Katherine to have company. After all, she had invited him to join her in her room after hours. He concluded that it was probably her handmaiden Emily; thus he proceeded to knock gently on the door. "Katherine."
The shuffling and muttering that followed aroused Stefan's suspicion even more until eventually, Katherine opened the door, looking slightly mithered but still as beautiful as ever. Her olive complexion was dull in the low light and she stood almost naked, apart from her lace undergarments.
"I apologise Stefan, I had forgotten our arrangement. I do hope that you can forgive a lady." She twisted her hair between her fingers as she spoke.
"Of course, how could I ever stay mad at you? And forgive me for I know it's not my business but I heard talking- do you already have company?"
"Well you are right on the account that it is none of your concern but yes, I do in fact have company." Katherine looked behind her and widened the door to reveal Damon, who was sat smugly on the edge of the bed, clad only in his buttoned-down shirt and boxers. "You are welcome to join us."
Damon's face changed, moving from the bed to claim Katherine as his own. He wasn't going to let his brother have her now. He hoped she wasn't serious about the 'joining in' suggestion; but he knew that Stefan would refuse the offer anyway.
He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist but she pushed away and stood closer to Stefan, her face inches away from his. "You will not remember what just happened." Her eyes dilated and retracted as she stared deep into his eyes, "Go back to your chambers and forget everything you just saw. I was tired so you spent the evening reading before retiring for an early night."
She stepped back and retreated into the room to where Damon stood waiting. Closing the door she stepped towards him, "Don't tell me to forget, tell me the truth. Don't-"
"You will not like what the truth has to say"
"And yet a lie will only worsen my wounds."
"I am a vampire. A creature of the night; unless I wear this ring upon my person in the daylight, I would burn. I feed on human blood and I can compel people to do anything I want them to. How is the truth feeling now?" Katherine wasn't stupid, if he didn't take it well, all she had to do was compel him to forget. If he did, then he might just be the best asset a vampire could have.
"It hasn't changed a thing. I still love you just the way I did before. Have you ever," He paused, did he really want to know the answer? "Have you ever compelled me?"
"No, not yet, but that depends on whether I get bored."
"Can you do anything else?" Damon felt a gush of wind ruffle his shirt and before he could blink they were standing outside in the gardens.
"Please, do not underestimate a woman." He chuckled and leaned in to kiss her. She hadn't told Stefan, she had told him. She had trusted him with the biggest secret that anyone could dream of having and he knew now that there was no letting go. Katherine would be his forever.
This had turned out to be more than just a plan to corrupt his father.