Hi everybody! This is my first fanfiction ever, so I really hope this isn't absolute trash. I'll include the full summary since there's such a small limit below. I will say up front that this was completely spur of the moment. Inspiration is weird like that… Anyways this is just the first chapter. I'm really interested in seeing this through, but I need feedback please. Please tell me if you want to see more of it. If you were to even send me a message about it, I would love you forever. If you have any questions, please be sure to ask me. Also, I'm aware that I'm taking a few liberties when it comes to the time period, so if that's too distracting let me know. You can also go to my tumblr ninadobsession to see more of my writings if you love the show as much as I do. Rated M for later chapters.

P.S. The Abington thing will be explained, but only if you guys tell me to finish :)


Synopsis: 1800s, Elena Gilbert is ready to start an incredible life with her fiance Stefan. But as the wedding approaches and Stefan's family arrives, the secrets begin to pile up. Most intriguing is the mysterious elder brother, Damon, who seems to forever be complicating every situation. Elena's simple fairy tale is quickly crumbling apart as everything she believed to be true is losing its validity. Where do you go for comfort when everything that once provided it is now a lie?


Chapter 1: The Moon

Cut the bonds with the moon
And watch the dogs gather

Elena Rose Gilbert and Stefan Michael Abington. Mrs. Stefan Michael Abington. Elena Rose Abington. Lena Rose Abington. Lena Abington. It sounded so good. So perfect. It sounded well-off. Granted, she'd been blessed with a birth name that indicated class, but Abington made her sound like the women in the North or in England. Abington. She could almost sense the heat of jealousy running from her acquaintances.

The whole plantation had seemed to both slow down and speed up when the engagement was announced. Obviously with such a large merger of families and acquisitions the whole plantation, slaves and masters alike, seemed to have gained the energy of new-born puppies, constantly racing to complete tasks that didn't need o be finished for another 3 months. But somehow, time seemed to slow down to a sluggish pace. All Lena had wanted to do was run into Stefan's arms and beg him to speed up the huge ticking clock in the foyer. After being told countless times how wonderful her life would be once the marriage was consecrated, she could hardly contain her impatience.

Yet somehow, underlying all that eagerness, was a young girl asking for everything to just take a breath and pause. Lena would catch herself in one of the superfluous bedrooms, staring out the window towards the horizon just contemplating. Once she found herself leaning against the panes, the color would instantly rise to her cheeks and she would whip her neck around, praying that no slave had entered to dust or replace the sheets. If this occurred, she would fake a headache and dizziness, pretend to be the helpless damsel every one saw her to be. Whoever had entered upon the room would sympathize and blame the Southern heat, leading "Miss Elena" back to her cool bedroom, another following quickly behind with some iced tea and a light snack. Yet somehow, Lena seemed to get more heated, no matter how many icy cloths were placed on her forehead.

She felt silly whenever she thought about it. She had just gotten over the constant madness she felt when she was a teenager. Why did this rush of emotions always occur?

"Ellie!" Lena whipped her head around from her position in the living room and let a huge grin escape. Her baby sister bounded into the room, with a ripped and muddied dress, streaks of dirt painting her face. Mary was completely wild, always going from one thing to the next, coming out at the end of the day with a torn dress, an injury, or both. She was practically a little boy. She also was the only one that called her Ellie. She'd always had difficulty with pronouncing the L's, so it typically sounded more like "Ehwee." Lena only allowed her sister to refer to her as Ellie, as it made her feel a bit childish. Secretly, Lena wasn't all too thrilled with the shortening of her real name either. Lena also seemed too young, but people, Stefan included, had always referred to her without the "e," so she dropped it as well.

"Mary, stay right there," Lena warned, grabbing the young girl's arms before the dirt and filth could come any where near her own dress. "Oh my goodness, you've just become an absolute tyrant these days. How ever will Mother marry you off?" Lena asked with a large grin on her face.

Mary's nose crinkled quickly with disgust. "Eww, no. Ehwee, you're the one getting married. Not me! I'm never going to get married."

Lena smiled, and patted her sister's matted hair. "Oh, really? Well, what will you do instead, my darling?"

"I'm going to join the Confederacy!" her sister screamed. She then proceeded to begin marching around the room as Lena began to laugh hysterically, clutching her corseted sides.

"Girls!" Mary and Lena quickly whipped their heads around and turned silent. Their mother, Miranda, was standing in the door frame, arms raised in a shocked manner. "I could hear you all the way outside!"

Lena quickly stood as Mary slowly straightened out of her playful position in the rear of the room. "Sorry Mama," they both solemnly stated.

Miranda's serious face quickly turned into a smirk as she glanced down at her youngest. "Goodness gracious, what will I do with the two of you? I swear, I gave birth to monkeys, not ladies."

Mary looked confused. "Ehwee's a lady, Mama."

"Well, yes now she's become respectable. But," Miranda said, bending down to Mary's level, "she was as wild as you are when she was your age." Mary's eyes turned as wide as saucers as Miranda chuckled. "Now, let's make you presentable before our company arrives."

"Company, Mama, it's just Stefan," Lena said. "He has seen Mary in much worse states."

Miranda stood back up to Lena's height. "Don't you remember? Stefan's entire family will be joining us for the next few weeks..."

Lena tried to appear calm as her mother rambled about the newest guests on the plantation and all of the troubles that came along with housing them, but she was frantically searching her brain in attempts at remembering this information. Surely Stefan would have mentioned this to her. She had yet to meet Stefan's family, surprising considering the traditions of marriage, but Stefan was extremely independent of his family, managing to run multiple town businesses and create a fortune and life for himself outside of the family name, all before the age of 25. He had sought after Lena all on his own, with very little mention of his family. It was one of the primary reasons Lena had felt so drawn to him. As a woman who was so dependent on her own family, the idea that someone could be so successful and well-off without them was incredibly appealing.

Suddenly Lena's train of thought was quickly interrupted by her mother's sentence. "… and I'm sure Stefan will help to entertain his brother somehow."

"His brother?" Lena stumbled over her own words. "Stefan only has one sibling, a sister."

Miranda cocked her head at her daughter's confused face. "Stefan's father's letter explicitly stated that he would be bringing both of his children, a daughter, Alexis, and a son, Damon."

Lena instinctively brought her hand to her neck to play with the pendant resting against her collarbone, one of her few nervous habits. A brother? Why would Stefan purposely choose not to mention that he had a brother?


Lena leaned against the stiff wood frames of one of her favorite stables. The lofted ceilings had provided plenty of places to crawl and explore when she was Mary's age. She smiled to herself as she thought about her mother's statement earlier. She had been wild, constantly getting injured but forever sleeping well at night after hours of rambunctious play.

After the nostalgia faded, the anxiety came back strong. Why would Stefan choose to blatantly not tell her about a brother? Especially one that was going to be staying on the plantation for almost two months. Stefan constantly mentioned his sister, Alexis. Most of his childhood stories revolved around the two siblings' antics. Whenever Stefan spoke of his family, he kept her in high regard, never quite able to keep the small grin off his face.

She knew Stefan was not close to his family, but it seemed a tad absurd to completely remove someone that important from the family lineage. As her mind wandered, she missed the telltale footsteps of her soon-to-be husband.

"There's my girl. Always lost in thought." Lena could feel her entire face light up as Stefan approached her. He was dressed in a travel suit, but still looked gorgeous, especially in the sunlight.

"Just thinking about all the other men in town who want me," Lena grinned. "Maybe I should leave you for one of the Parker boys."

Stefan gave a light growl and rushed her back into the side of the stable. Lena smiled as their lips met for the first time in over two weeks. She'd always felt particularly naughty for as far as she'd gone with Stefan. Nothing too obscene, of course. She was a lady after all. Yet she was sure her mother would faint if she knew just how long some of these kissing sessions had lasted.

Stefan leaned back to brush a strand of her curly black hair behind her ear. "Promise me you'll never leave me for a Parker. Anybody but a Parker."

"Only if you promise me you'll never leave me like that again." Lena added a tinge of whine to her words. "I can't bear to stay this far apart for so long."

"Well, I can't promise that," Stefan complied. Lena pouted her bottom lip and Stefan let out a laugh. "But you have me here, completely present for the next few months. We have a wedding to plan out."

"Oh, hush. You know you are not allowed any where near the planning of this wedding."

"And why not, may I ask?"

"Because women can have very few accomplishments in this world, and one of those is the perfect wedding. And I refuse to let my husband aid me in any way possible with the one thing I could be great at."

Stefan smiled and kissed her again. "I love when you call me your husband."

As though someone had turned a switch off in her head, her flirtatious personality disappeared and Lena was only concerned with one thing: finding out the truth. She softly pushed Stefan out of her personal space and tried hard not to look at his disappointed face. "We need to discuss something very important.

"What is it, my love?"

Lena contemplated how she had wanted to bring this up, but chose to be direct instead. "You have a brother?"

She made sure to watch Stefan's reaction as he registered exactly what he had just heard. Lena watched him go from shock to anger to sadness. But finally, his face became blank. He made eye contact with Lena again and swallowed hard. "Yes. How did you find out about him?"

That simple answer almost hurt Lena more. Was she not supposed to be hurt by this? He was trying hard to show no emotion, yet she could see the deep pain in his eyes. She felt almost guilty for bringing it up. "Your father's letter…"

Stefan interrupted her quickly. In an extremely stiff voice, he said, "The only reason I did not tell you about my brother was because he is as good as dead to me and my family."

Lena's eyebrows knotted together in confusion. "Then why will he be staying with us?"

Stefan's head shot up from its former position of staring straight as his shoes. "Damon… is coming here?" Stefan quickly began to pace around the stable. Lena was worried. She'd almost never seen Stefan act this concerned, this scared.

"Is he.. dangerous?" she murmured. Her words seemed to snap Stefan out of his lapse in character. He rushed back over to her and delicately grabbed her chin so she would look him in the eye.

"Of course not." His typical soothing voice was back. "I 'm so sorry I made you upset. It's just… Damon hurt my family a very long time ago. I was not aware that a truce had been made. I'm sure that my father would not have allowed Damon to join them if he was a threat to you or anyone else."

Lena gave a small smile to Stefan which he returned, mostly in the efforts of placating her. "What did he do, if I may ask?"

Stefan sighed and looked down at the ground quickly before looking back into her dark eyes. "He left my family in a time when we needed him most. He choose to abandon all of us in our despair for his own selfish desires." A spark of fire rose in Stefan's eyes when he spoke those last few words.

Lena kissed Stefan's cheek, attempting to calm any leftover anger. "Everything will be okay. If Damon has not changed, this time will be perfect to show him just how far you've come without him. I won't expect you to spend any extra time with him if you do not desire to do so."

"I don't need to be coddled, Lena," Stefan said. "I can act civilly with my brother. Just don't expect much more than that."

Stefan kissed her one last time and leaned back to examine her once again. "Let us diverge from this. I don't care to speak of unhappy things. Would you like to accompany me for a walk?" He offered his arm in her direction.

Lena swiftly took it and met his eyes with a wide smile as they exited the stable. Her head was filled with all of the stories she had to catch him up on from the last few weeks and new ideas for the ceremony. But as he began to tell a story about his travels back home, she couldn't help but to reflect on the emotion in his eyes when they had stepped out. They were a shade of deep dark black that she could only describe as evil.


Lena stood on the porch steps holding Stefan's arm. Her anxiety was almost completely gone as she watched the carriage pull up their long driveway. Stefan's stories from the road and his laughter at her own reminded her again why she should be the happiest woman in the world. Marrying her true love, well, it didn't happen often in her world.

Mary, who had been bathed and cleaned up quite well, was now fidgeting in her tight and constricting dress. She couldn't stand not being able to run and staying still was one of her least favorite past times. Lena giggled and nudged Stefan to gain his attention. When he turned to look at her, she subtly nodded her head down so he could appreciate the humorous moment with her. He granted her a courteous smile, but his face quickly shifted back to the strained calmness he had been showing since one of the staff had mentioned his family had arrived. Lena rubbed his arm in a soothing fashion but Stefan didn't seem to be comforted by his fiancée's touch.

Once the carriage pulled up, Lena took a deep breath as Stefan's muscles tensed as though he were preparing to be hit. The first to step out was Stefan's father. He was a tall, average-sized man who looked eerily like Stefan. He had the same coloring and polite smile. She turned to gauge Stefan's reaction. He had a wide grin on his face and all of the tension had seemingly faded. Interesting, Lena thought. She had always sensed tension when Stefan mentioned his father but that seemed to be completely gone now.

Next, his father helped out a stunning blonde woman who must have been Alexis. Stefan's grin grew even wider. Lena had expected that reaction though. Stefan quickly crossed the porch to embrace the young girl and also to give a polite "man-hug" to his father. Lena and her mother and sister began to descend down the porch steps as Stefan turned back.

"Father, Alexis, this is my Lena," Stefan stated proudly. Lena smiled and offered her hand to the father and daughter. "It's a pleasure meeting you finally."

The older Abington took her hand and placed a kiss upon it. "The pleasure is all mine."

Alexis and Lena exchanged a nodding of heads as form of greeting. "Stefan has told me so much about you in his letters. I feel as though I know everything about you and nothing about my brother."

As the other members of the family were introduced, Lena's eye caught a flash of black coming around the other side of the carriage. The infamous brother. When he had fully stepped onto their side, her breath caught in her throat. She had never in her life actually been startled by someone's looks, but there was a first time for everything. His dark black hair and piercing blue eyes were perfectly uncomplimentary to the other Abington men, with their light brown hair and green eyes.

She turned quickly back to Stefan to remind herself of the attractive man who was hers. But his entire demeanor had shifted. The man thrilled to see his family again was replaced with someone who looked like he was about to be put to death.

"Damon," Stefan acknowledged. Lena had no clue who just a name could sound like an insult, but Stefan had made it so. "It's been a while."

"Yes, it has been." Lena almost gasped out loud and then inwardly scolded herself. A voice should never make her feel this way. He, the man that had been so cruel to her fiancé, should not have that sort of effect on her. She pledged to be only polite to Damon when her mother was present. In all other circumstances… well, she wasn't sure yet.

Interrupting the uncomfortable silence that followed Damon and Stefan's exchange, Miranda invited everyone inside. Lena sensed Stefan fall back and whisper something into his father's ear. She couldn't make out any of the words, but she was sure they were all to do with Damon.


After a tea filled with polite, painful conversation, Lena had formed most of her opinions about Stefan's family. Giuseppe was kind, but a little distant. He never seemed fully into the conversations the family was having. Alexis, who had insisted that she preferred to be called Lexi, was extremely bubbly and helped at least to move the conversation along. Lena had noticed even more of her beauty sitting in such close proximity. It seemed almost unfair. Lena was also thankful that Lexi had helped Stefan come out of his earlier state. The big smile on his face and his laughter as they reminisced put Lena much more at ease. Thankfully, the prior discomfort between the brothers had lessened greatly, as both talked near equally, and even laughed somewhat. Lena wasn't sure exactly what this meant for the rest of the family's stay but her optimistic attitude allowed her to believe that if they could get through that first tea, they could handle the next few weeks.


After tea, the ladies excused themselves to show Lexi around the plantation. Giuseppe, Stefan, and Damon stayed silent on the couches, none wanting to be the first to speak.

Damon decided to go first. "I shouldn't be here. I'm not welcome."

"I agree," Stefan said, looking up at his older brother.

Giuseppe pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep sigh. "Boys, Damon leaving is not the solution to our issues."

"No, Father. The solution to our issues is Damon not coming here in the first place." Stefan stood up and ran his hands through his hair, finally releasing the pent-up frustration he'd kept inside all afternoon. "When did you determine that Damon was forgiven and a part of this family again?"

"I never said he was, Stefan. But Damon has come back into my and Alexis' life and I thought it was appropriate that he be here for your marriage," Giuseppe obliged.

"Brother," Damon said somewhat meekly. "You must realize I have no intentions of being a threat to any part of your life here. I know you believe I have nothing but malicious intent for you, but that is simply not true. Father has told me all about your work and your new life and although I may not understand it, I accept it."

"You're right, Damon. You would not understand my new life. But that's only because you chose not to be a part of it. You left when we were at our lowest point. You forced Alexis to take care of me and Father while you went off to do whatever you wanted." Stefan's voice rose the more he spoke.

Damon's politeness was gone as he stood to face his brother. "You know Alexis was perfectly capable of handling the two of you. But she shouldn't have had to take care of the both of you in the first place. You've spent years trying to make sure any blame on the Salvatore name was placed on me. Just because you chose not to control yourselves doesn't mean you were the victims in this situation."

"Enough!" shouted Giuseppe. "This argument has been had far too many times and nothing good has come out if it. All of us have made mistakes. But for the first time in decades, we're all doing well. I don't care if you two choose to hate each other for the rest of your lives, but I rarely get a chance to do anything normal anymore. So you two will start behaving like men, and act like this is the best damn you're having. After this, Alexis and I will let you and Elena live happily ever after and I will let you do… well whatever it is that you choose to do."

Damon stepped away from his brother and after a breath, nodded his head at both of them. He then offered his hand to Stefan to shake on it. Stefan accepted it, and as he shook realized Damon was slipping him a small papery object. When they released, Stefan casually slipped his hand into his pocket to drop the slip of paper discretely. Damon then left to head to his own room.

"I still don't quite understand your intentions, Father," Stefan said.

Giuseppe smirked. "I want you to meet me later tonight, son, around eleven behind the servant's quarters. We need to have a discussion." He began to leave the room, but then turned to pat his youngest on the shoulder. "After tonight, I think you'll understand my intentions perfectly."

After Mr. Salvatore exited the room, Stefan slowly pulled out the piece of paper from his brother. His handwriting had not changed a bit.

"Please meet me near the stables tonight at 11. I am here for a reason. Trust me."

Stefan crumbled up the note and stuffed it back into his pocket. He had not even hesitated when faced with the conflict. He knew exactly where he would be at eleven o'clock that night.