"Jenna, I'm going to school," Elena shouts to the kitchen from the top of the Gilbert's narrow staircase.
"Alright, but be back before 7 tonight. I'm making dinner. Ya know, trying my hand at a little parenting one-oh-one." Jenna laughs at herself, being careful not to cut her finger as she chops an onion.
Elena stops at the threshold, uncertainty suddenly clouding her mind. "Wait, have you seen Jeremy recently? I feel like he's never here."
Jenna paused for a moment, trying to recall the last time she crossed paths with her moody, teenage nephew. "He said he has a Chemistry project to work on with his friend…Vicki. Yeah I think that's her name. Ugh! I should know these things," she grins to herself, heading back to the kitchen to continue her attempt to be an acceptable parent for Jeremy and Elena.
"Ok…" Elena replies more to herself, shutting the front door behind her. Jeremy may be handling chemicals with Vicki, but not the kind that are for a project.
Seriously Jeremy? And on the first day of school! I'll have to call Matt and ask him where Vicki usually gets high. But I have school! She takes a shaky breath, head swimming with worry as she tries to not to let the pain of her brother's spiraling path cause a mental break down.
As she walks the short distance from her front door to her car, a gust of cold air suddenly whooshes past her, giving her goosebumps, and sending her hair flying every which way.
"Ugh! What was that?" Elena groans, trying to fix her long, straight brown hair. Another gust of chilling wind sends her hair soaring again, some of it now sticking to her clear lip gloss. She stands in the middle of the sidewalk, gathering her now messy hair in a ponytail and waits for another unseasonal gust to whoosh past her again. Instead, a single black crow, coming out of nowhere, settles noisily on the top rack of her dad's old SUV.
"Caw!" It taunts, sending Elena's nerves on edge. Heart pounding, she marches over to the car then shoos it away with her hand. It crows again, then this time settling on her shoulder.
"Gross!" She yelps, swatting it off her. The bird flaps its wings in irritation then takes off, soaring into the September horizon.
What was that? She wonders to herself, as she finally climbs onto the driver seat of her car. She glares out the tinted window, making sure that the bird has actually left her alone. She adjusts her rearview mirror, but then stops as she catches a glimpse of her almond-shaped brown eyes. They are narrowed in worry; the shadow of loss, grief, and frantic anxiety reflect in her depthless irises.
I am happy. I am fine. I can handle this. I am strong.
She takes a deep breath, holding back the tears that will betray her façade of normalcy. Ever since her parents died in the car accident, she couldn't remember what sincere happiness felt like.
Today will be different, she assures herself, successfully blinking back her tears. She checks her reflection once again, and, satisfied, slowly makes her way out of her driveway, and on her way to pick up Bonnie, her best friend.
Mystic Falls 1864
"Stefan, you mustn't run from me, this bodice does not give me nearly enough air to rush," Katherine Peirce playfully taunts, shuffling after one of her Salvatore brothers in the manor house's garden.
"But, if I stop running, you will stop chasing me," Stefan grins, as he jogs towards the maze of hedges and blooming flowers. He stops near his mother's daffodils, and hands Katherine one as she slows to a walk.
"You don't have to chase me to have me, Miss Katherine," Damon, the other Salvatore, suddenly appears from behind a flower blossom tree, and hands Katherine one of the buds.
"Why, don't you look lovely today, miss" Damon reaches for her smooth, slender hand, brings it to his mouth, and kisses it gently.
Stefan scowls slightly, but regains his composure. "Were you spying on us, Damon?" He playfully punches Damon on the arm, causing him to wince in spite of himself.
"Of course not, Little Brother. I was merely stopping to smell the roses." With that, he reaches towards a nearby rose bush, and plucks a blooming, crimson bud. "Another beautiful flower for you, Miss Katherine, a beautiful woman. Roses are the only flowers that emulate true beauty." He hands it to Katherine, then kisses her hand once again.
Katherine smiles slyly at the handsome brothers. "Now, now boys, let us not compete." She laughs her tinkling laugh, lighting up her palely olive-toned face. "Although," she trills, taking the arms of each brother, so that she can walk in between them, "I do need someone to escort me into town tomorrow. Who shall take me? I can't possibly attend alone."
"I shall take you!" Both brothers shout simultaneously, arousing chimes of laughter from Katherine.
"Ah, but you mustn't make me choose! I shall go with you both," She concludes, turning to face the boys.
"You can't have us both, Katherine, you must choose," Damon says seriously, brushing a dark brown strand of hair from her delicate face. Stefan simply says nothing, waiting for her decision.
Katherine yawns, stretching her thin arms luxuriously into the air. "I shall make my decision sometime tomorrow. But for right now, I am rather tired, and will retire to my room. Stefan, you will escort me there." Stefan grins in triumph, while Damon's blue eyes narrow in jealousy.
"Gladly, Katherine." Stefan takes her arm as he walks her back up to the towering, ivory mansion, leaving Damon standing in the garden helplessly.
When they reach her room, Katherine starts to pull off her petticoat. Stefan gasps, then turns away to give her some privacy. "Why, Stefan must you turn away? Surely my undressing does not embarrass you. I merely require assistance with unlacing this dreadful corset" She beckons to Stefan, who is politely sitting on the edge of her bed. He quietly walks over to her; , and begins to unlace her corset as she admires her reflection in the full length, oval mirror.
"I am not embarrassed, just simply surprised at your outward behavior. I have never encountered a woman in Mystic Falls quite like you, Miss Katherine." His words trail off to a whisper as he gently brushes her shining curly hair to the side, to expose her slender neck. He kisses it gently. "I think I am falling in love with you, even after such a short time."
Katherine turns from her reflection to face the handsome, seventeen year old boy. "As am I, Stefan Salvatore," She replies, then leans in to kiss his pouting lips.
"You know what I want, Sam. The usual" Damon sighs exasperatedly, turning his back to the bartender to survey the busy floor of Mystic Grill. There are people everywhere- very alive and warm people, but of course, Damon can't cause a scene just because he is hungry. He takes a deep breath as his eyes begin to grow red and cracking veins emerge beneath his eyes. With a careful exhale, his face returns back to its pasty yet handsome complexion. His sly, half of a grin returns to his face as he regains his composure.
Across the room, a blonde, teenage couple share dewy expressions as they sit across from each other in a candlelit booth. Damon makes a sound of disgust in the back of his throat, grabbing another shot of imported Italian whiskey that he, erm, persuaded the owner of the Grill to purchase. He downs the shot in a split second, savoring the briefly numbing burn.
"Love" he scoffs, a sly smile forming on his sculpted face. "There's no such thing as love. The only thing that exists is the trap of infatuation." That being said, he turns with ease towards the woman sitting in the barstool next to him.
"Well hello there" he purrs, making deliberate eye contact with the slender, blonde Action-News anchor.
"Hi," she giggles, the alcohol and Damon's intense stare clouding her senses. He scowls in annoyance, wanting to skip the introductions. He is hungry.
"You know what I think we should do, beautiful?" his jet black pupils lock on hers. She knits her eyebrows in confusion, but edges closer to him.
Damon lifts her chin so to make sure her eyes meet his. "We will go to my house and you will do everything I say, and not be afraid," His pupils expand and constrict as he mutters the words.
She repeats the command emotionlessly, allowing herself to be lead out of the grill.
A devilish, crooked smile inches onto Damon's face as he imagines what a wonderful distraction this pretty human will become. More importantly, he is so focused on his meal that he almost completely forgets about that girl who looks exactly like Katherine.
But her face still lingers in his mind. How is it possible? He ponders to himself. Katherine's been in the tomb with the rest of those vampires since 1864. But yet… this Elena Gilbert is her
twin… His brow furrows in confusion as he contemplates the uncanny resemblance. So beautiful… so manipulative…
"Damon, um, we are standing in the middle of the road," The anchorwoman says calmly. Damon snaps out of his reverie, and realizes that he has to find out who this Elena girl is. There will be no waiting, and no distractions tonight.
"Dear," He begins with a note of sarcasm, "What's your name?" He wears a friendly, open look on his face, when all he really wants to do is dispose of this human, then find Elena.
"Andy," she purrs, running her hand down his chest. He draws closer to her, and directs his eyes to her. "You will come with me to that alley, I will drink your blood, you will not remember what happened, and then you will go home and let the wound heal." He leads her to a dark alleyway, and draws her into him as if about to embrace her, but instead, sinks his razor sharp fangs into her neck. Once his hunger is satiated for the night, he lets her go.
Ha, it is Andy's lucky night. If I wasn't so distracted…
Now, to Katherine. No, she is not Katherine, she is human. Her name is Elena Gilbert. He had spied on her after he realized the uncanny resemblance to Katherine. Elena Gilbert is far too…humane to be Katherine too. She puts herself way before others- a foreign concept to Damon.
He strolls into the smooth, fall dusk, the silver moonlight illuminating the vivid blue of his eyes. His tousled, jet black hair gleams, his pale skin starkly contrasting his black v neck and jeans. He doesn't care that he had no where to go tonight, hasn't seen his brother in over a century, and is about to seek out the doppelganger of the woman who tore his heart to pieces. All he knows is that Elena lives at 1145 Maple Drive, and he is on his way to earn a little invitation into the Gilbert household…before his dear little bro Stefan did.