Chapter One
I sighed as I turned off the engine of my black 1969 Chevy Camaro Convertible. I love this car, but sometimes it just brings back heartbreaking memories.
My hand went to the neck hanging from my neck, and played with the charms.
We always said that we'd drive around the country in a car like this; after we got…I shook my head.
Stop thinking about it Andy. I scowled myself.
I looked out the windshield.
An old two story house looked back at me.
It was white, covered in ivory, lots of classic windows and a balcony porch that seemed to stretch for miles around the whole house. In the dark of midnight it looked lonely and sad, being by itself surrounded only by a few trees with all its tall windows dark. Similar to the boarding house across the street, but it had a few lights on as well.
I've always loved old houses like this one; they have so much character, and this one is my new home.
How many number of times I've had a home and kept saying that this is the one I'll spend my life in is too many to count. I always had to move because of my past catching up with me.
I'm always running.
From all these people for different reasons. I just hope that this small town of Mystic Falls will keep me hidden. It seems to quiet and uninteresting for the most important people I'm running from. Which may just be me being naive and stupid, but hey you have to have a little hope right?
I also may have picked this town because it was the home of someone very dear to my heart and this place makes me feel connected to him. Even though I can't ever allow myself to see him or even look for him. I used to keep tabs on him so I didn't run into him, but I stopped. It was causing me too much heart ache.
Why should I much myself through that?
The answer was clear; I couldn't let him go. I loved him. I still love him even though I haven't seen him and those enchanting eyes in a very long time.
Just the thought of his eyes made my stomach feel like it was being shot at repeatedly with wooden bullets.
I felt like staking myself for thinking about him. I banged my head against the steering wheel then got out of the car. I opened the trunk and pulled out my suitcases.
Two were full of clothes and shoes the other was completely filled with books. The books that I could never bear to part with over the years of my doleful life.
Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein, Dracula, Jane Eyre books like that.
My two personal favorites are Gone with the Wind, and The Great Gatsby. I've read those two books so many times, I could recite them in my sleep.
I carry both with me everywhere just in case something happens. I could replace all my other books but those copies were close to my heart.
Feeling a small smile upon my lips, I headed towards the house.
Tomorrow morning I will wake up early and go to school like a normal 17 year old. I'll read on the porch in the sun light, and for a few moments in the day stopping thinking about the past, but as F. Scott Fitzgerald mentioned in the Great Gatsby; the past can repeat itself, and that's exactly what happened to me that next day, even if I didn't know it yet.
~ Next Day ~
As I drove past the boarding house across the street I got this feeling. I don't know what it was but I just shrugged it off and continued to drive to school.
Don't want to be late on the first day of pretending to a normal teenager instead of being a runaway hybrid.
Sometimes being a vampire and a werewolf is just bothersome. It's awesome but sometimes it just reminds me why I've been running and how much I'd given up. I thought about that when my phone started rang from a text and the name Alice glowed on the screen.
(Alice will be A and Andy will be Me)
A - Hey good luck on your first day! Are u sure u don't want me 2 join u?
Alice is my best friend since a long long time ago. I had another best friend named Ashley. We all called are self's the Three Musketeers until my past caught up with me and Ashley died. It was my fault she was dead and I've still not forgiven myself, even though Ali has. She died before I had to give up all that I had loved during that time, including him, but Ali wouldn't have it.
She keeps an eye on me so I don't do something stupid. The year after I gave everything up I was a mess. I turned off my humanity, so I couldn't feel the pain and despair of losing two of the three people who keep me living and myself. Alice helped me and got me back on the right track.
I wanted to tell her to hop on the next plane here, but I have to do this on my own, and I also wanted time to myself.
Me- I'm sure. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Thanks 4 the luck
A - Alright, love yah ;)
I smiled softly as I pulled into the High School parking lot, and put my phone in my messenger bag next to my favorite books then opened the car.
I put my bag over my shoulder and shut the car door. Ali says the key to being alive is to enjoy every minute you take a breath and that's why I'm doing this in the first place.
If I spend all my years running like I have for over 500 years it would be all for nothing. I was grateful for her luck and her friendship because I'm going to need it.
As I walked to the front door of the school I felt the stares and heard every whisper. Girls were glaring at me and the boys were looking at me up and down like I was a piece of meat. Which I never really understood. Over the centuries guys have looked at me like that, and you tend to get used to the girls glaring and the guys disgusting looks.
Today I was wearing dark jeans, a dark purple long sleeves shirt, combat boots, and my brown hair was slightly curly. Yeah have no clue why their looking at me like that today. I put on my least attention drawling outfit.
Taking a deep breath I walked into the school, so much for being an average teenager.
After going to the office, I walked to my locker and saw two girls talking to each other next to it. Not really paying attention to them, I did my combination and the locker swung open.
"Unbelievable." The one against the lockers said, "It's like nothing happened."
"She's in denial." Then other girl answered and looked at a pretty blonde girl a little ways down the hallway.
I shut my locker and headed towards my first class.
I had my schedule in my hand and was reading it when I ran into someone after second period. Causing our books to scatter all over the tiled floor.
She was a beautiful light chocolate color, brown eyes that seemed to judge every move you make but they were equally as beautiful and dark hair that had a certain waviness to it.
"Oh I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." I said. She smiled at me kindly as we picked up our things.
"It alright. Are you new here? I've never seen you here before." She said and we both stood.
"Yeah, I just moved here." I tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear.
"Well welcome to Mystic Falls. I'm Bonnie." She moved her books to her other arm and held out her hand for me to shake. I hesitatingly shook her hand saying, "Cassandra, but I go by Andy."
"Why do you go by Andy?" She asked.
"What's your name?"
"I'm not sure, I should say."
"So you going to leave me with a beautiful face and only you're character to help me find you."
"Maybe I don't want to you to find me."
"But the expression in your eyes shows otherwise."
I raised an eyebrow at him, but I did want to see him again. There's just something about him that drew me in, and I couldn't escape from those eyes.
"You have no a reduced amount of charm, don't you?" He smiled at me with his mouth and eyes.
"Do I?"
A man tapped me on the shoulder and I turned my gaze away from him, "Yes?"
"Your taxi is waiting, Miss." I nodded and stood started to walk away from the entrancing man, but he followed.
"You didn't tell me your name." I stopped and met my eyes to his.
"Cassandra Mikealson."
He smiled a little wider at his success of getting my name and nodded his goodbye with the words, "Till we meet again, Andy."
He was the first ever person to call me Andy and I've used it ever since. The flashback hit me like a hurricane and was gone in a flash.
"Andy are you alright?"
I blinked back into reality and was met by Bonnie's concerned brown eyes.
"Um yeah…fine."
I was anything but fine. The memory was like a stake through the heart, and I had the urge to feed. Good thing I stalked up on blood bags.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I just need to get to class. It was nice meeting you." More like getting to my freezer before I rip someone's throat out.
~ Later that Day ~
Instead of drinking blood, I headed to the Mystic Grill and sat at one of the tables. A waitress that had a name tag that said Skye came over.
"What can I get you?"
"The strongest thing you got." I answered while getting my copy of Gone with the Wind out of my bag. She looked at me and crossed her arms over her chest. "You're under age."
I looked at her. Hazel eyes met mine and I spoke, "You will get me the strongest drink you have and give it to me for free." She repeated my words and walked to the bar.
It felt good to compel someone, now I need a lot to drink then to go home and drink some more blood. When she came back, I compelled her to keep them coming after I'm done with the first one.
Then I saw her.
It was about an hour or longer when she and a guy stopped next to my table on their way out.
"Wait. What was that?" I had looked up when she spoke. Her image was forever in my mind, I could never forget her. She started all my problems, the reason why I started running in the first place.
She still looked the same, but her hair was differently styled. Long straight chocolate brown hair, olive tented skin and big brown doe eyes that always had that innocent look, but I could see straight through the fake innocence. I did the first time I met her, and now she seemed to gotten better at pretending. She doesn't fool me.
The guy she was talking to was tall, had tussled brown hair, and had this forest green eyes that were shadowed by his dark eyebrows. His facial qualities looked familiar. High eyebrows, nose, and the way his posture was held were familiar also.
"I…I don't know, uh nothing." He answered her question.
She swallowed and said, "Right nothing. I got to go Stefan."
Then she walked out of the Grill with an irritated look on her face. They looked to be having a rough time and I felt like sucking someone dry. She's not Katerina, but she looks exactly like her.
It's not possible.
Katerina's a vampire, not a human…it's not possible.
There's another doppelgänger and that means all the people I'm running from will soon be wreaking havoc on this small, unimportant town.
Just my luck!
The cup in my hand shattered into a dozen pieces, causing Stefan to look at me with curious eyes. I smiled sheepishly, and apologized to the waitress. While cleaning up the mess, I saw him walk out with an aggravated look on his handsome face.
I'm not going to be here when they do, but not without knowing why this Stefan guy's familiar.
~ Later ~
It was easy enough to follow the doppelgänger to where she lived. I knock on the door a few moments before she arrived and compelled a guy that was a little younger than her to invite me in.
One of the perks of being a hybrid.
I picked up a photo of the doppelgänger dressed in a red cheerleader uniform with a blazing smile upon her face.
Ugh.
I should just kill her, so Klaus will never find her or have a chance to break the curse, but I can't bring myself to kill unless I absolutely feel like it. Well, I used to do it all the time, but I've grown better at covering my tracks.
I watched as the resident of the house who invited me, whose name was Jeremy, helped Stefan start to cook in the kitchen, and Jeremy went upstairs to get the doppelgänger. I moved behind the door causing the floor to creak and his eyes snapped to the place I was at not two seconds ago.
Footsteps descended down the steps taking his attention and the doppelgänger called, "Jenna?"
Walking to the kitchen she called Jenna again, but saw Stefan cutting an onion with a knife.
"Stefan? What are you doing here?" She asked.
There was a cold tent to her voice and it made me want to laugh.
I leaned against the wall in her living room and contracted on their conversation.
"Dinner. Jeremy told me that Chicken Parmesan is one of your favorites and I happened to be a good cook. My Italian roots demand it; can even make my homemade mozzarella. Only tonight it's unfortunately store bought. Sorry." He answered.
"I don't know what you're trying to accomplish-" She was stopped mid-sentence by Stefan saying; "You want to know me right?"
She probably nodded because he continued, "I figured if you're going to dump me you at least should know who you're dumping."
It was silent for a moment and the only sound was Stefan chopping up onions. Then he spoke again, "So let's start with Katherine."
Just what I wanted to know, but the question is- Will he tell her the whole truth or half the truth?
"Stefan-" He seemed to pretend he didn't hear her.
"She was the most beautiful girl I ever met. …She had this perfect olive skin…and this laugh, it was ridicules. I mean her laugh made you laugh."
"And she was fun. She knew how to have a good time…but Katherine was very impatient, titled, and selfish and um impulsive." He took a breath of air as if to keep from sighing.
"Enter Damon. He claims he was with her first. I don't know…I do know that I did some things, I'm not proud of…and my biggest regret was not being able to make it right before she died."
Damon. A name I couldn't bring myself to hear or say in years.
"Mr. Salvatore do you always pleasure yourself by gracing the people who dislike your company by keeping them company anyway?"
He smiled and nodded at the waiter to leave. "No; just with you my darling, Andy."
I resisted the urge to break one of the wooden chairs and stake him through the chest.
"Why do you proceed to make sure to be where ever I am at all times? It must get rather bothersome."
His laughter ringed through the garden area of the restaurant. I had to keep myself from laughing along with him, and forced my eyes away from him and to my book.
This man has made me smile more than I have in years and he continues to do so now. Which is why, I failed in keeping down a smile.
"You're honesty, beauty and no avail to express your opinion is why you're company won't ever become bothersome. It's also the reason you seemed to have me trapped in your spell. "
"And what spell is that?"
"The very one that has stolen my heart."
I looked at him then and found he was already staring at me. The world turned off like a switch and the only people in the whole world was us.
"I miss her, but I'm no longer crimpled by her loss." Stefan's worlds brought me back and I wanted to scream, cry, and just turn off the pain.
Oh how much I wanted to turn it off.
I need to get out of here.
Running out of that house as quietly and quickly as I could, I felt tears run down my face.
Running is what I'm good at, and now I'm doing it again. This time from my feelings. Trees flew past me in blurs from speed and the tears in my eyes. My throat was burning from lack of drinking blood.
I now know why Stefan's so familiar. I should have known from looking at him.
Of course their brothers!
He told me he had a brother named Stefan, about how he fell for Katerina before he met me, and I should have been smarter than to come here. I stopped and wiped my tears away, and saw a car driving down the vacant street.
While hearing the human sing along to the music made me see red and the burning in my throat increased. I felt my fangs piercing my gums as I tried to resist, but I thought of my fangs puncturing her throat while the memories and heartache fade away…The fight was won.
In a flash I ran in front of her car and braced for the slightly lasting impact.
The car veered to a stop, and she ran out of the car. I laid on the stone street breathing heavily, tears still running down my face. The girl leaned over me franticly apologizing and asking if I was hurt, but all I could has her pulse and the blood pumping through her veins.
"Do you need an ambulance? Oh God!"
I looked at her and her hazel eyes met mine. It was the waitress named Skye from the Grill. I shot up and grabbed her by the throat, and swallowed.
"Don't scream." I compelled her, and she nodded obediently.
A single tear ran down my face and I whispered, "I'm sorry." Then I sank my fangs into her neck, and felt her go limp in my arms.
~ Next Day ~
As I put my suitcases in my trunk, I thought of how it might be possible for me to stay considering it might be likely that he's not even here. The last time I checked Stefan and him hated each other, but it's a not a risk I'm going to take.
Even though I compelled him to forget about me till the time was right, I don't think I could stand being near him without having another emotional breakdown.
I wasn't guiltily that I killed the girl, but I also didn't what to attract the attention to Stefan that there as another vampire in town. I slammed the trunk shut and was about to hop into my car, when I noticed a blonde girl walking down the street like she was in a trance.
It was a pretty blonde girl I remember seeing in school. I should have shrugged it off and got into my car, but I got that weird feeling again.
Closing the car door I walked over to the girl and stepped in front of her.
"Um are you alright?" I asked, but she looked through me and continued to walk towards the boarding house across the street.
Walking behind her she tried to open a glass patio door, but they were locked so she went to the other pair and they swung open. She walked into the house and I hesitantly walk in also, but couldn't get through.
Damn human resident having to invite me in thing.
I stood there for a moment then was going to walk away when I heard running footsteps and struggling.
That sent up red flags in my head.
I tried to step into the house, but it won't let me.
I growled and banged against the shield and I fell into the house with a thud.
The human resident is dead, and I heard the front door slam open and smelt burning flesh. In a flash I was at the doorstep. The girl was running away and there in the doorway stood burning was the person I wasn't taking the risk staying for.
He hissed and covered his face with his arms and recoiled into the shadows. His hair was still as black as midnight, but his skin was pale and was starting to heal from the exposure from the sun light.
I didn't see his face, and I didn't need to, it was him.
My heart broke into pieces seeing him like that, but like always I ran away before he could notice me.
I ran into my house and went to the freezer.
Ripping open and blood bag, I drank. For an hour I drank all the blood bags and all the alcohol in the house, and by then it was dark out. Looking out the window I saw him run into the woods. From his appearance it looked like he was locked without blood and vervain was probably in his system, so he was probably starving.
I don't want to know how many people will end up dead tonight.
I need to leave this town, but now that I know he's in danger…
Klaus will find out the doppelgänger's here. He will come, and it seems Stefan has gotten involved with her so that naturally means he will also.
I was at what people called a crossroads.
I could leave Mystic Falls and forget like I have been trying to for years about him, like I made him forget me or I could stay and suffer from the pain of him not remembering me, but at least I would be able to keep him safe.
That thought right there is what made the decision for me.
I stood up from the kitchen table and stormed out my front door. There sat my car and I sighed at myself and went to the trunk.
Opening it up and taking out my suitcases is when I heard the doppelgänger's car pull into the Salvatore's boarding house driveway.
Maybe I should just go ahead and rip her head off, but I don't think that would exactly tell Stefan I'm not a threat to her and this town.
Which I am but he doesn't need to know that.
Before the doppelgänger knocked on the door, Stefan opened it with a stake in hand. Maybe I should be worried about Stefan too.
Stefan stared at her confused then she asked, "What are you?"
I smiled to myself.
Looks their going to have an entertaining night, and I slammed the trunk shut and went into the house thinking I need another drink.