Author's Note: This is the prologue/first shorter chapter of "GotP". Story of Sabrina and Benjamin Corelli that I couldn't get out of my head for a long time. I'm not sure how fast of an updater I am... life just takes so much time! I'll feel guilty if I don't ever update again, but I'm not promising anything. It takes me a while to write the chapters as well because I like to double check all facts and dialogue as well as my attempts to keep the characters in character. I also have to be in the right mood. *sigh* the snobbiness of authors. Hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. Only Sabs and Benji.
Prologue
They say there are things worse than death: trauma or heartbreak. But how would they know? They've never died. That's the difference between those people and me, it seems. But of every imaginable thing out there, wouldn't one thing be worse? I've come to think that the only thing worse than death itself is life. The pain and the harsh sting of life can be hard to endure. So how about life after death? I remember the feeling of my very spirit being drained out of me. All I wanted was for death to come… and it did. Sweet relief until of course it finally dawned on me: I wasn't a dead person…. I was a piece of death itself. That is the curse my brother and I have been forced to deal with for quite a while now. We are death, and there is no escaping it.
"What are you thinking about? You better smooth that furrow in your brow, you don't want wrinkles now do you?" Benjamin said to me, jolting me out of my thoughts.
"Don't you ever wonder what our lives would have been like if our parents hadn't gotten sick?" I asked him.
"No use crying over spilt milk, that's what I always say," Ben joked, but I could tell his heart wasn't in it.
"You would have met a nice girl, married her, had kids and all the other stuff that comes with growing up. I would have been Auntie Bri-Bri. They would have come crying to me after you punished them for convincing the maids to give them sweets before dinner," I said in a sort of far-away voice.
"And you never would have met Damon."
"Who says that's a bad thing? He's dead anyway thanks to that bitch Katherine and her manipulative, slutty tendencies." I could hear the venom in my voice at I said that little psycho's name.
"You know you don't mean that, Sabrina. The time we spent with the Salvatores made the best memories of our lives. And it was because Elena looks like Katherine that we decided to stay in Mystic Falls in the first place. The Gilberts have been nothing if not welcoming." As Ben said it I could detect just the smallest hint of a chuckle coming through.
"Right, because the Gilberts took us in by choice!" I practically barked out a laugh at the thought of us slinking into their family without the heavy compulsion on both our parts.
"I'm sure our charm would have been enough," he chuckled, "and don't forget my incredible baking skills."
"Your baking skills?" I asked incredulously, "last time I checked, it was me with the kitchen handiness. You can hardly make toast without burning it!"
"Alright alright, but as I was saying: the Gilberts have been a remarkable help."
"I do feel bad about forcing ourselves on them just to keep a closer eye on Elena. First we had to compel Grayson and Miranda into thinking that we were helpless teenage orphans abandoned in Mystic Falls when our alcoholic father drank himself to death; it was because of our mother's tragic river rapids demise, afterall. Then we had the compel Jenna into thinking that she would do anything to help us. Finally we had to kick our vampire habits and start acting like regular teenagers. We aren't even in our teens! We're physically twenty-one!" There I go again with the rambling.
"Twenty-one? Oh yeah, that's right! We were killed a couple months before our twenty-second birthday! And the fun we had on that next Halloween… Oh, the irony," Ben was laughing, again. I swear he doesn't know how to be serious for more than ten minutes.
"Never would have happened if it wasn't for Katherine," I grumbled, mostly to myself.
"I don't really mind being a vampire, you know. It's actually a pretty sweet deal; no rules, no people I have to impress, no responsibilities…" That's Ben: always the optimist.
"I guess so, but it never bothers you that you'll be stuck like this forever?"
"Why would it bother me? I'm going to be young and gorgeous for the rest of eternity. Only a complete idiot wouldn't want something like that," said Ben with compete confidence.
"Stefan never would have wanted it," I said quietly.
"Sabrina! Enough about the past already, what's done is done. End. Of. Story. The Salvatores are dead. Katherine Pierce is dead. Emily Bennett is dead. Hell, we're even dead!" He looked over at me as he said this.
"Just keep your eyes on the road."
"I look okay, right?" I asked my brother for what must have been the fifth time. I have dark brown hair; some even say it looks black, and it falls down my back in loose ringlets and waves. As I looked in the mirror on the sun visor on the passenger side of our shared black 2005 Mustang Convertible GT, I noticed my already fair skin was slightly paler, and there was a sad look in my gray-blue eyes. I would miss New Orleans; it's one of my favorite cities.
"Sabs, how many times do I have to tell you?" Ben answered, exasperated. He's my twin, so a compliment on my appearance must be one on his, right? He has hair like mine, only much shorter and a little straighter, hitting just above his eyebrows in the front, and the middle of his neck in back. Not to mention his skin was a little darker and his eyes more of a gray-green color.
"I'm sorry, I'm just nervous. Being in Mystic Falls reminds me so much of our past. It's always the hardest the first couple weeks back. And besides, we haven't seen Elena in two months. What if she's a complete wreck? We never should have left her alone. I mean, for God's sake! Her parents just died!" By this point I was in hysterics, worried that my "cousin" was lying on her death bed because of a broken heart.
"You do realize that we aren't actually related to her, right?"
"Of course I know that, Benji! But don't try to pretend that you don't like her. She's nothing like Katherine. Besides, don't you find it fun playing our little game of 'orphans-who-need-help'? We get to go to a real high school, be a couple of popular kids there, are invited to the best parties with all-you-can-eat buffets of drunk and high teenagers, not that we get to take advantage of that with the ever looming Council, and don't forget about the elite little Founding Families social crap we get to go to, or at least used to be able to go to. I guess being a Corelli just doesn't cut it anymore, huh? Living with the Salvatores back in the day got us into all the parties. Without the Gilberts nowadays, I don't know where we'd be," Now I was just rambling, trying to convince myself that we should go back to Mystic Falls. Being in that town brought on heartache, but I needed to be strong and just get the hell over it. I don't know what I would do without Ben by my side.
Ben just laughed at me as we made our drive to the small town of Mystic Falls, Virginia. I just stared out the window for a while before getting lost in my thoughts.
It was 1863. Benjamin and Damon were coming home on leave from the Confederacy. We were expecting them anytime. Benjamin never would have gone in the first place if Damon hadn't convinced him that it would be fun. Now my two best boys were off risking their lives for the country. I wouldn't be able to survive without their frequent letters back home. I was currently sitting in the shade of an apple tree when I heard someone behind me.
"What might a lovely lady be doing all alone on as fine a day as this?" my brother said.
I turned around and spotted Benjamin and Damon walking up to me. I immediately stood up and ran to them. Grabbing my brother in a hug I squeezed as tightly as I could. Next I wrapped my arms around Damon.
"You're home!" I squealed, pulling back. I was ecstatic to see them.
"I'm glad we were missed," Damon said with his usual smirk.
"Did you expect anything less?" I asked with my eyebrows raised.
"I suppose not," he replied.
"I am going to see what Stefan is up to," Benjamin said before leaving the two of us alone. I imagine he did it on purpose.
"How was it fighting the Yankees?"
"Brilliant. It was a new adventure every day. You would love it," he told me.
"Perhaps next time I shall join you. After all, with a protector such as you, I will always be safe," I said with a sly smile as I drew nearer to him once more.
"That you would, my darling," he said with a coy grin, pulling me close to him. "But I have a secret."
"And what might that be?" I asked him, leaning my head on his shoulder.
Damon leaned his mouth toward my ear, "All the boys at camp take out pictures of their betrothed, even their wives. It's got me thinking."
I lifted my head up. "About what?"
"When we were thirteen we shared a kiss and swore we would never tell a soul as long as we lived. At sixteen, we were drunk and lost our virtue in a night of passion. We have been the best of friends for years, and life is short. There has been one thing I've not been able to get off my mind in the past months." He looked into my eyes and I moved before he even had the chance to.
Our lips met like they had four long years before. The kiss was slow and tender at first as we took in the feeling. His arms went around my waist and my hands found his hair as the kiss deepened and became more intense. Finally after what seemed like eternity, we broke apart.
"I see I wasn't the only one thinking on it," he said, a smirk back on his lips.
"I've missed you so much, Damon," I told him.
"I have missed you too, Abri. More than anything."
Back in the present day, Ben and I were just passing a sign with "Welcome to Mystic Falls" on it. Being back in the small town felt nice, as if we were where we belonged.
"Home sweet home," Ben said with an air of humor surrounding the statement.
We finally arrived in front of the quaint house on Maple Street. It belonged to the Gilberts. Ben parked the car and I took a shaky breath.
"Here we go again," I said as I unbuckled my seatbelt and climbed out of the car. I helped Ben grab the bags out of the trunk and we made our way to the front door.
Upon entrance into the house, everything seemed normal, but I heard a lot of noise coming front the living room. Putting the luggage down by the stairs I motioned for Ben to follow me. When we reached the living room, I gasped. Not only was Elena there, but also Bonnie Bennett, Caroline Forbes, Tyler Lockwood, and Matt Donovan.
"Surprise!" Elena exclaimed before coming over and giving both Ben and me a big hug each.
"What's everyone doing here?" I asked her.
"We're here to welcome you back, of course," Caroline explained as if to a couple of five-year-olds. She then proceeded to grab me in a hug, followed closely afterward by Bonnie, who put one arm around me and the other around Ben. She stiffened and pulled back, a confused expression on her face.
"Everything alright?" I questioned her.
"Yeah…yeah, I just remembered something I have to do later." I wasn't entirely convinced.
I walked up to Tyler while Ben greeted Matt. The thing with Tyler… we used to date. It was a short fling, nothing too serious. I broke up with him because I knew it wasn't going anywhere, beside the fact that he's always had a thing for Matt's older sister, Vicki. We're still really close friends though. A shoulder to cry on, a friend to stay up late watching old movies with: that's the two of us. Ben is good friends with both Tyler and Matt. They bonded over football while I got closer to Bonnie and Caroline by joining the cheerleading squad as a kind of joke. Not to mention that Ben hooked up with Caroline for a short time… most guys have. They still talk from time to time, but Caroline's more my friend than his.
"How's my favorite cheerleader?" Tyler asked as he hugged me and placed a kiss on my forehead.
"Never better," I said with a sigh. Tyler gave me a concerned look.
"What's wrong?" Quick, something believable…. Got it!
"I just can't believe summer is over already. It's already Saturday night and I really don't want to go back to school," I groaned.
"We could always ditch." Tyler gave me a mischievous smile.
"As much fun as that would be," I said, "if I ditch the first day, I'll never go back. What would Mr. Tanner say if he knew he wasn't going to have me around to bug him all the time?"
Tyler snickered. It was a known fact that all of the teachers at Mystic Falls High School hated me. I have a knack for troublemaking.
Several hours later our friends had left and it was just Elena left with Ben and me. She had explained that Jenna was working late and Jeremy was off with some of his crack head friends.
"Well I for one am exhausted," I said as I made my way to the stairs. I eyed the baggage and decided to leave it for Ben to carry up. I'm lazy. So what?
"Good night!" I heard Elena call. Ben followed with a mumbled farewell.
I walked toward my room thinking one thing: Time to cause some more trouble in Mystic Falls.
A/N: Tada! How was it? Don't forget to tell me in a review! No pressure though, I'm being a hypocrite: I usually forget to review.
Sincerely- LB