Strange things have been happening in this town for a long time. Strange animal attacks with no one finding the animal. Strange murders with people missing all of their blood. My name is Chloe Gilbert. And this is the truth behind the lies.
"An hour's drive to hear that crap. You know, it wasn't even a band. A guy with a guitar. An hour each way." A man said to his girlfriend as they drove back to Mystic Falls.
"He wasn't that bad." his girlfriend told him.
"He sounded like James Blunt." the boyfriend pointed out.
"What's wrong with that?" she asked him.
"We already have a James Blunt. One's all we need." he told her.
"So why did you come?" she asked him with a smile.
"Because I love you." he told her and her smile grew.
"Nicely done. What's with all the fog?" she asked looking around at the mysterious fog that had just appeared.
"It'll clear in a second." he told her. Suddenly the silhouette of a man could be seen.
"Watch out!" she yelled right before they ran him over.
"Are you ok?" her boyfriend asked her.
"We just hit someone! Oh my god!" she said freaking out.
"Call for help." her boyfriend told her as he got out of the car.
"Come on, come on!" she begged her phone as her boyfriend made his way to the body.
"Please be alive! Oh, my god." the boyfriend begged the man. The man woke up and bit him in the neck, drinking before disappearing with the now dead body.
"There's no signal!" the girl cried out getting out of the car and looking where her boyfriend had been. "Darren! Darren?" she ran to where he had been but couldn't find him. she was suddenly drug up into the sky, kicking and screaming.
I wish I didn't have to return home. But I had no choice. I had to save her and I had to find out more about her.
A man watched a young brunette woman get ready for her first day of a new school year. He watched as she moved with the grace of a dancer, but being a cheerleader will do that he guessed. He found his new plaything.
Elena Gilbert sat on her window seat writing in her journal as she had done every morning since her mom gave her first journal to her.
Dear diary, today will be different. It has to be. I will smile, and it will be believable. My smile will say "I'm fine, thank you." "Yes, I feel much better." I will no longer be the sad little girl who lost her parents. I will start fresh, be someone new. It's the only way I'll make it through.
I sat in front of my mirror putting on my make up on the first day of a new school year. My family and I suffered a great lose last year. My parents died in a car accident that both my sister and I were in as well. We were saved somehow, but the experience changed us and our younger brother, Jeremy. I suppose it would change anyone. Jeremy turned to drugs and liquor that I always tried to break him of. I think he was getting tired of me. My sister wrote in her diary more often than usual. She hid inside a shell of her former self. What did I do? I was the biggest bitch in the world. I made sure everyone knew who was in charge. I had always been manipulative, dating who I needed to get me what I wanted then dropping them like an old hat, but after my parents died it grew. It was like they were a lock on all I could do with my personality and when they died, it broke. There were subtle differences between Elena and myself, other than personality. Hair was one. My curled and waved while she kept her's straight. Clothes were another. I showed off my curves while she wore looser clothing. No, I didn't show off a lot of skin. My clothes were classy, not trashy. The last was our eyes. Mine were an Ice Blue holding mischief and schemes while hers were brown. I looked at myself in my full length mirror and made sure everything was perfect. I wore a purple tight v neck shirt, black skinny jeans, with black ankle heeled boots and a black leather jacket. So my parents spoiled me when it came to my wardrobe, who's complaining. When I was done getting ready I grabbed a black purse and made my way down stairs as everyone was frantically getting ready for school. My mother's younger sister, Jenna, was now our sole guardian and had moved back to Mystic Falls to take care of us.
"Toast. I can make toast." Jenna said to us.
"It's all about the coffee, Aunt Jenna." Elena told her as she poured coffee into a cup for herself. She put it down and I grabbed it from her.
"Thank you, my dear sister." I said.
"Chloe!" Elena said as if she was shocked I would do that. I did it every morning, you would think she would learn by now.
"Yes, Elena?" I asked giving her an innocent look. She looked at me with her mouth open wide before sighing and getting another cup for herself. No, my sister and I didn't really get along. We had never really been close and while I shared death experience gave us something in common, it only drove us apart. We tolerated each other because we had the same friends. Bonnie Bennett and Caroline Forbes.
"Is there coffee?" Jeremy asked before stealing Elena's second cup. She grabbed another cup and poured herself some more, protecting this one from Aunt Jenna like it was made of gold.
"Your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared. Lunch money?" Jenna asked holding out money.
"I'm good." Elena told her but Jer grabbed the money and I gave him a pouty look and he sighed before giving it to me. I always got what I wanted from guys.
"Anything else? A number two pencil? What am I missing?" Jenna asked us and I looked at the clock.
"Don't you have a big presentation today?" I asked her.
"I'm meeting with my thesis adviser at..." Jenna looked at the clock. "now. Crap!"
"Then go. We'll be fine." Elena said and Jenna ran out the door with her school things.
"You high?" I asked Jer trying to look in his eyes.
"Don't start." he told me walking out the door after Jenna. I looked at the TV to see a report on two missing people. Brooke and Darren.
Elena and I rode in Bonnie's car to school. I needed one of my own. Maybe I could get Ty to get his parents to give me one. He and I had been dating until he hooked up with Vicki Donovan behind my back. He was tired of me not always wanting sex. Boo freaking hoo. I dropped him and moved on, but rumor is he still had the hots for me. That could come in handy if it was true.
"So Grams is telling me I'm psychic." Bonnie told us. "Our ancestors were from Salem, witches and all that, I know, crazy, but she's going on and on about it, and I'm like, put this woman in a home already! But then I started thinking, I predicted Obama and I predicted Heath Ledger, and I still think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands. . .Elena! Back in the car."
"I did it again, didn't I? I-I'm sorry, Bonnie. You were telling me that. . ." Elena said, pretending like she had been listening.
"That she's psychic now." I told her.
"Right. Ok, then predict something. About us." Elena said, motioning to both her and me.
"I see. . ." Bonnie was interrupted when a crow hit the car making us swerve and scream a little. "What was that?! Oh, my god! Elena, Chloe, are you OK?" she asked us.
"It's OK. I'm fine. You?" Elena asked me.
"I'm good." I told them before looking out the window for the crow.
"It was like a bird or something. It came out of nowhere." Bonnie told us.
"Really, we can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of our lives." Elena told her.
"Yeah, Bon. Cars are kinda a world wide thing and being scared of them would be kinda stupid." I told her. I hadn't been freaked out by cars after the accident, only Elena had and she never understood that.
"I predict this year is going to be kick ass. And I predict all the sad and dark times are over and you two are going to be beyond happy." she told us before driving off. I looked behind us and saw the crow on top of a sign.
We drove up to the school and I noticed a new face, a new hot face, walking inside. I walked with Bonnie and Elena to our lockers, checking out the guys as we went.
"Major lack of male real estate." Bonnie said, and I had to agree. Although that new guy is new to the markets. He'd do. "Look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beech. She looks like a hot — can I still say "tranny mess"?"
"No, that's over." I told her as she opened her locker.
"Ahh, find a man, coin a phrase." she said.
"It's a busy year." I told her and we laughed. I turned and saw Elena staring at Matt Donovan, our friend and her ex boyfriend. She waved at him but he ignored her.
"He hates me." Elena said to us with a sigh at the end.
"That's not hate. That's "you dumped me, but I'm too cool to show it, but secretly I'm listening to Air Supply's greatest hits."" Bonnie told her with a smile. I smiled as Caroline approached us and gave Elena and I each a hug.
"Chloe. Elena. Oh, my god." she said. "How are you guys? Oh, it's so good to see you two. How are they? Are they good?" she asked Bonnie.
"Caroline, we're right here. And we're fine. Thank you." Elena said making me have to contain my anger.
"Really?" Care asked looking at me. She knew me well.
"Yes, Care. We're alright." I told her with a tight smile.
"Oh, you poor things." she told us hugging us again.
"Ok, Caroline." I said getting annoyed.
"Oh!" Care said backing away from us. "Ok, see you guys later?" she said walking away to get the latest gossip for herself and me. Even if I wasn't her friend, I'd have her around for a good sniffer dog.
"Ok! Bye!" Bonnie called after her.
"No comment." Elena said laughing.
"I'm not going to say anything." I said as we walked away from Bonnie's locker.
"Don't take more than two in a six-hour window." Jeremy told his crush, Vicki Donovan, as he gave her pills. She took them all and they shared a brief look.
"Hey, Vicki. I knew I'd find you here with the crackheads." Tyler Lockwood, Vicki's boyfriend said walking up to her and Jeremy.
"Hey." Vicki said giving him a hug but looking at Jeremy.
"Hey, Pete Wentz called. He wants his nail polish back." Tyler said taking the joint from Jeremy.
"Pete Wentz, huh? How old school T.R.L. of you. Carson Daley fan?" Jeremy asked him sarcastically. Tyler got mad and went to hit him but Vicki held him back.
"Oh, Ty, be nice. That's Elena and Chloe's little brother." Vicki reminded him.
"I know who he is. I'll still kick his ass." Tyler told her before kissing her. He had seen Jeremy plenty of times when he used to date Chloe.
"Hold up. Who's this?" Bonnie asked, stopping outside of the office. We looked inside and saw the new student I'd seen earlier.
"All I see is back." Elena said.
"It's a hot back." Bonnie said.
"Front's not bad either." I told them.
"When did you see him?" Bonnie asked me.
"When we arrived." I told her.
"Your records are incomplete." I heard the secretary say. "You're missing immunization records, and we do insist on transcripts."
"Please look again." The new student said to the Secretary, taking off his sun glasses. "I'm sure everything you need is there." she stared at him for a moment before looking down at the paperwork.
"Well, you're right. So it is." she told him with a smile.
"I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar." Bonnie said making us laugh.
"You're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?" Elena asked her.
"Pretty much." Bonnie said smiling.
"Jeremy, good batch, man." I turned and watched my brother go into the bathroom.
"We'll be right back. Elena come with me." I told her walking towards where Jeremy had gone with my twin at my back.
"What are you going to do now?" Elena asked me.
"Please be hot." Bonnie said staring at the new student's hot back. I walked into the bathroom with Elena behind me making the boy coming out of the stall freak out.
"Whoa! Pants down, chick!" he said.
"Leave, now." I ordered and he quickly left. I walked to my brother and grabbed his face, looking into his eyes.
"Great. It's the first day of school and you're stoned." I said.
"No, I'm not." he lied to me and I gave him a look making sure he knew I didn't believe him.
"When did you start doing drugs?" Elena asked him and I rolled my eyes.
"Where is it? Is it on you?" I asked him going through his pockets.
"Stop, all right?! You need to chill yourself, all right?" he asked me and I gave him another look.
"Chill myself? What is that, stoner talk? Dude, you are so cool." I said sarcastically as I continued trying to search him.
"Chloe, just leave him alone!" Elena said pulling me from him.
"No Elena! I will not have him going down this road and end up killing himself." I told her.
"Look, stop fighting!" Jeremy told us. "I don't have anything on me. Are you crazy?"
"You haven't seen crazy, Jeremy!" I almost yelled at him. "I'm not watching you destroy yourself. No, no, no, you know what? Go ahead. Keep it up. But just know that I am going to be there to ruin your buzz each and every time just as I have all summer, you got it?" I asked him and he looked away from me. I heard one of the toilets flush and looked to see a boy walking out.
"Leave. Now!" I almost yelled at him and he ran out of the bathroom.
"Jeremy, we know who you are. And it's not this person. So don't be this person." Elena begged him and I rolled my eyes at her. Why was I always the bad twin and her the good?
"I don't need this." Jeremy said pushing past us and out of the bathroom.
Bonnie was still outside the school office watching the new student.
"Thank you." he said to the secretary.
"You're welcome." she said as he turned and left. As he walked down the hallway he caught the eyes of Caroline, who now knew she had to find out everything about him.
"You need to start paying more attention to the people around you, Elena." I told her and her mouth fell open shocked by my words.
"What does that mean?" she asked me angrily.
"Meaning wake up. We don't have much family left and if you don't help me with Jeremy, we might just lose him forever." I told her. She opened her mouth to say something but left the bathroom instead. I sighed and followed her out, bumping into the new guy.
"Uh, pardon me. Um. . .is this the men's room?" he asked looking from the door to us.
"Yes. Um, I was just, Um—I was just—It's a long story. . . ." she told him, laughing lightly. She went to pass him but as he tried to move for her to pass they moved together in the same direction. They laughed lightly before he moved to allow her past. "Thank you." He watched her as she walked away, turning to look at him before turning a corner.
"Once our home state of Virginia joined confederacy in 1861, it created a tremendous amount of tension within the state. People in Virginia's northwest region had different ideals than those from the traditional deep south. Then Virginia divided in 1863 with the northwest region joining the union." Mr. Tanner told us in our first history class of the year as we all took notes. I turned to look behind me to see Elena and the new student exchanging looks. I watched Bonnie smile and take out her phone and send a text to someone. I watched as Elena look down at her phone before smiling and looking back to the front. I looked back at my notes and sighed. I was so annoyed with her flirting.
After school Elena walked to the cemetery to write in her journal close to her parents grave like she had been since they were buried.
Dear diary, I made it through the day. I must have said, "I'm fine, thanks," at least thirty-seven times. And I didn't mean it once. But no one noticed. When someone asks, "How are you?" They really don't want an answer.
As she wrote a crow suddenly appeared on her parents grave stone, making her jump. She stared at it for a moment before going back to her writing. The crow cawed at her and she sighed, looking up at it.
"Ok. Hi, bird." She said. The crow just stared at her. "That's not creepy or anything." She said, turning back to her writing. Suddenly she saw fog rolling in quickly. She put her journal down and stood up staring down at her feet for a moment before looking back up at the bird. "Shoo!" She yelled waving her hand at the bird, making it fly away. "That's what I thought." She turned back to her spot on the ground and jumped seeing the crow again. She slowly reached down and grabbed her bag, forgetting her journal, and started to walk out of the cemetery as the fog thickened. She turned and saw a man standing behind a tomb. She stared at him until he disappeared and she started to run the other way. Elena tripped and fell, rolling on the ground slightly. She got up and turned to see the new student, Stefan she learned from one of her classes, behind her.
"You ok?" he asked her.
"Were you following me?" She asked him, pointing behind her.
"No, I-a, uh, I-a just — I saw you fall." He told her.
"Uh-huh, and you just happened to be hanging out in a cemetery." She said, suspicion heavy in her voice.
"I'm visiting. I have family here." He told her and a look of realization came to her face.
"Oh. Wow. Tactless. I'm sorry. It's the fog, It's making me foggy. And then back there, there was this - this bird, and it was all very Hitchcock for a second. That is the bird movie, right, the Hitchcock? . . ." she asked before laughing, realizing she was rambling. "I'm Elena."
"I'm Stefan." He introduced.
"I know. We have History together." She said with a smile.
"And English and French." He reminded her.
"Right." She said before he pulled a leaf out of her hair. "Thanks. . . Nice ring."
"Oh. Um, It's a family ring, yeah. I'm kinda stuck with it. It's weird, huh?" he asked her.
"No, no. It's just, I mean, there are rings and then there's that." She said looking at it. Silence fell between them for a moment before he made a confused face.
"Did you hurt yourself?" he suddenly asked her.
"Hmm?" she asked.
"Did you hurt yourself?" he repeated.
"Oh, uh, I don't know." She said. Elena put her leg on a ledge and pulled up her pant leg and they saw a cut gushing blood. "Oh! Would you look at that. That is not pretty." She said. Stefan turned his face away from her as his eyes began to turn red and black veins were pulsing under his eyes. "Are you ok?" she asked when she noticed he was looking away from her.
"You should go. Take care of that." Stefan told her and she turned back to her leg, pulling her pant leg down.
"Really, it's nothing." She said turning back to him to see him gone.
I walked through the woods alone after school had ended. This was the only place I could really be alone with my thoughts. At home I had Jeremy, Elena and Aunt Jenna all hovering and talking about their own problems. If I went to the cemetery people would think I hadn't moved on from my parents death. That really didn't leave me many choices. As I walked I didn't notice the fog rolling in around me until it was at my knees and covering the forest floor like a blanket. I turned to go back gasping in surprise and shock at a man standing behind me.
"God! What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked him, putting my hand on my chest and taking deep breaths.
"Sorry. I saw you walking alone. This is a dangerous area you know." He told me. I laughed sharply before looking up at him for the first time. He had black hair and the bluest eyes I had ever seen.
"Haven't you heard? Nowhere is safe anymore." I said smirking up at him. He smirked down at me and nodded once.
"Touche. So what are you doing out here?" he asked me.
"Why? Are you going to stalk me until I tell you?" I asked him, flirting a little.
"And if I do? What are you going to do about it?" he asked me and I flashed him a smile.
"Who says I'll do anything?" I asked him.
"Most would." He said.
"I'm not most." I said, walking by him. As I walked past him I rubbed my hand against his and he grabbed mine, turning me back to him.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were flirting with me." He said.
"It's a good thing you know better then." I told him. "What's your name?" I asked him.
"Damon." He introduced. "And yours?"
"Now why would I tell you that?" I asked him.
""It's polite." He told me.
"Who says I'm polite?" I asked him, pulling my hand from his. "Goodbye Damon. I'll see you around." I said walking away from him.
"Give me a name." he called back to me and I smirked before turning back to him.
"Chloe."
Stefan was sitting in his room at the Salvatore Boarding House writing in his journal, Elena's green one sitting next to him.
I lost control today. Everything I've kept buried inside came rushing to the surface. I'm simply not able to resist her.
Jeremy walked over to Vicki in the Grill during her shift, hoping to talk to her.
"Hey Vick." He said with a smile.
"Working." She told him walking to her brother and boyfriends table with her brother's food.
"Thanks, Vick." Matt said but she turned her back on him and faced Tyler.
"Do you need another refill?" she asked him.
"I'd love one." He told her. She smiled and left the table with his cup.
"Please tell me you're not hooking up with my sister." Matt asked his friend.
"I'm not hooking up with your sister." Tyler lied to him, but Matt could see right through him.
"You're such a dick." Matt told him. Meanwhile, with Jeremy finally caught up with Vicki as she got Tyler his drink.
"Hey, what's your deal? I mean, summer you act one way and then school starts and you can't be bothered." He said to her.
"Look, Jeremy, I really appreciate all the pharmaceuticals, but you can't keep following me around like a lost puppy." Vicki told him.
"When's the last time you had sex with a puppy?" he asked her.
"Hey, keep it down." She said before looking around to make sure no one had heard him. "I don't want to tell the whole world I deflowered Elena and Chloe's kid brother."
"Yeah, and deflowered and deflowered." He reminded her.
"We hooked up a few times in a drug haze. It's over. You gotta back off before you ruin things between me and Tyler." She told him.
"Oh, come on, the guy's a total douche. He only wants you for your ass." Jeremy told her.
"Yeah? What do you want me for?" Vicki asked walking away him. In another part of the Grill Caroline, Bonnie and I walked in, talking about the mysterious new student.
"His name is Stefan Salvatore. He lives with uncle up at the old Salvatore boarding house. He hasn't lived here since he was a kid. Military family, so they moved around a lot. He's a Gemini, and his favorite color is blue." Caroline informed us.
"You got all of that in one day?" Bonnie asked her.
"Oh, please, I got all that between third and fourth period. We're planning a June wedding." Caroline said.
"I'd go for a winter wedding. White and blue would be perfect." I said smiling at her.
"You're right." Care agreed as she went to the bar to order a drink.
"I'm meeting Bonnie at the grill." Elena said at the Gilbert House walking past Aunt Jenna.
"Ok, have fun. Wait, I got this. Don't stay out late, it's a school night." Jenna told Elena, making the teen smile.
"Well done, Aunt Jenna." Elena said opening the door to see Stefan. "Oh."
"Sorry, I was about to knock. I wanted to apologize for my disappearing act earlier. I know it was . . . strange." Stefan said to her.
"No worries. I get it, blood makes you squeamish." Elena said, remembering his reaction to her leg.
"Um, something like that. How's your leg?" he asked her.
"Oh, it's fine. Just a scratch, barely. How did you know where I lived?" she asked him.
"It's a small town. I asked the first person I saw. Um, I thought you might want this back." He told her, handing her the green journal she'd left in the cemetery.
"Oh, I must have dropped it. I-thank you." She said, holding her treasured book.
"Don't worry, I didn't . . . read it." He assured her.
"No? Why not? Most people would have." She said.
"Well, I wouldn't want anyone to read mine." He said and she looked at him shocked.
"You keep a journal?" she asked him.
"Yeah, if I don't write it down, I forget it. Memories are too important." He told her, stunning her.
"Yeah. I'm just gonna. . .umm, you don't have to stay out there." She said backing away from the doorway to grab her jacket and put her journal away temporarily. He tried to walk in, looking at the doorway as he did.
"I'm fine." He called to her. "Sorry, were you going somewhere?" he asked her once she walked back to the doorway.
"Yeah, I'm meeting a friend. Do you want to come?" she asked him.
"How's Elena doing?" Matt asked me and Bonnie at the Grill.
"Our mom and dad died. How do you think? She's putting on a good face, but it's only been four months." I reminded him.
"Has she said anything about me?" he asked me.
"Oh, no. So not getting in the middle." Bonnie told me.
"Why don't you pick up the phone and call her?" I asked him.
"I feel weird calling her. She broke up with me." He told me and I shook my head at him.
"Give it more time, Matt." Bonnie said comforting him. I looked at the entryway to see Elena walking in with Stefan.
"Or not." I whispered.
"More time, huh?" Matt asked before walking over to them.
"Hey, I'm Matt, nice to meet you." He introduced himself.
"Hi. Stefan." Stefan introduced.
"Hey." Elena greeted.
"Hey." He said walking away from them.
"So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline asked Stefan as we all sat around a table.
"Mm-Hmm. And moved when I was still young." Stefan told her.
"Parents?" Bonnie asked.
"My parents passed away." He told us and a silence past through us. I looked to see Care looking at me and Bonnie looking at Elena.
"I'm sorry." Elena said to him.
"Any siblings?" I asked him.
"None that I talk to." He told me. Not a definite no. "I live with my uncle."
"So, Stefan," Care asked, pulling the attention back to her. "If you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow."
"It's a back to school thing at the falls." Bonnie told him.
"Are you going?" Stefan asked looking at Elena.
"Of course she is." Bonnie said, smiling at Elena. Elena gave her a look before smiling at him.
Later that night, Stefan was writing in his journal again when Zach walked into his room.
"You promised." Zach said angrily showing Stefan a newspaper article of Brooke and Darren being found dead.
"This was an animal attack." Stefan said handing the paper back to him.
"Don't give me that. I know the game. You tear them up enough, they always suspect an animal attack. You said you had it under control." Zack said to him.
"And I do." Stefan told him.
"Please, Uncle Stefan." Zack begged him. "Mystic Falls is a different place now. It's been quiet for years, but there are people who still remember. And you being here, it's just going to stir things up."
"It's not my intention." Stefan told him.
"Then what is? Why did you come back? After all this time, why now?" Zack asked him.
"I don't have to explain myself." Stefan told him firmly.
"I know that you can't change what you are. But you don't belong here anymore." Zach told him softly.
"Where do I belong?" Stefan asked him.
"I can't tell you what to do. But coming back here was a mistake." Zach said walking out the door. Stefan walked over to a cupboard and inside were journals with years written on them. He pulled out a very old one and opened it to reveal two old photos of Elena and Chloe. They were dressed in clothes that were popular back then with their hair curled. Elena's hair was half up with curls cascading down her back. Chloe had all her hair down, framing her face. At the bottom of the photos were two names and a date. Katherine. Anna. 1864.
"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls." Mr. Tenner told us the next day in history class. "How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms. Bennett?"
"Um . . . a lot? I'm not sure. Like a whole lot." Bonnie told him, making me smile.
"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett." Mr. Tanner told her before turning to another student. "Mr. Donovan? Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"
"It's ok, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it." Matt told him and we all laughed.
"Hmm. Elena? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?" Mr. Tanner asked her.
"I'm sorry, I-I don't know." She told him.
"Chloe? Surely you pay attention." He said to me.
"I would know if you told us." I told him with a smirk and I could see the anger on his face at none of us knowing the answer.
"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena. But the personal excuses ended with summer break." He said looking between my sister and myself.
"There were 346 casualties. Unless you're counting local civilians." Stefan told him.
"That's correct. Mister. . .?" Mr. Tanner asked for his name.
"Salvatore." Stefan told him.
"Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?" Mr. Tanner asked him.
"Distant." Stefan said.
"Well, very good. Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle." Mr. Tanner told Stefan.
"Actually, there were 27, sir. Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founder's archives are, uh, stored in civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts. Mr. Tanner." Stefan said to Mr. Tanner making a ripple of laughter go through the class.
"Hmm." Mr. Tanner said, looking at him.
That night, we were all at the bonfire party having a good time. Stefan arrived and started using his super hearing to track down Elena.
"Just admit it, Elena." Bonne told her.
"Oh, ok, so he's a little pretty." Elena told us.
"Oh, come one. He has that romance novel stare." I told her as Caroline walked up to Stefan.
"Hey! You made it!" she said happily.
"I did." He said with a smile.
"Well, let's get you a drink." She said, with a flirting smile.
"Well, I'm-" he started to say but she didn't let him finish.
"Oh, come on." She pulled him away as Bonnie, Elena and I continued talking.
"So where is he?" Bonnie asked looking around for him.
"I don't know. You tell me, you're the psychic one." Elena told her.
"Right, I forgot. Ok, so give me a sec. Grams says I have to concentrate." Bonnie told us.
"Wait, you need a crystal ball." I said looking around. I found a beer bottle and held it out to her. She grabbed it and my hand and spaced out for a moment before coming back to her senses, and abruptly pulling her hand away from me.
"What?" I asked her.
"That was weird. When I touched you, I saw a crow." She told me and I remembered the crow from this morning.
"What?" I asked her.
"A crow. There was fog, a man." She told me. "I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it. Yeah? Ok, I'm gonna get a refill." She quickly left us and I stared at where she had been.
"Bonnie!" Elena called after her before sighing. I turned and jumped with Elena at the sight of Stefan.
"Hi." He greeted.
"Hi." Elena said with a smile.
"And that's my cue. Lovely to meet you Stefan. My name is Chloe, by the way." I said before walking away.
"I did it again, didn't it?" Stefan asked Elena.
"Yeah." Elena said, smiling at him.
"I'm sorry. You're upset about something." Stefan noticed.
"Oh, uh, no, it's- it's just Bonnie. She's... You know what? Never mind. You're . . . here." She said.
"I'm here." He said, smiling at her.
I walked to Caroline, Bonnie and Matt who were all standing by one of the many kegs.
"I would have thought you'd be trying to get your claws into Stefan by now." I said to my blonde friend as I got another drink.
"I've been trying but he wants nothing to do with me." She told me getting a drink. "I stopped him when he first got here but he gave me the slip."
"When has that ever stopped you?" I asked her and she smiled at me.
"Your right." She said smiling up at the bridge where Elena and Stefan were walking and talking.
"You know, you're kind of the talk of the town." Elena told Stefan as they walked on the bridge.
"Am I?" he asked her.
"Mm-Hmm. Mysterious new guy, oh, yeah." She said.
"Well, you have the mysterious thing going, too. Twinged in sadness." He told her.
"What makes you think that I'm sad?" she asked him.
"Well, we did meet in a graveyard." He reminded her making her laugh.
"Right. Well, no, technically we met in the men's room. You don't want to know, it's. . . .it's not exactly party chit-chat." She warned him.
"Well, I've never really been very good at, uh, chit-chat." He told her.
"Last spring. . my parents' car drove off of a bridge into the lake. And my sister and I were in the backseat and we survived, but. . .they didn't. So that's my story." She told him, looking down into her cup.
"You won't be sad forever, Elena." He told her and she smiled up at him.
Jeremy watched Vicki and Tyler all night as they talked and made out close to the fire. He had a front row seat as Tyler and Vicki walked away from the bonfire hand in hand into the woods. They started making out when Tyler pushed her into a tree and started to kiss down her neck.
"No, Ty. I'm not having sex against a tree." Vicki told him.
"Oh, come on, it would be hot." He told her.
"For who? No, it's not going to happen. It's not going to happen, not here, not like this." She told him, but he ignored her and continued trying to undress her. "No. I said no." she tried pushing him off, but he was too strong. "I said no! Ow, that hurts!"
"Hey, leave her alone!" Jeremy called out. He'd heard her yelling and ran to her rescue, pushing Tyler away from her.
"You know, you're starting to get on my nerves, Gilbert." Tyler told Jeremy.
"Just go, Tyler, get the hell away from me." Vicki yelled at him.
"Wow. Vicki Donovan says no. That's a first." Tyler said before leaving.
"I didn't need your help." Vicki said, rounding on Jeremy.
"It seems like you did." Jeremy told her.
"He was just drunk." Vicki defended.
"I'm drunk. Am I throwing myself at you?" he asked her.
"No, you're worse. You want to talk to me, get to know me, see into my soul and screw and screw and screw until you're done with me." Vicki told him.
"Is that what you think?" Jeremy asked her, hurt lining his words.
"That's what I know." She said walking away from him.
"I like Bonnie, she seems like a good friend." Stefan said noticing Bonnie, Caroline, Matt and me next to a keg.
"Best friend in the world." Elena said smiling.
"I would think that title would be reserved for your sister." He told her.
"Chloe, pretty much hates me. Especially after our parents died." Elena told him.
"I don't believe she hates you." He told her.
"You'd be the only one." She said.
"And Matt, he can't seem to, uh, take his eyes off of us." Stefan told her, motioning to where we were.
"Matt's that friend since childhood that you start dating because you owe it to yourselves to see if you can be more." Elena told him.
"And?" Stefan asked.
"And then my parents died, and everything changes. Anyway, Matt and I, together we just, I don't know, it wasn't, um. . .it wasn't. . ." Elena struggled to find the right word.
"Passionate?" Stefan offered her.
"No. No, it wasn't passionate. . ." she told him. Suddenly she watched as his eyes started to turn red. "Hey, um, are you ok? Um, Your eye, it just, it's-"
"Oh, um... Yeah, no. It's, um, it's nothing." He said rubbing his eyes. "Um, are you thirsty? I'm gonna get us a drink." He then walked away from her, leaving her alone on the bridge.
As Vicki walked alone in the woods she looked around when she heard something strange.
"Jeremy? Is that you? . . . Jeremy?" she called to him. She looked around worried as fog descended around her. She started to walk away when something pulled her back and bit her.
Elena was walking around alone at the party, looking for Stefan when Matt showed up.
"Looking for someone?" Matt asked her.
"Hey." Elena greeted.
"When you broke up with me, you said it was because you needed some time alone. You don't look so alone to me." Matt told her.
"Matt, you don't understand. It's-" Elena tried explaining to him, but he stopped her.
"That's ok, Elena. You do what you have to do. I just want to let you know that. . .I still believe in us. And I'm not giving up on that." He told her.
"Matt. . ." Elena tried again as he walked away from her.
I watched as Stefan was walking back to Elena before stopping and concentrating hard, as though he was listening to something only he could hear. I pushed Caroline him, encouraging her to try again.
"Hey! There you are. Have you been down to the falls yet? Because they are really cool at night. And I can show you. If you want." She offered.
"I think you've had too much to drink." Stefan told her and she started giggling.
"Well, of course I have. So—" she tried again, but he stopped her.
"Caroline. You and me, it's not gonna happen. Sorry." Stefan said stepping around her and going to my sister.
"Are you alright?" I asked Caroline as she stood, frozen to her spot.
"I was wondering who abducted you, but now I know." I heard Elena say
"Is she like that with, uh, all the guys?" Stefan asked her.
"No. You're fresh meat. She'll back off eventually." She told him. Behind her I saw Jeremy walking into the woods and sighed before walking past them.
"You gotta be kidding me!" I mumbled to myself.
"What is it?" Stefan asked me and I turned to him and Elena.
"Our brother." I told him in two simple words and Elena sighed.
"The drunk one?" Stefan asked.
"That would be the one. Excuse us." Elena said as we walked away.
"Need some help?" Stefan offered.
"Trust me, you're not going to want to witness this. Jeremy! Jeremy!" Elena called as we followed him.
"Jeremy, where the hell are you going?" I asked him as we walked in the woods behind him.
"I don't want to hear it!" he told me.
"Yeah, well, too bad!" I told him. He suddenly tripped and fell.
"Vicki?" he asked and we rushed to him. "No! Oh, my god, it's Vicki!"
"Oh, my god!" Elena said as we looked down at her in shock. Her neck was covered in blood.
"No!" he yelled when she suddenly gasped, getting in as much air as she could. Jeremy picked her up and the three of us rushed back to the party.
"Somebody help!" Elena called out, getting everyone's attention.
"Vicki? Vicki, what the hell?!" Matt asked as he and Tyler rushed to us.
"What happened to her?" Tyler asked.
"Somebody, call an ambulance!" Matt called out.
"Everybody back up, give her some space!" Tyler ordered.
"It's her neck. Something bit her." I said.
"She's losing a lot of blood." Elena added.
"Put this on her neck." A boy said giving me something.
"Thanks." I said to him, pushing the cloth onto her neck.
"Vicki, Vicki, come on, open your eyes, look at me." Matt begged her. He looked up and saw Stefan take off, running from the bonfire.
Stefan ran into the Boarding House, where Zach was sitting.
"What's going on?" Zach asked him.
"Someone else was attacked tonight, Zach, and it wasn't me." Stefan said walking into his bedroom where a crow appeared.
"Damon." Stefan said turning to the balcony.
"Hello, brother." Damon greeted, smirking.
"Crow's a bit much, don't you think?" Stefan asked him.
"Wait till you see what I can do with the fog." Damon told him.
"When'd you get here?" Stefan asked him.
"Well, I couldn't miss your first day at school. Your hair's different. I like it." Damon told his little brother.
"It's been 15 years, Damon." Stefan reminded him.
"Thank God. I couldn't take another day of the nineties. That horrible grunge look? Did not suit you. Remember, Stefan, it's important to stay away from fads." Damon told him, his smirk still on his lips.
"Why are you here?" Stefan asked his older brother.
"I miss my little brother." Damon told him.
"You hate small towns. It's boring. There's nothing for you to do." Stefan said, remembering his words from long ago.
"I've managed to keep myself busy." Damon told him vaguely.
"You know, you left that girl alive tonight. That's very clumsy of you." Stefan told him.
"Ah. That can be a problem. . .for you." Damon told him.
"Why are you here now?" Stefan asked him.
"I could ask you the same question. However, I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all into two little words. . .Chloe and Elena." Damon said, his smirk growing.
The ambulance finally arrived and took Matt and Vicki off to the hospital.
"Hey. We're gonna go to Mainline Coffee, wait for news." Bonnie told us, motioning to her and Caroline.
"We gotta take Jeremy home." Elena told her and she nodded.
"Elena, Chloe, there's no way I'm psychic. I know that. But whatever I saw, or I think I saw, I have this feeling..." Bonnie stopped talking, fear settling into her gut.
"What is it Bonnie?" I asked her.
"That it's just the beginning." She told us.
"She took my breath away. Chloe. She's a dead ringer for Anna. Is it working, Stefan? Being around Elena, being in her world? Does it make you feel alive?" Damon asked him.
"She's not Anna and Elena isn't Katherine." Stefan told him.
"Well, let's hope not. We both know how that ended. Tell me something, when's the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?" Damon asked him.
"I know what you're doing, Damon. It's not gonna work." Stefan told him.
"Yeah? Come on. Don't you crave a little?" Damon asked him, hitting him forcing Stefan to be pushed back.
"Stop it." Stefan told him.
"Let's do it. Together. I saw a couple girls out there. Or just, let's just cut to the chase, let's just go straight for Chloe and Elena." Damon said.
"Stop it!" Stefan roared.
"Imagine what their blood tastes like!" Damon told him and Stefan looked away from him as his face fully transformed. Eyes red, black veins under his eyes and fangs protruding from his mouth. "I can."
"I said stop!" Stefan yelled turning to Damon and rushing him, throwing them both out of the window. But when he collided with the pavement, Damon wasn't there.
"I was impressed." Damon told him, standing not to far away. "I give it a six. Missing style, but I was pleasantly surprised. Very good with the whole face thing. It was good."
"You know, it's all fun and games, Damon, huh? But wherever you go, people die." Stefan told him.
"That's a given." Damon reminded him.
"Not here. I won't allow it." Stefan said.
"I take that as an invitation." Damon told him.
"Damon, please. After all these years, can't we just give it a rest?" Stefan begged him.
"I promised you an eternity of misery, so I'm just keeping my word." Damon reminded him.
"Just stay away from Chloe." Stefan told him, knowing he'd go after her before Elena.
"Where's your ring?" Damon asked him and Stefan immediately looked down at his hand to see his ring gone. Stefan slowly looked up at Damon, realizing what was going to happen. "Oh, yeah, sun's coming up in a couple of hours, and, poof, ashes to ashes. Relax. It's right here." Damon said showing him the ring and holding it out to him. When Stefan put his ring back on Damon grabbed him by the throat and threw him against the garage. "You should know better than to think you're stronger than me. You lost that fight when you stopped feeding on people. I wouldn't try it again." Damon listened to something for a moment. "I think we woke Zach up." He said walking to the house as Zach walked out of the house. "Sorry, Zach."
Back at the bonfire I sat next to Jeremy as he drank a beer as Elena walked up to us.
"You ok?" she asked and I gave her a look. "I called Jenna, she's on her way." We didn't say anything to her. "Those people in uniforms, last time I checked, they're the police." Elena told Jer. He finished the bottle and threw it on the ground. "People are going to stop giving you breaks, Jer. They just don't care anymore. They don't remember that our parents are dead, because they've got their own lives to deal with. The rest of the world has moved on. You should try, too."
"I've seen you in the cemetery writing in your diary. Is that-is that supposed to be you moving on?" he asked her.
"Mom and Dad wouldn't have wanted this." Elena told us.
"Then what would they have wanted?" I asked her. "Go on, tell us. If you are such an expert on them, tell us what they would want."
"They would want us to get along." She told me.
"That's never going to happen." I told her.
"Are you sober yet?" Bonnie asked Caroline at the Grill as they drank their coffee.
"No." Caroline told her after a moment.
"Keep drinking. I gotta get you home. I gotta get me home." Bonnie reminded her.
"Why didn't he go for me? You know, how come the guys that I want never want me?" she asked Bonnie.
"I'm not touching that." Bonnie told her.
"I'm inappropriate. I always say the wrong thing. And . . . Elena always says the right thing. She doesn't even try! And he just picks her. And she's always the one that everyone picks, for everything. And I try so hard, and . . . I'm never the one." Caroline said, looking back her life the best she could in her drunken haze.
"It's not a competition, Caroline." Bonnie told her.
"Yeah, it is." Care told her.
Matt was sitting at the hospital with Vicki. When she woke up, he gave a sigh of relief.
"Vicki. . .Hey. Hey, it's ok. You're gonna be ok." Matt reassured her.
"Matt-" Vicki tried talking but Matt wouldn't let her.
"Hey, don't try to talk, ok? You're fine." Matt told her.
"Vampire."
I sat at my window looking out to the stars, wishing I could see them closer.
Dear diary, I couldn't have been more wrong. I thought that I could smile, nod my way through it; pretend like it would all be ok.
I had a plan. I wanted to change who I was; create a life as someone new, someone without the past.
Without the pain.
Someone alive.
But it's not that easy. The bad things stay with you.
They follow you.
Caroline sat alone at a table at the Grill and looked up to see Damon looking at her.
You can't escape them, as much as you want to.
Damon smiled at Caroline and she returned it.
All you can do is be ready for the good. So when it comes, you invite it in, because you need it. I need it.
I looked down and saw Stefan and sent him a small wave, but he wasn't here for me. He was here for Elena. Everyone was.
Elena stopped writing in her journal and walked downstairs to the door and opened it.
"I know it's late. But, uh. . .I needed to know that you were ok." Stefan told her.
"You know, for months, that's all anyone's wondered about me. If I'll be ok." Elena told him.
"What do you tell them?" he asked her.
"That I'll be fine." She told him.
"Do you ever mean it?" he asked her.
"Ask me tomorrow. It's warmer in the house. We can talk. Would you like to come in?" she asked, moving so he could walk inside if he wanted to.
"Yes." He said smiling before walking into the house.
I was always second choice compared to her and I don't know how long I'll be able to handle playing second fiddle.