Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries – if you recognize anything, it does not belong to me.
Prologue – Burning in the Skies
I'm swimming in the smoke of bridges I have burned. – Linkin Park
DPOV
It's sunrise, yet again. Life, if you could call it that, is constantly changing around me. I watch every day as the humans around me laugh, and cry, and age. Things that I do not do. Things that I cannot do. And some days, I miss it. But it's futile to miss it, because the fact is that nothing can change what I am.
But sunrise is dependable. Amidst the ever-changing world, the sun will always rise. Some days you cannot see it. Some days the world looks dark and terrifying and horrible, which, in fact, it is – but the fact of the matter is that every day, without fault, the sun will rise. And that in itself is a glorious thing.
I watch the sun slowly creep up from the horizon and drench the earth with glowing light. As it hits my skin I'm reminded of how unnatural I am. That I should not need fear the sun, because I should not be a monster – but that I do not, because I have the power to conquer it. I twist the ring around my finger, reminded yet again of Katherine and Stefan, the combined efforts of whom made me what I am.
And I'm reminded that I will see them both again. Soon.