Prologue:

A pretty 12 year old girl was sitting in the living room reading a magazine, waiting for her mother to get off the phone. Today was actually her 12th birthday, she and her mom were going to do some shopping to celebrate. Her father had walked out on them when she was five and her 24 year old brother , Christopher, was away at college, getting ready to graduate. She was sure that this day would be perfect.

Thirty minutes later her mom still wasn't ready so she decided to go upstairs and watch some TV. Only five minutes later, did she hear a crash and her mother screaming her name. "Arielle! RUN!" She was far too frightened to think… let alone run. Before she could stop herself, she was running down the stairs to check on her mom. When she got there a man with a mask was holding her mother at gunpoint. "Arielle! I said to run! Get out of here", her mother yelled. Arielle had to make up her mind fast. Run or fight and save her mother. When she made up her mind, she started running to the kitchen. She quickly went to the drawer and pulled out a large knife. Just when she went to turn around, she heard a gunshot.

Not even a moment later, she ran into the living room to see her mother on the ground with a gunshot wound in her chest. Before she knew what was happening, the same man came from behind her and threw her to the floor. She screamed as she went flying, not from pain but from fright, from despair, from the trauma. A second later she was on the floor with her attacker charging at her. Without realizing she brought her hands to cover her and found herself holding a knife. Only then did she remember she had a weapon. But before she could use it, she felt a fist come in contact with her face. After many punches and kicks, her attacker left her there and started to walk away. "NO!" she thought, "I WILL NOT LET HIM GET AWAY WITH THIS!" Running on pure anger and adrenaline, she lifted herself up and run at the man, swiftly plunging the knife in the man's back. Time seemed to slow as the man fell to the ground with a thud.

A few minutes went by and he still didn't move, it was then when Arielle decided; he was dead. She looked around and her eyes rested on her mother's body. She fell to her knees with tears running down her cheeks. She crawled over to her mother and shook her, trying to wake her. "Mom! Mom wake up! Please! Please wake up! PLEASE!" she fell to the floor, sobbing hysterically, cradling her mother's body in her arms. "I'm sorry." She kept whispering, "I'm sorry. This is all my fault." Still crying she lied her mother's body on the ground and walked over to the phone, quickly dialing 911. "Hello? Please help my house was just broken into….my mom she got shot….. she's not breathing please help! Please! Okay I'm at 85657 East Desert Drive. Please hurry!"

After nearly 25 minutes police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances arrived. The first thing the cops noticed was the door broken in and a small teenage girl sitting on the front steps. The cops gasped when they got close to her. Her hair was a messed, she was covered in blood, and she was completely bruised up and bleeding. The first police officer walked up to her slowly "What happened here miss?" It was several seconds before she answered. "My house… some guy broke in… please my mom… help my mom." She begged as she motioned them inside. They quickly went in and were horrified at what they saw. A woman bleeding on the floor… a man on the ground with a knife in his back… things broken everywhere… and blood all over the place. One officer quickly snapped out of his trance and called the paramedics in. "EMT! EMT! Needed!" he shouted. Quickly many more people came in with a stretcher and ran to her mother. While the officers went to the beat up girl. "Listen miss" he said gently, "We are going to need to know what happened here." He paused "What's your name?"

"Arielle" she said softly "Arielle Selipion"

After that everything went by in a haze. Her brother was contacted… shortly after they pronounced her mom dead. The police questioned her, she told them everything, and after they got the man's body and sent it to the coroner's office, they told her that she had to go to the police station. The entire ride there was silent and after more police questioned her, Arielle was silent. The other officers tried to ask her if she wanted anything to eat, if she was thirsty, if she needed something to do, but all she did was nod her head no. She didn't want anything to eat or drink or to do. All she wanted was her mother back. Soon the pain and sadness and anger over whelmed her and she did the only thing she could think to do. She cried.

6 years later

Arielle thought of that day as she drove down a road… the day that everything was taken away from her. Shortly after the the police questioned her there was trial… even though the man wasn't there. He may have been dead, but he was still a murderer. The trial ended with the man, Ryan Hopkins his name was, getting charged with murder and Arielle leaving to go live with her brother. She remembered how Christopher freaked out that day, partly because his mother was dead and partly because his sister had killed someone. It was then that he told her about the curse. How the werewolf gene ran in their family… and how she had activated it. After that was said Arielle couldn't breathe… she was actually going to be a werewolf. That month was her first transformation… her brother helped her through it and now she just had to chain herself up every month and pray to god that she didn't kill anyone. The transformations barely even hurt anymore.

She thought about how it took six years to convince her brother to let her go finish her senior year in high school somewhere else. She smiled as she thought that maybe she could finally be a somewhat normal girl…even if she was a werewolf. She laughed to herself as she thought about the fact that avenging her mother's death had brought this to herself. But that didn't matter. That was six years ago. Now she was eight teen. And ready to start over and start a new life. She was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts as she passed a large sign. She smiled to herself and whispered, "Welcome to Mystic Falls."