Chapter 1: The Return of the Salvatore Brothers

POV: Elena

Nobody knows this about me, but I'm not really Elena Gilbert, but not the Gilbert everyone thinks. I'm really a vampire, except, I'm not the people of Mystic Falls' version of a vampire. My body is in no way dead. I'm a little over one hundred and forty-five years old. My family were supposedly attacked and killed by vampires when I was seventeen, but when we were attacked, the vampire singled me out and just simply bit me and was about to change his mind when she appeared. Rosannah Elisabetta Alvarez. She was a pureborn vampire, a little over four hundred years older than me. When she came upon the scene, she quickly took off the vampire's head and helped me through the transition from human to vampire. She had arrived just a little too late to save the rest of my family, but that was okay; because if Rose had not killed that bastard, then I would have done it myself.

Ever since Rose and I have been the best of friends; she taught me everything about being a vampire. Neither one of us drink human blood and for that I'm thankful. Over the hundreds of years, my uncle's family, who wasn't living with us when we were attacked, knew that they were related to a vampire and tried to kill me. But they soon realized that I was not like the vampires that used to haunt their beloved town. I told them that I did not attack humans and they welcomed both me and Rose into their family as long as neither of us would attack humans. Which was fine with us, seeing as even the thought of drinking human blood repulsed the both of us.

Rose's story is even sadder than mine. She was born over five hundred and fifty years ago to vampire parents in Rome, Italy. They came to America five years before she met me. One night, a rival coven attacked her family, who never had any problems with the Alvarez's. They just didn't want another coven of vampires living nearby, even if they didn't drink human blood, like they did. They killed her father, mother, older brother, and twin little sisters. In her anger, she attacked the coven. Now you'd say that a lone vampire against a total of twenty two vampires? Well, as a pureborn, Rose had powers above and beyond the norm for vampires. Not to mention that all of the vampires in said rival coven were younger than her. For our kind, it doesn't matter what kind of blood you drink, the older you get the stronger you get. It didn't help that since she was born a witch, any powers she would have had as a pure blood would have been heightened. Like mind reading and compulsion.

In the one hundred and forty five years since I'd been turned, Rose had told me that I was free to go as I pleased, that I did not have to stay with her, but I did. When she saved me, she became family. I know that she feels the same about me because, even though I was turned, I also have powers above the norm. I can sense people's intentions, which most definitely can come in handy when a guy approaches me and tries to ask me or Rose for that matter out on a date, but is really trying to just get in our pants.

For the past year or so, Rose and I returned to Mystic Falls. My descendant and his wife asked me to return. Rose and I met with the secret society that knew the existence of vampires, but they also knew that we were not like the other vampires, the ones that Rose and I have called the Dead Ones, because their bodies are just that, dead. They asked us to help them protect the town's people against the Dead Ones, especially since we can walk in the sunlight and not have it hurt us, unlike the Dead Ones, and we agreed. Rose bought a house with enough room to hold an army, but I moved in with my uncle's descendant's family and their son, Jeremy. Jeremy knows everything and welcomed me with open arms as the sister that he never had.

Oh, I forgot to describe Rose, didn't I? Well, how can I describe her? She's tall and slender with long, waist length raspberry red curly hair and deep evergreen eyes that turned glowing blue when she was angry, or hungry for that matter. She's maybe at least half a head taller than me, without high heels. She's the typical cheerleader type, though she's not a total bitch. She's only a bitch when someone pisses her off, which only depends on if you hurt someone she cares about. She's loyal to a fault; she never gives up on anything, just like she didn't give up on me when I was begging her to kill me while I was turning. She never uses her powers unless she has to, which isn't often.

For the past year since we moved back, we've made two best friends, Bonnie and Caroline. Both cheerleaders and they both roped us into becoming ones ourselves. What can I say, Caroline can be very persuasive when she wants to be. And then I met Matt Donovan, who eventually became my boyfriend. Another good thing about Rose: she doesn't try to interfere with my life. She tells me that it's my life and that I have to live it in the way that I see fit. However, I soon found out that Matt wasn't the one for me and we broke up, much to his chagrin because as Rose told me, he'd already fallen in love with me. Not too long after that, another coven of vampires of our kind, human blood drinkers this time, showed up in town. We tried to protect our friends, but they attacked Caroline and Bonnie, turning them into vampires as well. Their families weren't happy about it, but Rose was able to keep the peace when she promised that she would help them, the way that she helped me. So now we have a coven of four, Rose, Caroline, Bonnie, and me, with Rose as our leader, seeing as she's the oldest and most powerful.

We all look after each other the way a real family would. Until Rose and Bonnie, who was also a witch, started seeing visions of carnage and death. Not wanting to frighten the council, we didn't tell them that something bad was about to happen. And it did. A group of vampires from up north came and attacked Jeremy's parents, leaving him an orphan and making it look like an accident, but Rose and I knew the truth. As revenge, Rose and I went after the coven and though they were newborns, we destroyed them. Jeremy's Aunt Jenna, his mother's sister, came back to live with him, and despite my offer to move in with Rose, she insisted that I was Jeremy's family and that I should stay, so I did.

It's time for school now and Rose's waiting with Caroline and Bonnie. I stood in the doorway of my house and looked into the mirror and uncovered to four marks on my neck, showing that I was a turned vampire. Rose didn't have these because she was a pureborn, she'd always been a vampire. I smiled at the thought of how everything, no matter how bad it is, can turn into something good. If I hadn't been bitten, then I wouldn't have had my most amazing friends. Rose honked the horn of her Ford Mustang Convertible. That car was her baby, she loved that thing. I quickly ran out to door, grabbing my things on my way out. The moment I was in the car, Rose said, "Geez, you're getting more and more like Caroline everyday."

"Hey! That's not a bad thing!" Caroline piped up. Rose just laughed and smiled as she drove to school. She wore her usual black leather jacket, a white t-shirt, and blue jeans with her sneakers. Caroline was as always impeccably dressed and Bonnie was just Bonnie. This was my family and I loved them to death. When Rose pulled into a parking spot, she stiffened.

"What's wrong, Rose?" I asked, knowing that if Rose was sensing something wrong, it had to be bad.

"It's nothing bad, Elena. We just have a new vamp around, but I don't think we have anything to fear from him." A new vamp? Nothing to fear from him? What was that supposed to mean?

"He doesn't want to attack humans, Elena. It seems he used to live here, believe it or not. He's harmless. It's the other one I'm worried about. There's another vampire on his way here, but he's nothing like the other one. We'll have to keep an eye out." Great, just what we needed. More vampires in Mystic Falls. After we got out of the car, I accidentally ran into someone, someone that I didn't recognize and realized that this must be the vampire that Rose was talking about in the car. I was about to catch myself from falling, but he grabbed my arm and steadied me. Turning to him, I said, "Thank you. Can't believe I'm such a klutz."

"It's all right. Are you okay?" Well, isn't he the right gentleman. You don't see that this often anymore.

"Yes, I'm alright. I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Elena." He smiled and replied, "I'm Stefan." Wait, as in Stefan Salvatore? As in one of the brothers who used to live here when the town was founded?

The very same, Elena, he was turned and no one knew. They'd thought that they'd killed him and his brother, Damon. Rose was always the one who kept a cool head in a crisis. Thank god for her. If she wasn't keeping my emotions in control I wouldn't be able to keep my voice from cracking.

"It's nice to meet you," I told him as Rose came up beside me and asked, "You okay, Elena, you almost made a big fall there," though she knew I was fine physically, but emotionally? Not so much.

"I'm fine, Rose." She nodded and turned her attention to Stefan and said, "She's such a klutz that I don't know what she'd do if I wasn't around. I'm Rose Alvarez."

"Stefan." He didn't seem as interested in Rose as he was in me it seemed. I was saved from getting too excited when the bell rang and Rose said, "Ah, saved by the bell, huh?" I glared at her and she smirked. Sometimes I swear that I'm the older sister in this relationship. Rose chuckled and said, "Come on, Elena, we have to get to class. Tanner'll tan our hides if we're late again." I groaned. I hated Tanner. He thought that we were stupid and didn't know anything. Rose would have sorted him out ages ago, but she didn't want to bring attention to us.

"Oh, you have history first? That's cool. So do I." I looked at Rose who was smirking because of something and she whispered, "I do believe this is going to be good." She must have seen something. Stefan looked at her confused, but I knew that Rose was up to something. I knew Rose better than anyone in this school. Even Caroline and Bonnie. We've been together so long.

"Come on, Stefan, we'll show you the way," and like that Rose and I showed Stefan to our history class. Mr. Tanner took an obvious dislike towards Stefan who seemed to show him up on almost everything. I looked at Rose who was almost to the point of hysterics, but was able to keep it in. At least until the bell rang, and then she laughed out loud, turning towards Stefan, who was walking right next to her with me on her other side on the way to our next class, and said, " I have been waiting so long for someone to finally put Tanner in his place. You are officially my new best friend," which made him smile. I decided that I was going to get in on this and retorted, "I thought that I was your best friend," and fake pouted.

"Well, yeah, but you're my girl best friend. Stefan's my guy best friend." Stefan laughed out loud at Rose's antics. I rolled my eyes. I swear sometimes that she was six years old instead of five hundred and fifty.

"I see you girls get along."

"Well, Elena and I have known each other for half our lives, so you'll have to excuse us when we act like sisters." Boy, was that an understatement. If Stefan knew just how long Rose and I have known each other, he wouldn't be standing here for much longer.

"Yeah, we're basically sisters. Finishing each other's sentences and all that," I added, giggling quietly.

"I thought we stopped doing that years ago. What? Have we started up again without me noticing?" Ugh, Rose, sometimes you're so oblivious. She just smirked at me and started talking to Stefan, who talked to her just as animatedly, though at times I felt his eyes burning a hole through my head. I don't know how to feel about this. If it wasn't for this new threat that Rose saw coming, I would have had more time to think about it, but I was trying to focus on protecting the humans in this town. Bonnie, Caroline, Rose, and I met up after school with the other kids from school while Stefan just hung around. I was talking to Matt when Caroline sauntered up to Stefan and was trying to get him into her, but it wasn't working, much to my relief. I saw Jeremy and I followed after him, only to find Matt's sister, Vicki, lying on the ground, with a bite mark on her neck. Jeremy picked her up and carried her to where Matt was while I mentally yelled for Rose, but she already knew because Stefan had disappeared just after.

Rose, what do we do? I asked her mentally.

We have to find Stefan. We find Stefan, we find whoever did this. I didn't ask what that meant, but Caroline, Bonnie, and I followed her as she followed Stefan's scent, right up to his house. Rose knocked on his door and a man answered. He narrowed his eyes at us, except for Rose, and asked, "What can I help you girls with?"

"Drop the act, Zach, we know that Stefan's a vampire and it wasn't him who attacked anyone. But the one who did is here right now." Zach nodded and let us in. Unlike the Dead Ones, we don't need to be invited in order to come into someone's home. Zach led us up to Stefan's room, where we heard him talking to someone named Damon. It was then that I remembered that Stefan's older brother's name was Damon. It seemed as if they were fighting when Zach entered the room and said, "Now, gents, it's not polite to fight when we have company. Especially not in the company of ladies." And then we entered. I could tell by Stefan's face that he was surprised to see us here. I kept my eyes on Stefan's face while Rose went after the one named Damon. She backed him up and threw him against the wall, surprising both Stefan and Damon with her strength. She then pinned him to the floor, her arm against his neck. She stood up, but placed her foot where her arm had once been.

"Who are you?" Damon demanded, his eyes furious.

"Rose Elisabetta Alvarez, a very pissed off vampire," was all Rose said. Stefan's eyes widened as they met my own, but they were questioning as well. I nodded to confirm what Rose said.

"No way. There is no way that you are a vampire," Damon spat. Rose looked amused as she said, "Do you really think that I could throw you around like that if I was a lowly human, you Asshat?" Now I was amused. Only Rose would curse someone out when mad. She may be the only one who could keep a cool head when a member of her coven was in a crisis, but when she was pissed, hell hath no fury like Rose. Damon's eyes remained trained on her as her eyes went from green to glowing blue and she bared her fangs and hissed at him. His eyes, though blank, widened visually. She grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him against the wall and pinned him there with her arm.

"Now listen here, you Asshole, I don't care what your name is, or who you think you are, you mess with Stefan, you mess with me and I don't really think that you want to mess with me. Now, I think that you should go far away from here and leave him alone." While she said this, Stefan turned to me and asked, "Why is she so protective of me?" I looked at him and said, "Because as she said earlier, you are her new best friend. That makes you a member of our coven and therefore you are entitled to her protection." He looked surprised and before he could ask, I continued.

"Rose is over five hundred years old. She's the oldest of the five of us. That makes her the most powerful, so therefore she's the leader of our coven. I'm the next oldest, so that makes me the second in command in a way."

"Just how old are you?" he asked.

"Well, I was seventeen when I was turned, and that was a hundred and forty five years ago, so that would make me, a hundred and sixty two." Damn that does make me feel old. Rose told me that it would. His eyes widened again as he said, "So am I." I smirked and said, "I know. Rose told me." He looked skeptical so I told him, "Rose is a pureborn vampire. She was born this way. Because of that, she has powers above and beyond that of a normal, turned vampire, like me. She can hear people's thoughts." I laughed at the look on Stefan's face. He look absolutely flabbergasted. After a moment, we heard Damon say, "Who are you to threaten me? Nothing but a small, weak girl who doesn't know when to pick her battles." I saw Rose's eyes flash angrily. I, of all people, know that she hates begin called weak, because she isn't. She's one of the strongest people I know. Damon just sealed his fate.

Rose smirked slightly as she leaned into his ear and she whispered, "Just watch who you're talking to. It's not nice to patronize those who are older than you. You are nothing but a little boy who thinks he's a man."

"You are not older than me," Damon hissed, anger showing in his face. Rose's face was going pale. Her ability to sense emotions was taking its toll on her. Nobody but I knew how it affected her when someone was malicious. And it seemed that Damon was being very malicious. She got sick if someone was being overly malicious.

"Actually, Signore Salvatore, I am over five hundred years old; old enough to be your grandmother many times over." Even after hundreds of years of living in a foreign country, Rose's Italian accent was still as strong as the day she arrived here in this country. Damon's eyes widened as he said, "You're Italian?" Rose scowled, and hissed, "Geez, the only thing you got out of that was my accent? Good grief, I'm losing my touch," letting him fall to the ground. I laughed at her obvious displeasure at not being able to properly 'put the fear of god' into Damon.

"You are a demon," Rose hissed at him, baring her teeth. He just smirked and said, "I think I just met my match."

"Uh oh," I heard Stefan whispered under his breath. I turned to him and asked, "What?"

"Let's just say that Rose is in for one hell of a ride, especially with Damon following after her." I knew that Rose was not one to be pushed. She hated Damon already, just for messing with Stefan, who is now officially a member of our coven. If he started trying to get her to be his, which I suspect he might, she would go nuclear.

"Ew, I am not!" I heard Rose screech. "Oh, I am so out of here." And with that she was gone, out of the door with Caroline and Bonnie following after her. I laughed at the look on both Damon and Stefan's faces and said, "Well, I'd better go clean up the mess that your brother made. Oh, and by the way, Damon, I'd keep away from Rose, if you want to keep your head, both of them. She's been known to cut off both." I laughed at the surprised look on his face and followed after Rose and the others. When I got into Rose car, she was still growling and hissing, still pissed off with Damon, who was smirking at her from Stefan's window. She drove off, driving faster than she normally would.

"Okay, Rose, what bur is up your butt?" I asked. Just what was Damon thinking that set her off?

"He thinks that I'm his mate; as if I'd be a mate to that…that…that…demon!" In reaction, she sped up so fast that she was at Bonnie's house faster than what it would normally take. Bonnie got out of the car without a word, knowing that if she said anything, Rose would only get madder.

Oh, that. I didn't explain about the mating thing, did I? For us, we'll know when we meet the one we're supposed to be with for eternity. It'll just hit us, like a bolt of lightening from the sky. And then it hit me. Was Stefan my mate? I mean what with the way that I've been feeling about him since the moment I met him.

"He is, Elena. He is." There she was again; listening to my thoughts when she should still be angry. "I am, but I'm ignoring it for now. Especially since the Asshat is following my car."

I'd noticed that too; especially since he wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was following us. Caroline was soon dropped off at her house and soon, Rose pulled into her driveway and I got out of the car. I could basically walk home, especially since my house was right next door to hers. I walked up my porch, only to turn around to find Stefan behind me. I nearly jumped out of my skin in surprise.

"Jesus, Stefan! You scared the hell out of me!" He shrugged and said, "I need to talk to you." Now I was scared. What on earth could he want to talk to me about?

Elena, tell Stefan that if he hurts you in any way, I'll kill him. I should have known that Rose would hear that.

"Rose says that if you hurt me, she'll kill you."

"I thought that I was her best guy friend." I shook my head and said, "You are, but that doesn't mean she won't kick your butt for hurting me. Coven leader, remember?" He smiled slightly but then he turned serious.

"Elena, I'm not going to hurt you. I don't think that I could hurt you if I wanted to. I wanted to tell you that I…that I…"

"It's okay, Stefan, just get it out." Then Rose had her say.

Yeah, just tell her, you dumb ass!

"Was that Rose yelling at me like that?" He looked surprised. I'll have to explain it to him later.

"Yeah, it's a long story. I'll explain it later. Just tell me what you need to tell me, okay?"

"I just need to tell you that…that, well, that…I love you!" I stiffened slightly in shock. I had not expected that, because I felt the same. I know that I felt the same because I'd never felt this way about anyone, not even Matt. My eyes softened a little as I cupped his cheek. He smiled at me as he wrapped his arms around me, holding me close.

"I love you too."