Natalie Salvatore always felt like the odd one amongst her family. In her Italian family, she was the only girl, and felt entirely alone. Her mother had died when she was a baby, leaving her father, Giuseppe with her and her brothers, Damon and Stefan. She knew her father loved her, but also knew that it pained him to even look at her. She looked almost identical to her mother, and was like her in many other ways.

When the Salvatore family first arrived in Mystic Falls, Virginia, Natalie enjoyed it quite a lot. She didn't have any friends, but there were many beautiful sights and she ventured off quite a bit. Damon seemed to ignore her less since their arrival to their new home, but when he enlisted to serve in the Civil War, he was around less and less… He and Stefan had both turned their attention to a guest in their house, Katherine Pierce. Natalie could see that the boys were both completely smitten, Damon a bit more so than Stefan. Natalie often felt uncomfortable at how comfortably they shared her, as if they were five and seven years old again, sharing a toy.

Natalie also sensed something was strange about Katherine. She was young, beautiful, graceful… but there was something about her that made Natalie's skin crawl. Katherine was always nothing but amenable and polite to her, with the same charming smile on her face each time they encountered each other, but the girl was the only one of the Salvatore siblings to see through her.

Vampire stories had been passed along in their family for centuries, but Natalie had a hard time believing there was any possible way Katherine was a vampire. She could walk amongst everyone else in the sun and she ate food. There would be no logical explanation for Katherine's vampirism.

Bizarre stories of peculiar disappearances made Natalie even more suspicious of Katherine. She wasn't sure if Katherine was capable of murder, per se, but she thought Katherine had something to do with it. As time progressed, Natalie also observed Stefan's uncharacteristic behavior frequently. She'd grown up very close in age to Stefan, and being that close in age, she'd been accustomed to what was normal for him. She knew that since Katherine had popped into their lives, he'd been far from himself.

One summer night, while Damon was off fighting, Natalie snuck out to be alone in the woods to ponder Katherine's true identity. While out sitting on a fallen tree in her nightgown, Natalie was captured. She believed her abductor to be human at first, but then realized that no human could move that fast. She couldn't figure out what the person was – or who the person was – until she awoke the next day.

The woman who'd kidnapped her wasn't a total stranger – she was a friend of Katherine's. Her name was Pearl. She had a daughter, Annabelle, close in age to Natalie. Natalie didn't understand why Pearl had taken her or what she was going to do now that she had her captive. She feared for her life, and her pulse raced every moment she was locked up until Katherine arrived.

When Natalie saw Katherine, she felt as though her heart dropped out of her chest completely. She still felt the fear, felt her hands become clammy as a result of it, and wished she had one of her brothers there to protect her.

"Katherine," breathed Natalie. "What's happening? Why does Pearl have me locked up here?"

Katherine smirked at her. "I'm sorry Natalie. I've actually grown quite fond of you. You're a sweet girl, very kind. You're so much like your brothers… which is why it will be hard to do this to you. One of your brothers is begging for this and the other… well, he'll need to be persuaded some." She looked up from Natalie's eyes for a moment, and then returned to them. "Again, Natalie, I'm sorry. I can't let this get out, and I have a horrible feeling you're a bit of a talebearer."

In that moment, Natalie knew her suspicions were true. Katherine was indeed a vampire, and she was going to kill her. This is it, she thought. This is the end of my life.

Katherine leaned over, biting her wrist and pressing it to Natalie's mouth, forcing blood down her throat. Natalie almost choked at first, trying to scream and reject the blood, but then swallowed it just before gasping, "What the hell was that, Katherine?"

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" the vampire demanded, annoyed. "This is necessary, as is your quick, painless death."

Before Natalie could protest, her neck was snapped swiftly. Katherine went out until Natalie woke up, explaining everything to her when she returned. The young Salvatore refused to believe that she would have to drink human blood for the rest of her existence. She didn't want to be a soulless demon like Katherine or Pearl. She wanted to hunt vampires, like they did in Mystic Falls. She wished they'd done more to exterminate them entirely so she wouldn't be in this situation and so her brothers could move on from their love affair with Katherine.

Sadly, no matter how much Natalie wished these things, she woke up with a thirst for blood. Katherine and Pearl were nowhere to be found, but the shy, young Annabelle was there to lend a hand. She helped Natalie hunt for the first time and tried to instill her only piece of advice to help control the thirst. After that, Natalie was off on her miserable way, fleeing Mystic Falls as fast as she could, which was considerably faster than it would have been a mere twenty-four hours ago.

She tried to escape her past, but she couldn't. It was how she ended up on the front doorstep of her old home, back to see her brothers.