A/N: I don't own Vampire Diaries. This story is the product of having too much time on my hands.
Chapter 1
I slowly came out of a very, very deep sleep and opened my eyes, my eyelashes fluttering a bit. Staring at the mint green ceiling, I quickly came to the conclusion that I had either been kidnapped or had slept so deeply that I missed my parents repainting my room. Since the latter was inconclusive, the former looked the more plausible option.
I cautiously got up and checked my body for any injuries and restraints. Finding none, I was startled to discover that my skin had become Caucasian and tanned. I was also significantly taller and more toned. I checked my hair and was relieved that at least that remained an unchanged black colour. I looked around, taking in my surroundings, and silently berated myself for not doing so earlier.
I was in a bedroom, albeit a tastefully decorated one, with three doors, which I assumed led to the bathroom, closet and the hallway respectively. The bedroom had alternate light green and white walls, with the furniture made of ebony and walnut. The bedspread was white with a jade coloured comforter. To the right of the bed a small vanity and a full-length mirror were situated. The window had a small seat and a desk to the left of it had a laptop and an internet connection to a router. I went and stood in front of the mirror to further investigate my appearance and was shocked speechless.
In front of me stood a Greek goddess. I had long black curls with high cheekbones and fine, arched eyebrows above multi-coloured eyes framed by long sooty eyelashes. Looking closely, I could see that my eyes were a mixture of green, gold and violet, which gave them an iridescent quality. I stood around 5'8", which was a huge difference from my previous 5'2". My body had toned arms and legs and had an hourglass figure and had muscles in places where I had only dreamed of. I was only dressed in a tank top and shorts and yet, managed to make it look amazing. In short, I was drop dead gorgeous. And I was fucking terrified.
After I got over my startling appearance, I started taking in the finer qualities of the room. The tasteful decor and the quality of the furniture said that the owner of the house was rich. I tried the door to the bathroom and found it open. The bathroom was done in subtle shades of green and blue which I found to be somewhat soothing. There was nothing interesting there so I got back in the room. I opened the closet and found the clothes were very much the same style I was used to. Weird. I tried the last door and found it to be open. I didn't venture into the hallway, instead choosing to remain in the room.
A suspicion was starting to form in my mind. I had heard of body snatching from various movies and TV shows. I had thought it to be fiction but hey, anything's possible. I now had to find out just whose body I had been unceremoniously thrust into. Looking around, I spied a book sitting on the vanity. It was a journal which had a lock and the words Artemisia Gilbert embossed on it. Gilbert, I thought, that is not good. I do not want to be in the Vampire Diaries universe of all the things. Why not a nice, safe universe like the Hannah Montana universe? One where there are no vampires?, I cried out in my head.
I found that a small key hung from my neck and tried to open the locked diary. It opened and a small piece of paper fluttered to the floor. I picked it up and found that it contained a list of passwords and combinations of numbers with a description of what they were in front of them. Either Artemisia gilbert was a very forgetful person or she was a precog. I did not know which option was better. I started to read the last entry in the diary, which I noticed was very short.
To whomsoever decided to inhabit my body,
My name is Artemisia Gilbert, as you may have found out. Since I was ten, I have had a gift which manifested itself as precognition. I used to get visions and information about the major changes happening to me in the near future, which is how I found out about my parents' death and about the things which go bump in the night. It is also the reason how I found out about you inhabiting my body. I had received a vision about my death and your subsequent arrival in my body on my eighteenth birthday. Happy birthday, BTW. Don't blame yourself for my death, it was written in mine and your destiny. Although, I am sorry about the fact that you got ripped away from your world and your family. I am afraid you won't be able to go back to where you came from.I have made a list of all my accounts and passwords for you to make it easier for you. I keep a virtual journal on my laptop. Please find it and read it. It will help you a lot.
Au revoir,
A. Gilbert.
After reading this, I sat heavily back on the bed and stared into space. Everything about this situation screamed fiction, however, I couldn't help but believe her. I was in the vampire diaries universe and was not going back. I was a freaking gilbert. Judging from the information about today being my eighteenth birthday, I was the oldest among my "siblings", Elena and Jeremy. The fact that I was not going back did not bother me much, seeing as I was not close to my parents at all. Trying to wrap my head around all of this, I sat on the desk chair and fired up her laptop. Typing the password and opening up her journal, I started to read, all the while hoping it would give me more insight over what had happened.