1

Sweet Rose

I will always remember July 24th, 1864. It will always remain crystal clear in my head, because it was only a little over a month after I turned eighteen, at a marriageable age. I was looking forward to the day that I would meet the love of my life, have the wedding that I dreamed off as a little girl, and fill my household with babies, servants, and love for my husband.

That was the day that I was taken away from my hometown in Mystic Falls, Virginia. The day that I was taken away from my family, from my friends, from any future that I could possibly have.

And I knew deep in my heart that I would never return. I would never see my parents, my little brother Jeremy, or some of my childhood friends.

I was a Gilbert, I came from a prominent family in southern Virginia and I was born to do well. I was raised in the best environment, given the best schooling, the best etiquette lessons, and the loveliest dresses.

I knew my duty from the second I was born- become a lady, marry well, continue the family legacy, and die. That was it. And I have never had any problems with it, that is just what is expected of me and I followed it without complaint.

As a little girl I didn't grew up with stories of fairies and princesses like other children, instead I grew up with stories of vampires that were told to me by my Aunt Jenna and my mother Miranda.

I was a part of the Founding Families and therefore must know about vampires, as a child I thought the stories were make believed, but when I was thirteen I accidently stumble into my father's shed and saw a vampire that was being kept prisoner.

I could still remember his eyes, malicious, hungry even. His pearly white fangs dripping with blood, his eyes bleeding. I remember screaming and fainting.

From that moment on my parents told me about vampires, I didn't know much nor what my father did to them I was just told that they were cruel and heartless and works of the devil and that I must stay away. For that reason only I stayed clear of them, reported any malicious activity to my parents, wore vervain perfume and drank vervain tea.

But it seemed it was all for naught because at that moment I was about to become a vampire's prisoner.

Eighteen year old Elena Marie Gilbert felt the storage carriage that she was in shaking as the horse that was carrying it moved across the pavement, jolting her awake from her brief slumber. Her brown eyes flew opened and she forced herself not to groan in obvious disappointment. She had been hoping that when she had woken up that she would have been dreaming, but that obviously was not the case.

The storage carriage that she was in had no open roof or windows either, the only fresh air available was coming from the small cracks and it wasn't enough for the twenty five human girls that had been taken out of either wealthy or poor homes in Virginia. Elena couldn't help but notice that most of the girls were rather pretty.

For the past ten years each year seemed to have a handful of missing girls, most of the townspeople thought that they had either eloped or had gotten themselves into trouble, but now Elena knew the real reason. They had been captured by vampires.

Elena's eyes swell with tears as she remembered what had happened. How could she had been so stupid? She and her best friend Caroline Forbes had just been exiting the church after choir practice, insisting to the pastor that they didn't need a chaperone and that they were perfectly capable of walking home alone since their homes were only a few miles apart and there was still a little sun.

Or how wrong they had been and how much had Elena regretted it. The sun had gone down faster than expected and they soon found themselves in the dark streets. The things that followed were almost expected.

She remembered the screaming, the slaps, the pulling, and the dark bags over their heads. She and Caroline had woken up in a small carriage before being transported into the larger one. The picture in her mind of the vampires throwing themselves among the rejected girls as they teared their throats and took off their hearts despite their pleading refused to leave.

Elena rested her head against the carriage, feeling hot and stuffy in her dark blue dress, her corset and her hoops weren't making it easier to breathe. She desperately wanted a bath and some fresh clothes, but at this point she should be glad that she wasn't dead.

Elena gave out a whimper she would never see her parents or her brother again. She would never get married and have children, she would be stuck here as a slave towards these horrendous creatures!

"Stop crying!" Katherine Pierce, her neighbor back home at Mystic Falls and her rival from time to time snapped at Elena. Katherine had been the most fashionable girl at Mystic Falls, but now her pink dress was dirty, her curls were tangled, and she had a large bruise forming on her cheek. She and Anna had tried foolishly to escape and they had paid the price. "You're always crying. Don't you get sick of crying?"

Elena glared at her, but bit back her tongue. Not only was it unladylike to fight, but she knew that deep down behind her tough demeanor Katherine was scared as well. Elena turned back to the other girls that had been taken as well.

She recognize a handful, she saw Caroline who had passed out from the heat poor thing, Katherine of course, her servant Anna, a barmaid named Alexis "Lexi", her own servant Bonnie Bennett who was praying, the town prostitute Sage who she had never spoken too, and a handful of other girls that she didn't recognize that either came from the country or wealthy homes.

Elena bit her lip. What would become of the poor girls? Would they be killed, beaten, or worse?

Before she could contemplate the question the carriage stop and the doors flew open, a vampire with short dark hair and a cap whistled. "Welcome ladies to Ville Rogue!"

-End of Chapter One-

Please review!