The young girl panted as she ran through the vista of rubble that used to be her town. She had no idea how this all happened. She had blacked out one minute ago and now she was here. After running for a few minutes, she stopped and looked around. Smoke floated up from craters of fire in the streets. Piles of rubble were all around her. She walked over to one and began digging through it. After digging through it for a minute, she came across a hand. It shifted slightly in the rubble, meaning that the poor sap who owned it was still alive. The girl stood up and rubbed her hands together. She then put her hand out. Her eyes began to glow gold as the rocks covering the arm were lifted away. After all the rocks were lifted away, the girl could see it was an older man. Caucasian, with spiky brown hair.
The girl could tell he was dying before she even touched him. She knelt down to him and touched his face in a comforting way. "You... you did this!" The man said weakly. "What?" The girl asked, shaking her head. She couldn't have caused this. She wouldn't have. Sure, her powers had destroyed things before but not on this level. "There's a way... to stop this..." the man coughed. "When you wake up, travel to a town called Mystic Falls and find the Salvatore Brothers and their friends. They will help you."
And with that, the man died. The girl suddenly began to feel drowsy and she fell to the ground.
The girl awoke with a start. She had had dreams like that before but not like that. She sat up and began pondering what the dying man had said. Where was Mystic Falls? What was Mystic Falls? Was it a town or was it some sort of water fall? And who were the Salvatore Brothers and how did she know if they could help her? She looked outside her bedroom window. It was still the dead of night but she didn't care. She knew she wouldn't be able to get to sleep so she got up. She threw a sweater on over her pajamas and walked out of her room to the kitchen.
The house she was staying in was an abandoned cottage in the countryside. She didn't mind living in alone. In fact she preferred it. She had been alone ever since she was a baby. Animals and mythical creatures had always come to feed her things and watch over her. She liked it. She always found herself connecting with animals and mythical creatures more than humans. Humans never understood. Animals did however. The girl walked into the kitchen and turned on the stove. She had activated the electricity in the building years ago. She then got out the things to make pancakes. She had known how to cook things all her life. By age four, she could make an entire stack of pancakes. By age eight, she could cook a chicken. And now, at age fifteen, she could cook anything.
After making the pancakes and eating them, she went back to her room and began packing her bags for the trip. After packing clothes, she stuffed some food items into duffel bags. With her travel arsenal complete, she walked to the front door. Before walking out, she turned to a small knight made out of tin cans. "Look after the house while I'm gone, Sir Jon!" And with that, she walked out. She stood outside for a moment before closing her eyes and concentrating. One of her abilities was that she could see everything and everywhere in the world. She concentrated harder and looked for Mystic Falls. After searching, she found it. It was definitely a small town and it wasn't too far away. Probably a five mile walk at least.
She took a deep breath and began walking. She knew it would take a while but she didn't care. Whoever these Salvatore Brothers were, if they were the people to help her stop whatever was coming, she had to find them. After walking down the dirt road for what she expected to be an hour, she finally made it to the real road. She began walking down it when a growl came from the bushes. She closed her eyes in frustration. She knew the owner of these growls far too well. "I know you're there," she said. "So come out and make this easy for yourself! I've destroyed you before and I'll do it again!"
The snarling continued. The girl's eyes glowed gold again. After the night she had been having, she wasn't in the mood for tricks. The owner of the growls suddenly rose up from the bushes. It was black, the bottom half of its body was translucent. Its arms were long and ended in clawed hands. Its head was a skull with glowing red eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth. This was Wraith, a creature that had been hunting her since she was a baby. Wraith roared at her before swooping down at her, claws outstretched, ready to kill. She raised her hand and, using a telekinetic shield, blocked the attack. She then raised her hand, sending forth a stream of golden light. This sent Wraith into a screaming frenzy. With Wraith repelled, the girl ran down the road, hoping to lose him.
Caroline hummed along to the song that was playing on the radio. She had gone out for a late night drive to clear her head of some things. It had been a long month. She became a vampire, became single, and a bunch of other things had gone down. She needed some alone time. She went out to the country for a bit. The country always made always made her feel better. She had thought about taking a vacation somewhere. Maybe to New Orleans, but she wasn't sure.
She smiled as she saw the familiar Mystic Falls sign. She drove past it and the smile on her face quickly turned into a look of confusion. Running there, on the side of the road, was a girl. She looked fifteen, with dirty blonde hair that flowed in the wind as she ran. She had on a backpack, with two duffle bags slung over both shoulders. Caroline drove up to her and pulled down the passenger door window. "Hey, you girl!" She called. The girl looked at her and immediately ran up to the passenger window, breathing heavily. "Are you going to Mystic Falls?!" The girl asked quickly. "Yes. I actually live there!" Caroline responded. The girl smiled. "Fantastic! Can you give me a ride there?"
"Sure thing! Hop in!" Caroline said with a welcoming smile. The girl hopped into the passenger seat, throwing her bags into the back. Caroline began to drive again. "So, what were you doing on the side of the road?" Caroline asked, "did your parents dump you or something?" The girl looked at her and said, deadpan, "I don't have parents." Caroline thought about this answer for a moment. She didn't have parents? Was she an orphan? A runaway? Did she escape from an abusive foster home? She put these questions aside and asked another question. "So... why do you want to come to Mystic Falls? Do you have family here?"
"No," the girl said. "I have no family. I'm here because I'm looking for the Salvatore Brothers. Do you know them?" This question Caroline knew the answer to all too well. But then even more questions arose from this. What did this random girl want with Damon and Stefan? Was she a vampire child seeking solace with them? Caroline decided to answer this question with the truth. "Yes I know them," she then looked to the girl and asked, "why do you need them?" The girl looked at her darkly. "Your questions will be answered. But first I need you to drive me to their house. It's an important matter."
Caroline felt she was going crazy. Who was this random girl? Why was she on the side of the road? And what did she want with Damon and Stefan? She wanted these questions answered and so, against her better judgement, she drove in the direction of the Salvatore house. "I never got your name," the girl said. "My name is Caroline," Caroline said. The girl smiled. "Caroline. That's a beautiful name. My name's Ellen." Caroline smiled slightly. Even though this girl was random and acting really weird, she was at least very polite. "It's nice to meet you, Ellen's. And by the way, Ellen's a gorgeous name." Caroline said smiling. The girl smiled back and nodded.
Stefan sat in his arm chair, his nose in a book. The Salvatore House was quiet. Elena and Bonnie were out for a night on the town, though they did say they'd be back. Caroline had gone out for a drive. And Damon... well, he was off being Damon. For the first time in a long time, he had the whole house to himself. He rather enjoyed the peace and quiet. It gave him good time to read and relax without the constant drama of the outside world. He reached over and grabbed his coffee cup. Without taking his eyes of the page, he drank. He had begun a new chapter and didn't want any interruptions. Once he was finished taking a drink, he sat it back down. As he was about to turn the page, there came a knock at the front door. He sighed. So much for peace and quiet.
He marked his place in his book and set it down. He super sped down the stairs and to the front door. Using his hearing, he was able to hear Caroline. She was talking to somebody else. Someone he couldn't hear. He opened the door. "Hey Caroline, who're you-?" He was cut off mid sentence as his question was answered. Caroline was talking to a girl. She looked no older than fourteen or fifteen. She had long blonde hair and was carrying two duffel bags. Stefan looked at her before looking at Caroline. "Um, who is this?" He asked, pointing to the girl. "Ellen," Caroline said, "can we come in please? It's freezing and... boy, does she have some stuff to tell you!"
Stefan let both of them in. Ellen looked around in total awe. "Lovely place you have!" She said. She then turned to look at him. "Which one are you?" She asked. "Uh, Stefan. My name's Stefan. My brother is Damon." He answered. The girl nodded, before dropping all three of her bags on the floor. "Where's the kitchen?" She asked. Stefan, kind of weirded out, pointed to a door across the room. Ellen nodded before grabbing one of her duffel bags and going inside. "Um, OK, who is she?" Stefan finally asked. Caroline shrugged and said, "I don't know! I found her on the side of the road. She was running. All I could get out of her was that she has no family and that she needs you and Damon for something."
"Wait, she needs me and Damon? Why?" Stefan asked, growing more and more confused. "You'll have to ask her that!" Caroline said. Stefan nodded and walked toward the kitchen door. As he did, though, another knock came from the door. He sighed. "Can you get that please?" He asked Caroline. Caroline nodded. "Yeah. I'll keep whoever it is in the living room," she said. With that, Stefan went to the kitchen. He walked inside and saw Ellen, seated at the counter, eating out of a jar of apple sauce with a spoon. He walked over to her and sat down. "So, Ellen," he began, "why exactly do you need me and my brother?"
Ellen looked at him. She then got up and began looking through their cabinets. "You wouldn't happen to have any cinnamon, would you?" She asked. Stefan blinked. After staring at her for a minute he asked, "um, could you answer my question first? Then we can talk about cinnamon or whatever..."
Ellen closed the jar of apple sauce. She then reached into her bag and took out a wrapped up loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, and a jar of grape jelly. She took pieces of bread out of the wrapper and placed them down on the counter. She then began spreading peanut butter on one side and jelly on the other. After she was finished spreading, she put them together. Before she could eat, Stefan took it out of her hands. "OK, you can have this back. And I'll give you cinnamon for your apple sauce. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you. I just need you to answer my questions first. OK?"
"Ask away!" Ellen said. "OK. What do you want with me and my brother?" Stefan asked. "I don't just need you two," Ellen said, "I need your friends as well, whoever they may be. And I can't tell you why I need you all because you're all not here." Stefan simply nodded and handed her back her sandwich. She took it and bit into it. Stefan got up. "I have to go outside for a bit. Cinnamon's in the second cupboard behind the coffee." He said. Ellen nodded. Stefan walked out of the doors. In the living room was Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie. They all smiled as he came in. "Hey, girls!" He said, putting on his best smile. "Hey, Stefan," Elena said, "Caroline was just telling us about-" as she was about to talk, someone walked in.
It was Damon. He had a devilish grin on his face. "Evening, girls!" He said merrily. He turned to Stefan. "And hello, ass hat!" The girls laughed. Stefan shook his head. Damon made his way to the kitchen. "I wouldn't go in there!" Stefan warned. "Whatever it is, I don't care!" He said, "I need a nice, big drink of..." he stopped as he got into the kitchen. He saw Emily sprinkling cinnamon and sugar onto her apple sauce. Ellen looked at him. "You must be Damon," she said. "There's some things I need to tell you, so don't be alarmed!"
Damon, thoroughly weirded out, stepped out of the kitchen and back into the living room. "Uh, who's the rando girl slurping apple sauce in the kitchen right now?" He asked. Elena raised an eyebrow. "Rando girl?" She looked to Stefan. "What's he talking about?"
"It's a long story," Stefan said, "you'll just have to see for yourself. She wants to talk to all of us anyway." They all got up and walked into the kitchen. Ellen was sitting cross legged on the counter. She looked at all of them. "Elena, Bonnie, and Damon meet Ellen," Stefan said. Elena and Bonnie waved at her and smiled. Damon just gave her a weird stare. Ellen smiled at all of them and got up off the counter. "So, Ellen, about that thing you wanted to tell us?" Bonnie asked.
Ellen got a glass out of the cabinet and filled it with water. She chugged the whole thing down. She then looked at them all and said:
"I need you all to help me stop the apocalypse."