Author: I've finally started writing again! So, this isn't probably going to be taken seriously, but I'm really doing this for my own gratification. I'm actually not completely sure on my feelings on how this turned out... I'll probably be changing things over the next week. Either way, I hope those of you who do read this, enjoy it! Feedback is very much appreciated! I'm trying to make each chapter about 3,000-5,000 words. I'm also looking for a Beta, so if anyone's interested...

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries.

Chapter 1

It was a Tuesday afternoon in late October. McKenna Phillips walked down the road, passing by the fields and the tiny fire station, which was really just a garage with a fire truck in it, and old, large houses, most of which look like they could be locations in old horror films, which would be disconcerting, if it weren't for the fact that McKenna knew the owners of all 3 houses that were on the way to her own. In fact, every birthday holiday season she'd bring them all a batch of specially decorated cupcakes!

It was not especially hot out, as it was nearing the colder days of the fall season, and yet her long, tan legs stuck out of jean shorts, accompanied by a long-sleeved navy jumper. Chewed green nails reached down to scratch at her inner thigh, before reaching into the grey-blue suede satchel hanging off her shoulder for the ring of keys to her house.

A quick pivot on her left foot, she stuck the ring of keys between her teeth, and reached into the mailbox to collect the small pile of bills and junk mail, and maybe something interesting (but not likely). Mail in one hand, she used the other to lift the hatch and heave the large, heavy green gate open enough so she could squeeze through, before closing it.

Trekking down the winding driveway and onto flat land, McKenna sighed and fumbled through the different coloured keys until she assembled the green topped key and stepped up the two steps to get to the door. A quick jab and twist, and she stepped into her home. Hers. The place she lived in. Alone. She still hasn't gotten used to being able to call it that. Another sigh and her shoes were quickly slipped off and picked up in the non-mail filled hand, sock covered feet now heading down the halls and into the Master bedroom. She threw her sneakers into her closet before plopping down onto her bed flipping through the mail. As expected, nothing of actual value. Throwing the mail down, she pulled her body up and walked straight into the bathroom. Approaching the mirror, she pulled her long, wavy curvy brown hair out of the elastic hairband shaking it a little so it would fall out of the bunched up form. She scratched her head where the hair was pulled, giving her reflection a half smile, and washed her hands.

After that was done she pulled off her socks and threw them in the hamper next to her dresser. Going down the same hallway and past the living room, the stepped into the family room and over to the radio and turned it on, the Bose speakers playing SIRIUS's Frank Sinatra station softly. She crossing the dining room, and went into the kitchen. A glance at the ticking clock read "4:28pm." McKenna bit her lip, and frowned, going around the island and into the freezer, peering around at its contents. She scrunched up her face.

"I really should go to the store," She mumbled with a Scottish lilt, before settling on some frozen fish to cook in a skillet, throwing those onto the island, and went into the middle of the 3-doored pantry to get a box of basil and herb pearled couscous, which joined it's fish friend on the counter while she went the side of the island to get the saucepan in the drawer of the island and filled it with water, then placed it covered, on the electric stove top to boil. Immediately after, she set a non-stick skillet from the same island-drawer onto the stove top behind the heating water

On the desk behind her and to the right, was a copy of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a laminated bookmark sticking out of the pages about a fourth of the way through. She removed the book from its spot on the desk and sat down in one of the two bar-stools on the opposite side of the island from the stove, and opened the book.

McKenna spent the next 15 minutes reading, and cooking her pasta, and as it was left on low heat to simmer for the next twenty minutes, she started on the fish, cooking it on one side for ten minutes, and flipping it over to the other side to cook for ten more. She sat back down to her book sighing once again, as she became lost in the soft sounds of ol' Frank, and the crisp pages of Perks. In fact, she became so absorbed, that when a resounding CRACK! was heard from outside, she jumped, a gasp protruding out of her mouth. She placed her book down, and got up to look out the large window over the dinner table. A large, trapezoid-like, open field could be seen, her own backyard, the blades of pale brown grass rippled softly from the low wind; behind the wire fence, a few cows grazed in the grass, a mother and her foal resting beneath the shade of a tree. Further back was the long road leading away from the old homes and eventually leading to the old bar and grill, and some little family-owned shops. On the opposite side she could see more homes, the newer ones that were built, with soft green grass and hills, that sometimes reminded her of her old home. And in the distance, was the perfect view of the mountains of Tahoe, the caps just beginning to show the barest of white snow.

Nothing was out there, so she turned off her now finished food, fluffing the couscous with a fork and piling the food onto a turquoise ceramic plate. She took her food to the living room, and sat in the big, comfy red recliner, folding her legs under her and using her lap as a table. She just cut into her fish, when she heard a commotion of muffled voices outside the front door to her left. She groaned, setting her plate down on the coffee table a few feet away, in front of the couch, and walked to the door. She didn't bother looking through either of the two side window panes, and yanked open the door.

"Can I help…you…?" McKenna's eyes widened in disbelief, her breathe caught in her lungs. Eight heads whipped to face her, each a familiar face. McKenna's eyes narrowed in confusion, darting to each face. Deciding that what she saw couldn't actually be possible, she scoffed, shut the door, and went back to her cooling plate of food, shaking her head, this time kneeling on the plush carpet. The previous cut piece of fish disappeared into her mouth, when a continuous knock echoed through the house. She near slammed her fork onto her plate, swallowing her chewed food, and then yanked open the door.

"What?" she snapped.

"Uh…." That stupid familiar voice began. Her brown eyes snapped to the male's voice, connecting to his bright blue ones. Her head shook again, and she took another breath.

"Okay, um… sorry… okay," she breathed in and out again, running a hand through her hair, and a small, yet still confused smile settling on her face.

"Er, hi?" came the voice of a beautiful brunette, whose name instantly came to McKenna's mind. Nina…

"I'm so sorry to bother you, but um, can you tell us where we are…exactly?" she asked, but McKenna could only gape at her as her brain was catching up with what she was actually seeing.

No fucking way. No. This is not happening.

"Uh, you're in Placerville, California?" the Scottish woman responded slowly. "Okay hold on a second. Um, I'm sorry, but what?"

The brunette was taken aback, eyebrows lifting, and a movement to her left distracting her.

Blue eyes, chiseled jaw, that hair… It can't be…

"Okay, can someone tell me what the hell is going on?" The familiar man with the striking blue eyes and dark hair blurted, catching McKenna's attention once again.

"That would be great thanks, so tell me, what are you doing here? Not to be rude or anything, I just wasn't expecting this, so tell me, am I on Punk'd or something?"

The dark –haired man pulled his face back in confusion, as the blonde girl behind him bit her lip, worried glances shifting from her to the right.

"I have no clue what that is, but I'd like to know what just bloody happened, because we weren't standing here two minutes ago." That British accent made McKenna jump, because she had forgotten about the group on her right. The blonde woman who spoke had her arms crossed over her chest with a glare on her pretty face.

"Uh, hold on a sec…" McKenna started.

"Please, excuse her, she's forgotten her manners." a warm voice of man said, again with the accent, his arm coming up behind to lay on the back of the familiar blonde, although something happened to make said woman tense and bite her lip. "Perhaps we could better explain ourselves inside?"

McKenna blinked at the impeccably dressed man, and nodded, still in confusion, stepping back to widen the door's opening, trudging back to her now cold plate of food, and resumed her spot on the floor, scooping up a forkful of couscous. She barely got the fork to her mouth, when she noticed the group still standing outside her door. She raised an eyebrow.

"Um, what are you doing?" she asked monotonously.

The brunette girl shifted awkwardly, and the dark haired man behind her rolled his eyes in exasperation. Another man spoke, the one with the curly blonde hair and what she knew were adorable dimples, and his arms came behind his back.

"Why, you haven't invited us in yet," he said, and oh, there they are, those adorable dimples on that amazing bone structure…

McKenna shrugged, "The door's open…" she said and put the food into her mouth.

The blond man huffed, and opened his mouth to speak again, when the man with the great jawline spoke,

"What he means is, you haven't formally invited us in yet, so it would be rude to just come inside-"

McKenna cut him off with a chuckle.

Wow, these guys take their job seriously… let's see how long they can hold out.

"So, what brings you to Placerville? Are you shooting a scene here or something?"

The group made an assortment of puzzled faces, not that McKenna saw as she watched a pearl of couscous roll near her half eaten fish.

"No wait, the season already finished shooting season 4, which makes this extremely strange, because I can't think of a possible reason why'd you be on my doorstep, and – hey, wait a minute… did Meili send you? I know she's in L.A. and everything, but my birthday was 3 months ago, and she already got me something, so I can't think of any logical reason why the cast of The vampire Diaries would be in my house right now, so unless I'm hallucinating, please, explain yourselves before I go fucking insane because I'm kind of freaking out right now, and oh my god, I can't stop talking, because if I do then I'm probably going to faint and oh my fuck, I've been such a rude bitch haven't I—"

She stopped and breathed. Her heart was pounding in her chest as an embarrassed flush filled her cheeks. She stood quickly, and went back over to the door.

"Miss Dobrev, I am so sorry, I'm not normally like this, well, actually, yeah, I kind of am, but I meant no disrespect, I was just caught by surprise, which I still am so – "

McKenna's second ramble was cut off by the aforementioned woman.

"Um, I'm sorry, who are you talking to?" her arms were crossed tightly over her body, hands gripping her elbows. Only then did McKenna realize that something was a bit off, and a slight chill went up her spine.

Aaah, there are those instincts…

McKenna stuttered, "Er, well, I was talking to you… I think…"

She leaned against the door frame, scratching her arm nervously. She felt as if she was being watched intently, more so than how the others stared at her, when she noticed the last member, who had been surprisingly quiet, staring at her with a kind of precision, analysing her every move, silently judging her with these cold, dark eyes that sent an unnatural wave of fear through her. She eyed him back, brows furrowing subconsciously leaning her body farther away from him.

"What's The Vampire Diaries?"

Her attention snapped back to the blonde woman behind the dark haired man, as she spoke for the first time. The woman's blue eyes were narrowed in confusion, and the group physically tensed up waiting for her answer. Something was clearly off. McKenna didn't know what exactly was going on, but if this was some kind of joke, then it's gone too far.

"Haha, very funny?" she laughed nervously, when Dimples made a noise of frustration.

"It would not be wise of you, witch, to keep us much longer from the truth. You know something, so it would be in your best interests to spit it out, before I lose my temper," He growled.

Suits shot Dimples a glare,

"Klaus," he murmured, "control yourself, brother."

"I think she's hiding something," the silent one spoke now, his accented voice light and soft, yet hinted at something dangerous in the way he held himself. The snippy blonde woman rolled her eyes,

"Of course she is, Kol, otherwise she wouldn't be looking at us like she is," she stared into McKenna's eyes, "she knows exactly who we are, I can tell, don't you girl?"

McKenna recoiled from her stare.

This is really not right…

"Actually, you're wrong, I have no clue who you are, at least, not right now. I thought I did, but I'm getting this really bad feeling just by looking at you, so I'm just going to close my door now," she said, and attempted to, but a hand stopped it from moving any farther.

"Wait!" The hand connected to the body of that one brunette woman. Her doe eyes pleaded with McKenna.

"I know you might be confused right now, but please, so are we and we know that you know something…"

McKenna swallowed thickly, she could hear her heart pounding in her ears, because there's no way that what she's thinking could actually be happening right now. This sort of stuff only exists in movies, and… and really badly written fanfiction for fuck's sake! But if there was anything McKenna knew how to do, it was live in self-denial. But she was also very curious, and the only way to test out this theory that nagged in the back of her mind was to test it.

And so from behind the line that separated her sanctuary from the outside, she stuck her hand out to her. The woman tensed briefly, eyes darting from her hand to McKenna's determined eyes, before placing her hand in the other's. She felt herself being pulled towards the inside, when an invisible barrier prevented her from entering the home. As she thought. McKenna on the other hand, almost stumbled in surprise, before pulling again, using all of her weight to do so. When her hand wouldn't go through the doorway, she let go in shock.

"Okay, what the fuck is going on?" she said.

"You would know, little thing," Kol replied. NO. Not Kol, because that would mean that it's true, and something seriously fucked up is going on and that McKenna Phillips has a bunch of vampires at her freaking front door.

"This is not happening. Nope. This cannot be happening to me," she paced in front of the door. Suits, or would she dare admit to herself to actually be Elijah Fucking Mikaelson, moved in front of the door.

"It seems to me that you are, in fact, aware of who we are, which leads me to believe that you can helps us—"

"If you are who I think you are, which I doubt because that would be fucking insane, then why should I trust you? Because out of everyone, I trust, " McKenna stopped, rethinking something. She sighed, "Okay wait. Yeah, okay, that's not me," she muttered looking at the man's shoes.

"Elijah… right?" she glanced up to see him nod in confirmation. Her heart leaped. "Alright, oh God, I can't believe I'm going to do this…" McKenna groaned, "E-Elena…? Stefan, Damon, Caroline, please come in…?" her voice very nearly cracked as it her Scottish accented voice raised in pitch near the end.

With ease, Elena stepped through the doorway, followed by the three others mentioned. Once inside, Elena (Oh my god), Stefan Salvatore, and Caroline Forbes shuffled over near the family room, leaning against the walls, observing the inside. Damon, on the other hand, lingered behind McKenna.

"Well, that was easy," Damon Salvatore snarked, "Alright then, good bye!" He put his hand on the door, slamming it in Elijah's face. McKenna jumped back into Damon's chest in surprise.

"Damon!" Elena protested.

"What?" he shot a look at her. Seeing the look of disbelief on her face, he could almost feel the scolding he was about to receive, so he spoke quickly,

"Oh come on, we aren't seriously going to have Scotty here invite a bunch of Originals in here, are we?"

McKenna was momentarily distracted by the odd nickname, but glared at Damon, using her strength to push him back slightly.

"That was incredibly rude; please remove your hand from my door, Mr. Salvatore."

Damon frowned at her, eyes hardening.

"I certainly hope you don't intend on letting them in here, Missy, because you have absolutely no idea what they're capable of."

"That's not really your decision, Damon," Stefan spoke, rolling his eyes at his brother's Know-All attitude.

McKenna nodded, scrutinising the older man, and grabbed his wrist, yanking it off the door.

"He's right. You have absolutely no idea what I know. And what I know is that there's no way I'm going to just leave them out there, because I was raised better than that," she said, then added to herself, "Well, sort of…"

Damon was about to protest, but McKenna already opened the door, annoyed expressions taking place on three of the four Original vampires' faces. Elijah remained impassive, as she assumed that he wasn't surprised by the eldest Salvatore's actions.

McKenna cleared her throat, "Sorry… about that…"

"Of course," Elijah said lightly.

"Alright, I just want to say that Damon actually makes a good point." She said, and Elijah raised an eyebrow, so she continued,

"I am very much aware of you… guys, and what you're capable of, but I'm not the kind of person that judges another without actually knowing them, although I think I know you better than you'd think, but I can't make an actual judgement because I don't know you for real," she stopped to breathe.

"Will you get on with it," Klaus (Jesus fucking hell) interrupted. McKenna flinched, and Kol scoffed.

"Uh, yeah, so basically, just don't make me regret this… please." She stepped aside.

Oh yeah, I'm definitely going to regret this

"Please come in," So I can continue to descend into my apparent madness.

Behind her, Damon leaned close as they watched the Original vampires step inside,

"You know you're going to regret that," he said quietly. McKenna agreed silently.

When Rebekah entered last, she shut the door. The group lingered in front of the entry of the living room, all staring at her, backed up against the door. Her eyes passed over their faces again, and she closed her eyes for a second, mentally preparing herself for the shit-fest that was about to take place. She opened them, and walked forwards, squeezing past Elena and Elijah to the living room to grab her dinner. She walked into the kitchen, dumping her plate into the sink, and walked back out to the living room. She stopped in front of the coffee table, and sat down on the carpet, staring up at the vampires.

"Please," she said, "sit," and motioned to the large space of carpet in front of her.

No one moved, until Elena glanced at the rest of the groups' hesitant and/or annoyed faces, before she moved forward, sitting by the second recliner that was closest to the front door. She was followed by Stefan, who sat closest to Elena, and Caroline moved to sit by the first recliner. Elijah and Rebekah exchanged looks, before resigning and sitting on the opposite side of them, near the round, rolling, red footrest and large, flat screen TV. Kol narrowed his eyes at his siblings, before scoffing and joining them, sitting next to his sister and closer to McKenna. Klaus and Damon eyed each other, but leaned against the opposite walls of the entryway.

"Thanks, but I prefer to stand," Damon said, doing that thing with his eyes, and glared at Klaus, who returned the look with a sardonic smirk.

"This is great and all," Kol said, eyes glinting with mischief, "but I'd appreciate it, witch, if you'd start explaining why we're here, and how you seem to know so much about us, like you claim."

Everyone's attention was back on McKenna. She swallowed and smiled weakly.

"Okay then. First thing's first. One: I am not a witch. I have no clue what led you to possess that thought, but I'm not. As far as I know, witches only exist in fiction, and stuff."

Caroline frowned.

"Then how do you know who we are? As far as I know, I've never been to California before, and I certainly don't know you."

Elena nodded, "She's right. If you're not a witch, then what are you?"

McKenna sighed. "I'm most definitely human, but that leads me to my second point. You're probably not going to believe me when I tell you this, so give me a sec," she stood up, "I'll be right back."

McKenna walked past Damon and Klaus, insert nervous shiver, and walked briskly down the halls to her room. On the low drawers to the right of the doorway, was her laptop. She picked it up, and walked back to the living room. Their eyes were on the computer in curiosity, as McKenna danced around Rebekah and Kol on the floor, kneeling behind them as she used the cord that stuck out the side of the TV, and hooked it up to her computer. She turned on both her computer and the TV, the station already on the video input from her earlier gaming fest from last night. The TV screen lit up with her Desktop background, the newest promo shot from The Hobbit that was released.

She clicked on the circular icon, pulling up the Google Chrome window. She typed in "Google dot com " and took a deep breath.

"So, there are these books, ten of them, they were written by a woman named L. J. Smith. They're called The Vampire Diaries," she pulled up the Wikipedia page for the novels, the summary of the books read clearly on the large TV screen. Klaus narrowed his eyes at the information, and Stefan read intently, not believing what he was seeing.

"In 2009, the network station The CW premiered a television show of the same name, which is loosely based off of the books… and that is where you came in."

The Wikipedia for the TV show was also pulled up, but she quickly went to a new window, opening up the IMDB page, and scrolled down to the Actors. Elena gasped softly, wrapping her arms over her knees.

"Wait a second," Caroline said, "So you're saying that we're… we're fictional characters… we don't exist?"

McKenna turned around, nodding slowly. The reality of the situation was hitting her slowly, and as she took in the reactions of each vampire, she grew increasingly more frightened of what they would do in reaction of the news. She scooted farther away from them, her back hitting the frame the television was embedded in. Her thumbnail went to her mouth, legs propped up and crossed in front of each other as they read the information on the screen and took in Caroline's words.

"This is absolute bullshit," Damon spoke. Elijah sighed.

"Care to elaborate?"

Damon huffed.

"She has to be lying. There's no way 'we don't exist,' because we're here." He straightened and moved towards the young woman with intent. On what, she didn't know. Her eyes widened.

"I'm not lying, here, just... let me show you."

She turned back to her computer and opened a new window. She typed in "Netflix dot com " into the search bar, and what she went into her Queue. The Vampire Diaries was fourth on the list. She clicked on it, and the video buffered for 5 or so seconds, before the screen lit up with the half watched episode; on screen, Elena Gilbert, dressed in a beautiful gown, in a heated argument with the dark-haired Salvatore brother.

"She wants to see me alone, Damon.

"Well sucks to be her then. Was I not clear this morning?"

"I was invited."

"You have to tell me before you walk into a lion's den."

"Oh my god," Elena watched in shock and horror, as the scene from the Mikaelsons' Ball played out in front of them.

Damon scoffed at the scene, but still watched in disbelief. Rebekah watched as the characters waltzed on screen. Damon shook his head, turning away from it, and pacing in front of the entry way.

"Okay okay, turn it off; this is too weird, even for me."

"I guess you believe me now," McKenna said, as she turned off the appliances. She stood up and walked to the back corner of the room by the couch, kneeling and opening the cupboard.

She called back, "Anyone want a drink?"