Chapter One:

Stefan had never seen anyone so beautiful.

Of course Elena was gorgeous and he love –loved- her. He had loved her. But Damon needed her more than he did, and it was time for him to let her go for his brother. Stefan recalled the first time he had seen Katherine stepping out of the carriage in front of his home in 1864. Her luminous tanned skin and beautiful brown eyes captivated him. The same feeling had passed through him when he saw Elena under water the night he had saved her in the accident.

But this feeling, this new sensation as he stared at this strange girl, was indescribable. Looking at her, he realised he couldn't breathe. He was sitting at the bar when she walked in and first thing that caught his attention was her long wavy hair. It was dark brown, almost black and it flowed behind her back as she walked. As her head turned towards him, he noticed that her olive complexion was clear and rosy. It was her blue-green eyes that stood out incredibly vibrant against her dark skin that trapped him. They were all too familiar. And too beautiful.

She was about five-six and couldn't have weighed more than one hundred fifteen. Clad in knee high tan leather boots with dark jeans and a blue blouse, Stefan saw that she was exceptionally petite and looked about sixteen or seventeen, which made him question why she had walked up to the bar of Mystic Grill and taken a seat right next to him.

"Your finest scotch please," she said to Matt, a faded foreign accent lying underneath. It was European, not quite British but not quite American either making Stefan uneasy.

"Sure. Right after you show me your ID," he scoffed.

The girl smiled at him sweetly. "Your finest scotch please," she repeated, her tone identical to before.

Matt turned around and grabbed a bottle and poured her a glass and slid it to her with a smile before attending to another customer. Stefan's insides churned. Had she just compelled him? It wasn't possible… Matt was wearing his vervain bracelet and Stefan had seen him down a glass of it this morning. Was she supernatural?

"How old are you?" he asked her.

She tilted her head while taking a large gulp, noticing him for the first time. "Twenty-one."

Stefan chuckled. "How old are you really?"

She smirked. "Seventeen."

"And how long have you been seventeen?"

The girl cocked an eyebrow. "Far too long."

Stefan outstretched his palm and grinned. "I'm Stefan Salvatore."

She slipped her small hand into his and smiled back at him. Her skin was cool and soft and sent electric shivers down Stefan's spine, which didn't make much sense as he was a vampire and couldn't get cold. "I'm Lia Abbey."

"Sorry but, I'm pretty sure you just compelled the bartender and I know for a fact he's on vervain." Stefan let go of her hand, instantly regretting it as he missed the contact.

Lia took another sip of her scotch. "Compulsion and vervain is for vampires like you. Let's just say I'm special."

"You're not a vampire?" he asked nervously.

Her pink lips etched into an amused smile. "No, I am. But not your usual one."

Deciding not to question what she meant out of fear, Stefan changed the subject. "What brings you to Mystic Falls?"

"I'm looking for my family," said Lia. "They were here a short while ago and I need to speak with them about something important."

"And a simple phone call wouldn't have sufficed?" he asked.

Lia didn't say anything. Instead she narrowed her eyes away from Stefan and gulped down her scotch.

"Oh I get it. You don't want them to know you're coming," said Stefan.

She scrunched up her eyebrows. "It's a bit more complicated than that. You wouldn't understand."

Stefan snickered. "You'd be surprised at my level of comprehension. Complicated families happen to be my forte."

"Well, its like this," she began, "I am the product of an affair which resulted in my mother's husband to give me away at birth so now my siblings don't know I exist."

He smiled, slightly taken aback. "My brother is dating my ex-girlfriend who is the doppelganger of my other evil ex-girlfriend whom he also dated."

A moment of silence wafted between them as they looked at each other curiously before Lia began to giggle. She laughed like a bell, the sound echoing lovingly in Stefan's mind. Her neck tilted back, pooling her dark hair behind her.

"That sucks," she said.

"Yeah," he replied. "But its okay. Its awkward… but its okay."

"Well I applaud your ability to withstand complex situations," said Lia.

Stefan nodded and grinned, entranced by the way she spoke. "I haven't really heard of any vampires named Abbey."

"That's because my mother left me at an abbey when I was a baby. I was raised by nuns and priests until I was fifteen. My family's surname is Mikaelson."

It was at this moment that Stefan Salvatore had realised that he had just made a big mistake. He had acted on his attraction to a girl in a bar, which under normal circumstances would have been fine. But given his luck with the supernatural world, it was a bad decision.

And his bad decisions didn't usually end well.