Introduction

It was June 17, 1889 when I awoke from a carriage crash to find myself unharmed. Little did I know that I was far from unharmed. My name is Catherine Beatrix Stone. I am sixteen years old, and I have been sixteen years old for the past one hundred and three years. This is my story.

Chapter 1

The day began like any other. I was awakened at 7:30 by my governess Samantha, and at that point, everything seemed normal. "Come on Miss Catherine, time for breakfast."

"Just five more minutes Samantha, I want to sleep just a little longer."

"And I want to meet the queen of England, but I think we both know that neither of these to gonna be happenin'." Samantha answered back in her usual sassy attitude.

"Fine." I said flatly. Samantha had been working for my family for as long as I can remember. She was first hired when my mother was pregnant with my older brother Jefferson, to help her with the housework. But after Jefferson was born, my mother and father had grown so found of her they decided to keep her around.

Samantha came from a family that had recently been liberated from slavery. She had worked as a maid for almost her entire life; cooking, cleaning, and taking care of babies, till they're all grown up and having their own babies for Samantha to take care of.

I got out of bed very sluggishly, trying to delay having to go downstairs and eat in that big empty dining room all alone. For you see, my father was a rather important business man, so he and my mother travel a lot. I often go with them, but this time I was recovering from a cold and was unable to join them.

I loved my parents very dearly, but after the accident I was no longer able to stay with them. But I have a new family now, but I still miss them. You're probably wondering what I mean by that, well I'll get to that later, just be patient.

I got out of bed, put on my slippers and my robe, and walked into the hall on my way to the dining room. As I walked down the hall I couldn't help but look at the pictures on the wall. The walls of my house were decorated with pictures that told my entire life story. My mother and I when I was born, me at my birthdays, and various other photographs.

I walked down the stairs and walked into the dining room. Breakfast was the same as it is almost everyday: Eggs benedicts, bacon, assorted fruits, bread that has been lightly toasted, coffee, and fresh orange juice. Of course, being me, I have never been much of an eater, so I never eat everything that the kitchen prepares for me.

After breakfast I go back upstairs to my room and Samantha helped me get dressed. I put on my corset, along with all the other articles of clothing that I find unnecessary, and finally I put on my favorite blue dress with lace embroidery.

I spent the rest of the morning in the library reading as I always do. But later that day I decided to meet some friends in town for lunch. I was very nice, but little did I know that it would be the last meal I would ever eat with them, or anyone from my old life for that matter.

One the way home from town I started to rain. It began as a drizzle, but then it started pouring. The rain was coming down in sheets and I knew something was wrong, it never rained like this in June. And that's when it happened. Lightning struck the ground next to the carriage just as we where going over the bridge that led to the plantation that I lived on, and the driver lost control of the horse, and somehow the harness that connected the horse to the carriage broke, and the hose bolted for the plantation, while the carriage, along with the driver and myself plunged into the raging water below.

I don't know what happened next. All I remember is waking up in the woods, soaking wet, with my mouth tasting of blood. And that's when I saw him, the person who had rescued me. I tried to sit up, but I did so to quickly, and felt light headed as I said " you saved me."

My rescuer replied "Don't worry about it miss."

"Who are you?" I aid. He came closer and replied,

"I said don't worry about it."

"But my father will want to thank you once I have returned…" I trailed off not being able to finish my sentence because I was overtaken by a wave of dizziness.

"You're a fast little thing aren't you?" he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"Well you see, when you went over the bridge, I dove into the water to save you, but you were still dying when I pulled you out of the water, because you had hit your head pretty hard. So I gave you a little taste of my blood, but you still died anyway. So to make a long story short, your becoming a vampire." He said this so calmly, and so sarcastically, that I could not believe my own ears. I mean, I had heard story that vampire existed, but to be told that I was becoming one was too much to handle.

"What, what are you talking about?" I said on the verge of tears.

"A vampire. And if you don't feed on human blood in, well at the rate your transitioning at I would say, in the next few hours, your going to die, and all my hard work would have been for nothing." I still could not believe my ears, but I most certainly did not want to die, and there was something about this stranger that made me think of my brother Jefferson.

"Well I am kind of hungry."

"Then lets go find you someone to eat." He walked into town and instantly he had someone for me to kill. Someone I had never met, but I was just so hungry I did not care. I closed my eyes and I drank. But I did not want to be the one to kill this man, so I gave him to the stranger and said "Here, you can have him." Almost instantly I felt myself change. I was faster and stronger than I was only hour ago.

Once he had finished the man off, the stranger began walking away. I asked him "Where do you think you're going?"

"I don't like to stay in one place to long."

"Well I'm coming with you." I said bluntly. He turned and said;

"No you're not." This made me angry.

"You did this to me, I can't go home, and I have nowhere else to go. I' m coming with you." He looked at me and sighed.

"Fine. But you better not slow me down."

"Thank you." I said. I caught up to him and we were walking side by side when I asked, "So stranger, you haven't told me your name yet."

"Well you haven't told me yours either."

"Oh, where are my manner. My name it Catherine Stone, it's very nice to meet you." I said giving him a little curtsy. "And you are?"

"Nice to meet you Cat, I'm Damon. Damon Salvatore."