Disclaimer: Okay, so before you read on, let me just clear one thing up. THIS IS NOT AN ON-GOING SERIES. I will NOT be writing the entire TVD series from start to finish. It takes too long and, while I enjoy doing it, I can't make it my unpaid day-job. I'm really sorry if this lets you down in any way. Don't lose all hope, though! I do plan on doing something like this again, maybe an episode with lots of Delena scenes, I don't know. Honestly, I wrote this last year with every intention of doing the whole show but that's just unrealistic. But I wanted to post this because I DID put a lot of effort into it and I enjoyed writing it! Also, I finished it tonight having not even so much as looked at it since I started it last year, so it gets a bit lazy at the end. :P
It's also NOT an AU of any kind, it's literally the episode word for word. I'm not even kidding, I pulled up the 1x01 Transcripts and the pilot ep. on Netflix and wrote it! The dialogue is credited to all TVD writers, but the narration is all me.
Thanks so much for checking it out, and if you'd like to be notified for when I DO post another like this (don't expect it too soon, though), then just follow the story and wait! Thanks again! Happy reading!
Prologue
For over a century I have lived in secret; hiding in the shadows, alone in the world. Until now. I am a vampire. This is my story.
Outside Mystic Falls, a young couple speed down the damp road, woods surrounding them in the dead of night. The sky is dark, clouds forming slowly above the trees, the faint sound of a whistling breeze cutting through the crack of the window. Silversun Pickups' "Sort Of" plays on the radio while Captain of the football team Darren Malloy sits in the passenger seat, burning with amusement.
"An hour's drive to hear that crap. You know, it wasn't even a band. A guy with a guitar. An hour each way." He complains, eyes fixed on the road. His girlfriend, Brooke, rolls her eyes at his remark, a smile glued to her lips.
"He wasn't that bad."
"He sounded like James Blunt."
"What's wrong with that?"
"We already have a James Blunt. One's all we need."
"Then why did you come?" He pauses for a second, then smiles to himself.
"Because I love you." He says simply, averting his eyes from the road to look Brooke in the eyes for just a moment, then quickly turns his attention back to driving. His intention was to make her laugh, but he couldn't ignore the fact that he really meant it.
"Nicely done." She laughs, staring out the window into the darkness. The same clouds that formed in the trees seem to have made their way to the ground, blanketing the truck as well. "What's with all the fog?" Brooke looks puzzled, as does Darren, but he remains calm.
"It'll clear in a second." He reassures her, narrowing his eyes in an attempt to see through the endless layers of gray ahead of him. For a while, the fog doesn't clear. Instead, the headlights of Darren's truck reveal a silhouette of what looks like a man, and Brooke's heart races in panic.
"Watch out!" She screeches, but her warning was too late. The head of the car crashes into the man before Darren slams on the brakes, causing the truck to swerve uncontrollably. When the truck halts, Darren's breath catches in his throat as Brooke's breath has no trouble leaving and entering her body in a rush of emotions.
"Are you okay?" He observes her face, making sure there are no injuries.
"We just hit someone! Oh my God!" She cries, looking frantically around.
"Call for help." Darren orders, unbuckling his seatbelt as he rushes to the back of his car. The man lies still on the pavement, arms and legs stretched out next to him. Darren rushes to his side, panicking himself. "Please be alive. Oh my God." He looks at the man's face to see lidded eyes, then before he can grasp what happens next, the man's eyes flick open. Darren stares in astonishment as his face transforms, almost demonically, and the man lunges at Darren, sinking his teeth into his neck.
"Come on, come on!" Brooke continues to panic in the car as she struggles to call 9-1-1. "There's no signal!" She rushes out of the truck and into the fog, looking frantically around for her boyfriend. "Darren!" It seems as though the fog gets thicker rather than thinner, and with it, Brooke's anxiety. "Darren?" Her heart grows anxious with fear as the deafening silence engulfs her, dragging itself through the darkness. Sweat forms under her arms and her body begins shaking involuntarily when Darren's body drops abruptly on top of the car hood, and Brooke feels as though she's never seen anything like it. His throat is ripped from the inside out and blood gushes gruesomely from his neck. Brooke screams in fear and runs in the other direction, feeling as though she may have a heart attack. But before she can make it very far, she feels cold, hard hands grip her upper arms as they grab her into the night.
I shouldn't have come home. I know the risk. But I had no choice. I have to know her.
Chapter 1
Dear Diary,
Today will be different. It has to be. I will smile, and it will be believable. My smile will say "I'm fine, thank you." "Yes, I feel much better." I will no longer be the sad little girl who lost her parents. I will start fresh, be someone new. It's the only way I'll make it through.
Elena's pen stops writing as her eyes lift to her window, looking out at the front yard of her house. She knows the words in her notebook aren't true, but she hopes that maybe if she says them enough, she'll start to believe them herself.
Getting up from her window seat, Elena stands in front of the vanity and looks into her reflection. At first, all she sees is exactly who she didn't want to be anymore. Exactly who she said she wouldn't be. So she forces a smile, practicing the foreign expression on her face. However, when her eyes shift toward the pictures of her parents hanging on the mirror, her mood changes again. She averts her eyes, tears brimming yet again, and all she can think is that she can't let this get to her. Not now. So with one more forced smile in her reflection, Elena swings her bag over her shoulder and heads downstairs.
"Toast. I can make toast." Elena's aunt, Jenna, offers from the fridge, desperately looking for something to make for breakfast.
"It's all about the coffee, Aunt Jenna." Elena says as she pours herself a cup of the warm drink. Jeremy walks into the kitchen soon after, interjecting the conversation.
"Is there coffee?" He asks, walking to Jenna's side.
"Your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared. Lunch money?"
"I'm good." Elena replies before Jeremy snatches the money from Jenna's hand and stuffs it into his own pocket.
"Anything else? A number two pencil? What am I missing?"
"Don't you have a big presentation today?" Elena asks, amused by her frantic anxiety.
"I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at … now. Crap!" Jenna checks her watch, then quickly removes the hair tie from her hair, letting her dirty blond locks drape onto her shoulders.
"Then go. We'll be fine." They each exchange glances before Jenna leaves, and Elena's attention turns toward her little brother, washed with feelings of concern. "You okay?" She asks softly.
"Don't start." Jeremy retorts, annoyance dripping in his voice. He rolls his eyes as he follows close behind Jenna, taking one last sip of his coffee. Elena sighs in exasperation, wishing she could help Jeremy feel better than she does. She knows that with everything that's happened in the past few months, he's been spiraling, but he won't let her help him. She takes a long sip of her coffee, washing the warmth down her throat in a gulp of relief. Behind her, the TV displays a young couple who have gone missing, names Darren Malloy and his girlfriend Brooke.
"So Grams is telling me I'm psychic. Our ancestors were from Salem, witches and all that," Bonnie looks at Elena who looks at Bonnie as if she's crazy, "I know, crazy, but she's going on and on about it, and I'm like, put this woman in a home already! But then I started thinking, I predicted Obama and I predicted Heath Ledger, and I still think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands. . .Elena! Back in the car."
Elena averts her attention from the road to the side of her and returns her attention to Bonnie instead, who has an amused smile on her face.
"I did it again, didn't I? I-I'm sorry, Bonnie. You were telling me that …"
"That I'm psychic now." Her face gleams with pride as she looks out the window, but Elena is still skeptical.
"Right. Okay, then predict something. About me." Bonnie smiles and looks at Elena.
"I see …" But before Bonnie can say anything, a small black figure hits the windshield and in a panic, Bonnie hits the brakes as the car swerves to the side.
"What was that?" Bonnie panics, looking out Elena's window. "Oh my God …" She falls back onto her seat and sighs, then looks back to Elena.
"Elena, are you okay?"
"It's okay. I'm fine." She reassures her friend, flashing a slight smile.
"It was like a bird or something. It came out of nowhere." She quickly defends herself, but Elena just shakes her head.
"Really, I … can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of my life." Elena reassures her again, and this time, Bonnie relaxes.
"I predict this year is going to be kick ass. And I predict all the sad and dark times are over and you are going to be beyond happy." Elena smiles at this, pondering her best friend's words. Perhaps she's right. If she's going to move on from everything, she'll have to believe that what Bonnie is saying will be true. And without another thought, Bonnie restarts the car and drives to school. When they arrive, they observe the other students in the hallway, making remarks to each other.
"Major lack of male real estate. Look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beech. She looks like a hot — can I still say 'tranny mess'?" Elena pretends to think about it, amused by Bonnie's question.
"No, that's over." She says smiling, watching Bonnie open her locker.
"Ahh, find a man, coin a phrase. It's a busy year." Bonnie says, then Elena notices something catch her attention. Confused, she turns to see what she could possibly be staring at like that, then she sees for herself. Her hunky ex-boyfriend, Matt, stares coldly at her, paralyzed next to his locker across the hall. Elena waves politely at him, smiling sadly at him, but he ignores her gesture and slams his locker shut before walking in the other direction.
"He hates me." Elena states when she turns back to Bonnie, completely convinced that what she did to Matt ruined any friendship they may ever have. Bonnie shuts her locker as well, turning her attention to Elena.
"That's not hate. That's 'you dumped me , but I'm too cool to show it, but secretly I'm listening to Air Supply's greatest hits'." She gives her friend a reassuring smile as a skinny, blond girl with porcelain skin rushes over to Elena's side.
"Elena, oh my God. How are you?" Before anyone can react, Caroline engulfs Elena in an uncomfortable hug, and Elena has no trouble showing it. However, she remains polite and shows appreciation for her friend's concern. "It's so good to see you." She nods assuringly as she pulls away, looking Elena in the eye. "How is she? Is she good?" Caroline asks Bonnie softly, seemingly forgetting Elena's presence.
"Caroline, I'm right here." Caroline's attention turns back to Elena, and she smiles politely. "And I'm fine. Thank you."
"Really?" She pries. Elena remembers the words she'd written in her journal this morning before school, and jumps at the opportunity to use them.
"Yes. Much better." She confirms. Caroline wraps Elena in another hug, whispering softly, "Oh, you poor thing.", before bidding the two girls goodbye and walking away. Elena turns to Bonnie as they begin walking away, and she shakes her head.
"No comment. I'm not going to say anything." Bonnie giggles at this, but they both know that Caroline means well.
"Don't take more than two in a six hour window." Outside of the high school, Jeremy drops a couple of little white pills into the hand of Vicki Donovan, his nails painted black and chipped at the ends. Vicki pops them in her mouth with a smile on her face as Jeremy watches intently, then a man walks up to both of them, his attention directed at only one.
"Hey, Vicki," he says, "I knew I'd find you here with the crack heads." Jeremy rolls his eyes as Vicki greets him, wrapping her arms around his body. He takes a hit of the joint in his hand, and his nails catch Tyler's attention.
"Hey, Pete Wentz called. He wants his nail polish back."
"Pete Wentz, huh?" The smoke escapes Jeremy lips as he speaks, wafting in the air around the three teenagers. "How old school T.R.L of you. Carson Daly fan?" Tyler starts to move toward Jeremy angrily, his temper always getting the best of him, but Vicki's hand stops him.
"Oh Ty," she says, holding him back, "be nice. That's Elena's little brother."
"I know who he is." Tyler says grumpily, turning to face Vicki who has pulled him closer to her face. "I'll still kick his ass." He says this to impress her, to amuse her, and it works. Vicki laughs, sliding her hand to the back of his head and pushing her lips to his. Jeremy shifts uncomfortably, his mood saddening at the sight of the girl he wants kissing another guy. Kissing the guy he resents. He looks away, not wanting to see them share affection in front of him.
Bonnie and Elena continue to walk down the hallway, when Bonnie's attention turns toward the Attendance Office.
"Hold up," she says, halting their walk in front of the door, "Who's this?" Elena looks with her, but doesn't recognize the man either.
"All I see is back." She says simply.
"It's a hot back." Bonnie says, causing Elena to giggle.
"Your records are incomplete," the secretary at the desk says, eyeing the man's papers, "You're missing immunization records, and we do insist on transcripts." The man removes his sunglasses, looking intently into the lady's eyes as she looks up at him.
"Please look again." He says, mesmerizing the woman. Her face falls blank and she is focused completely on his words. "I'm sure everything you need is there." The woman looks back down at the papers that still rest in her hand, then shuffles through them.
"Well, you're right. So it is." She smiles, but it's not genuine, and lacks any emotion. It's an obedient smile. A smile that is forced, a smile that is controlled.
"I'm sensing … Seattle," Bonnie predicts, still fixated on the Mystery Man in the leather jacket in front of them, "and he plays the guitar." Elena laughs amusingly.
"You're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?"
"Pretty much." They both laugh, but Elena's amusement soon fades when she sees Jeremy walk into the boys' bathroom after being thanked for drugs.
"I'll be right back." She sighs in exasperation as Bonnie never takes her eyes off of the man in the Attendance Office.
"Please be hot." She mumbles to herself, anxiously waiting for him to face her when he walks out.
In the bathroom, Jeremy is using eye drops to dull the redness, when Elena barges in. A man walking out of one of the stalls mumbles, "whoa", but she pays no mind. She snatches her little brother's face and checks his eyes, disappointed in his behavior, but not surprised.
"Great. It's the first day of school and you're stoned." Jeremy rolls his eyes, something he's grown very good at, and looks at Elena.
"No I'm not."
"Where is it? Is it on you?" Elena begins frisking him, making him uncomfortable and very annoyed.
"Stop, all right? You need to chill yourself, all right?"
"Chill myself? What is that, stoner talk? Dude, you are so cool." She says sarcastically, still searching his pockets and feeling in his shirt. Jeremy grows impatient as she continues to search him.
"Look, stop! I don't have anything on me. Are you crazy?"
"You haven't seen crazy, Jeremy! I gave you a summer pass, but I am done watching you destroy yourself." Jeremy rolls his eyes and attempts to walk away, but Elena's hand stops him, pushing him back against the sink. "No, no, no, you know what? Go ahead. Keep it up. But just know that I am going to be there to ruin your buzz every time, you got it?" Elena's anger subsides as another student flushes the toilet and walks out of the bathroom. She sighs, wishing that this could be the last Elena Gilbert Speech that she'll have to give. "Jeremy, I know who you are. And it's not this person. So don't be this person."
"I don't need this." He spits angrily, brushing past his sister and walking away. Elena stares at the closed door sadly, hoping that if she opens it, it may lead her back home where her parents will be waiting to make everything better again. Unfortunately, when she opens the door, she's brought back to the reality of a crowded hallway.
When she makes it out of the bathroom, she bumps into someone, and is awestruck by his appearance. She knows she's never seen him around before, so he must be knew. Then it hits her - he's the one that she and Bonnie were eyeing outside the Attendance Office. She can't help but feel small under his intense gaze, his green eyes boring into her brown ones.
"Uh, Pardon me," he says, and his voice is husky and low, "Um … is this the men's room?" He asks her, holding back a smile. Elena mentally slaps herself in embarrassment, looking at the men's room door and back to the man in front of her.
"Yes. Um, I was just, Um - I was just -" She swallows hard, fighting to find the right words to say. Should she tell the truth, or lie? "It's a long story." She laughs nervously, his intense gaze growing even more intense, but he smiles politely and nods as if he understands. Just as Elena tries to rush away from the humiliating moment that is her life, she shifts to one side, but the man is also moving that way. They both stop in their tracks, and then move the other way. Elena lets out yet another nervous laugh, then the man moves to one side, giving Elena enough space to pass. He stretches his arm in the direction in which he expects her to walk, and she breathes a thank you as she steals one last glance at him before walking around the corner.
Mr. Tanner's History class drags out boringly, and with the mystery man in her class - whose name she had learned was Stefan - it was hard to pay attention to the teacher. She couldn't help but look behind her, slowly but surely trying to make eye contact with him. Once she had, she suddenly felt shy again, and looked away smiling to herself. Stefan smiled as well, unable to keep his eyes off of her, but not the only one. Matt shot quick glances at Elena as well, and grew jealous at Stefan and Elena's constant glances and smiles. Bonnie noticed Stefan's stares as well, and pulled out her phone to tell Elena of the good news. Elena smiled at her phone, thinking of only one person; Stefan Salvatore, her mind finally wandered away from the only thing she's thought about all summer.
After school, Elena walks to her sanctuary, her safe haven, the one place she's found solace since her parents' death; the cemetery. Every day since the accident, she's come here for comfort, writing in her journal as she leans on her parents' grave.
It's a beautiful day out. The sun shines beautifully, highlighting Elena's hair in streaks of brown and gold. Her eyes glimmer in the sun as well, and the warmth is a comforting temperature, complimented with a slight breeze. The leaves are beginning to fall, a beautiful shower of green, yellow, red and orange. Elena couldn't think of a better place to be.
Dear diary,
I made it through the day. I must have said, "I'm fine, thanks," at least thirty-seven times. And I didn't mean it once. But no one noticed. When someone asks, "How are you?" They really don't want an answer.
Elena looks up from her journal and at the gravestone in front of her that reads, "In Memory: Grayson Gilbert & Miranda Sommers Gilbert - May 23, 2009 - Loving Parents". She smiles sadly, reminiscing on all of the good memories she had with them, and even recalling some of the bad ones. She used to come here and cry, but now, she's grown past the sorrow. Now, she's able to accept and remember. She has to.
Abruptly, a black bird - a crow - lands onto the gravestone and screeches at Elena, eyeing her in a way that seems almost human-like.
"Okay, hi bird." She says to the crow, hoping this will cease its endless hawking. "That's not creepy or anything." She mumbles to herself, and continues to write in her journal. Then suddenly, a growing fog begins to engulf her - a fog she's never encountered before, at least at the cemetery. She looks around nervously as the fog continues to grow, and the crow continues to hawk. Elena finally decides to get up from her spot in the dirt and confront the crow.
"Shoo!" She shouts, waving it away from the gravestone. Its wings stretch out as it flutters into the sky, slowly fading into the clouds. "That's what I thought." But when she turns back around to get her bag, the crow is resting on a statue as it hawks at her repeatedly again. Elena jumps in shock, confused as to how it had gotten there so fast. Bending slowly down, she retrieves her bag from the ground, watching the crow intently, then walks in the other direction. She notices the crow flutter away again, and feels a sudden anxiety as though someone is watching her. She looks behind her repeatedly, thinking she's caught a glimpse of a silhouette of a man, and begins running away from the cemetery. Her heart is racing with every pounding step she takes, and just her luck, her foot catches on a branch and twists to the side as she falls to the ground. She yelps, not so much in pain but in frustration, and begins backing up. When she turns to run again, she's face to face with Stefan Salvatore, just as mysterious and intimidating as before.
"You okay?" He asks her, his eyes focused on her. Elena sighs in relief and nods.
"Were you following me?" She asks him, hoping the answer is no. If he had been following her, he did a great job at scaring her to death.
"No. I-uh-I just - I saw you fall." He defends himself, pointing to the spot under a tree that Elena had previously fell under. She nodded again, only this time, she'd been a little creeped out.
"Uh huh, and you just . . . happened to be in a cemetery."
"I'm visiting," he confirms, "I have, uh, family here." After hearing this, Elena felt a sudden guilt wash over her, and she mentally slapped herself for the second time today.
"Oh. Wow. Tactless. I'm sorry. It's the fog, It's making me foggy. And then back there, there was this - this bird, and it was all very Hitchcock for a second. That is the bird movie, right, the Hitchcock?" Elena stops herself and laughs the moment off, realizing how ridiculous she must sound to him. "I'm Elena." She smiles radiantly. He smiles as well, finding her ranting to be very amusing.
"I'm Stefan."
"I know. We have History together."
"And English and French." She looks at him curiously, surprised that he had even noticed her.
"Right." She says. Stefan seems to notice something in Elena's hair, and he reaches forward to peel a leaf from the brown strands, smiling in the process. Elena smiles back, falling instantly for his.
"Thanks." He lets it all from his fingertips onto the ground beneath him, the same smile on his lips. She watches his movement, from her hair, to his side, his fingers opening. A ring, big and bulky, hugs his middle finger. It's blue with some sort of design on the gem, but she can't make it out from her distance. "Nice ring."
He brings it closer to his view, twisting it nervously on his finger.
"Oh, um, it's a family ring." He beams at her, unable to look away from that face that he knows too well. "Yeah, I'm kind of stuck with it. It's weird, huh?" He half expects her to agree, almost embarrassed by a ring he's worn his entire life.
"No, no. It's just, I mean, there are rings and then there's . . . that." She lets out a breathy chuckle as she points to the ring, which Stefan nervously twists yet again. She smiles at him, caught in Stefan Salvatore's gaze. His smile gives her butterflies, but that same smile abruptly drops for reason's she'll never understand.
"Did you hurt yourself?" He asks.
"Hm?"
"Did you hurt yourself?" He repeats, more sternly this time.
"Oh, uh, I don't know." She walks over to rock and positions her leg on top of it, pulling up her pant leg to reveal a large gash in her calf, blood gushing and running down from it. "Oh! Would you look at that. That is not pretty." She laughs, looking back to Stefan, who she's noticed has turned away from her. He stares in the other direction, the blood in his veins burning and his head churning with desire. "Are you okay?" She asks him cautiously, never looking away from him. He closes his eyes, already beginning to feel them change. He swallows hard, trying to gulp back the intensity, and feels his breath catch in his throat.
"You should go. Take care of that." Elena tugs her pant leg back down, tucking her golden brown locks behind her ear.
"Really, it's nothing." She smiles, but when she turns back to look at him, he's vanished.
