It started with the release of Nightfall.
I was 22 and a mature student at University and things weren't going well for me, I was in a very fragile state of mind due to the pressure I was under from my family as well as University.
My only escape from it all was my books and I was disappointed greatly with Nightfall, so I went on the internet to discuss with fellow fans. What I found on the discussion boards was truly amazing and I thought at first that it had to be either a joke or they were discussing a fan's story that they'd written.
On my favourite website I found people claiming that the characters from the Vampire Diaries were real and the events actually happened. I still don't know for sure how the rumour started (you know what it's like on the web, each source is another website and the other website has yet another website listed as the source.) but I think most of the people are now quietly putting the source down to one person.
Of course, people were finding this hard to swallow. The webmistress was apparently on e-mail terms with the author and been e-mailing her for information about the rumour, when I joined in there had been reports of girls suddenly begging their parents to take them on holiday to Florence so they could soak up the "culture." There had been plenty of unconfirmed sightings of some of the characters in some very odd places- I mean, what the hell would Stefan Salvatore be doing shopping in Men's Gap?
After a about a week of intrigue, speculation and sheer stupidity, the announcement came that it was true. Damon, Stefan, Elena Matt, Meredith and Bonnie were actually real people. The webmistress said that they had been trying to keep it quiet but somehow it got it out, giving her publishers a massive headache.
It seemed that Harper Collins, Lisa Jane and the Vampire Diaries gang had a bit of a crisis meeting and decided upon launching a competition in the UK to appease the British fan base who had complained that there was a launch party for Nightfall in the U.S.A but no plans for one over here and so we would yet again miss out.
There would be 50 winners who would get the chance to come to London and stay for 3 nights in a top London hotel. Over the two days they were staying they would get to meet and greet not only Lisa Jane Smith but also Damon, Stefan, Bonnie, Matt, Elena and Meredith.
All we had to do was e-mail in a question to ask - the top 50 selected would win and we would get to ask them it in person.
There would be a meet and greet session on day one for the fans to get to know each other, including a late buffet lunch. After that was a Q&A with Lisa Jane and Harper Collins bods, then dinner. After Dinner there would be an informal dance.
Day 2 consisted of Breakfast, then we would meet the people behind the characters.
After lunch we would have the opportunity to ask them our questions which would bring us to around lunch time, then if we so wanted to there was a sightseeing tour of London or free time until dinner.
After that Stefan and Bonnie would be talking about herbs, spells and psychic powers or you could go see Damon explain about his past and demonstrate his powers.
On day 3 Elena and Stefan would do a short Q&A and then Meredith and Matt would be talking about how it had affected their lives.
After lunch there would be a photo/ book signing session until dinner.
Dinner would be a buffet and there would be a formal farewell ball.
So basically, it was a normal convention. On paper anyway, in real life the itinerary would go out the window and the organisers would be tearing their hair out.
The question I submitted was one everyone was thinking but no one had actually dared to ask- had any of them read the books? If they had, then did it change their perception of each other?
I sent it off and waited and waited. Then one day I got the letter that I was waiting for, my question was one of the top 50, I was so excited I started bouncing on my bed and when my housemate complained I did it even more just annoy her.
Over the next two months I got a temporary job in a blockbuster working nights, I saved up money and bought a nice dress for the farewell ball and the accessories to go with it, my troubles temporarily forgotten with the excitement of meeting the people I felt I knew so well through the books.
So the time came at last and I was in London at the hotel, rooming with a girl called Fliss. I had checked in about 12 and Fliss had already bagged her bed, we got talking and it turned out that Stefan was her favourite, "he doesn't deserve Elena, she just keeps breaking his heart. No wonder the poor boy's always worrying. Who's your favourite then?" I laughed and grinned.
"Oh everyone loves Damon." she rolled her eyes but we both laughed.
There was a knock on the door and a girl with blonde hair and warm brown eyes wandered in and introduced herself as Sam, then followed Holly with her New Rocks and purple hair, soon we were all sitting on the beds with the door open laughing and joking with each other.
We had gotten to that point where Holly had gotten her Ipod and we were all dancing to Nicklebacks' Rockstar still with the door open, Holly and I were head banging while the other two were dancing. Girls from the other rooms started coming in and pretty soon we had about 10 people in the room and then Bonnie came to see what we were doing. Pretty soon we had everyone dancing to a bit of Aerosmiths' Nine Lives, it seemed only Holly and then somehow we ended up trying to teach everyone including Bonnie how to headbang.
That was when Stefan came to find out where his friend had disappeared to and just stood there watching quietly for a few minutes until Holly went to switch tracks and suddenly everyone crowded round the ipod asking for a song.
"I hate to bust up the party but the meet and greet starts in 5 minutes folks," he smiled as we all jumped and turned almost at the same time.
"Oh jeez, sorry Stefan. I didn't realise that was the time!" Bonnie said, then she turned to Fliss who's long strawberry blonde hair was all over the place after our head banging session.
"I'll see you guys later then at dinner!" but her words were lost as she was ushered to safety by Stefan just in time as the 10 of us ran giggling and laughing along the corridor.
The meet and greet was okay, some girls were really shy and it was like getting blood out of a stone. Others were more chatty and those of us like that bonded straight away, especially when they heard about our impromptu party and how Stefan had turned up and that we tried to teach Bonnie how to head bang.
"Ohmigod! What was he like?" was the only question on everyone's lips as those of us involved were trapped like cattle around the buffet table.
"He seemed really nice, he thought it was funny anyway" grinned Sam.
"His eyes were a really unusual green. They really do like the colour of Oak leaves." I chimed in, making quite a few girls go visibly weak.
The Q&Awas informative as Lisa Jane Smith told how she had broken down in a small town that was the inspiration for Fells' Church and her car needed some major repairs to it so she had to stay at the boarding house. That was when she met Stefan and heard about the adventures that Stefan and Elena had from the woman who owned the boarding house and had managed to convince them to let her publish it.
Harper Collins was there to promote the new big hardback Vampire Diaries books and were selling them at a special price in case we wanted anyone to sign them. Some of the girls did, but Holly and I decided that we were happy with our 3 battered paperbacks.
The Q&A ended and we went upstairs to freshen up before dinner, Holly, Sam and I were laughing at some of the younger girls who were peaking round every corner and found Matt talking to Stefan. The look on Matt's face was something that I'll never forget, horror, shock and panic, even Stefan looked a little nervous as they started going up to them. Sam got her camera out and took a picture of the moment, the three of us crying with laughter and earning a suspicious look from Stefan. Sam showed us the picture and as we were laughing over it there was a musical laughter behind us and the three of us jumped out of our skins. We turned round to come face to face with Damon and I really wish I hadn't, he is stunning in real life. Stefan's gorgeous but if Damon were really famous then he'd be the World's most gorgeous man every year forever.
"What a picture! And captured on a digital camera as well!" he laughed again and we nearly collapsed. "My how lucky you two are, all these pretty girls throwing themselves at you!" he winked at us with that wolf-like grin and I think we smiled back very weakly.
He held out his hand to Holly and introduced himself, Holly gave her name and then Sam's and then mine. To each one of us he bent and kissed our cheek, his face was cool and quite hard and you could smell the leather in his jacket and his cologne.
Stefan and Matt had come over by now as the hoard had spotted Damon and was gathering around us, "I think we'll have to keep a close eye on these three Damon, they're trouble." grinned Stefan, the others looked at us with wide eyed gazes.
The winners were all ages, sizes and colours, some of the older ones who were quite shy had now joined the back of the group and were staring at us.
"Is that so?" Damon murmured, then he turned to me and asked loudly "what does that say on your jumper ?" Realisation hit me that I was wearing my Riding club hooded jumper with my nickname on it, so I had to 'fess up.
"Trouble, it's my nickname." I grinned.
"I believe you're right brother, she has trouble written all over her!" said Damon and with that everyone laughed. Damon's laughter faded very suddenly but he still had an amused look on his face, "I'm keeping you from your dinner, I must sincerely apologise. I shall see you in the ballroom later when no doubt you will look even more like the three graces than you do now."
As he took each of our hands in turn and placed a gentle kiss on the backs of them I blushed and sneaking a glance at my two new friends I could see them doing the same, to make matters worse he made a sweeping bow and walked past us leaving us rooted to the spot and our hearts trying to escape from our chests.
We didn't look at each other until we were in the lift and the doors closed, only then did we look each other and let out little screams of delight.
Over dinner we sat at the same table and described what had happened to Fliss who nearly spat her drink out in shock when she heard that Damon had gone overboard on the charm. What none of them seemed to feel was the gaze from the table that contained Meredith, Bonnie, Matt and Elena, as it seemed that Matt was telling them about what had happened as well. It's hard to carry on a conversation when you can feel people's eyes boring into your back.
After dinner we went back to our rooms and got ready for the party, me in my long vintage midnight blue dress and Fliss in her LBD. Holly went a bit Goth with a long slinky black dress and purple New Rocks, Sam settled for a midnight blue silk cocktail dress.
Hair and make up done we went down to the ballroom where all the girls were dressed to kill and the men were in shirts and blazers without any ties looking gorgeous as ever. Damon came over to us straight away and kissed our hands again, telling us how beautiful we looked, queue us tongue tied an giggling standing there like lemons, then he went away to get us all a glass of bucks fizz and Meredith came over in a deep red cocktail dress, her long dark hair lying down her back and making her look very beautiful. "I see Damon's on a charm offensive tonight. Be careful, he's been warned against biting people here but even so…"
"Meredith. I think you should give them and Damon a break, he promised he wouldn't do anything he shouldn't." Said Elena who came over, frowning at her friend. Meredith frowned a little but nodded. "I'm sorry, I just find it hard to trust him sometimes," I smiled at her.
"It's alright, I understand where you're coming from. We'll be very careful won't we?" Sam, Holly and Fliss nodded in agreement and suddenly Damon was back with the drinks, proposing a toast to new friends. Elena and Meredith were being called by Stefan who had been deep in conversation with a group of people and suddenly the four of us were alone with Damon. He asked polite questions about where we came from and what we did for a living, he raised both eyebrows when I said that I studying Palaeobiology and Evolution. "I didn't think a pretty girl such as yourself would be studying prehistoric life. What's your aim?" he asked me, I laughed.
"My dream would be to work in Montana and find a complete adult T. rex. I've been obsessed since I was 3." Damon laughed his musical laugh long and hard.
"A pretty girl who likes dead things with sharp teeth? This party has suddenly got very interesting." he grinned. I can't remember when the others went, but I found that it was just Damon and me standing at the edge of the dance floor as the DJ played another song.
I was standing close to him so I could hear what he was saying and as he leaned down to me I leaned in closer thinking that he was about to say something when he kissed me full on the lips. I was shocked, this wasn't what I was expecting at all, or what I wanted. He pulled me closer and held me tighter, misinterpreting my shock. His body was smooth and hard, his lips cool. The kiss was amazing and I felt my body aching to melt into his arms and respond to it, but then I felt his tongue slipping into my mouth and anger and revulsion shot through me. I hated French Kissing and I hated the feeling of being helpless in front of a man, he wasn't letting me go so I bit his tongue just hard enough for him to get the message.
He drew back, he wasn't happy. "That was uncalled for," my anger started to rise.
"That wasn't what I wanted, we were talking one minute and then you kissed me and wouldn't let me go!" I complained.
"You're after my brother? Or is Matt?" he asked and when I glared at him he said "why else would you be here? All these girls have come to see us, they all have their stupid fantasies of becoming vampires or of one of us running off into the sunset with one of them. Why should you be any different?" Then he frowned at me and I felt a weird sensation in my head.
"Stop it!" I tried to pull away but he had me by the waist, my panic rose and I could see Stefan watching intently. "Let me go!" my voice rose, trying to attract his attention.
"I know what you want better then you do sweetheart" his voice was dangerously low. "You were very stupid to take all those pills and not do the job properly, but don't worry about that now. My way is a lot better." He had been in my head, he had seen something that I didn't want him to see.
"You fucking bastard!" I hissed, my anger suddenly became fury. "How dare you! You have no right!" He staggered backwards like I hit him, but it didn't register. You see if someone pushes the right button with me my anger suddenly flares up and it's so intense that it takes a lot of effort to control it.
"My my, the cat has claws." he murmured, "I like girls with fire, but you had better calm down as in a minute my brother's going to walk over and we don't want to make a big scene do we? Otherwise you'll be the laughing stock of the ballroom- the girl who didn't want me to kiss her."
"Let me go." Damon just laughed.
"Now or later? Up to you." Something triggered in my memory, psycho bitch Lisa took over.
"So tell me, has Stefan read the books?" Damon looked confused, I couldn't keep the smirk from my face. "What's that got to do with anything?"
"Well it's just that Elena never mentions to Stefan the night you came to her house for dinner." He frowned, still confused.
"What would he think if he knew that you forced his beloved to give you blood by making her choose between her or her five year old sister?" He clamped his hand over my mouth and hissed. He was really mad now, I was practically dragged out of the ballroom into the anteroom.
"You stupid little bitch! What makes you think I wouldn't influence you so that you won't say it."
"49 other girls who've read the same book. I'll be asking my question tomorrow and I'm sure that will jog a few memories." It was my turn to smile cruelly. I had him over a barrel.
"Damon what's going on? Lisa, are you alright?" I smiled at Damon and turned it on Stefan. Damon let me go and skulked off. "I'm fine Stefan. Thank you." He frowned at me, "what was that about? Your anger's nearly as strong as Elena's, that's some temper you've got on you. Look at you, you're shaking!"
I think was a bit hysterical at that point, Stefan looked horrified. "I'll be okay. Damon kissed me and I got mad and lost my temper with him, that's all."
"You lost your temper because my brother kissed you?! Most girls in this room would give their right arm!"
"I'm not like other girls. I didn't come here for that." I felt very vulnerable all of a sudden, a little scared of emotions so close to the surface. I rubbed my arm at the elbow, I could still feel the spot where they put the needle in for the drip.
"Why don't we go get a breathe of fresh air with her?" asked Elena and Meredith, I didn't realise they were standing there.
"Good idea. I think I'd better check on Damon, you two were white hot you were so mad at each other." Stefan shook his head and went back into the ballroom, I was frogmarched up to my room.
