Prologue: I'm Off to California

1855

Caroline Forbes felt the seat bumping her against her bottom and it let out a little jerk every couple of miles because of the rough terrain. Once or twice the ride was so bumpy that she found herself going forward nearly pressing against the old man in front of her.

"Sorry," she said when the carriage jolted forward again as she nearly fell into the man's lap. The older man didn't seem to acknowledge her. He just let out a deep snore in response. Caroline grimaced he had been asleep since she had first gotten on the carriage.

He was a miner, Caroline guessed. One of those desperately looking for gold. He had apparently been bitten by the Gold Rush bug, that had been driving men crazy for years.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust as the man let out another snore. He was sweaty, dirty, and just plain disgusting. She wondered how she had survived this long without throwing up.

There were only two other people in the stagecoach heading to the small town of Mystic Falls. One of them was an older woman who was wearing a heavy black dress with buttons all the way up to her neck despite the summer heat and who hadn't looked up from her Bible once. The other was a middle-aged man who seemed content singing a few songs to himself all through the journey.

Overall, Caroline was lucky since the situation could have been much worse. She was out in the west now where men outnumbered women 10 to 1 and she had often heard tales of kidnapping and murders of girls from her village.

Caroline fiddled with the sweaty ribbon around her slim throat. Every part of her felt hot, it was the first week of September, yet it still felt like scorching July. Caroline had just turned twenty years old and she could hardly believe that she was here traveling across the country. Originally, she was from a small little town in West Virginia being raised only by her mother. She had thought that she would eventually marry and live in the village her entire life.

But Liz had suddenly died and she had left Caroline penniless and with doctor debts. Caroline had sold their small house to pay the debts and had kept a small amount for her travel. Most of it however had been gone when she had secure the stagecoach and she had to eat of course.

Caroline could have stayed in the village and married, but she hadn't meet anyone attractive as shallow as that sounded so she had decided to go West to California as a Mail Order Bride.

She had found the add in the paper when she had read it after her mother's death. Apparently, there were many miners out there who lacked a wife and wanted to "order" one. In the ad, a young man named Matt Donovan had posted an add and picture saying that he wanted a young wife who wouldn't mind living in the west. Caroline had replied and was now joining her future husband in her new home.

She had butterflies in her stomach and she wondered if she had been smart marrying a man she had only exchange letters with. But she didn't have much of a choice. The stagecoach driver let out a yell. "Last stop, Mystic Falls! Everybody out!"

"Girl! Will you get a move on! Stop, daydreaming, and get to work!" Someone slapped her across her back hard nearly making eighteen-year-old Elena Gilbert stumble. It took her a moment for her to realize where she was.

She finally remembered she was standing in the middle of the restaurant where she was currently working as a server. Her dark, glossy brown hair was pulled back in a short, twisty bun and her uniform consisted of a tight, blue dress that hugged her hips and curves in all the right places. The cotton was ruined, but Elena thought that it still looked beautiful for an old dress. It was the last dress her mother had made for her before she and her father had drowned in the river on their way home from visiting her aunt in New York. Elena had been seventeen when she had lost her parents and Jeremy only fifteen.

Elena's eyes grew wet when she thought of her baby brother, after her parents had died she had gone to work as a schoolteacher. She had been determined to stay a spinster her entire life if it meant that Jeremy could have a happy life and go to college like her parents had wanted.

Jeremy had been furious that Elena kept treating him like a baby, but Elena had refused to budge. Then one day after she had come home from work she had found a letter from Jeremy telling her that he had left with a couple of worthless friends to seek their wealth in gold from California.

It had nearly broken Elena's heart and she had quit her job and headed off to California. She had never realized that California was so big and the little money that she had earned as a schoolteacher had quickly disappeared. So currently she was working as a waitress for one of the few restaurants in the small town of Mystic Falls.

"Girl! If you daydream again and drop those plates I'll kick you out faster than you can say Oh, Susanna!" the owner, Mr. Tanner shouted.

"Sorry, sir," Elena said as she bit her tongue. Bastard.

She grabbed the tray of heavy, hot food and headed towards the table. She felt someone slap her on the ass hard. "Nice ass, girly."

Elena yelped in surprise as she dropped the tray and food spilled all over the place. The men started snickering and Elena turned red. She felt someone grip her arm. "That's it girl!" Mr. Tanner roared. "I gave you enough chances, you're fired!"

Katerina Petrova flinched when she heard her small traveling suitcase fall across from her. Then she heard her mother's tears. She flinched. She wanted to tell her mother not to cry because she couldn't cry. She wouldn't give her father the satisfaction.

Her entire body ached, her back from the whipping that her father had given her across her back and her legs felt weak, after all she had only miscarried two days ago, her parents had been furious when they had found out she was pregnant out of wedlock and they had only found out because she had miscarried in the bathtub.

For them having a baby out of wedlock was like murdering someone and the father of Katerina's baby had run for the hills as soon as he had found out about the pregnancy. "Get out!" her father roared in his thick, Bulgaria accent.

"Katerina, Katerina," her mother sobbed as she handed her a handkerchief. Inside were a few bills. Her father slapped her mother's hand away, but he didn't take away the money. Without another look, back he closed the door leaving Katerina alone.

-End of Prologue-

Thanks for your reviews!