Chapter one
July 4th 2015
Dear Diary,
I feel horrible today. I have no idea why I just wrote that. Maybe it's just the time difference between Italy and here that makes me feel like this. I know that I should be happy and that I should smile all the time. But that isn't as easy as you think it is.
But, here I am, 5:30 in the morning and I'm wondering about how live could be if my parents where here. My father left my mother and me the day I was born. And my mother got killed five years ago. That's also the day that my younger brother got taken away.
It hurts to think about that. That's why I moved away from Rome that's where my family was taken away from me. So I moved here today. To Mystic Falls. I chose this place because it's far away from Rome and the history of this town is impressive and of course, fiction.
This town believes that vampires and werewolves have existed. I think that are just legends, fiction, made up by some guy. I also believe that these stories are made up to scare children so they will stop nagging and will go to sleep.
I only have one problem here, I don't have enough money to keep the house and to go to school. I never finished high school in Rome and here I can't go to it. But I don't mind. I've got a job and it pays enough to take care of myself.
Catherine Gilbert, Catherine had changed her last name when she came to Mystic Falls, her real last name was Pierce, looked up from her diary when she heard someone knock on the front door. She stood up to go see who it was.
Catherine was a clever girl she had a small chain at the door so it will open just enough for her to look who's at the door.
She opened it and looked who it was. It was some guy.
"Hello, I came to welcome you here. I live next door." The guy said. He was gorgeous, Catherine must admit that. She closed the door and took the chain away and opened the door completely.
"Thank you." Catherine said.
"I'm Stefan Salvatore. And you are?" Stefan said.
"I'm Cathy. Nice to meet you, Stefan." Catherine said. Catherine was her full name but she hated it. She was called after some ancestor. She always called herself Cathy.
"Can I come in?"
"Um, I'm sorry. It's a mess inside and I have a lot to unpack maybe some other time." Catherine said and closed the door. She watched Stefan walk away through the living room window.
Catherine had seen that name before. Stefan Salvatore. She couldn't remember where she had seen it before so she let it go and went back to her diary.
She noticed it was opened. She was sure that she had closed her diary when she went to get the door.
And her pen was gone, together with her sweater.
"Hello? Is there someone?" She walked toward the kitchen. She could see a shadow on the wall across from her. There was definitely someone in her kitchen.
"Hello?" She said and walked around the corner and saw a man, around 25 years old.
"Um, hello? What are you doing here?" Catherine asked. The man turned around.
"Who are you?" Catherine asked when he didn't respond to her first question.
"I'm Ryan, who are you?" The man said.
"I'm Cathy. What are you doing here?" Catherine said.
"Nice to meet you too, Cathy." Ryan said and smiled at her.
"Ryan, what are you doing in my kitchen?" Catherine asked.
"I was just looking for something I lost here." Ryan said.
"You could have knocked." Catherine said and looked at Ryan. He was different than Stefan but still a very handsome man for his age, Catherine thought.
"You wouldn't have let me in anyways. I saw you talking to your neighbour. You weren't very nice to him." Ryan said, still smiling.
"I haven't had any sleep tonight and then there comes a complete stranger and asks if he can come in. Would you let someone you don't know into your house?"
"No, so that's why I didn't knock." Ryan said laughing.
"Could you please leave now?" Catherine asked.
"Of course. I found the thing I've been looking for anyways." He held up a cell phone and left through the kitchen door. Catherine shook her head in disbelieve. How rude to just come into someone's house without asking, she thought. She went upstairs to finish unpacking. She almost forgot to take her diary with her. She took the box on her bed and started looking through it.
She came across a smaller box. She took it from the big box and opened it. There were two books in it, a small one and a bigger one. The bigger one looked like Catherine's diary. Her diary had a blue velvet cover and the one in the box had a green velvet cover. She took the green book from the box and opened it.
December 26th 2000
Dear Diary,
Yesterday was Christmas Eve. Jeremy was spending this Christmas with his father in France. Cathy was with me. This was the first Christmas without her father. Well, we just never celebrated Christmas. Cathy never really liked it.
But, I introduced my new boyfriend, Damon, to her last night. Damon only knows Cathy' full name, Catherine. She didn't really seem to like him. But Damon had cooked her dinner. We had already eaten at his place earlier but Cathy hadn't. He had made her favourite food. Lasagna. She really likes the food Damon had made her. And later, I had to leave for a meeting with the counsel so Damon offered to stay with Cathy. I was only gone for just two hours. This is the piece out of Cathy's diary about those two hours alone with Damon:
December 25th 2000
Dear Diary,
Tonight we celebrated Christmas for the very first time since Dad left us. Mom introduced her new boyfriend to me. His name is Damon, I didn't really like him much as soon as he came through the door. He acted like he was to good for my mother.
But he cooked me my favourite food. Lasagna. I really liked it. He could cook very good.
Mom got a call when Damon and I were doing the dishes. Mom sat on the counter and watched us having fun with the soap. Her phone rang but she didn't seem to have heard it.
"Mom, your phone." I told her.
"Yes, mom. You should pick up your phone." Damon said for fun. Mom picked up her phone and finished her phone call in the hallway.
When she came back she told us she had to go to some meeting with the major. Damon told her he would stay here with me and Mom left after hugging me and kissing Damon.
Damon took me to the living room and said that we were going to play some game.
We had to hold each others hands.
"Think about the person you love the most. And I'll try to guess who you are thinking of." He said and told me to close my eyes.
"The person you love the most is your mother. Is that right?" Damon asked and I nodded, of course that was right. It wasn't that hard to figure that a child loves his mother the most.
"Now, think of the person you miss the most." Damon said. I closed my eyes and thought of Dad. Damon didn't know anything about my Dad. But Mom had told him that her mother had died a few weeks ago so it would be hard for him to know who I missed the most.
"The person you miss the most is your Dad." Damon said. I asked him how he knew that and he told me that he could feel it or something. But thinking about Dad made me sad, it always does. I really miss him.
After that 'game' Damon and I played hide and seek. The most stupid game you can play. But we had a lot of fun.
He always found me but I never found him. We just laughed a lot. I've never had this much fun in my life.
I'm happy for Damon and Mom. I really hope that they won't break up or something.
Did you every think Cathy would like Damon that much.
I know it was wrong to take these pages from her diary but reading this makes me feel better about Damon and me. Oh, and.
When I returned from that meeting we gave Cathy her gifts. Damon had bought something for her too. He had bought her a necklace with a small silver pigeon on it. Cathy really liked the necklace and she even let Damon put it on. They really seem to like each other now.
I really love Damon. And of course, I really love Cathy. She is everything to me.
Catherine looked up when someone knocked on the front door again. She went to open it, she still had the green book in her hand when she opened the door.
"Stefan, what are you doing here?" Catherine asked.
"Cathy, I was wondering if you wanted to join me for dinner, tonight." Stefan asked.
"Sure. Where and how late?" Cathy said.
"At the Grills. I'll pick you up at 7." Stefan said and he walked off. Just when she wanted to close the door someone stood in front of her front yard. He was staring at her.
He had black hair, and was wearing black, jeans, black leather boots, and a black leather jacket. He was just staring at Catherine. She didn't seem to have noticed the guy staring at her. She went back to the living room and sat at the windowsill. She looked outside and suddenly saw the guy who was staring at her. When he noticed that she was watching him too he smiled.
The guy scared her. Like he was undressing her with his eyes. She turned around to look for that missing sweater but she didn't see it anywhere. When she looked back outside, at the spot where the boy just had been standing.
It really scared her now. She jumped when someone knocked on the front door. Catherine opened the door and jumped.
It was the boy who had been staring at her.
"Hello, is this yours? I found it on the sidewalk in front of your house." The boy said and smiled. His smile dazzled Catherine.
"Oh, yes. I've been looking for those. Thank you very much." Catherine said. The boy gave Catherine the sweater and her pen.
She wanted to close the door but the boy put his hand against the door and held it open.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"What's yours?" Catherine avoided the question.
"I'm Damon. Can I come in?" He did something strange with his eyes. Well, his pupils grew smaller.
"Sure. Come in." Catherine said without thinking.
Damon stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
"Can you now tell me your name?" He asked.
"Cathy." She said.
"Well, Cathy. That's a very beautiful name." Damon said.
"Thanks. Oh, I have to get something from upstairs. Just make yourself at home. The kitchen is through there and here is the living room." Catherine said.
She ran up the stairs and put on her necklace. The one with the pigeon. Catherine only couldn't remember who had given to her. Yes, some guy called Damon, that's all she could remember.
She put the necklace on and went back downstairs. Damon was looking around in the living room. He was looking at the picture on the wall. A picture of a man holding a baby.
"Is that you?" Damon asked.
"Yes, and that's my father. Well, my mother told me he's my father." Catherine said.
"You've never known him, have you?" Damon said and turned. Catherine shook her head.
Damon saw the necklace and stepped closer to Catherine. He recognized it but he couldn't remember from what so he let it go.
"Can I get you something to drink?" Catherine asked.
"Yes, please. Do you have scotch?" Damon asked.
"Yes. I'll get you some." Catherine said and disappeared into the kitchen. She came back with two glasses and a bottle of scotch.
"Oh, that's stuff is great. It's my favourite." Damon said when Catherine poured the two glasses with it.
"Mine too." Catherine said and they both took a zip.
"How old are you?" Damon asked.
"20. And you?" Catherine asked.
"23." Damon said. And they smiled. They both didn't expect each other to be as old as they said so. Catherine had thought that Damon was eighteen or something. But Damon had thought the same about Catherine.
"You don't come from here, do you?" Damon asked.
"No, I used to live in Italy." Catherine said.
"Oh, me too. Where did you live in Italy?"
"Rome."
"Me too. That's a coincidence. But I moved here four years ago." Damon said.
"Why did you decide to come live here?"
"I heard about these legends and I find them interesting. I was a history teacher so it fascinates me but I quit a year ago."
"Okay, this town sure does have a interesting history. Do you believe in any of the stories?"
"Yes. Don't you? I mean, these legends explain the disappearances, the 'Animal attacks.' It explains everything so yes I believe they are true."
"I don't really know what I believe. I first want to know some more about these legends before I jump to conclusions." Catherine said.
Damon hadn't expected that answer. He had expected her to say no. Damon was impressed by Catherine.
"Do you know how late it is?" Catherine asked.
"It's 3:oo PM. Cathy, do you have plans for tonight?" Damon asked.
"No," she lied.
"Would like to go out with me?"
"As a date?"
"Yes?" Damon blushed a little.
"Sure."
"Okay, how late shall I pick you up?"
"8:30." Catherine said.
"Sure. Can I have some more scotch?" Damon asked and Catherine refilled his glass. Damon stood up and walked over to the bookshelves. He looked at the books.
"You like history?" Damon asked.
"My mother liked it. And I couldn't throw away her books. And they are very fascinating books." Catherine asked.
"Your mother?"
"She died. Five years ago. Car crash." Catherine said and went to stand beside Damon.
"Is that your mother?" He asked and pointed at the picture on one of the shelves.
"No, that's my ancestress. My ancestress had left a lot of things to the first person who's name started with Cath. My mother read that in one of my grandmother's letters so I got all my ancestor's stuff. Diaries, books, clothes, the ruins of a house, everything she owned when she was alive." Catherine said.
"You sure look so much like her. I should get going. I'll see you tonight." Damon said. And he left. He walked to his house. It was the huge house across the Wickery Bridge. He unlocked the door and stepped inside.
He also kept a diary. He was a vampire, and he was over five-hundred years old, so he wrote everything down so he wouldn't forget anything.
July 4th 2015
I met this girl today. Cathy, she looks exactly like Catherine. My brother and I had been in love with Catherine in 1864. She was a vampire and drank our blood, and made us drink hers. One day, we told her to chose between us but she couldn't and took off. The next morning we found her dress and her ring, which protects her from the sun, beside the tree. Catherine had stepped into the sunlight and killed herself. My brother and I blames ourselves and we killed each other. Stefan, my brother, didn't survive it and stayed dead. I changed into a vampire.
And now, I'm going out with the girl who looks exactly like the love of my life.
Maybe this is crazy, but I kind of already love Cathy.
Damon closed his diary and walked into the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of the same Scotch as he'd been drinking at Cathy's. Damon was alone in his huge house. Thinking about Catherine made him feel lonely. And being with Cathy, made him feel almost human again. It felt great. That's why Damon asked Cathy out on a date.