Chapter One: Spring
From her place at the edge of the garden, Elena Gilbert took in her surroundings.
The tulips she planted last winter were just now peaking through the uneven earth. It was growing warmer with each passing day, she noticed. Soon she would be able to plant a few more seasonal plants in the small garden. Daffodils would be nice, she thought.
These days Elena spent most of her time in the garden just outside the boarding house.
The garden provided her with a distraction- if only for a short moment in time. It prevented her from thinking. Thinking about what had been. Thinking about what happened. Thinking about that night.
Two short years ago, her life had been so different. Everyone had loved and admired her. She was the head cheerleader for Robert E. Lee High School. Her best friends, Bonnie and Meredith, were the greatest companions a person could ever ask for. She excelled in all of her courses. And she was even class valedictorian.
Most importantly, she had a wonderful relationship with Matt. They had been together practically since birth having lived next door to one another since they were two years old. Their parents quickly became good friends, and the duo soon began to have frequent play dates. At the age of five, they entered kindergarten together. Everything Matt did, Elena did as well, and vice versus. They were the best of friends.
When Elena was only thirteen years old her parents died in, what she would later learn, was a head-on collision with a semi-truck on the back roads of Virginia. Elena had been spending the weekend with Matt and his family while her parents went visit her Aunt Judith up north. This was a horrible time in Elena's life; but with much needed comfort and support from Matt, she was able to be overcome her depression and find happiness again. That happiness was Matt.
When they were fifteen years old, they officially became a couple. No one was surprised. They were practically joined at the hip already. Their friendship easily transitioned into a relationship, and they soon realized what it was like to love another human being so completely that your heart hurt when they were not with you.
Senior year, they were both accepted into a prestigious university in California. Together, they decided to take it. They would be able start a whole new life out in California. A life of their own- or so she thought.
Out of the corner of her eye, Elena could see a figure slowly approaching. Probably Mrs. Flowers, she thought. She occasionally came out to sit with her. Mrs. Flowers would talk to her about the garden and show her appreciation for the work Elena had put into it. She would even tell her stories from her past.
The townsfolk felt the pairing was a good match. Mrs. Flowers had so many stories to tell and well- Elena, all she could do was listen.
The town pitied her after that night. They weren't clear on the chain of events, but they knew the ending. Matt was dead.
It didn't take long for rumors to begin about what happened out there in the woods. "Drug addicts", some people said. "Escaped convicts", said another. They all had their own theory on how Matt had died. But there was only one person who really knew what took place that night, and that person was Elena. But she wasn't talking. Not for anything.
Doctors said she had a psychotic break that night. What she must have witnessed, they assumed, must have been so horrifying that she could not speak of it, or anything else.
The figure was much closer now, but to her dismay it was not Mrs. Flowers at all. She quickly looked the man up and down. Dark features, those mysterious but penetrating eyes, and rock hard body. Her thoughts drifted for a second but she swiftly shook her head. She returned her gaze to the blossoming tulips just as he approached.
"Would you mind if I sat with you", he asked as he gestured to the old wooden bench she was perched upon.
She slowly looked up at him. Those eyes… she thought. And she gradually nodded her head.