Author's Note: I'll start with the usual disclaimer. I do not own the rights to any characters of settings used in this fic. All rights to the characters of The Vampire Diaries belong to the author of the novels, L.J. Smith and the creators of The Vampire Diaries TV series, off which this story is based. No copyright infringement intended.

I spend most of my fun writing time working on Twilight fanfiction, but I was inspired a couple of weeks ago by an episode of The Vampire Diaries when Damon was in the bathtub confessing things to the reporter he's now using as a smoke screen. This is an M rated AU involving a new character that came from my own noggin…the lost Gilbert sister, Rebekah, same age as Jenna, but with a much more sinister secret. I hope you enjoy it. Again, I based this on the TV Series mythology, which I do seem to like more than the book series, which I began reading recently. I already have a few chapters done, but updates may be sporadic as this is just my side fun work to take breaks from writing my second novel. At any rate, I hope you enjoy!


Chapter 1

As I walked down the street toward the doors that led to the familiar hometown hangout that I hadn't set eyes on in several years, I smiled, unable to resist chuckling at the welcome that probably awaited me. I never fit in with Mystic Falls. I was always the black sheep of the Gilbert family, never buying into all the founders hoopla. Just because our great, great, great grandparents helped start the town, didn't make us some kind of royalty. That was just a bunch of pretentious baloney.

The fact that I found it pretentious baloney and refused to waltz around like I owned the place didn't earn me any points with my Dad and brothers, who hated me anyway just on principle, but that's a story for another day. According to them, I had a responsibility to uphold the history of the great Gilbert family, blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda. It was all about appearances. I hated it…all of it...well with the exception of my sister-in-law, Miranda, my niece and nephew, and Miranda's sister and my BFF Jenna Sommers. I loved the crap out of them, but I needed a life away from Mystic Falls, so when College called, I answered and stayed gone.

I should have stayed and helped with Elena and Jeremy when Grayson and Miranda died instead of leaving it all on Jenna, but it wasn't possible. Jenna would have been much better at that than me anyway. I was never the mommy type…I was a free spirit…always had been, always will be. I know it probably burned her up that I didn't stick and take responsiblity like she did, but I would have only been another burden, especially with all of the freshly discovered secrets I was hiding. No, those kids had enough to worry about without dealing with me…until now.

I pushed through the door of the Mystic Grill, catching a glimpse of my reflection in the glass. I hadn't changed much since I left Mystic Falls for school. I still had the long straight, strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes, and fit body I had in my cheerleading days. My skin was pale as ever, looking even more so in my all black outfit, but I didn't care…I never really did. I sauntered in to find the same hang out I had spent countless hours in with Jenna a decade ago. We were so much younger than our siblings, and we were the wild children of our families. We had some really great times in this place. I couldn't help but hope that we would again.

Scanning the room for any familiar faces in the quiet weekend afternoon crowd, I made my way to the bar, leaning against it and asking the cute kid behind the counter for a soda and wedge fries. I really missed the wedge fries here. Blondie, who looks just about Elena's age and I thought might be Elena's boyfriend I had met at the funeral, slid my order in front of me just as a voice I wasn't expecting to hear echoed from behind me.

"Rebekah Gilbert, what the hell are you doing back in town?"

I spun on my stool with a smile, hearing the playful tone in the voice. I hoped that maybe, just maybe this wouldn't go as badly as I feared.

"Jenna Sommers…I thought I'd deprived Mystic Falls of my presence quite long enough, so here I am." I held my hands up to showcase the strained smile on my face.

A shadow clouded her face for a second as her brow crinkled slightly. "For how long?"

I sighed as I took a long drink of the cola in my hand, the ice clinking loudly against the glass. "Well, since I just accepted a job at the high school teaching English, I would hope it would be for a while."

To my great relief, the shadow disappeared as she flew the couple of feet that separated us and wrapped her arms tightly around my neck. "A little over a year too late, but you were never one for punctuality. Welcome home! The kids are going to be so happy to see you. You left after the funeral without even saying goodbye."

I swallowed hard and fought back the tears that threatened to leak out. Leaving them without even saying goodbye was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, but it was necessary to keep them safe…to keep all of them safe. My demons were sneaking up on me, and I didn't want them to find me anywhere near my family. No…I took the coward's way out and didn't even look back their way until I knew the coast was clear. That day never came and now I was back with a far more important task.

Jenna and I enjoyed some great catch up conversation, half of mine fabricated by necessity to make my life since leaving Mystic Falls far more normal than it had been. About ten minutes in, a handsome guy in his mid thirties came in, kissing Jenna before taking the stool on the other side of her. That girl always got the most attractive guys, but for once, this one didn't seem like a douche under the attractive exterior. He had an odd name though, so I was grateful I was told to call him Rick, just as I informed him that I went by Bekah. Best part of all, he's a Robert E Lee High teacher too, so I already have a friend at work. Score one for Bek!

We had just finished up our food, and I was about to leave to go begin the tedious task of unpacking my meager belongings into the shoebox I rented across town when the doors opened again, bringing with it a chill that made my hair stand on end. An internal string of curse words railed inside my head as I turned around to see my niece and her friends walk in, her hand twined quite intimately with a very handsome and very undead vampire. What. The? Oh Hell!

My eyes scanned the small group, bugging further when I realize that not only is the boy with my niece a vamp, but so is the tall handsome one next to him, and CAROLINE! Caroline? How the hell did that happen and how in the hell did my niece get mixed up in all of this insanity? I left to save them from a life fraught with mythical beings, and here they are surrounded by them! Talk about feeling defeated.

Elena's eyes bugged when she saw me before a huge smile spread across her face and she dropped lover boy's hand to run across the room to me and wrap me in a tight hug. "Aunt Bekah, what are you doing here? When did you get in?"

I smiled and hugged her back a moment before opening my eyes to see the two guys staring at me with matching cocked heads and confused expressions. The hotter one with the blue eyes' brows were so furrowed, it looked like you could plant seeds in the folds. While lover boy just looked curious, hot guy seemed suspicious. It should be expected I guess; things that stand out in the normal world tend to recognize one another, even if they can't riddle out what the other is exactly. Boy was he going to be shocked when he discovered the truth about me. To say my existence was an anomaly would be a major understatement…trust me…I'd spent the last year trying to find someone to help, only to come up with more than I bargained for.

"Well, I hit town about an hour ago and stopped in here first for some lunch and to see if I saw anybody I know. As for the other question, I'm moving back here, kid. Matter of fact, I'm starting at my old alma mater as the new English teacher replacing Ms. Maclin on Monday."

A shadow crossed over her face before the twinkle returned to her eyes and she hugged me even harder. "Well, I'm glad you're back. I want to spend a ton of time catching up once you're settled."

She took my hand and dragged me over to the group. "I want you to meet everyone. I'm pretty sure you remember Bonnie and Caroline." I nodded and smiled, mumbling a nice to see you again, although I couldn't help but stare a little longer at Caroline. She seemed to be fine standing around with all these humans…so unlike most of the vamps I'd met…plus they were all walking around in the daylight and I'd only met a few who could do that…ones I didn't care to ever meet again.

Elena's smile got brighter as she brought me over to stand in front of lover boy. "And this is my boyfriend, Stefan Salvatore. Stefan, this is my other aunt, Rebekah Gilbert."

Salvatore…I should have known. Hell, I should have recognized them from the countless pictures I'd seen at Founder's Day events. The other one, which I now pieced together was Damon, grumbled something about 'another Gilbert' under his breath as Stefan shot him a warning look before smiling and stepping forward with an extended hand.

"It's an honor to meet you, Miss Gilbert. Elena's told me a lot about you."

I couldn't help but smile back. The kid…well, shoot, he was over a hundred years older than me, so really not a kid…anyway, the boy had mad etiquette and genuine eyes. For the first time since they walked in, I really did relax.

"It's nice to meet you too Stefan. I hope to get a chance to get to know you better."

He chuckled and nodded. "I should say so; I'm in your fourth period Lit class."

I lifted my eyebrows in surprise, wondering why in the heck would a nearly hundred and sixty year old being ever choose to go to high school when they didn't have to, and then his eyes cut to my niece and I knew. Boy had it baaad.

I chuckled and nodded my head slowly. "Good to know I'll have at least one student who knows the difference between Tolstoy and Tolkein. I guess I'll be seeing you Monday then."

"Looking forward to it," he replied with a nod. Damn it all to hell, but I really did like the guy. I'd all but forgotten the other brother though until Elena motioned to him from where she now stood, tucked into Stefan's side.

I turned to face the tall man with a lickable square jaw, icy blue eyes observing me stoically under a heavy brow as Elena finally extended the introduction.

"And this is Stefan's older brother Damon. Damon this is my favorite aunt, so be nice."

I chuckled and glanced over my shoulder when Jenna shouted from the bar, "Hey! I resent that!" It was all in good fun though. Jenna knew she would always be closer to Elena and Jeremy than I ever would.

I turned back toward the other brother only to jump slightly when I found myself staring right at his chest, his body uncomfortably close to mine. He cocked an eyebrow with a smirk at my reaction before leaning down to whisper in my ear.

"I know that smell…you and I need to have a little talk later." I tensed as he kissed my cheek before leaning back with a full on cocky grin. "Nice to meet you, Aunt that I've never heard a word about before. Not running for Aunt of the year after all are you?"

I sucked my teeth as I stared up at him through my lashes before lifting one corner of my mouth and reaching forward to brush some lint off his shoulder. "Guess it's better than being the tag along brother. Last I checked once you graduate high school you're supposed to go find friends your own age to hang out with."

The mask slipped as his eyes flashed, but it wasn't anger that was peeking out at me, but rather amusement. His smile grew a little wider as he swiveled his shoulders before leaning against the wall behind him like an undead James Dean. "I do just fine, sweetheart, don't you worry," his eyes moved down my body before they come back to my face, his irises darkening slightly. "…but if you get a little lonely, I can always add you to my black book. You look like you could use a little fun."

I couldn't help but snort out a little laugh, crossing my arms over my chest and popping out my hip. "That's okay, Casanova. I do just fine on my own, so no need to join whatever little harem you might have amassed since moving to town."

I was so lost in my little tete a tete with Mr. Tall Hot and Cocky, that I almost forgot we had an audience until Bonnie and Caroline started to giggle. I glanced over at them with a little frown as they looked at me and giggled again.

"Oh my God, Elena! It's like there's two of them now!"

I looked over at Elena and Stefan who are trying to hide their own chuckles behind their hands before looking back at an equally confused Damon. He looked at me then back at them before rolling his eyes.

"If you children are done, I think I'm going to go have a stiff drink." He brushed my arm as he passed me and I stiffened again at the sensation. The warmth of his body radiated right into me, stealing my breath.

I shook my head to clear it before turning back to the snickering group before me. My frown turned into a smile before I found myself rolling my eyes and moving to stand in front of Elena again.

"Well, my apartment isn't going to unpack itself, so I better go. I gave Jenna the address and phone number, so just get them from her and drop by or call anytime, okay?"

I reached over to hug Elena when I heard Damon's voice echoing behind me. "Does that invitation apply to all of us?"

I tensed and turned quickly blurting out a no, which made everyone stare in surprise, including Damon who tossed back the amber liquid in his glass while glaring at me through narrowed eyes. I raised my eyebrows and nodded fractionally before turning back to Elena.

"We need to talk and soon. Please call me."

She blinked owlishly at me a few times before nodding. I turned back to Stefan with a smile, and said goodbye before doing the same with Bonnie and Caroline and then quickly retreating from the Grill to jog the few blocks back to my apartment and lock myself hopefully safely within, along with a few sprigs of Vervain.