Sunday evening

I walked across the cold floor boards of my new room. Or should I say my old room? It was about the size of a prison cell and it was exactly how I remembered it. The same ugly blue-grey rug spanning across most of the hard wooden floor, but provided little distraction from the faded, pale green walls. There was a metal single bed pressed to the wall furthest from the door, with a black bedspread covered in pillows and cushions as well as a wardrobe and small writing desk. It wasn't perfect, but this was my home now.

"I thought you'd feel more comfortable moving back here if you got to stay in your old room again. Not much has changed, just a little bit of dust here and there."

"It's perfect, Grandma Rose. Just perfect." I turned to my Gran, giving her my best smile.

In the last few months, she had become the most important person in my life. She was what you could call "the rock" of our family - or what was left of it - in our times of hardships. My Gran had worked her way up through her schooling and to go college to get her degree as a teacher. She had never given up even through the hard times.

But now she was in her early seventies, not like a rickety old lady but you would never have known. She looks and acts younger than her years, but underneath all that hard exterior I knew my Gran was not a well woman. Her health had been deteriorating, but she would never admit it to anyone.

"I'm glad. Not just that you like the room, but I am so happy you're finally here, Alice. It's been a tough year for both of us and I think you moving back here is maybe what's best for both of us." With that my Gran pulled me in to a warm embrace. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, but none fell. I had to be strong for my Gran. I had to.

"Well, I best leave you." She pulled back but held my hands in hers. "It must have been a long trip and I want you to have the best night sleep for tomorrow; starting a new school, meeting new people…" My Gran stop, looking into my eyes and seeing the small glimmer of pain I was so desperate to hide.

With that she gave a small nod, walked out of the room and left me to my thoughts. My Gran knew I didn't want to be here, but there was little choice in the matter, so what was the point in even trying to talk to her about. Pretending I was happy when I had no reason to feel that way at all.

I was fine with my old life, back in England. I had great friends, a good education and a loving family I could always turn to. But that had all changed now and no matter how much I wanted it, I could never have that life again. A cruel twist of fate had destroyed any possibility of that. This was my home now in Mystic Falls, Virginia. It was a small town compared to my old home and a lot different to what I was used to, but I trusted my Gran in that moving back here was going to be the best for both of us.

I used to stay here for Christmas with my family every year without fail, but it had been a while since I consider my family to be a whole one. The last time I had come here was when I was 5 years old, and being 17 now made it all seem like a life time ago. Ever since my mother and sister, Sara, died 4 months ago, everything just seemed to blur into one. I just felt like my life was now this void that I couldn't escape.

I came out of my train of thought when I felt tears trailing down my cheeks. I cursed myself. I had to stop doing this, getting myself all worked up when thinking about them. I had to be strong and not let my emotions get in the way all the time.

I lay on my bed, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about my first day of school tomorrow. I knew I was going to hate it. The idea of having to start all over again scared me to death, not to mention the pressure and how nerve racking it would be.

I let out a ragged sigh, sat up and pulled my long, chestnut hair in to a bun then peeled off my jeans and converses leaving me in a tank top and underwear. I couldn't be bothered to sort through my suit case, I just wanted to curl up under the sheets and drift off into the painless dark bliss of sleep. It was only nine, but it was good enough for me after the day I had had.

I went into the en-suit bathroom I had next door and gave myself once over in the mirror, cursing at the fact I now had black mascara smudges staining my cheeks. Why was I even crying? I looked into the big blue eyes of the scared little girl that was my reflection until the tears dry up. I gave a sad smile and started to clean the black lines from my face.

Even though I hated to admit it, I'm a very self-conscious person. I didn't like the fact that my hair looked brown sometimes but reddish shade other times and have this annoying tendency to flick out at the ends. I loved the cool shaded blue of my eyes, but I didn't like the fact that my pale skin made them stand out even more. And, although I wasn't anywhere near being classed as overweight, I wasn't exactly the skinniest girl in the world, which didn't help by the fact that I was only 5 foot 3. I had a 'voluptuous body', as my mum used to say, but that never made me feel any better about myself.

Once I was finished, I went back to the bed, curling up in to a tight ball under the covers and tried to block out the world. Tomorrow was going to be a new day and I had to at least try to make my new life here bearable. But as I drifted off deeper into the darkness, I could help or shake the feeling that someone was watching me.

So this is my first time writing fan fiction! Well, I've been writing for a while but have never really thought about uploading anything until now. I hope you enjoyed what you have read so far, but this is only a prologue to introduce you to the character and give you an insight into what you can expect from this story. The chapters will get longer as well and I will update as regularly as possible, most likely every week or maybe more depending on what I have written. I also promise to never leave a story unfinished because it annoys the hell out of me when other people do. Oh, and the rating of the story is currently a T for language and the story will get slowly darker throughout the chapters.

Please let me know what you think and hopefully you'll stick around for more!