In a dark overgrown forest, the pitter-patter of feet hitting the soft ground and deep labored breaths fill the air as a teenage girl, dressed in Pajama pants, a black tank top, and untied sneakers, runs frantically through the woods. The brunette stumbles repeatedly as she makes her way through the trees, her head turning in every direction as she searches for something. She falls to the ground as her untied shoelace catches and she trips. She has injured herself and it clearly hurts, but instead of stopping she looks around anxiously with a scared expression on her face before taking off again in a new direction.
Suddenly, a pained male scream fills the forest and the brunette runs towards the noise with renewed vigor as the scream morphs into a howl.
...
One Year Earlier
The same girl lays on her couch mindlessly watching TV.
She barely blinks as a middle-aged woman enters the house carrying grocery bags. "You know Rory, you've barely moved an inch since I left? It's summer shouldn't you be out doing something?" the woman asks as she makes her way into the house.
"That's the beauty of summer vacation Mom, I don't have to move off of this couch until the first day of school if I don't want to," she responded.
"Ah, but that's the flaw in your master plan, you do, especially when I tell you to come help me put away the groceries."
"Okay, okay, I'm coming," Rory sighed, "Wow what's with all the food you having a kegger and forgot to mention it?"
"You're brother called, he's coming to stay for the weekend." She stated as began loading items in the fridge.
"Peter's coming home?" Rory asked as excitement overtook her demeanor.
"And he's bringing his new girlfriend."
"Oooo, sounds serious. She have a name?"
"I think he might of said Veronica, I don't remember exactly. I hope you didn't have plans tonight. I invited Meredith and Lex over, I figured we could have a family dinner. You can invite someone too if you want."
"I was going to swing by the Gilbert's and check up on Elena and Jeremy. But I suppose I can go after if that's okay?"
"Oh, of course. I'll make extra food and you can bring it over with you."
"Thanks Mom," she said as the doorbell rang. "Whoa somebody's early," she muttered as she made her way to the door. She grinned from ear to ear upon seeing who was on the other side and quickly ushered them in.
A good-looking brunette boy in his early twenties entered with a pretty dark-skinned girl in her late teens on his arm.
Rory immediately pulls the boy into a hug as he responds in kind. As they pull away he declares, "Hey little lion, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Veronique. Veronique this is my little sister, Rory."
...
Three Months Later
For over a century, I have lived in secret… Hiding in the shadows, alone in the world.
Until now.
I am a vampire. And this is my story…
...
In a dark room, the shrill beep from an alarm goes off - the time reads 7:00 AM.
A hand reaches out from a mass of covers and turns it off. Rory outwardly groans before climbing out of bed. Still in the dark she changes into form-fitting black jeans and a black tank top. She turns on a light and begins to search the room for something.
After a couple minutes of tearing the room apart, she picks up a sweatshirt off the ground to reveal a black converse sneaker.
She jumps around on one foot as she pulls on the shoe and knocks a bookcase before she can right herself. A framed picture falls to the ground. She picks up the photo of the slightly younger version of herself in a bright sundress smiling and standing between Peter and their mother the two's arms wrapped around her and genuine grins on their faces.
After staring at it for a moment she places it back on the shelf and rights the photo next to it. This one features a much younger Rory laughing with her arm wrapped around a middle-aged man.
Walking away from it she walks away from the bookcase and continues searching until she finds the other shoe. Now fully dressed she begins to put her make up on as she tries to not think about how much she is dreading the day.
Once finished with her make up she moves on to straightening her hair. As she puts on the finishing touches her phone begins to ring to the sound of Disney's Heigh- Ho coming from a caller ID reading "Happy."
She grabs the phone and presses answer but before she has a chance to speak the cheerful voice of Caroline Forbes comes blaring out of the speaker phone. "Hey so I just pulled up. I'm coming in for like a second to say hello to the rest of the family, but then we HAVE to go! I mean like SERIOUSLY! I refuse to be late on the first day of School, do you have any idea how that would look," just then the doorbell rings downstairs, "I mean that just what I need, for my mom to finally remember I exist just so she can yell at… Hey Peter, how are you? Are you ok? "
"Hey I'll let you guys catch up. Don't worry I'm almost done, I'll be right down." Said Rory taking advantage of the moment the to finally get a word in.
"Fine, but be quick I refuse to be late," responded Caroline in a no-nonsense tone.
"I'll be down in a second, I swear!" she laughingly replied.
"I'm serious, Aurora Judith Fell get your ass in gear!" Caroline mock shouted into the phone before promptly hanging up and going back to talking to Peter as the made their way into the house.
Rory let out an exasperated sigh before checking herself once in the mirror. Satisfied with what she saw she pulled on a black blazer with the sleeves rolled up and threw her messenger bag over her shoulder as she rushed down the stairs to join a laughing Caroline and Peter in the kitchen.
As soon as she entered the room she was handed a piece of toast with jam from Peter. Upon seeing her response of simply starring at it with a confused look he said, "come on eat up I don't need to lose custody of you simply because you refused to eat a balanced breakfast."
"You know a balanced breakfast IS a crucial part of any growing teens diet," a groggy Meredith stated as she came into the kitchen in her pajamas.
"Whatever you say Doc," Rory replied as she took a bite.
...
Across town, Stefan Salvatore stood atop the mossy roof of his house. He can't help staring out ahead of him, through the overgrown branches of the trees in the surrounding woods, at the sun rising over the only real home he's ever had.
I shouldn't have come home. I know the risk. But I had no choice. I have to know her.
...
Elena Gilbert, a pretty brunette with olive skin, brown eyes, and a kind smile, was riding toward school in the passenger seat of her best friend's car. Bonnie Bennett, a beautiful, dark skinned girl with long brown hair and compassionate demeanor, was at the wheel.
"So… Grams is telling me I'm psychic," Bonnie said, trying anything to distract her best friend from her pained memories. Brows furrowed, she explained, "Our ancestors were from SALEM, witches and all that, I know, crazy," she said, sharing a look with Elena. "But she's going on and on about it, and I'm like, put this woman in a home already!" she laughed.
Giving a polite but unnatural smile, Elena turned her gaze outside the car window at the passing cemetery.
Noticing Elena's shift in focus and resolving to try harder in her mission to distract, Bonnie continues, "But then I started thinking, I predicted Obama and I predicted Heath Ledger!" She raised a finger off the steering wheel to emphasize her point. "And I still think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands…" Looking over, she realized her attempts were floundering and that her best friend was off in her own world. Realizing that subtlety wasn't proving to be the most effective method she exclaimed, "Elena!"
Jumping, the brunette turned back to her, expression wide.
Bonnie forced a laugh, "Back in the car."
Shaking her head, she said, "I did it again, didn't I?" She sighed. "I—I'm sorry, Bonnie. You were telling me that..."
"That… I'm psychic now," she said with regal drama.
"Right. Okay," she returned skeptically. "Then predict something. About me."
Smiling, as she finally felt as if she was making a dent in her friends mood, she blew out a breath. She glanced over at Elena and began, "I see—"
Suddenly, something smashed into the windshield, causing them to scare. Inhaling a quick breath, Bonnie slammed her foot on the brake and swerved, sending the car careening towards the curb, tires squealing in protest before they finally came to a halt.
Elena appeared to barely be holding herself together. She was clinging desperately to the dashboard, her mouth hanging open, while she breathed in and out heavily.
"What was that?!" Bonnie's head slumped back in shock. "Oh, my God!"
Realizing they were okay and that the immediate danger was over, Elena relaxed, leaning back against the headrest and letting out a deep breath.
Sitting forward again, Bonnie looked over at Elena, worried, "Elena, are you ok?"
"It's okay." She nodded. "I'm fine."
"It was like a bird or something. It came out of nowhere," she apologized.
"Really, I can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of my life," she assured, nodding.
Bonnie watched her for a moment before letting out a breath. She smiled encouragingly, griping Elena's hand. "I predict this year is going to be kick ass."
Elena smiled back at her, nodding as if she almost believed her.
"And I predict all the sad and dark times are over and you are going to be beyond happy," she said with a hopeful grin.
Elena did her best to mirror the gesture, even if they both knew it was fake.
...
"First day of Junior Year! Aren't you excited!?" asked a bouncing Caroline maneuvering the steering wheel of her car for a sharp turn as she drove the girls to school.
"No offense, but there are literally a million other places I would rather go today than to a building filled with people giving me the pity stare while talking behind my back. Sorry Care-Bear, but excited doesn't really describe my current mood."
"Come on it's the first day of school, people haven't seen each other in months, I'm sure that they will have more interesting things to gossip about than the crazy and kind of suspicious circumstances surrounding your newly orphaned status." Caroline quickly replied before a look of realization followed by horror came over her face and she quickly tried to backtrack. "And by kind of suspicious I don't mean… I simply meant… I just mean, you're not even sure about what exactly went down that night. So how can anybody else be… you know… I'm so sorry Row… I'm going to shut up now please."
Rory simply gives a light laugh and happily responds, "Don't worry Care, I know what you meant and you don't need to apologize that actually succeeded in making me feel better about the day ahead."
Caroline laughs and claps her hands together in excitement exclaiming, "Yay, I just know today, no this year, is going to be the best ever. And you can quote me on that!" Still smiling she pulls the car into a parking space. "Now, lets go be kick-ass!" she states authoritatively with a mock serious face.
Rory responds with a similar face and a salute before both girls break out laughing, get out of the car, and start heading towards the school.
Authors Note:
Hey so this is an idea that's been poking around my head for a little while. Just so you know it's going to be rather AU. For instance, I think Caroline wouldn't have been so insecure season 1 if there was at least one person that made her feel wanted. In a similar vein I think if Tyler had people who cared about him he wouldn't have been such a dick, so sorry if any of the characters seem a little OOC. I'm not sure if this story is worth continuing or if I'm going in a direction with it that feels right and makes sense so please let me know what you think or any advice you have. Thank you, it would be greatly appreciated.
Updated AN: I decided I wanted the story to be more expansive so I'm going to be including my own rehashing of scenes from the show that I feel are integral to my stories plot. So expect a few changes to the already added chapters.
XOXO
LILY