Chapter 1

-Thea's POV-

The sunlight streaming through the blinds was what woke me up, not the annoying ringtone coming from my phone. This particular ringtone, Barbie Girl, was the caller ID for my roommate, Park, who looked like a real life Barbie doll. She had bleached-blonde hair, a deep tan, large boobs, the whole deal.

"What?" I growled, answering the phone and getting out of the memory foam bed.

"When will you be home?" a perky voice asked. I checked the time and almost did a double take. One o'clock in the afternoon?!

"1:30, now let me sneak out before he wakes up," I told her, checking to make sure the guy in the bed next to me was asleep. What was his name? Mark? Clark? It doesn't matter. Not like I'll see him again.

I stood up and quickly pulled on my panties and bra, searching the room for my dress. I found it in the hallway with some blood on it. emObviously we couldn't even make it to the bedroom before starting.

As I passed a mirror in the living room, I checked my hair. Oh god! It's 'just-fucked' hair on steroids! I tried smoothing it out and running my fingers through my hair in an effort to untangle it. It failed. Sometimes I hate you, hair. Can't you ever stay straight?

I made sure my necklace was secure around my neck before leaving the run-down apartment building and emerging into the sunny afternoon of San Diego, California. While the sun would not kill me without my necklace, it did bother me a little, so I preferred to have a daylight necklace like a few other vampires I knew.

Yes, vampires. I am a vampire, an Original to be exact. The youngest in my family, except for Henrik, but I didn't like to think about my younger brother who was killed by werewolves.

For the past 1000 years, I had been alternating between being with my older siblings and going off on my own. For the past 150 years, I had been on my own. Traveling the world before finally settling down in San Diego 15 years ago.

Looking the age of 18 at minimum, it was easy for me to make friends. Currently my group included surfers, lifeguards, and swimmers.

I walked the three miles to where I had parked my car the night before and relished in being back in my Dodge Charger SRT8. I'd had it since it came out in 2010, and it was my favorite car I'd had since they were first invented.

I waited in the traffic of lunch hour as I made my way back towards the place I shared with Park, and one other, located right on the beach. It took about 25 minutes to make it back home and park my car inside the six-car garage. Currently, their were five cars. Park had one, I had two, and Dylan had two.

Let me explain Dylan. Dylan was our gay roommate that we absolutely loved to death. He was my wingman when we went to clubs, helping me to find guys to lay. He had a long-time boyfriend of 4 years, and they were going to be moving in together soon.

The moment I walked through the door I was caught up in a huge commotion. Looks like everyone decided to show up while I still looked like shit. Great. Five people, not including Park and Dylan, were standing around in wetsuits zippered to their waists, and backpacks at their feet or on their backs.

I cleared my throat and Park turned to me and I averted my eyes from her chest, where her string bikini was barely leaving anything to the imagination.

"What is going on?" I asked her, gesturing to everyone. It looked like they were about to go surfing or cliff diving, but the fact that they were all inside made me think something else was at work here.

"We've been waiting for you so that we can go surfing. Five-foot swells up the coast. We have to hike down to get their too. It's supposed to be great," Park informed. I nodded and held up a hand with two fingers raised, indicating two minutes, before I ran up to my room, using vampire speed once I was out of sight.

I quickly ran a brush through my hair before tying it up and stripping down, changing into my purple bikini from my black lace bra and panties. I pulled my wetsuit on and left it open from waist up, grabbing my Beacon Hills Lacrosse sweatshirt from underneath my desk and shoving it in my pre-packed backpack that was reserved for surfing only. The backpack held everything I might need while out, ranging from deodorant and a hairbrush to a wooden stake and vervain.

I rushed back down the stairs and pulled on my hiking sandals before walking back to the living room where everyone else was waiting. I flashed them a toothy grin, almost smirk. "Let's go!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Everyone piled out of Dylan's van and untied our surfboards from the top, looking over the ocean. There were only about six surfers down their already, a great improvement from the 27 the last time there were waves this good on this beach, which was just a couple weeks ago.

Park and I were the first ones in the water; followed by Dylan and Blake, Dylan's boyfriend; Cassandra, a model and lifeguard; Drew, a rookie firefighter for the SDFD; Lacy, Drew's twin and a major surf enthusiast; and Virginia, a vampire I had met a few years back. Nobody knew about us except each other, and we wanted it to stay that way.

In just over a minute I already had a wave after giving a quick greeting to the other surfers: Ilana, Oliver, Sammy, Jake, Kyle, and Vanessa. They were another surfing pack that we would occasionally surf with and invite to barbecues and cook-outs.

I did a few nice caps off the top before letting myself fall off the board to paddle back out, watching as Cassandra attempted a new move she had been working on, one for waves that were 5 foot or over.

We surfed until the sun started to set and feeding time began, heading in to dry off and head back to our place, where everyone would drink beers around a bonfire before crashing in our living room or a guest bedroom.

I was toweling off while talking to Lacy about her internship at a surfing magazine when my phone went off. Without bothering to check the caller ID, I lifted it to my ear and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello, sister dear," an accented voice greeted me. I almost dropped the phone in shock. How the hell did he get my number? Phones didn't even exist when we last saw each other!

"Niklaus. How on earth did you get my number?" I asked, walking slightly away from the others and their curiosity.

"Elijah and I may have let you go off on your own, but that does not mean we did not check up on you every so often. Just a little compelling of the Verizon salesperson to get your number. But that is not why I called?"

"Then why did you call? I thought we agreed I was able to go off on my own."

"Oh, we did. But while you thought that meant for as long as you wanted, I knew it meant only for a few years."

"What does that even mean?"

"It means you're coming to Mystic Falls," Nik told me. My heart dropped. I can't leave these people. They are my new family!

"And if I do not want to go? What if I want to stay here with my friends and live with them until they grow old? What then, Nik, what then?" I questioned angrily. No way am I leaving here!

"Then I will come and get you. And if I have to, I will drag you kicking and screaming. But you are coming," Nik insisted. He wouldn't dare!

"You wouldn't," I countered.

"Oh, believe me, I would," he threatened. I deflated a little, trying to think of ways to stay out of it.

"Give me one good reason as to why I should go to Mystic Falls and leave my friends, surfing, the beach, and the hot Californian guys behind?"

"Blood over water, sister. Blood over water." Damn, he's got me there.