A/N: Thanks for looking at my story! This is my first Vampire Diaries story, and I hope you all like it. Takes place several years after they rescue Stefan from the Dark Dimension. Damon is not a human. All books.

Quick Summary: Halle is a seventeen year-old girl who was, to her parents, a mistake. When her dad gets an offer he can't refuse, Halle's life changes forever.

I walked quickly out of my high school and toward the bus, not wanting to look at anyone. They would always make fun of me, no matter what I did. But when I nearly ran into someone, I looked to him.

"Sorry." I said quickly, looking into his dark eyes. He looked like he was a lot older than the students in this school. But he nodded, staring at me, while I walked on.

I almost ran to the bus now, because I could hear Tawni's voice behind me. Yes, Tawni, the bitch that was constantly making my life a living hell. She made it clear that if I got in her way, she'd never let me live it down. This never stopped her from teasing me all the time.

"Hey, Halle!" She called in her perfectly annoying chipper voice. I froze at her words, turning around. She was smiling an angelic smile, her long blonde hair perfect, her bright blue eyes shining in preparation to embarrass me. Her six or seven followers trailed behind her.

"What, Tawni?" I groaned, not wanting to deal with her today. I just wanted to get home. The slight wind in the air blew my long hair in my face, forcing me to push it out of my eyes.

"Where'd you get your clothes?" She said, waving her hand. She stood about ten feet away from me in her skimpy little outfit that all of the guys drooled over. Suddenly, her expression turned into a sneer. "Wal-Mart?"

Her followers laughed, and I glared at her. "Where'd you get yours? Sluts-R-Us?"

The crowd behind her all said, "Ooh," sounding like even bigger losers than they actually were. Tawni looked mad now, and crossed her arms, silent.

"What? Got nothing to say?" I said teasingly, giving her a little girl smile. I could see the dude from earlier watching me from a ways away.

Tawni glared at me a little longer before turning away, pissed to no end. This always happened, and I always won. But she won when we spilled paint on me, or made it seem like I was passing dirty notes in class, or making me sound insanely dumb in front of the guy I liked. She had the power of persuasion and hissy fits. Mine was in words.

I rolled my eyes and faced back to my bus, jumping on. I just wanted to get home. Which was weird, because my parents and I did not get along. Actually, they thought that I was a mistake. Considering my mom was fifteen when I was born, they hated me, but were against abandoning kids, so they kept me. They still hated me, after seventeen years of me living with them. At least I hated them too. It's not like I loved them and didn't get enough attention. I actually wanted them to just leave me be for the rest of my life. In fact, my dad hit me. Yep. They were against abandoning children but not beating them. That just freaking figures. And mom never stopped him. The belt always hurt.

I pondered in silence for a while longer until the bus stopped where I got off. I stoodup, and got off the bus with one other girl. She never talked to me. She was afraid that Tawni and her gang'd reject her.

When I finally reached my house, a crappy little brown house that had just enough space for the three of us, I took a deep breath and stepped inside. Immediately, I saw mom passed out on the small brown couch, an empty wine bottle in her hand. Not again. I ignored her and walked down the small hallway on the side of the living room to my tiny bedroom, with nothing but a bed and a dresser. I threw my book bag on the bed and pulled off my shirt, leaving me in my jeans and black tank top. I walked over to the dresser, where a small mirror stood. I looked at it, seeing myself.

My long, straight, dirty blonde hair trailed down my shoulders, looking as frizzy as ever. My light blue, technically gray, eyes looked sad like they always did, and I was still way too skinny for it to be healthy. My very thin eyebrows were curved upwards ever so slightly, making me looked constantly surprised. My skin was pale, and my legs long.

There was a light tapping noise behind me, and I turned to see my dad leaning against the doorframe. His blue eyes that matched mine looked happier than usual, and his dark brown hair was shaggy, proving that he never combed it. "What's up your butt that made you so happy?" I asked, turning to my bed to pick up the bag.

"Pack your bags." He said, frowning at my words. "We're going somewhere."

I glanced up at him. "Where?" I asked.

"You'll see." He said. He took a step toward me and struck me across the face suddenly, making my head snap to the side. Tears formed in my eyes, and I glared at my father. "And never talk to me like that again." He said before stepping out of my room.

I rubbed my cheek while emptying my book bag and putting clothes, my toothbrush and hairbrush, and a few books into it instead. I didn't have a suitcase, so I had to make due with my school bag. When I was done, I slipped it over my shoulder without getting on a new shirt and stepped out of my bedroom.

My dad was waiting by the door for me, mom still passed out on the couch. He signaled for me to go outside, and I listened, not wanting to get hurt again.

I got into his crappy truck while he got in next to me, starting the car up and pulling out of the driveway. I was silent the whole trip, never daring to speak a word. But when we passed the West Virginia border into regular Virginia, I looked at dad with a questioning look.

"I should probably explain this to you." He said, never looking at me. "Some dude came up to me today in the street, maybe twenty, twenty-one. He talked to me about my daughter, claiming that he wanted to buy her." My jaw dropped, and he continued. "He offered me twenty-thousand dollars for you. I'm not passing that up."

"Are you insane?" I yelled at him, disbelieving. "What if he's a rapist or something?"

"He told me his name." Dad continued, completely ignoring me. "It was something that sounded, like, German or something. Started with an S."

"But…but…" I stuttered. Then I just sat back in the chair and refused to move or speak.

When we pulled up into an old forest, he stopped. I looked at dad funny, and he told me, "Go on. Into the Old Wood. Bye, Halle." He waved and just looked bored.

I looked at him in disbelief, but opened the door. I'd do anything to get away from him. I knew he wasn't lying. My dad didn't lie. In fact, I asked him one time when I was seven how babies were made. He answered without hesitation, and he probably scarred me for life with that.

I started walking toward the woods, wrapping my arms around myself. It was chilly and I forgot a sweater. When I entered the first trees, I heard the engine of the car start up again, and dad drove away, leaving me there alone.

I took a few shaky steps into the very small trees. They just barely reached two feet over my head, and looked pretty young. There were even flowers beneath my feet still; the trees hadn't pushed them out of their territory yet.

I wandered on for a few minutes, eventually losing sight of the road behind me. All I could hear now was the chirping of birds and the quiet sound of squirrels running around on the ground. The smell of oak trees filled my nose, calming me only a little. There was no wind; the trees were obscuring it. It was still cold, though, and I rubbed my hands up my arms to warm them.

When I didn't know where to go, I sat down on the soft, pine-covered forest floor and leaned against a tree. I closed my eyes and continued rubbing my hands up and down my arms, trying to stay warm. After a minute, my arms were warm, but my hands were still moving. But these didn't feel like my hands. They felt harder, and bigger…

My eyes shot open to see someone's face. His black eyes made me suck in a breath, but one of his hands shot to my mouth. I felt my eyes widen. "Shh, shh now, little one." He said. His voice was mesmerizing, and very, very sexy. "Calm down."

I was still scared though as my eyes looked over him. He was wearing black, black, and more black, completed with the leatherjacket. His hair was black too, and straight. He was…sighing. Really hot.

"I'm going to let you talk now." He said quietly. "But if you scream, I might just kill you." My eyes widened even farther, but I nodded. His hand moved, and I took in a shaky breath.

"Don't hurt me." I said quietly, shivering under his touch. He was still holding my arm with one hand.

He chuckled. "Although I could, very much, I won't." He stood up, pulling me with him. I was still shaking.

"Who are you?" I asked. He gave me a killer smile.

"You can call me Salvatore." He started walking. "Damon Salvatore."

What did you think? Please take just one minute to tell me if I did crappy, or good, or whatever. Please, no flames though. Once I have three reviews, I'll put up the next chapter. I have it done already!

Please review and thanks for reading!

Halle~