Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters familiar to TVD. I'm just borrowing them for my own pleasure.

Author's Note: While I do not plan on updating this daily, I felt bad because the prologue was so short, so here you guys go! I hope you enjoy! Also, I mentioned in this chapter is set in 2011. Now Julie Plec has mentioned to throw a timeline out the window, so I have no idea what year it is supposed to be on the show.


Chapter 1

The Present

Sitting at the bridge, Elena Gilbert and Matt Donavon both stared into the water below them. It's a quiet moment, but not uncomfortable. There used a time when they could sit in silence for hours, both doing their own thing, but never being too far from the other.

Looking at her ex-boyfriend, Elena realized just how much she missed that, missed him. Growing up, they'd always been in the same circle of friends, and they often found themselves at the same parties and social gatherings. When they started dating, Caroline teased Elena mercilessly; telling her it was about time.

"I…I've missed this, you know?" She spoke up. "You and me…just…being." After they began dating, things obviously changed, but not everything turned to a positive light. Soon enough, Elena began to feel as though they were in a rut. She wanted more, and she had grown almost resentful of him for not wanting more. If she had known then what was in store for her life, she may have reconsidered her feelings.

"Me too," he agreed.

"When we started high school, I never thought that this was where we'd be." Elena confessed. "That my asshole of an ex-boyfriend," yes she'd uttered the insult. It wasn't but a day since he'd threatened to drive her off of Wickery Bridge after forcing her to drink his blood, "was actually a vampire that was born over a century ago or that both of my best friends would turn into supernatural beings."

"Whoever thought that I'd fall for Caroline Forbes?" He asked, thinking about the strangeness that their lives had become. Back when he and Elena were still dating, he'd been polite to Caroline out of respect for his girlfriend, but he found the blonde vapid and shallow. She had taken him by surprise, and while her feelings for Tyler hurt, he couldn't say that he was sorry to have had her in his life.

Elena offered him a supportive smile and grabbed his hand, squeezing it with her own. Matt would make some woman very lucky one day. She felt bad that she'd hurt him so deeply when she ended things and then started dating Stefan. She felt bad for him when Caroline ended up falling for his best friend. As strange as it was, she'd been rooting for Caroline and Matt. Caroline seemed to bring a happiness to his life that Elena hadn't seen in such a long time. Then again, Caroline could bring light to anyone's life. She had a quality about her that people just gravitated towards…unless they were Damon Salvatore.

"You'll always be there for me, right, Elena?" Matt asked after a moment. "I mean, the human members of this group are dwindling down. Bonnie's a witch, Caroline's a vampire, Tyler's turned out to be from a line of werewolves." He didn't mention the hybrid mutation; it was still a sore subject for everyone. "Even Jeremy has been affected."

"I don't know, Matt. I mean, I am wearing the same face of at the very least, two other women have worn," she said. "That doesn't make me a normal human either."

"What's so great about normal?" Matt asked after a moment's pause.

Elena smiled brightly and nudged his shoulder with hers. "Said the hybrid alien before his reincarnated alien wife came to town, seduced him and killed one of his friends. I can't believe that you remembered that."

"Seriously, Elena? You made me watch it on DVD all the time with you."

Her smile dwindled and she thought back on the easier time in her life. "I don't know what I'm doing Mattie. I…I'm in over my head. I can't protect Jeremy like I should, so I'm taking the coward's way out by having a vampire compel him to leave. Jenna turned into a vampire and then was…sacrificed in a ritual that killed me. I learned that the man that I thought was my uncle turned out to be my biological father, who gave up his life so I could live. I had a vampire/werewolf hybrid attempt to kill me and then swear his protection over me…" And that only scratched the surface.

Matt sighed. "I don't know exactly what you're looking for, Elena. I think you're doing the best you can with the way that the cards have fallen. I don't know if it means anything to you, but that's how I see it."

"I better get home," Elena said. She stood up, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it. "Thanks for the chat, Matt. It's helped."


Closing the front door behind her, Elena set down her purse and leaned against the back of it. She'd already seen Jeremy off, and as she sat in the silence of her once bustling house, she realized just how alone she was.

She hoped that she'd made the right decision regarding her brother. Ever since she'd learned about the existence of vampires, her life had changed so drastically. She couldn't stand the thought of the same thing happening to Jeremy. She thought that she had been protecting him by keeping the truth from him and using Damon to compel him to forget everything supernatural and then leave. She knew that he was going to be angry with her, she only hoped that one day he'd be able to see things from her point of view and forgive her.

Hearing a thud coming from further inside the house, she stood up, and wiped away the tears that gathered in her eyes. "Hello? Ric, is that you?"

She'd noticed that over the past few months, the time that Ric spent at the house with her and Jeremy had significantly dwindled. She couldn't imagine that it had been easy on him, moving into the house where his girlfriend lived, spending time with the niece and nephew she left behind after she died. Elena knew that he still kept his apartment just in case, but he'd spent so much time away from the Gilbert residence lately. She was growing worried about him.

Cautiously, she moved further into the house. When she spotted the silhouette of a body coming from the kitchen, her heart began pounding. Not sure what she would encounter, she grabbed a stake. Stepping around the wall, she noticed a man standing in her kitchen. He wore his hair long, his clothes spoke of a time long since passed.

"Um...hello?"

Once the words were out of her mouth, she frowned. Hello? That was the best she could come up with, while a possible killer lurked inside her home?

The man spun around and Elena nearly gasped at the sight. Her nervousness dissipated. "Oh, Elijah! It's you," she put the stake down. "What's with the outfit? Damon told me that he'd…" She didn't want to say that she expected to see him so soon after being awakened, but she certainly had hoped to see him. However taking in the appearance of the man before her had her gaping at him.

His gaze was intense, as he took in everything about her. It reminded her of the day when she first met him in the old house that Rose and Trevor held her in. He appeared out of sorts just by seeing her, which confused her greatly. He looked at her as though she was a stranger. There was also something else; an intensity, that caused her stomach to flutter.

Elijah stared at the girl in front of him. He didn't miss the stake that she had in hand, nor the fact that she put it aside once seeing him. She was acting as though they were some sort of friends. Not only that, he heard a strong heartbeat, too strong to be a vampire. He was intrigued. "Impossible," he muttered.

"Elijah, are you alright?" She asked, frowning once again. She went over to the refrigerator and pulled out a bag of blood. Alaric insisted that she keep some in hand, in case something should happen. With Stefan, Damon and Caroline in and out so much, he just wanted Elena to be prepared. She stepped closer to Elijah, holding out the bag. He had yet to move, but was staring that the blood in her hand. "I know, you're probably wondering why I have blood in the fridge. Alaric insists that I keep some handy should anything happen."

With his vampire speed, he closed the distance between himself and Katerina's double. He leaned even closer to her, inhaling her scent. "Amazing." She smelled so similar to the way Katerina had when she was human. In fact, this girl bore the exact likeness of Katerina, all except for her hair.

"Tell me, little one, what is your name?" His voice was like liquid velvet. Elena met his gaze, her eyes were wide and her heart was pounding. She had no idea who this version of Elijah was, and he clearly didn't know her. He had no interest in her, and there was nothing to keep her alive.

She nearly asked him her own questions, but decided against it. "Elena Gilbert." Her words were whispered, her mind racing at the meaning of his reaction to her.

Elijah pulled away from her, judging her as no threat to him. If she wanted to harm him, not that he expected she could, she would have tried with the stake. "I would introduce myself, but you've already met me. Tell me, how is that possible?"

"I really don't know," she admitted. "What…" Elena trailed off, unable believe that she was actually going ask him what she was about to. It was like a scene out of a science fiction movie. "I'm guessing that you aren't from around here…" Elijah was not much of a practical joker. "What year did you come from?"

"1791," he answered thinking about the celebration of the new year only weeks before.

"How is that possible?" Elena breathed out, setting the blood bag on the island countertop in her kitchen. "How are you here?"

"What year is it?" Elijah asked, seeing the perplexed expression on her face.

"2011."

He took a moment to process her words. "That would explain the…foreign objects," he looked from the bag of blood to large contraption that held it. "And the fact that you're wearing trousers," Elijah added.

She studied the man before her. She knew that vampires didn't age, but to actually see the difference, or lack thereof, from Elijah hundreds of years younger than how she knew him. Even with the long hair, she found him attractive. Mentally she shook her head at the wayward thought. She needed to focus on the situation at hand. He didn't know the world around him, he didn't know the people that he could trust, and that could end in disaster if someone found out and used it against him. Worse yet, if someone killed him, this version, then the present Elijah could cease to exist. Her head was already starting to hurt as she considered all the outcomes. Science had never been her strong point, so anything that she was considering was based off of movies or television shows that she'd seen.

"I confess, I am intrigued by you," he began, pulling her out of her mental notes. "You are aware of the fact that I am a vampire, yet you aren't afraid of me?" It wasn't a common occurrence. Even those few that he had a sort of alliance with never were comfortable in his presence. "An intimacy must exist between us for you to act so familiar with me. Perhaps you will share it with me?" Elijah asked, reaching for the bag on the countertop. His confusion must have been written on his face, because Elena instructed him of how to open and drink from it.

"You and I met last year," she began. "Two of your…associates, Rose and Trevor, kidnapped me and turned me over to you in hopes of forming a truce with you."

"So, Trevor is still alive then?" How was it that Trevor managed to stay one step ahead of him for so many centuries?

"The day that you met me, you killed him," she replied, Elena noticed that an air of satisfaction settled over his features at the news. "Because I am a doppelganger, you planned to use me to…lure Klaus out so you could kill him."

Elijah straightened up, her words catching his interest. This had to be a ruse. She apparently knew him, knew his brother. This trickery was probably so she could form a fissure in his relationship with Klaus. "You lie!"

Elena started at the exclamation. She couldn't remember ever hearing his voice raised, at least not towards her. Even when she daggered him, he kept a cool demeanor. She knew he was angry, but he never yelled. "I do not!"

"I love my brother. Yes, things are strained, but I would never turn my back on him!" Elijah frowned, his entire life, he'd tried to take the high road where Klaus was concerned.

"Even if he betrayed you first?" Elena countered. When Elijah's form appeared to relax just a little bit, her body language calmed. "Look, a lot has happened in the last few hundred years."

"Apparently," he muttered. "While you appear to know me, I have no familiarization with you. I mean not to offend you, but how can I believe your words when we have only just met?"

Elena pursed her lips. "Fair enough," she admitted. "Elijah, I promise that I will answer all of your questions, but we can't stay here." There were just too many people that had access to her house. Her friends would be very interested in finding this version of the Original that she trusted, because the rest of them had issues with him. Her family's lake house was the first thing that came to mind. They would be isolated, but not so far away to rush back to Mystic Falls if there was an emergency.

"There are two complications with your theory," he observed. "Where do you expect to go? And most importantly, why would I go there with you? I have no idea who you are, let alone if I can even trust you."

"Fine," she replied. "You can either come with me, I'll explain what I can and tell you all about the world around you, or you can wait here for my friends to come here and possibly find you." She held out her hand to him, her stance completely relaxed. "Look, I know this is all confusing, but I do want to help you. You've saved my life before," she frowned, "or well a version of you did," Elena clarified. "I would like to repay that favor."

Elijah studied her appearance. The fact that she looked similar to Katerina caused conflicting emotions in him. Just looking at Elena, he was reminded as to why he felt so drawn to Katerina in the first place. He was swiftly reminded that the situation hadn't worked out. However, Elena appeared most sincere in her actions, much more so than Katerina ever did.

"Do not make me regret this," Elijah warned the young woman in front of him as he accepted her extended hand, the two settling on a shake of agreement. When their hands met, the corner of his mouth quirked down, upon the slight spark he felt. He quickly hid it and looked to the human.

Elena frowned when their hands met. Had that happened the first time she and Elijah shook hands? She couldn't remember. Meeting Elijah had sent her world spinning. She'd been so out of sorts whenever he was around. He had introduced himself in front of Aunt Jenna as Elijah Smith, but she had been so worried that her aunt was around the Original, she was just anxious to get him out of her house. When she noticed how much time she spent pondering the question, she pulled her hand out of his.

"That's great. I just need to pack us some clothes," she smiled tightly. "We really need to get you out of that outfit. Follow me upstairs and I can get you something that…isn't quite so…out there."

Elijah looked down at his clothes and frowned. He liked his clothing, in fact, it was made of expensive fabrics. "While I…thank you for the thought, I prefer to stay in my own dressings."

Elena only shook her head at him. "Okay…" she relented. "I'll be back down shortly with a bag." She hurried upstairs to pack a few outfits for herself. Even though he'd turned down the idea, she figured she'd pack one or two of Ric's for him.

When she left the room, Elijah looked around at his surroundings. As fascinating as he found the kitchenette area, he moved what he assumed was a drawing room of sorts. He noticed a big black box hanging on the wall, smaller boxes sitting upon a table of sorts were positioned under it. There was a sitting chair and couch, both looked exceedingly comfortable. He ran a hand over the back of them, feeling the fabric. His attention was then drawn to the various portraits that littered in the room. Her family must be rich, he surmised based on the amount that decorated the room. Mostly all of them contained a portrait of Elena and some other brunette male. He seemed to just a little younger than Elena, and Elijah could only deduce that they were related in some way.

There was one of Elena and the other male with two older people, both who had dark hair. He assumed that they were Elena's parents. There was another of Elena, the young man and a red headed woman. There were various portraits of Elena or the young man with someone else, or even a group of people.

Elena rushed around upstairs grabbing everything that she could think of that she may need for the next couple days. Once she was finished, she made her way back downstairs only to find Elijah examining her pictures. He seemed to focus on one of her with Caroline and Bonnie. She approached him, making sure to keep a respectable distance.

"The blonde one is Caroline, who was turned into a vampire. The one with the dark hair is Bonnie, she's a witch."

"You keep interesting friends," Elijah said, turning to look at her.

Elena felt herself smile as she thought about her circle of friends. "You have no idea…"

"What beautiful paintings. You cannot even see the brush strokes," he admired.

"Mmhmm," she tightly agreed. "We should go."