Yeah, I've been kinda annoying with how many times I keep improving this chapter, but I promise that I'll TRY to make sure that this is the last time I add/change this chapter. Same goes for the prologue. However, if you catch any continuity or spelling/grammar errors do let me know in the reviews.

Chapter 2

8 Years Later

"You can't just leave! It's insane, Adelina!"

Adelina sighed as she listened to her best friend protest her decision. If she was completely honest with herself, she wasn't surprised by Xander's reaction. Which was why she was only springing this on him now. Had Xander any inkling of her choice beforehand, he would've tried his damnedest to dissuade her. Not that he wasn't going to try now, but it meant that there was less time or likelihood for him to succeed. So Adelina absorbed the protests and deflected the pressure to concede defeat as best as she could.

"Xander, it doesn't matter how insane you think this is. What matters is that it's my choice, which is something you're gonna have to accept," Adelina firmly stated.

"I don't care, all I know is that this is a bad idea. I don't understand, why this? Why now?" pressed a confused Xander.

"It's something I need to do. I need to do this...for...for me. I owe it to myself."

"You may owe it to yourself to find her, but not now. It's too soon, you've just fricken started recovering after you lost…"

"That doesn't change anything," Adelina cut him off, unable to hear the unbearable truth of her loss, "in fact, it gives me all the more reason to find her. To not let this...this grief consume me. I can't let myself think about it, I won't."

"That's even worse, Adelina! You can't just fucking push away the pain and think it'll go away. You need to confront it, let it wash over you, grieve. Avoid it, and you'll end up facing it later, after you've let it fester and intensify in greater magnitude. You can't put a Band-Aid on a bullet hole and just expect it to heal! Don't delude yourself!" he persisted, grasping her by the shoulders as if to shake some sense into her.

"I'm not deluding myself into believing the pain will go away. In fact, I can still feel it, no matter what I do. I'm just choosing to leave dealing with my grief for a later date. I know I can't escape it, no matter how far I run. After all, pain is an old friend."

She was telling the truth, of course. She was under no blissful illusion that she could banish her grief...her pain. She had suffered more than enough to believe otherwise. It didn't matter to her when she let it crash over. Life, for her, was interchangeable with darkness. Pain was just one of its many attributes. No matter what she did, the darkness was always there waiting. No distance or therapy would make it fade away. Hell, wasn't there a damn quote about it? "Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." Yep, the quote was the perfect analogy to describe her life.

"The visions have started again, haven't they? And they're only getting worse, which is why you're doing this now." Xander realized, his cerulean eyes wide from the sudden clarity of his friend's true motives.

Adelina tumbled from her internal musings at the shock of Xander's astute deduction. Her mouth opened to deny the accusation, but no words came out. She watched Xander as he raked his hand through his raven locks in frustration, pacing in front of her once her silence confirmed his suspicions. Xander Ambrose had always been able to see through her. He had always been able to see through her smoke and mirrors. They had been close since childhood, long before her mother left, before the darkness had settled over her like a fog. Their friendship had bloomed in spite of the fact that he had 3 years on her in age when she met him as a 4 year old. After she was able to leave the foster care system, she moved into his modest yet cozy two-bedroom apartment. Sure, she could've just lived in her spacious house as she held the deed to it, but it was too painful to be reminded of her father's brutal demise, which seemed to be the case every waking moment she spent in that house. Xander was the only one she allowed behind her walls. He was the only one who knew of all her secrets, all the horrors she had experienced, as he was there by her side for most of it. Although he knew all this, he would never truly be able to empathize with or even comprehend the full extent of her agony and sorrow that held her soul prisoner in its tendrils. For this small relief, Adelina was eternally grateful.

"How long has it been since they started? Since when have you been planning this, Adelina?" demanded a wary Xander, fearing he already knew the answer.

"Right before I got out of...that place, that's when they started. I've been planning this almost as soon as I left. That's why I've been tinkering with…with Daddy's old '69 Mustang. I needed it to be fully functioning for what I need it for."

"What about all that money you withdrew from the bank? Where the fuck did you even get that from? What's it even for?"

"Daddy and Mama had accumulated an unfathomable amount of wealth over the years, even after settling here in Canada. Especially Mama, what with all the time she'd spent walking this Earth. Not that you don't already know that. I finally gained access to some of their offshore accounts once I turned 18 over six months ago. I won't get access to the rest of them until I'm 21, so for now I'm going to have to make do with what I have at the moment. I'll need it on the road, once I've left."

"On the road? So you don't even know where to start? How is any of this shit logical?"

"Don't worry Xander, I know where to start. If the damn visions are good for anything, it's that. I'm doing this, no matter what you do to dissuade me."

"Fine, I know I can't stop you," Xander conceded, "but that doesn't mean I can't follow you. If I can't beat you, I might as well join you."

"Are you serious? There is no way I'm letting you follow me. I can't lose you, too. Not after…" she broke off as she choked back a sob.

"You will never lose me, Nia," he cooed as he cupped her face, "and I will never lose you, either. I won't, which is why I'm coming with you."

"Fine, but the minute it gets dangerous, you're on the first flight or train back home to Golden! I don't care what happens, I'll glue your ass to the seat of whatever transport that'll get you out of the danger zone." she relented.

"Hopefully it won't come to that. If it does however, you're welcome to try, darling." he smirked.

Adelina rolled her glassy eyes at his remark. As she negotiated with Xander about the terms and conditions of his involvement in this venture, she devised a plan to get away without Xander catching wind of her trail. She knew she couldn't let him tag along on her...quest. It was too dangerous. She wouldn't lose anyone else due to her own status as being the universe's scapegoat. But for now, she allowed Xander to revel in the triumph of making her concede. They went to bed, his heart soaring with relief whilst hers was heavy with the knowledge that she had deceived the only person she trusted. He was the only loved one she had left, so it made the burden a little easier to carry knowing that it would keep Xander safe.

Once she'd heard Xander's even breathing of deep sleep through the thin wall that separated their rooms, she crept out of bed with her duffel bag. She had already stocked the Mustang with anything else she would need, including the wads of cash. She was about to open the front door when she spotted a blank sheet of paper on the coffee table in the living room. Sighing, Adelina set down her duffel bag and scrounged the living room for a pen or pencil. Finding one, she sat down on the faded leather of Xander's couch in front of the coffee table. The words poured from her heart onto the page, along with a few teardrops, blotting some of the ink. Once she finished her letter, she skimmed over the finished result.

Xander,

Chances are that if you're reading this, you're absolutely incensed. I can't blame you. As much as you may believe I've made the wrong choice in leaving you behind, deep down you have to know that this is something I have to do on my own. This is my fight, and I'm not letting you get caught in the crossfire. You're all I have left, and I love you too much to risk your life. If you were here in this situation, standing in my shoes, I know you'd do the same.

I can't stop you from trying to hunt me down, but I can make sure you know what odds you're up against. I've already taken the liberty of stalling your car (don't worry, it's nothing a visit from the local mechanic won't fix, since I'm not there to fix it for you) should you attempt to get on my tail, I'm not going to be using any credit cards for you to track, and I've got no cell phone on me. You can't open a missing persons case since I'm not technically missing if I'm doing this of my own free will, though you're welcome to try. I've left you some cash to cover my part of the rent for the next 3 months, so you don't have to worry about that.

I'm sorry it had to come to this, I truly am. It wounds me deeply to leave behind the one person I have left to love. But I have to find her. If I believe anything from my visions, it's that. There's nothing you could have done to stop me, we both know how stubborn I can be. I hope we cross paths again, but if it's not in our cards, then know this. You have been the only constant in my life, other than the pain. For that I'm eternally grateful. I hope you know that no matter where I am, I'll always remember you. I've left the keys of my house to you, should you decide to live there. If not, just watch over it for me. Maybe someday I'll return after all this is over. Until then, I bid you farewell.

All my love,

Adelina B. Howlett

Satisfied with her letter, Adelina set it down on the coffee table, knowing Xander would easily find it there in the morning hours. Wiping the last of her tears, she picked up the duffel bag and exited the front door, locking it behind her for what may be the last time. Once exiting the building, she headed down a few blocks before she hailed a cab. The cab took her to the outskirts of Golden, where her childhood home was situated.

The house was indeed spacious, and would be better referred to as a manor of some sort. Not only was it large, it came with a vast amount of unused land as part of the rural property. In spite of all the space, it was packed tightly with the memories of her childhood. She set her gaze on it for a few moments, letting herself be overcome with the bittersweet nostalgia of her childhood. She relished in the feeling for as long as she could, before her pain overwhelmed the nostalgia.

Turning her attention away from the house, she walked up the driveway to her father's most prized material possession, his winter blue '69 Ford Mustang. Technically, it was Adelina's now, but she digressed. After loading up the duffel bag into the trunk with the rest of her belongings, Adelina settled herself into the driver's seat and put the car into gear. She didn't realize she had left the boundaries of town until she had started to near the American border. Pulling out her map, she singled out the destination she had in mind. If the cryptic visions were accurate, and they usually were, she was going to find her answers once she got there. Truly relaxing for the first time since she left Xander's apartment, she sank further into her seat. Adelina turned on the radio, cranking up the volume once she'd found her favourite station, knowing that it was going to be a very long drive to Mystic Falls, Virginia.

Man, does it feel good to finish writing a chapter! 2k+ words of nonstop writing, can you believe it? For those reading this wondering when we're going to be introduced to the cast of The Vampire Diaries, don't worry. It's coming next chapter. So hit that follow button, leave a review, share it with your peeps, and fave this fic. It'll feed my bitch of a muse, so I'll be able to give you an update sooner rather than later. See ya next chapter!