AN: First Vampire Diaries story, so don't judge me too hard.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.
Dear Diary,
I'm going home, to Mystic Falls. Where I was born and raised. Where I had my first kiss, first boyfriend. Where my family was. And, where my parents died, the reason why I got out of the small town in the first place. But you know what they say, 'Home is where the heart is.' And my heart needed to go home. I had left after my parents' death, because the emotions were too much for me. I was heartbroken, my sister was heartbroken, and my aunt and uncle were heartbroken. Heck, even my kitten didn't seem to be himself. It was like I could actually feel the emotions radiating off everyone, suffocating me, smothering me. I had to go.
And I did.
But after my younger sister Aubree called me, telling me that everyone missed me and really wanted me to come back, I packed my bags, hopped into a cab headed straight for the airport, and flew home.
And now my taxi is entering my hometown. Talk to you later.
~~~x~~~
I closed my diary and grinned, loving how familiar the roads looked. In New York, everything was new, and almost scary. Just setting foot into this small town made me feel better almost immediately. And seeing the 'Welcome to Mystic Falls' sign put a smile on my face. My russet brown orbs peered out the glass, gazing at sea the oak trees that lined the road, their colors ranging red to orange.
The taxi slowly pulled up to curb outside a large French style house and I looked up at it through the window. My home looked more beautiful than it did before. In all honesty, it wasn't really a house, it was more of a small mansion.
The house was made of mixed gray sandstone with the exception of the roof which was a dark blue. Each window on the second story had wrought iron railing for the balcony. Beautifully engraved pillars supported the front porch cover that was lined with stone balustrades. In front of the balustrades were manicured hedges along with the lush green neatly cut lawn. Two cast stone urn planters were placed along each side of the long tiled walkway with two mini steps that went straight to the front door of the house.
It had only been a few months since the day I left my home, but it felt like it was only yesterday.
"Thanks," I said to the driver, handing over the money owed and he nodded.
Opening the door I got out the taxi with my duffle bag in hand and went to trunk to collect the rest of my luggage. With one last honk the taxi driver drove away, as I waved goodbye to him. Turning around, I faced my home again, a variety of emotions flooded me, and I couldn't help but simply stare at the house. I remembered all the happy memories here, and with that the bad ones came into my mind too, and that gave me the strength I needed.
"Home sweet home," I whispered into the air.
I pulled my suitcase behind me and up the tiled path with my duffel bag on my shoulder, taking a deep breath, I knocked. The sound footfalls quickly and loudly hitting the floor could be heard from behind the door. Suddenly, the door swung open revealing Aubree and immediately her face broke into a huge smile.
"Janelle!" she exclaimed, pulling me into a hug.
I chuckled dropping my bags, "Aubree, you're kind of squishing me," I said wryly, smiling myself.
She pulled back, shaking her head, "Sorry, it's just so good to see you!" Aubree said exictedly.
Aubree almost looked the same when I last left her except her warm, rich brown skin had darkened slightly, possibly from being outside longer now that it's warm. Her hair had also grown longer, with her natural hair blown out it flowed down her shoulders, framing her round face.
I heard footsteps behind Aubree, and looked over her shoulder to see my Uncle Cedric and Aunt Marie. Marie was beautiful, her light brown skin always seem to have a glow about it that complimented with her brown-reddish curly hair that always seemed to stay in a bun. Her almond shaped brown eyes constantly oozed kindness. Cedric was tall, lean, and muscular, had slightly tanned skin. He grew his hair since I lost saw him before his dark brown hair was in a buzz cut, but now it was thick and styled in a center part.
"Are my eyes deceiving me or is that my MIA niece?" Uncle Cedric smirked, coming towards us.
"Uncle Cedric!" I yelled, pushing past Aubree and giving my uncle a bear hug. He laughed and I pulled back, smiling at Marie. "It's so good to be back!" I laughed, while walking towards Marie and hugging her.
Aubree handed me my things, "Now go put these up in your room," she ordered.
I sighed, but obey her orders, "Fine, fine," I conceded.
Quickly, I walk upstairs with my suitcase clanking against the wood, and I opened the door only to find all my friends in there. Elena literally flung herself at me nearly knocking me down when she hugged me. And Bonnie and Caroline didn't help when they rush over too, embracing me from both sides. And the four of us laugh as we are reunited again. These were my best friends since childhood, I'd known Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline since I was five.
"Oh my God!" Elena shrieked. As I returned the embrace with just as much enthusiasm as Elena, keeping the smile on her face. Elena pulled away from me, shaking her head. "You're back!" Elena almost shouted.
"Yeah, for good!" I said excitedly, and Bonnie squealed slightly before hugging me tighter.
"Can I breathe now?" I joked, but desperately needed some air.
"Oh yeah, sure! Sorry about that," Caroline smiled apologetically.
Pulling back from my embrace I was able to finally get a good look at my friends that I hadn't seen in months. Caroline still managed to have her milky white skin despite the sun's best efforts. Her flowing, blonde hair had grew, but her sparkling blue eyes remained the same. Elena hadn't changed a bit. She still had her long chocolate brown hair, brown doe eyes, and tanned olive skin tone. And finally Bonnie, with her signature feline-shaped olive green eyes and beautiful shade of golden brown skin and curly brown hair.
"So tell us about your time in New York!" Bonnie said excitedly, clapping her hands together.
"Well to start off with, all my family in New York are so weird," I began, letting out a laugh. And so began my tale of all the sights I saw in the Empire State. I told them about my eccentric family members, about where I've been, what I've been doing. After a while, the conversation turned to what's been happening here. "So what's this I hear about the Salvatore brothers?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Elena sighed, "Caroline spilled didn't she?" Elena asked, looking over at Caroline.
"I'm sorry, it slipped," Caroline squeaked.
I nodded, reading into her expression, a talent of mine. She looked...sad. Very sad. Oh...if one of those Salvatore's hurt her I would kill them.
"Well, one, is my ex, the other, is my ex's brother. Ask Bonnie or Caroline for the details," I decide to leave it at that, not wanting to upset her further.
Bonnie looked down at her phone, "We gotta go," Bonnie announced, she and Caroline got up, turning to leave.
"Wait, where are you going?" I asked curiously, standing up myself.
"There's a masquerade party tonight," Bonnie answered excitedly, grinning widely.
"Or you're welcome to hang out with me, Nellie. Alaric's coming over. It's gonna be pizza and bad TV," Elena suggested, smiling at me.
My brows furrowed, "Who's Alaric?" I asked curiously.
"The new history teacher and Jenna's boyfriend," Elena answered briefly.
"You're not going to the party tonight?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.
"Uh...no. Not with what's going on between me and Stefan," Elena replied, shaking her head slightly.
"I'm sorry Elena, but I'm stealing my sister tonight," Aubree stated from my door.
"No, I completely understand Aubree. Have fun guys," Elena said, before leaving with Caroline and Bonnie.
"This should be fun, I haven't seen anyone in ages. I want to see everyone," I smiled, waving my hands.
"Well then, go get ready," Aubree said shooting me a smile and I nodded, closing my door.
With my back against the door, I could fully notice that my room had been renovated. Before, it used to match my slightly childish taste, now, it looked like a totally new room with new things that matched my age. Looking around, I spotted some of my things remained untouched like my pictures. My bedroom walls painted were painted purple and gray with white furniture like my tufted headboard, bookcase, and large mirror. The other furniture like my large wardrobe and bedside tables were black and glossed.
I shook my head slightly, breaking myself out of my reverie and walked over to my suitcase. I searched through my suitcase looking for something to wear, until I find one of my favorite dresses, a strapless red dress that had a sweetheart neckline and a beaded belt made of rhinestones. I laid it on my bed and moved over to my vanity dresser, sitting down as I looked at my hair.
I contemplated wearing my tightly coiled hair up in a bun, but decided to keep my hair down and let it rest on my shoulders instead. I played with my thick hair and spraying some water to refresh it before deciding it was perfect. Moving on to my makeup I kept it simple, applying a coat of crimson lipstick. In my opinion, there was no point of doing my eye makeup, it was a masquerade after all.
I stood up from stool and went back over to my bed and picked up the dress, easily slipping it on. I did a twirl in front of my full-length mirror admiring myself, the red hue of the dress complemented my walnut brown skin and accentuated hourglass body shape. The corners of my upturned eyes crinkled as I smile, drawing attention to the beauty mark underneath my left eye.
Twirling once more I grabbed the gold mask adorned with black feathers I had gotten years ago and slipped on my black heels. I grabbed my purse and I was ready to go. I headed back downstairs and saw Aubree already waiting for me in a loose dark blue dress with glitter all over it.
"Ready to go?" Aubree asked.
"Yeah. Let's go," I said grinning, waving goodbye to Cedric and Marie.
"This shall be a night to remember," I thought.
~~~x~~~
The Lockwood Mansion was bigger than I remembered. The moment I stepped out of my car it felt like I'd been transported to another dimension. There were fire twirlers, jugglers, and masked people dancing around on the front lawn, others making their way inside or out of the big house. Everyone seemed to be having so much fun.
"Whoa," I breathed in awe, staring at the mansion with wide eyes. "It looks bigger than I remember," I stated, noticing the mansion's columns were decorated with swathes of fabric and neatly bowed.
Fixing our masks, the two of us made our way inside and I felt Aubree grab my arm, in an attempt to not be separated. I didn't mind it and kept going through the crowd. There were so many people. I kept going anyways, not feeling my sister's hand slip. The music wasn't as loud as I expected either which was kind of nice. There were lights everywhere along with food and drinks. Come to think of it, I hadn't eaten all day and walked to table that had food and drinks on it. I sipped my glass of punch as I watched all the people dancing.
With everyone having masks on you couldn't tell who was who.
"Nellie?" a familiar voice asked, from behind me.
I spun around to face the owner of the voice, "Yep, that's me," I answered, then I realized who I was talking to.
Dark haired, a well squared jaw, olive skinned, and insanely muscular. Why it must be Tyler Lockwood.
"It's hard to tell who's who in this place," He joked, but I couldn't help but agree. "You look amazing by the way," he added.
I smiled, "Thanks Ty, you look pretty good yourself, but then again you always could pull off a suit," I commented, with a laugh.
"How the hell have you been?" Tyler asked, now grinning.
"Pretty good, actually," I answered, nodding. "You?" I asked.
"Alright," Tyler said, shrugging. "When did you get back?"
"A couple of hours ago, really. And I didn't see any of the guys at my house," I scolded mockingly.
"You should have texted me!" Tyler retorted, and I narrowed my eyes at him slightly, before I shrugged a bit.
"You got me there, Tyler," I said, and Tyler smirked victoriously. "I'm going to get some more punch, I'll talk to you later, Tyler," I said, before walking off.
"You better!" Tyler called after me as I walked away, and I threw him a wave over my shoulder. As I made my way to the punch bowl I saw Elena talking to a short haired blonde boy and a smile formed on my lips.
"Hey, Matt!" I greeted happily. "Hey, Elena! I didn't know you were gonna be here. I'm glad you changed your mind. You look great!" I complimented smiling.
"Thanks. You do, too," Elena said, after a long pause and I grinned at her. "I'm gonna go get a drink. But I'll see you later?"
"Yeah, of course," She said, and walked away.
A couple hours later, I stood outside. I'd caught up with Matt, Jeremy, Malia, and Peter, two of my other friends. Peter is tall, naturally tanned with dark eyes, and messy black hair that is never combed. He has toned body, it's not hard to see that Peter is very good looking. Peter always has an easy but charming smile on his face, he is handsome and he knows it. While Malia had flawless chocolate brown skin, full lips, dark brown eyes, and dimpled smile. She had a curvaceous frame with slim, shapely legs.
Matt had ditched me and had gone somewhere with Tyler. To get drunk, probably. The masquerade ball was still going strong inside, but I think that I've had enough. The problem is I can't find Aubree, and seeing that's next to impossible with this party being a masquerade, I didn't bother trying to look. I hope she has a ride home with her friends, because I'm leaving.
The cold air was chilling me, but refreshing me at the same time. As I walked amongst the cars, trying to find my car I stopped when I dropped my keys on the ground. I bent down to pick them up and that's when I sensed that someone was behind me. I frowned and turned around slightly, and opened my mouth to let out a scream when I'm grabbed from behind. The man who grabbed me immediately covers my mouth and nose with a chloroform soaked cloth, muffling my screams, and slowly rendering me unconscious.
AN: Well, did you like it? Hate it? Sorry if it's a bit short.