It was Friday the 15th, exactly one year since Elena's parents had died in a tragic car accident. Malfunctioning brakes, Elena had been told. Fortunately Elena and her brother Jeremy were not in the car at the time. Their aunt Jenna decided to move in to their home and become their legal guardian.
"Elena, there was a letter for you on the doorstep," Jenna said, when Elena came downstairs for breakfast. "I bet it's from a cute boy."
Elena rolled her eyes. She took the envelope from Jenna. It had her name written on it in calligraphy. She wondered who in the world would possibly send her something like this. Bonnie, maybe? Stefan? She tore open the envelope and read it out loud. "Don't say you didn't see it coming."
"What?" Jenna asked between sips of coffee.
"Someone sent me this letter saying 'Don't say you didn't see it coming.' Is this some kind of sick joke? That someone would send me this on the anniversary to my parent's accident?"
Jenna frowned. "It must be some stupid teenager with a sick sense of humour. I'm sure it's nothing."
"Was I supposed to see my parent's death coming?" Elena asked.
"Honey, you know that was an accident. No one could have seen it coming," Jenna said, finishing her coffee and setting the empty mug in the sink.
"I know," Elena said. But the note rattled her anyway. She was already on edge just because of the date. September 15th. A day of death.
"What are we talking about?" Jeremy asked as he came bounding down the stairs. Elena simply handed him the note. "Don't say you didn't see it coming. See what coming?"
"We think it's some cruel kid who knows what happened last year," Jenna said. "Now, I've got to get going or I'll be late for work. Have fun at school."
"Yeah, right. Like that's going to happen," Jeremy said. "Are you sure it's about Mom and Dad? Maybe it's just some teenage girl drama."
That thought hadn't occurred to Elena. Maybe it was Caroline threatening that she was going to become the cheer captain this year. Would Caroline do that? They were friends, but that didn't mean that Caroline didn't get jealous of Elena. "Maybe," Elena said. "We should get to school."
As soon as Elena walked onto school grounds, Bonnie was there to greet her. "Elena, it's so good to see you. How are you feeling?"
"I'm doing well, considering everything," Elena said, as she made her way to her locker. She entered her locker combo and opened the door and-
Something fell onto her. Elena's first reaction was to catch it, thinking it was just her books. Instead she grabbed a severed arm. Elena screamed and dropped it to the ground.
"What the hell?" Bonnie said. Other students looked over at them, wondering what was going on. Some peered into the locker. Some gasped. Some just stood there silently.
"We have to call the police," Bonnie said.
"Yeah," Elena agreed nodding. But she was busy staring into the locker. Staring at the pieces of what used to be a living girl. Two arms, two legs, a torso cut in half as if with a chainsaw and worst of all sitting on the top shelf was Rebekah's head, seeming to sit there and stare at Elena accusingly.
An hour later, Elena was sitting in the principal's office. She had already been questioned by the police, which didn't take long because she knew nothing that they didn't. "Miss Gilbert, are you feeling well enough to walk home yourself, or should we call someone to pick you up?" the principal asked.
"I'm fine, really," Elena said, forcing a smile. "I enjoy a good walk."
"Okay, you're free to go," the principal said. School had already been dismissed and the students had gone home. Elena was one of the last stragglers left. She wondered if Jeremy had already left. Elena walked down the halls, noticing that the police were still talking to Caroline, Rebekah's best friend. Elena felt a pang of sorrow on Caroline's behalf. Fortunately, she hadn't seen the body, but that kind of news had to be shocking. Elena herself was shook up about finding the body, and sad even though she wasn't particularly close with Rebekah.
Elena kept walking, not wanting to go to her locker, but wanting to check to see if Jeremy was still in the cafeteria. She heard footsteps behind her and darted around to see who was behind her. It's a school, of course there's going to be people in the halls, she told herself. But there wasn't anyone she could see. Unnerved, Elena kept on walking a little faster. There was a loud crash, like metal falling to the ground. She looked over her shoulder but couldn't see anything. "Hello?" she called down the hallway.
Against Elena's better judgement she walked back to see what the source of the sound was. She looked down every hallway, but she couldn't find anything that had fallen. I must just be imagining things, Elena thought. Of course, you've got to be jumpy after everything that happened.
That was when she remembered the letter. Don't say you didn't see it coming. Was she supposed to see Rebekah's death coming? Was someone threatening her?
Elena shuddered. She had enough of this day. September 15th. A day of death, she thought again. Now she ran to the cafeteria, hoping desperately that Jeremy was there, and that he would walk her home. She opened the door and found a couple of kids but no Jeremy. Elena sighed. She guessed she would just have to walk home alone then.
She walked away from the cafeteria, anxious to get away from the school, when she ran into Stefan. "Hey," he said, looking sad. "I heard about Rebekah. Are you okay?"
"I'm a little off kilter," Elena admitted. "Would you like to walk me home?"
"Of course," Stefan said, smiling now. "I just have to get something from the locker room. I think I left my watch there."
"I'll come with you," Elena said, not wanting to be alone.
Stefan raised an eyebrow but didn't protest. He walked her to the change room and opened the door and immediately pushed Elena out of the room, yelling "Don't look!"
A/N: This is one of two Vampire Diaries stories my sister and I are co-writing where we decide on a basic plot idea and possibly one main pairing and then write them by alternating who writes each chapter. We won't be allowed to suggest anything to each other, so the chapter will be based only off of what that person thinks should happen next. Chapters have to be from 1,000 to 3,000 words without including the author's notes.
This chapter was written by Doctor Sexy, the next will be written by imdrowninginfootwear.
Since we don't have a concrete plan of where this story is going, review suggestions are always helpful. Thanks for reading. :)