Chapter 1

The dark surges of the shadows illuminated the intense feeling that Elena Gilbert kept locked inside her. It was a feeling that Elena was all too aware of. A feeling of fear, dismay and weariness.

It had been a whole four years since the death of her beloved parents. A whole four years of the placid emptiness growing more distinct within her. They said time healed all, that all shall be forgotten with time. What a shady and deceiving sentiment. Time could never eradicate the memory of of her parents. To simply forget was never an option, never.

Elena was no longer a little child now though, she could carry these feelings with more strength now. She learnt to carry these feelings for her younger brother, Jeremy. And learnt to live day by day with him and their Auntie, Jenna. Learnt to live here in Mystic Falls.

Mystic Falls a place with such a delectable mystery that made Elena yearn to discover all it's hidden secrets and dark past. Her Aunt Jenna had contemplated moving from this place, and find begin anew somewhere else. Elena had verbally questioned why, but all she got from her Aunt was a reluctant stare that had Elena gulp down her many other questions. Elena had an unhinged feeling that this place unlocked the truth of her parents death. It may as well have just been a car accident, but she knew better. This feeling, she couldn't explain, told her the secrets of this town was worth the fear she held onto.

"So, have you seen the new kid?" Elena's best friend Bonnie winked at her, as she kept going on and on about some new kid. But Elena's mind was elsewhere. Tomorrow was the much dreaded anniversary of her parents death. "Uh, Elena?" Bonnie pinched the green fabric of Elena's sweater, trying to grab her attention.

"What?" Elena looked around, startled.

"Why aren't you listening to me? Are you okay? You look sick."

"I'm fine." Elena looked around the school grounds of Mystic Falls High, as if she was in search of some air. Feeling unusually claustrophobic in the open space.

Bonnie sighed, "It's that time of the year again isn't it?"

Elena nodded. Bonnie was the only soul on earth that Elena told any and everything to. They had been best friends for so long, and no secret was ever kept between the two.

In a low whisper, Bonnie said, "you haven't been getting those dreams again, have you?"

Elena looked around the foray of students walking up the school hall. "The dreams are right on time," Elena said in a carefully low measured voice.

Every year, whenever the Anniversary was approaching, so did these weird dreams. Dreams that suffocated her in the middle of the night. Dreams of unexplained deaths, that shook Mystic Falls. Dreams of sacrifice and blood. And the nightmares came to her as if they were dark fiends who were trying to warn her of an impending death.

"Elena, you know, dreams are just dreams." Bonnie tried to reassure her.

"Maybe. But don't you find it weird that they always come around this time, and they're always about the same thing? Just, don't worry. You're probably right. I've got to go." Elena gave Bonnie a hug goodbye, and rushed out. While she was running out to the car park, she bumped into something hard and cold. She looked up to see a boy in front of her.

"I'm so sorry" She said, feeling a weird energy coming from him, noticing just how pale and tense he was. Noticing the bronze color of his hair and eyes. He wouldn't move from her line of space, but just stood in place and stared at her. He looked at her with familiarity, as if he knew her from somewhere.

He opened his mouth to speak. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," she said, trying to excuse herself. Something about him was distinctively different.

Just before she had the chance to walk away, to get to her car, he introduced himself, "I'm Stefan. I'm new here."

So he was the new guy Bonnie was talking about. "Hi, I'm Elena." She tried smiling.

"I know."

She stopped smiling.

"I mean, I know you from class. We have Biology and History classes together."

She nodded her head. "Right." Weird that she hadn't seen him until now.

The mood got even more darker when he stared right into her eyes. She flinched as the fear cursed her body even more. And she ran passed him, and to her car. Panicking as she sped of.

"I spoke to her," Damon Salvatore heard his brother Stefan say as he walked into their house, and as if a mutual understanding that needed no words to be exchanged passed them, he nodded. Damon was unmoving with the darkness of the room, all he could see was her. Stefan continued "I don't think we should approach her for now. She doesn't even know what's going on..."

"How much does she resemble Katherine?"

Stefan blinked, "When I first saw her, all I could see was Katherine. But when you get close to her; her character, her scent, her vibe - she couldn't be more different."

Damon spotted a slight flicker in his brothers eyes that agitated him, he knew that look all too well. "Don't get too attached. She's a mere human. Remember she is just a part of our plan, remember the plan is why we came back here to Mystic Falls."

"Maybe we could wait for our plan. She's in pain, I could smell it."

Damon's noes flared, "Pain? I've been living in pain for hundreds of years. I can't wait any longer." All these years of senseless killings, and meaningless living had turned Damon into a stone cold monster. He had lived for years without the women his heart bled for. Years without any comfort or kindness. He wished that he could be more like his brother and control the demon in which took savage of his kind.

"We'll carry out our plan, do you understand. You owe me, my brother." And just like that, Stefan nodded his head in obligation. They would always be loyal to each other, they held the mark of brotherhood, after-all.