AUTHORS NOTE: I picture Persephone Kane as Santanico Pandemonium played by Eiza Gonzalez.

CHAPTER ONE: PILOT

Dear Diary,

It's been ninety-two days since the accident. Ninety-two days since I've moved in with the Gilbert's. And ninety-two days since I've had to start pretending that I'm not still bitter and spiteful over what happened. I think deep down they know I still haven't gotten over it, but in the meantime, they are perfectly fine pretending that nothing is wrong. That everything is fine. That I'm just grieving and I'll get over it eventually. But, tell me, how is one supposed to get over the fact that the only family member they had left is now dead and it could've been completely avoided if Elena Gilbert would've just listened to her parents and stayed home that night like she was supposed to do? Because I can't figure it out. I can't figure out how I'm meant to live with the girl who is the reason for me being an orphan and still be civil with her. The worst part is, I don't even think she realizes that she did anything wrong. Now we have to go back to school today for the first day of junior year and I get to watch her act as if nothing has changed whilst I count down the days until my eighteenth birthday.

"Persephone!"

I rolled my eyes at the sound of Jenna Summor's yelling, but nonetheless, I closed my journal and stuffed it into my bag before standing up from my desk. I had woken up about an hour ago, so I was already dressed and ready to go to my own personal hellhole—otherwise known as Mystic Falls High School. I took one last look at myself in the mirror to make sure my nude lipstick wasn't smudged and my outfit was perfect.

It was.

I grabbed my leather jacket and slipped it on over my crimson long-sleeve shirt that had a low v-neck cut before slinging my bag over my shoulder and leaving the room I had taken as my own three months ago. I could hear the sound of Jenna's panicking voice as I descended the stairs and I internally groaned when I heard Elena's voice as well. Can nobody get coffee in peace nowadays?

"Your first day of school and I'm completely unprepared. Lunch money?" I walked into the kitchen to see Jenna holding out money towards Elena and Jeremy.

"I'm good," Elena declined whilst Jeremy happily snatched the money from his aunt's hand. I knew that lunch was the last thing Jeremy was going to use that money on, but I decided not to comment on it. Just because I have to live with them now doesn't mean that their problems are any of my business. I just wish that they would offer me that same courtesy.

"Do you need anything, Persephone? I know how much the first day of school sucks," Jenna asked, now looking over at me.

I shook my head as I walked over to the cabinet above the sink. "Believe it or not, but today isn't the first time I've had a first day of school." I grabbed the coffee cup I use every day from the cabinet and moved to the coffee pot.

"Anything else? A number two pencil? What am I missing?"

"Don't you have that presentation today?" Elena reminded her frantic aunt.

That was the last part of the conversation I heard before zoning out and aiming all of my attention on pouring coffee into my cup. I would need the caffeine to get through today. One of the downfalls of living in a small town is that news travels fast and somehow everyone knows everything about you.

On the bright side, that didn't apply to people who weren't a part of the founding families. One of the benefits of being a Kane, I suppose. Usually I would rejoice about it, but in this case it irked me. After the crash, the only thing people could talk about was, "Oh, Elena and Jeremy must be crushed," "The Gilbert's were such good people, it's a shame they passed so soon," or even, "I hope their families are alright."

Nobody seemed to remember that Miranda and Greyson Gilbert weren't the only people who died in that crash. Nobody seemed to acknowledge that when their car went over the bridge, they hit me and my older sister, Malia, in the process. Unfortunately for my sister, she never learned to swim.

Malia died and nobody could be bothered to care about it. She was the last family member I had left and now I was stuck living with the Gilbert family. Don't get me wrong, I was grateful that Jenna offered to be my guardian. If it weren't for her, I would've been stuck in some group home until my eighteenth birthday.

It was the fact that I had to wake up every morning and see Elena Gilbert's face.

When I woke up in the hospital, the doctor told me what happened. Apparently Elena and her parents were arguing because she snuck out to go to a party and got drunk and when Greyson Gilbert turned his head to scold her for it, he didn't see my sister and I standing over the bridge watching the water.

The best part is; Elena survived. She was the entire reason the crash happened in the first place, but for some odd reason she was the one to survive. Not her mother. Not her father. Not my sister. Elena Gilbert.

Call me bitter or resentful, I don't really care. All I care about now is turning eighteen and moving away from this horrid town forever. There's nothing here for me anymore.

The sound of a loud honk finally brought me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see that both Jenna and Jeremy were gone now and it was only Elena and I left in the kitchen.

"That's Bonnie. Do you wanna ride with us to school?"

"I think I would rather choke on shards of glass," I retorted as I walked past her and out the front door, not even sparing her a second glance.

I managed to get to school and find my locker without running into Elena or her two best friends; Caroline and Bonnie. However, it seemed that my luck ran out while I was tossing my books into my locker before first period started

"Hey, Persephone."

I looked over my shoulder to see Tyler Lockwood standing there with his hands shoved into his jean pockets. I rolled my eyes at him and turned back to my locker without a word. I must've forgotten to put him on the list of people I wanted to avoid today.

I continued to empty the contents of my bag into my locker, assuming that he would get the hint. I also must've forgotten that Tyler wasn't too bright.

"How have you been? I haven't heard from you since June," he continued his one-sided conversation, but now he moved to my side so I could see him staring at me from the corner of my eye. I really hoped that his question was rhetorical, because if he was expecting an answer to 'how have you been' then he was delusional. How would he think a person would be after their only family member died?

"I tried calling you all summer," he added, obviously still not getting that I wasn't interested in talking to him.

I internally groaned, realizing that he wasn't going to leave until I said something. "Really? So the number on my phone that left me a thousand voicemails and text messages saying," I started to mimic his voice, "'Hey, Persephone, I just wanted to know if I could come over so we can talk about our relationship and where we stand with each other,' was you?"

"Well, you never did give me an answer," he pointed out, practically burning a hole into the side of my head.

"I thought that after I didn't answer the thousand voicemails and text messages you left, you would get the hint I was practically tattooing on your face," I retorted, hanging my backpack on the hook inside of my locker.

"So that's it? We're done? We can't even talk about it?"

"We're talking about it right now, Tyler. If there's anything else you'd like to add, the floor's all yours." I picked out my chemistry textbook and one of the notebooks that I would need for my first three classes.

"We've been dating for three years, Persephone!" He raises his voice, growing visibly frustrated. I was used to his temper by now and it didn't bother or scare me like it did others. After all, I had a temper of my own, so I wasn't exactly in a place to judge. The only difference is that I knew how to control my anger and I knew when it was appropriate to let it out. "And this is how you're going to end it? In the middle of the school hallway after ignoring me for three months?"

By now we've definitely gained the attention of multiple other students standing nearby or just passing through the hallway. I slammed my locker closed and faced him for the first time since the start of this whole conversation. I plastered a false smile on my face and said, "I'm glad we're on the same page." And just like that, my smile fell and I walked past him, ignoring the stares I was getting.

Thankfully, Tyler had enough sense to not follow me. I turned the corner to get to my Chemistry class, but I ran straight into someone's chest. I stumbled back a couple steps and looked up at the man I had just ran into with a hard glare. He immediately started to open his mouth, probably to apologize, but I beat him to it. "It's okay, it was probably your fault."

I didn't wait for a response from him and just walked around him to continue what I was doing.

I finally made it to my last class of the day which just happened to be the only class I shared with Elena. I made sure to sit on the opposite side of the room as her. It was bad enough that I had to live with her. Did I really need to see her in school too?

"Once our home state of Virginia joined Confederacy in 1861, it created a tremendous amount of tension within the state. People in Virginia's northwest region had different ideals than those from the traditional deep south. Then Virginia divided in 1863 with the northwest region joining the union," Mr. Tanner lectured, but the information made me scoff.

Of course he couldn't miss a chance to try and humiliate and fluster a student, so he decided to comment on it. "Something to add, Miss Kane," he raised an eyebrow challengingly.

I placed my intertwined fingers on the desk in front of me and narrowed my eyes at Mr. Tanner, well aware that all of the students in the classroom now had their eyes on me. "You could just say that Confederate support and opinions were racist. Just because they were traditional and practiced so frequently, doesn't make those people any less racist."

I looked at him, silently daring him to challenge me, but he seemed to recognize that he lost the argument because he snapped his mouth closed and conceded my point with a single nod of agreement. I smirked at the small victory and leaned back into my chair as he continued on with his lesson.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I could feel the eyes of someone staring at me. I turned my head slightly to the side and my gaze immediately fell onto the person responsible. I recognized him as the guy who bumped into me at the beginning of the day. He looked at me with forest green eyes full of intent and an amused smile playing on his lips.

I rolled my eyes and looked forward once again. I wasn't a fan of being gawked at by people I didn't know…or people I did know. Honestly, I think I would just rather if people didn't gawk at me at all.

In some countries it was considered rude.

It probably didn't help his case that I saw him and Elena exchanging flirty glances. I've made it my mission to stay away from as many people associated with the Gilbert girl as I could. If I was going to get through the next year and a half without wringing someone's head, I would need to invest in some friends who had nothing to do with Elena.

God, this is going to be the longest year and a half of my life.

After school ended, I spent the next few hours at this lake near the end of town before I had to show up for my shift at the Grill. Jenna had tried to talk me out of getting a job, saying that I was still a teenager and I was still grieving and that I didn't need the extra responsibility, blah blah blah.

Obviously I didn't listen. I didn't want to take her money for things like going out or gas for my car. It was enough that she was offering me a place to live. I didn't like depending on other people for things I could get myself, so I talked to the manager at the Grill and he gave me a job. It was only a couple days a week for a few hours, but it was enough.

I walked into the small restaurant and quickly scanned over the place as I approached the bar. The first thing I noticed was that it seemed everyone I hated was here all at once. Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler, Matt.

Perfect. Truly perfect.

I also noticed that the guy who was staring at me in history class was sitting with Elena and her two friends, looking pretty uncomfortable. At least I wasn't the only one having a bad time.

"You're late," Vicki pointed out as I walked behind the bar. She was holding an empty tray and wearing a black apron.

"Thank you for letting me know. God forbid, I'd have to actually look down at the watch on my wrist," I retorted with a tight-lipped smile.

She rolled her eyes at me before walking over to another table. I went into the back room where the employees could store their things, so I could put away my bag and take off my jacket. The manager, Josh, let me serve at the bar despite me only being seventeen. Apparently it was because I could pass off as twenty-one without suspicion. It also didn't help that he didn't have many employees above the age of twenty, so I'm pretty sure he's just improvising.

When I came back out with an apron tied around my waist, I took the order of one of the men sitting at the bar, waiting.

"Whiskey on ice, please," he requested. I nodded at him before I started pouring his drink.

"Hey, can we talk?" I glance up to see Tyler leaning against the other end of the bar, looking at me.

"I'm working, and if you hadn't already learned this in the last three years, I'm not great at multitasking," I told him, returning my attention back to the drink I was making.

"You can't just avoid me for the rest of our lives," he complained.

"I guess we can compromise. I can settle for just ignoring you for the next ten years. You?" I slid the man's drink to him and took the money he put on the counter for me.

"We seriously need to talk, Persephone," Tyler continued to nag.

"No, I seriously need to work. You seriously need to talk. Preferably not to me. May I suggest a therapist?" I looked over at another customer, waiting for me to take his order. He was younger, though. Definitely still in high school.

"Can I get a couple shots of vodka?" The guy asks.

"ID?" I ask, even though I know he isn't of age.

"Do you always have to give some sort of stupid remark or joke?" Tyler asks, reminding me that he was still there.

"Sorry, it's a habit. Sort of like your habit of talking to people who don't want to be talked to." I took the ID that the guy handed me and looked at it with an odd expression on my face. I brought my gaze back up to the underage boy. "You couldn't have gotten a picture that looked even remotely like you? Come back when you get a better fake ID." I tossed the ID back at the now-flushed guy and watched as he scrambled back to his friends.

"Is there someone else?" Tyler asked.

"God, are we still having this conversation?" I groaned in annoyance.

"Is there another guy, Persephone?" he repeated more sternly.

"If I say yes will you leave me alone?"

"You can never have a serious conversation, can you?"

"Not really, no," I shrugged, ignoring how visibly angry he was getting. "We dated. We broke up. Life goes on."

"Did you ever even care about me?" he asked, accusingly.

"No, Tyler. I just wasted three years of my life dating someone I had no feelings for," I rolled my eyes. "What kind of stupid question is that?"

"So what happened? What did I miss that made you suddenly want to break up with me?"

"It has nothing to do with you," I told him, truthfully.

"Then what is it?"

"Things just change, okay," I say, exasperated. "Just do yourself a favor and move on. Maybe find someone who doesn't make that vein in your forehead look like it's about to explode," I point out, looking at the veins popping out of his forehead from how worked up he is.

He opened his mouth, probably to continue arguing, but thankfully Matt came over and stopped him. "Hey, come on," he urged his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You don't want to make a scene. You can do this later. Maybe not in a restaurant full of people."

Tyler looked torn for a few seconds, not knowing whether to just walk away or continue fighting with me. In the end, he chose to leave the Grill. Not happily, might I add.

Once he was gone, I went back to taking orders and serving people their drinks. It was all very boringly normal. I'm not going to lie, I felt a little bad for Tyler. I'm not oblivious, I knew I was being a grade A bitch, but I really didn't want to do the whole emotional break up thing. It was never really my thing and especially not now.

I could handle anger a lot better than I could handle sadness. It was one of the things I liked about dating Tyler. When we had issues or fights it would never end in crying or apologies. It usually started with screaming and ended in angry sex and then we would move on. Not the healthiest dynamic, but it worked for us.

I did care about him a lot. I still do, but not in the same way. After Malia died, everything sort of came into perspective for me. After high school ends, I have no intentions of staying in Mystic Falls or even leaving to go to college. I just want to travel and experience the world for myself.

I mean, I'm aware that there are other things in the world outside of this small town. My parents used to tell me stories about how they traveled Europe together after high school and bungee jumped off of a cliff in Italy. They had a life full of experiences before they died and I wanted to have the same.

I wasn't naïve, though. I knew that everything in the world wasn't all butterflies and rainbows. I knew that there were things that lingered in shadows and blended in with regular citizens that were extremely deadly.

I was about ten years old when my father told me about vampires. It wasn't by choice, though. I had witnessed one kill my mother while we were on vacation and my father had to explain everything to me and my sister. He taught us how to kill them if need be. He told us how they could compel people and he gave us each bracelets soaked in vervain.

He taught us how to survive in the world. In the real world. I knew that there was more that he wasn't telling us, but I never had the chance to press him for the information before he died in a plane crash three years after the death of my mother. My sister was eighteen at the time, so she became my legal guardian and we continued to live in our house here in Mystic Falls.

"That, uh, looked intense."

My head snapped up and my eyes landed on the guy from history class. His hands were shoved into the pockets of his jeans and he looked a bit nervous.

"Yeah," I chuckled, but the humor wasn't there. "I should really get my own reality tv show."

He smiled in response, but unlike my laugh, it seemed genuine.

"What can I get you? And, please, if you're going to try and order alcohol, at least give me a semi-realistic ID."

He laughed and shook his head. "Just a coke will be fine."

"Glad to hear it," I responded and grabbed a cup for his drink. It took me less than ten seconds to fill his cup and hand it to him.

"I'm Stefan, by the way. We go to school together," he said, handing me a couple of dollars for his drink.

"Ah, yes," I nodded in recollection. "I recall you running into me in the hallway."

"That would be me. Apparently I'm not great at first impressions," he said and then surprised me by taking a seat in one of the stools at the bar.

"Aren't you sitting with Elena and the Brady Bunch over there?" I pointed out, glancing over at the table he was previously at, only to lock eyes with a glaring Elena Gilbert, but she looked away as soon as I caught her.

"Uh, yeah," he looked back at the table. "I'm just taking a little break."

"Needed to get away from the interrogation?" I deduced, knowing how Caroline Forbes is. Anytime there was a new guy in town, she didn't hesitate to stick her claws into them. It was sort of a gift of hers.

He grinned, confirming my accusation. "They just want to get to know me. I get that. It's a small town."

"That it is," I agreed.

"Hey," Vicki said, walking up to me. "I'm switching you out. It's time for your break."

I nodded at her and started to take off my apron. Once it was untied, I rounded the corner of the bar and walked out from behind the counter.

"I'll see you at school…" Stefan trailed off, waiting for me to tell him my name.

"Persephone."

He nodded. "I'll see you at school, Persephone."