A/N: Hey everyone who is reading this story! I'm so honored that you decided to stop by and give this story a shot! Here's a couple of things to keep in mind before you start to read:
1. There is a lot of angst in this story. A lot. In the Vampire Diaries, there is a lot of trauma that's not really addressed, so we will be addressing that in depth. No one is safe from judgement.
2. This is going to be the longest slow-burn in the history of slow-burns. I want to show that there is more to my character than just romance. I can't stand it when an OC ends up with somebody within 8 chapters. That doesn't happen in the real world, not realistically.
3. That being said, these characters are fictional. Please keep that in mind. They are also human, and will do stupid things that you don't agree with. If my OC was perfect, no one would want to read this story.
4. We go in-depth in a lot of episodes in this story (I don't know how to write it otherwise) and there is a lot of original content, including some original chapters. That's the reason why it's been so long. If it's not your cup of tea, no problem! You don't need to read this. I swear, I will not be offended ;p.
5. You got negative comments? Keep them to yourself. We like positivity around these parts. That being said, I love constructive criticism, as it is helpful for me to know if I've messed up somewhere in a storyline aspect. But if you're commenting to let me know that my OC is stupid, retarded, or that this story is crap because it's so long, oh well. Why waste the energy in reviewing then? Just go find a different story that fits your appetite.
A lot of info, but I do hope that you read this story and fall in love with the world I've created. I'd love to hear your feedback. Thank you!
Entr'acte
"I'm sorry, Ms. Vanacore, but at this point, your resume does not fulfill the needed requirements we request as the basic entrance for this position. If you would like, I can send your resume to some of the other companies in our area that have openings similar to this one. But I hate to tell you that they share the same level of requirements that we hold," the woman spoke over the phone. Victoria Vanacore gripped onto the phone tightly, gritting her teeth to refrain from snapping back something that she would end up regretting.
Victoria sucked in a deep breath, careful to not make it too loud, lest the interviewer she had spoken to in person less than three hours ago would notice. She managed to say, "Thank you for your consideration."
"Thank you for submitting your application," the woman replied, before simply hanging up the phone. No goodbyes, no well-wishes. It seemed as if she just wanted to rid herself of the trash.
The trash unfortunately named Victoria Khalida Vanacore.
The annoying and repetitive beeping that signaled their call had been disconnected sent Victoria over the edge. She let out a frustrated yell before chucking her phone as hard as she could at the ratty old couch that occupied the little, trash studio apartment she called home. Victoria shoved her hands up into her hair and fell onto the floor, drawing her legs into a criss-cross position. She tugged at the roots of her hair, letting the dull pain help block out the thoughts that threatened to overwhelm her.
That had been the seventh call in three weeks to alert her that her aggressive job-searching had not paid off. That was the unfortunate world Victoria lived in. Everywhere she applied, they were always saying that they had openings, but as soon as they looked at her resume, they would brush her off. Wanting prior experience before applying for the job? She couldn't get prior experience if no one was willing to hire her!
As if to taunt her, her phone began its little chime across the room. Another phone call. It wasn't another job interviewer; that woman had been the last place that Victoria had applied to. She had been her last chance. Which meant that the phone caller was the one person Victoria did not want to listen to.
But Victoria still pulled herself up and dragged her body across the dirty wooden floors, groping the couch as she tried to find her off-brand Samsung Galaxy phone. Her fingers caught hold and she pulled it down, frowning when she saw the caller I.D. Groaning and sending up a little prayer for herself, Victoria swiped the answer button and put the phone up next to her ear. She got up and sat down on her couch; she needed to be a little comfortable for the conversation she was about to have. In a faux cheery voice, Victoria said, "Mom! What a surprise to hear from you."
"Cut back on the sass, honey; it doesn't suit you," came the nasally, sharp retort from the other side of the phone. Even though they were nearly three thousand miles away from one another, Victoria still flinched at her mother's tone of voice. It was the same disappointed tone Victoria had learned to get used for all of her twenty-one years on Earth. "You knew I was going to call and you know why I'm calling. Did you get the job?"
Victoria nibbled on her lower lip as she breathed, "No, Mom, I did not get the job. The interviewer insisted that I needed more job experience than I had on my resume."
"I told you that you were going to fail it," her mother huffed. Victoria could physically hear the eye roll her mother gave her. "Why you wanted to move across the country in some desperate cry for attention, insisting that you could survive on your own, is beyond me. Well, I hope you realize that you are just not cut out for that world. Now, what time is your flight?"
Victoria sent up another prayer for patience because hers was running thin. Gritting her teeth, Victoria spat out in the most respectful tone she could muster up, "Mom, don't be ridiculous. There will be no flight back home. Just because I did not get this job that does not mean that I need to return home. I still have a month's worth of rent to get me through this month, and that's more than enough time to find a job."
"Now who's being ridiculous, sweetheart?" scoffed her mother. "Just face the facts: you were never meant to leave this family. You just don't cut it. Now I expect to see you back here for this weekend's dinner party. If you do not show, then I will cut you off from your dowry. Do I make myself clear?"
She licked her lips, trying to block out the voices in her head. The ones who yelled at her to stand up to her mother, the ones who screamed for her mother to back out of her life, how the reason she left was that she wanted to...no, she needed to leave her family. That if she had stayed one more day, she would end up so neurotic that Victoria wouldn't recognize herself if she looked in the mirror. But instead, Victoria just said, "Yes."
"Yes what, Victoria?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Do not be late for dinner, or I will be very cross."
And with that, in an almost identical fashion to the interviewer on seconds before, her mother hung up on Victoria.
Victoria let out a screech that resembled that of a dying cat as she collapsed onto her couch, shoving her nose into the disgusting, but the familiar scent of tuna that seemed to permeate throughout all of her furniture. Her eyes began to burn with unshed tears and she had to focus on her breathing to keep the tears at bay. In a quiet voice, speaking to no one other than her walls and the items that existed in the space between, Victoria murmured in a broken voice, "I hate that woman."
Given the circumstances of her birth, Victoria Khalida Vanacore knew that she should be grateful. Daughter of legendary business tycoon Rocco Vanacore and fashion socialite MacKenzie Vanacore, Victoria had grown up knowing no hardship. If she wanted something, she got it. Whether it was unlimited singing lessons or every dance lesson known to man-kind or even a pony (and yes, she got that pony: a lovely speckled one named Spot), it was hers. She grew up in a large family mansion on the coasts of California and spent all of her high school days tanning on the beach and living her life to the fullest, doing everything her father and mother wanted her to do.
But that wasn't who she was. Not really. And it wasn't until a fateful moment in her senior year before she understood that. Some stoner guy who was the son of one of Victoria's dad's business partners, she believed his name was Jesse, overdosed at a party she was at and was shoved into the dumpster out back to chill out. No one thought anything of it and continued on with their night before going home the next morning. Victoria had noticed that Jesse wasn't showing up at school the following days and mentioned it to one of her teachers. After three days of constant no-shows, Victoria walked back to the dumpster where he had been dumped. And there, she found his rotting corpse, already beginning the process of decay. And no matter what Victoria thought of the boy previously, nor what others told her after she had called the police to report his body, swayed her from the realization she had had.
She didn't want to end up as dumpster trash, and given the way she was living her life, she was heading straight towards that. Partying at all hours of the night, focusing more on a tan and what she wanted to do versus what she could do. That was the way that Jesse lived and Victoria had seen firsthand how that turned out for him. His death motivated her to be better than that, to never get close to being that again.
Once the police were finished questioning her and admitted it was an unfortunate accident of a drug overdose, Victoria had thrown herself into her studies and after-school activities, namely dance and voice recitals. She managed to pull herself from one of the lowest grades in her class to being the second-highest (she was never going to beat Emma Knott, who had been obsessive with being valedictorian since she was seven years old). Given, that wasn't easy. Before going into Senior Year, Victoria's GPA could best be described as tragic. It took a crap ton of electives and college-level courses for Victoria to swing her GPA up to a more respectable 3.86. As soon as she graduated high school, Victoria packed up her things and convinced her family to allow her to go on a "vacation to Europe to celebrate her high school victory with her friends". They granted her a credit card that would be forwarded to their bank accounts.
So, Victoria ordered plane tickets for Paris, France, making sure that there would be a layover to Virginia on the way. When she hopped onto the plane with all of her luggage and sentimental objects, Victoria disembarked in Virginia and stayed at a hotel for the next six months as she went job-hunting, managing to get two jobs at nearby fast food restaurants. With her money, the money she had earned herself, Victoria secured a three years lease on her crappy apartment, the one she was still residing in. As soon as those first six months were up, though, she was being bombarded by her parents, wondering where she was. She had missed some big social event that she had "promised" to be back for.
So the next day, Victoria went out and got a new phone with a new phone number and silence reigned over her apartment for the next six months...
...until her parents hired a PI to look into her disappearance and found her dancing around and cleaning her house at 2am with Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" playing in the background. That had been awkward.
And thus began the back and forth fighting for the next two-ish years between Victoria and her parents as she fought for her independence. Her parents, even across the continent, were able to still manipulate her life in small ways, such as bribing her bosses to let her go, or threatening her landlord to sue him should he allow her to continue to her lease.
And given that the letter of eviction laid on her table, the one that had been stapled to her door that morning, was lying on her table, Victoria knew her parents weren't kidding. At least, her mother wasn't kidding.
"Urgh, enough!" Victoria growled, throwing her hands up into the air. "That's it! No more wallowing in self-pity." She leapt to her feet, moving her feet to be shoulder-width apart and resting her fists on her hips in what her dance instructor back in California liked to call 'the power pose'. "I will not let my mother bring me down. Today, I will do what I want, because I am a fully-grown adult that does not need to answer to her parents. I am a free woman!"
Victoria rushed towards her bed, a twin-sized mattress shoved into the corner of the room, that also doubled as her designated closet during the daytime. She grabbed some of her comfiest sweatpants (a ratty pair she found at a Goodwill two years ago) and a long-sleeved dark blue men's Henley shirt that reminded her of one of her favorite TV show character's. She changed like lightning and sprinted to her TV, turning it and the secondhand DVD player on. Victoria grabbed the greasy remote on the floor beside the TV and flung herself onto her couch, humming in appreciation as the DVD in the player show's title sequence began.
The Vampire Diaries.
She had been a late fan of the series, not getting invested in the weird kind-of Twilight TV show until her twentieth birthday. When Victoria was out birthday shopping for herself, she spotted the complete series available on the shelf and impulsively bought it. It turned out to be one of the best ideas she had ever had. The show brought her comfort that she so desperately craved as a young adult across the country from parents who didn't support her. It also made her feel normal since many of the characters had more neurotic parents than she did.
Victoria clicked 'play' on the remote, smacking it once or twice when the button got stuck. She snuggled into her tuna-scented couch and couldn't help the smile that came to her face when she heard Paul Wesley's voice come over the speakers. Stefan Salvatore was honestly one of her favorite characters, especially during the first season. His demeanor and soft-spoken way really brought out the boyish charm of his personality. Victoria understood why he was a fan favorite. However, she would always have a soft spot for the Mikaelson boys. If there was one thing that Esther and Mikael did right, it was creating those four (five, if you included Henrik, which Victoria did).
Victoria binged the first five episodes again, content with just basking in the teenagers from Mystic Falls (well, teenagers and Damon and Alaric and Jenna). Their lives, though much more complicated and sometimes ridiculous compared to hers, seemed so wretched and yet beautiful at the same time. Victoria found herself subconsciously wishing for a life like that. Her life didn't have that beautiful quality to it; she thought it did, once upon a time, but then Jesse's death pulled the veil from her eyes and she was able to see the world, her world, for what it was. All it was was wretched. She longed for that beauty. And it wouldn't hurt to be around some nice, kind-hearted guys who could also double as models.
She was about halfway through the ninth episode when her phone began to ring again. Already dreading the name she would see, Victoria flipped it over. It was her landlord. Victoria groaned but hit pause on her remote before answering the call. "Hey, Mitchie. What can I do for you at," Victoria glanced over at the clock, which read nine-thirty in the evening, "nine-thirty? Why are you calling so late?"
The gravelly and scratchy voice of her landlord who had probably smoked eight packs a day for the past ten years shot back, "Don't kid yourself, Vanatore." Victoria rolled her eyes. Even though she had been a resident in his apartment complex for three years, Mitchie had never bothered to learn the correct way to pronounce her last name. "I know you wild punks can go weeks without sleep, awake at all crazy hours of the night."
"Why did you call me, Mitchie? I'm kind of in the middle of something," Victoria interrupted, gesturing towards her TV screen. Not that he could see what she was doing, but that was beside the point. "And just get to the point."
"I expect your final check to show up on my doorstep in the next week and I want it mailed."
"Mailed?" screeched Victoria, leaping to her feet. The remote fell out of her hands onto the floor, the back popping off when it hit her wooden floors. "Are you out of your damn mind? To get it to you by mail by the end of this week would mean leaving right now to mail it, and my car ran out of gas this afternoon, and the post office's two miles away through some sketchy-ass forest! It's the middle of the night, Mitchie, and in case you have forgotten, I am a woman and it's been pouring outside!"
"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" Mitchie grunted. Victoria could overhear the sound of TV playing in the background from his end; her best guess would be some sort of sports game. "I'm not the one with an uptight bitch momma who threatened to sue me if I didn't evict your ass. Now, I expect that check, Vanatore."
"Fine, I'm going to send it now," Victoria snapped, moving to her door to grab her dirtied white Nikes. As she slipped on her last shoe, she suddenly felt a little braver and added in a quick retort, "And for the last time, it's Vanacore!"
She hung up and felt both empowered and hindered. Like she had won a battle but lost the war.
Victoria snatched up her ragged green canvas jacket, throwing it over her Henley. She grabbed her small purse and keys, slipping the purse into the cool, hidden inside pocket of her jacket. She would just write the check when she made it to the post office.
Victoria slipped out of her apartment, making sure her door was locked when she shut it. She slipped her keys in her hand so they would also double as a shank, should she require one, and began her walk.
The little city she inhabited was by no means little, which she realized was a weird way to describe it. It had a pretty big populace, but most of it was centered around the downtown area, where the post office was. She, however, and her apartment complex were located on the farther outskirts of the city. A stupid place to put an apartment complex, but it wasn't like Victoria was going to be living there long enough to complain about it anymore. Given that they were on the outskirts, it allowed Victoria a little peace of mind as she walked down the dark streets. There weren't many people to scare her, but she wasn't exactly a huge fan of the dark. The rain had thankfully lightened up so only the roads were slick.
The scariest part came about halfway through her walk, and that happened to be the little bridge that overlooked a river. It wasn't that Victoria had anything against heights...it was just that she didn't like the idea of free-falling and then smacking into something that would cause her death. It made her a little cautious around bridges and skyscrapers, which is one of the reasons she chose an apartment on the second floor: high enough that she wouldn't be one of the first murdered by robbers but not high enough to cause her anxiety to kick into overdrive. But she had to cross the bridge to walk the second mile into the city, where there were buses hopefully still running to take her to the post office.
"Alright, Victoria, you can do this," she chanted quietly to herself as she approached the bridge. "It's honestly not that bad. Relax."
She walked cautiously onto the bridge, taking care to watch her step over the dark pavement. There was one streetlight on and by the bridge, and that was on her right side. She walked on the left side of the road, so cars would be able to see her clearly. She did not need to get hit in the middle of the night on top of everything else.
She made it halfway before something in the water caught her eye, drawing her attention away from the road. Damn shiny things already distracting me, Victoria grumbled to herself as she took a step closer to the guardrail to peer over into the rivery abyss below. It hadn't just been a figment of her imagination. Victoria could distinctly see the shine in the river; the shine wasn't like that from the moon or the streetlight just reflecting off of the water. There was something more...Victoria didn't want to admit it, but there was something more magical about the mysterious sparkle in the water. The rushing of the water made it near impossible, however, for her to see what exactly was making that shine. Victoria leaned a little closer, narrowing her eyes and hoping that it would help in some way.
It didn't, obviously.
"Oh, to only have the heightened senses of a vampire," Victoria mused, leaning back from the railing. "That'd be pretty…"
She trailed off when she heard the sound of squealing tires and a car motor and a distinctly feminine voice screaming, "Look out!" Victoria turned just in time to see a large, fast-moving vehicle come directly at her.
The body of the vehicle slammed into her torso and legs and Victoria let out a shriek of pain as the momentum from the car sent her tumbling backward and over the railing. It felt as if time had slowed. Victoria could witness the car tipping over the edge, falling down towards the river and her. She couldn't see who was in the car. The pain in her ribs and her legs was too much. Victoria cried out as she crashed into the water. The cold set into her bones immediately, dampening her coat and threatening to drag her under. The sudden impact against the water caused Victoria to suck in a large breath, which wasn't a great idea since she was underwater. Water came into her lungs and she thrashed around as it burned her lungs. Victoria clawed desperately at her darkened surroundings, trying to pull herself up towards the surface. Her legs refused to cooperate, though. They were like deadweights, dragging her down deeper and deeper into the abyss. She couldn't tell which way was up. Her heartbeat was so loud that even she could hear it. It was frantic and crazed.
She was scared.
A more definite darkness was settling in around the corners of her eyes and she felt her body begin to shut down, her fingers stopping their desperate climb, her torso relaxing from its jerking around for oxygen, her eyelids slowly beginning to drift off to a close. The river naturally coaxed Victoria's head up, so she was staring up at the night sky. The stars were out in numbers that night; each star paired with another in a beautiful showmanship of creation and splendor. They shone brightly down upon her gaze and Victoria found herself reaching towards the stars, as if they could save her from her watery grave.
She did not notice the splash in the water that occurred right behind her as her eyes closed for the last time.
And hours later, they reopened.
Victoria's reawakening into a world she thought she died from was messy and explosive. The moment she regained conscious thought, all she could think about was the way the water burned her lungs and she could feel the cramping of her heart in her chest. It was so violent, the primal urge to intake air, that she sat upright, her hands moving to claw at her chest. She couldn't recognize where she was at. It looked like a room in some sort of building, but beyond that Victoria's mind wouldn't comprehend it. Everything seemed kind of fuzzy and there was this pinching pain in her chest, right at her ribcage, which was making things hard to focus on.
At Victoria's sudden movement, the room became alive with bodies and movement. Victoria felt two hands on her shoulders, trying to calm and gently redirect her back in the position she had woken up from. Victoria fought the hands as best she could, fear and blind terror taking over her mind.
"Sweetheart, I need you to calm down, alright?" voices cut through. Victoria flinched at that term of endearment. She hated it. Everyone who set it to her was only speaking down to her. Victoria was shaky as she tried to push away doctors and nurses.
Wait...doctors and nurses?
Victoria paused in her fighting, which gave the hands on her shoulders enough leverage to push her back down onto the bed.
Bed.
Doctors and nurses.
Her vision began to clear and she was able to notice the fluorescent light in the center of the ceiling, casting a homely orange glow on the room. The walls were an off-white color, so they wouldn't be glaring with the lights on. The windows to Victoria's right were dark, meaning that it was still night outside. There was one chair in the room, towards her right side, but it was unoccupied at the moment. Not surprising. At the foot of her bed stood two nurses and a doctor, which seemed a little excessive.
"W-Where -" Victoria began, but her throat burned as she tried to spit out the words. She swallowed heavily, wincing at how tender it felt.
"Give me one second, hon," one of the nurses insisted. She moved to some bedside table Victoria hadn't spotted and brought back a cup full of ice chips. The nurse spoon-fed a couple to Victoria and Victoria hummed in appreciation as the cool water helped to soothe her throat.
Once it was less tender, Victoria whispered out, as that was the best way to speak without really hurting herself more, "W-Where am I? What happened?"
"You're at the hospital," the other nurse, a male this time, spoke. "A man found you drowning in the river outside of town and brought you to shore. When you weren't breathing, he resuscitated you and called 9-1-1. We got to you just in time. As for what happened, he didn't know and you weren't awake yet for us to ask."
Victoria took that as a silent question as to what had happened before her apparent "drowning". "I was walking on this bridge and this car came out of nowhere, driving all over the place." Victoria coughed and the female nurse offered her a few more ice chips, which she gladly accepted. The burning, pinching sensation in her ribs seemed to calm down a couple of notches as she spoke. "They swerved and ended up coming straight towards me. I think they slammed on the brake at the last second, because I didn't flip over them like I suspected I would have. It was just like a sharp, brutal object hit me in the chest and I went careening over the side of the bridge and hit the river, hard."
"Your story matches with the injuries you had," the doctor explained. "Concussion, broken and cracked ribs, strained muscles, and tender lungs."
"A-Alright," Victoria hummed, suddenly feeling exhausted. She was silent for a moment as the doctor and nurses ran around, securing and checking everything on the equipment that she was hooked up to when she asked, "Why don't I feel wet?"
"What?" the female nurse asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"Why don't I feel wet?" Victoria stated again. She reached a hand up and ran her fingers through her hair. Her hair felt greasy and disgusting (honestly one of the grossest things that she had ever touched, and she had worked in the fast food industry), but it wasn't wet. In fact, it didn't feel like it had been wet in a long time, and she knew she had taken a shower that morning. It had been a few hours right before her interview (the one that she was subsequently rejected from). "I-I was just in the water…"
The doctor and nurses all shared a look, one that Victoria caught. It caused her skin to crawl in disgust just looking at them. There were faces of pity and guilt and regret, as if they had forgotten to tell her something important. Whatever it was, Victoria would rather just hear about it right then and told them all as much. "Whatever it is that is making you guys look at each other like that, I want to be let in on the secret too. So, I will ask just one more time: why am I not wet?"
"Ms. LeBlanc, perhaps it is better if we don't get into that right now," the female nurse tried to insist lightly, her voice sounding breathier than before. As if she were trying to persuade Victoria from forcing them to reveal a secret. Not very likely. And also, who in the hell was Ms. LeBlanc?
"That's not my name," Victoria said, her nose wrinkling in a haze of confusion and anger.
All three hospital workers froze and looked at each other, sharing another look. Seriously, they are standing right in front of me. Do they think that I can't see them? "Will you stop looking at each other like that?" Victoria huffed, irritation crawling underneath her skin. "My name is not LeBlanc. It's Victoria Vanacore. Now, for the last time, what the hell is going on?"
They were still very hesitant to speak up, but the doctor stepped forward, opening her mouth to say something when a woman's voice shrieked from outside the room, "Why am I not allowed into her room?"
The voice was kind, if not a little indignant. Very motherly, and it warmed Victoria's core. Unintentionally, a smile came to her lips. Whoever's room the woman was trying to enter, it was clear that the woman cared very much for the person in question. Victoria's head ached from trying to make sense of all that.
"Ma'am, please, she's only just woken up and I'm not sure if you entering will be detrimental to her health," another, much more meeker, voice intruded.
"I am her mother. She will want to see me."
Victoria's smile fell a little. A mother. A mother who was desperately trying to see her daughter who had been asleep for a while. It made her heart ache. If only her own mother cared enough to come and see her.
"Ma'am!" the second voice warned, but then the sound of a door opening filled Victoria's room and a woman burst in, her eyes wide and already watering from the moment that she caught Victoria's eyes.
It then clicked that this woman, who had been insisting that she enter Victoria's room, thought that she was Victoria's mom. And that was definitely NOT the case, because the resemblance between the two couldn't be more different.
For starters, the color of their skin was indication enough. Victoria had this skin tone that was a mixture between peach, tan, and a hint of yellow, aka very much Caucasian. The woman who entered the room had this beautiful chocolate tint to her skin. It looked soft and supple, but Victoria could notice the callouses on the woman's hands. She knew the hands of a hard worker when she saw them, as her own hands now looked like the woman's.
Their eyes were also a completely different color. While the woman who claimed to be her mother in front of her had these dark, expressive eyes that reminded Victoria of the color of freshly churned coffee, Victoria's eyes were a mix between a steel-blue and a cloudy sky. Not quite gray but definitely not a bright, baby blue. Opposite colors on the spectrum. Their hair was also different in color and style, but not length. They both seemed to like their hair length to be just below their shoulder blades. Victoria's hair was a strange mix of colors, from dark brown, to a dirty blonde, to red. It honestly depended on the lighting what color her hair would be. Made it hard to fill out applications who insisted on knowing what her hair color was. Victoria's hair was naturally straight but occasionally it liked to add a little wave, but that only depended if it was in a good mood. The stranger's hair was braided tightly into many, many different strands and then it was styled into a half-up, half-down hairstyle. The half-up part was wrapped around to be a bun and it was a really cute hairstyle for her face type.
The woman was wearing ratted sneakers, sweatpants that said 'Pretty' in large blocky letters down the side (though some of the letters were beginning to flake), and a simple, soft-looking gray v-neck. There were dark lines underneath her eyes and Victoria wondered if they were there because of her.
"Tori," the woman breathed, and Victoria was just overwhelmed by the sense of love that came from the woman's mouth. A woman she had never known in her entire life. Tears began to pour out earnestly from the woman's eyes and she raced over to her bedside, dropping to her knees beside Victoria's bed. Her two hands clasped onto one of Victoria's free hands and she brought the hand to her face where she sobbed happily, squeezing Victoria's hand reassuringly. Victoria's throat felt dry and her eyes watered at the heartwarming display. The woman seemed genuinely happy to see her. It was so weird and foreign to Victoria, who had never witnessed anyone ever act that way around her.
The woman calmed down after a minute or so (Victoria found that she couldn't open her mouth to say anything, too afraid of breaking the moment) and pulled back so she could look closer into Victoria's eyes. "Oh baby girl, it is so good to see you awake. How are you feeling?"
"Who are you?"
The woman's eyes widened in disbelief and shock and Victoria realized that the words had come from her mouth. It wasn't though she hadn't meant to say it. She had, but the timing could have been better. The woman's mouth opened and closed as her eyes darted from Victoria to the doctors and staff who looked extremely awkward, back towards Victoria. "T-Tori...what are you talking about? I-It's me...your mother."
"Um, you're not my mom," Victoria said, her brain pounding. She took her free hand and brought it up to her forehead, the pressure from her hand helping to ease her pain. She hated that she had to break this woman's delusion, because the love she was receiving from the stranger seemed so real. "I-I don't know if y-you notice, but we look nothing alike."
"That's because you're adopted," the woman answered, her brow furrowing in confusion. Her eyes widened suddenly and Victoria could see that a thought popped into her head. Her confused and enlightened face twisted into that of rage as the woman leapt to her feet, moving to angle herself towards the doctors. Victoria couldn't help but shrink back a little, not expecting such a caring woman to suddenly revert into an angry mother bear. "What did you do to her?"
"E-Excuse me?" the female nurse squeaked, obviously as intimidated by the woman as Victoria was of her.
"What did you do to my daughter?" the stranger snapped, her two hands still holding tightly to Victoria's one hand. Victoria found herself squeezing the woman's hands, trying to send reassurance that everything was alright. The woman seemed to calm a little, but not so much. "Something must have happened. Why can't she remember anything?"
"M-Ma'am, we h-haven't gotten the tests confirmed j-just yet," the male nurse stammered, taking a step back when the woman took a step forward.
"What tests?" she hissed.
It was the female doctor who spoke up. She refused to look Victoria in the eyes and instead turned her attention to the woman claiming to be her mother. "Ms. LeBlanc, based on the cognitive and verbal reactions we have received from your daughter, it appears as if she has retrograde amnesia."
The words sent a tremor through the woman's body and she fell to her knees, gasping as she gripped onto Victoria's bed. Victoria pushed herself up, wincing at the sharp pulling sensation in her legs and torso, and leaned forward to rest her free hand on the hand pile that was forming on her bed. The stranger seemed to gasp harder when Victoria touched her, making the twenty-one year old wonder if it was a good idea to even try to comfort her. After all, she was a stranger.
"I-I'm afraid that's not all," the doctor continued, shifting awkwardly on her feet as she turned her face away from this 'Ms. LeBlanc', back to Victoria. "Y-Your daughter seems to believe that she is not a LeBlanc. That she is someone else entirely. This could be a random symptom of the coma. Being in a coma for long periods of time can mess with one's mental prowess as the dreams that they experience can feel real."
"Coma?" Victoria rasped, her breathing getting heavier. She dreaded the answer.
"Ms. LeBlanc," this time, that title was directed towards Victoria, who didn't even try to correct the doctor, "you've been in a coma for four months. When the Gilberts lost control of their vehicle, you were walking on Wickery Bridge and they hit you. The four of you went into the river. You and Ms. Gilbert were the only ones to survive. Her injuries were a lot less intrusive and she was healed only a week or so after the accident. After you drowned and then subsequently was revived, you fell into a coma and we've been keeping you here at the hospital since then to keep your vitals stable."
"Did you say Gilberts?" Victoria couldn't help but ask, a sneer coming onto her face. A lightbulb clicked in her head. "Oh, I see. My mom, my real mom, put you up to this, didn't she? She's just pissed that I refused to come home and so she hired you all to prank me in the hospital. What better way than to rub my love of this TV show in my face? Well, real freaking mature for a bunch of adults."
The other Ms. LeBlanc, according to the doctors, looked up at her with utter hurt and confusion. "Tori, how can you say that about them? Elena's one of your friends, baby girl."
"Elena's a fictional character, please," Victoria huffed, rolling her eyes. She scoffed and snapped, "And what? Now you're going to tell me that it's the year two thousand and nine and I'm in Mystic Falls."
The doctor, nurses, and 'Ms. LeBlanc' all looked at each other and weary, but confusedly nodded their heads in a yes. And Victoria's trail of thought seemed to falter.
There was not a trace of a lie on their faces. They honestly believed they were in Mystic Falls, in the year 2009. That couldn't be right. Victoria was from 2021. And sure, she was from Virginia, but the 'real Mystic Falls' was located in Georgia.
There was something else they weren't telling her. Something that she knew was going to really affect her life.
"H-How old am I?"
"Ms. LeBlanc, you are currently seventeen years old…"
Before the woman could finish, Victoria whispered to herself, "I'm in a freaking fanfiction…", and passed out.
A/N: To anyone taking a chance on this story, thank you! I'm really new to the whole TVDU fandom, and this idea of a story came to me in a random fit of passion so I just wrote what I could. I have a couple chapters already written for it already in advance, but after re-reading this first chapter, they're gonna need some heavy editing. I have a pretty decent sense of direction of where this story is going, so I hope you all enjoy the ride along with me. Gonna try and post the next chapter next Saturday (maybe sooner depending on the reaction I get).
I hope you all enjoy this little pet project of mine; it will, unfortunately, be taking a bit of a backburner on my Fanfiction writing stove as my intense Avengers Fanfiction Universe is taking up all of my time at the moment.
But yeah, let me know what you think of Victoria, if she seems a little Mary-Sue. I rarely see fanfics where the OC who "falls into the universe" mentions fanfiction, so I decided to add that new angle too. Some parts might get a little AU, and there will definitely be some original chapters (maybe even with Original characters; see what I did there?). I'll keep her endgame relationship a secret for now, but you'll probably be able to figure it out.
Also, important to note: there will be no smut in this story. If you're looking for that, you got the wrong place. I don't enjoy writing that, so it will have no place in here (the characters will be getting it on at some points, but we won't be witnesses to it). Also, let me know as the story progresses if the rating is ok at T. Violence might be a bit of an issue with some of my plans later on, but yeah.
I hope you all have a great day!
BecomingFearless1F
