'Welcome to Mystic Falls; a town full of secrets.'

May 2009,

"Right this way, please." A nurse guided a teenager through the Mystic Falls Hospital hallways, pity evident on her round face. This kid and his sister were quite known in town, as founder family kids. Those tended to garner much attention in a town this nosy.

On the third floor, the nurse stopped before a mahogany door decorated with a name plaque.

Dr Fell. A legacy in their town as well. One of the founder family kids the nurse was amazed by. A genius doctor that got her medical degree from an Ivy school before coming back to town and completing her residency in this very hospital. Dr Fell was now in her first year as the Head of general surgery and very respected in the hospital.

"Dr Fell," the nurse opened the door, "he's here."

A beautiful blonde woman looked up from a pile of patients files, setting her pen down before she stood up. Under her white medical coat sat dark green scrubs, specific to the attendings of the hospital and her mid-length curly blonde hair was carelessly settled in a bun. Despite the messy attire, she managed to look poised and calm to the outside world.

"Hey, Jeremy, come here," Dr Fell - aunt Jade to the Gilbert kids - beckoned the teenager in her arms, in which he didn't hesitate to throw himself.

"They're ... gone. They're just gone," the teenager in her arms kept mumbling after the nurse had closed the door on her way out. He was in shock. Understandably so since his family had just been in a tragic car accident that took the lives of his parents. Fortunately, it didn't kill his older sister who'd been in the backseat of the car. If the Gilbert parents had been brought to the hospital half an hour earlier than they did, Jade would have been able to save them.

"I know," Jade whispered back, petting Jeremy's hair. "I know. Let it all out." He broke down in her arms.

Jade Fell was usually a fierce doctor and woman but she knew when to be soft. Especially for one of her favorite people since she'd been born. She had a long history with Jeremy - well, she had a long history with Mystic Falls as a whole. Born a Fell, one of the five Mystic Falls founding families, she was intricately connected to this town.

And as one of her family members used to say; Mystic Falls was in the heart. Even if you got out, you weren't out.

After comforting Jeremy for awhile, Jade had been paged away to a surgery, leaving the teenager in the capable hands of her dear friend, Elizabeth Forbes - the Sheriff. They had to figure out a plan for both grieving teenagers until their aunt could come back to town. Jenna Sommers, Jade's best friend, was Jeremy and Elena's aunt and she got guardianship of the teenagers. It was about to become chaos for Jenna so Jade had volunteered to take care of the wake and the funeral.

Jade had just ended a call with the funeral home when another came in. "Hey, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine." Came a tired voice on the other end.

"Don't lie to me, Jenna Sommers," Jade chided her best friend. "Tell me you've slept."

"I don't have that kind of luxury, Jade," Jenna sighed. "I need to take care of everythinghere, and quickly."

"And when will you take the time to grieve your sister?"

"When the kids aren't reeling from the loss of their parents. You know I don't mind."

Jade sighed. "Well whatever you need, you know I'm here... everything is going well with the preparations; you three only have to show up." She threw her white coat on the sofa in her office before walking into the side bathroom she used as a changing room.

"Thanks Jade, you're a life saver."

"I know. What would you do without me."

"Let's hope I never find out."

Jade parked her car in front of the Forbes residence that evening, asking her friend to meet her outside for a few. Elizabeth was quick to arrive, she was outside of the uniform, and climbed in Jade's passenger seat. "How's Elena?"

"She's fine," Jade replied. "She should wake up tomorrow or the day after at most." The young girl was still in a coma but all her vitals were within normal ranges.

"What a shitty wake up," Liz scoffed, looking outside the window. "Jeremy stopped talking the second I took him out of the hospital. Caroline has been trying to engage, and you know she can make anyone talk, but he's really closed off."

"It's normal, Liz, he just lost his parents and almost lost his sister," Jade's fingers lightly drummed against the steering wheel. "It's going to take a long time before we see the Jeremy we know. If we ever see him again." Grief had a way of changing people. Jade knew that better than everyone. "I won't keep you long," she smiled at her friend. "I just wanted to check up on you guys."

"You're a control freak," Liz rolled her eyes. "Go home, Jade. I've got the kids. And technically, you're still a kid so go home and rest."

"Fine, then get out of my car, mom."

"See you later, honey."

Jade's car finally pulled up the old Fell estate after a long day at work and preparing for the Gilbert couple's funeral. The big estate had been in her family since the 19th century. The original Fell family had built the mansion even before the founding families officially founded Mystic Falls back in 1860. It was also, at the time, the regular meeting point of the town's Council. Jade now lived on the estate alone. The mansion was in her name, a gift from her wealthy grandfather.

Inside, Jade took a hot shower before settling in the kitchen to make herself a meal. All normal. Or, it would've been if there weren't any utensils flying around.

A soft melody emerged from her bag, different from her usual phone. Jade let her meal to heat before she took out an old-looking phone from her bag and flipped it open, putting it on speakers. "Speak." Her voice, unlike her usual gentle melody was now slightly hoarse and hard. She sounded like a completely different person.

"Miss Juliette," the harsh male voice from the other end of the line sounded respectful. "Do we have a deal?"

"I'll have to consider the offer first."

"Nothing too crazy, Miss Juliette. You just have to proveto us the existence of a doppelgängerand we will provideyou with the lost grimoire of Qetsiyah."

Jade cast her gaze on her right hand with a small smirk, a small flame lighting in her palm. "As I said, I will consider the offer. I don't need to remind you what would happen if you come find me. Wait for my call."