PRESENT-DAY

SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE

"We're finally here little brother, a whole century leading up to this." Stefan looked up at his brother while pouring them both a drink. "It's finally here and all we have to do is wait for the comet." "And find a witch," Damon remarked, "We should look up if they're any more Bennette's in Mystic Falls." Stefan nodded, "What about that witch in Georgia?" "Definitely a backup," Damon added. "We'll figure it out," Stefan stated, "All we have to do is wait." "Well, what the fuck do we do to pass the time?" Stefan laughed at his brother's impatience, "Not sure, let's have a couple of drinks first and see where that takes us." "Agreed," Damon put simply. The Salvatore brothers had kept close over the past century, Damon didn't feel any resentment towards his brother. He wanted to turn in order to get revenge on Katherine. She took everything from them, the women they loved, and their family. It was hard returning to Mystic Falls, but they knew they had to.

CASS & ABBY'S HOME

DAY OF FOUNDERS PARTY

"So absolutely no interest from you three to go to the founder's party? It's at the original Lockwood mansion, we used to hang there back in the day!" Abby chimed. "Oh god mom, were you trying to age yourself by saying that?" Lily asked which prompted a scoff from Abby. All three kids were sitting in the living room watching tv, "I don't think so, sorry," Daniel stated. "That's what your mother and I figured," she said, nodding her head. "But um you guys have fun!" Emma said half-heartedly while looking at her phone, "What do you guys think about mimosas and the TLC channel marathon?" Emma questioned. Daniel threw his head back, "Replace the champagne with vodka and I'm there." "Cass, we raised alcoholics!" Abby yelled upstairs to her sister. Lily sat up straighter, "Hey!" her daughter exclaimed, "How about we go out for some blood then get our drink on, we'll be so productive by getting outside." All three kids nodded and Abby rolled her eyes, "I'm going to finish getting ready."

Cassidy got dressed in a long beautiful red satin gown resembling a slip with a modest low cut. She paired her outfit with diamond earrings and nude heels that were covered by her dress. She walked into Abby's room, "I don't look like I'm trying too hard right?" "Not at all sis, you look fucking amazing like jaw-dropping, plus I'm going full hooker tonight." Cass lightly slapped her sister's arm, "The 21st century has changed you, Abby," she said laughing. Abby slipped on a shorter black tight dress, adorning herself with pearls and tall black heels. "We gotta make a statement sister, no one knows who we are and I'm hoping they're some cuties in town."

The girls finished their makeup and gathered everything they needed to put in their purses. "Is that all you think about Abby?" "Cass, I haven't seen you being serious about anybody since…" Cass raised her eyebrows, "What? Since my cheating dead baby daddy? We can't exactly be serious about anyone being vampires and all." "Okay I get that but why not just, ya know? Get some?" "Abby!" her sister exclaimed, hitting her with her purse, "We have got to go!" "Okay," Abby said laughing, "But let's take a shot first! Who knows if the Lockwoods are still going to be as fucked as they were back then." Cass let out a huge laugh, "Now that's something I can get behind."

The two women walked downstairs, "Woah aunt Abby what corner are you working later? Cause I am there!" Emma exclaimed snickering. The two sisters smiled, "What I think she's trying to say is you guys look really stunning," Lily clarified. The sisters took their shot and as they walked out the door Daniel jokingly called out, "Home before midnight please!" The women looked at each other with eyebrows raised before heading to the Lockwood residence. "Oh god do you remember when you had to be courted by that ass George Lockwood?" Abby laughed, "Yeah dad fucking lost it with that bright idea." "Do you think it's weird they're having people come during the day? Doesn't this event seem more like a nighttime thing?" Abby pondered for a second, "Who knows, the Lockwoods are fucked." "When did you turn into a sailor? We're going to get kicked out of this place so fast!" Cass exclaimed, shaking her head. "Let's just have a couple of drinks, have a good time, and scope the place out," Abby stated.

LOCKWOOD MANSION

They arrived at the mansion and waited in line as the Lockwood family greeted everyone entering. They got some looks from people, simply because of how gorgeous they were. "Is this town still so small that everyone knows everyone?" Abby whispered, "Probably," Cass replied. When they got to the front door they were greeted by the mayor, his wife, and son, "I'm not sure if I recognize you two!" the mayor exclaimed, "Well we are new to town but we did have some family living around the area in the 19th century, I'm Cassidy and this is my younger sister Abigail," Cass explained. "It's a pleasure to have you both, please come in," Mrs. Lockwood stated.

The girls walked in and looked around, "This is like spooky scary," Abby said while making their way upstairs, "Tell me about it," Cass replied. "Oh my god… Look, Cass," Abby said, pointing to the original guest list of the first founder's party. Cass held her heart, "It's our names, and Damon and Stefan." Abby smiled, "Fuck I don't want to start crying and ruin my makeup," Cass hugged her sister, "We got this Abby, we're doing this for them, even though they fucked us over at the end, they were, are the greatest loves of our lives and the fathers of our children." Abby nodded, "Let's go downstairs and get a drink." The girls finished their drink roaming the backyard then went back to the house to warm up.

"I can't believe we're at the Lockwood mansion for a 21st-century founders party," Damon remarked, "Yeah the whole time here is going to be an absolute trip," Stefan replied while taking a sip of his drink. They were upstairs looking at all the founding families' artifacts. They stared at the original guest list, "Don't say it, Stefan," Damon said breaking the silence, "What? That maybe we could have lived happy human lives with Cassidy and Abigail? That they didn't know we were compelled to be with her… at first." Damon nodded, "I hate thinking that they died thinking that, that we weren't there to keep them safe that night," he downed the rest of his drink. "This vendetta…" Stefan trailed off, "It's something Stefan, it's something," Damon interrupted. The brothers left their glasses upstairs then proceeded to walk back to the party.

Abby and Cass were downstairs talking to each other and people watching when something, well someone caught Abby's eye. Across the room, two tall men with their backs to them had her full attention. Cass didn't realize her sister was in a trance and kept talking. Just then, the man with raven hair turned around as did the man next to him and they started talking to one another. Abby sucked in all her breath, "Cass," whispered so lightly. "Abby, what's up?" Cass studied her younger sister for a moment, "Abby why do you look like that? You're paler than usual and that's saying something," the older sister said with a smile. Abby just whispered again, "Cass," she was frozen as a huge knot formed in her stomach. The anxiety made her feel like she had a rushing heartbeat again.

Concerned, Cassidy followed her sister's eye line to the other side of the room. It was them, or at least the two men looked exactly like them. Cass gasped and dropped her glass causing everyone in the room to look in her direction. The sight overcame her and blacking out, she passed out to the ground. "Cass!" her sister exclaimed while going to tend to her on the floor. Everyone made a small crowd around the women but left them a good amount of room, "What's going on here?" Mayor Lockwood inquired, "So sorry she's just narcoleptic!" Abby said with her voice shaking, not wanting to break eye contact with the mayor, she could feel the eyes on her. A waiter with a tray of drinks was also kneeling, "Thank Christ! Is that scotch?" She asked, grabbing the glass and downing it without a response. "Whiskey," The waiter replied in shock. The younger sister hit Cass in the face a little bit, "Cass! Cassidy!" She went to pick her sister up but was interrupted.

The boys spent some time out in the backyard before heading back inside. "Should we grab another drink?" Stefan inquired, "When will my answer to that ever be no?" Damon responded which prompted a smile from Stefan. Making their way to the bar the line was crazy long, they looked at it for a moment, "I say we go straight to the source, and see if the Lockwoods still keep their good liquor tucked away in the kitchen pantry," Damon stated. The boys turned to walk to the kitchen, "That sounds like-" Stefan was interrupted by a breaking glass that made both him and his brother look across the room. If it was possible, that moment would have taken their breaths away, making eye contact with the women they once loved, or two women who looked exactly like them.

The woman in red, fell to the floor, "Cass!" The woman in the black dress cried beside her. Both of the brothers didn't take a breath, "Damon what's happening?" The younger brother questioned, but Damon had no response. They saw the blonde kneel beside the woman, her words were incomprehensible to them. They made their way over tentatively. "Cass! Cass!" They heard the blonde cry. Trying to wake her up failed so she tried to pick her up. Stefan looked at his brother as if he was going to jump into action. When he didn't and just stood there frozen and staring at the woman on the floor, Stefan swooped his arms under the woman and picked her up, taking her to the backyard. Some of the crowd followed and watched as Stefan laid her down on the backyard patio furniture. He dared not look up from her. "She'll be fine I promise Mrs. Lockwood, I'm so sorry about this," he heard a familiar voice say reassuringly. A minute later the crowd dispersed and it was just the four of them close to each other.

Kneeling beside the couch, Stefan finally picked his head up, "Abby?" He questioned softly. The woman gasped and covered her mouth, she felt too frozen to let tears fall, "Stefan" They looked at each other in silence before Stefan looked at his older brother stuck in a trance staring at the woman asleep. He hit him in the arm, "Damon!" Just then Cassidy opened her eyes and blinked a few times and Abby hovered over her, obstructing her view of the two brothers. Abby held her face, "Cass are you okay?" Cass sat up and looked at the two men, her eyes seemed to roll back in her head but Abby and Stefan steadied her before she fell. "Cass, no no no!" Abby said softly, "You're okay." "This can't be happening, this isn't happening," Cass said barely audibly while her eyes darted back and forth between all three people. She covered her eyes, "This isn't real Abby!" Damon stayed quiet, "What is happening here, what in the fuck is going on?" Abby said looking at the two brothers, "Damon? Lights on! No one home?" Cassidy cried at the voicing of Damon's name, still covering her eyes.

Damon seemed to snap out of it, he stopped staring at Cass and looked back and forth between Stefan and Abby. As he got down to kneel in front of Cass, Abby and Stefan stood and backed up a little, still too scared to make lasting eye contact. Damon looked at the woman covering her eyes, his hand hovered first over her arm then her thigh, wanting to reassure her. He took a moment, then placed his hands on her arms which made her shutter, "Cass?" he said so hesitantly. It made her cry and tears streamed down her face from under her hands. Damon bit his lip, he wanted to look away, he wanted to cry but he didn't. He placed his hands over hers and slowly took them away and placed them at her sides. She kept her eyes closed as he wiped the makeup from under her eyes, "Cass?" he asked again. She slowly opened her eyes.

She couldn't stop crying which made Abby start to cry. "Damon?" She barely got out, her voice cracking under pressure. He embraced her so intensely, he held her so tightly and tears slowly escaped his eyes. He held the back of her head, "Oh god Cass, it's you." Her body shook profusely in response to his voice. "Is this really happening?" Abby asked, turning to Stefan. They looked at each other and tears escaped their eyes. Abby couldn't help herself from throwing her arms around him which he received happily. He squeezed her so hard he lifted her off the ground somewhat. Letting go, Abby wiped the tears from her eyes, "What the fuck Damon!" She said which made him get up and embrace her. Stefan kneeled down in front of Cass and hugged her. Then all four stood up, "So what is going on here? Are you two…" Cass looked around then whispered, "Vampires?" The brothers looked at each other, "Yes," Stefan replied. "We're assuming….?" Damon inquired. The girls both nodded. "Let's go to the boarding house, we can talk there," Stefan suggested. The girls shivered which prompted the men to take off their coats and throw them over their shoulders.

END OF BOOK ONE