There comes a time in everybody's life that they have to say goodbye to one person or another. This…is one of those times.

I'd looked down at Katherine's casket and saw a wax figure. She didn't look like herself. Her hair wasn't curled the same as she liked it, for there were microscopic kinks in them. Her skin was a pasty yellow from the application of too much powder. She smelled of fresh embalming oil, and that, mixed with an overpowering scent of flowers, sent my stomach reeling.

Her eyes didn't sparkle. Instead, they stayed shut in thanks to the visible glue keeping them there, and it was the same with her mouth.

I laid a simple rose on her partially covered body. It was fake, so it would last forever. Katherine had always loved fake roses, because they never faded or pricked her fingers - the fingers that used to stroke through my hair when she kissed me, or even when she cried into my chest. They were the same fingers that would accusingly point at me when I was to blame, or to beckon me to her. It was then that we'd usually kiss and make up, or she'd slap me, which ended in her thrown over my shoulder and carried off to either her room or mine. We'd talk it out or scream at each other until I got sick of it and pressed her up against the wall, capturing her lips in a livid and lustful caress.

She'd smile at me in between kisses and whisper submissive thoughts into my ear where her sweet breath tickled.

She'd also smile and wave to me in the stands while I was out on the football field dedicating every touchdown and win to her. She was my reason for it all.

Now, I had no reason.

Now, she was gone, taken from me in a car accident.

I could remember when I'd last saw her, and the thought took me away - away from this shell that used house the spirit of the woman whom I adored.

…

"What would you like, Sweetheart?" I'd asked her once we sat down at a simple venue near the park for lunch.

"A glass of tea and a club," she replied to the waitress and I.

She'd always loved coming to this place - The Rosenthal Sub Shoppe, it was called. She ordered the same thing every time - sweet lemon tea and a chicken club. 'The lettuce is crisp, and the tea is always sweet,' was her reply one day when I asked her what she loved about her meal.

I agreed the day I decided to order the same thing, "What are your plans for the weekend?"

"This is actually the one weekends I'm not free," she said. My spirits fell immediately, but they revived when she grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze, "I'm meeting my father in Virginia for the first time in my life...and my siblings."

"You're not an only child?" I spoke casually. "I thought it was just you and good 'ol Miranda Pierce."

"So did I," she said, "but now I have a dad named Grayson, a sister named Elena, and a brother named Jeremy."

"Are they Gilberts or Pierces?" I asked.

"Gilberts," she stated. "Mom went back to her maiden name as soon as the two divorced. She said it was like a Parent Trap type situation, except Grayson got two kids in the deal."

"Well, I hope you have fun," I laughed. "I think Virginia is much different than New York City."

"That's for sure," she agreed.

We'd spoken of random topics until our food came, and then left happily. I drove her home, and she'd left that Friday. Little did I know that the following Wednesday I'd be down here in Virginia to see her again, only to be laying in a casket filled with practical belongings like her favorite book, To Kill a Mockingbird, and wearing her Sunday best with her necklace that I'd bought her for her birthday. It was custom made with our names engraved on a single heart. I held the charm up to my fingers and watched it glisten in the low light.

The movement caused my hand to make contact with her skin. It was as cold as ice, if not colder. Right then and there, I fell onto the covered part of her body and cried.

I didn't care if people saw me. I didn't care if they were to say, "Look at him! He's the strongest one here and he's crying like a baby!"

My Katherine was gone, and she wasn't coming back.

"Stefan, dear," I felt Katherine's aunt, Jenna, come up to me and grab my shoulders, "come to the lobby with me. I know it's hard, but this is just making it harder."

She tried pulling me, but I wouldn't budge, "No, I can't leave her!"

My agony had caused so much commotion that Jenna went and called security to escort me to the lobby. We stopped at a sign announcing the mourning room "Katherine Elizabeth Pierce". An arrow pointed in the direction to go to pay respects to her dead body. Security sat me down on one of the uncomfortable pieces of furniture. I didn't have it in me to fight it. Jenna came and sat next to me.

"I'm sorry, Stefan," she said. "I really wish it wasn't like this. Everyone's lives have been changed. Even me. I have to move to Virginia to take care of Elena and Jeremy."

Grayson and Miranda had died in the wreck, too. Jenna had said Jeremy wasn't in the car. Elena was the only survivor of the accident, but I still didn't know who she was other than "sister of Katherine".

"I don't know what to do without her, Jenna," I said. My heart was torn into pieces.

She didn't reply, and instead, I got up to go to the bathroom. When I rounded the staircase to enter the hallway where the bathrooms are, I stopped in my tracks.

Katherine stood before me. Those brown eyes were big and her petite body was covered in a subtle black dress. Her hair was straight-an unusual style as compared to her ringlet curls. Confusion and relief both punched me in the gut simultaneously.

She was speaking with some people I didn't know, but they soon left and she entered a small room filled with tissues and other mourning supplies. I took my chance and entered in after her.

Her back was to me, so I grabbed her gently by the waist and turned her around. Before she had time to speak, I planted my lips on hers and kissed her as if I would never see her I released her lips, I hugged her close to me and mumbled in her hair.

"Oh, Katherine," I said. "I knew it wasn't you in there. Please don't do that to me again. I love you!"

"Whoa!" she gently nudged me back. "You must be Stefan."

"Yeah?" I looked at her with confusion evident on my face. She picked up on it quickly.

"Oh, no," she said, obviously feeling sorry for me. "It's nice to meet you, Stefan Salvatore. My name is Elena Gilbert. I'm Katherine's twin sister."

"Tw-twin?" I asked, eyes wide in realization to what I'd just done to a stranger. "I'm so sorry. Katherine didn't tell me she was an identical twin."

I felt like such an idiot.

"It's alright," she said. "She didn't know until she got down here. Probably didn't have time to tell you before-well, you know."

"Yeah," I said awkwardly. "I'm sorry for your loss."

She pursed her lips and looked around before whispering, "Look, can I tell you something?"

I nodded.

"I was in that accident, as you know," she started. "And I don't think it was purely accidental. In fact, I think my family was murdered, and I'm going to find the killer. I need somebody who knew Katherine well, so it'd be nice if you could help me. Would you like to be my partner in crime, Stefan?"

For some reason, the way she said my name made me unable to resist, "Yes, Miss Gilbert. I'll help you."

Thus begins our journey into a world unknown.