Pilot

For over a century, I have lived in secret; hiding in the shadows, alone in the world. Until now. I am a vampire. And this is my story.

I shouldn't have come home. I know the risk. But I have to know her.

(Clara's Pov)

Dear diary, today will be different. It has to be. I will smile, and it will be believable. My smile will say "I'm fine, thank you" "Yes I feel much better."

I looked up from my diary and made my way towards my mirror. Looking at all of the pictures of what was once my family hanging beside the mirror.

I will no longer be the sad little girl who lost her parents. I will start the day fresh, be someone new. It's the only way I'll make it through.

I let out a deep breath and made my way downstairs and into the kitchen, where Aunt Jenna was raiding the fridge.

"Toast. I can make toast." She stated looking back at me.

"It's all about the coffee, Aunt Jenna." I said, whilst pouring myself a cup of freshly boiled coffee.

"Is there coffee?" My younger brother Jeremy asked, coming up behind me and taking the cup of coffee that I had just poured out of my hands.

"You're first day of school and I'm totally unprepared. Lunch money?" She held out a couple of dollars for one of us to take.

"I'm good." I breathed out, I was now pouring myself a new cup of coffee since Jeremy had abducted my previous cup.

"Anything else? A number 2 pencil? What am I missing?" She asked, turning to face the two of us.

"Don't you have a big presentation today?" I questioned her.

"I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at..." She looked at the watch on her wrist, frowned, then continued."...now. Crap."

"Then go. We'll be fine." I reassured her with a slight smile.

She smiled at me then headed out the front door. I turned to Jeremy with a soft look on my face.

"You okay?" I asked.

He sighed and shook his head at me. "Don't start." He sighed again."First Jacob now you." He said as he walked past me.

"Wait! Jake called?" I shouted after him but he didn't respond. I turned back to the table and took a sip of my coffee. Jake was my older cousin. He was starting his first year of college this year, and was still dating one of my best friends Elena.


We were now on our way to school. When I say 'we' I mean myself and two of my best friends – Elena Gilbert and Bonnie Bennett. We were in Bonnie's car, I was in the passenger seat and Elena was in the back while Bonnie was driving.

"So Grams is telling me I'm psychic." I gave her a look. Psychic? "Our ancestors were from Salem, witches and all that," Elena and I shared a glance at each other, which Bonnie caught. "I know, crazy, but she's going on and on about it, and I'm like 'put this woman in a home already'!" We were now driving past Mystic Falls cemetery and I couldn't pull myself away from looking at it, all the memories came flooding back. "But I started thinking, I predicted Obama, and I predicted Heath Ledger. And I still think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands."

Bonnie paused and looked over at her best friend, "Clara, back in the car." She grinned at me.

"I did it again, didn't I? I said looking between the other two girls in the car. "I-I'm sorry Bonnie, Elena."

Elena smiled at me, "It gets easier." She said to me. If anyone knew what I was going through it was Elena. She lost her parents in a house fire when we were ten. Her Aunt Judith flew in from New York to look after her, she was an only child but always felt like a sister to me but then again so did Bonnie and Caroline.

"You were telling me that..." I was about to finish the sentence when Elena cut me off.

"That she's psychic now." She exclaimed with a grin on her face.

"Right," I giggled "Okay, then predict something. About me."

She sighed dramatically before smirking, "I see..."

She was cut off by some sort of black bird hitting the windscreen, causing the car to swerve off to the side of the road and stop there. The three of us lets screams and shrieks and we were breathing heavily. I was still in shock, I could hardly move.

"What was that?" Bonnie asked in a panicked tone.

"Oh, my god" Elena breathed out.

"Clara, are you okay?" They both asked me.

"It's okay. I'm fine." I said slowly almost as if to myself.

"It was like a bird or something." Stated Elena.

Bonnie nodded in agreement, "It came out of nowhere."

"Really, I can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of my life." I assured them, Elena put her hand on my shoulder to comfort me. I patted her hand gently as a kind of 'thank you'. They both nodded the Bonnie sent a gentle smile towards me.

"I predict this year is going to be kick-ass. And I predict that all the sad and dark times are over. And you are going to be beyond happy."

What she said to me made me smile. A real smile, something that I hadn't done in awhile. The three of us grinned at each other before starting the car again and continuing are way to prison...aka school.


I was now walking down the halls of Mystic Falls High with Bonnie and Elena at each of my sides.

"Major lack of male real estate." Bonnie stated as she looked around the hallway.

"Look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beech." Elena noted, causing me and Bonnie to laugh, but giving a second glance a Kelly her dress kind of did look like a shower curtain.

"She looks a hot—can I still say 'Trannie mess'?" Bonnie asked as we reached her locker.

"No, that's over" I said as I leaned on the locker beside hers.

"Ugh. Find a man and coin a phrase. It's a busy year." As she said this something over my shoulder caught her attention. Elena and I turned to see just what it was.

There stood Matt Donovan -aka my ex-boyfriend- at his locker. I gave a small wave towards him as he glared at me but he soon turned away after getting a book from his locker and walked in the opposite direction from us.

I sighed "He hates me." I complained to the two girls before me. Elena wrapped one of her arms around my shoulders and I let my head rest on her left shoulder.

"That's not hate. That's 'You dumped me, but I'm too cool to show it..."

"But secretly I'm listening to Air Supply's greatest hits." Bonnie finished for her.

I was about to say something when my blond cheerleader of a best friend interrupted me.

"Clara!" Caroline called me "Oh, my God." She cooed me as she pulled me into a bone crushing hug. I patted her back as she hugged me, glancing at Elena and Bonnie over her shoulder they shrugged and smirked at me.

"How are you?" She inquired as she pulled back from the hug, but didn't give me time to answer because she cut me off again.

"Oh, it's so good to see you." She then look towards Bonnie and Elena.

"How is she? Is she good?" She questioned the two girls and completely ignored me.

"Caroline, I'm right here." I said a slightly annoyed, but quickly covered it up. "And I'm fine, thank you." I smiled at my blond friend.

"Really?"

"Yes. Much better." I assured her.

"Oh, you poor thing." She said as she pulled me into another one of her death gripping hugs.

Slightly out of breath, I managed to choke out "Okay...Caroline."

She sighed as she pulled away from the hug. "Oh! Okay, see you guys later?" she asked looking between Bonnie, Elena and myself.

"Okay." Bonnie breathed, while Elena and I nodded at her. She clasped her hands together then turned away from us and made her way down the hall.

I looked at Bonnie and then Elena and sighed.

"No comment." I warned.

Bonnie put her hands up in defeat while Elena laughed at me.

"I wasn't going to say anything." Bonnie defended herself.

And with that said we made our way to class. We decided to take the long route to class because we still had time to spare before the bell rang.

"Hold up. Who's this?" Asked Bonnie as she pulled us to a stop outside the office.

Looking into the office I saw a young man about my age. But I couldn't see his face due to the fact that his back was turned towards us, he was saying something to the secretary.

"All I see is back" Elena said stating the obvious.

"It's a hot back." Elena and I exchanged looks each other and rolled our eyes at her response.

"I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar." Bonnie said still staring at the guy.

"You're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?" I asked turning to face her, trying to hold back my laughter.

"Pretty much." I laughed at her causing her to giggle as well. But this quickly stopped as I saw Jeremy heading into the men's room and he didn't look too good.

"I'll be right back." I said with me teeth clenched together.

"Where are you going?" Elena called after me.

I ignored her and only just heard Bonnie mutter 'please be hot'. I would of laughed if the situation was different.


I stormed into the bathroom after my brother and bumped into some dude just coming out of a cubical. Jeremy was standing in front of the mirror putting drops into his eyes.

"Whoa! Next down, chick." He said to me as he left the bathroom but I choose to ignore him for the greater good. I grabbed Jeremy's face and turned it left and right to look in each of his eyes.

"Great. It's the first day of school, and your stoned." I lectured him.

"No, I'm not." He said trying to brush it off as if it were nothing. He broke eye contact with me for obvious reasons.

"Where is it? Is it on you?" I questioned while searching him.

"Stop, all right? You need to chill yourself, all right?" He said throwing my hands off him lightly.

"Chill myself? What is that, stoner talk? Dude you are so cool." I mimicked in a deeper voice.

"Look, stop! I don't have anything on me. Are you crazy?" He growled at me, getting annoyed.

"You haven't seen crazy, Jeremy. I gave you a summer pass, but I am done watching you destroy yourself." He tried to leave but I pushed him back down onto the sink. "No, no, no, you know what? Go ahead. Keep it up. But just know that I am going to be there to ruin your buzz every time, you got it?" I told him seriously.

A toilet flushed and out walked a boy Jeremy's age. I wonder how much of that he heard. I let out a sigh and looked back at Jeremy now that the boy was gone.

"Jeremy, I know who you are. And it's not this person. So don't be this person." I pleaded with him.

"I don't need this..." He simply said and walked past me out of the bathroom door.

I just stood there, trying to take everything that just happened in.


"Thank you." The man at the office said to the secretary.

"You're welcome." Mrs. Clarke said back to him.

Bonnie and Elena watched the new guy as he came out of the office and their eyes grew wide with shock. He walked down the hallway and towards the men's bathroom. Caroline glanced up from her mobile phone and she too became wide eyed staring at the new guy. Her eyes following after him as he continued on.

Pissed is nowhere near compared to how I feel right now. How can he have the decency to just walk out of here like nothing's happened? I made my way out of the men's bathroom to try and follow him. Flinging the bathroom door open I bumped into something hard.

"Uh-Pardon me." A deep voice said politely causing me to look up at who I bumped into. I stared at him, lost for words as I looked into his green eyes.

"Um...Is this the men's room?" He asked noticing that I wasn't talking.

"Oh, yes. I was just...Um-I was just..." I stammered out, letting out a breath I continued, "It's a long story."

He smiled at me and I just couldn't help but to smile back. I took a step to the right as he took a step to the left when I was about to walk away, causing us to stop in front of each other. Then I took another step to the left this time and he took one to the right. We both let out small laughs. He moved to one side to let me past him and I looked down and blushed.

"...Thank you." I said quietly and passed him.

I looked back at him as I rounded the corner of the hallway to see him looking back at me. Maybe today is going to be better than I thought.


"Once our home state of Virginia joined confederacy in 1861...it created a tremendous amount of tension within the state." Mr. Tanner droned on, counting sheep would be more fun than history class.

I glanced over my right shoulder and saw Matt looking at me with sad eyes- as if I didn't feel guilty enough- so I turned back to Mr. Tanner trying to focus on what he was saying even though it was boring me to death.

"People in Virginia's northeast had different ideas from those of the traditional deep south." He continued.

I looked over my shoulder slowly trying not to make it too obvious and looked at the new guy. He turned his head towards me and I quickly looked away blushing.

My phone vibrated in my pocket making me jump, no one seemed to notice though. I took it out to read the message under my desk.

Bonnie (mobile) Sep 7, 2009 9:39:00 Am HAWT-E STARING U

I smiled and shook my head lightly. I leaned forward and rested my head on the palm of my hand, letting my hair fall over my shoulder, the smile still on my face.


School was a bore but it finally finished. I told Bonnie and Elena that I was gonna walk home, that I needed more fresh air and all that jazz. But I still think they knew where I was really going, they might not have said it but they didn't have to, their looks spoke for them- the looks of sympathy.

I held my diary and the white lily I bought close to me as I walked through the gates of Mystic Falls cemetery. A bird cawed behind me but when I looked back there was nothing there so I shrugged it off and continued on.

I passed many graves until I found the one I was searching for.


I was sitting on the ground, my back leaning against a grave stone while I was writing in my journal.

Dear diary, I barely made it through the day. I must have said, "I'm fine, thanks" at least37 times. And I didn't mean it once. But no one noticed.

I looked up from my journal and at my parents' gravestone that read;

In Memory

Max Stewart Diana Sommers-Stewart

May 28 2009

Loving Parents

When someone asks, "how are you?" they really don't want an answer.

A crow flew by and landed on top of their gravestone and began cawing at me. I finally looked up at it because it continued to do so repeatedly.

"Okay. Hi, Bird." I waved at it.

"That's not creepy or anything." I muttered under my breath.

Fog started to rise around me and the crow continued to caw. I was becoming a little frightened, I mean wouldn't you if you were alone in a cemetery with fog appearing out of nowhere and a strange bird that wouldn't stop squawking at you?

"Shoo!" I waved my hand at the crow and it flew away from my parents gravestone.

"That's what I thought..." I said to myself.

Turning around I came face-to-face with the same crow. It cawed again and I jumped back in fear. Slowly bending towards the ground I picked up my bag, my eyes never leaving the crows. I started to jog in the opposite direction from the crow. Turning back I saw a dark figure move behind a gravestone.

My instincts told me to run and that's just what I did. I had a horrible feeling in my stomach that if I stayed there any longer something bad would happen.

I ran down the old, muddy pathway that lead to the older part of the cemetery. My foot caught on a root causing me to trip and fall, landing next to an old looking tree that was slightly slanted. I stood up, slowly, moving backwards it felt as if someone was behind me. I quickly spun around.

My breath caught in my throat when I saw who it was.

"You okay?" He asked in a concerned tone of voice.

I sighed in relief and finally found my voice.

"Were you following me?" I asked worriedly.

"No, I just—I saw you fall." He explained to me.

"Uh-huh. And you just happened to be hanging out in a cemetery." I stated.

"I'm visiting; I have, uh, family here." Way to put your foot in your mouth Clara! I mentally scolded myself.

"Oh. Wow, tactless. I'm sorry. It's the fog. It's making me foggy. Then back there," I pointed over my shoulder. "There was this bird. And it was all very Hitchcock for a second. That is the bird movie, right? The Hitchcock?" I rambled on.

He had an amused look on his face. Oh god, he probably thinks I'm a mad-woman rambling on like this! Say something useful Clara!

"I'm Clara." I smiled, well that's a start.

"I'm Stefan."

"I know. We have history together." I smiled sheepishly.

"And English and French." He smiled back

"Right."

He slowly reached forward and took a left out of my hair, that had got ton stuck there from where I must have fell.

I could feel the heat as it rushed to my cheeks and my heart was going at a thousand beats a minute.

"Thanks." I think I went about 40 shades of red at that moment in time.

There was a comfortable silence between us for a few seconds, when I noticed something on his right hand.

"Nice ring."

"Oh. Um... it's a family ring. Yeah kind of stuck with it."

It sounded as if there was another meaning to the sentence by the way he said it.

"It's weird, huh?" He asked.

"No. It's just—I mean, there are rings, and then there's that."

He smiled, then looked down and frowned. I'm slightly confused, did I say something?

Then he spoke, "Did you hurt yourself?"

"Hmm?" I was pulled away from my thoughts and back into reality.

"Did you hurt yourself?" He repeated.

"Oh, uh...I don't know." I walked over to an old gravestone that wasn't too high up and put my left foot on top of it. I rolled up my trouser leg and flinched at what I saw.

"Oh, would you look at that." I hat cut myself in the leg. The blood was trickling down my leg. How could I have not felt that?

"That is not pretty." Glancing up at Stefan only to see that his back was facing me, like it was this morning when I saw him in the office.

"You okay?" I asked.

"You should go. Take care of that."

"Really, it's nothing." I insisted while rolling my trouser leg back down. But when I looked up he was gone. It was like he vanished into thin air. I searched the shadows of the cemetery confused.


I lost control today. Everything I've kept buried inside came rushing to the surface. I am simply not able to resist her.


"I'm meeting Bonnie and Elena at the Grill." I said as Aunt Jenna and I passed each other in the hall.

"Okay, have fun—Wait I got this." I stopped to look back at her. "Don't stay out wait. It's a school night." She ordered with her hands now placed on her hips. I couldn't help but laugh at that one.

"Well done, Aunt Jenna." I applauded.

I shook my head and went to the front door. As I opened it there stood Stefan Salvatore. I was shocked; a small gasp escaped my throat.

"Oh."

"Sorry. I was about to knock...I wanted to apologise for my disappearing act earlier. I know it was strange."

"No worries. I get it, blood makes you squeamish."

"Something like that." He nodded his head in agreement.

"How's your leg?" he asked gesturing to my leg.

"Oh, it's fine. Just a scratch, barely." I said with a smile, but a question seemed to linger in my mind.

"How did you know where I lived?" I asked slightly confused.

"It's a small town. I asked the first person I saw."

I nodded at his answer. I guess that made sense.

"I thought you might want this back." He said as he reached behind him and pulled out my red journal.

"I must have dropped it. I—thank you." I said while turning the journal around in my hands.

"Don't worry. I didn't read it."

"No?" I let out a sigh of relief. "Why not? Most people would have."

"Well I wouldn't want anyone to read mine."

"You keep a journal?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah, if I don't write it down, I forget it. Memories are too important."

"Yeah..." I breathed out agreeing with him. "I'm just gonna...You don't have to stay out there." I said as I went to put my diary in the sitting room.

"I'm fine." I heard him say.

I poked my head around the corner of the door.

"Sorry, were you going somewhere?"

I nodded "Yeah, I'm meeting some friends. Do you wanna come?" I asked hoping he would say yes.


I walked into the grill, pushing the large door open I found everyone staring but it wasn't just me they were staring at. It was also in fact Stefan Salvatore beside me.

From the corner of my eye I saw Matt approach us so I turned towards him

"Hey, I'm Matt. Nice to meet you." He greeted as he shook Stefan's hand.

"Hi, Stefan." He introduced himself.

Matt looked over to me.

"Hey." I said with a smile.

"Hey." He replied in a sad tone and turned away from me like I was infected. A flush of guilt ran through me right then and there.


"So you were born in Mystic falls?" Caroline questioned Stefan as we were all sat around one of the tables in the Grill. Well all of us except Tyler and Matt.

"Mm-hmm...and I moved when I was still young."

"Parents?" Elena piped in.

"My parents passed away when I was younger."

"I'm sorry." I said when he looked towards me. "Um...any siblings?"

"None that I talk to. I live with my uncle."

"So, Stefan, if your new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow." Caroline flirted.

"It's a back to school thing at the falls." Elena explained.

"Are you going?" He asked me.

"Of course she is." Bonnie answered for me with a small secretive smile on her face. This made me blush even harder. I looked down at the table then back to Stefan.

(History Class the following day – September 8- Clara's Pov)

"The battle of willow creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms. Bennett?"

Bonnie thought for a minute, "Um…a lot? I'm not sure. Like a whole lot." Mr. Tanner gave her a sarcastic smile.

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett." He told her.

He looked at Matt, "Mr. Donovan. Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"

Matt shrugged and smiled "Its ok, Mr Tanner, I'm cool with it." He assured causing myself and the rest of the class to chuckle.

Mr. Tanner looked around the classroom. "Hmm. Clara?" I looked at him, somewhat shocked that he called on me, "Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?"

"I'm sorry, I-I don't know." I stuttered out.

"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Clara. But the personal excuses ended with summer break." I nodded as I let my eyes fall to the desk.

"There were 346 casualties, Unless you're counting local civilians." A voice behind me said.

"That's correct Mr..."

"Salvatore."

"Salvatore." Mr. Tanner repeated, "Any relation to the original settlers here at mystic falls?"

"Distant." Stefan plainly answered.

"Well, very good. Except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle." Mr. Tanner said with a matter-of-fact tone.

Stefan sat up and with a serious voice said, "Actually, there were 27, sir." This caught my attention."Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founder's archives are, uh, stored in civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts. Mr. Tanner." I snickered with the rest of the class. No one had stood up to Tanner like that before, 'bout time someone did.

"Hmm." Was the only thing he could say his face showed shock all over.


"Just admit it, Clara" Bonnie pushes me to admit it.

"Oh, ok, so he's a little pretty." I admitted.

"He has that romance novel stare." Elena giggled out.

"Stefan looked deep into her eyes, piercing her very soul." Bonnie mocked and the three of us laughed.

"So where is he?" Elena asked me, we were standing by the bonfire talking about Stefan.

I shrugged "I don't know. You tell me, you're the psychic one."

"Right, I forgot. Okay, so give me a sec. Grams says I have to concentrate." Bonnie declared closing her eyes.

"Wait, you need a crystal ball. All psychic's have crystal balls."

We all looked round-well Elena and I did-for one, when Elena came up with some fast thinking.

"Uh-...Ta-da!" She produced a beer bottle in her hand.

"Perfect!" I exclaimed as I took the bottle from her hands and out for Bonnie to take. As she placed her hand on the bottle her face grew blank. Elena sent me a confused look and I shrugged my shoulders at her, I didn't know what to do.

"What?" Asked a curious Elena.

"That was weird. When I touched you, I saw a crow."

"What?"

"A crow. There was fog, a man…" There was no way in hell this was happening.

"I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it." She took the bottle away from me and into her own hands.

"Yeah? Okay, I'm gonna get a refill." She hurried off from Elena and I.

"Okay, what just happened?" A confused Elena questioned.

"I have no idea. Bonnie!"

"Bonnie!" We shouted after her but she didn't listen and continued to walk away from us. We turned around to find another surprised.

"Hi." He smiled.

I chuckled "Hi." He somehow keeps sneaking up on me like that.

"You know what? I just might go find Bonnie and get a refill myself." As Elena walked away she mouthed 'Go for it' at me and winked.

Stefan smiled, "I did it again, didn't it?"

I nodded "Yeah."

"I'm sorry." Whenever I was around him I couldn't help but smile but then I remembered Bonnie and what just happened and my smile faded.

"You're upset about something."

"Oh, uh...no, it's Bonnie. She's... You know what? Never mind. You're…here." I smiled at him.

"I'm here." After saying that we just stared into each other's eyes and I never wanted to look away.


Stefan and I were strolling through the woods and now out to falls bridge-cliché of a name, right? It was easy to keep up a conversation with him. I felt as if I could tell him anything.

"You know, you're kind of the talk of the town."

Stefan chuckled, "Am I?"

"Mm-Hmm. Mysterious new guy, oh, yeah." I looked over at him and he was looking down.

"Well, you have the mysterious thing going, too. Twinged in sadness."

"What makes you think that I'm sad?"

Stefan shrugged, "Well, we did meet in a graveyard…"

"Right." He had me there-wait! "Well, no...technically we met in the men's room." We laughed at this. Then I shook my head, "You don't want to know, it's not exactly party chit-Chat."

"Well, I've never really been very good at, uh…Chit-chat?" He confessed.

"Last spring... My parents' car drove off of a bridge into the lake. And I was in the backseat and I survived, but... They didn't." I told him as we were walking over the bridge. "So that's my story."

He stooped walking so I turned around to see what was wrong.

"You won't be sad forever, Clara."


We were still on Falls bridge, leaning against the railings talking to each other.

"I like Bonnie and Elena they seem like good friends."

"Bestest friends in the world."

"And Matt? He can't seem to, um, take his eyes off of us" I looked back, Matt, Caroline, Elena and Bonnie were standing on the lower of the two 'Falls bridges'. And it was true Matt was staring at us.

"Matt's that friend since childhood that you start dating because you owe it to yourselves to see if you can be more."

He nodded, "And?"

"And then my parents died, and everything changes. Anyway, Matt and I, together we just...I don't know, It wasn't, um... It wasn't…" I couldn't think of the word to describe it. But the word didn't come out of my mouth, instead it came out of Stefan's.

"Passionate."

"No...No, it wasn't passionate." I looked into his eyes and it looked like red veins were starting to pop out under them.

"Hey, are you ok? Um, Your eyes, it just-it's…"

"Oh. Um..." He rubbed his eyes as he looked away from me.

"Oh, um...Yeah. No, it's nothing. Are you thirsty? I'm gonna get us a drink." He said walking off to the main area of the party.


I was back at the centre of the party near the bonfire looking for Stefan. When Matt approached me after seeing I was alone.

"Looking for someone?"

"Hey." I said softly.

"When you broke up with me, you said it was because you needed some time alone. You don't look so alone to me."

"Matt, you don't understand. It's…"

Matt cut me off, "That's ok, Clara. You do what you have to do. I just want to let you know that... I still believe in us. And I'm not giving up on that." He started to walk away,

"Matt…"


I was sitting on one of the railings to the wooden gazebo. I think that's what they call it, as Stefan came towards me, leaving a disappointed looking Caroline behind.

"I was wondering who abducted you, but now I know." I laughed as he looked down then back up at me with a smile on his face.

"Is she like that with all the guys?"

"No. You're fresh meat. She'll back off eventually." I explained. Over his shoulder I saw a drunk Jeremy stumble into the woods. Just my luck.

"Oh, God, you've gotta be kidding me!"

Stefan looked startled, "What is it?"

"My brother."

"The drunk one?"

"That would be the one." I said getting down off the railing to follow him. "Excuse me."

"You need some help?" He offered.

"Trust me, you're not going to want to witness this. Jeremy!" I shouted into the forest as I followed the path he was taking.

"Jeremy!" I saw him "Jeremy, where the hell are you going?" I yelled after him

"I don't want to hear it!" He said to me getting annoyed, as he turned round he tripped over something. He landed on Vicki Donovan's-Matt's older sister-unmoving body. Her throat was all bloody and torn out.

"Vicki? No! Oh, my god, it's Vicki!" He said panicked as he got of the body.

I ran a hand through my hair, "Oh my God!" I breathed

"No." He was about to check for a pulse, when she leant forward and gasped.

"Somebody help!" I shouted as me and Jeremy carried Vicki's body back to the party.

"Vicki? Vicki, what the hell?" Matt yelled rushing over to us. Elena, Bonnie and Tyler ran over to help us. We laid her down on one of the picnic tables.

"What happened?" Bonnie asked.

"Call an ambulance!" Elena ordered the crowd that was watching us.

"Everybody back up. Give her some space!" I heard Tyler say as he was forcing the crowd around us back.

"It's her neck. Something bit her. She's losing a lot of blood!" I cried.

"Vicki, come on, open your eyes. Look at me." Matt pleaded.

(3rd persons Pov)

Stefan arrived home at the boarding house after running from the party where Vicki was attacked. He saw Zach sitting at the table as he rushed into the house.

"What's going on?" He asked curiously.

"Someone else was attacked tonight, Zach, and it wasn't me." He didn't give Zach time to reply, instead he hurried upstairs and into his bedroom. He heard a caw coming from his open balcony doors. He turned to see a crow upon the balcony staring right back at him. The bird flew across the room and landed on a ceiling beam. Stefan slowly turned back around to where his balcony doors were. He was greeted by a man standing in the doorway dressed in all black.

"Damon." Stefan said.

"...Hello brother." Damon smirked at Stefan.

"Crows a bit much don't you think?" Stefan asked him as he was still standing there smirking.

"Just wait till you see what I can do with the fog." Damon grinned at his younger brother.

"When'd you get here?"

"Well, I couldn't miss your first day of school." Damon said as he walked over to Stefan's bookshelf, and took a look at the items upon it.

"Your hairs different. I like it." Damon stated with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"It's been fifteen years Damon." Stefan told Damon.

"Thank God! I couldn't take another day of the 90's. That horrible grunge look? Did not suit you." Damon chuckled at him as he moved from one bookcase to another.

"Remember, Stefan, it's important to stay away from fads." Damon said with a devilish smirk on his face.

"Why are you here?" Stefan demanded.

"I missed my little brother." He answered, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"You hate small towns. It's boring. There's nothing for you to do." He stated a fact to Damon.

"I've managed to keep myself busy." A grinning Damon shot back.

"You know, you left that girl alive tonight? Very clumsy of you." He said trying to get his brother to confess what he was up to.

"Ahh...That could be a problem...For you." Stefan shook his head.

"Why are you here now?" He asked.

"I could ask you the same question. However, I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all into one little word." He took a short pause. A smirk now on his face as he carried on. "..Clara."

(Clara's Pov)

I watched as the paramedics loaded Vicki into the back of an ambulance on a gurney with Matt getting in after her. I felt the need to comfort him, though it would do no good until he knew Vicki was safe. I sighed watching the ambulance drive off.

"Hey we're gonna go mainline coffee and wait for news." Bonnie said as she approached me.

I nodded feeling the lump in my throat "Igotta take Jeremy home."

"Clara, there is no way I'm psychic. I know that. But whatever I saw, or I think I saw." She took a deep breath in trying to steady herself. "I have this feeling-"

"Bonnie, what?"

"-that it's only the beginning."

My eyes widened slightly. What was that meant to mean? What was beginning?

(3rd persons Pov)

"She took my breath away. Clara. She's a dead ringer for Nikolett isn't she?" Damon asked, amused by the brooding look on Stefan's face.

"Is it working, Stefan? Being around her? Being in her world? Does it make you feel alive?" Damon grinned.

"She is not Nikolett." Stefan contradicted.

"Well, let's hope not. We both know how that ended." Damon said as he moved closer to his brother.

"Tell me, when's the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?" He said trying to egg his brother on.

"I know what you're doing, Damon. It's not going to work." Stefan replied turning away from him, only to have Damon hit his left shoulder causing Stefan to look back at him once again.

"Yeah? Come on, don't you crave a little?"

"Stop it." Damon shoved the same shoulder again trying to aggravate him even more than he already was.

"Let's do it together. I saw a couple of girls out there." He said hitting the shoulder once more. "Or just- Let's cut to the chase." He hit him on the upside of his head trying to make him angry. "Let's just go straight for Clara." Damon continued.

Stefan pushed his brother backwards away from him. "Stop it!"

"Imagine what her blood tastes like. I can!"

"I said stop!" Stefan shouted, the veins now appearing under his blood red eyes. He charged at Damon growling, which sent them both flying across the room and out through the window, shattering it to pieces. They fell to the ground and landed on the broken glass. Groaning as he got up, Stefan was the only one on the ground and Damon was nowhere in sight.

"I was impressed." Damon's voice came from behind Stefan. "I give it a six. You missed some style, but I was pleasantly surprised with the whole face-" Damon made a strange growling noise to tease him. "- thing it was good." He chuckled.

"Yeah, it's all fun and games, Damon, huh? But wherever you go people die."

"That's a given." He shrugged.

"Not here. I won't allow it."

"Won't allow it? I take that as an invitation."

"Damon, please. After all these years can't we just give it a rest?" Stefan pleaded.

"I promised you an eternity of misery, so I'm just keeping my word." Damon reminded his younger brother.

"Just stay away from Clara." Damon looked taken back but quickly composed himself.

"Where's you ring?" Stefan looked down at his middle finger on his right hand to see his ring missing. "Oh, yeah, the suns coming up in a couple of hours...and, poof, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." He smirked at his brothers face. "Relax. It's right here." He held the ring out for him to take. Which he did. Suddenly Damon gripped Stefan's throat and threw him backwards.

"You should know better than to think your stronger than me. You lost that fight when you stopped feeding on people. I wouldn't try it again." He threatened Stefan. They both heard a noise coming from inside the house with their super-hearing.

"I think we woke Zach up. Sorry Zach." He called as he whistled his way into the boarding house leaving Stefan on the ground.

(Clara's Pov)

I found Jeremy watching the police as they searched for the animal that attacked Vicki.

"You okay?" I put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him though it didn't seem to work, seeing as he shook it off. "I called Jenna. She's on her way. Those people in uniforms? Last time I checked, they're the police." I joked since he was a minor with a bottle of beer in his hand. Ignoring me he took one last gulp and threw the bottle into the bushes behind us.

"People are gonna stop giving you breaks, Jer. They just don't care anymore. They don't remember that our parents are dead. They've got their own lives to deal with. The rest of the world has moved on...you should try too." I explained, feeling the hot tears swell in my eyes.

"I've seen you in the cemetery writing in your diary. Is that-Is that supposed to be you moving on?" I shook my head as if to say 'no', not able to find my voice.

"Mom and dad wouldn't have wanted this." I said quietly as I rested my head on his shoulder as we waited for Jenna to arrive, we sat in silence.


Bold=Stefan ~ Normal=Clara

Dear diary...I couldn't have been more wrong. I thought I could smile and nod my way through it. Pretend like it would all be okay.

I had a plan. I wanted to change who I was. Create a life as someone new. Someone without the past.

Without the pain.

Someone Alive

But it's not that easy. The bad things stay with you.

they follow you, you can't escape them as much as you want to.

(Clara's Pov)

All you can do is be ready for the good...so when it comes, you invite it in because you need it...I need it.

I looked up from my dairy and, out my window, Feelings eyes on me .Stefan. He was standing on my front lawn looking back at me. I pushed the blanket off me and set my dairy down as I raced to the front door as fast as my feet could take me. Swinging the door open I came face-to-face with green eyes.

"I know it's late...but I, I needed to know that you were okay." He said sheepishly.

"You know, for months, that's all anyone's wondered about me...if I'll be okay."

"What do you tell them?" he asked, his eyes sincere.

"That I'll be fine." I admitted, ashamed.

"Do you ever mean it?"

"Ask me tomorrow." I can't believe I'm about to do this. "Its warmer in the house. We can talk." I stepped aside next to the door. "Would you like to come in?" Please. Please. Please.

He smiled showing his white teeth. "Yes." He stepped inside, his eyes never leaving mine as he did so. I gently closed the door behind us and made our way to the living room.