Elena's world was black, silent. As her eyelids started to creep open, she noticed a very new surrounding from what she last recalled. The lush forest she had been dragged into was now replaced by a very classic styled living room complete with all cherry wood furniture, and a roaring fireplace. She raised up from the couch she was on. A man was reclined back in a chair off to the side of her. He was young, roughly her age. He had dirty blond hair, brooding green eyes, and a soft smile. His hands were resting behind his head, but when he saw her stir, he was instantly on his feet.
"You're awake. Is there anything I can get you," he came to sit next to her. She backed herself as far away from him as she could in the small space between them. He might have gotten her out of harms way, but that didn't excuse the fact that she had absolutely no idea who this man was. Then it hit her.
"Stefan? Where am I? I want to go home," as she spoke she almost believed she still had a home to go to. His sparkled slightly at the mention of his name. She hadn't seen him in years.
"You remember me? This is my home. I saved your life last night," he spoke very gently to her. Her brown doe eyes met his.
"Why me? I could've taken care of myself. I had everything under control. I needed to find my parents, and now I can't," her tone was sharp. She crossed her arms over her chest.
"You would've died along with everyone else in that street last night. So be grateful we came to find you," a new voice chimed in. Another man strolled in from what Elena guessed was the kitchen. He had pitch black, messy hair and icy blue eyes. He emitted a different aura around him than what Stefan put off. He was wild, dangerous. Stefan seemed to be more relaxed, and kind.
"And that is my brother for you," Stefan looked at her guiltily.
"Damon Salvatore," he spoke again. He took her hand into his and placed a soft kiss on the back of it. Elena drew her hand back nervously, and scanned the room. He picked up a small, glass tumbler from the side table and tossed back the amber colored liquid inside of it. From the stench it had to be bourbon.
"Can I go now?" She glanced at the brothers, who simply laughed in response.
"You have no idea how hard it was to find you, let alone avoid those hellbeasts to bring you here. If you leave you might as well count yourself as dead the minute you walk out the door," Damon smirked.
"What are you talking about? Are you crazy," Elena found the courage to raise her voice.
"I've been told I am, but I also have many other redeeming qualities," he laughed in response.
"Damon, stop. We need to tell her," Stefan butted in.
"And you really think she will believe you, brother? Go right ahead." Elena stared at Stefan, she was very confused. She already had so much to take in, what could possibly be worse?
"Do you remember what happened last night," Stefan prodded.
"Yes, and no. I remember waking up, hearing people scream, houses being on fire, and then you dragging me away. That's all."
"Well, we're lucky I found you in time. Damon had informed me of the rumors going around about it, but I never actually believed it would happen. Usually our worlds keep a very large distance between one another," Stefan said.
"What are you talking about? Worlds? You moved to Georgia, that's hardly another world. And Attacks? Have you lost your mind?"
" For the passed three years I've been living a lot farther away than what you think. It's nothing like here at all. You wouldn't like it, and I hope you never have to see it."
"I don't understand, Stefan."
"Elena, there are things in this world that you shouldn't have to know about. Things that are so cruel, and dangerous that they shouldn't even be allowed to exist. When I heard about what was going on, I had to come find you. I had to protect you. But I knew this was inevitable, I knew they'd find you eventually and come for you."
"Stefan you're scaring me," she whimpered.
"I know this doesn't make sense right now, but I need you to trust us no matter what. Things will happen in the near future that will scare, confuse, and manipulate you, but Damon and I will always be your constants. We won't let anything harm you."
Elena, still confused, just nodded her head. She had known Stefan for many years. At one point, she had convinced herself that she may be in love with him, but that all ended when he up and moved out of nowhere and lost all contact with her. She would find it easy to trust him, but Damon, not so much.
"Elena, I have to go out for a little bit, but I will be back before morning. Will you be okay here with Damon?" He cast his eyes over to her. She nodded and laid herself back down on the leather couch.
"Bring some dinner back for me," Damon teased.
He walked out of the room, only to reappear moments later with a glass in each hand. He sat next to Elena and offered one to her. She accepted it, but shied away after the smell hit her. Bourbon.
"You looked like you could use a drink. I'm sure you'll grow accustomed to it soon," Damon forced a smile, and set her glass on the coffee table in front of them.
"What did Stefan mean by they would find me? Who is it Damon? What did I do?"
"You didn't do anything wrong, Elena. You were born into this situation there's nothing you could've done to avoid it. These aren't your regular people. Do you believe in things that go bump in the night?"Damon took a big swig from his glass before setting it down.
"Of course not. They are just tales to scare kids into being good, or going to sleep, things like that."
"They are very real Elena, and the ones we are dealing with are far more dangerous than any fairytale you've ever heard of." He stood up and walked over to the fire place.
"Damon, do you take me for some gullible idiot, because I'm not."
"No, I'm not. I'm just trying to prepare you for the things you may see. If you don't believe me, I could show you."
"Just stop. I've already been through enough, I don't need some made up ghost stories to go along with this messed up situation."
Damon reached over and picked up a small silver blade from a side table. He held it out in front of him, showing her the knife. Then, he raised his left hand to face her. With precision he quickly made a deep cut into his palm. Blood spilled from the wound, and down his wrist. Elena's eyes went wide and she felt extremely light headed. She rushed over to him, grabbing anything she could to wrap around his hand and stop the bleeding. He stopped her. She stared at his palm as the cut was starting to already diminish. Soon, it was entirely closed and all that remained was a tiny pink slit.
"How'd you – no that's not possible," she squeaked out.
"Do you believe me now," Damon asked almost melancholic. Elena nodded her head. A million different options ran through her head. She recalled all of the scary stories she had heard, trying to pin point and categorize all of these different creatures. Could they all be real?
"What are you,"
"Me? I'm just your average eternal stud. What are you?"
"Confused. Very confused," Elena confessed.
"Vampire, Elena. Stefan and I are vampires, but you know, the good kind. Well mostly Stefan, but for you, I'll be good," Damon winked. Elena still wasn't sure how to process this new information.
"So are these people after me Vampires too?"
"Some, yes. Mainly Guardians, though." He shook off the answer as if she would know what he was talking about.
"And what's so scary about them?"
"They are the most dangerous things you could ever lay eyes on. Very beautiful. Very powerful. They hardly ever come to this realm."
"Ok. So what do they want with me?"
"Elena, you are one of them. Or at least half anyways. From what I gathered your mother was a guardian, but your father a mortal. No idea what percentage you inherited, but it's in there somewhere. Now that you're passed 18, they want you back and it looks like they are tearing up anything in their paths to find you."
"How do you know all of this, Damon?"
"I've lived in the Dark Dimension for a very long time. When you hold the place that I do there, you know things. I told Stefan, and he swore he knew you. Apparently you guys were a thing a while back, or something, so he made us drop everything and come get you. I can only imagine how confusing all of this is for you. I bet the hardest thing you've had to go through up until now was which college best suited your needs."
His words were a little cold, but still Elena was lost. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't wrap her brain around the events that had recently occurred. Fires. Vampires. Guardians. Oh my.