Chapter 2: Fateful Encounter in Fell's Church

{Bella's POV}

"I'm so hungry…but where can I find something to feed on?" I wondered aloud as I walked through a small neighborhood. "I wonder if there's a forest around with anything."

I walked past a large beautiful Victorian house that was built around the late 1800s, but had been rebuilt by the looks of it. A little ways down the block, I came across what looked like an old boarding house and noticed that there was a beautiful black 911 Turbo parked in front.

That seems a little out of place. Well…whatever.

I continued until I reached the end of the street. I saw an old road that leads to a bridge, which in turn lead to a cemetery and beyond that, was…a dark forest. I crossed the bridge and walked through the cemetery. As I read the headstones, I noticed a small hill with what looked like 'newer' headstones.

I really should keep going to the woods, this hunger is killing me.

Nevertheless, my curiosity got the better of me. As I was reading the headstones, one of them caught my eye:

Elena Gilbert

A Light in the Darkness

"Wow, that's really sweet." I said as I was pulling up weeds growing around it.

"Can I help you?" asked a deep voice with a hint of sorrow. It almost sounded like Edward's voice.

I turned around to see who the voice belonged to; it was a boy. He was average in height and he looked kind of like one of those Greek people that you would see on ancient coins. His eyes were a beautiful emerald green and he had dark wavy hair that framed his face.

"Oh, I was um…I was just looking, and I saw that there were weeds and I thought…" I began to ramble.

"Whoa! Hey, take a breather. I'm not mad. I just was coming here to clean up around her grave." he said.

"I take it you knew her?"

"Yeah, she was my fiancée. She died about six months ago." he replied.

"Oh, I-I'm so sorry. She must have meant a lot to you." I said as I was finishing what I was doing.

"She meant the world to me," he said as he looked at the headstone with eyes filled with sorrow. "Where are my manners? My name's Stefan Salvatore." he said offering his hand.

"My name is Bella Cul-Swan. Bella Swan." I said as we shook hands. Why did I say my last name was Swan? I mean, I know that's what it was when I was a human. But when I became a vampire I became a member of the Cullen family…didn't I?

"Bella? Short for Isabella I presume?" he asked.

"Yeah, I really don't like the name 'Isabella' all that much," I said with a smile, "What happened?"

"Well, she died trying to save this town. But I couldn't do anything to save her. She died in my arms that night." he replied.

I wanted to hear the whole story. I fought with myself not to use my powers to find out. I could tell that my prying had opened up old wounds for him. I know how you feel, I thought.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Stefan. Maybe we'll see each other again." I said as I walked back toward the dark forest.

It was about 5 minutes after I left Stefan at Elena's grave when I spotted a fox in the distance. I decided to go after it. I just hoped that my hunt would turn into a success.

Damn it! I just barely missed it. The animals here are a lot faster than the ones back home. Then again, they're a lot smaller too. I thought to myself.

"I guess this could help me improve my speed."

It was getting darker and I began to wonder if I'd ever find anything to eat. Then I heard it. The sound of twigs breaking, leaves crunching. The sound of footsteps. My back stiffened as the footsteps came closer to where I was. I have to hide, I thought to myself. I looked around for a good hiding spot. You'd think that since I was in a dark forest I could find one, but I couldn't. Then they stopped. I couldn't tell exactly where, but I had a feeling that the person was close. I decided to take a risk and turned around. Nothing. There was no one there.

"How weird. I could've sworn I heard footsteps." I said to myself.

Then I heard the flutter of wings. I looked up to see an abnormally large black crow with big, black, beady eyes. It looked vaguely familiar, it kind of like the crow I had seen the day Edward died, but what were the chances that it was the same crow? I was rather creeped out by the way it looked at me. It was carrying something dead in its claws and I realized it was the fox.

That damn crow stole my dinner! I yelled at it in my head. Then it did something strange, it dropped the dead fox at my feet. Is it giving me my meal? I thought to myself.

I got on my knees and began feeding. The crow just sat there and watched me as I fed. The crow began to turn around when I felt I had fed to my full satisfaction.

"Come back here. If you want, you can have the rest of it." I yelled at it.

It didn't move. As I turned to leave, I heard a deep mysterious voice.

"I have no use for it, you sucked it dry," it said harshly.

I turned around to see who was speaking. There was a boy standing in place of the crow. He looked at the dead fox, and then up at me. His hair was dark and straight and his face looked a lot like Stefan's…except his eyes. They were ark, almost black rather than Stefan's emerald green.

Could he… I thought, No, that's impossible. Right? But then again…what is impossible? I was on the brink of insanity. But I could be right…I knew I was right.

"W-who, are you?" I asked with a bit of fake fear in my voice.

"Don't act like you're afraid. You didn't even thank me for bringing you dinner." he replied.

So I was right! He was the crow that brought me the fox. But, why?

"Oh. Um…thank you very much for the fox, I really needed that. I'm Bella Swan." I said.

"Well, you looked like you were getting weaker, so I decided to help you out considering what you are."

"What do you mean, 'considering what I am'?" I asked.

"I know a lot about you, more than you think."

I was confused. What could he possibly mean he knew more than I thought?

"I can tell you don't recognize me. But, then again, I didn't look like this the last time we saw each other." he said with a smirk.

He was about to say something else, but I interrupted him.

"I think I know what you're talking about…are you the crow that I saw in the meadow that day?" I asked.

He nodded slowly and I finally understood...he knew my secret. He knew everything that had happened that dreadful day.

He smiled at me with sorrow in his eyes and then began to walk away.

"Wait!" I called after him. He stopped and turned half way to look at me, "You know, you never did tell me your name."

"Damon. Damon Salvatore." he replied.

I froze. Was he…"Are you, by any chance, related to Stefan Salvatore?"

He turned so that his whole body was facing me.

"How do you know him?" he asked with malice in his voice.

"Um…I met him at Elena Gilbert's grave just a little bit ago." I said.

"Elena Gilbert's grave? What were you doing there?" he asked, suddenly interested.

"Well, I just arrived here today. I was hungry and so I went to see if I could find a place where I could feed. I came to the cemetery and my curiosity got the better of me. I went to explore when I came across her grave. I noticed that weeds were growing so I pulled them to make it look nicer…" I paused as I realized that he too, knew who Elena Gilbert was.

"So he saw you and made small talk, am I right?"

"Pretty much, Yeah. I asked him how he knew her and how she died. How well did you know her?" I asked.

"Well, I was… in love with her. But she chose my brother over me and I was fine with that." he replied, I was prying again. He still loved her so much. Just like I still loved Edward.

"What happened after she died?" I asked.

"When she died her last wish for us was to take care of each other. I could tell that Stefan was hurting more than I was and so, I left."

"Why did you come back?"

"I came back because I felt guilty about going against her wishes and now I am looking too see if Stefan is still here." he replied.

He was feeling terrible. Even though I wasn't an empath, like Jasper, I could tell that it was hurting him to talk about it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry. I should get going." I said as I began to walk away.

He caught up with me.

"It's okay I was told once that it's healthy to talk about people who have died, it helps keep their memory alive," he said with a smile.

I couldn't help but smile back. He then moved so I could be on my way. But, I didn't leave I had to know what he was.

"Damon, can I ask you something?"

"Wow, you asked before you asked." he said sarcastically. "Sure, what do you want to know?"

"You and Stefan…" I began, trying to word the question in my head, "What are you?"

"Oh…Stefan and I…we're vampires…" he replied with a smile.

{Stefan's POV}

"Well, it was nice meeting you Stefan. Maybe we'll see each other again." she said as she walked back toward the dark forest.

"Yeah, it was nice to meet you too, Bella." I said to myself as she left. Then I walked back towards the boarding house where I lived.

-
My name's Stefan Salvatore and I have an older brother named Damon. We were born in 15th century Florence, Italy. I know that may sound a little weird, but we have a secret…we're vampires.

My brother thrives in the darkness and he could care less if there was a place he belonged. While I try to not feed off humans and instead feed on animals, he has no self-control over what he does. He may seem like a bad person, but it wasn't until recently that I knew he wasn't as bad as I thought. Although my brother and I are both damned for eternity, we are very different. I hate my vampire side. I never thought that someone like me could belong anywhere. He, however, enjoys it and belongs wherever he chooses.

When I met Elena, I felt as though I had somewhere that I belonged. She reminded me very much of a girl in Florence; Katherine. She was responsible for my brother and me becoming vampires. We both loved Katherine and we forced her to choose between us. She couldn't handle it, so she killed herself. That's when we began hating each other.

When I came to Fell's Church, I knew that I could never truly belong with normal humans, but I tried. It wasn't until I met Elena that I felt I truly belonged…with her. When she found out about my secret, I felt so much closer to her. She had told me that she wanted me to turn her, but I refused. That didn't stop her from willingly letting me take blood from her to help me become stronger. In turn, I gave her some of my blood, but not enough to turn her. It wasn't until she 'died' that I found out that Damon had also given her some of his blood. Which, combined with mine, was enough to turn her.

It didn't take long for us to find out that Katherine never really died. Instead she had faked her death to try to make Damon and I become closer. Her plan failed miserably.

She had Damon, Elena, and I tied to three different posts in an old crypt under the town. She had also taken our turquoise rings that allowed us to walk in the sunlight. She was about to kill me when Elena freed herself and jumped toward Katherine. Elena was able to remove Katherine's ring and push her into a ray of light. Katherine turned to ashes. I pulled Elena off Katherine, but I was too late. Elena had been exposed to the sunlight for too long without her ring. She died in my arms.

That was six months ago. After that, Damon left. I don't know if he stayed in Fell's Church or went back to Florence, but I haven't seen him since. And now this girl, Bella, has managed to reopen the wounds that I have tried so hard to keep shut.

There's something about her. I couldn't sense her thoughts, as I can with everyone else. The only explanation that I can come up with is that she is a vampire. But, even if she was, I would still be able to detect her Power… wouldn't I? I thought to myself.

It took me about an hour before I reached the house. It would've taken only five minutes if I ran, but I wasn't in the mood. I opened the door to the house and walked down the hall. It was dark as usual. I walked to the end of the short and narrow hallway until I came to the door that led up to the attic, where I lived. I walked up the cramped first flight of stairs and then the other two, which were not as narrow.

I looked around my room. Something wasn't right, I could feel it. Something or someone was in my room at this very moment. I used my Power to probe the room for thoughts. I found someone's thoughts that I never thought I would hear again and it surprised me. I wondered what he was doing here in Fell's Church, let alone my room. As he walked toward me I began to feel as though I was in danger

"What do you want?" I asked with a twinge of anger in my voice.

"Is that any way to welcome your dear brother?" he answered.

Next Chapter: The Truth