I do not own the Vampire Diaries or the characters.
Drowning. She's drowning, she's fighting, she's clawing. She tries desperately to get to the surface, but she can't; the surface is within reach; she starts to fight harder, faster, but soon she starts to fade, and things begin to go black. She falls limp, then just as she almost resigns herself to her fate, a pair of arms surround her, and with the snap of a couple of fingers, she's above water; she can breathe again. Somehow she is back up on the bridge; she doesn't know how, but she is groggy; everything is out of focus; she coughs, clearing her lungs of excess water, and she sits up, trying to will herself out of disorientation. Things begin to clear up as she peers around, looking for her savior, then, in the distance, she spots him, but she can't see him; he's surrounded by the darkness of the night; all she can make out is his silhouette. She slowly gets to her feet; the shape doesn't move. She takes a moment to gather her words, but what does one say? The obvious words are thank you, but she would like to say it face to face, but to call him near might be dangerous. Life savior or not, he's still a stranger. In the end, all she can muster is.
"Hey ." She calls out.
The silhouette turns then, he runs away from her; she's not sure why. Did she startle him?. No, he was staring right at her. Could he just be afraid to be seen? Maybe, but why? Could he have just been waiting for her to have all her wits about? To make sure she was all right before leaving? Possibly, but again, why?
"Wait," she calls, almost pleading. 'Who are you?' She wants to know.
He doesn't slow down, though; his speed seems almost supernatural, but in a single moment in time, she can make out two things; he can see that he turns his head back when he hears her call him, and at that point, he enters the moonlights, where she spots something that has to be seen to be believed. A brief glimpse of his eyes, glowing bright and golden, and that's it, that's all she ever sees before she... wakes up.
She wakes up with a gasp and a loud knocking on her door.
"Elena," BANG, BANG, BANG, "Wake up, it's time for school."
"Okay, I'm coming."
The knocking stops, Elena goes to get up. However, it takes her a few extra moments than usual; she's still a little flustered from her dream. She doesn't understand why though; she should be used to it by now; she has had the dream every night, every night since the accident.
Elena strolls into the kitchen; she finds the regular sight of her brother Jeremy eating cereal and her Aunt Jenna, trying and failing to make breakfast.
"Damnit," Jenna dumps the burnt pancakes into the trash, "Who would've thought pancakes would be so difficult."
"Lack of cooking skill is a family trait Aunt Jenna. Don't feel too bad". Elena tries to comfort Jenna every day about this kind of stuff; the poor woman tries to take care of her and Jeremy. She really does, but sadly she's not good at much on the parental end.
Jenna scrapes the black bits off the pan and doesn't really pay Elena's statement any mind. Elena pours herself a cup of coffee; she's pretty sure it's all she needs at the moment; she'll probably just grab breakfast at the school cafeteria.
"So you were asleep like a rock this morning. Do you know how long I had to pound on your door before you responded" Jenna puts the pan in the sink, "Were you having that dream again?"
Elena sits next to Jeremy, "Yeah. I don't know what it is. I can't seem to go a night without having it".
"You know," Jeremy pipes in, "With all the fuss about this dream. I think I'm just about as ready to meet your night and shining armor as you are", He teases.
Elena rolls her eyes, "Screw you, Jeremy!".
Jeremy chuckles at her reaction, "What? I'm just saying, a passerby who just happened to be a decent human being pulled you from the water. Why do you have to obsess about it to the point of dreaming about this dude every night".
"It's not like I control it, Jer!" Elena snaps.
"Woah," Jenna steps in, "That's enough, you too."
Luckily before either of them could defy her, Jenna hears a horn hock outside the house.
"Okay, Bonnies here, you too go," Jenna shoos them out as Elena and Jeremy gather their things.
"So your Grams told you that you were a witch?".
"Well...she never said the word witch", Bonnie answers, "She said psychic. Apparently, our ancestors are from Salem or something".
"So...Witch". Jeremy says.
Bonnie shrugs, "Pretty much."
"Cool," Jeremy smiles, "Maybe you can use your powers to find who Elena's dream boy is."
Elena's eyes widened, "Jer!" she scolds him.
"You're still having that dream?". Bonnie asks in wonder.
Elena slumps back, "Yeah… I can't figure out why".
"Well, I'm not an expert," Bonnie said knowingly, "but I think there is some force, somewhere. Trying to tell you something".
Elena's eyebrows crease, "I think you're overthinking it, Bon."
Bonnie shrugs, a smirk on her face, "Or, being a witch and all. Maybe I just know things".
When they arrive at Mystic Falls High. Bonnie only notices one thing.
"New year and just all of the same guys . How disappointing".
"Bonnie!" Elena tries to sound scolding, but her smile says that she was amused, albeit involuntarily.
"What?" Bonnie asks, "I'm just saying, definite lack of male real estate."
As the two walk, they go past the School office, which has a wind-open door.
"Woah!" Elena exclaimed as she noticed something; she gripped Bonnie's arm and backed them both up; they peered into the room, "I think you might have to eat those words, Bon."
In the office stands a guy wearing black jeans, black boots, and a white t-shirt, all of which he fills out very nicely; his hair is short, jet black, and spiked up. Elena and Bonnie can see his back, though, as it seems he is talking to the office secretary.
"That's a new back," Bonnie whispers, "That's a hot back," she says almost lustfully.
Elena doesn't reply; they just spend the next few moments staring at the back of the new guy.
"Like what you see," a voice comes out of nowhere and makes both girls jump. They each look to put a face to the voice.
When they see the face. Bonnie's breath catches. Elena's heart starts to beat at a million beats a minute. The face is sculpted and pretty, along with the rest of him; the boy smiles, his green eyes piercing through both girls.
"Sorry if I startled you. I'm Stefan".
Stefan reaches his hand out. Bonnie reacts first after both girls hesitate.
"Umm, I'm Bonnie," she shakes his hand, he then turns to Elena, but she seems frozen in place, she doesn't take his hand, she doesn't say anything; they just lock eyes, it lasts for only a few seconds, but it feels like forever.
"And this," Bonnie steps in, "is Elena."
"Nice to meet you," Stefan greets her, but Elena's voice still seems lost. Before things get really awkward. Bonnie intervenes.
"Well, it's nice to meet you," she grabs Elena's arm, "but we have somewhere to be" she begins to drag Elena away; however, before they get too far, Stefan decides not to let them off the hook, so easily.
"I'll see you around...oh, and I'll tell my brother you were enjoying his backside".
That remark stops both girls in their tracks as they turn a shade of crimson. Bonnie regains her composure without looking back, though. Elena, however, watches Stefan smile, clearly amused as Bonnie drags her away.
Bonnie lets her go, and no sooner than she does. It's not until they round the corner and Stefan completely disappears from sight that Elena wrestles out of Bonnie's grip and gives her a look that says, 'I can walk on my own. None other than Caroline Forbes appears.
"There you guys are. I've been looking for you two forever".
Elena rolls her eyes, "Really, a little overdramatic, don't you think, Care."
Caroline waves it off, "Doesn't matter. Have you two seen the new guy".
Bonnie nodded, "We did...both of them".
Caroline's eyebrows creased, "Wait, there's two."
"Yep. I guess they're brothers", Bonnie answers.
Caroline leans against the lockers, "I only saw the one."
"Which one?" Bonnie asks.
"Dark Hair, black jeans, white T," Caroline answers.
"Oh...we only saw his back", Elena pipes in," We met the other one. His name is Stefan. Blond hair, blue jeans, black t, and total hottie".
Caroline tilts her head as she thinks, "Well, I don't know the other one's name, but I would say definite cutie bordering on the hottie in another year or two."
Before the three could continue talking, the objects of their conversation came around the corner. Caroline did her best to look at Stefan's face while Elena and Bonnie were looking at his brother. However, sadly they could get a passing glance as both boys passed them in a split second, but as they walked away, Caroline got a mischievous gleam in her eye.
"Mission for the day. Get all the dirt on the new boys in town".
"I can't find anything," Caroline complained as she sat at her desk.
"Nothing ?" Bonnie replied from beside her.
Caroline shook her head, "Well... not nothing. Their last name is Salvatore, the dark-haired one's name is Ash, and he's the younger one. Other than that, no one knows anything".
"Well, it's the first day of school, and it's only been twenty minutes, " Elena says from the other side of Caroline, "How much info did you expect?"
"Please," Caroline replied confidently, "I've gotten much more, much faster before. Those two are just shrouded in mystery" Caroline hesitates before grinning, "I think I like it."
On the other hand, Bonnie just states, "Ash...cool name".
Then the bell rings, and Mr. Tanner walks in,
"Welcome back, everyone. Please turn to chapter six in your books".
Of course, would get straight to business on the first day of school. As everyone turns to the said chapter in their books, there is a knock on the door. goes to answer it, and none other than Stefan Salvatore walks in; he hands a note.
"Okay… Everyone welcome Stefan Salvatore. Choose a seat, Stefan".
Stefan takes a seat behind Bonnie. Mr. Tanner proceeds with class, but the three girls' minds are elsewhere. Elena is the one who looks back, though, and she finds that Stefan is staring right at her; she immediately snaps her eyes forward, feeling like she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, despite her embarrassment, however. Elena couldn't help but smile.
Elena isn't really sure what it is about the cemetery that draws her there; she thinks that maybeIt's because it's the only place in town where she can get any peace and quiet for an extended period of time. Still, she remembers that the cemetery should not be a place for any living person to sit and write in their Diary. Yet, she does anyway, almost every day.
Dear Diary,It's been four months since the accident. Jenna still hasn't told my parents. Something about it being unnecessary since I'm okay anyway, but I'm she's just scared to tell them because it happened on her watch. I don't want her to feel guilty, though; it was my own fault. I wasn't the one who wasn't in my right mind that night. Thank God for… Well, I don't know who. I never even saw his face, but I can't shake the feeling that I need to find out who he is. I don't think the dreams will stop until I do.
Elena continued writing until a sound disturbed her; it made her jump slightly; she looked frantically to see what it was, she spotted a bird perched on a gravestone. A crow, it seems. Elena gets up slowly; the crow looks directly at her, 'that's creepy' she thinks. Elena approaches gradually, hoping the bird doesn't attack. Elena swipes toward the bird when she's close enough, "Shoo." Luckily the Crow flies away. Elena stands back for a moment, then she sighs in relief; she turns around and is shocked when she slams smackdab into another person. She jumps back, her hand over her heart. The body she ran into turns out to belong to... Stefan's brother. Elena takes a few seconds to calm herself; he'd almost given her a heart attack.
"Sorry I um...I um", Elena stutters, "There was this bird a...a...and". She continues to falter and babble until she notices that he's just staring at her like she's crazy; she stops herself and takes a breath.
"I'm sorry," Elena smiles warmly, "You're Ash, right?".
Ash doesn't speak, but he nods, though only slightly.
"I'm Elena," As Elena introduces herself, she actually really looks at him for the first time; she'd only gotten a passing glance at school earlier, now she notices a strong resemblance between Ash and Stefan, but Ash's features are softer, His eyes are darker, he's a bit shorter than Stefan, about 5,8, they have the same hair. Though Ash's hair is black, Stefan's is blonde. Elena notices after a few moments that he hasn't responded to her at all, and she sees that he's backed away from her; the look on his face makes her think that he's almost intimidated, but that's crazy; she's never been mistaken for intimidating. However, Ash begins to shy away from her even more as his eyes downturn. Elena doesn't really know what to do, but she can't help but think that Caroline's word to describe him was accurate. He is definitely a cutie, and his shyness adds to it; she even finds it...endearing.
"I'm sorry," Elena speaks softly, "I'll leave you be okay."
Elena had to be going anyway; she was supposed to meet Bonnie and Caroline at the Mystic Grill, so she didn't mind leaving and letting Ash visit his lost family; at least that's what she's assuming he's doing in a Cemetery. Elena turns to gather her backpack; it only takes her a second. However, when she turns back around, Ash has somehow disappeared in that second. Her jaw drops slightly. She looks in every direction, but he's nowhere to be found. Suddenly, the graveyard feels even eerier than it usually would for Elena, not to mention that she's utterly perplexed. With that, she believes it's about time she hauled ass to the grill.
"Sounds like Mr. Creepy weirdo to me," Caroline says, sipping her drink.
"I don't think he's creepy; he's just shy."
"Oh, cause that's attractive," Caroline sarcastically mutters.
Bonnie looks at Caroline, her eyes narrow, "With remarks like that. I don't think you're one to judge attractiveness".
Caroline crosses her arms, "And what exactly does that mean?".
Bonnie raises her eyebrows, "If you don't already get it. You're not going to".
Caroline frowns. Bonnie nonchalantly takes a sip of her drink. On the other hand, Elena had drowned them both out minutes ago as she noticed Stefan had walked into the grill; she watched as he went up to the counter and ordered himself a drink; he didn't seem to notice her at all. Stefan pays and says thank you, but his drink must have been to go because he turns tail and starts to walk out. Elena almost panics; she can't let him just leave, so she rushes from the table, ignoring Caroline and Bonnie's confused glances. Elena tries to be as unsuspecting as possible, still while trying to be quick. When she meets Stefan as he reaches the door, Elena feigns even knowing he was there and pretends like she was just leaving herself and just happened to run into him.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Elena looks at him, "Oh Stefan, I didn't know that was you."
Elena's not smooth, and Stefan can see right through her, but he plays along anyway, smirking at her, "Hey," he states.
Elena bites her lower lip, "So what brings you here?".
Elena felt dumb the second the words left her mouth. Stefan brings his drink up, showing it to her like the answer was obvious, which it was.
Elena nods, "Right, of course."
It's silent for a few moments, a bit awkward. Elena's trying to think of what to say next. Stefan looks at her with a look that makes it evident that he's wondering her point in stopping him.
"So uh," Elena runs her hand through her hair, "I wondered if you were doing anything...later".
Stefan shrugs, "Nothing planned."
"Great," Elena says a little too quickly, "Cause there's this party tonight at the falls, thought maybe I'd see you there."
Stefan nods, "Maybe."
And with that, he exits the grill. Elena stands there confused; she had expected a yes or no; when she makes her way back to Bonnie and Caroline, they want all the details.
"So, did you get a date for tonight?". Caroline asks.
"I'm," Elena shakes her head, "Not sure."
"Ash...If you're coming with, then get moving", Stefan calls out to his brother while he's buttoning his shirt; he's pretty sure Ash hasn't moved since he told him about the party. When Ash doesn't respond, Stefan finishes buttoning his shirt and makes his way to Ash's room.
"Ash, "Stefan calls again, then he spots Ash sitting in front of his tv, seemingly glued like nothing could pry him away. Stefan steps closer to Ash as the brothers listen to the female reporter on TV. Stefan eyes the tv himself, wondering what was so compelling; he sees that it's the news; in fact, it was Breaking News.
"Two more teenagers have been found brutally mauled to death in what is apparently another animal attack. Marking the fifth one inside of a month".
The voice drowns out as Stefan turns to Ash, "Hey, come on... that's got nothing to do with us, it's nothing. Now let's go".
Stefan walks out of the room, but Ash stays just a minute more; he continues watching the news report in worry for a few more moments. All he can think is that these attacks certainly don't feel like just nothing. He's pretty sure Stefan doesn't actually believe the words coming out of his mouth. Still, he finally turns off the tv and drops the remote like it won't break and follows Stefan out; there's nothing else he can do right now anyway.
When the brothers arrive, they see a bunch of drunk teenagers, a giant bonfire, and all kinds of no good. Stefan parks and peers over at his brother. Ash looks apprehensive.
"Hey, relax... we're not gonna be here long".
Ash looks over; he's annoyed. Stefan crinkles his nose.
"Hey, you didn't have to come. Besides, you need to socialize… it'll be good for you".
Stefan gets out of the car. Ash stays behind for a few moments, contemplating; he finally sighs and relents as he exits the vehicle.
"Elena, you've been looking for him since we got here."
"I'm just checking out the party ."Elena denies.
"Who's she looking for?". A voice interrupts them.
Elena tenses; she knows that voice, she tentatively turns toward the voice. "Tyler ."She acknowledges him, her voice dripping with nervousness.
"Hey," he greets her; he seems calm, unlike when she saw him.
Bonnie stands protectively in front of Elena. Tyler eyes her.
"I just wanna talk,"He says.
Bonnie shrugs, "So talk."
Elena puts a hand on Bonnie's shoulder, "Bon, it's okay."
Bonnie looks at Elena like she's crazy. Elena puts on a brave face, "Just go get a drink or something all right."
In disbelief, Bonnie peers back and forth from Elena to Tyler, but she reluctantly walks away.
Elena turns her attention to Tyler, "So... Didn't see you at school today, you okay".
Tyler nods, "Yeah...I had other things".
Elena nods; she doesn't really want to know what he means.
Tyler looks her up and down, "You look good" she's not sure if he means it, but she tucks her hair behind her ear and says, "Thank you" anyway. Tyler rolls his eyes at her.
"You're afraid of me," he sighs.
Elena turns her eyes away; she can't deny that she is afraid; she can barely look at him.
Tyler shrugs, "How many times do I have to say I'm sorry" his voice gets heated. Elena can smell the alcohol on his breath; she can just hear in his tone that this is not going in a good direction.
"Tyler," she says his name with sympathy, not like he deserves it. Elena doesn't really know what to say that won't set him off.
Elena sighs, "Maybe we should just do this another time."
Hoping that he'll just accept that, Elena turns to leave, but of course, Tyler has taken no for an answer; he grabs her by her arm and jerks her violently back to him.
"I'm not done talking to you yet," Elena winces; Tyler's grip is tight, it's almost crushing, it hurts, but almost as soon as he had grabbed her. Tyler has literally yanked away and pushed back. Elena grabs her arm to soothe it; she looks to see what pushed Tyler back, or more like who, as she sees Stefan. A clearly pissed-off Stefan.
"Your Mother ever tell you not to lay your hands on a woman?".
Tyler goes from zero to a hundred in almost an instant and pulls his fist back to a swing at Stefan; however, the punch never comes as Tyler is suddenly thrown about fifteen feet, maybe more, the length that Tyler was thrown, combined with the obscene amount of force that he lands causes Elena to cover her mouth in shock. Tyler meanwhile sits up slowly; he's searing in pain; he looks up and spots the culprit standing above him, staring right through him. Still, he has no clue who the kid is, but he's dumbfounded, he thought that whoever could have launched him the way he was would have been some big freak, but this kid is smaller than he is. Before Tyler even has time to retaliate, the kid is backed up by the guy who had gotten in Tyler's face in the first place.
Stefan rushes up and grips Ash on the shoulders.
"Ash… everyone is watching. Leave him. Before someone calls the cops".
Ash backs away, peering at the disbelieving faces of the party-goers. Tyler is surrounded and helped up by what the brothers could only assume were his friends. Stefan looks back to see that Elena has disappeared.
Bonnie and Caroline were deep into the conversation when Elena all but grabbed Bonnie.
"Bon, we need to go."
Bonnie immediately goes on alert.
"Why? What did he do?".
Elena wipes her eyes, almost on the verge of tears.
"Nothing ."She lies, "I just…I just need to get out of here".
"Okay." Bonnie nods. Elena walks away, going to where the car was; Bonnie and Caroline exchange a silent look. Pretty much asking the other what's going on, but neither can even begin to understand what's happening in Elena's mind.
"You know that was stupid what you did," Stefan utters. Ash ignores him, his eyes glued to the passing trees he spots from the car's passenger side. Stefan, however, keeps rambling on. "We're lucky someone didn't call the cops. You can't use your strength like that out in public. People are going to start talking". Ash rolled his eyes. Stefan continues, "I know you were just trying to help, but let me handle it next time, okay ." Stefan waits a few moments for his brother to answer, when he doesn't, Stefan looks over and sees that Ash has disappeared from the car, gone without a trace, to an average person it might be shocking, but to Stefan it just meant that his brother was tired of hearing him talk, so he just shrugs it off and keeps on to his destination.
Elena lays on her bed, in her pajamas; she has tears running down her face, tissues clutched in her hand. Little does she know that outside her window, Stefan looks on, he can see her from the ground, hear her cries, his eyes gleaming with sadness, he wishes he could do something, anything for her, but for now, he just watches. However, above him, something else or someone maybe is also watching Elena, from a dark shadowing place in the tree outside of her house, it can see right into her bedroom, its eyes glow in the moonlight, a bright golden yellow and from a distance, a wolf's howl can be heard in the background.