A/N: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or anything related to it.

A/N/N: Thanks for all you lovely readers who decided to follow this story, and even more so to those who reviewed! This is my first attempt at FanFiction so any criticism, good or bad, is most welcome :) I am writing this as I go along but I will try not to leave too long between chapter updates. Enjoy!

Kol watched as Mia hurried past him and round the corner of the street. Mia... what a pretty name. He had a feeling this wasn't the last time he would see her.

2 weeks later

Mia dropped her bags on the floor and threw herself down on her bed. It was two weeks since that fateful phonecall and she had just returned from the small town named Mystic Falls that her parents had called home.

She stared at the ceiling, her eyes blank. She knew she should feel something, anything- overwhelming grief that her parents were never coming back, fear that her sister's whereabouts were still unknown. But she felt nothing. It was almost as if all the emotion she was capable of feeling had been spent. Rolling over, a photograph caught her eye; her parents and sister smiled back at her along with an earlier, carefree version of herself, oblivious to the bad fortune that was to befall them.

Deciding that a walk might do her good, Mia forced herself up and grabbed her jacket, leaving her new phone behind. The last thing she wanted was to have to answer more calls from falsely concerned people asking how she was doing.

The cool autumn breeze blew Mia's dark hair around her face as she strolled along, not thinking about where she was going and instead letting her legs take her where they would.

She thought back to how things were 3 years ago; they had just moved to Mystic Falls from New York in an attempt to find the peace and quiet that her parents so craved after years in the big city. It didn't bother Mia, after all, she had just been accepted to study Psychology at New York University, so she would be moving back there pretty soon. However, her younger sister Ashley hadn't taken so well to the move, and it was shortly after Mia had left for New York that changes had begun to show in her sister.

Mia sighed, running a hand through her hair. This walk was meant to distract her from her thoughts, but no matter how hard she tried, they kept drifting back to her family. How had her sweet, happy little sister turned into a ruthless killer? And where had she disappeared to? Suddenly Mia realised that even if her sister were to be found, she had still lost her entire family. Ashley was no longer the sister she had left behind 3 years ago. Maybe she should have visited more often, and perhaps things would have worked out differently. The family had never kept in touch with any relatives; Mia's parents had simply said that they were bad news. Mia was completely alone.

Even with this realisation, she still didn't feel the horror that she should have felt from this fact.

Mia was unsure how long she had been sitting on the bench when she felt the air shift as someone sat down next to her. She figured she must have been there at least an hour, lost in her thoughts, as the light seemed to have dwindled and the sky was now a deep midnight blue.

"Hello again, Mia."

Turning to see who had joined her, Mia frowned as she realised that she recognised his face. Deep, dark eyes that seemed to go on forever, a perfect mess of light brown hair, lips curved upwards into a slightly arrogant but nevertheless alluring smirk... it was the man from the night she had found out about her parents' murder.

She felt ever so slightly disturbed that she would just coincidentally bump into him again; New York was a big place and it wasn't common for strangers to pass each other more than once. Shaking off the feeling, she decided that she was being ridiculous and he must simply live nearby; all the same, it struck her as odd that he had recognised her and remembered her name.

"I know I'm handsome darling, but I don't usually render people speechless."

Suddenly realising that she was staring and hadn't yet replied, Mia blushed and mentally kicked herself as she scrambled for words. "Sorry... I was just trying to remember where I knew you from." She glanced back at the man to see that he was watching her with amusement. "Do you live around here?"

The man suddenly seemed to realise something and held his hand out. "Of course, how rude of me, I haven't introduced myself. Kol Mikaelson."

Mia hesitantly went to shake his hand, but instead of shaking hers, Kol lifted her hand to his mouth and brushed his lips against her knuckles. This was definitely getting weird. There was something different about this guy, Mia could just sense it.

"I live just a couple of blocks away", he continued, "I enjoy taking walks at night. The city is so much more peaceful now than during the day. It gives one time to think things over." His lips twitched up into a captivating smile and Mia couldn't help but want to smile back at him.

She had figured out what it was that was different about Kol, besides his eccentric introduction and manner of speaking; he had an English accent. That certainly wasn't something you heard every day in New York.

Suddenly remembering why she had been out walking in the first place, Mia replied, almost to herself, "Thinking things over is the last thing I want to do right now." She regretted her admission as soon as the words were out of her mouth. The death of her parents and her missing murderer of a sister wasn't exactly the kind of thing she wanted to discuss with a total stranger, or with anyone else for that matter. "You're English", she stated quickly in a vain attempt to change the subject and draw the attention away from what she had just said.

Kol squinted at her. She was an odd one, this girl. Pretty, but odd. However, she had presented him with the perfect opportunity to bring up Mystic Falls; maybe now he could work out her connection to the place.

"My family and I resided in England for a while, but I was actually born not too far from here. A little place called Mystic Falls. It's quite obscure, you probably haven't heard of it."

He watched Mia's reaction carefully. The sharp intake of breath, the quickening of her heart and the slight widening of her eyes all gave away her surprise. She stared for several seconds before replying.

"Actually, my family moved from New York to Mystic Falls just over 3 years ago. I never really got to know the place; it was just before I moved back here to start college." Mia gazed off into the darkness behind Kol, her eyes not really focussed on anything in particular. Suddenly she seemed to remember where she was and quickly plastered a smile onto her face. "You'll have to excuse me, it's getting late and I should really get back. It was nice meeting you again, Kol."

Mia quickly stood up and walked off with her hands deep in her pockets, leaving Kol staring after her.

"You too. See you around, Mia", he murmured into the darkness.

Mia lay awake for well over an hour once she got to bed. There was something strange about that Kol guy, and the fact that he was from the very, supposedly 'obscure' town, in which her family had met their demise just added to the mystery. His presence had brought the events of that night back to the forefront of her mind and she felt as if there was a weight so heavy on her chest that she might be crushed under it at any moment. Finally feeling tears escape her eyes when she had honestly thought that she couldn't cry any more than she already had, Mia reluctantly let in all the emotions she had been blocking out. She knew that tears wouldn't do any good, it wouldn't bring them back, but just for tonight she would let herself cry herself to sleep.

A chill crept up Mia's spine as she walked along the pavement. Suddenly she looked around to see trees surrounding her. In confusion, she spun around trying to find her way back to the street she had just been on seconds beforehand. The snap of a twig behind her caused her to jump and she jolted round to be confronted with a snarling set of bared fangs and red veined eyes.

Mia awoke with a jolt, sitting bolt upright in her bed. A sheen of sweat covered her forehead and her body shook. It wasn't the scenario of the dream itself that had bothered her; she was used to nightmares. It was the fact that the contorted face with the bared fangs and red veined eyes had belonged to none other than her sister, Ashley.

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