Disclaimer! I do not own any of the Vampire Diaries characters! But Alex is mine, I ask that you do not 'borrow' her or her story!

Mystic Falls, 1862

Alex

"Damon, where are we going?" Eyes were on us now as the townspeople noted Damon Salvatore and his childhood friend Alexandria O'Conner walking arm in arm through the heat baked streets of Mystic Falls. It was the gossip of September. What, they asked, was going on there?

Damon gave a small nod to Jonathan Gilbert as he passed. "Alexandria, why so impatient?" he grinned, the soft pressure of his hand on my arm increasing for a moment. A small pout crossed my features. Oh his games, what a nuisance.

"You know I hate surprises." I said, haughtily pulling out my fan to hide the small smile he always managed to pull from me, no matter my stubborn will.

"Oh I think you'll quite like this one." Damon murmured, turning from the main square and down the old dirt road carriages had long since ceased passing through.

I arched a brow, giving him a superior look. "Oh will I?"

"Yes." He said simply, stopping before a high stone fence where a wooden gate leaned from the wall.

"What is this place?" I queried as he pushed it open. A small gasp left my lips as the hidden Eden was revealed. Damon flashed me a smile, pulling me inside and beneath the cool shade of a weeping willow. I wondered, how had this place been hidden to me? Wouldn't the whole town speak of it? Yet as Damon reached to touch my cheek, such thoughts faded to focus on the determined expression in his glass green eyes. "Damon…?"

And then he was kissing me, soft and warm lips pressed to mine. I sighed, pressing closer, and—

Present

I woke with a thick, buzzing headache hammering in my skull. Blearily I reached for the bottle of water I always kept by my bed, and instead found a cold hand. Immediately my eyes shot open, and I lunged from the…couch? Pulse pounding, I notice two things. One, I was in the Salvatore house—for a moment I thought to be in a dream, except Damon Salvatore was smiling coldly at me from his place a foot away, dressed not in breeches, but in jeans and a t-shirt.

Fear skittered down my spine. That look in his eyes…the corner…the fainting…he knew. "Hello Alexandria."

I booked it for the door, but he was already there, looking furious and bored all in one. Automatically I reached for magic, attacking his mind, but finding it blocked. Damon smirked and cocked his head to one side. "Something wrong Alex?" he whispered.

Slowly I backed away, but his vampire speed beat me to the exit. A ridged hand locked around my wrist. The air left my lungs in a rush as I was slammed into a wall. Damon towered above me, eyes glittering fiercely, something primal burning at their core. "How are you alive?!" he demanded, hand tightening. I gritted my teeth, knowing a bruise would be there tomorrow. If I made it to tomorrow that is. "How?!" he snapped, the planes of his face jagged.

A rush of power left me, knocking him away—sliding across the floor. I was breathing hard, chest heaving. "How?!" I shrieked, barely recognizing my voice. Pointing a finger, I watched as he flew into the wall where moments ago I was caged. "HOW!?" Striding towards him, I maliciously sent a jab at his side, magic sparking. "This is your fault Damon Salvatore!" I snapped, watching the feral look cross his features. He was struggling not to lose himself to the vampire. "I am here because of you!"

His eyes widened and he pushed against the magic to step towards me. I slammed him back into the wall. "H-how is this my fault?" he wheezed out.

Slowly I smiled cold and bitter as a winter night. "Because you killed me." Abruptly my magic wavered and fell as a look of absolute shock flashed across his face—about as fast as it took him to pin me down again.

"You should still be dead then." He inflected; deadpan.

"And see how well that worked out." I glowered with venom in my words and ice in my eyes as my hands clasped around the fists that held me fast.

Damon

I have never seen hatred like this. Not even with Katherine and all of her crazy bitch moments. I had never thought I would see it with Alexandria, whose memories had never held a single moment of anger. And here she was, hard as steel and giving me a look that had I not been dead, would have killed. This was not my Alexandria.

"How exactly did this work out?" I asked quietly, eyes slits. Magic, the only answer was magic. But of what sort? She was not a vampire, and could not be immortal. That…that Bonnie would have sensed. She remained quiet, the features that once had been so open to me now closed and frigid. Alexandria gave me only a look of contempt. "I will find out Alex." I threatened, hands tightening around her wrists again. She winced, and for a moment remorse tainted my resolve.

"You won't find out unless you kill me again Damon. And even then, I'd sure as hell make that as difficult as possible." She hissed.

I hid the bitterness that statement brought. "So melodramatic. You should just tell me now, save the trouble." I replied candidly back.

Suddenly a look entirely inhuman replaced her pain. Hard, sharp, and terrible she bared her teeth in a grin. A pain shot through my body, worse than mind magic, and I dropped her. Alex stood over me as I crumpled to meet the floor. Through the gray lines of pain I caught her words: "Make me." before she strode out of the manor.

The pain faded soon after. My jaw unlocked slowly, canines extended. It took my body longer. I wonder if that was what being tased felt like for a vampire. Frowning, I blurred to my feet and reached the brandy, pouring a glass and staring at the glass in my hand. I was going to have to 'make her'. Otherwise, I was pretty sure I'd end up dead.

Well, the permanent kind of dead anyways.

Well, there be the chapter. I'm splitting into a few parts because it was getting a wee bit long! Anywho, critiques, ideas, and compliments welcome!

Theme Songs:

"Not Ready to Make Nice" – Dixie Chicks