Chp 1
Liana could feel her life slipping away as she stumbled toward her family home. She was approaching the dirt road leading to her home when a carriage quickly rode by. Liana could hear some of the townspeople in the back yelling for help. She was close enough now to see her brothers Stefan and Damon chasing after the carriage. Liana called out to them. They both stopped and saw their sister bleeding from her midsection, leaning up against a tree. Stefan mouthed, "I'm sorry," then continued to run. Damon didn't bother saying anything, he just started running after Stefan to catch up with the carriage.
Liana could only assume Katherine was in that carriage. To know that the woman they claimed to love was the one that stabbed their sister. And they chose Katherine over their own sister, over their own blood. Blood. The taste of Katherine's blood lingered in Liana's mouth. She and Katherine were walking through the woods talking about anything and everything. Liana was going to reveal to the girl that stole her brothers' hearts that she was a witch, but Katherine attacked and stabbed her. Then Liana was shocked when Katherine fed Liana her blood, telling her she wanted her and her brothers to stay with her forever.
Seeing her brothers running after the girl they knew for a short time instead of helping their sister, broke Liana's already dying heart.
It was a few hours later when Liana woke up. She could tell she was no longer on the ground next to the dirt road but in the back of a caravan wagon. Liana slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was a bit blurry, she blinked until her vision cleared. "There you are. We thought you weren't going to wake. You must be thirsty," A soft, female voice spoke from beside her. Liana carefully turned her head to face the voice. It was a girl about her age, "Hello, my name is Sophia Emerson."
Liana slowly sat up. She noticed now that she was fully awake, her throat felt like it was on fire. She clasped her hands around her throat trying to soothe the burning from the outside, it was clear that wasn't working. A leather bladder canteen came into view. She looked to Sophia, who was holding it out for her. "It's just water. You're going to need to consume blood soon or you'll die," Sophia informs Liana. Looking down where her injury should be, Liana sees she has healed, "I'm Liana Salvatore. I'm confused. How am I not dead?"
As Liana slowly sipped from the canteen, Sophia told her how they found her near the road while passing through Mystic Falls. She told Liana they passed through the town and watched a church being set on fire before they found her. Sophia said they could feel how strong her magic is even though she is in transition. "Transition?" Liana was still confused about why she had to consume blood. Sophia told her about the Emerson clan being witches, as well as untriggered werewolves.
To say Liana was shocked is an understatement. She had learned so much in the past few hours it was overwhelming. Liana had learned there were other supernaturals besides witches. There were also werewolves and vampires. Vampires. That's what Katherine was and now what Liana is. Liana had read some of her father's journals but thought he was crazy, not knowing the truth was right in front of her face. She learned she was going to have to consume blood if she wanted to live and keep living. Liana spent the next few hours crying. She cried and spoke about her brothers and what happened before she "died". She continued to cry until she had no more tears thinking about how the two most important people in the world betrayed her. Then she resolved to never cry over them again.
Sophia, her sister, and her parents offered to take Liana in as one of their own, as long as she protected them, and they would help her control her bloodlust. Liana agreed. Liana was thankful for the Emersons', and she vowed she would protect this family, her family as long as she walks the earth.
Liana had completed her transition when Sophia offered her some of her blood. Liana was scared, she didn't want to hurt or possibly kill Sophia. But Liana was reassured when the rest of the Emersons were there to stop her before that happened.
Liana was able to control herself enough to transition even though she was still craving more. When the caravan came to a stop it was dark outside. Liana had fed off a man who was drunkenly yelling obscenities into the night after stumbling out of the local tavern. The man was left alive but was too intoxicated to remember how he ended up in the alleyway with a sore neck. Later that night, after Liana cleaned herself up, she went back to the caravan.
She climbed inside and subconsciously waved her hand like she did when she was at home to light her candles, and shockingly enough the lantern had lit up. Liana looked down at her hands and back to the lantern and smiled…
She still has her magic.
All the while, back in Mystic Falls, two brothers turned vampires mourned their sister. The guilt they felt when they realized they abandoned their sister will forever eat them alive. It was just another wedge between the brothers. The death of their sister, Stefan's twin. The death of the woman they believe they love. The woman that Stefan betrayed when he informed their father that she was a vampire. The father that Stefan later killed to complete his vampiric transition. And the betrayal Damon felt when Stefan practically forced him to transition. Later, when they both woke as vampires they knew they had hurt their sister and went to look for her only to find a flattened area of dirt beside the road soaked in blood. Her blood. They lashed out at each other for betraying their baby sister, nearly tearing each other apart before Damon vowed to make Stefan's existence a living hell then vanished.
Liana never knew that her brothers were also turned by Katherine, she didn't care to know. She saw they didn't care for her so why should she care? So, for 123 years Liana lived amongst the Emerson Clan, protecting them in return for their help in hiding her, moving with each generation until she landed in Santa Carla in the summer of 1987.
