From the moment she'd laid eyes on Stefan Salvatore on the first day of school, she had felt an irresistible pull towards him. He had a captivating smile, a sharp mind, and a mysterious aura that intrigued her, she just couldn't help but be attracted to him. And at first it had seemed like he felt the same way. According to Bonnie he'd spent the whole of their first History class together staring at her. She'd bumped into him later on her way to the Grill and they'd walked there together. She'd figured he would sit with her, and the others and she would have a chance to get to know him. But almost as soon as they'd arrived, he'd left her side and joined his family at another table.

Then had come the Back-to-School party by the Falls. Another lost opportunity. Instead of taking the chance to spend some alone time with her, like she'd thought he would, he'd kept his distance. Stayed by the fire with Bonnie and Caroline, and occasionally Tyler and Matt. It was as if he deliberately avoided being alone with her, as if he feared what might happen if they were. They exchanged a few words, and she learned some basic facts about him, but nothing that revealed his true self. She also noticed how Caroline seemed to have a rapport with him, how she joked and laughed with him with ease. She felt a pang of jealousy, realizing that Caroline had befriended him over the summer, while she had been drowning in grief over her dad's death and her mom's coma. Caroline had made a connection with the guy she liked, while she had barely scratched the surface.

The night of the comet had been different. He'd sort her out, drawn her away from her friends and it had been as if they were the only two people in existence. They'd talked, and it had been epic, like she was alive for the first time in a long time, and she'd thought for sure they were heading straight towards being a couple. Then everything had changed.

He'd said his goodbyes and gone home with his family, leaving Elena standing in the cold.

Alone.

Since then, it had been like he'd taken a massive step back. Elena had tried everything she could to get back to where they had been, on the verge of being a couple, but he had resisted her every effort. She'd invited him to dinner with her and Bonnie and Caroline, hoping a group setting would put him at ease and he'd told her he wanted to be friends with her. Just friends.

She'd agreed, what else could she do. She knew in her heart that they would be amazing together, but she couldn't force it. She had to give him time to see it for herself.

She'd asked him to escort her to the Founder's Ball, as a friend, and he'd agreed. She'd thought that might work to get him to take the next step, but he'd been the perfect gentleman the entire evening, which in and of itself was so attractive. But not entirely what she had wanted. He had danced with her, but he had also danced with Caroline and Bonnie, who had attended together. He'd fetched her drinks, and done the same for her two best friends. In short, he'd treated her exactly like he treated them. As a friend.

Part of her wondered if what his brother had said was part of the problem. That he was on the rebound from his last girlfriend Katherine. She wondered if maybe he wasn't entirely over her. She wondered what Katherine had been like, how she'd acted, what she'd looked like, was she prettier than she herself was. How long ago they'd broken up. Why they'd broken up.

The more she seemed to learn about Stefan, the more there seemed to be that she just didn't know and that he didn't want to share. For every question he answered there were another five he would give a vague reply to, it was driving her nuts. She couldn't help but feel jealous of Caroline who'd seemed to slide so easily into a friendship with him, while she herself was struggling to do the same. She wanted more but if friendship was all he wanted, she'd take what she could get.

She just still couldn't get over the feeling that there was some big secret he was keeping from her. She'd tried to ignore it, push it aside, told herself she was just being silly, that he wasn't hiding anything, but it hadn't helped. She needed to find out what he was hiding from her.

Her first clue had been the old man in the Grill yesterday. The way he'd stared at Stefan. It had been completely unnerving; he'd looked like he'd seen a ghost. And he'd been so sure that he'd seen Stefan before, the comments he'd made had been a little unnerving. Stefan had just shrugged it off, acted like it was nothing more than a case of mistaken identity, but Elena had seen the old man's eyes. He hadn't been mistaken.

So, when she saw the same old man again, she seized the opportunity to find out more.

"That'll be $20." She accepted the bill he held out to her and put it in the cashbox. "I saw you last night. You were talking to a friend of mine. At the grill?"

"Well, I...I thought it was somebody I knew."

"Stefan Salvatore."

" Nah, it can't be. It's just my mind playing tricks on me."

"Where do you think you'd seen him before?" She probed.

"When I first moved here, I stayed at the Salvatore boarding house."

"Oh?"

"Stefan was just passing through to visit his uncle. I mean, none of us knew he was even here until the attack."

"The attack?"

"His uncle got killed. Mauled by an animal in the woods."

She could remember him mentioning that Zach was his uncle, but as far as she knew Zach had moved away, not been killed.

"His uncle? Zach?"

"Mm-mmm. Joseph."

"I'm sorry, sir. I don't think I'm familiar with the story."

"Oh, how could you? I mean, this happened years ago."

Before Elena could ask more questions one of the other cheerleaders appeared.

"Grandpa, you gotta go. Mom wants you home. Ok?"

"Ah."

"He wasn't bugging you, was he? He's a little alzheimery."

"No, he was sweet." She rushed after him hoping to find out more. "Hey, sir, I'm sorry. Um, are you sure that the man that you saw, that you knew, his name was Stefan Salvatore?"

"Yes. I remember his ring and his brother –"

As far as she knew, Stefan only had one brother, she asked anyway, just to make sure.

"Damon?"

"Yeah. Stefan and Damon Salvatore."

Damon had said that their names were passed down through the family, but it seemed odd to Elena that they would always be used for brothers. Desperate to know more, she asked one final question.

"When was this?"

"It was early June, 1953. Yeah. June, 1953."

Fifty-six years ago. It couldn't have been Stefan, maybe he looked like his ancestor and the old man was just confused. But she'd seen his eyes, yesterday, they hadn't been the eyes of someone who was confused. Spotting Logan Fell chatting with Jenna, she decided to take a chance and see if she could find out more about what had happened in 1953.

Logan had been able to point her in the right direction at the news station, before he left to report on some fire, and she dived straight into research mode. She found footage of a news report on the attack that Tiki's grandfather had mentioned. She watched it curiously, wondering if it would hold the answers she sought. At first nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and then the cameraman zoomed in on a particular person and her world came to a standstill. There, in footage from almost sixty years ago, was Stefan.

The exact same Stefan she knew today.

Same hair.

Same face.

Same everything.

It wasn't possible.

But she couldn't deny it either.

It was Stefan in the footage, at the scene of an animal attack in which someone had died. It reminded her of another report of an animal attack, not even three weeks ago, in which someone had died. The Sheriff had claimed it was a mountain lion that was subsequently shot and killed. But what kind of wild animal came all the way into town and killed someone, without being seen. Two different 'animal attacks' and Stefan in footage shot fifty-six years ago.

Elena wasn't a believer. People were born, they grew old, and then they died. That was the world they lived in. There was no magic, no mysticism, no immortality. Nothing that defied rational thought. People were supposed to be who they said they were. And not lie or hide their true selves. It wasn't possible. She wasn't believer, she couldn't be. But how could she deny what was right in front of her…