Chapter Two: Into The Frying Pan

Wetness prompted me to sullenly come out of dreamless rest. I wiped the gunk from my eyes and attempted raising my arms up to stretch but was weighed down.

Frantic—the feeling was too much like my arms were strapped to a bed—I looked to the source and promptly let out a low, relieved groan. Elena was practically laying on me. I then realized what the wetness was around my neck; drool.

S'gross.

Elena had her thin arms wrapped around my shoulders; face resting against my clavicle surrounded by hair. There were blankets draped carefully over our bodies that weren't there previously. Jenna, if I had to guess. How… domestic.

Careful not to wake up Droolzilla, I successfully maneuvered my way out of the teens grasp. Nature was calling and I wasn't going to ignore her call.

Ungracefully making my way to the main hall, I froze mid-step as something occurred to me. I didn't know where the bathrooms were in this place. Oh man.

My hand found the nearest doorknob and swung it open with confidence. Curses left my mouth when I was met with multicolored jackets.

Why hadn't I taken a better look around the house? Dammit, that was one of the first things I ever did when introduced to foreign territory. Had it not been for Jeremy's interruption I wouldn't be going through this shit.

Mind whirling and bladder screaming I wracked my brain to my spotty knowledge of the Gilbert house before it went up in flames.

Wasn't there supposed to be a bathroom upstairs? The one Vikki came out of in that one episode?

Up the stairs I went, taking moments to squat to hold in the pee that fought to escape. Those sodas were really coming back to bite me in the ass.

It felt like an eternity when I finally made it to the top of the stairs. Careful not to make too much noise, I shuffled down the hall and picked a random door on the left—nope linin closet.

Finally, after running into Elena's room I'd made it.

Fumbling with the buttons of my pants I plopped down onto the percaline seat with a heavy sigh. Ahh, the sweet release of held in pee.

After finishing my business, I stepped before the sink to wash my hands with a content smile. When I was met with my reflection, the smile slackened.

Moving closer I took in the youthfulness of my face that I had missed while riding with Doris.

The sharpness of my features were more subtle, smile lines nowhere to be seen. My natural tan from the Florida sun nonexistent on supple skin. The mole under my left eye stood out starkly against its paleness—a feature I inherited from my father, along with dark lashes and pale gray eyes.

Even my lips looked ever so slightly more voluptuous. I looked…good.

Once done admiring myself in the mirror I quickly washed my hands and went down the hall, mind made up to take a closer look at my surroundings.

If I was stuck for who knew how long, I had to make a mental blueprint in case something happened. It would also be rather suspicious if I didn't know my way around my 'childhood home.'

That included Jess's room. Elena's only had one bed, so that meant they were separate. Thank God.

Ten minutes later and I had successfully scouted out the second floor. There were, altogether, four rooms. Two of which belonged to my 'siblings.' The other was an office which had its own adjacent bathroom, leaving the last door to be mine.

Jess's room was, unsurprisingly, next to Elena's. The shape and placement of windows and color of the walls were a mirror image of the perky brunette's own room. But that was where the similarities ended.

The curtains hung before the window seat were a pale yellow that contrasted well with the light purple comforter and gray sheets of the bed.

A dark bookshelf rested against the left wall, filled to the brim with books and random objects. There was a black desk set off to the right of it. On top were various textbooks, color coded journals and one of those shitty mini laptops.

Everything including my favorite colors, down to the same coco butter lotion I'd used in high school were incorporated. It was… Creepy. It seemed this world's Jessica was very similar to me as a teenager.

Unlike my own childhood room, it was spacious and personalized—decorated how I had always envisioned as a teen, but never had the finances for.

My own had been small, plain, and cleaned to my father's preferences. Nothing out of order and meticulously maintained.

The reality of my situation was beginning to set in as I plopped onto the full-sized bed. It was pillowtop. Nice.

Though I couldn't attest to personality similarities, there truly was a girl named Jessica in this world who mirrored myself. And in some twisted and fucked up turn of fate, I was standing in her shoes.

I ran my hands through knotted blonde strands, taking a few calming breaths.

Sleep wasn't going to bring me back; I had done so twice.

What if I'm stuck here? I thought. Then: Do I really want to return?

Back to my perfectly planned existence of false normalcy. Work, eat, sleep then back to work again. No real time for socialization nor personal enjoyment. If I was honest, Jane and I weren't even that close. Acquaintances at best that went out for drinks because our cubicles were next to each other.

Here, I was in a world where vampires and werewolves and witches existed.

Here I could get away with anything and come out scot-free.

The only drawback was being a Gilbert—twin to Elena. I would be right in the eye of the shit-storm to come.

A set-back, I decided. A momentary drawback that would require more planning to overcome.

Vomit crawled up the back of my throat, but I swallowed it down. My body was practically vibrating. I had never felt this feeling before. I felt… alive.

Awake for the first time in years.

First order of business: I needed a shower. A nice, long, burning hot shower.

I took my time going through the house after that mishap.

There were various knickknacks scattered about, some with a layer of dust clinging to their surface. It would seem no one cleaned the house properly. My skin crawled—I'd have to deal with that.

It was an above average sized family home: Obviously, the Gilberts didn't stress over money.

The vast collection of Yankee candles said as much. Those things were expensive.

Most important of all were the pictures I came across. They were never-ending. Science fairs, town and school dances, elementary graduations—the Gilbert parents photographed everything. Scattering the frames around as if they had something to prove.

It was unnerving seeing younger versions of myself in many of them, most with forced gap-toothed smiles. As Jessica aged in the pictures, the smile faded. Became more secretive, as if there was something she knew that no one else was privy to.

The most shocking of all were the pictures of Jessica and her father, Grayson, dressed head to toe in camo. A buck lay dead between them, head held up by its antlers, tongue lolled out and blood dripping from its nose.

Unlike the others, Jessica's smile was wide. Dimples concaved and eyes bright.

I had similar photos of myself with my own father. Though it was mostly an excuse my father had made up to appease his wife, I had enjoyed the hunting trips.

Learning to gut various animals had helped me later when my prey graduated to those that stood on two feet. But that was another story entirely.

The pictures took most of my interest as it was a look into Jessica's existence in the series (could I even call it that anymore?) Jessica was into a lot of different things.

She was part of the chess club in middle school, cheerleading as a freshman, gymnastics since elementary and finally dance from the age of six… It almost mimicked my exact life, except for cheerleading. I'd always found that to be stupid. Too much cheering. That must have been done on Elena's insistence.

My mind spun. I'd had to pay for my own extra circular activates myself since my mother hadn't cared. Bus fare, camps, and any clothes I wanted were on my own dime. The fact that in this life it was all paid by loving parents' kind of blew my mind. What a foreign idea.

My dad had loved me in his own way, of course. But even I had to admit I was a burden on him. He didn't trust me alone by myself for extended periods of time around the 'normal' kids.

After getting my fill of finding out what rooms were where I began looking for the exits. There were only two. The entrance and a side door that you had to travel through the kitchen and laundry room to reach.

That wasn't counting all the windows, of course.

I was sure Jenna was sleeping in the bedroom downstairs. As long as it was far enough away from the exits, I was good. It would get old to have to go into ninja mode every time I snuck out, which I planned to do.

But seriously, this house was awesome compared to my previous apartment—a one-floor complex with a tiny kitchen, one room and bathroom, and lack of laundry room.

The laundromat was close enough, but paying to have clean clothes was extremely taxing, not to mention annoying. I wouldn't compare this house to my childhood house. Just thinking of the place made me feel uncomfortable for reasons I didn't want to think about, let alone process.

All I knew was that living in Virginia meant snow and cold, which I wasn't looking forward to; but that was for future me to worry about.

In the meantime, I really wanted to understand the person who I was pretending to be. At first, my instinct was to write down somewhere all the things I found out. Things like who the original Jessica was friends with, her quirks and even places she frequented.

But I wasn't going to be that stupid. In this body, I had siblings to consider (ugh).

Jeremy went through Elena's journal (diary) at some point, which was enough incentive to not write down shit.

Hmm… Going through Elena's diary… I'll have to keep that in mind.

I thought of putting everything in my cellphone, which had a lock, but the thing was dead and I didn't believe type-c chargers were invented yet.

Now, since my phone—the only thing I had woken up with that was familiar—didn't work because I was in 2009 (yeah, being twenty-five years old and being thrown into a seventeen-year-old body sucked by the way), I decided to just tuck it away in a safe place where no one would think to look.

There was a slight possibility that it would be found, but I would take that chance over the questions it could cause. Sure, there would be explaining to do; but it wasn't as if I planned to pretend to be someone else the entire time I was stuck here. The truth would come out sooner or later, as it tended to do.

It wasn't easy pretending to be someone else. For one, I wasn't use to so many people knowing my quirks, habits, or facial expressions so well. Sometimes it made me uncomfortable how easy Elena saw through my (normally solid) mask of giving a fuck.

Blessed be, someone was looking out for me because when I didn't understand what they were talking about, they family would just chalk it up to my forgetfulness or inability to pay attention. My original mom used to say how I got those particular traits from my insensitive father.

It was true. There was no denying that. I was very much my fathers daughter. Without him, I'd have been caught and sent to jail on numerous occasions. Maybe even put under the jail, if anyone had found out all of the things I had done.

I also wouldn't have learned how to blend so well into normal society.

I sighed around my jellied toast, not paying much attention to the book I forced myself into reading.

If there was one thing I missed, it was my long dead father. He had taught me everything I knew. Took me under his wing and introduced me to the ways of survival in a world where people didn't understand.

"We were a special kind of person," he would say; "more advanced, and, in turn, in need of more advanced stimuli…"

"Hey. What are you reading?"

"Twilight." I stated, showing my 'twin' the cover, trying to hide how startled I was at her popping up out of nowhere. Already I missed living alone. And by the looks of it, this wouldn't be the first time the thought would pass my mind.

I took note of how Elena froze slightly, eyes wide before nodding her head.

Ah… So, she knew about vampires, then. How long, I wondered. Since I was a bit freaked out yesterday (for good reason) I had failed to really pay attention to what the fuck was happening.

"That's… Cool. I thought you hated Twilight?"

I nodded, lips pursed. Honestly, the only reason I felt the need to read it was because of how it related to my current situation. Vampires and werewolves and cross-dimensional-humans OH MY. Okay, so I made up that last one. I needed my own brand. Sue me.

"That I do." I agreed easily. Again, so weird that someone knew random information about me. Letting out a breath I eyed the doppelgänger up and down. Being dressed and made up before twelve o'clock should be illegal. "What are you all dressed up for?"

Elena sighed and leaned her back on the counter I sat at. "To meet with Stefan. We broke up last night when he ran out on me. Said he'd 'explain everything' to me today." She put up air quotes and voiced them with what must have been her idea of what Stefan sounded like.

I tilt my head to the side, feigning interest. Time to play it up. "Who's Stefan?"

"Oh yeah, I guess you wouldn't know… He is—was—my boyfriend." Her eyebrows drew together in what looked to be deep thought.

What I would do to get into that little head of yours…

"Hmm…" I tapped my finger on the cover of the book, wondering how I should continue the conversation. "So I guess I don't have to worry about him getting you pregnant? Nice to know" That's what a sister would say, right? Was that how siblings showed they cared?

She immediately began sputtering, fumbling over her words with a reddening face. "Oh my god, Jess!"

I rose my hands in surrender, shrugging it off. "Hey, I was just sayin'. Guys only think with the slithery serpent between their legs—"

"We are not having 'the talk' right now." She stressed.

Oh shit—that's totally what I was doing, wasn't it? My fingers tapped again. My age was showing. "This isn't 'the talk.' I'm just concerned about who you let in your pants." I made a face at that last statement. That sounded gross.

Her face scrunched up similarly. "But you're the one that jumped Tyler every time you guys 'hung out'."

That gave me pause. For a moment, we just stared at each other. The news was surprising. There was a picture hung up of Tyler and Jessica in her room, his face nuzzling her neck—there were so many hickies on her skin, she looked like a damn cheetah—but I naively hadn't thought it was from that.

Apparently, there were differences between me and the blonde Gilbert. Jocks weren't my type.

"…"

"…"

"… Is that your way of saying I'm a whore?"

Elena gasped, affronted. A hurtful expression crossing her beautiful face. "No! You know I'd never judge you for something like that. I was just saying, you two were like a pair of bunnies—"

I raised my hand for her to stop. This was getting painful. "How about you leave before this gets any more awkward."

"Gladly."

As Elena walked briskly out of the room, Jenna entered, a shit-eating grin on her face. "'Slithery serpent,' huh?"

With a load groan, I dropped my head forward, forehead connected with the white marble countertop with a thud. From the corner of my eye, I saw Jenna shake her head, "Giving the sex talk to your twin? Sometimes I wonder if you're actually much older than her."

If you only knew.

"Do you have school today?" I changed the subject, totally ignoring the strawberry blonde.

"Yep." Jenna paused and looked to the ground, hands playing with the hem of her shirt in an adorably abashed manner. "Sorry to leave you alone when you just got back-"

"It's no big deal, Jenna. I'll find something to do." I waved a dismissive hand.

Jenna looked at me smugly. "Could this something not include breaking a TV remote?"

I hummed in thought, pressing my finger to the corner of my lip. A slow, devious smile, "Maybe."

The 'something else' planned included an in-depth date with google. Since there was a computer in the office, albeit a very outdated one, I was going to do some research on my 'situation.' I would use the tiny laptop in my room but it wasn't hardwired and I didn't have the patience to wait for pages to load.

Instead of continuing our fruitless back and forth, I jumped off the barstool and wiped my crumb-covered hands on my dark-wash jeans. Winking, I grabbed my thick book and smiled to my 'aunt.' "Enjoy your education." I chirped. A snort answered me as I went up the stairs.

I immersed myself in the web searches google brought up about traveling to another universe. Spoiler: the only things that came up were stupid made-up stories on Reddit and Creepy Pasta. Nothing helpful, but extremely entertaining.

There was this one about a person that went to McDonald's that really gave me chills. Though the only thing remotely scary about it was the amount of money he spent— $25 for one person?

Outrageous.

I rubbed my eyes and looked to a nearby clock. 7:30 pm. Man, time flies when you aren't doing anything. I stood from the desk chair and stretched my arms over my head, making my way out of the room at a slow pace. The cracks felt so good I let out a satisfied moan.

Googling really worked up an appetite.

"Come on Vikki, I'll make you some food."

Oh, the punk-ass was here? Didn't even hear him. Sneakily, I peeked my head into his room with furrowed brows. It was a dark space with brown walls and smelt of overwhelming amounts of Axe body spray. Clothes were thrown about, haphazardly kicked into what looked like a walkway to the bed. A bed that was occupied.

Jeremy was crouched in front of a brunette who sat on the bed. Hm, she looked familiar. She whined about the light and he frantically began closing the screened blinds in his room.

"I'm hungry." Vikki moaned pitifully.

"I'll make you a sandwich and be right back." When Jeremy went to move, the winey twat grabbed onto his arm. I fought with myself to stay still, overcome with the desire to rip his arm away from her grasp.

Where had I seen her? Damn it was going to annoy me.

She frantically whispered, "No, don't leave me."

The teenage boy ran his hand through her hair gently whilst pushing her back to the bed in order to lay her down. "I won't be gone long, okay? Five minutes, tops."

Reluctantly, Vikki let him go.

"Ah!" I called out, making both of them jump in surprise, "You're the chick that almost knocked me on my ass at the Grill yesterday. You should really watch where you're going."

They gave me similar looks of confusion. "Sorry?" the brunette croaked.

Punk-ass pushed me out of his way when he dutifully walked out of his room. Something seemed oddly familiar about the situation… Vikki complaining about the sun and being hungry—Oh fucking hell.

"Uhh, Jeremy?" I called after his retreating back, making sure I was far away from the transitioning vampire. He didn't answer. "Little Bro?!" I called louder, adding a hint of panic into my voice in hopes he would answer faster.

When he didn't, I speed walked into the kitchen as he hung up his phone. He looked at me, annoyed. "What?" Ugh. He was so rude when all I was trying to do was help.

"About that girl in your room-" he gave me an expectant look, "she gotta go. Like… now."

Jeremy scoffed in disgust, folding his arms over his bird-chest. I could totally punch through it he was so scrawny. "So, what, because you're back you suddenly think you're in charge?"

"Well… yeah. I am the oldest"

He looked me up and down, scoffing. "Seriously, Jess? Screw off. I didn't need you when you abandoned us, and I don't need you now. Just leave me alone."

I was sure if I cared, I would have felt very hurt—good thing I don't. For real, all I was trying to do was save the kids life! What if my presence here changed things and the dumb druggie bit him?

Sure, he hadn't made the best impression, and he was a dick-y teenager—but that was the point. He was a teenager. He would grow out of it.

Before I could go upstairs and drag the punk away from danger, there was a knock on the door. Thoroughly annoyed myself, I walked to the door (since it was on my way) and opened it. Matt was on the other side, worry etched into his face.

When he saw me, his eyes grew wide. "Woah, hey Jessie. Didn't know you were back."

For crying out loud… If he came into this, I wasn't going to be able to keep both of them away from Vikki. On the other hand… He would be a very good meat shield for Jeremy. His shoulders were broad and he was much taller.

"Heeey Matt," Ugh. I really needed to find Elena's diary so I could figure out where my stance was with these people. "Fancy seeing you here. What's up?"

"Jeremy called me a bit ago. He said Vikki was here, high on something."

I kept my face straight and looked behind myself. Think, think, think. Did I really want him to become mincemeat? I turned back. "Well… She isn't here anymore. She ran out when Jeremy told her he called you—sorry."

He nodded in acknowledgement, looking very much like a hurt puppy. Just when he was about to walk away, Jeremy was at the top of the steps. "Hey man. She's up here."

Well that went well. I ran my tongue across my teeth and cussed under my breath. Why did I even try to be nice? Matt's eyes crinkled in confusion. "I thought you said she wasn't here?"

"Really Jess?" called Jeremy from the top of the stairs.

Matt pushed past me with a passive aggressive shove—asshole—and went to Jeremy, mumbling things under his breath. A meat shield it was, then.

For a moment I just stared outside, letting my mask fall, wondering if it would be so bad to 'accidentally' cut one of the boys. Speed up the process of everyone being aware of vampires—and the dangers they stand for. A cool breeze feathered across my cheek, bringing me out of my dark intrusive thoughts.

Shrugging, I shut the door and ran as fast as my short legs would allow up the stairs and into the shit fest.

"Come on Vikki… Just tell me what happened."

"Get away from me Matt!"

Jeremy and Matt were trying to placate an obviously blood crazed Vikki—or maybe it was only obvious to me since I knew about vampires—as I leaned calmly against the doorframe. They had been going at this for fifteen minutes now and I had to say, it was getting pretty fucking old.

The thought that something wasn't right constantly fluttered into my passing thoughts like a reoccurring nightmare.

There was a soon-to-be vamp in my new home-base—but the setting seemed…off.

…Wasn't this supposed to be happening downstairs?

"What happened after I left last night?" asked a stressed out Jeremy, more to himself than to anyone else.

Witnessing this 'love-sick puppy' crap from someone who was supposed to be 'related' to me was disgusting. I'd have to do something about that. Then again, I guessed witnessing the twat-waffles death would probably make up for it—wait that's right, I thought, Damon compels him to forget because Elena can't handle it. Ugh.

Speak of the devil and they shall appear. The door downstairs opened and Elena called out if anyone was home reached my ears. I sighed. At least my boredom would be cured.

"We're having a killer party up here. Join at your own risk." I called back, receiving twin glares from the men in the room.

"Really?" Matt asked moodily. I just shrugged, completely unaffected by the drama and high emotions that sat in the air.

Elena was there in seconds, running to Jeremy to see if he was all right, Stefan trailing not far behind her.

I looked at the vampire and couldn't help the look of appraising that no doubt came across my face. Now that I had the chance to really look at him, I couldn't help smiling dumbly at the broody man.

Goddamn he was good looking.

He looked younger than Paul, which made sense because 'Stefan' was supposed to be a teenager when he turned—seventeen or eighteen. His light brown hair was styled the same as the television series. Something that amused me to no end was how he resembled Edward Cullen's description.

"Why hello, there. Who might you be?" I bat my long eyelashes. This wasn't well received, if the smack on the back of my head was to say anything.

"This," Elena stressed, "Is Stefan."

"Nice to finally meet you. Jessica, was it? I've heard a lot." Said the gorgeous vamp.

I shook his hand with a wide smile. I was sure my dimples would cave my face in. "All recent and terrible, I hope." He sent me a small smile and shrugged. Elena looked rather pissed. It was great.

Stefan's forest green eyes zeroed in on Vikki and I saw as realization dawned on him. He quickly walked into the room and looked deep into her eyes and told her to calm down and something about how everything would be fine.

I snorted at that. Nothing would be fine, but that was okay. The more hectic things that went on around these people, the easier time I would have turning myself into Jessica.

Knowing things wouldn't get too out of hand now that Stefan was here, I went back downstairs to make myself some food. My stomach was practically screaming. I noted with disinterest as Elena and her boy-toy came down soon after and whispered—rather loudly—in 'secret.'

I had just finished making my PB&J sandwich when Vikki escaped.

I walked toward the two conspirators and heard as Stefan said something about being able to track Vikki to find her.

"You got some sort of 'Druggie-dar'?" I quipped, taking a big bite out of my sandwich. Both looked at me in shock but Elena was fast to glare at me for my comment. "What?" I spoke around the food still in my mouth, "I'm just saying what everyone is thinking…"

"Well stop." Elena shot back sharply.

Stefan looked back and forth between us for a second before abruptly saying he had to go. The coward. Both of us said our goodbyes, mine being much more friendly, as he left. It lit up my ego at the glances he kept shooting my way.

Elena turned on me as soon as he shut the door behind him. I offered her a bite of my PB&J, but she swatted my hand away, effectively making my sandwich plop on the ground. My mouth fell open, aghast.

My food…

"Why do you always have to be so insensitive?" she asked heatedly, hands clenched at her sides.

I took a deep breath in an attempt to keep my cool, "Says the person who just threw my food on the ground." I ground out. Calm like a river. Peaceful like a tree.

"Who cares about your food Jess? Vikki just ran out and you're worried about a stupid sandwich!"

"I care about my food. And don't act like you care about what happens to Vikki. You never even liked her in the first place." –a total guess.

"Oh, and you know so much about what it's like to care for people, right?"

"More than you." I jutted my hip out and crossed my arms. "Where were you again when I got back?"

"I made a promise to help out at the car wash, I couldn't just leave—which you're great at doing, by the way."

"Yes, you could have, you just didn't want to."

Elena let out a huff of air, face red and tears in her eyes. She walked toward me threateningly, pointing to my person. My hackles raised. "Want to know what I want right now? For you to leave, and to stay gone this time!" she shouted.

For some unknown reason, what she said got to me. Which was shocking. It was stupid for me to be so affected by her words; I didn't know her well enough other than shit on a show.

I was getting into a screaming match with someone who thought keeping her family in the dark would keep them safe. If anything, it was the reason Jenna died, and why Jeremy couldn't trust her enough to open up about the shit he was finding out and going through.

So, as every other time I became unreasonably angry with someone, I lashed out. Not with brute strength, but with words.

"Psychological damage sends the best message. Bruises disappear and broken bones mend. If you truly wish to hurt someone, it all starts with their brain."

My head felt light and red took over my vision.

With every word I shouted in her face, I pushed Elena back by her shoulders until she pressed into the door. "Well maybe I wouldn't have run away if my ungrateful sister didn't clam up and shut me out! Not everything is about you."

I honestly didn't know where the words came from. It definitely wasn't what I was going to say. Was there a possibility pieces of Jessica were still somewhere inside of me? Who knew? Google didn't even have answers for me at this point, so I was going on nothing.

"I do not-"

Fuck psychological damage, I want blood—I hadn't notice Jeremy had been downstairs until he was pulling me back right when my hand raised to hit Elena. She screamed as his arms wrapped around my shoulders.

"Jessie, calm down!"

I bucked around, not liking the way he was restricting me. "Oh, don't even get me started on you, you little shit! Not after what you said earlier! Maybe I will go away again. Then you both can be happy in your imaginary happy family bullshit!"

Seriously? If this was what it was like having siblings, I was glad my parents decided only to have me. Shit, I wish I could reach to them beyond the grave— and through another dimension—and give them a cake and hug!

I mean, just take a moment to imagine what the show would have been like if the bitch had told everyone around them about the existence of vampires and the brothers that became unhealthily obsessed with her—which was also her fault!

Hell, imagine if this family actually knew how to communicate! No one could just say what they felt, and that was just not how my father raised me. Yeah, my mom loathed me but at least she was upfront about it.

"I don't care what you have to say at the moment, because right now my friend is running around high on God knows what with no one to help her!" Jeremy screamed in my ear.

That gave me pause. He was kind of right… Now wasn't really the time to have a family throw-down. Then again, I couldn't bring myself to care what happened to Vikki. She was a terrible character. One of my least favorite.

Expendable.

I finally shrugged off Jeremy's death-grip and straightened my shirt. He huffed and ran a hand through his hair, "What are we supposed to do?" he asked, voice cracking with emotion.

Elena cut a glare my way one last time before making her way to her brother, hand on his shoulder. "We wait. We're supposed to wait."

"I don't know what's wrong with her." He looked lost.

I still wanted to punch both of them. They were having a moment, and just like my old life, I was left out. The black sheep.

"She'll be fine. It'll all be fine."

As if on cue, the doorbell rang.

I shoved Elena out of the way—this entire situation was hilarious if you imagined someone four inches smaller shoving people taller around—still simmering in my anger, and swung the door open.

"What the fuck do you want—oh. Oh."

On the other side of the door was a Damon. He hid behind a smirk and had piercing blue eyes that sparkled with mirth. "Hi there. Hope I'm not interrupting something. I don't think we've met before."

I stood frozen in place in both awe and fear. It'd been years since my monster had been in the presence of another. Hands grabbed onto me and pulled me behind a taller frame.

He looked nothing like his television counter-part. There were similarities, like the strong jaw, brown-black hair and expressive eyebrows, but that was about where the similarities stopped. Ian was a great actor, but he could never truly possess the seductive, sadistic aura that seemed to radiate from this demonic creature.

"Jeremy, Jessica; go upstairs." Jeremy sent me a questioning stare as he bound up the stairs. Elena looked back at me impatiently when I refused to move, "Jess-"

"Probably not." I cut her off, sneering. No one bossed me around unless I wanted them to. "You can boss and fool everyone else around here to your heart's desire, but not me. I see right through you, Elena Gilbert."

The monsters smirk grew bigger, "May I come in? Oh, wait. Of course, I can. I've been invited." he pushed past us and entered the house.

"Would you let go?" I yelled at the girl as she tried pushing me around again, "He's like three of you, if he wanted to eat our brains he would have by now."

Blue eyes turned back to me, looking my body slowly up and down then shifted to Elena. Rude! "You're afraid of me. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess... Stefan finally fessed up."

Elena took a shaky breath, hand out as if that would be enough to keep him away. "Stay away from me."

There was that anger again, bubbling up painfully in my stomach, "—I just love how everything is still about you, Lena." I snarked and headed towards the kitchen. I was still hungry.

When I walked past my previous meal, I turned to my 'twin' and pointed between it and her. "You're cleaning up this murder scene since you committed the crime." My voice was serious and even.

It was a good sandwich. I paused for a moment, brain kicking into high gear, considering the man in the room. It wouldn't be good to let him think I was ignorant of things with fangs; that would just make me a seemingly easy target.

I refused to be a pawn in someone else's game.

I'd have to choose my words carefully. Something not too damning but enough to get the point across. With that thought in mind, I turned my finger to him. "And you," In response, he opened his mouth with his hand over his chest and looked behind him with mock happiness that I was pointing his way.

The asshole.

"Keep your fangs to yourself." What the fuck was that!?

Eyebrows on both of their faces raised high on their foreheads. Elena gasped out a "you know?" the same time Damon replied a cocky, "can't promise that."

My feet shuffled to get away but sadly, the duo followed me to the kitchen. "What's your name?" the creature asked me.

I opened cabinets deftly, sending the vamp cautious and suspicious looks. He was a loose cannon without his humanity. One wrong move and he'd probably snap my neck. I wasn't stupid enough to get on his bad side.

Then again… My eyes turned toward Elena, who was looking terrified and extremely confused. As long as I held a connection to her, he'd keep me alive. After all, it was no secret he was a softy when it came to her.

An easy smirk came to my face. "Around here I go by 'Jess.' But you can call me whatever you wish." Wasn't a complete lie, right?

A dark brow rose in consideration, then a devilish smile spread to half of his lips. Probably his 'lady killer' smirk. And damn it all if my heartrate didn't beat just a tad bit faster. A gal could get lost in eyes like those…

He's got his humanity turned off, self—he only cares for himself and, sadly, for now, Katherine—do not fall for his dumb charm.

I turned away.

Thanks, inner self. Needed that.

"You need to leave." Elena cut in.

While I pretended to be interested in the loaves of white bread, equally covering one with a thin layer of peanut butter, they continued their conversation. Couldn't they do this in another room? Better yet, one I wasn't occupying? I had a feeling they would follow if I walked out.

"Look, I'm gonna cut to the chase: I'm not going to kill you right now. That wouldn't serve my greater agenda. So… Where's Stefan?"

"He's out looking for Vicki."

"Don't give me those judgey little eyes. Girl's gonna thank me for what I did."

"Did you thank Katherine?"

I tensed at the now dark atmosphere.

Ignore the pissed off vampire.

Next was the jelly. I lathered a thick coat of it on the other piece of bread, making sure to get all of the corners. That's what made the perfect sandwich, you know: harmony. Not too much peanut butter and just the right amount of jelly. It could make or break a PB&J.

"Mmm. Got the whole life story, huh?"

"I got enough."

My mouth was around the PB&J when I turned to them. I scoffed. Who said that? There were always two sides to a story. Sometimes more than that. Food for thought.

Damon walked over to me, grabbed my sandwich from my hands and took a bite, sending me a wink.

"Oh I doubt that. Tell my brother I'm looking for him. Oh, Tip for later, be careful who you invite in the house." He turned to me, "Thanks for the snack." he vanished. With my sandwich.

"Son of a- WHY?" What type of creep would take someone else's food?

"What I want to know is when." Elena had her arms crossed and doe brown eyes narrowed my way. I rolled my eyes. God, she could be so annoying. "When did you learn about the existence of vampires?"

"When did you?"

"I asked first."

I sighed and rubbed my face, trying to come up with a believable excuse. "I've… Been gone for a long time. You tend to notice things." What she didn't need to know was that, with the exception of the other night, I had never even come anywhere close to being around a vampire.

Thankfully, Elena was gullible. She let me go rather easily. If I had been in her position, I would have put her through the ringer. Must have been from her exhausting day.

Learning things must have been so hard. She walked out of the house to sit on the porch, no doubt waiting for Stefan to return, while I found my way back to Jessica's room. Making another sandwich would only make me angry.

Finally alone, I was able to mull over what had just occurred.

Damon had vanished from my sight in a literal blink of an eye. It was as if he teleported. Someone who could move that fast was already dangerous. The fact he was supernaturally strong and fed off human blood made things worse. Especially considering I just so happened to be one of those delicate humans.

It was then the weight of my circumstances truly fell on my shoulders.

There were vampires, wolves and those few other things I'm not going to even going to begin thinking about. Wait a minute… The Originals.

Holy fuck.

They wouldn't die without white oak. When they became a true contender, I was undoubtedly, fucked. I didn't know how to keep my mouth closed, and didn't have full control of what came out of said mouth when it did open.

Characters like that tended to die very fast in this universe. Unless you were Damon, of course. Main characters didn't count, though.

My breathing began coming out in quick pants. If I stayed in this place, I was going to die. I wasn't ready to die, I still had things to do. Like getting a pet or some shit.

It was as if my chest was caving in and the walls were closing in on me. My body slumped to my bed.

I was only twenty-five years old! I hadn't fallen in love, gotten a cat of my own or had an orgy. God dammit—I still was waiting for Thor: Ragnerok to come out! Now I'd have to wait eight years! If they even existed in this—

My fingers squished the soft comforter under me as tight as possible. Was I even still… Alive in my world? Had I died and by some weird turn of events transported to another world like some stupid fanfiction? Was I a Mary Sue?

Okay. I needed to slow down. That couldn't be possible. Me? An M-Sue? Please. Where was my tragic back-story—know what, scratch that—where was my love at first-sight?

I grew up in what I thought was an average household as an only child. No extreme abuse nor bullies. Hell, if anything I was more of a bully than anything what with my tendencies of speaking my mind… Then again, my parents were dead and I was in the Vampire Diaries. So maybe I was Mary.

In another world, someone was probably out there reading my story thinking about how annoying I am. Shit. I use to be one of those people who commented on stories about how dumb the characters were and how things always went their way and how they were always being saved.

Was that me now?

Ugh.

I needed to sleep on this. So, I did. All the way until the next morning, still in this stupid world. My dreams were blissfully nonexistent, so at least there was that.

Sadly, now that I was awake, I needed to make a plan. I sat up with a huff and put on my thinking cap.

The best course of action would be to take this one day at a time, I decided. If I remembered right, Vicki was now a vampire and would die at the Halloween party thing.

A thought hit me: what day was it?

I threw my legs off the bed, and began walking to the desk.

A knock on the door grabbed my attention. "Hold on a minute!" I called out. I was still in a bra and underwear. As I walked to the door, I pulled on a large t-shirt over my head and then swung the door open.

On the other side of the door stood a fully dressed Elena, looking her usual beautiful self. It's like the girl didn't even try. She looked at me with furrowed brows.

"Why aren't you ready yet?" she asked.

"Ready for what?"

Elena sighed in exasperation. "School? You've missed a month but Jenna talked to principle Webber and he said if you take things seriously enough you can still pass. So get dressed."

I stood there minutes after she left with my mouth gaping like a fish. This world had to be fucking kidding. I had graduated years ago! What the f-

"Quit standing there and get ready!"

A/N: Bringing this back... 4 years later (yikes) because I didn't want to work on Momentum. Enjoy! And don't forget to review follow and favorite if you want more!