Life as Jenna Sommers

Chapter One

"Aunt Jenna? Are you okay?"

She awakes to the sight of a worried teenage girl kneeling over her lax form. She'd fallen asleep on the couch last night, busy studying for a class she would be taking later today.

Heaving a sigh, she sat up rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Yeah, I'm alright, Elena. I just pulled an all-nighter. Don't worry about me." She gave the girl a one over. "Are you about to head out?"

The girl, her niece Elena, tried to give a bright smile as she nodded. "Yep. First day back to school. Bonnie will be here to get me soon."

Jenna pulled the girl into a hug. "Are you sure you're okay? You and Jeremy can stay home, if you'd like."

The girl squeezed her tighter and gave a relieved little laugh. "I'm okay. I just want to get the day over with. You shouldn't give Jeremy the chance, though, he'll actually take it."

Jenna rolled her eyes and released the girl. She smiled fondly. "I know he will."

Elena laughs, looking down at her phone screen as it lights up. "Well I'll see you later Aunt Jenna. Bonnie's here. I hope your class goes well today."

Jenna waves the girl out the door and makes her way into the kitchen. She grabs a glass and pours herself a cup of lemonade; made fresh by her the day before.

Taking a sip, she sighs, closing her eyes.

It had only been about two weeks since she'd woken up one day as Jenna Sommers from the Vampire Diaries, but it was getting easier and easier to slip into the role. It helped that she gained all the woman's memories.

She had immediately panicked at first, and for good reason. Watching the show was one thing, but actually living it was quite another. This world was dangerous, and people died left and right. Hell, the original Jenna was one of the first to go, and not in the best way, either.

Fortunately, she didn't have the time to panic much further as she was forced to take care of her new grieving niece and nephew. Most of her attention went towards the two, trying her best to help their lives get back on track after such a tragedy.

She'd had two nieces in her previous life, though they were only children when she'd last seen them; a couple of days before she'd somehow been transported here in this world. She dearly missed them, and poured her feelings for them into the two lonely teens.

While she cared for them, she also wasn't exactly idle. She had to study up on Jenna's major, as it was different from her own. She'd been an art major; loving to paint and draw from a young age. It followed her later on in life, and was what led to her becoming a professional artist.

Jenna was studying to become a realtor. Not exactly her first choice, and through her memories, not exactly Jenna's either. The girl had been unsure about what she wanted to do, so took her love for history and need for money and chose the occupation which she would at least do well in. She wasn't particularly talented at anything, unlike she had been with her art.

She'd decided to stick to it. Jenna was young, only twenty-four, but she was set to graduate this year. She didn't want the woman's hard work to go to waste, and if her art didn't work out she'd always have her degree as a backup.

Anyways, being a realtor didn't seem all the bad either. She'd be able to know which houses were vacant and unowned, and could buy or rent a place at a discount price.

She figured this could come in handy once vampires began to come out of the woodwork.

Speaking of vampires; Jenna had been working on a solution for that, too. While vervain wasn't all that common in Mystic Falls aside from Zach Salvatore's stash, it did exist in other places. That being so, she'd specially ordered some a couple of days after her arrival and it arrived a week later.

Technology wasn't as advanced as it had been in her time, but luckily phones and laptops were still a thing. And while not very common at this moment in time, online delivery was possible. Jenna planned to take complete advantage of this.

Jenna had ordered enough vervain to last for quite a while. It was a common enough plant, so wasn't all that expensive aside from the shipping costs. She bought some both dried and in liquid form. It was the latter that she added to most everything; from the laundry detergent and air freshener down to the lemonade she was drinking at this very moment.

She'd also even added it to the household's supply of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. She wasn't taking any chances.

Wary it wasn't enough, she even planned on getting a tattoo soon with vervain in the ink, and if possible, she'd make the children get one, too. She knew Jeremy would be up for it, and if she pushed further, Caroline would be too. Elena might be slightly more difficult, but she was sure she'd agree soon enough.

The idea wasn't her own, but rather something she'd once read about on Reddit. She was a rather large fan of the show, and liked to read fanfictions and learn obscure facts or interesting head cannons from online. Reddit was a common haunt of hers because of this, and a mine of knowledge for the taking. Something she'd need for everything that was coming.

Jenna could admit she wasn't the most moral person. She didn't fear death, and if angry and pushed far enough was sure she could even kill someone of her own violation. Still, she didn't like needless killing. She could only give her approval or at least tolerance if there was a reason behind the death. That wasn't always the case in this show. Sometimes people just died, even if they didn't deserve it.

Unlike many, Jenna didn't believe vampires were unfeeling monsters. Quite the opposite, she believed they felt too much. Their senses and feelings were heightened, and this in turn led to them making rash decisions in the heat of the moment. Many vampires in the show behaved this way; Damon Salvatore and Klaus Mikaelson perhaps two of the worst offenders.

Jenna hoped she could avoid getting any vampire's attention—and in turn emotions—so as to not have any rash decisions centered on her. She knew it was a lost cause for her new niece, being a doppelgänger as she was, but she still wanted to do her best to protect the young girl.

She was only sixteen when the show began, and many often forgot this fact. She was going to make mistakes; especially with so many horrible decisions being forced on her shoulders almost at once. She wasn't perfect, but she was also a child.

She'd disliked that aspect of the show. Several adults—because even if they became vampires at a young age they'd still lived for decades if not centuries—forcing children to fight for a cause they weren't even sure about.

So many secrets they had to keep from the adults around them, who even without the knowledge hardly seemed to care. Caroline's mom busy being the sheriff, Matt and Vicki's mother off who knew where, and Bonnie's Grams not exactly the best guardian. The original Jenna had tried her best, but she was wholly out of her depth.

Jenna hoped she could be the guardian and change these kids so desperately needed. Time would tell, but she could admit she was slightly optimistic. After all, she knew so much about what was to come, she was sure this awareness could at least keep her alive longer than her unfortunate counterpart.