A New Beginning

Chapter 1 - prologue

"Katherine", Damon says when he saw her coming.
"Um... No, I... I'm Elena", she says confused.
"Oh, you... You just look... I'm sorry you just really remind me of someone." He takes a few steps closer to her and look her in the eyes. "I'm Damon."

"Not to be rude or anything, Damon, but it's kind of creepy that you're out here in the middle of nowhere." She says with a slightly trembling voice.
"You're one to talk. You're out here all by yourself." He smiles at her. Not much. Only the left corner of his mouth, but it somehow makes Elena feel calmer.

"It's Mystic Falls. Nothing bad ever happens here."
They stand silent for a few seconds. Just looking into each others eyes. Damon can't let them of hers. Her eyes are beautiful, just as beautiful as the rest of her. He drowned in her big brown eyes, and her long brown hair that fell along her shoulders. She might actually be the most beautiful woman he's ever met.

She looked down at her phone. "Got in a fight with my boyfriend", she says.
"About what? May I ask?"
Elena shakes her head a little. "Life. Future. He's got it all mapped out."
"And you don't want it."
She shrugs. "I don't know what I want."
"Well that's not true. You want what everybody wants", Damon says and smiles.

"What? Mysterious stranger who has all the answers?"
She looks him in the eyes again. Weirdly enough she's not even the slightest bit scared of him anymore. The fact that she has never seen him before and that he started to talk to her for no reason doesn't matter anymore. For some reason she feels safe even though she shouldn't.

He laughs a little. "Hmm. Well, let's just say I've been around a long time. I've learned a few things."
"So, Damon... Tell me. What is it that I want?"

"You want a life that consumes you. You want passion and adventure, and even a little danger."
Damon knew he could give her all of that but she was already in a relationship. Of course he could end it very easy but there was something about her that stopped him from hurting her. She didn't deserve the pain.

He took six more steps towards Elena. It was only a few inches between them now and they were still starring at each other.

Elena opened her mouth. "So what do you want?"
He got surprised about the question and didn't know what to say. Just when he was suppose to give her some sort of answer,a car came and called for Elena who quickly turned around.
"It's my parents."

She turned to Damon again who was still looking her in the eyes. But deeper this time. Deeper than she though anyone was able to. Like he wanted to see inside her soul or something. And it sort of felt like he did.

"I want you to get everything you're looking for-"
Damon stops himself. He was about to tell her to forget about him. Forget that they met. Forget about all of this and keep living her life. But he changed his mind. He wanted her to remember. Not sure why but something inside him told him that they both would be better off if this memory was kept safe in both of them.

Next time she turned around he was gone.

Elena opens the car door.
"Hey, sweetie", her mother and father says at the same time. "How was the party?"
"Good I guess. Until Matt called."

Matt called her to ask how the party was. He wasn't there since he needed to be home with his family, just like Elena did but she had ignored them and went to the party anyway.

He started to talk about their future together but Elena wasn't sure she wanted it and it felt weird talking about a future like that as a sixteen year old. No, they are not kids anymore but why decide what should happen in ten years? Twenty years? She hung up and called her mother instead. The party wasn't fun anymore and she didn't feel like staying there any longer.

"Oh, honey. I'm glad you called." Her mother smiles friendly at her. Why wasn't she angry? Why was she always so nice and kind? If Elena had a daughter who refused to listen to her and instead run away to some party and later calling to get picked up, elena would definitely not be as nice to her as her own mother is right now.

"But we need to hurry because Jeremy is waiting for us at home", her father says and starts driving faster.

Out of nowhere, the car starts to slide, while being in the middle of the Wickery Bridge. Grayson tries to get control over the car but it is impossible. They all scream loudly while the car flew off the bridge an into the water.

Once they hit the surface they start to push the doors, trying to get them opened but they were too heavy. Not even their punches or kicks on the windows were strong enough. They kept going for almost a minute until they realised it was pointless. Neither of them wanted to give up but the lack of oxygen made them tired and their attempts to get out only got worse and worse.

Elena couldn't hold her breath for much longer. She looks at her father. They must get out of here. But he only shakes his head as a way of telling her it's too late. Instead of punching their fists through the thick water they take each others hands and looks at each other one last time, knowing this is the end.

Everything was so dark, she could barely she anything, but her father was shining.
"I love you", she says without any sound and let go of his hand.

Everything around her turned darker and her eyes started to close even though she wanted to keep them open. Her body was too weak. She could barely move her fingers.

Grayson was about to give up too when he saw something outside the window. It was a man. A young man, in Elena's age. The man wanted to save them all but he could only save them one at a time. Grayson points at Elena who is floating unconsciously in the backseat.

The young man use all his strength to open the door and to his surprise he has seen this girl before. It was Katherine. But it couldn't be, Katherine is dead. She died more than a hundred and fifty years ago.

So, who is this girl? Who is this human who looks exactly like Katherine Pierce? He didn't have time to think about it anymore, if he didn't save her now she would die.
He takes her in his arms and swim as fast as he can to the surface. Then he continues to the nearest land and put her on the ground. To make sure she'll be okay he gives her some off his healing vampire blood and runs away before she wakes up and sees him.