New Beginning

Chapter One

*AN: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or the world any of the known characters come from. I only own my OC's, and any original ideas that you see incorporated into this story. ATTN: I just found a wonderful Beta named Casey, who is currently helping me slowly rewrite this fic and fix any mistakes. So, if you see the first few chapters looking a lot better than the ones that follow; that is why. Also, I love constructive criticism, so please let me know what you think. I am working on my own original work so I could use the help of fine-tuning my writing.*

Looking back, there isn't a doubt in my mind that I was ever 'normal.'

Normal; what exactly did that mean, anyway? For years I thought the abilities I had were normal. How could they not be, when it was something that came so naturally to me?

As a small child, the way my mother would laugh and kiss my forehead, "Oh Elara, such an active imagination you have!" would send me into fits. Imagination? No, I could really make the salt and pepper shakers fly across the room!

It took years before I learned control over my gifts. When I was upset or over-excited, I couldn't replicate what I could do. I'd be left standing alone in the kitchen, red-faced and mad, and those stupid salt and pepper shakers wouldn't move.

"Maybe you'll write books one day," My mother would say. "with an imagination like yours, you'd make a great storyteller."

I eventually gave up trying to show my mother what I could do. If she wasn't interested, fine, I'd show my sister what I could do. We were twins; surely she could do the same things I could, right?

Wrong!

The day I was able to show my fraternal twin sister, Elena, one of my gifts, was the last day I tried to show anyone what I could do. Sure, learning she wasn't special like me was a little disappointing, but the mere fact that she was afraid of me? That she looked at me like I was the boogeyman and screamed at me to get away from her? I was heartbroken! I was only trying to help her as any good sister would. I never imagined that my gifts were something that people would fear. From that day forward, I never truly trusted anyone with knowing 'the real me'.

It went down like this, on an average, sunny, nothing out of the ordinary day:

Elena and I climbed the trees in our yard almost every day, and today was no different. We were laughing, playing, and climbing as we always loved to do together. There was no reason for this day to become one of the most defining days of my life until a swift gush of wind blew my sister's hair into her face. She let go of the tree with one hand to swipe her brown strands out of her face, lost her footing, and fell.

I'll never forget as she plummeted towards the ground, her fingers grasping at the empty air as if to catch a stray branch and save herself. If I close my eyes, I can still feel the tree bark scraping my palms as I hurriedly climbed down the tree to rush to my crying sister's side. I was always protective of her, being three minutes older, and seeing her curled into a ball clutching her arm kicked my adrenaline into overdrive.

Looking back, I wish I'd done things differently, that I'd let our parents take her to the hospital for a cast — instead of doing the stupidest thing I'd ever done. But no, I was the elder sister, and I had it handled. Deep down there was a part of me that knew I could fix the twisted, now bruising arm with ease, and then we could continue climbing the trees like it never happened.

I placed my small shaking hand on her arm and closed my eyes. "Don't worry, Lena," I said gently. "I can fix this."

I imagined her arm healed, back in its rightful place as it had been only moments before. Dark blue light poured from my fingertips, and her bones maneuvered back into their appropriate positions. I opened my eyes and smiled, but then instantly frowned at Elena's reaction. She'd gasped and pulled away faster than I could blink, holding her arm against her chest as if she were shielding it. She stared at me, wide-eyed and fearful, before looking down at her freshly healed arm. I'll never forget the way my heart broke as she let out a blood-curdling scream.