Four girls sat, crammed in the oldest Gilbert's room. All but one were getting ready for the masquerade party that was being held that night.

Caroline sighed as her hair was being held in the curler. "Elena, I can't believe you aren't coming. This is one of the biggest and best parties that Mystic Falls holds." she said, shaking her head, and making her neck burn. It didn't hurt her, but she winced for show, due to the younger twin being in the room. Bonnie rolled her eyes at the action. She thought from the beginning that they should have told her about their new world.

"I know! I mean, you go to all the boring ones anyway. Why don't you dress up? Masks are fun." Poppy said, looking at her older sister. Elena just shrugged.

"Poppy, I'll be fine. I just want you to have fun. Don't worry about me, Stefan can come over and we'll watch a movie and have popcorn or something." she said, smiling at her twin, who in no way looked like her.

Poppy had long, light blonde hair that reached her lower back in somewhat-loose curls. Her bright green eyes were the opposite of Elena andJeremy's. No one knew how exactly she got her features, because both of her parents had brown hair and brown eyes. All that everyone knew was that she was beautiful, in her own way. Poppy was, and always has been, short, but it looked good on her because she also happened to be naturally fit and petit.

While people noticed her beauty, they were mostly focused on Elena, who had more model-like looks, with her long legs, and tanned skin. Meanwhile, Poppy was stuck with her almost inhuman, pale skin. She often joked how she looked like she could be compared to Edward Cullen in the sunlight, seeing how her paleness 'sparkled.' Not all of her friends seemed to appreciate the joke though.

"Sure you will... I know you and Stefan have been having problems lately." Poppy muttered, rolling her eyes at Elena. Knowing her twin, she would probably watch Gossip Girl without her or something instead of 'watching a movie with Stefan.' No one seemed to hear her though, which she was partially thankful for.

Poppy looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a long, burgundy dress. It had a sweetheart neckline, giving off a sophisticated look that she didn't normally wear, but the masquerade had always been a lot more formal than the other dances in the town. Poppy was wearing black, strappy heels gave her a couple extra inches, making her not as ridiculously short as normal. Her abnormally light, blonde hair was in a side fishtail braid that reached her waist. The only other piece in her outfit was a small necklace that had the letter 'P' on it. However, this hardly counted anymore, as she never took the necklace off, due to it being a gift from her father from her 11th birthday.

She smiled at her reflection, loving that she got to rub in everyone's faces that she wasn't going to the party with them.

Finally, the other girls were ready, and they all went together, each excited to see if any people there were worth their time.

Caroline was quick to leave her friends, finding Tyler Lockwood {the son of the deceased Mayor} and disappearing altogether. It was obvious that something was happening between those two, but it seemed to Poppy like everyone was avoiding them as a topic for some reason that she didn't know. Honestly, she thought that they would be cute together...

"And then there were two..." Poppy said, smiling over at Bonnie. "It's so obvious that Care and Tyler like each other. I mean, how many hours does she spend with him a week? Personally, I liked it when Caroline and Matt were together... They were cute. What even happened to that?"

Bonnie shrugged, but Poppy could tell that she was hiding something. "I guess they just weren't feeling it anymore... but I agree." she said, trying to convince the blonde that that was the only story there was to be told.

Poppy gave her a look that clearly said 'I know you're hiding something' before changing the topic again to some dress that she wanted to get the next time she went to the mall.

At some point near the end of the party, Bonnie decided to ditch her date/best friend for something that must be more important. So, Poppy walked around the big mansion, deciding that since there wasn't much time left, she might as well have some fun snooping at the fancy luxuries before leaving. They certainly worked hard to put things together in the small town of Mystic Falls. Poppy always found it strange how many gatherings there were there, especially for such an unknown town. That was when she saw a familiar face out where the cars were all parked.

"Elena," she said, walking outside to her sister. "I thought you were staying home. You know, to 'watch a movie with Stefan' or whatever you said."

"I changed my mind." Elena gave her a tight, and obviously forced, smile. The blonde raised her eyebrows. What was up with her?

"So... Are you enjoying the party?" Poppy looked at her sister and noticed she wasn't wearing a dress or anything fancy. "Why aren't you all dressed up? And why are you covered in blood?"

Elena was about to reply when Poppy felt something hit very hard on the back of her head and her world turned black.

When Poppy woke up, there was a huge throbbing in her head. What the hell just happened? She looked around and noticed that she didn't recognize her surroundings. Where was she?

The first thing she did was feel for the necklace. She let out a sigh of relief when she felt it there, and traced the 'P' that curved its way around the metal. At least she had a small piece of home with her, even if she was kidnapped by someone who was probably as evil and crazy as Disney's interpretation of Hades.

She sighed and got up, ignoring the throbbing that worsened when she stood, along with the dizziness. Poppy knew that she had been kidnapped, so she made sure to make her footsteps light and quiet. This was rather hard to do, because she was extremely clumsy, and the fact that she was wearing heals wasn't helping anything. She took them off, knowing that it would be impossible to be quiet with them on. Walking down a flight of stairs, she turned to see a man. With a coat hanger stuck through his stomach. What the hell? Poppy bit her fist to stop from screaming at the creepy gray dead guy. Instead of screaming, she just slowly walked backwards, not wanting to have a place in this if the police came. She wasnot getting involved in this.

Poppy was almost out of the room when she heard a loud clang, meaning that something fell on the ground. She closed her eyes as she mentally crossed her fingers that the clang wasn't something as creepy as the dead gray guy, but when she turned around, she saw that it was something even worse. It was the dead guy. Except, he wasn't dead. He just looked very, very annoyed.

The guy cracked his neck and straightened his destroyed suit to make it look a littlemore presentable. Now that he wasn't all gray and veiny and dead, he wasn't that bad looking. In fact, if he had a better suit on right now, Poppy would even say he was handsome. This made her raise her eyebrows. The dead guy was cute. Only, wasn't he the one who kidnapped her?

Throughout this time, Poppy stayed speechless. She just looked at the creepy zombie man in awe, wonder, and fright. Sure, he's cute, but that still didn't stop the fact that he kidnapped her, and that he was dead and came back to life.

The man finally looked over to the small girl, staring at him with big, green eyes. "I take it that you are Poppy Gilbert. I am Elijah Mikaelson, Original vampire." he said, casually with his slight English accent.

Poppy's jaw dropped as her eyes, somehow, got even bigger and her pale skin turned nearly as white as a sheet. What the hell?This crazy zombie {vampire?} creepy guy was saying he's a what? Who did he think he was?

"Ah... It seems that someone is unaware of the supernatural." 'Elijah' said.

"Holy shit. You- you just said that you were a vampire." Poppy said, shaking her head, as if that would clear it from what was happening in front of her. "But that's impossible, because vampires are fake. I think you need help. Maybe you should go to a doctor or something, because you were just dead. Like, you were completely impaled. I mean, how did you...? What the hell is even happeningright now?"

'Elijah' rolled his eyes at the girl. This only made her angry. She glared at him.

"Dude, listen, you kidnapped me and you're the one who's angry? Excuse you, but I didn't exactly ask for this either. And I need to get back home. Did you bring a car? But, I'm sorry, I just can't seem to understand how you're still conscious after being impaled." Poppy soon began rambling, much to the thousand-year-old's annoyance. He rolled his eyes once again.

"Miss Gilbert, it would be greatly appreciated if you shut up." he said calmly. How was it that a human he had just met had already bothered him so much? "I have to leave, and I don't need to hear your voice rambling about nothing, while I'm trying to sort out some of the events that had just taken place."

At this, the girl dropped her jaw and raised her eyebrows. Now, she was just getting annoyed. This guy couldn't go around telling her what to do! She just met him! What kind of authority did he think he held over her?

"Listen up, Elijah, I don't know who you are, but I was kidnapped with my sister, and I don't know where she is, so I'm going to look for her. After that, I'm leaving, and hopefully, I'm never going to have the displeasure of meeting you again."

"Well, that is rather unfortunate. You see, your sister already had her saviors come for her, and she is gone. It seems as if they left you here." Elijah said, now with an amused smirk on his face.

Poppy frowned. No. That couldn't be right. Elena would have saved her... Wouldn't she? Yes, she would, Poppy. Don't think like that, she thought to herself, shaking her head.

"I don't believe you." she said, glaring at him. She paused for a moment, but couldn't help but ask, "Who saved her anyways?"

"The Salvatore brothers. It seems as if they have yet again fallen for a girl coming from the Petrova bloodline. Currently, I don't seem to understand the interest." Elijah said, casually leaning back on the wall where he once was hanging. He was acting as if he wasn't dead just moments ago. However, this wasn't the only thing on Poppy's mind.

Poppy frowned. "Wait. So are Stefan and Damon also... vampires?" she said. Then she shook her head at how stupid this all sounded. "Wow I sound crazy right now..."

"Yes, they are."

"You know, you act like you're some awesome bad-ass vampire guy, but then a teenage boy with the help of his twenty-year-old brother put a coat hanger in your chest without much trouble. I mean, at least it doesn't look like there was much struggle..."

Elijah rolled his eyes. Then, just like that, he was gone from where he was standing, and was instead holding the blonde against the wall by her throat, glaring at her, but still holding a calm expression. "Do not test me, Miss Gilbert. I am older than one thousand years old, the Salvatores are flies compared to me. A mere stake in the heart cannot kill me. I am the oldest vampire existing, also the strongest. I recommend not getting on my bad side." he threatened. His voice was quiet, which only made it more intimidating.

Poppy just looked at him with her wide, green eyes. After a second, she regained herself. "Fine, god. Chill out a little, I'm a teenage girl. What am I going to do to you?" she said, raising her eyebrows.

Elijah sighed. He had expected a better, more interesting reaction from her. Well, at least a more average reaction. A scream seemed more necessary, rather than the simple 'chill out' that he got. It actually annoyed him that he didn't get the effect at all. The only thing that showed that she was scared was the fast heart beats that were pumping the blood in her chest, which she couldn't really control.

Through all of this time that he had spent thinking, Poppy. Would. Not. Stop. Talking. She couldn't help it though! This was what she did when she panicked – she talked! Her dad used to always say that in order to make a kidnapper let you go, your best bet was to annoy the hell out of him. Of course neither of them ever thought that she would get into a situation like this, but she certainly used this information now. Plus, Elijah seemed like his head was about to explode any second now. Hey... This gave her something else to talk about.

"Are you alright, Elijah? You look annoyed and stressed and tired and exhausted. Maybe it's time to take me home so that you can, like, take a nap, or get an aspirin, or drink blood, or whatever you vampires do these days... I'm feeling tired myself. I bet that Elena's going crazy looking for me."

Elena sighed, relieved to be out of that crazy, vampire, drama-filled house. Damon and Stefan had taken her to the Boarding House and she was sitting on their couch, thinking. She felt like she was missing something. Something that was staring her right in the face.

Damon and Stefan were arguing about who-knew-what in the other room, making it hard for her to concentrate. Those two really needed to just sort out their problems already. She was suddenly glad that she had such a good relationship with Poppy and Jeremy. It would be so awful to have to live with someone that she couldn't stand.

Elena sighed, shrugged, and got up to get some Cheetos. She knew that it would come back to her eventually.

"Yes, Poppy, for some reason I doubt that..." the eldest Original said, mostly to himself. Poppy still heard this and frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Can't I just go home already?" she asked.

"You aren't going home any time soon. You are the Doppelganger's sister, and you might come in handy one day... For now, we shall be staying with some friends of mine."

Poppy raised her eyebrows. "And who are your friends, mummies?" she asked sarcastically.

However, Elijah must have taken her comment seriously. "No, they are warlocks. Mummies do not exist."

At this, Poppy raised her eyebrows higher {if possible} and widened her eyes {also in a highly impossible manner}, but didn't say anything, as she followed the oldest living creature to his car. Okay, she was following the oldest vampire into his car off to some warlocks' house. Honestly, could this day get any weirder?

While she couldn't think of any ways it could get stranger than it already was, she could think of many ways that it could get better. The first way, would be for Elena or really anyone to save her from this annoying, so-called Original.

Just then, something caught her attention while she was stepping into the car. "Hey, you keep saying that 'Lena's some kind of 'doppelganger' or whatever... What exactly does that mean?" she asked, turning to the man who had already started the car.

"Your sister, and I suppose yourself, live in the same bloodline as others who look exactly like one another. The Petrova bloodline, to be exact. She looks like and has some of the same characteristics of the original. If you place another Petrova next to her, you would not be able to tell them apart at all." Elijah informed in his classy way. Poppy had already caught on to his ways. They were weird and old-timey, and she was definitely not accustomed to his proper way of speaking.

"Then how are Elena and I so different? We're twins and we don't look anything alike. No one knows how I got my hair or eyes. Why am I different?" she asked, completely curious.

"I do not know how you got your looks, Poppy. That would take me looking further into your bloodline, which is a chore that I do not have time for, at the moment." Elijah said, indifferent towards everything. Poppy looked at him and his facial expression, looking for anything that would give away any type of emotion. She didn't find anything.

"So..." she said, looking down at her hands. "Everyone I know, knows about vampires?"

Elijah sighed. Honestly, he just wanted the girl to shut up, but he didn't say anything because he knew that it would only make her talk more. "To put it simply. However, I believe that your aunt, Jenna, is not aware of the supernatural."

"Wow... So everyone else knew about it and didn't tell me. Why would they not tell me?" she asked, mostly to have a dramatic rhetorical question at the end of their conversation.

The thousand-year-old vampire, however, did not know this. "Well, probably because you're upfront, honest, say whatever is on your mind, it seems as if you cannot stop talking... It would be bound to come out eventually if you knew."

Poppy glared at him. "That's not fair. I can keep a secret... I bet that you were the most boring human ever." she said, randomly changing the subject. "I mean, you were, like, a Viking, or whatever, but I bet that you would make everyone follow the rules and never have fun. You would be, like, the most annoying person to go on a vacation with."

"Poppy, I have already told you to be quiet multiple times. I don't think that either of us would enjoy the rest of this ride if you continue speaking."

She frowned. That was rude. That was when she saw that he actually had an expression on his face, {guilt?} but then it was soon switched back to his indifference. He was like a blank canvas; it didn't make any sense. How could he just make it seem like he doesn't have any emotions? It was almost like he turned them off.

Elijah noticed her stare, and looked at her sharply. "Poppy, I think that with your human needs, it would be necessary for you to go to sleep now." he said, more like an order than a suggestion.

She frowned at him, but then made her spot in the fancy {and probably expensive} car more comfortable, before dozing off into a welcomed sleep.

What a strange day.

Hello, readers :) Nice to meet you. Hopefully, you enjoyed reading the first chapter, if in fact there is anyone who read it. If you did, please leave a review or favorite or follow. I know that this chapter was probably written quite badly, because it's only the beginning, and doesn't have many interesting things to actually happen in it, but I've already written ahead, and know exactly where this will go. So trust me, it gets better. :)

I do not own The Vampire Diaries or any characters mentioned from the show that are in this story. Poppy is mine, though. :) Also for future references, I do not own any other characters that I may add from different shows or films.

~Alissa