Disclaimer- don't own Vampire Diaries! Nor is any money made off this story.

Author's note- this is co-written by me dear old Salllzy and Imaginary Raine. Also there will be a lot of us messing with the cannon. Also events, times and people's real names will not be used. There will be things changed as well.

~~~~~~~The other side~~~~~~~

All of the spirits had gathered. They had been watching their families and people around them for years. They had seen many things, had witnessed many people live, but, more than that, they had witnessed those same people, along with uncountable more, die. They needed to change it, not just for themselves, but for others as well. They had known that, when the vampires were created, things would change. They had been right, and now, a 1000 years later, they had had enough. Esther, the mother of the originals, was stood looking over the remaining children of her family, Elijah, Niklaus and Rebekah.

Shortly after she had turned them into what they were, she felt remorse. She had created monsters. Or that had been her thought at the time, but now, watching them, seeing the pain that they were in, she wanted to change it, to give them something better something more.

"Watching them again?"

She turned around and looked at her husband, the man that she loved dearly with all her heart, Mikael. He was tall and imposing. He often scared people with how he looked. She looked back at her children and watched as they fought and bickered. She sighed when she felt his arms around her waist.

"Have they decided?"

Esther nodded her head. She had wanted to kill them once, but she had seen how they had mourned their deaths – even Mikael's to some extent. She had seen as they tore the small town of Mystic Falls apart trying to avenge the deaths of their family members, and not just Finn's and Kol's, hers as well. Despite everything they had still been family, no matter how sick and twisted it was. They had still cared about each other. She felt his arms tighten around her as she responded.

"Yes, we have even chosen two people as well. They will be the best option for us."

Mikael nodded his head and didn't say anything more on the matter. They stood and watched as Klaus killed Marcel. They hoped that the people that they had chosen would be able to do something; otherwise they would have destroyed two people's lives for no reason.

~~~~~~~~~Real world~~~~~~

Sitting in front of her laptop was a small woman, her hair was dark brown with black roots and two strips of blonde and silver mixed in to them. She was tapping her fingers against the keyboard waiting for someone to call her. She smiled as she answered the Skype call.

"Sal, how are you?"

Sal looked down at her screen and grinned. "Raine! Good to see you, how is your psychology paper coming along?"

Raine shook her head, or it looked like it, and groaned. "It isn't."

Sal laughed and shook her head, loose strand of hair flying everywhere. "Anything I can help with?"

Raine looked at her and deadpanned. "Remember your failed paper, when you said everyone in your class was a serial killer?"

Sal snorted and shook her head, and the two spent some time chatting. Sal looked down at the clock and blinked. "I have to get head to bed."

Raine looked at her clock. "It's still early here. And I have a paper to finish as well. Same time tomorrow?"

Sal nodded her head. "You know it."

The two gave their goodbyes. Sal flopped down on her bed and sighed. "Come to me sleep!"

Just as her eyes were about to close she heard yowling from her cat. She sighed and got up, going to see what the hell was wrong with her cat. Eventually, she did fall asleep.

~~~~~~The other side of the pond~~~~~~

Raine looked at the blank document on the screen of her laptop. There was something wrong, she could feel it.

It had been an hour since her Skype call and she was reluctant to call her friend again. Even if Sal had left her laptop on and was still online on Skype, it would be cruel to wake her up.

She sighed and went back to trying to write it again, for some reason she just couldn't seem to get what she wanted from her brain and transfer it to words. Giving a frustrated huff, she pushed the laptop away and looked at the ceiling. She stood like that for a little while before she sighed and run her hand through her hair.

"I'm having a nap," she decided. "Maybe when I wake up I will get something done!"

She leaned back on her couch and sighed again. She really hoped that, when she woke up, she could get her paper done as it was due in on Monday, and the day was Saturday. That gave her two days to get it done. She ran her hand down her face and closed her eyes.

Neither woman knew that their lives would be changed forever, that they would meet people who would change them.

~~~~The vampire diaries universe, the other side~~~~~

Sheila Bennett looked at the assembled group, her dark eyes sweeping over every one of them.

"They are asleep."

Mason Lockwood nodded his head as he asked "The sleep spell work, then?"

Sheila raised an eyebrow as she glared at him. "You doubt me?" She asked in a menacing tone.

Mason held his hands up in the universal sign of surrender. He looked around at everyone and spoke with seriousness.

"Look, I want this to work as much as all of you. But we have just put two people into a coma! Am I the only one seeing how unfair we are being?"

Mikael gave him a sharp glare. "Shut your mouth wolf, we all know the consequences."

Esther placed her hand on his arm in an attempt to calm him down. "Mikael, please."

Mikael turned his smouldering gaze away from Mason, just as they were about to argue once again they heard voices.

"So you got hit by a car?"

The disbelief in the voice was easy enough to hear, but since they couldn't see them, they had no idea what was really happening. They didn't know if the two people that they had chosen were close or not, or if they could even work together. But they had hope, so they would still try. All that was left was to listen and see how they interacted with each other.

"Mmm, I was saving Marshmallow."

They had a 'thud' sound, followed by a grunt. Light muttering could be heard as the spirits began to walk to where their chosen were. They were nervous, that much was certain. They didn't know how this would play out at all.

"I thought you were sleeping. And who the hell is Marshmallow?"

The fond exasperation could be heard, they knew that if they saw the two girls at the moment, one of them would be shaking her head with a smile on her face.

"My cat."

They could practically see and hear the smirk on the other woman's voice, as they heard the other woman sigh.

"You named your cat Marshmallow?"

Even from the distance they could hear the grin on her face as she popped the 'p' when she next spoke.

"Yep."

They walked into the clearing where everyone was stood. They came to a sudden halt, looking around several times, disbelief colouring their features. The spirits watched as the shortest girl turned to her companion and said "Raine, hit me."

Raine blinked, coming out of her stupor, and looked at her. She shook her head. "You got hit by a car, so you're either dead or in a coma. But last I checked I was still alive. Besides," she smirked, "I wouldn't want to inflict more damage to your brain." Sal sputtered at that.

Raine looked around before stating "So… is there a reason why we're here? Because last I remember I was in my home worrying about a college paper, and nowhere near the States. And even if I was, it certainly wouldn't be in close proximity to any of you, seeing as you're famous and I'm not."

"Famous?" Esther asked, taken aback. When all she received was a "Mhm", she continued in disbelief. "You know who we are?"

Raine looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You're Alice Evans, aren't you? And they," she indicated the others with a gesture, "are your colleagues from The Vampire Diaries show."

"The what?" The blonde witch asked. "And no, I'm not this Alice Evans you're talking about. My name is Esther," Raine and Sal exchanged glances at that, "and I'm one of those who brought you here."

"Here being…?" Asked Sal.

"The Other Side."

Esther saw their expressions go blank, before the one known as Raine opened her mouth. "I'm sorry; I think I didn't hear it right. Did you just say that we are on the Other Side?" She asked carefully. Esther nodded. The girl nodded back. It looked like she was trying not to freak out. "Isn't that the place where supernatural beings go after they die?" She hissed, putting emphasis on the word 'die'. Esther flinched and saw the others trading glances. They didn't think they would know about it.

Raine looked like she was close to have a mental breakdown. Sal had tears gathered in her eyes.

John Gilbert looked at the two and nodded his head, before explaining.

"We need you."

Raine whirled on him, furious. "Need us for what?"

Sal looked around. She closed her eyes for a second, gathering herself, before opening them. She looked at Mikael and Esther and spotted their linked hands, turning she looked at Raine and spoke. "It's something to do with them. Each one of them has been killed in the shows, which means that they need someone or something to help them."

Raine looked at her, going over her words, needing something to distracted herself, she teased the other. "Sal, you do have a brain!" She received a light punch on her arm in response.

Sal looked at Raine and smiled. At least she had someone that she knew. But that begged the question: what had happened to her? Was her sister in all but blood like her?

Mikael and Esther shared a look; this could go in so many different ways. But they still had to try.

Sheila looked at them before bluntly saying.

"Follow me."

Both Sal and Raine followed her (the latter doing so reluctantly). As they came to a stop, Sal looked around and spotted three people that she had watched many times.

"Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah."

Raine followed her finger and shook her head, the rational part of her brain was screaming at her that this was some sort of dream… that she was hallucinating. This couldn't be real. But all the facts were staring her in the face and she couldn't deny them, no matter how much she wanted to.

Raine watched as Klaus tore into the neck of a young man and drained him. She knew that Klaus could be cold and cruel – she remembers cheering for him whenever it looked like he would put the Salvatores in their places – but this was borderline on monstrous. She watched as the body fell to the ground, nausea rising in her stomach. She didn't know what was going on, but whatever it was it was big.

Sheila looked at the two of them; one impassive and cold the other looking like she wanted to throw up. Sheila looked at Sal as she asked "Not your first dead body?"

She shook her head and continued to watch. She glanced over at Raine, and put her arms around her despite the height difference and inquired. "What happened?"

Sheila looked at the two and smiled, they were like two sisters. They fought and bickered but they were still there for each other when it counted.

"Marcel had Klaus's child killed."

The three turned around and looked at Mikael who had come up behind them, followed by the rest of the group. They watched the events before them.

Raine looked at the three living originals and noticed that they were different; more cold and cruel. It took her a while to realize why. She placed her hand on her mouth and muttered.

"They have no emotions." Esther nodded her head. "How? I mean, I thought you couldn't switch it off after you got past a certain age."

Esther sighed as she told them. "After Marcel had Hope killed things changed, Klaus in his grief slaughtered an entire coven of witches, or Wiccans as you know them. But he wasn't alone, Elijah and Rebekah joined him. Shortly after, they turned their emotions off."

"It still doesn't explain the switch."

"Can't you think of anything that would explain their behaviours?" Esther asked.

Raine closed her eyes in thought, trying to remember anything that would explain it.

"Oh, fuck," she groaned. Esther pursed her lips at the coarse language, but refrained herself from reprimanding the girl. "We've got ourselves some depressive vampires. Lovely," she said, running a hand through her hair.

"Depressive?" John asked, curious at her assessment.

"Mhm," she nodded. "Depression is one of the five stages of grief, you know. And it looks like they already passed through the anger stage," she said wryly.

"Do you think they would be able to reach the acceptance stage?" Asked Bill Forbes. Esther looked from one to another, trying to comprehend what they were speaking. She knew only that it related to her children and their behaviour.

"I couldn't say. Not everybody goes through all five stages, nor do they go in that exactly order. My theory is that, seeing as they are vampires, with heightened emotions, all the grief, the pain, the rage, the guilty, etc., became too much and they shut down. Humans do this all the time, why couldn't the three of them?"

"There is so much someone can take," Sal added quietly.

Mikael placed a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder. "Klaus became more and more like me each day, he was beyond cruel to the people that he had sired; he killed entire families. Elijah was no better; he slaughtered an entire homeless shelter. Rebekah went about it in a different way, but the results were still the same."

Sal looked at them then back to the scene before saying in a soft voice. "So much pain. So much death. And since they are originals they can't be killed without the vampire race being killed off. So now everybody lives in fear, hiding away and hoping that they don't do anything to upset them. Then maybe, they will be spared."

Bill Forbes walked to them as he grunted. "Best way to explain it, now are you helping or not?"

Mason looked at him in slight shock before snarling. "They need to know just what they are getting involved with before they jump in headfirst."

John stepped between the two a hand on each chest as he pushed them apart.

"You are both right, but Mason has a better point. If they don't know what they are getting involved into, then they could end up dead, and we would have to do this all over again. Choosing someone else and destroying their lives, destroying more families. We need to get this right first time not ten times down the line!"

Bill stormed away from them and stood off to the side, he didn't say anything but he was still close enough to know what was being said and what was going on.

"Do you know when and where you will send us?"

The turned and looked at Raine. She wasn't looking at them, but rather at Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah. She turned around and caught Finn and Kol's eyes. She saw torment in those dark eyes; she could also see the grief. She turned back around as she heard Sal murmur.

"A father's grief is deep, but never as deep as the mothers as she has carried that life inside of her for nine months. She fed it and nurtured it while it was still inside of her. So I ask you this: where is Hailey?"

They looked at each other; none of them knew what to say. Raine pulled the small woman in for a hug as she looked at the scene in front of her.

"She is right; where is Hailey? She wouldn't leave them alone to destroy themselves."

The heard footsteps as someone walked closer. When they got to the group, they said in a simple manner.

"Dead."

They looked at each other, not sizing each other up, but seeing. The pain and grief had followed Hailey to her death. She was thin, looking as if she hadn't been eating; her eyes had sunken into her head. She resembled a corpse even before her death.

Sal and Raine looked at each other, understanding running through both of them. Hailey had killed herself in her grief, not wanting to be without the one thing that had lit up her world.

The group watched as the two talked with their eyes and hands, never once speaking out loud. They shook their heads a few times before Raine spoke.

"Agreeable?"

Sal nodded her head. "It will work, and it won't create a paradox or kill everyone. After all, the originals are fixed points in time. They will be created no matter what happens, so that will have to stay the same."

Mason looked between the two as he asked.

"What was that?"

Raine looked at him before saying to them all. "Linking potion."

Esther and Sheila looked interested as Sheila asked.

"Linking potion?"

Sal nodded her head. "Yep, turns out my great something grandfather made it. He made it for his best friend who was like a brother to him, but they didn't share the same bond that brothers do, so he created a linking potion by accident, they got a nasty shock when they realized that it worked and they could feel each other's emotions and hear their thoughts."

Esther breathed out sharply. "Incredible."

Sheila nodded her head as she looked between the two. "So the two of you drank it as well."

Raine huffed a laugh. "I didn't believe it would work, at all. So we brewed it the next day I woke up to her."

She pointed her thumb at Sal who was smiling and waving at her. "Singing I'm a little teapot."

She sent a dark glare to the other woman who just merely waved her fingers at her. Raine flipped her off.

The group around them shared some amusement; the way that they were acting was like both mature adults and children. Serious in one aspect yet in another they were childish and making fun of each other. Whatever doubt they had, it was gone. They knew that they had made the right choice, which was a good thing. They could feel the dark spirits of the other side slowly making their way towards them. Mikael squeezed Esther's arm. They were running out of time.

"We have to hurry now. They have found out what we are planning to do!"

The two nodded their heads while Sal looked at them.

"Three years, that is how far back we need to go. Listen before you argue, if we turn up just before Damon and Stefan roll into town it will look like we have followed them. But if we show up a year earlier and have been seen around town and doing other things, then we can't be associated with them, meaning we can do what needs to be done."

Sheila nodded her head but pointed out.

"The two people who you will become are already known in the town. They live just outside of it. The problem is, one of them will have to become a boy. You Sal will become Henry Black, younger brother to Micaela Black. The rest you will have to find out by yourself. But know this: neither of you will be able to tell anyone you are not from their world; that you come from another world."

Sal nodded her head, Sheila turned to Raine as she spoke in hurried tones. "You will become Micaela Black, older sister to Henry Black."

Raine nodded her head. Bill looked at them before shouting.

"They are coming."

Sal turned and looked at them with something akin to sorrow as she begged.

"My ancestor's books and items… they could help us. Could we have them?"

Mikael looked at them; it was a reasonable request as he nodded his head.

"They will already be there for you. Now go!"

They watched as the men turned and made their way to the exit of the clearing, ready to fight whatever came their way. The two women wished that they had more time with them. Get to know them better, but they didn't. The two grabbed hold of each other's hands as both Sheila and Esther began to chant.

Just as they were about to disappear Sheila spoke.

"Good luck."

That was the last thing that they saw before they were engulfed in a bright white light.