Sigh...

Hello, this is BabySealLover with a new fanfic that I shouldn't be writing because I am currently in the middle of two others. But, alas... I am starting something new. Frankly, I felt that it was needed. For me, anyway. Change of pace and all that. I've been under a lot of stress lately and I just... well... this is at least part of the product of all that stress.

Not 100 percent sure where this is going yet, but I have an idea. Major OC warning if you aren't a fan of those. This is actually about to be my first fanfiction for a live action fanbase! Pretty cool, huh? I have no particular reason for doing it... well, maybe I do a little bit. But I'll address that later on. For the moment, just know that this is something I thought would be fun, so I decided to do it. And what more is ever needed, right? :)

And so... happy reading the prologue. Hope you find some enjoyment out of it.

Oh, and by the way, this is rated M to be safe as a result of some violence, language, and mild adult situations, but nothing explicit or over the top. That cool? Okay.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries.

Prologue

The bar was crowded tonight. It was loud and musty and reeked of alcohol. And, admittedly, it was probably not my usual first place to look for a meal. But finding dinner at the bar certainly had its advantages.

Of course, I nearly retracted that thought when some drunk pig bumped into me while I was trying to focus. But he slurred a half-hearted apology before going on his merry way, and ultimately I resisted the initial urge to grab him by the collar and put him in intensive care. Or worse. Drink him dry in front of everyone in the bar.

Not that I didn't know what a horrible idea that was, but I was so freaking hungry that I almost didn't care. Almost.

I scanned the scene from the background in search of a suitable victim. It really didn't matter, as long as it looked like someone who would be easy to manipulate. But then again, humans could be so predictable to begin with.

Sitting at the bar I spotted a man who instantly caught my eye. He appeared to be—perhaps in his late twenties. As I approached, I noted the drink in his glass; from the look of it, it was probably some sort of vodka. The man had light hair and was fairly good-looking (not that that was important in this case) and he appeared to be alone. Definitely the "I'm drinking my troubles away" kind of guy. It was the ideal setup if I had ever seen one.

So I pulled out my inner actress and let out a sigh before sitting down casually in the seat next to him. The bartender came over and I smiled at him. "I'll take anything scotch," I said, sliding a few dollars toward him as a tip in advance.

While I waited for my drink, I decided to be proactive and get this over with. I turned to the man beside me with the friendliest expression I could muster. "Hello there, stranger."

His head moved and he peered at me vaguely through dark green eyes for a few seconds as if he wasn't sure I'd actually spoken. But then the ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. "Well, hi, to you too—stranger." He was definitely drunk, but not completely wasted sort of drunk just yet. Still—enough to make him a look a little unfocused—and perhaps a bit too relaxed.

"I don't think I've ever seen you around here before…" he said quietly, now looking at me more closely with obvious interest.

"Does that mean you come here a lot?" I asked, taking my scotch from the bartender and thanking him silently.

He shrugged. "Maybe I just pay attention." A flirtatious smirk snuck up on his expression, and my inner hunter's laughter reverberated through my head.

All too easy.

"Well, either way," I said, taking a sip of my scotch, "You guessed right. This isn't usually my scene. I'm just a girl looking for some more adventure in her life."

The man turned his face away and peered into his drink, as if there was something particularly interesting about its contents. "Adventure, huh? I don't think you came to the right place."

Mystic Falls? Not adventurous? Guess I couldn't argue with that.

So I smiled. "Then maybe you could show me where the adventure is."

There was a short pause and he glanced at me again. He raised his eyebrows slightly. "Hey, there… don't think I don't know what you're doing."

I pulled back innocently. "What? I'm just trying to be friendly. Can't really help it if you just happen to be irresistibly charming."

Okay, so I was laying it on thick. If I had to, I would just compel him to be agreeable. But with the way things were going, I guessed it probably wouldn't be necessary as long as my patience held out.

I could tell by the sudden light in his tired eyes that I had caught him by surprise. Despite his moderately drunken state, I heard his pulse quicken just a bit. "Irresistibly charming, hm? No stranger's ever called me that, before."

Leaning my chin on my fist, I said, "So you've been called that before by people you know?" His mouth opened slightly, but I received only silence. So instead, I changed the subject. "My name's Vivian. Yours?"

"Sam," he replied after a short pause.

I shifted my weight and crossed my legs, making note of when his gaze dipped for just a second. "Well, Sam…" I told him, "It looks like you and I aren't strangers anymore."

Sam reached over to rub the side of his neck absently. He said something to me, but I missed it when he drew my attention away with his hand. Now I was suddenly too busy watching the pulsing of his throat—the tiny purple vein and the sound of the blood pumping through his system. How good it would feel to simply lean in now and sink my teeth through that soft, white flesh and tear open his delicate artery. And the taste of fresh, warm blood on my tongue, sliding down my throat…

By the time my brain caught up with me, I realized I was leaning much closer to him than I had been just a moment ago. In fact, I was just a few inches away from his face. Luckily, he couldn't read my mind and probably hadn't guessed that I was just fantasizing about his death. I swallowed back my hunger in an effort to prevent myself from attacking someone in public and tried to get back into character as best as I could.

"Then maybe… since you and I are on a first name basis now, you could introduce me to a little bit of adventure after all." My voice sounded hoarser than I intended, but ultimately I think it worked to my advantage. His eyes were on my lips and his breathing pattern had changed. I had him. As I gently placed a hand on his knee, I muttered, "You look like you could use a break from the real world. Want to get out of here for a little bit?"

I could tell there was a part of him that hesitated, but he was either desperate or just a drunk man with weak will power, and he smiled. "Okay, let's go."

The two of us snuck out the back, and with every step the anticipation grew more unbearable. Sam held the door for me and we came out in the middle of a quiet alley way. The end-of-summer air hit my skin, and I almost laughed at how fitting and convenient our location was. Not a single force stood in my way. This would be over quickly. Perhaps too quickly.

The instant Sam shut the door, I snatched him by the collar of his shirt and pushed him up against the wall. "Right now?" he gasped, a little jarred from the impact.

I glared up at him, fully meeting his eyes. Then I ordered in a soft voice, "Don't move and don't call for help."

The expression in Sam's gaze changed, and he stiffened. "What… wh—why can't I move?" His voice was little more than a whisper, his heart pounding against my hand.

"Because I told you not to," I murmured, shifting in slight discomfort as my fangs came out. He saw the transformation in my face—his eyes filled with terror.

"What the hell are you?"

I licked my lips, pulling him forward slightly and leaning in toward his neck. "I'm a vampire," I hissed. "And you're my dinner."

His breathing became rushed and shallow when I said the dreaded "v" word out loud. "No—no… oh God, please… don't kill me. I'll do anything. God, I'll do anything!"

"God can't protect you from me," I said, but then became hesitant all of the sudden. Their pleas and cries always had a way of making me feel sorry for them. But I couldn't exactly leave him alive after feeding on him. Mystic Falls had never been a safe place for vampires and if someone found bite marks on him there would be suspicion. I couldn't take the risk of healing it by feeding him my own blood, either. If he ended up dying before it cleared his system, then…

"Look, Sam," I whispered, attempting to hold my breath. "You seem like a decent guy, but I haven't had a drop of blood in two days. I've been trying to hold out… but we vampires… tend to be impatient. Just stay still and relax. It'll only hurt for a minute."

I leaned in again, but he wasn't done trying yet. "No, please! I have a wife—and a son. I need to get home to them… have some compassion!"

I frowned. With his heart rate up to begin with, I couldn't tell if he was lying about the wife and son, or telling the truth. Not that it mattered. It also didn't matter to me why he'd been so willing to sleep with me if he had a family at home. All I wanted was my meal.

And yet, as he stared at me with now much more alert green orbs, guilt bubbled to the surface of my mind. If only circumstances had been different—he'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Oh, why did I have to go and talk to him? I should have just compelled him from the beginning and gotten it over with before there was any chance of developing sympathy for him.

With a short sigh of defeat, I grasped his arms, fighting to keep my eyes off his neck. "Fine. Forget this ever happened. Go home."

Sam's eyes glazed over and he simply nodded and turned away from me. I lowered my gaze as he brushed past me and started walking. For a short moment, I simply stared at the ground, listening to his footsteps on the asphalt while he moseyed off as if I didn't exist. After all, he'd forgotten about all of this the moment he took his eyes off me. And yet, the hunter in me couldn't help feeling like he was just teasing me. Just asking me to change my mind and rush after him.

I stayed strong despite the voices in my head telling me otherwise. His footsteps slowly grew fainter as he drew closer to the end of the alley. My mind told me not to do it, but my body moved on its own and I glanced up to turn my head toward him. Even at a distance, I could still hear blood pumping through his veins, despite my attempts to mute it through my ears. I kept telling myself it would all be over soon. I just had to wait another moment, and I wouldn't have to think about him anymore. Just a few more seconds… just a few more seconds.

A shaky breath rushed into my nose. Just a few more seconds wasn't enough.

I was too damn hungry to walk away.

I licked my lips again, and before my prey reached the edge of the alley, my fangs were at his throat.

…

The best part of snatching a meal out of the bar is that there are a gazillion explanations for why someone could go missing after a night of drinking. Sure, the blood tastes like alcohol and there's a lot of usually unnecessary work involved, but it ends up being pretty darn convenient in the end. That man I killed last night will probably never be found, and no one will ever suspect a vampire, because there's no reason to.

I think the only loose end here is his supposed family. I hope, if he was telling the truth, that they'll be all right without him. Goodness knows, Stefan would lecture me for an hour if he knew what I did last night. That alone would be a fate worse than death. But, with any luck, he'll never have to know about it. I'll have to stop by the hospital later and swipe a few blood bags so I don't have to kill any more civilians this week. Whether I was careful to cover my tracks or not, it probably wouldn't be beneficial to the town for people to be going missing constantly. Although I guess that stealing blood bags has its own risks added to it. Hopefully I'll be able to find the place. It's been so long and some things have changed since the last time I visited Mystic Falls.

You probably think it was stupid of me to come back here. And maybe you're right. Maybe I'm just putting myself at risk. Maybe I'm putting this whole town at risk. But if there's any chance of me seeing Stefan, I need to take it.

I miss my friend so much. I miss being—me.

And it's far too easy for me to forget what that means, these days. I think I just need to take a rest—a break from all the nonsense. Mystic Falls may be different than it once was, but it is still my home. Maybe spending a few days here will help me refresh a little. One can only hope Stefan won't mind me coming. I wouldn't put it past him to be upset, since it has been a long time since the last time I bothered to contact him. But, well… you know I had some personal issues to deal with.

I'm sure he'll understand.

Now, Zach, on the other hand… he might not be quite so thrilled to see me…

I slammed my journal shut when I heard the door open. And speak of the devil—when I glanced up from my spot on the couch, it was none other than the owner of the house, Zach Salvatore. He took a single look at me, and his eyes seemed to grow about three times bigger.

"Vivian."