Resurrection

A/N: I became totally addicted to The Vampire Diaries from the very first ep and the incomparable, hot couple Anna and Jeremy only cemented my addiction. ;-} I HATED that they killed Anna and then made Jeremy attempt turning without her, so I'm just gonna play around with the characters to alleviate some of my sadness about Anna's death and the apparent end of her relationship with Jeremy—which, in my opinion, was one of the most interesting in the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries or any of the incredible characters therein. Elyse St. Clair is however of my own invention (don't worry she's only there for plot purposes—this is first and foremost a Janna fic).

Chapter Rating: Mature (Language, violence, gore, and some sexuality)

Written While Under the Influence of: The Vampire Diaries "Founder's Day," Sounds Under Radio-All You Wanted, Robert Skoro-In Line, Stateless-Bloodstream, Alex Band-Only One, Sanders Bohlke-The Weight of Us, Florence + the Machine-Cosmic Love, Ryan Star-Breathe, Enrique Iglesias-Escape, and Leona Lewis-Run.

Chapter One: Death and Rebirth

Jeremy Gilbert shuddered on his bed, a chill running up the length of his spine and spreading through his limbs. He felt increasingly sleepy but there was no pain yet, just a mild difficulty breathing as the massive dose of painkillers he'd taken went to work on his muscular frame. The teen tried to pull the sheets up around him to stave off the coldness seeping into his skin, but couldn't budge an inch. For a moment he panicked, heartbeat skyrocketing as he temporarily regretted his quasi-suicidal plan. Jeremy fought to open his eyes, but the lids were too heavy; he almost attempted to scream for Jenna or Elena, then stopped himself.

This would pass, not long from now he'd wake up a vampire and then the damned pain and emptiness inside of him would be gone. Anna's face flickered before his eyes, the agony and terror she'd felt as she was torn away from him, followed by when she'd pleaded with him that morning to escape with her and be turned. The image of her tore at him, he'd wanted so badly to save her but hadn't been able to do a fucking thing for her. Just like Vicki.

The memory of his two loves, both stripped away from him, was too much and he wished that the drugs would hurry up and kill him so he wouldn't have to feel anymore. Jeremy didn't want to forget, he owed Anna and Vicki his memories at least, but he just couldn't deal with the constant loneliness and grief anymore. First his parents, then Vicki, and now Anna… It's like he was cursed to always watch everyone he loved die around him.

His guilt about Anna was exacerbated because he knew that he could've saved her. If he'd just said yes when she asked him to leave with her they'd both be okay and together right now. She wouldn't be dead and he wouldn't be becoming a vampire by himself.

The last coherent thought Jeremy had before the lethal lethargy pulled him under was of the last time he'd had Anna in his bed and she'd called him her weakness. He couldn't escape how breathtakingly beautiful she'd looked that night. Or how right she'd been, how horribly right. With that thought he surrendered to the siren's call of sleep, not noticing or caring how shallow and erratic his breathing had become.

XXX

Katherine jerked her head toward the front door at the eerie sound of her own voice calling, "Jeremy? You up?"

She frowned at the slowly dying form of Johnathan Gilbert shoved up against the stove before her, her doppelgänger appearing now complicated things. The female vampire wrenched the butcher knife out of his abdomen and plunged it deep within his chest, twisting it for good measure. He gurgled one last time, blood dribbling out his mouth and onto the sleeve of her stolen leather jacket.

Katherine grimaced, she actually liked that jacket; at least her double had acceptable taste in clothes if not men. She let Johnathan drop onto the floor with a loud thud, then sped over to the kitchen island, pulled the ring from his severed ring finger, and turned to leave just as Elena entered the room. The young woman staggered back in shock at the sight of a mirror image of herself, then clasped her hands over her mouth in horror as she noticed the bloody corpse on the floor.

The brunette vampire raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her human twin; she'd watched her from a distance most of the day and had questioned Isobel extensively about the young woman's mannerisms so that she could accurately portray Elena Gilbert, but now was the first opportunity she'd had to observe her up close. Seemingly satisfied with the extent of resemblance between them, she finally approached her twin.

"Hello, Elena," Katherine purred, a mischievous smile curving her lips.

"Katherine?" Elena choked out, eyes flickering between the vampire and body of her birth father sprawled in a growing puddle of his own blood on the kitchen tile.

"So they told you about me, that's…interesting. I would've thought Stefan wouldn't want you to know about me."

"You killed him… Why?" the young woman gasped in confusion, recoiling backwards to put as much space between herself and the advancing vampire as possible.

"Why not?" Katherine shrugged. "Johnathan had served his purpose and he was a liability from the beginning. He hates all vampires, so what's to stop him from coming after me next?" At Elena's look of revulsion comingled with sadness, she laughed and continued sarcastically, "Oh, don't tell me you were starting to feel all daughterly toward him?"

"Elena? I heard a noise, is everything okay?" Jenna interrupted, starting down the stairs.

"I'll take that as my cue to leave. Until we meet again, Elena," Katherine whispered ominously as she strode past the younger woman at vampire speed, lightly brushing the dark hair off her double's shoulder as she went.

Hearing the front door close, Elena slumped back against the wall, sliding down it to the floor and staring blankly at the pained expression fixed in death on her father's face. She was barely aware of Jenna's high-pitched shriek through the shock of losing her birth father and meeting Katherine all at once.

XXX

Katherine trotted down the porch steps, pocketing Johnathan Gilbert's ring along the way, when a hand shot out and clamped around her throat. She was abruptly shoved up against a tree as the fingers encircling her neck tightened like a vice. Her fangs instantly descended in response to the threat, a feral hiss escaping her lips. She found herself glaring up into the livid face of Damon Salvatore, his own fangs bared.

"What the hell were you doing in there?" Damon growled without preamble, using his other hand to force her back against the tree when she tried to move toward him.

"Just having a little chat with Johnathan Gilbert," she panted in response, wrapping her fingers around Damon's wrist and squeezing.

His face contorted in pain, but he didn't loosen his grip. Katherine brought her other hand up in a flash and backhanded him, sending him flying across the front yard. Damon instantly sprung back to his feet only to be knocked down again. He glared up at his vampire maker, the veins trailing from his eyes darkening with fury, as she stepped onto both his upper arms to keep him pinned to the ground, then crouched on his chest.

"Damon, Damon, Damon…how many times have we played this game? You may be a vampire now, but I'm still the one that will always win," she whispered cruelly, bringing her face so close to his that their noses touched.

"That was you on the porch earlier, wasn't it?"

"Got it in one. But I must say I'm shocked that you'd go for little Miss Goody Two-Shoes in there. You always liked them naughtier, if I remember correctly." Katherine smirked down at him.

"Let me up," he demanded.

"Now why would I do that? You attacked me," she asked, playfully quirking her head to the side.

"And if I do it again, you'll just bitch-slap me back here again," Damon retorted caustically.

"True, but I'm not done talking to you yet and this conversation will be a lot more fun horizontal," Katherine murmured, letting her hands trail lightly down his chest.

"What could you possibly have to say to me after 145 years?"

She brought her lips right in line with his, so that they brushed against each other's with every word. "Stay out of my affairs, Damon Salvatore. If you interfere with me and mine again, I will kill your new little girlfriend in there and send you a different piece of her every year. Oh, one last thing, don't ever call me a bitch again."

With that Katherine pressed her mouth to his.

XXX

New Orleans, Louisiana

Elyse St. Clair jolted awake from an extremely vivid nightmare, a scream welling up in her throat. She scrutinized the skin of her arms in the meager pre-dawn light filtering through the curtains, certain her flesh would still be on fire, but only unblemished pale skin met her gaze. Her hands flew to the center of her chest where she expected to find the wooden stake impaling her. She breathed a momentary sigh of relief as she realized it was just a dream and pushed herself out of bed.

The petite brunette padded over to her dresser and grimaced at the reflection of her sweat-soaked face in the mirror. Elyse ran her fingers through her long dark hair, trying to make sense of the nightmare. She'd been in a basement somewhere and this guy with a gaudy ring had stabbed her with a stake then set her on fire. It was odd and awfully specific even by her usual standards.

Elyse pulled her wild hair into a sloppy ponytail and started toward the bathroom to take a shower when something caught her eye.

A light was pouring out of the top drawer of her bureau.

Her heart pounded furiously as she eased the creaking mahogany drawer open. The light emanated from an antique silver necklace with a deep ruby stone set in the center. She touched it hesitantly and was immediately bombarded with images and sensations.

A tall, handsome young man with floppy hair giving her an adorable grin as he pulled her close. The thrill and hunger of his kiss. The warmth of his skin beneath her fingertips.

The shrieking agony between her temples followed by that tell-tale acidic burn of vervain in her veins.

An older man looming over her holding a long wooden stake.

"Please…don't…"

The explosion of pain as the stake pierced her chest and the feel of her life slipping away. The heat of the flames destroying her flesh.

The last thought in her mind before the darkness consumed her was of him. Jeremy…

Elyse came back to herself with a start, the necklace clasped between her fingers so hard that it left impressions in her skin.

"Anna… Oh God, no…"

XXX

Mystic Falls, Virginia

Jeremy bolted upright in bed. His senses were the most alert they'd ever been in his life. Every noise seemed amplified and pounded directly into his eardrums. His breathing sounded like the howling wind on a stormy night as it whooshed rapidly in and out of his lungs. Everything around him looked sharper and clearer, as though for the past sixteen years he'd been watching the world through a dirty film that was finally gone.

But an acute ache had settled into his stomach. He was hungrier than he ever remembered being and there was something nearby that smelled so good. Jeremy breathed deeply, trying to locate the delicious scent. It originated from downstairs and the teen immediately headed in that direction. He inhaled again at the foot of the stairs and turned into the kitchen. Elena and Jenna were huddled together on the floor by the door, but he ignored them. He followed his nose toward the stove and almost tripped over his uncle's foot.

Jeremy jumped back from Johnathan's corpse in horror, but another part of him longed to kneel and lap at the crimson fluid pooled on the floor. Disgusted, he backpedaled until he slammed into the island, sending various pieces of silverware clattering across the tile.

Jenna glanced up at him, panic and sympathy in her face as she murmured, "Oh my God, Jer. I'm so sorry."

His gaze flicked to Elena and he could see the recognition in her tear-filled eyes. She knew. He turned on his heel and darted out the back door, paying no heed to Jenna's attempts to call him back.

Jeremy sprinted down the street, putting as much distance between him and Elena's knowing brown eyes as possible. He had no idea where he was going or even what he planned on doing once he got there, he just wanted to get away. This was not what Anna and Damon had told him it would be. The pain was still churning around inside him, it just had a new bedfellow now: hunger. He couldn't bring himself to feed on the blood of his uncle, even if he'd been the one to kill Anna and her mother.

He found himself abruptly and completely enraged at Uncle John. If the bastard weren't already dead, he'd have killed him himself. Jeremy wanted to tear his heart out and make him watch as he drained the blood from it.

Where the hell did that come from? he thought, frustrated.

Jeremy needed to know more about what was going on inside him. Immediately. But who could he go to? Anna had told him she could teach him about being a vampire, but she was gone. The mere thought of Anna sent an explosion of agony so acute through his chest that it nearly stopped him in his tracks. Jeremy forced himself to keep running, although all he wanted to do was curl up on the ground and let the grief have him. The running was harder to do, but it helped on some level. The sensory overload of the scenery flashing by almost blotted out the image of Anna's beautiful face. Her impish smile, those soulful brown eyes…her soft, full lips… He shook his head roughly to banish the painful vision of the girl he'd all but killed himself.

Despite his attempts, his imagination conjured up an image of Anna lying defenseless and terrified while his uncle shoved a stake through her heart; the visualization fueled by Damon's earlier confession to him.

Then it hit him. Jeremy knew exactly where to go now. He instantly changed course and pounded his feet faster on the pavement.

He was going to Damon.

A/N: That's all for now! I wanna see how well received the direction I'm taking the story works before I get too invested in it—I have 2 other ongoing fics that I haven't worked on in awhile and my readers there are about ready to kill me if I don't get back to work soon. But if you like this story, speak up! I'll be very tempted to write on this instead. ;-} How are my characterizations so far? Writing Katherine was fun, but I'm not sure I did her justice. I also felt iffy about how to portray Damon and Jeremy as well; their motivations in the scenes I wrote were a little vague for me. Anna hasn't appeared yet, but never fear; the story is called Resurrection for a reason… ;-}

Please, please, please review!

Thanks for reading!

Sassy18