"So Elena, Jeremy; how was your first day at Sunnydale High?" Lisa enthusiastically began the conversation over dinner that night. Elena found little satisfaction in her meal, poking at her mashed potatoes idly.

Blood. She needed blood.

Noticing his sister was in her own thoughts, Jeremy replied, "It was alright."

"Did you make any new friends?" asked Lisa.

"Not really," shrugged Jeremy, "We met some people, but that's it."

"Well it's only a matter of time before you find some true friends," Donald smiled widely. Lisa and Donald were an optimistic couple; they could almost be mistaken for Elena and Jeremy's real parents, only Lisa and Donald were blonds with no physical similarities to the siblings. "Elena," Donald looked at the brunette with concern, "Are you okay?"

Jeremy nudged Elena arm with his elbow, gathering her attention. "Huh? Oh, yeah, just fine," Elena smiled weakly, "I'm not really hungry though."

"That's okay, sweetheart," Lisa smiled, taking away Elena's plate, "I'll put it in the fridge for you later."

"Thank you... excuse me," Elena fled from the table, heading to her room. She shut the door behind her and paced the floor, raking her hands through her long, brown hair. She had to feed, but a part of her wanted to cling to the misconception that she was still human.

Human... she missed the old her.

"No, I can't keep feeling sorry for myself," she said with determination and pulled her bedroom window open. Just as she was sticking her left leg out the window, the door snapped shut. She jumped slightly, giving a yelp of surprise. When she saw who it was, she growled, "Jeremy, you scared me."

"Sorry," Jeremy muttered, standing in front of the closed door, "Are you going out there... to feed?"

She looked away, ashamed, "I have to, Jere. I'm a vampire, remember?"

"I know that," he said quickly, "But listen... Donald and Lisa are down there, worrying if they did something to make you mad. Coming here was your idea, so don't screw it up. We could actually have something good here."

"I know that," Elena bit back, "Don't you think I know that?"

"You don't have to be so mysterious all the time," Jeremy went on, "They're not our real parents but-"

"I get it, Jeremy, I really do," Elena gave him a look that pleaded him to stop talking.

"Okay... be careful out there."

"I always am," Elena slipped out of the window in that moment. With her superhuman speed, she disappeared in the blink of an eye. Jeremy worriedly watched her go. He couldn't shake the feeling that this town might not be so much safer than Mystic Falls.

The night was young. Buffy was out patrolling the cemetery, secretly hoping for some sign of Angel. She twirled a stake in her hand, looking bored but still alert as can be. Hours slipped by and still no sign of a vampire rising. With a sigh, she turned on her heel and began the trek home.

She decided to take a dark alley as a short cut and discovered a vamp, pressing a human against a brick wall, feeding off of the woman's neck.

It was a disgusting feat. Buffy grimaced as she ran forward and swiftly pulled the vamp off the human. The vamp was surprised at first but then grabbed Buffy's arm, twisting it behind her back. Buffy spun her body around and kicked the vamp solidly in the stomach.

Elena grunted as she hunched over, clutching her stomach. Blood trickled down the corners of her lips from her recent feed and Buffy's eyes widened. "You."

"Me," Elena growled, launching herself at Buffy in a fit of rage. Elena's face was unexpectedly different from the vampires Buffy was used to. Instead of a pronounced brow ridge, veins protruded from around Elena's red eyes. She snarled with vicious fangs like any other vamp though, and those were what Buffy tried to avoid. The girls fought, Buffy intending on slaying and Elena angrily defending herself. Buffy was stronger than expected for a small girl, Elena noticed as she kicked Buffy into a wall.

"What are you? A vampire?" Elena demanded.

"No, I'm the Slayer that's about to end you," Buffy ran toward Elena but Elena disappeared. Buffy stopped, looking around with widened eyes. She couldn't recall any vampire being so fast.

"W-what's going on?" asked the timid human on the sidelines.

Buffy couldn't believe the woman was still there, "Are you kidding me? Run!"

"She can't," said Elena, appearing behind of Buffy, "I compelled her." Buffy whirled around, looking up at Elena in utter shock. "Which is what I do when I need to feed. I don't kill people."

"Yeah right," Buffy threw a fast punch, which Elena caught.

"Believe me, I'd rather have a blood bag," Elena said calmly, letting her face turn back to normal, "But I wasn't going to kill her. I would never kill an innocent person."

"But you're a vampire," Buffy muttered, "And I've never heard of compelling."

"I'll show you," Elena said quickly before Buffy could start hitting again. Slowly, Elena stepped in front of the human and looked into her eyes. "Forget everything you saw here and go home." The woman blinked a few times before she said, "What am I doing here?" In a daze, she walked off.

"That's Mind Compulsion," Elena explained shortly, turning to Buffy.

"I've never seen a vampire that can do that..." Buffy was bewildered.

"I wasn't going to kill her," Elena repeated, "I only take as much as I need. I never wanted to be like this, so don't assume I'm just a random vampire you need to 'slay'." And with that said, Elena disappeared.

The next morning, Buffy stormed into the Sunnydale High library. "Giles," she said, her mind still turning with questions since her run in with Elena last night, "We have to talk."

"Did something happen last night when you were on patrol?" Giles immediately came to her with concern,

"I ran into that Doppelganger girl, and she's a vampire, Giles. A vampire. How is that possible?" Buffy threw her hands up, "She goes to my school, walks around in the daytime, but I saw her feeding off of this woman last night. She's not like other vampires, either."

"Not like other vampires?" Giles inquired interestedly, already sifting through a stack of books, "Well I would assume so. It is like you said, she walks around during the day. The sun does not effect her."

"And she's not evil... she doesn't seem evil, that is..."

"Did you stake her?"

"No, I couldn't. She said she doesn't kill people."

"But you say you saw her feeding-"

"Well, yeah but she said she doesn't kill, she only takes as much blood as she needs and then she does this mind trick thingy. I think she called it Compulsion or something. She used it on the woman she was feeding and then bam!- she forgot everything what happened and walked away."

"Mind Compulsion," Giles stated, already reading from a book, "The ability to altar a person's thinking patterns. No vampire you've ever come across has this power, I believe you've crossed paths with one on an entirely different level."

"She was fast, Giles, fast and strong," Buffy was almost upset, "Even if I had tried to stake her, she probably could have stopped me."

"You must be Elena Gilbert," a smiling brunette stepped in front of Elena and she was dressed stylishly from head to toe, "I'm Cordelia Chase, the most important person you'll ever meet at Sunnydale... and probably ever."

"That's nice," Elena faked a smile, "But I have to get to class. We have to get to class." She gestured at Jeremy standing beside her.

"Oh," Cordelia eyed up Jeremy almost flirtatiously, "And this must be your hottie younger brother."

Jeremy gave an awkward, "Uhh..."

"Elena, you should totally come to the Bronze tonight!" Cordelia suggested brightly.

"The... what?"

"The Bronze. It's this really hip nightclub place. I could give you the directions if you want," Cordelia already began scribbling the directions down on a clean sheet of notebook paper.

"No, that's alright-" Elena attempted to protest until the paper was shoved at her.

"You really should show up tonight, Cordelia insisted, "And bring your hot brother, too." She threw a flirty smile at Jeremy before she walked off in clacking high heels.

Elena handed Jeremy the paper, "Think we should go?"

"It couldn't hurt," said Jeremy, "And Cordelia's kinda cute."

Elena laughed shortly, "Alright, we'll go tonight then. Just so you can spend time with Cordelia." She hadn't mentioned last night and her fight with Buffy. Perhaps when they crossed paths again, Elena could set the record straight: She and her brother came from far away to make a new life here, and no one was going to ruin it.

Not even the Slayer.