Forever Is Not Enough

The Awakening

1865, ?, Virginia

Death is a losing game. Every living thing on this Earth has died or will die, and yet there are some who Death searches for still. Hidden in the dark, they are out of reach of Death's eye, and live a life stained by the heavy price they pay for their invisibility. They wander the Earth searching for their purpose, feeding on life to ward off their old friend, Death.

Elena Gilbert's departure from her mortal life was immersed in water. When she awoke, it was to the rough hands of a stranger pulling her from a river. Her hair had gotten caught on the brush alongside the water. Though her eyes remained shut, she could hear the man breathing hard. She opened her eyes just as he had fallen back, her body completely out of the water. She sputtered slightly, clearing the water from her lungs and the man flinched, surprised. "Ma'am?" he breathed. "Can y' hear me?"

She sat up slowly, lifting a hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun. When she last closed her eyes, it had been dark and cold out, but now it was bright. There were no clouds in the sky and the sun beat down on her back. A cold wind spread throughout the trees and the hairs on her arms stood up. She could feel the light of the sun stabbing at the back of her brain. "Who are you?"

He sat back, slightly affronted by this girl who seemed to have no appreciation that he had saved her life. "Name's Noah," he grunted.

He was a big man, she realized. Ugly, too. His face was pale with a long nose that shadowed all of his other features. His dirty brown hair hung in front of his eyes. He stood up to evaluate himself. His clothes were drenched, much to his chagrin, though it appeared that most of the dirt had been washed from his arms. "Who're you?" he said without looking at her.

"Elena," she said.

He stared for a moment. "Well, Elena, d'ya reckon you can explain what landed you face down in a river?"

Cold wind smacked her in the face and she was transported back to the previous night. Emily's body was in front of her, the smell of vomit and blood was in her nose, freezing tears were running down her face. "I do not remember," she lied.

He looked at her, clearly annoyed, and offered his hand. She took it gingerly, rising to her feet. Everything about the world was unsteady. There was a ringing in her ears and a pounding in her head. For a moment, she feared she would clear the contents of her already empty stomach right then and there. He steadied her by the elbow and began pulling her alongside him. "Where are we going?" she asked, tripping over a rock.

"Can' leave you out in the cold lookin' like that," he sighed.

His house was small and almost as dirty as he was. His bed, which protruded into the kitchen, smelled of alcohol and sweat. She sat there anyway as he fetched both of them dry clothes from an old dresser across the room.

She sat there with her head in her hands. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that the previous night had not happened at all. Had it all been a twisted fantasy that she fabricated in her sleep? No, that would not explain how she ended up in a stranger's home, soaking wet and confused.

Noah handed her a tattered pair of pants and yellowed undershirt. "'s all I got," he frowned. She stood to change, waiting for him to remove himself from the room. But he made no advancement towards the door. "What? Tryin'ta kick me out o' my own home?"

Her cheeks turned red and her eyes widened, "Oh, of course not. I will just..." She balled the clothes up in her arms and exited out of the door she had entered. She was certainly not in Mystic Falls anymore.

His home was surrounded by tall trees, which was smart, she thought, for they would slow the wind from coming into all the tiny cracks in the sides of his house. She went around to the side, where a washtub sat as though it had not been used for many months. She set the clothes he had given her on the ground and peaked around once more before undressing. Her cheeks turned a shade of pink when she realized that the water had made her thin nightdress see-through. Thankfully, she had on a long coat when Emily whisked her away the previous night. Hopefully her new companion hadn't seen anything.