I knew I was dreaming, the second I saw the grey cloth draped over the window. It was an image I was familiar with, that no one else probably remembered.

"She's beautiful," My mother said, holding a baby wrapped in blue. I don't need pink blankets to tell me that the baby is a girl. Back then, there was no huge difference between girls or boys that you could easily distinguish by a blanket. A baby was a baby. And that baby was me.

"What shall we name her?" Rebekah would ask, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She was seven then, Elijah about five, and Nik about four. I was the newest one.

All my siblings had crowded around mother's sleeping area, a day after she gave birth to me. My father, of course, remained almost statuesque by the doorway, only his eyes flickering in our direction to see if anyone was pestering mother or me.

But my parents had raised us right, in the end. It wasn't their intentions for anything bad that had happened. They never could have seen the repercussions of their choices. But it was still their fault.

"A beautiful name." Mother said, the word seeming to be the only word in her vocabulary momentarily. "She will be a beacon for us all."

When I first heard this, I supposed that meant I would have been a witch had I not been turned to a vampire. Clearly, this was not the case.

No, instead, I had that ignorance-is-bliss phase going on for the first thousand years or so of my life, before realizing that my mother obviously had everything planned out, that my future would reveal itself when my brothers curse was broken.

Which, funnily, she had hoped would never be broken. What exactly… did she think would happen to me? Or did she not care?

At my mother's words, my father broke away from his stance trance or whatever, and ushered everyone out the room. We had been in England then, I knew that. My father was regarding my mother with a resigned expression, almost reluctant.

"Esther," He began, as he did every time. "You must be certain. I don't want you to be filled with false hope…" He trailed off.

I expected to wake up now. The dream ended at this point every time. Leaving me confused before I would decide not to dwell on what weird dream it was.

But I am still looking at the face of my father, set in his most genuine expression.

I felt irritation creep over me. I wanted to wake up now. I didn't want to know anything else. I was scared of what I might find out. Who could blame me? Besides, the reason this dream never bothered me was because it was predictable!

My mother shot a look at my father, one I couldn't exactly read. I tried futilely to focus on something out there in the real world, the temperature, sounds, anything.

"She is not Rebekah." Her tone was final. "I don't hope. I know she's the one this time."

"I never said anything about Rebekah." Father said.

"You do not have to. I can sense it." It was ironic that she was talking about Rebekah and using her favourite line at the same time. "What you mean," She went on, "is that I disappointed you by claiming that Rebekah would inherit the powers. I never said anything about the other children when they were born, but now I am telling you—"

"What exactly do you want me to do, again?" An unfamiliar voice asked in a troubled tone. The voice interrupted my mother's, coming from the real world. I struggled to hold onto that before getting pulled back into the dream, where my mother was still talking.

"She will be the one," She insisted. "I have never asked you to believe in anything more,"

"…something that can check up on her… or something?" That was Damon. His voice kept cutting off like there was bad reception or something. A wave of real panic swept over me. Was I still in the cell?

"I'm a witch, not a doctor." The girl had serious attitude toward him. I was still in the dream, watching my mother look more and more insistent as she talked, but it was like my dream had gone mute. Good. I didn't want to know about curses, Rebekah, powers and destiny.

"If she cannot handle the powers," my father was saying, his voice calm, "you will never regret anything more,"

My eyes flew open and I took a deep shuddering breath. I groaned at the burst of light shielding my eyes with my hands only to find them tangled in sheets. I had sat up in my panic only to find three people looking at me like I was an animal they were experimenting on.

I saw a petite girl clutching a grimoire possessively, Damon standing off her side and frowning at me, and the brown haired girl from the last night in the doorway. She was watching me with a frown also, like she couldn't quite figure me out.

I cleared my throat. Damon crossed the room quickly towards me. I reeled back, grabbing at the sheets again, seeing something flash in his eyes as he passed me a bottle of cold water.

"Um… " My voice was raspy. "Thanks?" I uncapped it and took a sip quickly. What was I really thanking him for? Locking me in a jail cell and then putting me in a bed after I turned all banshee at him? Who's bedroom was this anyways?

I looked around the room. I cleared my throat self consciously, frowning a little when everyone was still staring at me. The girl clutching the grimoire frowned.

"She looks fine to me." She said to Damon. "Are you sure she wasn't just napping?"

"Are you a witch?" I blurted out stupidly. Of course she was. Who else carries around grimoires? "I mean, can you help me?"

Because I'm a vampire, and witches usually hate us. Not only that, but Damon probably filled her in on my weird freak heat attack or whatever which logically, should send her running to the hills.

I was clearly a threat—and I didn't mean that because I was so terrifying (note sarcasm), but because I was so uncontrollable, unpredictable, when it came to my so called powers, that not even I knew a real pattern to them. What if I randomly turned into a ball of flames on the bed? What if accidentally put the house on fire?

"Bella…Bella," I looked at Damon again, who was waving a hand in front of my face. "You in there?"

"Sorry," I apologized, looking at the witch expectantly.

"I can help," She said. "But you need to have a good reason."

"I do," I insisted. "I wouldn't force you to help me. But Damon needs to keep his side of the bargain." I didn't look at him as I said it, but I sensed him shift uncomfortably. I wondered how many witches he knew—and out of the most likely great number, how many he had pissed off.

"Need a refreshment, Bella?" he asked, trying to ease the tension.

"Um… what?"

"Blood," He said by way of explanation.

"Oh, I'm good." He frowned and looked ready to object before I cut him off. "Actually, I need to be speak with…"

"Bonnie," The girl said when I looked at her questioningly.

"Bonnie while I explain everything to her. Do you mind?" I looked at Bonnie. She shook her head hesitantly.

"It's fine." She nodded at the girl. The girl frowned at me before walking out, Damon in tow. He closed the door behind him. The girl stayed standing, staring at me.

My explanation was brief; I was a vampire with a witch mother and lately weird things have been happening, such as, dot, dot, dot. She left, claiming she had to get another grimoire she had, one for different spells. I stared at the doorway for a moment before kicking off the covers. My keys were on the bedside table. I wondered if my car was still at the towns square. Where else would it be?

With a sigh, I left the room, slipping on my shoes and grabbing my phone. Damon and the girl were standing by bottles of scotch, talking quickly. When I came in, he stopped mid sentence abruptly.

"Bella, this is Elena," Damon said quickly, looking between us. He looked incredibly tensed, like he was ready for me to attack or something. I turned to Elena.

"Great to meet you," I said sincerely. Elena kept staring at Damon.

"Likewise." After a few more moments of me staring at her staring at Damon, I spoke up.

"I'm going to get my car, I'll be right back."

"Uh, why don't you just wait until Bonnie gets back?" Damon suggested, looking uneasy. I frowned.

"Yeah, but… I really need a shower. I'll be right back." I walked out the open door hurriedly.

"Bella!" Damon called as I walked out. I pretended not to hear him and kept walking, brushing my hair back from my face. I knew where the town's square was from here, but not how long to get there on foot.

I walked past a silver Volvo, reminding me of the Cullens. I wondered if they believed what Charlie told them. Maybe I should have told him something different-

"Bella!" I whirled around at Edward Cullen's voice.

He was still beautiful in that way he was, the evening light giving his skin a slightly unearthly glow. I stared at him for two seconds before turning to bolt. His hand wrapped around my wrist gently. I slowly turned back to face him. The reason I covered up my tracks was so that my past wouldn't follow me. I didn't even think of what could happen if it ever did. And now only one idea came to my mind—aside from bolting, that is.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded coldly. His eyes flashed with hurt. I stayed staring until he frowned.

"I came to get you, Bella." He looked worried for a moment about my wellbeing.

"I'm not who you think I am. I left for a reason." I said sharply. I tried not to look too closely for his feelings. I might bail out on this if I did. I stood on my toes, looking into his eyes. "You will see me for who I am," I injected just the right amount of compulsion in my voice. If I used too much, I was sure I'd feel worse than I did already. I was already feeling faint. A flash of heat burst through me before it disappeared, leaving me cold.

Edward, oblivious to my inner turmoil, stared at me for a moment, then blinked twice.

"Bella? You…" He seemed at a loss for words.

I leaned forward again, locking my eyes with his confused gaze.

"And now," I went on, "you will forget you ever cared about me."

Nothing happened. Ten agonizingly slow, silent seconds passed before he whispered; "I could never forget, Bella."

My eyes widened at his words. Leaning up again, I sent out a burst of power.

"You will forget!" Heat flashed through me once more. "Forget about me!" I tried again.

"What are you saying, Bella?"

This time when I turned to leave, his hands shot out and grabbed me by the shoulders painfully.

Several things happened at once. I was knocked to the ground, my head cracking against the pavement for the second time that week. Edward yelled out in fury as a blur was thrown at him. In a second, he was on the ground, Damon holding him by the throat.

"Don't touch her," He growled in Edward's ear. His words went on but I didn't hear them. I tried to focus on his words, but a loud incessant buzzing noise covered everything else. I rose a hand to my ear. The noise seemed to grow louder, a thousand voices, whispering words, sounds until they all became a buzz. I winced.

"Damon!" Elena yelled her voice sounding like she was under water.

"Bella," A man whispered in my ear. A deep voice. Not Damon's or Edward's. Two hands touched at my arms, pulling me up.

"Get away from her!" A voice roared. I looked around, eyes widened, trying to see. All I saw was colours. The hands left my elbow.

I knew what the colours were. There wasn't a name for them. But I could tell that the black shape, with deep reds, golds and a jade green streak was Damon, pulsing with rage. The bursts of white light was Edward. I wasn't really sure how I knew, but I didn't question.

DPOV

"Edward!" The scream halted everyone in their tracks, the big hulking guy from holding Damon back, the lanky redheaded boy from coming toward Damon, and the petite white faced girl from running toward them from the car. Elena stood by the door, staring.

The scream came from Bella. She stood up, marching over to Edward, and shoved him. He swung back on his feet.

"What the hell are you doing?" She yelled, her side to Damon. Edward twisted so that they were facing each other.

"What do you think you're doing?" He yelled back, tone accusatory. "You just left me without any reason why. You didn't honestly expect me to just accept it?"

"You could have talked to me like a normal person!"

"I don't even know if you are a normal person anymore." The boy said, his eyes flashing with hurt. Damon wondered what the girl did to him. But his words had a worse affect on her. She reeled back, rocking on her heels as though she'd been slapped. For a moment, her eyes flashed red, like the other day on the sidewalk. His eyes locked with hers as the redness disappeared, leaving something worse in their wake.

Without another word, she turned to leave.

"Bella—I didn't mean it—" Of course Edward meant it. Only now did he think of how the words would affect her. Or rather, he saw how the words affected her. It made Damon want to rip him apart, putting it mildly. What right did he have, inflicting that sort of pain on her?

"I hate you!" The words ripped out of Bella. She didn't stop. No one said anything else, but the man holding onto Damon released him in a sort of shock. Damon ran after Bella, surging forward with a cause.

"Bella—" He caught her arm, stopping her, and paused. What was he to say to her? She tore her arm from his grasp, whirling on him.

"What do you want with me?" She hissed. Damon took a step back at the determined look in her eyes. "All you do is mess everything up."

He didn't seem to understand her words at first. His head tilted ever so slightly. The words he knew were true finally being said out loud. Bella went on without remorse when he didn't say anything.

"You always race ahead without thinking. Ever since I saw you my life has been filled with nothing but misery."

"What?" he whispered. His chest heaved but he didn't seem to be getting any air.

"I'd never be here if it weren't for you." Her voice was soft, like she knew the words would hurt but she had to say them. Damon knew she was glad that someone else was hurting for a change, but did it have to be her? He could have handled anyone else saying the words. But when they came from Bella, he felt like he was being whipped, lines of fire burning into his soul.

"It's just the way you are."

This time, no one followed her as she walked away.

BPOV

The first time I was granted freedom, I had stayed with Klaus for two years, planning out my journey, mistakenly thinking I would have enough time to travel Europe. He didn't go on about the dangers of the world; we were just lounging around somewhere, talking about how much the world has changed before I blurted out how much I wished to see the world for myself. And he said, 'who's stopping you?'

The words were a test. He wanted to see if I really would leave. So when I stayed for two years, it was the only right thing I had done since that day. I could only see everything that happened after that as a mistake, a downward spiral, a snowball hurtling to the bottom of the mountain, gaining more snow; mistakes.

Leaving Nik wasn't the first mistake I made; it was not letting the world influence my personality. I had stayed naïve.

After I left, I went to France. Who knows why. Back then it could have been anything of France that interested me; the food, fashion, the Eiffel tower itself.

I thought that if I created a story about myself, over time that story would become the truth of me, a part of me that would cancel out all I hated of myself. I had wanted a life free of curses and terror.

Only after 6 months was when I saw how impossible my aims were. I was kidnapped, recognized as Klaus's sister, by a vampire with no greater cause. Not that it mattered. News travelled fast and I was back with Klaus by morning, where then he had given me a necklace to change my appearance. He picked them for me until I met the witch myself and had my own appearances.

Either way, I knew now that fleeing would bring me no comfort. How could you run from the past that weighed down on you so heavily? How could you run while it was on your shoulders, clinging to you and refusing to let go?

Not only that, but I hadn't realized the words I had directed at Damon were really meant for me. And now he really hated me.

I stayed in my car until the sun came up, listening to old rock, lying down in the backseat. It felt good to forget about everything for a while. After nine hours of this, I drove toward the forest, hoping to have a day for myself. Nature always made me feel more at peace.

I reached a clearing after hiking for about an hour. There was a lake close by; I could smell it. I took a deep breath in, closing my eyes, envisioning the clear air swooping into my lungs and detoxifying that which was left of the city air. After two minutes of this, I realized I was going totally hippie.

Opening my eyes, I cried out in terror at the vines encircling my ankles. I screamed again and somehow skidded forward, then back, before landing painfully on my head. With a grunt, I pulled the vines from my legs and stared.

They looked familiar. Like the ones on my back.

The Change can modify her complete nature. It wasn't Gloria's voice I heard in my head. It was my mother's, her tone one of pride.

She'll stay a vampire. But she'll also be an Elemental.

She'll be able to control Fire…And Earth.

And Earth.

But what of the Earth? The earth was such a general name. The nature, environment? Or natural disasters?

With a sigh, I stood up, annoyed at not staying long enough to ask Bonnie for help. I wasn't stupid—well, I was in a way, but I wasn't stupid in the sense to not know that by now, all witches, vampires and werewolves alike knew about my… situation. It was only a question of who would help me or who would turn against me.

I felt stupid now, staring at the ground, using sheer strength of will to conjure up something. I don't know how long I stared at the ground before deciding to start with something already alive.

I stared at a flower blooming by a tree. We were steadily moving into fall, and the flower was slightly drooped, like it was melting from the heat. I glared at it, crouching down to it's level, which was practically on the floor, so I was level with the ground.

It sprang upright three seconds later, petals blooming yellow, cancelling out the brown edge. With a whoop of joy, I jumped up, glad to have accomplished something.

I swallowed and set to making every flower healthy once more, moving through the forest until I reached the lake. Realizing I needed a shower, I dove in, making sure my bag was safe from any animals or the like. Much like the last time I swam in a lake, I was interrupted by a phone call. I wondered if there was anyone in the world who cared about me enough to call. It was Rebekah, clearly she didn't care, but she was definitely smug.

"Nik's on his way to Mystic Falls," She informed me.

"On his way?" I squeaked.

"That won't be a problem, will it?" She went on before I could interrupt. "Nik wants to make sure you're all right there."

"Make sure I'm all right?" I frowned.

"Well, he hasn't talked to you in quite a while, and you're phone must have been out or service. All your calls haven't been going through."

"Calls?" I had never gotten any calls from him. What game was he playing, exactly?

"Really, Ella, are you just going to repeat everything I say?" Since when had she ever called me Ella and meant it without malice?

"Really, Rebekah," I snapped, finally regaining my composure, "when are you going to realize that the world doesn't revolve around you?" The other line went silent. Realizing perhaps I had gone too far, I said, "Rebekah?"

Two loud beeps were sounded, signalling the end of the call. I rolled my eyes, throwing my phone back in the bag, but not before checking if I had any calls. Nothing.

Hi :) im back and really jetlagged. i do have an explanation for why this ^^^ is so short. its coz i only got back about three days ago and we had all these visitors and my flight was funnily, late, just like it was last year. and last year i swore we would never fly emirates, like my dad had said, but we did, again. that was more than a 5 hour wait in the airport. fun.

not that it matters. no excuses lol but it's all i have to offer. sorryy

school for me starts next wednesdayy aand im so screwed coz its bleeping 40 degreez [Celsius] and im still set on qatar slash dubai slash lebanon timing so i cnt sleep until like 5 in the morning every. single. day. or night. whatever, and in lebanon it was soooo cold esp coz i live on the country side kinda not too far from the mountains and now its so hot o.O plus in lebanon there was no internet [yes i`m very superficial] so i was bombarded with all these whats app text thingos the second i landed in qatar which was so embarrassing coz it was all loud and yeahh..

just to clear it up Bella's compulsion worked only for Edward to see her for who she truly is; appearance wise. not because Bella wants to show herself off but so that she would be unrecognizable if they ever happened to cross each other again . . . not that things quite worked out that way,

im not really sure where im going with this story so i'll just have to follow each episode of vd

which reminds me of delena's kiss! cuuuttteeeee i sound like such a mindless fangirl but im really not i insist! i never would have taken the time to write the story if i wasss

okay im taking this too far,

thanks for reading this far [this is only for the peeps who actually are still reading thankksss]

bye :)