Written 2012 by VeGirl

I didn't understand anything.

Damon pulled me along while my head started to spin almost out of control. I started to feel sick when he stopped and pushed me into a booth. On the other side of the table sat Stefan and Elena. I stared wide eyed as they looked at me, equally confused.

"Who's she?"

"This is Emma. I couldn't just leave her out there!" Damon hissed at his brother before he turned to me and took my shoulders. He could obviously tell I was about to have a seizure. "Hey Emma, look at me." He took my chin and forced me to look at him. "You need to calm down!" Amazingly enough it worked and he smiled as my breathing started to slow down. "Good girl."

"So, who is she?" Stefan asked again.

"Never you mind, little brother," Damon said dismissively. "Now, tell me again about the emergency."

"Klaus is on his way back in town. I'm afraid he's after Elena's blood once again." Stefan's voice was harsh and he held Elena's hand as we spoke.

My mind spun as I tried to figure out if I had ended up in the show. In which episode was I? Stefan was obviously no longer with Klaus, but he must have been; he seemed different, I noticed. "Klaus is on his way back?" I croaked.

"You know about Klaus?! Who are you?" Stefan's stance got very protective of Elena all of a sudden.

"My name is Emma, and I'm from Sweden," I said as my heart pounded and my mouth was getting dry. "I don't really know how I ended up here with you guys. But I... I've heard of you, and I have heard about Klaus," I stuttered.

"What did you say yesterday? From the journals? No, the Diaries," Damon corrected.

"Whose diaries?" They all looked expectantly at me. How was I supposed to explain myself now? What kind of dream was this?

"Actually, I don't really know. You haven't lost one of your diaries, have you?" I looked at all of them.

"I don't keep a journal," Damon said blunt, in a way that made me think he really did keep journals, but that was a deep, deep secret. All of us seemed to think the same, because we all kept starring at him.

"Do you have those journals?" Elena asked and I shook my head. "But you have read them?"

"Err..." How was I supposed to explain? It's actually made into a TV-show, about your lives... "It's more that I have heard about them... I don't know where they are, that's why I came here to look."

They were all quiet and started to look like I was totally insane. I was actually wondering that myself.

"Is this some kind of a joke?" Stefan finally asked.

"Oh, I would never make fun of you," I said sincerely. "I don't really understand any of this myself. All I know is, I know of you, of this place and of you guys. Please believe me," I begged.

They all looked suspiciously at me.

Damon suddenly took my chin and forced me to look him in the eyes. "Is this the truth?" he asked as his pupils widened. He was trying to compel me? Did I have my vervain necklace on? Would that really work?

"I'm telling you what I know, but up until yesterday you where only a story, a myth to me. This is too surreal," I continued, trying to process this turn of event.

They looked at me quietly for a while.

"I believe you," Elena said, and added; "I mean, who can believe vampires are real? Suddenly here they are," she said with a smile and rolled her eyes.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me!" Damon looked harsh at Elena, who stuck her tongue out at him. I nervously laughed right out, but tried to look apologetic when he glared at me.

Elena laughed, "I'm glad you showed up." she reached her hand across the table.

"Thank you," I said and took her hand, surprised to find that she was not just an illusion. The gesture felt sincere enough for me to almost believe this whole plot.

"Emotional exposure over? So, what are we doing about the big bad wolf," Damon growled.

"Well, I still have his family all boxed up..." Stefan said looking pleased with himself.

"That's how you got away from Klaus?" I blurted out.

He stared at me. "You know things!" He looked like he absolutely didn't trust me, and could I really blame him?

I swallowed and nodded.

"You know I was gone, but not how I got back? Do you know anything about what happened?" He looked intense at me and once more I thought about compulsion.

I nodded slowly. "Yes. I know you found the pack, and that it didn't work so well; him turning them. That you two met in the woods when you got bit." I gestured between Damon and Stefan "But after that it's a blank." He looked amazed at me, but surprisingly enough he just accepted it.

"Well, the short version is; I made a deal, got rid of the compulsion and then I double-crossed Klaus and took his family." Stefan shrugged and tried to look like it was nothing.

"Wow, I would never have guessed that." I was impressed. We sat silent, looking at each other for a while. Wait a minute; got rid of the compulsion? I thought it was a deal, even if it was a dirty deal.

"I'm hungry!" Elena complained. That's the moment my stomach decided to rumble. I hadn't thought about food since breakfast, with everything that had happened, and it was afternoon now. We all heard my stomachs big growl. The others started to smile.

"I think I'm hungry, too," Damon said.

That was when it occurred to me, if this really wasn't Ian, Nina and Paul but Damon, Elena and Stefan; then I was sitting next to a hungry vampire, a hungry vampire who lived on human blood.

My head whipped around and I stared bewildered at him.

"Not that kind of hungry, silly!" He smiled at me. "I haven't hunted a human in... way to long," he drawled and made a face. He raised one eyebrow and mischief glittered in his eyes.

"Damon, come on!" Stefan rose from the table and the brothers went up to the bar and ordered burgers for us all.

My head was starting to ache again, feeling like a hangover, but it was probably stress. I glanced around the room; it looked just as it did on my TV. People were playing pool and shooting dart, there were people sitting by the bar, but none of their closest friends, what I could see. This was what I had longed for, but how could this be?

"How are you doing?" Elena looked concerned.

"My head is spinning!" I complained.

She smiled.

"How are you doing, with Stefan being back and all? And how is he doing? He doesn't seem like everything is back to normal."

She made a gesture to her ear and then toward the guys that I immediately understood.

"It's great to have him back, and he's trying to cope." She looked honest, but there was an edge in her eyes.

The brothers returned to the table and Elena got up. "I need to go to the little-girls-room; would you please join me, Emma?"

I excused myself and went with her to the bathroom. She immediately checked that we were alone in there and then signalled the sign for telephone. When I was just about to ask her, she put her index finger to her lips.

She motioned her fingers for me to pull out my phone, and when she got it, she quickly dialled her number. All this happened while she prattled about everything and nothing and I struggled to keep the conversation flowing. She texted fast and send it to my number.

'I don't know how I can trust him anymore.'

When I was about to say something she quickly put her finger to her lip again, and then to her ear and gestured toward the brothers in the other room.

I texted her.

'Why?'

'It was a nightmare having him around with his humanity turned off.' 

I gasped, but remembered to be quiet and put my hand over my mouth. My brows furrowed questioningly, but said nothing. She put on some lip-gloss and smiled bravely before we returned to the guys just in time for the waiter to bring us our burgers.

Elena and I smiled and tried to make jokes, but it was hard to feign that everything was okay when it wasn't. I wondered weary how Elena did it.

"It's weird, you knowing so much about us, and we don't know anything about you," Elena said after a while.

"And we don't know how much you know about us."

"And not what you're about to do with all that knowledge," Stefan added, his tone a bit apprehensive.

I hadn't thought about that. I would be able to betray them. "I would never use it against you," I breathed. But maybe somebody else could use me against them. My face instantly got completely white. I hadn't thought about that. On the other hand; this was just a dream, right? It had to be.

"Why don't we even the plan field; tell us a little about you," Stefan said rough and they all looked curious at me.

"Emma Palm. 25 years old. Fresh out of college. Teacher without a job." I was brief in my storytelling and thought about how someone could use my knowledge, I contemplated that as I chewed the burger.

When our plates were empty and Damon had chewed down both mine and Elena's pickles they knew a little bit more about me; that I was adopted and grew up with a family of three siblings, and about my best friend Anna who was supposed to come with me on this trip.

"Do you know anything about your birthparents?" Elena asked and I realised that we were both in a similar situation.

"No. I don't know anything about them. I guess they're not Asian," I tried to joke with a gesture toward my fair hair.

Damon stuck his hand in my blond curls and turned me to face him. "Are you sure?"

I made a wry face at him, and he smiled. I saw in the corner of my eye that Elena and Stefan looked peculiar at us.

"I think it's time for us to go home." Stefan said and looked at Elena with a cautious smile.

I smiled at them and sighed lightly, I would have to go back to my hotel, and then what?

My life seemed so dull all of a sudden.

.