October 26, 1491

There is nothing. Only darkness, the kind that suffocates you and brings your darkest memories to shore. The kind that has its hands on your throat and refuses to let go, refuses to give in, even as you scream for mercy.
It was this kind of darkness that I feel, this kind of darkness that I see. I cannot feel anything on my body either. It is as if I am weightless, my entire body having lost everything that kept it on the ground.
There is nothing. I am nothing. And there is silence.
But then a ringing begins in my ears, a distant ringing that sounds like it's coming from beyond miles and miles of the darkness.
And then it gets louder, moving closer, until it's prominent in my ears, but I still cannot find its source.
And then there is light. Bright light, from out of the darkness. It's comforting and beautiful, and I want to go towards it. I want that light, I want to feel it, want to hold it in my hands, want to cherish it with me always.
It beckons, and I begin towards it. The ringing is shifting, turning into another sound, a beautiful sound. It's like angels singing, all with beautiful voices, melodies and harmonies filling the empty space around me.
I feel safe. I am safe. I know it, with the light and the voices. I know I'm going to be alright, somehow. But then something stops me.
I can no longer move. I am stuck to the ground, unable to reach the light.
I try and struggle, but again, my body has disappeared and is weightless, and I am rooted to the spot.
No! I need to reach that light.
It's right there, ready for me to grab it, just outside the limits of my reach.
The angels are still singing, but their voices are becoming warped and angry. The sounds jump around me, making the once beautiful sound into something of a horror.
And as the voices warp, I become aware that I am being pulled back, being pulled away from the light.
I no longer feel safe anymore.
I am spun around quickly by some invisible force, and now, there is no black, but red, bright red that surrounds me, envelopes me.
It's like the black but worse, much worse.
There's pain that comes with the red. First in my mind. I can remember every time that I've been hurt, and the memories run through my brain on repeat.
I will myself to shut them off, but they won't stop.
Someone starts screaming, and now I'm in physical pain. My whole body hurts, every bone in excruciating pain. The screaming and the memories and the pain, it's too much.
The red hurts my eyes, and I close them, hoping for relief, but all I can see are blurred faces. I don't want to see the blurred faces either, so I open my eyes.
Now the world is swirling around, colors mixing.
All the sounds are mixed together, singing and ringing and screaming.
And I can't do anything but stand there, as everything rushes by me, red, then black, then red, then black, then

Light.
It was almost like I could finally breathe again as the bright light of day nearly blinded me.
I was gasping like a fish out of water, reaching for air I didn't know I had needed so badly. By the time I had recovered, I hadn't even noticed Elijah sitting grimly in a chair next to my bed.
When he spoke, it came as a surprise to me, and I nearly jumped, clutching my chest.
"How are you?" he had said softly, and it took me a while to respond.
"I'm not sure what's going on." I replied truthfully. I had no idea what was happening.
I had had some strange dream, and now I was sitting on my bed, Elijah next to me, with hardly any memory from last night.
"What do you remember?" Elijah asked. He was still looking at me cautiously, as if I might fall apart any minute.
"The last thing I remember is-" I racked my brain, trying to piece together last night.
"Uh... You almost kissing me, and Klaus and Katerina interrupting."
Just saying it, I flushed bright red.
Elijah had almost kissed me, and I remembered nothing after that. Did he kiss me? Did something else happen?
Elijah was unusually silent.
"Are you alright?" I questioned him.
He shook his head.
"I just... Don't know how to tell you this, Ana." he said, looking desperately up at me.
"Tell me what?"
Now my curiosity was growing. What had happened to make Elijah so distant and strange towards me?
"You-"
For a moment he looked like he was was going to tell me what was on his mind. But then he decided against it, and reached towards a glass on the bedside table that I hadn't noticed before.
"Just drink this." he said, handing the cup to me.
It was full of a dark, thick, red liquid, something I'd never seen before. It wasn't a wine, or a juice.
I lifted to to my face, but rather than drinking it, I sniffed it, and turned, repulsed by the smell.
"Is this blood?" I cried.
"Ana, please, just drink it. And don't ask questions. I'll explain everything later, I promise." Elijah said, rubbing his temples.
It was blood, I was sure of it.
But I trusted Elijah, believed what he said was true.
And so I drank the blood from the cup.
To my surprise, it was sweet and tasted lovely, everything unlike what blood used to taste like when I bit my tongue or the inside of my cheek.
And as well as that, I now felt incredible. It was unlike anything I had ever felt before, like I had been changed. I felt like I could do anything, be anything.
"What is that, it's wonderful!" I told Elijah, finishing the cup.
"Is there more?"
"There will be." Elijah said, averting his eyes.
"How do you feel now?"
I was still in awe of how much the drink had changed my mood.
"Amazing. I feel- I feel more awake, more alert, more-more..." I paused, searching for the right word.
"Alive. I feel more alive."
That was exactly how I felt. It was like I had died and come back to life.
"What was the drink?" I questioned again.
Elijah murmured something, but I couldn't make it out.
"What was that?"
"Blood!"
The word came out harsh and bitter.
Elijah now looked ready to burst, and before I could question the fact that he had just fed me blood, he began ranting , the words coming out of his mouth faster and harsher than I had ever heard him before.
"That was blood, Ana, human blood, and now you're officially a real vampire. Klaus turned you last night, and now you'll never die, and heal quickly and be able to run faster than anyone, and I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry you have to live this life. It's just not fair. You were such a sweet girl, and now, you're a monster. Like me, like Klaus."
I had taken in everything he had said so quickly, and now I could hardly process it.
"W-what?" I stuttered.
Vampires weren't real, they couldn't be. They were a story.
But then why had I drank blood, and loved it?
And why had I had that strange dream, where it was like I had to be dragged back to life?
And why did I feel like I had been...
Awakened from the dead.
I was shaking now, almost uncontrollably, as I realized what was happening. As I did, all of last nights events came back to me in a flash.
Klaus feeding me his blood, his face changing, the arguing, Elijah's face changing, Katerina being right outside the door...
"Oh my god." I gasped, and now tears were falling from my eyes.
"No, no, no, no..." I sobbed, rocking back and forth on the bed.
Elijah gathered me into his arms, holding me tightly against his chest as my body was racked with sobs. I was crying more than I ever had before.
As last night continued to cloud my mind, I remembered something.
"Katerina..." I managed to say between tears.
"Where is she?"
"I'm not sure." Elijah said, stroking my arm gently.
"She witnessed the whole thing, and then ran away."
"She saw the whole thing?" I sat up, my tears almost completely gone now.
"And she didn't help me?"
"Ana, she was probably frightened, anyone would have been-" Elijah tried to say, but I stopped him from getting any words out.
"No. This is all her fault. She's the one who convinced me to run away from home because of her goddamn child. And she's the one who convinced me to go with you two, and she's the one who told me to break up the argument you and Klaus were having. This is her fault!" I said.
I was filled to the brim with anger. This was Katerina's fault that I was a monster now, it was always her fault, about everything.
"Ana, your emotions are heightened, these feelings aren't all real..." Elijah warned.
But I wasn't listening. I was completely filled with rage.
"She and that little baby of hers should go to hell."
I turned to Elijah, eyes wide.
"And they will. I'm going to kill her, if it's the last thing I do."