My consciousness returned with overwhelming pain - it felt like an entire construction team was tearing down and rebuilding the inside of my skull.
My eyes flew open, but what I saw only made my confusion worse. This wasn't my small, dirty apartment with its old "Star Wars" poster and the constant smell of cheap noodles. This place was... incredibly luxurious.
My eyes moved quickly around the room, trying to understand my surroundings. I saw a high, decorated ceiling with a complex crystal light fixture hanging motionless above me. Thick, dark velvet curtains covered the windows, but thin beams of morning sunlight broke through, highlighting tiny dust particles floating in the air.
I lay in a gigantic bed - an oversized four-poster frame carved from rich dark timber that seemed cold and unfriendly. The sheets were silky smooth and cool to the touch. Everything in the room shouted traditional money and European heritage, resembling a historical display that had been converted into sleeping quarters.
'Where am I? What exactly happened yesterday?' I thought to myself with a mental groan, lifting my upper body using my elbows. This motion caused another sharp burst of pain inside my head. 'I'm certain I was at home watching television... ? My final memory involves... a sudden bright flash...
Did I experience an accident?Could this be an expensive medical facility? But no hospital contains rooms like this one-featuring golden mirrors, costly wood dressers, and oil portraits of frowning people who probably lived centuries earlier.
I moved my legs off the bed's edge, my bare feet pressing down into a thick, expensive carpet. The atmosphere was completely silent and motionless, making me feel uneasy. I took a careful step toward the window, planning to open the curtains and understand my location, when something suddenly overwhelmed me.
Not the headache. Something else.
A powerful rush. A sudden flood. An overwhelming wave of pictures, noises, and feelings that definitely didn't belong to me.
A man and woman with loving faces held a younger me. I felt protected and cherished. Then a shocking newspaper title: "LOCAL DONORS DEAD IN PRIVATE PLANE DISASTER." Terrible grief made my chest feel empty. I saw a massive estate, a solemn lawyer handing me heavy keys. People whispered sympathetically: "Poor Alex Smith."
Alex Smith.
That name belonged to me now, but it didn't feel like my true identity from my original life.
"No... this is wrong. My identity is... my true name is..." I pressed my hands against my temples, collapsing back onto the bed. The unfamiliar memories kept arriving, increasing in speed, blending with my original memories. I recalled my actual life as a twenty-year-old on Earth, binge-viewing shows, laboring at a hopeless career, worrying only about rent money. And this second life... this existence as Alex Smith, a seventeen-year-old without parents in a location called...
"Mystic Falls," I whispered aloud, the place name feeling both strange and frighteningly recognizable at the same time.
The understanding hit me like a physical punch. I wasn't in any medical facility and was experiencing a dream. Theantique
furniture, the overwhelming richness, the location name... everything suddenly formed a terrifying, unbelievable situation
I've traveled to another world! And not just to some random place. I'm actually inside the world of The Vampire Diaries!
Fear instantly overwhelmed me. My heart pounded violently inside my chest like a captured animal trying to escape. This wasn't a safe, everyday story. This was a deadly world! Mystic Falls operated as a supernatural processing plant where humans ranked at the very bottom, often becoming literal prey.
The memories became clear, providing the complete, sad history. Alex Smith. Mother and father killed in an aircraft accident. I inherited an enormous fortune, a trust fund so massive I could purchase the whole town and still have plenty remaining to waste.
But I was totally, entirely by myself. No nearby relatives, no genuine companions, only a massive, hollow mansion and a bank balance filled with money that felt tainted by death.
"Damn it! Among all possible destinations, why this dangerous location?" I thought, my thoughts moving quickly. I sorted through the unfamiliar memories, hunting for timeline evidence. Elena Gilbert attended the local secondary school. Regarding the Salvatore brothers... there were no references to them currently. No mysterious, moody newcomers had arrived yet.
"The story is still at the beginning. Stefan and Damon haven't come to town yet. But they will definitely arrive. Very soon."
A chilling fear grew deep in my stomach. I was completely vulnerable.A rich, solitary, defenseless person in a world crowded with supernatural creatures carrying fangs and age-old conflicts.Werewolves, witches, vampires... and myself, an ordinary human without fighting ability, no supernatural powers, only a large amount of money.
"In this reality filled with blood-drinkers, Werewolfs, and witches, an ordinary person like me becomes just a mobile blood supply! Easy prey! How can I possibly stay alive? How do I battle beings that can tear me apart effortlessly? Wealth cannot rescue me from a vampire's mind control!"
The complete powerlessness felt overwhelming. I possessed unlimited wealth, yet this money proved completely worthless against the approaching terrors. I perfectly represented expendable background material, exactly like those minor characters eliminated early in a story to demonstrate the danger's severity.
Hopelessness started surrounding me, feeling icy and heavy. Why continue living? To exist in endless terror? To anticipate when Damon Salvatore might find me appetizing, or accidentally become involved in some centuries-old conflict?
Just when the dark thoughts were about to completely overwhelm me,a distinct sound echoed through my mental silence. It sounded clearly electronic and didn't belong here at all.
Ding! Ding!
I froze, my head snapping up. "What was that?"
There was no one else in the room. The sound hadn't come from outside; it had clearly come from inside my head.
Before my mind could process this, the mechanical voice returned, sharp and emotionless.
Ding! Perfect Vampire Bloodline Integration Completed!
"Integration? What integration? Vampire Bloodline?!"I exclaimed in confusion.
My questions disappeared as overwhelming pain erupted, making my earlier headache seem minor. This wasn't ordinary pain - this was pure fire. It felt like my genetic code was being torn apart and remade, my bones shattering and reforming, my muscles ripping and healing with electric energy. I screamed, falling onto the carpet, my body shaking uncontrollably. This was suffering beyond anything I could have conceived, a blazing heat burning through every part of my nervous system.
I witnessed quick images behind my closed eyes - old mysterious symbols, circling clouds of energy, the dark outline of a bat with fully extended wings. The suffering became so unbearable I believed death was approaching, that my consciousness would completely break apart.
Then, as abruptly as it started, the agony vanished completely.
The total disappearance of pain felt so complete it made me lightheaded. What remained afterward was... pure strength.
I remained on the floor, breathing heavily, expecting more pain. But nothing came. All my human weaknesses, fears, and physical limitations had completely disappeared. Replacing them was unlimited, vibrating power. My body felt weightless yet incredibly solid. I could detect each separate thread of the carpet under my fingers with amazing clarity. My hearing could distinguish a leaf moving outside the window,and the powerful, regular rhythm of my own heartbeat.
I raised myself up, my motions smooth and completely natural. There was no tightness, no remaining discomfort. I felt... absolutely flawless.
My attention moved to the tall, gold-framed mirror on the opposite wall. A feeling of nervous excitement seized me. What changes had this "integration process" actually made to my appearance?
I moved toward the mirror, my footsteps completely noiseless on the dense carpet. I positioned myself before the glass surface, and momentarily, I failed to identify the individual looking back at me.
"Is that... really me?" I whispered in disbelief.
The somewhat clumsy, ordinary-looking youth from my memories had disappeared completely. The person in the mirror was unfamiliar, yet the face was unquestionably mine.
My skin, which previously experienced occasional pimples and color variations, now appeared completely perfect.It displayed a porcelain-like paleness illuminated by internal radiance.My former acne marks had vanished completely. My facial characteristics, once nice but ordinary, now appeared sharply outlined like an expert artist's creation. My jaw appeared more powerful, my cheekbones stood higher, my nose looked perfectly straight. This remained my face, but transformed into its absolute best version.
My eyes moved downward, examining the rest of my body. My previous thin but weak physique had completely changed. I remained slender, but now with a predator's leanness. Perfectly formed muscles covered my arms, chest, and stomach - not the oversized, unnatural muscles of weightlifters, but the effective, strong muscles of a predator or performer. Every shape appeared pure, every curve suggesting quickness, power, and deadly elegance.
I had become an exceptionally good-looking man, the type who would make people look twice and pause whatever they were doing to watch me.
However, my appearance represented only the external change. I could sense the genuine power vibrating deep within my body. I bent my hand, amazed by the concentrated strength prepared for release.
"This sensation... incredibly strong!" I thought, a gradual smile appearing on my flawless new face. I looked toward the window, observing the thin lines of brilliant morning sunlight passing through the curtain openings. Every vampire's main vulnerability. A crucial examination.
Using a determined pull, I opened the thick curtains.
Bright, golden sunlight poured into the room, completely covering me in its glow. I prepared for suffering, for burning skin, for the terrible pain I remembered from television stories.
Nothing happened.
The sunlight actually felt... delightful. Warm and energizing, like a soft touch across my skin. There was no burning sensation. No pain at all.
"And the sunlight provides warmth without any pain," I whispered quietly, my self-assurance growing rapidly. "Could this 'Perfect Bloodline' truly lack all vulnerabilities? No sun damage, no vervain sensitivity, no blood requirement? Only... complete power?"
The consequences were incredible. I wasn't merely a normal vampire. I represented something greater. Something superior. The final hunter, possessing zero disadvantages.
I needed to examine this power physically, to experience its strength directly. My attention moved to a heavy wooden armchair close by. This was a substantial, unattractive furniture item, the type that likely equaled a human's weight. During my former existence, relocating it would have required two people's effort, involving loud efforts and stressed muscles.
I walked to the chair, gripped its fancy arm with one hand, and lifted it up.
Totally effortlessly.
The chair felt as light as toy construction wood. I held it high with just one hand, no muscles working hard. Its weight seemed almost nonexistent. A surprised laugh, filled with astonishment, came from my mouth.
I returned the chair to its position and then launched into action,crossing the spacious room like a shadow. To my improved senses, everything around me appeared to move extremely slowly. I arrived at the opposite wall instantly, my actions completely noiseless and accurate. I wasn't simply quick;I became a phantom.
I walked back to the window, my heart filling with an emotion I hadn't experienced since arriving in this frightening new reality: complete, unbreakable command over my situation.
I looked down at the peaceful, quiet town of Mystic Falls positioned below my hilltop property. I could clearly see the clock tower, the central road, and the house roofs where unaware residents - including future story characters - continued their daily routines. Elena Gilbert was somewhere below, likely preparing for school. Stefan Salvatore would appear shortly, acting the suffering champion. Damon would come afterward, delivering disorder and his particular style of dangerous appeal.
But they all served as participants in a game whose rules I now comprehended completely. And I... I had stopped being a disposable game piece.
A self-assured, understanding smile formed on my mouth, like a hunter examining his freshly acquired territory.
I am coming. And I, Alex Smith, with the Perfect Vampire Bloodline and the knowledge of a prophet, will be the one writing the new rules. The true king of Mystic Falls has arrived. Let the games begin.