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WHEN ARWEN OPENED her eyes she didn't recognise the pale walls of her bedroom or the dark fabric of her sheets. The last she could remember, Arwen had gone to celebrate her friend, Melanie's, birthday at some nightclub but ended up going home to watch movies with the birthday girl instead. She must have passed out on the couch but now, waking up, Arwen found herself in the woods alone.
Looking down, she could just see through the darkness that she was still wearing her clothes from the night before – she must have forgotten to change before nodding off on the couch at 3am. A simple black t-shirt, and a blue denim jacket with short, fake fur around the wrists and the collar. Arwen's black boots, despite being a little muddy and covered in wet foliage, still were in good condition, so if she did sleepwalk it did no damage. The only thing Arwen could be irritated by was the dampness of her pants and back; it must have rained here recently. Wherever here was.
Getting onto her feet, Arwen looked around to see unrecognisable undergrowth and trees. No gum trees of any kind in sight, no dried bark and leaves and twigs that crackled under her feet loudly as she walked – but there was cold fog, estranged foreign trees with entangled branches, and mossy, damp soil with a few sticks but barely a shred of tree bark. So, Arwen was definitely not near her place since the only kinds of woodland around her apartment had what she was used to.
Arwen shivered, goosebumps rising on her neck at the eerie silence through the sounds of night bugs and cold breeze. This is not how she wanted to spend her... morning? What time was it anyways? Arwen moved to grab her phone which she found in her pocket and turned it on.
It was 4am. She didn't sleep that long. Did she sleepwalk? That's the first. Melanie, if she was awake, must be worried.
Trudging through the woods, Arwen found some reception, but it kept cutting out, so she didn't bother playing any music or anything. It made Arwen a little disappointed, music helped her anxiety whenever she was stuck in some confusing situation. God, she wished she had good mobile internet and a pair of headphones right now.
For what seemed to be ages of walking, Arwen managed to find a road – it wasn't even a second of her about to step on the hard surface when a car zoomed past her fast, and on the wrong side of the road.
Arwen's heart jumped at nearly being run over – how did she not see the car? The blonde shook her head and clenched her teeth. Fucking stupid drivers, why were they on the wrong side anyways? Probably drunk.
Nonetheless, Arwen followed the direction the vehicle went, hoping it was going into town and not out of. God, she was getting even more nervous by the minute, with every step she took her heart would skip an uncomfortable beat and Arwen almost gasped for air. Control yourself! She thought, frustrated with herself. There is no need to be so anxious, home is probably just in the town up ahead – and if you're wrong and end up somewhere else you can just turn back the way you came!
In the distance, where the sun was finally beginning to peak on the horizon, she saw the outline of a sign – too dark to see any sort of writing, but she'll get close enough to see eventually. The sun rising made her dread the day. She's going to be sleeping the day away!
As the sign became more visible though, Arwen became more and more suspicious. From here she could see it was white and some darker colour – green or blue? No, green. It was green. The colour of caterpillar – and she couldn't believe what the shit she was reading on that sign.
'WELCOME TO MYSTIC FALLS VIRGINIA!'
It was in some sort of classical bold italics with a star in green decorated on either side.
Arwen blinked once, then twice, and then three times before she looked around for any sign of Australian wildlife. There were no marsupials in the trees or leaping in the undergrowth, there were no gum trees or bottle brushes, and there were certainly still no dried bark on the ground that crackled and snapped as she walked.
Oh, my fuck, Arwen thought, her heart racing and her throat tightening. Oh fuck! This explains the fucking car on the wrong side of the road.
Arwen ran a hand through her hair. "Shit! This can't be real! How did I get here over night?" One fact she knew about TVD was that Mystic Falls was a real place in Virginia; how'd she get to America? Was this some sort of Australian replica?
The blonde looked down at her phone which had little to no reception. Only one bar. At least her phone was on high percent, she didn't really use it during the night of the club so it was on eighty-nine. Arwen tapped on the contacts app and went to scroll down to find Melanie or perhaps even Sierra's number but there was absolutely nothing – no numbers to scroll down or up. Her entire contact list was blank! Did someone wipe her phone?
Swallowing thickly, Arwen slipped her phone back into her pocket and began to walk past the sign and into the direction the road was leading.
God, if she ever wanted to just suddenly drop dead and not worry about a thing in life it would be right here and right now.
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WALKING AROUND IN the town of Mystic Falls was something Arwen ever thought she'd do in her life. She never really saw herself going to places like this, along with Disney Land. Arwen never thought she'd even leave Australia. No, hold on, she can't be in America, there is no way. No, this has to be some sort of prank pulled on her or perhaps she did what she originally thought and sleepwalked to some Australian replica of Mystic Falls? But overhearing everyone's American accents definitely caused heavy doubts.
Arwen walked until her legs hurt, and she eventually stopped at a bench at some town park. Bored, Arwen tried to think of a scene she once saw from TVD that happened in this park but she couldn't think of anything. God, she wished she paid attention to the show enough to at least have fangirl excitement take over her nervousness – but alas she was never into it like Melanie is.
It was only at this moment Arwen had realised all she had on her was her phone. She didn't have her ID or her bank card, so she was completely screwed there. Arwen also had no contacts on her phone and she only hoped someone came looking for her soon.
After a while, Arwen decided she had enough rest and went to walk around again. God, what was she doing? She can't be this helpless! Everyone around her stared as she walked by, and Arwen assumed it was because of her white-blonde hair. Not that it mattered. Was it so foreign for tourists to see white-blonde hair? Arwen knew other people her age and younger dyed their hair – and while hers may not be dyed, people could easily just assume.
Eventually, Arwen just sat beneath some tree in the park again and she could feel tears prickle at her eyes. Her phone was on 67% which was good because she didn't have a charger – but it was also bad because it was slowly draining, giving her the unwanted, anxious anticipation.
Arwen took a deep breath in and huddled her legs to her chest. It was 7:30pm and the sun was going down, giving the world around her a gloomy hue. Arwen could already feel the mosquitos nipping at her in her imagination. She scratched the back of her head at the itchy feeling, and her legs, too.
Barely any cars were driving around town at this time. Perhaps a few here and there, but nothing special. It was pretty dark in the park so Arwen could at least sleep through the night without any light issues. Arwen preferred her sleeping space pitch-black with the door closed and a fan on. It was almost as if her not being able to hear over the fan and see through the dark was a way to escape the terrors of life and all her emotional baggage. Arwen never really dwelled on her issues, she didn't like to, but here alone with her own thoughts and being able to see in the dim light with only the faint sound of crickets made it hard to ignore these intrusive feelings.
Fortunately, Arwen was able to fall asleep through her minor mental struggle and the next morning, her phone read 6:35am and Arwen's ankles and neck were covered in mosquito bites. Fuck. Not to mention the morning dew on the grass made her butt wet.
Arwen cringed, groaning at her own discomfort. I feel like some homeless woman.
Thoughts immediately traced back to somewhere dark and Arwen quickly shook her head from the thoughts of the past she never remembered and rubbed her eyes before looking around and admiring the rising sun behind pink clouds.
Wow, she thought, trying not to hurt her eyes. It's actually really pretty right now.
Suddenly, her stomach ached and Arwen bit her bottom lip. Fuck, I haven't eaten since the night before yesterday. Arwen instinctively dug into her jacket pocket for her purse but found nothing but half a packet of apple-flavoured gum and... a large coin?
Arwen blinked at the coin that fit perfectly in her palm. It was the size of probably 2 Australian 50c put together – silver-and-black with a silver cat surrounded by a night sky with silver dots for stars; 12-star shapes made up a border around the cat, which held its tail straight up with its chin raised. Arwen flipped the coin on its other side and it revealed a telescope pointing at the night sky with the outlined constellations of Aquarius and Ophiuchus and... maybe Virgo? Arwen wasn't sure on that one. But once again, the coin was bordered by 12 stars. Where the hell did she get this from?
The coin glinted brightly when it hit sunlight and Arwen blinked down at it and pursed her lips. It was very pretty and it weighed a bit in her hand. Solid silver? Arwen wasn't good at telling. Alas, she just put it back in her pocket and grabbed her phone, standing up on her feet.
By the time she left the park and was back on the sidewalk, it was 6:46am and more cars seemed to be driving around this morning. Probably people getting to school and to work. It was Wednesday, so it should be a school day – unless its school holidays? Arwen had dropped out of year 11 this year so she was now an independent 17-year-old dropout working at a fruit and vegetable store – which is totally fun.
Arwen just decided one day she wasn't going anywhere with textiles-and-design and ancient history so she just left and wanted to begin a life of her own with her best friend, Melanie. Which was fine. Until now. Arwen didn't know where she or anyone else was. How could she have no contacts in her phone? No one has known her password since high school.
Once again, Arwen could feel tears pool in her blue eyes and Arwen, being as stubborn as we was, refused to cry – but that didn't stop the intrusive tears to slip down her face as she walked past a couple of buildings, eventually reaching a really big one which read: Mystic Falls High School.
Arwen stared at it, trying to think of any scenes she could remember here. She remembered seeing Klaus drag Elena through it for some reason, and she recalled watching the scene where Klaus made Stefan turn off his humanity. Or was that pretend? Arwen still wasn't sure.
"You look a little lost there, dear," a slightly raspy voice spoke behind her and Arwen spun around to see a very recognisable woman. It was the lady who played the witch Bonnie's grandma. Arwen forgot her name. Wait... what in the seven seas and hells and whatever other sevens out there is the actress of Bonnie's grandma doing here?
"I..." Arwen began. This was her first time ever seeing an actor or actress in person. "Uh, yeah, I am. Hey, aren't you that lady from that TV show?"
The dark-skinned elder shook her head, amused. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, but I know who you are."
Well, that's a little ominous.
"Um, you do?" Arwen asked. "How?"
"The spirits told me," the woman said. "I'm Sheila Bennett, and you are the wonderling."
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(2223 words)
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Okay, this chapter was... a little spontaneous. I was not planning anything at all, and to be honest I was going in a direction where Arwen got teleported into a world where she remains homeless for a few weeks, surviving on scraps and the gym showers until the Salvatore brothers noticed and took her in. But then I was watching TVD at the same time, saw Sheila on screen, and was like "OMG, AN OPPORTUNITY".
It seemed way more realistic to go in this direction anyway. I would have gotten writer's block so quickly if I went the way I originally was going to with the beginning. So, I'm glad. Besides, this add so much more plot ideas for this story with Sheila in the picture. I also have an excuse for Arwen to form connections with characters such as Bonnie, Elena, etc.
Anyways, thanks for reading my story, and for taking the little extra time to read this notes! Enjoy!
- DUCKY