Ryden James was alone.
She grew up without parents, bouncing from foster home to foster home. She never knew her parents names or what they looked like, only that her father kicked the bucket before she was born and that her mother only lived long enough to give her a first name before she too was claimed by death.
Making friends was something Ryden struggled with, another reason she was so fucking lonely. People did not like Ryden; Ryden did not like people, it was a whole ordeal that Ryden could not explain. People avoided her like the plague, and the girl herself found fictional characters more enjoyable than real people.
The Vampire Diaries was the first fictional universe the girl became infatuated with, The Originals following soon after. She had watched every episode of each series over and over again. If you asked her she could probably recite an entire episode from fucking memory, acting it out and everything.
Ryden would have done anything, anything, to become a part of the universe. More specifically The Mikaelson family. She had fallen in love with them as soon as they appeared in The Vampire Diaries in season two and three. She knew that they deserved more than what the damn directors and writers gave them in the shows.
Ryden wished that she could change things for the Mikaelsons. Keeping Kol and Finn alive during season three and four of The Vampire Diaries, Elijah and Niklaus in season five of The Originals. She found all of their deaths unnecessary, but she was biased.
When she wasn't fantasizing about fictional universes, the fourteen year old was working. Yes, Ryden had a job. She had to pay for her Netflix subscription somehow. She worked at a diner in the town where she currently resided, approximately a fifteen minute walk from her foster home.
Nora and Henry Smith were the owners of the diner Ryden worked at. The elderly couple adored the young girl and were the closest thing she ever got to parental figures. In the six months that Ryden worked at the diner, she gained some of the best memories of her life.
Then, Ryden got the news that she was moving again.
She was not happy with the revelation at all.
The day she found out, she decided to let Nora and Henry know. When she told them, they both cried, which in turn made Ryden cry. She had no desire to leave the elder couple who had been nothing but kind to her. Something Ryden was not used to.
After the tears were shed and hugs were shared between the trio, Ryden had to go. "I can never thank you enough for what you have done for me. I will forever be grateful for both of you." Ryden's words hung in the air as she walked out the door of the diner into the pitch black of the outdoors.
The darkness made Ryden curse. She knew she was going to be in trouble with her foster family for being out past curfew, but she could not find it in herself to care. Ryden walked down the street slowly. The girl wanted time to think about what was going to happen next.
These were the times when she wanted to leave this awful world behind and start new somewhere else. Little did she know...
Ryden was so engrossed in her thoughts, she did not realize that someone had been following her since she left the diner. She continued to stare at the ground lost in thought. Before the girl could register what was happening, she was grabbed and pulled into an alleyway. Ryden tried to scream, but the sound was muffled by a hand. She fought and struggled to the best of her ability, but her best was not good enough.
Ryden's movements ceased when she felt a sharp object touch her throat. The object was drug across her throat, warm liquid spilling from the wound. Ryden began choking on her own blood, the metallic taste in her mouth becoming stronger, the smell of her own blood invading her nostrils.
Staring up at the stars in the night sky, the pain of her wound slowly fading away, Ryden closed her eyes, her breath slowing down, her heart taking its final beat.
On April 6, 2019
Ryden James died alone.
Numb.
Numbness was the only thing that Ryden felt.
Opening her eyes slowly, she realized that she was in a void of nothingness. Darkness was the only thing that she could see. Ryden did not move an inch, too afraid of what would happen if she did.
Seconds
Minutes
Hours
Ryden was not sure how long she had been in the void, but she was getting tired of it. The silence was becoming too much. Right as she was going to sit up, a figure appeared above her, successfully scaring the shit out of her.
"What the fuck!"
Ryden had a potty mouth.
"Language young Ryden, you are far too young to be saying such vulgar words."
A shiver went down Ryden's spine at the low raspy voice coming from the figure in front of her. She took a better look at the figure and noticed that they were wearing a black cloak, the only part of their body showing was their eyes, which were a bright silver color.
"Who are you? Where am I? How did I get here?" Ryden's voice was almost a whisper, full of fear and panic.
The figure's eyes seemed to soften at the sight of Ryden being scared of them. "I never meant to scare you Ryden. I am Mortem, but you most likely know me as Death. As for why you are here, that is what we need to discuss."
Ryden stared at them, waiting for Mortem to continue.
"You, young Ryden, are special. You are meant for great things, but not in the universe that you just left." Mortem watched the girl closely, waiting for her reaction.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Ryden's eyes narrowed at the figure in front of her. She couldn't understand what they meant by"special".
"You were made by my sister and I to save a universe."
Mortem's response to Ryden's question made her giggle. "You must be mistaken, I definitely can not save a universe."
"Oh but you can Ryden, you know everything about where you are destined to go. That is why my sister and I sent you to your previous universe in the first place, to learn about what happens so you can change it." Mortem's eyes shone in what seemed to be pride and amusement. Ryden still felt confused.
"I am not following Mortem. What universe could I possibly know every-'' Ryden trailed off realizing what universe Mortem was talking about. A horrified expression found its way onto her face. "Please don't tell me I am destined to be part of the "save Elena'' crew. If I am, I am not going."
Mortem laughed at the human in front of them. "Of course not dearest. You are going to help someone else."
Ryden visibly relaxed. "Who am I supposed to save then?" Ryden's voice was now full of confusion once again.
"You know, you are taking this better than I thought you would." Mortem's comment made Ryden chuckle a bit. "Well it's not like I'm going to be able to go back to my old life. Even if I could, I would choose going into this universe over my old one any day."
Mortem smiled softly at Ryden's answer, they felt bad for taking part in what happened to her in her old universe, but it had to be done for her to succeed in saving her fated family. "It is time for us to part dear Ryden, I wish you nothing but luck." They began reaching out to Ryden, hand only inches away from her forehead.
"Wait!" Ryden's rushed and panicked voice causes Mortem to pause their movements. "Can I make one request?"
Mortem stared at Ryden. "It depends on what your request is."
"I want the Hollow to be nonexistent." Ryden said that with the utmost confidence.
"That is something I can grant you. You will have enough to deal with without that annoying spirit bothering you." Mortem's approval made Ryden smile, before her smile turned into a frown as she registered the last bit of Mortem's words. Her mouth opened to ask what they meant, but before a word could escape, Mortem's hand was on her forehead and darkness took over Ryden's vision and she felt herself falling.
"You are destined for great things young Ryden. You will become their savior."
AN//// I do not own any of the TVDU plot or any of the characters. I only own Ryden and the plot that I make, and the changes I come up with. This book is an AU, which means that it will not be like cannon. Some things will remain the same, but most of them will change. Also, some characters might be OOC. I did this because I wanted to. If you don't like how I portray them, then don't read. There will be slight Rebekah and Elijah bashing in act one, but there is a reason for it, and it doesn't go beyond act one. Thank you for reading!