1 Brave New World

MC's POV

"Whoa Whoa Whoa. Hey guys. Let's talk about this." I hold up my hand and slowly back away from the approaching gangsters.

"There's nothing to talk about. Give us the money or you die!" The leader of the gang said in a thick Russian accent, pulling a revolver out of his pocket.

Click!

Cocking up his revolver, he got ready to shoot.

"Wait! Wait! Don't shoot. I have the money!" I begged, slowly reaching into my pocket to give them the money.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Putting down his revolver, the leader and his goons started laughing as if they had just heard a silly joke.

I sighed in relief when I realized that I was not in immediate danger anymore.

But it's not over yet.

Catching the Russian goons off guard, I took out my phone instead of money. I threw it at the leader while I tried to escape them.

"Ah!"

Clutching his eyes in pain, the leader roared in anger as all the goons rushed at me like a raging bull.

Shit!

Realizing they had already blocked all the escape routes, I pointed my middle finger at the goons and rushed off the ledge screaming.

"See you in hell."

Okay, let's rewind a bit before we continue. I am 19 years old and a dropout of MIT. I know who would be so stupid to drop out of a school they worked so hard to get into, right? I am. Halfway through my year, I lost interest in my studies and dropped out. I then continued to pursue my interest in acting. As it turns out, acting wasn't as easy as those celebrities made it out to be. After being a failed actor, my family cut ties with me and I got addicted to drinking and gambling.

Boom! Here I am loaning money from Russian gangs to pay back to the casinos I owe money to.

You're all caught up? Good. Let's continue.

Time seemed to be in slow motion as I fell.

Regrets and remorse lingered in my heart as I thought of all the things I have done that have led me here to this moment.

Ah. Is this how I die? I was a fool to think I could achieve something when I dropped out of MIT. If only I hadn't dropped out, I wouldn't have gotten into drinking and gambling, and my family probably wouldn't have left me. If only I had another chance.

Sighing, I closed my eyes in defeat as I awaited my death.

It was as if God or the Devil had heard my prayer because something impossible happened. The air above me was suddenly ripped open and from within it, a silvery hand grabbed me by my collar and pulled me in.

[999 A.D.]

Bam!

Landing on what felt like a patch of grass, I puked my guts out.

"Ouch. Where am I? I feel like I just drank a hundred bottles of Bourbon." Clenching my head in pain, I muttered to myself as I tried to stand up to look around. However, before I could, I collapsed back on the grass.

"It takes a while to get used to." A voice said from behind me.

Startled by the voice, I whipped my head around so fast that I may have sprained it.

However, looking at the figure behind me, my face paled tremendously.

Standing behind me was...

Me.

However, he looked older and more haggard than I was. His whole complexion was white, and his eyes were bloodshot. Glaring black circles also appeared underneath his eyes and he even had an unkempt beard. In fact, he looked more miserable than I was when I was in my most miserable state.

He was also sloppily dressed. His tie was not tied around his neck properly and his whole suit looked like it had been left alone for thousands of years.

"What–How is this possible?" I stared at him in shock trying to wrap my head around this.

"Well, I am you. Just a thousand years older." He explained, in a nonchalant tone.

Once I was able to stand again, I looked around and surveyed my surroundings.

"Where am I? And a thousand years? Pft! Oh, I get it now. This is a prank show right? Where is the hidden camera?" I laughed out loud, thinking it was some kind of prank by a body double of mine.

"I don't have time for this." He said, pulling out a tranquilizer gun.

Before I could react, the tranquilizer dart hit me and my eyes tilted upwards and I collapsed.

When I came to, I was already naked sitting in a lotus position with two palms on my back.

"Hey! Hey! What are you doing? This is harassment!" I shouted out in fear of what my lookalike was planning to do to me.

"Shhhh. Everything is going to be over soon." He reassured me.

"What the hell is going o-?" Before I could finish, I felt a cool liquid feeling flowing into me from his hands. It flowed through every part of my body and then finally settled into my heart. As soon as the liquid settled in my heart, my nervous system was flooded with pain. It was as if thousands of needles were piercing every pore of my skin.

"Aaah!!!!!!"

As the pain became more intense, I almost passed out from the pain as I screamed in agony.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

In front of my eyes, my bones began to break and mend before my eyes could comprehend what was happening.

No words could describe how I was feeling, as I experienced an indescribable pain wash over my body. The pain was so intense that no words nor screams escaped my mouth. I felt like my body was being ripped to pieces and superglued back together.

After what felt like an eternity of torture, the pain subsided as I collapsed on the ground. And for the second time in twenty four hours, I fainted.

...

Slap!

A loud slap reverberated through the forest as I woke up in pain, clutching my red cheeks.

"What the hell is your problem man? From the second I woke up here, you have done nothing but be a dick. Tell me what the hell is going on?" I demanded in anger.

Without answering my questions, he tossed a pendant at me and demanded,

"Wear it."

"No! Not until I get some answers." I shook my head and refused like a kid throwing a tantrum.

"Hu..." He stopped what he was doing and exhaled.

"You listen to me, you little shit. I have come a long way for this so shut the hell up and put it on!" He yelled in anger.

Seeing that he was very pissed off I decided not to antagonise him anymore and put it on.

"Here put these on. And everything you need is in this bag." He threw me a sack and some clothes that looked like it was from the caveman era.

As I learned from my mistakes, I silently accepted them and put them on.

And then he started phasing in and out of reality.

"Hey! Hey! What's happening?" My panicked voice echoed as I saw his body disappear.

"Shit! I thought I had more time." He cursed out in frustration.

"Hey! Tell me what's going on. How can I help?" I asked.

He placed his hands on my shoulders, eyes glistening with pity.

"You can't."

"Listen, I don't have much time but you need to listen. Being once in your shoes, I understand that you have many questions. But I'm so sorry to disappoint you but I don't have the answers you want. I don't know who pulled us here into this universe and I don't know why they do it. What I do know is what you will be facing. You are in the TVD Universe and for you to survive you will need this sack. So, hide this the first chance you get and find it when the time is right." He said, pointing at the sack he gave me just now.

"Time is right? What are you talking abo-" I asked in confusion but before I could finish my question, he cut me off by saying,

"Shut up and listen carefully. No matter what you do, spare D–" He faded away before finishing what he wanted to say. Silence shrouded the forest as I stared at the spot he was standing one second ago and waited for a minute before accepting he was not coming back.

What the hell did I get into?

I sighed in frustration before putting the sack on my back and walking into the forest.