Based on the best-selling book series, it is four months after a tragic car accident killed the parents of 17-year-old Elena and her 15-year-old brother, Jeremy, who are still adjusting to their new reality and living with their Aunt Jenna. Elena finds some comfort with best friend Bonnie and frenemy Caroline, while trying to sort out her feelings for former boyfriend Matt, but Jeremy is hard-pressed to find the same comfort, hanging out with a bad crowd and trying to figure out why Matt's sister, Vicki, is suddenly rejecting him and to be with his rival, Tyler. As the school year begins, Elena and her friends are fascinated by a handsome and mysterious new student, Stefan Salvatore. Stefan and Elena are immediately drawn to one another, but Elena doesn't realize that Stefan is hiding a dark, deadly secret — he is a vampire. As Elena and Stefan get to know each other one night at a bonfire party, chaos erupts after Vicki is attacked and left bleeding from a savage bite to the neck.