在光影世界里，人類(lèi)從未孤單過(guò)。月圓之夜有狼人(werewolf)寂寞狂歡，日落西山有吸血鬼(vampire)飛檐走壁，燭光顫動(dòng)的瞬間有女巫(witch)捧著古籍施展魔法，甚至還有既能與狼人和吸血鬼周旋又能讓女巫都忌憚三分的混血兒(hybrid)。狼人能用鐵鏈捆住獸性，卻無(wú)法排解變身之時(shí)的痛苦與無(wú)助；吸血鬼?yè)碛胁凰乐恚瑓s不得不在漫漫生命中忍受永恒的孤寂；女巫機(jī)智且勇敢，卻拋不開(kāi)常人的傲慢與偏見(jiàn)；而看似能左右乾坤的混血兒也飽受著非我族類(lèi)的歧視。這些超自然存在者在光影世界里與人類(lèi)愛(ài)恨糾纏、命運(yùn)交錯(cuò)，豐富著我們?nèi)找婵萁叩南胂罅Γ碳ぶ覀內(nèi)找胬淠男?，并告訴我們?nèi)绾蜗鄲?ài)才能抵御現(xiàn)實(shí)的冷酷無(wú)情，如何生活才能從中汲取向上的力量。

隨著《暮光之城》(The Twilight Saga)系列圖書(shū)的暢銷(xiāo)及系列電影的熱映，人們對(duì)吸血鬼的鐘愛(ài)達(dá)到前所未有的高度，其他同題材影視作品也隨之火爆起來(lái)。同類(lèi)美劇中，相較于《真愛(ài)如血》(True Blood)血腥陰暗的重口味，風(fēng)格青春靚麗的《吸血鬼日記》(The Vampire Diaries)更受廣大青少年的青睞?！段砣沼洝犯木幾訪.J. Smith的同名小說(shuō)，連續(xù)榮獲多項(xiàng)“人民選擇獎(jiǎng)”和“青少年選擇獎(jiǎng)”，向我們講述了真愛(ài)在超自然的力量之下依舊可以繁衍生息，即使在黑暗籠罩的地方，我們也依舊可以選擇背向陰影，面朝陽(yáng)光。

夜晚，小鎮(zhèn)神秘瀑布(Mystic Falls)遠(yuǎn)郊濃霧籠罩的路上，一對(duì)駕車(chē)回家的年輕情侶慘遭不明生物襲擊，雙雙身亡。第二天即是開(kāi)學(xué)第一天，對(duì)此事一無(wú)所知的高中女生Elena正陷于自己的煩惱中。自從不久前父母喪生于車(chē)禍，幸存的Elena就與正值青春反叛期的弟弟Jeremy相依為命，住在孑然一身的姨媽Jenna家。新學(xué)期臨近，Elena試圖擺脫噩夢(mèng)，重新開(kāi)始新生活。

Elena: Dear Diary， today will be different. It has to be. I will smile， and it will be believable. My smile will say \"I'm fine， thank you\"， \"Yes， I feel much better\". I will no longer be the sad little girl who lost her parents. I will start fresh， be someone new. It's the only way I'll make it through (承受住雙親去世的打擊).

Elena無(wú)疑是堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的，但生活并不會(huì)等她調(diào)整好心情，各種煩惱照舊接踵而至。好友Caroline過(guò)于夸張的問(wèn)候與同情提醒著她失去父母的事實(shí)，用叛逆與墮落來(lái)發(fā)泄悲傷的弟弟Jeremy讓她時(shí)時(shí)憂(yōu)心不已，前男友Matt無(wú)聲的擔(dān)憂(yōu)與責(zé)備讓她疲于應(yīng)對(duì)，再加上伴隨一只烏鴉而來(lái)的種種令人恐慌的意外事件，想要重新開(kāi)始并不容易。

Elena: Dear Diary， I made it through the day. I must have said \"I'm fine， thanks\" at least 37 times. And I didn't mean it once. But no one noticed. When someone asks， \"How are you\"， they really don't want the answer.

Elena知道，身處困境，只有心懷希望才不會(huì)錯(cuò)失屬于她的那抹陽(yáng)光。在閨蜜Bonnie盯著一個(gè)新來(lái)男生Stefan高大帥氣的背影大為驚嘆的時(shí)候，Elena并沒(méi)有特別關(guān)注，而是匆匆跑到男洗手間把偷偷嗑藥的弟弟痛斥了一番。此時(shí)的她并不知道，幾分鐘后在洗手間門(mén)口與Stefan的相遇會(huì)讓自己陷入一場(chǎng)甜蜜而又不安的戀愛(ài)，也會(huì)將自己卷入一個(gè)神秘的黑暗世界。接下來(lái)的歷史課上，Stefan的目光一直追隨著她；她在受到墓地里突如其來(lái)的濃霧和烏鴉的驚嚇時(shí)，莫名地又遇到了他；夜晚，他專(zhuān)程送還她驚慌中落在墓地的日記本；他迫不及待地接受她的邀請(qǐng)，與她一起參加party……一切來(lái)得那么出乎意料。或許，他就是Elena一直期待的美好。雖然痛苦還在，但或許快樂(lè)已經(jīng)來(lái)臨。

Elena Stefan: Dear Diary， I couldn't have been more wrong. I thought that I could smile， nod my way through it， pretend like it would all be ok. I had a plan. I wanted to change who I was; create a life as someone new， someone without the past， without the pain， someone alive. But it's not that easy. The bad things stay with you. They follow you. You can't escape them， as much as you want to. All you can do is be ready for the good. So when it comes， you invite it in， because you need it. I need it. (編者注：這段話(huà)包含Elena和Stefan各自的敘述，二者互為說(shuō)明，互為補(bǔ)充，巧妙地融合在一起，反映了兩人的共同心聲。)

新生活對(duì)Stefan來(lái)說(shuō)更顯艱難，作為一個(gè)跨世紀(jì)的吸血鬼，要想重返故鄉(xiāng)與心愛(ài)的女孩廝守并不容易。盡管他能永遠(yuǎn)17歲，盡管他能用催眠術(shù)強(qiáng)迫學(xué)校批準(zhǔn)手續(xù)不全的他入學(xué)，可還是麻煩不斷。要克制吸血鬼的嗜血本能本來(lái)就艱難，而近期發(fā)生的多起不明生物殺人事件更是給他帶來(lái)了難以預(yù)料的危險(xiǎn)。親戚Zach告誡他回到神秘瀑布是個(gè)錯(cuò)誤，可是他還是回來(lái)了，為了Elena——這個(gè)與他1864年的女友Katherine擁有同樣容顏的女孩。

Stefan: For over a century， I have lived in secret， hiding in the shadows， alone in the world. Until now. I'm a vampire. And this is my story. I shouldn't have come home. I know the risk. But I had no choice. I have to know her.

一個(gè)世紀(jì)之前未盡的愛(ài)情注定了兩人的相遇。對(duì)Stefan來(lái)說(shuō)，只要能看到Elena就已滿(mǎn)足，而對(duì)Elena來(lái)說(shuō)，Stefan的到來(lái)又何嘗不是驅(qū)散陰霾的陽(yáng)光呢？?jī)深w孤獨(dú)的心開(kāi)始靠近，一顆帶著敏感與戒備，一顆藏著無(wú)法說(shuō)出的秘密和難以言喻的過(guò)往。雖然Elena曾因害怕受傷而逃避，但還是勇敢地邁出了第一步。

Elena: Sorry for barging (闖) in， especially after earlier.

Stefan: No， no， no. I'm glad you're here. The way we left things ... I didn't like it.

Elena: See， the thing is， I got home tonight planning on doing what I always do: write in my diary like I have been since my mom gave me one when I was 10. But then I realized that I'd just be writing things that I should probably be telling you.

Stefan: What would you write?

Elena: I would write ... \"Dear Diary， today I convinced myself it was ok to give up. Don't take risks. Stick with the status quo (現(xiàn)狀). No drama. Now is just not the time. But my reasons aren't reasons， they're excuses. All I'm doing is hiding from the truth， and the truth is that ...\" I'm scared， Stefan. I'm scared that if I let myself be happy for even one moment that ... the world's just going to come crashing down， and I ... I don't know if I can survive that.

Stefan: Do you want to know what I would write? \"I met a girl. We talked. It was epic (史詩(shī)般浪漫的). But then the sun came up and reality set in (開(kāi)始). Well， this is reality. Right here.\"

Stefan的溫柔、體貼和博學(xué)讓Elena找回了面對(duì)明天的勇氣和希望。隨后的日子是甜蜜的：他在課堂上幫她解圍，她鼓勵(lì)他加入橄欖球隊(duì)和同學(xué)打成一片；他一眼就洞穿她所有的悲傷，她讓他感受到生活的快樂(lè)。但是，他們的愛(ài)能夠持續(xù)下去嗎？現(xiàn)實(shí)中還有Stefan難以啟齒的神秘身份橫亙于他們之間，黑暗中還有未知的危險(xiǎn)蠢蠢欲動(dòng)。Stefan能否對(duì)Elena坦承一切？他又是否真能控制嗜血的本性？他們的愛(ài)情能否沖破世俗觀念的束縛？Stefan的哥哥Damon的到來(lái)讓一切都變得危險(xiǎn)和難以預(yù)測(cè)。

Damon所到之處，必有鮮血開(kāi)路，彌漫的濃霧，晦氣的烏鴉，命喪夜路的情侶，魂斷野營(yíng)的夫妻，甚至Elena前男友Matt的妹妹Vicki也未能幸免。和素食(只喝動(dòng)物血)的弟弟Stefan不同，Damon嗜血成性。為報(bào)Stefan奪愛(ài)之仇，Damon跟著Stefan回到了神秘瀑布。19世紀(jì)時(shí)，兩兄弟同時(shí)愛(ài)著的Katherine死于一場(chǎng)大火，Damon認(rèn)為Stefan對(duì)此負(fù)有不可推卸的責(zé)任，從此對(duì)他仇恨了一個(gè)世紀(jì)之久。素食已久的Stefan根本不是Damon的對(duì)手，只能眼睜睜地看著他胡作非為：?jiǎn)拘裋icki被Stefan抹去的咬傷記憶，催眠、虐待和利用Elena的好友Caroline，在橄欖球比賽前咬死Stefan的班主任Mr. Tanner。人類(lèi)于Damon而言就是食物和玩物，他最大的快樂(lè)莫過(guò)于為Stefan制造各種麻煩，把Stefan拉進(jìn)過(guò)去的黑暗之中。Damon回來(lái)了，帶來(lái)了死亡和恐怖。

然而，Damon真的一點(diǎn)人性也沒(méi)有了嗎？整日花天酒地的他真的是在享受復(fù)仇的快感嗎？他真的冷血到不顧親情了嗎？面對(duì)和Katherine一模一樣的Elena，他真的能無(wú)動(dòng)于衷嗎？

Damon: I like you. You know how to laugh. And you make Stefan smile， which is something I haven't seen in a very long time. I'd quit cheerleading if I were you.

Elena: Why do you say that?

Damon: Oh， I saw you at practice. You looked miserable.

Elena: You saw that?

Damon: Am I wrong?

Elena: I used to love it. It was fun. Things are different this year. Everything that used to matter doesn't anymore.

Damon: So don't let it. Quit. Move on. Problem solved. Ta-da.

Elena: Some things could matter again.

Damon: Maybe. But ... seems a little unrealistic to me.

Elena: I'm sorry ... about Katherine. You lost her， too.

是的，雖然Katherine愛(ài)的是Stefan，但深?lèi)?ài)Katherine的Damon同樣失去了自己的愛(ài)人。他內(nèi)心的黑暗與瘋狂來(lái)自心底深藏的痛苦與悲傷，只要愛(ài)不滅，恨亦不滅。而Stefan看到的就是這樣一個(gè)“人”性已失的哥哥。

Stefan: I thought there was hope that somewhere deep inside something in Damon was still human， normal. But I was wrong. There is nothing human left in Damon. No good， no kindness， no love. Only a monster who must be stopped.

可是，當(dāng)Stefan在日記里為這樣的Damon唏噓不已時(shí)，他并不知道Damon看著睡夢(mèng)中的Elena眼神有多溫柔。我們不知道一臉壞笑卻不失風(fēng)度的Damon會(huì)帶來(lái)怎樣的故事，是殘忍的殺戮還是迷途知返的感動(dòng)，也無(wú)法預(yù)測(cè)他和Elena之間會(huì)上演怎樣的糾葛，但毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)的是，Damon來(lái)了，有著悠久吸血鬼歷史的神秘瀑布再也無(wú)法平靜了。

Wounds will be healed over time. 事實(shí)或許如此，可療傷是個(gè)漫長(zhǎng)的過(guò)程。Elena有Stefan陪伴，而她的弟弟Jeremy卻什么也沒(méi)有。Jeremy視為女神的Vicki卻是個(gè)只知道嗑藥、私生活混亂的不良少女。正如Mr. Tanner所說(shuō)，現(xiàn)在的Jeremy是個(gè)“moody， withdrawn， argumentative hungover”。Jeremy翹課跑去嗑藥，努力討Vicki歡心，卻總是看到她和鎮(zhèn)長(zhǎng)之子Tyler混在一起。他用飽含擔(dān)憂(yōu)與愛(ài)意的眼神注視著Vicki，默默守護(hù)著她，卻始終不被她接受。這個(gè)痛苦的少年沉浸于自己的悲傷，不愿和Elena溝通，也不屑于向姨媽Jenna敞開(kāi)心扉。他的自閉和消沉無(wú)疑是對(duì)這個(gè)家庭的二次傷害。

Elena: You ok? I called Jenna; she's on her way. Those people in uniforms， last time I checked they're the police. People are going to stop giving you breaks (給……特別關(guān)照)， Jer. They just don't care anymore. They don't remember that our parents are dead， because they've got their own lives to deal with. The rest of the world has moved on. You should try， too.

Jeremy: I've seen you in the cemetery (墓地) writing in your diary. Is that ... is that supposed to be you moving on?

Elena: Mom and dad wouldn't have wanted this.

挫折和失去是每個(gè)人必須面對(duì)的難題。Elena有自己的煩惱，而幼時(shí)父母就已離異的Caroline也在經(jīng)歷認(rèn)同危機(jī)。Caroline是校花級(jí)人物，因得不到Stefan的偏愛(ài)很是失落，這為她被Damon催眠埋下禍根。

Bonnie: Are you sober (清醒的) yet?

Caroline: No.

Bonnie: Keep drinking. I gotta get you home. I gotta get me home.

Caroline: Why didn't he go for me? You know， how come the guys that I want never want me?

Bonnie: I'm not touching that (拒絕討論此事).

Caroline: I'm inappropriate. I always say the wrong thing. And ... Elena always says the right thing. She doesn't even try! And he just picks her. And she's always the one that everyone picks， for everything. And I try so hard， and ... I'm never the one.

Bonnie: It's not a competition， Caroline.

Caroline: Yeah， it is.

Bonnie對(duì)Caroline的想法不以為然。身為女巫后裔的她最近正因自己日漸顯示出的超能力而感到困惑。在與Stefan偶然的接觸中，Bonnie感受到了死亡的氣息。此后，奇怪的現(xiàn)象常常發(fā)生。她連日來(lái)不斷看到的三個(gè)數(shù)字見(jiàn)證了Mr. Tanner的死亡；在Elena家聚餐時(shí)她竟能準(zhǔn)確地感知到湯勺和蠟燭放在哪個(gè)抽屜；她可以用意念點(diǎn)燃蠟燭，也可以用意念熄滅大火。這樣的發(fā)現(xiàn)令她害怕不已。

每個(gè)人都掙扎在自己的煩惱中，或沉浸于過(guò)去，或徘徊于現(xiàn)在，或猶疑著邁向未來(lái)。Tyler的沖動(dòng)和花心會(huì)在日后種下深重的苦果，Matt要忍受妹妹Vicki的放縱和母親的毫無(wú)責(zé)任心而獨(dú)自養(yǎng)家，而Vicki還意識(shí)不到自己正游走在毀滅的邊緣……不平凡的一學(xué)期就這樣開(kāi)始了。但不管現(xiàn)實(shí)如何殘忍，生活卻還要繼續(xù)，活在當(dāng)下比什么都重要。橄欖球賽、啦啦操、篝火晚會(huì)，一切正在按部就班地進(jìn)行；Elena氣色越來(lái)越好，被咬傷的Vicki漸漸恢復(fù)健康，Caroline總有一天會(huì)清醒，Bonnie將成為杰出的女巫，生活仍舊充滿(mǎn)希望。前進(jìn)的方式有很多，在混亂中前行算是其中之一。

Bonnie: Well， I was talking to Grams， and she said the comet (彗星) is a sign of impending (即將發(fā)生的) doom (厄運(yùn)). The last time it passed over Mystic Falls there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage (大屠殺)， it created a bed of paranormal (超出科學(xué)可知范圍的) activity.

Caroline: Yeah， and then you poured Grams another shot (一小杯酒) and she told you about the aliens. So then what?

Elena: So then nothing.

人們慶祝百年難遇的彗星奇觀，并不知道災(zāi)難也許就要降臨。Damon的游戲才剛剛開(kāi)始，他能制造的混亂遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不止于此，只是下一個(gè)被他把玩的棋子會(huì)是誰(shuí)呢？Stefan和Elena又會(huì)怎樣應(yīng)對(duì)？神秘瀑布的人們何時(shí)會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)曾引起混亂的吸血鬼已再次回歸？生活將會(huì)更加艱難，未來(lái)也將更加難以預(yù)測(cè)，而這群比誰(shuí)都渴望得到認(rèn)可和關(guān)愛(ài)的青少年們將在日后的相處中因友情、親情和愛(ài)情緊緊地團(tuán)結(jié)在一起。

“永遠(yuǎn)面朝陽(yáng)光，陰影自然會(huì)落在你身后。”沃爾特·惠特曼如是說(shuō)。所以，生活總在向前，生活總有希望。