A few months after their parents are killed in a tragic car accident, Elena Gilbert and her brother, Jeremy, are trying to come to terms with their grief. For Elena, formerly popular and involved with school and her friends, it's a struggle to hide her sadness. She finds herself drawn to a handsome and mysterious new student, Stefan, unaware that he is a centuries-old vampire doing his best to live peacefully among humans. His brother, Damon, however, is the embodiment of vampire stereotypes, including violence and brutality, and the two brothers wage a war for the souls of Elena and everyone else in her small Virginia town. `The Vampire Diaries' is based on the series of novels by L.J. Smith.