𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕣 |𝗲. 𝗺𝗶𝗸𝗮𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗼𝗻|

𝗄𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗂𝗇𝖺

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘇𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝘄𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹. She was trying, and failing, to not think about all that had happened the day previous. Especially about the original vampire that she met. As she was lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice her uncle walk in.

"What's on your mind?" he asked, causing her to jump slightly almost spilling the remaining contents in her bowl. Apprehensively, and not quite meeting his gaze, she responds, "I just can't stop thinking about all that happened yesterday."

"Understandable. I mean you were kidnapped and held hostage by vampires." there was a slight pause before Alaric looked at her and asked, "Did they give any sort of indication as to why they took you?"

The question causes Josephine to freeze. The thoughts in her head now running a mile a minute. Should she tell her uncle what she learned about the mark on her wrist? A mark that she spent her whole life believing to be some sort of birthmark. Should she tell him that her soul is linked to some mysterious person that she has no clue who it could be? Most of all, should she tell him about Elijah?

"Not really. They were mainly interested in Elena, and I just happened to be with her when they took us." the Saltzman girl said and while it wasn't entirely a lie, it wasn't entirely true either.

Slightly nodding his head, the Saltzman man walked out of the kitchen to get ready for the day. He knew that Josephine was withholding something from him, but, knowing her, he decided not to press too much and cause her to get agitated with him.

Back in the kitchen, the Saltzman girl released a breath that she didn't even realize that she was holding. Finishing her cereal, she puts her bowl in the sink and begins to get ready for school. As she walks to her room, she couldn't help but stare down at the mark on her wrist. If only she could skip having to go to school today.

↢✩✩✩↣

Having been stopped by Caroline, who explained what Elena was doing and to see if the Saltzman girl could help her in covering for the Gilbert girl, Josephine nearly didn't make it to her first class, which happened to be the class that her uncle taught. She could see how her uncle physically relaxed when she walked into the classroom, and as she sat at her seat.

As the school day came to an end, she receives a text message, yet again. Releasing a frustrated groan, the Saltzman girl pulls out her phone to see a message from Damon.

𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.

Shaking her head, she puts her phone back in her pocket choosing to ignore the text. If she went off somewhere for anything, especially with Damon, she knew that he uncle would never let her out of his sight.

Closing her locker, Josephine feels her phone vibrate once more. Pulling it out she sees yet another text from Damon.

𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚! 𝙄 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙍𝙞𝙘. 𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚.