CENTURIES, stefan salvatore [1]

Ghost World

CHAPTER 43: GHOST WORLD

Town Square

Alaric was convinced that if he didn't bring his daughter and her siblings to the speech from Tobias Fell about the Night of Illumination, he'd regret avoiding to give them the same torture he was receiving as he had to be there as a history teacher and Tobias was the head of the history department.

"As a long-time member of the Historical Society, I am especially proud to be kicking off this day of festivities. Thank you, volunteers. Tonight, we turn off our town's lights and flare up our lanterns in honor of the night of illumination started by our founders 150 years ago. Here's founding family member Tobias Fell with a history lesson." Carol Lockwood, the current mayor, told the crowd, earning applause echoing all over the town square.

But Natalie wasn't as amused from her spot next to Alaric and Jeremy. "Why are we here?" she complained with a loud groan.

"Tobias Fell is the head of the history department. I didn't have a choice." Alaric shrugged, patting his daughter's shoulder.

Jeremy, however, saw flaw in his guardian's explanation and decided to point them out in hope of getting out of this torture. "All right, that explains what you're doing here."

"Well, I'm the one who can fail you if you don't help me out." Alaric smirked, enjoying the fact that he had something to say that could actually shut him up. And it did.

And then Elena reappeared after pulling the disappearing act on them a few minutes before they left the Gilbert house without telling anyone where she was going. "Hey, sorry I'm late. What did I miss?"

"You didn't miss anything." Jeremy assured his older sister, who smiled at him in appreciation.

And then Tobias Fell started his speech. "The first illumination was held in celebration with the newfound prosperity that Mystic Falls enjoyed after the war."

Jeremy let out a loud laugh after a moment, although no one else heard anything that could be qualified as amusing, so Natalie turned to him in confusion. "What's so funny?" she asked quietly.

Jeremy didn't respond, just turning his head to watch the stage once again as he tried to cover up his mistake, making Natalie shake her head at his refusal to answer the questions that Natalie asked him, and she turned to look at the stage once again.

"I'm gonna go to Bonnie and Caroline." the brunette female informed her family members with a tight smile as she spotted her two best girl friends.

She walked towards them as Tobias Fell continued his speech. "The founders, they placed lanterns over the doors to indicate that it was safe for their neighbors to come outside again. That night was an opportunity for the community of Mystic Falls to come together, a chance to strengthen ties with neighbors, business owners, and the..."

Natalie reached the brunette and the blonde as Caroline was talking to Bonnie about Jeremy's ghost ex-girlfriend that tried to roast Elena, and Natalie got to pay the price.

"So when you did the spell to send Vicki away, did that get rid of Anna, too?" Caroline asked as she hung a lantern up in a tree before flashing her best friend a smile as she walked up to them.

Bonnie gave Natalie a short smile too before shaking her head in response at the blonde vampire's question. "I wish. All I did was block the magic that was helping Vicki get a physical foothold here. Jeremy's still got a direct line to the other side, and as long as he wants to see Anna and she wants to see him, she's still here."

"Okay, you don't think I can actually resist commenting on that." Caroline sighed.

"There. You commented." the witch said, trying to stop this from becoming a subject of conversation as she felt immensely uncomfortable with it.