"They're floating lanterns in the sky, can you believe that? A Japanese lantern is the symbol of letting go of the past. Well, here's a news flash: we're not Japanese!" Damon complained. He stood before Alaric's gravestone. A bottle of bourbon swished within his grasp, the liquid warm. He angrily put the bottle to his lips and drank. "Do you know what they are? Children." Damon plopped onto the bench across from the tombstone. He stared blankly ahead. "Like lighting a candle is going to make everything okay or even saying a prayer or pretending Elena is not going to end up just like the rest of us murderous vampires. Stupid, delusional, exasperating, little children. I know what you're going to say: "It makes them feel better, Damon." So what?" His eyes land on Alaric's name.
"For how long? A minute, a day? What differences does it make?" Many reasons for his anger flooded his mind as he pushed himself off the bench once more. He strolled toward the giant stone marking where his dead best friend now lay. "Because in the end, when you lose somebody; every candle, every prayer is not going to make up for the fact that the only thing that you have left is a hole in your life where that somebody that you cared about used to be." His voice croaked. He scowled. He slapped the stone, fighting back tears. "And a rock with a birthday carved into it that I'm pretty sure is wrong." He sniffled. His hand rubbed under his nose as he struggled to contain himself. "First you, now her." He chuckled dryly to himself.
He sat down on the top of the tombstone. His head hung low. "So, thanks, friend. Thanks for leaving me here to babysit, because I should have been long gone by now." He paused only for a moment. He could have swore that he had heard something. "I didn't get the girl, and now I'm stuck here babysitting these idiot kids. So, you owe me big." He tilted the bottle upward and swallowed a large gulp before emptying the rest of its contents into the grass above Alaric's casket. With a sigh, Damon hopped off of the tombstone and was about to leave when a twig broke a short distance away. He felt his muscles tighten. "Well, that was depressing." Her voice rang in his ears. He turned ever so slowly to face the girl he thought he had lost for the rest of eternity.
