𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕣 |𝗲. 𝗺𝗶𝗸𝗮𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗼𝗻|

𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖽𝗂𝗇𝗇𝖾𝗋 𝗉𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗒

A little while later, the bell at the door rang, alerting those within the residence that there was someone at the door. Jenna went over and answered it, only to see that it was John on the other side of the door.

"Who invited him?" Jenna asks annoyed, turning to Damon who was approaching the door.

"John. Surprise. Leave." Damon says as he walks up to John, who has already stepped into the house.

"When Jenna told me she was coming to a dinner party for Elijah, I decided I couldn't miss out on all the fun and games." John says, not showing any signs of leaving anytime soon.

"There are not going to be any games tonight, John. It's just a friendly dinner party." Alaric says as he shows up at the entryway where both John and Damon are. John looks back at Damon with a look that shows that he doesn't believe what he is being told.

"What he said." Damon softly says while holding his hands up in surrender before walking past John.

Having stood a little ways away, Josephine heard and saw the entire interaction, and she couldn't help the further unsettling feeling that she was having. Whatever was going to happen, Josephine knew that it would not end well in the long run.

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It was merely an hour later when the dinner party was in full swing. When it came to seating arrangements, Josephine was essentially forced to sit next to her Uncle while Elijah sat on the other side of Alaric.

"I hate to break it to you, Damon, but according to Elijah, your family is so not a founder of this town." Jenna says as she pours some wine into Damon's glass. While all the adults were drinking wine, Josephine was stuck with drinking sparkling cider. Another thanks to her Uncle.

"Hm, do tell." Damon says as he directs his attention over to Elijah.

"Well, as I mentioned to Jenna earlier, a faction of settlers migrated from Salem after the witch trials in the 1690's." Elijah says as he looks around the table, seeing as though all eyes had fallen onto him, his gaze however lingering on the Saltzman girl, who was listening to him with a piqued interest. "Over the next hundred years, they developed this community where they could feel safe from persecution."

"Because they were witches." Jenna says amusedly.

"Yeah, but there's no tangible proof there were witches in Salem." Andie rebuttals.

"Andie's a journalist. Big on facts." Damon says, smirking.

"Well, the lore says that there was this wave of anti-witch hysteria." Elijah explains, continuing with the topic. "It broke out in the neighboring settlements, so these witches were rounded up. They were tied to stakes in a field together and, uh, burned. Some say you could hear the screams from miles around us. They were consumed by the fire." Elijah then pointed towards a food dish that was near Josephine before saying, "Could you pass the..."

"I wouldn't repeat this to the historical society." Jenna whispers while Josephine hands Elijah the dish that he was asking for.

"It's starting to sound a little like a ghost story to me." John states as he looks over to Elijah with a look that says that he wasn't convinced.

"And, I'm sure that no one asked you just like how no one wants you to be her, yet here we are." Josephine snaps back.

"So, why do you want to know the location of these alleged massacres?" Damon asks Elijah, narrowing his eyes toward the original.

"You know...a healthy historian's curiosity, of course." Elijah answers vaguely.

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