♤ [2] An Everlasting Nightmare

ı 07 ı Miss Mystic

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"When the fire dies, dark in the skies hot as a match only smoke is left."

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EVERYTHING THAT Stefan tells me sounds as if it's straight from a story book, all of it seeming so unrealistic. The fact that there's suddenly a cure for vampirism, it's location hidden in the hunter's mark that now only Jeremy has. Stefan has been working under the radar with Damon to try and complete Jeremy's hunter mark, but it's far from being done considering it only grows with each vampire he kills, which so far has come to a total of two.

I have no interest in the cure, nor does James and Joel which leaves us out of this fiasco of treasure hunting for something that appeals to us more as a weapon than a cure.

The only reason my brothers want the cure is so Elena can be happy again, as apparently living the life of a vampire is too hard. I take it as a compliment really, when in reality living as a vampire is hard, but some times being human can be harder.

The constant debate of what's right and wrong for Elena has become increasingly constant over the past few days, hence why today is something I'm looking forwards to as it's the day of the annual Miss Mystic Falls. Caroline asked me to help her, and as long as it got me out of the house I couldn't refuse.

Joel offered to stay home and watch Theo while James and I attend the pageant. Out of all the events this town puts on, this is one of the better ones, partly because it involves free alcohol.

We sit at our assigned table which includes a spot for my brothers, Elena and Caroline, all of whom have disappeared over the course of a few hours after all the contestants danced.

"I still can't understand why Joel would want to miss out on free champagne to look after a crying baby. We could have found a nanny if we needed to," I say to James, finishing off my third glass of the sparkling substance.

"I think he has a soft spot for the little guy," James says with a smile.

I laugh, picturing little Theo in my mind. "Yeah, it's hard not to fall in love with him," I admit. Words of what my father said during my hallucinations days ago pops back into my mind. 'Your love for that baby will only get him killed'.

I clench my jaw at the thought of my father. Just the sound of his voice is enough to anger me, making me fear that everything he said was right. Maybe my anger does take control of me. James notices my change in behaviour as my grip tightens on my champagne glass. He calls my name gently, placing a hand over mine but everything around me has become a blur, my only thought of my father.

"Blair?" James asks, but my attention is focused on a man standing near the outdoor bar, his features resembling that of my deceased father.

"Blair? Are you alright?" James asks again.

I turn to face him and give him a tight smile before getting up and grabbing both our empty champagne glasses. "I'm going to go get us a refill," I say before walking towards the man at the bar.

I approach him with my brows creased in concentration as I try not to lash out in case this man is not my father. My father is dead, but if I've learned something in this world it's that nothing is impossible. Then there's the possibility that I've likely gone mad.

I place my hand on the gentleman's shoulder, spinning him around only to realize it's not my father, not that I really expected it would be. I'm just paranoid, or crazy, or maybe a little bit of both.