♤ [2] An Everlasting Nightmare

ı 13 ı 1863

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"It came out like a river once I let it out when I thought I wouldn't know how."

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"Are you looking for something?" Katherine asked rudely, making me jump from where I was standing in her room.

I turned to face her, holding the jar of black ink behind my back. All I wanted was a jar of ink, and she was the only one in the house that hadn't touched her own.

"No Miss Katherine. I was just leaving," I said, moving to walk out when suddenly she grabbed me by my arm, her hand placed harshly and painfully under my chin.

"Not yet you're not," she snarled, tipping my neck to the side while hovering her mouth above my flesh. I stood frozen as there was no use in fighting against her grasp.

"Katherine!" a male voice suddenly asked from behind us. Immediately Katherine released me from her hold, turning to face the man only to find it was my father's new apprentice, James Branson.

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As a whole bunch of memories slap me in the face, that one is the only one that stands out. I stand there in shock only to find Klaus has left, leaving me standing on the porch with Joel who still holds Theo. "Blair?" Joel questions. "Are you alright? Did they come back?" he asks me.

I turn to face him, still questioning the last memory that flashed vibrantly in my mind. I want to know more. I want to know when I first found out about vampires. Then suddenly, as if my question was heard by my mind, I'm sent back into another memory flashback.

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Out of boredom and curiosity to get to know my father's new apprentice more, James and I found ourselves wandering the forest in the early morning. Since Katherine's arrival my brothers had never been there for me as they were always drooling over Miss Katherine. Then when James showed up I found a particular liking in him.

"And that way is to the market," I said, pointing left. "And that way is to the industrial buildings like the factory and school," I said, pointing right. I decided to give James a tour of Mystic Falls since he hadn't really left the house grounds in the three months he'd been here.

"I see. Perhaps you could draw me a map later with your exquisite art skills," he smiled, making me blush.

We walked in silence when suddenly the cracking of tree branches and the shuffling of autumn leaves breaks out attention off one another to two men in the distance. James suddenly grabs me and forces the two of us down so we're hiding behind an old log. I'm confused at first, but as I watch more closely I notice that one of those men is my father, and he's holding a wooden stake.

All I can do is watch as my father stabs the man in the chest with the stake, killing him right in front of my eyes. I gasped and sunk lower behind the log, turning to James for clarification.

"Oh my god. Why did my father just kill that man?" I gaped.

James sighed and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Blair, there's something you should know about me. About your father's job."

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I open up my eyes again, only this time I'm sitting in the back of James's truck with Theo while Joel drives in the front seat. "Blair! What did you remember?" he questions, but I'm still in a haze, still intrigued by the memories that flow into my mind. I'm free to pick them now, free to choose which ones I want to remember. As I ask myself more about James, memories pop up to answer my questions. I know now that we've kissed before back then, but I want to know more. I want to know what happened, and that's when my mind takes me into another memory.