a world without hope

06

The memorable, classic, boarding house quickly became the "Salvatore Boarding School" to Elena and Damon as they entered the doorway and recognizing the now ruined renovations. The couple had allowed an updated design for when Alaric Saltzman took over the building to create his school for the young and gifted. With a slight glance of their surroundings, they could obviously come to the conclusion something went wrong. Shattered glass and dust laid the floor like a dangerous rug.

Damon took his wife's hand to assist her in stepping over the treacherous flooring. They were human now. Before, a small cut meant nothing; the magic in their blood would heal them in an instant. Now, together they have a daughter and a fragile, mortal, body to take care of.

Anger filled Damon to the brim. Over a decade ago, the two lent their house to their long time friend, Alaric. They trusted in him to make a difference for supernatural kids, and to make sure he did, Elena and Damon made random visits to grade the headmaster's work. The least they expected from him was to take care of their ancient house, and he could not even do that. Constantly, there would be some kind of irksome request for money to repair damage from an angry wolf, or an uncontrollable magic outburst, but this was beyond a mere renovation project.

A small breeze was felt as window panes remained shattered. Students were scattered in the main foyer, where the common fireplace and lounge chairs were. Some were injured, some were gossiping, some were trying to clean the mess that was made. A handful of students noticed the two owners of the building, the rest were still suffering from an annoying ringing in their ears and couldn't be bothered.

"Don't pick up the glass, idiots," Damon warned with an blatant irritation in his inflection. He may not be immortal and badass anymore, but his attitude never changed.

"Please," Elena finished with a worried smile, knowing his tone was harsh. "Now let's go find Ric," her smile dropped immediately.

Locating the headmaster wasn't difficult. Damon especially knew the house like the back of his hand. Pushing through student bodies and going down endless hallways like a maze, they arrived at the office of Alaric Saltzman's. Before Elena could knock, Damon latched to the door handle and busted in.

"Good morning Headmaster Alaric," Damon announced teasingly with tempting grin. In the two office chairs were Josie and Lizzie, who flinched and spun around to the sound of his voice. "Am I interrupting something?"

The twins glanced at each other, knowing their own father was about to get schooled. They braced for impact.

"Uh, no, you weren't," Alaric stood up from his desk, nervously swiping down his shirt's slight wrinkles. On his desk laid bills and invoices, half filled and stained coffee cups, and one hollow glass bottle of some unknown whiskey. To avoid any attention to his disastrous desk, he trampled to the front of it hoping to block any view to it. "How can I help you today?" He questioned with his fake 'I am a responsible adult' voice. Lizzie rolled her eyes.

"You can help me by explaining why my house, is one door slam away from plummeting into the ground." Damon grimaced.

The two girls residing in his office slowly took a stand, attempting to avoid a scowl from Damon. "I think we're going to..." Josie started.

"Uh...leave, good luck Daddy," Lizzie gulped and both exited the room promptly. Taking their seats, Elena and Damon sat down, now arms length away from Alaric.

Prim and properly, Elena crossed her legs and folded her arms, waiting for whatever answer Alaric may give. As a teenager, Alaric may have had the authority over her, but now she holds the future of not only him, but his kids and the school. She raised a brow, unimpressed. Becoming a mom lowered her tolerance for foolishness. "Go ahead, don't be shy." She egged him on.