BOOK #2
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Lili Salvatore had become something...empty. Sought and found all in one. The world seemed to begin and end in one pointless place after the dreaded town of Mystic Falls had chewed her up and spit her back out broken and lost...
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"I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery."
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THE HOUSE WAS an old one. And a familiar one. One Marcel had shown me once upon a time when he had felt like grieving the early days of his childhood. The days when he was a slave to his father.
It did not feel right to stay here. Not at all. I did not wish to reside in a house that held such haunting memories for my friend. It was such a terrible place of such terrible pasts, and yet I supposed I did not have much choice but to keep in this beautiful and cruel home.
The house was made up of large white pillars that stood just beyond the front door, supported by a wide wrap around porch. Black painted shutters adorned the clean, white exterior. And a large yard stood just beyond the entirety of the two story home, filled with apple trees and roundabout driveway.
The inside, however, was not as beautiful, what with the dust that coated every inch of the home in a thick layer. Furniture was draped with white tarps to preserve.
I had spent all of ten minutes upstairs in my new bedroom—right across from my good friend Klaus's, and by good friend I meant hateful baby daddy—when the restlessness had set in and I had ventured downstairs in an attempt to make it pretty again. At least on the outside. There was nothing pretty about the story behind this house.
I stood in the sitting room, pulling an extraordinarily dusty cover from off of liquor cabinet. I coughed, breathing in the dust. One would think vampire's would not be affected by such trivial things, but alas, we must suffer.
"Are you alright?" Elijah questioned as he entered the room.
I looked up to find him at the edge of the room. "Dust. My mortal enemy." I replied with a sigh as I cast my gaze around the room. "I hate this place." The dust, most of all.
"Yes, well, it should serve our purposes. It's a...sanctuary from our business in the quarter." Elijah replied with a wave of his hand, "Right now, you're the most important person in this family. You need a good home."
It was only then did I realize that the originals had no idea I knew Marcel—that I was friends with Marcel. Nor that I had helped build this city from the ground alongside him.
Of course, me being the sensible person I was, decided not to tell them. I had no doubt they would want intel on him, I refused to be the one to provide it.
"Awe, Lijah, I feel so special." I snorted. "I appreciate it, I do. But maybe next time we could set up our base of operations within a house that feels a little less...haunted?"
He chuckled a bit, grabbing the other end of the white tarp draped over the cabinet and pulling it off with his typical Elijah flare. "So, I'm curious," he began, "In all this time, has anyone asked you how you feel?"
