𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑

𝐯. Bʏ Tʜᴇ Lɪɢʜᴛ ᴏꜰ Tʜᴇ Mᴏᴏɴ

❝THIS IS CRUEL AND UNUSUAL
PUNISHMENT❞
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𝗔 𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗮 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗮𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁, '𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘇𝘆 𝗸𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗸𝗮𝘇𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻'. The Mystic Falls gang followed through on a plan to get the moonstone out of the tomb. While the plan had been successful, it however came with a price. Stefan was now stuck in the tomb with Katherine, after rushing in to save Jermey from becoming Katherine's personal, never-ending, blood bag.

"Ready for your first day of work?" the voice of her uncle asked as he threw open Josephine's door. Having never gotten up early on the weekend, the Saltzman girl could be wrapped up in her covers, groaning in annoyance.

"This is cruel and unusual punishment." she mutters, as she buries her head into her pillows. "Couldn't you have grounded me like a normal guardian would?"

"You and I both know that wouldn't have stopped you from doing anything that you're not supposed to. Now come on, time to get up." Alaric says, pulling the covers off Josephine's body before leaving her room.

Reluctantly, the Saltzman girl gets up from her bed as she drags her feet to get ready for the day ahead.

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"You do realize that I could've found my way here, right?" Josephine asks as both she and her uncle walk through the doors into the Mystic Grill.

"You do realize that I know you, right?" Alaric fires back, which causes Josephine to turn and look at him with a look of annoyance. "Plus, I'm meeting up with Jenna." he adds, pointing in the direction of where his girlfriend was waiting for him.

"Of course." Josephine mutters, walking away to find the manager so that she can figure out what she will be doing that day.

A little while later, the Saltzman girls found herself behind the bar, learning from another employee how to make different drinks. Quickly looking in her uncle's direction, she could see him looking toward where Tyler and Caroline were talking quietly, and based on the look on his face it wasn't good. After a few seconds, Tyler and Caroline walked out and her uncle pulled out his phone before bringing it up to his ear.

"Everything alright?" the Saltzman girl's co-worker asked, noticing that her attention was elsewhere.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, everything is fine." Josephine assured as she placed her attention back to what she was being taught.

"Ok. Well, as I was saying you want to make sure that you don't add too much to where it could overfill the glass. It's something that you have to learn as you go, so don't worry if you mess up the first few times. Lord knows that I did." the co-worker stated, chuckling a bit.

A second later, Alaric came up to the counter where Josephine was. "I'm sorry to bother you. Can I quickly talk to my niece? It's important." he asked, giving an apologetic look to the person who was standing next to the Saltzman girl. Only receiving a nod in return, Alaric quickly pulls Josephine to the side to be able to speak to her in private.

"What could be so important?" the Saltzman girl asks.

"Mason Lockwood has just been officially declared as a missing person." Alaric explained.