EILIONOIR

Read the Authors note at the end of this chapter please!

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Vampire Diaries, only the plot and the OC.

Any idiot can face a crisis - its day to day living that wears you out.
Anton Chekhov

Jeremy Gilbert walked into the Mystic Grill alone—well as far as any human could see he was alone. Silently trailing behind him was the ghost of the late Alaric Saltzman.

"If people see me talking to myself they are going to think I'm crazy," Jeremy mumbled as he sat down at a table in the far corner; his chair sat facing the rest of the people lingering about in the restaurant.

Alaric carefully pulled his own chair out, sneakily so that no one thought there was a sentient chair wondering around the grill.

"You see dead people, Jer." Alaric rolled his eyes at the boy's sensitivity towards what others thought of him. "You bypassed crazy when you started talking back to ghosts by choice."

Jeremy returned the older man's eye roll then began to pick at the menu sitting in front of him. The two sat silently for a minute or two; Jeremy continued to stare blankly at the menu while Alaric busied himself with people watching.

It was amazing just how clearly Alaric could see things that he had never seen while alive. Being a high school teacher, most young people, the majority of the inhabitants in the Grill, shied away from him for fear of getting in trouble for their nonsense. But now, unaware of his presence, he was able to see their true colors. Across the room sat a group of teens whispering about some party that was taking place later that night. At the bar a teen boy was trying his hardest to flirt with a young woman that was at least five years older than him. Alaric chuckled as he continued to scan over the mass of people sitting and standing throughout the room.

Jeremy, growing bored of picking at his menu, looked up at the sound of the man's chuckle. He couldn't understand how Alaric could possibly be happy with his death. In fact, it was Alaric's happiness that hurt the boy the most. Jeremy couldn't understand why Alaric was so happy about no longer being a part of the living world, a part of a world with him and his sister Elena in it. He knew that Alaric had been depressed after his Aunt Jenna's death, but he truly thought that he was growing happier in the time he had spent with them. However, it was here in death that Jeremy had seen the first signs of true happiness filling the man once again. Jeremy shook his head in perplexity and lowered his gaze back to the menu on the table.

Alaric continued his people watching, well aware of the sullen mood of the teen sitting next to him. As his gaze jumped from person to person his mind wondered.

"Have you heard anything from Elena?" he asked the boy but his eyes were tuned in to a young couple in the opposite corner from the two.

Jeremy perked up a little at the mention of his sister.

"She said she would call tonight so we could talk." He fingered the bandage that incased his wrist. "We haven't talked since she finished her transition but Stefan has sent me a few texts letting me know how she is. Sounds like vampirism suits her well." Despite his distaste for vampires, Jeremy had practically force fed Elena his blood when she refused to go through with her transition. He still wasn't on the vampire bandwagon like most of Mystic Falls was but his aversion of the supernatural creatures had lessened now that his sister had joined them. He still wasn't one hundred percent happy with the fact that Elena was now a vampire, but at least he knew she was alive and safe.

"That's good," Alaric finally moved his attention from the young couple and continued his study of the room. "Tell her I said hello and I'm glad she isn't dead." Jeremy laughed at Alaric's ease at discussing death. Alaric's eyes darted towards the boy in response to his laugh. "Don't laugh to loud, people may think you are laughing to yourself and therefore are crazy," he reiterated Jeremy's initial fear of what others may think of him.

Jeremy rolled his eyes at the man's sarcasm and continued to chuckle. His eyes lowered again to the table but a second later his gaze moved up again as he saw Alaric stiffen in his peripheral vision.

"Is it possible that there may be someone else like you out there Jeremy?" Alaric's question made the boy's eyebrows raise in question.

"I'm sure there are tons of other teenagers out there Ric, so yes it is possible," Jeremy responded trying to be funny.

"Ha ha, don't be a smartass." Alaric sent him a glare. "I mean is it possible that there are other ghost talkers out there?" Jeremy found his questioning slightly comical despite the man's obvious change in demeanor from sarcastic and happy to serious.

Jeremy shrugged his shoulders in response. "I suppose there could be other Mediums out there. I mean, think about how many vampires and witches we've seen just here in Mystic Falls. Would it be that big of a shock if there were other—as you say—ghost talkers out there?"

Alaric nodded but didn't verbally respond. Jeremy finally noticed that Alaric was staring intently at something over by the pool tables; not once during their conversation had the man looked away from the spot. Following his gaze Jeremy was soon staring at the reason for Alaric's sudden questioning.

Leaning against a cue stick next to one of the pool tables stood a young woman, probably only a year or two older than Jeremy. She stood out against the crowd of bubbly and chatty people that surrounded her as she was quiet and unmoving. Her pale skin, dark red hair, and superior aura made her stand out even more. However, these were not the things that had caught both men's eyes. Her emerald eyes were intense, focused, and slightly narrowed as if she was trying to understand some unanswerable question. But it wasn't the intensity or the focused look in her eyes; it was what she was looking at that surprised them. She was looking right at Alaric, not only looking but seeing.

She can see him! Jeremy's eyes widened in fear and astonishment at this thought. As his eyes widened a smirk fell across the girl's face. Jeremy stood abruptly, ready to go confront the girl and ask if she was also a Medium but Alaric placed his hand on the boy's arm to tell him not to. He slowly sat back down; his gaze never left the girl who was now staring back at him instead of watching Alaric. However, soon their connection was broken as a man walked up to the girl gaining her attention.

Both Jeremy and Alaric watched as the girl spoke back to the young man, and as if in a trace the guy turned and walked back to the bar. In only a few moments he was back, a glass of bourbon in hand. His movements were mechanical as he handed the girl the drink and then, unbeknown to anyone surrounding the two, he reached over to an unoccupied table and grabbed a knife.

They sat in shock as they watched the man cut his own had with the knife and then held it towards the girl. She smirked and lifted her glass towards him. The whole world stood oblivious as the man lifted his cut hand above the girl's glass and squeezed, slowly his blood began to drip into the drink. After a moment the girl lifted her hand to the man's, her action telling him he could stop. She spoke quietly to him for another minute then smiled, the man smiled in return then turned a walked away seemingly without a care in the world.

The girl looked down at her drink, shaking it slightly in order to mix the blood and alcohol together. She finally looked back up at the medium and ghost who still sat in shock. She lifted her glass and tilted it in their direction as if she was saluting them and then with a smile on her face she tilted her head back and drank down the entire concoction in one large gulp.

By this point Jeremy's mouth had fell slightly open shocked that the girl would be so gutsy and open with her actions. He couldn't form words to describe what he had just witnessed, and with one glance in Alaric's direction he could tell the ghost was having the same problem.

The girl sent them one last smug smile before turning and walking towards the door and out of the Grill.

"You saw that right?" Jeremy asked as his eyes had followed the girl's slow departure. "I'm not finally losing my mind, am I?"

Alaric's eyes snapped back from where he had also followed the girl movement out the door. He nodded his head at the boy in conformation at what neither of them could seem to wrap their minds around.

"Vampire"

AN: ok so this is a new idea I had for a story and after a lot of thought I decided to write it out. I'm putting my story Prudence (sequel to Silence) on a temporary hold because even though I know how the story is going to end I have no idea how to begin it :P so this is where I need yall's help. Please review on this story and tell me if I should continue working on this or if I should just focus on finishing Prudence (which if I do I'm not sure how often ill be able to update). If you have NO idea what I'm talking about then please visit my profile and read my first story Silence and review it also :D So let me know what you guys think! Reviews make me happy and want to write more(:

~PenguinMinion

Ps. If you are Scottish and are reading this then I'm going to apologize in advance for any mistakes on the history or agriculture of Scotland I refer to throughout this story (I am doing my research but I still don't want to offend anyone) (: