CHAPTER THREE

We're Being Punk'd, Pedro

______________

     THE NEXT morning, Ryan found himself in a particularly foul mood. Not only did he and Hope have to bury the dead dragon the day before, Landon and Rafael had skipped out on them and disappeared. The only good thing about the little excursion was that they acquired the mystical knife the Kirby boy stole. Other than that, Ryan would call the trip an epic fail.

     Almost all respect he had for Alaric flew out the window with the mention of Klaus. Ryan thought the entire comment had been uncalled for. Yes, what he and Hope did was wrong. Black Magic was not something that they should associate with, especially with their family's past, but that did not give the man the right to chastise them and insult their father in one fell swoop. Usually, only Ryan's mother, Raylynn, could do that, and hers came with all the love and worry she held.

     Ryan figured that had been Alaric's intentions. At least, he hoped. The man had a lot on his plate in the last few days, and the last thing he needed was students going off the rails. Ryan got it. That did not mean he had to like it.

     Currently, Ryan sat on the floor in the center of a classroom with the rest of his classmates. They all formed a large circle, holding out their hands for the person next to them to take. Ryan was next Hope, grasping her right hand in his left and another person's he did not know with his right, while Josie and Lizzie Saltzman were directly across from them.

     "Alright, gather together," Dorian voiced as he walked around the outside of their circle. "Chain spells are about the fluid movement of energy from witch to witch." He began to explain, until his eyes racked over the class. "Where's Penelope Park?" he asked.

     Ryan knew of the girl, although he hardly ever associated with her. Penelope came on a bit too strong for his liking. Truthfully, he thought she caused more trouble around the school than him and his sister combined.

     Lizzie looked up to where Dorian had stopped behind her and her sister. "Um, lady cramps, Mr. Williams," she said in a soft tone.

     Ryan's eyes narrowed. Uh huh.

     Dorian made a face, before he cleared his throat. "Sorry I asked," he muttered and then continued with the lesson. "This harmonious group makes for an uneven flow."

     Lizzie snorted from her seat, while Josie laughed at the wording.

     Ryan wished that he would not have gotten the joke, but he did come from a family with more women than men. Sadly, for him. He lifted his gaze from the twins to watch a folded paper materialize in the air above Dorian's head. The man looked up with he heard it flutter over his head, reaching up to pluck the paper into his hand.

     "Uh, oh. Who's in trouble with the headmaster?" Josie questioned when she saw the note.

     "Probably the people who started a rumble with people from the local high school," Hope said with a pointed look toward Lizzie.

     A massive fight had broken out between the rival teams during the charity, flag-football game. Another reason why Ryan should have stayed instead of going along with his sister's stupid ideas.

     "Lizzie Saltzman, Josie Saltzman, Ryan Mikaelson, and baby makes four. Off you go," Dorian stated and set his eyes on Hope.

     Ryan groaned and pulled his hands out of his sister's and his classmate's. "Great. Now we're all screwed."

     _______

     The four of them exited the classroom and were instructed to meet with the headmaster in the library. Ryan knew exactly what he was there for, which did not make it any less bearable. He trailed after the three girls, who seemed a lot more pissed about the situation than him. Granted, he saw it coming. Not in a prophetic sense, but in a more localized common sense. Alaric was angry. It was only a matter of time before him and Hope reaped what they sow.

     "This makes no sense, Dad. Why are we being punished?" Lizzie questioned her father as they moved further into the library.

     Alaric stepped up onto the raise platform that lined the bookshelves with the four of them trailing after him. "Because, you started a brawl at a charity football game that risked exposing what we do here," he said as he swiped a few books from a shelf.

     "You weren't mad last night," Lizzie exclaimed right on his heels.

     "I was mad last night," Alaric corrected her. "My undying love for my daughters just happened to trump my rage." He stepped down the small set of stairs to place the books in his hands onto a cleared table. "I volunteered everyone in the game, so stop complaining. You're lucky that it's just community service and not actual jail time."

     "Can I at least offer a rebuttal in my defense? If it pleases the court?" Lizzie quipped to her father from where she stood at the railing behind the man.

     Ryan moved down to the lower level of the library and rested against a table with his hands gripping the straight edge on either side of his hips. He really just wanted to be through with the conversation. He really needed something with caffeine to keep him awake.

     Alaric had his arms crossed over his chest, but urged his daughter on with a wave.

     Lizzie took a deep breath and shook her head before she began, "first of all, I was provoked. My response was totally proportional considering the levels of abuse I was forced to endure," she took in her father stoic expression and continued. "Secondly, if anyone should take the blame it's Josie."

     Josie snapped her gaze up to her sister and pushed away from the end of the table Ryan also rested against. "What?" she exclaimed in disbelief.

     "I'm sorry. I totally cracked under cross, but if you would have just let Kaleb catch the ball..."

     Josie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and we'd..."

     "...you'd still be in trouble," Alaric interrupted the twins.

     Ryan snorted and looked over to Lizzie. "Nice job. You totally just threw your sister under the bus," he voiced.

     Lizzie simply gave him a narrowed look in response.

     "Thank you," Josie said, drawing the Mikaelson boy's gaze toward her, "Ryan."

     Lizzie gapped at her sister's words.

     "The bus leaves in ten minutes, and I expect all four of you to be on it, working together today. Harmoniously and without drama," Alaric told them all, giving them each their own demanding stares.

     "Ryan and I weren't even at the game. Why are we being punished?" Hope questioned the man.

     Alaric turned to the siblings with a flat look. "You both know what you did."

     Ryan pressed his lips together with a nod.

     Yeah, they totally did.

     "Alright, now go, all of you," Alaric said and then clapped his hands when they failed to move. "Come on."

     Ryan sighed and pushed off the table, leaving the library and his sister behind to change out of his uniform. As hot as it was outside, he was not about to go out into Mystic Falls in navy slacks and a button down shirt. He may be a tribrid, but that did not mean he could not die of a heatstroke. Or did it? Nah, he really did not care to find out.

     _______

     "So, what did you guys do?" Lizzie asked when the bus finally came to a halt next to the town square. "My dad never gets made at the two of you. You guys are the prodigal son and daughter. It must've been juicy," she sang the last few words.

     Ryan was not about to indulge the girl. Not only was the entire dragon things supposed to be kept secret, he did not want to his flirtation with Black Magic, especially to the Saltzman twins. They knew he and his sister were. It gave them cannon fodder to use against them when Daddy Dearest did not let them get their way. At least when it came to Lizzie. "Oh, look at that, no time for talking," Ryan quipped as they stepped off the bus to congregate in the lawn of the square.

     "Alright, listen up," Dorian spoke as he followed the students out of the large vehicle. "Beautiful day. We got options. Litter, weeds, graffiti, your choice." He hands over a few orange trash bags and poking sticks to pick up the discarded trash. He held out one to Kaleb, a newly turned vampire, who gave the man a strange look, before he took it. Dorian then turned back to the bus.

     Kaleb scoffed. "It's bad enough we get punished, while the humans get a pass, but there're ain't no way in hell I'm picking up their garbage," he said and tried to hand the stick over to Lizzie.

     The blonde held up her hands and exclaimed, "uh, I don't do trash either."

     "I love trash," Hope voiced and moved forward to take the stick from Kaleb, "as of this moment."

     Lizzie grinned in a sarcastic manner. "Perf. It's suits you."

     Ryan rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his Salvatore tee. "Oh, God. Someone get me a roll of duct tape," he mumbled, even though everyone around could hear him. Most chuckled, while Lizzie gave him a glare that could melt the sun.

     The blonde then turned to her sister. "Looks like we're scrubbing paint today."

     "Dad told us to work together, okay? Harmoniously," Josie stated.

     "Yeah, and he also said without drama. And I'm feeling a rage attack, so I will be remaining drama free over by that wall of graffiti," Lizzie said, pointing across the square to the storefront window. "Are you coming or not?"

     Josie stared at her sister and retorted, "I don't know, Lizzie. Is there another bus you wanna throw me under?" She then walked away from her twin and over to where Ryan and Hope stood.

     Lizzie huffed. "Fine, Daddy's girls," she voiced and set her stare on the youngest Mikaelson, "and boy." She then looked around at the others around them. "Anyone else?" Everyone moved into action, heading off to where they wanted to begin their mandatory community service. Lizzie began to walk away, until she glanced over her shoulder and called out, "get the rest out, MG."

     Ryan shifted his attention over to the young vampire by the name of MG. Not his real name, but that was what everyone called him. He stepped forward to follow after the Saltzman girl, before he looked back to where Josie stood with a frown on her lips. MG gave her an apologetic stare, but continued on after the blonde.

     Once everyone had dispersed, Ryan turned to where Hope and Josie remained and raised his shoulders in s shrug. "So, who up for trash duty?"

     Hope simply rolled her eyes, turning away from her brother to proceed to pick up the litter around the square. A light smile broke out on Josie's face, despite the fight with her sister.

     Ryan took her reaction as a win and swiped a bag and stick from the ground to hand to her. "Harmoniously, right?" he quipped, his heart pounding inside his chest the entire time.

     Josie politely took the items and continued to smile. "Yeah, harmonious."

     _______

     After a few minutes in, Ryan felt the craving for caffeine grow in his stomach and mind. Apparently, even supernatural creatures could get addicted to the jittery feeling from either coffee or a soda. And in that moment, Ryan needed something before his brain burst from his skull.

     With a farewell to Hope and Josie, Ryan crossed the square to the Grill to grab something from inside. He managed to grab a few dollars from his stash in his room for either a drink or food later on. It just so happened that he needed it sooner. Ryan found MG, Kaleb, and Lizzie stood in front of a store, scrubbing red spray paint from the glass. It read, SALVATORE IS 4 LOOSERS. And the locals called them the freaks.

     "Come on, MG, any slower and you'll be going in reverse," Lizzie spoke from where she watched the vampire wash the window with a sponge.

     MG turned to her and said, "I'm doing the best I can without vamping."

     "It's plan pitiful, brah," Kaleb exclaimed from where he flipped over his bucket and sat down on it.

     Lizzie set her hands on her hips and faced the other vampire. "At least he's trying. I don't see you pitching in."

     "Yeah, that's more than I can say for you two," Ryan voiced as he came to stand on the sidewalk next to them.

     Kaleb looked toward the Mikaelson boy and huffed. "'Cause this whole thing's wack. What? We get punished for winning a game fair and square," he tutted.

     Ryan stared at the boy with furrowed brows. "It wasn't fair. We're supernatural, and they're human. We'll always have an unfair advantage."

     "And LeBron's maybe the best player ever. Should he quit scoring 'cause no one on the court can check him," Kaleb countered. "We're faster, we're stronger – we're better. And we – ain't got nothing to apologize for," he said looking around at the three others.

     "All the more reason for us to let the humans win," Ryan voiced and drew everyone's gazes back to him. "And F.Y.I., LeBron is human playing against other humans." He stressed each other, making sure his point came across. Kaleb did not seem to get that they were different and needed to keep unwanted attention away from them and their school.

     Before anyone could respond, Ryan heard laughter from down the street. He turned to find a group of Mystic Falls High students headed in their direction. One of whom being the guy who got his car destroyed by Hope.

     "Hypothetical question," Conner exclaimed as he moved closer to the group from the Salvatore school. "How bad would it suck if whoever did this graffiti just came back tonight and put it right back up, again?"

     Ryan shrugged with his hands shoved into the pockets of his gym shorts. "Well, considering we're only here for today, it won't really matter to us either way. You'll be ruining your own town," he retorted.

     Conner turned to him and was about to speak, but Lizzie wanted her turn in the insult battle. "And, whoever it is, I hope he improves his spelling," she said, staring right at the dirty bond haired boy.

     Kaleb snorted, while Ryan smirked, especially when Conner's expression dropped when he looked at the misspelled graffiti.

     The blonde girl beside the boy, Dana, Ryan believed to be her name, simply turned to the vampire still on the ladder and gave him a flirtatious smile. "Hey, MG!"

     MG looked toward her and nodded. "Dana, what's good?"

     "Uh, he's busy, Dana," Lizzie voiced, the annoyance precisely clear in her tone.

     "Uh, he can speak for himself, Saltzman," Dana countered back.

     "You know what," MG interrupted the two girls and looked to the townie, "I was just getting ready to grab a burger."

     Dana smiled in triumph, while Lizzie stared at the vampire in shock.

     Ryan rolled his eyes at their behavior. Sometimes he really hated being a teenager.

     "MG?" Lizzie questioned the boy, until Conner sprung forward and launched his smoothie all over her chest, causing her to gasp.

     The rest of the Mystic Falls gang laughed and looked on in surprise. Ryan did not think it was very funny. Not only did the action show that they were all a bunch of immature brats, it revealed that Conner truly was an asshole.

     "Oops, that's my bad," Conner said with a fake apologetic look, before he sipped on the rest of his beverage.

     Ryan narrowed his gaze toward the boy as the group bumped and shoved passed them to continue down the sidewalk. He took a deep breath to ease the anger building inside of him, but it was no use. He glanced over his shoulder and whispered under his breath, "ut scandali." Ryan looked on to watch Conner trip forward over his own two feet and plummet to the ground, the rest of his smoothie slashing up into his face.

     Everyone around the boy began to laugh, even the Mystic Falls kids that were with him. Ryan turned back to the people around them and found no one staring in his direction, except for the last person he wanted to see looking at him. A smoothie covered Lizzie Saltzman.

     _______

     As the good gentleman he was raised to be, Ryan offered to walk Lizzie back to the school, even though he wanted to be no where the girl. He would have suggested he teleport them there, once they were out of town limits, but she seemed to be on a mission from hell. More so complaining to her father, he suspected.

     Ryan walked after Lizzie, staying clear of her fuming state and the smoothie dripping off of her. When they arrived at the school's ground, they found the primary school kids cleaning up the garden. Ryan and Lizzie continued toward the rear entrance of the school, weaving through the kids as they went.

     A little boy with dark, curly brown hair looked up from where he dug in a flower pot. "Hey, Ryan, Lizzie, you want..."

     "Choose your next words very carefully, Pedro," Lizzie cut him off and stormed past him to enter the school.

     Ryan sighed heavily at her action. Once she was through the door, he looked over to the little boy and said, "sorry about her, Pedro. Lizzie having a bad day. After I get her settled, I'll come back and help you. Sound good?"

     Pedro smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Ryan."

     Ryan returned the gesture, before he raced after Lizzie in the direction of Alaric's office.

     _______

     To Ryan's surprise, Lizzie did not mention his bought of magic in the center of town square. She ranted and raved about Hope and Josie growing closer and how everything was her father's fault, but not a word about his little spell slipped through her lips. Ryan figured it had to do with her wanting to blackmail him in the future, considering the way she threw her own sister under the bus that morning.

     As promised, Ryan set out to help Pedro and the other little kids with their gardening work. It gave them something to do with their magic, like grow a flower or urge the plants to flourish. Simple spells that were age appropriate. When finished with the first few pots, Ryan searched the garden for any sign of Lizzie. She came outside after her shower to rid herself of the smoothie, but she disappeared shortly after that. He wanted to know exactly why she neglected to tell her father of his spell. If he really was for blackmail, he needed to be ready to have ammunition against her in return.

     Ryan scanned the garden, soon finding Lizzie sprawled across a large boulder with her arms held over her face. "Glad to know you're contributing to the cause."

     Lizzie moved her arms to rest behind her head. "Consider this a life lesson, Ryan," she said as she pushed herself to sit up. "People disappoint, me included."

     Ryan pursed his lips and nodded. "Okay. Well, I'm not one to get disappointed easily. You'll have to do better than skipping out on garden duty," he stated, until the perfect question formed in his mind. "But speaking of you, why didn't you tell your dad what I did?"

     Lizzie shrugged. "I figured that if our sisters are becoming the best of friends, I could at least have you on my side. Call it a sibling swap."

     Ryan's brows furrowed at her words. "Me? You don't even like me."

     Lizzie sighed with a pointed stare. "No, but my sister does."

     Ryan did not notice the way his chest tightened, but he ignored it. "But I'm not on the outs with my sister, you are."

     Lizzie groaned. "Can't you go along with me for once in your life. I'm known you for nearly a decade, and you never fail to have a spiteful remark."

     "I think I can say the same thing about you," Ryan countered back.

     Their conversation was cut short when Pedro approached them. "Aren't you guys supposed to help?" he asked.

     Ryan exhaled and turned to the little boy. "We will in a few minutes, okay?"

     Pedro glanced away from them and froze at something behind Lizzie's head. "That statue just moved."

     Ryan followed the little boy's gaze, as does Lizzie, and found that a grey gargoyle statue stood in the garden. One that had been there for as long as Ryan could remember, so at least the last two years he attended the school. "I didn't see anything."

     "Good one," Lizzie voiced and turned back to Ryan. "You know, I deserve to know what's happening just as much as you and Hope. I'm his freaking daughter."

     Ryan rolled his eyes. "This again? If you want to know so badly, just..."

     "It's doing it again," Pedro exclaimed and pointed in the direction of the statue.

     Ryan blinked when he looked back at the gargoyle. The statue had indeed moved from it's original spot. Now instead of behind the bushes, it stood directly in front of them. Odd, even for that school.

     Lizzie eyed the stone creature and then turned back to the little boy. "We're being punk'd, Pedro. The sixth grade witches are learning illusion spells this semester."

     Pedro set his stare on the statue, his eyes growing wider by the second. "It's – it's – it's..."

     "Let me guess, it's right behind me," Lizzie said in slight exasperation.

     Ryan looked back over at the statue and found that it was nowhere in sight. "Uh, Lizzie..." he trailed off when the blonde came to the same conclusion.

     "Ryan, Lizzie."

     Ryan whipped around to where Pedro froze at the sight behind them. The gargoyle stood behind them, shifting and moving its arms to free the sword in its grasp. Its wings flared from its back, while its red eyes glowing in the sunlight. "Holy..." he trailed off and grabbed ahold of Pedro's arm. "Go, Pedro! Run!"

     The gargoyle stepped toward them and screeched with its arms raised. Lizzie shouted, pushing at Ryan's back. "Ryan, run!"

     The three of them took of through the garden to and around the side of the school. They tried to put as much distance as the could between them and the gargoyle, but it sounded like it was right behind them the entire way. Ryan remained toward the rear, raising his hand toward the entrance of the school to force them open. The double doors swung wide and allowed them to rush into the foyer, which was luckily free of students. Ryan, Lizzie, and Pedro rushed inside and heard the heavy footfalls of the gargoyle just outside.

     Lizzie immediately whirled to Ryan and said, "give me your hand."

     He did not even argue, simply holding out both of his hands for the girl to take. Ryan felt Lizzie wrap her hands around his and a sharp sting followed as the glowed a faint red. She needed to siphon his magic. While doing so, Ryan looked over at Pedro, who shook from the situation at hand. "Pedro, go find Dr. Saltzman! Hurry!"

     The little boy took off in a flash to find the headmaster, disappearing through the halls and away from the reanimated monster.

     Once Lizzie was finished, she dropped her hands and faced the gargoyle head on. "Go after him," she told the boy at her side.

     Ryan stared at her in complete shock. "Are you insane?"

     "I've got this, Ryan. Find my dad. Tell him I trapped it," Lizzie said, before she moved forward and shoved the boy as hard as she could.

     Ryan did not question her a second time, rushing off to find Pedro and Alaric. He made it a good distance from the foyer and heard Lizzie scream behind him. He wanted to turn around and go after her, but she asked him to find her father. Alaric could help. Ryan went against everything that yelled and kicked inside of him to go back, forcing himself forward to locate the headmaster. He just hoped he made the right decision.

<November 17, 2018>

As much as I hate to, I had to divide episode three into two chapters. It would end up being over 7,000 words or something, and I didn't think you guys would want to read that in one sitting.

Also, I figured that since Hope and Josie were bonding in Mystic Falls, Ryan and Lizzie could bond, in their own special way, over hating Conner and fighting the gargoyle.

I live for sassy Ryan. He reminds me of Ray when I first starting writing her character. And don't forget the sass king, Klaus Mikaelson.

Don't forget to vote and comment.

-Jordan

P.S. Unedited chapter.