CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

There's a Mummy on Main Street

__________________

     RYAN TRAILED behind the girls and Alaric as they trekked through the center of the Maple Hollows. Because of the bug plague, the entire town had been abandoned and carted off to the medical treatment camp. Ryan, Hope, Lizzie, and Josie would be able to use their powers against the mummy however they liked without repercussions.

     Alaric would also be able to shoot his crossbow however he pleased.

     Not that Ryan believed an arrow would do anything to a mummy, but the man wanted to feel helpful in some way. He did not want to burst his bubble.

     Ryan's eyes flickered over the deserted Main Street for any sign of the mummy. It would help a lot more if he knew what the thing was supposed to look like. Should he look out for a sentient Halloween costume, or a mangled, cloth-wrapped man limping down the street?

     "Some people find it helps to clear their conscience before heading into battle," Lizzie voiced from where she walked alongside her sister.

     Hope exhaled. "Not stopping you."

     "Now is not the time," Josie said.

     Ryan nodded. "I'm with Josie, on this one. We're here to kill a mummy, not for a trip down Memory Lane."

     "It's always time for truth," Lizzie stated. "Last chance, Hope. If you didn't start that fire to keep us from going, then why were you so mean to me after?" She did not wait for an answer and continued. "I'll tell you why, because you were guilty."

     "Kids! Quiet back there, please," Alaric called over his shoulder, scanning the street with his crossbow armed and ready.

     "Seriously," Josie quipped, agreeing with her father.

     "I wasn't mean to you. You were mean to me," Hope retorted.

     "Because you were telling people about my episode."

     Ryan's brows furrowed as he looked around his sister and Josie to where Lizzie stood. "Your what?"

     "My episode," Lizzie emphasized, sterner than before. "The one I had when our trip got cancelled. You told everyone that I was witch-bipolar." She turned and set her gaze on the Mikaelson girl.

     Hope came to a stop and whirled to the blonde. "I would never do that."

     "Guys, seriously, what is the point of even talking about..."

     "Just drop the act," Lizzie powered on, talking over her sister. "I had my first – occurrence. My mom took me away to get help, and you decided to use it against me."

     Ryan spun to face the bickering girls. "Okay, we really don't have time for this. You guys can argue later."

     "Guys..." Josie tried, again, from where she walked ahead.

     "I didn't even know," Hope exclaimed, not listening to either of them. Her eyes were wide, stunned by the accusation. "I swear, I would never do that."

     "Guys," Josie snapped, gaining their attention.

     "What?" Ryan, Hope, and Lizzie shouted when they turned to face her.

     "There's a mummy on Main Street." Josie stepped aside with her stare aimed ahead of them.

     Ryan followed her gaze. Sure enough, a mummy strode through the center of the street. A growl erupted from its mouth as it moved forward with its arms held out at its sides. Urn in hand. Ryan squinted when a bright glow emitted from the mummy's chest. Green and circular right where its heart should have been.

     "So, what? Do we – like – rush it?" Lizzie questioned as she stared at the monster.

     "It's seven feet tall," Alaric said, holding his crossbow up to shoot the thing. "We hold our ground until it's close enough to attack."

     "Or Hope and I could wolf out and tear it limb from limb," Ryan proposed.

     Hope shook her head and looked to her brother. "Not the best idea. We don't even know what this thing can do."

     Ryan shrugged. "Worth a shot."

     "Okay, Dad, get behind us," Josie told her father.

     "I can't do that," Alaric countered.

     "Dad," Lizzie tried.

     "I have to protect you. All of you."

     "No offense, Dr. Saltzman, but you and your crossbow are kind of man-spread in front of four, powerful witches," Hope told the man.

     Alaric paused for a moment, before he dropped the crossbow. "Okay, good point."

     Ryan watched him rush to the sidewalk. "Sorry, Dr. S. No hard feelings."

     "Okay, what can a mummy do to hurt us?" Josie questioned, still staring at the mummy as it got closer and closer.

     "Like Hope said, we don't really know," Ryan answered.

     "I think we're about to find out," Hope added.

     Ryan kept his eyes on the mummy. It had a tight grip on the urn and took large steps in their direction. Grime covered teeth protruded from its none existent lips, while ripped flesh and wrinkled skin still hung to its face. It came to a stop just a few yards away from them.

     Before any of them could act, the mummy took a deep breath and then opened its mouth to expel a horde of bugs. The same bugs as the plague-like swarm from earlier.

     "Ryan, Hope," Josie voiced, holding out her hands to them.

     Ryan grasped Josie's hand and his sister, while Hope did the same with Lizzie. "Bulla," they chanted, creating a transparent barrier around the four of them.

     The bugs bounced off the clear bubble, failing to touch the teenagers. Some fell to the ground, dead, while others flew around them and disappeared into the air.

     "Nice teamwork," Alaric called from where he stood off to the side.

     Ryan held onto Josie and Hope's hand and said, "makes the dream work."

     The mummy stared them down, growling and hissing from a distance.

     "Should we rush it now?" Lizzie asked when they let go of one another.

     Hope shook her head. "Not yet."

     They waited a moment. The mummy only growled more.

     "Now?" Lizzie asked, again.

     "No," Hope said.

     "I really, really think that we should rush it."

     "Wait!"

     "We need to hold our ground," Ryan told them. "We still don't know what this thing can do."

     "We'll do it on three," Hope stated. "One...two..."

     Before they could act, the mummy raised its hand and pointed in their direction. Ryan froze when something scratched inside his throat. He coughed, trying to clear it out, but it held firm. The feeling grew as it traveled further up to the back of his mouth. It pitched and blocked air to his lungs.

     Ryan coughed, falling forward onto the pavement to get whatever it was out. He could hear Lizzie as she cried out in disgust. Several bugs were expelled from Ryan's mouth the longer. The sight would have made him vomit, but Ryan could only wretch out more creepy-crawlies.

     Someone dropped to the ground beside him. Hope. She coughed as the same bugs shot out of her mouth. Lizzie, too. All three of them struggled to breathe the longer the bugs crawled up their throats.

     Ryan managed to look up just in time for Josie to send a spray of fire from her palms in the mummy's direction. It was consumed and burst into flames, being reduced to nothing but ashes in the middle of the street. As soon as the urn dropped to the ground, the bugs disappeared from Ryan's mouth and vanished from the asphalt in front of him. He stumbled to his feet, whirling to where the mummy no longer posed a threat.

     "Worst Spring Break – ever," Lizzie whined when she did the same.

     Ryan pressed his lips together and nodded. "Agreed."

     _______

     Traid cleaned up the mess. Agent Clarke sent in a team after Ryan, Hope, and the twins killed the mummy to dispose of its remains. But, there was a catch, or so Alaric believed.

     Ryan rested in the front of seat of the minivan as they residents of Maple Hollows were piled back onto the buses and were returned to their homes. He laid his head back, propping his feet onto the dashboard, while Alaric talked with Agent Clarke. Hope sat on the edge of the van with the sliding door propped open, Josie and Lizzie took up the middle row, while Kaleb leaned against the side of the vehicle.

     "So, the mummy ain't actually dead?" Kaleb questioned when Alaric moved back over to the teenagers.

     "Well, if I'm right, the mummy's curse is bound by the scarab in its chest. Once the girls siphon the scarab, the curst will be lifted and the mummy will be dead," Alaric informed them.

     "Okay, and what if you're wrong?" Kaleb countered.

     "He's never wrong," Hope and Ryan said at the same time.

     There was a moment of silent, before Lizzie asked, "so what now?"

     "Until we get the urn, we wait." Alaric moved to the front of the van and popped the hood to expose the engine.

     Ryan peered over his shoes through the windshield to where Alaric stood, blocked by the raised hood. "And you're going to fake engine trouble to do that?"

     Alaric sighed. "That's the plan."

     "How long do we have to wait?" Lizzie questioned her father. "If I have to bug-hurl again, I swear to God, I will never talk to you again," she said pointedly toward Hope.

     Hope looked back at the blonde and retorted, "okay, that one wasn't even remotely my fault."

     "Yeah, well, the beetle slime in my tonsils says otherwise."

     Ryan rolled his eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time since their trip began. "Oh, my God! Just talk it out, already. Your vague jabs are getting on my nerves." He dropped his legs to the floorboard and glanced back at the angered Saltzman twin.

     Lizzie scoffed. "Oh, you're one to talk Mister Kiss-and-Tell."

     Ryan blinked. "Excuse me." He turned in his seat to face the girl head on.

     "You didn't think you could keep it a secret, did you? I've heard about your little rendezvouses with Penelope Park," Lizzie quipped in return.

     Ryan gaped toward her. "What the hell do you mean? Me and Penelope? You're insane!"

     Lizzie's eyes narrowed. "Don't act so innocent. You're the reason the Wicked Witch of the Salvatore School broke my sister's heart."

     Ryan blinked. "I have never, nor will I ever, get with Penelope Park."

     "Okay, enough," Hope exclaimed, staring between her brother and the blonde. "No more arguing until this mummy mess has been dealt with."

     Ryan shook his head and fell back into the seat. "Whatever."

     Is that really why Lizzie despised him since he got to the Salvatore School? Because she thought he was the reason for Josie and Penelope's break up? She lost her mind.

     They were all quiet for a while until Josie spoke. "Why can't we just give the mummy the urn? Is opening the portal to Malivore really that bad?"

     "Do any of the monsters that have been trapped in there seem happy and balanced to you?" Hope questioned with creased brows.

     "I'm with Josie," Lizzie said. "Why don't we skip bug vomit round two and just go and get some pancakes, or something?"

     "I'd rather not experience a full-scale supernatural apocalypse," Ryan voiced, shoving his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie.

     "Think of it like this," Alaric began from where he remained at the van's hood. "We'll be setting the mummy free form his prison."

     Josie awed. "Poor mummy."

     Screaming erupted from the tents of the camp as the workers shoved through the plastic flaps. They ran through the camp and into the forest beyond.

     "Alright, look, we can keep having empathy hour, or we can do what we came here to do," Kaleb exclaimed as he pushed off the van.

     The sound of broken glass and other objects were heard. The mummy must have reanimated. Just like Alaric said.

     Ryan sighed and pushed open the front door. "Let's get this over with."

     "Here we go," Alaric breathed, reaching for his crossbow hung over his shoulder.

     The mummy stomped through the flap of a tent and roared across the camp. Ryan readied himself, while the girls climbed out of the van.

     "What the hell is happening?" Agent Clarke ran up next to them through the chaos.

     Alaric plastered a fake surprised expression on his face. "I don't know. He should be dead."

     "Well, clearly he isn't," Agent Clarke retorted.

     "Yeah, I can see that."

     Ryan watched the mummy plow through the boxes and shelving still stacked around tents. It growled and smashed everything in its path. "I think it's looking for the urn," he called out to the rest of them.

     "What – what do we do?" Agent Clarke stuttered out.

     "I – I don't know. Give him the urn," Alaric said.

     Agent Clarke snatched a walkie-talkie from his belt and shouted into it, "hey, can someone give this thing the urn?"

     Someone responded. "Can't. The urn's gone."

     "W-who's been in there?" Agent Clarke questioned, his eyes set on Alaric.

     "Only our guys."

     The mummy proceeded to ransack the place in search of the urn.

     Agent Clarke dropped the walkie-talkie and snapped to the headmaster. "Do something."

     Alaric turned to the vampire next to him. "Kaleb?"

     Kaleb nodded. "Yep." He sped forward and appeared in front of the mummy in a split second. "Nice bling. Don't mind if I do." He ripped the glowing scarab from its chest, speeding back to toss it over to the twins. "Lizzie."

     Lizzie reached out and caught the thing in her hands. "Got it." She moved closer to Josie. The two of them wrapped their palms around the scarab, siphoning the curse and magic into themselves.

     The mummy roared, snarling as it set its stare on the girls.

     "Oh, crap. Hurry," Hope shouted. The mummy stomped forward and took long strides in their direction. "Like, hurry, hurry."

     The mummy reared back and opened its mouth to send a spray of bugs their way. Ryan ran forward with his hand raised. "Obice," he chanted, creating an invisible barrier between them and the monster.

     The bugs bounced off it just once, before they all disintegrated. Ryan maintained his spell, even as the mummy stilled and began to solidify in place. He lowered his hand only when it could no longer move an inch.

     "The curse is lifted. He's gone," Alaric voiced and then turned to the Triad agent. "Well, Agent Clarke, if we do anymore work for you guys, you're gonna have to put us on the payroll. I guess we'll be –uh –on our way out of here." He released a breath, moving over to the van to lower the hood.

     Ryan glanced to his sister and the others, nodding from them to the van. They understood and headed toward the vehicle to climb in.

     "Good night," Alaric told the agent, before he assumed position behind the wheel and they drove away.

     _______

     Their night got a bit more complicated from that point. Alaric drove outside of the town to where they were supposed to pick up Emma and Dorian. Far from the people of Triad. The same place Kaleb compelled one of the camp workers to give them the urn. A genius idea on his part.

     Until Agent Clarke showed up and ruined their swift escape. The man found Emma and Dorian and said he would let them leave, if they handed over the urn. And of course they did. Their lives were more important than some mystical jar.

     The ride home became more awkward and anger filled than Ryan liked, and it had nothing to do with surrendering the urn. Hope spoke in a kinder tone to Lizzie. She empathized with her situation and asked why Lizzie thought she said those things in the first place. As it turned out, Josie had been the one who planted the doubt in her sister's mind.

     Ryan did not think he felt such betrayal in his life. He could only speculate that she did the same to him. That Josie made Lizzie believe he was the reason for her sister and Penelope's horrible break up. But he choice not to ask. Not in the van. He did not want Alaric, Emma, or Dorian to know about the drama between them. It would make everything so much worse.

     When they got back to the school, Ryan climbed out of the van and retreated to his room. He just wanted to sleep his troubles away, or stay up into the early hours of the morning binge-watching Netflix. He was not set on a course of action.

     By the time he changed into a set of pajamas, Hope knocked on his door and asked him to come with her. The both of them needed answers. They needed to know why Josie did it, why she drove them and Lizzie to hate each other.

     Ryan shoved his hands into the pockets of his red plaid pants and approached the open bedroom door of the twins. Hope did the same, wrapped her cardigan tighter around her body.

     "Why would you drive a wedge between me and the Mikaelsons?" Lizzie questioned from inside. "Why lie?"

     "We were gonna ask the same thing," Hope spoke, capturing the twins' attention.

     Ryan leaned against the doorframe and set his gaze on the brunette Saltzman. "Yeah. Care to explain?"

     Josie glanced between them and sighed. "I didn't just lie. I started the fire."

     Wow. And just when he thought he could not be surprised anymore.

     "Lizzie had made some remark," Josie started with her hands crossed and her eyes set on Hope, "about me being obsessed with you. I just blurted out, 'How could I be obsessed with somebody who would say such mean things about my twin?'"

     "But I didn't," Hope exclaimed.

     "I know. I just made it up."

     "Why?" Ryan asked her. "Why lie about that?"

     Josie's expression fell flat. "Because I didn't want Lizzie to know the truth." She took a deep breath and said, "I had a crush on you."

     Ryan's eyes widened just a bit. More and more surprises.

     "And I had slipped a note into your room that morning and – I don't know. I just really immediately regretted it, but I couldn't get in by then. So, I did a fire spell under your door." Josie paused. "I was really only aiming for the note."

     "Why would it matter that I knew?" Lizzie questioned from behind her sister.

     Josie turned to face her twin. "Because my whole life, any time I've ever like anyone, you go for them. And you always win. That's why I said what I did about Ryan." She looked back to where the Mikaelson boy remained in the doorway. "He wasn't the reason Penelope broke up with me. I didn't want you to go after him, either."

     Ryan's brows furrowed. "You were afraid Lizzie would go after me? Why would it matter? We already had this conversation."

     Josie released a breath. "I only told her that a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure about what I felt until we talked. I'm still not."

     They were all silent for a beat.

     "You had a crush on me?" Hope asked. A light smile on her lips.

     Josie shifted her gaze to the other Mikaelson and said, "of course I did. Who wouldn't?" She grinned in return.

     Ryan rolled his eyes. Not at Josie's reveal about her crush on his sister, but about the fact that Josie pitted Lizzie and them together for years. Years. "Great. So that justifies everything you said, right?" He pushed himself off the doorframe and shook his head. "You know what? I'm not sure about what I'm feeling right now, either." He turned on his heel and moved away from the room to enter his own.

     Ryan was so over Spring Break.

<March 22, 2019>

Don't hate me Rosie shippers!! Their relationship will be a bit rocky for a little while. 

But...who's ready for a Ryan and Roman confrontation? I know I am!

Yes, I'm just trying to distract you. Sorry...

Don't forget to vote and comment.

-Jordan

P.S. Unedited chapter.