CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Since When Do You Speak Japanese?

__________________

     EXCITED SHOUTS and the crash of instruments filled the inside of high school's gymnasium. Ryan cringed when he approached its entrance. The sounds made his sensitive ears ring. Hope entered the crowded room before him and Alaric. Cheerleaders yelled as they shook black and red pompoms, while the band played an indistinguishable toon. A pep rally.

     Not the best time for an Oni-possessed Rafael to go missing.

     "Damn," Hope exclaimed as she glanced around the room, "I wonder if Raf already touched someone."

     Ryan scoffed, taking in the scene of teenagers hoping around and shoving into one another. "I'll be surprised if he hasn't. Have you seen this place?"

     "Yeah, just look for anyone acting strange or erratic," Alaric told them.

     Just then, the members of the Mystic Falls football team gathered in a circle in the middle of the basketball court. They grabbed ahold of each other and started to chant, "Timberwolves! Timberwolves! Timberwolves!"

     Hope blinked. "You mean besides the football team?"

     Ryan sighed. "This is gonna suck."

     Before they could say more, the new sheriff stepped in front of them. "There's a student that needs your help," she stated and motioned for them to follow her.

     Ryan exchanged a look with his sister and former headmaster, spinning on his heel to go after the woman. They headed toward a corner of the gym where the locker-rooms were located. The noise from the pep rally faded as they entered the sweat-scented space. Ryan weaved through the metal lockers that held bags and other belongings. His gaze landed on someone sat at the end of a wooden bench with their head in their hands. Rafael.

     Ryan slowed his pace, not knowing if the Oni was still inside him.

     That thought failed to cross Hope's mind as she moved toward Rafael.

     "Hope, wait. Don't touch him," Alaric warned her, but she ignored him and crouched in front of the boy.

     Ryan eyed Rafael when Hope set a hand onto his knee. He did not feel anything that would lean toward a demon or dark magic presence. Although, he could never be too cautious.

     "Raf?" Hope questioned the boy, forcing him to lift his head and look at her. "Hey. Oh, yeah. That's you, isn't it?"

     Rafael took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah." He stared at Hope for a long moment, before he glanced to where Ryan and Alaric stood nearby. "Um – I wasn't in control back there."

     "It's okay. I – I can help you," Hope tried to soothe him. "I – I just need to know if there's anyone that you've touched, or who might've touched you."

     "Um," Rafael muttered, "I don't remember any of it."

     Ryan released a long breath. "That's okay," he said, drawing the werewolf's attention to him. "We'll figure something out." He glanced to the man at his side, whose expression fell. "I hope."

     _______

     Once Rafael calmed down and regained his wits, Alaric thought the boy should head back to the Salvatore School to recuperate from the incident. Next, they set off to find the Oni. The thing was still on the loose, and they needed to locate it before someone ended up dead. Although, they did not make it far when Josie intercepted them in one of the hallways.

     "Did you find Raf?" she questioned them.

     "We sent him back to campus. The Oni wasn't in him, so it could be anywhere," Alaric told his daughter.

     "I'll find it. As long as you convince Landon not to sacrifice himself to stop this thing," Josie exclaimed.

     "No!" Hope voiced, a little too fast. Ryan, Josie, and Alaric's gazes snapped toward her. She blinked and shook her head. "Uh, no. He – he can't do that. I mean, we can't give the monster what it wants."

     Ryan resisted the urge to snort. Smooth, Hope. Smooth.

     "Especially when what it wants is my boyfriend," Josie clarified with a tinge to her voice. "Who's only doing this because he thinks that it's all his fault."

     Ryan decided not to comment on it. If Josie wanted to be a jealous, rage monster, then she could. Hope could hold her own.

     Alaric looked to his daughter with narrowed eyes. "Boyfriend?"

     Hope ignored him and proposed, "why don't I talk some sense into him?" She pressed her lips together and nodded, heading for Alaric's office without anyone's approval. "Okay."

     Ryan watched her disappear down the hallway, before he said, "and I'll go look for someone Hulking out as the Oni." He started through the school until a voice spoke behind him.

     "I'll go, too," Josie stated and went after the Mikaelson boy. "To get my mind off my jealous tendencies," she quipped when she fell into step at his side.

     Ryan turned a gave her a tight smile. "That's the spirit."

     _______

     The two supernatural teenagers were silent as they strode through hallways of the public school. Ryan did not particularly want to talk with the girl. Since he returned to Mystic Falls, everything seemed to change. Alaric was no longer his headmaster, no one remembered his sister, Lizzie managed to find herself in a stable state of mind, and Josie and Landon became a thing. Ryan failed to keep up with it all on most days. Now, he could not even talk to the girl who used to be his friend.

     They walked on for a little while, before Josie broke the quiet between them. "I know you're hiding something," she voiced.

     Ryan looked to her with a raised brow. "Okay. What am I hiding?"

     "You've never mentioned a cousin before. Then, this girl shows up, whose apparently a witch and a werewolf," Josie exclaimed as they moved further down the halls.

     Ryan scoffed. "I have cousins. You know, not all of my family are vampires."

     Josie spun on her heel and came to a halt in front of him. "Really? Name another one."

     Ryan rolled his eyes when he stopped. "This is ridiculous."

     "Because you don't have any cousins," Josie retorted with a narrowed stare.

     "Yeah, I do. His name is Nik," Ryan stated, causing the girl to falter. "He's my Aunt Freya and Aunt Keelin's son, and he's almost three."

     Josie's hardened expression fell at that. "Why didn't I know that?"

     "Until last year, we weren't exactly friends, and we haven't exactly talked much since this semester started." Ryan stepped around her and started down the hallway. "We should get back to Hope and Dr. Saltzman. Maybe they knocked some sense into your boyfriend," he snapped, not bothering to check if she followed behind him.

     Ryan may not be entirely truthful about Hope and how they knew each other, but he did not like to be berated about his family. Never had. He also happened to be a mood, which failed to help matters.

     _______

     When they arrived at Alaric's office a few minutes later, Ryan realized that a lot went on during his and Josie's trek through the school. He found Hope sat on the small couch in the room with her hand held up to a red mark on the side of her head, while Alaric knelt in front of her.

     "What happened?" Ryan questioned as soon as he spotted his sister. "Are you okay?"

     Hope nodded, lowering her arm. "Yeah. I'm fine."

     "Where's Landon?" Josie exclaimed when she did not see the boy in the rom. She set her stare on the Mikaelson girl.

     "Josie, just give her a second," Alaric told his daughter.

     "But you said you were gonna help. Were you possessed?" Josie proceeded on.

     Hope sighed, lifting her hand back to rub at her bruised temple. "No. Landon was."

     "That's impossible. How?"

     Ryan moved to sit on one of the few cushioned armchairs across from the couch. "Apparently, it wasn't."

     Alaric stood to his feet. "Uh, we thought Raf was gonna pass the Oni onto somebody at the pep rally." He walked over to his desk chair where Kurutta claimed residence. He grabbed at the man's head, pulling it back as he stared down at him. "Kurutta must've been possessed after Raf attacked him." He spun the chair around to reveal the samurai with a deep, bleeding gash across his neck.

     Ryan cringed at the sight. Poor guy. All he wanted to do was kill the Oni.

     "The Oni waited to be alone with Landon, took control of him, and..."

     "Sayonara, samurai," Alaric finished for Hope.

     "Okay, well, where could he have gone?" Josie questioned the others in the room.

     "Probably the portal," Ryan voiced from where he settled into the leather cushions.

     Josie looked to him and sighed. "Well, we don't even know where that is."

     "Wait," Alaric spoke, shifting his stare to his daughter. "Do you have something of Landon's. 'Cause, you three could do a locator spell, right now." He grabbed a bag from the chair in front of his desk.

     Josie pointed toward the bag and said, "yeah, but that's not mine."

     Alaric's brows furrowed as he began to pilfer through it. "The sheriff must have left this," he muttered, flipping open a file he found inside.

     Josie leaned down to sift through her own bag set on the table next to the couch. She pulled out a folded piece of paper. Her eyes drifted from one Mikaelson sibling to another. Ryan stood from his chosen chair and moved to sit on the table beside the two girls. Josie handed Hope the paper.

     Hope examined it for a moment until she realized what it was. "A love note?" She tried to flip it open, before Josie's hand shot out and snatched it from her grasp.

     "That's not for you," Josie told her in a flat tone.

     That time, Ryan did not mention the Saltzman girl's obvious jealousy. While Hope dated Landon first, she did not have the right to look at a personal note written by Landon for Josie.

     Ryan cleared his throat to sever the tension that flared between the two girls. "Time for that locator spell," he stated and held out his hands.

     Hope and Josie tore their eyes away from one another, taking Ryan's and each other's palms. "Inveniet hostium et tenebrae," the three of them chanted.

     Images flashed in Ryan's eyes as the spell took effect. He recognized the scene it showed. Landon in the middle of the Town Square with Kurutta's Oni-killing sword in his hand.

     _______

     Ryan, Hope, and Josie ran from Mystic Falls High when they realized where they could find Landon. They sprinted across town to where the Town Square sat in the center of all the shops and other businesses. When they arrived, it seemed as though a struggle already took place. Landon laid on the ground in a heap, while Lizzie appeared to have been chained the closet tree.

     "Landon!" Hope and Josie shouted, rushing over to the boy to find him unconscious.

     Ryan ignored Landon and set his attention on the blonde restrained to the massive trunk. "Lizzie, uh, what're you doing?" he called out to the girl.

     "Lizzie, are you okay?" Josie asked from where she knelt next to Landon.

     Lizzie shook her head. "No. I am super crazy, but at least there's a reason this time," she exclaimed as her eyes flashed a bright red. "The demon's in me."

     Ryan pressed his lips together and nodded. "Of course it is."

     Lizzie released a tight chuckle, before she started to fight against the chains wrapped around her arms and the tree at her back.

     Ryan moved over to the blonde's side, tightening the strains of metal to make sure the Oni inside her did not escape. Hope helped him. The last thing they wanted was for another hunt for the demon after nightfall.

     Lizzie snapped to where Hope stood, grasping the chains, and growled. Hope jumped back with wide eyes.

     "Oh, sorry. That's embarrassing. We haven't met yet, have we?" Lizzie exclaimed, raising her hand that remained free from the chains. "I'm Lizzie." She let out a tight laugh.

     Hope gave her a tight-lipped smile and stepped away from the tree.

     "I don't understand," Josie voiced as she moved closer to her sister. "If the Oni is in you, then how are you talking?"

     "I don't know, but I – I can't feel it in my head, trying to take over," Lizzie struggled out. "I don't know how much longer I..." she trailed off as a blank expression crossed her face. "Never mind. It's gone. You can untie me."

     Ryan huffed. "Sorry, Liz, but I don't believe you."

     Lizzie shook her head. "I didn't say that. It did, okay? Still in me, so don't..." her face fell placid, again. "Listen to me. I'm fine. We should probably get out of here before we..." she groaned and released a delirious laugh. "Okay. You have got to stop me. Please. Otherwise, this thing is gonna win," she cried.

     Ryan could only stare at the girl, who had become one of his closest friends. Lizzie worked so hard to dealt with her own traitorous thoughts, and now she found herself up against an actual demon trapped inside her head.

     "She's fighting the demons somehow, like Kurutta did," Hope exclaimed.

     "I already know I'm crazy, okay? You don't have to rub it in," Lizzie voiced with a roll of her eyes.

     "Kurutta was not crazy, and neither are you," Josie argued against her sister's statement.

     "Where's Dad?" Lizzie asked as tears brimmed her eyes. "I just want Dad."

     Ryan stepped forward and stared at the girl. "Hey, Kurutta fought the Oni for years. You just need to do it for a little while, okay? Just until we can..."

     "No," Lizzie cut him off when her tears slipped down her cheeks. "I can't live like this anymore." She began to sob. "Sebastian isn't real. This whole time, I thought I was better, but I have just been seeing things, and hearing things, and feeling things that no one else does. And it's scary. Scarier than any demon in my head. Although, that sucks, too."

     Ryan's heart clenched in his chest. He did not know what Lizzie talked about when it came to Sebastian, but he knew she had more than a hard time with her mental health in the past. He just did not know how deep her troubles ran.

     "Lizzie. Lizzie, it's okay, okay? We're gonna fix you," Josie tried to reassure her sister, while her own tears gathered.

     "No," Lizzie cried. "There's not fixing me, Jo. I am just – shattered." She deep breaths as her sobs grew closer together. "The pieces are too small to put back together. Tell Dad that I love him, but you have to end this."

     Josie's eyes widened. "What?"

     Lizzie nodded to where Kurutta's sword laid on the ground nearby. "With that sword."

     Ryan raised a hand and shook his head. "Okay, now, I'm drawing a line. Stop talking like that. No one's using that damn sword."

     Hope spoke from where she stood behind Josie. "And I know that we just met, but there's no way that we are gonna let that happen.

     In that moment, a demonic voice erupted from Lizzie. "You have no choice. This will not stop until you give me the boy." Lizzie seemed to snap back into herself and stumble against the tree.

     "Lizzie?" Josie questioned. "Lizzie, you gotta fight this thing."

     The demonic voice continued, "fighting is useless. Malivore still lives, and his control over us is stronger than ever. Soon, the likes of me will be the least of your concerns." Lizzie closed her eyes and then said in her normal voice, "distracted during a monologue." She laughed, before her sobs returned. "Classic villain mistake. Jo, you gotta do this. For me. Okay? It's only a matter of time, before you kick my ass in the Merge, anyway. And this is better than the Merge, because this way you won't have to live with some messed-up part of me in your brain forever, driving you as crazy as I am."

     Josie shook her head and turned away from her sister. "We weren't gonna talk about that until we had real solutions."

     "Well, maybe this is it," Lizzie exclaimed until she cried out, fighting against the Oni inside of her. "Josie, it's coming back. Please. You gotta do it." She shifted her stare to where Ryan stood. "If Josie won't do this, then you have to."

     "No," Ryan exclaimed and raised his hands. "I'm not stabbing you with some mystical sword because you tell me to."

     Josie, on the other hand, bent down to pick up the sword from the ground. The symbols down the blade glowed red, before she let out a sharp hiss. "There's so much Black Magic in it, it hurts to hold."

     "Probably won't feel much better getting stabbed by it," Lizzie quipped in a morbid manner.

     Ryan whirled to the brunette Saltzman twin. "Whoa. We're not stabbing your sister."

     Josie glanced up at him for a second and then dropped her attention back to the sword in her grasp. "I can pull the magic out of this. I may be able to get the Oni out of you," she muttered.

     Ryan went to object, but Josie did not give him time. Her hands turned red as she began to siphon the Black Magic from the sword. Dark veins traveled up her arm to her neck and cheeks. Her eyes flashed black until she held up a hand toward her sister and screamed. Ryan lifted a hand to shield his face when a black mass emanated from her hand and into Lizzie. He dropped his arm in time to watch the Oni separate from the girl, roaring as it floated through the air into the small patch of liquid in the park. The Malivore portal.

     Once the mass dissipated, Josie panted and dropped her arm to her side.

     Lizzie gasped, before a smile formed on her lips. "You did it. I love you."

     Josie breathed heavily, while her face paled to a ghostly white. "You better," she breathed as her body pivoted forward, dropping her to the ground.

     Lizzie fell at the exact same time, while her body was caught by the chains secured around her torso.

<November 24, 2019>

Jenny's performance in this episode was absolutely amazing! 

I also don't know if I've addressed this before, but if so, I'm gonna do it again. 

Ryan is not perfect, okay? He's a sixteen year old tribrid with a very complicated family. He gets angry, and jealous, and sarcastic, and doesn't always say what he's supposed to. So, please don't comment how he's overreacting or needs to calm down. He is a Mikaelson, after all. 

Don't forget to vote and comment.

-Jordan

P.S. Unedited chapter.