𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐎
she's evolving, don't distract her

EVEN THOUGH HOPE just wanted to stay home and draw, Stiles has dragged her out of the comfort of her room. That is why she is now standing beside Stiles in a tattoo parlor, watching as Scott got himself situated in a chair preparing himself to get a tattoo.

"Puppy boy with a tattoo?!" Caroline gasped as if that was the most outrages thing she has ever heard about.

The tribrid was looking at the wall of tattoo options, and saw one that looked like the dragon she had slayed what felt so long ago.

"Oh yeah... the dragon," Lizzie trialed off. "Kinda forgot about it."

"How do you possibly forget about a dragon?!" Bonnie exclaimed in awe.

The blonde shrugged, "wasn't there to actually witness it."

Approaching them was a burly man with a thick beard, and he was holding the drawing that Scott made of the tattoo he wanted, looking down at it in amusement. "Boy," he mused sarcastically, "it's a good thing you drew me a picture."     

"Hey, Scott," Stiles called out, and the two teens glanced over at him as he turned the book around to show them an image that looked remarkably similar to the Kanima. "Sure you don't want something like this?" Scott gave him a look. "Too soon?"

Hope couldn't help but smile at him. She then nodded her heard towards the dragon. "What about this one?" She smirked and his eyes widened as he realized what she was implying.

Lizzie stared, loving this side of Hope. She is a bunch more playful in that universe than her original one. She snorted; ha, get it, original.

"Wait!" He exclaimed and stumbled over to her. "You... you went up against a dragon?"

Hope nodded and smirked. "Yup. It wasn't that cool back then, but lookin back now, it was pretty awesome to see a dragon in person."

Stiles' mouth hung open in awe. "You're a literal warrior. A badass beautiful warrior." His eyes then widened when he realized he called her beautiful, and he began to blush brightly. "I—I mean, yeah, you're beautiful. And you're a badass. So, uh... putting them together—"

"Plsss he's such a simp for her," Lizzie snorted.

"I mean... do you blame him?" Bonnie retorted, fanning herself as she gestured to Hope on the screen.

Kol rose an amused brow at the Bennett witch. "I never thought I would see the day you ever liked one of us."

The brown eyed girl rolled her eyes. "That's because unlike the lot of you, she's likable."

"Oh, come off it, darling. I'm a joy to be around," Kol smirked.

Caroline huffed, "more like a pain in the ass, but alright."

Klaus laughed loudly. "And that's why I always said you were my favorite, Caroline."

Hayley bit the inside of her cheek at his words.

Hope chuckled and shook her head. "I get it, Stiles." She looked down at her feet which were covered in black converses. "Thank you."

Stiles smiled at her brightly before turning to Scott, eyeing him weirdly. "Are you sure about this? I mean, these things are pretty permanent, you know?"     

Scott grinned. "I'm not changing my mind."     

Stiles nodded, realizing that he wasn't going to be able to talk Scott out of it. "Okay, but why two bands?"

Hope tilted her head, envisioning the tattoo on Scott's arm, coming to the conclusion that it would look pretty good.

Scott shrugged. "I just like it."     

"But don't you think your first tattoo should have some sort of meaning, you know, or something?"     

"Getting a tattoo means something," Scott countered.     

"I don't think that's—"     

"He's right," the burly man announced, cutting Stiles' sentence short. "Tattooing goes back thousands of years. The Tahitian word tatua means "to leave a mark," like a rite of passage."     

Scott then looked toward Hope and Stiles with a smile. "He gets it."

"He's just sooo," Caroline gushed, "I just want to pull him into a hug."

Stiles huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, "He's covered in tattoos, Scott, literally." He deadpanned.

It was true. The man was literally covered, he had two sleeves that branched across his chest, some even rose up onto the sides of his neck and head.

The man held up the tattoo machine, "Okay, you ready?" Scott anxiously cleared his throat, rubbing his hand on his pants while nodding stiffly. "You, um, ain't got any problems with needles, do you?"     

"Nope."     

With that, the man started up the tattoo machine and the sound of buzzing filled the air.

Stiles leaned over and watched with an expression of disgust. "I tend to get a little squeamish though, so..." he then crumbled to the ground, passed out.

Klaus rose one brow, "and that's the boy you guys want my daughter with?"

Landon chuckled. At least he never passed out because of a needle.

Hope bit her lip and a snort came out of her nose before she quickly got down on the floor, picked up Stiles' head, and laid it down on her lap. "I am so going to make fun of you about this later."

"If I ever meet him, i'm so going to make fun of him, too," Lizzie commented while off to the side, Caroline is practically bouncing in her seat at how gentle and soft Hope was with handling a passed out Stiles.

ABOUT AN HOUR later, they were seated in Stiles' Jeep. Hope was in the backseat, looking at her phone which had a picture of Stiles passed out on her lap. She was giggling because currently he was holding an ice pack to his head.

"That is something Lizzie would do," Kaleb commented, grinning when Lizzie just smirked.

Scott had a thick layer of white gauze around his tattoo, making sure that it didn't get infected. But, suddenly, a pained expression flashed across Scott's face.

Stiles glanced down at his friend's arm in concern. You okay?"     

"Kind of burns," Scott stated, staring down at his arm.

Klaus rose a brow, "of course, amateur."

"Yes, you just had your skin stabbed about a hundred-thousand times with a needle," Stiles pointed out with an eye roll.

"Yeah, but I don't think it's supposed to feel like this." He then let out a strangled groan through his teeth, jumping in his seat. "Oh, God. No, it's definitely not supposed to feel like this." Another cry escaped his lips, "I gotta take this thing off."     

Caroline hissed as she practically felt his pain through the screen. "It shouldn't feel like that."

"Definitely not," Bonnie said in agreement.

"We'll, he didn't do it the correct way for a supernatural creature," Damon stated and then rose a brow when a few people turned to him in confusion. "What? We heal faster than normal humans, and a tattoo is practically little wounds made with a needle, therefore it'll heal." He rolled his eyes, "amateurs."

Klaus narrowed his eyes at the Salvatore, "that's what I said," he quietly grumbled, as if most of the occupants in the room couldn't hear him with their vamp hearing.

"No, no,no, Scott. Scott, please stop," Stiles begged, an expression of disgust etched on his features.

Ignoring Stiles, Scott ripped the bandage off.

Stiles squirmed away, pressing his back against the jeep's door, trying to get as far away from Scott as possible.

Josie giggled, "he's so..." she shook her head, not knowing what to say.

Hope leaned forward, her eyes narrowed as she looked at the area around the tattoo which was a deep red, the black ink slowly fading away until it vanished into Scott's skin.

"Knew that would happen," Klaus pointed at the screen with a smug expression.

"What? Do you want a cookie or something?" Kol rhetorically asked before throwing a chocolate chip cookie at the hybrid's face. "There. Now shut up."

Lizzie laughed loudly, clutching her stomach.

"Oh, no, what?" Scott whispered, "No, no, no, come on." He watched his arm sadly, almost like he was going to cry. "It healed," Scott mumbled, his tone soft.     

Stiles exhaled loudly. "Thank God. I hated it." Hope shook her head as Scott looked over at his best friend with raised brows. "Sorry."

Bonnie giggled, "at least he's honest."

Stiles then started his jeep, and the three of them sat in silence as they drove down the road.

Hope couldn't help but wonder how this school year was going to happen. She has now been officially away from her home and friends for over five months, and is officially part of a pack.

Kaleb tilted his head, "which is weird enough if you ask me. Never thought she would be part of a pack. Ever."

The Author chuckled before gasping, "ooooh... talking about pack."

Next thing everyone knew, Jed was suddenly in a chair beside Kaleb looking like a confused puppy. "What the—"

"Welcome, buddy," Kaleb pursed his lips and patted the werewolf on the shoulder.

"Where the hell am I?" Jed asked as he looked around the room at everyone. And this eyes widened when he spotted Hope on the screen. "Is that Hope?!"

Klaus narrowed his eyes at the new boy. "Did you have a thing for my daughter, too?"

Jed's eyes went from wide, to narrowed in confusion, to widening again to realization as he gaped at Klaus and the rest of the Mikaelson family. "You're Hope's evil but hot dad!"

"Hot?!" MG spat out his drink in surprise at the werewolf''s word. "What?!"

Klaus stared at the boy with an afro, raising a brow. "You're saying I'm not?"

"I know right, he's revolting," Kol stage-whispered as he nodded at MG.

"Kol!" Klaus exclaimed, before pinching the bridge of his nose, exhaling loudly

"Have either of you talked to Allison?" Stiles asked softly.     

"Nah, we agreed to give each other the summer," Scott began, sighing. "No texts, no calls."

Jed leaned closer to Kaleb, frowning, "what's going on?" He tried whispering but was terrible at doing so.

"Just shhh and watch," Lizzie told him with an eye roll.

Jed frowned but leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms across his chest.

Landon was confused on why Jed was here and how he's important in all of this.

Katherine glanced over at Stefan, realizing that both of them are annoyed with watching the life of the stupid Mikaelson Heir, and simultaneously growing frustrated as more people showed up in this darkened room.

Hope reached forward and laid her hand on his shoulder for comfort. "I face-timed her the other day. We didn't talk much about anything other than clothes, Lydia, and how she wants me to come to Paris with her next summer."

"So then how do you know she won't be back at school then?" Stiles asked, stopping the jeep at the red stoplight.     

Scott scoffed, shaking his head. "After everything that happened, I'm not sure she's coming back at all."

Stiles glanced out the window next to Scott, his eyes widened, yet the other two teens hadn't noticed his alarmed demeanor. "I think she is. I'd say pretty definite, you know. Like one-hundred percent."

Jed tilted his head as he was confused but intrigued by what is happening on the screen.

Hope furrowed her brows and both her and Scott looked to where Stiles pointed. In a car next to them, sat Allison and Lydia laughing.

Suddenly, Allison looked over and made eye contact with Scott who quickly ducked down. "Oh, god! I can't see her yet." His widened eyes looked over at his best friend, ignoring Hope who was snorting in amusement. "Can we just drive, please, Stiles?" He begged, burying his head in his hands.     

"Scott, it's a red light," Stiles pointed out.     

"Stiles, just go!" Scott hissed out, still trying to avoid Allison.

Caroline and Lizzie was giggling while covering their faces in second-hand embarrassment while others just shook their head in amusement.

"I think we should talk to them," Stiles suggested. "I just think we should say something."     

Scott shot Stiles a hard glare, knowing that the whole thing would become real awkward real fast if the three of them talked.

"Stiles, come on," Scott pleaded. "Just drive."     

Ignoring Scott, Stiles leaned across Scott and reached out for the window-crank, the window soon rolled down, allowing him to shout at the two girls.     

"Oh, my God, dude, no," Scott muttered as Hope began giggling into her hand. He looked back at her with a glare and she simply smirked.

Jed rose a brow, surprised to see Hope — of all people — giggling. It's a good look on her, though.

"Hey!" Stiles shouted, but Lydia's car sped off down the road. He looked out the window in confusion and murmured, "You know, they probably didn't see us."

"Oh, yeah, they definitely didn't see you," Damon retorted with an eye roll. And no, it was definitely not a fond eye roll. Nope. No way.

They waited a few seconds, until the light flashed from red to green, and Stiles began to proceed down the road once more. Directly behind them.

"What are you doing?" Scott demanded, panic settling in their chests.     

"I'm driving," Stiles stated matter-of-factly.     

"We're right behind them."     

"Okay, well, do you see any turns?" Stiles asked, raising a brow as he continued to drive down the dark road.

"He's got a point," Davina said, trying to not laugh at how amusing this whole scene is, and how awkward but cute Scott was being.

He had been right. There were no turns in sight, the only thing they could do that would cease their following would be stop in the middle of the road.

"I don't want it to look like we're following them," Scott retorted, sitting straight up.

"Well, what do you want me to do?"     

"Scott, you're starting to sound ridiculous," Hope commented with a roll of her eyes.

"I don't know, anything!" Scott shouted, ignoring the tribrid.

With that, Stiles slammed his foot on the break, the jeep's tires screeching as the vehicle skidded to a stop of the wet asphalt. They stopped, but none of them spoke until Lydia's car pulled to a stop as well.     

Before anyone could get out of their car to make the first move, the sounds of Allison and Lydia screaming began to pierce the air.

"Oh, no, what happened?!" Caroline exclaimed, tensing in her seat.

The three shot out of the Jeep as fast as possible and ran over to the girl. Hope was the one to grab Lydia by her waist, and pull her back from the car with worried eyes.

Jed whistled at that action.

"Yeah, they made out not that long ago," Kaleb commented as he leaned closer to Jed who's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wooow..." Jed trailed off, before clicking his tongue. "You know what? Not even surprised. I once saw her watching Lizzie with an awed expression when she threw a table across the room with her magic."

Lizzie's eyes widened upon overhearing the conversation, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. Never in her wildest dreams did she think Hope would ever stare at her in admiration and awe, and now, hearing the words that Hope once had a crush on her, and now Jed saying Hope stared at her in awe, made her feel like she has missed something great in her life.

And once again, the sting of betrayal burned brightly in her soul as she gulped and glanced at her twin, her dearest sister. She loves Josie more than she loves most things, even herself. But, somewhere deep within, she still can't forgive her for driving a wedge between her and Hope.

"Are you okay?" Hope asked her in concern, Stiles behind them, panting. Scott was comforting Allison who was shaking.

"It came out of nowhere," Lydia exclaimed, her voice was shaky and filled with fear.     

"I'm okay," Allison replied weakly, barley glancing at Scott.

"Well, I'm not okay!" Lydia shouted, her voice echoing. "I am totally freaking out! How the hell does it just run into us?"

"I want to know this too," Elena said, intrigued.

Scott and Hope slowly made their way to the front of the car, approaching the deer that was half lying on the hood, half crashed through the windshield.     

"I saw its eyes right before it hit us. It was like it - it was like it was crazy," Lydia mumbled, tears welling up in her eyes.

"No, it was scared," Scott whispered as he hesitantly placed his hands on the dead deer's neck. A surge of emotions coursed through him at the contact, "Actually, terrified." 

"Well, shit is about to hit the fan again," Lizzie commented and then shot the Mikaelson's a glare. "And no, that doesn't mean literal shit." She shot Kol a look who snickered and held up his hands to show that he's 'innocent'.

THE MORNING OF their first day of junior year had started out normal. Hope had gotten ready in a new set of clothes that Allison had brought with her from Paris. The outfit consisted of black high-waisted pants, a black and white striped crop-top, and a new pair of black vans.

Hayley smiled through her teary eyes. "She's grown up so much. I feel so proud."

Klaus nodded and gave a quick kiss to her forehead. "I'm grateful that we have gotten to see this."

Hayley nodded, smiling up at him. "Me too."

Hope was now seated behind Stiles, talking about what their next movie will be for their movie night that they usually have on Friday's. They were waiting for their English teacher, Ms. Blake, to arrive.

Lydia and Allison soon walked into the classroom. The strawberry blonde took the open desk to the left of Stiles, and Allison quickly realized that the only open one left was in front of Scott.

Hope and Stiles glanced between one another, trying to look anywhere but at the awkward ex-couple.

Suddenly, the only sound in the classroom was an eruption of ringtones. With furrowed brows, everyone pulled out their cellphones to see that they had received one new text message.

""The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds and the tranquil waterway, leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky, seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness."" The woman, who walked into the classroom, read aloud.

Klaus sat up a little straighter, narrowing his blue eyes. "I don't like her..."

"We just got introduced to her," Caroline stared at him, mouth agape in disbelief. "There's no way your distrust runs that deep that you think a school teacher is suspicious already."

Ms. Blake gave a smile, she nodded softly, setting the phone that was in her hands behind her on the desk. "This is the last line to the first book we are going to read. It is also the last text you will receive in this class. Phones off, everyone."

Hope rolled her eyes and didn't turn her phone off. If something were to happen — specifically something that had to deal with Erica, Boyd, or Isaac — she wanted to be contacted.

Klaus nodded, proud of his daughter. Even if it was simply not turning off her phone, he was happy that she doesn't listen to no one but herself.

"Wait..." Elena perked up, frowning deeply with her sad brown eyes. "What happened to Erica, Boyd, and Isaac?" She chewed on her bottom lip in worry.

Katherine rolled her eyes at her pathetic doppelgänger. "Who cares? They were boring."

Elena turned around quickly, glaring. "Why the hell are you even here, Katherine?"

Klaus growled as he also turned to stare at Katherine Pierce, having forgotten that she was even there. "I wish I could put you out of you pathetic misery right now. The long you're here, the more ideas I have of taking your life force from you." He smirked manically, laughing when he saw a flash of fear in her eyes.

You see, before summer started, Erica and Boyd ran away, and Derek spent the whole summer searching for them. And Hope tried to do everything in her power to help, but came up with nothing. When she did locator spells, the object she was using wouldn't move. And when she tried to sniff them out, that didn't work either.

Elena frowned. "I have the worst feeling about this," she mumbled.

Bonnie nodded, "me too..."

"What about Isaac, though?" Caroline asked, frowning deeply, eyebrows furrowed.

Sighing, Hope bit her lip and looked away. She is was trying to pay attention to the teacher, but something else caught her attention. Stiles' tag from his flannel was poking out, so she delicately reached out, and went to tuck it in. But, her cold hands startled him, making him turn around quickly with wide eyes.

Everyone's emotion went from worry about the beta's (or annoyed at Katherine) to smiling and cooing at the cute scene in front of them.

Jed grinned softly. And then he turned to Landon as if just realizing that he's there. "Oh, hi, Landon..." he trialed off awkwardly, clearing his throat. "So... how does it feel to see your girl on this huge screen?"

Landon sighed, trying to smile but it came out as a grimace. "It's... something, alright."

Jed nodded and reached forward, patting him on the back. "It'll get better, buddy."

She smiled sheepishly. "I was just trying to fix your shirt." He blushed deeply and turned around, his finger bouncing on his thigh. She bit the inside of her cheek and reached out for his shirt again, and this time, he didn't jump when she tucked the tag inside. She then lightly patted the spot and pulled back.

"Okay, that's just precious," Jed grinned and then winced, giving Landon a side-eye. "Oh, uh..."

"Don't worry, we're all rooting for Stope," Caroline commented to the young werewolf, grinning when he just turned to her with a confused head-tilt much like a puppy. "Oh my, you're just like Scotty. That's just adorable."

"Okay, Caroline, reel it back," Alaric said, literally pulling the blonde vampire back into her seat because she was on her way to hug Jed or possibly squeeze his face much like a grandma.

Lizzie and Josie giggled at their mother and how her reactions were honestly one of the best things about this experience.

Lydia snorted quietly and Hope brought her attention to her. The strawberry blonde winked before going back to doodling on her notebook.

"Awe, even Lydia notices their heart eyes and cute awkward moments," Freya commented with a small smile. "It's so nice to see Hope like this, it's refreshing from the last time I had seen her."

Klaus went from smiling and nodding in agreement before he scowled. "Still not forgiving you for abandoning my daughter at that school," he glared at his siblings.

Kol frowned and glanced down at his wife when she squeezed his hand, Rebekah looked down in shame, Freya frowned and closed her eyes in regret.

Marcel just shrugged, "thought it was for the best."

Klaus scowled. Once upon a time, he loved Marcel like a son, like he was the most precious thing in existence. But then betrayal happened and still to this day, it still stings heavily in his heart.

Hope furrowed her brows in confusion before shaking her head and looked out the window, thinking about all the possibilities of what could be happening to Erica and Boyd.

"Mr. McCall?" Ms. Blake called out, making heads shoot up.     

Stiles watched in confusion as Scott gathered his things and conversed with the teacher before the two disappeared into the hallway.

Hope let out a small breath and looked over at Lydia. She licked her lips as she looked the girl up and down before frowning at the sight of a large light pink band-aid wrapped around her ankle. "Lydia?" She whispered with a head tilt.

"She... licked her lips?!" Caroline asked with wide eyes, a pretty pink blush on her cheeks as if she's the one Hope had been looking at with that look in her eyes. "What the fuck, please look at me like that next."

"Me too," a lot of people chorused together.

Jed stared wide eyed at everyone. "Okay, yeah, she's good looking but—"

"She's like a sister to me," Kaleb stated, and MG nodded and pointed at him. "So, I would actually be traumatized if she looked at me like that."

Jed snapped his fingers and pointed at Kaleb, "exactly."

The strawberry blonde looked over at her with a small smile. "Yes, Hope?"

Hope pointed to her ankle. "Is that from the accident?"

"No. Prada bit me," she stated with a shake of her head, her curls swishing side to side.

Stiles turned to her, jumping into the conversation. "Your dog?"

Lydia rose an eyebrow. "No... my designer handbag. Yes, my dog," she replied in sarcasm that was coated with annoyance.

"Everyone's so sarcastic there," Kol grinned, "I love it."

"Of course you would, darling," Davina smiled up at the love of her life, eyes twinkling with love.

"Has it ever bitten you before?" He asked, his lips pursed as he thought over everything.

"I thought he was friendly," Hope commented as she remembered when she went over to the girls house. Prada ended up loving her and playing fetch. It was the first time Hope had ever even been around a dog. She had always wanted one, but no animals were allowed at the school and her mother always said no.

Hayley frowned, hating that she couldn't simply let her daughter have some sort of pet. She had one asked for a rabbit, then a cat, then a dog. And then eventually, Hope stopped asking for pets or really... anything else. Though, Hayley always knew there was one thing Hope wanted the most in the world... and that would be her dad. If Hope had to choose between Klaus or something else, it would always be Klaus.

She sighed quietly. "He usually is sweet. He has never done anything like this before."

"Okay what if this is like something with the deer. You know how animals start acting all weird before an earthquake or something?" Stiles suggested, obviously he has been thinking about what could possible be going on. And Hope couldn't blame him, because so has she.

Lydia rolled her eyes at him. "So, you think there is going to be an earthquake?"

"Or something... I don't know I just, I feel like maybe it means something... like something is coming," he explained further.

Lydia sighed once again, "It was a dog and a deer... what's that thing they say about three's? Once... twice—" She was cut off by something smacking into the window.

Hope's eyes widened when she saw a splotch of blood covering the glass window.

"Oh no..."

Miss Blake walked over to the window and looked outside to see the mass of black crows flying towards the school.

"Holy shit," Elena's eyes widened.

"This looks too much like The Birds for my liking," Lizzie commented, her lip quirking up at the side when Kaleb just shot her a look.

Everyone's eyes widened as more of them started to hit the glass, and once the glass shattered and they started flying into the classroom, everyone began to panic.

On instinct, Hope grabbed Lydia and Stiles, pulling them to the ground with her covering them.

"Love triangle!" Caroline shouted, pointing at the screen.

"God, Blondie, do you ever stop shouting," Katherine grumbled, rubbing at her temple. "Like shut up for once."

"Don't talk to her like that," Elena snapped as Bonnie stood up and glared heatedly at the vampire. If only she could use her magic in this place, because Katherine would simply be ashes.

The tribrid winced as she felt a crow bite at her neck. She growled and swatted at it angrily. "Crap!" She exclaimed when she saw one swooping down for her face, but she reached out a hand and grabbed it, and then flung it out the broken window.

"Oh, god!" Stiles exclaimed loudly in surprise, but his lips twitched up slightly, and she smirked over at him as all the birds either fell to the floor lifeless, or they managed to get back out through the window.

"Yup, he just creamed in his pants," Kol tsked and then shouted, grabbing his head as she stared down at Davina who had just slapped him on the back of the head. "What?!"

Davina stared at her husband, blinked twice before shaking her head. "Why did I even marry you?"

"I've been asking you that for ages," Rebekah stated, shaking her head, exasperated.

"Here," the tribrid offered and helped the two humans up off of the floor, and they all looked around at the damage.

Dozens of birds were lifeless on the floor and desks, and students were shaking and mumbling things to themselves.

"What the hell just happened?"

"We're wondering that too," Alaric asked, intrigued by everything that is happening.

A FEW MOMENTS later, the police and paramedics arrived. Hope was perched up on the teachers desk, looking around with furrowed brows.

Stiles stood in front of her, pursed lips and hands on hips. He turned his attention to Hope and stepped closer to her, his hand rising up to her cheek. She jerked back in surprise, not sure what he was doing.

"Aghhh," Caroline held her hands at her mouth as she tried not to squeal excitedly. There isn't one person in that world that she doesn't ship Hope with. Well, except for Scott because they're definitely sister and brother.

He cleared his throat and his cheeks heated up slightly. "You got some blood..." He reached for her cheek again, and lightly swiped his thumb across a healing cut that had been on her cheekbone. He drew back slowly and then wiped the blood on his pants, not caring. "That's cool." He watched with wide eyes as the small wound healed right in front of his eyes. "That's really cool."

"He's just so fascinated with everything that has to do with her," Elena sighed dreamily. "It's so adorable." What she didn't see what that Damon was staring down at her as if she has hung the moon and the stars.

Hope chuckled and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Thanks, Stiles." She swallowed a little and jumped off of the desk. "We should call Scott to tell him what had happened."

Stiles nodded quickly and they walked out into the hallway. The tribrid pulled out her phone, and dialed the teen wolfs number. When Scott answered, she didn't even let him speak. "We got a serious problem at school. Ms. Blake's class—"     

"Hey, can you tell me about it later?" Scott asked and Hope was taken aback.

"What is he saying?" Stiles asked, gesturing wildly as they walked towards the schools front doors.

"Uh, well, no, pretty sure this qualifies for immediate discussion," Hope explained as they pushed their way out of the doors.

"All right, then meet me at Derek's."

"Derek?" Jed mumbled. "Who's Derek?"

"Derek's house?" The auburn haired teen repeated, her eyebrows furrowed. "Why are you there? Did some—"

"Just meet us here, okay?"    

Hope sighed loudly. "Stiles and I will be there soon." She hung up, shoving her phone in her back pocket. "I hope nothing bad is happening," she stated to Stiles who looked at her with wide eyes.

He dug out his keys from his pockets as they approached his Jeep. "Me too."

"Nothing good is happening if Derek is involved," Alaric commented. "He's too much like Damon, so it's impossible."

Damon looked scandalized as he gasped dramatically and clutched his chest. "Me?! We're nothing alike! He's a furry!"

Alaric simply stared at Damon, not blinking. "And you're a blood sucking parasite, so what?"

Damon gasped once again while others chuckled at their banter. "Ric, I thought we had something special, buddy."

Jed grinned, amused as he looked back and forth between them before furrowing his brows. "Wait... Doctor Saltzman, what are you doing here?"

Lizzie giggled, smiling widely.

Josie rose a brow, "I can't believe you had a crush on him."

Lizzie gasped loudly and her blue eyes widened. "Shh!! It was one week, Josie!"

WHEN THE DUO approached the Hale house, uneasiness washed over Hope as she approached the burnt down house.

Once they were inside, they rounded the corner to where the living room would be. Scott had his shirt off and was sitting in a chair, while Derek was crouched down in front of him with his red alpha eyes on display.

"Um... what did we just walk into?" Hope asked with wide eyes, glancing to Stiles who also looked confused.

"Oooh..." Caroline said before shutting her mouth and shrugging. "Yeah, I have nothing."

Elena chuckled, leaning her head on her blonde best friends shoulder.

Derek rolled his eyes before standing up. "Yeah, I see it. Two bands, right? What does it mean?"

"What is he talking about?" MG asked, confused.

"Oh..." Stiles trailed off. "It's about the tattoo."

"I don't know, uh, it's just something I traced with my fingers." Scott said, beginning to draw two circles in the dust upon the table.     

"Why is this so important to you?" Derek asked softly with furrowed brows.

"Do you know what the word tattoo means?"

"To mark something," Stiles cut in, winking at Derek whole Hope shook her head with a chuckle.

"He's cute," Jed commented simply, shrugging when a few people gave him a few looks.

"Well, that's in Tahitian," Scott pointed out. "In Samoan, it means "open wound" I knew I wanted to get a tattoo when I turned eighteen. I always wanted one. I just decided to get it now, to make it kind of a reward."     

"For what?"

Scott hesitated before looking down. "For not calling or texting Allison all summer. Even when I really wanted to, even when it was so hard not to sometimes. I was just trying to give her the space she wants...and now four months later it still hurts. It still feels like a uh..."

"Are... you... kidding me?" Caroline stared at the screen in disbelief. "The girl who betrayed them, tried to hurt Hope, tried to kill Derek, and stabbed Isaac, has him still acting like this?" She scoffed, shaking her head. "This is ridiculous."

Bonnie rose a brow as she glanced between her and Klaus, noticing that there has been tension between them since the moment this whole 'movie thing' started.

"Like an open wound," Hope finished, finally putting the pieces together. She couldn't help herself when she thought about Landon which made her quickly realize she hasn't thought about him in weeks. Biting her lip, she looked down when she realized she was falling out of love with him.

Landon grew a lump in his throat that he couldn't swallow, his heart aching, his body going numb at those words. He couldn't even move or blink as he stared at the face of the girl he loves.

Derek nodded and reached out, grabbing a torch. "I'm warning you," he began, making eye contact with Scott, "it's going to hurt."

"Oh, that's great," Stiles mumbled, swallowing thickly.

"Do it."

Derek then kicked on the metal thing, which happened to be a blow torch.

"Oh, crap," Lizzie stared at the screen in horror as she realized what was about to happen.

"Oh wow, that's... that's a lot for me so... I'm gonna take that as my cue and I'm just gonna wait outside," Stiles said as he made his way to the door. 

Sour wolf grabbed him and jerked him back towards Scott. "No, you two can help hold him down." 

"Hold him down? What the hell, Scott maybe you should rethink this..." Stiles said quickly as Derek shoved him behind Scott.

Hope took in a deep breath before standing behind Scott, too, and gently laid her hand on his shoulders.

"I want it," Scott told his best friend.

Derek kicked on the blowtorch and started to push the flame towards Scott's arm. "Here we go."

Scott then started screaming, and Hope refused to look at the flame as it burned into his skin. Beside her, Stiles had his eyes shut tightly with a clenched jaw, helping her hold Scott down.

A few people winced, and a few people nodded as they understood the pain.

Katherine rose a brow before yawning, checking her cuticles. Stefan winced slightly, but then started looking around the room at everyone, feeling isolated and annoyed.

SCOTT WOKE UP with a loud gasp, sitting up quickly. He gazed down at his arm, a smile on his face to see the two black bands were permanently burned on his arm. "It worked," he breathed out.

Hope and Stiles glanced to one another. While they were waiting on him to wake up, the tribrid had noticed Isaac sleeping on the couch. He looked wounded, so she had murmured a comfort spell so he wouldn't feel as much pain.

"Isaac!" Lizzie shouted in excitement. She likes him. It probably also helps that they look like they could be twins.

Scott grabbed his long-sleeve white shirt, quickly pulling it on over his gray tank; he rolled up the sleeve to admire the tattoo more.

Klaus hummed. "Kind of boring, but it's... not bad."

Hayley chuckled when she saw how a few people, especially the Mikaelson siblings gave Klaus a double take at his words.

"Well, it looks damn permanent now," Stiles pointed out as the two of them approached him.

"Yeah," Scott murmured, pulling down his sleeve. "I kind of needed something permanent. Everything that's happened to us, everything just changes so fast. Everything's so...ephemeral."     

"Studying for the PSATs?" Hope asked with a smile.

"Yep."     

"Nice."     

Scott grabbed the doorknob, pulling it open but paused to examine the front of the door. Rather than being it burnt-brown, it was now bright red. "You painted the door," he pointed out. "Why'd you paint the door?"

"Go home, guys," Derek warned.

Hope furrowed her brows, having a gut feeling. This probably had something to do with whatever was happening to the animals in the town.

"And why only one side?" Scott allowed his claws to extend, allowing one to run along the paint, chipping it off. A thick black line is revealed. He began to use both sets of claws to scratch the red paint off the door.

"Damn, son," Kaleb whistled, leaning back in his seat as he eyed the screen.

"Scott," Derek warned, rushing over toward them, but it was too late. Chips of red pain were flying everywhere and the black symbol revealed.     

A black triangle with three lines extending out before taking a sharp turn.

Hope tilted her head, studying the symbol. "The birds at school, Lydia's dog—"

Scott furrowed his brows. "And the deer last night," he added, "just like the night I got trampled by the deer when I got bit by the Alpha." Realization settled in. "How many are there?"     

Derek looked down, sighing, "A pack of them. An Alpha pack."

Klaus furrowed his brows, "I have never heard of such a thing."

Hayley shrugged, "it's not too far fetched, though."

"There's no way that would work out," Klaus shook his head, not agreeing with Hayley. "There has to be a leader, an alpha. It's only chaos if there is more."

Jed nodded, pointing at Klaus. "It starts fights and sooner or later, someone ends up hurt or worse... dead."

"All of them? How does that even work?" Stiles asked, pursing his lips, confused.

"I hear there's some kind of leader," Derek replied. "He's called Deucalion. We know they have Boyd and Erica. Peter, Isaac, and I have been looking for them for the past four months."     

Hope's heart began to race, rubbing the sore spot on her side. She knew that Isaac was safe, injured, but safe — for now.     

"Let's just say you find them," Scott stepped toward Derek. "How do you deal with an Alpha pack?"

"With all the help I can get," Derek answered, and the teenagers all looked at one another, knowing all too well that they were the help.

"They're just kids," Freya mumbled, hating that the world — rather, this town — relied on a bunch of teenagers.

"Where is she?" A familiar voice asked. They all looked over at Isaac who was now sitting up. "Where's the girl?"

They all looked at Isaac in confusion, and Derek asked, "What girl?"