chapter 3 - We're Being Punked, Lyla
Outfit Link: https://urstyle.com/collections/83436
From 1.01 "This is the Part Where You Run", there was a shot of the school.
Lyla: (voice over) "Previously on Worlds Colliding (Legacies)."
From 1.01 "This is the Part Where You Run", in Lindsey/Ryan's office, Kaylin, Nicola, Lindsey, Tory, Luke and Ryan were explaining to Owen and Landon.
"You're a school for magic?" Owen asked.
"We're a school for the supernatural, which covers a lot of territory," Tory answered.
From 1.01 "This is the Part Where You Run", outside the school.
"Welcome to the Salvatore School," Lizzie greeted.
From 1.02 "Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn", in Emma and Ariara's dorm room, Ariara was alone, seeing an artistic drawing of her kingdom and another of her family, looking like she could cry from missing them so much. She looked at another picture of Ariara with Kacie and Mikayla, and another of her with Lyla, Hope, Rae, Emma, Danny and Madison to make herself feel better, though it wasn't working much.
Ariara: (voice over from 1.02 Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn) "No one wants to be friends with an ex royalty supernatural princess from Kiesha'ra, a freak that can turn into a lion, golden eagle, snake animal, but can't even control her own transformations because of what happened to me back there, and the only reason I don't turn every time I get even a little worked up is because Kacie had Tory make me a bracelet to where I could control it."
From 1.01 "This is the Part Where You Run", in the school kitchen, Penelope sat on the counter, looking at Ariara. "If you were actually ever a princess back in your so called kingdom before it was wiped out, when Mikayla and Kacie found the remains of the kingdom and saved you before taking you in and bringing you here."
From 1.02 "Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn", in the school, Ariara and MG were talking.
Ariara shrugged. "Lizzie's nemesis Dana liking you might make her jealous though. If she actually likes you."
"You really think that it could make Lizzie like me?" MG asked.
"Nothing can make her like you," Ariara answered. "But it might make it a little clearer if she ever could."
MG nodded in understanding and agreement. "What about you? You're totally crushing on Josie, Ariara."
"I don't need a relationship like you do now," Ariara told him. "I'd rather not be in one right now. But yes, I admit it. I do like her."
From 1.01 "This is the Part Where You Run", in the werewolf facility, Madison/Owen and Hope/Landon kissed.
Madison: (voice over from 1.02 Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn) "Landon and Owen were inside the walls of this school because of us."
From 1.01 "This is the Part Where You Run", in the library and on the bus, Owen was seen looking at the knife.
Madison: (voice over from 1.02 Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn) "Owen had access to the knife he stole because of me."
From 1.02 "Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn", in the library, Ryan realized what the monster was. "She's a dragon."
From 1.02 "Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn", in the woods, Tory and Hope started to chant with Emma, reading the spell off the paper, while Rae used her power to hold off the fire that the dragon was blowing at them.
Ryan: (voice over from 1.02 Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn) "What you did and got Tory and Hope to do, in the woods was a death spell. We can't do black magic, Emma."
From 1.02 "Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn", in Lindsey/Ryan's office, they were talking with Emma and Danny.
Ryan looked at Emma. "It gets inside your heart and it poisons your mind. Where did you even get this spell, or any of them?"
"I don't know," Emma admitted. "They would... just pop into my head."
"Like the visions I see just pop into mine?" Danny asked.
The four of them, after that connection, realized where the spells were coming from and why Emma was having such a tough time with dark magic again. "Rosalita."
Emma started to cry. "I'm sorry."
Lindsey and Ryan looked so heartbroken to know that Rosalita could still do this to their kids even when she was locked away inside Rae, hating to see how much pain they both were in, pulling Emma and Danny into an embrace.
From 1.02 "Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn", on the road, as the sun was setting, Owen, Rafael and Landon were trying to hitchhike.
Luke: (voice over from 1.02 Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn) "Where are Owen, Landon and Rafael?"
Kaylin: (voice over from 1.02 Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn) "Gone."
From 1.02 "Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn", outside the school, Madison was reading Owen's letter to her.
Owen: (voice over from 1.02 Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn) "I don't know why we lied, but we ran to protect ourselves, but in doing so, we hurt the two girls that we like. And for that, I will be forever sorry."
From 1.02 "Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn", outside the school, Lindsey and Ryan stood at the gate.
Lindsey turned to look out through the bars of the gate, and as she was speaking, there was a flash of Rae losing control to Rosalita in 1.01, and the dragon. "How are we supposed to protect them from a monster inside Rae's head and from stuff that's not supposed to exist?"
As they walked away and walked inside, the camera closed in on the gargoyle that was behind them. The gargoyle slowly started to come to life, its eyes glowing red, looking dangerous and menacing.
-~-
Flashback - 14 Century
France
Night - Forest
Two cloaked men were walking through the forest late at night, holding lit torches so they could see where they were going. They soon approached a large stone altar on which the knife Owen and Landon stole from the school was laying. The men pulled back their hoods so they could get a better look at the blade.
Man 1 spoke in Gaulish. "And you wanted to turn back."
They both spoke in the foreign language.
Man 2 sensed something, tapping Man 1's arm. "Wait." The men raised their torches to get a better look at something in the nearby bushes. It was a gargoyle, just like the one seen at the school in 1.02, that was clutching a sword blade down. "The Guardian. We must leave this place at once."
Man 1 scoffed as if he believed Man 2 was being dramatic. "Fairy tales for children."
"As was the knife," Man 2 replied anxiously. Man 1 raised his hand in a gesture to stop their arguing, as he got closer to the alter. Before the man could even think about touching the knife, they were startled by the sound of wings flapping overhead. They turned back toward the bushes, alarmed to find that the gargoyle was no longer standing there. "He has awoken!"
Man 2, feeling vindicated about being right, turned to run away, only to find that the gargoyle had appeared behind him. The gargoyle stabbed Man 2 in the stomach, yanking the sword out of his stomach, slashing him across the chest several times.
Man 1 stood, watching in horror as his friend fell dead to the ground, revealing himself as a witch when he summoned fire in each hand, combining them to launch a fireball at the creature. "Ignarious. Ignarious!" Despite the large amount of fire the witch threw, the gargoyle was completely unaffected, simply walking through the fire as if it was ordinary air. Out of options, the man fell to his knees to plead. "Mercy! I beg you! Mercy!"
The gargoyle raised his sword, killing the man in one blow, roaring loudly at the sky.
-
Worlds Colliding (Legacies)
-
Now
Day One
Morning - Salvatore Boarding School - Office
Alaric was seated at a desk, staring at the mysterious knife and a large book that was sitting in front of it. He looked exhausted as he turned the page, only to be stunned to find a detailed sketch of the knife inscribed on the next page, surrounded by tiny print. He couldn't help but sigh, identifying the language, realizing he had his work cut out for him. "Gaulish. Why does it always have to be Gaulish?"
The branches of the bushes under the office's window began to rustle behind him, and Alaric turned his head to the side to try to find the source of the noise. Unfortunately, the quiet growling of the creature looking in on him seemed to be too soft for Alaric to hear it, so he went back to his research.
-
Classroom
Tory was teaching a spell casting class to the upper level witches. All of the students were sitting in a circle, where they all began to hold the hands of those next to them. Josie, Lizzie, Hope, Emma and Danny were among the students in the class.
"All right, gather together," Tory told them, walking outside of the circle as she instructed them on a group assignment. "Chain spells are about the fluid movement of energy from witch to witch. I would always know this well, since I was always teaming up with Lindsey Davis-Thompson and Bonnie Bennett while in Mystic Falls, where the three of us even became linked for some time, and we were a good team together. Not to mention me and Lindsey being able to become a team with Freya Mikaelson and Auria Rayvnne in New Orleans." She became distracted when she realized someone was missing. "Where's Penelope Park?"
Lizzie smirked snarkily. "Um, lady cramps, Tory."
Tory recognized Lizzie's mean girl behavior, rolling her eyes, moving on. "Sorry I asked. A disharmonious group makes for an uneven flow." The students laughed at Tory's unintentional pun. Tory sighed. "Okay."
A piece of parchment materialized above their heads, falling into Tory's hands.
"Uh-oh," Josie told them. "Who's in trouble with Lindsey and Ryan?"
Hope had been unamused by the Saltzman twins, rolling her eyes sarcastically, giving Lizzie a look. "Probably the people who started a rumble with the local high school."
Tory opened the note, reading it. "Lizzie and Josie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson, Emma and Danny Davis-Thompson. Looks like your caretakers want to talk to you guys and Ariara Nata, Rae Salvatore and Madison Fell dash Mikaelson. That means Kaylin, Nicola, Lindsey, Ryan and Alaric. Off you go. Get Ariara, Rae and Madison while you're at it."
Hope, Emma, Danny, Lizzie and Josie shared a confused and concerned look.
-
Library
Kaylin, Nicola, Lindsey, Ryan and Alaric were talking to Rae, Hope, Emma, Danny, Madison, Lizzie, Josie and Ariara.
"This makes no sense," Danny told them. "Why are we being punished?"
Ryan gave Lizzie, Josie, Danny and Ariara an exasperated look. "Because you started a brawl at a charity football game that risked exposing what we really do here."
"Technically, Lizzie started it," Madison told them. "Josie, Danny and Ariara just defended her. So did Kaleb and MG."
"Not helping, Madison," Emma told her.
Danny looked at Lindsey and Ryan. "You two weren't mad at me last night, or Emma even after what--"
"Danny," Emma said.
Lizzie and Josie looked at them in surprise and curiousness, wondering what that was about.
"Ryan and I were more worried about what was happening to you two," Lindsey told them.
"Well, Dad wasn't mad last night," Lizzie grumbled.
"I was mad last night," Alaric argued. "My undying love for my daughters just happened to trump my rage."
Kaylin walked down the steps toward the teens. "We 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 asked. Nicola rolled her eyes, gesturing toward her. "First of all, I was provoked. My response was totally proportional considering the levels of abuse that I was forced to endure." Rae couldn't help but chuckle. "And secondly... if anyone should take the blame, it's Josie."
Josie was startled, giving Lizzie a betrayed and offended look. "What?"
"I'm sorry," Lizzie apologized. "I totally cracked during cross, but if you had just let Kaleb catch the ball--"
Josie scoffed incredulously. "Yeah, okay."
Nicola rolled her eyes. "You'd still be in trouble."
Ariara was slightly amused, looking at Lizzie. "But nice job throwing your sister under the bus."
Josie was touched by Ariara defending her, giving her a grateful look. "Thank you, Ariara."
Lizzie, now feeling like everyone was turned against her, gave Josie a look, who began a silent argument through facial expressions, with Lizzie upset that Josie was on Ariara's side with Josie believing that Lizzie's alienation of her is what drove her to Ariara in the first place.
"Speaking of, the bus leaves in ten minutes, and we expect all of you to be on it, working together today, harmoniously and without drama," Lindsey told them. "End of debate."
Rae scoffed. "Hope, Emma, Madison and I weren't even at the game. Why are we being punished?"
"It's not about punishment for you, Hope, Emma and Madison, Rae," Kaylin told her. "It's about you staying connected to humanity to make sure that Rosa-bitch doesn't get the best of you, and Hope can help Danny keep you anchored out there."
"Madison can help keep an eye on things, especially Lizzie and Josie," Alaric added.
"Emma, you know what you did," Ryan told her. "So you'e going with Rae, Hope, Danny, Madison, Ariara, Josie, Lizzie and the rest of the kids. Including MG and Kaleb."
Emma scoffed. "Not intentionally. You know now that it wasn't my fault, Dad."
"It's not about faults, Emma," Lindsey told her. "Like with Rae, it's to make sure that you stay connected to people so that you don't become too dark. Rosalita is still trying to make you addicted to dark magic, and that will be easier avoided if you're acting like a normal teenage girl again. So, yes, like Ryan said, you're going with Rae, Hope, Danny, Madison, Ariara, Josie, Lizzie and the rest of the kids."
"Yeah, Emma," Danny told her.
"Shut up, Danny," Emma replied.
Danny smirked. "Make me."
"Hey, enough," Nicola told them. "All right, now go. All of you."
"What about you, Aunt Nikki?" Madison asked. "I mean, don't you need Rae here to help with Huntress issues?"
"No, she'll be fine," Kaylin answered. "Tory and Lyla will still be here."
"I'll be okay," Nicola agreed. "And we're just doing this to teach you kids a lesson and to make sure that you are okay, too."
The kids sighed in defeat. Lizzie and Josie left the library, as did Alaric, leaving Lindsey, Ryan, Kaylin, Nicola, Madison, Rae, Emma, Danny, Hope and Ariara to talk.
Rae gave them a look. "Seriously?"
"What part of what we said needs translating?" Kaylin asked sarcastically.
"I want to help with research," Hope told them.
"Alaric is an occult studies professor, and the rest of us can research," Ryan told them. "I think the adults have it covered."
"Look, we're not playing the 'grown up rules', okay?" Lindsey asked. "You kids going could actually help save Rae and Emma's humanity and sanity, and could bring Lizzie and Ariara back to some sanity too."
Ariara scoffed softly. "I'm not crazy, Lindsey."
"No, you're not, Ariara," Nicola agreed.
Tory, Luke, Lyla, Kacie and Mikayla walked in.
"But you do have some issues with control and mentality because of what you are, and we wanted to come and help," Kacie told her.
Ariara sighed in relief to see them. "Kacie. Mikayla."
Kacie and Mikayla smiled. "Hey, Ariara."
Ariara walked closer to embrace them in relief. Kacie and Mikayla held her close. Rae, Emma, Danny, Hope and Madison all cheered in relief to see who they all considered their aunts as well, and literal aunt and step aunt in Hope's case, and Kacie being the sister to Emma and Danny's aunt Tory causing them to think of Kacie as an aunt to, and Lyla's real aunt was Kacie and her step aunt was Mikayla, as they all embraced each other.
Mikayla chuckled. "Hey, kids."
Lyla smiled, hugging Kacie and Mikayla. "Aunt Kacie and Aunt Mikayla just got back."
"Yeah, they did," Luke agreed. "Welcome back, Kacie. Mikayla. You here to help with Ariara, or the Owen, Landon and Rafael situation?"
"We're here to help Ariara," Kacie answered. "Madison told Eliza about Owen, Landon and Rafael taking off, though, and Eliza made a call to one of our old friends who can help track them down."
"Okay, that's good to hear," Luke told them. "Who did Eliza call exactly?"
"The other Hunter from our Mystic Falls gang," Kacie answered. "And I don't mean Liv and Cristian Hunter or their kids."
They all nodded in understanding.
"Well, we're all really glad that you're back," Tory told them.
Luke smirked. "Yeah, so glad. Not."
"Shut up, Luke," Mikayla told him, knowing he was being teasing and sarcastic.
They all chuckled.
"You guys aren't seriously gonna make us do this charity thing when Aunt Mikayla and Aunt Kacie just got back, are you?" Hope asked.
"Yeah, that would be like, the worst type of punishment, and for those of us that don't need the punishment, that would be seriously cruel," Rae told them.
Madison nodded in agreement. "Agreed."
Mikayla chuckled. "You will all get the chance to see us. We just came back because we might have found something that could finally help Ariara get control back, even a fraction of it."
Ryan raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really?"
"Really," Kacie answered. "It took forever, but we think we might have found something that can help so Ariara can shift without losing complete control, even if it'll be hard at first."
"That's great," Nicola told them. "Congratulations, Ariara. Kacie and Mikayla might have found you a cure."
Ariara smiled as there were more cheers in appreciation and surprise.
Kaylin looked over Nicola's outfit, distracted for the moment. "And I see that Nikki's no longer wearing all black all the time. I see you took my advice seriously about not being all doom and gloom all the time."
"Shut up, Kaylin," Nicola replied.
The others smiled.
Lindsey sighed. "All right, well, Ariara was supposed to be helping the other teens with the charity cleaning in Town Square since she was part of the game."
"Yeah, but I didn't use my powers in the game, and I didn't really participate in the fight, Lindsey," Ariara pointed out. "Can you and Ryan consider letting me stay here with Kacie and Mikayla so that I can learn control so that I can get rid of this stupid bracelet that stops me from shifting and so that I can finally be back in control?"
Luke smirked. "Yeah, Lindsey. Ryan. Pretty sure that's more important."
"Not helping, Luke," Ryan told him.
Luke smirked.
They all exchanged a look.
"Kacie and Mikayla need to help Ariara with control," Tory agreed. "That's why they came back from their Lockwood-Labonair mission. I mean, with the way things are going, monsters that we didn't know that existed showing up, we might need Ariara's animal form sooner rather than later."
Lyla nodded in agreement. "Ariara needs Aunt Kacie and Aunt Mikayla's help. You should let them help her."
"Ariara's staying," Mikayla told them. "I don't know how long Kacie and I are gonna be here, and we need to do as much as we can today."
"Too bad Rae, Hope, Emma, Danny and Madison still got to go do charity with Lizzie, Josie, Kaleb and MG," Lyla told them teasingly.
Hope chuckled. "Very funny, Lyla."
"So what about the dragon thing?" Lyla asked. "Are we gonna tell anybody?"
"Well, Mom, Aunt Nikki, Lindsey, Tory, Luke and Ryan wanted to tell everybody by now, but Ric wanted them to wait until he can find out more about the knife and why creatures are showing up," Rae explained. The adults looked at Rae. "I can still read your guys's minds, remember? Rosalita burned my bracelet so that I can't block out thoughts anymore, because she thinks it'll drive me crazier faster."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Tory asked. "Rae, I could've made you another bracelet."
"I told you, Rae," Danny told her.
"Shut up, Danny," Rae replied, causing the others to chuckle. "And I didn't tell you, Tory, because it wouldn't matter, since Rosalita wold just burn that one too. And every other bracelet after that."
Kaylin pointed at Rae, walking closer. "What did we say about secrets? You're supposed to tell me everything when it comes to Rosalita and your powers, and that includes the bitch burning your anti-mind reading bracelet to make you hear everything and go insane."
"Yeah, bad move, keeping it secret, Rae," Hope told her.
Lindsey gave Alaric a look. "Like it's a bad move to keep the dragon a secret."
"I am working on it, Lindsey," Alaric told her. "I am spinning right now. And I can't drag anyone else any further into this until I figure out what's going on, okay? So right now, we need Hope, Rae, Emma, Danny, Madison, Ariara, Lyla, Lizzie and Josie to be kids..." Hope, Rae, Emma, Danny, Madison, Ariara and Lyla scoffed, rolling their eyes. "And Kacie, Mikayla, Kaylin, Nicola, Lindsey, Ryan, Tory and Luke to keep a dragon-sized secret today until I get some answers. Understood? I know that some of your Frankenstein family is not here given the fact that some of you are out there, but the Salvatores, some of the Mikaelsons, Lockwood-Labonair, the Davis-Thompsons and Nata are still here, even with the Forbes are not, so please, just listen for once."
Kaylin rolled her eyes.
"All right, kids, you need to go to the bus to go to Town Square," Luke told them. "Ariara, you get to stay with Kacie and Mikayla to learn control, because if we run into another creature like the dragon..."
"Then we might need a creature that can turn into a lion with horns and eagle wings and a snake tail," Ryan finished.
Ariara smiled a bit, nodding.
"Don't worry, Ariara," Kacie told her. "Soon enough, you won't have to rely on the stupid bracelet to keep you anchored."
"And you'll actually be able to shift when you want to, if we keep working on this," Mikayla agreed. "The days of Ariara Nata being caged in by a bracelet is over."
Ariara smiled, embracing Mikayla and Kacie happily. "Thank you."
The others all smiled at this.
-
Town Square
(Song:) Loser - Jagwar Twin
The students were in the process of getting off the Salvatore School bu.
Lizzie was trailing behind Emma, taking the opportunity to poke at her. "So, what did you do? Lindsey and Ryan never get mad at you. You're the prodigal daughter. Must have been juicy."
Emma was very annoyed. "Sorry, no time for girl talk. Public service awaits."
Ryan had come with the kids to keep an eye on them, supervising their community service. "All right, listen up. It's a beautiful day. You got options. Litter, weeds, graffiti. Your choice."
Ryan held a tool to pick up litter in offering to Kaleb. Kaleb looked at it and Ryan as if he had lost his mind, though he did take it to get Ryan off his back. Ryan walked away.
Kaleb looked at the others. "It's bad enough we get punished while the humans get a pass, but there ain't no way in hell I'm picking up their garbage."
Kaleb held the tool out to Lizzie.
Lizzie scoffed, holding up her hands in rejection. "Uh, I don't do trash either."
Hope walked toward them. "I love trash." She took the tool, using it as an excuse to get away from them. "As of this moment."
Hope turned, walking away.
Lizzie made another snarky comment. "Perf. It suits you." She turned to face Josie and Madison, who were both unimpressed by her attitude. "Looks like we're scrubbing paint today."
"Alaric, Kaylin, Nicola, Kacie, Mikayla, Lindsey, Ryan, Tory and Luke told us to work together, okay?" Madison asked. "Harmoniously."
"Yeah, and they also said without drama, and I am feeling a rage attack coming on, so I will be remaining drama free over by that wall of graffiti," Lizzie told them. "Are you two coming or not?"
"I don't know, Lizzie," Josie told her sarcastically. "Is there another bus you want to throw me under?"
Madison watched Lizzie and Josie argue, sighing. Josie walked away from Lizzie toward Madison, making it clear she intended to work with her instead, who were both staying to work with Hope, Rae, Emma and Danny.
Lizzie was visibly offended by Josie and Madison's choice. "Fine, teachers pets." She looked around at the rest of the students. "Anyone else?" Kaleb smirked, walking away as the others split up to deal with their respective tasks. Hope, Rae, Emma, Danny, Madison and Josie grabbed trash bags to pick up the litter as MG looked back and forth as if he couldn't decide who to help. Lizzie, annoyed, made the decision for him. "Get the lead out, MG."
MG followed Lizzie to help clean up the graffiti.
(Song Ends)
-
Woods off Route 29
Owen, Landon and Rafael were in the woods somewhere near Route 29, where they were seated around a self-made campfire, roasting a rabbit in the flames.
Landon looked at their dinner in amusement. "Uh, I think it's done."
Rafael gingerly reached out, touching the roasted rabbit to see if it was cooked enough, groaning in revulsion, ripping off a small piece of meat. "Oh, next time, we gotta catch, like, a deer or something. You know, more meaty, less... rabbity."
Owen laughed. "It's food, man. I'm good."
Rafael handed the stick to Owen, who grimaced as he ripped off his own piece, and then handed the stick to Landon so he could do the same. The three brothers smiled at each other.
Landon sighed. "Thanks for sticking with me and Owen, Rafael."
Rafael smiled, shrugging. "Nowhere else I'd rather be, bros."
Owen felt guilty. "I don't know. That school was good for you."
"Lan, Owen, you run, I run," Rafael told them. "Period."
Landon and Owen nodded in understanding. They all hesitantly raised their pieces of rabbit, all looking uneasy, groaning as they reluctantly took bites of their dinner.
Landon sighed. "They hate us, don't they?"
"Hope and Madison?" Rafael asked. "Probably. You want to explain why you kept lying to them? Why you lied to me?"
"That's the problem," Owen told him. "We can't. Every time we try to put it into words, all we can say is... Rae proved our points for us." He hesitated, sighing. "It's like the knife wanted me to steal it. And then it wanted us to lie."
"Knives don't have conscious thoughts, brother," Rafael told him.
"I know, but knives don't usually attract dragons, either," Owen replied. "And not only did we hurt Hope and Madison, but I probably hurt Nicola too. I mean, she saved me when I was a kid, and I grew up idolizing her. And then she says that when I met her two years ago, and met Elijah, Kassandra, Kaylin, Mikayla and Kacie... they said that what I said to Nicola saved her from a dark place and made it to where she could start living better again. And I know that after I betrayed them, even if I didn't mean to... probably hurt Nicola, too."
Landon, uncomfortable with the line of question, sighed, looking at Rafael. "What about you and Emma?"
"What about me and Emma?" Rafael asked.
"You definitely seemed to have tension with Emma going on," Owen answered.
Rafael scoffed a chuckle. "Yeah, because she was trying to kill you two for hurting Hope, Madison and Nicola."
"Yeah, and what about before that?" Landon asked.
"Or after, when you got her calmed down," Owen added.
Rafael smirked, shaking his head. "There's nothing going on between me and Emma."
Landon looked at Owen. "Did you believe that?"
Owen shook his head. "I didn't believe that."
Rafael scoffed, sitting back against the log he was using as a makeshift chair. "Um, well, what's done is done. It's not like we're ever gonna see them again, anyway." Landon and Owen sighed. "Hey, hey. It's just the three of us. Living off the land. Nothing better."
"A burger," Owen told them. "A burger would be better."
"A burger would be better," Rafael agreed.
Landon smirked. "Better a burger will be." They all laughed. Landon stared into the fire, getting an idea. "Hey, I got an idea to make some money. Put Raf's new werewolf skills to work. You in?"
Rafael narrowed his eyes in confusion, shrugging in agreement. Owen looked at them curiously.
-
Salvatore Boarding School - Ariara/Emma's Dorm Room
Like the other students, Ariara was now in regular clothes, sitting down in front of Mikayla and Kacie as they sat in front of her, facing each other in a circle of three. "I'm glad that you're here."
"Of course," Mikayla told her. "How are you doing? Really?"
"You mean with not being able to shift for two years without losing complete control, or the slight manic mind?" Ariara asked. "I mean, because of the three different animalistic personalities and instincts in my mind and not being able to turn into them. Plus watching war all my life and having to watch my kingdom and family be wiped out?"
"If you want to be blunt like that, yeah," Kacie answered. "Both. All of them."
"I miss being able to shift," Ariara admitted. "And I've gotten used to the golden eagle, serpent and lion inside me fighting and making my mind a little manic all my life. Especially given the war and losing everything."
Mikayla looked at her sadly. "We know, Ariara. But we're hoping that this can help with you being able to shift without losing control, and maybe even help your mind a bit."
"Whatever happens, we're gonna be right here for you, okay?" Kacie asked.
Ariara nodded. "I know. Kacie, you and Mikayla, even if you're not here as much, it feels like you're always there for me. And it's not so bad here, for me anymore. I get a family with Hope, Rae, Madison, Emma and Danny, and Lyla. Kaylin, Nicola, Tory, Luke, Lindsey and Ryan are always looking out for all of us like a team of parents." Mikayla and Kacie smiled. "We do miss Marcel, Noah, Caitlin, Auria, Klaus, Elijah, Kassandra, Rebekah, Kol, Freya and Eliza, though. Even Lucien a bit. And they really miss Hayley and Riley."
Mikayla looked down sadly, nodding in agreement. "Yeah. So do we."
Ariara sighed. "It's just, this family of Salvatore-Mikaelson-Forbes-Fell, Davis-Thompson, Lockwood-Labonair, Dumaine/Harris, Gerard, Rayvnne, Castle... it feels good. Like it's the way it's supposed to be. Though I never got to know the Grey part of the family, and you're all missing them."
Mikayla nodded. "We all miss Hayley and Riley. And I'm sad that you didn't get to meet them. But luckily for us, Kaylin, Nicola, Tory, Luke, Lindsey and Ryan are always looking out for you, Hope, Rae, Emma, Danny, Madison and Lyla. And Marcel, Noah, Caitlin, Auria, Lucien, Klaus, Elijah, Kassandra, Rebekah, Kol, Freya and Eliza miss you guys too."
"Yeah," Kacie agreed. "And don't worry, Ariara. Even if we can't all be here, we're all still family, and school breaks allow us all to see each other outside of Mystic Falls. I mean, you, Kaylin, Nicola, Rae, Hope, Lindsey, Tory, Luke, Lyla, Ryan, Emma, Danny and Madison still get to see Marcel, Noah, Caitlin, Auria, Lucien, Eliza, Klaus, Kassandra, Elijah, Rebekah, Kol, Freya... even if we don't get to see Hayley and Riley. And don't forget. There's now a Nata in the complicated twisting family tree of Frankensteins."
"True," Ariara agreed. "I might have lost so many of my family and friends back home in Kiesha'ra, but at least here... I have family again." They all managed small smiles. "Are you leaving again any time soon?"
Mikayla shook her head. "We're gonna be here for a while, as long as it takes for us to help you get control back."
"How do you like the sound of that?" Kacie asked.
Ariara smiled. "I love it."
Mikayla and Kacie smiled, as they and Ariara held hands, all chuckling, laughing lightly.
-
Flashback
Kiesha'ra Kingdom
Day - Battlefield
Ariara was in the middle of the battlefield with her sister, Arlette, behind her as they took in the destruction all around them, used to this sight, but never able to get over the horror and disgust and despair that they would feel when seeing so many of their people like this dead, killed over a pointless war. Ariara found the killer to her brother, kneeling beside the enemy, assessing his injuries, knowing that he would heal, and was conflicted about taking the life of the man who murdered her family, or to help save him. She slowly raised her knife like she was told to do by her guards, but when she saw the fear in the enemy's eyes, she couldn't finish the deed, lowering her knife, tears in her eyes as a sob escaped. She turned to Arlette. "This is why this stupid war goes on, Arlette. Because even when he's dying, you can only feel your hate. If I was in this man's place, I would pray for someone to kneel by my side."
"That man killed our brother, Ariara," Arlette told her. "A Nata, just like you and me. You can't do this now."
"I can and I will," Ariara told her. "I'm to be queen. If I show kindness, mercy, maybe it could be a step in the right direction to finish this war." She turned to the enemy, soothing back his black hair. "I'm here, don't fret."
The man's eyes filled with tears. "Thank you." He looked straight up at Ariara. "End it. Please." Ariara flinched at the words, knowing that he was asking her to stop the pain, but not wanting to kill him. "Princess Ariara Nata, please."
A tear of Ariara's fell onto the enemy's hand. She shook her head, wrapping her hand around his. He gripped her hand like it was his last anchor to earth. She slowly drew her knife from her waist. Arlette caught her wrist, shaking her head.
"It could take him hours to die like this," Ariara argued quietly.
"Let the hours pass," Arlette told her. "His kind believe in mercy killing, but not when it's the other side who does it. Not when it's the heir to the throne who ends the life of one of their two surviving princes."
Ariara knew she was right, looking at the dying prince in front of her, sitting in the field most of the day, humming a sad song to pass the time, to distract him from the pain, until he finally passed away.
-
Now
Day - Town Square
MG, Kaleb and Lizzie were standing in front of a shop in the town square whose windows had been covered in spray painted graffiti that said "Salvatore is 4 Loosers" in purple paint. MG was using a cleaning brush and soapy water in an effort to wash the paint off while Kaleb and Lizzie watched him.
Lizzie sighed impatiently, hands on hips. "Come on, MG, any slower and you'd be going in reverse."
"Look, I'm doing the best I can without vamping in public," MG told them.
Kaleb scoffed condescendingly. "That's just plain pitiful, bruh."
Lizzie gave Kaleb an annoyed look. "Well, at least he's trying. I don't see you pitching in."
Kaleb sat on a nearby stool, rolling his eyes. "'Cause this whole thing's whack. What, we get punished for wanting to win a game fair and square?"
MG gave him a look. "It wasn't fair. We're supernatural, they're human."
Kaleb scoffed. "And Lebron's maybe the best player ever. Should he quit scoring because no one on the court can check him? We're faster, we're stronger..." He chuckled. "We're better. And we ain't got nothing to apologize for." MG and Lizzie exchanged a look. "Nothing."
Connor, Dana and a few more of their friends from Mystic Falls High School walked up to them.
Connor was holding a milkshake in his hand, smiling smugly. "Hypothetical question."
Lizzie was trying to keep her anger in check, turning and pacing.
Kaleb rolled his eyes, sighing. "Great."
Connor was satisfied to know he had already hit a nerve, continuing to taunt them. "How bad would it suck if whoever did this graffiti just came back tonight and put it right back up again?"
Dana cooed to back up his bullying. "Hmm?"
Lizzie wanted to shut this down quickly. "Well, whoever it is, I hope he improves his spelling."
Lizzie glanced over at the window where the word 'Losers' was spelled 'Loosers' to prove her point. Kaleb chuckled in amusement. The Mystic Falls High School kids's smiles fell.
Dana looked for another way to get a shot at Lizzie, looking around. "Hey, MG."
MG looked surprised but pleased by her attention. "Dana, what's good?"
Dana smiled happily.
Lizzie's jaw dropped, as she was clearly offended by MG's affection toward her enemy. "Uh, he's busy, Dana."
"Um, he can speak for himself, Saltzman," Dana told her.
MG was clearly trying to make Lizzie jealous. "You know what? I was just getting ready to grab a break."
Dana smirked. "Mm."
"MG!" Lizzie chided.
Connor rapidly ripped the top off of his cup, throwing the contents of strawberry milkshake all over Lizzie, making it drip down from her neck, chest and shirt, causing her to gasp in shock. "Oh!" He fake gasped. "That's my bad. My bad."
Dana laughed. Connor, Dana and their friends all started to snicker at Lizzie, who was only becoming more enraged by the second.
-
Salvatore Boarding School - Garden
The younger students were in the garden, tending the various herbs and plants.
Tory and Luke were kneeling with Lyla as they were tending to more herbs. Lyla, like the others, was no longer in her school uniform.
"So if wolfsbane burns hybrids and werewolves, and vervain burns vampires and hybrids, does witch hazel burn witches?" Lyla asked.
"Sometimes," Tory answered. "Depends on how it's used, if it's spelled or not."
"What are Aunt Mikayla and Aunt Kacie doing?" Lyla asked.
"They are with Ariara right now, trying to help her with this solution that they think might help her with regaining control over her animal form," Luke answered.
Tory smiled. "Don't worry, Lyla, you, me and Luke will get to talk to Kacie and Mikayla soon."
Lyla clapped her hands. "Yay."
Luke chuckled. "Yeah, yay."
Lyla looked up at them curiously. "Since there could be monsters coming here, and you guys could use a lot of help, like Ariara's animal form, does that mean I get to help, too?"
Luke shook his head, pointing at her. "Yeah, that's a no."
Lyla pouted. "Why not?"
"Because you're still a little girl," Tory answered. "And we don't know what kind of creatures that could come here or anywhere. And Luke and I are not risking your life because you want to help."
"We didn't even let you help with locking Rosalita up," Luke told her.
"And we're not gonna let you get hurt trying to help against monsters that we have no clue about yet," Tory told her.
Lyla still pouted. "I still wanna help, and I'm gonna help if I can."
Tory and Luke sighed. "Lyla--"
Before they could talk more, Lizzie was storming through the garden, still covered in milkshake.
Lyla was concerned, but her sentence trailed off when she saw how much rage was in her expression. "Lizzie, you, uh..."
"Choose your next words carefully, Lyla," Lizzie told her.
"You okay?" Tory asked.
"Does it look like I'm okay?" Lizzie replied. "Tory, Luke, where's my father?"
Luke pointed to the school. "Uh, Lindsey and Ryan's office. With Lindsey, Kaylin and Nicola."
Lizzie stormed off without another word or look, going to the office. Tory, Luke and Lyla exchanged a look. As Lizzie ran up the staircase to the main building, she passed the gargoyle, who had moved to the garden from the front yard, whose eyes glowed bright red as he turned his head toward Lizzie as she walked inside.
-
Lindsey/Ryan's Office
Alaric, Kaylin, Nicola and Lindsey were talking about Alaric's research.
"Now's not a good time, Lindsey," Alaric told her.
"When we started the school, we knew that counseling was mandatory for everyone at school, because of everything that these kids and us adults have been through," Lindsey told him. "And that includes you."
"I've got things to do," Alaric told her. "I'm gonna have to, uh, rain check therapy."
Kaylin nodded sarcastically, eyes sweeping around the room, as she turned to sit on the desk, pointing at the knife. "Mm. No, you're just gonna let this knife rule your life as you try to figure out answers about it."
Alaric gave her a look. "Kaylin."
"Mm?" Kaylin asked sarcastically, giving him a slightly mocking expression. "Sorry, not gonna let some piece of trash antique rule my life and distract me from my family, which is exactly what you're doing."
Alaric sighed. "If my translations are correct, whoever wields this has the power to save the world, or end all life as we know it. It's hard to say. Fourth century Gaulish is tricky."
Nicola gave him an exasperated look. "Well, in that case, stop cleaning it and destroy the damn thing."
Alaric chuckled, picking up what looked like a pale green bath bomb, dropping it into the tank that the knife was sitting in. It started to fizz as it made contact with the water, but did nothing whatsoever to the knife. "Hydrochloric acid. I've tried explosives, an acetylene torch, a circular saw. I've even run over it with my truck. And according to legend, it's indestructible. And I'm starting to agree."
Lindsey took this in, nodding sarcastically. "So in addition to father, teacher, mentor, you've also added linguist, ex vampire hunter, and demolitions expert to your resume? At least it's better than Kaylin and Nicola acting like after the hell they've been through and adding wives, a mother, and slayers of mystical creatures to their resumes, that they are completely fine, even after all the family drama and betrayal, Rosalita, the Huntress taking over repeatedly, everything with Cade and the Sirens, Rae coming back, all the loss... it's a lot to take on, especially all by yourselves, and especially when you won't let anyone help you."
Nicola chuckled sarcastically. "Lindsey, we don't need therapy. We got things covered."
"The things that we've seen day in and day out won't be solved with emotional vulnerability, talking about weaknesses and strengths, and letting loose like little girls," Kaylin agreed. "And I'm definitely not pulling at Stefan, Alex, Elena and Liv and keeping a damn diary."
Lindsey tilted her head. "Kaylin--"
"Lindsey," Kaylin replied.
"When we say we're fine, we're--" Nicola started.
Lizzie marched into the office with an expression of pure rage, still covered in the milkshake Connor threw at her, slamming the door to the office behind her, looking at Alaric. "You are a total jerk!"
Alaric stood, distracted from her mood by the sight of her covered in milkshake, frowning in confusion. "What happened to you?'
"A Neanderthal from Mystic Falls High assaulted me with a milkshake," Lizzie answered. "This stupid girl Dana was being--" She was overwhelmed with anger, stopping herself mid sentence, taking a deep breath to try to calm herself down. When she spoke again, she sounded as if she was moments from beginning to cry. "You know what? I can't even talk about it. But now Hope, Rae, Emma, Danny, Madison and Josie are buddies in solidarity, and Ariara got let off the hook because Kacie and Mikayla are back and trying to get the loony shapeshifter back in control, but..." She turned to look at Kaylin, Nicola and Lindsey. "As I was walking home, I did the work and dug deep and realized..." She sighed, gesturing to Alaric. "That this is all his fault."
Alaric looked at her in surprise, offense.
Nicola smirked. "How is this his fault?"
Lizzie looked at Alaric. "Because if you had just agreed with Kaylin, Nicola, Lindsey, Luke, Ryan and Tory about letting us play fair without our powers, then everything would've gone differently, because you made us make fools of ourselves in front of that school for years and that's why they are always bullying us." Lindsey, Kaylin and Nicola gave Alaric an 'I told you so' look, gesturing to Lizzie as she made their point, causing Alaric to give them a look in return. "And it is not fair that they, and Hope, Rae, Emma, Danny, Madison, Lyla and Ariara get to know secrets that your own daughters don't."
Kaylin looked between Lizzie and Alaric in amusement, shrugging. "Girl's got a point."
Alaric gave Kaylin an exasperated look. "Not helping."
Lizzie was now in tears. "I am not going back there."
"Okay, that's fine," Lindsey agreed. "Um, why don't you go help the primary school kids out in the garden? Lyla's out there, and Tory and Luke should be coming back here soon."
Lizzie glared at Alaric for a moment, turning toward Kaylin, Nicola and Lindsey, exhausted. "At least now you know why I am so screwed up."
Lizzie turned around, walking out of the office, slamming the door behind her.
Kaylin, Nicola and Lindsey gave Alaric another 'I told you so' look. Alaric smiled fakely.
-
Garden
After a change of clothes, Lizzie laid down on one of the stone seats in the garden, looking up at the sky, sighing.
Lyla was talking with a friend, Pedro, as they both walked over to Lizzie.
"Aren't you supposed to help?" Pedro asked.
Lizzie sighed exhaustedly, sitting up to look at them. "Lyla, Pedro, consider this a life lesson. People disappoint."
A sound like stones grinding together could be heard by Lizzie and Lyla.
Pedro's eyes widened in fear. "That statue just moved."
Lizzie and Lyla turned around to find the gargoyle behind a bush a couple yards away from them, holding its sword by the grip with the end of the blade pointed down at the base.
Lyla thought that Pedro was joking, looking at him. "Good one."
"I mean, I deserve to know what's happening just as much as Madison, Ariara, Rae, Hope, Emma and Danny," Lizzie told them. "And you, Lyla. What do you know?"
"I'm not supposed to tell you yet until your dad finds out more," Lyla told her. Lizzie scoffed. Pedro and Lyla both saw the gargoyle move this time. "It did move!"
Lizzie turned around to look back at the gargoyle, who was no longer standing behind the bush, but having moved half the distance from which it was just located and was now within feet of Lizzie and Lyla. Lizzie frowned, but was otherwise unconcerned. "We're being punked, Lyla. The sixth grade witches are learning illusion spells this semester."
The sound of grinding stone was now accompanied by a low growl and several loud thumping noises.
Pedro and Lyla tried to get Lizzie to pay attention. "It--it--it's..."
Lizzie sighed, rolling her eyes. "Let me guess, it's right behind me?"
Lizzie turned around to prove herself right, only to be shocked to find that the gargoyle had disappeared entirely. Pedro and Lyla looked around, startled to find that the gargoyle was now standing behind them. The gargoyles eyes opened to reveal glowing red irises as it bared its teeth at the two young kids, going to attack Lyla.
Pedro pulled his friend back. "Lyla!"
Lizzie turned back toward them, horrified to find the gargoyle taking large, jerky steps toward them with its sword pointed in their direction.
Lyla held her hand toward the gargoyle. "Motus!"
Lyla's spell magically threw the gargoyle back against the garden wall, making it fall, but it was quickly getting back up.
Lizzie quickly grabbed Pedro and Lyla by the hands, pulling them away from the gargoyle as fast as she could. "Lyla! Pedro! Run!" The gargoyle chased the three as they made their way toward the entrance to the school, with Lizzie running protectively behind Lyla and Pedro in case the gargoyle attacked. "Lyla, get Pedro inside!"
Lyla pulled Pedro inside at a run. Lizzie paused to make sure that the gargoyle wasn't following them too closely before following.
-
Inside - Foyer
Lyla and Pedro stopped to catch their breaths.
Lizzie ran toward them, kneeling down to their level, holding a hand toward Lyla and a hand toward Pedro. "I need you to give me your hands." They did as told. Lizzie, holding Lyla and Pedro's hands, started to siphon some magic from them, her hands glowing red as she did. Lyla's hands glowed red as Lizzie's siphoning activated Lyla's siphoning, and they were both stronger for it. Lizzie looked at Pedro. "Now, go find Ariara, Kacie, Mikayla, Kaylin, Nicola, Tory, Luke and Lindsey. Go!"
Pedro ran away. The gargoyle stomped through the doors, snarling and growling menacingly.
Lizzie and Lyla, looking nervous, took several deep breaths to center themselves as they prepared to do whatever they could to defend against the creature. Lyla could tell what Lizzie was planning because she took off her bracelet so she could hear Lizzie's thoughts. The gargoyle spread its wings, shrieking loudly.
Lizzie and Lyla held their arms wide open to cast the spell. "Imperium monstrum!"
Lizzie and Lyla curled their arms in a circular motion as if they were giving an invisible person a hug. The gargoyle raised a clawed hand to lunge at them. Lizzie jumped in front of Lyla to protect her, screaming as she was hurt in the process.
-~-
Foyer
Lizzie was lying unconscious on the floor. Lyla was kneeling next to her, trying to wake her up. Pedro had ran to get Kaylin, Nicola, Tory, Luke, Lindsey and Alaric, who all ran closer to check on them. After hearing the commotion, Mikayla, Kacie and Ariara walked in.
Tory and Luke pulled Lyla into their arms worriedly. "Lyla?"
Lyla nodded reassuringly. "I'm okay. I'm okay."
Alaric ran to kneel next to his daughter worriedly. "Lizzie?" Lizzie's eyes flew open, but she could do nothing more than whimper in fear, unable to do so much as open her mouth to speak. "Oh, my God, Lizzie!" Terrified of losing his daughter, Alaric started to whisper under his breath as he checked on her. "Watch out. Lizzie, baby, come here..."
"Lyla, what happened?" Kacie asked worriedly.
"She isn't moving," Mikayla told them. "Why--why isn't she moving?"
"The statue hurt her," Lyla answered.
They looked back down at Lizzie, suddenly realizing that the front of her shirt had been slashed open. Alaric gently pulled the torn scraps of fabric away to reveal that she had three long, deep claw gashes across her stomach, which seemed to be turning gray and stone-like in appearance.
Ariara was absolutely in shock. "Oh, my God."
"Statue?" Kaylin asked, exasperated but worried. "We go from dragon to statue? Are you freaking kidding me?"
"Lyla, what did you and Lizzie do?" Nicola asked calmly, soothingly.
"We cast a spell to make sure that the statue couldn't leave," Lyla answered. "To protect the outside world."
The others sighed in relief to know this, impressed and proud.
"That was good," Lindsey told her. "Good, Lyla. Clever girls."
-
Later
Alaric, Ariara, Mikayla and Kacie were still keeping an eye on Lizzie, while Lyla, Pedro and other younger students were keeping an eye on her as well.
Kaylin, Nicola, Tory, Luke and Lindsey had called Ryan.
"Ryan, tell us what you know about gargoyles," Tory told him.
Ryan was in Town Square, frowning incredulously. "Did you say gargoyles?"
"Yeah, gargoyles," Kaylin answered. "You heard us right. We didn't stutter."
Ryan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know you didn't, Kaylin."
"Come on, Ryan, you're the one that realized we were dealing with a dragon, you've got to know something about gargoyles," Nicola told him.
"Why didn't you ask Ric?" Ryan asked.
"He's researching now, but he doesn't know much on it," Lindsey explained.
Ryan tried to remember what he could. "Okay, uh, tell him to search Medieval French folklore. Look for 'The Legend of the Gargoyle Petrotho'."
Luke rolled his eyes. "I sometimes hate but love your nerdy tendencies, Ryan."
"Bite me, Luke," Ryan replied.
Mikayla and Kacie walked over to talk.
"If we're right, we think he's poisoned Lizzie with some sort of actual grayscale," Mikayla explained. "She's paralyzed. What if it spreads to her heart?"
Ryan looked just as concerned, nodding in agreement. "Tell Ric to keep looking. I'll start looking too."
Kacie sighed. "Thanks, Ryan."
They hung up, looking toward where Alaric, Lyla and Ariara were tending to Lizzie.
-
Town Square
Danny and Rae were working together to clean up the square.
"You gonna talk to me or just ignore me?" Danny asked.
Rae sighed. "I'm not trying to ignore you, Danny."
"Then what are you doing?" Danny asked. "You've always been on and off like a total wild card, and I know it's because of Rosalita inside you. It'll never get better if you don't let someone help you. It doesn't have to be me. If--if I did something to bother you, or if I make it worse, just tell me and I'll never bother you again. But I can't watch you crumble and not do anything about it. Let me help you, Rae."
Rae was surprised that he thought that he made her upset or made it worse, shaking her head. "You didn't do anything to upset me, Danny." She sighed, chuckling without humor. "You know better than anyone that I'm a hot mess. Can... can we go for a walk?
Danny placed his hands tentatively on Rae's shoulders, letting go. "Of course we can. Come on."
Danny offered Rae his hand. Rae slowly took it as they never looked away from each other, meeting gazes, never breaking eye contact as they walked away through the square, hand in hand.
Elsewhere, Madison, Josie, Hope and Emma were cleaning up, using spiked tools to pick up litter, placing it inside large orange trash bags.
Hope looked over at Josie, who was dedicated to the task, chuckling. "You have a future in waste management."
Josie opened another trash bag. "Cleaning up messes is kind of my thing."
Emma shrugged in agreement. "Well, your sister is kind of a dumpster fire."
Madison sighed. "Emma, Josie, please do not start. I have enough trouble trying to keep Lizzie from bashing you, Hope, Rae, Danny and Ariara, Emma."
Josie looked at Emma. "Why do you always pick fights?" Emma shrugged. "We've known each other since we were babies, when Rosalita nearly killed you, Danny, me, Lizzie, Lindsey and Bonnie in the Lockwood Mansion explosion over a decade ago. And any time you have the chance, you poke."
Emma rolled her eyes defensively, getting back to picking up litter. "You guys do your fair share of poking. Whenever I poked, it was in retaliation to your pokes."
Josie scoffed. "Fine. But, Madison, you and Hope, Rae, Emma, Danny, Ariara and even Lyla are spending so much time with my dad, and Kaylin, Nicola, Lindsey, Tory, Luke and Ryan, and keeping secrets--"
Madison did not want to have to lie to her about what she knew, trying to cut Josie off before she could continue. "We're not keeping secrets."
"Oh, yeah?" Josie asked, unconvinced. "What happened when you, Rafael, Hope, Rae, Emma, Kaylin, Nicola and Tory went to go find Owen Church and Landon Kirby?"
Madison looked at the ground evasively, guilty because Alaric made her promise not to tell. "Nothing happened."
"Something clearly did happen," Josie told them. "Rafael never showed up at school, my dad has been rattled ever since you guys got back. So, why won't you just tell me?"
Emma, clearly becoming overwhelmed and agitated, punctuated her response by slamming her tool into the ground. "Because there's nothing to tell!"
Though Emma intended to slam her tool into the ground, she ended up stabbing her boot clad foot with the sharp spike instead, groaning in pain. Hope, Madison and Josie walked closer.
Hope and Madison were in shock. "Oh, my God."
Emma caught her breath, looking at them expectantly, groaning. "Ow!"
"Are you okay?" Madison asked. "I mean, what do we do?"
Emma clenched her jaw, giving them a look. "Help me pull it out."
"What?" Madison asked.
"Emma can heal," Hope told them. "We just need to pull it out."
Josie, Madison and Hope all pulled at the tool, falling back on the ground from the force needed to pry the spike from Emma's foot.
"Ow!" Emma complained.
Soon enough, Emma started to heal and relax.
Josie looked at Emma with a mischievous expression. "You poked yourself."
Emma couldn't help but chuckle. "Shut up."
Madison smiled at the first good interaction between the two. "Maybe I can finally get Josie and Lizzie to stop hating you, Danny, Rae, Hope and Ariara, Emma. And maybe get you guys to stop hating Josie and Lizzie, too."
"Don't count on it, Madison," Hope told her. Josie, Madison, Hope and Emma couldn't help but start laughing. Hope realized who was missing, looking around. "Hey. Where's Rae and Danny?"
The girls all looked around.
-
Street
(Song:) Hold Me While You Wait - Lewis Capaldi
Rae and Danny were walking together, away from all the prying eyes.
"I'm terrified of hurting people, pulling people down to where I am," Rae admitted. "I'm never going to be a good family member, a good friend, good of anything to anyone, least of all to..."
Danny realized where she was going with this. "To me? So what, you're just gonna push everyone away for the rest of your life, which, in case you forgot, lasts forever?"
Rae scoffed softly. "I didn't forget. And that's the only way to protect everyone."
Danny sighed, shaking his head. "That's going to be your biggest downfall, Rae." Rae turned to face him in confusion. "Especially when you need everyone you can get to help you anchor yourself so that you don't lose yourself to Rosalita. You're only hurting yourself."
Rae nodded. "Exactly."
Danny desperately tried to get Rae to see reason, but was not making a fool of himself in the process, but expressing his worry, his concern, and his fear of what could happen to her if she didn't let people close to help her, and clearly revealing how deeply he still felt for her, his feelings having grown since everything that happened in New Orleans two years before. "And if you push everyone away enough to where you have no one, and you lose control because you have no one to help you anchor yourself, then you'll lose control of Rosalita, and it will hurt everyone. So by pushing everyone away to protect us from you, you realize that you could be putting us in danger of Rosalita in case you lose control of her because you won't let us help you? Because you won't let anyone help you. I know that you're pushing us away for our sake, but we don't want our sake to be considered when it comes to your sake. And just remember that us helping you, us being close to you, will be a lot more easier for us all to be safe from the literal she-Devil inside you."
Rae was very emotionally effected, some part of her knowing that he was right, but was terrified of still hurting people, and doing everything she could to make sure she didn't hurt anyone, thinking that staying away was the best way to do that, but also revealing how she really cared for Danny in the process, her feelings also having grown, but fighting them because she was terrified of hurting him. "Danny..."
Danny held Rae's gaze for a moment longer, not sure how else to convince her that what she was doing was not for the best, shaking his head, grabbing his bag, putting it over his shoulder, turning around, walking away. He paused one moment to look back at Rae as they looked each other in the eyes with tears in their eyes, before Danny slowly turned and walked away. Rae watched him go, despaired, not knowing what to do to protect everyone without putting them in risk of either her or Rosalita, looking like she wanted to chase after Danny, but stopped, the feeling of fear that she could hurt him winning out over the feeling of needing him close.
(Song Ends)
-
Unknown City - Downtown
(Song:) Lazarus - Fictionist
Owen, Landon and Rafael were in an unknown city's downtown area, where they had gathered a small group of people in front of an alley.
At the front of the group was a young woman, girl, who was looking at them incredulously. "To the roof and back in 20 seconds?"
"Or we double your money," Landon answered.
"You're on," the girl told them. "Ten bucks."
The girl pulled out her phone from her back pocket, starting a timer.
Owen clapped Rafael on the shoulder. "We got this."
Rafael, getting himself psyched up for some free running, nodded in agreement. "Yes!"
Landon and Owen smiled. "Yes!"
The girl set the timer, hitting go, looking at Rafael as if he was already behind. "20, 19..." Rafael ran toward a wooden staircase in the alley, quickly making it up the steps, leaping onto the railings, using as mini leap pads. He hesitated for a moment, looking at Owen and Landon, who nodded in reassurance, before squatting so he could leap almost six feet into the air, grabbing onto the fire escape ladder overhead, quickly climbing it all the way to the stop of the building. "He's not gonna make it."
Rafael, hearing this comment, looked over the edge of the roof, deciding to take his chances, simply leaping over the edge, landing on his feet with ease with one second to spare. Owen looked overwhelmed by the display of his werewolf powers in front of everyone, but everyone else in the crowd looked impressed.
Rafael stood straight. "Whoo!"
The timer went off, and everyone began to cheer and clap for him. The girl looked at Owen and Landon as if she had been taken advantage of.
Landon simply shrugged, taking her money. "What can I say? Our boy's on fire."
The theatrics continued on for a little while longer, and the scene cut to Owen and Landon walking through the crowd, collecting all of the money they had won., making their way to Rafael, who was bent over as he caught his breath, clapping him on the back in congratulations for all the money they had earned.
A man in the crowd, wearing a fedora and a blue and orange button shirt, called out. "Triple or nothing."
Rafael's jaw dropped in shock.
Owen chuckled nervously. "Sir, we've already taken your money twice."
The man smiled, holding up a hundred dollar bill in between his index and middle fingers. "How about a hundred?" Rafael's smile had transformed into a look of skeptical uneasiness, especially once the man informed them of his stipulations. "But I want him to do it in ten seconds."
Landon shrugged, walking over so he was standing next to the man in the crowd, eager to see Rafael for himself. Owen looked at Landon as if he was insane for agreeing to this and risk exposing Rafael when they were already in risk of exposure as it was.
Landon nodded reassuringly. "Start the clock."
The camera cut to the back of the crowd, where most of the bystanders had their phones out to either time Rafael's stunts or capture them on video. At the back of the crowd, a man wearing a brown sweatshirt with his hood up sent a text message to an unidentifiable number that read: They're here.
(Song Ends)
-
Salvatore Boarding School - Common Room
Most of the school's students were gathered in the common room, which had been previously the Salvatore Boarding House's parlor.
Lizzie was still paralyzed from the gargoyle, having been placed on the nearby couch.
Lindsey was giving instructions. "We are on lockdown. No one goes outside, period. I want you all in your rooms. Upper class, you're on the buddy system. Lower class, I want you to come with me to the Grand Hall, okay? Everyone, let's go."
Lindsey clapped her hands, shooing the students to their respective areas, walking toward the kids.
Tory and Luke knelt with Lyla to reassure her.
"You're going with Lindsey, okay?" Luke asked.
"But, Dad, I was able to help before," Lyla pointed out. "I can help again."
"Lyla, you almost got hurt, and you would have if Lizzie hadn't jumped in front of you," Tory reminded her.
"So you have got to go with Lindsey, Lyla," Luke told her. "Please?"
"Okay?" Tory asked.
Lyla sighed, giving in, but not liking it, rolling her eyes. "Okay, Mom."
Kacie walked over to reassure her niece, kneeling next to her. "Don't worry, Lyla. With Mikayla and me here, too, with Kaylin, Nicola, Tory, Luke and Ariara, this thing's not gonna stand a chance, so it's okay for you to go with Lindsey, all right?"
Lyla nodded. "Okay, Aunt Kacie."
"Good girl," Kacie told her. "Come here." Lyla and Kacie shared an embrace before pulling away. "Now go on."
Lindsey took Lyla's hand, leading her away with the other lower class kids. "Come on, Lyla."
Kacie stood, turning to face Tory and Luke. "Never get tired of fighting evil with my sister and my brother-in-law anyway."
Tory smirked. "Missed you, too, Kacie."
"Good to have you back," Luke agreed.
Kaylin, Nicola, Ariara and Mikayla walked closer.
"All right, Ric is taking Lizzie with Lindsey, Lyla and the kids," Kaylin explained. "Lindsey's gonna keep an eye on that infection. We need to try and draw it away from the school."
"But Lyla and Lizzie cast the spell to put up a barrier so that the gargoyle won't leave the grounds, so even if it gets what it came for, it can't leave with it," Nicola reminded them.
"And how do you know this thing will follow any of us anyway?" Mikayla asked.
"Because we think we have what it wants," Nicola answered.
"The knife the dragon was after," Ariara realized.
"Yeah," Nicola answered.
Mikayla took a deep breath, sighing. "I'm only going along with this plan because we don't have any better options right now. It's not like we can resort to old methods and rip everything to pieces."
Luke raised his eyebrows, tilting his head. "Mm, good point."
"And even if we could, how would we?" Kacie asked. "This plan is pretty reckless and stupid."
"Reckless?" Kaylin asked. "Definitely. Stupid? Only if we don't get it right. Otherwise, it would be awesome plan."
Lindsey was ushering the younger children toward the assembly hall. "Don't fret. We'll be fine."
"So who's gonna get the knife?" Mikayla asked.
"Ric went to get it," Kaylin answered. "After he moved his daughter."
Ariara nodded nervously. "Great."
-
Lindsey/Ryan's Office
Alaric ran into the office, moving behind the desk, opening the lid to a pottery piece to find the key to unlock the middle drawer, revealing the knife inside, grabbing it quickly.
-
Hallway
Alaric jogged back into the now empty hallway, the blade clutched tightly in his right fist. He slowly walked through the hall, hearing a snarling noise further in the building, following the sound toward the source, passing an adjacent hall when he sensed something, turning toward the entrance to a classroom, where the gargoyle was once again posed with both hands clutching his sword point down as if he was guarding it, his eyes closed. Alaric gulped anxiously as he stood face to face with him, staring at the creature for a long moment, and when he didn't open his eyes, he attempted to stab the gargoyle with the knife. The gargoyle could sense his attack, grabbing Alaric by the arm before the blade could get near him, roaring furiously in his face. The camera zoomed in on the gargoyle's fanged mouth as it shrieked at him.
-~-
Town Square
Hope, Josie, Emma and Madison were loading the bags of garbage they had picked up into a pile when Josie suddenly grabbed her stomach, doubling over with a groan.
Madison looked at her adoptive step cousin in concern. "Josie? Everything okay?"
The pain passed, and Madison helped Josie stand upright.
Josie noticed something behind the other girls. "Yeah. I'm fine, Madison. I just think that that's making me a little nauseous."
Josie pointed at the tree behind them, where MG and Dana were currently making out with each other. Hope, Emma and Madison followed Josie's gaze, looking disgusted.
Hope chuckled. "Huh."
Emma rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Didn't see that coming."
"It's simple math," Madison told them. "MG has the hormones of a teenager and the impulse control of a preschooler." The girls laughed. "He also always goes for the wrong kinds of girls."
Hope turned to give Madison an amused look, raising an eyebrow. "Given my last crush, I can't judge."
Hope, Emma, Madison and Josie walked down the sidewalk.
"Well, my last crush was the Dark Lord," Josie told them. "That is, I guess, unless you count..."
Josie crossed her arms over her chest.
Madison looked at her curiously. "Who?"
Josie, looking glum, shook her head to minimize it. "Never mind. It really doesn't matter anymore. Lizzie has dibs."
"Dibs?" Emma repeated, realizing who Josie was talking about. "On Rafael?"
Madison tilted her head at Josie. "Lizzie always calls dibs. When is it gonna be your turn?"
Josie shrugged dismissively. "It just is what it is."
"Right, well, that doesn't really make it right," Hope told her.
Josie stopped, clearly shocked that they would defend her in that way.
Emma sighed, realizing that Josie was being open with them, deciding to return the favor. "My parents, Kaylin, Nikki, Aunt Tory and Uncle Luke know I used black magic. That's why I'm in trouble." Josie's eyes widened in shock and alarm. "Don't worry, I didn't tell them that you helped me with a spell."
Madison looked at Josie in surprise, giving her a look. "You helped Emma with a black magic spell?"
Josie smiled nervously in shame. "Thanks for telling Madison, though, Emma. But thank you for protecting me."
Emma sighed. "But we found out why the spells kept popping into my head. Like visions kept popping up into Danny's. Rosalita's been feeding me black magic spells wishing that it would get me addicted to hurt me and my parents since black magic addiction runs in the family."
Madison, Hope and Josie looked at Emma in surprise, concern.
"Emma, I'm so sorry," Hope told her. "Why didn't you, Lindsey, Ryan and Danny say anything?" Shrugging, Emma didn't want to talk about it anymore, which they took the hint from to change the subject. Hope looked at Josie. "Landon, Owen and Rafael took off together. Landon and Owen told us we didn't know why Owen stole the knife, why they ran or why they lied, and Rae could read their thoughts, and she knew that they were telling the truth. The memory of the knife being taken wasn't even in their heads. So we don't know how that's possible or what to believe. Then Owen wrote Madison a letter, and Landon wrote me one."
Josie nodded in understanding before making another confession of her own. "Lizzie's... sensitive. Our stepmother is going on all these really long recruitment missions recently with Aunt Eliza. That's why she's extra testy. She just really misses them. I mean, we miss Liv, Cristian and their kids too, and Stefan, Alex, Damon and Elena, but at least they're in town. We miss our stepmother and Aunt Eliza."
Hope smiled sadly, remembering how much she missed her own mother and her stepfather. "I know the feeling."
Madison thought to how she missed her birth parents and her adoptive mother Eliza. "Yeah. Me too."
They started to walk again.
"Aunt Eliza's around whenever she can be, Madison," Josie told her. "And I know you miss your real parents, but at least you have adoptive parents now." Madison nodded in agreement. Josie looked at Hope. "And I remember how your mom and your stepfather Riley used to come by the school. We all used to say how beautiful she was and how handsome he was."
"They were," Hope agreed.
Josie smiled sadly, guilty. "We really should have sent you flowers or something."
Madison, still feeling emotional., couldn't help but laugh. "You did, to me, Hope, Rae, Emma and Danny after everything that happened in New Orleans before we came back here and Ariara was found by Kacie and Mikayla. Your dad signed your names. It was obvious."
Josie considered this. "Okay, we definitely deserve a little bit of poking."
The girls laughed.
Emma looked around. "Rae and Danny are still MIA." She looked pensive. "I wonder where Rafael, Owen and Landon are right now."
Madison smirked knowingly. "Mm, why is that, Emma? Is it because you might have a little hate/interest thing with Rafael."
"What the hell are you talking about, Madison?" Emma asked.
"You looked jealous when Josie mentioned Lizzie having dibs on Rafael, and we've seen the way that you bickered with him," Madison told her. "You can't deny it this time."
Emma scoffed. "I can deny it every time. I don't like Rafael."
"Just because you deny it doesn't mean that we buy it," Madison teased.
Hope, Madison and Josie laughed, while Emma rolled her eyes.
Hope got an idea, turning to face them. "There's this spell that my aunt Freya taught me. It's kind of like a full-immersion video chat."
"Yeah, Mom and Aunt Tory showed me and Danny the same spell," Emma agreed. "But don't we need something of Owen or Landon or Rafael's?"
Madison reached into her pocket, pulling out the folded piece of paper on which Owen wrote his goodbye note. "We do."
Josie looked at Madison in surprise. "Is that the letter Owen left you?"
Madison nodded.
"You can't tell anyone," Hope told them. "They don't teach this at school." She looked at Josie. "I mean, Tory, Lindsey, Kaylin, Aunt Nikki, Luke and Ryan might be okay with it since we learned this spell from Lindsey, Tory and my Aunt Freya, but your dad might not be okay with you doing it."
Josie smiled. "This is the kind of secret I can get behind."
Emma, Hope and Madison smiled.
-
Street
(Song:) Play With Fire - Sam Tinnez feat. Yacht Money
Danny was walking back to Town Square. Rae was walking further behind, giving Danny space, but knowing they had to go back the same route to go to the town square before they got caught ditching.
Danny stopped walking for a moment, looking back at Rae. "You can walk with me, you know."
Rae sighed, catching up with Danny. "I didn't know if you wanted me to walk with you after earlier."
"I'm just trying to get you to see reason, Rae," Danny told her. "To let someone in, someone close so that we can help you better than we have been. I mean, I'm still having issues with visions and bursts of anger or lost of control, but I know how to let people close enough so that they can help me so that it doesn't completely overtake my life."
Rae sighed in agreement. "Look, Danny, after having to lock Rosalita inside me for so long, she was so deep in my head, that she made me think that I would lose everything. Everyone. She made me think that I would lose everything in my life. Mom, Aunt Nikki, Hope, Emma, Madison, Ariara. Tory, Luke, Lyla, Lindsey, Ryan. Aunt Kacie, Aunt Mikayla, Klaus, Uncles Stefan, Damon, Cristian, Elijah and Kol, Lucien, Aunts Alex, Elena, Liv, Eliza, Kassandra, Rebekah and Freya. Marcel, Noah, Caitlin and Auria. The same way we lost Hayley and Riley and so many more. And I couldn't lose my family. Not the Salvatores, Mikaelsons, Hunters, Forbes-Fell, Davis-Thompsons, Dumaine, Harris, Gerard, Rayvnne, Labonair-Lockwood, Castle, Nata. Not like we lost the Greys. But she was trying to make me lose everything. My faith, my dreams, my dignity. Everything went out the window when she came in."
Danny turned to face her, knowing that Rae was really overwhelmed and knowing that she could lose control if he didn't get through to her, trying to reassure her. "Rosalita may have been breaking you down until you felt like nothing, but you have got to understand that you are not nothing. You're strong enough to get through every day even with the Queen of Hell in your head. It doesn't matter, though, because with a little help, you can realize that Rosalita is below you, me, our families, our friends, everything in between. To fall down so low into doing the things that Rosalita was doing to everyone, that is the lowest someone can drop. And you are so far above that. Above her."
Even though Danny's words were making Rosalita angrier, making her fight harder, he was encouraging Rae so much she was becoming more determined, more sure of herself and her ability to keep Rosalita locked away and that she could still live her life. Her eyes were glowing with Hellfire, but she could control any outbursts that may have come, even when her veins started to glow with Hellfire as well. She backed away from Danny just in case, breathing heavily with the effort that it took to fight her and keep her locked away, raising her head to look at the sky, releasing Hellfire to shoot into the sky to release most of the darkness she needed to to keep Rosa weakened, literally shining with fire light. Danny watched her in awe, though he was very worried about whether or not if she was in pain or if it could do more harm than just hurt her. After a long moment, Rae could finally release enough of the darkness to get Rosalita under control, looking at Danny, her eyes and veins still glowing with Hellfire, though the glow was slowly fading.
Rae managed a small smile before she nearly fell from exhaustion. "I think we just proved your point, Danny."
Danny instantly walked forward to catch Rae in his arms. "It's okay. I got you, I got you. Let's get you back there."
Rae nodded weakly, breathing heavily. "Yeah. Before someone realizes that that was me and people start asking questions we can't answer."
Danny chuckled. "Yeah."
Rae, very emotional, holding onto him just as much as he was holding her to make sure she didn't collapse, had tears in her eyes, whispering. "Thank you."
Danny nodded, just as emotional, but relieved that he could help her like this. "Let's get back before my dad realizes we're gone."
Rae chuckled exhaustedly. "Yeah."
(Song Ends)
-
Woods off Route 29
Owen, Landon and Rafael were back in their original hiding place. Landon was grinning as he was counting their money. Owen sat nearby on a log.
Rafael was laying on a fallen tree trunk next to them, eating a burger, looking content, laughing with a mouthful of food. "Well, this is more like it."
Owen smirked. "Get used to it." Owen, Landon and Rafael fist bumped happily. Landon returned to counting the cash while eating a burger of his own. Owen started to eat his own burger. The smile on Landon's face fell as soon as he saw a $5 bill in the stack that has a message scrawled in bright red ink: RUN, WOLF, OR DIE. Alarmed, Landon began to look around to see if anyone had followed them into the woods. Owen, now eating curly fries, noticed Landon's worried look, frowning. "Oh, everything cool?"
Not wanting to worry his brothers, Landon immediately put on a fake smile, shuffling the cash in his hands. "Yeah, it's all good." He was suddenly distracted by the sight of Hope, standing in what was an astral projection several yards away, partially hidden by the trees, his eyes widening, totally stunned and confused. "Hope?"
Landon stood.
Owen turned to follow his gaze, but instead of seeing Hope, he saw Madison, stunned and confused, standing. "Madison?"
Rafael followed their gaze, seeing Emma in the place of Hope and Madison. "Emma?"
Emma, Hope and Madison disappeared.
Landon folded up the cash, putting it into his inner jacket pocket, now sure that something or someone was after them, beginning gathering their things. "We should get out of here."
-
Town Square
Hope, Emma and Josie were hidden behind a tree in the square, holding hands as part of the spell, and holding Madison's hand since she was part of the spell but without casting it. Their hands were glowing with Owen's letter pinned between them. After a moment, Josie once again doubled over, clutching her stomach.
Madison looked at her in concern. "What's wrong?"
Josie gasped for breath. "This is twin pain. Something's wrong. I think Lizzie's in trouble."
-
Salvatore Boarding School - Outside
The gargoyle, who managed to steal the knife from Alaric, was stomping toward the front gate, but just as he was about to cross the threshold of the school's property, he was repelled by a huge barrier of bluish purple energy. He growled under his breath, looking around for a chink in the proverbial armor, only to find the barrier was covering the entire campus. He flashed back to when Lizzie and Lyla had cast the barrier spell, realizing that they were preventing him from leaving, roaring in frustration.
-~-
Town Square
Danny and Rae were sitting with Ryan.
"I saw the Rosalita Hellfire episode, Rae, so I know why Danny took you away from here so nobody else did," Ryan told her.
Rae and Danny nodded, acting like they hadn't already been gone so they wouldn't get caught, exchanging a smirk. "Yeah."
Hope, Emma, Madison and Josie were standing with them.
Ryan looked between the group of kids. "But I'm sorry, guys. I can't let you leave."
"No, we need to go home to see Lizzie," Madison told him.
Ryan sighed, attempting to reassure them that it was being handled. "Alaric is with Lizzie, and I'm supposed to keep you here."
Danny scoffed. "What? Why?"
Rae looked at Ryan's research. "And why are you researching that?"
Ryan closed his book before they could get a better look, sighing as they all looked at him expectantly. "Guys. It's okay."
"What is okay, Dad?" Emma asked. "What is going on?"
"Kaylin, Nicola, Lindsey, Tory, Luke, Ariara, Mikayla and Kacie are handling it," Ryan told them.
"Mikayla and Kacie?" Josie repeated. "They're back? And Ariara's helping them?"
"What exactly are they handling?" Hope asked.
Ryan sighed. "Guys."
"Ryan," Rae replied. "Don't make me read your mind and us ditch you here."
Ryan looked between the teens, who all smirked like they knew they had him.
-
Elsewhere
MG and Dana continued to kiss nearby a tree. Dana pulled away, giggling.
MG was having difficulty believing what was happening, looking at her as if he won the lottery. "This is tight. You're hot. Like, mad hot."
Dana, pleased, smirked. "Hotter than Lizzie?"
MG frowned. "Uh..." He considered for a moment, becoming suspicious of her motives, leading him to gently move her so until they were switching positions before compelling her for answers. "Uh, tell me the truth. Are you actually feeling me?"
"You're a good guy," Dana admitted. "Pretty cute, great hair. But I'm secretly in love with my best friend Sasha's boyfriend, Connor."
"Well, why are we doing this, then?" MG asked.
Dana shrugged as if the answer should be obvious. "To make Connor jealous. Which, let's be honest, is totally what you're doing with Lizzie Saltzman."
MG groaned in frustration, muttering to himself, pacing around. "So rather than make out with you, like any other guy would, I had to ask the honorable yet supremely stupid question. And now, if I keep going, I'm taking advantage of you, and my mama didn't raise me like that." He sighed deeply, compelling Dana. "Forget we made out." He thought for a moment, getting an idea. "But also remember I'm a really cool dude with super dope football skills, and I rush it all day, every day." He smiled. "Go."
Dana walked away. MG watched her go with a sad expression.
-
Woods off Route 29
Landon, still spooked from the note he saw in the cash they won and from seeing Hope and Madison in the woods, was frantically packing up his belongings. Rafael and Owen were still finishing their food, were both confused and exasperated by his behavior.
Landon saw that they weren't getting ready to leave, anxiously urging them to follow. "Raf, Owen, come on. Let's go."
Rafael chuckled. "Why? Yo, this is a perfectly good spot, bro."
"We should keep moving," Landon told them, putting on his backpack, starting to walk away.
Owen realized that Landon was hiding something, running after him. "Mm, nope." He grabbed Landon by the arm, turning him to face them. "No. No, we're not going anywhere until you tell us what's up."
Landon hesitated for a moment, anxiously looking around to see if anyone had found them yet, seemingly sensing nothing around them, turning back to Owen, Rafael, taking a deep breath to explain himself. Before he could say anything, he was hit in the neck with a tranquilizer dart. Landon made a choking sound just before his eyes rolled back into his head as he collapsed to the ground.
Rafael and Owen panicked, trying to wake him. "Lan. Lan!"
Owen was shot in the neck as well, falling to the ground, unconscious.
"Owen?" Rafael asked. "Owen!"
Rafael looked around to try to find the shooter, only to be shot in the neck as well, passing out.
-
Salvatore Boarding School - Foyer
The gargoyle had reentered the school, stomping through the entrance hall, leaving gashes in the wooden halls with its claws as it glided them over it. He seemed to be using enhanced senses to find what it was looking for, shrieking loudly enough to be heard by Lindsey and the kids in the nearby room.
-
Grand Hall
Lindsey looked up toward the source of the sound with a concerned look, whispering to the kids, putting a finger to her lips. "It's in the hallway." The gargoyle continued to march toward them with the knife clutched in his left hand. Lindsey briefly checked on Lizzie, who was laid on a table, before walking toward the door, whispering her instructions to the kids. "Everyone, stay very quiet."
"Aunt Lindsey..." Lyla trailed off.
Lindsey whispered reassuringly. "It's okay, Lyla." Lizzie started to whimper in fear. Lyla took Lizzie's hand reassuringly. Lindsey stood with her feet apart and her arms outstretched, casting a spell. "Nullum visilaris."
Lindsey moved her arms in a circular motion, and once the spell had been cast, she walked over to the window to see what the gargoyle was doing. She was startled when the creature suddenly appeared in front of the window right across from her, snarling menacingly, but when the camera turned to get the gargoyle's perspective, it was revealed that Lindsey had cast a cloaking spell, essentially making herself and all of the students invisible. Lindsey glared at the gargoyle, knowing that it couldn't see her or the kids, but still nervous and protective of them. The gargoyle, thinking the classroom was empty, moved onto the next one. Lindsey let out a shaky breath of relief.
-
Woods Off Route 29
Owen and Landon were tied to trees. A grunting noise was heard nearby, which made them wake up. They looked toward the grunting noise, realizing that it was Rafael, who was chained to a tree and trying to break free. "Raf?"
"Lan?" Rafael asked. "Owen? You okay?"
"I don't think any of us are," Landon answered.
Rafael jerked his head to the right. "Better off than him."
Landon and Owen followed his gaze to find the man in the fedora who had bet them one hundred dollars earlier, who was slumped to the ground, leaning against a tree, with an arrow buried in his chest, clearly dead. After a moment, they were all startled by the sound of footsteps approaching them from the other direction, turning to see another person who's identity was concealed by a hooded sweatshirt. Rafael once again returned to trying to break through the chains as Owen and Landon watched anxiously.
A familiar male voice called out to them. "Relax, all of you." He pulled down his hood, revealing that it was Jeremy Gilbert. "I am not here to hurt you."
Owen, Landon and Rafael looked at him suspiciously.
"Who are you?" Owen asked.
Jeremy held up a pair of bolt cutters, smirking. "Your new best friend."
Owen, Landon and Rafael shared a worried look, as Jeremy looked between the three.
-
Town Square - Bus
MG had just gotten onto the bus, stopping in his tracks when he saw Dana seemingly hooking up with someone else, though his identity was not immediately noticeable due to his back being turned to MG, unable to help but laugh darkly in exasperation. "Unbelievable. I told you to go, not make out with some other dude." The guy turned around, revealing himself to be Kaleb, with drops of blood falling down his chin, making it obvious that he wasn't kissing her neck, but feeding on her. MG's jaw dropped, his expression a mix of jealousy and being appalled. "Kaleb? What are you doing?"
Kaleb was a little annoyed to be interrupted, wiping the blood from his lips on his shirt sleeve. "What's it look like? Eating." MG frowned worriedly. Kaleb, suddenly afraid that MG was going to tell on him, tried to smooth things over, chuckling nervously, changing his tone to more kind. "Oh, my bad. Where's my manners?"
Kaleb moved so that Dana was pushed toward MG as an offering, and Dana, who was sitting quietly and blank faced next to him, had seemingly been compelled to remain quiet.
MG was tempted by the blood dripping down her neck from Kaleb's fang marks, but his control over his appetite led him to protest. "We're not supposed to."
Kaleb was frustrated by MG's constant rule following, retorting in a snarky voice. "Supposed to what? Supposed to be following Lizzie around like she zapped our asses with some level ten sad puppy spell, right?" He gestured toward Dana in offering. "Come on, do your thing."
MG clenched his jaw and stood his ground, unamused. "I said I'm good."
Kaleb turned to Dana, compelling her. "That's a nasty hickey you got. Go home, find a scarf, and forget all about today."
Dana stood, walking by MG cheerfully. "Laters, cutie."
Dana left the bus.
Kaleb was concerned about being outed for his rule breaking, sighing, walking over to MG. "Look, we homies, right? And I ain't hurting anybody. So, secret's ours?"
Kaleb held out his hand.
MG did not like what was happening but also did not want to make waves with his friend, hesitating before nodding in agreement, albeit reluctantly. "Uh, yeah, man." He shook Kaleb's hand. "Yeah, sure."
Kaleb and MG fist bumped.
Kaleb smiled in relief, walking past MG to get off the bus. "Vamps before tramps."
MG, now alone on the bus, bit his lip anxiously.
-
Night - Salvatore Boarding School - Foyer
Ryan, Hope, Rae, Emma, Danny, Madison and Josie arrived back to the school, walking in through the front door, unnerved by how empty the ground floor was.
"Lizzie?" Josie and Madison called.
Ryan put his finger to his lips to shush them. "Shh. We don't know if this thing is close by or not."
Hope nodded. "We'll check the library."
The teens went to check the library.
-
Hallway
Ryan was walking along, running into Ariara, Kaylin, Nicola, Tory, Luke, Kacie and Mikayla.
"What are you doing here?" Ariara asked.
Ryan, startled as he wasn't expecting them to pop on him like that, turned to face them. "Oh, my God. Don't do that when there's a monster nearby."
"You were supposed to keep Rae, Hope, Emma, Danny, Madison and Josie away," Kaylin told him. "What the hell, Ryan?"
"I tried, Kaylin, okay?" Ryan asked. "Rae played the mind reading card and they were all gonna come here, and you knew that I wasn't gonna be able to stop them."
The others knew that he was right, sighing.
Alaric walked closer.
"There you are," Nicola told him.
Ryan handed a book to Alaric. "Killing Gargoyles 101. Maybe you can translate it."
Alaric groaned when he realized that the book wasn't in English, opening to the front page. "Gaulish. Son of a--"
Alaric glanced at Ariara, not wanting to curse in front of a student, stopping himself, studying the book for a long moment.
Luke impatiently tried to redirect him to the task at hand. "So, are we on our own, or did the Gauls provide clear instructions?"
Alaric took a deep breath, closing the book. "In a nutshell, it says 'Hit hard. Repeat as needed'."
Tory nodded in agreement. "Okay, that. That we can do."
"That we've all been doing for decades now," Mikayla agreed.
They were all startled when they heard the stomping footsteps and shriek of the gargoyle.
Ariara looked at them with wide eyes. "Is that..."
The thumping steps of the gargoyle caused the overhead lights in the hallway to swing around.
"Yeah," Kacie answered. "Listen, it tried to attack Lyla, poisoned Lizzie, I'm guessing to get our attention."
"Then it attacked me and took the knife," Alaric told them.
The others looked at Alaric in surprise.
"The knife?" Nicola asked. "The dragon knife? And you're still breathing?"
"Oh, I have a theory about that," Alaric told them.
Kaylin gave Alaric an exasperated and sarcastic look. "And you're just telling us this now?" She nodded sarcastically. "Way to go, Ric."
"And save your theory, because we had to take down that containment spell to get inside the school, meaning our monster can get out," Ryan told them.
Mikayla walked over to the corner where a large steel ax was mounted on the wall. "All right. Well, then I guess we better find it." She wrenched the ax off the wall before returning to the others. "Before it makes the evening news. Let's kill this son of a bitch."
Kacie smirked, proud. "That's my wife."
Ariara smiled. "Yeah."
Tory looked at Ryan curiously. "So, how'd you take the containment spell down?"
Hope, Rae, Emma, Danny, Madison and Josie walked in.
"Ryan didn't," Madison answered. "Josie siphoned it."
Josie gave Alaric a look. "And I have questions."
The other adults sighed. "Great."
-
Woods off Route 29
Jeremy had just freed Owen and Landon from their restraints, in the process of cutting the chains binding Rafael as well.
Owen rubbed his sore arms, looking over at the dead hunter sitting a few feet away. "Who is that?"
"A werewolf hunter," Jeremy answered.
Rafael looked at Jeremy in disbelief. "Is that really a thing?"
Jeremy rolled his eyes at their naivete. "You're new to this. You probably think that being supernatural gives you the upper hand. It doesn't. This world is a scary place for someone like you, especially when you're dumb enough to use your powers in public."
"So what, you go around saving new werewolves, or what?" Landon asked.
"The name's Jeremy," Jeremy explained. "I've known Kaylin, Nicola, Lindsey, Ryan, Tory, Luke and Alaric since I was a kid, and Eliza, and now I work with them sometimes. Eliza, my ex-girlfriend, told me to track you and make sure that you stay out of trouble, which, apparently, you suck at."
"Eliza, as in Madison's adoptive mom?" Owen asked. "Eliza's your ex?"
"Yeah," Jeremy answered. "Long story." He turned to Rafael. "And that note? That was supposed to scare you to safety."
Jeremy tapped his index and middle fingers to his temple to emphasize his point, but Owen and Rafael frowned in confusion, not knowing what he was talking about.
"Note?" Rafael asked.
Landon sighed when he realized that he was busted, and Owen, Rafael and Jeremy watched as he reached into his inner jacket pocket to pull out the five dollar bill with the warning written on it, handing it to Owen and Rafael so they could read it.
Jeremy, sensing the tension between the brothers, decided to awkwardly excuse himself to give them some privacy. "I'm gonna go grab the shovels. Once we bury the body, I'll bring you all to school."
Jeremy walked away. Rafael and Owen were shocked that Landon didn't tell them about the note.
Rafael looked at Landon angrily. "What happened to no more lies?"
Landon looked down, then up sheepishly. "You gave up a lot, coming out here with me and Owen, Rafael. We were having fun today, the kind of fun you haven't let yourself have since Cassie died. When I saw the note and knew it was all gonna go to hell... I just..." He sighed, unable to put it into words better than that. "I just froze. I--I'm sorry, Rafael. I'm sorry."
Owen looked at Rafael, sighing heavily. "You should go with him. Honestly, you're probably better off without us anyway."
Rafael was clearly conflicted, unable to look them in the eyes. Landon anxiously walked past Rafael and Owen, clapping them both on the shoulder affectionately. Owen patted Rafael on the shoulder, starting to go with Landon.
Rafael processed everything for a long moment. "I never thanked you two for that. After Cassie, you were both there, like, all in. It might not have seemed like I appreciated it." He clenched his jaw, his eyes and voice indicating that he was holding back tears. "I did. So let's do what we gotta do here, then let's go back to school."
Landon gave them a tired look. "They don't want me and Owen there."
(Song:) Break the Barrier - Miss Li
Rafael's tone of voice made it clear that he wouldn't take no for an answer. "I'm not going without you two. All in."
Owen slowly nodded, managing a small smile. "All in."
Landon nodded in agreement. "All in."
Owen, Landon and Rafael reached out, clasping hands before hugging each other tightly. Rafael clapped them both on the backs.
-
Salvatore Boarding School - Hallway
Kaylin, Nicola, Tory, Luke, Ryan, Kacie and Mikayla walked with purpose down the main hallway in search of the gargoyle. Behind them, Rae, Hope, Madison, Josie, Ariara, Emma and Danny followed, just as determined. Alaric followed behind them more slowly, holding a weapon. Mikayla was still holding the ax.
-
Grand Hall
Lindsey was still with Lyla, Lizzie and the lower school students.
They heard Ryan call from the hallway. "Lindsey? Lindsey?"
They heard Tory and Luke. "Lyla?"
Lyla looked at Lindsey. "Mom, Dad and Uncle Ryan."
The group walked into the room.
Lindsey put a finger to her lips. "Shh."
The loud stomping noise started to pick up again behind the teens, who immediately sensed the creature and turned to face it as it growled at them and spread its wings. The adults turned around upon hearing the creature. Lindsey quickly closed the sliding doors once again to protect the younger students, standing out in the main room with the others, but Lyla managed to sneak out with Lindsey.
The gargoyle spread its wings, screeching, leaping into the air, using its wings to glide over the staircase and down to the floor directly facing the group, trying to slash at Luke with the knife. Luke ducked, using hybrid speed to punch and kick and chip away at the gargoyle repeatedly. Mikayla slashed at the gargoyle with the ax repeatedly, able to injure it but not defeat it. Kacie picked up the weapon that Alaric was holding to throw it into the gargoyle, sending it flying back into the wall, but otherwise did no harm. The gargoyle roared at the three hybrids so loudly with such intensity that waves of energy threw them to the ground.
Kaylin picked up Mikayla's ax, while Nicola drew her sword, both spinning around the gargoyle to slash into it repeatedly, though once again couldn't kill it, as it used its wings to send them stumbling back, about to attack the teens next.
Alaric ran in front of the kids to protect them. "No!"
Horrified, Josie screamed out to stop her dad from putting himself in danger. "Dad!"
Alaric shoved himself between the gargoyle and the teens, gasping as the creature attempted to stab him in the heart with the knife. The gargoyle suddenly stopped when the knife was just inches away from stabbing Alaric in the chest. Shocked to be spared, Alaric gasped for breath, and the gargoyle looked confused as its red eyes widened in surprise. The two stared at each other for a long moment as the gargoyle processed this situation.
Ariara appeared behind the gargoyle with Mikayla's ax, swinging it at the gargoyle, breaking off a large piece of its left wing. The gargoyle turned to face Ariara, raising the knife in preparation to stab her. Madison walked closer, letting her eyes glow silver as she sent a waving Banshee scream toward the gargoyle, causing Lyla, Lindsey, Kaylin, Nicola, Tory, Luke, Ryan, Kacie, Mikayla, Rae, Hope, Josie, Ariara, Emma and Danny pain and hold their heads, including the gargoyle, as her scream waves sent the gargoyle flying through the air and hitting the floor. The gargoyle stood. Rae raised her arm, eyes glowing with Hellfire, to shoot Hellfire right at the gargoyle, burning it deeply and making it roar in pain, but not destroying it.
Tory spread her arms, casting a spell. "Fluctus impulsa!" The knife flew out of the gargoyle's hands, landing behind it near the staircase. Tory looked at Lindsey, Lyla, Hope, Emma, Danny and Josie. "Help me."
"How?" Danny asked.
"Just repeat after us," Lindsey answered.
Emma and Danny ran to stand on either side of Lindsey, holding her hands. Hope stood on the other side of Emma, taking Tory's hand on the other side of her, who then used her free hand to take Lyla's hand. Lyla reached out with her other hand to take Josie's. Josie siphoned from Lyla, and Lyla siphoned from Tory to help Josie siphon more from her power, causing Josie, Lyla and Tory's hands to glow red from the siphoning. Josie and Danny, on either side of the group, spread out their free aims to aim the spell at the gargoyle.
Josie, Lyla, Tory, Hope, Emma, Lindsey and Danny chanted together. "Fluctus impulsa. Fluctus impulsa. Fluctus impulsa." The spell seemed to momentarily immobilize the gargoyle, who spread its own arms and stared at the ceiling. When the creature managed to break free just enough to take a single step toward them, the girls and Danny focused their energy even more into the spell. "Fluctus impulsa. Fluctus impulsa. Fluctus impulsa!"
As Kaylin, Nicola, Luke, Ryan, Kacie, Mikayla, Rae, Madison, Ariara and Alaric watched in shock, their spell caused the gargoyle to explode into a shower of small broken pieces of stone, which now were littering the floor, tables, and chairs in the room. They were all relieved and shocked, except for Josie, who was furious at Alaric.
(Song Ends)
Mikayla looked at the kids with pride. "Nice job."
Ariara and Kacie smiled. "Yeah."
Kaylin walked over to Rae. "I heard about Rosalita episode. Are you okay?"
Rae nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay, Mom."
Nicola smiled sympathetically. "Good."
Kaylin, Nicola and Hope embraced Rae.
Now that the danger had passed, Josie wasted no time turning around, scolding Alaric. "How could you jump in front of us like that? You could have died, Dad!"
Alaric tried to reassure her. "Honey, I knew it wouldn't kill me because my research said so."
Josie stormed away with tears in her eyes. Alaric looked over at the others, who had nothing to say.
-~-
Lindsey/Ryan's Office
Alaric, Kaylin, Nicola, Lindsey, Tory, Luke, Ryan, Kacie and Mikayla were talking.
"How's Lizzie?" Kaylin asked.
"Recovering quickly, thanks to her sister," Nicola answered.
Kacie looked at Alaric. "So, how did you know the gargoyle wouldn't kill you?"
"Gargoyles are protectors," Alaric answered, picking up one of the books he had been studying earlier, walking across the office to put it back on the shelf. "And folklore tells a tale of a gargoyle who once protected a small settlement in France whose villagers revered a powerful relic. A knife."
Mikayla raised her eyebrows in shock. "Our knife?"
Alaric nodded. "As the story goes, the gargoyle loved the humans he protected so much, he vowed never to harm humanity. Instead, he chose to fight evil on their behalf."
Lindsey smiled ruefully. "Me being the evil one in this scenario. Kaylin, Nicola, Tory, Luke, Ryan, Kacie, Mikayla, Rae, Hope, Emma, Danny, Madison, Lyla, Ariara, Josie, Lizzie..."
"In its mind, yes," Alaric answered.
"That's great," Luke told them sarcastically, turning away. "Just great."
Ryan looked at Alaric. "So you realized when it didn't hurt you before."
"It saw you as the one who needed protection," Nicola agreed.
Kaylin sat down, rolling her eyes. "Another creature/thing that thinks just because you're a supernatural because you're an evil son of a bitch. Granted, most supernaturals are, but come on."
Tory looked at Alaric. "And I'm not sure knowing that will make your daughters feel any better."
Alaric knew that she was right, sighing. "I should get back to Lizzie and Josie."
"Tory and I gotta get back to Lyla," Luke agreed.
Kacie smiled. "You can tell that Tory and Luke are just so oh proud of Little Lyla. She helped Lizzie put up a barrier spell to keep the gargoyle here before she helped Tory, Lindsey, Hope, Emma, Danny and Josie destroy it completely."
"Yeah," Mikayla agreed. "I think we can all be proud of Little Lyla today."
They all nodded in agreement.
"I should get back to Rae and Hope," Kaylin added. "Rae's having more Rosalita episodes, but at least she let Danny help her today, so it should be easier now."
"Ryan and I gotta get back to Emma and Danny," Lindsey agreed.
"Yeah, Mikayla and I got to keep up with Ariara, making sure that this new treatment is gonna work," Kacie told them.
"Do you think that it is working?" Nicola asked. "For Ariara, I mean?"
"Seemed to be working today, yeah," Mikayla answered. "But it's gonna take more than one day for me and Kacie to help Ariara get back in touch with her other form."
The parents started to leave the room.
Ryan spoke out to stop them. "Wait." They stopped. "One more thing. We're always telling the kids that they need to work together. To put their feelings aside for the school, for the community. And Ric, I know that you don't think we should tell the kids yet, but we need to take our own advice. Because if we want the kids to get along, for them to be happy, for the school to be safe... these secrets are gonna tear us all apart."
They all knew that he was right.
-
Out of Country
Hotel
Eliza Forbes-Mikaelson was out of the country. Right then, she was on the phone. "So you found Owen, Landon and Rafael, huh?"
Eliza stood up from her hotel room bed, walking toward the vanity mirror, checking her reflection, tilting her head.
On the other line, Jeremy was driving the three brothers back to the school. "Yep. It was pretty easy to find them. Owen and Landon had Rafael exposing his werewolf stunts in public."
"Uh, to be fair, that was Landon's idea, not mine," Owen told him. "I didn't want Rafael to do that."
"Thanks, Owen," Landon told him sarcastically.
Rafael chuckled.
Jeremy sighed, speaking to Eliza. "So, yeah, taking them back to school right now. Just gotta make sure that Nicola, Lindsey, Tory, Luke, Ryan, Kacie, Mikayla and Ariara can make sure that Kaylin, Rae, Hope, Emma, Danny, Madison and Lyla don't lose their tempers with Owen and Landon after what they did."
Eliza smirked, tilting her head, shrugging. "Right. Well, they're not the only ones that would lose their temper after what Owen and Landon did. I had to talk Klaus and Kol out of going back there just because Owen hurt Madison and Landon hurt Hope." Jeremy smirked. "So tell Owen and Landon that if they ever hurt Madison and Hope again, that they'll have me, Kaylin, Klaus and Kol to deal with. Elijah was even a little irritated since he was with Nicola, Kassandra and Kaylin when they met Owen and he was idolizing Nicola and saved her from that dark place when he talked to them, so Elijah knowing that Nicola would take it kinda hard when Owen did what he did... yeah, tell them that too."
"Yeah, I'll tell them," Jeremy agreed. "What about you?"
"Oh, just on missions to help Caroline find cures to the merge to save Lizzie and Josie before they have to merge, and to try and cure Kassandra of madness, cure Nicola of the Huntress, cure Rae of having to hold Rosalita inside of her, was helping Mikayla and Kacie look for cures on how to help Ariara get control of her animal form again, and make sure that she wouldn't go completely manic because of everything she went through," Eliza answered. "Been very busy with Klaus, Elijah and Kol. Lucien even helps out some because of Kassandra."
"Yeah, I bet," Jeremy agreed. "Everybody misses you, Eliza."
"Yeah," Eliza agreed. "Well, tell Kaylin, Lindsey, Tory, Luke, Ryan, Kacie and Mikayla to keep an eye on Rae, Nicola, Ariara, Lizzie, Josie and Madison for me, and tell Rae, Hope, Emma, Danny, Madison, Ariara and Lyla that I love them. Tell them the same messages come from Caroline, Rebekah, Freya, Klaus, Kol, Elijah and Kassandra. And Marcel, Noah, Caitlin and Auria."
"Absolutely," Jeremy assured. "You're a lot different than you were before, Eliza, but you're still you. Great friend, sister, now great wife, aunt and adoptive mother too. Missed you."
Eliza chuckled. "Missed you too, Jeremy. Glad that we could still be friends after all this time."
Jeremy smiled. "Me too. All right, we're here. I'll deliver your messages. Bye, Eliza."
Eliza smiled. "Bye, Jer."
Jeremy and Eliza hung up.
Eliza looked at her reflection, tilting her head, chuckling, turning around, eyes sweeping around the room.
-
Ending Montage
(Song:) Who Are You? - Raign
Salvatore Boarding School - Grand Hall
Lindsey and Ryan had gathered the whole school to debrief regarding the recent events involving the school, standing in the front of the room.
"If you'd ask us a week ago, we would have told you there's a difference between myth and fact," Lindsey told them. "We would have told you that supernaturals were limited to the species under this roof. We would have said that folklore and fairy tales were just stories."
Ryan sighed. "But we can no longer say that any of that is true. 'Cause just a few days ago, we were confronted by the existence of a dragon." The students all began to murmur quietly amongst themselves. "And then, today, our campus was terrorized by a gargoyle come to life."
"Some of us were forced to fight," Lindsey went on. "We won, this time. They were drawn here by a knife that went missing earlier this week."
"And for whatever reason, these creatures consider us to be the enemy," Ryan continued. "In their minds, we're the villains because we won't give them what they want. We don't even know why they want it, but we're gonna find out."
-
Office
Tory, Luke, Lyla, Kacie, Mikayla and Ariara were in the room. Tory had just wrapped the knife up in an off white handkerchief before handing it to Mikayla.
Mikayla looked at them with an exasperated and incredulous expression, but was more teasing. "You're really trying to kill me, huh?"
Luke smirked, teasing. "Oh, you know it."
Mikayla pushed him lightly. "Shut up, Luke."
Lyla laughed.
Tory smiled. "More like you're one of the only people we can trust."
Ariara stood, walking toward Mikayla. "Do you really have to go? Kacie's staying, but I wanted more time with you too, Mikayla."
"Don't worry, Ariara," Mikayla told her. "I won't be gone long."
"Okay?" Kacie asked. "Mikayla's gonna be back before you know it, Ariara."
Ariara nodded. "Okay."
Mikayla, Kacie and Ariara embraced. Tory and Luke looked at them in understanding and sympathy.
Lyla embraced Mikayla. "Bye, Aunt Mikayla. We'll miss you."
Mikayla chuckled. "I'll miss you guys, too. I'll be back soon, Lyla."
-
Grand Hall
Ryan and Lindsey continued their speech.
Lindsey sighed. "We can't say for sure what their true intentions are. We can't say there won't be more attacks. That's why we're telling you this, to warn you."
-
Common Room
Josie, Madison and a recovering Lizzie were cuddled up on a couch.
Ryan: (voice over) "To ask you to look out for each other."
MG approached Josie, Madison and Lizzie with a plateful of brownies and a sheepish expression. "Hey, I had the kitchen make these. Your favorite, brownies."
MG handed Lizzie the plate.
Lizzie took it, smiling gratefully. "Thanks, MG."
Ryan: (voice over) "To do what's best for one another."
Lizzie smiled at MG as he walked away, before she got an idea, turning to Madison. "Oh, and Madison... after the near death experience and us realizing that you do need to spend time with Lyla, Hope, Rae, Emma, Danny and Ariara, you have to realize that we want you to spend as much time with me and Josie."
Madison nodded. "Okay..."
Josie smiled. "Lizzie's asking if you can move into our dorm room with us, Madison, since you don't have a roommate in your dorm room. There's plenty of room in ours."
Madison smiled, nodding in agreement. "Okay."
Josie and Lizzie smiled, hugging Madison from either side, causing Madison to smile as well as she returned the embrace.
Ryan: (voice over) "Because we're more than just a school."
Rae was sitting with Kaylin, Nicola and Hope, talking with them happily now that she had more control over herself. She looked up, seeing Lindsey, Ryan, Emma and Danny talking across the room.
Ryan: (voice over) "We're a family."
Danny and Rae locked eyes for a moment, sharing a smile, exhausted by everything that happened, and definitely feeling closer to each other again, more drawn to each other.
Lindsey: (voice over) "And we will stand together."
-
Grand Hall
Lindsey finished the speech. "We will fight together. And we will win or lose this battle together, no matter what comes next."
-
Foyer
Hope, Rae, Emma, Danny, Madison and Ariara walked into the foyer, laughing together as friends/family. Hope, Emma and Madison stopped in their tracks when they saw Landon, Rafael and Owen hugging. Landon, Rafael and Owen seemed to feel them watching, looking down the hallway, locking eyes with Hope, Emma and Madison respectively, for a long intense moment. Rae, Danny and Ariara were clear of the tension, walking away to give them space. Hope, Emma and Madison watched as Lindsey and Ryan led Landon, Rafael and Owen into their office, exchanging a look, turning around, walking away.
(Song Ends)
-
Woods - Dana's Car
(Song:) Wolf Like Me - TV On the Radio
Dana was sitting in the driver's seat of her car, listening to the radio on the speakers, with her best friend Sasha, who was in the passenger seat. They were parked right outside the edge of the Salvatore School property and appeared to be waiting for someone.
"He said he'd be here soon," Sasha told her.
"'Soon' was an hour ago," Dana told her irritably, gesturing toward the school gate to emphasize her point. "The Salvatore School isn't going to deface itself. Call Connor and tell him to get his ass here with the spray paint."
Sasha scoffed. "And come off as needy? No, thanks."
Dana's response was both snarky with a hint of genuine meanness. "You are needy, Sasha. That's why our friendship works."
Sasha reluctantly pulled out her phone, frowning at the screen. "I don't have any service."
Dana checked her own phone to see if hers was any different, holding the screen up to Sasha as proof. "I'm on, like, two percent." Sasha got out of the car in favor of wandering around in an attempt to find cellphone service. Dana zoned out for a brief moment, only for the sound of Sasha screaming to rouse her back to attention, immediately turning the volume down on the music, rolling down her window, sticking her head out to call for her friend. "Sasha, what are you doing?" It was clear that Dana was scared, though she was doing her best to put on a brave face. "Sasha, if you and Connor are boning in the woods, I'm gonna kill you!"
Dana heard a rustling noise in the nearby trees, beginning to hyperventilate from fear. She quickly rolled up her window, trying to catch her breath for a moment as she looked around to see if she could see Sasha anywhere. She suddenly jerked in fear when something large fell onto the roof of her car with so much force that it made a huge dent in the ceiling. She quickly grabbed the steering wheel to her car as if she was about to speed away when she suddenly saw something off screen, screaming in terror over the sounds of snarling nearby.
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