The next day, Hope and I find ourselves in Dr. Saltzman's office again. Apparently, the urn has started glowing again, indicating the presence of another monster. As they prepare their weapons for the next encounter, I lounge on his couch, almost falling back asleep. Can't these monsters just take a day off? I mean, seriously, what's next? A freaking unicorn?
At least Jo is coming back to school again. Lizzie and she were spending some time with Caroline, and I miss them. Now that I'm officially a Salvatore School student, I get to spend more time with them.
"You're sure it glowed again?" Hope asks Dr. Saltzman.
"I sleep with the damn thing under my pillow. It's hard to miss," he responds.
"What do you think it's going to be this time?" I chime in with a playful tone.
"Oh, I hope it's a unicorn," I answer, earning a strange look from both of them.
"What?" I ask innocently. They just shake their heads and return to their preparations for the next monster.
"Wait, what if it's something worse? Like Santa," I ask with a straight face.
Dr. Saltzman looks puzzled, asking, "How is Santa worse?"
I maintain my serious tone and explain, "Well, think about it. He breaks into your house, watches you sleep, and he's super judgy."
Hope chimes in, agreeing with me, "She has a point."
Dr. Saltzman, now slightly exasperated, says, "Okay, both of you, try to focus." "What if it's a ninja turtle?" Dr. Saltzman lets out a sigh, clearly struggling to maintain focus amid our banter.
The door to the office swings open, revealing Josie and Lizzie, and Lizzie looks absolutely furious. Oh boy, someone's in trouble now.
"Girls, what are you doing here? Your flight doesn't get in until tonight," Dr. Saltzman says.
Yup, he's definitely in trouble, because Josie had texted me that they were arriving here today.
"Mom was able to get us a direct flight into Dulles. Then she faxed, texted, and emailed you our revised itinerary," Lizzie responds, her anger clearly directed at her father.
"I'm so sorry. It's chaos around here," Dr. Saltzman apologizes.
Josie tries to lighten the mood, saying, "It's okay, Dad. We know you're overwhelmed. But Europe was amazing. Seeing Mom was really good."
Josie's positive outlook helps, but Lizzie still seems upset as she adds, "Jo's covered the bright side. Far less sunny was waiting for you in the chilly dark of morning at the terminal and you not showing up."
"In his defense, we've been in crisis mode around here," Hope interjects.
Lizzie, however, doesn't seem entirely appeased. "We heard all about it. You managed to lose the knife to one of the monsters, and now only two keys separate the entire supernatural community from being consumed by a hell portal. I'm guessing that weird little vase is one of them," she says, pointing at the urn.
"It's an urn, actually. And how do you know about all of this?" Hope asks.
Now I'm in trouble. "Well..." I start, and they all look at me, clearly expecting an explanation.
"Come on, guys, they're my best friends," I try to defend myself, knowing that I probably shouldn't have shared the information with Josie.
Lizzie doesn't seem appeased, stating, "Doesn't matter how we found out. The important thing here is that instead of being welcomed at the airport, we were forced to take a three-hour shuttle ride that smelled like an open sewer and feet. Thanks a lot, Hope. Way to ruin life for the rest of us." She then angrily leaves for her room.
