girls | hope mikaelson

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Lizzie and Hope, both unimpressed by Kaleb’s team spirit, roll their eyes. Rowan, in a fit of exhaustion, plops down on a clean piece of the ground and huffs. Hope sighs as MG goes back to cleaning up his shoes, "Come on, guys. If it’s not Landon, then what else could it be?"

"Literally anything, Hope." The Night snarks, upset with her girlfriend for not trusting Landon. She understands why the Mikaelson is wary of the Kirby boy, she really does, but what she doesn't understand is why Hope is treating Landon like he's done something worse than Roman Sienna ever has.

MG frowns when he notices something on the page he’s using to wipe off his shoes before suddenly being stricken by an idea, "Spider." He breathes.

Rowan straightens up and jerks herself up from off the ground. She shares a fearful look with Harry, who's fisting his curly hair with panicked eyes.

MG grins, "you've battled mythical creatures and you're scared of a little spider?"

Harry gapes, "little?" His eyes widen and Rowan silently groans, knowing the Styles boy is going off the deep end. "Little, you say? Oh, little. Because the spider being little makes it better," he mocks. "Because a little spider disintegrated Dana's body!"

"Okay," the Night girl hushes him. "It-it can't be that big, right?"

MG shakes his head with an excited smile, "A big spider!" He exclaims, "An Arachne, if you want to get specific."

MG smooths out the page and holds it up to show the girls and the curly headed boy. On it is a very large spider creature, and Lizzie yanks it out of his hand to look at it before scoffing and handing it back, "This is nerd porn, not real life."

MG, excited about the discovery he’s just made, begins to explain his hypothesis in an animated tone of voice, "So were dragons and gargoyles! The writer bases her comics off of Greek lore. An Arachne was originally a beautiful woman who was cursed by a jealous god and turned into a giant spider. Uh, all it wants to do is be human, so it wears the skin of its prey to pass. Oh, my God! It’s-it’s fangs are huge, so they could pass for a vampire bite! And its bite liquefies its victims! Plus, I found a web in Dana’s hair!"

Rowan and Harry inch toward each other at the same time, Rowan being the one to voice her worry. "I am not dying by getting eaten by a spider, okay? Charlotte's fucking Web is just shit out of luck,"

Hope shoots Rowan a look before glancing back at MG, "That would explain why it couldn’t follow the knife out of town. An SUV-sized insect can’t exactly hitch-hike unless it inhabits the body of someone."

"Who? Sasha, maybe?"

Lizzie looks over at Hope with a snide expression, "My money is still on your boyfriend."

Hope shoots Lizzie a glare, "He’s not my boyfriend. Rowan's my girlfriend, Lizzie. You know this."

"Do I?" Lizzie taunts, "because you're only Rowan's girlfriend when it's convinient for you."

Hope falls silent, masking her hurt with irritation. Her eyes instinctively glance toward the Night girl and she smiles gently when Rowan firmly shakes her with with a fond look in her eyes. Despite their disagreements, Rowan Night and Hope Mikaelson knew who they were, and they didn't need Lizzie Saltzman of all people to tell them.