PIERCE , legacies

𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒆 , nightmares

"Funny, because I thought it should be one of us with high-level superpowers." Hope replies. Alaric purses his lips, going back to work. "What do we tell everyone else? We should probably warn them before a cyclops crashes exam week."

Alaric sighs. "It's usually best to start with some form of the truth."

"What about those times the truth is the one thing you can't say?" Hope says softly. Katherine looks up awkwardly. Hope has told her and Dr. Saltzman what happened in Kansas. Katherine didn't know why only Hope could remember.

"Are you sure you want to keep all of this from Landon?" Asks Dr. Saltzman. "I mean, I understand you wanting to protect him, but,"

Hope replies instantly. "He's been wondering about his mother his whole life. He finally meets her and then she dies. If I can keep him from knowing what that feels like, then it's worth it." She sighs. "Look, it's my secret to keep, Dr. Saltzman. Please."

"Okay." Alaric says finally.

"Thank you."

Katherine sighs. "The trick here is to give everyone the right amount of information without giving away too much information." She says. "We've been through this before with the knife, so it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that there's a round two." She explains. Alaric nods, agreeing.

"This is our chance to do things differently, more responsibly."

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

"Yesterday, I came into possession of another Malivore artifact. It was my hope to find a method of containment before it signaled another monster, but given the emergency meeting I've just called, I'm sure you can guess how well that went."

Landon leans over to Rafael. "Do you see Hope anywhere?" The two of them look around, and Rafael shakes his head. Katherine stands at the bottom of the stairs, next to Dr. Saltzman.

"But rest assured we are taking every precaution. Sheriff Donovan has been kind enough to open the doors of the Lockwood Mansion to us. And Katherine Valentine has opened her former home to us also, so Mr. Williams and Ms. Tig are now in the process of evacuating our students from the lower grades." Explains Dr. Saltzman.

"Why don't we just evacuate the damn artifact?" Asks Kaleb.

"We are much more well-equipped than the world at large to handle the arrival of a monster." Alaric retorts. "Once we know what we're dealing with and the problem is contained, then we can reassess what to do with the artifact. If any of you would like to evacuate, please talk to Dorian or Emma. However, exam week will continue as scheduled, wherever you are." The students groan, annoyed. "I know. I'm sorry. I can't exactly call the state accreditation board and tell them that we're canceling the exams because of monsters." He explains. "We'll get through this, I promise. Try and get some rest, okay? Good night."

The students begin to disperse, Katherine turned to the Headmaster. "I'll find the key to the old house. It's probably dusty, but I did ask Jeremy to keep it tidy when he's there." She says.

"Thank you, Katherine. It's very nice of you." Says Dr. Saltzman.

Katherine smiles. "As long as I get my snow-cone machine." She chimes before walking away. Alaric chuckles, shaking his head at the Valentine.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

The night was quiet. Katherine walks back inside the school after going out for a late-night snack. She walks through the hall, seeing a sleeping Rafael. She frowns, noticing something strange.