𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔗𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔰

Chapter 64

M   A   P   L   E      H   O   L   L   O   W   S,       S   C

"Welcome to Maple Hollows." Kaleb said. "Girl...Stiles. See what you can find out." Alaric said before dropping us off. I took a seat on a bench near the fountain while Hope and Josie asked around. I rested my elbows onto my knees. "Fun fact: thus town has the biggest ball of yarn in the country. And nobody's seen anything strange." Josie said as they returned. "This isn't exactly a hotspot of activity. Our hopes of finding anything are going up in smoke." Lizzie stated. "Wait, are you passive-aggressively referring to that fire in me and my brother's dorm room three years ago?" Hope asked her. "You mean the one that Stiles set on purpose to sabotage our spring break trip with our dad? No, Hope. Why would I talk about that?" Lizzie asked. I raised a brow. "Dude, you've lost it." Hope said. "The only thing thay we lost was a week of quality family time. Dad had to cancel the trip to deal with the damage. So mission accomplished." Lizzie said getting to her feet. "You guys are just talking about ancient history. Ow! Something stung me." Josie said. "Ew!" Hope said. "Gross " Lizzie added. A loud buzzing sound pierced my ears. I reached up and covered them with my hands as I grinded my teeth. I pulled my hands away and shook my head. "Bloody hell!" I exclaimed looking around. The buzz grew louder. I looked up to find a black form in the sky. "This is plague-y, right? It seems plague-y." Hope said. I looked around at citizens freaking out people bumped into me trying to get away from the swarm. "Hey! Whoa! Hey! Watch it!" I said spinning around. "It's plague-y." Josie stated. "Let's go. Get inside. Now." I ordered ushering them into a building. "Who put you in charge?" Lizzie asked. "The psychotic demon fox that doesn't take no for an answer did. Want to argue with me?" I spat closing the door behind me. The buzzing filled my ears. "Nik you okay?" Hope asked. "Not really. Still getting used to the super vamp hearing. Doesn't help that millions of bugs are buzzing outside the bloody door." I said with clenched teeth. 15 seconds later, the buzzing ceased. I opened the door to see bugs dead on the ground. "We need to find your dad." Hope told Josie and Lizzie. "This way." Hope said going right. "Does this way take us past the fire station?" Lizzie asked. "Oh, my God. We barely just survived a biblical plague. For the last time, I didn't start that fire, and I've never ruined a spring break." I argued. "Yeah, Lizzie, now's not the time." Josie told her. "Fifth grade. You callously gave me the flu while we were building our float for witch week. With global warming, I may never see the Florida Keys. That's on you." Lizzie countered. "We built it with Alyssa Chang, who had pneumonia over spring break. It wasn't me, and neither was that fire." I shot back. "Why did I see you giving us a death glare through the window?" Lizzie interrogated. "There's a boil on my boil." Josie said. "Oh, God!" Lizzie voiced. "Ew!" Hope added. "I think I'm gonna be sick again." Josie stated. "Pick up the pace, Mikaelson." Lizzie told me snapping her fingers. "My sister needs..." Lizzie stated turning a corner. "Make a line. Single file. You're going to be safe. Get on the buses." A man said. "Medical attention?" Lizzie finished.

"Is it me? Or did these people get here way too fast?" I asked squinting my eyes as I waited in line with the others. "How did these people get here before the bugs?" Emma asked. "I don't know who they are, but they are too prepared, organized, and well-equipped to be responding to some random insect attack." Ric answered. "You together?" A nurse asked us. "Yeah, you know, we just came in from Roanoke to see that giant ball of yarn you guys have." Alaric said. "And these guys are?" She asked. "This is my wife..." Alaric said hugging Emma. "Emma. Uh...these are my daughters and son from my first marriage. And, uh, Kaleb here is, uh..." Alaric said. "My boyfriend." Josie and Lizzie said in unison. "Hey...when you're good, you're good, right?" Kaleb stated putting his arms around Josie and Lizzie. I felt a twinge of jealousy watching him put his arm around Jo and for some reason...also for Liz.

We were let in and I walked beside Hope. She laid eyes on a man before looking away. I walked with her over to Alaric at the drink stand. "Do you know that guy?" I asked them. Alaric looked over at the man before looking at me. He glanced at Hope before shaking his head. "Nope. Never seen him before." He answered with a shrug. "Weird. Because Hope seemed to know him." I said pointing at her. "Nik why don't you go check up on Josie?" He asked me with a smile pushing me over to her. I furrowed my brows and squinted my eyes confused. I turned around pointing a finger in the air. "Are you two hiding something from me?" I questioned. "What's there to hide?" He asked me before walking away to Hope. I squinted my eyes suspiciously. "So do I, Niklaus. So do I." Nogitsune said reading my mind. They were hiding something from me. Something they didn't want me to know. I want to know what.