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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 THIRTY-ONE.
[31] . This Christmas Was Surprisingly Violent.
【 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 ONE】
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❝ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ɪɴ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜᴏᴘᴇ. ❞
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THE ONLY CHOICE LUCAS made was that he needed to stay as far as he could from the Salvatore school and Malivore until there was a reasonable plan set. So right now, Lucas wasn't sure where Rafael and Landon wanted to take him, but he wouldn't choose any other people to be with other than his two brothers.
"Happy Birthday, teen wolf." Lucas smiles handing the wolf a card.
"Dude you didn't have to get me anything—"
"Open it."
Rafael sighed as he opened up the card, he had a smile on his face. "Uh, it's uh—I have no idea."
"So while you were trapped in wolf form, I had Josie do a lineage spell to see if you had any ancestors who might know how to turn you back," Landon explained. "I figured it was a long shot, but she got a hit. Your parents."
Rafael slightly chuckled. "My parents are dead, Lan."
"That's what we thought. But the people who raised you till you were ten weren't your real parents." The Nephilim replied.
"How do you know that?"
"Because I knew them. And locator spells don't work on dead bodies." Lucas says pointing at the blood which led them to a city. "This is leading us straight to—"
"North Carolina." Rafael interrupted in shock, realizing the two had planned this. "The same place that this bus is going?"
"We've seen how much you've been struggling. I thought maybe meeting your parents might help you heal." Lucas shrugs. "It's your call, Raf. I promise I'm not going to pull a Kirby and end up killing one of you both."
Rafael eventually gave in and allowed his two best friends to drag him into a situation he wasn't sure he'd end up enjoying. Shortly, 2 long hours later the supernatural Trio was now in the woods, and they were now right in front of the house.
"Come on, we're almost there," Landon says
Rafael seemed to have been having second thoughts about his decision. "Do you remember the last time that you tried to reunite a father and a son?" the wolf says.
Landon sighed. "Lucas said he wouldn't kill us." he joked. "Come on, Rafael. I just need you to consider that when Josie returned all of our memories, I remember everyone that went into that Malivore pit, and it wasn't just Hope."
"Your mom."
"Was meeting her everything I hoped it would be? No." Landon admitted. "For a second, I was glad that Lucas kept it from me. We just want to give you the same chance."
"And I hear that. Bro, you both are the only family that I need." Rafael replies. "So let's-let's just keep moving before another monster catches up to us."
"Raf, please," Landon says gripping Rafael's arm.
"Let go of me!" Rafael growls, eyeing glowing yellow.
Landon flinched.
"I-I-I can't deal with this right now. I just—"
Lucas sighed. "Raf, calm down. It's okay. Let's just go somewhere else." he says turning around.
Once the three turned around, they heard a gun click. And saw a dark-skinned man, with short hair, just like Rafael's, holding a shotgun.
"I think you boys better come with me." The man warns.
Lucas sighed. "Oh, great, papa bear caught us.
Of course, the three followed the man inside his home, but the man continued to keep the gun pointed at them.
"This is all a-a misunderstanding. We were just lost." Landon says nervously
The man shoved the shotgun in Lucas's arms before walking out to his porch and taking a sheet off what revealed a cage with a bunch of chains. It was a—
"A werewolf cage?" Rafael questions walking towards the cage.
"I saw your eyes. I know what you are. What you're going through." The man explained.
Rafael narrowed his eyes. "You're a werewolf?"
The man shook his head. "No. But I was in love with one," he says before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a photo. "I met Lucia in Afghanistan. But if she'd known what would happen after she took a life, she never would've enlisted."
The man then hands Rafael the picture.
"When we got back to the States, she was like a lot of us: fits of anger, memory loss, trouble with crowds. A classic case of PTSD. Until that first full moon hit."
"Uh, um, why do you keep talking about her in the past tense? What happened?" Landon questioned
"Lucia was the bravest soldier I ever knew. The only time I ever saw her scared was when she found out she was pregnant." The dad says
Rafael's smile faded. "You two had a-a kid?"
The man nodded. "First full moon after she learned she was expecting she was just gone. I searched for her for years, but a soldier like her who doesn't want to be found never will be. But I thought about her and our baby every day since. So it's time you told me why you're here." the man says walking up towards Rafael. "Because you have more than just your mother's eyes, Rafael."
The father and son spent hours talking and catching up. Rafael explained to the man why they were in North Carolina and what had been going on.
"I thought I had like the anger under control, but—but it just came back worse than ever, you know?" Rafael says. "Being at school—if helped, because there was—there were other people like me. But it turned out that it-it wasn't the right place for us, you know."
"Sometimes you have to leave to protect the people you love," Lucas says softly. "I guess that's why my father left."
"Believe me, I get it. I know running away can feel like it's the only option." Rafael's dad says standing up to his feet handing the boys a drink. "Sure I can't get you something to drink, Lucas?"
Lucas shook his head. "I'm good, Walt. Thank you. For everything." he paused, he felt his grace pumping through his veins. "I-I'm gonna go grab some air if that's cool with you two."
Rafael and Lucas both nodded.
"Wait, Cas," Rafael calls out. "I think maybe you two were right about coming here."
Lucas smiled. "When am I not right?"
With that, the Nephilim walked out of the room. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him. But from the reflection, he could tell his bright, white-yellowish veins were spreading through his skin like a disease.
And to make it worse, the blinding headlights of a car shined brightly in the boy's face causing him to grow annoyed.
"Hop in, the car boy king," Lizzie says poking her head out the window.
Lucas furrowed his brows. "Why are you driving my car?"
"Because I like it." Lizzie shrugs. "Now get in, we don't have all day."
The Nephilim shook his head.
Lizzie scoffed. "Leaving Hope and Josie without having the balls to say why was one thing, but now you're ditching Raf and the hobbit?"
Lucas rolled his eyes. "As long as monsters are after me, they're both in danger, too. I needed to find someplace where I knew they'd be safe."
"So what is your plan, devil's spawn—ride the damn rails?" Lizzie snarks
"My only plan is to make sure that nobody else gets hurt because of me," Lucas replied, trying to calm himself. "I'm a damn Nephilim, I do not need protection from a bunch of witches, dogs, and birds."
Lizzie frowned. "Come back to the school with me, face Hope and Josie, and then they will help you face whatever comes next."
"Liz, facing them means I have to choose. And I-I'm not ready to let neither of them go." Lucas huffs
"Hope and Josie love you, dumb ass. We all do. There is nothing you could do to drive any of us away." Lizzie reassures the wolf. "Luc, you're my unwanted brother, I promise I will make sure that these monsters don't drag you back to Hell. And I promise that no matter your decision the girls love you. So, what do you say?"
Lucas nodded.
He heard footsteps approaching and he instantly threw the body to the floor.
"Sebastian?!" Lucas says in shock.
Sebastian smiled slightly as he stood up for the ground. "Hello, brother."
The Nephilim let out a chuckle before pulling the vampire into a tight hug.
"Oh, god. You two know each other?" Lizzie sighs dramatically.
"We go back," Sebastian says. "Now, I think it's fine we take you back to that torture of a school and face your greatest demons, two witches."
Lucas snorted before getting into the car. And with that, the three made their way back to the school. The Nephilim nerves were all over the place, he had his decision made. But he just couldn't face the fact that he was going to have to break the other witches' heart.
Once they arrived at the school, Lucas's eyes fell on Hope who was smiling as she stared up at the sky. At that moment he had fallen in love yet again.
Hope's eyes locked with his and the boy still hadn't said a word. "This is the part where you say something." the Tribrid says.
Lucas stood quiet as he walked closer.
"Or run," Hope added before trying to make her way inside.
The Nephilim used his speed to cut in front of the Tribrid. "I know these are not the words you want to hear right now, but I'm asking you to trust me, and just stay right here. I have something to tell you, but I can't until I make things right first." with that he ran inside.
And as anyone could expect, he was now in Josie Saltzman's room.
"Hey, Jo."
Josie's smile slowly faded when her eyes fell on the Nephilim.
Lucas sighed. "Merry Christmas I guess."
"You know what's weird about Christmas? It's um, it's the happiest and the saddest." Josie replies.
"Can we start with the happy?"
Josie nodded slowly.
The Nephilim took Josie's hand in his before taking in a deep breath. "You know me better than anyone. You were my first friend in the school, the first person I trusted, and the first person I loved. And U couldn't have asked for a better partner, a better conscious. You are literally the best person that's ever had the poor judgment to allow me into their life. I love you, Jo. And I always will. I love hanging out with you, and laughing at how badly you are at chess, and—"
"You're in love with Hope." Josie interrupts, tears falling down her face.
"But that doesn't mean I regret a single second. Because you are beautiful. And special. And a strong woman." Lucas admits trying his best to hold back the tears. "You're perfect. And doing the right thing should never be this hard. I love you, Jojo. I always will."
Lucas now made his way back to Hope, knowing he'd have to explain himself.
"I thought leaving was the right thing to do." Lucas starts off, before shaking his head. "But I was wrong. Rhys what I came back to say. And it took Lizzie's wise words to make me realize that I'm a dick, and I shouldn't have left without an answer. But truth is, I love you Hope Mikaelson. I-I loved you when I couldn't remember you. Seeing you the day at the bench hurt, and I didn't understand why. But now I do. Because memories or not, deep down, I will always be in love with you. Hope, I loved you when I was fighting the damn demons. I think I'll always love you. But I'm not ashamed." he says before smiling. "This is the part where you say—"
"That I love you, too—Lucas Morningstar." Hope interrupts with a smile. "God, I loved you when you didn't even know it. Despite the way you looked in a football uniform." she jokes. "It's always been you."
Lucas smiled. "Then there's only one thing left to say. Look up."
Hope furrowed her brows before looking up and noticing that they were standing under a mistletoe.
A huge smile appeared on Hope's face and before she knew it, Lucas's lips were now intertwined with hers.
Getting to happiness can be painful, but sometimes it's worth it.