A bell rang in the middle of the night, but it wasn't the school bell, it was Hope Mikaelson's barrier. She had spelled a barrier around the urn so that they can trap the next monster that came for it.
Without waking Sophia, Hope went downstairs to check on the urn when she spotted Dorian and Dr. Saltzman getting ready to see what monster was after them this time.
"Sounds like the trap worked."
They walked outside towards the old mill. "I know this is important, but you couldn't have put pants on first?"
Ric looked down at his pajamas. "Little early for snark, Hope."
"Any guesses on what famous monster from filmland we get to slay today?" Dorian asked.
Alaric chuckled. "With our luck, it'll be Cthulhu." The three came to an ubrupt stop upon seeing what was supposed to be the next monster: a white horse.
"False alarm. It's just a horse." Dorian said.
"Must've gotten out of the stables and wandered across the barrier spell." Alaric told the two.
"Except we don't have a white horse." The horse turned around and revealed itself to be a unicorn. It walked closer, causing Ric and Dorian to bring their weapons up.
Hope gasped. "Hey, wait, wait. Hold your fire."
"It's a monster, Hope. It's here to take the artifact." Dorian spoke.
"You're not seriously suggesting we kill a unicorn?"
"I'm suggesting we don't give it a pass because it's cute."
"Can't we just... leave it alone?" Hope looked back at the unicorn. "It's trapped, it's not going anywhere. It's harmless."
Alaric sighed. "Hope's right. As long as we keep it alive, other creatures won't be coming for the urn. So we just stay alert and let it be."
Dorian nodded. "All right, well, I'll be on alert back in bed."
A small, slug-like creature crawled from the unicorn's ear and onto Hope's shoe. She turned back and returned to the school with her teacher and headmaster.
***
The next morning, Hope was laying in bed when the slug that followed her to the school yesterday made its way up her face and into her nose. She scratched herself on the nose, and the slug made its way into her head.
Hope opened her eyes with a smile, feeling better than ever. She hurried to get ready before she walked downstairs. Spotting Landon and Rafael, she walked up to them. Sophia and Jed, both sitting with the brothers, looked up as the aburn-haired girl approached them with a smile.
"Morning handsome." Hope smiled at her boyfriend. "Handsomes."
"Hey." Landon greeted.
She took a croissant from Sophia's tray, and she looked at her cousin. "Okay, help yourself."
"Can I just say something?" Hope asked, and her friends looked at her. She turned to Sophia and Jed. "You guys are so cute, holding hands and everything. And calling each other pet names. It's adorable."
Jed and Sophia looked at each other, confused. Sophia turned to her cousin. "Are you okay, Hope?"
She nodded. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Jed spoke up, backing up his girlfriend. "Well, usually, you don't call me handsome, much less talk to the pack. And since when did you know about us?"
"Well, I told her, but... this wasn't the type of reaction I was expecting." Sophia informed, looking at Hope.
Hope shrugged. "Hmm. Just woke up on the right side of the bed, I guess."
Jed and Sophia exchanged a look once again. Landon spoke, "For the first time ever?"
Hope let out a giggle and Sophia's eyes widened. "You're so funny. I love that about you."
Landon nodded before turning to the rest of the group, shocked to see Hope in such a good mood.
Lizzie and Josie made their way towards them. Rafael looked up and smiled. "Saltzman twins."
"Good morning, Rafael." Lizzie smiled.
"Uh, how was your trip?" Raf asked.
"Excellent." Josie replied before her sister can. "Thank you. And welcome back, Landon."
"Didn't you vote me out?" Landon asked.
"That's all in the past." Lizzie told him. "Now, is everyone as excited as I am about tonight?"
Landon looked up. "What's happening tonight?"
"The school's annual talent show. All the factions compete." Sophia replied.
Hope smiled at the twins. "You know, the witch performance wouldn't be the same without you two."
"Thank you."
A musical chime is heard through the speakers, indicating that the headmaster had an announcement to make. "If I could have your attention. Last night we were able to capture a monster here on the grounds. We have everything under control. But given this potential danger, it is with a heavy heart that I must postpone the talent show." The students groaned. "Hopefully, we'll be able to reschedule this... unique event... at a later date. A much, much later date."
The Saltzman twins looked at each other, alarmed. Hope rolled her eyes. "Kind of overkill if you ask me. I told your dad that a unicorn barely counts as a monster."
The twins left to find their father. Sophia turned to her cousin. "You saw a unicorn?"
"Yeah."
The brunette got up. "Take me to it."
***
"Good news, friends. The talent show is going on as previously scheduled." Lizzie spoke into the PA and the students cheered.
Hope laughed, causing Landon, Sophia, and Rafael to look at her. Jed had gone to class, and they had passed the classroom. The four continued walking to their next classes.
Hope turned to Sophia and Landon. "We should do a talent."
"What?" Sophia questioned.
"Uh, us?" Landon clarified.
"I never wanted to before 'cause I would have had to do it alone. But now I have you two. And we make up our own faction. The tribrid and you. If you're okay competing with your boyfriend." Hope said the last part to Sophia.
Sophia looked at her. "He won't be competing. But, uh, yeah. Sure."
Rafael turned towards her. "I thought you said..."
Sophia seemed to know what he was asking. "The factions compete. Not everyone in said factions have to if they don't want to." She explained. Seeing the confused look on Rafael's face, she added, "There's too many people in each faction to count. Don't think too much about it."
Landon nodded. "All right, yeah. Team Other."
Hope hugged her cousin. A slug left Hope's ears and crept into Sophia's ears and inside her head.
The younger girl pulled away. "Well, I can't necessarily compete for two factions, can I?"
"Well, I'm doing something with Landon. So I'll see you later." Hope hugged her cousin again before she pulled her boyfriend with her to class.
Sophia's confused expression faded into a happy one. With a large smile, she turned to Rafael. "Hey, wanna do something?"
"I can't. I have class. And, I'm saying this as your friend, do not skip class." Rafael said before walking away.
Sophia shrugged before she walked in the other direction, not listening.
***
Sophia entered the dining hall and made herself a smoothie, humming a tune.
Once she finished making the smoothie, she walked through the grand hall and into the kitchen to find Hope and Landon.
***
Sophia sat on the counter as she sipped her smoothie, watching Hope and Landon in the kitchen. "So, cake decorating is our talent?"
"Are you sure cake decorating counts as a talent?" Landon asked.
"Well, um, you told me that you don't know karate, then you stepped on my feet during salsa, and then you straight up refused to try synchronized ribbon dancing." Hope told him.
"I can do karate!" Sophia piped up, smiling. "It's fun. I've been training with Ric since I was fourteen."
Landon looked at her, confused when she called Dr. Saltzman, "Ric."
"So can I." Hope added. "We can teach you if you want."
Landon looked at the two. "I think we'll stick to cake decorating."
Sophia shrugged, still smiling. "Okay. That's fine."
Hope chuckled. "Cake decorating it is."
The oven started to burn, and Landon turned towards it. "Hope. Sophia, the cake."
"Oh..." The three started coughing as Landon opened the oven, causing smoke to escape. "Turn on the fan."
The girls reached for the fan, causing an electric shock. They quickly retracted their hands, and the slugs crawled out.
"Oh, my God!" Sophia jumped down from the counter, seeing the slugs. Hope yelled at the same time, "Landon, what is that?"
Landon stabbed the two slugs with the tip of a knife. He put the knife in front of them, showing them the slugs. "You ever see Wrath of Khan?"
***
Hope, Landon, and Sophia had gone to find Mr. Williams after the slugs fell out of the girls' ears. They found him in the woods watching the unicorn.
"Mr. Williams, we need your help. Dr. Saltzman's been MIA, and this creepy slug came out of our ears." The girls spoke.
Dorian turned around with a jar in his hand. In it was one of the slugs that tried to creep up on him. "Did it look like this?"
"Yep, exactly like that." Landon replied.
"This one tried getting into me. I was hoping it was the only one. I think our harmless friend the unicorn brought it onto school grounds to infect all of us."
The unicorn snorted before it neighed wildly. It fell to the ground, dead. "See?" Hope spoke. "Harmless."
***
The vampires give a performance at the talent show, with Kaleb leading the singing and the other vampires dancing. Lizzie storms off after telling Josie about her not finding the canes. When she leaves, Josie talks with Penelope.
"Hey."
"I thought you were avoiding me." The witch spoke.
"I was." Josie told her. "I mean, I am."
"You're not doing a very good job." Penelope told her.
"Maybe I'm sick of always doing a good job." Josie smiled. "Do you want to get out of here?"
***
Dorian, Hope, Landon, and Sophia had gathered a few books to find out what the slug was doing. "Okay, we have no idea how long the unicorn was infected before it keeled over, so we should figure this out right now." He told them.
"I thought only one monster comes for the urn at a time." Hope said.
"Except the unicorn wasn't the monster. It was just the host to this thing." Dorian informed.
"So a parasite?" Sophia asked.
Dorian nodded. "It hitched a ride here in that Trojan horse, and then it moved on to us. From what Hope and Sophia describes, it sounds like it latches onto the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain associated with inhibitions."
"So we were slug-drunk?" Sophia said.
"Since we have multiple slugs, it must replicate inside the host, and then lie in, wait for the opportunity to infect someone else."
"I'm good on the gory details, thank you." Landon grimaced.
"How do we stop it?" Hope asked.
"That's the weirdest part. I can't find any ancient legends about a creature like this."
Landon looked up. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The Faculty. I say again, Wrath of Khan."
Hope and Dorian looked at him, confused. Sophia spoke, "So mind control. What? I read random stuff. Also, this is like... basic psychology." She added when she saw the looks on her cousin's and her teacher's faces.
Landon nodded. "Sci-fi is our modern-day myths. In those movies, it's all about mind control. Before the slug popped out, Hope wanted to take the urn someplace. I'm guessing Malivore. So, it's like an infection. It gets worse as it spreads."
Dorian added to Sophia's and Landon's comments. "Stage one, it-it lowers your inhibitions. It makes you act out of character. Stage two, once you're susceptible to suggestion, you'll do whatever the slug wants."
"Till stage three. You go the way of the unicorn." Landon finished.
Hope picked up the jar containing the slug. "Did you see this? Parts of this thing looks bioluminescent."
"Let me check that out." Dorian pulled a black light and turned it on the see the trail the slug left on Hope and Sophia.
Dorian's and Landon's eyes widened. "We don't want to know, do we?" Hope asked.
"Probably not."
"You know what?" Mr. Williams handed a black light each to the students. "We can use these lights to find anyone's who's been infected."
***
The group followed a trail that the slugs left, leading them to the grand hall where the students gathered for the next act. Sophia sighed. "Great."
"This is why I hate sci-fi." Hope commented.
"We need a way to de-slug whosever infected, fast." Mr. Williams told the three students.
"When we touched the switch to the kitchen vent, it shocked us, and that's when the slug popped out." Hope informed, and Sophia nodded.
"Great. So we just have to find a way to electrocute every student in the school without killing them." Landon said.
"How are we going to do that?" Sophia questioned.
"I'm gonna call Ric." Dorian told them before he walked away, leaving the students in the grand hall.
Rafael stepped onto the stage. "My name is Rafael, and my talent is spoken word poetry."
The Salvatore students snapped their fingers. Landon sighed. "Oh, no. He promised he wouldn't do this again."
The students stopped snapping and Raf sat down on a stool. "Stillness. A light breaks inside. Unity. And division. Tension."
"Suddenly, I remember why I didn't want to be in the talent show." Hope whispered.
"Same." Sophia whispered back.
"All these wolves staring at me, waiting for the answer. Expectation is a cancer. Oh, you can't, sir? Then who will?" Rafael looked up and spotted his brother. "Two brothers brought up together. Then one's left behind because he's no longer needed. Violence inside of me. Inside, I'm, I'm bleeding."
"What's he talking about?" Hope asked.
"And I can't believe what I'm feeling, since the moment you danced with me. Buried so deep, rising up, enchanting me. And it won't go away."
Sophia and Landon turned to look at Hope as Rafael continued, "And I was never jealous of anything that you had until today. And why is that artifact here? Monsters coming, people running. Ask for answers, always nothing."
His eyes then turned green. "I say we get rid of it."
The Salvatore School students all got up, green eyes that match Rafael's. They ran towards Landon and the two cousins.
"So they're all infected?" The younger cousin questioned.
"Okay. Yeah, I'm not gonna wait around to find out." Landon replied.
Sophia grabbed the two and sped outside of the grand hall. Hope turned around, extending her arms. "Vessera portus." The doors magically shut before the students could leave. "That should hold the pod people in for now. Let's go."
***
The three students met up with Mr. Williams. "I sealed the doors with a spell, but it won't hold forever."
"All right." Dorian held two sets of large chain, handing Sophia a set. "These chains should help until we come up with a better solution. I'll get the doors downstairs."
Sophia sped towards the doors, using one of the chains to lock them. "Okay. At least we have all the infected people in one place."
Lizzie Saltzman walked up behind them. "What are you three doing?"
The students turned towards her.
***
"Have you three gone crazy?" Lizzie questioned. She had been chained to a chair to keep her from going anywhere.
"You've been infected with a mind-controlling parasite. That's why you've been so nice all day." Hope informed, turning to the Saltzman girl.
"That is not why I have been... hey!" Lizzie started but stopped when Landon shined the black light in her face and inside her nose.
"I don't see any slug trails."
"What are you freaks talking a... Ow." Lizzie complained when her bracelet zapped her.
Sophia turned towards the sound of the zap. "What was that?"
"Unchain me, and maybe I will tell you, you were-pire." The bracelet zapped her again, and Lizzie gasped.
Sophia turned towards Hope, confused. "'Were-pire'?"
"I don't think she's infected." Landon told the girls.
"Then why are you acting so weird?" Hope asked.
"I'm not acting weird, I am turning over a new leaf. With this..." Lizzie showed them the bracelet. "I spelled it to zap me whenever I said anything mean. And in increasing voltage. Worst idea ever."
"No. That's genius." Landon said, turning to the girls. "That's why there's no slug in her. She's been zapping herself."
"Then why are you wandering around here, instead of at the talent show like everyone else?" Sophia questioned.
"I was looking for Josie. She's been acting weird all day and then she just bailed on the performance." Lizzie told them. They sighed, and that's when the Saltzman girl realized, "Probably because she's infected."
"We need to find her, now."
***
Emma and Alaric arrive back at the school, and Emma reveals that she has found a solution. She requested Landon to climb though the vents and spilled Aximander Dust, a dust favored by the witches of the Roman Empire. It conducts electricity through anything it touches. Think of it as chain lightning. All they need is a spark.
The students made a makeshift electric rod connected from the hallway to the grand hall. Emma then created a spark, electrocuting all of the students and expelling the slug-like creatures.
While Landon helped free the slug drunk students, Lizzie left to go find Josie.
***
Josie had brought Penelope to the old mill after siphoning Hope's trap around the urn.
"So what was in that note that you gave me?" Josie asked her ex.
"You were supposed to read it."
"You can't just tell me what it says?"
Penelope stepped forward and kissed Josie. "That's what was in it."
Josie kissed her. "You know that we're never getting back together, right?"
The witch smiled before she spotted something behind the siphoner. "There. That's the urn." The two walked over to it, both under the influence of the slugs.
"Let's go. You drive."
Hope appeared in front of the two, blocking the exit. "Not so fast, Thelma and Louise."
Penelope extended her hands to throw Hope back, but Sophia sped inside, pushing the witch into the canes. She sighed. "Sorry, Penelope. It's for your own good."
She sped back towards Hope, looking at the canes that the witches have been looking for. "Also, I found the canes."
"You shouldn't have done that." Josie told the hybrid. She used magic to create a fireball.
Lizzie ran up to her sister, pulling her back. "Don't. This isn't you."
"You don't even know the real me." Josie spat.
"Then answer one question while you're saying how you really feel." Lizzie demanded, putting the shock bracelet around her sister's wrist without her noticing. "Am I a good sister?"
"Are you kidding me?" Josie pushed her sister off of her. "You're a terrible sister." Josie cried in pain when her sister's bracelet zapped her. The slug fell out of her ear and Hope stomped on it.
"Lizzie." Josie spoke, back to her normal self. "Lizzie, I'm so sorry."
Lizzie embraced her sister. Sophia and Hope smiled before the hybrid went to tend to Penelope.
***
Hope and Sophia had just left their dorm when their headmaster spoke into the PA. "Attention, students. Given the incredibly odd and distressing day we've all had, I'm thinking we could all use a little pick-me-up, like a talent show redo."
There was applause, and Sophia turned to Hope. "Does that mean I get to see you and Landon perform?"
"Me and Landon? Where did you get that idea from?"
"From the same girl I heard giggle and say babe at breakfast. And from what I heard half an hour ago."
Hope sighed, causing the younger girl to smile. "Now I get to tease you like you teased me and Jed."
Hope rolled her eyes, but gave her cousin a small smile.
***
All of the students gathered for the talent show redo in the grand hall. The wolves performed a juggling number and the vampires had just finished their sit-in protest. It was now time for the witches to go on the stage.
Josie stepped into the spotlight, and the crowed murmured. The witches were in the back as dancers, and Josie started singing.
♪ Standing in the shadows, I thought that I earned it... ♪
The students murmured.
♪ Feeling invisible, believing I deserved it.♪
♪ I can't remember What I was waiting for ♪
♪ So no more ♪
Josie started to get more confident as the crowed cheered.
♪ I'm climbing over walls that I've made♪
♪ I'm finding my place on the stage ♪
♪ I'm gonna be leaving all those doubts behind. I'm step, I'm stepping into the light ♪
♪ I'm gonna be spreading my wings. Following a path they can't see ♪
The crowd clapped to the rhythm. Josie was now fully enjoying the performance.
♪ Chasing an adventure that's all mine. I'm step, I'm stepping into the light ♪
♪ I'm shedding the skin that I'm in. Never hiding who I am ever again. That girl you knew, she's ready to ignite. I'm step, I'm stepping into the light. ♪
The crowd stood up, cheering and applauding. Josie smiled.
***
Alaric stood on a bridge overlooking the water. He had drank a glass of bourbon that had a slug in it, which he didn't notice. He then took the urn and drove to the nearest bridge.
He held his phone to his ears, calling Emma. She wouldn't respond because she was with Dorian, and seeing the two together bothered the headmaster because he had just found out about his feeling for the guidance councilor.
"You've reached Emma's phone. Leave a message."
Ric sighed. "Emma, I just wanted to leave a message and say I'm sorry. None of this would've happened if it wasn't for that... slug mixing everything up. I hate that urn. So I'm just gonna get rid of it."
Alaric threw the urn into the river, watching it sink to the bottom as it follows the stream and leaves Mystic Falls.