'I guarantee you that by the end of the week, you're going to be begging me to come back.'
Lizzie had no idea what Hope meant by this, but it was clear that this was a threat. She thought about telling her dad, but that conversation would quickly lead to another, and soon, everyone would end up knowing that Lizzie and Hope had been... Well... Sleeping together.
And Lizzie really didn't want that to happen.
So instead, she went about her daily routine as usual. Attending classes, eating lunch, hanging out with the other witches by the grand staircase...
"Lizzie? Lizzie!" Penelope snapped.
Lizzie blinked a couple of times, and realized that Penelope, Josie, and MG were all staring at her.
"What's wrong with you? Something huge must be going on, for you to be ignoring me, of all people," Penelope said.
"I- It's nothing," Lizzie hastily said.
"You sure?" MG asked. "Because Penelope just called you a mop-headed freak, and you just... Sat there. Doing absolutely nothing."
"I need to tell you guys something," Lizzie said, ignoring MG's words. "It's important."
"Okay, what is it?" Josie asked.
"It's hard to explain, but... But just- Stay away from Hope Mikaelson for the time being, okay? In fact, stay away from the Mikaelson Academy in general. For the next week, at least," Lizzie said.
Penelope raised an eyebrow. "Who are you, and what have you done with our beloved hot-headed Lizzie Saltzman?" she asked in a half joking, half serious kind of voice.
"I mean it, you guys," Lizzie said. "For the sake of your own safety... Just stay away."
MG and Josie both nodded, giving Lizzie small smiles as they did so. Penelope, on the other hand-
"Fine," Penelope groaned. "But only because I was planning on doing just that anyway. Don't go around thinking I'm going to listen to anything else you say, Elizabeth," she spat.
*****
Lizzie half expected Hope to come marching up to the front gates of the Salvatore School with an army of evil supernaturals in tow, but no such thing happened. In fact, for an entire five days, everything was perfectly peaceful.
Too peaceful.
"Superhero movies?" Lizzie said to Ethan. "You like superhero movies?"
"Don't judge me," Ethan laughed. "They're cool. I mean, think about it. Having super-speed or super-strength or magical abilities?"
They were on their third date now, having ice cream in the middle of town square.
"I can only imagine," Lizzie said, finishing her ice cream and throwing the paper cup into the trash can next to her.
"So, my sister Maya is having some friends over later tonight. If you're into that kind of thing," Ethan said.
"A party? Cool," Lizzie said.
"Yeah, just don't be offended if the kids point or stare. All of our friends are from Mystic Falls High, and they think the Salvatore School kids are a bunch of rich assholes," Ethan grinned.
"Fair. Since us Salvatore School kids think you Mystic Falls High people are a bunch of simpletons- I believe 'primitive weaklings' is the word Penelope used," Lizzie smirked right back.
Ethan laughed, then paused. "Wait- was that a joke or not? Because I can't tell."
"I'll be here at seven tonight," Lizzie grinned.
"Great. See you then," Ethan said.
Lizzie got back into her car- the one that Damon Salvatore had gifted to her, and drove back to the school.
*****
"Wow, Lizzie," Josie smiled at her sister. "You look really good in that dress."
"I do, don't I?" Lizzie said, admiring her outfit in the mirror. "But what about you? How come you're so dressed up?"
"Penelope's taking me to some fancy restaurant," Josie shrugged, as if it wasn't a big deal. But Lizzie could see that Josie was practically giddy with excitement inside.
"I still don't understand why you'd want to date the Mistress of Evil, but if she makes you happy," Lizzie shrugged.
"She really does," Josie said.
Together, the two sisters exited the Salvatore School. Josie headed down the right road, where Penelope was waiting for her, while Lizzie headed down the left. She drove her car all the way down to the park in front of the clocktower, and waited for what seemed like forever.
"Finally," Lizzie said, standing up when Ethan came into view.
"Sorry," Ethan panted. "I had some errands to run. We should probably go right away- Maya's party already started twenty minutes ago."
And so, at Ethan's instructions, Lizzie drove her car downtown, where Ethan's house was. They could hear deafening music booming out through speakers from even a block away.
"How has no one called the cops on this party?" Lizzie shouted over the loud noise.
"Dunno, but I'm glad no one did," Ethan yelled back a response. "I'd hate to see my mom's reaction to the 'little get-together' Maya told her we'd be having."
"Oh, right- You're mom's the Sherriff, isn't she?" Lizzie asked.
"Yeah," Ethan yelled.
Lizzie parked her car in the driveway, grinning when Ethan rushed over to her side of the car and opened the door for her.
"Shall we?" Ethan said, offering Lizzie a hand.
Lizzie took it, and together, they walked up the steps to Ethan's front door.
"Hey Maya, look who I brought-" Ethan paused mid-sentence, after seeing that the living room was empty. "Maya?" Ethan called once more.
"Weird," Lizzie said.
"Yeah," Ethan agreed. "God- Who turned up the speakers so loud, anyway?" he said, rushing over to the speakers and unplugging them.
The loud music immediately ceased to exist- and in doing so, it revealed to them a sound that hadn't been audible over the pounding music.
Someone was screaming.
"Downstairs," Ethan said, bolting for the staircase.
Lizzie followed right behind him, dread growing inside of her chest as the screaming grew louder. Hope was down there, Lizzie was sure of it. The five days' worth of peace had all been building up to this one moment, and now, Hope was here to torment and threaten Lizzie all over again.
Yet when Lizzie reached the bottom of the stairs, she found not Hope Mikaelson, but...
"MG?" Ethan shouted in alarm.
"Oh my god," Lizzie breathed, staring at the blood that was flowing all over the basement floor. Bodies were piled around everywhere- Wrists had been slashed at, and throats had been bitten into. Standing in the middle of it all was Milton Greasley, with black veins having exploded all over his face.
"Lizzie," MG gasped, tears pouring down his face as his hands which gripped Maya's arms shook violently, "Make it stop. Please, make it-"
MG let out a snarl, and tore his fangs into Maya's throat. Maya screamed once more, causing Ethan to overcome the shock of it all and spring into action.
"Get off my sister, you psychotic freak!" Ethan shouted, grabbing a hockey racket and swinging it at MG's face.
It was a direct hit, and MG dropped Maya's body, straight into the pool of blood at his feet.
"I can't stop," MG sobbed. "Lizzie, do something- Anything!" he shouted, slamming himself into the opposite wall in an effort to stop himself.
But the arousing smell of human blood was much too powerful for him to handle. He wanted more. He needed more...
"No! Ethan!" Lizzie shrieked, when MG raced towards Ethan and dug his fangs into Ethan's throat.
MG pulled away just long enough to gasp, "Kill me!" He then went back to draining Ethan of his blood.
Step by step, Lizzie made her way towards MG. When she was close enough, she grabbed his hand, and siphoned some of his magic so that she could cast a spell.
"Phesmatos Ossox!" she shouted.
MG's neck snapped in two, causing both him and Ethan to crumple onto the ground.
Lizzie was shaking in terror at the scene that lay before her. Her breathing was ragged, and she couldn't think straight... There was so much blood.
Somehow, she made it back upstairs, and to the kitchen counter. After washing the blood off of her hands, she took out her phone, and dialed her father's number.
"D-Dad?" Lizzie stuttered. "V-Vampire attack. Sherriff Mac's house. Come quick."
Within twenty minutes, Alaric Saltzman arrived with several of the Salvatore School's teachers in tow.
"Oh my god," Alaric said, when Lizzie showed him the ripper scene.
"I used my magic to stabilize them," Lizzie said. She had regained control over her senses a few seconds after ending the phone call with her dad, and had thought to use her magic to help the victims of MG's attack.
"Emma, Juliet- keep these kids alive," Alaric said, turning to the two teachers in charge of the witch faction at his school. "Dorian, I need you to call Mayor Donovan and tell him what happened. Once you're done with that, contact Professor Vardemus. We'll need his help, too."
"Vardemus?" Dorian said in disbelief. "You mean the guy who works over at the Mikaelson Academy?"
"I need you to trust me on this," Alaric said.
Dorian nodded, and immediately began to move.
"Lizzie... What happened here?" Alaric asked, finally looking at his daughter. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," Lizzie replied. "MG... He did this," she swallowed the horrible feeling that was swelling up inside. "But it wasn't his fault. He- He couldn't help it, he kept begging me to help him, to stop him..."
"MG is a ripper. He can't stop once he starts to feed," Alaric sighed. "There was nothing he could have done. Don't worry, Lizzie... He's going to be alright. We're going to take care of him, just like we've always done."
"What I don't get is," Alaric said with a frown, "What was he doing feeding in the first place? He should know better than to go near human blood. And why was he in this house?" he looked around.
"Hope," Lizzie replied emptily. "This was Hope's doing. I know it was."
Alaric stared at her. "Hope Mikaelson? Are you sure?"
"I don't know how, but... Yes. Yes, I'm sure," Lizzie said. Fury was boiling inside of her, fury unlike anything she had ever felt before. How dare Hope put the lives of so many high schoolers at risk, all for the sake of proving a point? How dare she use MG, Lizzie's best friend, as a way to get to her?
"Lizzie?" Alaric said in a warning voice. "Lizzie, wait!" he said.
Ignoring her dad, Lizzie raced out of the house, not paying attention to the bloody footprints she was creating with each step that she took. She just needed to get out of there. She needed to find Hope, and make her pay.