𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞
𝗺𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐞
{𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝}
Evelyn stood in the main hall along with many other students as Alaric made his speech with Emma by his side. "Given recent events, some students have expressed concern that I am not allowing you to have a say in the decisions that affect your future."
Alaric looked at Lizzie,Charlotte and Josie who were sitting in the front row as they smiled shyly at him. "And I agree. If you are expected to abide by this school's policies, it's only fair that you have a voice in how those rules are made. So, I am forming an honor council. One vampire, one witch, and one werewolf, each elected by their peers. Along with our school counselor Emma, whose vote will represent the younger students."
MG excitedly turned to look at his fellow vampires, only to hear them whispering about him amongst themselves, "MG is such a narc." Hearing their words, his smile fell and he turned back towards the front.
Alaric continued his speech, "Now, I have to go off-campus. In the meantime, I expect you to make good decisions and to vote wisely. That's all. You're dismissed."
He grabbed a duffel bag sitting on a nearby chair before heading towards the front of the school as the students began to murmur amongst themselves.
༄༄༄
Hope,Evelyn, and Alexandra all stood around Alaric's office seeing as Hope had convinced the two girls to help her test Landon so she didn't have to do it alone.
Landon comes in and questions, "What are you three doing here?"
"Dr. Saltzman wanted us to administer your tests, starting with some weird mystical blood analysis." Hope replied.
"No." Landon said immediately.
"Excuse me?" Evelyn asked.
"No. These tests determine whether or not I get to stay at the school, right?" Landon questioned.
"Yeah." Alexandra nodded.
"There is no way I'm putting my future in Hope and Evie's hands, they're biased." Landon said to her.
"We're not biased. Besides, neither of us has a choice. Believe me, this is not how we would choose to spend our day, either." Hope told him.
"See? Biased." He turned to walk out of the room but Hope's voice stopped him. "Landon. Last thing that you told me was that you wanted to find answers about who or what you are...I want those answers, too."
"So let's just get through this." Evelyn added with Alexandra nodding in agreement from beside her.
Some time later, the three girls are administering Landon's tests outside as he attempts to lift a large log.
"You can stop. You failed. You have no supernatural strength." Hope told him.
"What's next?" Landon asked.
"Next? You failed the vertical climb, the long jump, and you straight up refused to swim across the lake." Evelyn explained to the boy.
"Yeah, well, excuse the foster kid for never having swim lessons. Look, I might suck at-at... everything, apparently, but I only have to pass one test to stay, so I'm not giving up yet." Landon said to them.
Emma walked up to the four teens. "How's it going?" She questioned.
"Landon was about to run sprints to the lake and back." Hope started the timer as Landon took off running and Alexandra muttered, "Go white boy go."
"What are you testing for, exactly?" Emma asked.
"His ability to get away from us as quickly as possible. If he's gonna stay in this school, it's a must." Hope told her.
"Did you run the lineage spell that I left you?" Emma asked.
"Yeah, first thing. Zero magic in his bloodline." Evelyn informed her.
"Hmm." Emma hummed in thought. "Hmm?" Hope looked at her in question.
"Most humans have some trace of magical blood in their veins from a far-flung ancestor." Emma told them.
"So what does that mean?" Alexandra questioned.
"We need to learn more about Landon's past." Emma responded.
༄༄༄
The four are on sitting on the dock with a magical lie detector as Hope questions the boy, "What's your name?"
"Landon Kirby." Landon responded as the ball glowed red.
"See? That's the truth." Hope told him.
"Now lie. What's your favorite food?" Alexandra asked him.
"Rabbit." The ball glowed red.
"So it's a..supernatural lie detector." Landon said.
"Pretty much your worst nightmare." Evelyn teased the boy with a smile.
"Bring it on, girls." Landon said back.
"Where were you born?" Hope asked him.
"I don't know." He replied as the ball glowed blue again.
"Who are your parents?" Evelyn asked him.
"My mom's name is Seylah. That's pretty much all I know. She gave me up for adoption when I was young." Landon informed them.
"And your dad?" Alexandra asked.
"Never met him." He shrugged, as the ball glowed blue again, revealing he was still telling the truth.
"Why can't you be compelled?" Hope asked him.
"I have no idea. A couple days ago, I didn't even know what compulsion was." Landon told them honestly.
"Why'd you take the knife?" Evelyn asked.
"I don't know. I don't... I remember doing it, but I don't remember why." The ball glowed blue again.
"It's not good enough. If we can't figure out what you are, then you can't stay at this school." Hope said.
༄༄༄
Landon rolled down the hill until he reached the bottom and landed on his back as Jed leaped the same distance with his werewolf agility. The angry werewolf stalked toward Landon, grabbing him by the front of his shirt before punching him as his nose and mouth instantly became bloodied.
He ended the one-sided fight with one last kick to the abdomen, causing Landon to spit out a mouthful of blood before Jed walked away. Having gone for a run, Evelyn watched as Jed left before realizing something wasn't right, she looked over the hill and there laid Landon Kirby, beaten and bloodied. Jed had beaten him bad. Evelyn hurriedly ran down the hill to get to him. "Come on, bus boy. Wake up!" She pleaded.
When she got no response from the boy, she flexed her hands above him as he woke up with a groan, when she realized he was still in pain she chanted "Asinta mulaf hinto." before moving to help the boy up the hill he rolled down to find Hope and Rafael, already knowing Jed had been the one to do this to him.
༄༄༄
"I was wondering when you'd come find me." Jed commented, sensing Evelyn standing behind him.
"Are you gonna try to explain to me why you did it?" Evelyn asked him.
Turning to look at her he said, "Does it even matter? We're wolves,Evelyn. Anger is what we're could at."
Evelyn's eyes widened slightly in disbelief at his response before speaking. "Yes, Jed, it does matter considering you beat up an innocent boy for some toxic revenge when what Rafael did was out of his control."
The boy scoffed before turning away from her, but Evelyn grabbed his hand and pulled him back towards her. "No, you're gonna listen to me, being supernatural doesn't make us bad people or make us do bad things, Jed, we do that to ourselves. I'm sorry that you lost something that was important to you, I really am. But that does not give you an excuse to hurt innocent people because you're angry."
"Why do you even care, Evelyn?!" The boy asked stubbornly.
"Do you remember when I first came back to school three years ago after I triggered my curse?" Evelyn asked him softly, catching him off guard. "You told me I wasn't a monster, that what happened wasn't my fault and I did what I had to do to survive. You told me that no matter what anyone said or thought, that the only one who could ever truly forgive me is myself. But right now I need you to figure out who you are, because the person standing in front of me is not the person that I have grown to call my friend."
Having nothing left to say as Jed stayed silent, Evelyn turned to leave but as she opened the door she couldn't help but turn to say one last thing. "You're my friend, Jed and I care about you, you know that I do. But I can't help you if you don't tell me how, especially if you can't help yourself."
༄༄༄
𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲: Asinta mulaf hinto= a spell that is capable of reducing the physical pain another person is having.
Also, I know in Evelyn's full psychological assessment I wrote Evelyn's alcohol dependence, but I haven't included it in the last five chapters, because Evelyn relies on alcohol on really bad days or when she loses someone. I apologize if that wasn't clear but that is how I am choosing to write it.