"Alright, gather together. Chain spells are about the fluid movement of energy from witch to witch... Where's Penelope Park?" asks Dorian as he's teaching in class.
"Probably somewhere making sure her hair looks nice," I mumble, I don't exactly hate Penelope, she did care about Josie a lot, but I don't love her either. She's done some things that I don't agree with. I don't know what to feel about her, there's just something about her that seemed off to me. Felt like she was fake or whatever. Guess I'm just mad at her for breaking up with Josie over literally nothing.
"Um, lady cramps, Mr. Williams," says Lizzie
"Sorry I asked," says Dorian, making me chuckle, "A disharmonious group makes for an uneven flow." Since we were just talking about a period, everyone started to laugh. Then a flying note found its way into our classroom.
"Uh-oh, who's in trouble with the headmaster?" asks Josie
"Probably the people who started a rumble with the local high school," says Hope, who is sitting next to me.
"Lizzie Saltzman, Josie Saltzman, Y/n L/n, and baby makes 4," says Dorian, looking at Hope, "Off you go."
***
"This makes no sense, Dad. Why are we being punished?" asks Lizzie as we walk into the library.
"Because you started a brawl at a charity football game that risked exposing what we really do here," says Ric
"Well, you weren't mad last night," says Lizzie
"Oh, I was mad last night. My undying love for my daughters just happened to trump my rage," says Ric
"In their defense, those kids are literal bitches. Kinda glad they got a taste of their own medicine," I say, Ric glares at me.
"But... I guess there were better ways to handle it?" I say
"I volunteered everyone in the game, so stop complaining. You're lucky that it's just community service and not actual jail time," says Ric
"Can I at least offer a rebuttal in my defense, if it pleases the court?" asks Lizzie, Ric gestures to her to go ahead, "First of all, I was provoked. My response was totally proportional considering the levels of abuse that I was forced to endure. And secondly, if anyone should take the blame, it's Josie."
I scoff, "Sure, just blame your sister."
"I'm sorry, who even are you?" asks Lizzie
"New student at the school, your dad used to be my guardian," I say
"What? He never told us about you," says Lizzie
"Wow, Ric," I say
"I told you about Y/n a lot of times, girls," says Ric
Josie looks at me with wide eyes, "Wait, you're Y/n?"
"Yup," I say
"Dad said that you were like the age of our mother, her best friend even," she says.
"I was, well, I am. But I'm stuck at the age of 17. So technically, I'm your age." she nods in understanding.
"Well, nice to meet our mother's best friend and supposedly our new friend, if she even is... But back to what I was saying," Lizzie looks at Josie, "I totally cracked under cross, but if you had just let Kaleb catch the ball--"
"Yeah, okay..." says Josie
"You'd still be in trouble," says Ric
"But nice job throwing your sister under the bus," says Hope
"Thank you, Hope. And Y/n for that matter," says Josie
"Gotchu," I say
"Speaking of, the bus leaves in ten minutes, and I expect all 4 of you to be on it, working together today, harmoniously and without drama. End of debate," says Ric
"I wasn't even at the game, neither was Y/n. Why are we being punished?" asks Hope
"You know what you two did," says Ric, then looks at me, "You're the oldest. I thought you knew better."
"Please, Ric. You really think I didn't know what I was doing?" I ask
"You still broke the rules, and there will be consequences," he says
"Yeah. Okay, Dad..." I say
"Alright, now, go, all of you," says Ric, and we all head out to the bus. Though Hope came a bit later than us.
***
"So, what did you do? My dad never gets mad at you," says Lizzie as we're getting off the bus, "You're the prodigal daughter. Must have been juicy."
"Sorry, no time for girl talk. Public service awaits," says Hope
"Alright, listen up. It's a beautiful day. You got options, litter, weeds, graffiti. Your choice," says Dorian before handing Kaleb a stick.
"It's bad enough we get punished while the humans get a pass, but there ain't no way in hell I'm picking up their garbage," says Kaleb
"Alright, dude. Just simply say you want another task. No need for the 'cool' act," I say, taking the stick away from him and going by Hope.
"Who the hell even are you?" asks Kaleb
"Just a random new girl," I smirk in his direction as I grab Hope's wrist to start picking up some garbage. Later, Josie joins us.
"You have a future in waste management," Hope says, referring to Josie who's also picking up trash.
"Cleaning up messes is kind of my thing," says Josie
"Well, your sister is kind of a dumpster fire," says Hope
"Come on, she's more than that. She just needs help controlling her attitude sometimes," I say
"Why do you always pick fights?" Josie asks Hope, she turns to her in confusion.
"We've known each other a decade, and any time you have the chance, you poke," says Josie
"You guys do your fair share of poking," says Hope
"Yeah, in retaliation to your pokes. And with you spending so much time with my dad and keeping secrets..." says Josie
"We're not keeping secrets," says Hope
"Oh, yeah? What happened when you went to go find Landon Kirby," says Josie
"He and Y/n fell in love," says Hope
"Okay, that is not what happened... like at all," I say
"Aren't you like twice his age?" asks Josie
"Only historically. I'm still 17, stuck at it. I see you all as my age. Because you are... if you get what I mean," I say
"Yeah, I know what you mean. My uncle Damon's more than a hundred years old and he's still in his 20s. Never asked his exact age," Josie shrugs.
"I know. Damon and I used to be close," I say
"Not even gonna ask," Josie laughs, making me laugh along with her.
"So, what really happened with Landon Kirby?" asks Josie
"Nothing happened!" says Hope
"Something clearly did happen. Rafael never showed up at school, and my dad was rattled, so why won't you just tell me?" asks Josie, raising her voice and speeding up her words.
"Because there's nothing to tell!" says Hope, then accidentally stabs herself in the food, "Ah!"
"Oh my god..." says Josie, going over to her, she bends down then looks up at her, "Are you okay? I mean, what do I do?"
"Help me pull it out," says Hope
"What?" asks Josie
"She's got vampire blood, she can heal herself. Pull it out," I say, then Josie pulls it out as Hope cries, "Ow!"
Josie then chuckles a bit, "You poked yourself." making the 3 of us laugh.
"Shut up," says Hope, after Josie gets up, she starts to hold her stomach.
"Everything okay?" asks Hope
"Yeah, I just think that that's making me a little bit nauseous," says Josie, referring to MG and a girl basically sucking faces.
"Who is that? And wasn't MG obsessing over Lizzie like 10 minutes ago?" I ask
"That's Dana, she's not the best person," says Josie
"Huh. Didn't see that coming," says Hope
"It's simple math. MG has the hormones of a teenager and the impulse control of a preschooler," says Josie
"Or, he's trying to make Lizzie jealous. Which clearly isn't working," I raise my voice a little, but MG probably just ignores me.
"He also always goes for the wrong kinds of girls," says Josie
"Did you just... like throw trash at your sister?" I ask
"What? Oh, no! I didn't mean it like that. I just mean in general when it's... never mind," says Josie
"Relax, I'm messing with you," I say
"Given your last crush, you probably shouldn't judge," says Hope
"Okay, first off, I don't even know if I like him or not. Second off, you don't wanna know who my last crush was," I say, mentioning Damon won't go well.
I know I said that it was just the whole sire bond thing attracting me... but I feel like it was more than that. I get why Elena chose Damon. Don't get me wrong, Stefan is great. I think I'm just more of a Damon person now. He makes a relationship fun, free, and a little violent which is kinda hot.
Oh my gosh, okay, he's like 40 now so I should probably shut it.
"Really? Who was your last crush?" asks Hope, "And please... don't say my dad. I know you two were close friends."
"First off, not really, he wasn't the brother I'd have gone for. Oh my gosh, that sounds weird," I say
"Yeah, it kinda does," Hope laughs
"And second off, it wasn't," I chuckle.
"Well, my last crush was actually Satan incarnate," says Josie, making us both chuckle, "That is, I guess unless, unless you count..."
"Who?" asks Hope
Ohhh, she had a crush on Hope once!
"Never mind. It really doesn't matter anymore, Lizzie has dibs," says Josie, oh... Raf.
"Dibs?" asks Hope
"On Raf?" I ask
"She always calls dibs. When's it gonna be your turn?" asks Hope
"Oh, it'll be her turn all right," I say
"How do you know?" asks Josie, turning to me.
"Did your dad ever tell you I was sort of..." I start
"Psychic?" Josie asks
"Sure. But not exactly. You know when you have a favorite movie and dream of literally living it as an audience?" I ask
"Sort of?"
"That's what I kind of am. I know everything about everyone, and I know what's happened and what will happen. At least from what I can remember," I say
"That's confusing, but I kind of get it," she chuckles
Then we stop walking, and Hope says, "Y/n and I used black magic the other night. That's probably why we're in trouble. I didn't snitch on her but I'm guessing your dad knows Y/n only too well."
"He did sorta raise me," I say
"And Landon and Rafael took off together. Landon said he didn't know why he stole the knife, but then he lied about having it, so we don't know what to believe..." says Hope
"Then he wrote us each a letter of apology and it was... I don't know, sweet?" I ask, "But his latest actions kind of have me doubting him. I don't even fully remember the first season."
"Season?" asks Josie
"Like I said. Living in a show... except it's real and somehow you guys aren't robots. Tell Lizzie if you want," I say
"Would it be rude if I... Like, asked for proof?" asks Josie
"Not at all. Here's what I can give you... I know that you caught MG sucking faces with Penelope, and there's no way I was there to know that because I was most likely downstairs chatting with Landon... or showing him the library," I say
"I'll believe that... For now," says Josie, then turns to Hope, "Lizzie's... sensitive. Our mom is going on these really long recruitment missions recently. That's why she's extra testy. She just really misses her."
"Well, after watching the show, I honestly don't care what anyone says, I love Lizzie, she's just misunderstood and is always trying to be better, people just have trouble seeing that," I say
"Yeah. People always judge her before knowing her," Josie smiles.
"I know the feeling," says Hope
"I remember how your mom used to come by the school. We all used to say how beautiful she was," says Josie
"She was," Hope and I both say, then laugh at each other.
"We really should have sent you flowers or something," says Josie
"You did," Hope chuckles, "your dad signed your names. It was obvious."
"Classic Ric move," I say
"Okay. We definitely deserve a little bit of poking," says Josie, making us laugh, "I wonder where the boys are right now."
Hope pauses, "There's this spell that my Aunt Freya taught me..."
"Oh my god, I love Freya. She's such a badass," I say, making Hope laugh.
"Well, the spell's kind of like a full-immersion video chat," says Hope
"Okay, but don't we need something of Landon's to..." starts Josie, but then Hope and I hold up our letters.
"Are those the letters?"
"Sure are," I say
"You can't tell your dad. They don't teach this at school," says Hope
"This is the kind of secret that I can get behind," says Josie
Me, Hope, and Josie hold hands, then repeat, "Illusio Translata" (made up the spell btw) over and over again, until we get a glimpse of Landon and Raf, who are currently in the woods, eating burgers and counting money, then Josie pulls away for some reason.
"Why'd you stop?" asks Hope
"This is twin pain. Something's wrong, I think Lizzie's in trouble," says Josie, so we went to ask Dorian if we could go back to the school to check if there's any issues.
"I'm sorry, I can't let you leave," was his reply.
"No, I need to go home to see my sister," says Josie
"Your dad's with your sister. And I'm under strict orders to keep you here," says Dorian
"What? Why?" asks Josie
"And why are you researching that?" asks Hope, referring to the book currently open to the information about gargoyles.
"Most likely because the gargoyle back at the school came alive," I say
Dorian closes the book, "That is not the reason, and you guys should go back to cleaning."
***
Us being ourselves, we went back to the school anyway. When we got in, there was no one at all, it was kind of scary.
"Lizzie?!" Josie screams
"I'll check the library," says Hope as she leaves, I follow her.
"What are you doing here?!" we suddenly hear a voice.
"Oh my god!" we turn around to see... Oh, it was Ric.
"Jesus, don't sneak up on us like that," I say
"Dorian was supposed to keep you away," says Ric
"He tried. Clearly failed. But here," I hand him the information we had about gargoyles, "Killing Gargoyles 101. Dorian said you could translate it."
Ric looks at the text, "Gaulish... Son of a--" he then starts to read.
"So are we on our own, or did the Gauls provide clear instructions?" asks Hope
Ric closes the book, "In a nutshell, it says hit it hard, repeat as needed."
"I think I remember something... uh, gargoyles cannot hurt humans. They were made to protect them from the supernatural," I say
Then we hear a loud growl, Hope's eyes widen, "Is that..?"
"Yeah," says Ric, "Listen, it poisoned Lizzie. I'm guessing to get my attention. Then it attacked me and took the knife."
"The knife? The dragon knife?" asks Hope, Ric nods.
"Well, shit," I say
"Alright. Well, guess we better find the gargoyle before it makes the evening news," says Ric, getting an axe.
"It's even more of a risk now that the containment spell was down," I say
"There was a containment spell? Lizzie wanted to make sure whatever got in couldn't go out into the world. Good girl," says Ric
"Yep," I say
"How'd you take it down?" asks Ric
"Y/n and I siphoned it," Josie approaches us, then takes the axe that Ric had, "and I have questions."
***
We enter another room, "Emma?" asks Ric, "Emma?" then we see a door open, and Emma with a finger on her lips, signaling us to be quiet. We hear footsteps behind us, and turn to see the gargoyle statue, walking towards us.
As it approaches us, Hope trips and falls. In order to save her, Ric jumps in front of the Gargoyle. When he does that, the gargoyle freezes. As I said, it doesn't attack humans.
"No, Dad!" screams Josie, as the gargoyle freezes, Josie hits it with an axe.
"Pluctus Inpulsa!" screams Hope, causing pain to the gargoyle.
"Girls, channel!" I say, Hope holds my right hand as Josie holds and siphons my left, "Repeat what Hope just said."
We start to repeat the chanting, "Fluctus Inpulsa." and soon after, the gargoyle explodes.
"How could you jump in front of her like that?" Josie yells at her dad, "You could have died, Dad."
"Honey, I knew it wouldn't kill me, because my research said so," says Ric, but Josie just leaves.
"She'll come around," I say
***
"How's Lizzie?" asks Hope as we're back in Ric's office.
"Recovering quickly, thanks to her sister," says Ric
"So, why don't gargoyles attack humans?" asks Hope
"Well, a folklore tells a tale of a gargoyle who once protected a small settlement in France whose villagers revered a powerful relic, a knife," says Ric
"Our knife?" asks Hope
"As the story goes, the gargoyle loved the humans he protected so much, he vowed never to harm humanity. Instead, he chose to fight evil on their behalf," says Ric
"Which he considered as the supernaturals," I say
"In his mind, yes," says Ric
"Can't exactly judge. Who knows what supernaturals were like before they were... you know, educated to control their powers. Might have been reckless back in the... old times," I say
"I should go back to the girls," says Ric
"Wait," Ric stops, "one more thing. You're always telling us that we need to work together. To put our own feelings aside for the school, for the community. I know I haven't always listened to you with that kind of stuff, but I think I'm starting to think that it's actually pretty good advice, so... maybe you should take it. Because if you want us to get along with the twins, for them to be happy, for the school to be safe... these secrets are gonna tear us all apart."
"Agreed. You tell Hope and I the things you don't tell your own daughters," I turn to Hope, "No offense."
"None taken. You have a point," says Hope
"Gosh, you sound like Emma," says Ric
"Good. You never kept secrets from me. And my literal mother was your wife once. You were technically my stepdad who wasn't my stepdad," I say, "Sorry to mention it again."
"It's fine. She was sort of a brat the last we saw her anyway," says Ric
"Wait, so... your mother was actually his wife?" asks Hope
"Long story. Wait... now that Elena exists, does that make Isobel her mom?" I ask
"Think her mom was Anabel. Apparently, Isobel had an identical twin sister. Died while giving childbirth," says Ric
"And she never mentioned her to you?" I ask
"She didn't like her, didn't want me to know about her," says Ric
"That's... still kind of weird. She could have said she didn't like her, but still mentioned her..."
"She was dead, so I guess she didn't find a reason to tell me about her."
"Fair, I guess... How about John?"
"Not Elena's dad. Her dad is unknown. Apparently, Anabel was going through this drunk phase, and uh... you can guess the rest," says Ric
"I'll leave you two to it," Hope smiles and leaves.
"Feel bad for Elena, the girl lost her parents. How old was she when she was kidnapped?" I ask
"Not young enough to not remember her adoptive parents. Jeremy was young, he didn't remember her," says Ric
"And Miranda never talked about her?" I ask
"They probably did, Jeremy might have forgotten," says Ric
"I miss him... I miss them all," I say
"Jeremy comes around sometimes," says Ric
"That's good," I smile, "Hopefully I'll see him."
***
"If you'd asked me a week ago, I would have told you I knew the difference between myth and fact," says Ric as we're sat at the lunch table, and he is in the middle of a speech, "I would have said that supernaturals were limited to the species under this roof. I would have said that folklore and fairy tales were just stories. But I can no longer say that any of that's true. 'Cause just a few days ago, we were confronted by the existence of a dragon. And then today, our campus was terrorized by a gargoyle come to life. Some of us were forced to fight. We won. This time. They were drawn here by a knife that went missing earlier this week. And for whatever reason, these creatures consider us to be the enemy. In their minds, we're the villains because we won't give them what they want. We don't even know why they want it. But we're gonna find out. I can't say for sure what their true intentions are, I can't say there won't be more attacks. That's why I'm telling you this. To warn you. To ask you to look out for each other. To do what's best for one another. Because we're more than just a school, we're a family. And we will stand together, we will fight together, and we will win or lose this battle together, no matter what comes next."
After Hope and I left Ric's long-ass speech, no offense to him. I know he was just trying to do what's best, we head up to our room.
"So, sometimes you're gonna need to tell me about your past. Curiosity is killing me," says Hope
"My past? As in when Ric was my guardian?" I ask
"Yeah... as weird as that sounds," says Hope
"Oh, trust me, you're gonna be weirded out. And it might bring back sensitive stuff for you, your family's involved in a hot chunk of it."
"That's alright. I've only lost my parents, even though it hurts to talk about it. But, I mean, it's also nice talking about my dad with someone who doesn't hate him."
"Yeah, well, no one really knew him. I did. And I loved him... Not in that way, oh my god."
Hope chuckles, "Jeez, why's it so funny every time you go 'oh my god'?"
I shrug, "It's a gift. Well, my past also involves me being in love with about a 178-year-old vampire who is now probably about 30 after he took the cure."
"That's alright, when you know the full story, it's not that weird."
"True."
Hope pauses and stares ahead. I pause and look at her, "What?" then I turn to my left to see Raf and Landon.
"Well, he's back... They're back," I say
"I still stand by what I said when I called him a liar and a thief," says Hope
"Yeah, well, I barely remember the show, still gotta rewatch. Even if I do this plot is making me feel some weird doubtful feelings toward him though I try to ignore it," I say
"Maybe you shouldn't," Hope gives a fake smile.
"Whatever. You just won't get it anyway," I playfully roll my eyes.
"Have fun with your boyfriend," she heads up the stairs.
"Don't call him-- oh she's already gone..." I turn to look at Landon who's still looking at me with a straight face. Why is he so cute..? I wish he wasn't that cute. It would make things a lot easier. If he wasn't my type, he'd still be with Hope. It would have been Hope who kissed him that day. But maybe I'm in a fanfic and I'm supposed to be the one with him? Could this be a Landon Kirby x reader?
Okay, I'll stop playing around. This is obviously just life. Only thing I remember is Hope misunderstanding Landon and attacking him, and then the next second they're making out... I probably missed some stuff. A lot of stuff, because Hope's smarter than that. Even when she doesn't need to be.
After a while of staring, I give Landon the smallest, almost unnoticeably small, 'oh, you're here, cool' smile, and then go back to Hope and I's room.
***
"I'm gonna be stuck with him for a while," I tell her as I stare at the ceiling while lying down on my bed.
"You sure you don't like him?"
"I don't know how I feel. Man, I don't even know if I'm over my ex but hell I better be because he's married and a 30-year-old. And I'm grossed out every time I say that but... I mean I still picture him as the 178-year-old but technically not that much older-than-me vampire guy. And all the memories I had of him, and all the things he's helped me through even if I knew how it would end, makes it seem different... But of course, this plot makes my feelings decrease and gives me a fresh start. I guess I just... miss him."
"I get that."
"You know what, he's probably in his late 20s... Not even 30. He was still a vampire when you were born, and a lot after that. Man, I don't even know how old he is. I just really miss him... and his brother but he's dead. I miss Bonnie, and Caroline, hell sometimes even Katherine. Hated her once, don't anymore. Kinda feel bad for her since I know about her past."
"Who's Katherine?" asks Hope
"My 500-year-old doppelgänger who was obsessed with my boyfriend before my ex-boyfriend, and died due to her taking the cure of a vampire and aging faster after it was out of her system... she died due to old age but still looked young as she did," I explain.
"Oh... That sucks. Was she nice?"
"Yeah, once. But the last I knew her, everyone I was around hated her– which I don't blame them, she made a lot of stupid and selfish decisions. But at least she owned up to herself being selfish," I say
Hope chuckles, "That's fair."
"You know... your dad chased her for years. She was so scared," I laugh
"She probably did something to betray him."
"She did, in a way. Honestly, I don't care what the hell happened between them, I'd be on Klaus's side either way. I mean, Katherine did make my aunt stab herself just because I didn't give her something she wanted. Then again, Klaus compelled my brother-- well, sort of my brother, Jeremy to stand in front of a car, but then he and I made up with one another, I don't remember how it even happened, I think it was just a misunderstanding."
"My dad's made some stupid choices, even though I hate to admit it."
"Yeah, he has. But so has everyone else. Not gonna lie, I hated him at first, I wanted him dead," I chuckle, "But when I got to know him... I could never wish him any harm again. No matter what he did."
"Someone gets it..."
"Yeah. Goodnight, girl." I lay on my side, closing my eyes.
"Night."