Lauren spent the rest of the day fuming. And she had no idea why.
Camila is not your girlfriend. You have no right to be jealous, she thought to herself, praying it was her own personal thoughts instead of the one linked to Camila.
I am not jealous, Lauren assured herself.
She thought of the list of names that could have the nickname Ari.
Aria. Arielle. Ariana. Arizona. They all sounded like bitchy names. Camila would never go for a girl like that.
Yep, totally not jealous.
"What crawled up your ass and died?" Zendaya asked, poking Lauren with her elbow in the ribs at lunch. "You're sulking,"
"It's nothing," Lauren brushed off, resting her chin in her hand. "Not a big deal,"
"Well it must be if it's got you in a bad mood. C'mon, talk to the queen," Zendaya said, throwing an arm around Lauren's shoulder.
Lauren sighed. "Is there anyone in this school who goes by Ari?"
Zendaya blinked at her.
"I thought this was girl problems,"
"This is a girl problem,"
Zendaya thought for a minute. "Not that I know of, no,"
Lauren groaned. Who was this Ari Camila was texting?
"Why do you ask?"
"It's nothing," Lauren shrugged.
Normani suddenly ran through the lunch room doors and slammed her hands down on the table.
"Hey," she panted. "If I were to get arrested and gave you the money, would you come bail me out of jail?"
"What?" Zendaya and Lauren exclaimed at the same time.
"Sure," Maia shrugged, looking down at her phone screen. Normani took a fistful of bills out of her pocket before thrusting them into Maia's outstretched hands.
"Thanks Mi, expect a to call tomorrow," Normani said, running away.
Zendaya and Lauren exchanged a look before glancing at Maia, who was counting the money Normani gave her.
"I'll get her," Lauren said, before rushing after her friend.
"Why do you plan on getting arrested?" Lauren asked Normani when she found the girl standing at her locker.
"Dinah wants me to assist her in a task. It involves breaking and entering. I needed to make sure someone was there in case I got caught," Normani shrugged.
"Um, what?"
"Something about the vampire house. The scent of werewolves is stronger than the scent of humans so they are going to cause an intercession,"
"Intervention?"
"Yeah,"
"Wouldn't they be able to find humans? Does the smell of dog mask that?" Lauren asked.
"Apparently,"
"Damn... good to know,"
"What is?" Camila asked, walking up behind the two girls.
"That your wet dog scent is stronger than the smell my delicious human blood," Normani said casually.
"Geez... I don't smell that bad, do I?" Camila asked, checking her underarms.
"I mean to a supernatural yes," Normani said. Camila looked at her weirdly.
"How did you know that?"
"Dinah,"
"Of course," Camila playfully rolled her eyes. "It's better than smelling like death,"
"Hey I just thought of something," Normani said, holding up a finger. "So tonight is the night where we break into the vampire's house, right? Why doesn't Lauren come, because then if the vampires do smell humans, we can say it's Laurenza here instead of me,"
"That's a good idea," Camila said. "Want to help us with a heist?"
"Uh, sure," Lauren nodded, grinning slightly. "Why not?"
"Awesome," Camila smiled. "We're all meeting at 7 at our house,"
"Great,"
"Anyways," Camila said, turning towards Lauren. "When do you want to work on the history project?"
"Um, I'm free tomorrow after practice or this weekend?"
"This weekend sounds fine," Camila grinned. Lauren smiled.
Normani looked at the two, a silence falling over them.
"Just kiss already!" Normani finally blurted out.
Lauren's mouth hung open as she stared at her best friend in disbelief, while Camila's cheeks and ears turned red.
"Uh, gotta go," Camila mumbled, turning to walk away.
"What the fuck, Mani?" Lauren asked, angry.
"I mean it's gonna happen eventually, right now you guys are at an awkward phase where you know you like each other but you're doing nothing to act on it," Normani shrugged.
"Yeah, I mean, the pack and I have bets placed on when you two are going to get together," Dinah said, walking up behind Normani. She threw her arm over the other girl's shoulder and kissed the side of her head.
"Aw, stop being cute," Lauren grinning at the two. "It makes me sick,"
Dinah playfully glared at Lauren. "Deal with it, Ralph,"
"Ralph?"
"Yeah, cause Ralph Lauren,"
"It's pronounced LO-REN,"
"No, it's LAUREN,"
"Loren,"
"Lauren,"
"Loren,"
"Does it matter?" Normani cut in.
"No, I guess not," Lauren mumbled. "Loren,"
"I heard that," Dinah chuckled.
The bell rang as students began to pour out of classrooms. Lauren said goodbye to the couple before heading off to her next class.
~~
"So by your logic, in the week Camila was in California, you think she met some girl named Ari and they got married in Vegas?" Normani asked Lauren at practice.
Lauren looked up from stretching. "I mean, why else would the contact name be wifey?"
"I dunno, as a joke?"
"Maybe," Lauren grumbled.
"You're still gonna ask her to homecoming, right?"
"I'm not sure,"
"It's in two weeks," Normani reminded her.
"I'm aware," Lauren groaned. "You nervous about tonight?"
"No- ah, um, yea, no," Normani said, her face distorting in different angles.
"You sure about that?"
"I will be with Dinah, I have nothing to worry about,"
"Awww," Lauren gushed. "That was so sickly sweet I'm gonna puke,"
"Shut up," Normani giggled.
~~
Camila was in the kitchen making cupcakes with Luke and Michael when her phone rang.
"Ariana!" Camila smiled as she answered the FaceTime call.
"Hey Mila!" Ariana waved, eating a donut.
"You dyed your hair red!"
"Yep! Because I love red velvet cupcakes," Ariana nodded, taking a piece of her hair and nibbled on it. She frowned.
"But it tastes like hair,"
"Is that the witch?" Luke asked, smearing chocolate frosting on a cupcake.
"Witch's apprentice," Camila said back.
"Oooh, who you talking to, wifey?" Ariana giggled.
"That's just Luke," Camila brushed off. "We're making cupcakes,"
"One time, my brother tried making cupcakes, but he was sent to the police station because the house he made it in wasn't ours," Ariana said, playing with the ends of her hair.
Camila blinked in confusion. Luke and Michael looked at each other, uncertain about what to say.
"That's... nice," Michael said, scratching the back of his head.
"Anyways," Camila shrugged off, "Any news on finding a way to stop the transformation?"
"Actually that's not why I called. I found out when the Lunar Eclipse is,"
"Really? That's great!"
"I know right?!" Ariana smiled.
Luke, Michael, and Camila stared at the screen intently, waiting for the girl to speak. Ariana was still playing with her hair.
"When is it?" Michael asked after Ariana got distracted.
"Oh, right. It's on December 19th," Ariana said, dropping the strand of her hair.
"Isn't that the date of the annual Christmas masquerade ball?" Michael asked. Camila and Luke nodded.
Ally and Dinah walked into the kitchen with Lauren and Normani, who was dressed in all black. She looked like she was about to rob a bank.
"Hey, Normani. Ready to kick vampire butt?" Luke asked, putting his fists up like he was about to fight.
"She's not gonna fight them, just look for any information to see if they know anything about the hybrid stuff," Dinah said.
"Who's that?" Ariana asked, not being able to see because she was in California.
"That's my beta and her mate, our witch, and um, Lauren. We're planning on spying on the vampires who live in our area," Camila informed. She didn't know whether to call Lauren her mate or not, but she already informed Ariana on her situation.
"Oh that sounds interesting!" Ariana squealed. There was a loud crash followed by a girl and boy yelling at each other on the other line.
"Oops, that was Liz... I think my boyfriend might have broken something in her studio," Ariana said nervously. The shouts in the background were loud.
"Ariana get your dumb boyfriend away from my work!"
"It was an accident!"
"Shut up, Avan!"
"Gotta go, sorry," Ariana said sadly.
"Bye, Ari!" Camila waved.
"Bye, Wifey!"
Lauren's head snapped up. Ari. Wifey. This was the girl she is jealous of.
"Who was that?" she asked.
"That was one of the witches I visited in California. Her name is Ariana," Camila said calmly. Lauren never thought someone could say 'I met a witch' so nonchalant.
"So, are you ready?" Camila asked the other girl. Normani nodded.
"Halsey is going to meet you at the cul de sac and sneak you in, while Michael, Luke, Dinah, Ally, Lauren, and I are going to try to distract the vampires who are home," Camila said, going over the plan.
"Your job is to try to sneak into Bieber's, I mean Niall's, office to see if there were any documents about the hybrid moon thing, while Halsey stands watch," Luke cut in.
"You're gonna do great, babe," Dinah beamed, hugging her girlfriend. Normani blushed.
"Alright, let's head out!" Camila said. Ally, all excited, jumped a little bit. She was wearing one of Dinah's snapbacks on her head backwards.
"We are THUG HARMONY!" she said excitedly.
"Luke, hold Ally's hand, we don't want her to wander off," Dinah chuckled. Luke walked over and placed his hand into Ally's. The height difference between the two was so great; it looked like a father dropping off his daughter for her first day of kindergarten.
"You nervous?" Camila asked Lauren, walking beside her.
"Are they going to drink my blood?" Lauren asked nervously, playing with her hands.
"What? Of course not. I won't let them," Camila comforted, nudging Lauren with her shoulders. Lauren blushed.
The seven of them reached the landing where Halsey was waiting. She tackled Michael in a hug.
"I missed you boys! Luke, get in here!" she called, squeezing the boys so tightly Camila thought she was suffocating them.
"Hey Hals," Luke said, patting her blue hair once she put him down. Michael waved and blushed. Camila always thought Michael had a small crush on the vampire.
"You dogs ready?" Halsey asked. "Cause I'm putting my ass on the line for you,"
"We're ready. Normani, you go with Halsey. We'll meet you here in an hour," Camila said.
"Good luck, baby," Dinah said, hugging Normani before kissing her.
"Alright let's do this," Halsey said, picking up Normani in her arms before speeding away.
"Let's move," Camila ordered, walking down the trail towards the vampire's lake house.
"Holy shit," Lauren muttered as they stood in the driveway. If she thought Camila's house was nice, then this place was like a fucking palace. It looked like the house the Cullen's live in Twilight.
"Yeah I know what you're thinking," Camila said quietly. "It is a lot like Twilight,"
"This place is incredible," Lauren said, eyes wide. Camila took her hand and led her to the front door, thinking Lauren would have been too shocked to move herself.
The six teenagers knocked on the door to the gigantic house. When the door opened, Lauren saw a boy who went to her school.
"Hey, Austin. Can we come in? Oh, wait, I don't have to ask because I'm not a polite bloodsucking demon," Dinah said, pushing past the boy.
"What's up?" Luke said, pounding Austin on the chest before walking towards Dinah. Austin let out an 'umpf!' due to the amount of force Luke used. The rest piled into the foyer of the house.
"What are you mutts doing here?" Austin spat. He sniffed the air, before focusing on Lauren.
"Brought me a snack? How thoughtful," he licked his lips before stalking over towards Lauren.
Camila stepped between the two of them.
"Step away," she said sternly. Austin chuckled.
"Threatening me, on my territory? You're dumb,"
"I don't know if you noticed but right now you're surrounded by five out of eight of my pack... I think you're the dumb one," Camila gave a sinister smile.
Austin paled, noticing that the four wolves had circled around him, each of them with a bloodthirsty look in their eyes. Ally was standing next to Lauren who was still in shock over the house.
Luke growled while Dinah licked her lips. Michael cracked his knuckles while Camila chuckled evilly.
"I always wondered what vampire flesh tastes like," Luke said, grinning.
"I dunno, he probably tastes like Doritos, but lets find out," Dinah said.
"Permission to kill, Alphie?"
"Permission granted," Camila smiled. The four of them moved in on Austin, fangs bared and claws out. He looked like he was about to pee his pants.
We're not actually gonna kill him, right? Michael asked.
Of course not, but lets give him a scare, Camila answered.
Luke, who was facing Austin, gave Camila a small nod to signal he got the message. He took one of his claws and dragged it across Austin's face, breaking skin.
"I heard decapitation is the best way to kill a vampire," Luke said grimly. He dragged his claw slowly around Austin's neck, blood pouring out of the wound. Austin whimpered.
"Let's see if that's true-"
"Miss Camila!" a cheery voice said behind the pack. The five wolves stepped away from the vampire, who was cowering and shaking.
"Hey, Niall," she said coolly, acting like her pack member wasn't about to tear off his minions head.
"What a pleasant surprise! And you've brought friends! And a human!" Niall clapped. Some of his henchmen complained about it smelling like dog. "Please, come in! What brings you to our neck of the woods?"
"Just strolling around," Dinah shrugged. "Thought we'd give you a housewarming gift,"
"The human?" Niall asked excitedly. Lauren's eyes widened as Camila and Ally stepped in front of her protectively.
"Erm, no. This," Dinah took a bottle out of her bag and threw it towards Niall. With Dinah's great aim and Niall's fast reflexes, it didn't drop.
"Jameson Irish Whiskey! Aw, just like back home. Thank you," Niall smiled.
Niall and his crew lead the pack into the living room where they all sat down.
"I would offer you food or something, but vampires don't need to eat, so we don't have any," Niall chuckled.
'That's ok, we came to chat," Michael said.
"Lovely! Chat about what?" Niall asked. A few of his henchmen stood at the door awkwardly.
"Uh," Ally said, knowing that they didn't think far enough into this plan. "About... life,"
"Austin, Natasha, Nick, get in here," Niall called to his three cronies. They shuffled in slowly and sat down near their leader, eyeing the wolves suspiciously.
"Where's the rest of your coven?" Camila asked.
"I let them run wild. They can go wherever," Niall grinned.
"You-you go to my school," Lauren said, surprised to see Austin. "Amos, right?"
"It's Austin," he rolled his eyes.
"That's what I said,"
"Where's the missus'," Dinah asked.
"Out," Austin grumbled.
"Aw, if I were her I would also get tired of your ess,"
Lauren started to laugh, which was probably a bad thing since Austin was staring daggers at her. Normally, she would be terrified to be in a house with a bunch of bloodthirsty vampires, but sitting next to Camila, she didn't seem so scared.
~~
"Okay, you wait here while I check if anyone is coming," Halsey said to Normani.
"I'm hanging onto the edge of this window sill!" Normani exclaimed, feet dangling at least fifteen feet off the ground.
"You'll be fine," Halsey said before disappearing.
"Wait, but-" Normani started, before realizing that she was talking to herself. The crisp autumn wind made her shiver, and the dull ache in her arms started to increase.
This was a bad idea to help Dinah. If her fingers were to slip, she would plummet to her death, and that was not a good way to start off the week.
Normani hung there, contemplating life, and questioning that if she fell if she could survive. She would probably fracture her spine and possibly her leg but there was a slight chance of survival.
Hopefully.
Halsey returned to the window.
"Okay there are people inside so you have to hang tight for a minute,"
"My arms feel like they're gonna fall off,"
"Great, hold on,"
"Halsey!" someone called from inside.
"What?" she answered.
"Some wolf pups are here, Niall wants us to all... 'bond'" the guy said the last word as if it was repulsive.
"I'll pass," she called back. Halsey ran to check if everyone was out of the hallway before helping Normani up. When she was inside, Normani collapsed on the ground.
"You okay, kid?" Halsey asked.
"My arms feel like Jell-O,"
"Excellent, there's Niall slash Justin's office, I'll stand right here in case you need me," Halsey said before she shoved Normani into a dark room.
"What am I looking for?" Normani asked.
"Files, documents, pictures... anything that links my coven to the killings," Halsey said through the doors. "There should be a file cabinet somewhere,"
Normani turned the light on to see a posh office, covered in a thin layer of dust.
"Why is everything so dusty?" Normani asked Halsey.
"You know... come to think of it I think Justin was the last one to use this office. I don't think Niall even touched this space," Halsey said.
Normani walked over to the file cabinet that sat in the corner next to the desk.
Police Reports. Blood Types. Covens. McVey.
Those were the names on each cabinet. Normani opened the one that said McVey, seeing that this one was the oddest out of all of them.
Normani scanned over each manila folder. They just had a bunch of names and locations on them... except for the file that said drys hib which was just a weird anagram for hybrids.
Normani swiped that folder before knocking on the door. Halsey swiftly opened it and scooped Normani into her arms before speeding away to the rendezvous point.
She hoped she didn't fuck up.
~~
After getting a few drinks in Niall, he was a blubbering mess.
"An-and then," he hiccupped. "When I g-got to the hut... th-they told me that the only thing they had left were carrots. CARROTS,"
The rest of the group was sober, and uncomfortable.
"So... maybe we should leave," Camila suggested. Natasha nodded.
"Yeah... if you don't leave now he'll tell you about how they shut down Nandos near his old home," she said.
"An' don't get me started on the Nandos disaster of '08!" Niall sobbed.
"Leave," Natasha said. "Leave now,"
The six teens hurridly got up and left the house, hoping they gave Normani enough time.
"That was... weird," Lauren admitted. Camila laughed.
"Yeah... they're an interesting bunch," she grinned.
"Are there any other vampires in our school besides Austin?"
"That's really not my place to say," Camila said quietly.
"Oh come on, you can tell me," Lauren nudged. She gave Camila a puppy pout.
"Please?"
"Ugh fine," Camila groaned. "Becky Gomez is one, but it's only her and Austin,"
"Cheerleader Becky Gomez? The one on my squad?"
"Yep,"
"Jeez, no wonder she's a bitch,"
"Tell me about it,"
The teens saw Normani and Halsey waiting for them at the cul de sac. Normani was holding a manila envelope.
"Is that it?" Luke asked.
"It's a folder with a poorly anagrammed 'hybrid' so I think so," Normani shrugged. Dinah gave her a hug.
"That's my girl, stealing from the big mean bloodsuckers," she smiled.
"Um, excuse me I'm standing right here," Halsey rolled her eyes playfully.
"Well you're an exception," Dinah grinned.
Zayn suddenly ran up to the group, out of breath. Camila saw the distress on his face.
"Let me guess," Camila groaned. "Another body?"
Zayn nodded. "So that makes four hybrids,"
~~
whassup homies
I tried to make this update longer than usual to make up for my annoying promos for my other fics I hope this was long enough.
(but anyways please go read the friend group)
sooo... yeah
imessage is pretty bomb too I guess
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