'THIS IS THE PART WHERE YOU RUN'
'When we're young, we're taught the distinction between a hero and a villain, good and evil, a savior and a lost cause. But what if the only real difference is just who's telling the story? My name is Kayla Rivers -Parker if you are worthy enough to be close to me. I come from a line of powerful Gemini Witches who are ruled by a powerful witch. I am daughter of a brief ruler of the Gemini Coven before he used his status of leader to kill everyone by just stabbing himself in the neck. His tale is something I shouldn't have been proud of, but when that's the only thing you know your father as, you come to cherish those memories. You learn to live up to that image. Which is what everyone actually see you as. Like I see the headmaster of this school sees me as. The psycho daughter of the psycho murderer of his children's mother. Yet, I wonder why he keeps me here. Why he still tries to help me at this school, why he keeps me close to his daughters, my cousins and without telling them the truth. He has a good heart. I don't.
But I can see where he's coming from. He thinks he can help everyone. And I believe he can't. Which is why, the school will be opening its doors to someone new, someone who shouldn't be here.
Kayla was sitting in the common room, reading a book. All the students around her were not bothering which made her day very relaxed and she was glad for it. Or she was until a girl sat next to her.
Hope Mikaelson opened her mouth to talk but before she could, Kayla spoke first
"Not interested in your drama, Mikaelson" Kayla told her without looking up from her book
Hope tilted her head aside "There's a human in the school"
"Not interested" Kayla repeated
"He can't be compelled" Hope continued. Kayla looked up briefly. Hope smiled in victory "He's locked up on the wolves cellars"
"He probably drank some vervain" Kayla told her "You know how Sheriff is. Poisoning the humans so vampires can't lay their sharpy ugly teeth on them"
"And I know him" Hope sighed. That's what brought Kayla looking up from her book. "The guy I told you I used to meet at the Grill?"
"The busboy?" Kayla questioned "Told you he was going to be trouble"
Hope stood, "Care to join me?" Kayla returned to her book wordlessly. Hope rolled her eyes "I don't know why I bother"
Hope walked away
Kayla sighed, looking up. "Neither do I"
~8~
"Kayla"
"It wasn't me this time" Kayla replied, turning around to see Alaric Saltzman. Alaric raised an eyebrow and gestured at her to enter his office. Kayla rolled her eyes, entering the office. "Seriously, I didn't do anything"
Alaric sat on his desk, folding his arms "You're not in trouble" Kayla paused mid-step, a brief expression of surprise in her face before it faded to her casual expressionless look, however Alaric caught it, not commenting on it. "However, i want to talk about you rejecting Hope trying to befriend you since you got here"
Kayla sat on the chair in front of the desk, crossing her legs "And you say I'm not in trouble" She replied, though she visibly relaxed.
"Hope doesn't try with other people" Alaric said softly, looking at his somewhat niece. "But she has tried with you. Yet, you push her away"
Kayla looked exasperated, something new in Alaric's eyes "Who will ever want to befriend a psycho?"
"You're not your father" Alaric told her. Kayla tilted her head aside "And Hope knows this"
"I lied when you guys met me" Kayla pointed out. "I tried to play the victim. You didn't even want to help me after that. That shows how much you think I'm like Kai"
Alaric grimaced "Bad impression from both sides, I know"
"Is only getting scolded for being a bitch to your prodigy daughter the reason why I'm here?" Kayla asked
"No" Alaric answered, "I want to know how the school is treating you"
"No, you want to know if I feel like murdering someone" Kayla smirked. Alaric shook his head "Come on. The school has libraries. In the first month I was here I found the books about Kai. I know what he did. I'm not bored enough to go on a killing spree in school grounds" Kayla stood, starting to walk away "There's no need to keep me in watch. I'm not gonna snap and kill the only population who lives here" Alaric closed his eyes, "Where's the fun in that?"
Kayla walked away, leaving the office
Alaric sighed sadly, rubbing his temples
~8~
Kayla was at the Salvatore Memorial Library laying on a coach. After her talk with Alaric, she felt this strange need to read more about her father. She usually didn't fall into that nostalgic category people talked about, she was just curious and wanted to know what more hideous things he did. For some part, it was the only way to be close to him. By learning about his evil days
However, voices coming closer interrupted her time alone but stayed crouched on the coach. She heard Hope in the library with some boy but decided to keep quiet, after a moment realizing this was the boy Hope had talked to her about. A smirk played on her lips as Hope began explaining to him her origins.
"The blood that runs through my veins isn't human" Hope explained "My dad was one of earth's Original Vampires"
"Was?" The human boy asked quietly
"Was" Hope confirmed "Turns out even immortal beings can find a way to die eventually"
"'Klaus Mikaelson: The Great Evil'." The boy read out loud.
"He wasn't very popular around here" Hope relied
It was that moment Kayla decided to make her presence known "At least her dad got his redemption before dying" Hope and the boy jumped, startled. Their heads snapping toward where they saw Kayla's head peeking out from behind a coach, looking at them, "Mine didn't"
Kayla showed them a book that had for title, 'Kai Parker: The Demon of the Gemini'
Hope looked at Kayla incredulously "You're not supposed to be here"
Kayla stood, walking closer to them, still wearing her uniform "And neither of you" Kayla wriggled her eyebrows at them. The boy looked flustered, looking between a glaring Hope and a smug looking Kayla. "But just because I like stories, specially yours, I'm keeping my mouth shut about this"
Hope softened slightly, grabbing Kayla's book "I thought I hid this book well"
Kayla shrugged "Stop hiding things with magic from me and I won't find them. Can't stop me from reading what horrible things my dad did"
The boy looked at Kayla in understanding, "U-uh, one of my foster dads used to burn me and Rafael with his cigarettes" Kayla pursed her lips, but her cold expression softened slightly, nodding slowly "I guess evil is relative"
Both girls exchanged knowing looks, knowing the three of them had similar pasts, something that made them understand each other a little and be slightly more sympathetic toward the human in front of them. It gave Hope a little hope to go past Kayla's barriers and actually befriend the girl.
"My dad killed his own twin sister" Kayla told him.
The boy widened his eyes
Hope glared at Kayla "Not now" Kayla shrugged. Hope looked at him apologetically, continuing her story "My mother was a werewolf Alpha"
"There's that was again" He told her quietly
Hope sighed, fidgeting with Kayla's book "The people I care about have a tendency to die on me. I try not to get close to people anymore"
"Follow your on advice" Kayla snarked, giving her a look.
"I can see that" The boy told them, trying to stop the tension between the girls from growing "And what's your excuse from pushing people?" Kayla set her cold blue eyes on him making him gulp and stutter "I-I mean, I recognize that look"
"I've been told I inherited a lot of my father's psychopathic tendencies, including his outbursts of hurting the people around him" Kayla explained "Just like my own cousin. But, she doesn't have that psychotic gene I have. I tend to push people away so I won't hurt them whenever I get these outbursts"
Hope softened, now understanding her cold facade. "Oh"
Kayla avoided looking at Hope, "Yup" She grabbed the book from Hope's hands, "And this is when I disappear" She began walking backwards, "Don't do anything I wouldn't"
Hope pursed her lips, closing her eyes flustered, "Kayla..."
Kayla smirked, leaving the library
"She's your friend?" The boy asked after a moment
Hope sighed, "We're getting there" He nodded in confusion, "So, where was I? Oh, yeah. My grandmother was..."
~8~
The next morning, Kayla was walking toward her next class, seeing Hope staring toward the window longingly. She was going to walk away but hesitated, joining the girl, following her gaze seeing the human boy saying goodbye to the new Werewolf student
"You really liked him" Kayla commented quietly
"He's normal" Hope sighed, "That's what I liked"
Kayla hummed, "You could see him again, if you want" Hope turned to her friend, tilting her head aside "You know where he lives. Or at least where he is supposed to be. You can go visit him whenever you want normal"
Hope looked surprised "I hadn't thought about it like that" Kayla managed a small smile that after a moment faded away. "Thanks, Kay"
Kayla's expression turned colder "Don't call me like that"
Kayla stormed away.
Hope looked confused and slight hurt but after a moment, she realized what she had said "Kai. Kay...." She sighed in frustration "Perfect"
~8~
"Not only did I inherited his emotionless and shitty personality, but I was given a name similar to him" Kayla found Alaric and Mr. Dorian Williams, the librarian, dropping her books in front of them, a frustrated look in her usual calm and cold features "Why am I being haunted by his past?"
Alaric sighed heavily "Hello, Kayla. What can I do for you?"
"Can you change my name legally?" Kayla asked, noticing their serious expressions, "Well, if you want after this. Who died?"
Dorian shook his head, "This is serious. We got robbed"
Kayla looked at the display, the glass shattered and pursed her lips, remembering the odd interest the human had taken the night prior "Tell me that knife isn't very dangerous"
Both adults turned to face the teenager girl, "How did you know it was a knife?"
Kayla didn't answer, staring at them expressionless
Alaric sighed "Guess what? You're coming with me"
~8~
Alaric had talked to Hope about the knife and how he suspected the human they brought there, Landon Kirby had been responsable and how he couldn't be human if he couldn't be compelled. Immediately, he gathered the entire school to an assembly to update them on what had happened.
"For ten years, we've gone undetected" Alaric spoke from the stage, looking at every one of his students, all of them subconsciously separated in groups. Vampires, werewolves and witches. "Protecting you, protecting our secret has been our singular mission. Tonight, I need your help to find Landon Kirby.... Before he exposes us all"
Murmurs broke out among the crowd of students, some panicked of what a human could do to them, some couldn't care less, there was Rafael White, new Werewolf student and Landon's foster brother who didn't know what to think about the situation and there were the ones like Hope Mikaelson and Kayla Rivers who wanted his head on a plate.
~8~
An hour after the assembly, Hope went to Kayla's room, taking advantage Kayla's roommate wasn't around and laid down on the siphoner's bed, feeling betrayed and upset.
"I can't believe he would do that" Hope stared at the ceiling, unsurprised that the Rivers girl was quiet. However, she felt surprised when she realized the girl was looking at her intently "Like, I know when someone's lying. I've known my fair share of liars. I didn't notice anything about him being dishonest"
"He caught me by surprise as well" Kayla said after a moment. "The orphan stuff" She pointed at Hope, "That's what threw you out of the loop and made you lower your guard"
Hope huffed angrily, "I will find him"
"And how do you plan this, oh mighty Tribid?" Kayla mocked, tilting her head aside
Hope began to smile "I have an idea, but I need you and another witch to help me out" She held her hand to her. Kayla stared at it curiously, "I have the perfect candidate in mind, but I'm not sure if you're gonna like it. So I need you to siphon me of magic first"
Kayla looked at Hope in confusion.
~8~
"Oh, I definitely don't like this" Kayla murmured as Hope led the way down the hallway of rooms toward the Saltzman twins' room, AKA Kayla's cousins who didn't know who she really was to them yet.
"Calm down" Hope remarked, looking over her shoulder "We're talking about Josie. We won't take too long to convince her to help us"
Kayla rolled her eyes, murmuring under her breath "Hopefully"
Hope smirked in amusement, leaning against the doorframe of the twins' bedroom door. "We need your help"
Josette Saltzman, the brunette and kinder twin who always put others', specially her sister's needs above her own. Something that annoyed Kayla deeply.
Josie looked up from where she was tiding up her room, sarcastically "Three words more than your annual average. You don't need me, you have your sidekick already"
Kayla walked past Hope inside the room, ignoring Josie's remark, crossing her arms "We need another witch for this spell"
Josie gave Kayla a sarcastic smile, picking up a book and trying to ignore the two girls
Hope closed the door, figuring it was better to have that conversation in private, stopping at her friend's side as they both looked down at Josie, standing at the end of the bed.
"This stuff with Landon is my fault" Hope told her "I can fix it. I know how to track him, but it involves using dark magic..."
Josie tilted her aside, still not looking at either of them, "Well, we're not allowed to use dark magic here, so..."
Kayla smirked "Where's your sense of adventure, Saltzman? Are you always a Daddy's girl, following his rules?"
Josie shrugged "Rules are there for a reason"
Kayla looked at Hope's mischievous expression "Well, it wasn't me nor Kayla who just lit her ex on fire. How's that about following rules?"
Kayla looked impressed and slightly proud of her cousin's actions, even if her night was about to get ruined by her roommate's bitching all night about another Josie Saltzman's harsh treatment against her.
Josie looked between the other witches in alarm, her tone accusatory "Are you blackmailing me?"
"Of course not, sunshine" Kayla waved her hand dismissively, "You'd know about blackmail when someone's actually blackmailing you" Josie gave her a look. Kayla ignored it "Right now we need a kindred spirit in revenge"
Hope nodded in agreement
Josie thought about it for a moment before reluctantly nodding.
Hope looked at Kayla smugly, as if to say 'Told you so'
Kayla half smirked, not really looking for her cousin performing dark magic
~8~
The three witches prepared everything to perform the spell, kneeling in the floor in a circle, an open spellbook laying on the floor in the middle of the three with the instructions for the spell. Josie lit up a match, starting to lit up candles with the help of Kayla while Hope reached into a cardboard box, pulling out a rat with a guilty expression
Kayla stopped Hope, staring at her emotionlessly "I can do it"
Hope looked at the squirming rat in her grip, nodding. Kayla grabbed it from her hands, squeezing the little creature with both of her hands before snapping its spine, killing it. Hope flinched slightly at that seeing no emotion in her friend's face as she helped Josie with the crushed herbs spreading them all over the pages of the spell book, feeling guilty for involving them in something she was responsible for.
Kayla cut open the rat's stomach, allowing its blood to drip onto the herbs and parchment.
Josie looked at Hope and Kayla with concern "Are you sure about this?"
Kayla looked at Hope who had a steely look in her eye "Absolutely"
"Let's find this liar thief" Kayla told them darkly
The three girls crossed their wrists, grabbing each other hands, Josie siphoning some magic from Hope and Kayla (As she had siphoned enough from Hope earlier to pass as a normal witch in front of Josie) before they began to chant, closing their eyes
"Inveniet hostium et tenebrae. Inveniet hostium et tenebrae. Inveniet hostium et tenebrae"
Wind started to blow papers around the room as the girls began to get flashes of Landon half asleep on a bus
"Do you see anything?" Josie asked
"Just flashes" Kayla answered
More flashes began appearing, of Landon and the bus but nothing to tell them the human's whereabouts
"Come on" Hope murmured in frustration "Give me something"
The flashes got more informative, showing them information about a highway
"I got it" Josie told them
"Route 29" Josie and Kayla finished together
They saw a highway sign
"Near the state line" Hope told them
Suddenly, they saw in the vision Landon pulling a knife out of his jacket pocket, looking at it
"Is that the knife?" Josie asked
"Yeah" Hope answered
They watched how the knife's blade began to glow a bright red as if sensing their spell. Landon looked confused, squeezing his eyes close to avoid being blinded by the knife's light
"What the hell is it doing?" Kayla asked
"I have no idea" Hope answered in concern
~8~
The next morning, after helping her roommate with her new style only for her to shut up, Kayla received a call from Hope, for the first time in years, Kayla expressing more than just boredom, indifference or sarcasm
"He did that?" Kayla asked in shock, scrolling through the photos Hope had sent her from the bus they had seen in their vision. It looked as though it had exploded, and inside, every person from the driver to those seated in the back had been all burned so badly they resembled mummified corpses.
"I'm not one to write in my diary as I believe it's a waste of time, no one but me would read it, no one but me would be aware of what's happening inside my head, why I am who I am. But today, I knew these words had to be plastered inside your pages. Someone had once told me I was cold and I would never care for other beings but myself, not caring for their feelings nor their lives. If I could express myself like everyone do, I would be pleased to shut them up. To tell them how wrong they were. Witnessing my cousin performing dark magic wasn't something I enjoyed, while it looked like it from other point of views, I didn't. If I had to be the evil character, the villain from their story to prevent them from being hurt or of having to be the ones to do hideous things, I was willing to follow through my father's legacy of being evil, of being dark. I jut hadn't imagined someone was going to take that spot from me.
Kayla stared at each photo mortified, sliding down the wall to the ground in a deserter hallway, no one around to witness the perfect cold facade the daughter of psycho killer crumbling and showing the humanity inside the girl.
Turns out I'm not the villain of this story as I had believed for years. One only needed to wait for the wrong person at the right time to take that reputation away from me. To steal it just like he stole my best friend's heart. No, I'm not denying it anymore, Hope Mikaelson had been there for me since the start, the first one who never judged me after finding me in the debris and remains of what used to be my house, the same day my family had shunned me out of their Coven. She supported me and comforted me even after learning of my identity, something Dr. Saltzman had taken a while to process and had hesitated to accept me in his school. Funny how a girl sympathizing with your story can help you.
This time, it was my turn to be there for Hope, it was my time to support her. And when we find Landon Kirby, he was going to wish he never became the villain of my story. If anything, I was willing to take that title away from him again. If I had a say in this, no one but me had to be the bad guy.