'SOME PEOPLE JUST WANT TO WATCH THE WORLD BURN'
"When you look around you, you always see the people you love. The people who will ever be by your side until the end. When I look around me, I see the people who hate me. I see the people who wouldn't bat an eyelid if something were to happen to me. And I used to be good with that. It didn't bother me in the slightest. But now, I don't know what I would do without Hope. Our little expedition through dark magic the night prior made me realize I wasn't as cold as I thought.
Kayla was putting on her uniform, a grimace of discomfort in her face while her roommate laughed
"Care to share with the class, demon?" Penelope Parks, known as Satan -by her cousins particularly- had become Kayla's roommate since she first got into the school.
"Nothing to share, Satan" Kayla replied, turning away from her mirror and watching Penelope finish her make up.
Since the moment they both had been placed in the same room, both girls had gotten along. They both were hated by most of the school population and were cold and sarcastic, but under the safety of their room, sometimes they were the only ones who know they both really had a heart.
"Well, I'm not the one puking black goo" Penelope smirked. Kayla didn't answer, picking up her books "Now the question, why were you practicing dark magic? I thought you were really onto getting into Dr. Saltzman's good side?"
Kayla rolled her eyes "Desperate times called for desperate measures"
Penelope lowered her make up brush, lowering her eyebrows "If you did it for Mikaelson, she's not really going to give you a free pass onto being a nice student in his eyes"
A knock in the doorframe stopped their conversation, seeing Hope in there, a guilty expression as she heard them speaking but tried to not let it show, "Hi"
Kayla gave Penelope a look, "See you in class"
Penelope half smiled, turning away
Kayla walked toward Hope, walking pass her
"She knows?" Hope asked.
"Penelope knows everything" Kayla explained "I don't know why, and I don't care. As long as she is not around telling people my secrets"
"Speaking of secrets" Hope began. Kayla turned to face her, both of them still walking along the hallway "Emma knows I practiced dark magic last night" Kayla raised her eyebrows, "I didn't tell her you guys helped me, however..."
"She suspects I helped you" Kayla finished knowingly
"I swear I didn't want to throw you under the bus" Hope told her
Kayla shrugged "You didn't. So don't be nervous around me"
Hope looked down, "If this goes wrong for you, it'll be my fault"
Kayla nudged her shoulder, reassuringly "Hey, you didn't put a gun on me or forced me to help you. I did it on my own. As long as you keep Josie out of this"
Hope smiled slightly
"Just the two girls I wanted to find" Alaric walked closer, a serious expression in his face. Kayla and Hope tried to not look at each other, slightly nervous. "You two are coming with me to find Landon. You want to do things together, then we'll start with this"
Alaric turned around, walking away
Kayla and Hope exchanged a look. He knows.
~8~
"I'm sure you have a plan for when we find him" Kayla commented as they walked toward the entrance, looking for Alaric's car, ready to go to find Landon. "You're not really miss sympathy when someone wrongs you"
Hope discreetly pulled out of her pocket a ripped page folded in half, handing it to Kayla "Just do what you do best and don't react"
Kayla tilted her head, slowly unfolding the page, seeing it was of a spell named MORTEM, a sketch of a skull along its incantation "You're not doing this alone"
Kayla folded the spell, handing it to Hope.
Hope shoved it to her pocket, "This time I'm not letting you do it with me. This is the type of magic Dr. Saltzman will never forgive you"
"Because of dear ol' dad?" Kayla asked, rolling her eyes as they reached Alaric's car
"Yeah" Hope answered sadly. When they both reached Alaric's car, an SUV, they stopped seeing a pair of legs under the car, frowning in confusion. "Hello?"
The person under the car slid out, revealing the new student, Rafael. "Hey"
Rafael slid back under the SUV, tinkering with the undercarriage, apparently doing some mechanic work
Kayla rolled her eyes "Get out of there, wolfboy"
"What are you doing?" Hope asked
"Adjusting the sway bar" Rafael answered
"Was it broken?" Kayla asked
Rafael slid back out from under the SUV, holding up a bar that he just wrenched off of the vehicle "It is now" Kayla and Hope rolled their eyes in realization "You're going after Landon" Hope raised an eyebrow, frustrated. Kayla stared at him in amusement. "If you want this car to work, I'm going with you"
"You should stay out of it" Hope told him in a condescending tone of voice "He's a liar and a thief"
Rafael scoffed "He took a stupid knife"
Kayla tilted her head "Nothing in this school is a stupid anything"
Rafael took a deep breath, "Look... He's my best friend. And you?" He looked at Hope "You seem vengeful. And you?" He looked at Kayla "You look like you don't give a crap, yet you're doing this. Which is scary and worrying"
Kayla smiled sarcastically
Hope sighed, realizing Rafael wasn't going to be swayed so easily, trying another tactic "Let me show you something" Hope took a step forward, raising her hands. Rafael grabbed her wrists uneasily, looking between the girls warily. Kayla lazily gestured at him to let her continue, nodding. Rafael looked back at Hope reluctantly but after a moment, he allowed her to place the palms of her hands on either side of his face "Close your eyes" Rafael did as told and Hope copied him, muttering an incantation under her breath "Enserdi."
Kayla watched them intently as she knew Hope was going to show him what she, Josie and herself had seen the night prior when they cast the spell to track Landon.
After a moment, Rafael jerked back startled, staring at Hope overwhelmed, confused as though he wasn't sure what he should believe "What the hell was that?"
"Your best friend did that to a bus full of people on Route 29 last night" Hope answered "And Kayla and I are the only ones who knows how to find him" Hope held her hand, expectantly "So, give me the engine-thingy"
Kayla stood next to Hope, crossing her arms
Rafael looked at them, standing his ground "No"
Kayla smirked, tilting her head aside "You're being stupid right now, wolfboy" Her tone turned colder "Won't be useful against magic powers"
"Well, you'd have to deal with a long history of anger issues" Rafael replied
Kayla and Hope glared at him
Alaric rushed past them in a hurry, putting his gear in the SUV "He can come"
Hope blinked incredulously "What?"
"He knows Landon" Alaric explained "He'll be an asset. And we need all the help we can get-" He turned to Rafael "So, fix the car and hop in" Rafael looked at the girls smugly, starting to repair the SUV "And put a shirt on"
Hope rolled her eyes in frustration
Kayla chuckled "This is gonna be interesting"
~8~
Route 29
Alaric, Hope, Kayla and Rafael pulled up where the bus explosion occurred on the side of the road, getting out of the car, seeing the leftover crime scene tape and still-burning flares marking their location.
They began making their way through the woods near the highway, all of them silent.
"I don't know why he's still out here" Hope told them. "He has a whole day's lead on us. He could be anywhere"
Rafael looked at Hope "Maybe 'cause he doesn't have a reason to run"
Hope rolled her eyes sarcastically "Logic that would be perfectly believable if he hadn't, you know... ran"
Kayla just looked between them in amusement
Alaric stopped "Wait" Kayla turned to face him "Shh" Alaric tilted his head aside, focusing his hearing, leading Hope, Kayla and Rafael to do the same "You hear that?"
Kayla frowned "I don't hear anything" She looked at Hope and Rafael "You're the ones with supernatural hearing. What is it?"
They looked at Kayla blankly
Alaric shushed her, "Someone's here"
Alaric took off, jogging through the foggy forest.
"And he's the one with no magic" Kayla gave them a sarcastic a look, "I thought he and I were going to be the useless ones"
Kayla followed after Alaric as Rafael gave Hope a confused look. Hope didn't react, following after her friend
Alaric and Kayla walked through the forest until they came upon a women sitting on the ground, as if she had been hiding behind a large tree, quickly scrambling to her feet. Kayla raised her eyebrows at the long white lace dress she was wearing that was covered in soot like her skin.
The woman looked at them scared.
Alaric raised his hands in a non-threatening manner to try to calm her down "It's okay. I-I'm not gonna hurt you"
The woman looked at Alaric and the students back and forth, an uneasy and scared expression as she stayed silent
"Were you on the bus?" Alaric asked "Can you tell us what happened?"
The woman looked around the forest around her curiously, remaining silent.
"Do you know English?" Kayla asked
The woman briefly looked at Kayla before looking away
Hope looked at Alaric, frowning "Is she a survivor?"
"Smells like it" Rafael told them "She reeks of smoke"
Alaric realized "I think she's in shock" The woman continued looking around the forest, wide eyed. He looked at Hope, Rafael and Kayla "Look, I need to get her to the police so she can get some medical attention. Uh, why don't you three go ahead?" He pointed at the girls warningly "Don't engage. We don't know how dangerous Landon is."
Rafael looked at him offended "He's not dangerous-"
Alaric gave Rafael a stern look "I said don't engage"
Kayla rolled her eyes "Come on"
Kayla began walking away, Hope following behind as Rafael reluctantly followed while Alaric stayed back with the woman.
~8~
Hope and Rafael and Kayla were wandering around the woods
"What exactly happened on that bus?" Rafael asked
Hope shrugged "No one knows. It's like someone incinerated it from the inside"
Rafael sighed "Look, whatever he did, I know there's a good explanation. He's the most loyal friend I've ever had" Hope and Kayla looked at him in skepticism and amusement, "He was there for me on the worst day of my life. After my girlfriend died, he's the only thing that kept me going. So, let me get that knife back for you, and then we all can hear him out, okay?"
Hope looked as though she believed it, clenching her jaw as she looked at Kayla. Kayla was just looking at her, silently letting her know she had her back and would do whatever she wanted to do.
"Appreciate the passion, but maybe you should exert some of it making new friends" Hope told him
Rafael scoffed "So I can be as popular and well-liked as you two?" The girls stopped walking, turning to face Rafael. By looking at Hope, he could tell he hit a nerve but he felt uneasy with the lack of expression on the other witch. "Yeah, I've been at the school for two days and I've already heard all about Hope Mikaelson and her sidekick Kayla Rivers and their sunny disposition" Rafael and Hope stared at each other for a brief moment. Kayla sighed in frustration "I'll get you the stupid, not-stupid knife, and the answers you want. I promise"
Hope smiled fakely "And why should we believe you?"
"Because I don't lie" Rafael answered
Kayla chuckled, "Everybody lies"
Kayla looked at Hope knowingly.
Hope turned to Rafael sighing, rolling her eyes "He's in the root cellar. You have three minutes to do this your way"
Hope stepped aside to let him pass.
Rafael narrowed his eyes in confusion and disbelief "Wait, the headmaster said don't engage-"
Kayla looked at her nails, "Two minutes fifty-nine, two minutes fifty-eight-"
Rafael, realizing they were being honest, rushed into the root cellar
Hope crossed her arms, "Come on"
Hope began walking slowly toward the root cellar
Kayla smiled "I knew you were lying"
Hope gave her a small smile "Like you said. Everybody lies"
~8~
Both girls entered the root cellar just in time to hear Landon nervously trying to tell Rafael he hadn't burned the bus, "-That wasn't me"
"Then who was it?" Hope asked
Rafael turned to them, looking betrayed "You said three minutes!"
Kayla shrugged nonchalantly "Like I said. People lie"
Hope took a step forward, thrusting her hand toward Landon, "Corporis impetu!"
Landon flew backwards with incredible force, being telekinetically pinned to the wall behind him.
Rafael looked at Hope like she was crazy "Hey!"
Kayla looked at Rafael, "Sit down, puppy"
Kayla raised her hand flat, thrusting it down, magically forcing Rafael fall to the ground, making him groan in pain
Hope looked at Landon "Where's the knife?"
Landon looked between the witches anxiously "I don't have it. I must've lost it when I ran"
"After you burned the bus?" Hope asked accusingly
"That wasn't me, I swear!" Landon told her, "I barely got out alive"
Rafael looked at Hope both angrily and fearfully, trying to stand up to calm her down but Kayla's magic wasn't letting him do it "Hope, come on"
Hope, who still had her hand up to pin Landon to the wall, ignored him "Last chance. Who the hell was it?"
Landon sighed anxiously, looking at the other three "There was this girl..."
~8~
"You really expect us to believe that story?" Kayla asked, crossing her arms, "Liaaar"
Landon and Rafael had been released from the girls' magical restrains after Landon began telling them what had happened. Rafael was kneeling next to Landon to make sure he was okay.
"You both have every right to be mad at me, but I am telling you the truth, Hope" Landon told them. He looked over at Rafael "Come on, man, help me"
Rafael sighed, looking at Hope and Kayla "I believe him"
"Of course you would" Kayla murmured under her breath in amusement
Hope looked at Rafael exasperated and incredulous "You believe that a fire-breathing woman burned the bus alive?"
Rafael nodded "Yeah"
"And Landon happened to be spared?" Hope asked
"He told you that he ran" Rafael pointed out
Kayla raised a finger, lazily "And conveniently lost the knife on the way?"
Rafael gave Kayla a look "Yes"
Kayla gave him a sweet sarcastic smile
"She kept coming at me like she was gonna take it from me" Landon told them "She was burning everything in her path!"
Hope glared at him "You want to explain to us what you were doing stealing that knife in the first place?"
"I don't remember stealing it!" Landon exclaimed
"Of course you don't" Kayla told him sarcastically, pacing around the cellar slowly, "What about pretending to be compelled, then?"
"That was to avoid being thrown back in the werewolf dungeon" Landon told them
"Transitional cellar" Hope and Kayla corrected
"Small spaces!" Landon exclaimed, walking closer to Hope, desperately for her to believe him. "Hope, you have to understand, Dr. Saltzman had already told me the school wasn't gonna let me stay. If he thought I'd talk, he'd lock me back up. There wasn't a good ending for me!" Hope's face fell, realizing that he had a valid point, looking at Kayla to let her know. Kayla frowned "I didn't want to steal from you, and I don't want a fire-breather chasing me. I'm sorry for all of it"
"He's not lying, I know him" Rafael told them. "Now, if he says there's a fire-breathing woman running around the woods, then there is a-"
Suddenly, Alaric ran through the door, looking panicked "There's a fire-breathing woman running through the woods!" Kayla and Hope exchanged startled looks. Alaric stopped in his tracks when he saw Kayla, Hope and Rafael standing around an anxious-looking Landon, giving them a stern look "Did I or did I not say 'don't engage'?"
Kayla glanced at Landon, shrugging "If the cheap version of Nick Jonas can kill with his crappy apologies..."
"Looks can be deceiving" Alaric told her. "Now, our bus refugee? Turns out, she's a pyromancer"
Kayla and Hope looked at each other in shock.
"Wait, wh-what's a pyromancer?" Landon asked nervously.
Hope responded in a soft voice, "A fire-breathing witch"
Rafael hummed, looking at the shocked girls, sarcastically "Huh"
Kayla looked at Alaric "Dr. Saltzman, she wants the knife"
"Okay, well, where is it?" Alaric asked.
Kayla, Alaric and Hope turned to Landon.
Landon began stuttering anxiously "I-I lost it in the woods. I was running around in circles all night, trying to find a place to hide"
Alaric sighed, deciding to trust him "Okay, okay...Well, let's, uh, find it before she does, huh?"
Alaric walked away, leaving the cellar. Hope, Rafael, Landon and Kayla followed behind, only to stop by seeing the woman standing several yards away, waiting for them, growling menacingly at them.
"We don't want any trouble..." Alaric told her nervously.
The woman held her hand expectantly, a silent request for the knife. Alaric frowned in confusion. The woman noticed this, snapping her head and her attention toward Landon, holding her hand insistently.
Kayla realized "When you said you lost the knife..."
Rafael looked at his anxious and scared looking foster brother "Lan?"
Hope looked at Landon, realizing what Kayla did as well "She wants the knife you said you don't have"
The woman's eyes started to glow a reddish orange and Alaric widened his eyes, knowing she was about to breathe fire at them, quickly turning to his students, "Back in the cellar. Go. Go, go, go, go"
All of them ran inside the root cellar, sensing the heat of the fire as they closed the doors that began burning.
Hope immediately turned to Landon furiously "Where the hell is it?"
"I'm sorry!" Landon told her, quickly pulling out the knife out of his inner jacket pocket, handing it to her "I panicked"
"What the hell, Lan?" Rafael asked in disappointment and disbelief.
Kayla ignored them, trying to put the fire out, only to realize she was out of magic, looking at her hands nervously. "Ric..."
Alaric looked at his niece, seeing her unease as she glanced at her hands and back to the still ablaze doors, realizing she was out of magic "Hope, doors!"
Hope turned to them, nodding "I got it"
Alaric and Kayla stepped back as Hope walked back toward the doors, thrusting her right hand palm-out toward the fire "Adiuuatur" The spell extinguished the flames. Hope turned to them "Okay, it's a quick fix. It won't last long"
Alaric nodded, "All right. Great. I need a cell phone"
"Take your pick" Landon gestured toward a large barrel nearby, which was full of cellphones, wallets, and jewelry.
Alaric, Hope, Kayla and Rafael walked closer, examining the stuff.
Kayla frowned, picking up some jewelry "What is all this?"
Rafael reached out, picking up an ID card, realizing "It's from the people on the bus"
Rafael and Kayla turned around to look at Landon suspiciously.
"I didn't bring it here-" Landon began.
"If he says 'I swear' on more time" Hope interrupted, giving Rafael a frustrated look "I'm gonna melt him"
Landon looked away, nervously "Man..."
~8~
Alaric used one of the cell phones stolen by the mysterious woman, calling Dorian for an update, putting it on speaker "Please tell me you have something"
"Connection sucks" Dorian told him, "W-Where are you?"
Hope rolled her eyes "Root cellar full of contraband that our pickpocket Landon Kirby claims he didn't steal"
Rafael looked at Hope in exasperation "There's a fire-breather outside. Can you prioritize your rage?"
"There wouldn't be a fire-breather outside if it weren't for him stealing the knife" Kayla told him "She can put his vandalism atop in the priority of her rage with that witch while Landon bonds with her over their criminal ways"
Rafael gave Kayla a frustrated look.
"Dragon" Dorian interrupted whatever Rafael was going to retort.
"What?" Alaric asked
"Dragon" Dorian repeated "She steals treasure, breathes fire, hides the loot in her lair... She's-she's not a pyromancer, she's a-"
"I've always wanted to fight a dragon" Kayla murmured under breath
Alaric scoffed, rolling his eyes "Dragons don't exist, or look like normal people"
"There was a time we would have said that about vampires" Dorian replied
Alaric sighed impatiently, knowing he was right "Okay, fine. She's a human dragon. Now what?"
"In anything I've ever read-" Dorian began
"In fiction" Alaric interjected, still skeptical.
"The way to take down a dragon?" Dorian continued "You need a buttload of courage and a sword"
Hope held up the blade she just got back from Landon, "How about a knife?"
~8~
Hope used her magic to blow off the cellar doors open, jumping out of the root cellar, landing lightly on the ground in front of the dragon, telekinetically shoving her several yards backwards with a simple thrust of her arm
"Didn't anyone ever tell you smoking's bad for you?" Hope asked. The dragon-woman landed on her side facing away from Hope, flipping herself onto her front before starting to stand, glaring angrily at Hope, who just shrugged sarcastically "I know, quitting's hard"
The dragon's growling turned to a roar as she breathed an enormous fiery blast at Hope. Hope raised her right hand to block the fire by clutching the knife, using her magic to protect herself from the flames. "Scutum" Blocking the fire was clearly starting to tire her, wincing in response to the heat of the fire and the hot knife.
Suddenly, with a light touch of her arm feeling someone siphoning her, the flames were thrusted backwards more fiercely, looking at her side, seeing Kayla holding her left hand up to help her out with the flames.
"Figured you'd need help" Kayla told her.
Hope nodded gratefully as both witches fought back the powerful blast of fire until suddenly the fire dissipated, lowering their hands, seeing the dragon woman in the ground, holding her head.
They looked at Rafael exasperated.
"Took you long enough" Hope told him.
"Sorry" Rafael apologized, "I couldn't find a rock"
"There's literally a lair full of heavy objects" Kayla pointed out
The dragon-woman recovered from the hit, getting ready to stand on her feet.
Rafael redirected Hope and Kayla to the task at hand "Hope! Kayla! Alley-oop"
Rafael sprinted toward the dragon-woman. Hope waited until he was next to her before tossing Rafael the blade. Rafael leaped into the air toward the dragon with his werewolf agility, plunging the blade into her chest, seemingly killing her.
The three of them shared a look, unnerved
"Is it me, or killing a dragon was easier than I thought it'll be?" Kayla asked slightly nervous, looking at the dead dragon-woman
~8~
Rafael yanked the knife out of the dragon-woman's chest, handing it to Hope with a hard expression "Promise kept"
Alaric and Landon ran closer.
"You three alright?" Alaric asked in concern, looking at the body of the dragon they had just slayed, both relieved it was over but unhappy his students and niece had to defeat it "Let's give her a proper burial. See if you can find a shovel"
The four teens did as told, walking away toward the root cellar, picking up shovels, walking out, only to stop in shock by seeing a real life Dragon behind Alaric, spreading its wings.
"Dr. Saltzman" Hope and Kayla called out, wide eyed.
"Oh, my God..." Hope breathed in shock
The dragon roared before stretching out its wings, taking flight, breathing a large blast of fire once it was up in the air.
"Was that a-" Landon began.
Hope took a deep breath, knowing what she had to do, turning to face Landon, Kayla and Rafael, tossing the shovel on the ground "You guys go. Get to the car and get out of here"
Kayla stared at Hope intently, dropping her shovel to the ground
"What about you?" Rafael asked, dropping his shovel.
"I have an idea" Hope answered, giving Kayla a pointed look
Kayla stubbornly crossed her arms.
"What?" Alaric asked
"She wants this" Hope pulled out the knife from the waistband of her jeans, "She's going to be back"
Alaric sighed, knowing she was right, "All right, you three, go to the car" Landon and Rafael reluctantly did as told. Rafael tried to grab Kayla's arm but she stepped back, shaking her head, watching them go "I'll meet you there. Go. Go!" Alaric looked at Kayla frowning "What are you waiting for?"
"For you to trust me" Kayla answered bluntly, "I'm helping"
Alaric looked between two girls, warily "You wake up with a death wish today?"
"Something like that" Hope answered, walking forward with the knife in hand "Get back to the car, Kayla"
"I told you you're not doing this alone" Kayla replied, both girls waiting for the dragon to circle back around to their location.
~8~
The dragon returned.
Alaric looked at the witches with alarm "All right, it's coming back. Now what?"
"You should take cover" Hope suggested
"Like hell" Alaric responded as though he thought they lost their minds
Kayla turned to him, seriously "Then tell us how we're gonna explain to your daughters that all that's left of you is hot ash?"
Alaric was visibly appalled by this retort, "The dad card?" Kayla shrugged "That's a low blow. Including for you, Kayla. Didn't think you'd use it"
"Why, because it's so difficult to believe I have a heart?" Kayla snapped.
Alaric looked down guiltily, thinking for a brief moment about her words, realizing that he was an ordinary human, "All right, but Kayla..."
"I'm a witch too if you forgot" Kayla told him, angrily "I can help"
Alaric sighed, going back into the root cellar, though not without first noticing that Hope pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket before he closed the doors.
Hope unfolded the paper, showing Kayla it was the Mortem spell, "Are you sure about this? He won't be happy about it"
Kayla didn't answer, holding her hand for the spell. Hope gave it to her and both girls held hands, Kayla siphoning Hope's magic as Hope raised the knife and Kayla the spell so they could read it.
Both girls started to chant out loud "Tenebris anima vestra contundito mortem. Et conteret spiritum. Frange vitam. Nolite corde. Ut sub terra esse, ad tenebras usque in sempiternum..."
The dragon started to descend where they're standing, blowing wildly wind around them, squeezing their hands to remain fearless against the dragon.
"Tenebris anima vestra contundito mortem. Et conteret spiritum. Frange vitam. Nolite corde. Ut sub terra esse"
Suddenly, the dragon screeched in the air, seemingly exploding with a white light
~8~
Hope and Kayla awakened, finding themselves laying on the ground, the grimoire page laying to their left and the knife laying to their right, indicating that they had been knocked unconscious at some point during the spell. The dragon had reverted back to her human form and was laying flat on her stomach when she suddenly began to stir.
Hope quickly stood to her feet, looking at the dragon-woman, whose face was covered in blood. Hope held up the knife to kill her once and for all, looking conflicted, only for the woman to hold out her hand with a pleading expression.
"Where did you come from?" Hope asked shakily, looking scared "Why do you want this so badly? What's so special about it?" The woman remained silent, still begging non-verbally with her hand outstretched. Hope looked overwhelmed, losing her patience "Say something!"
The dragon still on her hands and knees, turned around, preparing to blast fire to Hope. But before she could react, Kayla appeared behind Hope, taking the knife out of her hand, stabbing the dragon-woman in the throat, killing her before her fire reached full intensity. Kayla breathed heavily, pulling away the knife as Alaric reached their side, all of them looking down at the lifeless creature in front of them, having finally slayed the dragon.
~8~
Hope and Kayla were crouching down next to the dragon-woman's body, examining her cause of death
"Guess that was the soft spot" Hope told them
"It was a second decision, couldn't hesitate" Kayla told them.
They stood, turning to face Alaric, their expressions falling when they noticed he was looking at the grimoire page they had left on the ground.
After skimming the page's contents, Alaric looked up at them with a shocked expression "What is this?" The girls remained silent, knowing no answer was going to get them out of this. Alaric raised his voice in anger, "This isn't earth magic, girls!"
"This wasn't an earth magic problem" Hope told him, trying to minimize the seriousness of the situation.
"We don't allow black magic" Alaric told them "It gets inside your heart and it poisons your mind. Now, I looked the other way this morning, 'cause I knew you were upset, but this is a death spell" Alaric stopped, realizing what they had intended to do with it, "A spell you couldn't have known you needed to use on a dragon, which means you had other plans for it"
Kayla grabbed Hope's hand, silently letting her know she had her support as they remained silent
Alaric noticed the action, looking at his niece, "You know your past with dark magic, you know how easy could be to corrupt you, Mikayla" Kayla looked away. Alaric looked between both girls, his expression a mix of disappointment, anger, and sadness "Landon did something stupid. Maybe evil. We won't know until we learn more... But he's still just a kid, Hope. And so are you two" Kayla looked down. Hope's eyes filled with tears, and she looked up at the sky in an attempt to keep them from spilling onto her cheeks as Alaric continued to admonish them. Alaric looked at Hope "This hatred? This vengeance? This is your father" He looked at Kayla, "This ease you get to perform dark magic and no hesitation on it, this coldness, it was something your father had. When I met you, I made a promise to myself to not let you fall into his path" He looked between them "It can't be you. I won't allow it" Alaric regained his composure and pointed at the dragon's body "Now, you bury her. And I'll see you two back at the car"
Alaric walked away, the page from the spellbook in hand, leaving an extremely upset Hope and sad Kayla behind to clean up the mess
~8~
After burying the dragon, Kayla and Hope walked toward the car at the side of the road, frowning when they saw Alaric alone, sitting on the hood of his car
"Where are they?" Hope asked as Kayla quietly climbed inside the car
"Gone" Alaric answered, giving her a piece of paper "I found this on the windshield when I got back"
Hope picked up the paper, seeing it was a letter from Landon.
~8~
There's a reason why I used to be alone, not caring about the comments. Not caring about the insults thrown at me. There was nothing that could hurt me because until now, I didn't know what it felt like being hurt. Being compared to a mass murderer when I was only trying to help stirred something inside me. It made a rock form in the back of my throat, not letting me breath and it hurt, it hurt that liquid formed in my eyes.
Kayla was laying on her bed, hugging her pillow as she stared forward blankly, some tears falling down her cheeks.
I had never experienced what it felt like being ashamed or upset for disappointing someone. However, I couldn't get rid of the look on Dr. Saltzman's face when he realized I had performed dark magic. I hadn't care what he ever thought about me before, he was just the man who feared me. But hearing him confess he wanted to help me be a good person broke me. Broke this fountain of liquid from my eyes. I don't know what's like to have someone to believe you can be good, but I wasn't going to disappoint him again.