'WE'RE BEING PUNKED, PEDRO'
Kayla was at her witches' class, all the witches were sitting in the floor in a circle, holding hands as Dorian was the one instructing the class, "All right, gather together" Dorian walked outside the circle, instructing them on the group assignment "Chain spells are about the fluid movement of energy from witch to witch" He stopped, looking around as if realizing someone was missing "Where's Penelope Park?"
Elizabeth Saltzman, Lizzie, Kayla's cousin smirked before making a snarky comment "Um, lady cramps, Mr. Williams"
Kayla rolled her eyes, unamused. Out of the twins, Lizzie was the one who gave her more of a headache.
"Sorry I asked" Dorian said, an expression of discomfort in his face "A disharmonious group makes for an uneven flow. Okay..." Suddenly a piece of parchment materialized above their heads falling into his hands, interrupting him from his lecture.
"Uh-uh" Josie commented, recognizing the cursive script on the page, realizing it was a summoning "Who's in trouble with the headmaster?"
Kayla smiled sarcastically, giving the twins an amused look, "Probably the people who started a rumble with the local high school"
Kayla had never cared for the flag football they played since she got to the school almost two years ago, specially since it involved an annual competence with Mystic Falls' high school where they had to lose according to Penelope as everyone believed their school was for the rich and avoiding exposure of the supernatural, they had to lose.
The last game that took place while she was with Hope and Alaric looking for Landon, the school had lost the game as agreed, however they began a fight with the local high school.
Lizzie glared at the other witch, someone who just as Penelope she hated.
Dorian opened the note, reading out loud, "Lizzie Saltzman, Josie Saltzman..." He looked at Kayla and Hope, raising his eyebrows at them, "And plus you makes four. Off you go"
Josie, Lizzie and Hope exchanged confused and concerned looks, standing up to leave.
Kayla took her time, seeming uninterested, all the while holding an unconcerned expression as she followed the girls out of the classroom. Only once she was outside and neither of the other three were paying attention to her, Kayla slowed down, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, a brief flash of worry crossing her face before she took on a bored expression, following the girls.
~8~
The girls were now at the library, following Alaric around the room, watching him collect relevant books off the shelves while they demanded answers for what he just told them. None of them happy about what they were being forced to do.
"This makes no sense, Dad" Lizzie told him "Why are we being punished?"
Alaric gave her an exasperated look, "Because you started a brawl at a charity football game that risked exposing what we really do here!"
Lizzie pouted "Well, you weren't mad last night"
"I was mad last night!" Alaric retorted, walking down the steps to one of the study tables, setting the books down "My undying love for my daughters just happened to trump my rage" He turned to face his daughters, niece and student "I volunteered everyone in the game, so stop complaining. You're lucky that it's just community service and not actual jail time"
"Can I at least offer a rebuttal in my defense, if it pleases the court?" Lizzie asked. Alaric rolled his eyes, gesturing toward her to go ahead and defend herself "First of all, I was provoked. My response was totally proportional considering the levels of abuse that I was forced to endure" Hope and Kayla couldn't help but chuckle. "And secondly...," She hesitated anxiously, "If anyone should take the blame, it's Josie"
Kayla gave Lizzie a disgusted look
Josie looked at her sister, betrayed and offended "What?"
Lizzie cringed, seeing how much she hurt her twin, immediately starting to backpedal "I'm sorry. I totally cracked during cross, but if you had just let Kaleb catch the ball-"
Josie scoffed incredulously "Yeah, okay"
"You'd still be in trouble" Alaric told them sternly
Hope, amused by the scene unfolding in front of her, interjected before he could continue. "But nice job throwing your sister under the bus!"
"You don't do that" Kayla added, "I never threw Vanessa, my sister under the bus even though she deserved it"
Josie looked at Hope and Kayla, touched by their unexpected argument in her defense, giving them an affectionate and grateful look "Thank you, Hope. Kayla"
The twins glared at each other, seeming to have an argument of just looks between them.
"Speaking of" Alaric once again, tried to get to the point of their argument "The bus leaves in ten minutes, and I expect all four of you on it, working together today, harmoniously and without drama. End of debate"
Hope scoffed "Neither Kayla or I were even at the game. Why are we being punished?"
Alaric stared at both girls blankly, "You both know what you did" Josie and Lizzie stopped their silent argument, curious about the evasive answer, looking between the three of them. Alaric clapped his hands, "All right, now go. All of you" The twins walked away, groaning "Come on"
Hope and Kayla didn't move, waiting for the twins to leave
"Seriously?" Kayla asked
Alaric looked at them, tensely "What part of what I said needs translating?"
"We want to help you with research" Hope told him
Alaric rolled his eyes, looking away "Dorian has a master's degree in library science. I think the adults have it covered"
Hope glared at Alaric, walking toward him "That's not fair. You only play by 'grown-up rules' when you don't need something from me"
Kayla stayed silent, awkwardly as it was the first times she had been in a mission with Alaric or Hope and ended wrong
"I am spinning right now, Hope" Alaric told her, glancing at Kayla, letting her know this was directed at her as well "And I can't drag either of you or anyone else any further into this until I figure out what's going on, okay? So, right now, I need you to be kids-" Hope scoffed, rolling her eyes. "-keeping a dragon-sized secret today until I get some answers"
Hope continued to glare at Alaric, who gave her and Kayla a stern look "Understood?"
Hope and Kayla looked at each other, not pleased by their punishment, smiling fakely at Alaric
"I'll be a kid right now" Kayla told him, taking a step forward. Alaric smiled fakely, gesturing at her to continue. Kayla whined, "Do we really have to be punished like this?"
Alaric smiled sweetly, "Yes"
Kayla pouted, "Rude"
~8~
The students being punished for their behavior at the game, Hope and Kayla got off of the Salvatore School bus at Mystic Falls Town Square where Lizzie trailed behind Hope, taking the opportunity to poke at her in hopes of getting information
"So, what did you do?" Lizzie asked "My dad never gets mad at you. You're the prodigal daughter" She looked at Kayla, "Not surprised from you, however. After all my dad hates you" Kayla smiled sarcastically, acting as if that didn't affect her "Which is cool because he's not the only one. But what it is surprising is he didn't say what you did this time" She looked between Hope and Kayla, "What you two did together, must have been juicy"
"Sorry" Hope told them, just trying to get through the day without incidents "No time for girl talk. Public service awaits"
The students gathered around Dorian, who was the one supervising their community service "All right, listen up! It's a beautiful day. You got options-- litter, weeds, graffiti! Your choice"
Dorian held a tool to pick up litter in offering toward Kaleb, -a vampire student-. Kaleb looked at it, and then at Dorian, picking it up. He waited until Dorian walked away before he joined the others.
"It's bad enough we get punished while the humans get a pass" Kaleb told them "But there ain't no way in hell I'm picking up their garbage"
Kaleb held the tool out to Lizzie, who immediately scoffed, holding up her hands in rejection "Uh, I don't do trash either"
"Ugh" Kayla walked from behind Kaleb, picking up the tool from his hands, "I love trash"
Hope stood at her side, nodding "Me too. As of this moment"
Both girls began walking away, using that as an excuse to get away from them
"Perf" Lizzie told them "It suits you"
"Give me a reason why not to kill her" Kayla murmured, harshly stabbing the tool in the ground.
Hope gave her a sympathetic smile, "She's family?"
"As of now..." Kayla murmured, "My maternal family is better. And they tried to kill me"
Hope sighed sadly.
They noticed Josie walking closer to them, exchanging a surprise look, looking toward Lizzie who looked hurt by her sister abandoning her.
They watched in interest the twins' argument.
"I've never see them fighting like this before" Kayla commented
"There's always a first" Hope replied
"Fine, Daddy's girls" Lizzie snapped at them, visibly offended by Josie walking away from her, looking around at the rest of the students "Anyone else?"
All the students split up to do their respective tasks.
Josie, Hope and Kayla picked up trash bags, starting to work on their tasks
~8~
After a while of working, the girls continued at the park, picking up litter, placing it inside large orange trash bags.
Hope looked over at Josie, who since they began their task, she was dedicated, chuckling and making a snarky comment "You have a future in waste management"
Kayla looked up, laughing at what Hope observed
Josie opened another trash bag, "Cleaning up messes is kind of my thing"
Hope shrugged in agreement "Well, your sister is kind of a dumpster fire..."
Kayla smiled in amusement
Josie stopped what she was doing, looking at Hope and Kayla with a frustrated expression "Why do you always pick fights?" They raised their eyebrows in silent question. "We've know each other a decade, two years with you Kayla and any time you have the chance, you poke"
Josie looked at Kayla
"You guys have made it clear you hate me" Kayla told her bitterly, looking away
Hope sighed, knowing the real reason but didn't comment on it. She continued picking up litter "You guys do your fair share of poking"
"Yeah, in retaliation to your pokes" Josie replied "And with you spending so much time with my dad, and keeping secrets, and now Kayla being part of those-"
Hope, not wanting to have to lie about what she and Kayla knew, tried to cut Josie off before she could continue "We're not keeping secrets-"
"Oh yeah?" Josie asked, "What happened when you went to go find Landon Kirby?"
Hope looked at the ground evasively "Nothing happened"
"Something clearly did happen" Josie told her "Rafael never showed up at school, my dad was rattled.... So, why won't you just tell me?"
"Because there's nothing to tell!" Hope, overwhelmed, punctuated her response by slamming her tool into the ground, but instead of the ground, she ended up missing and stabbed her boot-clad foot with the sharp spike instead, yelping in pain when she realized what she did.
Kayla turned around, hearing Hope's scream of pain, "The hell, Mikaelson?"
Kayla ran closer, looking down to see the tool stabbed in Hope's foot
"Oh, my God" Josie exclaimed horrified
Josie ran closer, stopping at Kayla's side.
Hope was in pain, taking deep breaths as to not catch people's attention, looking at the other girls expectantly "Help me" She told them, giving them a look with her jaw clenched in pain.
Josie and Kayla exchanged a look as Kayla knelt in front of Hope, grabbing the tool
"What are you doing?" Josie exclaimed horrified
"Pulling it out" Kayla answered, glancing at her sarcastically "It's kinda obvious, isn't it?"
"You can't just do-" Josie began
"I can heal myself" Hope interrupted impatiently. Josie looked between them alarmed and shocked for the request. "Pull it out, Kayla!"
Kayla took a deep breath, trying to pull it out, seeing Josie's hand taking a hold of the tool, both of them pulling at the same time, falling back to their bottom from the force they used to pry the spike from Hope's foot
"Ow" Hope groaned, taking a deep breath in relief as she felt herself heal
Josie looked up with a mischievous expression "You poked yourself"
Hope couldn't help but laugh in spite herself. Kayla threw her head backwards with a genuine, playful smile.
"Shut up" Hope told them playfully
Josie giggled
~8~
Hope, Kayla and Josie were loading the bags of garbage they picked up into a pile when Josie suddenly grabbed her stomach, doubling over with a groan.
Hope looked at her new friend with concern "Everything okay?"
Josie stood to her full height once the pain passed, noticing something happening behind Hope "Yeah... I think that that's just making me a little nauseous" She pointed at the tree behind Hope, where MG -another vampire student- and Dana -a townie- were currently making out with each other
"Huh" Hope murmured, rolling her eyes sarcastically "Didn't see that coming"
Kayla followed their gaze, amused "I did. Guy has the hormones of a teenager and the impulse control of a preschooler. Plus he's a vamp"
The girls exchanged a look, all laughing in amusement
"He also always goes for the wrong kinds of girls" Josie told them
Hope turned back to Josie, raising an eyebrow "Given my last crush, I can't judge"
Kayla shrugged in agreement
The three began walking down the sidewalk
"Well, my last crush was actually Satan incarnate" Josie told them, crossing her arms. Kayla grimaced "That is, I guess, unless you count..."
Kayla looked at her curiously "Who?"
Josie shook her head, "Never mind. It really doesn't matter anymore. Lizzie has dibs"
"Dibs?" Hope repeated
Kayla nodded, looking away in realization "Rafael" She sighed, "She always calls dibs, though"
"When is it gonna be your turn?" Hope asked
Josie shrugged dismissively, but Kayla could tell her twins's treatment hurt her. "It just is what it is"
"Right, well...." Hope sighed, "That doesn't really make it right" Josie stopped, shocked they were defend her that way, looking between the girls she and her sister had claimed to hate, only to realize neither of them were really bad. Hope and Kayla exchanged a look, the latter nodding, fighting back a grimace. "Your dad knows we used black magic. That's why we're in trouble"
Josie's eyes widened in shock and briefly in betrayal,
"Don't worry" Kayla told her, "We didn't tell him that you helped us with the spell"
Josie looked between them, genuinely touched that Hope and Kayla would protect her in that way, smiling weakly "Thank you"
":And Landon and Rafael took off together" Hope told her "Landon told me he didn't know why he stole the knife. But then, he lied about having it, so I don't know what to believe. Then he wrote me this letter that was, I don't know... sweet?"
Josie nodded in understanding sighing softly, "Lizzie's... sensitive. Our mom is going on all these really long recruitment missions recently. That's why she's extra testy. She just really misses her"
Kayla looked down, frowning. While she wouldn't admit it to anyone, there were moments she did missed Cecily, her mom. She had been one of the only people in the Rivers-Martin household that genuinely cared for her, even while she hurt her sisters and brothers with her psychotic outbursts. Ones she hadn't had in a while already, thanks to Dr. Saltzman and Hope who had been there for her to calm her down.
"I know the feeling" Hope told her, smiling sadly
"I remember how your mom used to come by the school" Josie told her "We all used to say how beautiful she was"
Hope smiled, "She was"
Josie's sad smile turned into a guilty expression "We really should have sent you flowers or something"
Hope laughed softly, "You did. Your dad signed your names. It was obvious."
Josie grimaced "Okay. We definitely deserve a little bit of poking"
Both girls laughed.
Hope nudged Kayla's arm, giving her a worried look "You okay?"
"Perfect" Kayla murmured, giving her a small smile
Hope smiled back
"I wonder where the boys are right now..." Josie trailed off
Hope stopped, getting an idea, facing Josie and Kayla, "There's this spell that my aunt Freya taught me. It's kind of like a full-immersion video chat"
Josie and Kayla exchanged a look
"Okay, but don't we need something of Landon's—" Josie began
Hope reached into her pants pocket, pulling out the folded piece of parchment on which Landon wrote his goodbye note.
Kayla laughed, unsurprised "There you go girl"
Hope looked at Josie, seriously "You can't tell your dad" Josie sighed, slowly nodding "They don't teach this at school"
Josie smiled affectionately "This is the kind of secret I can get behind"
Hope smiled
~8~
The girls hid behind a tree in town square to do the spell, holding hands, just like the day they had made the spell to track Landon, they made sure Josie wouldn't see Kayla was also a siphoner (It was a request from Alaric. Apparently, siphoners came specifically from the Gemini Coven and if the twins found out there was someone else like them, they would start asking question and neither was ready to tell them Kayla was the daughter of the man who killed their biological mother)
The girls began the spell, however before they could go on, Josie doubled in pain, clutching her abdomen
Kayla crouched in front of her cousin, a brief expression of concern that caught Josie by surprise "Are you okay?" Josie tried to catch her breath as the pain grew worse "Why did you stop?"
Hope also looked worried
Josie had a look of realization, "This is twin pain. Something's wrong. I think Lizzie's in trouble"
The three girls exchanged a look
~8~
The girls went to find Dorian in hopes of convincing him to let them return.
"I'm sorry, I can't let you leave" Dorian told them
"No, I need to go home to see my sister" Josie insisted
Dorian sighed, leaning forward "Your dad's with your sister" He reassured. "And I'm under strict orders to keep you here"
Josie scoffed "What? Why?"
Kayla looked down at Dorian's books, nudging Hope's arm, catching her attention, nodding at the books
"And why are you researching that?" Hope asked
Kayla picked up the book that had various illustrations of gargoyles and appeared to be written in a different language, showing it to the girls "A monster perhaps?"
Dorian grabbed the book from Kayla's hands, closing it with a sigh.
Hope and Kayla crossed their arms, giving him an expectant look.
~8~
When the girls returned to the school, it was night. They immediately became unnerved by how empty the ground floor was
"Lizzie?" Josie called out
Kayla looked around, frowning "Empty"
"I'll check the library" Hope told them.
Hope took the right hand hall, beginning to walk down it. Josie walked further down the entrance hall. Kayla took the left hand hall.
~8~
"Liz?" Kayla called out, "Come on out" Kayla stopped walking when she heard stomping behind her, grimacing "Oh, tell me it's you behind me, Lizzie" She slowly turned around seeing a gargoyle shrieking at her. Kayla touched the wall, siphoning some of the school's magic, thrusting her free hand toward the gargoyle "Corporis impetu"
The gargoyle barely moved with her spell, only angering it more, spreading its wings, shrieking loudly. Kayla took the moment to run away down the hallway, gasping in shock when she saw Alaric, Hope and Josie in front of her as she turned in a corner
"Kayla" Hope breathed in relief
"Gargoyle is immune to telekinetic push away spells" Kayla told them quickly, looking toward the hallway she came from "And its over there, turn around" They did as told, Alaric glancing at the surprising panicked expression on his niece. Kayla glanced at Josie "Nice axe" Josie gave her a small smile, her grip on the nice she had taken from her dad, tightening.
The four of them walked down the main hallway, entering to the Grand Hall.
"Emma?" Alaric called out. "Emma?"
Alaric slid open the back room door, seeing Emma and the younger students inside, however before they could say anything, Emma raised her index finger to her lips to shush them
The loud stomping noise started to pick up again behind the girls. Hope turned around, sensing the creature. The gargoyle growled at them, spreading its wings. The Saltzman's and the Rivers girl turned a moment later upon hearing the grinding stone sound it made by moving.
Emma slid the doors close again to protect the younger students.
The gargoyle leaped in the air, using his wings to glide over the staircase and down on the floor, directly facing Hope who was several feet in front of Alaric, Josie and Kayla. The gargoyle tried to stab Hope with their mysterious knife. Hope barely dodged, falling on her back, scrambling to get back in her feet. The gargoyle prepared another to attempt to stab her a second time. Alaric rushed forward toward the creature.
"No, dad!" Josie cried out in horror
"No!" Kayla cried out, horrified to see her uncle putting himself in danger
Alaric stopped between the gargoyle and Hope, gasping as the creature attempted to stab him in the heart with the mysterious knife "No!"
The gargoyle stopped itself just inches away from stabbing the knife into Alaric's chest. Alaric gasped in shock that the creature stopped. The gargoyle looked at Alaric in confusion, its red eyed widening in surprise as they stared at each other.
Both Josie and Kayla picked up their weapons (Kayla grabbing the weapon Alaric dropped) and used them to break off a large piece of its wings. The gargoyle turned to face the cousins roaring ferociously, raising the knife in preparation to stab one of them.
Before he could do that, Hope stood, spreading her arms, starting to cast a spell "Fluctus impulsa!" The knife flew out of the gargoyle's hand, landing behind it near the staircase. Hope looked at the cousins, "Josie, Kayla. Help me"
Josie looked at Hope anxiously "How?"
Kayla grabbed Hope's hand, nodding "Repeat after Hope"
Josie ran over Hope, grabbing her free hand. Hope's hands glowed red as the cousins siphoned her of her magic. Kayla and Josie spread their free arms to aim the spell at the gargoyle
"Fluctus impulsa. Fluctus impulsa. Fluctus impulsa"
The spell seemed to momentarily immobilize the gargoyle, who spread its own arms, staring at the ceiling. When the creature managed to break free just enough to take a single step toward them, the girls focused their energy even more into the spell
"Fluctus impulsa. Fluctus impulsa. Fluctus impulsa!"
Suddenly, the gargoyle exploded into a shower of small broken pieces of stone, which were now littering the floor, tables, and chairs in the room. Hope and Kayla looked relieved, Alaric looked shocked. However, Josie was furious.
Hope exhaled deeply, looking over at Josie and Kayla with pride "Nice job!"
Kayla managed a small smile
Josie whirled around to face Alaric, furiously "How could you jump in front of her like that?" She scolded "You could have died, Dad!"
Alaric softened "Honey, I knew it wouldn't kill me because my research said so-"
Josie stormed away, tears in her eyes.
Alaric sighed, looking over at Hope and Kayla who, for once, had nothing to say.
~8~
Hope, Kayla and Alaric gathered in Alaric's office for some debriefing after the day's events
"How's Lizzie?" Kayla asked
"Recovering quickly" Alaric answered "Thanks to her sister"
Kayla closed her eyes in relief. Alaric smiled softly, seeing the concern she expressed toward his daughters in moments like this when everyone believed her to be cold. It was nice that at least one of the three was trying. And he was proud to see how much his niece had improved since she got to the school
"So, how did you know the gargoyle wouldn't kill you?" Hope asked
"Gargoyles are protectors" Alaric answered, picking up a book, walking across his office to put it back on the shelf "And folklore tells a tale of a gargoyle who once protected a small settlement in France whose villagers revered a powerful relic. A knife"
"Wait" Kayla told them in shock, glancing at Hope "Our knife?"
Alaric nodded, walking back around his desk "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"
Hope smiled ruefully in realization "Me and Kayla being the evil ones in this scenario. Josie, Lizzie..."
"In its mind, yes" Alaric confirmed "I realized when it didn't hurt me before..." He sighed in exhaustion "It saw me as the one who needed protection"
"I'm not sure that knowing that will make them feel any better" Kayla told him
The two stared at each other for a long moment before Alaric looked away
"I should get back to the girls" Alaric told them
Alaric walked toward the door to his office
"Wait" Hope told him. Alaric turned to look at Hope questioningly. Hope took a deep breath "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'm starting to think that it's actually pretty good advice. So, maybe you should take it... Because if you want me, your niece and the twins to get along, for them to be happy, for the school to be safe... These secrets are gonna tear us all apart"
Alaric considered her words for a moment, seemingly realizing that she had a very good point
~8~
Alaric gathered another assembly, this time to let everyone at the school know about the recent events.
"If you'd asked me a week ago, I would have told you there's a difference between myth and fact" Alaric told them, standing at the front of the room "I would have told you 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 is true... 'Cause just a few days ago, we were confronted by the existence of a dragon" The students all began to murmur quietly amongst themselves "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"
~8~
Kayla was talking to Penelope, walking toward the common room
"So I heard you fought a gargoyle" Penelope told her. Kayla chuckled "That's hot"
"Josie did as well" Kayla replied, meeting eyes with her cousin as she sat with MG and Lizzie, both girls cuddling together. Josie smiled slightly, however when she looked next to Kayla, her smile faded, looking away "Problems in paradise?"
Penelope fake smiled "I see you two are getting along now" Kayla bit her lip, giving her a sympathetic look "At least one of us is close to a happy ending"
Penelope gave her one last smirk, walking away
Kayla watched her go, sighing to herself, smiling slightly "One day, Pen. One day you'll be happy too"
Kayla walked away