3rd Person POV
"Lizzie?" Josie asks as they get into the school.
"I'll check the library." Hope says
Hope breaks off from the two
Josie and Sadie go in separate directions
Eventually, Sadie and Josie end up in the same room
"Anything?" Josie asks
Sadie shakes her head no
Then, they hear talking in the hall
It's Dr Saltzman and Hope
They walk over, Josie is mad
"So how'd you take the containment spell down?" Dr Saltzman asks, pulling an axe down from the wall
"She didn't." Josie says, taking the ax from him. "I did. And I have questions." She says, mad
The group walks around the school, searching for the monster
They get to the main room
They walk into the middle of the room, the large staircase towers behind them in the dark area
"Emma?" Dr Saltzman asks
Emma opens the door and puts her finger up to silence him
The room full of scared children and an injured Lizzie is dead silent
Growling sounds behind the group
Emma closes the door quickly
The gargoyle monster growls again, launching itself down the stairs
Hope gets knocked to the ground
Sadie stumbles backwards and then backpedals out of the way of Dr Saltzman who runs forward in front of Hope
"No!" Dr Satlzman yells, shielding Hope
"Dad!" Josie screeches
A knife stops right at his chest from the gargoyle
Dr Saltzman and the gargoyle have a stare down
Josie comes from behind the gargoyle and hits it with a bat, breaking its wing
Sadie helps Hope up
Dr Satlzman side steps and throws a punch
"Fluctus inpulsa!" Hope chants
The gargoyle gets hit with magic
"Josie, Sadie, help me." Hope orders
"Hope." Sadie warns
"It's not black magic!" Hope tells her. "Just repeat after me. Fluctus inpulsa."
Josie connects hands with Hope to siphon from her
Sadie stands next to Josie
SADIE: Even though I've been cleared to be siphoned from, I don't like the feeling of being siphoned from. It's kind of a "break glass in case of emergency" sorta thing for me
"Fluctus inpulsa." The three chant. "Fluctus inpulsa. Fluctus inpulsa. Fluctus inpulsa. Fluctus inpulsa. Fluctus inpulsa!" They deliver the final blow
The gargoyle is destroyed
They stand there silently
"Nice job." Hope tells her friends
Josie whips around
"How could you jump in front of her like that?" Josie snaps at her father, tears in her eyes. "You could have died, Dad."
"Honey, I knew it wouldn't kill me, because my research said so..." Dr Saltzman trails off as Josie storms away
***
"If you'd asked me a week ago..." Dr Saltzman says in the main room. The students sit around the tables and chairs as he speaks. "I would have told you I knew the difference between myth and fact. I would have said that supernaturals were limited to the species under this roof. I would have said that folklore and fairy tales were just stories. But I can no longer say that any of that's true. 'Cause just a few days ago, we were confronted by the existence of a dragon. And then, today, our campus was terrorized by a gargoyle come to life. Some of us... were forced to fight. We won. This time. They were drawn here by a knife that went missing earlier this week. And for whatever reason, these creatures consider us to be the enemy. In their minds, we're the villains because we won't give them what they want. We don't even know why they want it. But we're gonna find out. I can't say for sure what their true intentions are. I can't say there won't be more attacks. That's why I'm telling you this. To warn you. To ask you to look out for each other. To do what's best for one another. Because we're more than just a school. We're a family. And we will stand together, we will fight together, and we will win or lose this battle together, no matter what comes next."
***
"I used black magic because it was necessary." Sadie snaps, crossing her arms and slouching back in her chair
"And why did you feel it was necessary?" Emma asks
SADIE: When I have to talk about my feelings...I don't want to, let's put it that way. But Emma just keeps poking and poking. Don't get me wrong, she's a good person, I just don't like our sessions
"Are you serious right now?" Sadie asks. "A dragon was about to kill us. Hope needed help."
"Hope using black magic aside, why did you jump in and help?" Emma asks. "I'm sure Hope is more than capable of doing it herself."
Sadie sighs
"I helped because...because I wanted to help." Sadie whispers. "I wanted to do something good."
"And why is that?" Emma asks
"I don't...I don't have a mom to...to talk to me." Sadie starts. "And I don't have a dad to hold my hand and tell me everything's gonna be okay. I don't have anyone to help me."
"So you thought if you used black magic..." Emma starts
"That Dr Saltzman would finally help me and stop being disappointed in me?" Sadie finishes. "Yes, exactly. But now I'm sitting here talking with you and Mr Williams was the one doing my testing this morning. It didn't exactly go as planned."
"And why is it so important to you that he helps you?" Emma asks
"I don't know..." Sadie shrugs
"Yes, you do." Emma says. "Dig deep. Why is it so important to you that he helps you?" She repeats the question
Sadie thinks, silent for a moment
"I guess..." Sadie starts. "I don't have a father and to be completely honest I never really did. From what I can remember, my dad, he was...he was always angry, always somewhere else when I needed him...he wasn't much of a father. Ever since I got here, I've seen Dr Saltzman with his daughters and then I've seen him with Hope. He's been that way for me a few times too but lately...I feel like I've been letting him down."
"Why?" Emma asks
"I had an episode about a month ago." Sadie says. "The other night I wolfed out when I wasn't allowed to. Nightmares have been bad lately. I'm just...I'm messing up a bunch and I feel like I'm disappointing everyone."
"I don't think anyone holds your nightmares or your episodes against you." Emma says. "You can't control those."
"But I should be able to." Sadie says. "That's what Dr Saltzman told me."
Emma sighs
"He shouldn't have." Emma says. "I'll talk to him. You...you just need to keep being you. Get some sleep and we'll talk again."
Sadie nods, standing up
She makes her way to the door
"Oh, and Sarah?" Emma asks
Sadie turns around
"No more black magic." Emma says
Sadie hesitates before nodding
She leaves the room
Sadie opens a door to outside and sits on the steps leading to the grass, thinking
Not many people were around and the silence was welcoming to her
Curfew was long past but Emma gave her a pass for their late-night session on account of the events of the day
Sadie gets up, walking back into the school and closing the doors
She makes her way to the wolf hallway and as she walks down, she sees a light on in the room next to hers
She stops in the doorway and sees Landon and Raf putting their stuff away
"You're back?" Sadie asks
Both boys whip around
"Sorry." Sadie says. "Didn't mean to startle you."
"No, it's okay, Sadie." Raf says. "We just weren't expecting anyone this late."
"What time is it?" Sadie asks
"Um, 12:20." Landon says, looking at the clock
"Well, I'm glad you guys are back." Sadie answers. "Night."
"Night." Both boys answer
Sadie walks away and to her room next to theirs
She closes her door behind her before changing into shorts. She throws an oversized t-shirt over her sports bra and walks over to her window.
Sadie opens her window, grabbing a book and sitting down on the sill
She looks up at the stars, breathing in the cool night air
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Hope you enjoyed that chapter!!
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Next chapter up NEXT MONDAY
-MC
Stay safe in quarantine