The art of the night sky lit up the dark forest. The tall dark trees spiked up into the sky, there wasn't any sign of life to be found besides two people who stood next to each other. One held a crossbow in his hands while the girl stood confidently next to him with a backpack. They looked ahead as far as they could see, nothing but darkness all around them. They stopped following the trail miles ago, the only thing they followed was their belief that something would be here.

As they trudged on, they stopped at an abandoned old cabin. Alaric levels his crossbow toward the door as he slowly walks forward, Hope follows behind. Once both of them stopped at the front door, Alaric pressed his foot to the door and with ease, the door pushed backward. Alaric steps inside the house, without being able to see much of the cabin, he tightened his grip around the crossbow.

Alaric searches the entire cabin alongside Hope, they find nothing inside except old food wrappers scattered in one room. The wrappers were fairly new, so whoever was the culprit, they would probably come back. Hopefully, it was the person they were looking for.

The pair makes their way out of the cabin. They stand on the porch and their eyes scan different parts of the forest. Still, they saw nothing.

"So that was a waste," Hope says, she crossed her arms while still looking around for any sign of life.

Alaric sighs, his eyes tried their best to see the dark depths of the forest but to no avail. "We can't give up yet," He replies, while squinting his eyes he continued. "Considering we have a wolf on the loose with two dead foster parents and another foster kid missing, we must stay on our toes." Alaric glances up at the full moon, "This is one chance, we might not have another until the next full moon."

"Can't we just call in a hunter or something?" Hope asked irritatedly.

"This wolf is still a kid, Hope," Alaric gazed toward the younger girl. "And every kid deserves a second chance."

Hope glanced toward Alaric to meet his gaze. There was a hidden meaning behind his words, it struck deeper in a way that Hope hated. Without a reply, Hope looks away from Alaric, her eyes fall to the ground. Not every kid deserves the chances she's given.

"Hope," Alaric says softly, he placed his hand on her shoulder. Before he could say anything, there was a scream echoing from behind the cabin. Alaric and Hope shared a look, they rushed down the porch's stairs and ran after the continuous screaming that filled the silent forest.

The pair rushed into a clearing where one boy stared at another boy who was on his knees and hands. Hope immediately shrugged off her backpack and dug inside for shackles. Alaric raised his hand up to greet the boys.

"Hey," Alaric settles both boys. "Problem, here?"

"Uh, no sir!" the mop-haired kid replies nervously. He glanced toward his friend who's practically growling in pain.

"Landon?" Hope lifts her head from her bag, Landon glanced toward her with a confused look as well.

"Hope?" Landon questioned.

"You two know each other?" Alaric inquired.

"Y-Yeah, he used to serve me milkshakes," Hope smiled weakly, her smile soon vanished as the werewolf next to Landon started crying out in more pain. Hope quickly wraps the shackles around the boy's wrist and around his neck. Hope wraps the chains around a sturdy tree and backs away from him.

In a matter of seconds, the boy had turned into a large black wolf. The wolf pulls against the chains, noticing that he can't free himself, the wolf turns to Hope and growls.

Alaric stares at the large animal in front of him. "Looks like we caught our wolf."

The rest of the night went on. The werewolf, known as Rafael turned back into his human form. He and Landon were brought back to the school in the early hours of the day. Alaric explained that the Salvatore school was indeed for the supernaturals and it's best if Rafael decided to attend here. Alaric was nice enough to let the boys sleep in a spare room. Rafael seemed oddly quiet about this whole experience, or maybe he was just tired. Landon, on the other hand, was the opposite of Rafael. During most of the conversation, Landon was asking so many questions that Hope wanted to snap her neck.

Landon was excited, sure it was a little cute if not equally annoying. Landon didn't seem to carry any supernatural gene as far as his appearance goes, which could be a problem for a future Alaric.

Landon might've been a little pest for Alaric to get rid of, but he sure could be an asset for Hope. All she needed was just one moment alone with him…

"My daughters will be coming soon to give you a tour," Alaric speaks to Rafael. The werewolf nods quietly, from beside him was Landon who probably had a million more questions spirling in his head.

"So, a school for the supernatural, huh?" Landon looked toward Hope, who was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "So like, this whole time, you were a witch?" Landon shook his head, "This is insane."

"I'm not just a witch," Hope replied, "But let's not get into that."

"Anyway," Alaric sighed, "You two previously attended Mystic Falls High?"

Both boys nod.

"Does anyone know about," Alaric paused, he cleared his throat. "The incident with your foster parents?"

"No," Rafael replied, "At least, I don't think so."

"We don't actually have any friends," Landon explains.

Hope stifles a laugh. Alaric raised an eyebrow at her before turning his attention back on the boys. "What have you heard about this school?"

"Not much, apart from it just being a rival to our school," Rafael shrugged.

"I heard that this school was for rich troubled kids," Landon replies, "Boy, were they wrong."

"Well, aside from whatever you heard about this school, we have open arms for you Rafael," Alaric says. Rafael and Landon share a look but before either could reply, a voice gets their attention.

"Hi Daddy," Lizzie and Josie walked into Alaric's office side by side. Alaric looked away from the boys and smiled at his girls.

"Lizzie, Josie," Alaric motioned for them to walk in. "This is Rafael," Alaric nods toward Rafael who sat in a chair in front of Alaric's desk. Rafael turned to the sisters and gave them a half of a smile. "He needs a tour around the school, I'm trusting him in your care."

Rafael stood up from his seat, he glanced at Landon. "What about Lan?"

"We… Need to speak with him, privately," Alaric replied.

Rafael shares a final look with Landon before following the sisters out of the office. Landon watches him leave and nervously, he turns back to Alaric. "So, what do we need to talk about?"

"The incident with your foster parents," Alaric answered.

Landon became visibly nervous, he looked away from Alaric and stared down at his lap. "I-I don't know what happened."

Alaric raised an eyebrow, "You have no clue?"

Landon shook his head, "nope. Not a single clue."

"Liar," Hope said.

Landon glanced over to her with a frown, "What are you? Some lie detector test?"

Hope pulls out a small red ball from her bag, "I'm not, but this is."

Hope walked over to Alaric's desk, she placed the ball down and crossed her arms again. "So, let's start over," She says, "What happened to your foster parents?" her eyes were glued to Landon making him ten times more nervous than he already had been.

Landon looks away from the pair of eyes staring back at him. "I didn't see anything," He mumbled out. The lie detector glows to blue, Landon sighed in relief. "T-That's a good thing right?"

"Tell us what you did see," Alaric replied with his voice becoming stern.

Landon let out a breath, "I… I was just in the living room," He paused, his eyes staring at the lie detector in front of him. "He… He was so angry with me and I tried to, I tried to fight back."

"Who is he?" Alaric asked, he sat up in his seat and leaned forward a bit.

"Our foster dad," Landon answered. The lie detector remained blue as Landon continued. "He was always an angry man, especially with me. That day, that day I was tired of it you know?" Landon stares down at his lap again. "That day, I hit him back. I hit him and hit him but I wasn't trying to hurt him, I just wanted him to stop."

"What happened next?" Alaric asked.

"He hit back. Harder, and harder. He wouldn't stop," Landon's voice became shaky as he spoke on. "Our foster mom just watched… She watched as he continued on," Landon let out a breath, "Before I could even try to defend myself again, Rafael… He…"

"What did he do?" Alaric pressed on.

"He… He was only trying to help me," Landon looked up to meet eyes with Alaric. "He didn't mean to…"

"Did Rafael kill your foster parents?" Alaric frowned, "we need to know the truth."

"I ran upstairs once our father was busy with Rafael," Landon says. "I ran upstairs and I locked myself in my room. I heard them downstairs, I heard them all fighting but then it all stopped. Everything went quiet," Landon glanced toward the lie detector that still glowed blue.

"Do you believe that Rafael killed your foster parents?" Alaric interlocks his fingers together.

"No," Landon replies, the lie detector glows red. "Okay, fine… Maybe he did," Landon sighed, "You said last night, that this school was open for people who could need a second chance… So why are we digging up the past?"

"That's what triggers the curse," Alaric responded. He leans back into his seat, "it's been months since your foster parents' deaths. People need answers and quite frankly, a lot of the press are pointing their fingers at you and Rafael."

"So, what's going to happen to us?"

"Like many supernatural cases, this one will be swept under the rug," Alaric paused, he considered his next words. "As for the both of you, Rafael has a home here."

"What about me?" Landon frowned, "I have nowhere else to go."

"We'll find a place for you," Alaric glanced toward Hope, "Can you bring Milton here please?" Hope nods quietly, her eyes linger on Landon for a second too long before she leaves the office.

Landon wrapped his finger around his necklace, it was made up of several tiny bones with a small skull in the center. Landon sat back in his seat, Alaric pulls out his phone and clicks on a contact named Matt.

After several silent minutes, Hope comes back with MG following behind.

"Milton, thank you for joining us," Alaric stood up.

"It's MG," MG smiled, he greets Alaric with a nod.

"Right, MG," Alaric nods. "You know what to do," Alaric motions to Landon.

"What's going on?" Landon stood up from his chair, his hand still wrapped around his old necklace.

"Meet MG," Alaric pats MG on the shoulder. "Our friendly neighbor Vampire," Alaric smiled.

"Of course," Landon mumbled.

MG walked over to Landon, he placed his hand on Landon's shoulder and stared into his eyes. "You will forget your experience here. Rafael has harmed your folks, but you know he's in a safe place now. You will forget seeing Rafael turn and—"

Landon smacks MG's hands away from his shoulder. "What the hell is happening?"

Hope and Alaric share a confused look, MG glanced between the both of them.

"Did you do something wrong?" Hope asked.

MG shakes his head, "This is like the easiest vampire trick in the book! I did not get this wrong."

"Then why isn't he being compelled?" Hope argued.

"I don't know!" MG shrugged.

"Compelled?" Landon backs away from MG.

"Maybe he's taken Vervain, he has been on the run with Rafael for months now, maybe he's learned enough to—"

Landon interrupts Hope, "I don't know what Vervain is! Plus, I can hardly wrap my head around Raf being a werewolf! I had no idea what to do and I only ran with him because I… I was scared!" the lie detector test suddenly glows blue, Hope stares at it.

Alaric squints his eyes toward Landon, he turns to Hope. "We need Emma," He turns back to Landon. "Have you ever experienced any Supernatural abilities yourself?"

"Like what?" Landon asked.

"Unnatural Healing abilities? Super Strength?"

"Yeah, no," Landon shook his head, "I can hardly do push-ups," Landon lifts up his shirt to expose a large scar on his ribcage. "How's this for healing ability?" Landon glanced toward his scar, "I got this the night Raf and I ran."

Alaric scratches his head for a second, "Okay, well, I guess this wasn't as simple as we thought."

Landon paced back and forth inside the small cell. He held onto his necklace as he mumbled incoherent words with his eyes shut tight. Maybe if he didn't think about it, he wouldn't feel as trapped as he does right now. But no matter how many times he paced, he bumped into the wall several times and opened his eyes to see the walls inching just a little closer. This is crazy, what school has a prison? Landon thought as he continued walking around the cell.

Hope stood outside the cell to watch him. Landon was practically hyperventilating in front of her eyes and she couldn't do much about it. Who knows what'll happen if she decided to let him out. He could escape and go on a snitching spree and tell anyone he ran into that the Salvatore School was actually for supernatural beings. That idea may be a little far fetched, but you never know what someone's capable of.

Hope turned her head slightly to see Alaric talking with the school's guidance counselor. As the two adults whispered, Hope listened in.

"So, do you have any idea on what we're dealing with?" Alaric asked, his back was facing Hope.

"I was going to suggest he's a werewolf as well, but he didn't heal as quickly as one would," Emma replied with a whisper. "These tests will hopefully provide some Intel on who he is, we just need to sit tight."

Alaric glanced over his shoulder, Emma followed his eyes to see Landon still wandering around the cell. "Yeah, that kid will have a lot of trouble just sitting."

"Do you want to release him with the other students?" Emma asked.

Alaric shook his head, "I want to know what he is before we shoot him back into the school," Alaric sighed. "How is Rafael doing?"

Emma smiled, "he seems fine so far, he's asked questions about Landon though."

"What about the pack? Did they accept him?"

Emma shrugged, "I'm not sure he talked to any members of the pack yet. But you shouldn't have to worry about that, Miracle will accept him into the pack."

Alaric nodded, "I just want things to run smoothly for him. Especially after the whole foster parent incident."

"Me too," Emma says, "I'll talk to Miracle tomorrow to make sure she talks with Rafael, okay?"

Alaric nods again with a soft smile, "okay."

"What are they talking about?" Landon walks up to Hope, he wraps his hands around the bars. "Are they talking about me?"

Hope shook her head, "they're talking about Rafael. He seems to be fitting in okay."

Landon smiles weakly, "that's good. Really, I'm just happy this place will accept him, I hope it helps him."

"I think it will," Hope shrugged.

"After the… The situation with our foster parents, he seemed so torn up," Landon admits.

Hope stares into Landon's dark green eyes, "Would you do anything to stay here, with him?" She whispered.

Landon thinks for a second, "It depends on what this everything is," He chuckled. "But, maybe."

"That's good," Hope grinned.

Alaric walks up to the pair and places his hand on Hope's shoulder. "I think you should be going to bed, Landon will be secure here."

Hope nods, she turns to Alaric. "I need some space to wolf out, am I allowed?"

"Even if I said no, you'd still find a way," He chuckled. Hope looks away shyly. "You're not very discreet as you thought huh?" Alaric shakes his head, "I'm sure you're aware of the party that's going on tonight. You're allowed around that area, just make it to your bed when I shut down the party."

Hope smiled, she quickly walked past him.

Alaric turns to Landon who stared at the entrance Hope left.

"She's a werewolf too?!"

Rafael ambled passed bodies of students he hadn't seen before. Rafael couldn't help but smile at the interactions between his peers. Most of them held red plastic cups and others were in small groups sharing a smoke. The energy from the party was intoxicating. He had just arrived yet this party was already ten times better than the ones he and Landon would sneak into.

Rafael walked over to the bar where a group of girls greeted him with a smile. Rafael's eyes scanned the table of beverages and couldn't even name half the options that sat in front of him.

"Need some help there?" The girl bit her lip, she grabbed an empty red cup.

Rafael nodded, "I've never seen half of these drinks."

The girl keeps a smirk on her face. "Half of these are our witches' creations."

Rafael smiled, "what do you recommend?"

The girl stares at Rafael, her eyes exploring his body with zero shame. She turns to one beverage and pours it into his cup, she hands it over with a sweet smile.

Rafael takes the cup, he looks inside. The liquid inside his cup looked like some part of the sky had melted dripped into his cup. Rafael glanced up at the girl again with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh come on, try it," The girl encourages.

"What is it?" Rafael stared at his cup again.

"It's going to make you feel good," The girl rolls her eyes playfully at Rafael's hesitation. She takes a cup of her own and pours herself the same drink. She downs the drop in one go and raises her arms up. "Come on, don't be a pussy."

With a chuckle, Rafael drinks the strange liquid and stares back at the girl. "What now?"

The girl grins, "Just wait, you'll see."

"Rafael!"

The Saltzman twins push past everyone at the party to meet up with Rafael. Rafael smiled at the two familiar faces and Awkwardly wrapped them both inside a bear hug.

"Hey," Josie pulls back slowly.

"Someone seems to be in a good mood," Lizzie comments.

Rafael shrugged, "I feel," he felt himself smile widely. "I feel great!" The drink definitely just kicked in. Josie and Lizzie share a look before Rafael drags them both to the dance floor. Together, the trio blended into the party for a few minutes, they danced and got more drinks.

During Rafael's fourth trip to the bar, he turns to Josie. "I've never felt so happy before."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure the witches are sneaking coke into the drinks," Josie chuckled.

"Maybe," Rafael scanned the rest of the party. Lizzie had ditched both of them for a couple of witches but it was fine. Rafael was having a lot more fun with Josie anyway. But as much fun as he was having tonight, he was still missing one piece to the puzzle. Noticing his sudden silence, Josie nudges him on the shoulder.

"You okay?"

Rafael nodded, taking a sip of his drink he let out a sigh. "tonight would be better if Landon was here."

"Landon," Josie echoes his name. "Is that the boy in my dad's office earlier?"

Rafael nodded, "He's my best friend. Brother. We've been through a lot together and Ms. Tig said he was okay but, it just feels weird without him."

"Well, I can always bring him here," Josie suggested. "I mean, I saw my dad taking him into the basement, I could easily take him out."

Rafael smiled, "would you do that for me?"

Josie nodded, "Of course, come on," Josie grabs Rafael's hand and takes him further away from the party. Once they're a few feet away from the party, Josie mumbles a spell and closes her eyes. Rafael watches her intently and being unsure of what to do, he stares in the direction Josie's palm is facing.

An uncomfortably long minute goes by when Rafael sees something rustling toward them. A smile spreads across his face once he realizes it's Landon being dragged by his leg toward them.

Josie smiles as Landon comes to a halt.

Landon stumbled to his feet as Rafael also stumbled toward him. "Hey!" Landon breathed heavily, "II thought I was going to be consumed by some monster or something."

Rafael chuckled, "Nah man," Rafael pulls Landon into a side hug. He pulled back, "You have got to check out this party. It's way better than any party Connor's had," Rafael wrapped his arms around Landon's neck and together they walked back into the party with Josie walking beside Rafael.

Once they stop at the bar, A group of boys walks up to them.

"Hey you," One boy eyes Rafael suspiciously.

"Hey?" Rafael replied, his relaxed features hardened. "Is there something you want?"

"Calm down," The boy smirks, "You must be the new wolf everyone's talking about."

"Everyone's talking about me?" Rafael looked at Josie.

Josie nodded, "Word gets around fast."

"I expect you for initiation soon,"

"Initiation?" Rafael inquired, "Initiation for what?"

"To join the pack," The boy stares at Rafael with a disapproving gaze. "You'll need to meet us in the gym."

"I don't think I will," Rafael replied, "I'm not really a pack person."

"You're really going to defy me, newbie?" The boy comes closer to Rafael, the rest of the pack doesn't follow his lead but they stand close enough.

"Cut it out Jed," Josie rolled her eyes, "If you don't remember, You aren't the alpha anymore."

Jed gazed over to Josie, for a split second he falters, as if he had forgotten his position in the pack. He scoffs, "Whatever, just remember what I told you, newbie," and with that, Jed walks off with a few members of the pack following him.

Rafael watches him disappear into the crowd of bodies.

"Jeez, please tell me they aren't all like that," Landon says.

"She's not, she's much better, trust me," Josie replied. Before she could say more, the pack members that stayed behind walked up to Rafael.

"Ignore Jed, he's pretty much bitter now that Mira has taken over," One guy says. The wolves surround Rafael and each one offers him a handshake. Rafael smiled, and quickly he's distracted by the wolves to notice that he had left Josie and Landon were left behind.

"And just like that, I'm ditched," Landon sighed.

Josie turns to him, "I'm still here."

"It's okay, really. I'm not up for a party anyway," Landon tucks his hands in his pocket, "I need to take a walk. Is it okay if I…?"

Josie nods, "Uh, yeah sure. Go ahead."

Landon nods at her before leaving the party. Josie soon goes back to her room after that while Landon explores the forest a little more.

Landon walked far enough to not hear the loud music from the supernatural party and continued walking forward. He had no idea where he was going or why he was leaving. Landon couldn't imagine how many people would love to party with supernatural beings. It's definitely something Landon could write onto his bucket list to cross out later.

For a moment, Landon sat up against a tree with his knees close to his chest. Everything had been happening so fast. Just one night, his foster parents are killed and then the next, Landon is sleeping in the woods with his brother who triggered some crazy curse and is now a werewolf.

Landon closed his eyes and breathed in the cool air. The wind was picking up and at times like this, he really wished he took a warmer jacket with him. As Landon shivers for a few lonely minutes, something from the distance growls.

Landon cranes his neck to see absolutely nothing. He slowly retreated to his previous position until he heard a few leaves crunch under someone's feet.

Landon stands up, he could feel his heart already beating rapidly. He held onto the tree for some kind of support, he stayed quiet.

Suddenly, the footsteps come closer at a quicker pace. Landon's eyes adjust to the darkness and see a white wolf bolting toward him. With wide eyes, Landon takes off into the opposite direction of the wolf but unfortunately, his speed was terribly slow.

The wolf knocks Landon onto the ground. Landon let out a cry until he felt a human body sitting on top of him. The body slowly lifts off of him and he rolls over to his back.

"Hope!" Landon placed his palm over his chest. "You scared me!" his eyes roamed Hope's naked body before he Awkwardly coughs. "You're uh, you're naked…"

"What are you doing out here?" Hope asked, "I could have killed you."

Landon shrugged, "I just needed a walk!"

Hope raises an eyebrow, she kneels down beside the boy. "Hey, would you do me a favor?"

Landon tried his best to avert his eyes anywhere that's not Hope's body. "Um, sure?"

"I need your jacket," Hope pulls Landon up and nearly tears his jacket from his body. After she covers herself, she stands up. "I need another favor from you."

"Uh, okay," Landon stands up.

Hope walks back to the school without saying another word, Landon follows her.

Eventually, the two are back into the holding cells where Hope had disappeared for a few minutes. She came back with Landon's jacket pockets filled with two small bottles.

Hope walks into the cell and closes the door behind her. She pulls out a small bottle and hands it over to Landon.

"What is this?" Landon tilts the bottle to watch the red liquid slide side to side.

"You said you'd do anything to stay here, right?"

"I'm not sure if those were my exact words," Landon jumps when Hope tears the bottle from his hand. "Plus, They're still running tests on me, I could be anything apparently."

Hope nodded, she kept the bottle in her hand and quickly chopped Landon in the throat. "Hck!" Landon staggers backward, Hope opens the bottle and lifts it to his lips.

Landon chokes a little but eventually, all the blood makes it to his stomach. Landon pushed her away, "Did you just force me to drink blood?!" Landon coughed out, "I assure you, I am not a vampire!"

"You will be," Hope places the bottle into the jacket pocket again.

Landon looks up at her confusingly. "What do you mean?"

Hope steps closer to Landon. Softly, she places on hand on the side of Landon's neck. "For my plan to work, you will have to listen to me," Hope whispers to him. Landon stares into her blue eyes with confusion, Hope smiled sweetly.

"You are creeping me out," Landon mumbled.

"Sorry, I swear none of this is personal," Hope placed her forehead against his. Landon furrowed his eyebrows, with little effort, Hope snapped Landon's neck.

His body collapses to the ground and Hope stares at him for a second longer.

She leaves the cell and closes the door again. She makes her way back into her room. She glanced over to the bed that belonged to her twin, Miracle had been fast asleep already.

Hope changes into her pyjamas and sets her alarm clock to a few hours ahead. Once Hope settled into her bed, she closed her eyes.

Soon she drifts off into a peaceful slumber.