*** The beginning of this chapter might be triggering.***
I own nothing but my own words.
Chapter 20: We're Not Hurting Clarke. I Won't Allow It.
Clarke was finally clean.
He had decided to stand in the shower fully clothed to let the hot water rinse all the marsh crap off. When the majority of it was clear, he stripped and hung everything up to dry. He finished showering to make sure it was all gone. He dried off, pulled on a pair of pants, and went to look at himself in the mirror.
He fingered the area where the bullet had gone in but it had completely closed up already. No pain remained, and there was no scar either. He wouldn't have expected anything less. Dear ole dad got something right.
Going through his bag, he put his razor to the side—he would shave in the morning. He did need to trim his hair though and since he never seemed to have the time in the morning he would do it now. He pulled out his scissors and went to work, combing the hair straight up, holding it between his fingers on one hand and cutting straight across with the other. He was used to doing this as there had been many years before an actual barber shop existed.
Hearing a knock at the door, he looked over and said, "Five more minutes, then it's all yours."
Going back to trimming, he was surprised when the knob turned and the door opened.
He looked at her, wondering if something was wrong. She didn't normally come into the bathroom when he was in there. She especially wouldn't come in if she didn't know the state of his dress. Fortunately he had pants on, but he usually made sure to keep a shirt on in her presence. "What's wrong?"
She came inside, closed the door behind her and leaned against it.
Then she gave him the most come-hither look he had ever seen.
She reached out towards him, coming forward with a smile that spelled pure seduction and he had no idea how to react.
"What are you doing?" he almost stepped back, he was so confused. He sat the scissors down.
She ran her hand across his bare stomach and then he did step back. She was freezing.
"Why are you so cold?" He reached down to take her hand before she could touch him again.
She shook her head then reached with her other hand to try to run her thumb across his bottom lip.
"Whoa!" he stepped back again. While he had been hoping she would change her mind about him, there was absolutely no way she would do it like this, not this suddenly or without talking about it first.
Something was wrong with her.
It must be another monster. What did his father send this time and how was he going to stop it from doing…whatever the hell it was doing to her?
He took her other hand so he was holding them both, and walked around so his back was to the bathroom door, tugging her along with him. "Let's just go this way and—Oof"
She went with the tugging a little too much and pressed against him, forcing his back to the bathroom door.
"Hope, there's something wrong. I need you to back off."
She didn't listen; she was too busy trying to push her hands up to tug his head down so she could bite at his ear lobe.
Crap. He didn't want to hurt her, but he couldn't let her do any of this while some monster was in control of her. He grabbed her arms and spun her around so he could bring them behind her back and pin her there. He was honestly surprised he had the strength to do that, knowing how strong she was.
She sank back against him, this time trying to palm him through his pants and he pushed her away from him, losing his grip on her.
"Hope, stop."
He reached back for the door handle, turning and pulling it toward him, scooting to the side to give him enough space to get out. Then he reached to grab her arm again. He would get her out of the bathroom and figure out what to do next.
She started struggling for the first time when he tugged her toward the open doorway. "Hope, I'll figure out what's wrong, just come with me and—"
Since he was facing out of the bathroom, he could see the mirror on the wall that showed him a perfect visual of the rest of the room
Specifically, he could see Hope on the bed where he left her, fast asleep now, looking completely undisturbed except for some thing with his face that was crawling across the bed to get on top of her.
Spinning around, he pushed the fake Hope hard into the bathroom and grabbed his scissors. She came rushing him, so he stabbed her. Tearing the scissors back out, he ran from the room to get to whatever was attacking Hope.
He hadn't even cleared the first bed before the fake Hope was jumping on his back. The scissors hadn't worked. He struggled and yelled, "Hope! Wake up!"
The fake Hope got her hands up to his head and his vision went wacky, his mind foggy. He managed to push himself back and slammed her into the mirror, loosening her hold. He took the scissors and threw them at the fake Clarke. They weren't sharp enough to stab him, but they were enough to get his attention away from Hope for a moment.
"Hope! Wake up!" he yelled again, but it wasn't working. She was either too tired, or the creature had done something to knock her out.
The fake Clarke hadn't done anything else to Hope yet that Clarke could see, but he needed to find a way to kill both of these monsters before it did. He grabbed the fake Hope's hands when she grabbed his shoulders and flipped her over his back, dropping her to the floor. Then he ran to Hope's travel bag. He searched through frantically and found a knife just as he was grabbed from behind again. He turned and stabbed the knife into the fake Hope's heart.
The sizzle from its skin being sliced by a knife coated in holy water told Clarke all he needed to know.
These were demons.
The female fell, and the male was now advancing on him.
Clarke circled the thing with his face, waiting for it to make a move. "You were dead the second you touched her," he glared at the demon.
Suddenly he could hear guitar music playing outside the room. He looked between the window and the demon and then he knew what he was fighting. Incubus.
If he didn't do something now, the music wasn't going to put him to sleep because he didn't have to, but it would mess with his mind and put him in a trance, just as it had probably done to Hope. He shook his head and blinked, trying to clear his head.
The demon raised its arms and smirked, knowing there wasn't anything Clarke could do to stop the music.
Clarke raised his hands to press against his ears, suddenly remembering the knife in his hand when it bumped against his head.
He grabbed the hilt more firmly, hoping his aim was as true as his trident throw had once been, and threw the knife at the demon.
The knife slammed into its chest with a sizzle. The demon fell back, but the music still played and Hope was still asleep. His mind was still foggy.
He fought through it as he stalked over, pulled the knife out of the demon and slammed it back down into its heart.
The music stopped.
Hope woke, sitting up straight and gasping for breath.
Seeing her, he quickly pulled the comforter off the other bed and threw it over the fake Clarke demon body.
There was no way he was letting her associate him with that.
She clutched her head. "I fell asleep. What's going on? Why does my head feel like this?"
"There was an attack," he said, coming over to sit at the foot of the bed. "They're dead."
"What was it?"
"I think that one," he motioned to the female body, "was a succubus. That one," he motioned to the blanket, "incubus."
She froze with her head in her hands but glanced at him. "Those are sex demons."
He nodded. He didn't want to tell her, but he knew he had to.
She looked down at herself, and around, taking stock of everything, noting that her clothes were all in place as before, but she still needed confirmation. She held her breath and asked, "Did it…am I still…?"
"I killed it in time," he reassured her.
She gasped out a sob of relief and threw herself into his arms. Wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders, she buried her face into his neck and clutched at him. He wrapped his arms around her too, probably holding her a little too tightly but she could handle it. He didn't want to think about what would've happened if he had stayed in that bathroom and tried to help who he thought was her.
"I didn't mean to fall asleep," she said into his neck.
"The guitar music," he said. He could feel her shaking against him. "It got in your head, put you in a trance, made you sleep."
He had read stories from Colonial times that suggested an incubus would play the guitar outside the window of its prey. It was written that the music could seduce, putting one into a trance to clear the way for the demon to enter the home. The demon could drive one to insanity with a repeated touch, breaking the mind, leading to death. Usually the demon's end goal wasn't death; it was just an unpleasant side effect of repeated visits to the same victim. Their ultimate goal? She was right, it was a sex demon. He couldn't be completely sure the demon would do more than kill her considering his father wanted her dead so badly but knowing what happened to him with the succubus, he was inclined to believe the worst.
He wished he could kill it all over again. He also wanted to destroy his father even more. He was sitting on a barely contained bundle of rage. His father had done this. Malivore was stepping up his game. What had changed? Had he gotten impatient when nothing else worked? They had been off his radar for so long yesterday and today—maybe that was why. Malivore was worried they would escape him completely.
The succubus was bait for him. His father would've known he couldn't be killed and he wouldn't fall asleep so she could prey on him. She had tried to get into his head when her plans of seduction hadn't worked. The she-demon had been trying to keep him occupied and distracted from Hope. That he wasn't asleep was probably the only reason her plan hadn't worked. These demons didn't deal in the awake, only those slumbering. She had been forced to come on to him while he was awake and failed miserably.
The only thing he hadn't known about these demons was their ability to change shape. The succubus looked exactly like Hope, down to the outfit she was wearing, and the same went for the incubus of Clarke and the outfit he had left dripping dry in the bathroom.
Hope clutched at him tighter and he could hear the tears in her voice.
"I don't know how much more of this I can take. All these monsters and I never know what's coming next. Then there's Triad, and they're coming after you. And what if they find us and try to take you, and if I use my magic on them more monsters come. And now this? How am I supposed to keep running for three more weeks? I'm so tired of running."
He was too. Besides the rage, this had scared him. His father had always frightened him, and he was certain that she would finally put an end to Malivore. He never thought he would have to save her from his father like this though. He was terrified he would fail the next time. He had to do something. They had never been in control of the situation, but they thought they had found some miniscule form of it.
Now, though, it was time to figure out a way to be in complete control. A way to get Triad off their backs, a way they could focus on monsters in one place so they didn't have to keep running, a way for her to use her magic as much as she wanted without fear of the consequences, and a way to make sure she was completely protected so nothing like this could ever happen to her again.
"I've got a plan," he said, trying to pull back a little to talk to her, but she wouldn't let go. She clutched him even tighter. "I've got a plan, but you've got to follow everything I say. First, don't do any magic until I tell you."
He felt her nod against him. "Second, I need you to pick an outfit and change. We're leaving soon." He looked at the time. It wasn't even 9:00 pm yet. That worked for him.
She nodded against him again but she didn't try to move.
"Hope?"
She finally pulled her head back and looked up at him.
"We gotta get moving," he said.
She nodded and looked around for her bag. "Where's…" It was across the room, she would have to walk over the prone she-demon to get to it.
"I'll get it," he said. "Just go to the bathroom."
She slid off the bed slowly, still holding on to his shoulders, looking around the room completely for the first time since she woke up. She saw the comforter on the floor and wondered why he would covered up that body. Seeing the she-demon was dressed like her and looked like her, she thought she understood. She reached down and grabbed his hand, tugging him to come along with her.
He walked her to the bathroom, stopping only once to reach across to grab her bag from the table. She went in and he set the bag on the counter.
"I'll be right outside the door," he said.
She shook her head. "Don't close it."
"Okay," he left it open but turned his back to her and observed the room, making note of everything he needed to do.
Once she was dressed, she tapped his shoulder. "What now?"
He brushed past her into the bathroom and grabbed a shirt out of his bag, pulling it over his head.
"We're leaving."
His shoes were still wet, but he had to wear them. He sat on the top of the toilet and shucked them on.
"Wait," she said, watching him from the doorway, frowning. "You weren't wearing a shirt. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, don't worry about me. It didn't hurt me," he shook his head. "We need to leave the bags. Only take what can't be replaced."
She took the other knife out of her bag, holding it up. "Definitely need this."
He nodded. He grabbed the clothes that he had hung up earlier and the clothes she had changed out of, and wrapped them in a towel. Both outfits were now on the bodies in the main room. He couldn't leave behind copies.
"Let's go," he said, leading the way.
She followed but then stopped. "Wait." She handed the knife to him.
He waited as she went back into the bathroom and came out wearing her favorite pajama shirt unbuttoned over top of her outfit. She pulled the material together and crossed her arms over her chest.
She nodded. "That's everything."
He led her through the bodies, stopping at the door to go back and grab his sketchpad and ring. Joining her again, he took her hand and flicked his ring.
"We're going invisible," he said. "Don't let go of me. Don't say a word."
She gripped his hand tightly in hers and nodded.
The next phase worked out completely according to plan. When they got beneath the video camera over the parking lot, she scaled the wall and moved the camera so it faced away from their room and vehicle. She moved it using the cuff on his shirt. He didn't want to leave behind fingerprints.
He remembered seeing a truck for sale by owner at a property they passed on the way to the motel, so he stopped off at his SUV to pick up enough cash. He stowed the towel wrapped clothes in the back of the car for the moment. He also grabbed a pair of nerdy looking glasses and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to make it look as messy and in-his-face as possible.
When they got to the property with the truck, he gave her the ring so she was the only one invisible and told her to get into the truck when he opened it for her. Then he knocked on the door, giving the owner a bit more than they were asking just to get the truck. He went through the motions, looking over the vehicle but as long as the thing started he didn't care.
Once the deal was made, he opened the back from a side door and pretended to look around inside. He could feel her touch him as she walked by so he knew she complied.
On the way back to the motel, he pulled into a dark alley, looking around for any witnesses or cameras. Seeing none, he told her to use the ring to make the entire truck and everything in it invisible. She did it but only after climbing over the front seat, which was a bench this time, and holding on to him. He knew it was alright, that the ring wasn't her doing magic. The magic was already in the ring. If it was her doing magic, then it would've been Clarke doing magic when he used it, but he couldn't do magic.
"So we're switching vehicles?" she asked.
"What gave you that idea?" he said, trying to inject as much amused sarcasm into the words as possible. Trying to act like everything was okay was only for her benefit. Inside, he was still seething.
"Why?" she asked.
"All part of the illusion," he said.
He successfully managed to avoid all other vehicles on the road even though he was driving invisible. It was kind of late for Nebraska. It was also really cold. She hadn't complained and he hadn't noticed that they were doing all of this without coats. He turned on the heat. They were going to have to leave their coats in the room too.
When he parked next to the SUV, he had her get into the back again and took the ring so he could make everything invisible now. The camera was moved so he didn't have to worry about that, but if any other motel guests went walking around, they could see them and the new truck. So he gave the illusion that all was the same. The SUV, the spot next to it empty but impossible to get into since he gave the illusion that he had parked over the line.
He moved as much as he dared from one vehicle to the other. He would have to leave behind some of the weapons, and even a lot of the cash. He quickly calculated what they would need to get them the supplies for where they were going. He would use the only other credit card he had—one with a completely different name than he had never used before, created for an emergency just as this—to get them to New Orleans when the time came. He would be able to access other accounts once he got there but, for now, this would be enough.
Once everything was moved, there was only one last thing to do.
He got into the back of the truck. He had willed the illusion to include her, so she would see him as he moved everything.
"I need to take care of the room," he told her.
"Okay," she said. "I should go with you."
"No…"
He didn't want her to go back in there—for more than one reason—but he didn't want to leave her alone. She hadn't said much since they had left the motel room, but he knew she was doing about as well as he was, and his rage was almost all consuming now. He needed to let it out.
As for her, he looked down and remembered her words.
It doesn't matter how badass you are, that's too scary to deal with on your own…
Family. She needed family.
He reached to the front of the truck and pulled out the burner phone he had moved up there. He searched in the phone for the only number he had programmed into it.
He would consider this an emergency.
"Lizzie Saltzman's emergency line," came the voice through the phone. "What's up, Hope?"
"It's Clarke."
"Is Hope okay?"
"Yes," he said. "I need you to stay on the phone with her until I get back."
"Uh, okay, but why?"
"Just do it," he said.
Handing the phone off to Hope, he saw the relieved look on her face and she mouthed 'Thank you' before she spoke into the phone.
"Lizzie, hi," Hope said. "Yeah, I'm fine."
He took off the ring and put it on her. "Maintain the illusion 'til I get back."
She nodded.
He looked through the windows, making sure no one was around before he exited the vehicle. He didn't want to appear suddenly out of nowhere and have some random guest remember him walking about after the camera was moved.
Glad he had remembered to grab a key card on his way out of the room; he entered swiftly and closed the door behind him. He put the card on the table. Then he walked into the bathroom to take his shirt off again. No use getting this one messy. He kicked off his shoes too.
He went back into the room, pulled the comforter off the he-demon, and yanked the knife out of the body.
Looking down at the bodies and then at the knife, he felt the rage swelling up, ready to come out now that he could finally release it.
He only had one thought before he began.
Don't mar the faces.
"He's going back to the room, where the dead demons that attacked us are," Hope explained. She was glad she didn't have to go back into that room, but she would rather do that than be alone. He had come up with the perfect alternative—Lizzie.
"More than one?" Lizzie asked. She was trying to understand what was happening. Another day, another monster. What made these monsters so different that Clarke had called her? Why did she have to stay on the phone with Hope?
"Yeah, two," Hope's voice caught and she said the rest quickly, injecting false bravado in her voice. "A succubus and an incubus."
"Hope." Lizzie said with sudden comprehension. She knew what those were. "Those are sex demons that prey on you in your sleep."
"Yeah," Hope said, voice quivering. She had gone over all of this with Clarke, but with him she had been trying to keep calm, be brave—though she failed somewhat at first. She could tell he was struggling with the situation too. "Luckily, Clarke never sleeps. Unfortunately, I fell asleep while he was in the shower."
"And you're okay?" Lizzie knew both Clarke and Hope had told her she was fine, but there was fine and then there was fine.
"Yeah, he killed them in time," Hope said. Physically, she was fine. Mentally, she was still a bit shaken. While she knew it hadn't done anything to her besides messing with her mind, it still had messed with her mind. Clarke being there and reassuring her had gone a long way to improving her mental state.
She pulled the shirt she was wearing on top of her clothes tighter around her. She had been wearing his shirt every night since he first gave it to her. At first, it was only because it had been warm with long sleeves. After a while, it had become one of her favorite things to wear. Tonight, she went back for it because she had started thinking of it as a security blanket. Now that she was wearing it, she felt connected to Clarke even when he wasn't right next to her.
"He has this plan," Hope continued. "I don't even know what it is, I'm just following along." Clarke had taken control of the situation. It was obvious she had no control. "That's what he's doing now. Taking care of the bodies…I think."
"What are you doing right now?" Lizzie asked.
"Wearing his ring, creating an illusion that me and everything around me is invisible," Hope held up her hand, looking at the bulky red thing, "sitting in the back of his new truck… surrounded by every weapon imaginable."
Despite everything, Lizzie had to smile slightly. "So he basically put you in the middle of an impenetrable fortress making sure you have everything you need to protect yourself."
"Pretty much, but I guess it's because he told me not to use my magic for now," Hope said. She looked around the back of the truck, feeling like she was hiding. She hated how powerless she felt.
"I thought it was getting better, you know?" Hope said, feeling the tears welling up again. "I felt like we had found some control, but we were never in control. I was never in control. I feel like I'm spiraling."
"Clarke said he has a plan, right?" Lizzie asked. "So, follow the plan! Let him be in control for a while."
"What if he's wrong? What if whatever he's doing doesn't make it better?" Hope worried.
"The only time any of Clarke's plans have failed is when you messed them up for him," Lizzie reminded her. "It won't happen this time because you're on his side."
A small laugh popped out. Hope had to admit she was right. Clarke's original plan to help Malivore take over Landon had failed when she showed up and jumped into the pit. Clarke's turn as headmaster and getting the trident prepared for transferring his consciousness had gone exactly according to plan until it was time to get her involved.
"Besides," Lizzie said pleased, knowing that if she could get Hope to laugh that she was definitely on the right path. "When it comes to protecting you, he's actually kind of gotten that right every single time." She couldn't deny the proof. Whether Hope was in danger of being blown up or worse, he had come through with flying colors.
"Just let him do what needs to be done," Lizzie said. "I know you, Hope Mikaelson, you always have to be in charge, take control of every situation, but give yourself a break and trust him."
"Trust him?" Hope asked, amazed. "Who are you, and what have you done with Lizzie Saltzman?"
"I'm still pissed at what he did to MG," Lizzie said. "But I'm not the one who has to trust him. You are. Do you?"
"Yes," Hope said. "I do." She trusted him completely. Lizzie was right. He knew what he was doing. She should let him lead and she should follow.
"Good," Lizzie said. "Now, that that's settled, allow me to regale you with tales of Kaleb and Jed fighting over Alyssa."
"Please do," Hope said knowing Lizzie was just trying to distract her now until Clarke got back. She was fine with that. She needed a distraction.
When Clarke finally returned, she was feeling more relaxed and had decided she was Team Kaleb while Lizzie was firmly Team Jed.
"He's back," Hope told Lizzie.
Clarke stashed another pair of pants with the towel and clothes from earlier then motioned for her to give him the phone.
"And he wants to talk to you," Hope said before handing the phone over. "Did you take another shower?" she asked him, noticing his hair was wet again.
"We're going off the grid," he told Lizzie, ignoring Hope's question. "Within the day we'll be cloaked and there'll be no contact from us until Thanksgiving. We'll contact you on this phone."
"But—" Lizzie tried to argue, but Clarke interrupted.
"No matter what you hear," he said, catching Hope's eye as she listened too, "it's not true, but pretend that it is in case anyone's watching."
"Want to add anything else to your list of demands?" Lizzie said sarcastically.
"Contact Hope's aunt," he said. "Let her know what I said just in case."
"In case of what?" Lizzie asked.
"You'll see," was all he would say. "Gotta go."
"Bye, Lizzie!" Hope called out loud enough for her to hear through the phone.
"Wait—"
He hung up on her. They had to get moving.
"Ready to go?" he asked Hope, glad to see she didn't look quite as shell-shocked as before.
"Where to?" she said, getting up to crawl over the front seat again.
He pulled himself over after her and settled into the driver's seat. "Wyoming."
"What's there?" she asked.
"Home for the next three weeks," he explained, putting the vehicle into reverse. He would pull into the same alley as last time and come out fully visible for the rest of the trip.
"You mean we won't have to stay on the road anymore?" she asked hopefully.
"That's what I mean, but we're driving straight through," he said, turning the truck around and driving out of the parking lot. "Only stopping for supplies. If you want to sleep, you'll have to sleep here, or back there." He indicated the back of the truck.
"Okay," she agreed. She doubted she would be able to sleep any time soon, but she was fine with not stopping, especially if it meant they wouldn't have to keep running once they reached their destination.
She marveled at the plan so far. She already felt a millions times better.
"Thank you," she said softly, the words spoke volumes as he had done so much for her that night.
He gave her that soft smile of his, the same one he had given the last time he thanked her. A smile that was equal parts glad and grateful. A smile that made her heart flutter slightly before she answered it with a soft smile of her own.
"Chad was very informative," Seylah said. "He told me all about Malivore, that the pit itself is Landon's father." She shuddered.
"Unfortunately, none of us remember Chad," Alaric said. "We know he helped take out The Necromancer, but not much else."
They were seated in the lounge in his study, all three nursing a hard drink. They all needed one after the day they had—Seylah especially.
A scratchy sound rang out of the receiver Mac sat on the coffee table, followed by her deputy's report, "That's an all clear, Sheriff. The bonfire has officially come to an end, contraband has been confiscated. Over."
Mac picked it up with a smirk, "Thanks, Pete. Out." She knew her kids might complain about it later, but at least it wasn't her breaking it up this time. Of course, once she had learned there was a keg at the party she had to send her deputy in to shut it down.
"Sorry," she said. "Had to check in with the kids."
Alaric shrugged. "Duty calls."
Seylah nodded before continuing, "The most important thing is to learn if Landon's alive."
Alaric didn't agree, but he wasn't about to tell her that the most important thing was figuring out a way to defeat Malivore. If Landon happened to still be alive and died in the process, it couldn't be helped. The same went for Clarke if defeating Malivore happened to affect him too. He didn't like it, but the monster they were dealing with was a combination of an untold number of monsters. Collateral damage was bound to happen.
"I'm not sure how to find that out," Alaric said. "But I do know finding Malivore's body in the pit is the best option for now. Chad's going to work on it."
"Might be here a while if we're waiting on Chad," Seylah said. She liked the boy but she was well aware of his limitations.
"Daddy?" Lizzie opened the study door, closing it behind her firmly as she walked over to the group.
"Yes?"
"I just got off the phone with Hope," she said. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared her father down. "Whatever plans we make, whatever we do? We're not hurting Clarke. I won't allow it."
Alaric raised an eyebrow. "That's a big change of heart."
Mac held up a hand, "Wait, Clarke? As in Ryan Clarke? That guy I told to leave town?"
Alaric waved his hand. "Yeah, that'd be the one."
"Hope?" Seylah asked, curious herself. "Landon's girlfriend?"
"No," Lizzie said. "Landon broke up with her."
"I don't believe it," Seylah said, surprised.
"He was being an idiot," Lizzie looked heavenward.
"Now that, I believe," Seylah shook her head. Boys.
"Hope's on the run," Alaric explained. "Malivore is sending hoards of monsters after her because she's basically the only thing that can defeat him, which is why we're looking for another solution."
"And Clarke," Lizzie said, glancing at Seylah, "who is Landon's brother, is helping her."
"A brother?" Seylah asked, surprised again. "I'm not surprised Malivore did this to someone else too, the poor woman."
"Er, no," Alaric said. "Clarke was one of Malivore's original creations, before he figured out how to create a kid biologically. We mostly just call him a mud man."
"It's so hard to keep all these new species straight," Mac interjected. "I can't believe there are actual witches, but to find out my nephew is a phoenix? A hell world filled with creatures? And now there are mud people? How many other kinds are there?"
Seylah looked at Alaric, surprised he hadn't told her of the existence of werewolves and vampires too considering they were standing in a school full of them.
Alaric shrugged sheepishly. "It's a lot to take in all at once, probably best to be eased into it."
Shaking her head, Seylah was about to clue her sister in but the scratchy sound from the table rang out again.
"Mayday, Mayday! Officer Owens requesting backup. There's something in these woods!" They could hear the sound of screams in the background. "The kids are running from something. I'm going in."
Alaric and Mac leaned forward immediately, worried about their kids. Mac grabbed the receiver. "Pete, Sheriff here. What do you see?"
"It's hard to see," they heard the scratchy reply. "I'm trying but…what the hell?" They could hear the officer holler and then the sound of gunshots.
"Pete, come in!" Mac said, springing to her feet and making her way to the door.
Suddenly there was silence.
"Pete?" Mac asked, hand on the doorknob. "Pete? Come in. What's your status?"
The scratchy sound rang out. "All good over here, Sheriff. The bonfire's over like I said. Kids are making their way home."
"I thought there was trouble," Mac said, looking at Alaric with a frown.
"Nah, everything's good," Pete replied.
"Thanks, Pete…" Mac turned back to the room. "What was that?"
"Malivore…" Alaric realized. "He's stepping things up. Think we pissed him off?"
"Ya think?" Lizzie replied, wondering if there was a connection between this and what had just happened to Hope.
The receiver blared again, "Looks like another 187. Kid this time. Female. I'll round the other kids up and start asking questions. Need assistance."
"Sheriff here," Mac said. "On my way."
"Stay here," Alaric told Lizzie as he and Seylah followed Mac out to her cruiser.
Alaric reached for his cell phone, immediately dialing Josie. While waiting for her to answer, he asked, "Those murders you've had lately, is there any connection between them?"
"Not really," Mac said. "The murders have all been done differently. It definitely isn't the same person committing these crimes."
"Hello?" Josie's voice rang out. "Dad, we're on the way home."
With a sigh of relief, Alaric said, "Good. So you guys didn't see anything strange?"
"Strange?" Josie asked. "No…Maya and Ethan figured the cops were going to break it up any minute like their mom always does, so we left. A few minutes later we heard the bullhorn in the distance breaking things up."
"Okay, sweetie, I'll see you at home," he said, ending the call.
"Any chance I can see the files of the murders?" he asked, as they all climbed into the car.
"You have a theory?" Seylah asked.
"If Malivore isn't out trying to impregnate the population, he has to be up to something," Alaric said. "If he's responsible for these murders, we may be able to finally figure out what he's up to."
"So you want to see the files because…?" Mac asked.
"If he's sending a different monster after each one, the kills will be different," he explained. "I need to know who is being killed, see if there's some kind of supernatural connection that you wouldn't know anything about."
"I'll see that you get them," Mac said, voice tight as she drove.
"Your kids are fine," Alaric said belatedly. "Josie said they all left a few minutes before Deputy Owens showed up."
Mac relaxed slightly, but a teenager had been killed. Mac may not have lost a child, but someone else had.
It was gonna be a rough night.
The sun had risen a few hours ago, and they needed to stop soon before he ran out of shopping options.
Clarke glanced down and to the right.
Hope had finally fallen asleep a little while before the sun came up. He knew she would be exhausted between the restless sleep she had the previous night and then nothing on this one. When she finally lay down, facing the back of the seat, he had been relieved. Lack of sleep was only going to make her feel worse. She was short enough she only had to scrunch her knees up slightly so her feet could clear the door.
The top of her head was currently pressed against him. He wasn't sure if she actually was comfortable, but she had been like that for at least five hours now so it must be working for her. Whenever he had to make a stop or turn, he reached out to grasp hold of her back so she didn't go rolling off the seat.
Coming to a stop outside of a large store that should have most of what they needed, he finally reached out to wake her. He grasped her back as he had been doing all morning and said, "Hope?" He didn't want to scare her awake, so instead of tapping her when she didn't stir, he rubbed his hand gently at the spot he was holding. "Hope, wake up."
This time he succeeded. She turned her head to look up at him.
"Are we there already?" she asked sleepily.
He shook his head. "We need to pick up some things first. Time to shop."
She pulled herself up in the seat. "What do we need?"
He reached over into the glove compartment. "Replace the stuff we left behind. Get your stuff, and I'll get everything else. Get anything you'll need for the next three weeks. We aren't going back out until then."
She nodded and rubbed at her eyes, trying to wake up.
"Here," he handed her the glasses he had worn last night. "Put these on."
Taking them, she looked at them curiously. "Why?"
"I'm using my ring to change my appearance," he explained. "You're gonna do it the old-fashioned way. Button up the shirt and tuck it in."
She put the glasses on and started on the shirt. "You really think this'll make me look that different?"
"Pull your hair back into a tight bun too," he told her. "That should do it."
"I look like a librarian," she said when she pulled down the vanity mirror to fix her hair.
"Good," he said. "Nothing like yourself." He figured there would be a few more hours before what he left in the motel room was discovered. He didn't want anyone to remember Hope's actual face in case it got plastered all over the news. He hoped it wouldn't go that far, but he had made arrangements in case.
When they got out and went into the store, he tried his best to stay in aisles that were closest to her which didn't work too well as the misses department wasn't near anything he actually wanted.
"Would you go get what you need?" she said, pulling a shirt off a rack and checking for the size. "I'll be fine."
"Just…call out if you need me," he hesitated. "I'll be close by…" Though the hardware department was on the other side of the store.
"I'm not glass, Clarke," she said, putting the shirt back up and shaking her head at him. "I'm not going to break if you walk across the store. I'm still me. I may not be able to use magic, but I can beat things up."
Knowing she was right and he was just being paranoid, he left to get everything he needed. He rushed to get it done, not liking that he was away from her for so long.
She found him before he finished.
"Is that all going to fit in the truck?" she asked, amazed that he had gotten that much stuff jammed into the cart. Mostly things like clothes for him, food, clippers, and… an axe!
"You got me an axe?" she said, face lighting up.
"Where we're going, we'll need firewood," he said. "Not positive on the supply, so you'll probably have to chop some."
"So wait," she said. "I have to chop the firewood?"
"I'll cook," Clarke said with a smirk.
"Darn right you're gonna cook if I'm chopping all the firewood," Hope said, nodding.
"Also, I figure you can't cook," he said. She had grown up going to a boarding school where all of her meals were provided. She never learned to drive, so when would she learn to cook?
"There is that," she laughed. "I can bake though!"
"I'm not impressed," he said.
"You can do laundry too," she teased as she stepped forward to pick up another package from the cart to examine.
Clarke raised an eyebrow. "That's more of a shared kind of thing."
"Hey, if I gotta chop the firewood and kill the monsters, you can cook and do the laundry," she flipped the package over. "A wig?"
"You don't get to have all the fun," he said, pulling the discounted Halloween costume package out of her hands and tossing it back in the cart. "I'm killing things too."
"What's with the wig?" she asked.
"Disguise for you," he said.
"Here I thought the librarian look was going so well," she patted her bun.
"This'll complete it," he said. "Which reminds me…" He grabbed a camera that gave instant printed photos when used.
"A camera?"
"Gotta create an ID for you," he said.
"Why don't I just create one when you let me use my magic again?"
"You can do that?" he asked. He put the camera back.
"Well, I can morph an ID that already exists to change the image and details?" she said.
"Works for me," he said.
"I'm not completely comfortable with this," Wade said, shifting in the backseat.
"Yo, neither are we," Kaleb said. "But Doctor S insisted, so here we are."
Where they were was the backseat of Lizzie's car with the top down. Lizzie was driving with MG as shotgun. All four of them were wearing Go-Pros attached to their heads feeling like idiots, and Wade was carrying a video camera too, just in case.
"I'm not comfortable with any of this," Wade insisted again.
"Get over it, Tinker Bell," Lizzie said. "You want to be a member of the super squad? This is what you do. Besides, you get the easy part."
It was a brand new day—a brand new day with the knowledge that Malivore was a bit ticked and may be sending monsters to attack the community. And how could they remember afterward once the monster returned to the pit? Answer? They couldn't. All they knew was the damage and death left behind.
The gang was on patrol, heading out into the community, waiting to see if something else would be unleashed. Wade's only purpose was to record everything so they didn't forget what happened once all was said and done. See? Easy.
She had been juicing up all day, siphoning as much magic as possible to prepare for whatever came their way.
"The map shows movement towards the high school," MG said, looking down at the paper. "A lot of movement."
"Then that's where we're headed," Lizzie said.
Meanwhile, Jed was at the school with all of his new friends. They were having lunch outside. His face was still slightly bruised, but only Ethan had given it a second look.
"Did you hear about Gretchen Meyers?" Ethan asked.
"The girl who was murdered last night?" Josie asked.
"Yeah," Maya shook her head. "Scary that we were all there moments before it happened. For once, I'm glad my mom's the sheriff or we wouldn't have left early. It could've been any of us."
Josie and Jade looked at each other, each knowing that if they had stayed, there was more of a chance that the girl wouldn't have died at all. Jade and Jed would've dealt with the monster while Josie got everyone out of harms way.
"There's going to be a memorial service on Friday," Ethan said. "The school's letting anyone off to go."
"I'll be there," Dennis said, joining their group. "What about you, Josie?"
Josie crinkled her nose.
"Someone died," Jade said, disgusted. "It's not the time for a date."
Ethan didn't know what it was but something about just looking at Dennis made him so angry, especially now that he kept coming on to the girl he liked. Was he doing it on purpose?
They all heard the squeal of tires and looked to the street. More and more cars were coming to a sudden stop.
It wasn't very hard to see why.
There were birds. Lots and lots of big birds, flying in overhead and, as they watched, the birds kept dropping feathers. Only, they weren't feathers. And they weren't dropping so much as aiming and shooting.
Screams rang out.
"Are those…arrows?" Jed squinted. "Since when do birds shoot arrows?"
Jade grasped Maya's arm. "We need to get inside." She dragged her to her feet, then grabbed for Josie.
"Wait…" Josie said, but Jade was already tugging both of them along, not caring that she was using her vampire strength a little too much.
"I can—" Josie started.
"You can't do anything right now," Jade looked back with a knowing look. "Get inside. The arrows are coming closer to us!"
"I'll be back," Jed said, taking off.
"Where's he going?" Dennis asked.
Ethan didn't know but, with what was going on, he wasn't about to leave his friend alone. He took off after Jed who had already gone pretty far. The guy could run!
"Ethan! Come back!" Maya yelled out, but she kept running along with Jade who wouldn't let her stop.
Ethan was already too far away to do more than make a signal that he was okay for his sister's benefit.
There was another squeal of tires. Seeing the arrival of the new car, Josie tugged her arm away from Jade's finally.
Jade was too busy trying to get Maya to the building, while looking out for falling arrows to notice she had lost someone.
Josie knew she should go inside, but she had just seen her sister arrive and she didn't want to leave her. She dodged an arrow but kept going towards Lizzie.
"Josie!" Jade called back, realizing she was missing. "Get inside!"
"Lizzie!" Josie cried out to her sister, ignoring Jade. "Watch out!" She saw Lizzie avoid being hit.
Josie tried to run to Lizzie, but Kaleb sped to meet her. "Get inside, girl. Lizzie is fine. You're not."
Lizzie started turning arrows to flowers, reaching out toward as many as she could see.
"But—"
Kaleb pulled Josie out of the way of a falling arrow, then shook his head. He didn't have time for this. He tossed her over his shoulder and sped to the school doors. "Stay here. Without magic, you can't help." He pushed her inside and closed the doors firmly.
Staring out the door window, Josie desperately wanted to go but knew he was right. She had given up the one thing that could help protect her sister. Now was not the time to be without magic. She had made a mistake. She needed it back. She should be out there fighting, not hiding inside
Wade got out of the car with the camera held aloft, taking in the hoard of birds flying back and forth across the top of the school. Seeing everyone else get out of the car and run for the school, he went around to the driver's side to pop the trunk. No way was he standing out in the middle of that. He climbed into the trunk, using it as a shield by holding the lid down slightly above him. He kept aiming with the video camera at the activity outside the school the entire time.
Kaleb and MG were working together, running to grab arrows before they could hit random people, and directing everyone to get inside.
Lizzie was doing as much as she could to stop the arrows from falling on anyone. She needed to take out the birds, but she couldn't do that while she was spending so much energy turning the arrows into flowers. It was only getting worse.
Most of the students were all running for the school, but the arrows had left a bunch of them cowering.
"Get inside!" she yelled at them. They were scared and shocked to see her doing magic in front of them.
She saw the shade shift on the ground and looked up to see that most of the birds had joined in formation, flying together in a huge hoard overhead. She realized what was about to happen a second before it did. They were all going to shoot arrows at the same time.
Shifting gears, she sent out a burst of magical energy, holding the arrows up, praying nothing got through.
"Run!" she yelled at the kids again. They were finally getting a clue and started heading toward the closest building. "That's right! Move it!"
Jed had scaled the wall to the roof of the school in record time. He knew what he was looking for. Some of the guys would sneak up here to take slingshots at a corn hole when they were bored and needed a smoke. He needed a slingshot right now since he didn't have anything else to use on the birds short of them coming close enough for him to grab.
He grabbed it and a few rocks. He could see that Lizzie was holding them off, and he knew he was crazy to think he could do much with a slingshot, but he had to try.
"Need some help?"
Jed looked and saw Ethan had followed him.
"Yeah," Jed nodded.
"If we're taking potshot at birds, I'm so in on this," Dennis said, joining them. He had followed Ethan because he wanted to know what Jed was up to too. Plus, he didn't want to hide inside and miss any of this.
Fortunately, there was more than one sling.
The three of them worked together to try to take out the birds.
"I've hit this one in the eye twice now," Dennis said. "It's not working."
"This is crazy," Jed said. "What kind of bird has arrows for feathers?"
"The birds of Ares," Ethan said. At Jed's look, he continued. "What? I'm into politics and Greek mythology…
"But how are a flock of birds that guard some sacred shrine to the god Ares currently dropping arrows in Mystic Falls?" Ethan asked. "This is insane! Mythology is just that. Myth."
The birds had taken notice of them and a few broke free from the group to come at them.
"Crap," Jed said. "Incoming!"
The boys jumped back, and Jed grabbed one of the birds out of the air, wincing.
"What are you doing?!" Ethan yelled, dodging one of them, amazed that his friend had grabbed and was wrestling a bird.
Jed struggled to break its neck, but lost his grip and had to release it. "Nothing. Let's get inside. I don't know how to kill them."
"The Argonauts made them go away by clashing their shield and spears together," Ethan said.
"We don't have a shield or spear," Dennis yelled, now throwing rocks at the birds without the sling.
"Get inside!" Jed repeated, realizing he shouldn't have let the guys stay on the roof with him. He was the wolf, they were humans. This could end badly.
"Watch out!" Ethan pushed Jed out of the way as an arrow shot to the ground where his friend stood. Then Ethan jumped back to avoid another one.
When he jumped back, he slammed into Dennis accidentally.
Dennis, who was standing too close to the roof edge, lost his balance. He grabbed hold of the edge to hang on, struggling to pull himself back up.
Ethan ran to the edge and tried to help. Dennis gripped at him. "Come on, E, help me up."
"I'm trying!" Ethan said. "Jed, help!"
Jed dodged arrows but tried to get over to them.
Lizzie couldn't hold it much longer. Her power was draining.
All of the students were clear from under the magic dome, but she realized it was now just her under the volley of arrows. The birds kept releasing more and more, applying more pressure and making Lizzie use even more magic which meant she was draining too quickly. She saw something out of the corner of her eye and realized another smaller flock of birds were making a new formation and preparing to fire at her from a different angle.
She didn't know what to do. If she dropped the spell, all of those arrows would fall and she would definitely die. If she didn't stop the new arrows though, she would die too.
She was going to die no matter what.
Tears pricked at her eyes and then she screamed as she reached into the most fragile broken pieces of her mind and dragged out any trace of magic that she could find. She flung her arms and the birds and arrows above all flew along with her movement. They hit the brick wall of the school with a loud crack, shattering some windows in the process.
Lizzie ducked and braced herself for impact from the other arrows. This was it. She hoped it didn't hurt much.
Silence rang out and she didn't feel anything. What in the world?
Looking up, she saw that MG had run in front of the arrows to protect her.
"Oh no you don't, not again."
He was desiccating in front of her again. It was painful enough the first time. She had to get the arrow out that had pierced his heart. She prayed that Hope's blood hadn't worn off yet, not when they needed it most.
On the roof, Jed was trying to get to the edge to help but the arrows kept coming. One hit him in the right shoulder, and he fell with a grunt.
An arrow shot down towards Ethan's arm—his good one—the one currently doing all the work to pull Dennis back up. Ethan flung himself to the side to avoid being hit and, in doing so, he lost his grip on Dennis.
Dennis flailed before grabbing Ethan's bad arm.
Crying out at the pain, Ethan fell forward, grabbing hold of the wall with his good arm. He didn't have any strength in the bad one though. The pain was so incredible it brought tears to his eyes.
"I can't hold on much longer!" Dennis called out. "Do something!"
There wasn't anything Ethan could do. Without Jed's help, he couldn't get Dennis back up on the roof. It was all he could do just to hold himself up.
"Jed!" Ethan yelled, but didn't hear a reply. Was Jed okay?
"I can't," Dennis said through clenched teeth. "Help!"
Ethan tried to pull Dennis up, despite the pain, but got nowhere.
Dennis was slipping. His grip had slid down to Ethan's wrist. It was only a matter of time.
"Jed!" Ethan tried again.
Dennis' desperate face was the last thing Ethan saw before his grip slipped completely and he fell.
"No!" Ethan found himself clutching at air and staring at the ground below in horror.
He yanked himself back and sprawled backwards on the roof.
Jed finally made his way over to him, having been knocked out for a moment when he was hit. He winced as he grabbed at the arrow in his shoulder and pulled it out.
"He fell!" Ethan yelled. "He actually fell!"
Jed moved gingerly to look over the edge. He grimaced. Dennis had fallen to his death for sure.
Suddenly Ethan gasped and sat forward.
"E?" Jed bent down, worried Ethan was hurt somewhere else. He grabbed for Ethan's shoulder. "What's wrong?"
Ethan moved his head back up to look at Jed, breathing hard. His eyes glowed black and gold.
He pulled away and then he didn't move to stand so much as he pounced to his feet.
Jed's mouth dropped open. "You're a wolf."
Ethan shook his head, not understanding his friend's words.
Before Jed could begin to explain, a large black pit opened in the sky, and all of the birds flew up and disappeared inside.
Jed and Ethan looked around.
"Why are we on the roof?" Ethan asked. He blinked and shook his head.
"I don't know," Jed shrugged. He shifted and winced. "My shoulder is sore though."
"Maybe we should go back inside?" Ethan suggested.
Jed nodded and headed for the exit.
Ethan looked down at his right arm and flexed his fingers. He didn't feel any pain at all. In fact, it felt like it was good as new beneath the cast. Huh.
Josie looked around and wondered why she was standing inside the school doors. Everyone else looked as confused as she. She remembered having lunch and then… She couldn't remember what happened next, so she opened the school doors and went outside.
Looking around, she noticed something in the distance on the ground. Was that a person? She quickly walked across, but stopped when she saw she was correct. "Oh my God! Someone call 9-1-1!" She looked back at the front doors and saw Jade standing there, looking just as confused and concerned as she.
"Dennis?" Josie asked, kneeling down next to him. "Dennis?" She could see the blood on the ground beneath his head. She reached with tentative fingers to search for a pulse. Not finding one, she flinched back. Is he really dead?
Lizzie had absolutely no idea why MG was desiccated in front of her, but she saw the arrow in his heart so she yanked it out immediately.
He returned to the land of the living with a gasp and cried out at the pain. He was also completely covered in arrows. She started pulling the other arrows out as Kaleb arrived to help.
"I thought he was a goner," Kaleb said, shaking his head. "I could've sworn one of those arrows hit his heart."
"No," Lizzie said, shaking her head. "Missed the heart. Just barely."
"Uh, guys?"
They all looked to Wade who was crawling out of the trunk, nearly falling to the ground. He held the video camera up in his hand.
"You should really see this!"
"I feel like a snowplow," Hope said, her hand raised, making her magic push all the snow out of the way as Clarke drove up a snow covered road on the side of a mountain.
"Well, technically…"
"Oh hush," she rolled her eyes at him. "Are we there yet?"
"Almost," he promised.
She looked around. There was nothing but snow for miles. They hadn't seen anyone either, though at this point she assumed most people would have to be crazy to live this far out in the middle of nowhere in this weather. They were probably few and far between, and nestled snug in their cozy homes until the weather had passed—or their summer homes were up the mountain while their much more sensible homes were further down in the city.
Since he said she could start using her magic, she had placed the cloaking spell on them she had been working on before. The one she used on her mother but with a twist so she would be able to find Clarke though no one else could.
She had also been on the lookout for monsters. They had been so far off their radar since that morning that she figured they would have a ways to go to catch up to them. She also didn't know how the cold would effect them, so bonus if they froze trying to get to her. But then, she also thought that maybe something was wrong with their theory since the demons had attacked last night and she hadn't used her magic. Plus, there was the time earlier in the day yesterday when she had done magic and nothing showed up.
When Clarke finally took a hidden turn off, she grew a bit restless anticipating getting out of the truck and gaining back all the control they had lost.
He pulled around behind the house and parked.
"Give me a minute."
He got out and ran to the wall straight ahead, opening some hidden panel and typing in some numbers. The wall moved open to reveal a garage. Hope kept an eye out for any monsters that might attack him, but he made it back to the truck without incidence.
"Where are we?" she asked. "What is this place?"
"Old Triad facility," he said. "They haven't used it in years. The code was still programmed to what I originally put in. They won't expect us to show up here, and there's no way for them to know."
Putting the truck into drive, he drove forward then quickly got out and closed the garage again.
As soon as she got out, he came to her. "Put a boundary around the house, like that force field you put around the pixie queen. Make it go all around, down below the ground, and up above the roof. Reinforce it, like, ten times, but make sure we can leave while nothing else can get in."
Nodding, she concentrated and began working on it.
He started unloading the truck.
After a few moments, she went to the door to the main house.
"Where are you going?" he called after her.
"Exploring!" she exclaimed, excited. "And I want to reinforce the boundary spell in areas I can't see, just to make sure."
She took off again and he put his next bag down to follow her.
He finally caught up to her outside one of the rooms on the second floor. She looked inside.
"This is where we'll sleep," she decided, before she reached out to touch the wall and made an extra boundary around that room only, so it was extra protected. "Or I will. You can sketch or whatever it is you do."
"You know there are rooms with more than one bed down the hall?" he asked, seeing that she chose the one with only one bed, a king size. Most of the rooms had multiple beds for other operatives, but this one had only one because it was for the leader of the unit.
"This one has a bathroom attached," she gestured to the left side of the room. "Plus, you know you always stay with me anyway." She shrugged.
"True," he nodded then watched her practically skip away. Amused, he followed her again, but this time it was only to watch her. Someone was excited. He was pleased she was happy with the plan.
Coming to the front of the house, there were three large windows connected in an intricate pattern in the hall, giving a perfect view of outside.
She looked out at the snow covered trees and grass. "I know they're coming already. I wonder if they'll just line up outside waiting for their chance when they realize they can't get in."
"It's possible," he shrugged. "Either way, you get to face them on your terms. You want to fight? Go do it. Take a break for lunch? Do it. You want to go to sleep and not worry about something attacking? Do it."
Grinning, she hugged him quickly, "I love this plan!" Then she was off again, continuing to explore.
He went back downstairs to keep unloading, and she eventually came down to join him—mostly to get her stuff to bring up to the bedroom, though she did carry his stuff upstairs too.
In the midst of figuring out what he was making for dinner and putting a tea kettle on the stove, she came into the kitchen brandishing the new axe.
"I'm ready to kill things," she proclaimed. She saw what he was doing and laughed. "Tea? Okay, Vardemus."
He made a face at her. "It's freezing outside. You'll thank me later."
"If you say so," she shrugged and looked at the axe, deep in thought. "I looked outside again. I thought I saw something wondering through the trees. I'm going out."
"Do you need me to do anything?" he asked.
"No," she shook her head. "I got this."
And she did. Have it.
He watched her from the kitchen window, sipping the tea that he had gotten used to during his time at the school.
She had been great all day, being strong, joking, and relaxing, excited even. But deep down he knew she still had some issues to deal with from last night. He had dealt with most of his own, but she hadn't.
As she took off the head of one creature before advancing on to the next one, he knew he was watching her deal with those issues now, slaying her own demons.
He nodded, relieved.
She was going to be okay.
After they had dealt with everything at the school, and the sheriff came in to investigate the death of yet another teen, they all returned to the Salvatore school to view the footage.
They sat in awe, watching the swarm of birds with feathered arrows for wings.
Lizzie couldn't believe she had managed to do so much with her magic. She had never taken on something of that magnitude by herself. She never needed to before—she always had her twin by her side.
Unfortunately, the angle of the camera meant they couldn't get more details on the death of the local high school football player.
Watching MG run to jump in front of her to protect her, she had to reach out and grab his hand. "Thank you," she murmured. She leaned into his side. She felt his smile more than she saw it.
She was also very glad MG had been facing away from the camera when the arrows hit. They didn't want to explain to anyone else why MG hadn't died due to an arrow in the heart. They were taking that secret to the grave.
Getting back to class or even taking a nap would've been preferable to what she had to do next—go tell a prisoner that visitation hours had been cut so as not to anger the warden.
Taking a deep breath, she commenced with the spell.
"Lizzie!" Chad exclaimed, seeing her with her glowing ball.
"Yes, it 'tis I," Lizzie said, feeling bad. After the day she had, she knew she probably shouldn't be here and risk the wrath of Malivore, but hey, maybe he would just release Chad too like he had done Seylah. Something told her he knew Seylah was far more likely to succeed. Chad wasn't.
She had used Seylah's clothes from the pit to find Chad. Luckily—or unluckily?—he had bled on her when he had been injured.
"Hello," a new voice said.
Lizzie saw that Chad had made a new friend. At least she could tell Seylah that and give her some peace of mind—though that fell very short of actually getting Chad out of Malivore.
"Chad, have you found it?" Lizzie said.
"No, but I think she might be able to help. This is Evelyn," he said, indicating the other woman. "She's seen it."
"You mean, like somewhere in this world?" Lizzie asked, hopeful.
"No," Evelyn shook her head. "On earth. I saw it right before it touched me. I was lost in this dark void after that, until the next thing I knew I was standing next to some guy who pushed me into this…blackness." She looked around.
"Wait…" Lizzie said. "Was this guy kind of medium height? With curly black hair?" That was probably the most accurate description of Landon she had ever given, but she wanted nothing to prevent Evelyn from correctly identifying him. This was too important.
"Yes," Evelyn nodded.
Oh wow, Lizzie thought. This was huge.
"So you've seen Malivore's actual golem body and can identify that too?" she went back to her original purpose for being there.
"I-I… yes," Evelyn nodded. "I can help Chad find it. Why do you need it?"
"To stop him," Lizzie said. Then she realized suddenly that even if they could use his body without killing Clarke, once Malivore was gone so would this world. If they didn't do something to get Chad—and now Evelyn—out, they would perish right along with Malivore. Great.
"You'll keep contacting us?" Chad asked hopefully.
"That's the thing, I can't do it as much as I thought," Lizzie said. "He's ticked because of what we did and is unleashing Armageddon on earth. I might not be back until Hail Mary time. Which means, we will need it the next time you see me. You've got to find it."
"We'll do our best," Chad said.
Evelyn nodded.
"Great!" Lizzie said. "You do that."
She dropped the spell and returned to her room. She knew she was being abrupt, but she didn't have time for boring pleasantries.
Standing up, she immediately went to find her father.
This was big.
Landon was alive.
If Malivore could take over Evelyn and she still lived when he jumped out of her body, then the same principal could be applied to Landon. If they could find some way to get Malivore to jump out of Landon's body, Landon could survive.
He was still there, somewhere inside his body.
There was a chance they could get their Hobbit back.
Night had fallen, and Hope had just finished her shower.
The only light in the room was a night light plugged in across the room. They were protected, but they didn't see the need to draw attention to the room they were sleeping in by keeping a light on all night.
He waited for her to come in, wondering if things would be different now. She hadn't been back in a bed since she had woken to learn what had happened last night.
She did seem a bit uncertain. On the way over, she stopped to crack open a drape to look out the window.
"You can't see anything right now," he said. "Don't bother."
Hope nodded, and took a deep breath. She walked to the bed and pulled up the comforter, getting ready to slide in underneath the covers.
She wanted to ask him a question, but she was nervous about it. She knew he would be okay with it, but it was kind of a big step for her. She needed it though. It had been a rough day and she really wanted him to comfort her again. He usually just did it on his own. This would be the first time she asked for it.
He saw her hesitate and searched for words to reassure her that he wouldn't let anything happen to her, but he also didn't want to bring it back up if she was trying to get past it.
"Hope?"
"Will…" she put the comforter edge back down and finally asked, "Will you hold me?"
"Come here," he said immediately, nodding and motioning for her to come to him.
Smiling, she pulled the comforter up again and slid in, scooting over to him. Fortunately, he was under the comforter already too because of the cold. She wrapped her arms around his chest, and rested her head somewhere over his heart.
He put his arms around her, holding her as close as she needed. The rest of her pressed against his side.
"Thank you," she mumbled into his chest.
"Anytime," he murmured back, amazed.
He lay there holding her until her breathing finally evened out and she fell asleep.
She stayed right where she was all through the night.
He was amazed that she had managed to, once again, make him feel something he had never felt before.
Wanted.
To be continued…