I own nothing but my own words.

Chapter 22: Just Grab Me And Whisk Me Away

A Little Over A Week Ago…

"Why did you think this one was a domestic dispute?" Alaric asked while looking through the first file Mac gave him.

After a somber night of interviewing confused teenagers who remembered nothing that could explain the death of their fellow classmate, the three of them had returned to their homes with the promise that Alaric would visit the station the next day and try to find a connection between the murders and Malivore. Seylah went to stay with Mac in her guest room. She was there now, playing catch up and trying to adjust back to human life once more.

He was sitting across from Mac at her desk while he had sent Lizzie, MG, Kaleb, and Wade out to keep an eye on the community. He ensured they wouldn't forget whatever they saw by making them wear Go-Pros. Lizzie hadn't been pleased, but she did as he said.

"Because she'd been burned with an iron and had sustained a blow to the head before she was shot with a gun owned by her boyfriend," Mac explained. "The boyfriend was recently transferred upstate to be held awaiting a bail hearing. Hopefully he's denied."

"What did the boyfriend have to say about it?" he asked.

"Claimed he had nothing to do with it," she said. "But he also couldn't provide an alibi. He admitted he hadn't gone anywhere for hours, but he couldn't explain why he hadn't heard anything, not even the gunshot."

"He couldn't explain?" Alaric asked. "Or he couldn't remember?"

Mac looked up at that, considering. "It's possible...knowing what I know now."

"How did you get your memories back, by the way?" Alaric asked. He had been meaning to find that out for some time now.

"You'd have to ask Seylah," Mac shrugged. "She left a vial for me to drink."

"Huh."

Alaric nodded, pulled out his phone, and started texting.

"Who are you contacting?"

"A friend. That," he nodded at the first file, "is enough for me. Sending the names of the victims to him, see what he can come up with." Especially since Dorian was getting very antsy in his recovery. Sitting all day until his wound was healed was giving him cabin fever. He was nearly there, but Emma wasn't letting him take any chances.

He pulled the second file toward him. "What about this one?"

Before she could reply, they were interrupted.

"Reports of trouble at the high school," Pete said, poking his head into the room. "Another student is dead. Possible suicide."

Mac stood immediately and Alaric frowned. "I'm coming with you."

With all the information she was gathering, Mac just nodded and let him tag along.

"The first two are witches, Ric," Dorian told him on the phone later. "They kept to themselves, didn't advertise that they practiced, but they are definitely witches. The third, the girl? Still searching but haven't found any connection yet. As far as I can tell, Gretchen Meyers is just a normal teenage girl in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Thanks," Alaric said, sighing deeply as he hung up. He was waiting for Mac to arrive. She couldn't put the kids' video from the high school today into evidence, but she wanted to look at it herself and try to figure out what happened to Dennis—the student that died that day.

As for the murders, it was as he thought. All this time Malivore had been up to something and he was none the wiser. Why had he killed at least two witches that they knew of? The other file had shown the woman was killed with something really sharp—though forensics couldn't determine if a knife was used. Forensics did confirm that she had been tied up and burned before death.

Malivore was torturing them before he killed them.

Torturing meant he needed something from them. But what? And more importantly, had he gotten what he wanted?

"Daddy!" Lizzie said, bursting into his study. "I have news!"

"So do I," he said. "You first."

"Landon's alive!" she said coming up to the desk and slamming her hands down on the wood, face lighting up victoriously. "There's someone alive in the pit who Malivore took over, and he put her there when he switched from her body to Landon's. He's still alive somewhere in there!"

Alaric looked down, shaking his head. "Honestly, at this point it would almost be better if Landon were dead."

"How can you say that?" Lizzie asked, perplexed.

"Before all of this," he motioned around, "the only way we knew for sure to destroy Malivore was for Hope to trigger her vamp side and jump into the pit—which will probably kill her. Now that we know the golden arrow will kill a phoenix for good, we have another option. But either way, it's Landon or Hope. One of them will have to die."

"Well, that's just not acceptable," Lizzie denied firmly. "I'll find a way to get that golem body if I have to go into the pits of hell and get it myself."

"We don't even know what to do with it once we get it," Alaric said.

"Then we'll figure it out!" Lizzie exclaimed. "We sure did step on someone's toes when we tried before. Clearly we're on the right track."

"And Clarke?" Alaric asked, remembering her proclamation the previous day. "What happens if the only way to destroy Malivore's body destroys Clarke's too?"

"Then we'll just…" Lizzie looked around for the answer. "We'll figure out a way to protect him first before we do anything."

"Lizzie," Alaric said very seriously. "You can't save them all."

"Watch me!" Lizzie said.

She was being as positive as possible. She knew this was looking more and more impossible, but all her therapists had said she shouldn't dwell on the bad. She would take deep breaths, go upstairs, meditate, and try not to worry about everything that could go wrong. Why, oh why did Josie have to give up her magic now? She would really love to have her sister working by her side like always.

"Where are you going?" he said, as she turned to leave. "Don't you want to hear my news."

"I need a minute!" she huffed, stalking away.

And he needed a drink, but he was trying to wait until after Mac arrived. If he started now, he would probably end up having more than he should before he turned in for the night.

He had faced some pretty steep odds throughout his life since arriving in Mystic Falls, even overcoming the grave and being a vampire himself. But Malivore seemed to be worse than anything he had ever faced before. To unleash any number of monsters on the world at any given time? And the only way to defeat it was the death of a teenager—one of whom he loved as his own child.

There was a soft knock at his study door. Figuring it wasn't Lizzie so soon, he called out, "Come in!"

The sheriff entered holding a folder under her arm.

"I've got the video ready for you," he said, indicating his computer where he had loaded the file. "I can send it to you too. You probably didn't need to come all the way out here."

Mac came over and sat down at the chair across from him, her face pensive. She held the folder before her now, gripping it a little too tightly.

"What's that?" Alaric asked, nodding at the folder.

She shook her head, cleared her throat, and leaned forward.

"Ric, do you have a photo of Hope I can see?" She thought she had met her once before, with Maya, but it was too long ago and far too short a time to be sure.

He sat up straighter, frowning slightly. "Why?"

"I really need a photo of Hope," Mac said again.

"Why do you need a photo of Hope?" Alaric asked, suddenly fearing her answer.

Mac looked at him with her sheriff face, the one that spelled out bad news. She was bracing herself for his reaction.

"I never put a search out for Ryan Clarke, or flagged his name. But I did create a private internet search alert in case any red flags came up in general. I got a hit today."

"Why do you need a photo of Hope?" Alaric asked again, insisting as his fear turned to dread.

"There was a double homicide at a motel in Nebraska last night. One male, one female. The male has been identified as Ryan Clarke. The female can't be identified."

"Let me see it," Alaric demanded, reaching out for the folder as all the blood drained from his face.

"Ric, no," she shook her head. "Just give me a photo of Hope so I can identify—"

"Just let me see it!" he said, standing up and leaning forward, his hand out insisting.

She kept the file against her, but opened it slightly. She found one of the photos with the girl's face, one of the better ones. She slid it up a little, only revealing what was necessary and turned it around for him to see.

He sank back into his chair, staring at it. "It's her."

He shook his head. "But she should've come back. Once she died. She would come back as a vampire."

"A what?" Mac asked, raising her eyebrows.

He didn't bother explaining, his mind was too busy trying to find a way to negate what it was seeing. There was no way she was dead. She couldn't be. "How long were they dead before they were found?" Maybe she just hadn't woken to begin her transition yet.

"The bodies weren't discovered until noon today, central time," Mac said. "Coroner couldn't place time of death, but the parking lot camera was moved around nine in the evening, so that's the assumed time."

"That's too long," Alaric shook his head. "Too long. She should've come back by then."

"Back from where?" Mac didn't like this. She was pretty sure Alaric had just said vampire. Of all the things she had learned over the past couple of days, the existence of vampires seemed the most ridiculous.

"She's really gone," he said. He felt like he couldn't breathe, like his lungs were crushing him. Whatever Malivore had sent after her, it had won. It had killed her in such a way there was no coming back from it.

"Show me the rest of the photos," he insisted.

"Absolutely not," she gripped it firmly to herself. "You don't need to see that."

"I need to know what kind of monster did this," he said. "What did it do to her?"

"Not as much as it did to him, that's for sure," she said. "It tore them apart, Ric. With a really sharp knife. It was left at the scene. Only fingerprints on it belong to the both of them. Local law enforcement don't have any leads."

Alaric shakily grabbed a glass from a nearby shelf and filled it with the decanter on his desk. He gripped the glass, raised it, and then slammed it down before taking a drink. She wouldn't want him to lose himself in alcohol at her death.

Clarke was supposed to protect her, damn it. He was supposed to make sure this didn't happen. He didn't like him, but he thought she was in good hands with him despite everything. Clarke had even garnered Lizzie's loyalty somehow.

Lizzie. And Josie. And MG. Kaleb. Raf. All the students. They would have to know.

He folded his hands together on the desk in front of him, clenching them as the emotions started overwhelming him. In all of this, all of the loss he had, he never thought he would lose one of his girls.

"Dad, I think I have a plan," Lizzie burst into the room again, ready to take up her cause. "I want to—"

She stopped when she saw her father sitting with a face of obvious distress, and… were those tears?

"What's wrong now?" Lizzie said. "What happened?"

Alaric struggled to find the words, so Mac supplied them. "Your friend, Hope, and her traveling companion, Ryan Clarke, they've been found. They're dead, honey."

Lizzie reared back. "What?!" She looked back and forth between her father and the sheriff. "That's not possible. Clarke can't die."

Alaric looked at her sharply. "But their bodies were found."

"Clarke said…" Lizzie thought back to the conversation. She looked around the room, touched a wall to siphon some magic and said, "Auditus obstructionum."

"What was that?" Mac asked.

"In case anyone is listening," Lizzie said. She was worried about bugs. Hope said Triad was more trouble than she had thought. She wasn't about to take any chances.

She looked back to her father. "Clarke said that whatever we hear, it's not true, but we should act like it is. They're not dead, Dad. I promise. I talked to them last night."

"What time was this?" Mac asked, shifting around.

"Maybe nine-thirty or ten o'clock?" Lizzie said, trying to remember.

"Which would've been ten-thirty or eleven in Nebraska," Mac said, sitting up straight. That was well past the possible time of death.

"But the bodies," Alaric said, nodding at the folder.

"Clarke was taking care of them while I was talking to Hope," she said.

"They look exactly like them," Mac said. "What kind of monsters were they?"

"…Shape shifters," Lizzie said, searching for a lie and nodding when she found a good enough one. She would let Hope talk about that later if she wanted to. Her father didn't need to know right now. He looked like he was struggling enough from the roller coaster of emotions of thinking Hope was dead and now knowing that she was alive.

"Oh…" Lizzie realized. "He totally thought this through. Set it up to look like they were killed to throw Triad off their trail. They won't keep looking for them if they think they're dead."

"Which is why their faces were untouched," Mac nodded. "So we could ID them. Or at least him. She's not in any databases. He pinged though."

"How did you get that file?" Alaric asked Mac, suddenly worried.

"An old buddy of mine," she said. "Since you didn't want anything to trace Clarke back to Mystic Falls, I had a friend in Kansas send me the file encrypted."

"Good," Alaric said, breathing a sigh of relief. "If they can't trace him here, they can't identify her so we won't be notified and be forced to pretend she's dead." He looked at Lizzie. "I'll let her aunt know just in case."

"I kind of already told her," Lizzie said sheepishly.

"And you didn't tell me?" Alaric asked.

"I was going to, but then a monster attacked the bonfire and it kind of slipped my mind?" Lizzie said apologetically. "But Clarke specifically told me to tell Freya, so I did that first thing." She figured by 'aunt' he meant Freya and not Rebekah since Freya had been Hope's legal guardian until she turned eighteen. She didn't know how to contact Rebekah anyway.

"Excuse me if I'm a little behind on all of this supernatural stuff," Mac said. "But you said the monsters killed were shape shifters? Wouldn't Triad know the difference between a monster and them?"

"No," Alaric said. "Triad only knows Clarke isn't human. They don't know anything else about him. For all they knew, he really was whatever monster they found the body of. Same goes for Hope…

"So, Clarke did that…" Alaric remembered what Mac said about the murder scene. Now that he knew Hope was alive, did he really want to leave her with someone capable of that? Even if Clarke was only trying to make it more difficult for Triad to piece the situation together, it was pretty extreme. "Lizzie, what he did to those bodies, he tore them apart. Was that really necessary?"

Lizzie pressed her lips together, contemplating, "Oh yeah. Definitely."

She added, "If it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure they were already dead before that?"

Alaric shook his head. "So, Hope…?"

"Is fine," Lizzie answered him. "We won't hear from them 'til Thanksgiving. Plus, they're cloaked so I couldn't find them if I tried."

"Just as well. Figured out Malivore is torturing and killing witches. Wouldn't want him to track them that way," he said.

"Witches?" she said. "But why?"

"He must be looking for something," Alaric said. "No clue what."

"Maybe the video will help?" Mac brought their attention back to the original reason she came to visit.

As they watched, it became apparent that nothing in the video was going to help—not even the videos from the Go-Pros. It especially didn't help with determining what happened with Dennis. Lizzie already knew there was nothing on there, but she watched along with them just in case.

"With Dennis being on the roof at the time the birds were attacking," Mac said, "I think we can rule out suicide. The birds probably caused him to fall. Now, how to explain that to his parents." She would have to tell them it was an accident. A tragic accident. The school would probably be facing a lawsuit for not taking better precautions against student access to the roof. The paraphernalia up there was evidence it had become something of a secret student hangout.

"The only other question I have is, how did that boy survive being shot with all of those arrows?" she said, pointing at MG. "Is he like Clarke? He can't die?"

"Oh, that's because he's a vampire," Lizzie said. "Good thing we didn't bring along any of the wolves. They wouldn't have survived." Dad had grounded Rafael from field work after his last trek. He was too emotional and would endanger everyone, including himself. Jed had been at the high school keeping an eye on Josie and Jade.

"Wolves?!" Mac asked.

"You know, werewolves?" Lizzie raised an eyebrow at her father. "Didn't you fill her in on supernaturals? She's literally sitting in a school full of them."

"Not all supernaturals, apparently," Mac looked at Alaric sternly.

Alaric shrugged apologetically.

Mac sighed. "Honestly, the only new information this video gave me is why all the windows in the main building were shattered."

Lizzie's smile was very big, "Sorry?"

"You saved all of those students," Mac said. "I think we can forgive a few broken windows."

Lizzie sighed in relief.

Two days ago…

"Are you sure about this?" MG asked, following his best friend as per usual. "Because, I don't know…"

"You took the vial I gave you, didn't you?" Lizzie asked. She was not taking anymore chances when it came to MG. They didn't know how much longer Hope's blood would last in his system, so she had snagged a werewolf cure—which they at least now knew was just that, Hope's blood—to give to MG before they went out on her latest mission.

"Yes, but—"

"Then you'll be fine! Nothing to worry about," she grinned at him.

"What about you?" he asked.

"Relax, we aren't going to engage the king of the underworld," she said. "Just observe some of his creatures, and if by chance a portal opens, well, then, just grab me and whisk me away into it."

"I can't believe I agreed to this," he shook his head but he was smiling. He was probably the only one who went along with all of her schemes. This one was pretty extreme, but it was for a good cause—saving the world. And this Avenger was always up for saving the world. "Everyone's going to forget us."

"Hope won't," she said. "And if we go in together, you won't forget me. So we're good. We'll find a way to get the memories back. It worked for Hope."

"I'd never forget you," he grinned ruefully at her.

"Simmer down, MG," she said. "Even you can't overcome Malivore's permanent death thing. But it's fine. Because we're going in together. Now, be on the look out."

Her Dad had downright refused her plan at first, but he couldn't disagree that the only way to get the golem body—and Chad—out were if someone went into the pit and got them out. Someone that Malivore couldn't keep in the pit. Like a witch and a vampire.

Lizzie's plan was pretty straight forward. Get into the pit. Use Seylah's shirt soaked with Chad's dried blood to light a path to Chad. Hopefully Chad had already located the body. Then they would all grab hold of each other with MG running at warp speed to use his power while Lizzie did every spell she could think of using her power. The combination of the vampire and witch powers being used should be too much for Malivore to handle and he would have to spit them out even though they were holding onto the body.

Her father was in the process of writing down all of his favorite memories of her in case her plan actually worked, though she insisted they would figure out a way to return them.

The only other thing he had insisted on was that she kept sight of the ultimate goal. If there was a choice between getting the golem body out and anyone else, she must get the golem no matter who got left behind.

She didn't like that idea, but she knew he wasn't wrong. The memories of her would be lost for nothing if she didn't get that body out. And Hope and Landon would still be in trouble.

The hardest part of the entire plan was to try to catch a ride in an open portal. After the incident with the birds, Malivore hadn't attacked the community once. There weren't any new reports of murders or even accidental deaths. No one could explain why, but they were grateful for the brief reprieve. That didn't change the fact that he was still up to something.

Lizzie and MG were following the lights on the monster map, the one from the locator spell performed on Landon's hairbrush. So far, they only saw the monsters from afar but hadn't engaged any of them. They were observing them in broad daylight just to see what would happen.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing happened.

The map itself had changed too. Instead of lights leading a trail across the country, there seemed to be a concentration in Wyoming, and only a few clusters in Mystic Falls.

Was that where Hope and Clarke were? Wyoming?

It still didn't explain why there wasn't a stream of lights depicting monsters across the map. Malivore was releasing them in Mystic Falls and they were traveling there. Had something changed again? And if there were only a few left behind in Mystic Falls, were those only because Malivore needed decoys to hide his own movements? Or were those the ones Malivore was releasing and absorbing again to increase his own power?

If that second theory was correct, then eventually she and MG should find a portal.

She hoped.

It took four attempts before she finally hit pay dirt.

"It's Malivore," Lizzie whispered. They were crouched behind some trees, observing the creature that looked like Landon.

"And the largest wolf I've ever seen," MG whispered back, feeling a chill.

"Ignore the wolf," Lizzie said. "If he opens a portal, you know what to do."

And then he did—open a portal for the incredibly huge wolf to go into.

MG grabbed Lizzie and sped toward the blackness.

Unfortunately, it closed before they could get through.

"Damn it," Lizzie said when MG came to an abrupt stop and they were still in the daylight.

"Uh, Lizzie…" MG said, looking back at Malivore who didn't look pleased to see them.

"Um, hi, Landon's dad," Lizzie said, grabbing hold of MG and backing away. "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, isn't it?"

Malivore was too busy glaring at MG.

"Uh, yeah, Landon's dad," MG said awkwardly, backing away too. "Hey!" He waved.

"Don't suppose you'd let Landon come out and play? You know, release him, since we asked politely?" Lizzie said.

Malivore didn't reply.

"No?" Lizzie continued. "Well, just, um…how about you send some monsters after us?"

"Lizzie!" MG said through clenched teeth.

"Just, you know, open a portal right over here and send them out?" Lizzie suggested hopefully.

"Why bring forth more when they're already here?" Malivore finally answered the witch.

MG looked around and then behind them. He saw four scary looking monsters advancing on them.

"Sorry, Lizzie," MG said. "Time to go!"

He picked her up despite her outraged yell, and sped away as fast as he could, leaving the monsters far behind.

Bypassing her car and the town, he kept going. There was no way he was stopping until he was positive they were safe. Arriving back at the school, he finally set her down. He looked around. At least at the school warnings would go off if the monsters tried to get in.

"MG! We almost had it! Why'd you do that?!" Lizzie said, frustrated.

"There were monsters coming after us," he said.

"And I could've immobilized them, or froze them, or any number of things to stop them in their tracks so he could open a portal for more!" Lizzie exclaimed.

"No, he couldn't. He wouldn't," he insisted. "He knew we tried to jump into that portal. He wasn't going to open another portal near us. All of the monsters left in Mystic Falls were probably rerouted to our location. I had to get you out of there."

Lizzie let out a frustrated scream, threw her hands in the air, and walked inside to stalk to her room.

Now what?!

Present day…

His hand propped up his head as he lay next to Hope, looking down at her sleeping. The morning sun streaming through a crack in the curtain gave him enough light to see her fully.

She had barely stirred all night, just sought out his warmth. Her face appeared peaceful, giving no indication that the weight of the world was on her shoulders.

Giving no indication of how his world would change once she opened her eyes.

He had spent the night imaging what life would be like with her from now on. Would he be able to kiss her whenever he wanted to? Would he be the one she sought out first in every room? Would she tell him everything happening in her mind, sharing it all with him? He missed knowing her constant thoughts. Would she open up to him? Always let him in, never shut him out? Would he be able to convince her that he was the only one for her?

He didn't know what would happen when she woke; but, for now, he was going to enjoy the view and get lost in his thoughts. She was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen, and she kissed him last night. She had feelings for him, and she wanted to be with him.

Ignoring all the rest, he couldn't help but wonder that if someone such as her could want him, then his father had been wrong about him all these years. He was worth something.

She finally stirred, waking up slowly, and opening her eyes to see him peering down at her.

With a sleepy smile, she murmured, "Hi."

He liked his reception already. He answered with a smile and a hint of smirk.

She stretched slightly, closed her eyes again, and then looked up at him. "What's up?"

"What do you dream of?" he asked a question he had wanted to for some time now. "When I'm not near you?"

"The pit. Endless darkness," she reached up, running the backs of her middle and forefinger up the side of his face like she had the previous night before she kissed him. "I think my subconscious misses you. When you were there, I was never alone."

"Sometimes I miss it," he murmured. "Being inside of you, but then…I couldn't do this." He reached out and touched her lip with the pad of his thumb.

"Or this…" He leaned down to kiss her, thinking that hopefully, eventually, he would be inside of her again, just not in the same way.

She returned the kiss, amazed again at how right it felt to do this with him. This morning could've been so awkward after last night, but it wasn't. Everything that had been holding her back had become a non-issue. She wasn't afraid of the feelings he invoked in her, not after he had done everything he could to protect her, and especially not after she gave in to him last night and he hadn't expected anything more than she was ready to give. He let her kiss him, and then was fine when she put a stop to it.

As for the other… that might be becoming a non-issue too. She had been so worried that her feelings for Landon would be unfair to Ryan, she didn't think one kiss from him might go a long way to showing her how wrong she may have been about Landon all along.

Still, she didn't want to get his hopes up. Her heart ached for him from his words last night. She didn't want to hurt him anymore than he had already been hurt all his life. She clearly didn't know her own mind enough to make a firm decision. She would give Ryan what he asked for, and hopefully the rest would work itself out eventually.

Loud noises from outside finally penetrated their morning kiss.

Lying partially on top of her, Clarke groaned in frustration as he pulled his mouth from hers. "Someone's anxious to meet their impending doom."

He leaned across her body toward the window on her side, ignoring her squeak as he pushed the curtain edge out of the way. "Well, that changes things."

She tilted her head back but it was impossible to see out the window to down below from that angle. She moved to turn over. He let up enough to give her space to do so, settling back down against her back once she had moved to her stomach.

"There are so many…" she murmured. "How'd they get here so fast?" There had been a steady stream of monsters since they arrived. It had started getting worse two days ago, but now? They must completely surround the house at this point.

She reached out to touch the wall and willed a couple more rounds of reinforcements into the barrier.

"There," he pointed. "He opened a portal out there." One of the monsters he unleashed must have fire properties since all of the snow had been melted to clear a path for everyone too.

"He's never done that before…" she said.

"He must be growing stronger," Clarke grumbled. "To open a portal at this distance? Assuming he's still in Mystic Falls. But why would he come all the way out here when he could just send the monsters." His eyes squinted and he realized there were two portals. "And more than one? Crap."

"Well, I could just jump in one and really tick him off," she mused.

"Let's not be hasty," he said quickly, happy to note the holes closing up. "He's already closed them."

She sighed. "So, now to deal with the army of monsters he let out."

"I'll get my guns," he shifted off her, rolling to his side of the bed.

She sat up. "He may have enough power to open a couple of portals wherever, but, I wonder…"

"What?" He grabbed his shoes to tug over his socks.

"Can he really control that many monsters all at once?"

"Does it matter?" he scoffed. "They all know they can't run away, that they have to complete their primary directive—to kill you."

"Oh, it does matter," she said, grinning suddenly. "Do you have a quarter?"

"A what?"

Clearly kissing her had led her down the path to insanity.

"Hope, this is crazy," he said.

She opened a window that led out to a sloped area on the roof. "Just hand me the axe and machete once I get out there."

"You can't just jump down into the world's most dangerous mosh pit and survive!" He didn't like this at all.

Climbing through the window, she reached back expectantly.

"You better not die," he said, handing her the machete.

She took it and held her hand out again.

He handed over the axe but didn't let go once she grasped it.

She leaned back down through the window and kissed him. She pulled back with a grin, "I promise more of that later."

He let go of the axe. "Better keep that promise," he smirked despite his worry.

"Oh, I will," she said with a smirk of her own before she stood up straight and turned around to address the crowd below.

"Listen up!" she yelled out. "I know some of you want me dead. I know the rest don't want to kill me, but are being forced to. I also know that all of you will die while trying to do so. So, I'll make a deal with you."

She held up her hand, holding the silver dollar Clarke had found in place of the quarter.

"Pick up the coin, and I'll let you live 'til tomorrow," she said before she tossed it off the roof to the ground below.

Some of them stood there, either as dumb as they appeared or just completely under Malivore's control, while the rest understood.

Those were the ones that went running for the coin, beating each other up to get to it first.

She tossed the axe down off the roof next, nodding when it landed in one of the monster's heads before she jumped down herself, swinging the machete at anything that got close enough for her to reach.

"Expello!" she cried out at a group rushing her from the right. They were flung backwards, and she turned to the left, slicing the weapon down and up, every which way.

Feeling something approaching her from behind, she spun around, jabbing the machete at it while she kicked out backwards.

Hearing a few large cracks, she noticed some of the monsters around her hit the ground with a new hole in their skulls. Ryan.

She grinned before jumping back into the fray. A monster approached, breathing fire at her. She sent out a wave of magical wind, blowing the fire back into its face and into the face of all the creatures surrounding it. She turned her back on the howls of the burning creatures and went running off to the next batch.

She found her axe at one point, and sent it flying with her magic at a huge giant of a monster, slicing its head off even as she turned back to the other monsters to cut her way through them with the machete.

She was untouchable. No matter how hard the monsters tried, no matter how many came at her at once, nothing could get through to her. She was too focused and too powerful. Malivore would have to try a whole lot harder if he thought his creatures had any chance of hurting her.

When all was said and done, every single creature was dead—either by her hand, Ryan's gun, or a creature attacking another one to get to the coin.

Looking around, completely exhausted, she wondered where the coin had gone.

Seeing an enormous shadow on the ground before sensing a dark presence behind her, she spun around, readying to fight once more.

The largest wolf she had ever seen was standing there. She stepped back, preparing to fight.

It opened its mouth and the coin dropped down.

Stooping to pick it up, she nodded. "Tomorrow."

It turned and ran off.

She looked around. Spying her axe, she walked over to pick it up, holding it along with her machete. Seeing nothing else but piles of unmoving bodies, she walked to the front door.

He had the door opened before she could even reach for the knob.

"Show off," he said, but he was smiling that smirk of his. The one that said he was proud of her and amazed by her.

She sat down her weapons and pulled out a chair to collapse into. "Thank God he didn't send out another wave after I killed all of those. I wonder if he'll do the same thing tomorrow too?"

"It's doubtful," he said. "That last one, the wolf? With the coin?"

"Yeah, what kind of wolf was that?" Even she had given pause when she saw it. It was bigger than the Shunka.

"Fenrir," he supplied. "He's a child of Loki."

"Loki?" she squeaked. MG would love to hear about this.

"It is said that Fenrir consumed Odin at Ragnarok," he explained. "Odin's son was supposed to have killed Fenrir with a sword through his heart."

"Well, obviously Thor failed with that one," she said.

"This isn't the Avengers, Hope," he said. "This is Norse mythology. And Fenrir was very proud and never walked away from a challenge he knew he could win. The gods got one over on him by creating different fetters to imprison him, each more difficult to break free from than the previous. They made it a game, convinced him with the last one that if he couldn't break it, the gods had nothing to fear from him. He couldn't break it, but instead of releasing him as they said they would, they chained him to the land until Ragnarok."

"Can't walk away from a challenge he thinks he can win, can he?" she replied. "I guess that's why he picked up the coin and wanted to wait 'til tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?"

"The night of the full moon," she replied…

"When my wolf powers are at their strongest."

To be continued…