The constant barrage of knocking on his door had finally woken the boy. With a groan, he pushed himself off his bed and sluggishly went to the door. The door was being banged on until the moment he opened it, revealing a frantic looking Hope.
"I can't find Landon anywhere" she spoke in a hurry, her voice a little high pitch. Clear panic was coursing through her.
"Have you checked the werewolf transition spaces?" Nathan asked, his words drawled on when he yawned. He quickly covered his mouth with the back of his right hand. "Maybe he's there for moral support or something."
"Raf's not in the transitioning cells" the statement had brought Nathan's full attention to her, the sleep leaving his body immediately. "And MG is missing too and my locator spells are not working at all and I can't find them."
"Okay, Hope" Nathan brought his hands down on her shoulders and looked her right in the eyes. "Deep breaths. Look at me, copy what I do" he told her. He took in a deep slow breath and exhaled. Hope's ones weren't deep or slow, they were shallow and quick-paced. But slowly her breathing synced with Nathan's and the boy felt her shoulders relax.
"Now, if they are untraceable then they are being cloaked" Nathan stated, the calm still in his voice. But he was nervous, his heart racing and his breath yearning to pick up. But he needed to stay calm, he needed to keep Hope calm. "Let me try," he asked and the tribrid nodded her head.
Nathan took a deep breath, eyes ending. His hands were still placed on Hope's shoulders, more to comfort her than him using her for any spell. When he exhaled, he felt the rush of his own magic run over him, flooding his senses with excitable warmth. One after the other foreign magical sources opened up to him, like flames igniting in a room of darkness. He had successfully pinpointed everyone on campus. Josie was in her room, fast asleep. So was Lizzie in her own bed. The headmaster was rushing around the school to check. The vampires were in their rooms, all of them fast asleep. The werewolves were below ground and in their respective cells. Hope burned the brightest, like a hearth compared to the other candles. Her magic was the strongest. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to focus on Landon, MG, and Raf. He couldn't find the other two. They were probably out of his range. But he did find Raf.
His eyes shot open and he rushed out his room, the tribrid following after him. The headmaster joined them when he saw the two rushing out the main doors. He asked where they were headed and Hope gave a shrug. Nathan though did not speak, did not have the time to speak. His rushing walk became a run once they were in the back of the school and into the woods. Something was wrong with Raf, he did not feel like the rest of the wolves. His core magic, the werewolf curse, was turbulent and had a lot of irregularities. They found Rafael passed out in front of the back gate.
Hope rushed to him after Nathan did, checking him over for any injury. "Raf? Are you alright?"
"MG... Landon.." the Wolf whispered and Hope's worry only went up.
"Raf, where's Landon?" the tribrid asked, looking at the Wolf with worry. The Wolf turned his head to look at the girl, his eyes unfocused.
"I don't remember" he let out a gasp of pain. Hope exchanged a horrified glance with her headmaster and witch friend before calling Nathan over to help Raf to his feet. The two of them carried the Wolf back to his room, the headmaster separating from them at the entrance and then rejoining them in the room with Emma in tow.
The woman checked the boy over, lifting his head to look him in the eyes. "Luna Psychosis" she diagnosed, taking a step away from him and standing with her arms folded over her belly.
"That's a thing?" Hope questioned, looking at the counselor.
"Quit talking" Rafael spoke in a pant-like tone. "Making noise" his voice shook. Eyes slowly coming to a close and hand clenching into fists, the boy let out a low growl before jumping up. The three took a step back while Emma simply raised her hand.
"Tardus pulsation" she muttered and the Wolf stopped. His eyes twitched slightly before he fell back on the bed. "It's a thing" Emma answered.
"What was that spell?" Nathan asked, taking a step forward with Hope.
"It's okay" Emma assured them both. "The spell slows his heart down. It should help him calm down" she explained. Rafael looked like he snapped out of some sort of daze, looking around in confusion before his eyes went to Emma.
"What's happening to me?" he asked. "I keep… losing time."
"As I said" Emma moved forward slowly and in a manner to not set him off and gently grabbed his arms. "Lunar Psychosis, which means that your mind is in flux. Trapped between your Wolf and human states. Which is making it harder to bridge the gap and access your memories like you normally would."
"It's very rare" she spoke to the three who stood behind her now. "It only happens" she turned back to Rafael, "after a premature reversion."
"So, something caused your body to shift back" Hope spoke up, eyes shut and posture tense, "before the full moon was over, leaving you like this" she surmised, her voice gently shaking.
"Wh-What kind of something?" the Wolf asked, looking to Hope for answers, his agitation clear in his face.
"Usually trauma" Hope explained, "something bad happened."
"We don't know that" Emma corrected her immediately, giving her a look.
"Three of them left and only one came back" there was no anger or accusation in Hope's voice. Just sadness and resignation. "Something bad happened."
"Hope" the woman stood with a sigh, looking to the tribrid with an understanding but worried look. "Why don't you give us a minute?" she motioned to the headmaster and herself. "Go on and check on the other wolves."
"I'm worried about this one" she looked at Rafael. She wasn't exactly worried about Rafael, Nathan knew. She was worried about the boy that had gone with him.
"Hope" the counselor called to her, her look now completely of worry. "Please."
The tribrid looked at the counselor and then the headmaster before stepping out with a scoff. Emma gave Nathan a look and the boy nodded, walking out after the tribrid. Nathan stepped out to find Hope still outside the door, clutching the wooden frame against the wall. Her breath was shaky and Nathan felt the instability in her magic. He cut around her and stood facing her, his arm leaning against the wall.
"Raf knows where Landon is" the words tumbled out of her mouth the moment her eyes fell on Nathan, her voice shaking and Nathan was sure she was near her breaking point. "We need to find out, find out what happened to them."
"Hope" Nathan spoke gently, "Rafael is not in the state to recall anything. And pushing might do worse than good."
"We can't just stand around!" Hope shouted, gripping the frame tighter and cracking it slightly.
"We are not" Nathan pushed himself off the wall and placed his hands on the girl's shoulders. "We are going to do our own snooping," he told her, looking her right in the eyes. "Landon is out there and Rafael is pretty much a broken shell of what he normally is. But that doesn't mean we are just going to wait. We can follow the clues."
"The only clue we have is Raf!" Hope exclaimed, her gaze almost a glare, tears pooling in her eyes. She broke away from him, wiping at her eyes to get rid of the tears that pooled in there before she walked back into the room. Nathan followed her in with a sigh.
"I have a big mess to clean up," the headmaster said, looking at his student. "Hope, you stay with Emma and keep me posted" he instructed her before walking out. Nathan moved out of his way and closed the door behind him. He looked over to Hope who was moving to where Emma now stood.
"What's with the needles?" she asked.
"Sedatives," the counselor told her.
"Sleep isn't really a priority here" the tribrid replied, looking unimpressed.
"But safety is" the counselor looked at her student. She then moved over to the Wolf. "Rafael told me why you couldn't track them. Penelope Park aided then in a cloaking spell before she left for the break" she looked back at Hope, now knelt in front of the Wolf.
"Said it was a gift for dumping Lizzie on her birthday" Rafael explained, the guilt of the deed clear on his face.
"Great" Hope muttered. "Then what happened?"
"Landon! No!" Rafael began to shout after a moment of thought, panic taking over his facial features.
"It's happening again," Emma said, watching Rafael began breathing heavily. "Hand me the syringe" she looked to Hope.
"Wait, he's about to tell us what happened to Landon" the tribrid argued and Emma gave her an irritated look.
"And if he stays in this state longer it'll be that much harder to pull him out" the counselor rebutted.
"Landon! Run!" Rafael screamed, his breathing a pant at this point. Hope shook her head and Nathan clicked his tongue and moved to get the syringe.
"Raf!" Hope pushed in when Emma had gotten up to get the syringe from Nathan. "Hey, it's okay. Tell me who's running after Landon. Please" she looked at the Wolf imploringly. "Who's chasing Landon?"
Nathan came over with the syringe and Emma took it from him. She moved to stand behind Raf and injected the sedative into his neck. The Wolf let out a grunt before he stopped struggling. He let out a shaky breath before looking at Hope. "A monster" he whispered before falling forward into her arms.
Nathan and Hope helped Rafael into his bed and tucked him in before waiting for him to wake up. The sun had risen a few hours later but Rafael had not. The worry for Landon's life only growing more between them. Emma had gone back to her room, telling them to call if anything happens. She also told Nathan to keep Hope back in case she goes to do something rash. But that one was for Nathan's ears only.
"It doesn't make any sense" Hope muttered, looking to Nathan. "Triad has the urn. There shouldn't be any more monsters. Certainly, none that made their way through Maryland."
"Unless that agent douchehead lost the urn and the monster is coming for another key inside here" Nathan muttered, the idea making a chill go down his spine. "Or Rafael could have mistaken something else for a monster. He's not exactly in the right state of mind to tell the difference between anything."
"We need to wake him up" Hope looked back at Raf.
"And have him freaking out again?" Nathan looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Look, the best thing for him would be to rest before he ends up losing his sanity."
"And Landon? MG? What about the monster?!" Hope asked, pinning him with a glare.
"Will be found" Nathan assured him. "If there is a monster, I'd sense him. You know I can pick up on those things" Nathan spoke and Hope seemed to loosen slightly. "As for Landon and MG, they are survivors. If Rafael was screaming for him to run, Landon ran. And with Mg there, they have the advantage of super strength and speed. Trust in them" he urged, putting a hand on Hope's shoulder. The tribrid looked at him before looking at Rafael.
"Fine" she muttered. "Tell me how you remember us going to save Landon from looking for his mother?" she turned back to him.
"What?" Nathan looked at her with a confused look. "Why wouldn't I know? Everyone knew where you and the headmaster went."
"That's the thing" she leaned forward. "Landon's mother jumped into Malivore. Nobody remembers the trip. Landon doesn't remember her or what happened. Nobody but us" she motioned to Nathan and then herself. "Why and how?"
"I" Nathan tilted his head, a frown crossing his lips in thought. "I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with my coven again? As everything for me seems to lead to that" a roll of his eyes followed the statement. "But if you remember as well, could you be part of my coven?"
"No" Hope shook her head. "My grandmother pretty much invented black magic and my aunt Freya has been with my grandaunt for more than half her life. Uncle Kol used to practice magic and so did Uncle Finn. But they both got turned into vampires. None of them had a coven and they were the only practicing witches in the family until I came along" she explained. "So, no, we aren't related in any way."
"I see" Nathan leaned back in thought, the mystery about his coven only getting bigger the more he learns about himself. He looked back to Hope who was staring intently at Rafael. "Come on" he stood up and Hope gave him a confused look.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"Library. As you said, we can't be sitting here and wasting our time. There has to be another way to track down MG and Landon."
Hope looked at him before standing up herself. She set up a barrier spell on the entrance so nobody could get in or out before shutting the door behind her. The duo made their way to the library, each one taking a book out and starting to look through what a potential monster could be.
"A Shunka" Nathan pushed the book towards her. "It's a supernatural being of Ioway Native American legend that is a large carnivorous creature with huge claws that feeds only on werewolves. It could be what Rafael saw if there was a monster" he suggested.
"If something that big was running around in the woods, we would have seen and heard it by now" Hope argued and pushed the book back to him. The two resumed their research until Hope decided to check in on the headmaster.
"So, this is where you are" Nathan looked up at the voice and smiled when Josie walked over to him. She took a seat on the chair beside his and the two shared a kiss. "I went to your room and saw no one there."
"Yeah, something happened in the night" Nathan stated before explaining everything to Josie. The brunette wasted no time in joining them. At the mention of the Crescent pack, Nathan's ears perked up.
"Your mom's pack could control their shift at will?" he asked and Hope gave a swift nod.
"My mom was a hybrid and as alpha, her powers were spread across the whole pack. It's a werewolf alpha and pack thing" she explained shortly and dismissively. It was clear that she was already hatching some sort of a plan in her mind.
"And this plan of yours, how much is it going to harm Rafael?" Nathan asked. Hope gave him a look before standing up and walking away.
"Judging by the look it's going to hurt a lot" Josie mumbled and both her and Nathan stood up to go follow the tribrid.
"Hope, wait!" Nathan called out to her but the tribrid did not respond. Josie's call did not do anything either. The two followed Hope to her room where she locked the door behind her, keeping the two waiting outside.
"Are you sure there're no monsters?" Josie asked her boyfriend.
"I would have sensed it otherwise" Nathan answered.
"Maybe it has some kind of cloaking to hide from the others" Josie suggested but Nathan highly doubted it. Hope walked out of her room, almost crashing into Josie if not for Nathan pulling the brunet aside. The three made their way to what Nathan assumed was to Raf's room, Nathan and Josie calling for Hope to stop.
Emma was already in the room when they arrived and Hope told her plan to the older woman. And was immediately told to not do that.
"This elixir has been in my family for years. Dr. Saltzman said that I.."
"Dr. Saltzman, bless him, is not a medical doctor" Emma cut her statement short, "Nor am I. And most definitely neither are you. The division between the two sides of Rafael's mind exists for a reason, to protect his sanity and to.."
"Emma" this time Hope cut her short, "Please. Obviously, something terrible happened. Landon and MG are out there somewhere."
"DO you think I'm not concerned about them?" the counselor asked. "Of course, I am"
"Then we need to do something.!" The tribrid exclaimed.
"Hope," Emma said with a bit more force in her tone. "I said no. And I'm not gonna let you…" whatever else she was about to say was cut off when Rafael injected her with the sedative she had used on him.
"I'm sorry Emma" the Wolf apologized, gently laying the now passed out form of the guidance counselor on his bed. "Hope's right" the Wolf looked at the tribrid and the two nodded to one another. "Do what you gotta do."
"I don't think we should let them do what Hope's got to do" Josie whispered and Nathan gave a nod of his head. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the bottle of elixir flying out of Hope's hand and smashing it on the wall. Too shocked to react, Hope just stood there slack-jawed while Rafael with clear rage charged Nathan.
"Ad Somnum" Josie muttered and the Wolf fell face-first onto the ground, fast asleep. Nathan and Josie both stiffened suddenly finding themselves hoisted into the air and sent smashing into the wall behind them. Nathan was the first to get up, feeling the adrenaline and magic course through him.
Hope thrust her hand forward and so did Nathan, creating pressure between the two that sent them both flying backward but not crashing. Hope charged and Nathan stood his ground. In a turn of shocking events, Nathan found himself easily blocking and weaving through the hits Hope was sending him. He even delivered some of his own hits successfully.
Hope's eyes burned a mix of yellow and red while Nathan's burned green before they both charged. Hope now over her shock at Nathan's ability to fight hand to hand was receiving fewer hits and dodging more, the same going for Nathan. The two were at a stalemate.
"What are you?" the tribrid asked, crouched and glaring.
"Your friend" replied the witch, a hand forward and palm facing the tribrid while the other folded behind him. "Sorry about this."
Hope gave him a questioning look before she felt a sharp pain in her neck. He had shot to the side and grabbed Josie's arm. But it was already too late. The last syringe of sedative was pushed into her and Hope fell forward.
"Now what?" Josie asked, looking around at the damage and the people passed out. "And when did you get so good at fighting hand to hand?"
"I honestly have zero ideas" Nathan looked at his hands and then his own body. "It all felt instinctual. My body pretty much knew what to do and what not to do."
"Right" Josie muttered, struggling before putting Hope on Landon's bed. Nathan put Rafael on the couch. "Do you have any plans? About how to get the information from Raf without making him go crazy?"
"The only way would be to access his memories," Nathan said with a thoughtful hum. "It's all in there. We just need to get it out."
"So basically, we just need to read his mind" Josie muttered, saying it like it was very simple. "I should probably go and get a Vampire to help."
"No need" Nathan shook his head. "I did it once. It was a fluke. But I remember how I did it."
"Oh," Josie muttered softly, looking at Nathan with a look that the boy did not know what it could mean. "The more I learn about you, the more I feel like 'witch' isn't what you really are."
"Yeah, add me to the list of supernatural mysteries of Salvatore School" Nathan gave a roll of his eyes. He moved to stand in front of Raf and gave Josie a nod. Josie nodded back and muttered the counterspell to wake Rafael.
The Wolf woke with a gasp before growling at Nathan and pushing to charge him. "Easy there!" Nathan snapped, pushing the Wolf down with more strength than he was aware he possessed. It seemed to surprise the Wolf as well, for he stopped struggling and sat quietly. "Look, I have an idea. And it does not involve you going batshit crazy. But you have to listen to what I say. Understood?"
"Yeah" the Wolf muttered with a low growl. But then gave a sheepish smile at the glare Nathan pinned on him. "What do I need to do?"
"Just look into my eyes" Nathan brought Raf out of the chair and the two sat on the floor, legs folded. "Grab my hands" he instructed and Rafael complied. "Now, look right into my eyes" he instructed, looking straight into the Wolf's eyes. "Open your mind up to me. Open the doors to your mind and let me in," he spoke, the entirety of his eyes now glowing green.
Nathan found himself in some sort of forest right away after he finished speaking, quite surprised at how quick and easily Raf had surrendered to him. He recognized the woods as the one behind the school. He looked around in confusion, trying to understand where exactly he needed to go. This was not something he had done before.
He felt a pull on him and he followed it, which led him to a cabin of wood. He walked to the door and knocked, no answer. With a frown, he pushed the doors and they opened to reveal nothing. There was nothing but darkness on the other side. Yet he felt like that was where he needed to go. Taking an inhale, he walked through and found himself standing in the middle of a long hallway. The walls were made of wood and so were the floors. There was no ceiling, or rather the ceiling was out of his sight. Above him, he saw nothing but a thick mist. All around him were doors, each one with a metallic plate on it. They had writing on it but Nathan could no recognize it.
"The memory of MG and Landon vanishing," he thought as he walked forward. He thought about the exact memory he wanted to see. And he got a reaction in the form of a door swinging open. Nathan walked through it.
He was back in the school, the headmaster giving a speech. It was right before he had left for Maple Hollows. Nathan stuck around and when the meeting was adjourned he found Rafael and stuck to him. The memory played and Nathan followed what Raf and the group of three did.
He found himself in front of MG's home and met his mother. He did not like her one bit and could tell she was hiding something big.
The scene changed to Landon and Raf having an argument about MG and his parents, MG was still there, sat despondently in the back seat. Landon had convinced them finally to have MG visit his father.
The scene again, this time to a charge. A man was giving a speech, probably MG's dad was Nathan's guess. The speech was empowering and the reunion was heartwarming. But Nathan realized something from the interaction, a nagging thought. Did MG's father not know that he was alive? Or half dead? Did he not know what happened to MG? That he was a Vampire?
The scene shifted again to the middle of the woods. Night had fallen and Landon was tying Rafael to a tree. They had not made it back in time. But Nathan could not see MG anywhere around them. The two were having an argument. No, not an argument. Landon was forcing him to talk about the talent show incident, where the Wolf had confessed his feelings for the tribrid. Slug or not, the feelings were genuine, Nathan knew.
Rafael's transformation began and a growl came from somewhere in the woods. Something was running towards them and both boys were freaking out. The transformation was going over to the more painful aspects as the thing, whatever it was, got closer.
The boys grew frantic, Landon with a branch in his hands. Nathan too felt the tension, his own eyes trying to find out what it was. Then his tension melted when he saw that it was just MG. The Vampire approached them and all guards were dropped. This must have been where the monster came in to attack. Then shit hit the fan.
Mg charged, pushing Landon over. He screamed at the boy, about what had happened to him back in the church, about being outright rejected and demonized by his father. His heart went out to the boy, he felt the sadness of being rejected that MG felt. He didn't know it first hand, but he was seeing what it did to people. The punch had sent Landon stumbling back and MG stared at his fist. A fist that had Landon's blood on it.
"I don't have anything left to fight for" the MG in the memory spoke, his voice shaking from emotions. "My dad was right" he looked down and then back up, the Vampiric traits had gotten on his face now, the black veins, the black and red eyes. "I'm a monster" MG charged, fangs bared and he sunk them into Landon's neck. Rafael screamed from his place by the tree, begging for Mg to stop. And the Vampire did stop, eventually.
He threw Landon's body back and it rolled over to Rafael. The Wolf watched with wide horrified eyes before letting out a distorted pained roared. He finished his turn right in front of his dead brother before attacking MG, biting into his side and ripping it open.
Nathan woke with a gasp, stumbling back and replying on his arms to keep him up. But they were too shaky and he fell, his back colliding with the wooden floor. Josie was there, helping him up to a sitting position. Nathan looked to Rafael who was looking at him, both of them with tears in their eyes.
"Dr. Saltzman called" Emma spoke, "They found MG."
"And Landon?" asked a hopeful Hope. The two of them must have woken up some time while Nathan was in Rafael's mind. He wasn't sure how long he had been in there, but the sun had set so it must have been long.
"I know where he is" a gruff-voiced Nathan spoke, the emotion in his tone making all the girls look at him with surprise.
Landon's body was right where Nathan had seen in the memories, a bit away from where MG had fallen. A vial of blood was left for the werewolf bite, a vial of Hope's blood. That was something new the boy had learned, tribrid blood being the cure to werewolf bites. But he wasn't as enthusiastic as he should have been.
Josie held Nathan's hands while Hope and Rafael were by his body. The two were openly crying but Nathan just stared blankly at the body, emotions raging inside of him. Josie's hand squeeze was a good comfort for him but her hands shook. She was in mourning as well. The headmaster came over, swearing under his breath. And after a moment so did Kaleb and MG. MG did not look anyone in the eyes, choosing to stay behind Kaleb, hiding, hiding his shame and guilt.
Rafael saw MG come and got up to attack. Kaleb put himself between the Wolf and the Vampire, and Hope pulled Rafael back. Rafael stopped but the hateful murderous glare had not been held back. Nathan though had his eyes glued on Landon. Everything around him but the girl holding on to him seemed to vanish. That was his friend right there. His best friend was pale, dead, and smoking. He had to do a double-take on that.
Everyone gathered around the body and it began to smoke more and more until it ignited into a grand blaze. Hope tried to put the fire out but she failed. Nathan and then Josie tried, but they failed as well. The flame eventually put itself out, leaving behind a mound of ashes in the shape of Landon Kirby. A mound of ash that had begun to crack and crumbled slowly until Landon stood once again, not dead, not undead. He looked completely alright, like he had not died a moment ago, and then spontaneously combusted himself and turned to an ash egg and hatched out of it.
"Have you guys heard about the legend of The Phoenix?" the headmaster questioned.
