I own nothing but my own words.


Chapter 12: Bubbles?


He woke slowly and glanced at the clock on the side table.

Eight in the morning.

They usually slept later on Sundays, and Hope usually woke first.

He lay there, deep in thought, trying to figure out what was bothering him.

The answer came fairly quickly.

Wendy.

Everything that happened yesterday.

With that first call, he took off, joining in on the hunt, and not taking the time to think any of it through as time was running out.

But why?

Why go through the ruse of having four different people leave using his face? If she knew how to create an illusion to change her face, why hadn't she used it before? And why hadn't she just used someone else's face and created an illusion with a name they wouldn't have been able to track? If she were going to leave town, why announce it?

It was almost like the entire plan was… a cover for something else.

Why make it seem like she was leaving town unless she was still, in fact, in town?

Wendy wanted to be in Mystic Falls. She came there for help. She didn't want to leave. Not yet anyway. It was like she was waiting for something.

What better way to get Triad out of her hair than to keep them all busy.

Which meant something went down yesterday. And the only thing he could think was she finally sold the device they were trying to recover.

Cursing internally because he knew she put a cloaking spell on it which was why they couldn't locate it before now. If she truly did sell it, there would only be two ways to retrieve it: if they captured her and interrogated (or tortured) the name of the buyer out of her, or if she died so the cloaking spell would be no more.

Because of his promise, he would have to strive for the first option.

However, his new theory meant Wendy could very well still be in town, and if that were the case…

He rolled closer to the edge on his side of the bed and grabbed the tablet.

Quickly sending out orders to keep an eye on all exits out of town, he knew his team would do whatever it took to slow down everyone leaving. If Wendy tried to get out of town now that her business was done, they would catch her…assuming she hadn't already left. He told them to contact local law enforcement this time too and use his name. Mystic Falls' sheriff knew who he was, and he was sure she wouldn't mind helping to track down a murderer. Plus, they weren't searching for his face this time.

Opening another screen, he shot off a message to his personal assistant. Veronica would have to deal with day to day functions for the week. He was tired of this case and he wanted it done. Staying in town until she was caught seemed necessary at this point.

It also meant he could spend a lot of the week with his favorite person on the planet.

Tossing the tablet back on the table, he grinned and rolled back over, pressing firmly against Hope's back beneath the covers.

Bringing his arm around her, he spanned his hand across her bare stomach. Placing soft kisses along her shoulder, he felt himself stirring as he came into contact with her delectable backside.

Not fully awake, she craned her neck in her sleep, making more space for him to kiss his way up her jawline and then down to her ear.

He trailed his fingers up and traced her nipples before cupping her breast and massaging gently.

She woke moaning, her senses completely surrounded by him.

Burrowing his face into her neck, he moved his hand between her breasts, resting it there while he moved his hips gently against her from behind.

With him at her back, she was helpless to do anything but feel.

Gliding his hand once more, he made his way over her stomach until he reached her navel, then dipped between her thighs, searching out and finding her womanhood.

She shifted to allow him better access, tossing her head back against him when his fingers played against her like a pianist making a beautiful melody inside of her.

His mouth opened on her neck and he bit down gently, moving his hand away at the same time, leaving her gasping, arching and wanting more.

His hand slid down her thigh and he lifted it up. Holding her in place, he scooted closer, pressing himself even more firmly against her.

Feeling him, she raised her leg a little higher and in place so he could let go and guide himself inside of her from behind.

"Oh wow…" she moaned, melting against him.

Smirking because he knew this was new for her, he waited a moment before he deliberately moved.

Clutching her thigh, he held her against him and flexed his hips.

She tried to reach behind her to grasp at him but it didn't work. She settled for stretching her arm above her head, gripping hold of her pillow to anchor herself as she surrendered all control to him.

As her breathing increased the closer she got to her peak, he let go of her leg and slid his fingers between her thighs again. He stroked her clit as he thrust into her, using the same steady pace, until she cried out and her heat pooled against his fingers, causing his control to snap. He grasped her hip and thrust, pounding his flesh deep inside her until he came with a shout, his heat spilling deep inside her.

Afterwards, they fell asleep again with his arm around her, her hand clutched tightly in his, and his face nestled in her neck.

He couldn't wait to tell her of his plans for the week but that would come later.

For now, he was at peace.


Later found her facing him and snuggled into his side, neither of them had much energy for more than that.

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" she asked with a grin that lit up her entire face.

"If it's anywhere near as much as I love you, a lot," he teased.

"Wow," she snickered softly. "That was so cheesy."

"I believe the word you're looking for is romantic," he said.

She giggled into his chest. She loved lazy Sunday mornings in bed with him. She probably had a million things to do but it could all wait. He was more important.

"So…" he changed the topic with a look. "This festival Lizzie's planning that she's dragging me into helping with, it's a pretty big deal, isn't it?"

"Oh, the biggest," she laughed sarcastically. "She's trying to look good for the judges. Last year she had to drop out of Miss Mystic Falls but this year she's determined to win."

"What about you?" he asked. "Any desire to wear that crown?"

"Oh, well, funny story," she said. "I kind of won last year."

"Yeah?" he said, surprised. Not that he didn't think she could win, he just didn't think it was her kind of thing.

"Lizzie roped me into running," she said.

"She has that effect on people," he said dryly.

"So I will have to make an appearance at this year's event," she said. "But I don't think I have to dance again… I think… I hope." She buried her face into his chest.

"Do you need an escort?"

"Yes!" she looked up. "Are you volunteering?"

"I suppose that could be arranged…"

"If there are any problems, I'll put a word in with your boss," she said. "I'm one of his favorites."

He laughed loudly at that.

"So," he said when he quieted down, "I guess if this thing is so important, maybe I should stay in town all week to help with the festival. Gotta make sure it's perfect, right? And she could use all the help she can get."

Hope squinted her eyes at him suspiciously, "Does this have anything to do with Wendy?"

He gave her a look.

"I know, I know, you can't tell me," she looked heavenward. "But if it's not work related, you do remember spring break is weeks away, right? I thought you were taking off for that to come with us girls. Can you take off two weeks so close together?"

Though why he would want to spend an entire week riding roller coasters and exploring colonial times with a group of teenage girls was still a mystery to her. The fact they would have a room completely separate from the other girls, Doctor Saltzman, and Caroline probably had a lot to do with it. But still.

"Let me worry about that," he said. "I have an 'in' with the boss too."

"So you're here for the whole week…"

"Yeah, I figure we can spend our afternoons helping Lizzie, and our evenings…"

"Doing homework?" Hope suggested because most of her evenings usually consisted of that.

"Well, I foresee a lot of time at home, but I wouldn't really call it work…"

"You're incorrigible."

"I suppose we can make time for both kinds of homework…"

"Just what every girl wants to hear," Hope laughed. "You know I can't stay here all week, right?"

"True, but you've got to spend the waking hours doing something."

"Like we'll have much spare time with Lizzie calling the shots," Hope said.

"She doesn't worry me," he said.

"But she should."

He was silent for a long moment before he decided it didn't sit completely well with him.

"I'm staying for work," he said finally.

"Okay," she said.

"I can at least tell you that," he sighed. "Just don't interfere."

"I won't," she said firmly. "I promise."

"I know," he said, kissing the top of her head.


"We've got a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Josie asked, glad she chose to come back to her room during lunch. She was hoping for confirmation that all was well. Instead, she got something quite different.

"We can't get out of town! All the exits are blocked!"

"You mean, like by the police?" Josie asked, frowning.

"Yes!" Wendy exclaimed. "And at least one person with them was holding one of those crystal things! I think Triad knows I'm still here. It was all I could do to get Garcia out of there without giving us away."

"Okay, it's okay," Josie said, trying to calm her down while attempting to calm herself down. "I'll send Jade over with new instructions for Mrs. Garcia. Just stay there until we figure out another way to get you out of here."

"Not like I can go anywhere else!" Wendy pointed out sarcastically.

"Right," Josie said before hanging up abruptly. She only had a few more minutes to message Jade before she had to get back to her father's office.

Jade cringed when she read the messages from Josie.

Come on, she moaned.

Knowing there was nothing else she could do, she raced across town, a blur to all.

Stopping behind the bushes in front of Mrs. Garcia's house, she took a deep breath and walked up to knock on the door.

From her vantage point across the street, Maya frowned.

Using the mayor's records to find the address for her teacher, she felt pretty stupid standing there like she was on some kind of stake-out. Her mother was the cop, she wasn't, and she had no desire to ever be one. Yet, here she was, doing the job she wasn't even sure she wanted, looking for anything suspicious happening with Mrs. Garcia.

Jade popping up out of nowhere and knocking on the woman's front door was definitely suspicious. Even worse was Jade being invited into the woman's home.

She didn't know what was going on, and she still thought she might be reading too much into it, but Jade showing up was enough for her to finally give the mayor a head's up.

Then he could tell her if she was crazy or not.

"Donovan."

"Yo, it's me," she said. "I think I have something. I mean, maybe? I'm not sure."

"Tell me."

She explained everything she knew, wincing whenever she said Jade's name.

"This teacher, does she generally wear any jewelry?" he asked.

"She wears those pin things all the time? Like on her sweater."

"A brooch."

"Yeah, that," she said.

"I'll meet you after your shift tomorrow."

That he knew she also had a job at the Grill and what her hours were shouldn't surprise her, but it did a little.


"Lizzie! Lizzie! Lizzie!" called out a tiny little voice.

"What can I do for you, Pedro?" Lizzie said, turning to speak to the young boy. "I've lots to do today."

"That's just it," the boy said, reaching her and looking up in earnest. "I want to help!"

Lizzie's heart melted at his words. This kid had definitely grown on her since he started attending the school.

"You can't be around all the big stuff," she said. "Something might fall on you."

"I've got magic," he said. "I won't let anything get me."

"We'll be outside," she said. "Where the humans are. No magic, remember?"

"But I want to help you!"

"You can help blow up balloons," she thought quickly and figured that was the safest task.

"Really?"

"I'll give you all the balloons you could ever want on Thursday, and you can blow them all up right here!" she announced. "And ask your friends for help."

"Oh…" he deflated slightly.

"What's wrong?"

"I wanted to go with you," he said.

"Don't worry, Pedro," she said. "Emma will bring all the kids to the festival this weekend. I'll be there the whole time."

"Okay!" he exclaimed, smiling before he raced back to where he was supposed to be.

"That was kind of cute," Hope said with a teasing smirk, coming to meet her friend.

"Kind of?" Lizzie asked. "That was absolutely cute! Now, let's go so we can get this mess started. Dad!"

"The bus is loaded with volunteers," he reported from the entrance to the school. "We're just waiting on you."

"Excellent!" Lizzie said, walking briskly forward, clipboard firmly in hand. "We've got a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it!"

"Lord, help us all," Hope muttered under her breath.

"You'll do amazing, sweetie," Caroline said, seeing them off. "I know you'll make me proud."

Lizzie drew herself up and grinned at her mother. She spent her entire life observing and idolizing the woman. Now she was going to show that she was just as much a force to be reckoned with.

Climbing into the bus, Lizzie glanced around. It appeared all three factions were split up amongst the two rows, which was good.

"Thank you all for volunteering to help make Mystic Falls' Spring Festival the greatest it's ever been! Serving the community is one of the most dignified ways to give back!" she said, addressing the entire bus.

The students stared blankly at her as if they didn't really care about her words. They probably didn't. Most of them just wanted to get off campus for a while and saw this as something new and different.

"Everyone on this side of the bus," she pointed to her right—the side with MG—"You'll be joining me. We'll be dropped off first at the storage bays. We'll search out booths, games, props, everything we'll need to get arranged before Friday for the weekend.

"And everyone on this side of the bus," she pointed to the left side, "Will continue on with my dad to town square where you'll work to get the festival grounds in tip top shape—and the parking lot by Greenie's ready for the equipment arriving tomorrow."

There were a few groans but mostly everyone nodded then went back to their conversations.

Lizzie sat in the seat behind her father, dragging Hope down next to her.

"Dad, you'll make sure everything is done correctly, right?" she said into his ear while he put the bus in gear.

"Absolutely, princess," he agreed. "You leave it to me."

"Who are you messaging?" Lizzie said, noting Hope with her phone in her hand. "You're not going to be on your phone the entire time, are you? I need you."

"Nope," Hope said, hitting send and slipping it into her pocket. "You have one more volunteer coming. I had to send the location."

"Who?" Lizzie squinted suspiciously.

"Ryan," Hope said simply. "He's staying in town this week."

"Is this because of the 'Wendy' thing?" she asked, lowering her voice with the name.

"That, and he said something about helping you," Hope said. "He figured you could use all the help you could get."

"Huh," Lizzie sat back then added his name to the list of volunteers.

So, not only was he spending his time looking for a way to help her in case the darkness overwhelmed her, he was also going to spend his week helping to put together an event that she was helming and had already manipulated him into helping with.

Weird.

"The more the merrier," she shrugged.


Students were traipsing around the lot behind the storage facility, carrying wooden panels and lying them down by the time Clarke arrived.

Finding Lizzie in the crowd, he figured Hope was somewhere inside.

"Where do you need me?" he asked.

"Ah, yes," Lizzie said, pulling her clipboard up studiously. "About time you arrived."

"I'm volunteering," he said. "Volunteers are never late. Where's Hope?"

Lizzie frowned at him. "She's going through the games inside. They're a mess. I suppose you could help her. Unless you're feeling the need to paint."

The students were already starting to put a fresh coat on the wooden panels that he recognized now as the pieces that would be hammered together for the booths. Lizzie wasn't the type to settle for drab. From what he could see, they definitely needed to be spruced up.

"Games, it is," he said, leaving in search of Hope. The blonde didn't look overwhelmed yet, and she had enough volunteers that no one had to do too much.

As he walked, he saw Jed working with a group. He deliberately made eye contact with him. He didn't approach, but he wanted to intimidate him enough to make him wary. Then he kept going inside. He wasn't here for work, after all.

"Who's that?" Jed asked, recognizing the face immediately from the prank on Saturday. It was none other than Ryan Clarke, as their IDs had told them. But he still couldn't place him.

"That's Ryan," Ethan supplied. He made sure to stick around Jed while they were working. Jed arrived later than the rest of them, having to wait for Mystic Falls High to let out. Josie and Jade went home since Josie was still grounded, but Ethan had made it very clear to the wolves that the community a pack lived in was important too. So he strongly encouraged the ones who had time around their exams to participate—especially the seniors. Jed, for all his distance from Ethan, was still a part of the pack and decided to join in.

As soon as Jed chose a place to work and settled in, Ethan joined him. He didn't say a word to him; he didn't want to scare him off again. He just wanted to work side by side with him. Maybe if he stopped trying to question Jed and just made himself available, Jed would come to him like Jade advised.

"I know his name," Jed said. "But why is he here? And why does he look so familiar?"

"He's Hope's boyfriend," Ethan supplied, eyeing Jed. Shouldn't he know that? "I figured all of you knew him better than me considering he pretended to be your headmaster."

"Ryan Clarke," Jed said like a light bulb finally went off. "As in Clarke, Clarke."

"Uh, yeah?" Ethan said. "You just figured that out? Haven't you met him before?"

"No," Jed shook his head. "Never officially. And I didn't know his first name."

"Well, that's him…" Ethan shrugged then went back to painting.

Jed frowned. Why were Josie and Jade playing a prank on someone like Clarke? They said it was to get back at someone for hurting their friend. Who, though? And why was that Clarke guy glaring at him like he knew Jed was part of the prank? He would have to talk to the girls later.

"How many booths will there be?" MG asked as he carried another board out.

"Twenty exactly," Lizzie answered, following along with him.

"Maybe there should be a kissing booth," MG suggested.

"Absolutely not," Lizzie snapped haughtily. "I'm sure the judges wouldn't approve of me subjecting festival goers to germs and disease."

"If you have vamps man the booth, you won't have that problem," MG grinned. "I volunteer as tribute."

"One! There will be no kissing booth," Lizzie held up a finger, then added another one. "Two! Even if there was, you would not be participating."

"Why not?"

"Don't be easy, MG," Lizzie said, turning up her nose. "You're better than that."

"Well, yeah, but—"

"Zip it!" Lizzie ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," MG laughed. He was just teasing her, but it was nice to see her react as if she were jealous though he knew that wasn't possible.

"What are these for?" Clarke asked, holding up a bunch of circles that looked like the tops to mason jars. "Canning?"

"That's for the ring toss," Hope said, laughing. "There's a crate of empty vintage coke bottles around here somewhere. Put those in there. And don't break anything!"

"So once we get this all organized, what're we doing with it?" he asked.

"Labeling and stacking the totes by the door," Hope said. "We'll move them to town square on Thursday once the booths are put together."

She opened up another box and made a face, "Old face paint. I guess we should go through and see if anything's salvageable."

"As long as we're using your face, not mine," he said.

She shook her head and grabbed a random sheet of cardboard to test them on.

"What about this?" he pulled the drape off a wide board with lines across. "Are those bunnies?"

"Ugh," she made a face. "It is close to Easter. I guess you can't ever really escape the bunnies."

"These won't attack you, I swear," he smirked, struggling to turn the board around.

"There are water guns somewhere with long tubes attached," Hope said. "Or at least there should be."

"Water guns? To shoot the bunnies?" he asked, perplexed.

"To shoot a target to make the bunnies run," she explained. "Whichever bunny reaches the end first, wins."

"So, the festival is just going to have a bunch of games?" he asked.

"There'll be more than just games, Shrek," Lizzie said, coming in to join them. "Lots of activities planned, and even a Ferris Wheel."

"For a spring festival."

"Yes," Lizzie said.

"That's a carnival," he said. "Not a festival."

"It's a festival because I said it's a festival," she snapped.

"Okay," Hope interrupted them both. "It's a spring festival, and it's going to be the best spring festival Mystic Falls has ever seen! Right, Lizzie?"

"Right!" Lizzie said, making a face at him.

"It's still a carnival," Clarke argued.

Hope threw a paintbrush at him.

"At least there wasn't paint on it," he said.

"Next time," she warned.

"Just hurry up," Lizzie finally said. "The minions are nearly done painting and leaving everything to dry, the bus will be here soon, and I need to close up shop."

"Only two more boxes to go through," Hope said. "We'll get it done, don't worry."

"But she'll be leaving with me," Clarke interrupted.

"Why am I not surprised?"


"Hey, J, can we talk?" Jed asked, sitting across from her.

"Sure!" Josie said, looking up from her dinner. She was bored out of her mind. She couldn't do more than go to school and study in her father or mother's office while they were working. Meals and bedtime were the only times she had any alone time.

"I saw that guy today, the one we pulled the prank on," Jed said. "Why were we playing a prank on a Triad agent, and Hope's boyfriend?"

Oh.

"Because he deserved it?" Josie offered. "And he's not a Triad agent anymore, so much as he runs it."

"You said he's trying to hurt a friend of yours and Jade's?" he asked.

"I can't really talk about it," Josie said evasively. "It's her story to tell. But we wouldn't have asked for your help if there wasn't a good reason."

"I know," he nodded. "But I just need to know one thing."

"What's that?"

"With him being Triad, were any of us ever in danger?"

"Do you really think we would ever put you or Wade in any sort of danger?" she asked, completely avoiding the question.

"Nah," he laughed. "If his face was any indication, the prank definitely worked. Made me think he knew I was involved."

He decided not to push Josie for more information because she never pushed him when it came to things he didn't want to talk about.

"He can't know anything for sure," Josie shrugged. "But where did you see him?"

"He's helping with the festival," he said.

Josie stopped herself from reacting, but she really didn't like hearing that. Why was Clarke still in town? He only came to town on the weekends to spend time with Hope. He never stayed longer. He would only stay if he had a reason…like arranging a police blockade to try to catch a thief. He was stepping up his game, not leaving the case to his men anymore. He was going to fully participate now.

Good. That meant it will be even more satisfying when they finally get Wendy out of town.

"It's nice that Lizzie has more help," she forced the words out of her mouth. She was glad for the first time that she was grounded and couldn't help with the festival. The last thing she wanted to do was be near him. "Thanks for helping."

"Ethan kind of ordered us to," Jed shrugged. "But I'm glad to help. Where's Jade?"

"The kitchen," she said, letting him know without saying that Jade was getting blood.

Jade was still mixing Josie's blood with bunny blood for now but only sparingly and usually in the morning. Jade really wanted to stop, but they had to figure out another plan to help Wendy get out of town first.

She hoped Jade could keep handling it.


"So what's the plan?" Clarke asked.

"You get an hour," Hope said. "Turn right up here!"

He slowed and made the turn, "An hour?"

"Its exam week, buster," she said. "I already had two today, but I've got two more tomorrow which means I need to study for the morning one tonight. So, yes, you get an hour before I need to get back to school."

"What if I drop you near the school?"

"I already planned for you to do that," she said. "Take the fork to the right."

"If I only get an hour, why are we going anywhere but the back seat?"

"Keep it in your pants," she rolled her eyes in amusement. "I did more research and I want to try something else with your powers."

"What?"

"Rock formations," she said simply. "Most rocks have built up over time, right? They're just as much a part of the earth as the ground or dirt or mud."

"You want me to—"

"Move and change the shape of rocks!" she explained excitedly.

"And I get an hour to do it in."

"You're really stuck on that part, aren't you?" she said with a laugh. "Stop up here."

There was just enough daylight left to get where they needed to go. She would create more light if it were needed though.

"There," she pointed to a big boulder with groupings of rocks around it. "I've ran through these woods enough, I knew the perfect place."

"What first?" he asked.

"Surprise me?" she said. "Be creative. This is different from what you've done before. You gotta figure it out."

He figured if his powers were based in emotion so far, they probably were now too. So, what emotion was needed to make the giant boulder over there do something? Maybe he should focus on the smaller rocks first.

Although…the boulder stood tall and proud, rigid and unyielding.

Hmm.

He thought about all the work he had done with Triad through the years, and everything he was doing with it now that he was in charge, and he felt proud.

Proud like the boulder stood.

Using that emotion, he focused until something happened.

"Whoa!" Hope stepped back in shock. "It moved!"

"It wobbled," he corrected her.

"It still moved!" she said. "Do it again!"

He focused and, sure enough, it moved again. He didn't want to completely move it from its spot, but he had a sneaky suspicion he would be able to get it to roll. Not knowing if he had enough control yet to make it stop, he decided to just turn it, twisting it around where it stood.

"You did it!" she exclaimed.

"Don't act so shocked," he said.

"I know, it's just really cool, you gotta admit," she grinned.

"Yeah, it is pretty cool," he allowed, trying to hold his own grin back but failing.

"What about the shape?" she asked. "Can you change it?"

He decided to try that on the smaller rocks instead. He went over and stared down at one.

This time he combined his pride and his love, and, in no time at all, the rock had formed into an almost perfect heart. The edges could use a little work, but it got the message across and he succeeded in his goal.

He changed the shape of the rock.

Bending down, he picked it up. "I wonder what else that research of yours will turn up."

"I'm beginning to think you can do so much more than we realized," she said.

"For you," he said, holding out the heart.

"Look at you, being romantic again," she smiled, taking it.

"Don't get used to it," he laughed.

"Too late," she giggled, admiring the rock.

"So, that's only…" he looked at the time on his phone. "Twenty minutes. I've still got forty minutes left of that hour."

"Don't you want to practice more?" she asked.

"I can do that later. Let's go back to the car," he said suggestively, stepping closer and turning on the bedroom eyes.

She glanced at him, weighing his words and whether she wanted to tease him some more and drag it out… but really, that only teased her more.

"Okay, let's go!" she laughed, grabbed his hand, and ran with him back to the car.

A front seat make-out session seemed like a perfect way to end the evening.

He would just have to try to get her in the backseat some other time.


Climbing out of his truck, Mayor Matt Donovan adjusted the suit jacket he was still getting used to wearing after so many months at his new job.

He missed being in the field but being mayor made it even easier to protect the citizens of this town, forgoing all the stupid red tape.

Correction—it made it easier to protect the humans of this town.

When Caroline first asked him to speak with a human teenage girl who was let in on the big supernatural secret, his first instinct was to tell her to compel the girl to forget.

What he would give to go back and experience his high school years without knowing about the creatures that lurked in the dark.

Caroline Salavorte, nee Forbes, could always talk him into anything though, so before he knew it he was meeting with the girl whose brother was a werewolf and had supposedly recently overcome her fear of vampires. She acted tough, but he could tell she was still unsure about the world she stumbled into.

He also knew she was uncertain about the internship. He came up with that on the spur of the minute. If she was going to be a part of this world, she would notice things other students wouldn't. Not a lot of creatures turned up at the school anymore, not after Ric started the Salvatore school and began rehabilitating supernatural students. Matt knew Ric did good work, but he still wished it was nowhere near his town.

The girl could keep an eye out and have someone to contact who would listen and help—something he never really had growing up. Sure, there were plenty of vampires around who got involved, but they usually caused the problem in the first place.

He didn't know if her teacher was in trouble, but he would take the steps to make sure the teacher couldn't be used further.

He also needed to talk to Ric about allowing a vampire to enroll at the local human school. This Jade shouldn't be anywhere near Mystic Falls High.

"Yes?" a thin tall dark haired woman said when she opened the door to his knock. "Mayor Donovan?" she asked in complete confusion and shock.

"Good evening, Mrs. Garcia," Matt said with a charming smile. "I apologize for the lateness of my visit, but I wanted to break the news to you in person and this was the first time I could get away."

"News?" she asked, startled. "Oh, do come in, please!" She remembered her manners and held the door open for him.

"Thank you," he said, following her inside.

"Please, have a seat," she motioned to a couch in her well decorated living room. "Can I offer you a drink? Tea? Coffee?"

"No, thank you," he said politely.

"Well," she sat demurely in a chair across from him. "What brings the mayor to my house of all places? What news?"

"I've started a new endeavor in my office this year," he explained. "I want to recognize some of the people who are assets to our community, and who is better suited for that than a teacher who has dedicated her life to helping to shape young minds? You do great work at the high school, Ms. Garcia, and I would like to personally recognize you during the spring festival this weekend."

"Oh!" she exclaimed, holding her hands together in excitement, possibly to keep them from flailing. "This is an honor! Of all the teachers? For me to be chosen?"

"Now, there will be a couple others joining you," he was quick to point out. "But that does nothing to dim such an achievement."

"Oh no, of course not!" she said, her face bursting with joy.

"Along with the recognition, I would also like to give you this," he reached for the inside breast pocket of his suit and brought out a small rectangular shaped box.

Offering it to her, she took it immediately and opened it.

Her face lit up as she saw the beautiful red colored brooch in the shape of a small sized apple with a faux silver stem and "In Appreciation" etched across the front. The initials "M.F." were bejeweled near the bottom standing for "Mystic Falls".

"This is lovely!"

"Would you like help putting it on?"

"Oh, no, no," she said. "Let me!" She set the box down to remove her current pin, then picked up the new one and threaded it through.

"Perfect," he said.

"Yes," she nodded emphatically. "I can't wait to wear this proudly for everyone to see."

"Then you should never take it off," he said.

She smiled demurely, "Thank you so much for delivering this in person. It's been an absolute pleasure!"

"The pleasure was all mine," he nodded.

After begging off another offer for tea, Matt left the house as quickly as he arrived. Climbing into his vehicle, he glanced around as he buckled his seatbelt, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

"Well?" the girl waiting in the backseat of his truck with her arms crossed over her chest said in annoyance.

"I couldn't tell, and I didn't ask," he said, putting the truck into gear and pulling off.

"Then what was the point of all this?" Maya asked.

"To give her a brooch," he said.

"A brooch," she raised her eyebrow. "You gave her a pin? Why?"

"For the same reason you and your mom put herbs in your drink daily," he said.

"Oh," she said. "You mean vervain?"

"It's in the brooch," he said. "As long as she's wearing it, no vampire can compel her. And believe me, she will be wearing it all week long."

"Yeah," she nodded and looked away. "That's a good idea."

He knew that look. It may have been years but he did have a teenage sister once.

Sighing, he slowed to the side of the road and grabbed a bracelet out of his glove compartment

Holding it back to her, he practically glared, "Wear it."

"You just have random jewelry lying around?" she said with her usual attitude, though she took it from him.

"Rule number one of being a human in a world with vampires, always have vervain in your system," he reminded her with not a little annoyance. "I said this on the first day."

"Well, I'm not good with taking medicine daily," she argued.

"And your mother?" he asked. "Did you think of her?"

"But she's the sheriff and…" she trailed off, realizing she sounded stupid. She didn't really have a good reason for not making sure both she and her mother took vervain. She just didn't think vampires would be that big of a problem. They went to the Salvatore school and were learning to control themselves. How much trouble could they cause? Even with everything happening with Mrs. Garcia, she didn't think Jade would ever actually hurt the woman. "The vampires at the school aren't going to hurt anyone."

He laughed sarcastically, "And you think the only vampires of the world go to that school? Because they don't. Vampires of all types, all ages, used to be drawn to this town like a bloody plague. Most of them have lost interest, or they lost their lives, but that doesn't stop other vampires from deciding to pop in for a visit. One can come by at any time just for a night of fun killing. And you know the worst part?"

"What?" she asked, her apprehension growing by a mile.

"They can compel humans to do what they want," he said. "They can compel them to kill each other or to stand still while they're being killed. They can compel you to not make a sound as they cut and torture you to make the blood flow. They can slowly rip your heart out and all you can do is watch."

Maya stared at him, eyes wide in horrified comprehension.

"So when I say, make sure you and your mother are on vervain, do it," he snapped.

Satisfied he finally got through to her, he turned back around and drove off again.

Maya put the bracelet—a thin black band—on her wrist, noting the tiny bauble hanging from the end of it. That must be where the vervain was held. She should've felt much better once the bracelet was firmly in place. She should've been relieved when she remembered where she put the supply of vervain at home that he gave her before too.

Instead, she was more terrified than when she first learned vampires were real.

"What happens if they try to compel me and it doesn't work?" she asked.

"I suggest going along with it until you can call for help," he said. "Either that, or run really fast."

"Is that all?" she gulped.

"Wooden stakes, fire, and beheading work too," he said.

"You mean, kill them," she said.

He nodded.

"But how am I…" she took the same martial arts and self defense classes growing up that Ethan did. Her mother was always very vocal about them learning to protect themselves. But she never had much use for any of that in the actual real world. She never put it to the test. And sure, she could take down a human, but how was she ever going to use that to take down a vampire?

"Again, call for help or run," he said. "Or go some place they can't be invited in."

"What if I have to fight?" she asked.

He was silent for a long time before he finally answered.

"I guess your job description just expanded."

Well, he said he missed field work. Training a newbie with her attitude might prove to be annoying but it was better than sitting through meeting after meeting over inane political matters.


"Mayor, to what do I owe the honor," Alaric said, answering his personal cell and noting the number.

"Care to tell me why you would allow a vampire to attend classes at Mystic Falls High?" Matt asked.

Alaric gritted his teeth and winced, "Ah, I'm not entirely sure I know of whom you're referring?"

"Cut the crap, Ric," he said. "We both know who I'm talking about."

Alaric sighed, "She won't hurt anyone. She's just learning to live amongst humans and get her diploma."

"Yeah, that's what they all say," Matt said sarcastically. "But at least she's not a ripper, right?"

Alaric went silent, wincing again.

Matt laughed bitterly, "Please don't tell me you allowed a ripper to attend the human high school? I thought you were smarter than that, Ric."

"I owed her," Alaric sighed. "I know you're right, but she passed a test and she's doing fine."

"We'll see about that," Matt huffed, thinking about the award he had to come up with and present to three teachers that night. The other two were picked at random so as to not raise anyone's suspicions. He took the time to add vervain to all of the awards just as an added precaution. "But you know she has to go."

Alaric sighed. There wasn't any getting around this. No amount of arguing would convince Matt Donovan it was okay for a vampire to attend the human high school.

"I'll let her know," he said.

"There aren't anymore supernaturals stowed away at the school, are there?" Matt asked. "Don't lie to me, Ric. I'm not in the mood."

"There's a wolf," Alaric said. "Josie gave up her powers so she insisted on going to the human school. I sent her with some extra protection."

"Your daughter can stay, but the wolf has to go," Matt said. "No supernaturals mean all humans are safe."

Alaric looked heavenward, "I'll let them both know and make the arrangements." And he would have to arrange a ride to and from school for Josie from now on since she would be completely alone.

"And Ric? Keep an eye on the vampire," Matt said. "I can't prove anything yet, but I think she's up to something."

Story of my life, Alaric thought. He didn't trust Josie anymore, and he didn't trust Jade either. The entire Wendy situation didn't sit well with him and he was beginning to think he should have taken the time to talk to Clarke instead of cutting him off.

"I'm on it."


"I have become my own worst nightmare!" Maya moaned, burying her face into the couch pillow.

"Come now," Mac said. "It can't be that terrible."

"A narc!" Maya cried out. "I'm a narc!"

"Dare I ask what brought this on?"

Maya huffed and flung the pillow to the side, "And you need to start taking vervain."

"You didn't answer my question," Mac said, "And I already am on vervain."

"You are?" Maya said.

Mac held up the necklace at her neck,

"Seylah gave this to me years ago. I started putting vervain in it a few months back. You don't date the headmaster of a supernatural school that's filled with vampires without having that talk."

"Oh," Maya said. "Well, then I guess I just have to worry about me."

"Why?" Mac asked, frowning. "What are you doing that you would have to worry about vampires?"

Maya snickered, "The mayor would call you as naïve as me."

"The mayor?" Mac asked, confused.

"Yeah, that internship, remember?" Maya said.

"I thought you decided not to take it," Mac said.

"Sorta?" Maya replied. "I mean, I didn't tell him no. I just figured I would get the extra paycheck and not have to do anything."

"How very entrepreneurial of you," Mac said sarcastically. "So, tell me about this internship and what it has to do with vervain?"

"I'm just supposed to keep an eye out at school and stuff," Maya shifted uncomfortably. "You know, where you and other adults can't…"

"Keep an eye out for what?" Mac said, not liking what she was hearing.

"You know, supernaturals like…"

"Vampires," Mac said, pressing her lips together. "I think its time I had a word with the mayor."

"Its okay, Mom," Maya said. "I'm not in any danger—not in any more danger than I would be if I didn't know about them. I just…"

"Hate being the narc," Mac said, knowing her daughter. "So, who did you tell on?"

"Jade," Maya looked down. "I felt bad, but I couldn't ignore it. I mean, I'm the only one who noticed anything…what if I didn't say anything and Mrs. Garcia got hurt?"

"That's still a lot of responsibility to put on you," Mac said, knowing she was going to have to talk with the mayor either way.

"Am I a bad person, Mom?" Maya asked. "I mean, she was my girlfriend and I dumped her because of what she is…and now I'm probably getting her in trouble."

"No, sweetie," Mac said. "You could never be a bad person. It's not your fault things got too scary for you. You never lied to her, and technically not telling you about herself was lying to you. So, no. Not a bad person. As for this Mrs… who?"

"Garcia," Maya supplied.

"You were worried about doing the right thing and protecting someone," Mac said. "You know who you remind me of?"

"Who?"

"Me."

"Didn't I just say I had become my own worst nightmare?" Maya groaned.

Mac smiled despite the seriousness of the conversation.

Teenagers were so over dramatic.


"What's on the agenda for today?" Hope asked.

Lizzie sighed, "I have to go into town, like, now. The people are arriving to start setting up the Ferris Wheel and bring in some other equipment."

"Shouldn't someone from the town office meet with them?" Hope asked. "I mean, you're organizing the event but some things need to be signed off, um, officially, right?" And not by a teenager.

"Right," Lizzie nodded. "But I need to make sure everything is put where I want it."

"Ah, yes," Hope nodded with understanding. Lizzie's inner control freak was at a solid eight. It should hit ten by Friday.

"Rally the troops and make sure they're on the bus in time," Lizzie said. "We may have a few drop outs because of exams."

"What about your exams?" Hope asked. "Do you have enough time to study?"

"Of course," Lizzie drew herself up. "I'm ready for all of my exams…with the exception of Chemistry of Magic."

"Just relax, it's only water and air," Hope said. "I'll be there the entire time if it goes out of control, but you said yourself that the medication is working better now. And you got to a good place with the fire eventually too."

Hope winced remembering the number of times Lizzie nearly blew them up. She finally got it under control by trying not to be too ambitious. Just a small fire spell and movement—no Doctor Strange inspired flying discs.

"Right," Lizzie said, feigning agreement. "It'll be fine." Even she didn't believe it. If she didn't pass, she may not graduate. But maybe she shouldn't graduate if she couldn't control the basic elements. On time graduation was definitely not a thing at the Salvatore school—just ask Hope Mikaelson.

"Okay," Alyssa said with a long suffering sigh, appearing next to them. "I'm bored. So bored, in fact, I may be inclined to actually help with your little event."

"Gee, Alyssa, don't do anything just to make us happy," Lizzie said sarcastically.

"Oh, I won't," Alyssa said dismissively. "What manual labor project are your hapless gofers being forced to do today?"

"Stringing lights, painting signs, and I'm assigning duties for the festival," Lizzie said, glancing at Hope. "If you have a preference, state it now otherwise you get what I give you like everyone else."

"What are the options?" Alyssa said, glancing at Lizzie's ever present clipboard.

"Oh, no," Lizzie said, gripping the board to her chest. "You don't get an assignment until you prove you will actually show up."

"Fine," Alyssa said with a glare. "What time are we leaving?"

"The bus leaves in an hour," Lizzie said. She looked at the time. "Ugh! I've got to get going if I'm going to meet the equipment guys. You've got this, right, Hope?"

"Right!" Hope affirmed, waving her away.

"I'm going with you," Alyssa said, following alongside Lizzie.

The blonde rushed away to her car, having taken back control of it from Josie since her sister was grounded and she didn't feel as nauseated anymore.

Lizzie laughed, "You are not."

"Guess again," Alyssa said. "I'm not in the mood to take the bus."

Lizzie reached her car, "You'll just be sitting around doing nothing until everyone else arrives."

"Fine," Alyssa shrugged and tried to open the passenger side door. "Unlock, please."

"Please?" Lizzie said with mock surprise. "She can be polite."

"I could just unlock it myself," Alyssa held out a finger like she would easily perform the spell.

"Fine," Lizzie huffed, flicking her finger and unlocking both her and Alyssa's doors.

"Just don't speak," Lizzie said, climbing in and slamming her door shut. "And do not touch the radio."


Whoever said Monday's sucked had never lived through a Tuesday like this one.

Josie never felt more alone in her life than after her first full day by herself at Mystic Falls High.

Her dad let them know that morning Jade and Jed were no longer allowed to attend the human school. They were all upset, but they didn't have a choice. Somehow the mayor learned supernaturals were at the school and put his foot down.

Being a part of "The Js" was something she actually loved and may have taken a little bit for granted. While she never talked to Jed much before, he had become one of her best friends. And Jade, she loved going to the same school as her girlfriend.

Without either of them, she realized she hadn't actually made many new friends at all since coming there.

How did the mayor find out about Jade and Jed? It didn't make any sense. Maybe Clarke could have done it to mess with her since she had been messing with him? She wouldn't put it past him.

Spanish class was winding down and Mrs. Garcia seemed in great spirits. Josie had no idea what that was about.

She moved her books around on her desk, deciding to silently pack up early. As she did, she felt like she was being watched and glanced up. Maya was eyeing her but looked away as soon as she saw Josie watching her.

Probably wondering where Jade was, Josie grumbled to herself. Sometimes Maya showed Jade too much attention for being an ex.

Although… Josie glanced at Maya a few more times before class ended and each time Maya quickly looked away.

Remembering Maya acting suspicious last week, Josie began to wonder.

When the bell rang, Maya was out of her seat instantly, and Josie was right behind her.

"Hey! Maya!" she called out, reaching for the other girl's shoulder.

Maya spun around, dislodging Josie's grip, "What?"

"Aren't you going to ask about Jade?"

"Why would I?" Maya asked.

"Why indeed, especially if you know what happened," Josie said. "What did you do? Who did you tell?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Maya said. "Tell about what?"

"You said something, didn't you?" Josie accused. "That's why Jade and Jed got kicked out and can't come back. What did you do?!"

"I didn't do anything," Maya defended.

"You're lying!" Josie exclaimed. She probably would've used magic on the other girl if she had something to siphon. Fortunately, she didn't. She couldn't give away the fact that she had her powers back.

"If they got kicked out, they must've been doing something they weren't supposed to," Maya spat back. "What was it?"

That shut Josie up. She wasn't wrong, at least not about Jade. Jade was doing something she wasn't supposed to. But if the mayor somehow knew about that, knew about Garcia… then Josie had to get Wendy out of there now.

"That's what I thought," Maya said when Josie didn't reply. "It's their own fault and had nothing to do with me."

Watching Maya leave, Josie thought frantically. She couldn't do anything to get Jed and Jade back to school with her, but the only way to get Wendy out of town was Garcia.

Josie needed to use the teacher before the mayor figured everything out and interfered.

Thinking quickly, she came up with a plan.

Garcia will have to drive out of town without Wendy, and Wendy will just have to sneak out somehow by foot, not using a car access point. Once Garcia was far enough from the town's border, she could pick up Wendy and go on to Salem from there. She knew Wendy would agree—she didn't really have any other choice.

When she got home after school, she would send Jade to compel Garcia.

Having a plan in place made Josie breathe easier.

Now to go wait for her ride.

With a roll of her eyes, she wondered if it would be her mother or father on guard duty that day.


"This is so bogus," Jade groaned, flopping into the seat next to Jed on the bus.

"I guess we were lucky no one noticed before now," Jed winced. "At least there's no school the rest of the week?"

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel better," Jade grumbled.

Since the Salvatore students were taking their midterms, Jed and Jade didn't have to attend classes until the following week. Then they would have to try to catch up to where their new classes were.

Good times.

"And now the only way I can do anything decent off campus is to help with this," Jade said, waving her hand.

"It's not so bad," Jed shrugged.

Jade sighed as the bus took off. She didn't really want to help, but it was better than sitting in her room doing nothing…well, doing nothing but thinking about how good her morning blood bag tasted mixed with Josie's blood.

Not going to school meant she had nothing to occupy her time or her mind. She needed to stop. She knew there was a chance she would lose control, but she kept telling herself it would only be for a little while longer.

The bus reached its destination and everyone got off, ready to be given direction by the bossiest blond at the Salvatore School.

"Is it my imagination," Jade murmured to Jed, "or does she look a bit stressed?"

Lizzie immediately regretted letting Alyssa tag along as the she flicked channels on the radio even though that was one of Lizzie's rules.

Meeting with the town official and the carnys had gone over well. No one questioned Lizzie's set up, and Alyssa stayed in the car.

The biggest problem came when Lizzie realized all of the stuff she needed for the volunteers to work on was still at the storage bay. She knew the games and booths wouldn't be needed until later in the week, but she still needed other things and there was not enough space in her car for it all.

Driving over anyway, she managed to stuff two large cases of lights into the car with Alyssa in her ear the entire time telling her she was being ridiculous.

By the time the students arrived to town square, she was wishing she had called and told her dad to take them to the storage bay first to pick up everything but she wasn't even sure it would fit on the bus either.

She was feeling overwhelmed and stupid, and she was standing in front of a large group of students waiting for her to tell them what to do.

"Something's wrong," Hope whispered to Ryan who had been waiting for them to arrive.

Clarke studied the blonde. Hope was right. Lizzie didn't look like she was as in control as she did yesterday. Something was wrong.

"Be right back," he murmured, heading for the blonde.

"Just a second!" Lizzie called out to everyone before turning to look down at the two cases of lights at her feet.

Breathe, she reminded herself.

"What's the problem?" Clarke asked.

"She screwed up," Alyssa said.

"Shut up, Alyssa," Lizzie said through clenched teeth.

"Talk," Clarke said. "Are we getting started, or?"

"She can't," Alyssa replied for her. "She didn't think it through and now a bunch of the supplies she needed for today are still in storage. Her car couldn't fit everything. Obviously."

"What're we doing today?" Clarke asked Lizzie.

"Stringing up the lights," she kicked at a box at her feet. "But only half of them are here. Signs need to be created and painted too, and I was planning on giving out jobs for the festival so everyone can start getting those ready."

"Here's what you're going to do," he said, pulling out his phone. "Give me a list of everything you need from storage. While that's being retrieved, pass out the jobs. By the time you're done with that, everything will be here or almost here. Start with the lights if you need to."

"Okay," Lizzie breathed out, feeling a return to control. "I can do that. So you're going to get everything?"

"What makes you say that?" he held his phone up to his ear. He didn't keep his Bluetooth in while helping with the festival.

"Clarke," he identified himself. "I'll be forwarding a list and an address. Retrieve everything and bring it to town square immediately."

He hung up before he received a reply.

Lizzie's mouth dropped open. Did he really just send Triad on a mission to collect supplies for her?

"Did you just—"

"I need that list," he reminded her.

"Right, right," Lizzie immediately started writing out a list of everything, not even bothering to ask how they would get in without the key. It was Triad after all.

"Guess they figured it out," Jade murmured to Jed when Lizzie cleared her throat and approached them again with her clipboard held firmly in front of her.

"Before we get started, I'm going to read off the list of job assignments for the festival this weekend. If you're by yourself, you'll get a community volunteer during the festival to help or fill in when you need a break.

"First, this is a spring festival so the atmosphere must be bright, lively, and spring-like," she called out. "Meaning, besides the activities there must be colorful signs, lots of flowers, and other spring things… like bubbles!"

"Bubbles?" Jed asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, bubbles," Lizzie said forcefully. "Thanks for volunteering to take care of the bubbles, Jed."

"Wha—"

Jade laughed.

"Half of you will be working on hanging lights today," Lizzie said. "The other half will be painting signs with bright colors. We'll get to that in a bit," she finished with a look at Ryan.

Clarke nodded. His team was already at the storage bay.

"We'll take flowers," Hope called out, raising one hand and patting Ryan on the shoulder.

Clarke was not amused.

Hope winked at him. He said he would practice his powers later, well, he could practice them while growing all the flowers they needed to decorate. Plus, he would save Lizzie's budget in the process.

"Hope, you also have face painting," Lizzie called off, going down her list.

"Okay!" Hope smiled. She would have to make a sample page so the kids could choose.

"You're doing two things?" Clarke asked her.

"Yeah," Hope whispered back. "The flowers are just decoration. We'll set them up before the festival. We all still have to help during the festival too."

"Right," he said.

"Shrek, you can do the M&M count and Lollipop game," Lizzie called out.

"Sure," he said, then asked Hope, "What're those?"

"I'll tell you later," she shushed him.

"Do I get anything else besides bubbles?" Jed asked.

"Yeah," Lizzie looked at her list. "You and Ephram are putting together the American Ninja Warrior obstacle course thing. Get a couple wolves and vamps to help too."

"Ephram?" Jed asked.

"Me," Ethan clarified, not unfamiliar with Josie's sister's use of 'nicknames'. "So, what are we supposed to do?"

"Whatever you want?" Lizzie shrugged. "Just remember this is for humans. Nothing that will get anyone killed."

"Right," Ethan was already going through a list of ideas. He was actually excited about the festival for the first time. This would be fun.

"Can't I just—" Jed started to ask for a different job. Why did he keep getting stuck with Ethan?

"No!" Lizzie interrupted. "No changing jobs. Now, hush, I need to get through the rest of the list.

"MG and Kaleb!" she called out. "You've got the Silent Disco Tent."

"Sweet!" MG said.

"Wait, we don't really gotta play disco music, right?" Kaleb asked.

"No," Lizzie said. "Play whatever you want as long as it's family friendly. Just make sure someone's wiping down the head phones after each person."

"Headphones?" Clarke asked Hope.

"A disco tent is a place for people to listen to music and dance, but everyone listens to the music through headphones," Hope explained quietly.

Lizzie went through the rest of the list of planned games, listing off most of the others.

"I think that's everything for now," Lizzie said, looking over her list. "There will be community volunteers joining us who can fill in with anything I missed."

"What about me?" Alyssa asked.

"What about you?" Lizzie said.

"You didn't assign me anything," Alyssa said.

"Will you actually show up?"

"I wouldn't volunteer if I wasn't going to."

"Fine," Lizzie said, pulling her clipboard up and writing something. "You can sell tickets at the front booth."

"But you already have, like, two other people signed up for that," Alyssa complained.

"If you show up every day for the rest of the week, I'll think about giving you something else," Lizzie said.

"Whatever," Alyssa grumbled.

Clarke noticed two large vans pulling up to the square, backing in.

"That's our cue," he called out to Lizzie.

"Great!" Lizzie said. "Everyone, supplies are here. Let's unload and get started!"

Later, as grateful as she was for Ryan's unexpected help, Lizzie was beginning to regret accepting it.

As she oversaw the groups going through the cases of lights and untangling them, she called out, "MG, start at that tree over there. Kaleb, start over there."

"You might want to test the lights first," Clarke said, startling her when he popped up right next to her.

"I thought you were painting?" she glanced over where the other volunteers were working on the signs. Hope was studiously at work and Lizzie thought Ryan was sticking to her side the entire time.

Clarke shrugged, "Check the lights first."

"For what?"

"To make sure they still work," he said. "Do you really want to hang them all up then find out they aren't working or a bulb is out?"

He had a point.

"MG!" she called out. "Hold on!"

Shaking his head, Clarke went back to join Hope.

"Saving the day again?" Hope teased.

"Something like that," he picked up a paint brush and sat next to her.

"Paint that area over there," she pointed.

"So, I noticed Jed and Jade arrived with everyone else…" he fished for information.

"They did," she nodded. "They're transferring back to the Salvatore school."

"Interesting…" he wondered what prompted that. "And Josie is still going to Mystic Falls? By herself?"

"Seems that way," she sat back. "You wouldn't be pumping me for information about that case I'm not supposed to be interring with, would you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said, but he kept an eye on Jade. Jed had been avoiding eye contact with him since yesterday. But, since the wolf was so confused at first, he was pretty sure Jed wasn't who he needed to investigate. Josie and Jade were the problem.

Jade and Jed were both painting, and as he watched Jade pull her phone out of her pocket.

Now, who would be contacting Jade at this time? Could it be her girlfriend who got out of school not too long ago? The one who couldn't help out with the festival because she was grounded?

Whoever it was, Jade definitely didn't like the message she read.

"I need more paint," he murmured and got up to do some sneaking.

Figuring out how to track Jade had been one of his goals all week—it was obvious from the way their weekend plan went down that the teens were aware Triad had surveillance on the school's front gate. And if Jade took off running at her top vamp speed, there was no way for them to track that.

Unless he got a tracer on her.

Approaching silently from behind, he heard Jade tell Jed she would be back.

When she stood, he made sure to be right behind her so she walked into him.

"Oh, sorry!" she said before she realized who she walked into.

"It's all good," he said, moving on to pick up the green paint.

The tracer was firmly in place.

She hesitated but kept going.

He returned to his place in the grass next to Hope and retrieved his phone.

"Trouble?" she asked.

"None at all," he smirked, stuffing the cell in his pocket after telling his team to follow his tracker device.

When Jade still hadn't come back after five minutes, he knew he was right to be suspicious.

He only hoped the girl led them straight to Wendy this time.

"You'll be happy to know," Lizzie started, coming to join them, "One of the strands were burned out. So, thank you." She said it like it physically pained her.

"You're welcome," he said. "By the way, you might need more signs."

Lizzie dropped her head back, "Okay. What am I missing now?" Would Hope be too upset if she strangled him?

"Maybe a first-aid sign? You do have plans for a station right?" he said.

She glared. No, she didn't have a plan for that. But she knew she should.

"You know this is my festival, right?" she asked.

"Your carnival, right," he nodded.

"It's a festival!" she corrected again.

"I'll start working on a first aid sign right now," Hope interrupted.

"Thank you," Lizzie said tight lipped.

"No problem," Clarke replied.

"I wasn't talking to you," Lizzie said.

"Weren't you, though?" he teased.

Hope looked down, struggling not to grin and incur the wrath of Lizzie.

Like siblings, she laughed to herself.


Sneaking away from festival planning while knowing the man responsible for her best friend having to go on the run was right there, felt like a completely foolish thing to do.

But Jade was feeling super foolish about a lot of things right about now.

When Josie got home from school and couldn't find Jade, she sent her a message to let her know she had to go see Mrs. Garcia as soon as possible.

Apparently Josie had a new plan to get Wendy out of town, but she was worried someone might already know about Garcia. So Jade had to go and put the new plan into motion immediately.

"Jade? What are you doing here?" Mrs. Garcia asked when she answered the door.

The woman said that every time she opened the door before Jade compelled her to forget her.

"You're going to drive out of town," she said, gazing into the woman's eyes.

"Not any time soon," Mrs. Garcia said, still looking confused at finding her student on her door step.

Well, that was unexpected…

Jade didn't know what happened, but her compulsion wasn't working.

"I…came to see Tiffany," Jade stumbled over the words. Tiffany was the name they made up for Wendy so if anyone asked Garcia about the person staying with her, she wouldn't give her away.

"Oh, I see," Mrs. Garcia nodded, stepping back. "She's up in her room. Will you be staying for dinner?"

"No, but thank you," Jade said, hesitating. At least the old compulsion still worked. Mrs. Garcia still believed her cousin's daughter was staying with her. Jade wasn't even sure if the woman had a cousin, but compulsion didn't care.

Running upstairs, she entered Wendy's room.

"Is Josie's new plan a go?" Wendy said, sitting up.

"Hello to you too," Jade said saucily. "But no, it's not. It's not working! I can't compel her anymore!"

"Is it the blood? Do you need more?" Wendy asked, holding up her arm. "Because I could—"

"No," Jade said. "I've been taking the blood. I don't need more. Something's blocking the compulsion. I think she's on vervain now."

"But she still thinks I'm supposed to be here?"

"Vervain can't undo a compulsion, it just prevents future ones," Jade reminded her.

"Which means we can't get her to drive out of town and pick me up," Wendy realized. "So, we compel someone else?"

"You mean me," Jade said with disgust. "I compel someone else. But who?!"

"I don't know!" Wendy exclaimed. "I'm just following your and your girlfriend's messed up plans!"

"Hey!" Jade pointed at her. "We did all this for you. Show a little more appreciation."

"Right, right," Wendy tried to calm down before she alienated her only friend and the people helping her. "It's just…what do we do now?"

"Sit tight," Jade said. "We'll figure something out."

"Okay, Jade," Wendy said. "I'll leave it up to you." It wasn't like she had any other options at this point.

Jade left just as quickly as she arrived. She raced back to town square and acted like she returned from the Grill after a bathroom break.

"Hey," she settled down next to Jed again. "What'd I miss?"

"Just me trying to figure out this bubbles thing," Jed groaned.

"Don't worry about that," she smiled. "If Lizzie Saltzman wants bubbles, she shall have bubbles! I'll help."

"Thank God."


"I'm bored," Alyssa sat back and complained to Lizzie. "And don't give me that look. We've been here for hours."

Lizzie looked around. She was right, though they were very nearly done.

"Okay, everyone listen up!" Lizzie called out. "The Grill is letting us use their basement to store the signs while they dry. Put them away and pack up the rest of the supplies. We're done for the day!"

Everyone immediately got up to clean. Lizzie had kept them longer today than yesterday.

"I've got this last one to finish," Hope spoke up.

Lizzie loved the signs Hope painted more than all the others. She added little sprigs of painted flowers and colorful stripes here and there. Too bad Hope couldn't do them all.

"You're not going back with them anyway," Clarke reminded her.

"Oh, yeah," Hope said sheepishly, brushing a strand of hair that fell in her face and getting a streak of paint across her forehead in the process.

"Don't you have to study?" Lizzie said. "You were all about me earlier."

"I only have one exam tomorrow," Hope said. "It's in the morning, but I've already studied. I know the material. Tonight, it's movie night."

"Did someone say movie?" MG said, joining them. "Oh, and the cases are in the vans. The last of the lights are strung."

Lizzie looked around. "You know, I have my car, so it's not like I have to take the bus back…"

"Your point?" Hope asked.

"I could use a break," Lizzie shrugged. "Movie night sounds perfect."

"Its movie night at our place," Clarke interrupted, slightly annoyed.

"Even better," Lizzie grinned.

Getting rid of Alyssa proved easy enough when Lizzie told her she had a few more things to do before she left. Alyssa hopped on the bus faster than a hot potato.

When MG started getting on the bus though, Lizzie grabbed him, "Where do you think you're going?"

"On the bus?" he said.

"And leave me to a movie night with just the two of them?" she motioned somewhere in the direction Hope and Ryan were.

"You're inviting me?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course," she huffed.

"Then yes," he said.

"Hope's taking care of the last sign," Clarke said, walking by. "My team will take the supplies back. Meet you at ours?"

"We'll be there," MG said.

Clarke hesitated for half a second, not knowing the vampire was coming. He didn't mind but, knowing their history, he always had a second of surprise knowing this particular student didn't hold anything against him.

He nodded.


"So, what movie are we watching?" Hope said, setting bowls and bags out on the coffee table. She started popping popcorn and searching to see what other snacks they had as soon as she got home. Ryan picked up a bunch of things since he was staying for the week. She ordered a couple of pizzas too. She figured they would arrive during the movie.

"Don't ask MG," Lizzie said. "We'll end up watching something with superheroes."

"Ryan hasn't seen any of those yet," Hope said.

"What?!" MG's voice raised an octave.

"Never watched much tv," Clarke shrugged. "We usually watch whatever Hope wants."

"And you haven't introduced him to," MG drew himself up and raised his hands in the air, "the magic of Marvel yet?!"

"We'll get there eventually," Hope laughed.

"How about we watch…what do you call it?" Clarke looked at Lizzie. "Shrek? What movie is that from?"

Lizzie snickered and almost fell over.

Hope tried to hold it back, but she burst out laughing too when Clarke started going through their Prime app and found it.

"Are you sure?" Hope managed to speak. "It's a cartoon. I'm sure you don't—"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Lizzie called out, still laughing. "We've got to watch it! Put it on!"

MG shook his head, "Not my favorite green guy, but why not?"

The movie started and Clarke was definitely not amused.

Hope spent the first five minutes with her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh but her shaking shoulders gave her away.

"Really," Clarke kept saying, shaking his head.

"You asked for it!" Lizzie said, holding up her hand.

As the cartoon Shrek farted in the swamp water, Clarke spoke up, "I wonder if that smelled anything like that one time you burst into Hope's room and—"

Lizzie grasped MG's arm to siphon and magically threw a pillow across the room to cover his face.

"Shut up!"

"I don't want to know, do I?" MG asked, looking at Hope.

"No!" Hope shook her head, laughing.

Clarke grabbed the pillow and yanked it down.

The doorbell rang right then.

"I'll get it!" Hope yelped, happy for an interruption. She got up and ran for the pizza that arrived much sooner than she thought it would.

Bringing the boxes into the living room, she set them down on the table next to the plates she put out.

"Now, stop with the magic," she looked at Lizzie, "and the embarrassing moments," she looked at Ryan, "and eat while we enjoy the rest of the movie."

"Yes, ma'am," Lizzie said with a snicker.

They settled down with Hope cuddled up to Ryan on the couch with MG and Lizzie sitting on the love seat. Rather, MG was sitting. Lizzie had her legs stretched out on top of his and leaned against her side.

As Hope watched, she was struck by how strangely accurate some of the happenings were…

"See any similarities yet?" she murmured to Ryan, giggling slightly.

"No. And I wouldn't be retrieving the princess for anyone but myself," he murmured back, pressing his lips to her forehead.

"I need more ice," Lizzie said, leaning forward to pick up her cup.

"I'll get it," Hope said, reaching out.

"I got it," Clarke reached around. "I need a drink too."

"You know," Lizzie said, leaning back. "Shrek 2 might be my favorite of these."

"It has its moments, but I like part one better," Hope said.

"Part two does have that really cool song," MG mentioned.

"Which one?" Hope asked.

"About a hero," MG said.

Lizzie chuckled, "Always with the superheroes."

"No, it was like…" Hope thought. "Holding out for a hero..."

"Please, save the singing for next week," Lizzie held up a hand.

"Next week?" Clarke asked, passing off her drink and sitting down.

"Oh, we're having a girls' night next week," Hope explained.

"The club?" Clarke asked.

"What's this about a club now?" MG perked up.

"We went to a club on last girls' night out," Lizzie said for his benefit. "But that was last time. This time is much more pain inducing."

"Meaning?" Clarke said.

"Karaoke," Hope said.

MG and Clarke both snickered.

"My sister is a different species from us all, I swear," Lizzie said. "It was her idea."

"Yeah, hopefully she's not still grounded by then," Hope said.

"Aw," Lizzie faked sadness. "You mean, if she's still grounded we don't have to go? Oops. Too bad."

"So, you might not want to come to town until Saturday," Hope ignored Lizzie and talked to Ryan as if she wasn't there.

"We'll see," he said. Last time he didn't come in on Friday and ended up wishing he had.

"Next time you go to the club though…" MG looked at Lizzie.

"You'll be the first person I ask."

"That's what I thought."


"Good morning," Josie said when Jade opened her door the next morning. "I brought breakfast." She held up the bag.

Jade hesitated, half asleep, but she took the bag.

"I still don't know what to do about Garcia," Josie said, walking into the room and closing the door behind her.

"Don't you have a ride waiting for you?" Jade asked, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

"I've got a few minutes," Josie said, sitting down next to her. "I'll try to figure out someone else to compel, I guess?"

"Yeah," Jade said, sitting the bag on the bed. She would wait until Josie left to bite into it.

Josie tossed her hair to the side and smiled at her, "We haven't had much time together lately at all, have we?"

"Nope," Jade shook her head. "And that's a darn shame."

Reaching out to fix some of the messy hair, Josie stroked her fingers through it. "And now you're not at school either. I kinda really miss you."

"I miss you too," Jade said softly, melting at Josie focusing all of her attention on her. She was so beautiful. She wanted more of that attention. But right now, she would take a hug.

Wrapping her arms around Josie, she laid her head on her shoulder and breathed deeply.

The scent of Josie's perfume mixed with one that was all her own flooded Jade's senses. The scent that reminded her of the blood she had a little bit of every morning.

Oh no.

Tearing herself out of Josie's arms, she stood up and backed away.

"What's wrong?" Josie asked, leaning forward.

"I can't," Jade shook her head. "I can't do this anymore."

"Wha-wha—what do you mean?" Josie asked, eyes wide. Was Jade breaking up with her?

"The blood," Jade said, pointing at the bag. "Take it out of here. Please."

"Okay, I can do that," Josie moved the bag behind her back so it was out of Jade's field of vision. "Are you okay? Can I do anything?"

Jade was shaken. The yearning she felt inside scared her. She couldn't give in to that. If she did… people might die.

"Lock me up."

"What?!"

"I need you to lock me up," Jade said. "I'm losing it, Jos. I'm scared. The blood. I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't… I don't want to hurt you."

"Are you sure you can't—"

"Please." Jade looked at her with frantic, begging eyes.

Josie could see the thin black lines now spreading across her face, evidence of Jade's control about to snap.

"Let's go."


Clarke stayed in his vehicle while the rest of his team approached the quaint house sitting on a silent street in Mystic Falls surrounded by trees and various shrubs.

This was the house Jade visited yesterday afternoon.

The home owner left for work a couple hours ago. A surveillance team had kept an eye on all of the house's exits all night with their crystals in place.

No one left the house.

They were all firmly convinced their target was in that house, they just didn't have visual confirmation.

Deciding it was time to get closer, the team circled the house. Somehow, an alarm was tripped. Loud sounds went off, startling the crew and destroying the element of surprise.

The team went back to their vehicles but Clarke approached the house, standing nearby until an officer showed up.

"I'm Ryan Clarke," he introduced himself. "Let Sheriff Machado know I'm here and need to speak to her."

"Clarke," Mac said when she arrived minutes later. "At least I'm speaking directly to you this time. I assume this is in regards to the same case."

"We have reason to believe she's seeking shelter here," he said.

"Visual confirmation?"

"Not yet."

Mac shook her head. "Without any actual confirmation, we can't go in there."

"You can't, but we can."

"Not as long as you're in my jurisdiction," she said. "I appreciate your position and what your organization does, but I can't have you entering homes unlawfully."

He wanted to growl. If this were a government case…

But it wasn't.

So they were back to staking the house out…and the target probably knew they were there too.

Damn it.

"Oh my goodness," a frightened voice called out from the street. "Sheriff? I got a call from the security company that my alarm went off. Is everything okay? Did someone try to break in?"

"No, ma'am," Mac said. "We don't believe so. It looks like it was a false alarm."

"Do you have anyone living with you?" Clarke asked.

When Mac gave him a look, he ignored it and pressed on. "Maybe they tripped the alarm?"

"Oh, it's possible," the woman said. "My cousin's daughter is staying with me for a while."

"Maybe we should talk to her? What's her name?" he suggested. "It's possible she saw something?"

"That's not possible," the woman replied. "Tiffany's very ill, stays in her room all the time."

"I'm sorry to hear about that, Mrs…?" Mac realized she didn't know the woman's name.

"We could go in and talk to her instead of her coming out here?" Clarke suggested.

"Garcia," the woman said to the sheriff before answering Clarke. "And no, you cannot go in."

"Do not allow any police officers in this house," Jade said, staring into the dark eyes. "And especially do not let anyone from an organization called Triad in."

"But if the girl saw something?" Clarke tried again.

"Excuse me," Mac said. "Did you say Garcia?" Didn't Maya just use that name? Which reminded her, she needed to call the mayor.

"Yes," Mrs. Garcia said with a nod. "If you're done and there's been no breaking in, I really should get back to the school. I left the gym coach to watch over my class."

"You're a teacher…" Mac said.

"Yes," Mrs. Garcia said proudly.

"We'll clear out our people," Mac said before Clarke could say anything else. "It'll be like we were never here. Take care, ma'am."

"Thank you," the woman said as she walked back to her car, glancing back at them a few times.

"She would've let us in," Clarke said. "She just needed a bit more persuasion."

"No, she wouldn't have," Mac said. "I think you're right. I think the girl is in there."

"Then what are we waiting for?" he asked.

"Visual confirmation," she said.

He groaned inside. Of course.

"I think a vampire compelled her though," Mac said.

"I do too," he said.

"So, she never would've let us in," she continued.

"Then what now?" he asked since she wasn't giving him many options.

"Now, we take down the blockades and take turns staking out the house without letting the homeowner know," she said. "The girl has to come out some time."

He was really hoping she wouldn't say that.


"Here," Lizzie said, shoving her second—much smaller—clipboard at Brock.

"What's this?" the werewolf looked down.

"Well, you see that thing over there being built?" Lizzie pointed.

"You mean the dunk tank?" he asked.

"Yes," Lizzie nodded like she was speaking to a simpleton. "This list here?" she pointed to the clipboard. "Thirty minutes increment. I need you to go around and not come back until each slot is filled."

"You mean, find volunteers for the dunk tank?" he asked, still appearing confused.

"Now you're getting it," she winked. "Wolves would probably be best, you know that whole higher body temperature thing?"

"Oh…right," he said uncertainly.

"And try to get a few female wolves signed up too," she hinted. "Make it more interesting for everyone."

"But there're only, like, three—"

She held up a finger, "Shhhh. Just go. And don't come back until every slot is filled for the entire weekend.

Lizzie left before he tried to say anything else. She was pretty sure he knew what she wanted. She intimidated him just enough that she knew he would give his all to succeed.

Looking around, she felt like today was going much better than yesterday afternoon.

The witches were working on making props for the social sharing photo booth, complete with flower crowns. Lizzie had foisted Alyssa off on them. The other witch did show up again, she would give her that.

Everyone else was working independently on their activities. Ephram and his group had shown up in his truck with tires, wood, a balance beam, and all sorts of other things to build their playground of fun. Kaleb and MG borrowed a mix table in town and were figuring out how to set it to stream through headphones only, no speakers.

Hope and Ryan were sitting at a table counting M&Ms. She had to turn away before she laughed. Ryan would get to sit at a booth and take everyone's guesses for how many M&Ms were in the container. He would also have to give out small prizes for anyone who pulled a lollipop with color on the bottom. She figured by the end of the festival, he wouldn't be feeling very festive.

"Stop eating them!" Hope said when Ryan tossed another one in his mouth.

"If I eat it, I don't have to count it," he said.

"Let's just get this over with," she said. "We've got to 'get' the flowers." She used air quotes.

"Then I'll need a few more for strength," he tossed another one in his mouth.

"You're going to lose count," she said.

"No I won't…" he trailed off when he realized he already had.

"Told you," she said, putting hers back in the container and writing the number down. "I'll take half of yours."

"So…" Alyssa said, coming over to sit next to Hope with the flower crown she was working on in her hands. "I was just over there thinking… maybe there's a spell that will ensure I get into the college of my choice."

"Oh, you mean a black magic spell to influence the admission board?" Hope asked knowingly.

Alyssa shrugged, "Why not?"

"Because black magic is forbidden," Hope said, glancing at Ryan. She was glad to note he was finally focusing on counting.

"Only at the Salvatore school," Alyssa said.

"With good reason!" Hope said incredulously.

"The answer is still no," Clarke said, not looking up.

"Can't blame me for trying," Alyssa sighed.

"You're acting like you don't already have good grades, Alyssa," Hope said.

"Everyone has good grades," Alyssa said dismissively. "You need more than good grades to get accepted these days."

As she walked away, Hope pushed her M&Ms away.

"I don't have any extracurriculars… just good grades," Hope told Ryan. "Do you think I'll have a problem?"

"Nope," he looked up with a smile. "I'm sure you rocked the interview."

"I… didn't do an interview," Hope said.

"What was your essay?" he asked.

"The person who is or was the biggest influence on your life?" she answered.

"Then you won't have a problem," he shrugged. "I've heard you talk about your mother. Just hearing about her can influence most people."

"I wrote about my dad."

"Then you might have a problem," he teased.

She threw an M&M at him.

"Hey, you can add monster slaying to your list of extracurriculars?" he suggested. "And if all else fails, Triad will hire you."

"You're not funny," she huffed.

"I thought it was."

Heading to check on the building of the dunk tank, Lizzie was completely blind-sided when a fiery bit of girl came raging at her with the clipboard she gave Brock earlier.

"Here!" the girl threw the board at Lizzie. "Why don't you sign up for the dunk tank!"

Lizzie barely caught it, but she managed to. It was either that or the thing would beam her in the head.

"If you don't want to sign up, then don't!" Lizzie exclaimed. "There's no need to throw things at my head!"

"Every single person on that list is a wolf," the girl practically growled. "You think we're the only ones who want to be on public display like that to be humiliated with your stupid little game!?"

"Whoa," Lizzie started. "It's called volunteering. Everyone who signed up wanted to. Obviously you don't want to, and believe me, I am fine with that!"

"Willa, stop," Ethan said, joining them when he noticed the girl getting too loud.

"I assume she's one of yours, Ephram?" Lizzie said. "Deal with that."

Ethan sighed, "Just go, Lizzie."

As the blonde walked away, Ethan turned back to the newest student at the Salvatore School.

"Willa, everything here is voluntary, even coming here is," Ethan explained.

"I know that, but why are we following her?" she asked, brushing back her long chestnut locks. "She's treating us like we're dogs. And she doesn't even show you the respect you deserve."

"She treats everyone the same," he noticed that right off the bat. "And she recognizes me as the werewolf alpha."

"She doesn't even call you by your name," she snapped.

"Whoa, okay," he said. "She has a thing about nicknames. It's really not that serious. And I know you're new here but running around and throwing things at people isn't going to endear you to anyone."

"Especially not the headmaster's daughter, is that what you're trying to say?" she said.

Ethan knew being alpha would come with some trials, but the newest student was definitely not what he anticipated. She triggered her curse a couple weeks back and hadn't gone through her first full moon yet. He wondered if that was why she was constantly on edge. He knew most wolves had a temper, the school was supposed to help with anger management issues. His temper had never gotten completely out of control thankfully, but this girl was a firecracker waiting to go off at the littlest thing.

"Especially not anyone, is what I'm saying," he said. "I think it might be best for you to sit this one out until you've had a few more sessions with Emma."

She glared at him, not appreciating his telling her what to do.

"Stand down," he said firmly, glaring right back.

It took a moment, but she finally did as he said. She took a step back and dropped her glare.

"Sit with the other wolves until the bus is ready to go back," he instructed. "And don't start any more fights."

She nodded stiffly and left to join the wolves.

"I still want an activity," Alyssa said, hunting down Lizzie. "I'm here today. I'm working. Give me something."

"The restrooms might need cleaning?" Lizzie suggested.

"Ha ha," Alyssa said sarcastically.

Lizzie sighed, "You can run the three legged race on Saturday. Depending on how many people sign up, you could have more than one race. Then the winners run again. Think you can handle that?"

"Three legged race?"

"Just give each team a scarf to tie their legs together," Lizzie said. "They'll do the rest."

"Sounds easy enough," Alyssa shrugged.

"Now, get back to work," Lizzie said.

"And you," Lizzie turned when she saw Brock. "Take this," she slammed the small clipboard against his chest, "I don't want to see it again until it's full. I don't care who volunteers. Just fill it up! Chop chop!"

She grinned to herself when Brock grabbed the board and took off like the hounds of hell were upon him.

She loved being in charge.


"Think we have enough?"

Clarke collapsed on the couch.

"Ten." He held up his hands. "We gave her ten different flowers, and about a thousand of each of them. She wanted bright and lively and spring-like. She got it."

Hope walked behind him and put her hands on his shoulders.

"Awww, did growing all those flowers take a lot out of you?" she asked, massaging his shoulders like she had any idea what she was doing.

"Not really," he said. "But keep doing that."

She laughed, "So, what are we doing tonight?"

He tilted his head all the way back and looked up at her, "I could think of a thing or two."

Considering his words, she grinned slowly, "You know… I have one exam tomorrow, my last one… and it's not until noon."

"Which means?"

"Maybe I should message Alyssa," she said suggestively.

"Maybe you should," he said.

She leaned down and kissed him upside down.

"Be right back," she laughed, pulling away and heading to the kitchen where she left her phone.

"You know where I'll be," he said, standing and heading for the bedroom.

"Don't start without me," she called out.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he called back as he unbuckled his belt and shucked his jeans off. How he had been here half the week already and this was the first time he got her in the bedroom with him was beyond him.

He had to admit though, even with the working, he was having… fun this week.

Usually, he preferred spending time alone with Hope. But they were working together, joking and teasing each other, and they had friends over—if one could call Lizzie and MG friends—and did normal couple things.

Things he never did before, but he loved every minute of it.

"My absence tonight is covered," she said, joining him in their room. "Let me help you with that."

She walked over and pulled his shirt up and off.

"Thanks," he grinned. "Now let me help you with that."

Instead of pulling off her clothes, he grasped her waist and nearly threw her on the bed while climbing on top of her.

"You may be confused about this whole helping thing," she laughed but wrapped her legs around him anyway. "I'm still fully clothed."

"I'll get there eventually," he murmured, his body pressing against hers as his lips found hers, drinking her in slowly because, after all, he had all night to get there.


She should have brought a book.

Jade stared at the ceiling, lying prone on her cot.

At least Rafael stopped with his changing for the evening. She wasn't sure she could stand listening to his screams much longer. She didn't know how Landon stayed with him the entire time. Props to him for being there for his best friend and brother though.

After spending the entire day in solitary confinement, she wasn't sure if she felt better or worse. But she was sure feeling stupid.

She knew better.

One night of bloody mayhem ten years ago completely changed her life. Why did she think she could consume human blood in any form and not be affected by it? She took the classes—it was required curriculum for vampires—and anyone who turned out to be a ripper should know to never tempt fate.

So why had she let Josie talk her into it?

She couldn't blame Josie though. This was all on her. Wendy was her friend. She agreed to this.

Heck, if she wasn't worried she would go on another bloody rampage she would still be helping.

Josie wanted to compel someone else to help since Garcia couldn't. Jade would've done it, but it definitely wasn't possible now.

She was done.

Not another drop of human blood would ever cross her lips.

She was making that vow to herself, here and now.

And she would let Josie know just as soon as her girlfriend could sneak to see her.

Jade wanted to keep her problem on the down low and, with Josie being grounded, she couldn't visit until no one was keeping an eye on her.

But Jade had told Josie it was okay to let at least one other person know, so when she heard footsteps in the corridor leading to her cell, she knew who it was before he even entered the area.

"J," she smiled, sitting up.

"Hey, J," Jed said, grabbing a folding chair that was leaning against the wall, he brought it close to the bars and sat. "J said you were here. What's going on?"

Instead of explaining everything to him, she told him a partial truth.

"It's the being here all day with nothing to do," she said. "Everyone's studying, no classes, and I just lost control."

"You didn't hurt anyone though?" he said. He hadn't heard anything and something like a vampire losing control was gossip gold at their school.

"No," she shook her head. "But I wanted to… I'm here because it's my choice. I didn't trust myself. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do."

"How long do you think you'll be here?" he asked, looking around the cell.

"I don't know," she said with a sigh. "Until I trust myself again? Maybe prison really is where I belong. Keep an eye on Wade for me since I'll probably end up rotting here."

"I don't agree," he said. "We all have problems with control. Losing it or wanting it. Look at me; I was the biggest school bully when I was alpha."

"You?" Jade said in disbelief. "I don't believe it."

Jed had to laugh remembering how he was back then. He had so much to learn. He never should have been alpha.

"Believe it," he said. "When Raf challenged me, I lost it. Even beat the crap out of Landon because of it. But I got through it. You'll get through this too. And you don't gotta do it alone either. Remember, us—"

"—Js stick together," she finished for him with a wink.

"You got it," he grinned.

She had to shake her head. Knowing Jed as she did, she would never think this sweet and sensitive guy could ever be a bully.

Wait…

The sweet and sensitive guy who used to be a big time bully… How many times had she heard that before? She knew how Jed felt about Alyssa. She knew there was no faking that, so he definitely did like her. What she didn't know was how Jed felt about Ethan. The big mystery she could never solve, was it really that simple?

Thinking it through, she remembered everything Jed ever told her. His parents didn't make time for him but when they did he was presented like the prized son to show off. All other times they ignored him which made him strive to be the best in everything he did to prove his worth—from alpha to sports to school. She could see him continuing with that, right down to making the choices for his life that they would approve of.

If she really thought about it, before the alpha challenge, Jed was still friendly with Ethan, just not the best of besties like they were when Ethan went to Mystic Falls High. It was almost like Jed was aware of something but was trying not to make a big deal about it.

It wasn't until after Ethan became alpha that anyone realized there was a problem with Jed around Ethan. The pack alpha was the leader, the one the wolves went to with everything, including their problems. How could Jed go to his alpha with a problem…if that problem was feelings he might have for the alpha?

Was Jed into girls and guys?

Of all things, didn't he know he could come to her about this?

But, no, she could see what happened. As sensitive as he was, he still couldn't bring himself to share his feelings with anyone—especially not after he shared his feelings with Alyssa and she stomped on them. Jed couldn't even go to the school counselor either, not after he embarrassed himself with her during that whole Cupid incident.

Jade was right all along. Jed just needed time. She didn't think he was hiding any of this because he was ashamed. She was pretty sure he just didn't know how to talk about it. And, again, he was still searching for that parental approval. He didn't even really hate Ethan. In his bid to push everything away until he figured it out, he pushed Ethan away the hardest.

As badly as Jade's gaydar had messed up with Jed though, she knew Ethan was as straight as they came. Even if Jed ever found the words, it wasn't going to happen.

The thing about Ethan though, Jade knew with absolute certainty that the day Jed finally figured out how to talk about his feelings Ethan would say all the right words.

Ethan was a lot of things, a good and supportive friend being at the top of that list.

Until then though, Jade would keep being there for Jed…as best she could be in a prison cell anyway.

"So…how goes the event planning?" Jade asked, changing the subject.

"It's coming along," Jed said. "The new girl threw a clipboard at Lizzie's head."

"No way," Jade laughed. "What happened?"

"Something about females being put on display inappropriately?" Jed said. "Mostly she was pissed Lizzie suggested the wolves should be the ones wearing swim trunks and bikinis for the dunk tank."

"Isn't that a volunteer thing though?" she asked.

"Yes," Jed nodded. "Which is exactly what Ethan told her after he got her to calm down."

"Too bad I'm in here," she said. "I would've signed up. I rock a bikini."

"You can have one of my slots?" Jed offered.

"You mean, you're gonna…" Jade started laughing.

"Hey, you're not the only one who can rock a swimsuit," he said.

"Touché!" she smiled.

"So, there's actually another reason I'm here…" he said.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Uh… bubbles?" he raised an eyebrow reminding her she said she would help with that task.

Jade laughed even harder, feeling more normal than she had all week.

"Here's what you need to do…"


Josie was at her wits end.

Triad surrounded Wendy but couldn't get to her yet.

And neither could Josie.

Jade was in a prison cell refusing to drink human blood ever again.

And Josie was grounded and couldn't do anything but listen to Wendy complaining to her on the phone once again.

Josie had absolutely no idea what to do.

She was beginning to think Clarke had won after all.


It was the day before the first night of the big event and everything was coming together perfectly.

Lizzie couldn't be happier!

Volunteers were everywhere. All of the equipment and booth panels had been moved from the storage bays. The booths were being set up and hammered together. The signs placed on each. There were even arrows to direct festival goers. Extension cords, hoses, generators, and all other electronics needed were being hooked up and tested. All tents were already raised and she couldn't wait to sample the silent disco. The totes would be placed within each booth later on to make set-up fast and easy tomorrow.

And the flowers.

She didn't know how Hope and Ryan had done it but the entire place was bursting with color. Pink, yellow, white, blue, purple, orange—flowers in all the brightest colors and so many different ones! Pansies, sunflowers, irises, violets. She would've accused them of robbing a flower shop if the flowers didn't look so wild and rustic. Some of the witches were having a blast decorating with them. She only hoped the flowers all stayed alive and in bloom for most of the weekend.

Basically everything was fenced off at this point. Lizzie looked at the area where the vendors would set up their food carts the next day. The street would be shut down there. Further down, the path led to the fenced-off parking lot where the Ferris Wheel stood tall and proud. She had to check in with the carnys, but she saw the inspector earlier. Even that was ready.

"Lizzie!"

She turned around and grinned, seeing Hope approaching her.

"Everything looks so good!" Hope exclaimed. "How's the big wheel going?"

"It's ready too," Lizzie said. "I can't wait to ride it. Overlooking Mystic Falls? Especially at night? Talk about beautiful."

"And romantic," Hope added. "Ryan's been extra romantic all week even if he might try to deny it. I'm definitely getting him up there with me."

"You know, I bet it'll be much more fun without all the festival goers," Lizzie said almost to herself.

"You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?" Hope asked with a mischievous grin.

"That it won't be dark for another hour but we really should make sure the lights look good at night before we leave, don't you think?" Lizzie asked with a smug smile.

"Not a bad idea," Hope said. "Maybe we should check out the disco tent too?"

"It's like you're reading my mind," Lizzie said. "Where's Shrek?"

"With Ethan," Hope explained. "They're setting up the last booth. Everyone else is mostly done. The community volunteers are already leaving and the students are waiting outside the bus for the 'all-clear' from their fearless leader."

"Let me just send them on their way then," Lizzie said, her tone infusing her excitement for later.

The students were more than glad to be granted their leave though they were all clearly excited about seeing their hard work payoff for the event.

"Here you go!" Brock said, popping up next to Lizzie holding out the clipboard. "All slots have been filled!"

"Thank you," Lizzie said, taking the board and looking down the list.

"No problem," he said. "Here to help." Then he practically ran on the bus.

"Uh, Hope?" Lizzie asked, reading down the list.

"Yes?"

"Does Shrek know you signed up for some of these?" Lizzie asked.

"Only two," Hope shrugged. "Apparently you told Brock to ask wolves, especially the girls? He was sweating; he was so scared of you. How could I say no?"

"Well, the children's hospital thanks you," Lizzie said. "You do have a bikini, right? We want to make sure the donations are well padded."

"I'll wear what I want to wear," Hope said, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course you will," Lizzie said with a long suffering sigh.

Noting the time, she called out, "Daddy!"

Alaric was waiting for the students to load on the bus before he got on himself.

"I've got my car. I have a few more things I need to check on. Hope and I will be back later, okay?" she said.

"And me," Alyssa said loudly, stepping up next to the girls. She raised an eyebrow at Lizzie, daring her to disagree.

"And… Alyssa," Lizzie managed to say as pleasantly as possible.

"Don't stay too late," was all Alaric said before he got on the bus.

"I probably should've mentioned MG too," Lizzie said, realizing she hadn't seen him get on the bus. She saw Kaleb though. "I wonder where he is…"

As the bus drove off, Clarke appeared around a corner with MG and Ethan following him.

"Uh…" Ethan watched the bus leave. "We just finished putting the last booth together… Guess they forgot me?"

"Me too," MG shook his head. Ethan called him over when they needed an extra set of hands to adjust a stubborn board.

"Guess you're stuck with us," Hope said, grabbing Clarke's hand. "Come on, MG. We gotta make sure everything is working properly before tomorrow. Including your disco."

"Oh, it's working," MG boasted.

"I guess we're dancing then?" Ethan asked hesitantly.

"Keep up, Ephram," Lizzie said, following after the others. "You too, Alyssa, if you want a ride later."

Ethan glanced at Alyssa but immediately dismissed her. He heard the rumors. He knew this girl had done something to Jed. Jed hadn't confided in him any details of Christmas break, but he had told him how much he liked her before that. Ethan also noticed Kaleb never talked to Jed anymore either. He knew it had something to do with her.

He didn't have much use for a girl who hurt his friend.

"So, how are we all supposed to fit in your car?" Alyssa asked, ignoring the werewolf alpha too. "The three of them stuffed in your backseat like sardines?"

"Well, I don't have any exams tomorrow, and Ryan and I are supposed to meet Lizzie early, so…" Hope looked over her shoulder at Alyssa with a grin.

Alyssa rolled her eyes, "It's a wonder you haven't been caught yet."

"Because Daddy's a little pre-occupied with his other darling daughter," Lizzie said with a sigh, suddenly wishing Josie were there to see all of this. Life just wasn't the same without her sister by her side helping with the biggest event of Lizzie's life to date.

"You mean the delinquent?" Clarke piped up.

"That's my sister you're disparaging," Lizzie warned.

"Do you know what they're talking about?" Ethan asked MG.

MG shrugged as he pulled the tent flap open, "I just work here."

"The headsets are to your right," he continued, calling out to everyone as they passed him. "Grab a set and give me a minute to get everything going."

When the music started, MG pressed another button so lights flickered throughout the darkened tent area.

He had to laugh as everyone began dancing to music he couldn't hear. He put on his own headset just as a Lizzie startled him by tapping his arm.

She motioned for him to follow her, so he did.

They all danced around, laughing though no one could hear each other.

Hope knew Ryan was just following along. This was not his kind of music, but he was participating for her benefit and she loved that.

She broke off from the group to dance with him. Turning in his embrace, she stood with her back to his front and danced against him. She gave him an exaggerated come hither look over her shoulder. He knew she was acting silly, but he still grasped her hips to pull her back more firmly against him. She knew she should feel a little more embarrassed doing this in front of the others but one glance at them showed that they weren't paying attention to her at all.

Alyssa was trying to dance with MG at the same time Lizzie was. MG ended up going back and forth between them, mouthing 'help' to Ethan who just grinned and shook his head. He didn't want any part of that. Ethan made his way to the controls, curious about the music and if he could figure out how to change the song.

Lizzie put up with Alyssa as long as she could before she noticed there wasn't anymore sunlight coming through beneath the tent floor. Glancing at the clock on her cell, she knew it was dark enough for what she wanted to do next.

Taking her headset off, she went to the entrance and grabbed a wipe to clean it off. Waving the wipe in the air, she managed to get everyone else's attention.

Knowing what was coming next, Hope wasted no time in grabbing Ryan's headset along with hers to wipe them down too.

"Where to now?" Clarke asked, seeing the look on her face.

"We've gotta check the outside lights," Lizzie said, holding the flap back as everyone left the tent. "MG, go turn them on!"

"On it," he said, taking off.

A few seconds later, the overhead lights came on.

"Yes!" Lizzie said proudly, looking around. "It's perfect!"

"It really is," Hope said, leaning back against Ryan.

"So, that's it?" Alyssa asked. "Are we leaving now?"

"Well," Lizzie said with a co-conspirator look at Hope, "you can leave if you want. As for the rest of us…"

"Just a little surprise," Hope winked and looked up at Ryan.

"What'd I miss?" MG said, joining them again.

"Come on," Lizzie grabbed his arm. "This time, you're sticking with me."

Hope grinned to herself. Good ole' Lizzie. For someone who always claimed she wasn't into MG, she certainly seemed to be all over him tonight—and all week for that matter.

"I'll be right back," Lizzie said before going to find the carny once they all reached the parking lot.

"Wait," Alyssa said, looking at Hope. "Are we riding the Ferris Wheel?"

Nodding, Hope said, "Lizzie's going to tell the operator we need to ride it at least once, just to make sure everything's set up properly."

"Wasn't there already an inspector out here for that?" Ethan asked.

"Yes," Hope said. "And we got the all clear so…"

Clarke watched, knowing that the game operator would probably be annoyed about being disturbed when he technically wasn't on the clock. Watching Lizzie's smile tighten from afar as she spoke with him, he knew he was going to have to step in if he wanted to make Hope and Lizzie happy.

"Be right back," he murmured to Hope as he left.

"Where are you—" she cut off as she watched him.

"What's he doing?" MG asked.

"What he always does,' she said with a smile. "Gets things done."

Sure enough, after Ryan spoke with the guy, Lizzie was joining them again with excitement lighting up her face.

"We're going up!" Lizzie exclaimed.

Hope was the only one still watching Ryan and she saw him slip the guy a few folded notes. He totally bribed him. She wasn't surprised. Ryan didn't like taking 'no' for an answer from anyone.

When Lizzie latched onto MG's arm, he felt his breath quicken. Back in the tent, he was being pulled in two directions and didn't have time to think about anything, but now he could.

Lizzie wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel with him.

Was this still a part of her whole "friend zone" thing? It didn't feel that way to him but he would never ask. He had told her and shown her in a million ways that he wanted to be more than friends with her although he would accept friendship if that was all she wanted.

If she ever changed her mind and decided she wanted him, it would be up to her to take that next step. He would never overstep the boundary she set for him.

Still, it would be nice to ride with Lizzie.

Clarke returned to Hope and took her arm to lead her up into the next seat.

"Ever been on one of these before?" Hope asked as she climbed in.

"Can't say that I have," he said, settling in next to her.

"Well, now you can't say that anymore," she said as she brought the metal lever down across their laps.

"Ladies first," Ethan made a gesture for Alyssa to go first. He wasn't going to ride with her, but he could let her get on the ride before him.

Alyssa walked up and sat down. Then she looked back at him.

"You're not going to make me go alone, are you!?" Alyssa asked in disbelief.

"Uh, yeah?" Ethan said.

The operator tried to lower her bar but she wouldn't let him.

"No!" Alyssa said. "He's coming!"

"No," Ethan told the guy. "I'm not."

"I don't have all night," the operator complained.

"I'm not letting you put that thing down until he joins me," Alyssa sat back with her arms crossed.

The guy looked at Ethan, "Just ride with the girl."

Ethan sighed and gave in.

"Just stay far over there," he said, sitting down and letting the operator lock them in.

"Like I want you near me," she said haughtily.

"Um, hello?!" Ethan raised his hands to point out the obvious.

"I just didn't want to go alone," she said stiffly. "I've never gone on one of these beFORE!"

She squealed the last of her sentence as the ride pitched them backwards.

"Relax," he said leaning back and staring up with a sigh. "It's the safest most boring ride at most fairs."

"Then why does everyone make a big deal about them?" she asked, gripping onto the lock latch tightly as they slowly rose in the air.

"Because they're also romantic," he said. "Hard to see that right now, I know."

"Ohh," she said as they kept going higher. "Ohh, this isn't okay."

"Sure, it is," he shrugged. "Now be quiet so I an enjoy it."

"I think…I'm afraid of heights," she said, grabbing even tighter onto the latch and inching closer to him.

"You think?" he said. "Don't you know?"

"I've never been this high up," she said, not even realizing she was now plastered against his side.

Frowning in distaste, he shifted away from her, "Try closing your eyes, or don't look down. Trust me, we aren't going anywhere."

She struggled to do what he suggested.

"Seems your new friend isn't so fond of heights," MG said with a small laugh having heard the other group by accident. He couldn't always control his heightened hearing.

"Stop focusing on her, not when you can take in this view," Lizzie said, sweeping her hand out.

"It does look nice," MG agreed.

Lizzie sighed and laid her head on his shoulder.

"I did it, MG," she said. "I overcame all the crap going on with me and I actually planned this whole thing."

"You did," he agreed, relaxing and smiling down at her.

"With help, of course," she added.

"Help you organized," he said.

"I did, didn't I?" she said with a little yawn.

"You're not going to fall asleep on me, are you?" he asked.

"No," she said. "But I think it's just because I'm exhausted, not one of the side effects. So there's an upside."

"Good," he said.

"Thanks for everything," she murmured.

"Anything," he smiled. "All you've got to do is ask."

"I'll remember that," she said, staring up into the beautiful night sky.

She was struck with the realization that she was living one of the most perfect moments of her life.

And she was living it with him.

"I know you were here for work," Hope said, cuddled against Ryan in the seat as best as she could, "but I've loved this week."

It was honestly one of the best weeks of her life.

Having Ryan right there whenever she didn't have school reminded her of the month when she spent every waking hour with him. She couldn't get enough of having him around. Why couldn't he have a job in town all the time?

Because he wouldn't be Ryan if he wasn't out monster hunting.

"Me too," he murmured. He couldn't agree more. As annoyed as he was over the entire Wendy situation, he was glad to have this time with Hope. It gave him a glimpse into a future he very much looked forward to.

"I love you," she said because she couldn't think of anything more perfect to say in that moment.

"I love you too," he said, leaning down to meet her lips.

She thought of the Fourth of July as internal fireworks went off.

Another holiday she looked forward to.

"Move over, please," Ethan bit out.

"Is it almost over?" Alyssa asked, clenching her eyes closed.

"God, I hope so," Ethan said, practically hanging over his side to get away from her.

"Why are you such a jerk?"

"Takes one to know one," he said, not caring that he sounded like a child. His patience had left about ten minutes ago.

He looked around and saw that Lizzie and MG were on the ground now.

"Look, they're getting off," he said, relieved.

"I'm not looking," she said, clutching his arm in an iron tight grip.

"Fine, just let go," he tugged his arm away.

"Why don't you like me anyway?" she asked. "I've never done anything to you…I don't think so anyway."

"Jed's my friend," he bit out.

Miraculously, that distracted her from her height problem enough for her to scoot away from him.

"Whatever he told you—" she started.

"He didn't tell me anything."

"Well, for the record," she said, "I never promised him anything."

"I don't really need to hear—"

"No one ever bothered asking me," she huffed. "They all just assumed. Ooh, Alyssa and Jed are arguing. Oh, and what's that? O-M-G, they slept together." She said sarcastically.

"Why are you telling me?" He didn't want to know any of this. Not from her.

"Because you're judging me, just like the rest of them, trying to make me feel bad for not wanting to be his girlfriend," she said. "Well, news flash, sometimes people don't want more. And people shouldn't expect more especially when no promises were made in the first place."

The ride stopped as it was their turn to disembark.

Ethan got out as quickly as he could, needing to get away from her.

She had hurt Jed, he wasn't wrong about that, and he still didn't like her.

But she hadn't meant to hurt Jed.

At least that was something.

"How was it!" Hope asked, grinning at Ethan.

Judging by the looks on the faces of the others, they had enjoyed their ride much more than he did.

"Fantastic," he lied. "Thanks for letting me tag along."

"That was my father's doing," Lizzie said, "but you're welcome."

"Ready to head back?" MG asked. "I've got an exam in the morning."

"We'll see you in the morning," Hope told Lizzie.

"At—"

"Eight A-M on the dot," Hope and Ryan said at the same time, having heard it multiple times before.

"Good," Lizzie smirked.

"Tomorrow is going to be epic!" she finished.


"Where is she?" Clarke asked the next morning.

"I don't know?" Hope shrugged. "She'll be here soon."

It was 8:05am and Lizzie had not arrived yet.

They needed Lizzie to let them in, though Hope could magically undo the lock, but they were out in the open.

So, they would wait for now.

A few minutes later a familiar blue car drove past and pulled into public parking.

"Sorry!" Lizzie exclaimed, walking quickly across the parking lot while juggling her clipboards and some bags. "I'm here, I'm here."

"And yet, it's after eight," Clarke had to point out.

"I only said you had to be here at eight," Lizzie returned.

"She's got you there," Hope said.

Lizzie unlocked the fence.

"Okay, go, go," she exclaimed. "The community volunteers will start showing up in a couple hours. And the vendors in an hour, and—"

"Breathe," Hope said, gripping the blonde's arms. "We're here to help."

"Right," Lizzie nodded.

"We're going to start setting up the games, okay?" Hope said. "They'll be ready when the volunteers start arriving."

"Perfect," Lizzie nodded again but she started looking around like she was confused.

"Do you want to help us with the games until the vendors arrive?" Hope asked since Lizzie uncertain.

"I guess," Lizzie said. "Will there be potatoes?"

"I… don't know?" Hope stumbled over her words, glancing at Clarke.

"No doubt," he said. "At least one of the vendors will have fries."

"Good," Lizzie nodded, then started going through her bags again.

"Put those over there," Hope said, pointing and waiting until she did. "Good, now grab the clipboard, take a deep breath, and come with me. We've got a bunny race to set up."

"I'll set up the balloon darts," Clarke said. "Are the balloon boards in your car?"

Lizzie tried to think. She was feeling strange all morning. Her mind was a little sluggish. She wondered why.

"Pedro," she finally said. "Gave him the balloons yesterday. His friends blew them up…taped them to boards."

"Right," Clarke nodded, raising an eyebrow. "And they're in your car?"

"I think?" she raised a hand to her forehead.

"Why don't you guys go get the boards," Clarke said, glancing at Hope. "And let her lay down for a bit. I'll set up the bunny race."

"Okay," Hope said, agreeing immediately and taking Lizzie's arm.

Lizzie let Hope lead her away.

They were outside of the fenced in area when Lizzie pulled away.

"No," she shook her head. "I can't lay down. I have a million things to do."

"It's okay," Hope said, trying to placate her. "Me and Ryan will get everything set up, and we'll even meet with the vendors if we need to. Just relax. Have you had breakfast yet? I can go to the Grill and pick something up? They might have potatoes?"

"What is it with you and potatoes!?" Lizzie huffed. "What is your problem?!"

"I—" Hope had no idea how to respond.

What was going on? Lizzie wasn't making any sense.

"There's a monster, isn't there?" Lizzie looked around. "There's always another monster. I knew it. I knew it."

"There aren't any monsters," Hope said. "Remember, Malivore is gone?"

"No!" Lizzie pulled away when Hope reached for her again. "Its not, its not, its not."

Hope didn't know what to do. Lizzie wasn't shouting, but her voice was getting louder and she was repeating the same words over and over again.

"It's not what?" Hope asked. "I want to help. What do you need?"

Hope racked her mind but she was coming up empty. Lizzie wasn't having a panic attack, and she didn't seem depressed. She just seemed…

Like she was completely out of her mind.

That was when Lizzie started screaming at imaginary creatures.

"No! Go away!"

Some of the cars across the street started to shake.

Oh no, Hope thought.

"What's happening?" Clarke called out, rushing to join them having heard the screams.

"She thinks there's a monster?" Hope said. "Is there a monster? Ryan, I don't see anything!"

"She's hallucinating," he circled around Lizzie, cursing when the fence started shaking too. "Knock her out! Use a spell!"

"Somnum!"

Lizzie's scream cut off suddenly as she passed out.

Clarke and Hope both grabbed for her at the same time, holding her up.

"I don't know what happened!" Hope exclaimed. "She started talking all crazy and then the screaming."

He dug his keys out of his pocket and tossed them to her.

"Get the car," he said.

Hope gripped the keys and started running while Clarke slid an arm under Lizzie's knees and lifted her up in his arms.

By the time he got to the car, she had it started and the back door open for him to get in with Lizzie.

She slammed his door shut then got back in the front and drove off.

"Where am I going?" she said.

"The Salvatore School," he said. "I'm pretty sure she had a psychotic break."

"Oh my God," Hope said, her foot pressing down further on the accelerator. "But she's taking her medication."

"I don't think it matters anymore," he said, his mind racing as dread curled in his gut. "I'm pretty sure it's the darkness.

"The darkness we don't know how to stop."


To be continued…