Welcome to chapter five everyone! I would like to thank everyone who leaves reviews telling me how much they love the story and the character Shiloh. This chapter took a little bit longer than anticipated but I think the content will make it worth the wait! Enjoy!
Punishments were being handed out like candy at the Salvatore School.
Shiloh was in her second-period werewolf anatomy class when a note floated through the air and landed on the professor's desk. The class let out a chorus of 'ooh's as they waited for the note to be read aloud.
"Shiloh Leroux," she wasn't surprised when her name was called by the teacher, "Dr. Saltzman would like to see you in the library."
Collecting her things and ignoring the whispers and snickering from her werewolf brethren, Shiloh was relieved to get away from the distinct smell of toxic masculinity that seemed to follow Jed around.
She resisted the urge to flip off the smirking alpha as she passed by his desk, instead of trying to imagine what punishment Dr. Saltzman would have in store for the students involved in the fighting after yesterday's game.
Detentions would be served out cleaning up after the entitled town of Mystic Falls, where their rivals called home. Anything to seem like the normal boarding school—that they obviously weren't—performing a public service for their neighboring community.
What could possibly go wrong?
Dead Mystic Falls teenagers scattered across the main street briefly crossed her mind before being drowned out by Lizzie Saltzman's whining.
"This makes no sense, dad," the blonde marched after her father up the library steps, "why are we being punished?"
"Because," Dr. Saltzman stressed, "you started a brawl at a charity football game that risked exposing what we really do here."
"You weren't mad last night," Lizzie reminded him,
Shiloh distinctly remembered getting pulled aside by the man briefly to be told about how disappointed he was in her involvement. He hadn't given her the chance to explain that she was only trying to protect one of his daughters. Not to mention, Hope had told her how pissed he was after she tried to use black magic to kill the dragon, a spell originally meant for Landon.
Speaking of, no one had heard from him or Rafael since they took off after the dragon lady was actually dead.
"Oh, I was mad last night," he informed them, "my undying love for my daughters just happened to trump my rage. I volunteered everyone in the game so stop complaining. You're lucky it's just community service and not actual jail time,"
Shiloh thought she would rather have the jail time if she were being honest.
"Can I at least make a rebuttal in my defense if it pleases the court?"
There was nothing Lizzie could say that would change her father's mind, but no one was going to point that out. Well, maybe Hope would, but the tribrid remained silent for now.
"First of all, I was provoked," she explained, standing on the floor a foot or so above them. If she didn't know they were surrounded by books, Shiloh might've thought they were in an actual courtroom with the way Lizzie spoke. "My response was totally proportional considering the levels of abuse that I was forced to endure," her face scrunched up, "and secondly, if anyone should take the blame, it's Josie."
Shiloh's jaw dropped open at the blatant betrayal that was taking place in front of her. She glanced from Lizzie to Josie, and back again.
"What?" Josie seemed just as shocked, if not a little angry.
"I'm sorry, I totally cracked under cross, but if you had just let Kaleb catch the ball—"
"—You'd still be in trouble," Saltzman finished for her.
"But nice job throwing your sister under the bus," Hope butted in, the desire to take a jab at the blonde too strong for her to resist.
Shiloh couldn't help but add, "Throw her under the bus, she might as well have run her over with it herself."
"Thanks, Hope, Shiloh," Josie said, crossing her arms to glare back at her twin.
Her cheeks warmed at the gratitude from the brunette siphon. It almost made the guilty feeling of assisting Hope in her verbal assault against Lizzie Saltzman disappear completely, but not quite.
"Speaking of," Dr. Saltzman interjected before things took a turn at the corner of witches and catfight. "the bus leaves in ten minutes and I expect all four of you to be on it, working together today, harmoniously and without drama. End of debate."
"I wasn't even at the game," pointed out Hope, not thrilled in the slightest to hang out with the Saltzman twins. "Why am I being punished?"
"You know what you did," he replied. Shiloh noticed how Lizzie and Josie both perked up. Most likely interested in how Hope managed to get in trouble with their father. "Alright now go, all of you. Go on! And please behave!"
As she passed by him, Shiloh paused and put a hand on his arm, "It's nice to have dreams sir, but that's like asking for a miracle to happen," she turned when Hope hadn't moved from her spot, "you coming?"
"Give me a minute," arms crossed tightly across her chest, Shiloh didn't question the older girl, just moving to wait on the outside of the door for her friend.
"What did Ms. Perfect do to get on Dad's bad side?" Lizzie questioned Shiloh the moment the doors shut behind them. Josie looked over her sister's shoulder curiously, wanting to know the reason, too.
"Sorry girls," Shiloh really wasn't, her loyalty to Hope Mikaelson overpowering the girl's weakness for Josie's dark brown eyes, "but, I've been sworn to secrecy."
"Boo," drawled the blonde, slipping her arm into her sisters and leading her out to the bus.
Dorian drove them to the Mystic Falls towns square, where they would be carrying out their punishments. Shiloh got to sit next to a pissed off Hope, who was being antagonized by a nosy Lizzie.
The students got the choice between graffiti, litter, and weeds. Lizzie's adamant refusal to clean up trash was the reason behind Hope's decision to do it. Josie surprised everyone by siding with Hope, probably because she was still sore about Lizzie's betrayal to their father.
Shiloh was obviously Switzerland because she accepted a pair of gloves from Dorian and crouched at the nearest section of pavement, pulling plants from the cracks.
Her position was conveniently located within hearing distance of Josie and Hope due to her enhanced senses, but the two were working in relative silence. There was nothing worth listening too.
It's probably why when a fuming Lizzie Saltzman stormed past her covered in what smelled like strawberry milkshake, that Shiloh followed her. The girl looked between her gloves and Lizzie's retreating figure before throwing the gloves aside and moving to catch up with her.
By the time she made it to the blonde, the girl was demanding Dorian take her back to the school so that she could change and 'get the hell away from the Mystic Falls neanderthals.'
"I'm sorry, Lizzie, but I can't leave the rest of the students without supervision," Dorian tried to explain. "and you cannot walk home by yourself."
Lizzie's face turned as pink as the smoothie splattered across her shirt. She opened her mouth to scream out her frustrations—and probably have another magical temper tantrum.
"Um, Coach, I could take her back," Shiloh offered, about as much to keep Lizzie from hospitalizing several teenagers as she wanted to get out of the work herself.
"Shiloh, you can't drive a bus," Dorian pointed out, gesturing behind him and the large vehicle.
Shiloh held out her phone and wiggled it in front of the man, "Welcome to the twenty-first century, Dorian. We have Uber!"
"I don't know," Dorian mused as he considered it, "Ric probably wouldn't like that. No one's supposed to come through the gates unauthorized."
"Don't worry about it," Shiloh waved off his concerns, "plus, would you rather have an angry Dr. Saltzman because of his daughter using Uber, or a fuming Saltzman who's daughter killed a bunch of kids in broad daylight?"
Dorian sighed, obviously more concerned about the latter, "Fine, go."
"You've just performed a public service yourself, sir," she congratulated him, then led Lizzy over to where the car she had already requested before interjecting herself into the conversation would be arriving any minute.
The entire ride back to the school consisted of Lizzy switching between ranting between getting revenge on the 'townies' and complaining about how she had just washed her hair that morning. If he wasn't getting paid so much to be driving them, their Uber probably would have thrown himself out of the moving sedan.
Shiloh knew she sure wanted to, but in some way, it was still better than cleaning up Mystic Falls while the local students mocked them.
The man dropped them off at the large gates as requested, not sticking around long enough to see the girls slip inside.
"How did you pay for that anyway?" Lizzie asked as Shiloh struggled to keep up with the taller girl's longer, purposeful, strides.
"The Salvatore School credit card," Shiloh informed her, showing her the Uber receipt on her phone. "I couldn't have afforded an hour and a half ride without it."
"We have one of those?"
"No, it's for employees and emergencies only," Shiloh shrugged, "did this not qualify as an emergency?"
"Is that a serious question Shiloh? Of course, it's an emergency! This shirt was brand new!" Lizzie's fury respired at the revelation and she moved forward too quickly for Shiloh's short legs.
They passed through the gardens, where the grade school children were working.
"Hey, Lizzie, you uh—"
"Choose your next words very carefully, Pedro," the blonde warned the curly haired boy holding a shovel who had spoken, not pausing to hear the rest of his sentence.
"Hey Pedro, sorry about Lizzie, she's having a rough one," Shiloh apologized on the other girl's behalf, having a soft spot for the little kids, "how about a game of whiffle ball later?"
Pedro nodded excitedly, along with some of the other kids scattered around him. She waved to them before following an angry scent trail that could only belong to a milkshake-covered blonde siphon.
By the time Shiloh had reached Lizzie's final destination, her father's office, Shiloh missed whatever confrontation had just taken place.
"Uh," she stammered in the open doorway as the blonde came stomping out, meeting Dr. Saltzman and Ms. Tig's bewildered gazes.
"And what's your excuse, Shiloh?" Dr. Saltzman asked her, trying to recover from his daughter's verbal assault.
"If you must know, I was implementing the values the Salvatore School teaches all of its students by not letting Lizzie come back all by herself," Shiloh used the man's own values against him.
"Ok, well you can continue to spreading out values to the younger students by helping in the gardens," he fired back, adding when she frowned and didn't move from her spot, "now, please."
"Aye, aye, captain!" she saluted him, then turned on her heel and headed to where the kids were in the gardens. At least they were cleaning up something that she had to look at every day instead of someone else's town.
Shiloh picked up a pair of garden shears from the shed and got to trimming one of the many bushes surrounding the massive property. She found the repeated action relaxing and let herself zone out as she worked.
She just couldn't understand what was so special about that knife. It wasn't even that impressive looking and besides the fact that it was seemingly indestructible, there was nothing hinting to its true purpose.
But the girl wasn't worried about the knife, she was worried about what monster would come looking for it next. It had some sort of magic surrounding it that attracted bad things and Shiloh would rather they get rid of it than keep it.
A shrill scream caused Shiloh to jump and disfigure the current plant she was working on. Shiloh would recognize that girlish shriek anywhere.
If she was correct, it was heading in her direction and her feet carried her to the cobblestone path where two figures were scrambling towards her being chased by a big gray man. On further inspection, she saw it was statue-like and reminded her of something she saw in a movie once.
"Holy shit," Shiloh hissed, " is that a freakin gargoyle?"
There wasn't much time to linger on the revelation because Lizzie and Pedro were getting closer and so was the gargoyle.
"Shiloh, run!" Lizzie shouted when she saw the hybrid, waving her arms wildly.
She really wanted to, but her stupid conscious reminded her that she could probably take this guy and get the other two some time to get help. Preferably Dr. Saltzman and his crossbow.
"No, go get your dad!" Shiloh stepped between them and the gargoyle, "I'll distract him!"
Lizzie didn't need to be told twice. The blonde kept running, pulling Pedro alongside her when the boy tried to turn around and look back.
The gargoyle was closing in quickly, so Shiloh stretched her arms and prayed to whatever God was listening that she wouldn't end up with a sword through her chest.
"Hey, you!" she waved her arms to take the attention away from the retreating Lizzie and Pedro. It was unnecessary because it had already set its sights on her the second she stepped into its path.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
It was about ten feet away from her when she realized she had to look up to meet its gaze.
"Ok, you're a lot bigger than I first thought," she groaned, clenching her fists in anticipation.
The gargoyle paused, sizing the hybrid up before holding out its arms and letting out an ear-piercing scream that made Shiloh's blood run cold.
Shiloh didn't really have a lot of training in offensive attacks since the Salvatore School preferred a defensive strategy as opposed to making the first move. So, it shouldn't have been a surprise when the girl surged forward with her fists and it didn't pan out.
Her knuckles hit the stone chest of the gargoyle with a resounding smack! and if she were a human every bone in her hand would have most likely been broken. She would probably only have a bruise for a couple of hours.
If she lived that long.
The gargoyle threw her aside and started towards the school, but Shiloh wasn't done.
"Plan B, Shiloh," she shoved herself off of the ground and leaped onto the monster's back, wrapping her arms around its throat and trying to rip its head off.
She was jostled around as the beast shrieked, beating its imposing wings wildly and trying to dislodge her. The stone skin of the gargoyle cracked slightly underneath her enhanced strength but she wasn't powerful enough to do more than that with her bare hands.
Finally, the gargoyle's wing caught Shiloh in the side and hit her to the ground, knocking the breath out of her.
Before she recovered a clawed hand gripped the back of her shirt and tossed her at a section of the brick gate that covered the property. The girl's head smacked against it, leaving a sizable dent and her vision went dark for a moment, long enough for the gargoyle to disappear.
Shiloh traced her fingers over her forehead, pulling back with a hiss and finding them covered in sticky, warm blood.
Wiping her hand on her shirt, she ignored the throbbing pain in her head in order to follow the gargoyle's path to the school, where the doors had been left open in its haste.
That wasn't what caused her heart to drop, though.
An unmoving body with wavy blonde hair laid sprawled across the wooden floor.
For once, Shiloh thanked Klaus Mikaelson for triggering her curse because she could hear Lizzie's heart beating. The girl was still alive letting her sigh in relief.
But there was still something wrong.
Quick footsteps carried her to Lizzie and she fell onto her knees beside the siphon witch, her hands hovering over the girl. The girl seemed frozen in place and the only thing moving was her eyes back and forth in panic. Small noises were coming from her, but her mouth was shut.
Her shirt was destroyed and three long, jagged wounds were gaping across her abdomen, yet instead of blood, they were covered in some kind of grey substance.
"Lizzy?" Dr. Saltzman rushed into the room, Shiloh moving out of the way so that he could kneel next to her. "Oh my god, Lizzy."
Shiloh had failed to notice the primary school students that had gathered around them.
Dr. Saltzman looked up at Shiloh, glancing up at the blood on her forehead briefly. "Why isn't she moving?"
"I don't know," Shiloh shrugged, gesturing to Lizzie's shredded shirt, "I think it has something to do with the lack of bleeding."
"That statue hurt her!" Pedro told them.
"It was a gargoyle," Shiloh explained, "like straight out of The Hunchback of Notre Dame but ten times scarier."
"I have to make a phone call," reluctantly, Alaric left Lizzie's side to make the call, leaving Shiloh's hearing distance and whispering into the device.
When he returned, Dr. Saltzman's face had taken on a grave expression, "We are on lockdown. No one goes outside, period. I want you all in your rooms. Upper class, you're on the buddy system. Lower class I want you to go with Emma to the grand hall, ok? Everyone, let's go."
The older students dispersed from the room in groups, but Emma held the lower class kids back for a moment while she talked to Alaric.
He turned to head back to his office, noticing Shiloh leaning against the doorway.
"Shiloh, you heard what I said," he instructed, "go back to the dormitories."
"Technically, sir, my buddy is back in Mystic Falls cleaning up litter with your other daughter, so with Lizzy out of commission, I don't really have a designated buddy," Shiloh pushed herself up off of the frame. "Plus, I think you could use the manpower in case things turn ugly."
Dr. Saltzman studied her for a long while, before letting out a long sigh. "Fine, but just until we get to my car, then you find Emma and stay with her, got it?"
"Scout's honor!" Shiloh sang, falling into stride with him as he headed into the direction of his office.
Things were too quiet as they navigated their way to the headmaster's office. With all the other students and staff on the opposite side of the school, the only noises would be caused by them or the gargoyle.
Wherever it was lurking.
Some naive part of Shiloh hoped that the monster had given up and left, but the logical side of her brain called that part an idiot.
Upon entering the office, Dr. Saltzman retrieved the knife from a locked drawer in his desk, while Shiloh watched the hallway.
"What?" Shiloh quirked an eyebrow when the man left the room with just the knife, "No crossbow?"
"Something tells me I'm not gonna need it," Alaric's answer was vague, and sent a shiver down the hybrid's spine.
Turning down another hallway, an arm shot out in front of Shiloh, effectively stopping the girl in her tracks and keeping her from going any further.
"What's wrong?" she asked, not having heard anything.
"I need you to go back to the dormitories," Dr. Saltzman ordered.
"But you said…" trailing off at the stern look he shot her Shiloh stepped back, "ok fine, I'll go back to the dormitories."
Shiloh gave the headmaster one last glance before she did as she was told and started towards the wing that housed the older students. The hallways were still empty, almost as if the Salvatore School had turned into a ghost town.
It was when she saw the claw marks lining the wall that she started to walk a little bit faster. She was taking the steps that led up to the dorms two at a time when a familiar voice broke the silence.
"Lizzie?"
Josie.
The hybrid's body went rigid as her brain registered who was calling the blonde siphon's name.
They weren't supposed to be back yet. Dr. Saltzman had told Dorian to keep the students in Mystic Falls until he was given the all-clear.
Shiloh bit her lip, foot hovering over the next step as she debated her next move.
"Sorry, Dr. S," she murmured, moving down the stairs quickly, "but I'm sure you'd understand the circumstances."
Finding Josie was a lot easier than finding a needle in a haystack. The lack of foot traffic made it a simple task. The gargoyle's footsteps were heavier due to its body being made out of stone. Quick, light footsteps were an obvious indicator.
Shiloh intercepted the girl on what she would assume was her way to her father's office.
"Josie," she hissed, causing the brown-haired witch to spin around.
"Shiloh?" Josie asked, eyes widening and moving to stand a foot away from her. "What happened to your head?"
"Oh," Shiloh ducked away from her outstretched hand, figuring she probably looked a little worse for wear. "it's old, I'm fine."
Josie opened her mouth like she wanted to push the subject, but shook her head, brown hair flying back and forth, "Where's Lizzie?"
"Um," the shorter girl stuttered, recovering quickly at the panicked expression that formed on Josie's face at her foundering, "she was attacked by a gargoyle, but she's going to be ok. She's just paralyzed."
Leaving out the part about the possibility that whatever was wrong with Lizzie might spread to her heart and kill her seemed like a good idea. No sense in sending her sister into a panic attack with a gargoyle on the loose.
Josie relaxed slightly, shoulders falling at the affirmation that Lizzie wasn't seriously hurt. "Wait, gargoyle?"
"It's a long story," Shiloh started herding her towards their dorms, but Josie dug her heels into the carpet, surprising Shiloh with her strength.
"We have to go to the library," she informed her when Shiloh tilted her head questioningly, "Hope went there."
Shiloh felt that invisible string tying her to the tribrid tug her in the direction she knew the library was in. "Hope's here?" she bit her lip.
"Yeah," Josie nodded, appearing confused at the girl's sudden change of demeanor.
That was all the teen needed to know.
Her feet carried her to the library, Josie close behind her and Shiloh wished she could be this calm around the siphon all the time. Too bad it took the sire bond's influence to keep her from becoming flustered.
Dr. Saltzman was with Hope when they got there. The man was holding a small ax in his hand and asked the Mikaelson, "So how'd you take the containment spell down."
"She didn't," Josie interjected, plucking the weapon from her father's grasp, "I did," she glared at him, "and I have questions."
Shiloh stood next to Hope, holding a hand up in a sarcastic wave while the Josie talked angrily with her father.
Hope raised an eyebrow, "I'm guessing Lizzie Saltzman got you in the middle of this mess."
"I do have a problem being friends with people who have an affinity with getting themselves into sticky situations," Shiloh teased, grinning when the other girl rolled her eyes.
"Or maybe you just have an affinity with getting yourself in trouble," Hope pointed out.
Their banter was cut short when Alaric told them they were going to go to the grand hall. Shiloh wasn't sure of the reasoning behind it but followed without question. The four of them paraded down the halls, the human and witch of the group both swinging weapons.
Shiloh and Hope didn't need anything more than their hands and teeth.
"Emma?" Dr. Saltzman called when they entered the room, "Emma!"
The sliding doors in the back of the hall opened slightly, the guidance counselor holding finger to her lips and shushing them.
Heavy footsteps sounded from behind them and it would have been hilarious how they all turned around simultaneously had the situation not been so dire.
The gargoyle stood at the top the steps, illuminated by the light behind it, snarling menacingly. It unfurled its wings, shrieked and flew down the stairs right at them, knife clutched in its claws.
Right at Hope.
Shiloh was too far from the tribrid to help, but Alaric stepped in its path as it raised the knife poised to strike the girl.
"Hope!"
"No!"
"Dad!"
Deadly metal stopped inches from his heart.
For some reason the gargoyle was unable to pierce Dr. Saltzman with the knife, instead staring at the man.
Shiloh was so busy being relieved that she didn't think to act.
But Josie did.
Letting out a battle cry, the girl swung her ax and connected with one of the monster's wings, shattering it. The gargoyle turned to unleash its fury, but Dr. Saltzman had hit it once more in the back, redirecting its attention to him once again.
Hope cried out a spell that subdued it, before calling out for Josie's help.
The gargoyle had dropped the knife and Shiloh shot forward to pick it up.
Then, the two witches joined hands and chanted a spell that literally caused the gargoyle to explode into dust.
"Nice job," Hope praised the brunette.
Josie ignored her, whipping around to face her father, "How could you just jump in front of her like that? You could have died, Dad!"
"Honey, I knew it wouldn't kill me because my research said so," he tried to assure her, but she moved past him, pausing by Shiloh to deliver yet another jab.
"Why didn't you do anything?" she asked, bumping by her roughly when Shiloh couldn't come up with a plausible answer.
It left Shiloh at a loss because what was she supposed to do?
She wasn't allowed to tell anyone about the sire bond because it could be used to hurt her or Hope.
Speaking of the tribrid, it was a little confusing to see the hurt that lingered in her eyes at Josie's rage. Usually, that wouldn't have really bothered Hope, but maybe something had happened earlier to change it.
Whatever was going on, Shiloh needed to get away from it all for a couple of hours.
"Hey, Pedro," Shiloh smiled at the kid who appeared at her side, "how about that whiffle ball game?"