CHAPTER 9

The Saltzman twins had been weird all day; and not in a Lizzie spazzing out or Josie running off to be alone kind of weird. They just hadn't left their room. Hope had been off-campus for the day. Was it a coincidence that the three of them were excused from classes today? When they ditched, their teachers always called them out. Nobody liked when the Headmasters' children were dicking around.

Penelope was a little too happy about the yogurt confrontation with Lizzie from that morning. The look on that blonde bimbo's face when she stole her snack was priceless. Penelope's thoughts returned to the essay she had to finish by tomorrow morning for Dr. Saltzman…ugh.

Oh well, when you were top of the class, an A- on an assignment was an acceptable deviation from perfection. Well, to be fair, Josie was a pretty close second, and Lizzie, despite all her other issues, took her academics very seriously in her father's classes. Though to be fair, it seems like Lizzie had more going on than she showed on the surface. Despite her frequent missteps regarding Josie, she did seem to genuinely care. Her actions at that doomed fucking flag football game was evidence enough for a flawed but steadfast loyalty. Penelope could respect that.

But something was afoot. Neither Emma nor Dr. Saltzman were at dinner. Penelope was walking through the dormitory when she decided; fuck it.

A quick spell confirmed Hope, Lizzie, and Josie were all vacated from their rooms. What was happening tonight? Penelope quickly wracked her brain, where would they be? It wasn't her business. Not in the slightest, but she was curious, and able, so she decided to do a basic check first. Were they still on campus?

Penelope thought for a minute, it was unlikely that the male co-headmaster would vacate the school while Caroline was gone.

So which room would they–Dr. Saltzman's office. Duh. Penelope quickly nipped over to her room to retrieve a few things before heading off towards the Headmasters' office. It was adventure time.

"Caroline, it's been a while," Freya smiled as she dragged the equally tall blonde vampire into a warm hug. Caroline nearly spluttered at the show of affection. She still wasn't used to it. Mellowed out Mikaelsons. One of the weird quirks of vampirism was that Caroline was physically the age of the twins she gave birth to.

"Freya, it has been a while," Caroline returned the hug enthusiastically after that brief hesitation. It was not lost on either blonde that had things played out differently, the possibility of them eventually having become sister-in-laws was basically an eventuality.

It wasn't lost on Hope either; Hope, who was hanging out on the other side of the room with Marcel, playing blackjack. The twins were clinging to their mother, as they had done since she showed up an hour before. And like with Freya and Marcel, she wanted a little time alone with her family before the conference.

Alaric, brusque as you like, called out, "So, let's get this started." There was some eye-rolling, but within a couple minutes, everyone was situated. "I'd like to start this thing by saying that things have gotten a little weird, and a lot dangerous around here recently."

Freya tossed the curse dagger on the table. Alaric shot her a 'really?' look. Marcel and Hope restrained grins while the Nordic witch just shrugged. "This dagger is certainly interesting," Freya added. "But it's not the first priority right now. Hope here," she said as she indicated her niece for emphasis, "is withholding information. Information that she told us would come to light tonight, as it wasn't her burden alone to bear."

The table got a little tense after Freya spoke. Most people got tense after Freya spoke; totally a documented phenomenon. Hope sighed. "Alright, fine." Hope however, was devoid of tension. She sent a meaningful look towards Josie and Lizzie, who seemed a little reluctant, but not in open rebellion.

"I decided that I got tired of watching people I care about die," Hope said pointedly, attracting sad glances from Marcel and Freya. "The last month or so has seen several near-death experiences for the students around this school."

"Dana died," Lizzie said quietly. All eyes turned to her, but she didn't flinch. "Some girl who went to Mystic Falls High. But that spider thing–,"

"Arachne," Josie supplied.

"Arachne bit her, and turned her insides to mush. She died in front of us by literally puking all her guts out." Lizzie finished. She looked haunted, hell, Josie was barely supressing a tremor from the memory.

"And what happened then?" Caroline asked softly. Her daughters had seen death while she was away. No matter how important the research she was doing was, Caroline was not there to protect her daughter's innocence and it killed her inside; even if it seems they had come out the stronger for it.

"We killed it," Hope replied unceremoniously, almost haughtily. When everyone looked at Hope, the clear difference between her and the twins really sank home for everyone. The casualness of her demeanour set against the clearly traumatic experience the other two teenage girls had. Hope had been there, done that.

Noticing the look Alaric was giving her, Hope continued, "But it was a near thing. Josie almost died. And before that, Lizzie nearly got disembowelled by a gargoyle and turned to stone." At the horrified look Caroline was giving her, Hope decided to press on, "So I came up with a contingency. Well, a contingency regarding Josie and Lizzie, and a more proactive plan in the meantime." Noticing that Alaric didn't exactly predict her deviation from their earlier agreement, she decided to push her luck with other voices of authority present. "I'd like to include a self defence classes for witches. Specifically I'll teach these two danger magnets, but I think everyone should be able to defend themselves. The danger isn't waiting for everyone to be 'old enough'. Kaleb has proven that the danger is inside the walls too."

Alaric had a severely peeved look on his face, but upon noticing Caroline's thoughtful gaze at Hope's words, he knew it would be unwise to shoot Hope's proposition down in front of the headmistress.

"We'll table that plan for the moment," Caroline said after a spell. "What is the 'contingency' you're talking about?"

Hope looked at Josie to continue this. It would be better for Caroline to hear it from her daughters after all.

Rising to the occasion Josie continued where Hope left off, "We drank Hope's blood so if we die we'll become hybrids."

Silence.

Silence.

"WHAT THE FUCK."

None of the people in the room had spoken.

Everyone turned, Freya simultaneously burst the door open and subdued the eavesdropper. Her pale hand was outstretched in a mirror of Darth Vader, the eavesdropper was dangling two feet off the ground, choking in Freya's grasp. Her feet were kicking, searching for some purchase. Her hands were around her throat, her face contorted in panic compounded with her sudden depravation of oxygen.

Josie gasped, Hope face palmed, and Lizzie let out a victorious cry. The girl in Freya's psychokinetic choke hold was none other than Satan herself: Penelope Park.