{1.13 | The Boy Who Still Has a Lot of Good to Do | part 2}
With a sigh, Hope watched as Elara slipped out of the door, her fingers fiddling with the ring she'd just been given.
Hope knew a lot about Elara. Her favorite color was green. She preferred staying up late over waking up early. She had a fear of the dark and hated horses.
But she didn't know the story behind the ring.
The ring itself was simple. It was a silver band with a small, sapphire embedded in it. There were no engravings, no initials. The ring wasn't magical-- at least not in the sense that Hope would've understood-- but Hope knew that Elara would not have left the ring behind if she didn't intend to get it back.
Hope pocketed the ring, careful to remember exactly where, and exited the library in search of her boyfriend.
She made a mistake saying "yes" to Landon. Had he asked much earlier and if circumstances had been different, she would've agreed without hesitation. She had liked him a lot, but as time went on, her infatuation with him vanished as she and Elara grew closer.
During the entirety of spring break, right before their trip to Maple Hollows, Hope and Elara were practically inseparable. They ate together, they walked everywhere together, even sparred together.
They had been in the gym, Elara showing Hope some of the changes to it that had happened after Rafael's taking of the alpha position.
"It's not that different, really," Elara explained as she stood in the center of the court. "The only thing that changed was the territorial issues. Apparently, Jed didn't like people touching his things."
Hope looked up at Elara from the floor, a brow raised. "It's a school gym. What counts as his?"
"No clue, but since we're here, I have an idea I'd like to run by you." She held out her hands for Hope to take.
She did, using Elara to stand up. "Alright, hit me."
"That's the idea."
"Huh?"
"Hear me out," Elara began, taking a step back from Hope. "We're already in the gym, wearing gym-like clothes, and no one else is here. I think we should spar."
"You want to spar?"
Elara hummed as she clasped her hands together in front of her. "Why not. You spar with Dr. Saltzman, and he's human. Maybe going toe-to-toe with a weirdly strong werewolf would be fun."
Hope thought it over for a moment. It had been a few days since she got a good session in since Alaric had been preoccupied with tracking down the urn, and truth be told, she was curious what would happen.
"You know what, sure."
They clashed not long after that. It went back and forth. Hope would gain an advantage, then Elara would, then Hope landed another hit, then Elara did.
By the time they neared the end, both panting and sweating, the sun had inched closer and closer to its peak.
Hope swept Elara's leg from under her feet, causing the wolf to land with a thud on the mat. The tri-brid leaned down, slightly looming over her. Elara looked up at Hope with a grin playing at her lips.
"Not bad," Hope complimented through deep breaths. "Most people can't keep up with me."
Elara laughed at that, propping herself up on her elbows. "Well, not all of us get to thrown down with the headmaster."
"Well, I could always demonstrate what I learn, especially since we do have to fight monsters seemingly every other day."
Hope extended a hand to help Elara to her feet, seeing the match as done, but the wolf didn't take it. She tilted her head to the side, her grin growing wider.
"Mm, maybe, but I'm not really a fan of fighting 'properly.'" She glanced past Hope. "Oh, hey, Landon."
Hope's head turned to the side, then she felt Elara grab her arm, yanking her to the ground. Her back hit the mat, and suddenly, Elara was straddling her waist, her forearm pressed lightly against Hope's neck.
"I prefer fighting dirty."
As Elara leaned over Hope, her face half a foot from hers and her legs straddling her, words did not exist in that moment.
Strands of her hair had escaped her ponytail, falling in front of her face. Her smug grin remained, and the muscles in her shoulders were tense.
Hope blinked, caught entirely off guard.
Why did she say yes to Landon, again?
The moment didn't last long as Elara pushed herself off of Hope, holding out her own hand to pull her to her feet.
"We should do that again sometime," Elara commented as Hope took her hands and rose to her feet.
Hope cleared her throat, fighting back the rising blush in her cheeks. "Yeah, we, uh, we should."
They had gathered their things shortly after and carried on with their day, and it was another moment in that week in which the game was played. Both of them knew it, yet neither of them admitted it.
The unnecessary touches, the subtle flirtations (even if some of them were not clever at all), all demonstrated that they'd made a mistake.
It wasn't Landon that Hope wanted to be with, to spend her time with and share a lot of things with. It was Elara.
And she was going to fix it by breaking up with Landon.
Once she could find him.
~-~-~
There were a lot of things that Elara didn't understand: magic, math, the curse she carried, but she was certain of one thing.
Although it may have been dangerous, the wolf was pretty useful.
Elara had a theory that the wolf wasn't just that. It seemed to have a mind of its own, and the only way she could describe it was like she was being possessed. Possession, as far as she understood, often led an individual to forget what they did in their period of being possessed, and that idea was the only thing that could potentially explain the gaps in her memory.
She knew it was a leap. Magic and all of its variations confused her, but she didn't have any other leads. It made sense to think that her wolf possessed her from time to time, taking the reins from its human counterpart.
Which is exactly what she wanted at that very moment.
Elara made it to the edge of town, coming to a halt. She took a deep breath.
She was an impulsive being, and she knew that. Many of her decisions were based entirely on how she felt in that moment. Running away from her foster home and starting a fight at the charity football game were excellent examples of that. They were decisions made by her heart.
But then her brain started getting involved.
Choices, although they may not have been the correct or the best ones, were made against her initial impulses, but Elara really liked Hope. As much as she tried to deny it or push it away, she couldn't deny her attraction to the tri-brid. There was just so much about her that drew her in, but her mind was against the idea of following her heart. With as little information she had about herself, she couldn't risk hurting Hope, but Hope...
Hope was very convincing.
Elara shook her head. She couldn't think about her situation with Hope at that moment. She had to focus. If she wanted to follow through with her (impulsive) decision to kiss Hope back and potentially do it again, she had to get answers first, and Bonnie Bennett had some for her.
Cedric Laurent used his little time back in the realm of the living to visit and speak with the witch. Elara didn't know exactly what, but she had every intention to find out.
And if she was right, the wolf could find the witch.
She exhaled slowly, closing her eyes. All she had to do was let go, to give in, and it was a full moon. The scratching of the wolf in the back of her head grew stronger as the moon drew closer, which made giving in all that much easier, but she was worried that it wouldn't listen to what she wanted.
Suddenly, she felt like she was falling. She lurched forward, opening her eyes, and instead of the forest or a house, she saw a patio in front of a dark green building. Her eyes scanned the area around her. The wolf took her to the town center, specifically just a few feet from the very bench she sat at when she first arrived.
The bench wasn't empty. A woman with golden brown skin sat there, her cellphone in hand. Her dark hair was short, cropped just below her sharp jawline. Elara knew Bonnie was nearly twice her age, but she could hardly tell based on the woman's appearance.
Hesitantly, Elara approached the bench.
"Bonnie Bennett?" she asked, her voice as steady as she could make it.
The mentioned woman lifted her head, seemingly noticing Elara's appearance. An intrigued look passed over her face as she lifted an eyebrow.
"We have a lot to talk about."
~-~-~
Hope couldn't find Landon.
He wasn't in his room, nor the dining hall, nor the library. It was like he wasn't on campus.
And she didn't realize just how far off the idea was until Alaric found her in the main hall.
Alaric was incredibly stressed. He explained quickly that Kaleb couldn't find MG, and he couldn't find Rafael.
Together, they searched the campus, even recruiting the help of Josie to perform a locator spell, but they came up empty, which meant either someone had done a cloaking spell on them or they were dead.
It turned out that Penelope Park had gifted them a cloaking spell, which at least gave them something to focus on.
They kept searching and searching until Hope decided to break away for a brief moment, heading back up to the dorms. Finding the boys was important, yes, but they weren't the only ones off campus.
Elara hadn't made it back yet.
Hope's fingers fidgeted with the ring in her pocket. It was an hour until the full moon revealed itself, and Hope was worried about her roommate. It was her third full moon, the second time she'd shifted in the woods.
And she was alone.
Hope didn't know how she behaved or even how Elara looked like as a wolf. Alaric hadn't mentioned anything that he saw the first time she shifted, and Hope was unsure what to think of that.
Her knuckles rapped across the wooden door to the twins' room, and Josie opened it hastily, her natural pout resting on her lips.
"I need your help, again," Hope said, skipping past any greetings.
"That makes it twice in one day," Josie uttered. She stepped back from the doorway, gesturing for Hope to enter. "What is it?"
There was a tension in the air, one that Hope recognized as uncertainty. After Josie's admittance of being the one responsible for setting the fire in Hope's dormitory all those years ago because she was hiding her crush, their situation had become a little conflicted.
They could be friends. The potential for that was entirely plausible, but She got answers to something she'd been wondering for years. Plus, learning someone used to have a crush on her was pretty flattering.
But that wasn't the focus of her visiting Josie.
Hope reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out a lone, grey sock.
Josie lifted a brow, a little confused. "Another locator spell? But the one for Landon didn't work."
"It's... not for Landon. It's for Elara."
"What?" Josie exclaimed.
"You can't tell your dad that she's not here," Hope said quickly. She approached the leftover setup from the previous locator spell. "And I'm aware that you were spying on her, but if you want to make amends, start by helping me find her."
Josie opened her mouth as if to argue, but she closed it, letting out a sharp exhale through her nose. Both girls knew Hope was right, and Josie did want to make amends with Elara.
Using the sock-- which Hope explained was Elara's and wouldn't be missed since she already lost the other one-- the two conducted another attempt at a locator spell. They used the components, recited the incantation, and waited for the spell to finish.
They waited and waited, but nothing happened.
Hope took a deep, shaky breath. The same thing had happened when they tried to locate Landon, but Elara didn't have a cloaking spell.
"Crap," she breathed out, quickly rising to her feet.
Josie looked up at Hope from the floor, her face warped in concern. "You didn't give her a cloaking spell, did you?"
Hope didn't answer as she quickly walked away, exiting the dormitory and heading straight for the stairs. Her heart was racing. Landon was missing, Elara was missing, and Hope wasn't going to sit back and do nothing.
As she hopped off the last one, making her way towards the front door, Alaric entered the main hall.
"Where are you going?"
She didn't have time for an interrogation. The full moon had risen at that point, and she needed to find the missing students before something bad happened.
"Hope!"
Alaric stepped in front of her as she grabbed the door handle, holding it in place with his back.
"Dr. Saltzman, I don't have time for this--"
"I know," he cut her off, revealing his crossbow and lifting it, "But you're not going alone."
Hope huffed in frustration, not keen to look for her roommate and missing boyfriend with the headmaster, but nevertheless, the two exited the school and made their way quickly towards the edge of school grounds.
Night had fallen much faster than expected. Mist had caked the wooded grounds, blocking their sight after a few yards. It was eerie, stifling. Suffocating.
"What would've possibly possessed them to leave campus? Why would they be so irresponsible?" Alaric asked, carefully examining their surroundings.
Hope shook her head. "I-I don't know."
Alaric lifted his flashlight to look around once more as they continued walking. Hope's eyes flicked towards the crossbow in his hand.
"You don't think you'll really need that, do you?"
"I will if Elara's out here. Last time she shifted in the woods, she almost attacked me." Hope's lips parted as she tried to think of a quick lie, but Alaric stopped her. "She didn't check in to the transitional spaces, and unless a wolf can fit in a dresser, she wasn't in your room."
All Hope could respond with, her voice a whisper, was, "she was supposed to be back before nightfall."
Alaric scoffed. "Yeah, well, clearly she isn't. What on earth was so important that she had to leave campus?"
Hope didn't get the chance to respond as Alaric's light shifted to face the front, landing on a curled up, bloodied Rafael, and as Hope ran to crouch in front of him to check on him, her eyes landed on his hands, holding something that caused Hope's heart to nearly stop.
Elara's denim jacket.
~-~-~
Hours passed before they were able to make any progress. Rafael had what Emma called Lunar Psychosis, a state of being when a werewolf is ripped out of its wolf form because of a traumatic event. His memory was fuzzy, his behavior was erratic.
He was in pain, both physically and mentally.
Something had happened with Landon and Mg, but he couldn't remember how he ended up with Elara's jacket. He mentioned seeing her, a glimpse-- maybe-- he wasn't sure.
But she wasn't hurt.
When Rafael finally remembered where the woods in which they had been in, Hope called Alaric and Kaleb, letting them know where to meet them.
Alaric and Kaleb arrived first, and they found MG quickly.
He had been bitten by a werewolf, and he was dying.
Alaric and Kaleb stayed by MG, reassuring the shocked boy, but it wasn't much use. He kept muttering to himself, apologizing profusely, and he kept trying to look away from them as if the sight hurt.
Alaric explained to Kaleb that the blood of the tri-brid was the only way to cure him and that they had to wait for her, and they didn't have to wait long.
Rafael skidded to a stop behind Hope, his hands flying to the top of his head as a swarm of memories flooded into his mind. It hurt. Not like a punch or a cut but a stab. A stabbing pain hit his chest, and anger filled his entire body.
He gritted his teeth. "Being back here-- I remember. I remember what happened." His face warped into pure anger. "I remember who the monster was."
MG involuntarily let out a groan in pain. The werewolf venom was coursing through him rapidly, eating away at his lifeforce.
"I-I killed Landon," the vampire grunted, guilt flooding into his voice. "It was me. I'm the monster."
"Oh, God," Alaric breathed out, looking between Hope and MG.
Hope had frozen. Her face was unreadable, but she took a deep, shaky breath. Landon was dead, and even if she didn't have romantic feelings for him anymore, she still cared deeply about him.
And he was gone.
Hope swallowed hard, feeling her eyes water. Why did it have to be like that? That morning, all was seemingly right with the world, then... then the people she cared about disappeared. Landon died.
Rafael marched away from them, only to be stopped by Alaric calling after him.
"Where are you going?"
"Elara is still out there. Landon's body is still out there," Rafael declared, his voice laced with rage. "And I'm going to find them."
As if on cue, a howl-- faint and pained-- cut through the air. Rafael's head snapped towards it and Hope lifted her head, wiping at her eyes, and much like her name, she felt hopeful.
Hope believed in second chances, and MG-- of all people-- deserved a second chance. After healing MG with her blood and grabbing a bag of clothes from the car, Hope and Alaric followed the werewolf. Hope had pushed back her tears, not wanting to lose control while still on the mission.
Landon was gone, his body somewhere in the woods, and Elara was there, too.
Alive.
~-~-~
Elara stumbled into the tree, blinking slowly. It wasn't bright, but the light was too much for her eyes. She lifted her hand, rubbing the back of it across an odd sensation on her cheek. When she pulled her hand away, her eyes finally adjusting to the sudden brightness, she noticed the dirt.
She blinked again as if she finally came to her senses, realizing she existed. Her body ached, burned, and the press of fabric against her skin was uncomfortable--
She froze.
Elara had run from town as quickly as she could, heading straight for the woods. Bonnie had given her a chance to get back, ending their conversation a little earlier than Elara would've liked, but they both knew it was the right thing to do.
But that was so Elara could make it back. She didn't. She wasn't religious, but she prayed to whatever would listen that she didn't hurt anyone.
With a grunt, she pushed herself off the tree. The night was missing, like the other transformations from before, and the events from before rattled through her head.
Bonnie Bennett was a badass witch. Elara'd actually talked to her, had a pretty informative conversation, too, and she was absolutely going to think on it the moment she got back to the school.
Whichever direction it was in.
Elara stepped away from the tree, examining herself. She was wearing the clothes that she'd shoved into her backpack after her attempt to permanently leave, which at least meant she didn't have to worry about walking around in her birthday suit. Her hands were dirty but not bloody, and that at least made her feel a bit better.
She walked for a few minutes, listening carefully to her surroundings. Her senses were heightened in the same way they would've been before the moon. It was a strange sensation, but she knew she'd grow used to it.
It wasn't long before she noticed something unusual. Unsure of how far it was, she slowly approached the sound of hushed conversation. The words were hard to pick out, but she understood the tone-- worry. The air smelt as if something had burned. Whoever it was, they didn't seem lucky.
And as if to demonstrate her own luck, a branch snapped under her foot. Elara lifted her head, a curse on the tip of her tongue, but she stopped.
Her eyes landed on a shocked Landon, who was smoking? He looked at her, his lips parted in confusion, and he glanced to someone in front of him.
She noticed the ash covering Landon. "What the hell--"
A body colliding into hers cut her off, eliciting another grunt from her. She caught herself, preparing to push the figure off, but the body's arms latched onto her, holding her onto as if afraid she's going to disappear.
And a familiar, sweet scent hit her nose.
Without thinking, Elara wrapped her arms around Hope, burying her face into the base of her neck. She was practically holding the tri-brid, but she didn't care.
"Elara," Hope whispered, tightening her grip on her roommate as tears of joy threatened to spill from her eyes. "You're okay. Oh, thank God, you're okay."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," Elara breathed out.
It was just them. Hope and Elara lost in the firm, comforting touch of the other as the previous night's events washed over them. Elara didn't think about how Alaric was looking at her with a dagger-like glare, she didn't think about what Bonnie had told her, and she didn't wonder what she'd missed.
Because in that moment-- however brief-- nothing else mattered.
The two separated but remained close. Elara looked between the group. Rafael looked both shocked and relieved, Alaric appeared dumbfounded and angry, and Landon was in a state of shock.
Elara's brows slightly lifted. "What... what happened here?" She gestured towards Landon as he glanced at her, a brief look of relief passing over his eyes.
Alaric cleared his throat, pulling her attention.
"You ever read the legend of the Phoenix?"
[a.n. Firstly, I'M SO SORRY Y'ALL. THAT BLOCK WAS BLOCKING.
But anyways, I finally got it done. I hope it makes up the smallest bit for how long it took. I just want to say how thankful I am for everyone that has paid any interest in this story. I love you all <3
~NYM]