The Young and Gifted

42. critical consequences

Hope had stayed at his grave ever since she found out. Josie would drop by occasionally with food and necessities but she did not leave his side. Eventually, she decided that today was the day to finally let go.

Hope kissed his tombstone one last time and made her back to her room to take a long, warm shower. She was trembling and her eyes were blistered from all the crying. She didn't feel like talking to anybody. And as the sizzling water bathed her dirty skin, there was only one person she wanted to see. Raf.

Hope shut the faucet and quickly dressed before she marched to his room with purpose. She didn't even knock as she muttered, "Volant." The door flew back and she angrily stepped into the darkroom.

Raf was sitting on Landon's broken bed and when he saw Hope, he scrambled to his feet. "I—"

Hope delivered a sharp blow against his cheek, sending the werewolf reeling back. She went for the backhand and she pushed him against the wall with more outrage. "You're a monster. You're the one who told me not to hurt him. But it was you. You are a terrible friend, you deserve—" her lips trembled and her eyes quaked with tears. "You deserve death."

Raf didn't do anything to fight back. He let Hope release all of that pent-up anger on him and not once did he allow himself to feel the physical pain. Soon she stopped but only to sob louder as she glanced around at his things. Raf straightened himself and muttered, "Landon is gone. And it was all my fault, you're right. I am sorry, Hope. I thought-I thought I would be able to control it. I thought he would help me bring the anger down but it kept building up and then—"

"Stop talking," she snarled and sat on his bed. She picked up his pillow and hugged it to her body, breathing in his scent. She cried again, her tears soaking the pillow.

Raf obliged and let her have her moment. Hours seemed to pass and the two remained in the room, the light from the hallway seeping in. Eventually, Raf sat on the bed with her, pulling her into a hug and they both cried for the rest of the night.

*

The next day, the two made the step to show up to classes. They still didn't talk to anybody but their presence was acknowledged. And for MG and Mason, Mason woke up in the woods, to see the dead remains of the teenagers. MG was nowhere to be found. The vampire quickly burned the bodies and compelled everyone at the party to forget that the 6 dead individuals ever existed. It was an attempt to clean up the mess left behind. Mason returned back to school, looking for MG. He was guilt struck but Mason assured him that he wasn't going to say anything.

"Someone has stolen my Prism," Emma stated and glanced around the class. "This is a severe act and we do not tolerate forms of misconduct. But if you hand it back now, you won't face punishment. I can say you just borrowed it." Nobody fessed up. Her gaze fell to Kaura who only stared back with boredom. "Whoever took it will deal with critical consequences. This is your last chance to give it back."

Hope had zoned out at that point, staring into nothing. Everything around her was blurry and disoriented and then the only thing she could see clearly was him. Landon was standing there, clothes all torn up and skin caked with dirt. Great. I've started to hallucinate.

But the way he was staring at her, the way his eyes were moulding into hers didn't feel like a figment of her imagination. Her proper vision returned and she realized that everyone was seeing what she was seeing. Which meant it was— "Landon?"

His chest was rising up and down, pieces of dirt falling from his face. He swallowed and managed to say, "Hope."

*

The teachers couldn't believe their eyes. Landon was taken immediately to the infirmary and Caroline went to the grave just to make sure that it wasn't a monster playing a sick, twisted version of an illusion. The grave was empty.

Landon was instructed to go to sleep, to rest and heal, while the teachers tried to figure out how he was alive. Meanwhile, Hope sat at the edge of his bed, touching his face, his nose, his lips, to make sure he was there. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was buried alive," he coughed in his arm. His forehead from where he fell was bandaged up.

She struggled to find any humour at this point because her heart was dancing and her mind was racing. Both were saying two different realities. "Do you remember what happened?"

"I-I," he rummaged through his memory. "I was arguing with Raf in the gym. And then...nothing. I just woke up in this dark place and I had to crawl myself to the surface."

Maybe he wasn't dead, maybe it was a misunderstanding. Hope wrapped her hand around his waist, pulling him tightly. "I'm glad. It's been the worst two weeks of my life."

"Two weeks?" He demanded.

She nodded. "I feel guilty for not being there since the beginning. Raf--" Hope stopped herself and squeezed his arm. "We'll catch up. But right now, you really need to rest up."

He sighed and kissed her cheek. "I love you," he muttered, watching as she pulled away.

"I love you too," she managed to smile and shut the door. Those words were now the most terrifying thing she's had to say. Because she didn't know if it were going to be the last thing she said to him like last time.

Hope navigated herself to the library, where the meeting was being held. The gang and the teachers were all there.

"Is he okay?" Caroline rose from her seat, approaching Hope.

"I told him to sleep," she nodded.

"How is he still alive?" Penelope asked abruptly.

"Maybe he wasn't dead—" Raf began hopefully.

"He was dead. I know he was dead," Dorian confirmed sternly.

"Then what does this mean? Is he a vampire now? That's the only explanation as to why he's here," Emma muttered.

"He's not a vampire," Kaleb said firmly. "I can still hear his heart beating."

"Then what the fuck is this?" Kaura scoffed, pacing around the room. "Do you think the Legendarium has something to do with it?"

"But how? How can a book decide to bring someone back to the living? Landon must be highly important," Josie muttered as she sat on the arm of the couch.

Lizzie crossed her arms and said, "Maybe Landon just wasn't a human in the first place." They all turned to her in question but she focused on Raf. There was another full moon tomorrow and she wanted to know what he planned to do. They hadn't spoken since his first one. Penelope noted their gaze with narrowed eyes.

"Are you saying that he's a wolf?" Mason snorted. "I don't think so."

"Something doesn't add up," Dorian muttered to himself. He seemed lost in his thoughts and they all let him disappear down the library.

Ric cleared his throat and said, "For now, let's just welcome him back. We don't want to startle or scare him so comfort him. We don't know where Landon went after the... incident. But be careful."

They all began to break off and when Raf stepped into the halls, Lizzie caught up with him. "What are you going to do about tomorrow night?"

"None of your business," he muttered and continued to walk through.

She scoffed. "Could you be any more stuck up? It's a simple answer, I didn't know you struggled to form words at this point." Raf growled but didn't say anything. Lizzie huffed and turned to leave. "Fine, be that way."

He watched as the witch sashayed away with regret in his eyes. He quickly snapped his head forward and swallowed when MG stepped in front of him. "Was that Lizzie? Was she asking about me?"

"I—"

"Please tell me you said good things," MG pleaded with hopeful eyes. Raf didn't know what to say so he nodded. "Thank you man, you're the best. Now I have a real shot with her."

He slapped Raf's arm with gratitude and watched as his friend caught up with Kaleb. Guilt and shame washed over him.

~

"You and I, we can't talk like this anymore."

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