Salvatore War

Chapter 6 - Going or Staying?

Seylah's pov

It was late now. The students had spent the day burying the griffin's body in the woods surrounding their school and from what I could tell it was something they'd done dozens of times before. I hadn't had a chance to speak to Landon directly all day and I needed to know what he was. Alaric led me into his office and sat down behind his desk. I didn't sit, instead I walked around the room, looking at all the shelves. I've found that the best way to learn about someone without straight out asking was through photos. There were photos scattered all around Alaric's office. Photos or a blonde woman with two little girls; one blonde, one brunette so I assume it was his daughters when they were younger. There were photos of the students too, not photos of achievements, but photos that showed a family, Hope and his daughters in some, Landon and the three boys in others. One particular photo caught my eye though, just as one had in Hope's room earlier, it was a photo of his daughters, Hope, Landon, the two vampires, the werewolf and one other, another boy. He had darker skin, very short hair, I definitely hadn't seen him around the school all day.

"His name was Rafael," Alaric said suddenly, noticing me looking at the picture. "He was a werewolf, and Landon's foster brother."

"So that's Rafael," he looked surprised, "Landon told me a little about him when he found me last year," I elaborated. "What happened to him?" it was clear something had happened.

"The Necromancer killed and resurrected him to use him as his puppet. I made a deal with him to cut ties with Rafael and another student, Alyssa. I didn't think if he cut his ties Rafael would die again but considering The Necromancer's magic was the only thing keeping him alive he got sick. It was my fault. We all did everything we could to save him, but in the end the best option became creating a prison world specifically for him and sending him there with his biological parents, who agreed to stay with him. He's there now, the students can still visit him whenever they want as long as they have Josie's or Lizzie's help." Alaric explained sadly, it was clear he missed the boy. The whole thing sounded very complicated, I didn't know who 'The Necromancer' was but I didn't bother to ask, I'd heard the name somewhere.

"Why your daughters?" I asked instead.

"They come from a specific witch coven, it's a long story." He waved away the subject, not wanting to explain further.

I sighed and finally sat across from him. "And Landon?" I asked.

"Phoenix, we found out a few weeks after you went back to Malivore," he informed me casually.

"Phoenix? I've never even heard of those actually existing."

"Well from what we can gather he's the only one, being Malivore's son and all," I didn't reply to that, I'd always been confused as to how I got pregnant with him but he said it like he had proof of Malivore being his father so I guess he did.

"He seems happy. Here, with all of you,"

"We're family," He seemed sincere. "Are you planning to stay?"

"What?" I asked, surprised.

"Here, are you going to stay or leave? I can't force you to be a part of Landon's life, but I know he wants you here." Alaric said and I had no idea how to answer.

"I don't know, I want him to be as happy as possible, whatever that means. But for now at least, I don't exactly have anywhere else to go," I said, because I didn't. I was alone, and for once I wasn't sure I wanted to be.

Alaric just nodded. "Landon's like a son to me, I love all these kids and I want what's best for every single one of them, but if it makes any difference, I know he's always wanted to get to know you." I didn't get a chance to reply before the doors swung open and Hope walked in. She was wearing her hair out with black sweatpants and a ribbed black tank top.

"Sorry, I didn't know you two were talking," she turned to Alaric. "Rick, Dorian called an assembly to inform the other students about the griffin attack, he wanted me to come get you."

"Yeah, I'll go now," He stood up. "Hope can you show Seylah around some more? Maybe take her to one of the empty dorm rooms so she can stay there." Even to me it didn't really seem like a question and Hope just nodded as he walked out. "Oh," he swung around to look back at Hope, "And don't drink my bourbon," Hope just smiled at him and he walked off toward the great room. I stood up and Hope turned back to me.

"You're not going to leave him again, are you?" she asked.

"You know, everybody keeps asking me that," I replied. I was glad Landon had so many people looking out for him, it was far more people than I'd ever had growing up.

"But you're not, right?" she seemed to care so much about him, I already like Hope, she seems smart and brave but that just made me like her more.

"I don't know," I answered honestly, "I really don't know, but I'm here for now," that seemed to be enough for her and she turned to start showing me around. I caught a glimpse of something on her shoulder when she turned around.

"What is that?" I asked and she turned to look at me like she had no idea what I was talking about.

"What's what?"

"That thing on your shoulder," she moved her hair to look at it, suddenly knowing what I was talking about. I could see it clearly now, it was a strange looking birthmark; a crescent moon.

"It's just a family thing," I didn't really understand how a birthmark could be a family thing but she didn't seem to want to talk about that either, no one around here seemed to want to answer any of my very simple questions.

Hope showed me the kitchen and the common room and then we walked back up the huge staircase and down the dorm hall until she stopped at dorm 34 and walked in. There was a bed there, a desk, bedside tables, drawers, but they were all empty.

"I'm sure we can find some of Emma's old clothes around here for you," she said and I looked at her wondering who Emma was. "Emma was the old guidance counsellor before she moved to Japan," Hope continued and I nodded. "Have you talked to Landon?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Not since this morning, do you know where he is?"

"I have an idea," she said, "come with me."

We walked out of the school, out the gates, down the driveway and past the lake. It seemed that these kids were just allowed to go wherever they wanted.

She saw him before me and she pointed him out on the dock in the trees.

"Hey," Hope said as we walked onto the dock. "You've got a visitor," Landon turned to look at us and smiled at Hope.

"Hey," he said to both of us. Landon and I just looked at each other for a minute before Hope excused herself to go back to the school. I smiled at Landon, unsure of what else to do and he sat down on the dock, gesturing for me to sit too. We spent the rest of the night talking and I answered every question he asked as best I could from Malivore being his father to what I did while he was growing up and in turn he told me about his phoenix side and his life at the school.