Burnin' Up | J. Saltzman - Legacies [1]

T H R E E

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Stella stares at the pile of black goo at her feet. Hope stands by her side, her eyes wide. The rest of the group is unhinged, to say the least.

"Should we call your dad?" Landon asks, looking up at Lizzie.

The blonde siphoner scoffs. She crosses her arms and glares at the boy. Stella almost feels sorry. "Why? So he can take another bullet for you?" Lizzie snaps.

"No," Hope says. Stella can tell she is refraining from glaring. "Because whatever did this is not a vampire. It's got to be another monster from the knife."

Stella looks up as Landon does. The boy averts his gaze back to the pile of goop, but she notices the built up fear in his eyes. Kaleb only notices Landon's skittishness.

"Well," Kaleb says, moving towards Landon. "maybe the monster's been in front of us all along."

"What?" Landon scoffs. "Are you serious?"

"None of this started happening until you showed up and stole the knife, which is exactly what the other monsters came here to do," Kaleb narrows his eyes. "Are you saying it's a coincidence?"

"Yes!" Landon says. "Yes, I am." He glances over at the two Mikaelson witches. "You believe me, right?"

Everyone looks away. Hope drops her gaze to the ground. Lizzie and MG glance away. Stella closes her eyes and bites the inside of her cheek.

"Got it," Landon says. "Say no more." He shakes his head as he walks away. 

"Maybe try making a case not based on trust," Stella mutters under her breath. "I'm gonna get the hose."

Before she can take a step, her phone begins to ring. She groans as she reaches into her pocket and takes the phone out. Her eyes widen at the name.

"Ah!" She exclaims. "Ah! AH!" She turns the phone around, showing Hope the contact name. Hope's eyes widen. "AH!"

"Calm down," Hope says. "Answer it and don't tell him anything."

Lizzie, MG, and Kaleb all glance at the FaceTime call on Stella's phone. As she freaks out, Lizzie scoffs. "If I can lie to my dad, so can you."

Stella moves forward to slap her, but Hope steps in between them. As Stella tentatively presses the answer button, she mutters, "If you weren't Josie's twin, I would kill you."

Lizzie sticks out her tongue.

The call picks up. Stella plasters a smile on her face. "Hey, Dad!"

Derek smiles when he sees her. "Hey, sweetheart. Just wanted to see how things are going."

"Good!" Stella says, motioning for MG to get the hose. "We're on a field trip. Hope's here. Wanna talk to her?"

Derek narrows his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!"

Stella grins at her father through the screen. Hope walks up behind her and says, "Hey, Uncle Derek. We actually have to go soon. Field trip and all."

Derek sighs, his eyes dropping. "Ok. I understand. Where are you guys, so Stella's mother doesn't freak out?"

Stella and Hope exchange a nervous glance. Before either can speak, Lizzie pops out from behind their shoulders with a faux smile. "Hi, Stella's dad. We're at Mystic Falls High School on a peace-finding mission." Stella glares at the blonde's head. "They hate us, so we obviously make them hate us more. That's how it works, apparently. Any tips?"

Derek stares at the girl with wide eyes. "You're at the high school?" he asks.

"They're what?!" Lexi's voice comes through loud and clear. She appears next to Derek. "Why are you at the high school? That place is actual hell!"

"That's what I've been saying!" Lizzie exclaims. Stella pushes her to the side with a grunt.

"I gotta go," Stella says with a smile. "Bye!"

She hangs up before either parent can say another word.

Stella turns to Lizzie, smoke curling from her clenched fists. "Stay out of my business, Lizzie!" Stella says as flames lick the inside of her palms.

Lizzie opens her mouth to snap at her, but she ends up frozen in her place. She swallows roughly as she watches flames engulf Stella's hands; the blue in Stella's eyes disappears behind her pupils.

"Stella," Hope says, her voice soothing. The Hale girl glances at her cousin. "Calm down."

"Calm down?" Stella snarls. "She told Mom and Dad about this. They'll make me go back home."

MG stands behind Lizzie, the hose in his hands. Stella barely notices his finger on the trigger.
"I can't go back home, not yet," Stella says. Heat radiates off of her. The flames flicker red, the same color the siphoner's get when they absorb magic.

When she steps forward, MG aims the hose and fires. Stella screams as water douses her, her flames smoking out. She grunts as she tries to wipe the water off of her body. "I'm going to kill you!" She yells before she takes MG's air away.

The hose drops to the ground, water cleaning Dana's goop. MG chokes, holding his neck as he tries to inhale.

"Stella, stop!" Hope yells, throwing her own spell out.

Stella pauses, the glow in her eyes disappearing. She drops her spell and takes a step back. She looks down at the ground where the water has taken Dana's liquified body away. "I'm sorry," she mutters. "I-I didn't mean to—"

"Damn, girl," Kaleb says. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

Stella blushes and bites her lip. "Can we, just, forget that happened?" she asks.

"Uh, no!" Lizzie yells. Hope sends her a withering look that makes the blonde sigh. "Fine. Let's brainstorm with Lava Girl over here about the stupid monster."

"Uh, hell no," Kaleb says. "I'm out of here. But, a little piece of advice—Landon could be in there, right now, eating fools." He walks away, winking at Stella.

She blinks blankly before she takes a calming breath. "If it's not Landon, then what else could it be?"

"Spider!" MG says. He holds a page from one of his comic books. His eyes light up in a way only a child's can. "A big spider. An Arachne, if you want to get specific."

Lizzie snatches the page and scoffs. "This is nerd porn, not real life."

"So were gargoyles and dragons," MG replies. "The writer bases her comics off of Greek lore."

"An Arachne was, originally, a beautiful woman who was cursed by a jealous god and turned into a giant spider," Stella explains. "All it wants is to be human, so it wears the skin of its prey to pass."

"Its fangs are huge, so they could pass for a vampire bite," MG adds. "And its bite liquifies its victims! Plus, I found a web in Dana's hair."

"That would explain why it couldn't follow the knife out of town," Hope says. She narrows her eyes in concentration "An SUV sized insect can't exactly hitchhike unless it inhabits the body of someone."

"Who?" Stella asks. She crosses her arms. Her hands are still warm as they press against her sides. "Sasha, maybe?"

"My money is still on your boyfriend," Lizzie mutters, looking at Hope.

The Mikaelson purses her lips. "He is not my boyfriend."

Stella shakes her head, stepping between the two. "If we had something from it, we could do a tracking spell."

Suddenly, Landon runs up to them, a piece of flesh in his hand. Stella jumps away from him as he holds up the flesh, saying, "Would its face work?"

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Hope you enjoyed!

-L