"Why are you here, Celia?" It was a valid question considering the other two students had obvious personal ties to their mission, but yet it still completely caught her off guard. They were less than five minutes into their walk back and Dr. Saltzman was already coming for her.
Celia glanced back at the girl who was trailing a little behind. In all honestly, she was trying to give herself a little time to formulate an answer. Should she tell the truth? A little white lie? A mix a both? Why did he even need to know? It was too late she was already there, there was no more turning back.
Celia's eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she glanced between her teacher and their new friend who seemed to be oblivious to their conversation. She ended up going with a slight version of the truth. "I convinced Jed to let me try to convince Rafael to join the pack without using"—she paused searching for the right word—"traditional pack mentality."
Dr. Saltzman nodded, a better response than she was expecting. For some reason, she was expecting him to be almost disappointed in her. "You care a lot about the pack, don't you?"
Celia's head snapped over to him in surprise, her braid whipping in her face as she did so. "Of course. They're my family."
The four years she had been at the Salvatore School, she had always highly respected Dr. Saltzman. He was strong and honest, two qualities she admired. But the fact that he was questioning how much she cared, really bothered her. How dare he question her loyalty?
"That's good, the pack needs a leader like you."
Celia paused mid-step. A leader? She was definitely not a leader. Did she help Jed out and give him advice when he needed it? Sure. But commanding that many people? Making sure they stay safe? She'd never wish that responsibility upon anyone, let alone herself. She never understood why Jed enjoyed it as much as he did. Dr. Saltzman was all over the place today. Was this how he was normally like? It wasn't like she had ever had a prolonged conversation with him.
As if sensing the lull in conversation, Dr. Saltzman pulled out his phone, in what Celia could only assume was an attempt to call Dorian. He never got the chance.
The girl grabbed the phone from his hands with a ferocity Celia never would have expected.
"Do you need to make a phone call?" Dr. Saltzman asked almost naively, though Celia could tell he was near panic. She didn't seem to need to make a phone call though, as she slipped the phone into her pocket.
"Wait! Wait, that's mine!"
Celia grabbed the girl's wrist before she could turn away. Which seemed to only cause the girl's attention to shift to Celia instead. The girl reached back at Celia's wrist, seeming to be enthralled by the golden bracelet that circled it. Honestly Celia hadn't thought much about the bracelet on her wrist lately. It was a simple design, a gold chain with a lone pendant engraved with two circles on it, and no one really understood it. In fact, Celia didn't even get why it was only marked with two circles. However, it was the only possession she had that once belonged to her birth mom—or at least that was what she was told—so there was no way she was going to part with it any time soon.
"Oh hell no," Celia snatched her wrist back and out of the girl's hands, sending her a glare while she was at it. The girl just kept coming, and when Celia swatted her away, she swore she heard a growl.
"Dr. Saltzman?" Celia murmured, stepping away from the girl and toward her head master. "Got any idea what's going on?" Every red flag was signaling in Celia's brain.
The girl's eyes blazed a bright reddish-orange, and she opened her mouth like she was threatening to scream. Why though? Celia didn't understand. They were trying to help her.
The girl suddenly exhaled a huge blast of fire in Celia's direction. The young werewolf barely had time to dive out of the way before the flames ripped past her, scorching the edges of her jeans as she did so.
Celia groaned as she pulled herself back up. Her dive to the ground knocked the wind out of her more than any of Jed's kicks to the gut. She glanced over at Dr. Saltzman who seemed to have barrel-rolled instead, definitely in a much more graceful manner.
The two then turned to where they girl had been standing. To state it simply, she was gone.
"What are we dealing with?" She asked, her words coming out in short pants as she was still regaining her breath.
Dr. Saltzman looked truly worried, an expression Celia hadn't seen on the man's face before. "I honestly don't know."
A/N
Another short chapter. I love this one though. I really wanted Celia and Alaric to interact.
Anyway sorry for all the short chapters lately! I've been trying to get chapters to you all ASAP.
Hope you enjoy this one,
Kate
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To Be Found ♧ Legacies
Fanfiction"It's okay to feel alone, lost, and empty. For everything that's lonely finds its company. Everything lost is meant to be found And everything empty eventually gets filled. So see it like this, Think about all the terrible times you have lived thro...
