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

T W E N T Y - E I G H T

gif from google images

As Stella sits at the fountain in the town square with Lizzie, she looks around the small town with renewed light in her eye. She watches as groups of kids walk around and couples have lunch. She sees a man playing guitar by the corner next to a lemonade stand. It's normal.

Lizzie just sits tensely beside her, sending her glares every now and then. But, the blonde relaxes when Josie joins them. "Fun fact, this town has the biggest ball of yarn in the country," Josie says. "And nobody's seen anything strange."

"This isn't exactly a hotspot of activity," Stella replies with her eyes still on the average people living average lives.

"Our hopes of finding anything are going up in smoke," Lizzie huffs.

Stella narrows her eyes as a thought pops into her mind. She jumps off the fountain and turns to face Lizzie. "Are you passive-aggressively referring to that fire in Hope's room her senior year?"

Lizzie narrows her eyes. "You mean the one she set on purpose to sabotage our spring break trip with our dad? And I knew she told you everything."

"You've lost it," Stella scoffs as she crosses her arms over her chest. Josie frowns, seeing the look of hurt pass over Stella's expression.

"The only thing that we lost was a week of quality family time. Dad had to cancel the trip to deal with the damage." Lizzie looks away from Stella, muttering. "Mission accomplished, Mikaelsons."

Frustrated, Josie says, "You guys are talking about ancient history—ow!" She jumps as a jolt of pain flashes through her wrist.

She misses Stella grunt in phantom pain before the Hale witch grips Josie's wrist. Slowly, she rolls her sweater up to reveal a large swollen mass on Josie's arm. "Something stung me," Josie groans.

"That's disgusting," Lizzie says, trying to mask the concern flooding her veins.

"Do you guys hear that?" Stella asks as her eyes leave Josie and float to the sky. "It's like a generator or something."

Lizzie clenches her jaw. "I hear nothing. Maybe your wolf blood is finally kicking in."

"I'm a witch, dumbass," Stella snaps. "My brother doesn't have magic, and I'm not a werewolf."

Before Lizzie can respond, Stella covers her ears with both hands and squeezes her eyes shut. "You can't tell me you don't hear that," Stella says, her body strained.

"I don't need to hear it." Josie places a hand on Stella and Lizzie. "I can see it."

The girls look up at the sky to see thousands of bugs flying towards the center of town. Everyone begins to scream and scatter, trying to find refuge from the hornets. "This is plague-y, right?" Stella asks as the three begin to back away.

"It seems plague-y," Josie replies before all three witches run to the nearest building, shutting the door behind them.

Stella mutters a spell, and a protective barrier appears between the girls and the door. The moment the shimmering barrier is in place, they relax only to find themselves in an empty church. "Seriously?" Stella mutters as a chill runs up her spine. "It just had to be a church."

"What's wrong with churches?" Lizzie snaps. "Afraid God might smite you?"

Instead of responding, Stella sends Lizzie a glare before sitting in the closest pew. She puts her head in her hands as the buzzing increases. The light coming in from the windows disappears as hornets crowd any available spot. Stella begins to rock softly with closed eyes; she brings her knees up to her chest, humming softly to herself.

Josie gently taps Lizzie's arm. "Lizzie, just forget about the whole fire thing, ok?" she says, trying to keep her nerves at bay. "It's ancient history."

"No, Mikaelsons crash our family time every year," Lizzie replies. "It's uncool, and I hate it."

Sighing, Josie pulls Lizzie in closer. "She's already upset about the break in general. Don't make it worse, please."

"What's she upset about?" Lizzie narrows her eyes at Stella. "She gets to spend the break with you."

"First off, Hope is galavanting with her parents right now while she's here," Josie says, glancing at the Hale witch. "Hope gave no reason as to the sudden trip, and her parents haven't called in a few days. She's getting scared."

Lizzie glances down at her feet. "So, that's why she's bitter," Lizzie mutters.

"Second, we're in a church surrounded by pests that could kill us."

Frowning, Lizzie looks at her sister. "Again, what's wrong with a freaking church?"

Josie opens her mouth but pauses. The buzzing had disappeared. Sending a warning look to Lizzie, Josie approaches Stella, gently placing a hand on the girl's back. Stella starts, her eyes wide. "It's over?" She asks.

The siphoner nods. Stella sighs in relief, her entire body relaxing. After a moment of composing herself, Stella stands and removes the barrier from the door, opening it.

Dead hornets litter the ground as the girls step out of the church. "We need to find your dad," Stella says. She glances around before turning right. "This way."

Lizzie pouts playfully. "Does this way take us past the fire station?"

Stella clenches her jaw in annoyance as Josie shakes her head. "We barely just survived a biblical plague," Stella says. "For the last time, Hope didn't start that fire, and she doesn't ruin your spring breaks."

"Yeah, Lizzie, now's not the time," Josie hisses.

"Fifth grade," Lizzie sighs. "Hope callously gave me the flu while we were building our float for witch week. With global warming, I may never see the Florida Keys. That's on her—"

Turning around with an outstretched hand, Stella exclaims, "Hope doesn't get sick! She's a trybrid!"

"Doesn't mean she doesn't carry disease."

"Guys," Both girls turn to a panicked Josie. "There's a boil on my boil."

As Lizzie gags, Stella gently rubs her thumb over the swelled area. Josie inhales sharply as her face scrunches up in pain. "Sorry," Stella mutters.

"Pick up the pace, Mikaelson-slash-Hale," Lizzie says before she parades ahead. "My sister needs—"

The three witches pause at the next street corner. Before them, people are herded into busses by what appears to be the CDC. Men in hazmat suits file the townsfolk into yellow school buses; many have boils on their skin.

Stella waves her hand over Josie's boil, making it disappear from sight. "Temporary fix," Stella mutters. "Just a glammer. But now's the time where we call your dad."

Feuding is such a complicated writing thing. Like, there are always underlying reasons for everything, especially with anger. I don't think I'm conveying that well enough, but oh well.

Hope you enjoyed!

-L