To Be Found ♧ Legacies

22 | key words and conflicting feelings

Isolated. That's the one word Celia would use to describe her current situation. After Jed turned himself in, Dr. Saltzman and Emma agreed on a weeks-long suspension with anger management lessons, but even if he was here, Celia wasn't sure he would talk to her. Yet that was more than she could say for Rafael. Ever since she confronted him he's barely been able to look at her. Though she was just thankful that so far he wasn't running the pack into the ground.

A light wind blew through Celia's hair as she sat on one of the benches outside the Salvatore school. Josie was supposed to have met her five minutes ago with Maddie's journal, but she was late. Worry built up in Celia's chest as thoughts of her ally bailing crept in.

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" The young witch chirped. Blowing all of Celia's worries away with the wind. "I just got caught up in all the party prep. Which by the way you are coming to right?"

Celia's mouth fell open in surprise. She hadn't been planning on going. Formal get-togethers had never really been her thing. "I-I didn't know I was invited."

Josie grinned at the wolf. "Of course. Consider this your formal invitation. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Celia nodded, unable to form words. Josie moved on quickly, fumbling through her backpack to pull out the leather-bound notebook. "I can definitely use this for the spell," she said, handing Maddie's journal back to Celia.

A grin erupted across Celia's face. "Great! Can we do it now?

For a moment Josie looked taken aback by Celia's sudden eagerness, but she caught back on quick. "We need to have a better plan than instant action."

"We?"

"Yes, of course." Josie shook her head, a small smile on her face. "You can't get rid of me that easily." She got back on topic. "But you need to think this through. What's your plan after you find out where she is? To just leave everything behind to go after her? What about classes?"

Celia bit her lip. Josie had a point. What was her plan? What if Maddie was halfway across the country? How did she plan on getting there? It wasn't like she had a platinum card with her parents' name on it to buy her gas or a plane ticket.

"Ok," she admitted her defeat, "what are you thinking then?"

"Spring break." Josie read the surprise and disappointment on Celia's face like an open book. "I know that seems so far away, but it gives you time to plan and execute because, C, I think there's something else you should know."

Celia scowled.

"C, I think Maddie's a witch."

Before Celia could respond, Josie took back the journal and flipped it to the end. "You told me you thought at the end of the journal she started talking in code, right?"

Celia's frown grew in response. Those journal entries were dated just days before Maddie disappeared. If she was a witch it meant she knew about the supernatural world even before the tragic events of that day. Did she know what Celia was?

"It's not code, it's spells." Josie pointed to one before reciting it herself. "Flos crescere." Channeling the bench they sat on, Josie conjured a flower next to them. It was beautiful with wide white petals. "See?"

Shaking her head, Celia stood from the bench. "I-I need to think about this." Reluctantly, Celia took the journal back from Josie. Her mind was racing with all the possible what-ifs. What if Maddie was a witch? What if Maddie knew about Celia? What if Maddie was purposely avoiding Celia because of it?

"Thank you, Josie. I'll text you about Spring Break." Briskly, Celia walked away. She didn't want to think about Maddie that way. She couldn't think about Maddie that way because the moment she did, it changed everything.

-

Distracted. Rafael was trying so hard to focus on his new duties as alpha, as trivial as some of them may be, but he couldn't stop the thoughts of what Celia had said to him from circling his mind. Did she see really him as that selfish? Was he that selfish? He had always lived to put Landon first, what was so wrong with that? They were a team. They were brothers. And if she didn't understand that then why was he to blame?

"Alright, lets get the rest of these chairs and tables and get them out of here. Alright?" Raf clapped his hands together before descending the stairs to help the pack of middle schoolers he had assigned this mission. "Let's go! Let's go!"

As the boys got to work, Raf surveyed what was left. He had told Dr. Saltzman that he'd get the wolves to help set up the party. A little thank you for turning a blind eye to the duel.

"Perks of being an alpha." Raf wasn't exactly expecting Hope Mikaelson to go out of her way to talk to him, but he guessed it was common courtesy considering she used to have a thing for his brother. That same brother that she had kicked out. He turned slightly to acknowledge her but continued to march through the sea of wolves. Hope took his acknowledgment as a sign to elaborate. "A bunch of people you get to boss around."

"More like a bunch of shadows waiting to be told what to do," he groaned, lifting a table for himself. Though having the power of alpha was nice especially when it came to trying to get Landon to stay, now all he could feel were eyes on him. It felt like a rash he couldn't get rid of.

Now a new set of eyes was watching him: Hope.

"Who put you on party duty?"

Raf rolled his eyes as he moved one of the tables himself. "I volunteered. What do you want? I'm busy."

"Listen, Raf, I know you're mad at me for sending Landon away but..." Raf turned around to face Hope as she defended herself. His patience was wearing thin with the tribrid. "I promise you it was for his own good."

"You've known him for two minutes and you know what's good for him?" Raf asked stepping toward the girl.

"I know that I want him to be safe." Hope's eyes looked down before meeting his gaze. "I just came here to apologize. And I thought maybe if..." she trailed off once again. "If you needed someone to talk to." She rolled her eyes as he remained indifferent. "Whatever."

She brushed past him and began walking out of the hall. Who did she think she was? She was the reason his family was gone. The reason he was alone. The reason he had no one to talk to.

But with Celia not talking to him, it would be nice to have someone.

He turned back around to face the girl who had just moments before walked away. "Actually," he called out, catching her attention. "Um, I do kind of need help with something." Fiddling with his fingers, he walked toward her. To get what he wanted he'd have to word this perfectly. "There's no fancy parties or ballrooms where I come from. I need to know what to expect for tonight. I don't want to let Lizzie down."

Hope didn't bother hiding the surprise on her face. "Who cares what Lizzie Saltzman thinks?"

Rafael moved his gaze to the ground. "I do. I'm her date."

A small amused smile rose on Hope's face as she studied him. "Really?"

"Hope this is serious."

"Fine, I'll help you."

Raf fiddled with his fingers as he tried to figure out how to ask this next part too. "That's not all."

Hope raised her eyebrows in anticipation.

When he finally admitted to himself that he needed Hope's help, another epiphany occurred as well. "I need your help figuring out how to get Celia to forgive me."

A/N

Woohoo another chapter! Hope you all like it! Let me know your thoughts by commenting, voting, or sharing this story!

Much love,
Kate