Just Like Fire | J. Saltzman - Legacies [2]

N I N E

A breeze blows through the center of Mystic Falls where a lone witch sits at one of the benches, her bright eyes focused on a pit of dark goop embedded in the Earth. Bubbles line the surface as Stella glances down at her notebook again, a forgotten song staring up at her. No matter how hard she concentrates, the goop draws her attention back.

"Hope...Andrea..."

Stella frowns as she turns, watching Lizzie saunter up to her with a smirk.

"Mikaelson."

"What?" Stella stands with her notebook tucked against her chest. "How do you know that name?"

"It's official," Lizzie says with a shrug. "I remember everything. When I woke up from that spell you and Josie blasted me with, Hope popped into my messed-up brain like an acid flashback."

Stella shakes her head. "Seriously? You got it easy. I had to figure it out, and she's my cousin!"

"Yeah, well, I need to find her and tell her." Crossing her arms, Lizzie arches an eyebrow. "We have some drama, and she's the only one who can fix it." Clenching her jaw, Lizzie pouts. "Josie and Landon are having sex tonight."

Stella blinks, tempted to take a step back. "What?"

"There's a decade dance."

"Ok, well, that doesn't mean—"

Lizzie stops her with a raised hand. "She asked me to find an excuse to stay with my dad. So, Hope has to stop it. Speak her truth. Spill her beans. Tell her tale—"

With a frown, Stella asks, "Why don't you tell her?"

"I didn't want to be the one to break her heart." Glancing down at Stella, the blonde sighs. "And I'm still on team Stosie, so deal with it."

"Stosie?" Stella repeats. "What the hell is that?"

Lizzie's gaze turns to the bubbling goop. "Ugh, not a good time!" She exclaims as smoke rises from the pit. Stella turns to watch a woman appear from thin air, dusting off her clothes. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm the Keeper." The woman smacks her lips with a grin. "And this is gonna be a lot easier than I thought. Welcome to The Game." She holds up her hand, showing off her glowing bracelet before she disappears.

"Well, that was anti-climactic," Lizzie says.

"We have to find Hope and tell her," Stella says. "She's gonna want to go and protect Landon."

Lizzie scoffs as the two make their way through the park. "More like protect Josie from Landon by warning her she's about to have sex with a human-sized muppet."

"Can we stop talking about Josie having sex?" Stella exclaims.

A car horn beeps. Lizzie and Stella turn in time to see an old car ram into them.

With a gasp, they find themselves back near the pit of goo. "What just happened?" Lizzie pants.

"I think the game just started." Pushing herself to her feet, Stella helps Lizzie up. "Now, I'm just pissed off." As they walk to the edge of the park, they stop before the street and glance up and down the road. "Let's try this again."

"So, since we're trapped here, are we ever gonna talk about how Hope came back from Malivore and decided not to tell any of us?" Lizzie asks. "Or maybe how you miraculously survived Maligoo?"

"Sorry, I'm a little busy keeping us from being roadkill." Stella holds out her hand. "Projectium deflecta. That should protect us."

The car hits them the second they step into the street.