𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘➳𝙇𝙀𝙂𝘼𝘾𝙄𝙀𝙎 S1

001.

Landon Kirby and his foster brother, Rafael Waithe, are walking down the street toward the Catholic church in their neighborhood. Landon sounds incredulous and exasperated by Rafael's plans for the evening. 

"Rafael, seriously! It's not right!" Landon exclaimed. "It is what it is, Landon." Rafael shrugged. "You're not Catholic! You shouldn't have to confess your sins!" Landon exclaimed making a valid point but not changing Rafael's mind.

"I tossed a lawnmower through the patio doors, bruh! If apologizing to God gets Hector and Maria off my back, so be it." Rafael said. The two walk into the church, where their foster parents, Hector and Maria, are standing at the sacristy with their priest. Rafael, looking nervous, greets them, "Buenas tardes, Father Pietro."

"Buenas tardes, Rafael. Por favor, pray with me." Father Pietro says. 

Rafael takes a deep breath and drops down on his knees in front of the priest, and their foster parents turn toward Landon, who looks confused by the scene in front of him. "Landon, you can leave now. It's okay, we can take it from here." Hector says.

"I'm good, Hector." Landon replies not entirely trusting the situation. Maria then walks over to Landon and speaks to him in a soft voice. "Landon, this is between your foster brother and God, okay?" Maria said. 

Rafael, sensing Landon's apprehension, turns to look at his brother. "Hey, I got it, bro. Just wait outside." Rafael said. Landon sighs and reluctantly does as he's told, walking out the door toward the stairs at the entrance while Hector and Maria follow after him. Once he's outside, Landon sits on the steps, put in his earbuds, and begins listening to "Love is Madness" by Thirty Seconds to Mars, pulling out a small journal from his coat pocket and beginning to write.

Once he's distracted by his writing and his music, Hector begins wrapping chains around the interior door handles, locking them with a padlock while Maria watches anxiously and holds a rosary in her hands. 

Father Pietro begins the ritual in Latin, with both himself and Rafael making the sign of the cross before they begin to pray. 

"In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sanctus..." Father Pietro says. "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst--" Father Pietro pours some holy water onto his fingers and anoints Rafael's forehead with it. Rafael suddenly becomes uneasy, not recognizing this part of the prayer.

"Deus, cui próprium et miseréri semper et párcere..." Father Pietro says. Father Pietro holds a cross up in front of Rafael's face making it very clear that this is less of a prayer and more of an exorcism. 

"Súscipe deprecatiónem nostram; ut hunc fámulum tuum contentus abit!" Father Pietro recites loudly. "What's going on here?" Rafael asks uneasily. Father Pietro restates the sentence he just said. 

Suddenly, Hector and Maria grab Rafael by his shoulders and hold him in place while the priest continues the exorcism. Father Pietro begins chanting the same statement over and over.

"What? What are you doing!?" Rafael exclaims trying to break loose. "Et impius discedite!" Pietro exclaims. 

Rafael is in the middle of using all of his strength to try to break free from his foster parents' hold when his bones start breaking and reforming under his skin. Scared, Hector and Maria let go of him as he drops on all fours and begins to transform. The priest continues to speak even as Hector and Maria let go of Rafael, unsure of what is happening.

"Maledicte diabole!" Father Pietro yells out of fear and confusion. 

All of the sudden, Rafael's eyes turn black with gold irises, and his teeth begin to lengthen into fangs, revealing he is indeed a newly-triggered werewolf. Terrified, Hector and Maria back off, but the priest continues holding up his cross and shouting at the top of his voice.

Meanwhile, an old-looking SUV speeds down the road and comes to a screeching halt in front of the church. Hope Mikaelson, Claire Petrova, and Alaric Saltzman waste no time getting out and heading toward the church's entrance, with Alaric carrying a loaded crossbow and a bag full of chains. 

At first, Hope is too focused on the mission to pay attention to anything else, but Landon sees her and yanks out his earbuds in shock. Hope stops walking and smiles weakly when she recognizes her long-lost friend.

"Landon..." Hope says wearily. "Hope?" Landon asks incredulously. "What the-" Claire began before pointing at him. "Oh, he's the cute waiter you told me about." Claire. Hope shot her a glare. "Whoops." Claire mumbled.

"You two know each other?" Alaric asked. "Long story..." Hope said. Their conversation is interrupted by the sound of glass breaking and Rafael screaming in agony. Landon, whose music was drowning out the sounds of the exorcism inside until now, looks alarmed and turns toward the door. Hope, too, looks concerned by what is happening in the church.

Claire looks from Landon, to Hope, to the church. "Dr. Saltzman..." Claire said. "Yeah, I'm on it." Alaric said. Alaric moves his gear into one hand so he can open the door to the church with the other, but he quickly realizes that they're chained shut.

"Doors are locked." Alaric said. Hope and Claire hold both hands in the air with their palms toward the doors and yank them away from each other as they use their magic to break through the chains. "Dissera portus!" The 2 teenagers say and the door fly open. 

Landon looks as though he doesn't believe what he's seeing, but Claire, Hope, and Alaric are too focused on helping Rafael to explain what is happening. "You're gonna wanna stay out here, Landon. Trust me." Hope says.

Despite this warning, Landon follows Alaric and Hope as they walk toward the sacristy where Rafael, who has been fighting the pain of his transformation, is laying on all fours on the floor as the priest continues to shout at him in Latin.

Alaric, prepared to fight, rolls his eyes and calls out to Hope began Claire is completely focused on Rafael. 

"Shut down the exorcist, would you?" Alaric asks Hope. Hope raises her hand, "Silencio," and swiftly balls her hand into a fist the a little flick of her wrist. The exorcists mouth is bound shut. 

He reaches up and grabs his throat as though he's choking until Hope casts her next spell. She once again raises both hands flat in the air, but this time she thrusts them downward. "Ad somnum." 

The exorcist, Maria, and Hector all fall to the ground, unconscious. 

Rafael, who's on his hands and knees with his face on the floor, looks at the three, mainly Claire, desperately. "Please... Help me... what's happening?" 

Rafael's bones start to crack and reform once again as his transformation fully gets underway. Landon, still in disbelief about everything he's seen thus far, looks horrified. Claire steps back, not cautiously, but gratefully. 

Once a wolf transformed, all their pain from the transformation left and you felt free. She knew from experience. "My God..." Landon said, terrified. "Help me..." Rafael practically cried.

There wasn't much to do. 

Rafael's fingers lengthen into claws, his ears begin to lengthen and become pointed, and his joints all pop out of socket as they transition into his wolf form. Meanwhile, Hope and Alaric are in the middle of drilling carabiners into the floor of the sacristy, attaching chains to all four of the hooks in a square.

Claire was busy subtly keeping Rafael as calm as she could. Rafael's claws make deep scratches in the wood floor just as Alaric begins to try and put a reinforced collar around his neck.

"No." Claire says quietly. Alaric and Hope look at her. "Let me." 

Alaric hesitates. "If he gets angry and bites, I'll heal.. you won't." Claire reasoned. Alaric gave in and handed the teenage girl the collar.

She slowly made her way to Rafael and fastened the collar. "Easy does it. Easy..." Claire says backing away, careful not to startle him. 

By the time they have finished, Rafael has fully transformed into a large wolf with black and dark brown fur and glowing gold eyes. He snarls at the bystanders as Landon looks at him with a terrified expression. Hope and Claire look sympathetically at Rafael, remembering their own first painful transformations.