𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔗𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔰

Chapter 62

W   E   E   K      L   A   T   E   R

A   L   A   R   I   C

I stood in my office staring at articles littering my desk. Dorian entered the office in flippers, a snorkel, and swim gear. "I couldn't find it." He told me. "'Cause it's not there." I stated. "Then why have I done five dives looking for it?" He asked. "I didn't figure it out till now." I answered. "When's the last time you slept?" He asked me. "Oh, man, I will get some sleep when we find this damn urn." I said. "Look, you've got to stop beating yourself up about this. I mean, yes, throwing an extremely dangerous magical artifact into the river was pretty stupid. The slug made you do it." Dorian explained. "Slug or not, I am responsible for the things I do, and I have very likely unleashed a new monster on the humans that live outside the gates of the school, so I need to clean up this mess. Look, I've been searching for things outside the ordinary. Sandstorms, locusts, scorpions...and then all of a sudden, this attack that happened to you. Dorian, these are mini plagues." I explained. "The river must've swept the urn downstream. And these plagues are a harbinger of whatever monster's come for it." Dorian suggested. "Mm-hmm." I said crossing my arms. "Ten bucks I know what it is." Dorian voiced pointing at me. "I'm way ahead of you. Now, if my theory is correct, the urn is here." I said pointing at a spot on the map on the desk. "It's a man-made reservoir. A dam." I added. "Which would've trapped the urn." Dorian pointed out. "Exactly. So, pack your flippers, Dorian. We're going on a road trip." I said turning around and picking up a duffel bag. "But I was supposed to...skip my mountain getaway with Emma and help you fight evil." Dorian breathed. "Hey, listen, man, I'm really sorry to harsh your romantic weekend." I said. Dorian sighed. "Don't worry about it. I'll just invite her to come with us." He stated. I smiled nervously. "Sure." I said taking a seat. "You bringing Stiles?" He asked. "Uh, hell, no." I said looking up at him. "You can either bring him and keep an eye on him or you can not and worry about the chaos he can create without adult supervision." He pointed out. I groaned dropping my forehead to the desk with a thud. "Does he have to?" I asked. "Yes. He does." Dorian said before leaving.

S   T   I   L   E   S

"Dr. Saltzman, this van is very...white of you." Kaleb stated as we drove down the interstate in a minivan. "It's retro." He said. "It's a gas-guzzling atrocity on wheels." Lizzie said. "To be honest, I was expecting you to drive a black muscle car." I stated. "Don't be ridiculous, Nik. None of you would be able to fit inside it." He stated. "So what you're saying is that you have one?" I asked. "No." He answered. "Uh-huh. Sure you don't. And you were never a former vampire hunter, right? Gee...where have I seen this before? A hunter that travels the country in a black muscle car. Ooh! I know." I said looking over at Alaric with a smirk. He rolled his eyes. "You watch too much CW." He grunted. "No. But funny you say that. Because you look just like Dean from Supernatural." I countered. "Which is on the CW, you dork." Hope pointed out. "Dean Winchester?" Lizzie asked. "Ew! Gross! No. Dad looks nothing like Dean. Dean is hot. And dad...isn't." Lizzie argued. Alaric furrowed his brows offended. Alaric rolled his eyes. "The last time I had to deal with a doppelganger, she made my life a living hell." He stated. "You don't find it funny that there's a show about two supernatural hunters that travel the nation hunting monsters. And one of the guys just happens to look exactly like you. Not to mention...we are doing exactly that. Trying to find an artifact to stop a monster from unleashing hell on earth. Coincidence? I think not!" I said. "I brought snacks." Hope said out of the blue. "Oh, sweet. Did you pack them before or after you decided to FOMO your way into our trip?" Lizzie asked. "Like I'm gonna let you guys chase monsters without me?" Hope asked her. "Haha! See?! Monster hunting! You are Dean Winchester." I said with a laugh pointing at Dr. Saltzman to which he rolled his eyes. "I would've though you wanted to spend the break canoodling with your hipster boyfriend." Lizzie suggested. At the mention of the word, "canoodling", I scratched the back of neck taking a side glance at Alaric. He had clenched his jaws. "Yeeaaah. He's still pissed." Nogitsune said. Gee. Thanks. I would've never known. "Sorry for wanting to protect the outside world from my mistakes. You know, there's currently an urn on a river cruise spreading plagues across America because I thought a unicorn was cute. It's called accountability." Hope explained. "Maybe there's a bracelet for it." She added. "Damn." I stated as Kaleb snickered. "Or maybe you and your brother just wanted to ruin yet another Saltzman spring break." Lizzie stated. "Girls, we're gonna be in this classic automobile for six hours, all right? So, no bickering. And Stiles...don't do anything that you would normally do." Alaric said. "Me? When have I ever ruined a spring break?" I asked turning around in the seat. "Wait...yeah. Nope. Don't answer that." I said turning back around. "It would help if it wasn't a thousand degrees in here. I'm burning up." Hope said. "You're burning up. Now, that's ironic." Lizzie said. "What does that even mean?" Hope asked. "Don't play dumb. I see you. I see right through you." Lizzie said. "I don't know what you're talking about. What happened to playing nice?" Hope asked her. "Over. Done. I'm getting back to me. I am who I am. Right, Josie?" Lizzie answered. "Josie?" Lizzie asked. "Sorry?" Josie asked. "Josie, you cannot leave me alone with just them for company." Lizzie said. "Hey!" I said. "Well, I get carsick if I don't listen to music." Josie said. "Josie!" Lizzie exclaimed before the three girls began arguing. I looked over at Alaric. "Oh yeah! Go on a field trip you said. It'll be fun you said." I said sarcastically with a smile. "Girls! Girls! There's no reason to be tense or awkward, okay? Now knock it off. We're gonna get through this together. God help us all." Alaric said. "Pft. Not even the hand of God can save this train wreck of a spring break." I muttered. "Woot. Road trip." Kaleb stated.