𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐄, 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 ¹

𝖎𝖛. 𝖍𝖔𝖕𝖊 𝖎𝖘 𝖓𝖔𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖌𝖔𝖆𝖑

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 — 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞
𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥

☽ ֯ ◗ ✩ ◖ ֯ ☾

"𝐖e good?"

"Good 'bout what?" Zoe spoke from behind MG and Kaleb, the two vampires jumping due to her sudden presence. She hopped onto one of the counters and dangled her legs, eyeing them curiously with a tilt of the head.

"God, Zo, you gotta stop doing that," MG exclaimed, grateful about the change of subject. Since the day he'd met the tribrid she always found a way to appear and disappear from places as if out of thin air.

Zoe grinned at him before an alluring smell reached her nostrils. Blood. Human blood. She glanced over at the counter near the sink where a blue towel with a big red stain was laid. "What did you do, Kaleb?"

Kaleb put up his hands in mock defense. "Just got a little peckish. Went out for a midnight snack."

The girl raised her eyebrows. She, too, used to get a tad peckish but opted for her stashed blood bags rather than going out in the night. As much as she liked to break the rules, she'd put some lines even for herself. "Bunny blood does no good, does it?"

The boys' eyes widened in realization. Zoe shrugged, hopping off the counter and stalking towards the door. She peered over her shoulder at the two vampires. "If you want a bag of real, tasty human blood, come find me."

☽ ֯ ◗ ✩ ◖ ֯ ☾

"𝐆iven our recent influx of monsters, Sheriff Donovan and I have decided we need to take drastic action. Please give him your full attention."

Alaric stepped off the podium in front of the gathered students for Matt Donovan to take his place and address them. "Like Dr. Saltzman was saying, local girls Dana Lilien and Sasha Stoteraux didn't come home last night. Dana sometimes skips town for a few days to party, but this is a first for Sasha."

"Thank you, Sheriff Donovan," Alaric spoke again, returning to the podium. "Now, while the knife is away with Dorian and things are quiet on his end, it won't hurt to assume the worst. Now, I'll need a few of you to volunteer to go to Mystic Falls High under the guise of an exchange program meant to improve relations between our schools. Which, unfortunately, is necessary, given recent events. Now, I give you permission to compel them, to gather materials for locator spells, because any information we can get will make a difference."

Zoe glanced briefly over to Hope, the two sisters having a silent conversation between themselves before Lizzie standing up caught their attention. "Well, I guess that I can set aside my differences with Dana for a day. Because that is what heroes do. So, I volunteer as tribute."

"She battles one gargoyle, and suddenly she's Mother Teresa," Hope mumbled under her breath, making her sister start giggling as she put her hand over her mouth to silence her.