goodnight!
(six)

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━━ ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

HOPE IS NOT THE GOAL
part one

THE NEXT DAY HAD come around and Guinevere Elison found herself sitting in yet another assembly lead by Dr. Saltzman and the local Sheriff of Mystic Falls, Matt Donavan.

"Given our recent influx of monsters, Sheriff Donovan and I have decided we need to take drastic action. Please give him your full attention." Dr. Saltzman started before moving off the side to allow the Sheriff to speak on a lone platform.

"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." As the Sheriff spoke, the students passed around photos of the two girls who had went missing.

"Thank you, Sheriff Donovan." The Saltzman man began while moving to take the platform once more. "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." Dr. Saltzman said, stressing the importance of the situation.

"Now, I give you permission to compel them, to gather materials for locator spells, because any information we can get will make all the difference."

"Well." Lizzie began as she stood up from her chair, in front of Guinevere. "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." The Elison girl heard Hope comment from behind her causing a slight smile to grace her lips.

"I'm in." Kaleb announced as he stood from his chair near the back of the room and just a few seconds later, MG stood as well.  "I'm in, too."

Then Hope stood up. "I'd like to help."

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"You know, the wolves usually eat outside." Guinevere heard Josie say from the table behind her. The Elison girl sat by herself, since Josie still hasn't spoken to her while Lizzie and Hope where away at Mystic Falls High.

The blonde turned to glance behind her to see Rafael sitting next to Josie, the two of them conversing. A feeling of irritation filled the girl as she watched.

Sighing, she turned back around but brought her hand up to brush the hair back from her ear to hear the conversation the pair had. She didn't care in that moment, that she was eavesdropping.

"I'd rather hang with you." Rafael said as he placed his plate of food down in front of him.

"I didn't see you at the assembly." Josie said, curiosity in her voice.

"Kind of still figuring my way around this place." Rafael defending himself. He then asked, "Why didn't you ditch like Landon and go play detective?"

Josie glanced down at her books before answering. "Well, I'm actually working on offensive spells for class. They only teach defensive magic here, but I personally think that the curriculum needs to evolve."

When the Saltzman girl could see the look on Rafael's face she questioned it. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. What? I'm still trying to wrap my head around this being a normal conversation here."

"Got it. So Meaning you're happy to be back?" Josie asked, interested in his answer.

"I'll be happy when I know that Landon can stay." Rafael retorted.

"And then, what if he can't?"

"Bounce, witch. Rafael and I need to have a little chat." Guinevere heard another voice interrupting before Rafael could answer. At the sound of the new male, the Elison girl glanced back again, this time keeping her eyes on the group behind her.

"Soon as Josie and I are done." Rafael said, laughing slightly, not understanding why he would need to end his conversation.

"Actually, newb, I'm your alpha. You're done when I say you're done." The jerk replied, not even hiding that he thought he was better than Rafael or Josie at that point.

"Well, would you look at the time." Josie said as she rose from her chair. "As fun as this hurricane of toxic masculinity is, I have to get to class."

"I'll walk you." Rafael replied, rising from his chair also, grabbing hold of Josie's books and his book bag as he did. Both he and Josie then walked past the 'Alpha,' exiting the dining hall.

Turning back around, realisation hit the Elison girl as she glanced down at her watch to check the time. When she saw that she would be late to class, she quickly grabbed her books from in front of her, shoving them in her bag before rushing out of the hall herself, silently cursing as she did.

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A few hours and a couple of classes later, Guinevere Elison walked through the Salvatore School corridors, her book bag in hand. The sounds of grunts reached her ears so she quickly ran to the sound of the ruckus.

As she came around the corner, she saw Rafael being beat up by the same werewolves from earlier who had tried to make him submit.

"Hey, get off of him." The Elison girl angrily called out as she moved to stop them.

One of the boys, the Alpha stood in her way. "Back off, witch. He's ours." He said before turning back to kick at Rafael who now lay on the floor.

Guinevere glared at him before quickly lifting up her hand, hoping the spell she had been researching earlier that day paid off. "Phasmatos Ossox."

Suddenly the sound of bones breaking reached her ears, confirming that the spell had in fact come in handy. But she knew that will the speed that werewolves healed at, their bones would bound back together very fast.

Two of the boys moved away out of sight, while the Alpha kicked Rafael in the face once more before walking away. "To be continued."

Before Guinevere could move forward to help him, a flash of brunette ran past her. Josie lowered herself to the floor next to Rafael.  "Hey, are you okay?" The Saltzman girl asked.

"Get off of me! Just stay away from me." Rafael said said backing away from the girl, quickly standing and taking off past Guinevere who stared at the girl on the floor.

The Elison girl moved forward in attempt to comfort Josie though before she could, the brunette lifted herself from the floor and walked off.

"Josie." Guinevere called out after the girl before sighing in defeat. The girl contemplated going after Josie who she knew would be going after Rafael. She quickly decided to follow, since she had a feeling that Rafael would be out of control.

She wandered for a few minutes before recognising the maroon sweater Josie had been wearing that day causing her to quickly moved over to the old mill. As she was entering, Guinevere saw both Rafael and Josie walking up the stairs towards a large pile of spider webs.

Curiosity got the better of her so the Elison made her way up the steps. The sound of her footsteps caused both Josie and Rafael's heads to turn in acknowledgment before they turned back around to face the webs.

"Josie?" Rafael asked when he saw how intently Josie was looking.

"It's Sasha." The Saltzman girl said before reaching up to remove some of the webs from around Sasha's face. Suddenly Sasha's eyes opened as the girl let out a gasp, causing Josie to jump back in fright, sending her straight into the webs.

Guinevere quickly moved over to Josie, as did Rafael.

"Are you okay?" The Elison girl and Waithe boy asked simultaneously as they searched for a way to pull Josie free.

"No Raf. I think I'm stuck." Josie said, somehow still not acknowledging Guinevere causing the girl to internally sigh. Josie sure was determined.

Both Rafael and Guinevere began pulling at the webs that held onto Josie, before being catapulted away into the webs next to the girl. All three of them now entrapped in the web.

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"This is bad. Whatever spun this, it's gonna come back and it's gonna eat us." Josie said as the three of them tried and failed to free themselves.

"Can't either of you witch us out of here?" Rafael asked as he looked at the two girls.

Josie shook her head in response. "No, that's not how my powers work. My sister and I, we come from this specific witch bloodline called the Gemini Coven. Basically, we don't have powers of our own.
We have to siphon them from other things first."

"What about Guinevere? You could siphon from her." The Waithe boy asked, nodding his head in the direction of the Elison girl. At the mention of Guinevere, Josie turned her head to look at the blonde.

Guinevere nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah use me. I am a witch, after all. I would do it but I'm not completely in control my magic ye-"

Suddenly Guinevere was cut off as Josie's lips came into contact with hers. The Elison girl softly sighed, shocked by enjoying the feeling of Josie's lips against her own. After a few seconds, the Saltzman girl pulled back from the kiss.

"Sorry." Josie spoke once they pulled away from one another.

Guinevere simply shook her head. "Don't be."

"Uh, did it work?" Rafael asked from the other side of Josie.

"I don't know. The room's still spinning." The Saltzman girl said, slightly whispering in awe.

As Guinevere tried to catch her breath, she quickly noticed the sound of footsteps getting closer and closer. She turned her head to find a clear view of the doorway before she saw a boy walk in.

"Hey! Hey, we're trapped up here!" She yelled, her voice gaining attention from Josie and Rafael, causing to look toward the doorway too.

The Elison girl could see the boy clearly and he was the stuff of nightmares. The entire right side of his face was gone, shreds of flesh falling from the remaining face.

"Connor? Damn." Rafael spoke up, his tone disgusted as well as his expression. Then as if things could get any worse, Connor looked up at them, all of their eyes widening in fear.

"Whoa. He's coming." Rafael muttered as they all watched in fear as Connor climbed the wooden beams opposite them. "Josie now would be a good time for one of those offensive magic spells you were reading about."

Josie concentrated before directing her half stuck hand toward Connor. "Ignarious."

Connor quickly caught on fire and fell back to the ground.

"All right, I think you got him." Rafael said, his voice filled with fear. All three of them glanced back and saw Connor now completely shredded of his skin, a giant spider like creature in its place. The monster shrieked in retaliation.

"Or we just pissed him off."

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