we're being punked, pedro

Raf flips the food over the fire. "Uh, I think it's done." He says awkwardly. Landon and I laugh. "Next time, we got to catch, like, a deer or something. You know, more meaty, less... rabbity."

"It's food, man. We're good." Landon says for us.

I smile, ripping a piece of rabbit off. "Thanks for sticking with us, Raf." I say graciously. He didn't have to. He could've stayed, but he's here.

"Nowhere else I'd rather be, sis." He replies, smiling.

"I don't know. That school was good for you." I shrug.

Raf sighs, "Lena, you run, I run, period." He says, eating his rabbit meat. Landon and I smile at eachother, taking a bite as well. The three of us groan in slight disgust.

"She hates me, doesn't she?"

Rafael and I look back at Landon. "Hope?" I ask. "Probably." I shrug, taking another bite.

"You want to explain why you kept lying to her? Why you lied to me?" Rafael finally says. I had been waiting for him to finally come out with it.

"That's the problem. I can't." Landon admits "Every time I try to put it into words, all I can say is it's like the knife wanted me to steal it."

I look down at my shoes. "And then it wanted us to lie." I say softly

"Knives don't have conscious thoughts, guys."

"I know, but knives don't usually attract dragons either." Landon points out.

Rafael shrugs. "Um, well, what's done is done. It's not like you're ever gonna see her again anyway."

Landon looks rather bummed by the sound of that. "Hey, hey, it's just the three of us. Living off the land, like the good old days." I smile at my brother. "Nothing better."

"A burger." Landon chirps. "A burger would be better."

"A burger would be better." Raf chuckles. The three of us all laugh, letting it fall back into silence.

Sighing, I look around. It felt like I was 15 again, running from Phil, and the police. I look down at my shoes. "Hey, I got an idea," I hum.

"What kind of idea?" Landon asks me.

I smirk. "An idea to make some money." Turning on my heel, my eyes land on Rafael. "Put your new werewolf skills to work. You in?"

♞

The girl looks at us. "To the roof and back in 30 seconds?"

"Or we double your money." Landon says.

"You're on. Ten bucks."

"We got this." I say. I smile wide as I start the timer. "20,19,"

It seems like a flash as Rafael makes a couple leaps, when he grips onto the ladder. He flings onto the roof, trying to find a quick way down. "He's not gonna make it." Says the girl. Raf smirks at me, leaping off the roof, landing in front of us.

Right as the timer ends.

Smirking, I turn to the girl with curly hair. "Pay up, cupcake." I chirp. She smiles, handing me the money.

In mere time, I make a couple shops lifting trips while the boys gather cash. I come back with three bags of clothes as I walk up to them. "Wowie," I whistle.

Landon smirks at me. "What can I say? Our boy's on fire." He grins as Raf smiles at us.

"Triple or nothing." A man says.

I blink a few times, recognizing him from before I left. "Sir, we've already taken your money." I frown.

"Twice." Blurts Landon.

The man holds up a dollar bull. "How about a hundred? But I want him to do it in ten seconds." Landon and I look at Rafael, and I give him a reassuring nod. I turn back to the man.

"Start the clock."

♞

I wonder out from the woods. "Thank god." I groan, looking at a fresh pair of leggings hugging my legs, and a warm sweater. "This is way better than that three day old outfit."

Rafael hums in amazement as he takes a bite of his burger, while Landon tosses me my own. "Well, this is more like it."

I sit next to my brother. "Get used to it." I giggle. I toss Raf a french fry while Landon shuffles through the money. Suddenly, my brother looks around nervously. "Everything cool?" I ask.

He looks back at Raf and I. "Yeah. It's all good."

Raf and I look back at each other, shrugging. "What do you think of her?" Rafael asks.

I glance at him. "Hope?" He nods at me. "Well, she's a bitch, but at least for a reason."

"And what's that reason?"

My dirty shoes brush against the ground. Exhaling sharply, I look at him. "She's been hurt. A lot. Disappointed by a lot of people, including herself." I swallow the lump in my throat. "If anyone could understand that, it's me."

Raf smiles. "So you don't hate Miss Hope anymore?"

"Oh I hate her." I laugh. "I just understand why I hate her." Rafael nods, some what understanding.

We look up at Landon, who looks oddly nervous. Like, too nervous, even for him. "We should get out of here."

"Someone's weird." I tease.

"Come on, guys. Let's go." He ushers. He grabs the bags of food, even my shopping bags.

Rafael chuckles. "Why?" He asks. "Yo, this is a perfectly good spot, bro."

"We should keep moving." Landon explains sheepishly.

I frown. "Mm. Nah." I put my hand to my twin brothers chest, "I'm not going anywhere until you tell us what's up."

"Lena," Landon tries to stop me.

"Landon." I return the same tone. Suddenly, a dart flies at my brother, hitting him in the neck. He falls on the ground, causing me and Raf to kneel down. "Lan? Lan?" Once again, a needle flies, but it hits me instead.

Rafaels eyes are wide as he grabs my shoulder. "Lena!?"

I reach my hand up, feeling the needle. "Son of a bitch." I grumble.

And then I pass out.

♞

I watch as Landon and Rafael groan and sleepily open their eyes. "Morning, boys!" I say, wiggling against the chains. The three of us are each chained to three different trees.

"Raf?" Landon groans.

"Lan. You okay?"

"I don't think any of us are." I say. "But thanks for asking about me." I roll my eyes.

Rafael looks to the other tree. "Better off than him." His head shifts towards the man from before that offered us all the money. The sound of leaves crunching causes us to tense up. It comes from behind me. The three of us all struggle agains the metal chains.

"Relax. All of you." A man says as he walks by. He has a hood up as he walks pass the three of us. He tosses his hood down, looking back at us. "I am not here to hurt you."

He's a attractive guy, older, but not dramatically older. I mean, older than us, double our ages. But not Dr. Saltzman old. "Who are you?" I ask him.

"Your new best friend." He says.

I nod. "Mysterious." I hum. "Keeps it interesting." Smiling, I wiggle against the chains again. "Mind helping a girl out?"

♞

"Who is that?" Asks Landon, looking at the dead guy.

Our savior cuts the last of Rafaels chains. "A werewolf hunter."

Rafael looks surprised. "Is that really a thing?"

"You're new to this. You probably think that being supernatural gives you the upper hand. It doesn't." The man states. "This world is a scary place for someone like you, especially when you're dumb enough to use your powers in public."

I cross my arms over my chest. "So, what, you go around saving new werewolves or what?" I snap.

He looks at me. "The name's Jeremy." He begins to tell us. "I've known Alaric since I was a kid, and now I work for him sometimes. He told me to track you and make sure that you stay out of trouble, which, apparently, you suck at."

I hiss, placing my hand over my heart. "Ouch, that hurt the soul." I give him a sarcastic smile.

Jeremy doesn't say anything to me. He turns to Landon instead. "And that note? That was supposed to scare you to safety."

Raf and I look up in confusion. "Note?" Raf whispers. We all look back at Landon, who sighs. He reaches into his pocket, handing us a a dollar bill with a note.

RUN WOLF, OR DIE

I scoff, looking back at my brother. Jeremy notices the fact that I'm about to pound my brothers face in. "Hey," He says to me. "Come with me, I have to grab the shovels." I nod, looking back at the two foster brothers before following Dr. Saltzman's friend.

♞

After receiving a semi warm welcome by Dr. Saltzman, Jeremy and him walk off, while Raf leaves Landon and I behind.

I sigh. "Well, this is awkward." I admit.

Landon looks past me. "And it just got more awkward." Furrowing my brows in confusion, I turn around to see what he's talking about.

Hope Mikaelson, the tribrid, looks back at us. A look I can't quite read on her face. She looks at Landon first. Confusion, hurt, guilt spreads across her face, but it only turns cold again. And then she looks at me. The cold stare turns soft, as if she's looking in the mirror. Probably more confusion, pain, and whatever else is in her eyes before she takes a deep breath, turning on her heel and walking away.

I purse my lips, doing the same.

♞ AUTHORS NOTE ♞

I've been sick this whole weekend and the beginning of the week, so I've been writing a lot too. hence the insane amount of updates i've been doing.

anywho, how have you guys been? how do you like the story so far? idk what to really ask.

i'm actually super far ahead writing wise but i'm also at like a loss for a handful of reasons because i know what i want to happen but i can't really MAKE it happen because of like how the story lines pan out.

anywho, hope you guys are having a wonderful day, imma go, and i'll see you soon!