***

Much to Rafael's dismay, they did end up taking MG to meet his father. They found his father alone in a church practicing a sermon. MG had revealed himself to his father and the two of them had a very touching reunion. The reunion was the answer to Vienna's question about what MG's mother was hiding. From what Vienna had understood, Mrs. Greasley hadn't even told MG's father that MG was alive as a vampire. That was why she refused to let MG see his father. Finding that out had definitely upset Vienna.

While MG and his father had a touching reunion, Landon, Rafael, and Vienna had gone out into the woods. One reason was to give the other two space to catch up and another was because of the full moon. They didn't have enough time to head all the way back to the school so they had to manage with Rafael wolfing out in the middle of the woods now. They had lit a fire so they wouldn't have to worry about freezing to death which was good since Vienna felt like she was on the verge of frostbite at this point. She was never able to handle the cold well.

What they worked on now was making sure that Rafael didn't hurt anyone while under the full moon's influence. They were going to manage this by chaining him up to a nearby tree which Landon had already gotten to work on. Landon let out a grunt as he tightened the chains that wrapped around Rafael, "All good."

"You sure this is gonna work?" Rafael inquired.

No. Honestly, no. Vienna didn't think it would work at all. But she hoped for the best and she would be ready to use magic if necessary. Thankfully, Vienna wasn't the only one unsure about the whole thing. Landon just had a funnier way of putting it, "Oh, to be honest, bro, this is actually a first for me. But if you have a better idea," Landon made sure the lock on the chains was secured. "I'm all ears."

"And I'm here in case anything happens to go wrong." The blonde wrapped her arms around her knees in an attempt to warm herself up.

This wasn't enough for Rafael, "A better plan would've been not leaving the school at all."

It wasn't too bad that they left the school. MG was able to reunite with his father after not seeing or talking to him for who-knows-how-long. He got to find out the truth about why his father had avoided him. They were at least able to accomplish that. Landon had been on the same page, "Well, excuse me for wanting to help MG," Landon grunted as he tightened the chains further. "Or you."

Okay, this was no longer going to involve Vienna. This was starting to get a little too personal and she was not going to get involved since she didn't know Landon and Rafael well enough to get into these topics. Rafael was very upset with Landon still, "Yeah, and now we're all three screwed. Cause, what, you- You couldn't find your parents, so you... You made him get answers from his?" Rafael shook his head. "That's not right."

Oh... Vienna never really thought about it like that. Well, she did but she also didn't. She knew that it was selfish for her and Landon to project their own desires on him. But still, "Answers that made his life better," Landon voiced Vienna's thoughts. "And this is coming from the guy who won't even have the conversation?"

The statement confused Rafael, "What conversation?"

"The conversation," Landon stopped as he tried to think of the right words. He gestured to the werewolf that was chained to the trees, "You have been avoiding all week. And, hey, look at that," He held up the key for Rafael to see, "I have the key to the padlocks. So..," The key got tossed to the side and Vienna's eyes widened. "We're having it."

How were they even going to let him out now? That key could be anywhere in all of the dead leaves now. The next best thing they could do would be to drive all the way back to town for some bolt cutters. While Vienna had been worried about the key, Rafael was confused about what Landon was trying to say to him, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Raf," Landon sighed. "Come on, man."

"What?" Rafael inquired.

"Look..," Landon panted as he started to get more and more upset. Whatever Rafael was refusing to talk about was clearly starting to get to Landon. "We both know you have feelings for Hope."

And that is where Vienna stopped paying attention, "This is not for me to know." That talk was way too personal for her and it just felt like she was intruding on something that she shouldn't be. Although, the new revelation did make her wonder. She kind of thought that Rafael had a crush on Josie so it was surprising to hear that he liked Hope instead. Oh, no. Wait until Lizzie found out. She would flip, Vienna could already hear it now.

What she also heard was the sound of a bone breaking. She jumped up and looked in the direction of the noise. She was glad to see that Rafael hadn't snapped Landon's neck from anger. The werewolf was currently going through the transformation which was why she had been hearing his bones breaking. While Vienna was chill about the situation, Landon was freaking out as Rafael groaned in pain, "What do I do? What do I do?"

That was not helping Rafael at all. Vienna tried to speak calmly to Landon in an attempt for him to do the same, "First of all, Landon, don't freak out," She explained. He looked into her eyes and seemed to relax a little. "It will probably make things worse."

The boy nodded, "Right. Don't freak out," More of Rafael's bones started to break. "I'm freaking out!" Yeah, she should've known that wouldn't last long. Landon was one of the most anxious people that you would ever meet. Vienna hadn't even known him for that long so that was how obvious it was.

"You got to get out of here," Rafael looked up with yellow eyes. He tried his best to speak through the blinding pain. "Grab MG and steer clear of the woods until morning."

Any normal person would have listened. They would have run as far as they could and wouldn't come back until they knew for sure that everything was safe. Landon was not a normal person, "No," Landon was someone who had a death wish apparently. "There's no way. I'm gonna stay right here. We're gonna get through this together like we always have."

The yellow gaze was then turned onto Vienna. Vienna gave him a, 'Are you serious?!' look, "I can't leave if he doesn't. I'm pretty much his only line of protection." This meant that she was stuck here until Landon decided to save himself... That was not going to happen so they were going to be stuck here for, what Vienna assumed would be, the rest of the night until sunrise the next morning.

A growl came from the woods. Vienna froze and started surveying the trees around her. She hadn't been able to see anything but she knew for sure that she definitely heard something. Landon let out a gasp and started looking around as well, "What the hell was that?" At least Vienna wasn't the only one hearing things.

Pushing through the pain, Rafael stood up, "I don't know."

"I would hate to find out." Vienna hugged herself tightly.

More growling came from the woods and Vienna could feel herself start to close in on herself from fear. Landon let out an exhale as another growl sounded near them. Vienna jumped when she saw a figure run around in the woods. Rafael persisted as more strange growls broke through the sound of the crackling fire, "Lan. Lan, look at me," Landon turned to him. "You need to run."

The dark-haired boy pointed at the werewolf, "Not without you."

Oh, come on. Why couldn't he just focus on himself for once? Why did he have to be so self-righteous? While Vienna wished she was braver about the situation, she wasn't. She had a bad feeling since they came out here and the thing that was waiting for them was not making it any better. Taking one more glance around, Vienna looked over at Landon with a pleading expression, "Landon, maybe we should run. We don't know what that thing is out there and we can't deal with that and Raf."

"I'm not leaving him." Was all Landon said.

You remember when Vienna talked about the key earlier? Yeah, well he needed it now so he got down on the ground and started looking for it. Vienna knew that they would end up needing the key eventually. He really didn't think it through when he tossed it to the side like that. Surprisingly, it didn't take too long to find it. It only took a minute of struggling until he finally found it.

Once he had the key in his grasp, Landon tried to unlock the chains from Rafael. Vienna stared at him in shock. What was he doing trying to unchain a transitioning werewolf? Before Vienna could lecture him about it, Landon jumped back from fear when Rafael's bones started breaking again. The boy grunted in pain as he yelled, "I said... Run!" Landon stayed still and because he did, Vienna did also. "I said run!"

"I told you I am not leaving you alone," Landon said stubbornly. Rafael's eyes turned to normal just when a screech could be heard in the distance. Landon picked up a stick, ready to attack whatever would come at them. If Vienna hadn't been on her guard as well then she probably would've laughed at him. There was no greater relief than seeing MG coming toward them. Landon had relaxed as well at the sight of their friend, "Damn it, MG," He slammed the stick on the ground. "You s- Scared the crap out of me."

Placing a hand on her chest to calm her racing heart, Vienna let out a sigh, "A little warning might've been nice, you know?" He had them scared out of their wits. She thought he was some kind of monster that was coming to kill them.

A grunt escaped Rafael, "MG, you can't be here," The werewolf turned to the vampire. "I'm about to turn. It's not safe." He was right. It wasn't good for both Rafael and MG to be out here together. Any vampire-werewolf novel will tell you that. They were miles away from the school and there was no telling how long it would take Hope to get here if MG got bit.

What happened next was shocking, "For him," MG was focused on Landon and Landon only. There was a look in his eyes that sent shivers down Vienna's spine. "'Cause I'm about to kick his ass."

"What? Why?" Landon started to ask.

No response came. MG used his vampire speed to rush toward him and push him down. Vienna ran over to the two almost immediately, preparing to jump in if things got out of hand, "Whoa, hey!" Once she made sure that Landon wasn't hurt, Vienna whipped her head around to look at MG, "MG! What's wrong?"

MG only pointed at Landon with a look that showed that he was clearly upset with the boy about something, "This was all your fault. You made me come here," Landon stood up with his back leaning against the tree behind him. Vienna watched MG with a cautious and confused expression. Just what happened to him after they left him? "You rang that doorbell. You showed me that paper. And you put all your crap on me."

"Lan," Rafael cut in. "Lan, get me out of these chains."

Holding his hands up in front of him, Landon tried to keep MG at a distance to prevent the boy from causing any real damage to him, "MG, I'm sorry. What happ-" He was cut off by MG punching him in the face. Vienna shot up almost immediately after the action. Rafael called out to Landon but it was hard to focus on him and MG both. "Okay, I deserve that. Now calm down!

"Landon's right, MG!" Vienna stepped between the two of them. "You need to calm down!"

It was at this moment that blood started to pour out of Landon's mouth. Vienna observed as MG stared at the blood that Landon had left behind on MG's hand after he had gotten punched. MG started to shake as veins appeared under his eyes and his eyes darkened. Oh, this was bad. This was really, really bad. Rafael was the first one to take initiative, "Hey, look at me," MG did as he was told. "MG," Rafael shook his head at him, "No."

"MG, you can fight this," Landon stated. "You have to fight this. Please."

"You don't understand," MG cried. Rafael's bones broke more which prevented him from saying anything to help with their situation. MG didn't even seem fazed by Rafael's bones breaking. He was too caught up in his emotions and his bloodlust, "I don't have anything left to fight for. My dad was right. I'm a monster."

In a quiet tone, Landon tried to calm him down, "You're not."

They needed to try and get him to see reason. That was what was going to get them out of this. Vienna did as she had done to Landon early. She calmed her voice, despite the shaking that was present, and made it come across like everything was going to be fine, "You have so many things to fight for. I mean, what about Kaleb-" Vienna was unable to say anymore as MG rushed forward with his vampire speed and pushed her to the side. Vienna's head hit the ground harshly which caused her vision to become foggy. She felt like her mind was running slower than before. She barely even noticed the sound of ripping flesh, Rafael calling out to MG. What she did hear was the sound of a body dropping to the ground. Vienna had slowly started to recover and she raised herself up to see what happened. What she saw was Landon's body on the ground with a gaping, bloody hole in his neck. Vienna's widened and she gasped, "MG."

The sound of her saying his name caught his attention. It was like he had just remembered that she was there. He turned to face her. He had the same murderous, bloodthirsty look in his eyes, "And you... You helped him," What was even going on anymore? "If you didn't unlock the door of the van then we wouldn't have come here in the first place."

"No! MG!" Rafael yelled.

At this point, Vienna was barely able to think. The head injury had made it to where she wasn't able to react as quickly as she should. There was also the shock of seeing Landon's dead body that still hadn't subsided. "MG, wait..," He started walking toward her. Vienna crawled back and forced herself onto her feet, swaying a little, "MG, stop!" He wasn't going to listen. That left one option. She raised her hand, "Immob-"

The spell was left unfinished. MG grabbed the hand she held up in front of her and used it to drag her toward him. The next thing Vienna felt was the sharp pain of razor-sharp teeth digging into her neck. She yelled out in pain. The pain was so bad. Her skin was being ripped apart. She could feel herself getting weaker. As she got weaker so did the pain. Eventually, she felt nothing. She saw nothing. She heard nothing. She was nothing.

***

It was unsure how much time has passed. Rafael stood in front of the bodies of two people. Landon and Vienna. He had managed to make it back to the school but lost his memories. With the help of Hope, he was able to piece together what had happened. Which led him right to the clearing in the woods where he had been chained to the tree... And right to where Landon and Vienna had been killed. Landon's body lay near where the fire was while Vienna's body was right by the tree where she had been killed.

The first thing Rafael did was head to Landon's body. He flipped Landon over onto his back just as Hope walked onto the scene. Upon seeing the bodies, she placed a hand on her stomach and a hand over her mouth as she cried. Rafael wasn't able to stop his own tears. Hope collapsed beside Landon's body and she sobbed as she looked back and forth between the two bodies that lay before them.

It wasn't long until Dr. Saltzman came running to where they had been. His eyes fell onto Vienna immediately. He teared up as he walked toward Vienna's still body. He covered his mouth to stop himself from behind sick, "What am I gonna tell Caroline? What am I gonna tell the girls?" He turned his gaze to Landon's body. "Oh, damn it."

Hearing someone else walk toward them, Rafael looked to see who it was. They were now joined by two people, Kaleb and MG. Hope noticed Rafael staring at MG until he finally stood. She knew where this was going to go so she quickly turned back to Rafael, "Raf. Raf," She grabbed his arm. "Please, Raf. Raf," Hope tried to stand to stop him from attacking MG. Kaleb stood in front of MG to protect him. "Landon and Vi wouldn't want this," Hope stood directly in front of him now, "They wanted us to be better. Give them that respect," Rafael nodded tearfully. "Give them respect." The two hugged and let out their tears together.

Smoke started to come from Landon's body. MG stared at the boy in confusion, "Uh... Am I still delusional or do y'all see this?"

This caused everyone to stop and look to see what MG had been talking about. Surely enough, more and more smoke started to roll off Landon's body. Hope gasped as Rafael gestured to Landon's body, "Put him out, Hope."

"Uh..," It took a moment for the girl to get her bearings. She was still distraught over the deaths of the people closest to her. She thrust her hand out and said a spell, "Adiuuatur," Nothing happened. Smoke continued to come from Landon like a fire had been lit beneath him. "It's not working. I... Wh- What's going on?" Hope turned to Dr. Saltzman for any kind of response.

The headmaster had no idea either, "I don't know. I've never seen anything like this."

Within a single second, Landon's body had caught fire. His whole body was engulfed in flames and the fire did go out eventually. Landon had gone away with the fire. The only thing that had been left was ash that had been left in the shape of him. Hope cried upon seeing the sight. Kaleb had let out a small, "Damn."

Not being able to hold herself back, Hope tried to head over to Landon. the girl was stopped by both Dr. Saltzman and Rafael grabbing her arm. The only one to say something to her had been Dr. Saltzman, "No. Not yet, not yet. I don't think it's over."

"What's not over?" She looked back at Landon.

"We've been wondering if he's supernatural," Dr. Saltzman stated. "We have our answer."

"What?" Hope inquired.

The ash form of Landon started to break. The scene had elicited a gasp from Hope. From out of the ash came a hand. Soon enough, a whole body emerged from the ash. Once the body sat up and stood, they had been able to see that it was Landon. Landon had looked at all of them with a puzzled expression, "What's going on?"

"You ever heard of the legend of the Phoenix?" Dr. Saltzman questioned.

There was still one more problem, "But... What about..." Hope turned her gaze to Vienna's body.

One boy in particular had no clue what she had been referring to. He had died before Vienna so he didn't even know that she had died. Turning in the direction Hope had been looking in, Landon was met with a horrible sight, "Oh, no. Vienna."

Tears filled Hope's eyes and they rolled down her cheeks. Unlike Landon, who had emerged alive from ashes, Vienna was still dead. Her body was pale and blood pooled on the ground below her. There was a huge hole in her neck that MG had torn into her neck and drained her of her blood. Dr. Saltzman was barely able to look at the sight without wanting to shed a few tears himself.

That was when they were all given a miracle. Completely out of nowhere, like what had happened with Landon, Vienna's body started to glow. Rafael was the first one to speak, "Is that supposed to happen?"

"Uh..," Yeah, Dr. Saltzman had absolutely no idea. "Maybe. Everyone, just... Don't move."

The older man held his arms out to stop any of the kids from going to Vienna. Not long after Dr. Saltzman had told everyone to not move, energy came bursting out of Vienna. The group had to shield their eyes and take a few steps back so they weren't struck by the strange energy. It was unclear how long the energy persisted until it finally died down. But when the light died down and the energy had gone, they turned to see what had happened.

She was perfectly fine. The wound on Vienna's neck was completely gone and color returned to her skin. She looked exactly the same as the last time that anyone had seen her alive. No one dared moved as they waited to see what happened. A sense of relief filled them when Vienna's eyes shot open and she gasped loudly, shooting up from off the ground. Vienna looked around with wide eyes, feeling a little dizzy from sitting up too fast.

Pain started to resonate through her head which made her groan, "Bloody hell... My head is killing me," She brought a hand up to her head in a gesture to relieve the pain. She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment and eventually noticed how quiet it was. She opened her eyes to see that everyone was staring at her with surprise, "What?" Vienna moved her hand but it ended up getting caught in her hair. She stared at her hair to see it had been dyed red. She looked at some other strands to see that they had also been coated in a red color and had a metallic smell to the strands of hair, "What happened?"

~~~

Me after having my character killed very traumatically by one of her best friends:

Hey, guys! It's me. I just wanted to pop in and let you know that Vienna looking the same after she regenerated wasn't some kind of mistake on my part. It was definitely intentional. I wonder if you guys can guess why I made it to where her appearance didn't change 😉.