Lizzie, who was playing the quarterback position had the football her hands, and set it in its stand while she gave Kaleb, "Remember the game plan, Kaleb."

Kaleb scoffed as though he was offended by the entire concept of their plan, "Girl, I used to eat townie scrubs like this for lunch— that's before I was a vampire." He admited. "Well K, you're gonna have to tone it down." Monica said to him, despite being amused by his remarks. Kaleb frowned at the Queen Bee.

Kaleb quickly assessed where all of the Timberwolves players are on the field until the referee blows his whistle, signaling the start of the play.

Kaleb psyched himself up before sprinting toward the ball and kicking it hard. Connor caught the ball and dodged an attempted tackle before throwing the ball to Dana, who rushed down the field with it. Monica made it look as though she was about to tackle her, but ended up somersaulting onto the ground, much to Dana's delight. "YES!" Dana cheered loudly.

Sometime later, Dana scored a touchdown, and the referee called it as such. Kaleb angrily hit the ground with his fist before getting onto his feet.

Lizzie sneered at Dana and spoke with fake kindness. "Nice moves, Dana." She said with a fake smile. "I know I'm supposed to do this in the end zone, but..." Dana trailed off, before she slammed the ball down on Lizzie's toes as part of the touchdown move and laughed as she walked away.

Lizzie's hatred for her nemesis only grew stronger. Monica noticed how mad the Saltzman looked and decided to approach her. "Didn't that just go splendid?" The Montgomery asked sarcastically before she pulled a piece of hair out of her face from when she somersaulted earlier.

"One word. One word, and I could burn her perky little boobs to ash!" Lizzie seethed as Monica wished she could see that. "Hey, if I had magical powers I'd be tempted too... but maybe just take a moment to breathe."

The Stallions moved to the sidelines for a huddle before the next play. "All right, I just want to take a minute to let you know how proud I am. You're all doing a great job." Lizzie said, as Monica grinned, "Yeah guys you're doing incredible." She added, her voice thrilled with sarcasm as Josie shot her a glare. Kaleb looked at Lizzie as though she'd lost her mind, "We're getting our asses kicked." He huffed. "Which means we're doing a great job." Josie quickly added.

"What's the play?" MG asked them. "Same one as always—" Lizzie said. "Run around, make it look like you know what you're doing, then fail." Monica explained as Kaleb groaned. "On three." Josie said, as the team all clapped in unison, with the exception of Kaleb, who was scowling, before getting into position.

"Ready! White 80! Set. Hut!" Josie passed the ball between her legs to Lizzie, who took off with the ball. Dana counted aloud as she visually tracked her, "One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi..."

"Pass it, I'm open!" Monica called out, waving her hands. Lizzie hesitated, unsure of what she should do as Dana continues to count, "Four Mississippi, five Mississippi..." Dana stopped counting and rushed to tackle Lizzie, who threw the ball to Monica at the last moment. In an amazing twist, Monica caught the ball in the air and ran just slow enough that no one guessed she was a vampire, until she reached the end zone.

Monica, despite what she'd said moments earlier about failing, was enjoying the attention and instead of fumbling the ball, did a varsity in the air and slammed the ball down onto the ground. The Stallions crowd went wild, and Penelope looked pleased while Monica and Kaleb fist-bump each other. Unfortunately, Lizzie was not as pleased as the others are by her score.

"Mon, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Lizzie suddenly growled, as MG, Kaleb and Josie all looked at Lizzie in surprise, for raising her voice at the girl she seemed to idolise. Monica looked wide-eyed at Lizzie for a moment, trying not to get frustrated and snap at the witch.

Dana, who was nearby, jumped into their conversation, "Pretty obvious, isn't it? She's saving your ass." Dana turned to look at Monica, who smirkee at the girl in response.

❤︎

"I don't believe a word you're saying!" Hope snapped at Landon, as they'd found him in a root cellar. "You have every right to be mad at me, but I am telling you the truth." Landon pleaded before he looked over at the twins for some back-up. "Come on, man, help me."

Rafael sighed and looks at Hope, "I believe him." Hope looked at Rafael in surprise, "You believe that a fire-breathing woman burned the bus alive?" She asked in complete disbelief, before glancing at Ruby, wanting her input. "Yes Hope, I do. Landon is not a liar." Ruby admitted, crossing her arms.

"And Landon happened to be spared?" Hope asked, looking between the three of them, waiting for an answer as she impatiently tapped her foot on the ground. "He told you that you ran." Rafael argued. "And conveniently lost the knife on the way?" The tribid asked. Ruby rolled her eyes, before saying "Yes Hope."

"She kept coming at me like she was gonna take it from me. She was burning everything in her path!" Landon confessed. "You want to explain to me what you were doing stealing that knife in the first place?" Hope asked, glaring at the boy.

"I don't remember stealing it!" Landon admitted as Hope rolled her eyes in disbelief. Ruby just sighed at the tribrid in response. "Of course not. How about pretending to be compelled?" The tribrid asked. "That was to avoid being thrown back in the werewolf dungeon!"

Hope knowing what he really meant, couldn't help but nitpick at his phrasing, "Transitional cellar!" To which Ruby and Landon hissed back in unison, "Small spaces!"

"Hope, you have to understand, Dr. Saltzman had already told me the school wasn't gonna let me stay. If he thought I'd talk, he'd lock me back up. There wasn't a good ending for me!" Landon declared as Hope's face fell, realizing that he had a valid point.

"I didn't want to steal from you, and I don't want a fire-breather chasing me. I'm sorry for all of it." Landon spoke. "He's not lying. I know him." Rafael backed him up. "So, if he says there's a fire-breathing woman running around the woods, then there is a—" Ruby was cut off as suddenly, Alaric raced through the door, looking panicked.

"There's a fire-breathing woman running through the woods!" Alaric spoke all in one breath, before he noticed that Hope, Ruby and Rafael were standing beside an anxious-looking Landon. "Did I or did I not say "don't engage?"" He asked as Hope and Ruby both rolled their eyes in annoyance.

"He's only dangerous if crappy apologies can kill." Hope huffed as Alaric frownee. "Looks can be deceiving. Now, our bus refugee? Turns out, she's a pyromancer."

"Wait, what's a pyromancer?" Ruby asked curiously. Hope seemed surprised by this new information before she answered Ruby, "A fire-breathing witch." Rafael took this as confirmation that he was right and looked at Hope, "Huh." He huffed. Hope ignored Rafael and focused on Alaric.

"Ric, she wants the knife." Hope reminded him. "Okay, well, where is it?" Alaric asked before he and Hope both turned to Landon, who stuttered, "I... I lost it in the woods. I was running around in circles all night, trying to find a place to hide." He insisted. Alaric sighed, deciding to take Landon's word before beginning to formulate a plan.

"Okay, okay... Well, let's, uh, find it before she does, huh?" Alaric suggested before the five exited the root cellar, only to find the woman standing nearby, waiting for them. She growled menacingly at them, which sets the group on edge. "...We don't want any trouble..." Ruby insisted, as the woman held out her hand expectantly, which confused them, especially when she directed all of her attention toward Landon.

"What does she want?" Rafael asked in frustration, as Landon anxiously answered with, "I don't know." The twins then narrowed their eyes at their foster brother, feeling as though he knew more than what he was telling. "... Landon.." Ruby sighed in realisation.

Hope noticed Ruby's tone and quickly realised that Landon had really lied about not having the knife. "Maybe she wants the knife you said you don't have." The tribrid scoffed.

The woman's eyes started to glow orange, and Alaric quickly rushed the others back to safety. "Back in the cellar. Go, go, go!" He ordered as the students all turned on their heels and rushed back into the cellar.

As expected, the woman began breathing fire behind them, forcing them to rush back through the doors into the root cellar, which immediately caught fire.

Once they were inside the cellar, Hope looked at Landon furiously and cornered him. "Where the hell is it?!" She snapped, as Rafael and Ruby frowned at Landon, not willing to defend him now as he'd lied to them. Landon quickly pulled the knife out of his inner jacket pocket and handed it to her. "I'm sorry! I panicked!" The boy blurted out as the twins looked disappointed. "What the hell, Lan?" Rafael asked.

Alaric noticed the doors were still on fire and redirected their attention to the more immediate problem. "Hope, the doors!"

"I got it— Adiuuatur." Hope said, the spell extinguishing the flames, as the woman seemingly stopped breathing fire at them. "Okay, it's a quick fix. It won't last long." She admitted.

"All right. Great. I need a cell phone." Alaric said as Landon gestured toward a large barrel nearby, which was full of cellphones, wallets, and jewellery. "Take your pick." He replied.

Hope and Ruby's mouths fell open before they both asked, "What is all this?" Rafael reached out and picked up an ID card that had belonged to the driver of the bus and quickly figured it out, "It's from the people on the bus."

The trio turned around and looked at Landon suspiciously. "I didn't bring it here—" Landon blurted as Hope cut him off, giving Ruby a frustrated look. "If he says I swear one more time, I'm gonna melt him." She hissed.

❤︎

The game continued on, with Josie once again starting the play by tossing the ball between her legs to Lizzie once she called it. "Set! Hut!" Lizzie caught the ball and went to throw it as Dana rushed toward Monica.

Monica then tossed the ball to Josie, who was in such a perfect position to catch it that she was forced to slap the ball away from herself to avoid doing so on accident, making it obvious she missed it on purpose. When the Timberwolves looked at her questioningly, Josie simply shrugged and walks away.

Dana looks at Lizzie with feigned sympathy. "Your sister sucks at football. You should have absorbed her in the womb." She spoke casually. Lizzie was completely sick of Dana's taunting, and felt though she was unable to take any more of it without fighting back. "You know what? We've been playing this game for years, and for years, you've been digging at me."

Lizzie stepped toward Dana and looked her up and down before she asked, "Is it because I'm prettier than you?" Dana smiled fakely in response to her insult before throwing back her own, "Honestly, I just get a thrill from tormenting all the crazies. Speaking of... it's been a while since you paid a visit to my mom's pharmacy. Maybe you're feeling a little delusional because you're off your meds." Dana insisted causing Lizzie's face to fall, before she shot Dana a nasty glare.

Monica, who had overheard the entire conversation, felt rage burn within her as she turned to face Dana. Memories burned through her brain, memories from her early highschool years, when she had transitioned to a female. Students had constantly bullied her, making remarks like Dana had made, to her... calling her crazy.

This comment hit Monica hard, and the angry vampire found herself storming towards Dana with her hands balled into fists. Dana, hearing the vampire approaching, span on her heels and smiled at Monica, though her smile faded when she noticed how angry she looked. "How dare you make fun of Lizzie for something she can't control." Monica growled.

Dana laughed awkwardly, "Who cares, Mon?" She asked. Monica laughed humourlessly before she snapped, "No bitch, you don't get to call me Mon. It's Monica to you— And I care. What goes on upstairs isn't always something that can be controlled— So don't you dare make fun of Lizzie for that!" Monica spat, as everyone on the field watched them.

"She's getting help, maybe you could pull your head out of your ass and show her some encouragement and support. Asking for and seeking help is hard, and Lizzie is strong for doing so." She concluded.

Dana just laughed, "She's clearly not strong if she needed help in the first place." She snorted, but nobody laughed. Seeing the angered look on Monica's face, nobody even dared to reply to Dana's taunting.

The tall blonde then took a step forward, taking one of her balled first before she struck Dana's cheek, punching her.

Gasps were heard throughout the field, as Lizzie and Josie's jaws dropped. "Monica... stood up for me." Lizzie blurted out, in shock. Dorian pulled the two girls apart, benching Monica for the rest of the game for physically attacking Dana.

Monica sat beside Penelope, who was still really surprised. The rest of the team were huddled up, having a discussion. Monica used her super hearing to listen, and heard that they planned to use their powers in the game. With that, Monica grinned to herself.

"Was Lizzie Saltzman really worth being disqualified for?" Penelope asked, turning to her best friend. Monica hummed for a moment, looking to the huddled team that just separated. When Lizzie caught the vampire's eyes, she shot her a bright smile, thankful for what she'd done. Monica smiled back, before she turned to Penelope. "Yes. Yes she was."