Jordan instantly shook his head, "No. God Josie, no." He responded to her. "The only way I will accept that offer is if you transfer all of your dark magic to me. Every single bit of it." He then decided as he held out his hands.

Josie glared before suddenly she set all of the grimoires on fire. Jordan's eyes widened in a panic, and he casted a spell to extinguish the flames, but it was too late. Each and every one of his grimoires were destroyed.

"There's no saving me, Jordan. The sooner you accept that, the better." Josie hummed, as Jordan shook his head. "Well I refuse to believe that, Josie." The Saltzman glared at her boyfriend again, "Well you're just a damn fool." She decided. Before Jordan could even utter out a single syllable, Josie was gone. He raced out of his dorm to find her, but couldn't see her anywhere.

He sighed heavily before he placed his hands over his face. Guilt filled the boy, as he blamed himself for all of this.

❤︎

Ruby looked at Monica with a concerned look, before she opened her mouth to ask what they were going to do with Josie, but she doesn't get the chance to, as there was a knock at her door.

"She's busy!" Monica huffed, as Ruby had just woken up and didn't need to be bombarded with visitors. "She will really want to open the door." A voice was heard, belonging to MG. Ruby shared a puzzled look with Monica, before she got to her feet to go and open the door.

The pinkette blinked in surprise, when she saw Rafael standing in the doorway, beside MG. "Rafi!!" She squeaked as she raced over to tightly hug her twin. Rafael (who was feeling weak) was taken back by her force, but hugged her back. "Hey little wolf, I missed you." Rafael chuckled weakly. Ruby quickly turned to frown at Monica, who shrugged innocently, "I guess it's catching on." The Montgomery teased.

Ruby turned back to her brother. "How was your time at Dads? And why haven't you called me?" She asked. MG gave Rafael a look, unsure of whether or not he was going to tell his twin sister the truth.

"It was really fun.. and i'm sorry! There was no reception in the woods!" Rafael said, deciding not to tell her the truth. MG looked away from the Waithe pair, knowing that Rafael had not been with his father for the past few days.

"It's okay I'm just... I'm so happy that you're back!" Ruby chirped before she hugged her twin yet again. "I have so much to catch you up on." She added as Rafael chuckled, though he seemed tired.

❤︎

A couple days later, Alaric stood behind the podium, looking to the students in the crowd. Hope and Ruby sat together as Ruby leant her head on the Mikealson's shoulder as she faced the front. Monica sat nearby with Lizzie and Jordan by her side. The IT girl's hand was intertwined with her girlfriend's.

"I know you are all worried. Believe me, no one is more worried than I am. My daughter Josie is still missing. But even as I speak, we're doing everything we can to find her." Alaric began, as Lizzie let out a sigh. Monica gave her hand a gentle squeeze, before she glanced at Jordan, to see the boy wearing a guilty look. She frowned, before reaching her free hand out to place it on top of his.

"Jed and the wolves are attempting to track her. Kaleb and the vampires have compelled local police for any help that they can provide. We will find her and bring her home. That said, I just want to reiterate, under no circumstance should any of you approach her. While she is our family and friend, she is under the influence of black magic and... not herself." Alaric continued to explain as Ruby faced Hope particularly, knowing that her girlfriend wasn't really one for listening to their headmaster.

"Your safety and Josie's is my top priority. I promise you I will get through to her and bring back the Josie we know and love safely. But first... we just have to find her." The older Saltzman concluded, before everyone turned around to face the back of the room upon hearing a loud thud.

Floating in the air was Josie, still dressed in her new attire. "I'm right here, Dad." She announced, before glancing at the shocked students. "Well, don't look so shocked. Did you really think that I would miss my birthday?" She added before her eyes darted to Lizzie, "Oh, I'm sorry, our birthday. So... what did I miss?"

❤︎

Ruby and Hope sat on the benches, watching Josie and her minions set up for her birthday party. "Raf and Landon went for a walk I believe.." Ruby said, answering Hope's question to where the boys were. "This is probably a lot for Raf to take in. He's been gone for a while." Hope replied to Ruby.

Ruby nodded reluctantly, "You know... Josie destroyed Jordan's grimoires. Decades of magic used by the Luna coven is gone." She stated as Hope frowned as she could empathise with the Montgomery since Josie had burnt her precious belongings in the past too. "That's awful.." Hope sighed.

"And it's going to make things a lot harder.." The tribrid realised. "Precisely. Which is why Monica and Jordan are getting ahold of Cynthia to see if she has any ideas. Luckily, she still has her own grimoires so hopefully they'll be of use to us." Ruby explained before the girlfriends notice Lizzie walking over to them.

"Okay that settles it. My sister is definitely a monster." She stated, as she sat beside Hope. "Who else would decorate for our birthday party with black?" She asked. Ruby snorted in amusement, as Hope narrowed her eyes at Lizzie, "Shouldn't you be in like, witness protection or something?" The tribrid asked the blonde. "If she still wants to kill me, the safest place I can be is right here next to you" Lizzie declared.

"Spill. I want to help you with whatever plan you're cooking up." The blonde said, as Ruby's eyes widened by how loud Lizzie was talking. "Okay fine, but just like, keep it down. I don't want her to know that we're up to anything." Hope quickly said.

"Up to what, exactly?" Josie suddenly appeared, basically jump-scaring the trio. Ruby, Lizzie and Hope all turned around in surprise as their eyes landed on Josie who was behind them. "Come on guys, this is all so unnecessary. If you have something to ask me, go ahead. I don't bite."

"Then I will." Hope declared, "Where's Josie?" She asked. "I'm right here, silly." The dark witch said, causing the trio to frown. "The real Josie, our Josie." Ruby huffed in annoyance.

"So you mean weak Josie? She's gone... I thought I made that very clear. Thanks to you, selfish sissy." Josie declared before turning to Lizzie. "Lizzie isn't selfish." Ruby pointed out, but Lizzie seemed to disagree with her friend. "You're right, okay? I was selfish. If you just come back, I'll try and change." Lizzie pleaded to her sister.

Josie seemed to think about it but then shook her head. "You always try to change and it never sticks. So, pass. Any other questions?" She asked. "Wow. The ableism really popped off there." Ruby decided to speak up with a frown, not liking the attitude of Dark Josie. "Also, it's a lie." Hope added, defending the blonde.

"You said you came back here for a reason." Hope then added. "Because deep down, you know that we can bring the good inside of you out." Ruby continued, as she believed her friend was really still in there.

Josie sighed, "You're right. I do have a reason. And now I have to ruin the surprise." She clicked her fingers and suddenly a banner across the room unravelled. In big, bold letters it said, Happy Merge day.

Hope, Ruby and especially Lizzie looked at it in complete surprise. "Merging isn't even possible. We're not 22!" Lizzie reminded her twin.

Josie turned back to her sister. "Yeah, see, it turns out that's just a guideline. Kind of like driving a car or smoking cigarettes. Nobody wants you to do it before you're old enough, but you can." She said, before putting on a faux smile. "So I'll see you all tonight? Finger foods at around 7:30ish and then the Merge at 8:00. Oh, and don't be late, Lizzie, or else I will have to do something drastic."

❤︎

"Thanks Cyn." Monica said to Cynthia, before their phone call ended. The blonde then looked to Jordan who looked devastated. "This is all my fault." He decided. Monica frowned, "How?" She asked, not believing those words for a second.

"I shouldn't have let Jo help Mum and I with the spell.. that's the whole reason she has so much black magic in her veins in the first place— and the sandclock?? I should have been the one to break it not her, I—" Jordan stoped, as a tear rolled down his cheek. "I could have taken the dark magic. I would have taken it for all of us, and dealt with it." He said.

"Jordy. This isn't your fault." Monica insisted, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. "As much as you wanted to protect Josie, she made her choice. She decided to use black magic in the first place and break arms of innocent people." Monica paused, as she realised that she was spiralling down a Josie hate train.

"Look, we're going to figure this out, okay? We're going to save her." The older Montgomery decided, because even though she was frenemies with Josie, she knew how much she meant to Jordan and the vampire would do anything for her brother.

❤︎

After sitting with Monica, Alyssa and her crystal ball, Lizzie got to her feet. "To hell with the Merge." She announced. Monica also got to her feet as she gave Lizzie a proud smile, "That's the spirit babe." She grinned.

Lizzie had asked Alyssa to tell her of the results of the merge but either way it seemed if Lizzie chose to be selfless, she was going to lose. "Live long and prosper, kid." Alyssa said, before the door to the dorm suddenly opened revealing Josie.

"She won't." Josie snarled before she clicked her fingers, causing Alyssa's neck to snap. Monica inhaled sharply while Lizzie's eyes widened, as Alyssa dead body fell to the floor.

"And neither will you. Was that drastic enough for you?" Josie asked Lizzie. Hitting a nerve with Monica, the vampire sped towards Josie to attack her, but as the dark witch waved her hand, Monica's neck was snapped. Lizzie lurched forward to catch her girlfriend, as she still looked to be in shock of this whole ordeal.

"You... you killed her." Lizzie said as she looked from Monica to Alyssa, "And if you don't show up tonight, I'll start killing your actual friends. Maybe I'll even kill your girlfriend, permanently." Josie threatened before she left. Lizzie held onto her girlfriend, seeming absolutely terrified.

❤︎

"Rafi?" Ruby blurted out as she saw him in the hallway, looking unusually distressed. "Hey— Raf, are you okay?" The pinkette asked, as she stopped him.

Rafael glanced up, as he looked shaken. "Ruby— I'm alright yeah. I just need to go for a walk." He lied as he tried to walk around her.

Ruby shook her head as she quickly reached to grab Rafael's arm, before he could go anywhere. "Rafi! You've gone on like.. forty little walks today. Literally everytime I've been approaching you— you've needed to go on a walk." She stated, before her expression softened, "What's going on? You know you can talk to me." The Waithe insisted.

Rafael seemed teary eyed, but shook his head. "Ruby, I just need a walk to cool off. I will explain later, okay?" He insisted. "Do you want me to come with you?" Ruby asked. "No!" Rafael replied, quite harshly as his twin seemed taken back by his tone.

"No, no. Sorry I didn't mean to come off so angry." Rafael assured her. "Look. I'll be back soon okay." He added. Ruby seemed hesitant, but decided to let him go, knowing that if he wanted to open up about whatever was bugging him, he'd do it when he was ready.

"Okay. I love you." Ruby said as Rafael looked at his sister in a heartbroken manner. "I love you too." He said back, before walking away. Ruby watched sadly, before she reluctantly turned around to continue walking.

She eventually approached Landon and Hope, who were conversing. "What do you need?" Landon asked. "I need to figure out a way to protect both the school and Josie. I just don't know if I can do both." Hope sighed, before reaching out to link her arm through Ruby's. "I know you can. You always do." Landon said, confidently.

"I'm glad you think that, because I actually need your help with plan B." The Mikealson admitted. "What's wrong with plan A?" Landon questioned.

Ruby opened her mouth to quickly explain, but didn't get the chance to as Josie's voice could be heard, "It's party time, Stallions!" Ruby frowned as she glanced Hope with concern. Hope shared the concerned look, before the trio began walking to the gymnasium.