maybe i should start from the end

"Annie!"

Silence fills the room, and I snuggle into my pillow.

"Annie, wake the hell up!"

My face is smacked by a soft object, but the impact is hard enough to cause me so shoot up, eyes wide. Hope stares back at me, tossing the pillow to her side. "What the hell was that for?" I hiss at her.

"Landon's in trouble." She gives me no time to react before throwing an outfit my way.

I adjust myself in my bed, squinting at my older sister. "And you know that, how?" She sends me an annoyed look, before holding up her wrist. "I gave you that!" I snap.

She nods. "And I gave it to Landon because he's always getting himself hurt." She tosses a shirt at my face. "Get dressed!"

After a few minutes, I'm following Hope through the halls of the Salvatore School. "And how are we going to get wherever it is you want us to go?" I ask, looking for anyone that could see us.

"These," She holds up Alaric's keys, and I raise my brows in slight surprise, and approval.

We start to the door, nearly out of the school-

"Going somewhere?"

I wince, "Uh oh." I whisper. The two of us slowly turn around, seeing Dr. Saltzman standing there.

"Better questions, where the hell do you think you're going with my keys and without telling me?" He snaps. My eyes widen in worry, looking to Hope for help.

"Um, you know, I just said some really harsh things to you yesterday, and so I just wanted to get you an oil change as a peace offering."

I toss my hands up, "Surprise!"

Alaric scoffs at our remark. "At 3:00 a.m.?" He replies. "Hope, you don't have a driver's license. You were gonna commit grand theft auto, which is a felony. You're both ditching school right before the midterm exams begin," He eyeballs my sister. "and you've made it very clear to me that you see me as an authority figure and nothing more. So tell me, why shouldn't I suspend you this very second?"

"She made me!" I say suddenly.

"Annie!" Hope remarks. "You wanted to come!"

I roll my eyes. "Not before I was forcefully awoken out of my sweet slumber!"

"You still came!"

"Girls!" Alaric snaps, causing us both to silence. "I would like an answer." Hope and I share a look before she annoyingly pulls her sleeve down, revealing the wrist band. "And what is that?"

"It's practically a supernatural compass." I shrug. "Cool, right?"

Alaric nods, "Well, I hope it's pointing you to your room 'cause that's where you're going."

"I'm going after Landon." Hope reveals. "If this thing is glowing, that means that he's in trouble." She explains.

Dr. Saltzman looks between the two of us. "Then we're all going," He looks at my sister in particular. "And I'm driving."

I watch as the two walk out of the building. "So does this mean I get to miss exams?" I question before chasing after them.

♚

"Indiana." Alaric says in a singsong voice. "Crossroads of America." He looks at the two of us, Hope i'm the passenger while I sit in the back. Much like the first time we met Landon. "What's the capital?"

Hope frowns. "We learned that in, like, eighth grade." She grumbles.

"Oh, good, then you should know it."

"I didn't say I absorbed the information."

Alaric nods. "Yeah, well, you're not saying much of anything." He shrugs. "Look, if you can't handle grade school geography; you're gonna flunk all your exams."

I lean forward. "Are Lizzie and Josie studying?"

"Quiet, Annie."

"Maybe you should focus on them." Hope adds.

"Yeah, well, they're still in Europe with Caroline, thank God." He huffs.

"Religion has no place in the classroom, Dr. Saltzman." Hope says. "The Supreme Court made sure of that with its ruling on Engel v. Vitale. And Indianapolis is the capital of Indiana. I'm getting an "A" in geography. Chill." I giggle as Hope checks her bracelet. "Take the next left. He's on the move."

"All right. Indiana is surrounded by what four states?"

"I thought we just established that I am dominating geography." Hope says.

Alaric sighs. "Fine. Then let's move on to science." Hope looks back at me, and the two of us roll our eyes.

♚

"And that is how osmosis works." I groan, leaning back in my seat. "Is this the place?"

"Yup. And not a moment too soon. Pretty sure you were about to tell me how babies are made." Hope grumbles, already attempting to get out of the car.

Alaric speaks up, "Hey, before we go in there, I just want to make sure we're clear."

"Don't worry, we're crystal." Hope snaps. "You're Professor X, I'm Wolverine."

"I was more of a DC kid."

Hope rolls her eyes. "Then you're Batman and I'm Robin. Either way, you call the shots." I sink back, watching the two bicker. "So how do you want to do this, hmm? Fireball? Wind torrent?"

"I was thinking we'd knock."

Hope purses her lips. "They'll never see that coming." Alaric sighs, looking back at me.

"How are you two related?" I send an innocent smile, hopping out of the car. We follow Hope, and walk towards the nice small house.

"We should come in hot. There could be a Jabberwocky on the other side of that door, for all we know." Says Hope, while Alaric peaks into windows.

"Nonsensical poem written by?"

"Charles Dodgson."

I snap my head at her. "Wrong. Lewis Carroll. I read all of his work."

"The pen name of Charles Dodgson." Hope remarks. "I'm crushing English, too." Suddenly, there's a sound of a man screaming on the other side of the door.

Alaric's eyes are wide as he looks at Hope. "No, no, no."

"Patere."

The door flies down, Hope storming in. I toss my arms up. "Seriously?" I follow her in, pausing at the sight. An elderly couple sits in their recliners, trays in front of them with their rather small lunches. "Oh, uh, Hi."

"Uh, uh, what-what are you watching?" Hope adds sheepishly.

Alaric steps in, "Oh-" He stammers, trying to find something to say. "I'm so sorry that we've ruined your lunch. I-I-I promise we're gonna replace your door." Alaric looks back at us. "That's some compass. We're in the wrong place."

Hope looks around, leaning down to look into their mail box on their door. She reaches in, pulling out the bracelet. "Someone knew we were coming."

I toss my arms up in the air. "Great, now how do you expect us to find your mysterious boyfriend?" I ask my sister. She thinks for a moment, silence filling up between us.

"I can use the bracelet to do a locator spell. Easy enough?"

"Why didn't we just do that in the first place!?" Hope rolls her eyes at my statement, pulling me along.

♚

It feels like forever as we chase down this trail until we end up at a house. The house was surrounded by men in suits, road block signs almost everywhere. The three of us hop out of the car, approaching a tall, thin man with curly hair.

"Can I help you?" He saysz

Alaric sighs. "Yeah, I hope so. Uh... Say, what's going on here?"

"Gas leak. Don't worry, though, we have it under control." He looks between the three of us. "You wouldn't happen to know who lives here, would you? We tried knocking, but no one's home."

Hope disregards his statement. "Um, we're looking for-"

"The highway!" I shout, feeling uneasy by it all.

I guess Alaric was thinking the same thing. "See, we're lost, and we, well, we saw you guys, and we thought we'd ask for directions."

"Yeah, at the end of the road, you make a right. Can't miss it."

"Cool. Thanks. All right, let's go, Jessica, Madison." Alaric says sheepishly, leading my sister and I back into the car.

Hope shuts her door, looking at him. "Jessica and Madison? Really?" She says, not impressed.

"I've been part of enough cover-ups to smell one a mile away." He says, beginning to drive away.

Hope looks at them. "Do you think they're after Landon?"

"Well, all I know is they wouldn't have asked about him if they had him, so, we gotta find him before they do."

♚

"Is breaking into a hotel room the best idea? Maybe we should just knock?"

Alaric disregards my comment. "You two stay here."

We watch as he walks in, slowly observing the room. When suddenly, a gun is pointed at his head. "Uh, I'm looking for Landon Kirby." He says awkwardly.

"And who the hell are you?"The woman snaps.

Alaric stumbles on his words before Hope rolls her eyes, using her powers to rip the gun out of the woman's hands. "People who care about him." She snaps. My eyes are wide as I awkwardly rush in behind her. "So tell me where he is before I blow your head off."

Hopes eyes are dead set on the woman as Ric takes the gun from my sister. "You must be Hope." Behind her, Landon rushes out of the bathroom, the two make eye contact, and its like time freezes between them.

I glance between the two, breaking the awkward tension. "Do you know how long it took to find you with these two idiots?" I huff, smiling at Landon. The boy gives me a sheepish nod, smiling back.

♚

Her name is Seylah.

And apparently; Landon's mom.

"So you're the headmaster of a private school for supernaturals. And you're the teacher's pet?" She says to Ric and Hope. "And you're the kid everyone thought was a loss cause?"

"Actually, they're both kind of a pain in my ass." Alaric says.

Hopes arms are crossed. "A little judgy for an absentee mother." She snaps.

I nudge her side. "Hope Andrea! Be nice!" I hiss.

Seylah speaks towards Landon. "You were wrong. I like her."

"Okay," I huff, stepping forward. "You know about us. Yet all we know about you is that you gave birth to my good ole Landon, he says a monster attacked you guys, and now there's a creepy fake gas company coming after you two. So, I think now is a good time to start filling in some blanks." I shrug.

"When I finished my service in the army, I was recruited by an intelligence organization. The States sounded like a better life. I didn't know what I was signing up for, but soon I learned that things like you exist in this world." Seylah looks at Alaric. "My job was very much like yours. To keep the supernatural world a secret. Whenever a monster went bump in the night and risked exposing the truth, I tracked it down and brought it back to headquarters."

"We're not monsters." Says Hope.

"You are to me." She retorts.

Alaric speaks up. "This headquarters, where is it?"

Seylah scoffs. "Sorry. You just seem morally inclined enough to do something stupid, and there's too much blood on my hands as it is." She looks at me for a moment before continuing her story. "A few years in, I saw something I shouldn't. I became the hunted instead of the hunter."

"What exactly did you see?" Asks Alaric.

"I wanted to know what was happening to the monsters. Because even though I spent all that time studying their every move, I couldn't remember them at all." She shrugs. "So I started taking notes. I realized my memory was being erased. The question was: How?"

"Malivore." Alaric says as if it's so simple.

Seylah looks over. "How do you know about Malivore?"

"Basically, your stupid som took a knife from school that is bringing creepy monsters from Malivore here and they're coming to eat us. Essentially." I shrug.

"And then I, like, um, woke it up or something." Landon adds, trying to feel better about himself. "What's Malivore?"

Hope speaks up behind him. "It's a hell dimension," He slowly turns to look at the Mikaelson. "That consumes creatures and wipes their existence from the collective conscience." She looks back at Seylah. "Sound about right?"

"More or less."

Landon looks at me, "Awesome."

"Right?"

Alaric sends a glare at me, and I shrink back. Hope continues to talk. "The last monster that came for the knife was a Necromancer who screwed us over and returned it back to Malivore." Landon sends her a confused look. "Long story. But he said that the knife is one of three keys that kept Malivore contained, so why are monsters still coming for you?"

"I have no idea." Says a still confused Landon. "Didn't really get a chance to ask the last one. He just tried to eat me." He says sarcastically. I giggle, causing him to send me a goofy smile.

"As you can see, it's been a rough semester."

Seylah looks straight back at Alaric. "It will only get worse if you don't go home and forget you heard the name. Just like we forget anyone who's ever been there."

Seylah stands up, getting ready to leave. "Wait, wait, wait, wait. You-you have to tell us more. I mean-"

"I don't know who your father is." She says coldly to Landon. "My job was stressful, so I had flings to blow off steam. Got pregnant, and just like your not-girlfriend said, I'm not equipped to be a mother. Sorry. I thought I was giving you a better life."

I blink a few times, watching her walk out like that. I look back at Landon, who stares back at where she sat. Alaric sighs, getting up and following the woman out. I turn to glance between Landon and Hope. "I'll leave you two be." I say sheepishly. Turning slowly, I walk out of the hotel room.

The wind blows as I walk in the opposite direction I see Alaric walk in. A sigh escapes my lips as I lean against the wall. "You look oddly depressed."

I look up to see Kyle. I remember him from the day I went to Mystic Falls High. "Hey," I say awkwardly. "What are you doing here?"

"Visiting family." He shrugs, leaning against the wall with me. He shoves his hand into his black bomber jacket, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. Tossing one in his mouth, he looks back at me. I purse my lips, taking one. I look away as he lights his own, snapping my fingers. When I turn back I take a drag, blowing the smoke out between my lips. "What brings you here?"

I sigh. "Drama." I say bluntly. "Some people just can't stay out of trouble."

"Says the one who got kicked out of Mystic Falls High in one day."

Laughing, I remember the school thinking that's what happened. "Don't worry. I've been a good kid." I hum, smiling at him. Kyle looks back at me, sending a small smirk my way.

"You're a cool kid, Annie." Kyle and I laugh as I watch a gray silverado speed out of the parking lot. I frown. That was Seylahs car. I knew that from Landon's scent when it sped by.

"Hey, uh, I have to go." I say before jogging off. I jog away, looking at the spot it was at. "Hope." I gasp, getting on my knees. My sister had been tranquilized. By Seylah, no doubt.

Looking around, I grunt as I rip the needle out of her neck. "Stupid old people with very spooky pasts." Shaking my sister, I pat her cheek a few times. "Wakey wakey, Hope!" She doesn't budge, and I let out a loud sigh, before slapping her hard across the face.

Her eyes shoot open as she grips her cheek. "Ow!" She shouts at me. "What was that for!?"

"Um, you letting Seylah drive off." I shrug. "Come on, let's go find Landon and Dr. Saltzman." I help Hope up to her feet. The two of us begin to walk back to the room.

I smell a weird stench, as does Hope. "Ew, what is that?" She grumbles. I shrug before approaching the door. I can hear a loud bang inside.

"Bigger fish. Huge fish."

We swing open the door, the two of us seeing a very tall, gooy slimy creature. "Ictus." The monster screeches as it flies backward, the door slamming shut and locking it in. "Also: ick!" Hope gags.

"See? Danger magnet!" Landon shouts.

"What the hell was that?"

"Uh, I'm guessing a Mer-Man." Alaric offers. The monster shouts through the door. "A very pissed Mer-Man."

"Why are the monsters still coming for them? We don't even have what they want."

"I don't know, but we got to get Landon out of here."

"Oh, no." Landon whines.

Hope looks at him. "What?"

I stomp over, looking in Landon's bag. "You said the necromancer told you the knife was one of three keys, right?"

"why does it matter?"

I turn to face them, holding up what looks like some type of urn. "Son of a bitch." Hisses Dr. Saltzman.

"This is Seylah's. I picked it up, but I didn't steal it. I-I." Landon stutters. "Not on purpose, anyway. I don't know how it got in there, just like how I don't know what happened with the knife. I swear, I wouldn't do that again."

"Landon, Landon." I turn to look at my new found friend. "It's okay. I believe you."

He smiles, as Hope steps in. "We both do."

The monster makes splashing sounds, making pretty horrifying noises. "Oh, we got to move."

Landon goes to take the urn. "No, no, no, wait. Leave it, leave it." Hope says.

"Are you out of your mind?" I shoutZ

"No. I'm just sick of playing the same game. So let the monster have it. He'll take it to Malivore. We follow him, we know where it is."

Dr. Saltzman shakes his head. "I am not taking two teenagers to a covert military hiding place for a demon portal."

"You kind of have to!" Hope hell's.

"Why?"

"Because Seylah's going there." We all look back at Hope.

Landon, of course, is the most shocked. "What? Did she tell you that?"

"In her own way." She hands me the urn. "Hold that. I'll explain in the car." She tosses the bracelet in the urn, still wearing the other half. "Let's go."

We begin to leave as Alaric looks back. "H-He's a fish man on land. How fast can he be, right?" Suddenly, the fish man thing punches a hole through the door, beginning to step through. "Oh, my God!" Yelps Alaric, running out the door.

♚

"Turns out he's pretty fast." Hope says, watching the monster run through the corn fields.

"Listen, this was your idea. So is it within my bounds as the headmaster to tell you to shut it?" Alaric remarks.

"What if we don't get there in time?"

"Seylah doesn't have that much of a lead on us." I add, shaking my head.

Landon huffs. "I can't believe she wants to erase herself just to get out of being a parent." He stops his thought before yelling; "What the hell is that!?"

The car screeches to a stop; the four of us jumping out of the car. Signs all along a large fence saying DANGER and things of the sort. "Triad." Hope reads.

"Explosives?" Landon points out a sign saying so. I shake my head, more than confused.

"On the bright side, maybe this fence stopped our fishy friend." Alaric shrugs.

I walk along the fence line. "I don't think so." I stammer, pointing to a large hole in the fence. "Come on." I wave them along before hopping through.

We walk onto a large field. "There." We spit the large monster, as Landon begins to run past Hope. "Hey, stay back. He's dangerous."

"I have to get in there." Landon grumbles.

Hope runs after him. "Landon!"

"Wait, guys, be careful!" Alaric shouts, running after them.

I huff, "You're all idiots." I say, speeding past all of them. I turn back to face the monster, who's distracted by a large silver ball glowing red. It beeps a few times and my eyes widen. "Oh no."

BOOM

My body flies in the opposite direction of the others, my back hitting the ground. My vision blurs as I try to look for them, but then all I see is blackness.

♚

I slowly wake up. "Annie!?" I hear Hope shout. I let out a groan as she rushes towards me, helping me up.

The other two stand up as well, groaning in pain. "Where the hell are we? What happened?" Asks Landon.

"I don't know. But I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

I look up at Hope, who's still holding on to me. All we can do is look back where the merman once stood.

Nobody remembered.

Seylah has been erased.

♚

We sit in the car. I listen to music as I look out the window. "Thank you again for coming to help me." Landon says.

"Sorry you didn't find your mother." Alaric replies to the boy. "What I don't understand is why I can't remember how we found you." He looks at my sister. "Hope? Any theories?"

She and I make eye contact through the mirror. "Work in progress." Hope says softly.

After a few more moments of driving; "Uh, I think the bus stop is actually that way." Landon tells Ric.

"Oh, that's okay. We'll drive you." Ric shrugs.

"Where?"

Dr. Saltzman looks at Landon through the window. "Home."

Hope smiles, as Landon looks confused, as usual. "Why the change of heart?" He asks.

"Call it a gut feeling. Or add it to the list of things I don't know." I giggle at Rics statement, curling myself into Landon's side. He smiles at Hope, who smiles back as she looks down at me.

♚

"And that's it." Hope shrugs. "Which brings me to my question. What do we do next?"

Alaric stares back at us. "How am I supposed to know? I don't remember doing anything you just said."

"You'll know because you always know." I shrug. "Because you're a good headmaster in spite of all the things that my stupid sister says." Hope scoffs, offended.

He laughs softly, his pretty eyes rolling. "Well, in that case, I think the only question we should be asking ourselves is: Why do you two remember?" He looks between my sister and I.

I shrug. "We don't know. But I can't imagine that it's good." pouting, I toss my arms to my sides.

"And we can lie to Landon about all of this, but I'm sorry, Dr. Saltzman, I just can't lie to you." Hope admits. "'Cause I really need your help.L

"Speaking of, there's one more thing." I say sheepishly. I nod at Hope, who turns towards her back, pulling out the urn with the foreign
carvings.

Ric stares at it. "I take it that's the urn I don't remember."

Hope nods. "Yeah. I figured it was better to have it here than to leave it laying around." She whispers. The three of us stare at the object in a moment of silence.

"So what happens now?"

Suddenly, the urn grows a bright orange; much like the knife did when Landon had it.

I look up. "I'm going to take a guess, and assume we're about to find out."