there's a mummy on main street

"Dr. Saltzman, this van is very... white of you." Kaleb says awkwardly.

This van was huge. Lizzie and Hope sat in the row behind Alaric and Kaleb, Josie and I in the third row, and Emma and Dorian sat in the row behind us. It was a nice van, just, crowded with our things. "It's retro." Alaric hums back at Kaleb.

"It's a gas-guzzling atrocity on wheels." Lizzie snaps, obviously annoyed she had to sit by Hope.

Speaking of Hope, she sighs as she sits up. "I brought snacks." She says, placing the large bag in her lap.

"Oh, sweet. Did you pack them before or after you decided to FOMO your way onto our trip?" Lizzie asks coldly.

Hope raises her brows. "Like I'm gonna let you guys chase monsters without me?"

"I would've thought you wanted to spend the break canoodling with your hipster boyfriend." Lizzie snarls at my sister.

Hope rolls her eyes. "Sorry for wanting to protect the outside world from my mistakes." She snaps. "And Annie was invited!"

"Because Annie is Josie's girlfriend and she's significantly nicer than you." Lizzie snaps.

I smile, "I feel so loved." I hum, wrapping an arm around Josie. She smiles at me from her headphones.

"Want one?" She asks, holding out an earpiece. I smile, taking it.

"You know, there's currently an urn on a river cruise spreading plagues across America because I thought a unicorn was cute." Hope snaps. "It's called accountability. Maybe there's a bracelet for it." I hiss, making burn sound as Lizzie scoffs.

"Or maybe you just wanted to ruin yet another Saltzman spring break."

"When have I ever ruined a spring break?" Hope asks.

"Girls?" Alaric calls out. "We're gonna be in this classic automobile for six hours, all right? So, no bickering."

"It would help if it wasn't a thousand degrees in here. I'm burning up." Hope complains.

Lizzie looks at her "You're burning up. Now, that's ironic." She chuckles.

"What does that even mean?" Hope asks, confused.

"Don't play dumb." Lizzie frowns. "I see you. I see right through you."

Hope shrugs. "I don't know what you're talking about. What happened to playing nice?"

Lizzie turns back to the front. "Over. Done. I'm getting back to me. I am who I am." She looks behind her. "Right, Josie?" She frowns, patting Josie's leg. "Josie?"

Josie lifts her head off my shoulder, "Sorry?"

"Josie, you cannot leave me alone with just her for company." Lizzie hisses.

My girlfriend looks back at me for a moment before looking back at her sister. "Well, I get carsick if I don't listen to music." She shrugs, curling up again.

"Josie!" Lizzie snaps, reaching over again. Arguing sparks between the four of us, causing Alaric to get more and more upset.

"Girls!" He scolds. We all quiet down, looking back at him. "Girls, there is no reason to be tense or awkward, okay? Now knock it off." He orders "We're gonna get through this together."

I sigh, holding Josies hand. "God help us all." I whisper.

"Woot. Road trip." Kaleb says from the front seat.

♚

After lots of poor Josie vomiting, Lizzie punching Hope, terrible car songs, terrible food, and sleep, we finally arrive to Maple Hollows.

"Welcome to Maple Hollows." Kaleb sighsz

"Girls, you take the fountain area. See what you can find out." Alaric tells us.

After some minor investigating, Josie and I walk back to Lizzie and Hope. "Fun fact: this town has the biggest ball of yarn in the country." Josie chirps. "And nobody's seen anything strange."

"This isn't exactly a hotspot of activity." Lizzie says. "Our hopes of finding anything are going up in smoke."

Hope frowns. "Wait, are you passive-aggressively referring to that fire in my dorm room three years ago?"

"You mean the one that you set on purpose to sabotage our spring break trip with our dad? No, Hope. Why would I talk about that?" Lizzie snaps.

Hope laughs. "Dude, you've lost it."

"The only thing that we lost was a week of quality family time. Dad had to cancel the trip to deal with the damage." Lizzie tilts her head to the side. "So mission accomplished."

Josie shakes her head. "You guys are just talking about ancient history-Ow!" She shouts, slapping her arm. "Something stung me."

She pulls up her sleeve, revealing a nasty bump on her arm. "Ew." Hope says.

"Gross." Lizzie hisses.

"Jo, that looks bad." I whisper, looking up at her. Suddenly, a loud swarming causes us to look up at the sky. Hornets of some type fills the sky, swarming around.

Hope looks up at the sky. "This is plague-y, right? It seems plague-y." She asks.

The four of us watch the towns people running in different directions. Josie sighs, gripping my hand. "It's plague-y." She confesses.

"Come on," I say, running off.

♚

We finally get out of a small restaurant, all of the hornets dead. "We need to find your dad." Hope declares. "This way."

"Does this way take us past the fire station?" Lizzie snaps.

I roll my eyes. "Oh, my God. We barely just survived a biblical plague." I groan.

"For the last time, I didn't start that fire, and I've never ruined a spring break." Hope snarls.

"Yeah, Lizzie, now's not the time." Josie says softly.

Lizzie begins to go over another 'example'. "Fifth grade. You callously gave me the flu while we were building our float for witch week. With global warming, I may never see the Florida Keys. That's on you."

"We built it with Alyssa Chang, who had pneumonia over spring break." Hope corrects her "It wasn't me, and neither was that fire."

I look at Josie's arm, "Um, guys?"

"Why did I see you giving us a death glare through the window?" Lizzie asks.

"There's a boil on my boil." Josie says.

Lizzie and Hope looks down. "Oh, God!"

"Ew!"

Josie looks up. "I think I'm gonna be sick again." She mumbles, gagging.

"Pick up the pace, Mikaelson." Lizzie says, "My sister needs-"

We turn a corner, seeing busses and busses, men in yellow suits, and people being put on these busses. "Single file. You're going to be safe. Get on the buses." We here through an intercom.

"-Medical attention?" Lizzie declares, but it's more of a question.

I raise my brows in confusion. "I hate doctors, but I have a feeling we have to go on these busses."

♚

"Please form an orderly single file line and proceed to the triage tent for processing."

I hold Josie's hand, attempting to comfort her over the fact that she had been stung by a giant hornet from Africa and her boil was well...not looking good. "I don't get it." Hope sighs. "The locals that we met said that they hadn't seen anything, which means that the first sign of trouble happened after we got here. How did these people get here before the bugs?" She asks.

Dr. Saltzman shakes his head. "I don't know who they are, but they are too prepared, organized, and well-equipped to be responding to some random insect attack."

We all stiffen up as we approach the lady "You together?" Her voice is rather bland as she looks at us.

"Yeah, you know, we just came in from Roanoke to see that giant ball of yarn you guys have." Dr. Saltzman grins.

"And these are?"

Alaric tries think of something. "This is my wife, Emma." He wraps his arm awkwardly around Emma, who fake laughs. "Uh... these are my daughters. From my first marriage." He gestures to Hope, Josie, and Lizzie. "Annie here is Josies girlfriend." I send a small wave. "And, uh, Kaleb here is, uh-"

"My boyfriend."Lizzie blurts out. The lady sends us confused looks now.

Kaleb chuckles, "Hey, when you're good, you're good, right?" He says as he wraps an arm around her.

After we are checked off, Hope and I walk side by side. I couldn't help but notice the man from Landon's moms house. I walk by him, giving a side glance before rushing after Hope. My sister and I stand next to Alaric at a table. I elbow her, causing her to hiss. "What?" She snaps.

"Look," I whisper, gesturing to the man. "Isn't he-"

She shushes me, nodding. She inches closer to Alaric, "Don't look, but that guy over there was outside of Seylah's house when we were in Kansas, with the fake gas leak." Alaric does the opposite of what she says, and pokes his head up. "I said don't look."

"What's he doing here?" I ask.

"I don't know." Alaric sighs. "Probably the same thing we were. Trying to cover things up. There are groups like this scattered all over the globe. Probably tracking the same activity we were."

The three of us look out to a group of men. "Awful lot of artillery, too." Hope points out.

I eyeball fins, oxygen tanks, and wet suits. "Guys, look at their gear." I mumble.

The two of them realize the same thing. "They're here for the urn." Alaric says, looking back at us.

Hopes eyes widen. "Dorian."

♚

Josie smiles softly as I sit next to her. Her boil was bandaged up, and now we were just...waiting. "You don't need to sit around like I'm just a sitting duck." She giggles.

"I want to make sure you're okay, even if it means becoming your mini stalker." The two of us laugh softly as I kiss her lips. I turn back to see the man from Kansas, talking to Alaric.

Josie looks over my shoulder. "Hey, who is that guy?"

"This creep we met in Kansas when you guys were in Europe." I explain.

"Why were you in Kansas?" Asks Lizzie. She eyeballs Hope. "Oh, wait, let me guess, it involved you insinuating yourself into a situation where only you could be the hero."

"As a matter of fact, yeah." Hope snaps back.

Lizzie rolls her eyes. "I swear to God, you will do anything to get attention." She says.

Hope scoffs. "Said the narcissist."

"Said the... other narcissist."

"Okay, guys, can we please just stop?" Josie groans.

Hope doesn't. "Okay, fine. You know what? Maybe I was jealous. Maybe I wanted what you had. A simple day with my family. I lost half of my stuff in that fire, including the only painting I made with my dad." She snaps. "Why would I do that to myself?" Lizzies face softens.

After a few moments, Alaric walks over. "Annie, Hope," He nods over awkwardly.

I turn to Josie. "I'll be right back, Okay?"

♚

"I work for an organization that keeps monsters and things that go bump in the night from public view. I thought I recognized you and Jessica and Madison-"

"It's Hope and Annie, actually." Hope retorts.

The man, Clarke, nods. "I wasn't sure if it was a coincidence, so we searched your van. We know you're Alaric Saltzman, headmaster of the Salvatore School. We know a lot about it. You have a terrific reputation."

"Leave the school out of this." Ric says coldly.

I could tell Clarke is nervous. "Look, I applaud your school's mission. If you do your job right, makes mine easier."

"So why are we still here?" I ask, crossing my arms.

"Well, I have an entire town that needs to forget what they've seen today. You know, usually it's convincing a farmer in Nebraska he didn't see a chimera, you know, or a few ice fishermen in Minnesota that it wasn't a yeti that ate their best friend." He half heartedly joked. "This is an entire town. It's different. We could use the assistance of a vampire." He says. "I noticed the daylight ring on your daughter's boyfriend-"

"Oh, he's not... Never mind." Alaric sighs.

Hope steps in. "Why not call it a freak swarm of bugs? Why erase it from memory?"

"Because someone may recognize them for what they are. Harbingers."

"Of what?" I ask.

Clarke scoffs. "Seriously? This is obviously the work of a mummy."

Alaric does a fist pump in the air, receiving a weird look from Hope and I. "I told you." He says to Hope, sheepishly.

"One of our drivers survived an attack by the river. He's been tracking the mummy ever since." Clarke says. "He's still on the outskirts of town, but he's heading our direction. We're a cleanup organization. Okay, we're not equipped to go to battle with a mummy." He chuckles. "So... will you help? Cut him off at the pass and keep all these people safe?"

Ric frowns. "Oh, these are kids-"

"Kids with magic, in a town full of innocents without it." Clarke points out.

Suddenly, Hope blurts out, "We'd be happy to help." Alaric and I send weird looks her way.

Alaric looks back at Clarke. "I'm gonna need my weapons."

"Of course. Gather what you need. Round up your friends. My team can help you with anything else."

We watch Clarke walk away, and Hope clears her throat. "Okay, I know you don't remember our trip to Kansas clearly, but that field that we woke up in in Georgia, that's where the portal to Malivore is." Hope explains to Alaric.

I step next to my sister. "It's hidden in plain sight by a company called TRIAD." Hope pulls out a card, handing it to Ric. "Look familiar?" I retort.

♚

Hope, Josie, Lizzie, and I all walk behind Alaric down the streets of the small town. Lizzie huffs. "Some people find it helps to clear their conscience before heading into battle." She says.

"Not stopping you." Hope hums.

Josie sighs. "Now is not the time."

"It's always time for truth." Lizzie retorts. "Last chance, Hope. If you didn't start that fire to keep us from going, then why were you so mean to me after? I'll tell you why, because you were guilty."

"Girls! Quiet back there, please." Alaric scolds.

Hope rolls her eyes. "Seriously. I wasn't mean to you. You were mean to me."

"Because you were telling people about my episode."

"Your what?" Hope asks.

Lizzie looks at her. "My episode. The one I had when our trip got cancelled. You told everyone that I was witch bipolar." She snaps.

"I would never do that." Hope scoffs. Now we had all stopped in the middle of the street.

Josie sighs. "Guys, seriously, what is the point of even talking-"

"Just drop the act." Lizzie snarls. "I had my first, occurrence, my mom took me away to get help, and you decided to use it against me."

I turn around, pausing. "Guys,"

"I didn't even know. I swear, I would never do that." Hope says. Josie looks back at what I'm looking at.

"Guys." She mumbles warily.

"What?" The two girls snap.

Josie looks back. "There's a mummy on Main Street."

The mummy is eerily close as he's walking over. Josie and I stand close together as we try to decide the next move. Lizzie frowns. "So, what, do we, like, rush it?" She asks.

"It's seven feet tall." Alaric says. "We hold our ground until it's close enough to attack.l

"Okay, Dad, get behind us." Josie says.

"I can't do that."

Lizzie tilts her head. "Dad."

"I have to protect you, all of you." Ric says.

Hope steps forward. "No offense, Dr. Saltzman, but you and your crossbow are kind of manspread in front of four powerful witches." She points out.

Alaric sets down his crossbow, looking at us. "Okay, good point." He says a awkwardly before going behind all of us.

Josie breathes heavily. "Okay, what can a mummy do to hurt us?" She asks.

"I think we're about to find out." Hope says shakily.

The mummy opens his mouth, letting out a loud scream. Bugs fly out of his mouth. "Hope." Josie says nervously. She grabs mine and Hopes hands, Lizzie grabbing Hopes as well.

"Bulla." The four of us say. A shield circles around all of us. We keep it up until all the bugs are gone.

Alaric sighs. "Nice teamwork."

"Should we rush it now?" Lizzie asks.

Hope shakes her head. "Not yet."

The mummy growls loudly. "Now?"

"No."

"I really, really think that we should rush it." Lizzie says nervously.

Hope snaps. "Wait! On three. One... Two..." Suddenly, the mummy waves her hand. Hope begins to choke.

"What's happening?" Lizzie asks. "What's happening?" Bugs begin to fall out of Hopes mouth as she keeps coughing. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God." Lizzie begins to choke as well, Josie and I looking at them wide eyed.

The mummy looks right at us. "Resistus maledi." We say, covering our mouths. Josie and I share a look before tossing up our hands. "Ignalusa." Josie says. She siphons power from my hand, a flame gathering in her own hands. She blows it, letting it cover the Mummy in flames. He disintegrates into ash, and Lizzie and Hope finally stop choking up insects.

Lizzie looks up, her face in disgust. "Worst spring break ever."

♚

"So the mummy ain't actually dead?" Kaleb asks Dr. Saltzman.

"Well, if I'm right, the mummy's curse is bound by the scarab in its chest." He says. "Once the girls siphon the scarab, the curse will be lifted and the mummy will be dead." Dr. Saltzman explains.

Kaleb nods. "Okay, and what if you're wrong?"

Hope leans over. "He's never wrong." She says.

"So what now?" Lizzie asks.

Alaric opens up the hood of the car. "Until we get the urn, we wait." He states.

After a few moments, Lizzie begins to complain again. "How long do we have to wait? If I have to bug-hurl again, I swear to God, I will never talk to you again." She says to Hope.

"Okay, that one wasn't even remotely my fault." Hope holds up a finger, glaring at Lizzie.

"Yeah, well, the beetle slime in my tonsils says otherwise." Lizzie mumbles.

Josie sighs. "Why can't we just give the mummy the urn? Is opening the portal to Malivore really that bad?"

I hold Josie's hand. "Josie, Babe, my love, my sweet sweet Josie," I hum. "Do any of the monsters that have been trapped in there seem happy and balanced to you?" I ask softly.

Lizzie looks back at us. "I'm with Josie." She shrugs. "Why don't we skip bug vomit round two and just go and get some pancakes or something?"

"Think of it like this." Says Alaric. "We'll be setting the mummy free from his prison."

Josie frowns. "Hmm. Poor mummy." She pouts. I couldn't help but giggle at her sympathy. We watch employees rushing out of the tents, screaming in horror.

"All right, look, we can keep having empathy hour or we can do what we came here to do." Kaleb says to us. We all look back at the tent, waiting for whatever's to come.

"Here we go." Alaric chimes.

The tents opening is swept aside by the mummy, who let out a loud growl. Clarke rushes towards us. "What the hell is happening?"

"I don't know; he should be dead."

The mummy lets out a roar. "Well, clearly he isn't." Clarke retorts.

"Yeah, I can see that." Alaric huffs.

The mummy knocks boxes over, growling in frustration. "He's looking for the urn." Hope realizes.

"What do we do?"

Alaric shrugs at Clarke. "I don't know, give him the urn."

Clarke pulls out his walkie talkie. "Hey, can someone give this thing the urn?"

The tech over the radio replies quickly. "Can't. The urn's gone." He says.

"Wh... Who's been in there?"

"Only our guys."

The mummy bellows, ripping the place apart. Clarke looks at us expectantly. "Do something." He pleads.

"Kaleb?" Alaric looks at the vampire.

"Yep." Kaleb speeds at the demon. "Nice bling. Don't mind if I do." The mummy roars as Kaleb takes the scarab. He speeds back at us. "Lizzie!"

"Got it." Lizzie and Josie grab onto the glowing green scarab, beginning to siphon it's powers.

The mummy snarls in our direction much like before. "Hey, guys, can you start, I don't know, hurrying?" I plead. The mummy steps closer. "Like, hurry hurry?"

The monster opens its mouth, the bugs flying towards us. Alaric covers his eyes, shielding me away as well. Hope shouts out a spell I couldn't hear, and suddenly the buzzing stops. We all open our eyes, seeing the mummy frozen in place, his hand over his heart. He lets out a final moan before freezing completely.

"The curse is lifted. He's gone." Alaric breathes. Hope and I let our relieved sighs as I grab Josie's hand. "Well, Agent Clarke, we do any more work for you guys, you're gonna have to put us on the payroll. Guess we'll be, uh, on our way out of here." The group and I make our way to our seats in the car. "Whew." Alaric shuts the van hood. "Have a good night." He says before getting in the drivers seat and driving off.

♚

We pull to the side of the road after driving for a little while. "Okay. So where is she?" Alaric asks.

Kaleb looks over. "You doubting my skills?" He remarks. "There." The woman from the lab comes towards us, handing Kaleb the urn. "Thank you. Oh, and you may want to lay low for a little bit, sweetie." He looks back at us. "You're welcome."

Mr. Saltzman chuckles lowly. "All right, let's go home." He goes to state the car when bright head lights turn on. We all turn to look out the back windows, seeing Clarke from before. "Wait a second." Josie grips my hand tightly as we watch the van behind us.

"They have Dorian and Emma." Hope gasps. We watch a guard pull the couple out. And I let out a nervous breath.

Alaric exhales sharply. "Oh," He sighs. He turns to Kaleb, who hands him the urn. "All right. Sit tight." He says to us.

♚

We lost the urn.

Of course, it was to gain back Emma and Dorian, so it's not necessarily a bad thing.

The two of them sit in the far back, sleeping soundly. I fiddled with my necklace, which was now on a new silver chain, while Josie tried to sleep while listening to music. We hold hands, every once in a while tightening our grips.

Hope looks up at Lizzie.

"If you really thought that I said all those things about you, then you hating me all these years makes perfect sense." She begins. "But with a father and a grandfather like mine, I'm probably not immune to those issues myself. I don't take it lightly and I would never make fun of you for it." Her voice is soft, sincere.

Lizzie looks back at the elder Mikaelson. "I believe you." She whispers.

"What I don't get is why anyone would accuse me of that." Hope frowns. "Who did you hear it from?" Lizzie turns slowly, looking at the girl sitting next to me. Josie looks up guiltily. Hope tilts her head in confusion, slight realization. My girlfriend turns to me, her eyes filled with humiliation, guilt, and more I couldn't read. She releases her grip from my hand, pulling away completely. I inhale sharply, pursing my lips before looking at my lap.

What happened before me? Before Anastasia Mikaelson was even known to be alive? What happened between the Saltzman twins and Hope?

♚

"Why would you drive a wedge between me and Hope?" Lizzie asks her sister. "Why lie?"

"I was gonna ask the same thing." Josie and Lizzie turn to see Hope and I. I wasn't sure if I wanted to be there to hear the answer, but I had to. I had to know the truth.

Josie exhales nervously. "I didn't just lie. I started the fire." Hope is slightly taken aback by this fact. "Lizzie had made some remark... about me being obsessed with you. I just blurted out, How could I be obsessed with somebody who would say such mean things about my twin?"

"But I didn't." Hope says back.

"I know. I just made it up."

Hope frowns. "Why?"

"Because I didn't want Lizzie to know the truth." Josie blurts. She looks back at my for a moment before back at Hope. "I had a crush on you. And I had slipped a note into your room that morning and... I don't know, I just really immediately regretted it but I couldn't get in by then. So I did a fire spell under your door." I swallow down the lump in my throat. "I was really only aiming for the note."

Lizzie asks a question, "Why would it matter that I knew?"

"Because my whole life, any time I've ever liked anyone, you go for them. And you always win." Josie says softly.

Hope chuckles softly. "You had a crush on me?" Josie looks back at her, nodding.

I sigh, clasping my hands together. "Well, this has been, um, really interesting,"

"Stasia-"

"But I'm going to go to bed now." I state, giving a fake smile. "Night!" I shout in a more angry tone before rushing off.

I hear Josie following me, but I quicken my pace. "Stasia, wait," Tears prick my eyes as I am in a near run. "Anastasia!" With the magic from the scarab, she uses some of it to hold me in place. I close my eyes tightly, hoping the tears could go away before she stands in front of me. I watch as she stomps in front of me, her face filled with hurt, regret, and more. "I'm sorry."

"You could've just told me." I whisper harshly.

"I didn't think it mattered-"

I cut her off. "Of course it matters, Josie! She's my sister!" I toss my arms up. "She's the older sister, the smarter one, the prettier one, the sister that's not physically messed up like me." I say. "Yeah, she and I are Mikaelson messes but she has always been so much better."

"Stasia-"

"She's the girl everyone loves. She's Hope Mikaelson; the daughter of Hayley Marshall, aka the sweetest woman on this planet, and Klaus Mikaelson, the evil of all evil. But everyone loves Hope, everyone wants to save Hope. Everyone has a crush on Hope. Everyone trusts Hope. And you know what? Maybe I'm jealous. I'm jealous that she at least met our family. She knew them for at least part of her life. I knew them for a few months before they died. And at least, you know, her mother was there for her." I shrug. "At least she had a family for even a short while before they were gone." Tears run down my cheeks face, "And I'm jealous that she's always the hero and everyone loves her. And ya know she's the golden girl and the most powerful person ever." I suck in a breath. "I just wanted, for once in my life, something that's completely mine."

Josie shakes her head. "Stasia, this is yours. Us."

"Is it?" I ask. "Or are you just with me cause I'm second best?"

Josie stands back, shocked by my words. "Stasia, no." She whispers. "You're who I want to be with, who I've wanted to be with." She holds my hands, pulling me closer. "Don't you think, if I didn't want you, drunk slug me would've said it." I laugh through my tears as she giggles. Josie holds up her hand, cupping my cheek as she wipes away my tears. "I want you, Anastasia King." She leans forward, kissing me softly.

I pull away, "Thank you." I say before hugging her. She returns the hug, kissing me again.

-

ugh honestly I WAS EMOTIONAL, but i didn't want it to seem like annie was just ranting to rant, so hopefully i pulled that off.

if you don't understand, she's jealous of hope because hopes everything she wants to be, but can't cause no matter how hard she tries she obviously can't be hope. and she thought for once someone liked her or cared about her before hope was ever thought of (like that at least) and of course that wasn't the case.

but in this story, i've changed some things. if you haven't realized. so maybe she will get her lil wish. maybe. who knows. but i'm going to go nowww. i have a friend coming over tomorrow and for the next few days so i might not update for a bit, hope you don't mind.

i'm also trying to figure out my "authors note" format at the end of each chapter. so yeah, whoops.

okay, but IM GOING TO GOOO, if you enjoyed this, cool, i did too. and tell me any suggestions you have for this book, the sequel, or the new story that will be out next month.

TOODLES