CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

This Year Will Be Different

__________________

     EVERY CELL IN Ryan's body hummed as he stood inside the lowest level of the Old Mill. He did not waste any time after his plane landed, having been delayed several hours due to rain. Once he stashed his belongings in his room at the Salvatore School, he started to search for his sister. He needed to see her with his own eyes. He needed to make sure it was actually her.

     If he were honest, Ryan started to think he imagine the entire conversation. It sounded too good to be true. How could Hope just appear one day? And if Malivore really did spit her out, why did it take almost six months for it to happen? Ryan needed answers, and more importantly, he needed to see his sister.

     Ryan gathered all the ingredients required to perform a locator spell, laying them out onto a table in the hollowed out space. He figured he would not be able to reach Hope from the phone number she used the night before, which left him with no other option but to use his magic to find her.

     After he pricked his finger, Ryan let his blood drip onto the map of Mystic Falls inside a thin circle made of black salt. "Vinde val tratundres. Vinde val tratunderes," he chanted. His eyes trailed the blood as it started to move over the lines marked on the paper. As soon as it stopped, Ryan dropped his hands and narrowed his gaze toward the location.

     The forest that surrounded the town, more specifically half a mile away from Mystic Falls High School.

     Ryan did not expect that. Although, Hope's location meant less traveling for him.

     It took a little under a five minutes for Ryan to find the spot his blood stopped on. His stare shifted between the trees, looking for any sign of his sister. Before long, he would have to head back to school, or else he would be late for his first day. Not only that, but he did not want to make a bad impression on the new headmaster.

     Ryan's tennis shoes crunched across the fallen leaves that covered the ground. He kept his attention peeled for a spot of red among the browns and greens. That would lead him to his sister. He hoped, anyway.

     The sound of squishing caused Ryan to stop mid-step. He looked down to where it originated beneath his shoes, moving his foot to see a puddle of what looked like a purple liquid. His face scrunched at the sight and rubbed the sole of his shoe on the ground to get rid of it.

     "Gross," Ryan muttered, continuing through the forest. He lifted his gaze, sweeping it through the forest that still retained the morning mist. His eyes narrowed as his enhanced eyesight came into play. After a moment, Ryan paused when a figure moved and caught his attention. His heart almost burst in his chest when he recognized them. "Hope!"

     Ryan's shout much have reached her, because the next second Hope Mikaelson spun on her heel to see her brother amongst the trees. A bright smile spread across her lips as she voiced, "Ryan. Oh, my God."

     Ryan ran toward her, weaving through the foliage to not trip over a rock or fallen tree. He skidded to a stop when his sister met him halfway. They slammed into each other, wrapping their arms tightly around their waists, and squeezed them in a hug until neither one could breathe. "I missed you so much," Ryan muttered into his sister's tangled, red hair.

     Hope let out a laugh and sniffed into her brother's shoulder. "I missed you, too." She pulled back just enough to see his face, keeping her hands on his arms as she saw him for the first time since returning from Malivore. "Did you get taller?"

     Ryan smiled as tears burned his eyes. "I haven't seen you in six months, and that's the first thing you ask me?"

     Hope continued to grin. "I'm short, okay? That makes it the first thing I notice," she said and pulled away to wiped at her cheeks. "I didn't know when you were gonna land, so I've been tracking this monster since I got back. I probably look like a hot mess."

     Ryan's brows furrowed at that. "Monster? We haven't had one of those since..." he trailed off, not able to finish his statement.

     Hope's own expression faltered. "Of course you haven't. And then the moment I come back, I see a giant troll flip a bus."

     Ryan shook his head. "Okay, I hope you're not suggesting it's your fault. Because it's not. And even if it was, I don't care. You're back, and I'm not letting you even think about going anywhere near that damn Malivore pit, ever again. You got that?" he stressed toward his sister.

     His words brought another smile to Hope's lips. "Wow, pushy. Where'd my timid little brother go while I was gone?"

     "He grew up," Ryan stated.

     Ryan's mind began to whirl for what else to say. Did he tell her about all that she missed? How Alaric got fired from being headmaster, or how strange everything had been without her there? No, he could not do that. Aside from him, no one else remembered Hope. No one even knew that she existed. It was not like she could just stroll back into the Salvatore School like nothing ever happened.

     And that begged the question. What were they going to do, now?

     Ryan went to say something, but his smart watch chimed as it displayed the timer he set when he started his search for Hope. He had ten minutes to make it back to the school before the new headmaster's assembly began. He looked to see his sister's expression deflate. "I'm sorry, I have to get back before someone notices I'm gone. But, I'll come back when class is out. Help you find that troll," he said.

     Hope nodded, forcing a light smile onto her lips. "It's okay. I get it. You still have to go to school. I'll meet you back here at two."

     Ryan nodded in return. He did not want to leave, not now. Not when he just found his sister. But, he had to. If not, he would make himself a target of attention for the new headmaster. That was not something he wanted to do. "Okay. Two it is." He failed to move, staying in place as he continued to stare at the girl in front of him.

     Hope chuckled and reached out to shove at her brother's chest. "Go. I promise I'm not going anywhere, okay? No more trips to Malivore for this Mikaelson."

     Ryan's stare narrowed. "Way too soon for that."

     "Right. Got it."

     Ryan let out a breath, before he stepped back from Hope and raised his hands on either side. "See you at two," he said and snapped his fingers to force himself from view.

     _______

     "This school has survived a difficult year," the new headmaster at the Salvatore School, an older man with greying hair, spoke from where he stood behind the podium in the Grand Hall.

     The entire student body and faculty crowded in the room to listen to the man address them for the first time. Ryan learned that his name was Professor Vardemus, or so he heard from Dorian Williams, their librarian and sometimes substitute teacher. The man came from England, not a surprise considering his accent, and respected among the witch community there. Ryan heard about him once or twice when he went to school in Scotland. From what he remembered, the man was old school and revered the supernatural as more superior than the human race.

     Not something the students there were accustomed to.

     "There were monsters – and Triad, and frankly, the headmaster you trusted to keep you safe ended up putting you in more danger," Vardemus continued, gripping the top of a can held at his side and held it up into the air to set against his shoulder. "But, this year will be different. It's high time this place ran with a little discipline and order."

     Ryan rolled his eyes from where he sat at the back of the room. Great. Just what he needed. The school to turn out like Hogwarts in the Order of the Phoenix.

     "I expect you to work harder than ever before. To be rigorous, to push yourselves, to be perfect. Because I believe every one of you is extraordinary. The students in this room have the power to literally change the world." Vardemus walked down the aisle between the chairs set up throughout the room and lowered his cane to move it alongside him. "To whom much is given, much is required, and I am requiring you to be better than humans ever could. Because the day is coming when we will step out of the shadows, when you will no longer hide yourselves. Because the future is..." He raised his cane up and then slammed in onto the ground to cause a wave of blue magic to sweep across the room. It stayed upright at his side as he lifted his hands and said, "supernatural!"

     Everyone started to clap, at least mostly everyone. Ryan just stared at the man with a placed expression. Should he clap? If anything, he wanted to laugh. Vardemus really did have a superiority complex.

     The man moved back up to the podium and silenced the applause. "To that end, I would like to award our Salvatore Medal of Freedom to the student who single-handedly defeated Malivore, Mister Landon Kirby," Vardeums called out and held up a golden medal in his hands.

     Ryan deadpanned. That new development hit him like a whirlwind when he stepped foot into the school. Everyone thought that Landon defeated Malivore. When Alaric traveled to Triad Industries, he found Landon next to an obliterated Malivore pit by himself. Because of it, people started to say Landon did it. No one remembered Hope, so they did not know that it was actually her who saved their lives. Ryan wanted to throw himself from the tower in the library.

     More applause ripped through the room as Landon stood from his seat next to Josie. He stepped up to Vardemus, letting the man set the medal around his neck.

     Yeah, Ryan really wanted to jump from the tower.

     _______

     Classes were a blur as Ryan went through the motions. He wanted nothing more than to get out of there and get back Hope. After her reemergence, he did not think he would willingly let her out of his sight again. Not after the last time when she decided to sacrifice herself for the greater good.

     As soon as his last class of the day ended, Ryan changed out of his Salvatore emblem clothes and headed out to where Hope said they would meet. He found her there with several ingredients in her hands and a new outfit. She told him that the troll she tracked since she escaped Malivore took up residence in Mystic Falls High, meaning they needed to get rid of it before it attacked someone.

     Hope came up with the idea to create a form of artificial sunlight to blind it, giving them enough time to take it out without incident. Ryan was on board. He needed something that he could take his aggression out on. He failed to talk with the headmaster about his tribrid nature, so he did not know if he would accept a sudden wolf transformation on the grounds.

     "So, you're slumming it at Mystic Falls High? Never thought I'd see the day," Ryan quipped from where he leaned against a row of grey lockers.

     Hope stood next to him, mixing her gathered ingredients inside an empty locker. She huffed and shook the jar in her hand. "Not by choice, okay? Dr. Saltzman spotted me, and didn't recognize me, so I had to come up with a cover story."

     Alaric Saltzman managed to get a new job after he left the Salvatore School. The local high school offered him the position of principal, which he must have accepted in the last few weeks. It totally slipped Ryan's mind.

     "Which involves becoming Hope Marshall, again," Ryan voiced with his arms crossed over his t-shirt. "He also thinks you're a vampire hunter. You really suck at this," he laughed.

     "Shut up." Hope shut the locker door and raised the jar in her hand that contained a blue substance. "There. Now, use your Spidey-senses and tell me where the troll is."

     Ryan scoffed. "And I'm the pushy one." He closed his eyes and forced his body to relax. His ears caught every little footstep and sound throughout the building, telling him if there was anything out of the ordinary. After a moment, he caught something large and uncoordinated below them. He opened his eyes and said, "it's in the basement."

     Hope nodded. "Alright, let's go," she stated and set off down the hallway.

     Ryan rolled his eyes, following after his sister. They found a door that led them down into the underground portion of the school. Hope went first, followed by Ryan. They made it down the metal staircase, hearing a loud roar deep inside. Hope hit the concrete floor and ran forward, crouched to roll the jar in her hand toward the troll's feet.

     Ryan paused when he caught sight of the monster. It stood well over seven feet with dark, green skin. Tuffs of hair covered its face, as well as other places on its body. Yellowed teeth were visible between its lips and produced a putrid smell. "Oh, that thing is nasty," he muttered.

     When a groan sounded, Ryan looked to the side to find Alaric sprawled on the floor with a crossbow at his side. His chin and cheeks held a scruffy beard, something Ryan had never seen the man have before.

     "Sol," Hope chanted, waving her hands toward the jar on the ground.

     Ryan slapped a hand onto his eyes when a burst of light erupted from the mixed potion. Once it started to fade, he lowered his arm to see the troll stumbled away and roar in pain.

     "Hope!" Alaric exclaimed as he grabbed an arrow from the ground and tossed it toward the Mikaelson girl.

     Hope raised a hand and stopped it mid-air, before she launched it toward the troll. The arrowhead pierced the creature's heart, causing it to fall back and land on the floor with a thud.

     Ryan pursed his lips as he stepped forward to stare down at the dead troll. "That worked."

     Alaric climbed to his feet to do the same. "Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and agree with your – troll theory."

     Hope released a breath and said from her brother's side, "yeah, well, it's nocturnal, so I figured I'd just make some artificial sunlight."

     "You didn't – you didn't say you were also a witch," Alaric voiced, before his stare landed on the other Mikaelson sibling. "And what're you doing here? You have school."

     Ryan looked to him with a shrug. "My classes are done for the day, and you think I was going to miss taking down a troll? I don't think so."

     Hope turned to the Saltzman man, after she glanced toward her brother. "Look, I'm just here to kill this monster. Okay? Then I'll be on my way before this get any more complicated."

     Ryan's brows furrowed. "What?"

     Before Hope could say more, another voice sounded from the entrance of the room. "Um..."

     Ryan snapped to the other side of the room to see a girl with black hair staring at the dead monster behind them.

     "What is that?" she exclaimed with wide eyes.

     Ryan gave his sister a flat stare. "Why do you always have to jinx everything?"

     _______

     Alaric somehow convinced the unknown girl to move out of the basement and into his office. Maya was her name. Because she saw them and the troll, Alaric called MG for some vampire assistance.

     Ryan leaned against Alaric's desk with Hope at his side. They watched as MG stood in front of Maya and compelled away the memory of the troll.

     "The sound was just a busted water-pipe," MG told the girl. "And then Dr. Saltzman..."

     "Principal Saltzman," Alaric corrected the vampire.

     MG nodded. "My bad. Principal Saltzman turned the water off and took care of everything."

     Maya blinked. "Wow. Crazy first day, huh?"

     Ryan pressed his lips together and thought, you have no idea.

     Alaric cleared his throat and nodded toward the door. "Great, you can head back to class, now," he told the girl.

     Once Maya left, MG turned to head for Hope.

     "Ah," Hope exclaimed, holding up a hand to stop the vampire. "Don't even think about it."

     MG's brows creased as he shifted his stare to the other Mikaelson. Ryan shrugged in response. MG looked back to Alaric, who shook his head.

     The vampire then looked back to Hope and smiled. "Uh, hey, if they trust you, so do I. Uh, by the way, I don't usually do this. I'm not trying to take anyone's agency or anything, you know? So, I gotta jet," he rambled, turning back to Alaric. "I got a study date with someone – uh – it could – it could be anybody, really."

     Ryan stared at the back of MG's head when he picked up on his stuttering. Weird.

     "Well, thanks for getting here so quickly. I appreciate it," Alaric told the boy.

     MG nodded. "Any time. You're – you'll always be my headmaster." He patted the man on the arm and started for the office door, before he turned on heel to where Ryan remained. "See you back at school, man. We needa catch up."

     Ryan nodded to him. "You got it."

     MG spun around and exited the room without another word, shutting the door behind him.

     Hope pushed herself up from the desk when MG left. "So, uh, why aren't you headmaster of that other school, anymore?"

     "It's a long story," Alaric said through a chuckle.

     Hope hummed. "oh, uh, okay. I'll be back once school lets out so we can clean up what's probably a dead troll."

     Alaric's stared narrowed toward her as she talked. "You're really not fazed by any of this, are you?"

     Ryan almost laughed. Of course she wasn't. They saw worse when they were kids. Although odd, trolls were not the craziest thing to happen to them.

     "I – I mean, I – I just think that the story that you told me, about the monsters and the scary black pit, just – makes a lot of sense, I guess," Hope supplied.

     Ryan blinked. She really sucked at lying.

     "Um, look, I'm really glad to hear that it stopped. I'm sorry that it's happening again."

     "It's not your fault," Alaric said, before he changed the subject. "Now that I know your cover story is a lie, I – I'm assuming Tom and Kathleen aren't real." Hope failed to reply. "Okay. The school I used to work at – you'd be welcome there. Ryan goes there, seeing as you two have already met. He can put in a good word for you with the headmaster."

     Ryan's heart clenched at the man's words. Hope knew that. She knew everything. It was everyone else who didn't.

     Hope let out a dry laugh. "Oh, um – yeah, that sounds amazing – but I'm just passing through." She looked back at Ryan and started for the door.

     Ryan stood from where he leaned against the desk and followed after her. Neither of them got far when Alaric spoke.

     "Hey, look, I – uh – I don't really have access to that school's resources anymore, and I'm trying to give my daughters some space. But if these monsters attacks are staring up again, I could use the backup. Both of you," Alaric stated as he looked between the Mikaelsons. "You know, I don't really have anyone else."

     Ryan stayed silent. He knew that when Alaric got the boot from the Honor Council it would be hard on the man, but he did not think it would take almost everything from him. He no longer had his home, his old job, and his daughters wanted to distance themselves. Ryan felt bad for him, despite the bit of anger he still harbored since he learned about the contingency plan that let Triad take them over.

     "I work better alone," Hope told him and then turned to leave the room.

     Ryan shook his head and sighed. His sister was definitely back.

<October 18, 2019>

Here's the first part of the second episode.

Ryan and Hope's relationship is so precious. I love them!

Season 2 is off with a bang, and is honestly kicking Season 1's ass. It's so good!

Don't forget to vote and comment.

-Jordan

P.S. Unedited chapter.