CHAPTER TWELVE
of gargoyles & more bloody noses

"KATELYN CAN YOU GO GET THE KNIFE FROM my office, please? It's locked in the drawer. The keys are in an egg-looking thing." Alaric asked the blonde and she nodded. She took off down the hall towards the office and retrieved the knife like she was told to do. She closed the drawer and locked it before putting the keys back where they came from. 

She walked out of the office and walked the halls until she found Alaric. She gave him the knife and he took it. They walked silently through the halls, careful to check every corner. Their footsteps were the only thing that could be heard. 

Both of them stopped when they heard rustling behind them. They both turned around and saw the statue standing near one of the doors. Alaric pulled Katelyn behind him as they walked in front of the gargoyle. 

Alaric stepped closer to it before stopping right in front of it. He stared at its face. Suddenly, Alaric raised his arm and was about to plunge the knife into the gargoyle's chest only for it to open its eyes and grab his arm, growling. 

The knife dropped out of Alaric's hand as the gargoyle twisted his arm and opened his mouth like he was going to eat him. Katelyn fell to the ground, unconscious. 

Katelyn woke up a couple of minutes later to find the gargoyle gone and Alaric passed out right beside her. She sat up and shook him. 

"Alaric. Ric. Hey, wake up." She said. He didn't budge. She stood up and dusted off her pants. She looked around before finding a vase full of water. She grabbed it and pulled the flowers out, putting them in a different vase. She walked over to the man and dumped the contents onto his head. 

He woke up, gasping. "What the hell?!" He shouted as he shook his head and wiped his eyes. 

Katelyn put the vase back. "You wouldn't wake up." She smiled innocently and helped him up. They both heard screeching in the distance and Alaric put his finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet. She nodded and the two slowly and silently walked away from where they were. 

"You go that way. I'll go this way. Meet up back here, okay?" He whispered and Katelyn nodded. She walked off towards the lounge to see if the gargoyle was there. 

She checked around every corner. She heard the entrance doors open and footsteps. Multiple. 

"Lizzie?" Came Josie's voice. Katelyn rushed in, covering her mouth and putting her finger to her lips, telling Hope and Josie to stay quiet. 

"What's going on?" Hope whispered. 

"We're under attack by a gargoyle, kay?" Katelyn replied just as quietly. 

"Is Lizzie okay?" Josie asked as she pulled away from Katelyn. 

"She got attacked by the gargoyle but Emma's watching over her. Hope, go check the library. Josie, go that way. Be careful." She ordered and the two nodded, doing what they were told. Katelyn follows her sister so she can branch off a different way. 

"What are you doing here?" Alaric's voice makes them both jump. 

"Oh, my God." Hope said. "You scared us." 

They turned towards Alaric. "Dorian was supposed to keep you away." He said to Hope. 

"He tried. He lost. But here." Hope handed him a book. "Killing Gargoyles 101. He thought you could translate it." 

He opened it up and then looked at Katelyn. "Gaulish. Son of a..." He stopped himself and looked at Hope before looking back at the book. 

"So are we on our own, or did the Gauls provide clear instruction?" Hope asked him. 

"In a nutshell, it says hit it hard, repeat as needed." 

They all heard the gargoyle roar in the distance. 

"Is that...?" Hope asked. 

"Yeah." Katelyn replied. 

"Listen, it poisoned Lizzie. I'm guessing to get my attention. Then it attacked us and took the knife." Alaric said. 

"The knife? The dragon knife?" Hope asked in disbelief. "And you're still breathing?" 

"Oh, I have a theory about that." He replied. 

"Well, save it, because we had to take down that containment spell to get inside the school, meaning our monster can get out." Hope told him. 

"A containment spell?" Katelyn and Alaric asked at once, looking at each other. 

"Lizzie wanted to make sure whatever attacked her didn't escape into the world." Katelyn realized. 

"Good girl." Alaric said under his breath. He looked over at the shield that had two axes coming out of it. He set the book on the table. "All right, well, guess we better find it..." He pulled the axes out. "Before it makes the evening news. So how did you take the containment spell down?" 

"She didn't." The three looked over at the door opposite of them to see Josie walking through. "I did." She took the axe that Alaric was handing Hope. "And I have questions." Hope opened and closed her mouth for a second, looking the girl up and down. "Also why are you wet?" She asked her father. 

Alaric turned his head and glared at Katelyn who smiled. "She dumped water on my head because I wouldn't wake up." 

"Hey, it's not my fault that you didn't wake up from me slapping you." Katelyn raised her hands in surrender. 

"That's why my cheek hurt." He muttered, rubbing his right cheek. 

"Sorry." Katelyn said. 

Josie's eyes widened. "Katelyn, your nose. It's happening again." 

"Fuck." She muttered, raising her hand and wiping her nose. 

"Again?" Alaric asked. "Katelyn, I told you to tell me whenever this happened." 

"Yeah, well, you insulted my father and I wanted to rip you apart when it happened so, it didn't really cross my mind." She snapped. Hope tossed her a wipe. "Thank you." Hope nodded. Katelyn wiped her nose and held the wipe there until it stopped. 

Once it did she threw it away. 

"Let's go kill this son of a bitch." She said. 

The four of them set out walking down the halls. They made it to where the kids were hiding with Emma and Hope opened the door. They all walked in. 

"Emma?" Alaric called. "Emma." 

The sliding doors opened and Emma appeared. She put her finger to her lips, shushing them as Josie walked forward. Hope and Katelyn both froze when they heard growling behind them. 

They turned around and saw the gargoyle standing at the top of the stairs. Alaric and Josie turned as well. Emma closed the doors again just as it roared. It flew down the steps and the two tribrids lunged out of the way, falling to the ground in front of it. 

"Damn, dude. Why you so angry?" Katelyn asked right before the gargoyle was about to strike them with the knife. 

"No!" Alaric yelled as he ran in front of them. 

"Dad!" Josie yelled. 

The gargoyle stopped inches away from Alaric's heart. Katelyn and Hope got up, breathing heavily. Alaric and the gargoyle stared at each other for a moment before Josie struck it with the axe making it shriek. 

The gargoyle spun around about to stab Josie when Alaric hit it with the axe in the back. 

Hope, her eyes yellow, raised her hand's waist level, her palms facing the ceiling. "Fluctus inpulsa!" The knife fell out of the gargoyle's hand as he stumbled backwards. "Josie, help me." 

"How?" She asked as she walked over to Hope and grabbed her hand. 

"Just repeat after me. Katelyn, take her other hand." Hope said. Katelyn did as she was told as Alaric got behind them. Josie began siphoning from both of them. "Fluctus inpulsa."

"Fluctus inpulsa. Fluctus inpulsa." The three chanted, repeating the incantation. The gargoyle spread his arms as if there were chains around his hands pulling them backward. His back arched before he crouched slightly. He roared as they continued to chant. He stepped towards them. "Fluctus inpulsa!" The three shouted and the gargoyle shrieked before exploding into ruble. 

Josie let go of Katelyn's hand but Hope wouldn't let her let go. The auburn tribrid sighed. "Nice job." She told the two. 

Josie spun around, her hand still locked with Hope's. "How could you jump in front of them like that?" She asked her father with tears in her eyes. "You could have died, Dad."

"Honey, I knew it wouldn't kill me, because my research said so." Alaric replied. 

Hope let go of Josie's hand reluctantly as the girl went over to the sliding doors. Katelyn looked at Alaric. "Thank you, Alaric. I guess we're even now." She said with a smirk.

His lips turned up. "I guess we are."

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Katelyn and Hope stand inside Alaric's office. "How is Lizzie?" Katelyn asked him. 

"Recovering quickly, thanks to her sister." He said as he picked up his books. 

"So, how did you know the gargoyle wouldn't kill you?" Hope inquired. 

"Gargoyles are protectors. And folklore tells a tale of a gargoyle who once protected a small settlement in France whose villagers revered a powerful relic. A knife." He explained as he put his books in the case and shut the door before turning towards them.  

"Our knife?" Katelyn and Hope ask. 

"As the story goes, the gargoyle loved the humans he protected so much, he vowed never to harm humanity. Instead, he chose to fight evil on their behalf." 

"Us being the evil ones in this scenario." Hope said. "Josie, Lizzie..."

"In its mind, yes. I realized when it didn't hurt me before... it saw me as the one who needed protection." He sighed. 

"I'm not sure that knowing that will make them feel any better." Katelyn said quietly and Hope nodded in agreement. 

"I should get back to the girls." He said, walking towards the door to his office. 

"Wait." Hope said, turning towards him. "One more thing. You're always telling us that we need to work together. To put our own feelings aside for the school, for the community. I know I haven't always listened to you with that kind of stuff but I'm starting to think that it's actually pretty good advice, so..." 

"Maybe you should take it." Katelyn said. 

"Because if you want me and the twins to get along, for them to be happy, for the school to be safe... These secrets are gonna tear us all apart."

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Everyone was gathered in the assembly hall. Katelyn was sitting next to Hope, across from the twins. They haven't been able to talk to them yet even though they wanted to. 

"If you had asked me a week ago... I would have told you I knew the difference between myth and fact." Alaric told the upperclassmen students. "I would have said that supernaturals were limited to the species under this roof." 

He looked at Katelyn who smiled slightly and nudged Hope with her shoulder. 

"I would have said that folklore and fairy tales were just stories. But I can no longer say that any of that's true. 'Cause just a few days ago, we were confronted by the existence of a dragon." 

Katelyn and Hope grimaced at the memory while ever murmured amongst themselves. 

"And then, today, our campus was terrorized by a gargoyle come to life. Some of us... were forced to fight." 

He set his hand on Katelyn's shoulder and squeezed it. 

"We won. This time. They were drawn here by a knife that went missing earlier this week. And for whatever reason, these creatures consider us to be the enemy. In their minds, we're the villains because we won't give them what they want. We don't even know why they want it. But we're gonna find out." 

Alaric walked back towards the front where the stairs are. 

"I can't say for sure what their true intentions are. I can't say there won't be more attacks. That's why I'm telling you this. To warn you. To ask you to look out for each other. To do what's best for one another. Because we're more than just a school. We're a family." 

He looked around at everyone. 

"And we will stand together, we will fight together, and we will win or lose this battle together, no matter what comes next."

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Hope leaned against the doorway with her arms crossed. Katelyn stood next to her with her hands shoved in her pockets. They both watched as MG walked over to the twins with a plate of brownies. 

"Hey." He said, gaining their attention. "I had the kitchen make these. Your favorite. Brownies." He handed them to Lizzie, never taking his eyes off of her. Katelyn stood up a bit straighter, tearing her gaze away for a moment before looking back. 

"Thanks, MG." The siphoner said with a smile. The vampire walked away with a smile. 

Josie watched him walk away with a smile, turning slightly to where she could see Hope and Katelyn. She and Hope locked eyes. Hope smiled slightly but the smile faltered on the brunette's face. She turned away from them and Hope swallowed roughly. Hope pushed off the wall and walked away with Katelyn following close behind. 

They walked through the halls until they got to the entrance hall. Hope and Katelyn stared as they saw Alaric talking with a man that had Rafael and Landon with him. 

The man walked out with Alaric while Rafael walked into the lounge. Landon watched his brother before he looked towards the girls. 

They locked eyes, none of them wanting to look away first. 

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