𝟙.𝟙𝟛: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔹𝕠𝕪 𝕎𝕙𝕠 𝕊𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝 ℍ𝕒𝕤 𝔸 𝕃𝕠𝕥 𝕆𝕗 𝔾𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕋𝕠 𝔻𝕠

—Narrator's perspective—

Rafael stared into nothingness, trying to remember what happened tonight. His breathins weren't steady as he keep getting blank answers to his major questions.

"Lunar psychosis?" Alaric questioned again to make sure, looking at the wolf who was losing it.

"That's a thing?" Hope asked in surprise.

"Quit talking..." The wolf breathed out, digging inside his head to get a glimpse of what happened. "Making noise." He grunted, an incoming panic attack about to hit him

He stood up, growling and about to attack the ones in front of him. Emma placed her hand up, just inched away from his chest. "Tardus pulsatio." She spelled and Rafael began to calm down, his heart rate steadying back to normal.

"It's a thing."

"What did you do to him?" Hope asked in concern, walking over to where they were to get a look of Raf.

"It's okay. I'm just slowing down his heart. It will calm him." She answered to assure the tribrid who was so confused and concerned for their situation.

Rafael snapped back to reality and looked around. "What's happening to me? I keep... losing time."

"As I said, Lunar Psychosis. Which means that your mind is in flux." The counselor explained, setting the werewolf back down to sit down. "Trapped between your wolf and human states, making it harder to bridge the gap and access your memories like you normally would. It's very rare. It only happens after a premature reversion."

"So, something caused your body to shift back before the full moon was over, leaving you like this." Hope added, getting his situation.

"Wh- What kind of something?" He asked in a worried tone.

"Usually trauma. Something bad happened." She spoke, adding fuel to the fire.

Emma turned to look at her. "We don't know that."

"Three of them left, and only one came back. Arabella and Penelope Park is gone too and Rafael mentioned Arabella's name when we first spotted him... Something bad happened." She remarked, voice shaky at how could this even happen.

Hope was worried out of her head for the blonde Vampire, she kept calling her phone earlier when she noticed her presence wasn't there in the Salvatore school, she used a locator spell but nothing was on the map. It was like she was never there.

"Hope." Emma started and sighed. "Why don't you give us a minute? Go on and check on the other wolves." She suggested.

"I'm worried about this one." She pointed at Raf who was still collecting his breathings to a minimum.

"Hope. Please."

Hope looked besides her to Alaric who only gave her a look telling her to go. She took one last look to Emma before scoffing and turning her heels to exit the room.

She stopped in the hallway, grabbing onto a nearby wall to steady herself. "Please be all right, Bella..." Hope wished and whispered in a shaky tone.

"What's the danger of him turning wolf again?" Ric asked, gesturing to Rafael. "I mean, this whole wing is filled with sleeping vampires."

"Don't worry, I'll keep him sealed in. What his mind needs now is to be surrounded by all the things that are familiar to him, that connect him to his humanity, not his lycanthropy." Emma explained and placed her hand on his chest, right by his heard. "Corum spiritus." She casted which got him to breathe.

Alaric walked towards them and knelt besides Emma so he can take a good look of the wolf. "Rafael, we'll do everything we can to help you, but you need to tell us exactly what happened. You were supposed to be here on campus for spring break with Landon and Mg, and now we can't find either one of them. Including Arabella and Penelope."

Rafael exhaled, eyes widened that he got something. "Everyone was leaving. Heading home for spring break..." He started to tell what else he remembered.

When he started to explain, Alaric was furious but chose to hide it and left saying something about needing to fix things. When he did, Hope got inside the room and stayed while Emma and she listened to Raf's story.

"Landon, No!" Rafael panted and shouted, staring at the floor like he was saying something. "No! Ara!" He shouted, the mention of the girl's name made Hope widen her eyes.

"It's happening again. Hand me the syringe." Emma said and pointed by the bed.

"Wait, he's about to tell us what happened to Landon and Bella." She said, looking down to Emma in need of wanting to know more.

"And if he stays in this state any longer, it'll be that much harder to pull him out." She explained in a hurried tone.

Rafael was still panting, eyes watering. "Landon! Run! Arabella help him!" He shouted and growled, grunting in pain.

Hope was hesitant, not knowing if she should let Rafael keep going or give him the sedatives. Emma sighed and stood up, grabbing a dose of the drug. The tribrid rushed to Rafael, kneeling to meet his eyes.

"Raf! Hey, it's okay. Tell me who's running after Landon. Please. What happened to Bella?" She asked desperately, holding his shoulders in need.

Emma walked behind the wolf, stabbing him with the injection and pushed the dosage of sedative in his system. The boy's breathing started to come back to normal and he grunted.

"A monster." He said one last time before passing out.

☘︎︎

"It doesn't make any sense. Triad has the urn. There shouldn't be any more monsters, certainly none that made their way through Maryland." Hope exclaimed in disbelief to Emma who was besides her, looking at a sleeping Rafael.

"He's obviously confused." She gestured to the werewolf.

Hope looked at him, "We need to wake him up." She shook her head and was against of letting him sleep.

"Sleep is the safest thing for him right now. Once he's out of this Lunar Cycle, we'll be able to recalibrate his brain more easily." She informed, hoping it would calm the teenager down.

"But he's the only one who knows where they all are. Plus, monster?" She reminded in a whispered tone.

"I heard. But as the closest thing this school has to a psychiatrist, my responsibility is to him. And to you. You and I talked a lot about triggers rooted in trauma."

Hope shook her head in eagerness to find those who were missing. "I don't need a therapist right now, Emma. I need answers."

"And you'll get them when I do, causing the least amount of harm to Rafael as possible." She finished and they both looked at Rafael's sleeping figure.

Hope exhaled, many thoughts running through her head of what might happen.

"Absolutely not." Emma exclaimed, looking at Hope in disbelief of what the girl told her just now.

"This elixir has been in my family for years." She explained, holding up a small bottle for her to see. "Dr. Saltzman said that I—"

"—Dr. Saltzman, bless him, is not a medical doctor. Nor am I. And most definitely neither are you. The division between the two sides of Rafael's mind exists for a reason, to protect his sanity and to—"

Hope shook her head. "—Emma, please. Obviously, something terrible happened. Landon and Arabella are out there somewhere." She pointed outside the window with pleading eyes.

"Do you think I'm not concerned about them? Ofcourse I am." She spoke up, looking at Hope in worries.

"Then we need to do something. Arabella is out there and I can't—"

"—Hope, I said no. And I'm not gonna let you—" Before she can finished the sentence, Rafael stabbed her with the sedative making her gasp and slowly fall out of consciousness.

"I'm sorry, Emma. But Hope's right." Rafael said and Hope looked at them in worry. "Do what you got to do." He looked at the tribrid.

Hope stared at him for a few seconds and nodded. "Place her in bed." She said and walked past him, wiping a visible tear away from her cheek when it fell.

Rafael sat on the opposite bed, waiting to be told on what to do so he can remember what happened to his brother and Arabella out there. He was desperate— both of them were. Him and Hope.

"Here." Hope gave him the elixir. "Just drink it." She whispered in an ordered tone.

Rafael exhaled before drinking the whole bottle of the elixir in one go. He shook his head when he was done and sniffed.

"Okay." Hope said when he nodded, she placed the bottle down and knelt in front of him to meet his eyes. "You said you saw a monster."

"I did?" He whispered, not remembering the events of what happened last night. "I don't— I don't... I don't remember that." Rafael shook his head continously.

"Okay, tell me what you do remember." She asked and something inside Rafael clicked and started to remember bits of his memories before the full moon.

How he tried to make Landon stop on forcing Mg to meet his father. But Landon kept pushing and pushing until the Vampire did in the church from where Mg's father was suppose to give a speech at.

Rafael knew it wasn't a good idea and he should have stuck by it instead of giving in and letting Mg meet his father.

"Wait wait wait." Hope interrupted. "So... you're saying that Mg's dad didn't know he was a vampire?" She asked confusingly and stood up.

"I'm saying that Mg's dad thought that he was dead." He deadpanned pointed out and looked at Hope seriously. "We didn't want to leave Mg behind but it was getting late. And we knew that I had to get back before I turned, and..." He shuddered.

"What?" Hope asked, her arms crossed while she still needed to hear all these.

"We bumped into Arabella and Penelope. Arabella looked so... tired and her shirt was bloody and she was a mess..." He said remembering the girl's image in his head.

Hope stepped back, "Wait— what? What happened to her? Raf?" She asked, lowering her voice in fear.

"We didn't make it back on time, Hope. Arabella was there and she helped us restrain me." He explained and Hope could feel her heart rate increase by his words more and more.

"Now is not the time." Arabella whispered in a shaky tone, chaining Rafael to a tree while tears were visibly drawn to her eyes. She sniffled and didn't notice that she missed to lock a chain but she already walked up to the others.

"You sure this is gonna work?" Rafael asked to them, hesitant about the restraints.

"Oh to be honest bro, this is actually a first for me. But, if you have any other better ideas, I'm all ears." Landon glibbed and leaned on the bonefire that was lit up.

"You shouldn't have left the school at all. For goodness sake it's a full moon." Penelope exaggerated, still shake up about on what happened earlier in the Lockwood cellar.

Landon looked back to the girls. "Well, excuse me for wanting to help Mg." He remarked.

"And now we're all screwed. 'Cause, what, you- you couldn't find your parents, so you made him get answers from his? That's not right." Rafael spat, neither of the boys noticed how Arabella looked so tense while she was sitting on the dirt in frustration.

"Answers that made his life better and this is coming to the guy who won't even have the conversation?" He spat, knowing exactly what Rafael has been feeling towards Hope but Hope is in a relationship with Arabella.

"I killed him... Oh god." Arabella whispered, clutching her shirt tightly to prevent herself from another mental attack. "He- he was my father but I killed him?" She questioned.

Landon and Rafael was too sewn into their argument about how Rafael was avoiding the fact that he likes Hope. Landon knew it was none of his business but he cared about Hope even though nothing else happened between them. He focused more on his brother who had taken a liking to the girl he once liked.

Penelope sighed, she witnessed the whole thing. "You saved me, from him. He was going to kill me, Arabella." She tried to help the Vampire but she shook her head.

"I killed him... After all these years my past won't stop coming to chase me." She said, tears trailing down her cheek.

Rafael groaned in pain, shouting that he started to transition to a wolf. Arabella and Penelope stood up, walking besides the curly haired boy who didn't know what to do.

"What you need to do is back away before he bites you." Arabella said, pushing her thoughts away and helped Landon walk backwards

"You got to get out of here. All of you." Rafael whimpered, looking down on the dirt in weak of his position. "Grab Mg, and steer cleer of the woods until morning." He said to all of them.

Landon shook his head. "No. There's no way. I'm gonna stay right here. We're gonna get through this together, like we always have."

"Lan—" Arabella was about to forcefully pull him away from the woods but something ran past behind them.

"—What the hell was that?!" He asked, looking around to see a figure running around in the woods near from where they were.

"Lan. Lan, look at me. Arabella, grab him and run." Rafael pleadingly looked at both of them.

"There's someone else out here." She said, holding a hand up and didn't even hear Rafael's shout to take Landon and Penelope to run.

She was about to walk to the figure but Penelope shouted in surprise, her figure got thrown to a tree making her past out. "Penelope!" Arabella shouted but she was passed out cold.

"Arabella. Arabella please." Penelope pleaded, shaking her awake but the Blonde Vampire was unresponsive, claw marks on her body and she was full of blood. "Mg. Hold on." She said and has been preserving his life on hold, a wolf bit the both of them but Arabella took most of the hit.

"Penelope? Mg?" Alaric called out, flashing his flashlights to them with Kaleb besides him. "What happen— Oh my god." He exclaimed, looking at a dead Arabella who had her eyes open and desiccated on the ground.

"Dr. Saltzman! I-I didn't know what to do— She told me to save Mg but—" Penelope was stammering, a dried blood on her temple was visible but she didn't care as it happened yesterday. "Arabella, she—" She couldn't continue to speak because of the overwhelming situation.

Alaric breathed heavily, going besides the Vampire who looked dead. "No no no. You are not suppose to die." He panicked.

Kaleb was tending to Penelope and Mg, Alaric was freaking out over Arabella who looked as good as dead.

"No— It will be fine. You're not suppose to die to a werewolf attack." He said, waiting for the girl to wake up but she remained on the ground, lifeless. "Kaleb? How's Mg?" He questioned and carried Arabella to them.

"Penelope told me that he got bitten to a werewolf— It was Rafael. I knew it, hang in there Mg." Kaleb said, looking over the boy who was hallucinating. "Wait wait, Is that...? No." He's eyes noticed the blonde Vampire who was dead. "The cure. Give him the cure you were talking about."

"Hope's blood is the cure." Alaric said, still hoping that Arabella will wake up. "The infection is spreading to his heart." He added. "Penelope what happened?" He asked the girl who was trying to calm herself down.

Penelope shook her head, stayed staring at Arabella. "A-A lot happened, Dr. Saltzman. Arabella told me to save Mg and I couldn't hold off a werewolf toxin to both of them—"

"—She told you to save Mg." He said, cutting her off and nodding.

☘︎︎

"What's going— Arabella..." Hope stopped in her tracks, seeing the blonde in a futile situation. Tears strained her cheeks immediately, remembering what Arabella told her months ago. "No. No..." She whispered and ran to her.

"Hope. Mg has a werewolf bite. He doesn't have much time." Alaric spoke but she couldn't hear him. "Hope! She'll wake up, she can't die, remember? She'll be fine." He said while Rafael, Mg and Kaleb were talking.

Hope sobbed, shaking her head while she held onto Arabella as tight as she could. "S-She told me that she tried everything to kill herself. Everything except werewolf toxin." She said and bit her lip to supress the cries to escape her mouth. "Stefan and Damon Salvatore never let her near werewolves and she never knew if Werewolf venom was enough to k-kill her— Please no..." She whispered, tears were falling continously.

"What?" Alaric asked, panting on his own while he was still having hopes for the girl to wake up. "No, she's part original, remember? She'll wake up— I know she will." He said, forcing himself to believe it.

"I remember now." Rafael spoke, startling Alaric and Hope who looked up to him. She stood up, about to do something but Alaric prevented her. "I remember who the monster was." He said, looking at Hope apologetically.

Hope covered her mouth, holding onto Alaric while she tried to think ways on what to do about Arabella. She can't be dead, she can't, She thought while listening to Rafael's story.

"Penelope!" Arabella shouted and rushed to her, heartbear was there but she was unconscious. "Mg? What the hell did you do?!" She shouted in anger, rising to her feet while walking up to the boys.

"This is all your fault! You made me come there! You rang that doorbell. You showed me that paper. And you put all your crap on me!" He sneered, pointing at Landon.

Arabella stepped back, looking at them but she couldn't hear a thing. Her mind was blocking her from processing everything that was happening. All she could see was William's dead face, his heart on her hands. Her hands trembled in fear from the sudden whiplash of the memory.

Rafael was calling for her but she seemed out of no where. She was sweating badly and looked like she was so out of it. "No! Ara Help him!" He shouted against the chains.

"Okay I deserve that. Now calm down!" Landon said, mouth full of blood when Mg punched him harshly.

Mg looked at his hands that was shaking when it came contact of the blood. He couldn't hear anything but the voice telling him to feed. Not even Rafael's calls to stop.

Arabella breathed heavily, snapping her eyes to Mg who had Landon against a tree. "Milton stop!" She shouted and tried to get him off of the boy but Mg pushed her backwards, her stumbling to Rafael's form that unknowingly was biting her in the neck.

Arabella screamed in pain, having to force on watching Mg feed on Landon and also couldn't do a thing while Rafael was biting and keeping her in place. "R-Raf... Stop... He- He's going to kill Landon..." She whispered, having no energy to fight and her eyes were getting heavy.

When Landon's body rolled to the floor, Rafael backed away from the girl she was biting, Arabella's disoriented self also dropped besides Landon.

Rafael looked at them, couldn't believe of what he did to Arabella but his main focus was on Mg who killed his brother. He shouted and the chains were loose, about to attack him.

"You...." Hope whispered, falling back from where Arabella was laying down on the ground. She heard that Rafael killed the girl she loved and Mg killed Landon. Her mind was spinning but moreover her heart was experiencing lots of pain. "You killed her..." She looked at the wolf in disbelief, feeling her world came crashing down on her again.

Hope dropped to the floor, sobbing while she looked at Arabella in fear that she will lose her forever.

"I did it. It was me. I'm the monster." Mg said from where he was laying on the ground.

"Oh god... Please don't leave me." Hope whimpered, sobbing over Arabella's dead body, having no choice but to relieve all this pain over and over again.

Hope clutched her chest in pain, looking at how Arabella's desiccated body is in front of her. She breathed heavily, looking back to where Alaric and the two other vampires were. She wiped her tears away, and stood up.

"I need your knife." Hope said, looking over at him. Alaric stood up and gave the blade to her.

The tribrid slashed her palm, letting Mg drink her blood while the tears on her eyes never stopped flowing. It eventually will but at this point, she couldn't... With the love of her life gone, she didn't know what else to with everything.

☘︎︎