girls | hope mikaelson

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

(Hope is Not the Goal 1x04 part two)

Rowan stands side by side with the other teenagers, looking down at what was Dana's dead body. Her head quickly snaps up when she feels the burning stare of all six teenagers surrounding her and she glances up with a blank stare. "Can I help any of you?" She deadpans.

MG gapes, "you killed Dana!"

"No," Rowan defends herself. "I mean, yes, but she was obviously going to die anyway."

Harry lets a small smirk grace his lips while Landon looks at the girl in disbelief, not-so-subtly inching away from her.

"Do you not feel any remorse at all?" Kaleb scoffs.

The Night girl arches an eyebrow, "do you?"

Hope, in an attempt to stop her girlfriend from killing anyone else, steps in by glancing at Lizzie, "Should we call your dad…?"

Lizzie gives Hope a snide look, "Why? So he can take another bullet for you?"

Rowan clenches her jaw and glares at the blonde.

Hope also returns Lizzie’s look back to her as though she’s not understanding the gravity of the situation, "No, because whatever did this is not a vampire or a broken neck." She refers to the way Dana's body had shed its skin. Hope gives Landon a pointed look, "It’s got to be another monster from the knife."

Kaleb, both suspicious of their newest student and eager to clear his own name, picks up where Hope left off and looks at Landon questioningly. "Well, maybe the monster has been right in front of us all along."

Landon immediately takes offense to Kaleb’s accusation as the vampire walks closer to him. Rowan and Harry simutaneously step in front of the Kirby boy, their eyes narrowed at Kaleb and daring him to come closer.

"What?" Landon scoffs, "Are you serious?"

"Hey, none of this started happening until you showed up and stole that knife, which is exactly what the other monsters came here to do. You saying it’s a coincidence?"

"Damn straight," Rowan snaps. "Why, Kaleb? Afraid your little ploy to feed on humans so you can be the strongest at the schol, is failing?" Her lips rise into a smug smile. "Don't tell me you're afraid of a human? Because that's what this all boils down to, right? You're accusing him because you're either afraid of him or because you did it yourself." Rowan looks around at her fellow students to make sure they feel the same way, but she wasn't expecting what she got. Hope and Lizzie were avoiding her eyes, seemingly guilty for how they felt. "You guys, you believe that Landon didn't do it, right?"

MG gives her a sympathetic expression, and it’s clear that he’s not going to go to bat for the Kirby boy. Landon, visibly hurt by this accusation, takes one last look at Hope before taking off on foot, "Got it. Say no more."

"Landon!" Rowan calls out helplessly. Her arm gets caught in Harry's hold as she tries to rush after the human boy.

"Let him go," the Styles boy demands. "He needs time, he's hurt." He squints at the other teenagers, "rightfully so."

······

Back outside, Hope, MG, Lizzie, a stone-faced Rowan, a pouty Harry, and Kaleb are cleaning up the evidence of Dana’s death. MG is ripping pages out of a comic book to use to wipe the goo off of his shoes while Lizzie hoses the remnants of Dana’s liquified organs off of the pavement and Hope cleans off her hands with a washcloth. Kaleb walks up behind the girls and makes another disgusted face, "Nasty." Kaleb then turns the topic back to himself as he starts to back away. "Yeah, so, um… I’m out of here. But, little piece of advice? Landon could be in there right now, eating fools. So… I’ll holla. Kaleb gestures around at the group before turning and walking away from them.