huh. I guess I am writing during my vacay. so here go :3

Seven

I did try to mingle like Hope said to. It probably would've been good to get to know people. Let them know I wasn't a threat to them. But the second I stepped foot into a room, they'd all go silent and scurry away like cockroaches when the kitchen light turns on. They're afraid of me because they know I came from Malivore, but they don't trust that I wasn't sent by him.

Understandably so. I mean, everything from Malivore came to lay harm on someone in the building. Who's to say I'm any different, right?

Nearly two weeks passed since I escaped and made my way to the Salvatore school. Hope continued to question me on my life. Though there wasn't much to it. Parents died, brothers died, pack was murdered. I was adopted by an upgraded original vampire. Possibly drugged, then dumped into Malivore.

Though, of course, I didn't tell her about the part with my brothers. Not fully. I'm not ready for that yet.

Hope inserted herself on my missions. One; to find who sent me to Malivore. Two; find the remaining vampires that attacked the Crescent Wolves. She probably doesn't know, but I also will be shadowing her demon lover, just on case. But finally, I need to work up the courage to return to New Orleans. To Marcel.

But I worry he won't be so happy to realize I've been missing for three years.

I figured the best way to get clues as to how I disappeared, we'd have to go back to where I disappeared from. Fort Valley, Georgia.

Right now all that are coming with us are packing their bags to stay a while. A day is all. Just to try to find clues. I didn't have very many clothes, so packing wasn't an issue. Besides, once we get to Fort Valley, I should be able to get my old clothes. I haven't even grown too much from back then, really. They should still fit.

I made my way down the corridors of the school, to the front entrance and out. There was already a truck ready for us to leave in.

"You ready to go?" Dr. Ric's voice sounded from behind me. I nodded in response, dropping the small bag to my side. "Good. We're all set then."

"So why does the whole gang have to come?" I asked.

"It's not the whole gang."

"But the majority. We're only missing...what? Two vamps? And a demon child?"

"'Demon child'? Do...you mean Landon?"

"Yes."

"Okay, why's is he proclaimed the 'demon child'?"

"Because he's Malivore's son, isn't he? I don't trust him."

Ric laughed, stepping close enough to whisper in my ear. "Aren't you the one that shouldn't be trusted?"

"That is, if my one purpose besides finding those vampires, and the asshole—sorry, the person—that took me from my apartment... if my one purpose besides those wasn't to look after Hope, you'd all be in harm's way."

"Are you saying you'd kill us?"

"Now you're putting words in my mouth, Dr. Saltzman."

"You didn't deny it..."

I rolled my eyes, annoyed because although Dr. Ric was joking, I knew there was a good chance it was a legitimate question. I'm tired of having to constantly prove my good intentions. "For the last time, I am not interested in killing anyone here." Maybe besides the demon child if he's tempted by his father. Or if he hurts Hope.

Besides the constant interrogations, the other kids here look at me as if I'm some monster. The reality is, I'm no different than them; orphan with nowhere to go.

I grabbed my bag and went around to the trunk to throw it in. I glanced at the entrance to see the rest of the crew ready to go. I caught a whiff of the wolf, concluding that he'd just come from having a shower after some time in the gym.

Hope was behind him and beside the twins. She looked my way, looking me over briefly. "How are you? I know I've been a little absent from the room these past few days, so..."

"I'm awesome, thanks for asking. Not wanting to murder anyone, that's for sure." I smiled sarcastically at the older man before getting in the passenger seat of the truck, scooting over to the middle.

It was one of those trucks where six people found fit perfectly, and there were exactly six of us going to Fort Valley. Everyone shoved their bags into the trunk, then got in as well. Now I was officially the filling of a human-tribrid sandwich.

I didn't say anything once we started driving, and neither did anyone else, apart from a bit of gossip with the witches, courtesy of Lizzie. And apparently there was a lot of it...

I figured this would be quite a long drive...

~~~

As we exited the highway into the small town, I started giving directions to my old apartment, only remembering everything as we passed certain buildings. It feels like it's been forever since I was last here. Though it's only been three years, my time in Malivore made it feel more like three decades.

We pulled into the parking space just in front of the townhouse styled building. My apartment was the one at the bottom, below a small shop that for some reason was stationed above it. But that place had been abandoned a long time ago. I thought of purchasing it one day and start up my own music store. What I'd do with it, I don't know. I guess now I never will.

I sighed heavily as everyone exited the car. Hope left the door opened for me to get out as she looked over the scenery.

"Cute little town..."

I nodded, "It was nice for the few months I stayed here. Quiet, not much going on around here, but plenty to do, surprisingly. There's a carnival that's always opened not too far from here."

Hope smiled lightly, then turned back towards the apartment.

Sighing again, I went to the door and jiggled the knob, surprised to find it actually locked.

"Don't you have a key?" Lizzie smarted.

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "I was taken while I was inside, remember?" I didn't wait for an answer. Instead, I brought my fist down hard over the knob, breaking it and part of the door, then entered.

Immediately, my nose scrunched up at the absolute horrid smell coming from inside. There was dust everywhere, and even a few visible spider webs in the corners of the wall. There was a somewhat large like of mail in front of the door, likely addressed to me (for whatever reason), but I just stepped over it and ignored it.

It's really a shame that this place was left behind, really.

"What is that smell?" Josie asked, covering her nose with the sleeve of her jacket.

I walked towards the kitchen. It was an open space, so it wasn't hard to see the majority of things. I laughed to myself as I found the main source of the foul smell. I pointed to it, turning back toward the others. "Three year old lasagna. Want some? It's topped with the best ingredients in the world: mold and fungi."

Lizzie faked gagged (not really fake), "Absolutely not."

I smirked at her reaction, then looked down to find a blue cloth that I'm a hundred percent certain wasn't mine. I picked it up and waved it a few inches away from my nose. Still, there was a strong scent of chemicals on it.

"Found what knocked me out," I said. Ric came over and took it out of my hand. He got a whiff of it too, also smelling the chemicals.

"Yeah. It's not just chemicals, either." He pointed out a small stain in the center of it. "Liquidized wolfsbane, and if they knew to use that, they must've known to use a little vervain too."

"Sure way to knock out a hybrid," Hope nodded.

"Did anyone here know about you?" Josie asked me.

I shook my head no. "I barely talked to anyone. No one but my manager and a fellow teen coworker at that bakery down the road. Even so, of course, I never said anything about where I'm from it what I am. No one should've known."

"So maybe someone from your hometown knew you were here? Maybe they wanted something," Rafael shrugged.

Ric shook his head. "Doesn't explain how they knew about Malivore or why they put Melori there."

"Besides that, Marcel made sure that no one besides Freya knew where I was. She insisted, just so she can come to my aid if I needed it."

My eyes trailed down the dark hall leading to my bedroom. I walked down said hall, the others following me, and entered the room cautiously.

Most of my stuff wasn't out of place. But my closet was surely ransacked. I rushed to it and pushed all the fallen clothes out of the closet, revealing nothing but the floorboards. However, there was a loose one that I undid myself so I can hide my most prized possessions.

It was useless to be careful about removing it, so I balled my hand into a fist and smashed it open. Because the foundation was raised, I was able to hide a fairly large box here with no problems.

I got on my side so that I could fully reach down to get it. Once I did, I got up to see everyone staring at me strangely. I ignored them, dusting off the metal case.

"What exactly is that?" Hope asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing you should concern yourself with... it's just some things I care about..."

"Anything that someone would come looking for?" Ric asked.

I shrugged lazily, keeping my eyes on the box. "Honestly, I don't know."

Josie stepped a little closer, her arms crossed over her chest. "What's in it?"

I looked at the lot of them. I knew they'd press, so I found it useless to hide. At least it some of it. I sighed, "Some if it's what I could salvage from the bayou... my home. The rest are what I treasure from my time in the French Quarter. I guess the thing someone would come looking for is my dad's grimoire."

"Why would they want it?"

"To hell if I knew? I mean... Hell, I don't know? Maybe there's a super powerful spell in it that they want? I doubt there actually is, my dad wouldn't leave this around for people to find." I shrugged helplessly, plopping myself at the edge of my old bed. "Maybe they thought that because of who my dad was..."

"What do you mean by that, Melori?" Ric asked, pushing himself off the wall in which he was leaning on. "Something else you haven't told us?"

I purser my lips, knowing they'd freak at what I'm about to tell them. Because I remember the old tales Freya's told me about a certain line of witches that diverted from the most powerful, most ancient witch to ever live.

Regardless of all that, I shrugged nonchalantly. "He was a Bennett witch."