Eventually, I was lead to a spacious room with two double beds and enough space to even fit two more. Maybe even then some.

The décor was as elegant as the rest of the school, but had a few modern touches here and there. In various corners of the room, there were canvases. Some had extravagant paintings to cover them while others were left blank.

I figured this was her room, and these were her paintings.

"This is my room... I would have a roommate but Dr. Saltzman tries to categorize the students to match their species. Y'know, witches, wolves... those sorts of things." Hope motioned the area around us. "Of course there's no one like me, so..."

I tried to stay as far away from her belongings to try not to invade her space. The last thing I wanted to do was cause either of us to be uncomfortable.

Hope saw my (most likely) visible discomfort and pointed towards a door to my left. "That's the bathroom... You can shower and do whatever you have to... I'll-I'll bring some spare clothes and there should be some spare toiletries in the bottom cabinet."

I headed into the bathroom, swiftly yet cautiously, still trying not to invade her personal space. I found the switch to the bathroom lights, turning them on immediately.

The bathroom was fairly small but there was enough space to stretch and move around freely.

With the door closed behind me, I removed the ruined clothes I've had to wear for some amount of years that were now ruined by the stand-still embodiment of Malivore.

I looked at myself in the mirror. Nearly every inch of my skin was spotted in dried black tar. Escaping was no easy task. Seeing myself like this only reminded me of the constant torture of knowing I'd probably never be home again. It seems silly now that I'm out, but it's not exactly the same because they're dead.

I couldn't even imagine what Hope must've felt.

A knock on the door caught my attention. "Hey," Hope's slightly muffled voice sounded. "I put some old Salvatore sweats on the bed."

"Thank you," I mumbled. By that signal, I decided to finally shower.

I had no idea how long I was in for, but between the steaming hot water on my skin, the smell of warm vanilla Dove body wash (damn fine choice in my opinion), and the ability to finally get this stuff off of me and out of my hair... hot damn, I felt good.

The water had gotten cold so I figured it was time to head out. I looked in the cabinet below the sink to get two towels; one for my body and the other to dry my hair.

I entered the empty bedroom, immediately finding the swear pants and shirt, both with the Salvatore School brand embroidered into them. It was unfortunate that I didn't have any underwear, but for now I was just happy to have something clean to wear.

Just as I slipped on the sweat pants, someone knocked on the door. I didn't really answer but the door opened anyway, and Hope carefully poked her head in.

"Hey..." She gave a small warm smile while completely entering the room. "Glad to see you're quite comfortable in those sweats."

"Yeah, well... It feels odd to go commando, but it's good to breathe y'know." Hope smiled genuinely for the first time around me. I found it nice that her smile reached her eyes. It reminded me of someone. "Oh, um... I hope you don't mind me using your body wash... and shampoo..."

"No, it's fine. Listen we've got a meeting to go to... about you."

"What do you mean? Like... whether you kill me, throw me back in the dungeon, or recruit me to do your dirty work...?"

"Just... come with me, please."

I didn't hesitate to agree and follow Hope out of the room. And of course, while leading me to wherever it is that we had to go, other students still gave me odd looks. Some showed signs of fear. Understandably so, I am a stranger that appeared out of nowhere covered in the liquid makings of Malivore. And judging by some questions asked before, I assumed their encounters with things from that place have not been pleasant.

Eventually we were standing in front of a large double door. Hope placed her hands on the handle, turning to me with a small smile. "I'm still questioning whether to trust you completely or throw you in to the wolves, almost literally speaking. But know I am rooting for you to stay. Just so I can figure you out."

I nodded briefly to let her know we have an understanding. She did the same before pushing the doors open, revealing everyone I saw atop the stairs earlier, plus another man. An adult, whom I assumed was someone also in charge. Or at least someone that deals with monsters.

Hell, I wonder what kinds of them are out there.

"Have a seat," Dr. Saltzman said, gesturing to the arm chair in the center of the room.

As I walked towards the chair, Hope closed the doors behind me, then joined the others in standing before me.

I sat back in the chair, feeling the weight of dozens of eyes on me.

"State your name again," he said. "Uh, full name."

"Melrori Blake Collins. Mel or Mel B is fine..."

"Species?" The new guy asked.

"Hybrid."

"And we believe her?" He turned to his people. "Aren't all hybrids dead? Killed by Klaus- the original hybrid- himself?" He placed his hands on his hips. "Hell, even he's dead."

Hope's expression hardened at the mentioning of her father. "Dorian-!"

"That's a sensitive topic..." I said quietly, but loud enough for them all to hear me. "For her... and myself." I made eye contact with each of them, but especially Dr. Saltzman. "I'm gonna be honest. And as open as I can while still protecting myself. You want to know about me, where I'm from, how I ended up in Malivore, how I escaped Malivore. I get it, okay? I'm a stranger, and, in your eyes, a danger to you and this school. My only question for you is whether you are willing to listen to what I'm willing to say or not. If not, then I have nothing to say at all."

They each looked at one another with raised eyebrows, silently communicating and debating their response. The one person I really scared about already knows the basics. But I know that in order to truly get them to understand, I had to tell them. And I figured that even Hope understood it had to come from me directly.

Dorian, who's probably the most skeptical of them all, stepped forward, pointing a threatening finger at me. "Try one thing- one- and you're out."

"So you'll listen?"

"Yeah," the blonde huffed. "We'll listen."

I glanced Hope's way for a second, finding her sitting atop what I assumed was the headmaster's desk. Which made this entire room, riddled with various bookshelves, most (if not all) with many old books sitting on the shelves.

"As I told Hope, I knew her parents. Hayley, specifically, because she was my alpha. My mother knew her personally; they were best friends, and my mother- Lori- was her right hand woman. Her beta, so to speak... long story short, she's dead. Killed by vampires along with my father. The village's witch." Of course, I leave out the part where I lost my brothers too. That was something I'd forever be vulnerable about.

The wolf glanced back and forth from me to Hope. "So wouldn't that make you a tribrid like Hope?"

"Maybe if my genetics consisted of the most powerful of forces such as the Original Witch and the Original Hybrid, then sure. Not to mention having royal wolf blood, of course. Doesn't change my blood, just my status." I crossed my legs and arms, finding a comfortable position. "That night, when they died, it was the first time I'd turned. I killed the witch the vampires had get past the security measures of the village. I though he was a vampire, but, well... obviously not."

I looked Dr. Saltzman in his eyes. "Hayley, Klaus, and Elijah. They were there to bring me to safety; back at the Mikaelson compound- where Hope herself saw me, by the way- and from there, I was put under Marcel's protection. Everything for 10 years was fine until I had to be sent off to Fort Valley, away from whatever went down in New Orleans. Then I... I just... woke up in Malivore."

"Yeah, see, all that is pretty damn vague." Dorian said.

"I told you I'd tell you as much as I could while protecting the more painful and personal aspects of my life," I said bluntly.

Dr. Saltzman stepped forward, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "You really don't know how you ended up in Malivore? Who put you there?"

I turned my attention towards him. "The last thing I remember was making dinner in my underwear after a shower, after a day's work of selling pastries in a local bakery." Then Hope. "Seeing Hope and this guy Clarke in Malivore." Then I turned back to the man in charge. "Then winding up roaming Mystic Falls, until eventually finding my way here."

A boy with extremely curly hair stepped forward from the wolf's side. "Clarke? Y-you mean Ryan, my brother?"

I looked at him in shock, not expecting to find the son of the very thing that held me captive for almost three years here in the Salvatore School. I sat in silence to take in his features, and his overall aura, so to speak. Something about him, besides the fact that he's a Malivore abomination, didn't sit well with my gut. Even though everything about him on the outside was unassuming.

"Hope mentioned before that she had to use magic to escape," Dr. Saltzman circled the chair I was sitting in, keeping his eyes trained on me. "Tell me, Mel... since your just a hybrid..." once behind me, he leaned in close to me, while still keeping a respectable distance. "How'd you get out?"

"My dad taught me that everyone's got a little magic in them. Freya taught me more spells out of his grimoire. Tried to, anyway." I turned to that he could see my face, clear as day. "I simply tried everything I learned a certain amount of times until something worked. Even if it was just a snowflake the size of an ant..."

He moved back to his spot next to the others. "Say we let you stay. What's in it for you?"

I shrugged. "A number of things. One in particular, I could learn more about Malivore. Find who put me there to begin with. Find out why. Then if I'm truly not welcome here, I'll be on my way. It'd give me time to hunt down the rest of the vampires that raided my village anyway."

Dr. Saltzmand sat to ponder the thought. One of the vampires stepped forward. "I say we give her a chance. That's what this school is for, right? Giving kids a chance to learn. Find themselves."

"She's clearly got who she is down pat," the other vampire said. "But she could be a good addition. Besides it's not every day you meet a hybrid these days, right?"

"Fair point..." Dr. Saltzman sighed heavily. "Okay. First, a proper introduction of the Honor Council and friends."

He pointed his head as he named everyone in the room along with their species. "You know Dorian, human. This is Kaleb, the vampire representative. Rafael, wolf representative, and alpha. Josie, witch representative, also one of my twin daughters with Lizzie being the other. And you already know Hope. She speaks for... well, herself, essentially." I stood to shake each of their hands, some in which took it hesitantly. "I'm Alaric Saltzman. Ric is fine, so's Dr. Saltzman. Whatever," he chuckled.

He then pointed to a corner where a woman stood a safe distance away from me. "That's Emma. Guidance counselor, witch, and fifth-party representative." He pointed to the other vampire. "That's MG." Then finally to the Malivore spawn. "And that's Landon. As you probably figured, the youngest son of Malivore. Species, phoenix."

At this, my eyebrows raised. I didn't realize such things existed, really. And while it was totally cool to be in the presence of one, I still despised the unpleasant feelings I get from him. Noticeably, I was reluctant to offer a hand.

Josie stepped forward. "So now that we've been formally introduced. What do we do with her, Dad? Council wise, I mean."

"Yeah, man, Josie's got a point." Kaleb agreed. "Do we add her to the council?"

"Noo..." I disagreed. "The last thing a stranger should be doing is gaining a voice in the matters of anything important, right?" They all nodded as if that made perfect sense. I mean it did, but I at least find it honorable that Kaleb was willing to consider it. "Besides... in all honesty, the only person I'm one hundred percent willing to make decisions for me is..." I pointed towards Hope, earning more than one confused look. I even gained a dirty look from the devil spawn. "The princess herself."

"Please don't call me that."

I shrugged. "Can't help it. Besides, as much as I hate to keep bringing her up... your mother would've wanted me to keep an eye on you. I know that for sure. So, like it or not, you're stuck with me." I turned towards the rest of the council members and staff, straightening my stance. "With that being said, if it's alright with the rest of the council... and Dr. Ric-"

"That's an interesting nickname..."

"I'd like to be represented under Team Tribrid."