For those who are reading and/or following this; I know it's weird. Hope's time travelling and a teenager, on top of that there's time travelers in the world. I recently joined a writing group, and there was a prompt I was trying to follow of changing scenes abruptly...I didn't pull it off but I liked this enough I wanted to share it with my loyal and not so loyal readers, lol. I'll add to this soon enough, I hope you'll still like. :)
Hope looked to Bryan, whose eyes were already on her.
"Are you ready?" Bryan asked kindly, holding out his open hand. Hope looked at his hand, then to his eyes again. Her father would ground her for a million years, and stick to the verdict. She shook her head and with her eyes closed, grabbed his hand. Hope's eyes went back to Bryan's and his stayed on her face as she noticed the scenery changed. There were no more artists, in the midst of painting their masterpieces; their finished worked propped up in various places. No more jazz music, upbeat or slow, was coming to her ear. They weren't in the Quarter of New Orleans, needing to hide from her parents. The sky above them was a dark pink, cut apart by dark, jagged lines. As soon as the sky had become so, it faded to green, the color of split pea soup. She wrinkled her nose at the color and looked back to Bryan. He smirked and looked away. In a split second, the scene changed on more time. The ground below them was mud, the air was damp, the sky grey and hinting at rain clouds. Hope looked further out and saw a wagon, its wooden wheels covered in mud. Others walked on wooden walkways, their heels sounding loud.
Hope looked back to Bryan, who seemed surprised himself that they ended up going here.
"Where are we?" She asked in concern.
"1890." Bryan replied. "I was aiming for 1930. It's never been this far off before." Hope looked toward the town in concern.
"How far off has it been?" Hope asked. Bryan looked back at her.
"Only ever ten years or so." He said. "If it's that close, I can't change it, we couldn't have gone for the year I want. But forty years?" He scoffed and Hope saw a flicker of fear in his eyes.
"What happens when it's this far off?"
"It's a lot like just starting out. It takes my strength, drains every part of me. Doing it twice in the course of one day…I don't think I could survive it."
Hope considered him and felt a rush of urgency. Her father always had to solve the problems plaguing the city, her whole family ran the damn Quarter. What would her father do?
"Do you know any witches, from this time?" She asked. Bryan gave her a cautious look.
"Don't you know a spell to increase my strength?" He asked in return.
"I can't control my magic yet, I'm only the second in my bloodline. My aunt Freya is certainly teaching me but I'm not at the stage I need to be." She replied. "But you know any other witches?"
"I know other kinds of contacts, Hope." He replied in skepticism. "You're one of the few witches I know who wouldn't betray me." Bryan added. Hope gave him a look. "You act as if I'm an amateur."
"You did practically get me stranded a thousand years into the past. If I were to find my family, they would've barely become vampires." Hope noted. Bryan chuckled.
"You truly are your father's daughter, Hope Mikaelson." He replied. She tipped her head to him in reply, and Bryan set forward towards the town.
"Who's your contact?" Hope asked as she started after him.
"Herbert, he's a blacksmith for the town." Bryan replied. He looked back at her.
"You should stay behind, Herbert is a suspicious man, and he's got a lot of hot pokers at his disposal."
"What exactly could he do to me? You forget I'm also a vampire and werewolf." Hope pointed out.
"Even so. I'd prefer he not be compelled, and it would be easier to talk to him alone." Bryan implored. She huffed.
"Fine. But if you're not back in an hour I'm going after you." Hope replied, sitting down on a boulder.
"I would expect nothing less."
Klaus sped to the spot he heard Bryan Daniels' voice. At the sight of flying newspapers and dust, he set his mouth in a fine line and waited for Hayley to show up. Caroline found him first.
"What happened, where is she?" Caroline asked in urgency.
"Bryan's taken her off." Klaus growled. He hissed and started pacing, finding nothing around that he deemed suitable to destroy.
"This wouldn't have happened if we hadn't gone to the square today. I should've realized Bryan and his family would come on a holiday."
"No, this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't forbidden Hope from ever seeing Bryan again." Caroline argued. Klaus stood in wait, staring at her and waiting for her explanation. "Have you ever seen the way our friends fall in love? It's always a forbidden love, I mean you and I were a forbidden love for god's sake. Not to mention all the forbidden love stories over the centuries."
"I beg your pardon, love. I sincerely hoped my daughter would be smarter than to give into her impulses." Klaus snapped. Caroline gave him a look and came closer.
"Look, I know you don't want your daughter to end up like you." Caroline began, putting a hand on his shoulder. Klaus's breathing slowed. "But she isn't. She's a lot happier, you don't use fear to control her." Klaus rubbed the hand on his shoulder. "Hope just fell in love with Bryan. Before she even learned he was a time traveler, she thought he was human. And ordinary human. Don't blame her for not knowing."
"I don't blame Hope for Bryan's ability. I blame Bryan." Klaus protested. Caroline gave him another look. "He could've told her the truth as soon as they had met, and none of this would've happened."
"Are you sure?" Caroline replied dubiously, beginning to smile. Klaus's eyebrow rose. "Hope's been the most adventurous of all the people in this family. Even if she didn't fall for him, she certainly would've loved to travel with him."
"Around the world is enough, isn't it? All she has to do is say the word, and we'd go wherever she wanted." Klaus protested. Caroline looked down and bumped his shoulder with hers.
"You can tell her that when she comes back." She replied.
"When she comes back?" Klaus said dubiously.
"Face it, she holds all the cards now. I don't think Freya's got a what time are they in as well as where spell. Even if she did, Hope deserves to come back on her own." Caroline replied.
"No. I don't know that my daughter is safe. Bryan is not to be trusted, Caroline."
"What's going on?" Hayley asked, appearing before them. "Where's Hope?" She asked in more urgency.
"Bryan has taken our daughter, Hayley. If you'd followed me you'd have found that out by now." Klaus snapped.
"Ugh, stop blaming everyone, Klaus, it's not helping!" Caroline exclaimed. Klaus scowled at her. Caroline stared in his eyes. "We'll get Hope back. We'll figure out where they went." She persuaded.
"How? As you said, Freya would hardly have any spells to find where they are." Klaus replied. Caroline shrugged.
"His family would cooperate, wouldn't they?" She said. He smiled. He turned to Hayley.
"Is Freya working on anything right now?"
"Not anymore." Hayley decided, getting out her phone. "Okay, let's get back." She announced.