Okay guys, so I got a bunch of feedback for this story so I'm updating it right now so you guys could get a bit more information over who Hope is nowadays! ;)
Anyways, I hope you enjoy!
Hope walked across the room to lean against the cool bars keeping her in her holding cell. Her arms fell through the spaces in a lazy manner as she set her elbows on the bar crisscrossing it. She had been frisked before entering he police station and she had gotten her hoodie taken off of her "just in case." The policemen here knew just what Hope was capable of with just a hoodie.
"Hey!" she yelled down he hall, hearing her voice carry. She knew that the men could hear her, but she shouted again anyway. "Hey!"
Finally, she distantly heard footsteps coming toward her and she smiled jokingly at the person facing her.
It was Max, a police officer that Hope had many encounters with. He had light green eyes and a mop of dark hair on top his head. His skin was pretty tan, but not too much where it was very noticeable.
He scowled at her, and Hope remembered that he still disliked her from their last meeting.
Hope had broken his nose to say the least.
It wasn't really on purpose, but man was it funny.
"What?" he asked gruffly, looking wayyyy too stiff.
Hope smiled sweetly at him, saying simply, "I'm hungry."
He smiled back at her but then suddenly pushed her off the cell bars, making her stumble back before regaining her footing. She saw him smiling at her still when she looked back up and she couldn't help the twinge of anger she felt at his smug expression.
"Sorry, kid," he replied. "Should've ate before you decided to get arrested."
Hope glared at him, and she could practically feel her ire growing at his still smug face. She wanted to punch that smug look off his face. He wasn't even a bit fazed at her glare either, which she found almost impossible. Anytime she glared at someone, she knew that they could feel the amount of anger and darkness in her eyes. She knew that they felt immediate fear at what she could do, because she always, always, surprised them. She did the unexpected, and sometimes, that hurt the person standing across from her.
But she could not do anything while she was in this god forsaken cell where the cop in front of her stood there smiling like it was Christmas morning.
But then, Hope heard as someone started heading their way, and she peered over to see another cop walking down the hall. She didn't recognized this one, but it seemed that Max did.
"Sheriff Briggs," he stated, standing straight for his commander.
The Sheriff nodded his head at him. "Max," he greeted, coming to stand in front of her cell as well. She suddenly perked up when she heard the sound of keys jiggling out of pocket. Her eyes immedtely found that the Sheriff was coming toward her cell with the keys and she came forward a bit.
"What are you doing?" Max asked, looking between the Sheriff and Hope, who shrugged at him with a small smile on her face. Did Darrin already come to bail her out?
"Someone bailed her out," the Sheriff told him, echoing her thoughts, but Hope couldn't help but frown. Darrin didn't have enough money for her bail yet. It probably would've taken at least a couple of days before he could actually bail her out, which meant that somebody else did.
Max didn't say anything at the authoritative tone in the Sheriff's voice. Hope heard as the cell lock clicked open and she walked out, the Sheriff grabbing her arm in an iron grip.
But, of course, she had to do something about Max.
She used her other arm that the Sheriff wasn't using to swing around and punch Max's face, hearing the beautiful sound of his nose breaking. Blood blossomed on his nose as the Sheriff pulled her laughing body away from the poor cop, his frown evident on his face.
Hope couldn't help but laugh. She actually did punch the smug look off his face. She mentally patted herself on the back.
The Sheriff led her to the place where they had confiscated her stuff, where she put her hoodie back on with quick haste, covering her loose, white shirt that was way too dirty for public. Even though her hoodie had a few holes in it, at least it hid the dirt from someone's eyes. She has a reputation to uphold as well, so she couldn't be looking like a bum.
He pushed her forward roughly and Hope had the feeling that he didn't like the fact that she broke Max's nose again. And this time it was actually on purpose.
She waved goodbye to the Sheriff as she exited the police station to see a man in a suit waiting for her.
Her steps faltered a bit when she remembered that this was the same guy that had been staring at her when she left the store a little bit ago. Why was he, of all people here? And why the hell would he bail her out?
Of course, there was the possibility that he had a job for her, but her clients weren't usually so...well-dressed.
And it ruffled her feathers a bit knowing that he wasn't from the south side of Chicago like herself. Nobody had such nice clothing where she came from, so it was pretty obvious that he wasn't from around there.
"Hello Hope," he said politely, and Hope put her defenses up quickly, making sure that if this guy was at all dangerous, she would be at least a little ready to fight or flight.
"Hello strange man in a suit," Hope replied with a smirk forming on her face at her own joke.
He chuckled at her as she approached him, tilting her head a bit.
"Well as much as I love this little meeting," Hope said, gesturing between the two of them. "Why, exactly, did you bail me out of the slammer?"
The man looked at her for a long moment, and Hope desperately wished for mind reading powers. His face was completely blank, no show of emotion anywhere, and Hope silently praised him for his ability.
"Why do you think I bailed you out?" he asked, tilting his head curiously.
Hope held his gaze for a long time before shrugging. "Don't know. Maybe a job? Maybe a grudge? All I know is that you want something from me."
The man looked a bit taken aback by her answer, but otherwise, remained calm and collected.
"I'm Elijah," the man introduced himself as, holding out a hand. "Elijah Mikaelson."
His last name sparked something in Hope's memory, but she ignored it, cautiously taking the man's hand. "Hope Nelson. Though, I assume you already knew that."
A corner of Elijah's mouth quirked up. "Yes. Yes I did," he replied.
"So, Elijah Mikaelson," Hope said, stressing his name. "What do you wanna do now?"
He didn't even hesitate when he answered her, "Join me for dinner."
Hope looked at him strangely. She just met this guy, and he wants to take her to dinner?
Of course, not in an attractive way.
Hope could immediately tell that he wanted to speak with her in a semi-private space, yet still public enough not to raise her alarm. A dinner was the perfect space.
She sighed. "I can guess that you're paying?" she asked.
He smiled. Like, actually, smiled. She guessed that he didn't smile much by the small amount of wrinkles his face sometimes showed.
"Yes," he said. She shrugged. Why not? It was getting pretty dark out and she was hungry, even if she was all the time. And free food sounded pretty good.
If Darrin was here, he would be yelling at her to decline his offer. It's not every day that a strange man bails her out of jail to ask her for dinner. She had no idea what he was capable of.
But she loved taking risks if you haven't noticed.
"Okay," she said. "Lead the way."
He smiled about before walking toward a very nice car in the parking lot. Hope tried not to gape.
His sleek black cadillac was beautiful. Hope daydreamed about these kind of cars that she might've gotten for her 16th birthday that recently passed. Of course, those were all just dreams. She hadn't even seen a car like this outside billboards and magazines. And now she was about to sit in it.
Elijah seemed to smirk a bit at her wide eyes, but there was a strange hint of sadness in his dark eyes.
Elijah opened the passenger door for her and she nodded awkwardly at him before she slid into the seat. She wasn't used to such chivalry.
The car ride was painfully silent, the only sound being the slight singing of the radio. Hope didn't listen to the radio, since her foster family didn't have one. She didn't even have her own phone. How sad was that for a 16 year old girl?
But she had always managed. Sometimes she'd use Darrin's shitty flip phone so that she could contact some people that she needed to talk to. But that was about all the contact she had with technology. Her family didn't have a TV, there was a single car in the driveway that didn't even run, they couldn't afford any kind of phone besides the house one that was connected to the wall. She was completely shielded from those kind of devices.
But she made it work. She played the cards that she was given.
Soon, Hope noticed that they had entered the nicer part of Chicago, with the gleaming skyscrapers and the nicely dressed people walking around. Now this is where Hope imagined this Elijah guy to be living at. He fit in perfectly.
They pulled up to a nice restaurant, though Hope didn't really know what it was called.
She wasn't great with reading alright!
Ever since she was little, she had trouble with it. It's not like she couldn't read, the foster system made sure that she could, she just couldn't read very well.
Most people in the system said that she had dyslexia, which basically meant that some letters looked like others. She always got her "v's" and "w's" mixed up. Not to mention her "b's" and "d's."
It was a tough situation, but just like everything else, she made it work.
The restaurant was nice outside, but it was even nicer inside. The lights were a lit dim for the ambiance and the ceiling had a lot of exposed beams that contrasted nicely with the lighter walls.
Hope didn't want to, but she felt very out of place in her loose hoodie and ripped jeans when this place was obviously fit for better clothing choices.
"Table for two please," Elijah spoke with the hostess, who smiled and began leading them to a table.
It was a table in the corner, which felt appropriate with their predicament and the fact that Hope didn't even know his guy that very well. It defiantly felt like he wanted her for a job, but she could always be wrong.
Hope sat down and took the menu that the hostess had handed to her, listening distantly as they girl said that the waitress would be with them soon.
Hope was a bit busy gawking at the menu. She had never seen so much food in front of her in her life.
But she had the problem of not being able to read the stuff on it.
Elijah was across from her and looking over his own menu politely. But, it seemed that he knew what he wanted quickly because he put it down and looked over at her.
Hope placed her own menu down as well, wanting to understand who the hell this guy was.
"Okay, so can we skip the politeness and get to the reason that you bailed me out?" Hope asked, looking at him cautiously.
He sighed and leaned back a bit, looking at Hope with a blank expression. Hope cursed his ability to conceal his emotions.
"How long have you been in the foster system?"
Hope was, obviously, taken aback by his sudden question. She normally didn't get asked that specific question, and when she did, she didn't find that the person asked her so straightforward like Elijah just did.
"Um," Hope said, still a bit weirded out with the change of topic. "Like my whole life. Why?"
"Did you ever wonder where your parents were?" he asked, setting his elbows on the table now.
Hope furrowed her eyebrows but answered anyway. "Yea, I guess- what does this have to do with you?"
She looked at him, really looked at him, and saw that he was being very careful with how he was going along in this conversation.
"Listen," Hope said, feeling frustrated. "I have no idea why you wanted to meet with me or whatever, but I'm getting really annoyed with this guessing game-"
Hope stood up, ready to get out of there, when he gripped her wrist tightly, as if he was afraid that she would leave.
"Do not leave," Elijah said, looking a bit desperate. "Please."
Hope looked at him for a long moment, noticing that he was truly frightened that she would leave.
She sighed and sat back down, settling in her chair once again.
"Okay," Hope said. "Who are you? Really?"
Elijah sighed as he released her, looking conflicted.
"Please keep an open mind, Hope," he told her, making her even more nervous.
She nodded, her gaze intense.
Just as Elijah was about to speak, a girl showed up, looking way too perky.
"Hello, how are you?" she asked. "I'm Jacklyn and I'll be your waitress this evening."
Elijah nodded toward the girl, his attention diverted and Hope silently screamed. She was so close and this girl just had to show up and-
"Do you know what you want?" Elijah asked her.
Hope looked down at the menu, not understand what most of it was saying, the letters mixing themselves up. She simply pointed to a random meal, which the waitress wrote down. She noticed Elijah watching her do so with a strange look in his eyes as the girl collected their menus.
"Okay," Hope said. "Spill."
Elijah looked a bit uncomfortable but sighed. "I know your biological family," he finally said.
Hope expected a lot of things, but that was not one of them. At first, she didn't believe him, but when she saw just how serious he looked, without any kind of joke on his face, she actually thought about it. Was it true? Did he know her family? If that was true, then why was he here? Did he want her to meet them or something?
"What?" Hope breathed, obviously confused.
Elijah nodded his head. "Yes, I know your parents, because your father is my brother."
Hope's blue eyes widened at him. "So...Does that mean that you're like...my uncle?"
Elijah nodded and Hope blinked, trying to get ahold of her emotions. For years she had wished that her parents didn't just give her up, that there was an actual reason. That they would come back for her.
That she wasn't like all the other kids.
But, like most kids, she lost hope, which was ironic given her name. But it was true. After you reach a certain age, parents don't want to adopt you. Which means that you'll never had a family.
It was a tough thing to comprehend.
"Why...Why are you here now?" She asked a bit quietly, heating the small amount of vulnerability in her voice.
Elijah looked at her sympathetically. "Hope, you have to understand," he started, looking at her earnestly. "There are things that you don't know. There was a reason that you were put in the foster system-"
"Why?" Hope said, getting a bit angry. "What was the reason?"
Elijah remained silent, looking, once again, conflicted with how he should answer.
Hope shook her head before bending closer to Elijah, her eyes blazing. "So, you mean to tell me that there is a reason I was put through hell? Wanting a family but knowing that they didn't want me?"
"Hope-"
She cut him off, standing up. "Stay away from me, alright?" She began backing up, seeing Elijah's eyes follow her every movement. "You did it well enough for sixteen years."
She turned her back on her "uncle," hating that he actually had excuses for giving her up. The fact that he thought she would just jump into his arms with a smile on her face was absurd. She had a life, as horrible as it was, and she wasn't just going to give that up for a bunch of family members that didn't even want her.
She exited the restaurant, looking around and wondering how the hell she would get back home. She sighed, knowing that she didn't have any money on her for a taxi and knowing that she didn't have any form of teleportation other than that.
So, she started walking back to her neighborhood.
The people on the street gave her strange looks, no doubt about the fact that she looked homeless at such a young age. Not only that, but they were dressed up while she was simply wearing her dark jacket and ripped jeans. Of course, it wouldn't be that out of place if you didn't notice how dirty and rough she looked.
The walk took a while, and by the time she had made it back to her shitty neighborhood, it was pretty dark outside.
Hope jumped at the sudden sound of a gunshot, but otherwise, continued walking. Those sounds were a normal thing in her neighborhood.
She decided just to head to Darrin's house. No doubt he would be wondering what happened to her after the cops chased her down.
It didn't take much longer after that. And Hope got a nice surprise when she was passing by a dark alley.
"Lynx!" She whisper-shouted, bending down to pet the beige cat at her feet. In turn, the feline purred against her leg before jumping into Hope's arms, who continued walking down the street.
"Hey girl," Hope said as she pet the cat, hearing the animal's stomach growl. "I know, Lynx. I'm hungry too."
She hadn't stayed at the restaurant long enough for the food to be ready, and she was regretting the decision a bit, knowing that she would probably go to bed hungry now.
As she reached Darrin's small house, she went around the side of it to his window, peering through and spotting him on his bed. She knocked on the gate surrounding his window a few times until she caught his attention.
He hurried over to the window and opened it for her, allowing her and Lynx to slip into his room.
Darrin's room wasn't that unique. He had a small twin bed, despite his long legs that slid off of it, and a small bedside table next to it. In another corner was his closet with all his clothes and next to it was a CD player. He only had a few CDs but they were enough. It was all he really had for entertainment.
The small bedside table was currently holding the drugs that he sold to get any kind of money he could.
"What're you doing here?" Darrin asked, seeing Hope sit on his bed and release Lynx so that she could wander around. "I heard that you got arrested."
He was speaking lowly considering that his older sister was home. And Jasmine hated Hope with a burning passion.
Hope nodded her head, her elbows resting on her knees. "Yea, I did," she answered. "But someone bailed me out before you did."
His eyebrows raised as he came to sit next to her, the bed so low to the ground that he looked almost folded in half. "Did someone need something from you in return?"
She shrugged, seeing as you could take her situation with Elijah in that manner.
He must've sensed her bad mood because he bumped her shoulder with his own. "Hey," he said. "What happened? Who bailed you out?"
Hope took a small breath, readying herself, before she spoke. "My uncle did."
To say Darrin was shocked was an understatement. His jaw literally fell open for a moment before he regained his composure.
"Well, that's..." He wandered off his statement, knowing Hope's stand on her biological family.
"It's terrible, that's what it is," Hope said, her anger boiling over the top and her voice threatening to get louder as she paced across Darrin's room. "I mean, they can't just walk back into my life after 16 years! They made their decision about me the second that they put me into the foster system. They can't take that back now!"
"Yea..." Darrin said, standing up as well. "But Hope, maybe their trying to make amends or something."
"Well, I don't forgive them," Hope said stubbornly, sitting back down as her emotions went back and forth from memories of terrible foster parents. "I will never forgive them."
Darrin stayed silent. Lynx must've sensed Hope's turmoil, because she returned back to her and began purring against her side. Hope scratched between the cat's ears as the feline settled next to her side.
"Well, you can stay here for the night," Darrin said. "I'll try to get you something from dinner if I can find something. Lynx too."
Hope nodded gratefully. "Thanks D."
He nodded back as they settled into a comfortable silence.
HM
Elijah cursed himself for the terrible dinner with Hope. The betrayal in her eyes reminded him so much of Klaus that it was frightening. Not only that, but she hated anything that had to do with her actual family.
Because he couldn't get much information out of Hope herself, Elijah had to find it elsewhere, such as the foster system's files.
What he found shocked him a bit.
In all of her 16 years, Hope had been through 25 homes, jumping from one to another as she got more and more rebellious against authority. She didn't do well with controlling parents, and she blocked herself off from the people who actually wanted to get to know her, making them feel like she wasn't grateful. In the beginning, it wasn't that bad, but as she got older, she was lucky to be in the same house for a week.
She had been in Chicago for about 5 years, but her homes changed rapidly. Mostly, she remained on the south side of Chicago, which she strangely felt safer at. She had confessed to a social worker once that she didn't like the people who seemed to want her, because she knew that they were lying.
Elijah knew about the two arrests she had gotten, but there were also a lot of vandalizing problems with her. She simply loved to "express herself," as she put it.
He couldn't help but think of Klaus when he read that. Already, as much as Hope didn't want it, she was connected to Klaus at a very high level.
Her best friend was Darrin Jones, a 16 year old boy that she had met when she had just moved to Chicago. Ever since then, no matter where she moved, they've been friends.
Elijah wanted to know more about this Darrin kid, but he couldn't find much when he was searching through Hope's file, which made sense.
Though, when he had finished, he understood why Hope was so stubborn with staying out of her real family's life. She believed that they had abandoned her, left her as somebody else's problem because they didn't want her.
She wouldn't forgive them as long as she believed that.
Which meant that Elijah had to figure out a way to make her see their reasoning.
Just as he was entering his hotel room, his cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID before answering.
"Hello brother," he greeted.
"Hello Elijah," Klaus replied a bit impatiently. "Did you figure out if you've found my daughter yet?"
Elijah smiled a bit at his brother's obvious hope in his voice, wanting it to stay there. "Yes," he replied. "I believe I have found her, but I think that it will be harder than we though to get her to New Orleans."
"What do you mean?" Klaus asked, sounding frustrated.
"Well brother," Elijah began. "Hope has built somewhat of a life here in Chicago, and it's going to take a lot more...persuasion to make her even think of joining us in New Orleans."
Klaus was silent for a long moment before speaking again. "Elijah, what are you saying?"
Elijah rolled his eyes at his brother. "Would you like to join me in Chicago, Niklaus?"
Okay you guys, there it is!
I know it wasn't much, but I would LOVE some reviews and maybe a few suggestions about what you want to see next in this story!
Questions of the chapter: What do you guys think of Hope's reaction to Elijah? How do you think Klaus will react when he sees for himself the life Hope has created? And what, especially, do you think will happen when Hope meets her father?
Please leave your answers to these questions and other comments in the reviews so I know how I'm doing with this story so far!
Thanks for reading!