The first time Hope saw her, she was at the park on the main drag of Mystic Falls. She stood behind a wooden both with Lizzie Saltzman, handing out flyers and pamphlets for their new bar. It was a decoy. Not the bar, but the booth. The business partners had become aware of a new group of vampires that had moved into town. They were attacking innocent people, and they were something no one had ever seen. Hope had had a brief run in with one of them and was left dumbfounded. The man was a vampire alright, but he was as strong and as fast as a hybrid, and his scent was different. His eyes had shone blood red and his behaviors were far more animalistic than the tribrid had ever seen. It seemed like great timing to advertise her and Lizzie's new bar for their grand opening, attempting to lure some of the vampires in.
Hope stood at the side of the wooden booth, leaning on it as she scanned the crowd. Mystic Falls had grown since she was a child. Within the almost two decades she had known the town, it had boomed. The city limits had grown along with housing and stores. People from all over began moving to the up and coming town, taken in by it's long history, ancient 'myths' and somewhat rustic charm. It had made Hope's life a living hell half of the time. More people to keep secrets from. More risk of her kind being exposed. More work with Dr Saltzman and training the young witches, werewolves and vampires. But it also made her life more enjoyable some days. New faces and new friends. New experiences and cultures. It was refreshing. Sure, Hope had traveled and learned a thing or two, but she always came back. It made her daily life a tad more exciting. It also brought in young, hot men and women that she could enjoy. That was always a plus for the young Mikaelson.
As the red head scanned the crowd, her eyes drifted to the old dinner. What appeared to be a young woman sat at an umbrella covered table. The woman typed away on her laptop, her shaggy, brown hair falling in her face. Her eyes danced across the computer screen furiously as she puffed on a vape. That made Hope chuckle because she knew the woman was a Hybrid. The red head could smell the woman's scent, the wind carrying it to her nostrils in heaping doses. The brunette wore a cut off sleeveless shirt that revealed the upper sides of her stomach, showing tattoos that connected up her shoulders and down her arms. The woman was toned, muscular in certain areas. But her face was delicate. Bright, hazel eyes and plump pink lips. Cheekbones and dimples. A delicate, slender neck. Hope couldn't tear her eyes away.
"Earth to Hope!" Lizzie snapped her fingers in front of her friend's face, gaining a startled reaction. "We're supposed to be out here on a mission and you're stalking a random woman."
"I'm not stalking," the red head rolled her eyes but kept them locked on the brunette across the street.
"You're still staring," the blonde deadpanned.
"She's a person of interest," the Mikaelson muttered.
"Of your vagina's interest," Lizzie shot back with a smug smile, pleased with herself.
"She's a hybrid!" Hope raised her voice, finally turning to look her friend in the eyes. "Person. Of. Interest."
"Hey, I don't blame you," the blonde waved her hands, glancing at the stranger. "If I was into women, I'd fuck her. She's hot."
"Wow."
"I might try and fuck her now, to be honest."
"You know she can probably hear us, right?"
Lizzie shrugged her shoulders. "Eh. Maybe you should go talk to her then instead of being creepy."
"Please, come talk to me," Hope heard the stranger say. She gasped and looked upon the brunette once more. The woman was smirking at her, hazel eyes boring into her blue ones.
"She definitely hears us," the red head let her friend know, receiving a smirk from the blonde.
"Go on then," Lizzie shooed her friend away.
The young Mikaelson took a deep breath before she strode toward the brunette. With each slow, determined step she took, she measured the woman up, taking everything in. When Hope made it to the table, the brunette looked up, smiling warmly. The woman puffed on her vape and signaled for the red head to join her. Hope quirked and eyebrow before taking a seat, trying not to enjoy the woman's natural charm that seemed to ooze off her.
"I'm Jack," the brunette offered her hand.
Hope cocked her eyebrow at the name. "That's an odd name for a woman."
"Who says I'm a woman?" Jack replied with a serious expression.
"Your feminine features and curvaceous body," the red head replied, confidence laced in her voice.
"That's fair," Jack laughed, a slight blush painting her cheeks. "My father loved Jack Daniels," she shrugged.
"Ah." There was an uncomfortable silence that followed. Well, uncomfortable for Hope. The brunette's eyes stared mischievously into the young Mikaelson's orbs, her gaze never faltering. Determination and intrigue were flooding off the woman's body. Hope shifted in her seat. The heated stare made her feel uneasy, but she couldn't look away. She felt her heart speed up and her stomach drop in a way that made her feel giddy and wanting. The red head swallowed and cleared her throat. "What brings you to our lovely town, Jack?" Jack. It felt good rolling off Hope's tongue.
"I'm looking for the same people you are." The brunette's hazel eyes were still glued to blue ones.
The red head was struggling to speak. There was a pull. Jack had her own force of gravity, and Hope was being pulled into the brunette's orbit. "What do you know about them?"
"Have you heard of The Initiative?" the woman's face became serious.
"No."
"On paper, they're a genetics company. They research things like extending life, ridding the human population of disease, disorders, all that stuff. Lately, they've made a habit of picking up supernatural beings for experimentation. I have my theories on why, but I don't have a definite answer. These vampires that have shown up here have been mutated. They're not really vampires anymore, and they're not like anything else."
"That explains a lot," Hop puffed out. "I ran into one. His scent was off. Eyes fully red. Moved like a hybrid. But it was like he couldn't articulate. Not one word."
Jack turned her computer around and pushed it toward the red head, encouraging her to look. "These guys can't speak. They're all animal. There was a group before, in California, they had turned into hybrids. But they eventually died from not being able to take the mutation. And a group of werewolves before that. They were turned into super wolves. Triple the size when they turned, and they could control when they turned. They tore apart an entire town in Canada."
Hope read through the brunette's files as she was speaking. Stolen reports and pictures from The Initiative, research and experimentations, black ops missions by the government, investigations by local police; enough evidence for the red head to believe what Jack was saying. Hope froze when she saw herself. "Why am I in here?" her voice was clipped and hostile.
"You're a target," Jack claimed, sincerity in her eyes. "The only Tribrid. Daughter of an Original. The Original hybrid. You've been coming up in their emails a lot. I think they've sent these vampires here to try and capture you. Or to see what it would take to capture you."
"And how do you know all of this? Who the hell are you?" Hope was fighting to keep her rage in check. She went from contemplating taking the brunette home to wanting to rip her head off. The red head felt betrayed and she couldn't understand why. It only added fuel to her fire.
"I'm no one," Jack almost whispered. "I'm here because of you. Because you came up in their emails."
"And why the fuck are you tracking me?" Now she was shouting. It gained Lizzie's attention and the blonde started to make her way over to the two women.
Jack sighed loudly, looking away from Hope for the first time. "I knew your father. And I made him a promise."
Hope froze, her eyes went wide, and her palms became clammy. "How am I supposed to believe that?"
"You can search my memories if you want," Jack offered, her hazel orbs returning to blue ones. A moment of silence passed. "I promised him I would look out for you."
"Everything alright?" Lizzie interrupted, standing beside Hope.
"Everything's fine," the red head lied, sending a fake smile to the blonde. "We're almost done. Give me a minute?"
The Saltzman twin eyed her friend before nodding. "I'm going in to grab a milkshake. I'll be right back."
"You promised to look out for me?" Hope continued, not missing a beat. She wasn't angry anymore. Just agitated. There were no signs that the brunette was lying. In fact, Hope still had the woman's computer. She could go through it.
"Your father found me in an ally one day in New Orleans," Jack began, her voice timid. "I was twelve. I had been beaten and… and left to die. I was born a wolf, into an old Norse pack. When my father died… things got bad. Anyway, Klaus found me, smelled me bleeding out. I remember feeling like I was about to take my last breath and suddenly he was holding me, trying to sooth me. He fed me his blood and held me until I healed. He asked me what happened and after I finished speaking, his face became almost tormented. He told me he was going to give me a gift. A gift that would make sure no wolf or vampire could ever harm me again. He snapped my neck. When I woke up, I was a hybrid."
Hope didn't know how to feel. Her father had saved and then killed a child, to turn her. The red head cleared her throat. "Then what?"
"He took care of me," Jack continued, a small smile gracing her lips. "He put me in a house he owned. Had some witches cast spells so that no one could enter unless I wanted them to. I think it was around the time you were gone. Klaus told me he had a daughter but that he hadn't seen her in a while." The brunette paused. She noticed the tears glazing Hope's eyes but decided it was best not to draw attention to it. "He trained me. Taught me. Fed me. Educated me. Something else was going on in his life, something big. I still don't know what. I only say that, because one day Marcel and your mother showed up with a witch named Davina. They broke in and found me, and instantly started assuming Klaus was keeping me prisoner. I told them everything and they were speechless."
"You knew my mother?" Hope's voice was tight.
"Not really. I spoke to her a few times. She was a very kindhearted, loving woman. I think… I think I showed her Klaus had the potential to be a better father than she thought was possible. I was kinda like a surrogate child to him. I also think I reminded him of himself. When he learned about my family and my life before I met him, we bonded. I had one deep conversation with your mother. It was when she drove me to Canada."
"Why did she do that?" Hope was going to have to cry and break things later. The whirlwind of emotions in her was barely being contained.
"Klaus sent me away. He told me it was too dangerous for me to stay in New Orleans, and that your mother new some people who would love me as their own. I refused. I told him I would help him with whatever was going on. He smirked at me and told me I should have been born a Mikaelson with how stubborn I was. But then he commanded me to leave. His sire link hadn't been cut yet. I had no choice. But before I left, he asked me if I could do something for him, since I wanted to help. He asked me to keep an eye out for you. He learned how good I was with… illegal hacking." Jack laughed at herself, having no other way to say it. Hope rolled her eyes at the woman, annoyed. More annoyed with herself. In the midst of all her emotions and just meeting the brunette, she found her impossibly adorable at that moment. "So he asked me to keep an eye on you in any way I could. And that if you ever needed me, to show up. I've kinda had bolos on you for decades. Hardly anything ever comes up about supernaturals in detail on the internet. But lately, you've been a hot topic."
"SYou came looking for me," Hope concluded.
"Yup," Jack smiled brightly. "I honestly think Klaus was sure I'd never hear anything about you. I think he wanted me to feel like I had something until I found more in life. And it worked."
Hope was smiling now. "My father could be cruel but… you know him in a way I did. The loving, caring side of him. It came out in not so healthy ways but, it was there. Most people never saw it." The red head paused, staring into hazel eyes once more. "I'm actually jealous. It sounds like you got to spend more time with him then I ever did."
"I understand your feelings, Hope," Jack reached across the table and gently grabbed the red head's hand. Hope's breath hitched. "But I don't think you have anything to be jealous of. He wasn't with me every day. He had other people come around a lot more than he did. I spent more time with Marcel once he knew what was going on. He just took some time out of his life to spend with me. Time he wished he was spending with you. In some way, I think he took care of me for you. Because you made him realize things about himself that he wanted to change. And I was a practice run." Jack laughed at herself again. Hope smirked and looked at their intertwined hands.
The brunette's face went red when she realized what she had done. It was an action that had come so naturally to her, reaching for Hope's hand. She had intertwined their fingers and had been grazing Hope's skin with the pad of her thumb. Jack slowly pulled her hand away and averted her eyes, embarrassed and upset with herself.
Lizzie emerged from the restaurant and instantly noticed the awkward situation at the table. "What happened?" she blurted out as she reached Hope's side.
"Just taking in everything," the red head replied, genuinely smiling at her friend this time.
"So is this bitch a good guy? Bad guy?" the blonde played with her straw before taking a giant slurp or her drink.
"She's a…" Hope trailed off and it caused the brunette to look into her eyes once more. The red head's heart skipped a beat. "She's a new friend."
"She's gonna help us kill those ratchet things, right? Something that ugly doesn't deserve to live."
"Lizzie," the red head rolled her eyes and huffed.
"Oh come on, you know it's true."
Jack chuckled and Hope couldn't stop the smiling that spread across her lips. "She's going to come home with us. She can tell you everything she's told me, and we can call your dad and the others and work on a plan."
"She's staying with us?" Lizzie looked almost appalled.
"Is that a problem?"
"Uh, yeah. We don't know her. And she's hot. So hot I want to fuck her. What if she seduces us and then murders us in our sleep?"
"That would never happen," Jack laughed out. "I'm way too insecure to try and seduce anyone."
"You left out the murder part," Lizzie eyed the woman.
"She's not going to murder anyone," Hope sighed as she stood from her seat. "I'm going to get her home, hit her with a truth spell, and then decide if I should kill her or not."
"Wow," Jack's face held shock and amusement.
"Let's go."
Hope took Jack to pick up her belongings and then headed home. The car ride was quiet. The red head always appreciated the silence in her jeep. Windows down, roof off, hair blowing in the wind. It gave her time to think, contemplate, zone out. It reminded her of when she shifted; something she had barely gotten to do since the town had grown up around her. But Hope found herself wanting to break the silence. She wanted to know more about the brunette in her passenger seat. More about Jack's experiences with her parents and family. More about her mannerisms and reactions. She wanted to know about where the brunette grew up, where she came from, what she had been doing most of her life. It made Hope want to vomit and jump with excitement at the same time. She hadn't felt this way since Josie.
Josie Saltzman. The twin sister of her best friend. The woman who had been her best friend, captivated her heart and held it in her hand. Josie Saltzman. The woman she still dreamt about sometimes. Still occasionally missed and longed for. Josie Saltzman. The woman she once thought was the love of her life; and still sometimes contemplated if she was. The woman she had broken up with because she knew the relationship was doomed before it started, amongst other reasons. Hope was immortal, Josie wasn't. They had their issues. Josie was kind, selfless, loving, caring. She loved deeply and unconditionally. But the Saltzman twin was extremely insecure, sometimes controlling and bitter. Josie had started to try and control everything Hope did by the end of their relationship. She had even tried telling Hope who she could and couldn't be around or talk to. The red head wasn't perfect. She was stubborn. She could also be controlling. She had a temper and let it lose from time to time. She was petrified of losing people and of having her heart broken. But Josie had been borderline insane by the end. Hope found out later that the Saltzman twin had cheated on her a few times. It hurt like hell.
"You alright?" Jack asked, noticing the pained look on the red head's face and breaking her thoughts.
"I'm fine," Hope lied through gritted teeth.
"Wanna talk about it?" the brunette offered, a knowing look on her face.
"Nope." The red head's response was short. An edge in her voice.
"No one better to vent to then a stranger," Jack offered again. The brunette felt the need to try and help. The look on the Mikaelson's face bothered Jack more than she thought it should.
"You're not going to quit until I tell you, aren't you?"
"Yeah, no. I won't stop. I'm like herpes. Until you take care of it, I'll keep coming back with a vengeance."
Hope cackled and shook her head. This woman was ridiculous. "Did you really just say that?"
"I didn't say anything," Jack said seriously, concern on her face. "Are you hearing voices?"
"I can't with you," the read head rolled her eyes. She thought a few moments before speaking. "I was thinking about my ex."
"I see," the brunette pursed her lips together. "Why would you do that to yourself?"
"I have no idea," Hope huffed before glancing at the woman in her passenger seat. "It just came up in my mind."
"Yeah, the mind can be a cock sucker." The red head laughed again. "I'm serious. My mind is at least. Always bringing things up for no reason just to cause me grief. Fucking cock sucker."
"Mmmm," the young Mikaelson hummed. She bit her lip. "I left her a few years ago." Jack remained silent, patiently waiting. "She's a witch. It couldn't ever last. Not forever."
"No, not without black magic. And that's never worth the price."
"I found out she had been cheating on me a few months after I left her." That sent a pang of pain to Jack's heart. "Apparently, she had cheated on me with several people throughout our relationship. It explained a lot. Why she always got so paranoid when I was alone with anyone who was remotely attractive."
"Well she's plain stupid," Jack replied with a smirk. "You're a catch."
Hope's face went red at the compliment. Her throat went dry and she bit her lip. "How would you know?" she asked coyly.
"I'm a great judge of character," the brunette responded proudly. "You can tell a lot about a person by being a creeper and watching them."
"How are you so annoyingly funny?" The red head beamed and glared at the woman beside her.
"I don't know," Jack shrugged her shoulders. "I've always been this way. It's only gotten worse the older I get." Hope found herself rolling her eyes for the millionth time since she met the brunette. "Seriously, if she cheated, then she didn't deserve you. Obviously. But she's not the one if she did. If she had only cheated once and did everything in her power to make it right, then maybe she could have been the one. But multiple times… no way she's the one for you."
"You're talking about soulmates?"
"Duh," Jack stated, as if it was obvious. And it was. Hope didn't want to approach the subject for some reason. "You don't believe in soul mates?"
"I don't know if I do," the red head answered honestly."
"There's all different kinds of soulmates," the brunette started, excitement in her voice. "Friend soulmates. Enemy soulmates. Lover soulmates. THE love of your life soulmate. Some stay forever. Some stay for a little while. Others are fleeting moments. Anyone who challenges you to grow is a soulmate."
"I've never looked at it that way." Hope took in what the woman said. It felt right to her. It made sense. But she was still leery when it came to the idea of a soulmate. It meant there was one ultimate love of your life. One person who would make anyone else seem insignificant. One person who could destroy you. The thought didn't settle well with the young Mikaelson.
"It's just how I feel. How I see it. And I always think I'm right. But I won't try to force the idea on you… at least not all at once." Hope chuckled again. "I'll do it over time. Real slow. Point out every significant thing and circumstance. I'll make a believer out of you."
"You'll have to stick around and wait a long time," the red head fired back.
"I'm immortal. I've got plenty of time." Jack smiled warmly and Hope didn't miss it. "I've got a song for you." The brunette pulled her phone out and connected it to Bluetooth.
"If it's a sappy love song I'm going to throw you in the road."
"Oh no, it's a great break up song."
"It's been years-"
"And you're not fully over it, clearly," Jack interrupted as she scrolled through her phone. "Here we go!" she shouted in excitement before she clicked play. The brunette turned the volume all the way up. The sound of drums and guitar started and quickly blared, loud and heavy. Hope rolled her eyes but listened intently as the lyrics began.
"Met a girl at seventeen, Thought she meant the world to me, So I gave her everything, She turned out to be a cheat"
Jack began dramatically singing the song. Using wild hand gestures and facial expressions as she invaded Hope's personal space, singing to her. The red head glanced and did her best to fight the smile fighting its way out.
"Said she been thinking for a long time, And she found somebody new, I've been thinking that this whole time, Well I never thought you'd stay, And that's okay, I hope he takes your filthy heart and then he throws you away some day, Before you go, There's one thing you oughta know"
The song dropped a bit, the guitars palm muted and the singer's voice low. The brunette gently grasped Hope's shoulder, a mock expression of anger on her face as she continued to sing.
"If you can't hang then there's the door baby, If you can't hang then there's the door baby, If you can't hang then there's the door baby, If you can't hang then there's the door"
Jack jumped in her seat and began moving around sporadically, gaining a hysterical fit of laughter from the red head.
"I don't wanna to take your precious time, Cause you're such a pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty face, But you turned into a pretty big waste of my time, I don't wanna take up all your time, Cause you're such a pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty face, But you turned into a pretty big waste of my time, You're the lowest type, you're the lowest"
Jack stood up in her seat and stuck her head and arms through the roof of Hope's jeep, continuing to scream and sing, putting on a show. All in an attempt to make the read head smile, weather that was clear to Hope or not.
"I met a girl talking away, She found a boy she knew she'd change, I changed my clothes, my hair, my face, To watch us go our separate ways, She said we've grown apart for some time, but then she found somebody new, I hope Mr Right puts up with all the bullshit that you do"
The brunette sunk back down into her seat, smiling when she saw Hope beaming.
"Stay the hell away, While I sit here by myself, And figure out how I got this way, Before you go, There's one thing you oughta know, If you can't hang then there's the door baby, If you can't hang then there's the door baby, If you can't hang then there's the door baby, If you can't hang then there's the door"
Jack flung her hair back and forth as she pretended to bang drums. Shaking her head up and down before singing some more.
"I don't wanna to take your precious time, Cause you're such a pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty face, But you turned into a pretty big waste of my time, I don't wanna take up all your time, Cause you're such a pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty face, But you turned into a pretty big waste of my time"
She grabbed Hope's hand, using it as a pretend microphone.
"I don't want to get things confused, She said she'd never settle for some boy she couldn't use, So now I gotta call the doctor, So he can prescribe me medication, So I can deal with all the memories of being here this way"
Hope eventually pulled her hand away and lowered the music. Jack looked appalled. "We're here," the red head stated as she turned off the engine.
"Who taught you car etiquette?" the brunette asked as she jumped out of the jeep. "Because it's a sin to cut off a good jam when it's about to reach the hype."
"Seriously," the red head chuckled, "who taught you how to live?"
"Instinct," Jack deadpanned, stopping halfway up the porch steps.
Hope stared down at the brunette. The smile on her face slowly faded as something dangerous filled her chest. That pull. That damned pull. Gravity. She felt it so strongly. Hope told herself it was nothing, it would pass. It was physical attraction. "Come on in," she said as she turned around and opened her front door.
Jack casually made her way inside the two story, log cabin. It was homey and rustic, in the woods near Mystic Falls. It made sense to the brunette. There was privacy, no lights, quiet and serene. Plenty of room to do supernatural things like shift or cast spells or have a fight with other supernaturals. The inside was a mixture of simple and complex. That made sense to Jack as well. Lizzie seemed like a woman who loved fancy things. And Hope seemed more like her mother, just wanting to have a home. The mixture of fancy and vintage furniture and decorations mixed with the wooden floors and walls tied together almost perfectly.
"The room you'll be staying in is upstairs," Hope said, interrupting the hybrid's thoughts. The brunette nodded and followed her host up the stairs. They turned a corner and the red head opened the door, revealing a simple room with a queen size bed, a few dressers and nightstands and a desk. "My room is right there," Hop pointed down the hall to a door at the end.
"Thank you," Jack smiled warmly before stepping inside the room and placing her duffle bag down on the floor. The brunette turned and found the young Mikaelson giving her a grievous look. "Hope?"
Hope quickly cast a truth spell and pushed the brunette onto the bed. She waited for Jack to sit up and watched as the spell took effect, cascading down the woman's body like warm water. "Is everything you've told me true?" she asked.
"Yes," Jack replied calmly. "I'm kind of offended you came at me sideways."
"You would have willingly let me put a spell on you?"
"Yes."
"And you meant it when you said I could go in your head and see your memories?"
"Yes," the brunette groaned.
"What?"
"You're so distrusting."
"Can you blame me?" Hope asked candidly. "You've been watching me, and I don't know you."
"I only watched you today. And it's not like I was hiding."
"How long were you there?"
"Half the day. I was researching and looking for those vampires. You showed up. I was lucky."
"How were you planning on finding me then? If you haven't been watching me this entire time?"
"It wouldn't have been hard to find you, Hope. You're grand opening signs were all over town." Yup. Hope felt a bit stupid. "I was going to wait until you opened up your bar. Come in a few nights and look around, read you to try and figure out my approach. And then try and talk to you."
"How long have you been in town?"
"A few weeks."
"What have you been doing?"
"I already told you," Jack gritted out.
"What else?" Hope pressed, seeing the woman fighting the spell.
"I went to the Salvatore school and spoke to the Headmaster. Asked her if she knew what was going on and if she could help. I showed her everything. She had this same bullshit truth spell done to me and got everything she wanted. She even asked me personal questions, which I'm still salty about."
"Caroline has known you were here… Why didn't she say anything to me?"
"She told you about the vampires because of me. I think she didn't tell you about me because I asked her not to. I wanted to introduce myself."
"Why?"
"Because you're…" Jack paused and sighed. She had been avoiding Hope's eyes the entire time, but she stared into blue orbs before speaking. "Your father saved my life. He sired me. He has a place in my heart, and I respect him. I wanted to properly introduce myself. I was nervous. You're Klaus' daughter. And I don't mean that in a 'you're Klaus Mikaelson's super tribrid daughter' way. Klaus was like a father to me. I guess I wanted to try and make my meeting with you as perfect as possible. I loved him and it… it matters to me how you see me. It matters to me if you like me as a person. You're the only child of a man who treated me like his own; he treated me better than my own father. And I honestly didn't know how to approach you with everything and have it not blow up in my face. I was afraid. I still am."
Hope was starting to understand. Jack viewed her father the way she viewed Alaric. And she remembered how she felt when she started going to school with the Saltzman twins as she grew closer with their father; she wanted them to like her. Hope wanted their respect and approval because of the bond she was developing with Alaric. Her view of the woman in front of her changed in that moment.
"I understand," the red head whispered.
"Look, I'm not good with words when it comes to serious… things about myself," Jack ran her hand through her hair nervously. "I can't really communicate like that. Could you please just… look in my head. Find what you're looking for and then let me sleep? It's easier that way. We'll be going at this all night if I keep talking." The brunette looked dejected and defeated. Hope wanted to reach and soothe the woman. She wanted to know what happened to make the brunette crumble in this kind of situation. But it wasn't the time.
"Alright," the red head let out before sitting down in the middle of the bed, crossing her legs. She signaled Jack over and the brunette crawled toward her, mimicking her posture. Hope tenderly placed her hands onto thick, silky hair. "Ready?" Jack nodded and closed her eyes.
Flashes of the brunette's memories flooded Hope's mind. She saw her father, her mother, Marcel, even her Aunts. She witnessed her father teaching Jack how to feed, how to control herself. Saw Marcel training Jack and having fun. Saw her Aunts checking in on the hybrid and spending time with her. She saw her mother driving Jack to her new home, speaking comforting words and trying to depart wisdom.
Hope continued to wage through the brunette's memories. Searching for truth behind everything she had been told; and she found it. She went to pull back when something caught her attention. A small girl was being beaten and yelled at, trembling underneath the hands of her own father. The child cried out as her brother joined in, kicking the little girl in the stomach and laughing manically. The girl was older now, being beaten and raped in a dark city ally by boys and men she had grown up with. They were spitting on the girl, deviling her, cutting and biting off her skin. Marking her innocent flesh with wolf bites.
"Get out!" Jack yelled, pushing Hope out of her mind and away from her. The brunette was hyper ventilating and hugged her knees to her chest, tears and panic in her eyes.
Hope was stunned. She came to out of her shock and stared wide eyed at the woman on the other side of the bed. Her heart ached and cried for the brunette. She hadn't just seen what had happened to Jack, she felt it all too; that's what happened when you entered someone's mind and rummaged around their brain. The red head wanted to apologize, beg for forgiveness, but all she could do was stare and fight back her own tears.
"Please leave me alone," Jack whispered, digging her face into her legs, hiding.
"Jack, I'm so s-"
"Please," the brunette pleaded, her voice muffled.
Hope slowly rose from the bed. She stared at the brunette for a moment and then headed toward the door. She walked through the threshold and turned. "I'm sorry, Jack." The red head received no response. She bit her lip, contemplating. "When you're ready to talk, I'll be around." Still no response. Hope swallowed a sigh as she closed the door. The red head walked down the hall and sat on the steps, wanting to fix what had happened and knowing she couldn't.