Chapter 2: Friends
Josie was sitting on the couch in her mother's living room watching a movie with her mom and Lizzie when her tablet dinged. She picked it up to find that Penelope had messaged again, asking how she was. She ignored it, just as she had for the last twenty. She wasn't ready to deal with her just yet. She had just set her tablet back down when it dinged again. This time it was from MG, probably because she wasn't answering Penelope.
For the last three days, it had been the same with those two. Penelope would message her, then, when she didn't message back, MG would try. It didn't take her long to figure out what they were doing. She stopped answering MG's messages the day after they arrived in London. He still sent updates, every now and again, but they always came right after Penelope's fail attempts.
Being with her mom was amazing, but she was having a hard time with everything that happened. It was great to get to spend time with her, especially after not seeing her for so long, but there was a part of her that felt guilty every time she looked at her for grieving the loss of Jo. Caroline was supportive, though Josie never expected her not to be. That made her feel even worse though.
Her tablet dinged again. She sighed in relief because it was Hope this time. "M and P are driving me crazy. They are collectively plotting to run away to London to make sure you're okay."
Josie chuckled. Once a day, Hope would send her a massage like that one. Messaging Hope was still strange to her, as anything new is. Hope had kept her up to date on what was happening at school. Which she appreciated. She found talking to Hope was easy. She didn't expect anything from her, she just wanted to talk. Which was nice, considering all the times she had refused to do so over the years.
"Tell them to relax. I'm fine."
"Yeah… And tell them you're answering me and not them. No thank you. It would crush both their hearts."
Josie chuckled again. Hope was right, it would. "Alright. I'll answer them back, but you owe me one."
"LOL… What would that be?"
"That when I get back, this doesn't stop."
"I promise."
She sent MG and Penelope the same generic message, telling them that she was fine, that she just didn't want to talk, then spent the rest of the evening working on homework. Apparently, her parents didn't understand the concept of being on a vacation. They still expected her to keep up with everything that she was missing. Not that she minded… Much. It helped to keep her mind off everything that happened.
Usually Hope would message her once she was finished with her classes, letting her know everything she missed, but she never received one. She messaged her, asking if everything was alright, but never received a response. It shouldn't have worried her as much as it did, but Hope had told her she'd been having wolf issues. She hadn't elaborated on what those issues were, but it seemed like it could be a big thing.
She messaged MG, but even he wasn't responding. So, she tried Rafael, who also didn't respond, so biting the bullet, she messaged Penelope, who did message back. Unfortunately, she hadn't seen Hope or MG since classes ended, but did tell her that Rafael was dealing with his dead-not-dead girlfriend.
The Necromancer had struck again.
Josie waited nervously for word of what was going on, but nothing came in until the next night. She was lying in bed watching a movie on her tablet, when she got a notification. Eager to finally find out what was going on she paused the movie and went to check her messages. Her heart sank when she saw what Hope had sent.
"I screwed up. Your dad's never going to forgive me."
"Why? What happened? Are you okay?"
"I let him get to me. Your dad was right. I should have stayed away."
"Who? The necromancer? Pen said he brought Raf's girlfriend back. Is he okay?"
"He's dealing. I'm going with him to the cemetery for the letter spreading."
"What happened?"
"I thought I could get the answers we needed, but he played me, and because of it, he got away with the knife."
"Did you get any answers out of him?" She didn't get a response right away, which made her think Hope did get something out of him. "Hope? What did he tell you?"
"He told me my dad watches over me every day, but he won't find peace until I do."
"Do you believe him?"
"I want to. At least the part where he watches over me, but I want him to find peace. I don't want him waiting on me."
"That's what dads do. Your dad loved you. I saw this for myself. He would want you to find peace."
"I don't know how to do that. How do I find peace with knowing I'm only alive because he sacrificed himself?
"I don't know… Maybe start with a letter. That seems like a good place to start."
"Maybe… How are you doing today. I'm sorry if we worried you."
"It's okay. You were dealing with a lot. Honestly, my worrying over you kept me distracted from my own drama."
"Are you feeling better?"
"About the same. I love spending time with mom, but I still feel guilty for caring about Jo."
"Are you sleeping any better?"
"A little. Lizzie cuddles with me when I have a nightmare, which helps."
"Do you know when you're coming home yet?"
"Nope. Lizzie's enjoying it here. I don't want to force her to come home until she's ready. She misses having Mom around all the time."
"You're a good sister. Listen. I'm gonna go. We're heading to the cemetery soon, and I think I'm going to take your advice and write my dad a letter. I hope you sleep well."
"Thanks Hope."
Josie set her tablet on her night stand, and rolled to face Lizzie, who was already sleeping soundly in the bed next to hers. She liked how Hope didn't tell her she needed to do for her and not Lizzie. She understood where she was coming from and complemented it.
She tried to fall asleep, but her mind was racing with thoughts about Jo and Caroline and being buried alive. She didn't think the Necromancer would come after her again, now that he'd gotten what he wanted, but there was a part of her that couldn't shut the fear down. So, she decided to take her own advice, and write a letter to Jo.
When she finished the letter to Jo, she decided to write one to her mom. She knew her mom was still technically alive, but she had a lot of guilt built up, and writing a letter would be a good way to sort it through.
It took her most of the night, but once she was finished with them, she felt a little better. She decided to leave the letter for her mom to find after they headed back home. This way Caroline could understand her a little better.
Hosie-Legacies-Hosie
For the second time in a week, Hope woke stark naked, in an unfamiliar area. Unlike the last time however, she had no clue how she got there. The last thing she remembered was going to bed after letting Dr. Saltzman know that Landon was in trouble.
She looked around trying to get a sense of where she was and what time it was. Judging by the position of the sun, it was a little after dawn. She had no idea of where she was though. If the other night was anything to go by, she guessed she was somewhere east of Mystic Falls, but she couldn't be sure of that.
Hope didn't want to risk ending up further away by changing, choosing instead to remain in human form. She found which way was west and began walking that way, hoping that she wouldn't run into anyone along the way.
She had been walking for a while when suddenly out of nowhere her Aunt Freya was standing in front of her, with her hand on her hip, and one eyebrow raised. "I thought we agreed you wouldn't go out for a run?"
"So, did I," Hope snarked. "I don't know how I got here. When I went to sleep last night, I was fully clothed and in my bed. When I woke up this morning, I was butt ass naked in the middle of nowhere."
Freya's hand dropped from her hip, and a worried look cross her features. "Clearly, whatever is happening is progressing fast."
"Ya think?"
"Look. Walk that way," she said point to the right of her. "There's a small dirt road about a mile. Alaric's on his way. He should be there in about half an hour. Do not shift. Keelin and I are on our way too. We're leaving as soon as I'm done here. We should be there around nightfall. We'll figure out what is going on."
"Do you promise," Hope asked, suddenly sounding much younger.
"Yes, Hope. I promise we will figure out what is going on," Freya assured her. "Now go, before he gets there and starts worrying when you're not. He's was already ranting about locking you in the transition spaces because you keep disappearing."
"Knowing him, he'll do it. Those cells have been used more for vampires than werewolves as of late."
"Then let's not give him a reason to lock you up the second you get back to school. Though that might have to be an option if you keep disappearing into the night."
Hope rolled her eyes at her aunt and turned the way Freya had pointed. "Bye Aunt Freya," she said as she walked away. Unfortunately, Alaric was already there when she neared the road. He was standing next to the truck, looking frantically back and forth for her. His phone was already placed up to his ear.
"Close your eyes," she yelled from the cover of the woods. His hand automatically flew to cover his eyes, while the other turn the phone off and slide it into his pocket.
"There's clothing for you in the front seat," he said. Relief was clear in his voice. She dressed quickly, then told him he could look. He did so hesitantly, and then pulled Hope into a big hug. "You have to stop doing this. I don't know if I can handle anymore this week."
"You're not mad at me anymore for disobeying you?"
"Oh no. I'm still furious, and we will be talking punishment later. Right now, I am just relieved that you are safe."
He let Hope go. "Freya said you went to bed a human and woke up a wolf. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. A little annoyed and in desperate need of a shower, but fine," she answered.
"Good, cause you're sleeping in a transition space tonight," He said seriously.
Hope rolled her eyes at him. "I think we'll be okay with Aunt Freya there tonight. She won't let me wonder off in my sleep."
"We'll see about that," he said, then told her to get in. On the way home he filled Hope in on the Landon situation. Using the tracking bracelet, she created for him, the advanced tracking class was able to track Landon down to the city. Dorian was on his way to get him, with the assistance of Marcel, who was already on a flight there. Both their flights should be landing at any moment.
Hope headed straight for her room when they returned to the school, a pitstop on her way to the showers. She stayed under the endless hot spray until her fingers pruned, which wasn't an easy thing to do. She didn't bother with drying her hair, she simple through it up in a messy ponytail, then headed down to the cafeteria to get some food. She was starving.
MG and Penelope were already sitting their usual spots when she sat across from them, her tray filled with double her usual amount.
"You okay?" MG asked, staring at the over flowing tray.
"Yeah, I'm just hungry," Hope said, as she cut her chicken.
"We're have you been all morning?" Penelope asked, as she watched Hope wearily.
Hope took a bite of her food, and as she chewed contemplated the idea of telling them the truth. This is what having friends are for right? As they ate, she told them everything that had happened since they save Josie, glossing over how upset the brunette was. She could already see the protective nature coming out as she mentioned Josie being in the cemetery later that night.
"Man… I'm glad I'm not a wolf," MG commented.
"Yeah," Penelope agreed. "Is that normal? For a crescent wolf, I mean."
Hope snorted, "No. Not that I'm aware of but then again, nothing is normal about me. That's what makes it so frustrating. Everything is a guessing game until it actually happens."
"You said your dad told your aunt something that isn't well know, and we've been dealing with creatures that don't exist. What if this is something like that?" MG asked. Then went on to clarify when Hope and Penelope gave him confusing looks. "What if this is just something that has gotten lost over time. Like a rite of passage or something that hasn't happened for generations but is happening now because you're a tribrid."
"MG you're a genius," Penelope said, and then turned to Hope. "We can scour through all the old books in the library for wolf folklore. I'm sure there has to be some reference to this somewhere in history."
"Yeah," MG agreed.
Hope looked between them stunned. "You would do that?"
"Well yeah," MG said. "That's what friends do for each other."
"I'm…" Hope didn't know what to say. This was the first time anyone at the school had offered her anything. It was baffling her.
"Great… We broke the great Hope Mikaelson," Penelope deadpanned.
"Naw," MG said. "She's just adjusting to having super friends."
"We are so not calling ourselves that," Penelope said. She stood up and nudged Hope, "Come on let's head to the library before she protests."
Several hours later (and many classes skipped) Freya and Alaric found the trio sitting in the library heads in book, trays of food forgotten next to them, and a pile of books they had already scanned books besides them.
"What are you guys doing?" Alaric asked, looking at the mess the three had made. "You look like you've been here all day."
"That's because we have been," Hope said without looking up.
"Damn, I thought I'd at least get a hello from her," Freya commented to Alaric.
Hope looked up at the voice of her aunt in surprise. She had been so wrapped up in what she was reading she hadn't realized Freya had entered with Alaric. As casually as she could (she wasn't about to show everyone how excited she as to see Freya) she stood and went to hug her aunt.
"So, what are you doing exactly?" Freya asked since Alaric hadn't received an answer.
"We're looking for anything that might tell us what is happening to me," Hope answered.
"Any luck?" she asked.
"Not so much. Anything that we have found we can't make heads or tails of it."
"Maybe this will help," Freya said as she removed two books from her bag. "They're journals. One was Jackson's, from his time spent with your grandfather. The other was Niklaus's. I don't know when he wrote it, but it was meant for you. Rebekah found it when she went through his house in France. We were debating on waiting until you were older to give this to you, but we decided that now would be better. Neither of us have read past the first few pages, so we're not sure what he's written."
Hope hesitantly took the books from Freya, holding them delicately in her hands. She's read all her father's memoirs and even a few stray journals he'd kept over the centuries. There weren't that many of them, but it gave her a small peek into her father's mind.
"Thanks," she said, somewhat distractedly, as she made her way back to her seat next to Penelope.
"Who's Jackson?" Penelope asked.
"My step-father," Hope said. She looked up at her. "He died when I was just a baby. I barely remember him, but my mom told me stories about him. So did Grandma Mary."
Penelope quickly grabbed Hope's hand and gave it a squeeze before releasing it as though she hadn't just shown Hope such an affectionate gesture. "Well I hope there's something in there, cause we're getting nowhere here." She tossed the book she was reading onto the pile dramatically. "It would help to know what we are looking for exactly."
"How about you guys clean up and head to bed," Alaric said. "It's almost curfew and I don't want you leaving this mess for Dorian to clean up."
MG and Penelope looked at him in horror. There must be a hundred books piled up around them. They didn't say anything though, opting to just do as he said. Hope tucked the journals into her bag and helped them. Although she had a much simpler way of doing things.
She stretched out her hands in front of her with her palms up and whispered a spell she had been using a lot as of late. All the book lying on the table rose and with a twist of her wrists, the books flew back to their rightful places on the shelves.
Penelope looked at Hope in shock and awe. "You so have to teach me that spell."
Hope smiled at her. She remembered the day Freya showed her the spell so she could clean her room quickly. Haley hadn't been thrilled that she taught Hope a magical cheat to a normal problem, but Hope had been thrilled. It took her all day to master the spell, and years to perfect it. At first, she had only been able to do one or two items at a time, but the older she got and the more she practice the spell, the more items she could do. The spell was second nature to her now. Like a lot of spells that once amused her.
"Sure," she said. "I have a few spells I could teach you."
"Hope," Alaric said warningly. "Before you go teaching any spells, I want to know what they are and what they do."
"Of course," Hope said. "May I teach this spell to Penelope?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Yes Hope," Alaric said while rolling his eyes are her dramatics. "Go, before I change my mind."
As they made their way out of the library, Hope heard Alaric say, "I blame you for this," followed by her aunts laugh.
Hosie-Legacies-Hosie
Hope was lying in her bed an hour later when her aunts came into the room. She set her step-father's journal to the side, and sat up, smiling as they shuffled around. Keelin dropped her bag on the floor and engulfed Hope in a big hug.
"So, I hear you've been causing some mischief."
Hope smiled. "No, but apparently my wolf has somewhere to be, and hasn't clued me in on the where or the why yet."
"Well let's tell her not tonight," Freya said. "I barely got Alaric to agree to not locking you up in the cellar. If it happens again, I don't think he'll be so agreeable. He kinda has a fit when you're not where you are supposed to be."
"He worries. He's a worrier. It's kind of his thing," Hope said. "Does this mean you're staying with me tonight?"
"Yes, it does," Freya said. "Keelin are going to take shifts watching you tonight. Make sure you don't disappear into the night."
"I'm sorry you have to do this," Hope sighed.
"Don't be. It's not your fault," Freya said. "At least not consciously." She sat on the bed next to Hope and took her hand. "I know you've had a hard time since your parent's deaths, but I need you to know that you never need to be afraid to reach out if you need us. We love you. Always and forever. Whenever you need us, we'll be here. All you have to do is let us."
Hope bit back tears that threatened to fall. Freya kiss her forehead, just like she used to do when she was a child, just like her mother did. She couldn't control the tears after that, and she leaned into Freya as she wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close. Keelin bent down, and place a kiss on her head, before sitting next to her wife.
She wasn't sure how long she stayed wrapped in her aunt's arms. Somewhere along the way, she must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew, it was morning. Unlike the morning before hand, she woke up in her own bed, still wrapped in her aunt's warm embrace. It had been years since she'd woken up in the arms of a family member. It was a comfortable place to be.
"You made it through the night kiddo," Freya said.
Hope didn't attempt move. "How long are you going to stay?"
"We're going to stay as long as you need us too," Freya said. "Why don't you invite your friend up here and teach her that spell and leave the research to the adults for the day." Hope looked like she wanted to argue, but Freya stopped her. "Just be a normal teenage witch for one day. That's all I'm asking. One day."
"Fine," Hope relented. She reached for her night stand and picked up Jackson's journal. "Here, but I want it back."
Freya chuckled as she accepted the book. "I promise. You may have it back at the end of the day. Come on. Let's let Keelin sleep for a while. This is the longest either of us have slept in months."
Hope smiled as she crawled out of bed to get ready for the day. "How is my baby cousin?"
"Your cousin is a Mikaelson through and through, a little troublemaker. She has Keelin and Vincent wrapped around her little finger," Freya laughed. "She's amazing though. She's getting so big. Vincent is getting to play full time daddy until you no longer need us, which he is excited about. You wouldn't think we had to talk him in to it. He's sends picture hourly."
Hope popped her head through her shirt hole with a smile. "Ooh… I wanna see."
Freya chuckled. "Come on. Let's eat and you can surf through the thousands of pictures I have of her."
Hope was the first to arrive out of her friends, which wasn't much of a surprise. It was Saturday after all. Most students didn't mosey down to the dining hall until just before the kitchen closed for the morning. She was kind of glad it was just her and Freya. It gave her time to gush over her cousin and catch up with her aunt.
Hosie-Legacies-Hosie
Hope opened her dorm room door and stood back, allowing MG and Penelope to enter before her. Other than Roman, who broke into her room, and Josie, no student had ever been in her room before. She, thanks to her family practically funding the school, got one of the few singles in the school. Though, she also assumed her single room status was because of her being a Mikaelson, what with a long history of being unpredictable evil doers.
"Damn, wish I got my own room," Penelope exclaimed as she looked around the room.
MG wondered toward the window, his eye on the canvases sitting in the corner. "You paint?" he asked and began flipping through the painting without Hope's permission. "Damn, these are good." He picked one up to get a better view of it.
Hope stood by the door nervously watching as MG admired her paintings. No one outside of her family had seen her paintings before. Not even the art teacher. She preferred to keep that skill to herself.
Penelope walked up behind MG to get a good look at the painting he was holding. "Is that your dad?"
In MG's hands was a portrait of Klaus from the first day she met him after her family's five-year slumber. He was sitting at her little table in the garden, with a soft smile on his face as he drew her a picture. That memory had been drilled into her mind for so long, that one day she had to paint it out.
"Yeah," she said quietly. "That's my dad."
Penelope bent down and flipped though the painting. "You paint him a lot," she stated. "He seems kinda normal." She held up one of him laughing. "Nothing like the textbooks say he was like."
Hope walked over to her friends, smiling sadly at the painting. "He had a side only me and my family saw. He could be as evil as they say he was though, but how evil depended on who's telling the story. For some he's the villain, but for me, he's a hero."
Penelope put the painting back and move to sit in her arm chair. "So, what's the plan? Are we heading to the library again, or are you going to teach me that bitchin spell?"
Hope smiled. "You can't tell anyone I have these. Dr. Saltzman will make my aunt take them home if he knows I have them."
Penelope stood from the chair and walked over to where Hope disappeared under her bed. She sat down on the floor and watched as Hope pulled book after book from beneath her bed, all looking older than the last. She eagerly grabbed the closest one, and carefully opened it.
"What are they?" MG asked, as he too sat on the floor and took a book.
"Grimoires," Penelope said in awe. "How did you get all these?"
"Well, this one is a remake of my grandmother's. My aunts and uncle were kind enough to recreate every spell in the original for me. The rest were collected by my family over the last thousand years. My Uncle Kol was the only one of my dad's siblings to tap into his power before my grandmother turned them into vampires. He spent much of his vampire life studying every type of magic on the earth. My father was also obsessed with collecting them, though nobody really knows why, or if they do, they don't want me to know. This is only a fraction of the collection. These are the ones my Aunts and Uncle deemed safe for me to have. Though, I do have a few they don't know about. The rest are at my home in New Orleans."
"Damn," Penelope drawled, impressed by the pile in front of her. "I should have hung out with you sooner."
Hope smiled. She picked through the pile until she found the book she was looking for. She opened the page to the spell she had performed in the library, then handed the book to Penelope.
They spent the rest of the day, practicing that spell, along with a few others. Penelope was a quick learner and mastered them quickly. It would take her time to perfect the spells like Hope, but she had the basic gist of them.
Hope even told them about some of the other types of magics her uncle had taught her. Types of magic only referenced at the school, but not taught. She knew Alaric would have a fit if he knew she was teaching them that type of magic, but she didn't see the harm in it.
Penelope was impressed with everything she taught her, and an eager student. MG seemed a little bored with the technicality of the spells but got a kick out of what happened when they cast the spells. He even had to laugh when Penelope hit Hope in the head with a book during one of her attempts at the organization spell. That was until, Penelope got better control over where the object where going and began hitting him in the head as revenge. Hope got a kick out of that.
After dinner, Penelope and MG went back to their own rooms to work on some unfinished homework, while Hope took the opportunity to do the same. She was a little behind in her class work because of everything happening. She wasn't about to let a little thing like her wolf woes crush her A average.
Hosie-Legacies-Hosie
Josie was sitting at their kitchen table, with her tablet sitting in front of her. It was late, just past two in the morning in London. Her mom and sister were both sleeping soundly. She on the other hand couldn't sleep. She was anxiously waiting for Hope to pick up on her end. She hoped it wasn't to late there, because it was taking her a long while to answer.
Finally, the messenger said the call was connecting, and after a moment, Hope's smiling face graced her screen. "Hey," she said. "Is everything alright? It must be late there."
"It is," Josie said. "I couldn't sleep. I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all. My aunts were just showing me a fresh batch of pictures of my cousin." Hope paused and could be seen reaching for something. "Look," she said as she came back into view, and held a phone up to the camera. "Isn't she cute?"
Josie smiled at the adorably baby on the screen. "She's adorable. That's your aunt Freya's daughter, right?"
"Yeah. And Keelin's. They're here. Say hi." Hope disappeared from the screen again, and a moment later she was looking at Freya, who she'd met once on one of her visits, and whom she assumed was Keelin.
"Hello," she said politely. "Your daughter's adorable."
"Thanks," Keelin said.
The camera moved again, blurring the picture on Josie's screen. "I'm just going to go sit outside for a few," she heard Hope say. Josie assumed she was talking to her aunts. She heard a door click shut, then a moment later, Hope was back on the screen. "Are you okay?" she asked, worry evident in voice. "Are you still having nightmares."
Josie nodded her head.
"The same one?"
"Yeah," Josie choked. "Same one."
"Can I help?"
Josie smiled weakly as tears welled in her eyes. "You already are."
"I wish you would tell your mom. She might be able to help. My mom always did when I had nightmares."
She could hear the emotions in Hope's voice, as she mentioned her own mother, which caused the welled tears to break free. "I don't want to upset her. She and Lizzie are having such a good time."
"You don't have to tell her what's happening if you don't want to. I'm sure she would understand if you just needed a hug from her," Hope offered.
"Yeah."
Hope sighed. "You have such a big heart, Josie. Always thinking of everyone else before yourself. When will it be time for you?"
"When everyone else is taken care of first," Josie smiled weakly.
Hope smiled back, knowing it was probably true.
"I should let you go, so you can go back to your aunts," Josie said.
"I can stay for a while," Hope offered.
"No. You go and enjoy having them around. I'm going to go back to bed and try to get some sleep."
"Okay. Call me if you can't sleep or have another nightmare," Hope insisted.
"Thanks Hope. Goodnight," Josie said, then clicked the end button before Hope could respond. She closed her tablet and quietly stared at it for a while, thinking over what Hope had said.
Deciding to take Hope's advice, she stood and quietly made her way through the house to her mother's room. She opened the door, peeking her head in like a child, before making her way to her mom's bed. She hadn't crawl into bed with one of her parents since her and Lizzie were kids, when they would sneak into their rooms early in the morning to wake them.
"Mom," she said quietly, hesitantly. When she didn't get a response, she gently shook Caroline's shoulder, who was suddenly wide awake, staring up at her in worry.
"What's wrong honey?"
Josie tried to get the words out. She really did, but in the end the only thing she managed to do was cry. Within seconds, Caroline was sitting up and pulling Josie down next to her at the same time. She engulfed Josie in her arms and rocked her as she cried.
Caroline didn't ask her what was wrong again. She already knew what it was. She had been waiting for days, praying that Josie would finally be able to let everything she was feeling out. Giving her soft hugs and encouraging mantras that she hoped might help. She wasn't mad that her daughter was grieving a mother who wasn't her. She wasn't upset that it took Josie a week to come to her. She was worried that Josie wasn't taking care of herself. She was worried that the nightmares that kept her daughter awake all night would cause more harm to her baby. And she was pissed that the Necromancer had done this to her in the first place. She pulled Josie close to her, holding her through the night, giving her as much love as she could.