Chapter 22- The White Wolf. Part 2.
Once Penelope, Wendy, Josie and Hope arrived in the prison world the sun was starting to set across the horizon, shades and blue, pink and purple scattered the sky. The weather was slightly on the chilly side, but it wasn't too bad, the girls could manage. It didn't take Hope long for her to pick up Lizzie's scent, it was faint, but she could still smell it and it instilled a sense of peace and comfort over her, something that she hadn't felt in days. Or what felt like days. But it didn't take away from the fact that Wendy had put Lizzie in here in the first place. "We should split up to find them. Penelope can go with Wendy, and I'll go with Josie. We'll cover more ground that way." Hope stated.
"Fine." Wendy stated.
Josie was unsure… She didn't want to leave Penelope again, but she knew that Hope must have had a plan otherwise she wouldn't have suggested splitting up and leaving Wendy. "Okay." Josie nodded, then turned to face Penelope. "Don't do anything stupid to get yourself hurt. I need you to come home to me, promise me."
"I promise." Penelope smiled as she leaned in and kissed the other girl.
"Okay… Gross." Hope laughed. "Come on, I think we should head this way." She tapped Josie on the back and pointed towards the woods. Josie finished her goodbyes and followed Hope, who had already started walking away.
Josie waited until they were out of earshot from Penelope and Wendy before she spoke. "You know where Lizzie is, don't you?"
"Yes and no… I picked up her scent the moment we landed in there. It's faint but it's definitely there, probably a few hours old. But enough for me to follow." Hope smiled as she continued on her journey with Josie quickly falling into step next to her. It only took about an hour or so for the two girls to reach Mystic Falls town centre.
"I'm hungry… I think we should get some supplies before we go any further. I don't know how long we are going to be walking for and I don't really want to die of hunger or dehydrate in the process." Josie laughed as she headed towards the small convenience store.
"Okay, but we can't stay too long. Just get what we need because Lizzie's scent is fading, and I don't want to lose it." The shorter girl replied as she followed the brunette into the store.
"I still find it creepy that you can smell my sister… I know that logically it's the wolf part of you, however it doesn't get any less creepy the more you say it." Josie laughed as walked her way through the aisles picking out anything that took her fancy. "Do you want anything?"
"I'll just take a chocolate bar or something. I'm not really hungry." Hope replied as she pushed herself up on the edge of a counter and waited for Josie to finish. Hope's mind was racing with thought of her girlfriend and what she would do when she saw her. Her thoughts ranged from hugging her tightly and promising never to letting her go to the more obvious ones like ripping the blonde's clothes off and just fucking her right there where they meet. The devious side of Hope's mind found it hilarious, but the reasonable side thought it was best not to do that because it would probably disturb everyone around them. It wasn't until Josie cleared her throat that Hope snapped back to reality and realised that Josie had finished getting the food she wanted. "Sorry… ready?"
"What were you thinking about? Actually wait, I don't want to know." Josie laughed as she tapped Hope on the leg to let her know she was ready to leave.
"Yeah, probably best you didn't know." Hope laughed as she kicked herself off the counter and headed towards the door, snagging a chocolate bar from a shelf on her way out. It took a short while for Hope to pick up Lizzie's scent again but soon enough they were back on her trail. The two girls mostly walked in silence, either of them wanting to talk about what would happen if they couldn't find Lizzie… or what state she would be in when they did. The darkness had well and truly set in as they continued down the country roads, with only the shine of the full moon lighting their path.
"Are you okay? You know with the full moon and stuff?" Josie asked, breaking the silence between them.
"I guess… I mean it's not the best and it's making me really itchy… But I'm okay. I'll be better once we get Lizzie back." Hope shivered slightly as she looked up at the moon but continued on walking, acting like her wolf side wasn't trying to consume every fibre of her being. She usually had a really good handle on her wolf but being stuck in a prison world, trying to find her girlfriend was making things a lot harder than it needed to be. "Actually… no… I'm not okay. I think I need to change. It will help me sense Lizzie better and it might… I dunno, it might make me feel better."
"Okay, yeah. Should I turn around or?" Josie asked.
"There's a bush over there… I'll just turn in there, but can you carry my clothes? If I like throw them over to you?" Hope stated.
"Oh, erm… sure…" The brunette hesitated as a strange feeling washed over her. She couldn't quite place it. It was like a mixture of lust, disgust and guilt. Who knew you could feel all three at once? Josie shook her head, pushing the feelings away. She hadn't noticed that Hope had already turned into her beautiful white wolf form until the wolf padded up to her, clothes hanging out her mouth. "Sorry… Thanks." Josie smiled as took the clothes. Hope huffed.
Hope's instincts were right, she could definitely pick up Lizzie's scent better in this form. She happily padded alongside Josie as they kept on walking. Being in her wolf form, Hope felt freer, she could think clearly and feel everything she needed and wanted to. She always felt connected to the ones she had lost, her family and her pack.
Josie didn't know what time it was, but she figured that she had been walking for at least 3 hours by now. She had spent most of that time talking at Hope, not about anything in particular but just generally ranting about life, about her dad and about Penelope. Josie wasn't sure what was going to happen with Penelope now that she is the Coven leader or if Penelope would even be allowed to finish school. Hope either grunted or whined in response, she knew that Josie wasn't really looking for answers to her questions, but she wanted to let the brunette know that her words weren't going unheard.
Suddenly, Hope started growling. Off in the distance Hope could see a lone cabin and Lizzie's scent was so strong it almost overwhelmed her, she could sense Jade and three others who wasn't familiar to her. Josie stopped in her tracks when she heard the wolf growl and looked around to see what had grabbed Hope's attention. Josie stepped closer to Hope so she could quickly syphon some magic from Hope. The white wolf let her for a few short seconds before it shot off and ran towards the cabin, Josie running up behind her.
Just before Hope reached the cabin, the door flew open and she bounded inside, passed the two men and headed straight for the other one that was holding a knife to Lizzie's throat. She managed to bite down on the young man's arm, accidently kicking Lizzie in the head as she leapt forwards, causing him to drop the knife on the floor. The young man screamed out in pain as he let go of the blonde hair and tried to swing his free hand towards the wolf, he managed to land a hit on the wolf's ribcage causing Hope to lose her grip. The other two men in the cabin tried to race towards the wolf and their fallen soldier but Josie had reached the cabin door, slightly out of breath but managed to cast a spell that sent them flying across the room, hitting the wall in the process. Hope powered forwards and attacked the other man again, who had now moved away from Lizzie's unconscious body, this time managing to bite his throat.
The room fell silent as the last gurgled breaths from the young man's body stilled. Jade and Josie looked at Hope's wolf form, blood dripping from her snarling teeth. Josie quickly ran over to the two girls that were tied up and immediately cast a protection spell over the three of them. Josie hasn't had much experience with Hope's wolf, but she knew the moment Hope tasted blood she wouldn't stop attacking until everyone in the vicinity was dead.
Hope's eyes glowed golden as she turned to face the other two men. The younger one stood up and pulled a large machete from the holster on his back and charged towards the wolf, swinging. Hope managed to dodge out of the way before she lunged forwards and attacked. The young man tried his hardest to fight back but it was no use and the wolf made quick work of killing him.
After the older man had watched the two younger ones, he took off running out of the cabin and into the darkness. Hope snarled and stared at the empty space he had left behind, before she turned and faced the three girls. During the madness Josie had untied Jade and Lizzie. Lizzie was still unconscious when Hope approached them and bared blood-stained teeth, growling.
"We should do a locator spell to try and find your family." Penelope stated as she headed towards the school.
"Fine." Wendy replied. "Just so you know the moment we find them I'm getting my family out of here."
"Fine." Penelope replied, although she would guarantee that Wendy would never make it out of here. She had to make a promise to her coven that Wendy either must die or stay locked in the prison world. Penelope wasn't a bitch like most people would believe, but she wanted to make sure that Wendy could never hurt anyone ever again, so killing her was her only option, however she wanted to give Wendy the chance to say goodbye to her family before that happened. So, she decided to placate the heretic for as long as possible. The two women reached the school in silence and the older one pushed the door open. "God, why is it so dusty in here?" Penelope coughed. "I thought prison worlds couldn't get dusty because every day is the same."
"Yeah, I'm not sure why this place is so dusty. When was this world created?" Wendy asked.
"I don't know, I wasn't told. It can't be too long ago because it's a school and not the manor it was before Damon Salvatore gave it to Alaric." Penelope replied. "Still doesn't understand why it's dusty though."
"I guess it's just one mystery you won't be solving today." Wendy stated. "Okay. We should get the stuff for the locator spell." Wendy tried to vamp off, but for some reason she could only go as fast as a human could. "Well fuck."
"Well at least there's no chance of you running off the moment we locate your family." Penelope laughed as she walked away from Wendy and headed towards Dr Saltzman's office to find some supplies.
"Fuck you Penelope! I can still kill you. I'm still a vampire, I still have my strength." Wendy spat as she slammed her fist down onto the table, snapping it in half. Penelope jumped at the sound but continued walking and didn't look back. It didn't take her long to find the supplies she needed and headed back to the foyer to meet Wendy who was still standing where the other girl had left her. "You ready?"
"Yeah, let's just get this over with." Wendy huffed as she grabbed the supplies from the witch's arms and threw them onto a nearby chair. She unrolled a map and placed it on the floor, she would have put it on the table if she hadn't just broken it. "Did you bring a knife?"
"Do I look stupid to you? No, I didn't." Penelope laughed.
"I mean you do look kinda stupid… But I don't blame you for not bringing a knife." Wendy replied as she bit down into her hand, drawing blood. She tilted her hand to the side and let the blood pool on the paper as she started the spell. The blood slid across the page, and it stopped just shy of the county boarder. "I don't know anything out there."
"Yeah, me neither. I guess we go." Penelope stated as she picked up the map and headed back out the doors of the school. Wendy wasn't far behind her. The two women walked in silence for most of their journey.
They were nearing the cabin when a man can running towards them, like full-on sprinting, he kept looking over his shoulder and didn't see the two girls walking towards him when he barged into them and all three of them fell onto the floor. He pushed himself up off the floor, shouted "WOLF!" and pointed towards the cabin.
"Tobias?" Wendy asked as she brushed herself off and stood up. He looked at the man standing in front of her, he only had some resemblance to her husband. He had a lot more muscle than the last time they had been together, and his beard was long and dishevelled.
"Wendy?! My love! Amos and Atticus… they're dead." Tobias wailed. "A wolf… a wolf… came out of nowhere and attacked them. Almost killed me too but I escaped. It was big… and white… with golden eyes."
"Stay here." Wendy told Tobias, grabbing the machete from Tobias' saddle before she turned and grabbed Penelope by the throat and dragged her up to the cabin. "You scream, you die." Wendy threatened. As she approached the cabin, she shouted "GET THE FUCK OUT HERE HOPE MIKAELSON!" Wendy stared at the cabin waiting for any movement. It didn't take long until she saw a pair of wolf teeth baring at her, lips snarling, blood dripping from its mouth and golden eyes staring into her soul. Wendy pushed Penelope onto the grass and ran towards Hope, wielding the machete. She swung at wolf, landing a hit across her chest, causing her to whimper cower slightly at the pain before Hope pushed herself back up and lunged at the heretic. Hope managed to land a bite on Wendy's thigh, taking a good chunk, before the heretic succeeded in kicking the wolf off her after a few tries.
Hope landed with a thud as she slid across the grass. She swiftly rose from the ground and charged at Wendy, this time going for her throat. She bit down so hard that she ripped the other woman's throat out. The infection from the wolf's bite was rapidly setting in and Wendy was struggling to function, but she managed to pick up the machete and stab Hope in the stomach. Wendy struggled to push Hope's wolf form from herself but as she did, Penelope knelt down next to her and drove a wooden stick threw her heart.
In the distance Tobias wailed before he ran towards Wendy. "My love… I'm sorry." He kissed her before he picked up the machete that had fallen on the floor and took it to his own neck. "I cannot live in a world without you or my sons… forgive me mother." As soon as he had finished, he sliced across his neck and collapsed, falling onto his wife.
"I'm sorry Tobias." Penelope said as she walked over to Hope's wolf form. Penelope casted a spell to increase her strength as she bent down and scooped Hope into her arms and took her into the cabin. "Josie… It's me. I have Hope… She's injured, like really injured… She needs help." The raven-haired witch called out.
"There isn't much we can do from here… We need to get her back home, back to Dr Saltzman and Caroline… They will know, they will be able to help. Do you have the ascendant?" Jade stated as she came out to help Penelope. Jade took Hope from Penelope's arms and rushed her inside, she placed Hope next to the fire which Josie hadn't long lit.
"Yes, I have the ascendant." Penelope replied as she pulled the ascendant from her bag and placed it on the table in front of her. "Josie, come to my left side. Jade, on my right. Make sure both of you have a hand on either Hope or Lizzie… What happened to Lizzie by the way… why is she unconscious?"
"Hope kicked her in the head… She didn't mean to do it; she was trying to kill the man that was holding a knife to her throat." Josie replied as she looked over at her sister. "She'll be alright when we get home… I hope."
The girls fell silent after that, they concentrated as Penelope cast the spell on the ascendant and they were transported back to the real world, back to Mystic Falls and outside the Old Mill. Once they arrived, Josie called out for her mom and Caroline appeared suddenly, she swiftly picked up Hope and carried her to the infirmary before coming back out to get Lizzie and took her up to her bedroom.
"Thanks for getting me out of there. I'm sorry for everything you've had to go through." Jade spoke. "I'm gunna head back to my apartment. Again… I'm really sorry." Before Josie or Penelope could reply Jade had gone.
"I should really go and check on Lizzie." Josie said as she turned and walked back to the school. Penelope stayed at the Old Mill, she walked over to the sofa, sat down and cried.
