If Only In My Dreams
Chapter 6
The second Dr. Saltzman was bringing the car to a stop at Triad Industries, Hope was already climbing out of the back seat and heading towards the building. She felt a slight tug in her mind to stay back, and Hope was glad that she listened because once the others caught up to her, and she took a steadying breath, Hope realize that there was something wrong with the sight in front of her. Slowly raising her hand in front of her, Hope was met with a barrier spell. Glancing at Lizzie, Hope nodded towards the invisible barrier and offered the blonde her hand, and Lizzie siphoned the magic. What they saw when the illusion that had been woven into the barrier spell dropped had Hope getting pissed off.
Triad was gone. Destroyed. Burnt down. No trace of the former final resting place of Malivore other than a lingering smell of burnt earth. Lingering. That's the word that Hope's mind caught onto. The burning down of Triad was recent. It had to be. Within a week or so, meaning they might still be able to find something, anything, that could lead them in the direction that Malivore went after she and Ryan had gone into the pit.
"Be careful, Sweetheart. There's no way that Triad just stopped what they were doing."
Hope nodded unperceptively at Ryan's words of warning. Man, she was starting to lose it. She and Lizzie would definitely have to sit down and talk about what the signs were of her possibly going crazy if she was hearing Ryan's words in her head as if he was standing right next to her. Slowly stepping forward, Hope led her friends and Dr. Saltzman towards the remains of the structure. As they got closer, Hope started to take in more of the charred bits of building that littered the clearing, only upon closer examination, she realized that they weren't bits of the building, but actually human bodies burnt to death.
"Oh my god."
"What's wrong?" Alaric asked and Hope glanced at the others.
"These are Triad agents. All of them. Burnt to death." Hope commented.
"Why would anyone from Triad turn on their own people?" Kaleb questioned.
"That would be a great question for us to ask MG's mom when we get back to Virginia." Hope muttered.
"There's no way in hell, I'm telling my boy that his mom's messed up in this kind of shit." Kaleb said as he carefully stepped around one of the burnt bodies.
"I'm sure he already knows. Veronica was at the school when Triad showed up." Alaric said.
"How would you know, you showed up well after almost everything had gone down. I was already taking off to go save Landon's ass when you got there." Hope replied.
"Let's just get what we came here for." Alaric said, ushering them all towards the building.
As they stepped inside, Hope's stomach flipped over and she had to cover her mouth to stifle the scream that was threatening to fall. What used to be a corridor was so overcrowded with more dead bodies that she could barely see the floor. The sinking feeling that Ryan's body could be somewhere in this mess had tears filling her eyes, and she quickly pushed it to the side. She could still feel him being alive. His body wasn't here. She just needed to get through all of this to be able find his body. Before she could process moving through the bodies, Hope found herself in the pit chamber. The deep hole in the ground where Malivore used to be, taunted her. As if to say that was what was left of her relationship with Ryan. Something that she refused to accept.
"Hope. The computers and everything are still working. Let's see what we can find." Lizzie said as she lightly tugged on Hope's arm.
"I'll be there in a second." Hope replied as she moved towards the exact spot she and Ryan had gone over the railing.
Resting her hand on the rail, Hope closed her eyes and sought out Ryan in her dreamscape.
"You shouldn't be at Triad, Hope." Ryan commented as he pulled her onto his lap on the couch.
"I'm trying to retrace Malivore's steps from the night we went into the pit." Hope replied as she curled up against his chest.
"I saw what happened there, Hope. Through your eyes. Please don't go diving headfirst into danger to try and find my body." Ryan begged.
"I'm not trying to, Ryan, but how else am I supposed to find you? Find your body? If my friends and I can track Malivore from that night, then I can find your body and keep it safe while I search for your consciousness." Hope said while gripping his shoulders.
"I told you Hope, if something happens to you in the real world, I'm lost. Please promise me that you'll be careful. I can't lose you, Sweetheart." Ryan said, brushing some of Hope's hair behind her ear before tilting her chin up and pressing his lips to hers in a deep kiss.
"I promise to be careful. I'll find your body, and your consciousness, and I'll bring you back to me so that we can start working towards this life." Hope promised against his lips.
"And a family." Ryan added.
"But I thought you couldn't father children?" Hope asked.
"We'll figure something out. We have to make use of the crib in the other bedroom upstairs. Whether that means you carry our children, or we adopt, we will figure out a way to have a family of our own." Ryan explained as he shifted them on the couch so that Hope was laying on her back and he was hovering over her.
"You're not going to try and get me to wake up?" Hope asked as she watched Ryan slowly push her shirt up and press hot, open mouth kisses to her stomach.
"You asked me to make love to you before. And I denied you." Ryan replied simply as he pushed the shirt further up Hope's body and pulled it over her head. "I'm not going to deny you again." He added before capturing one of her breasts in his mouth.
Letting out a moan, Hope reached down and pushed the waistband of Ryan's pants down his hips. She needed him inside of her. Pulling Ryan up her body, Hope pressed her lips to his and wrapped her legs around his waist. As Ryan pushed into Hope's pussy, he laced their fingers together and moved to hold her hands above her head in one hand so that his other hand could roam about her body.
"Ryan..." Hope moaned out.
"Yes, Sweetheart?" Ryan muttered as he kissed along her jaw.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
Legacies – IOIMD – Legacies
Lizzie watched Hope intently as her friend closed her eyes before gripping the railing with both hands. Something told the blonde that the last time Hope had been standing at that railing, she had been propelling herself and Ryan over it. The night that she sacrificed herself to save the people that she loved, only to get stuck in nothingness with Ryan for 5 months. Lizzie couldn't begin to even attempt to understand what Hope had gone through during those 5 months. Or what Ryan had gone through during that time. Or the time before. All Lizzie could wish for was that Hope was going to be okay. That they would find what they were looking for here, and they could start tracking down Malivore to get Ryan's body back. That Malivore actually had Ryan's body for them to get it back.
"How's she doing?" Kaleb asked as he came to stand next to Lizzie.
"I can't tell if she's fighting back the memories of the last time she was here, or if she's slipped into a daydream to be with Ryan. Frankly, I wouldn't blame her for either option. The last time she was here she was sacrificing herself for all of us. And currently, this place is horrific." Lizzie replied.
"Well, Dr. S is ready for her, so one of us has to go over there. And I sure as hell ain't goin' back in her head after earlier. I promised her mudman that I wouldn't, and I already have them doin' the nasty burned into my brain." Kaleb said as he lightly nudged Lizzie forward.
"I won't like, go in her head, will I?" Lizzie asked, biting her lip.
"You ain't a vampire, Liz. You're not doin' a head dive, you're just letting her know that we're ready for her." Kaleb replied.
"Okay... here goes nothing." Lizzie said, taking a deep breath and walking over to her best friend. "Hope? We're ready for you." She said as she placed her hand on Hope's shoulder.
Legacies – IOIMD – Legacies
"Hope? We're ready for you."
Hope groaned as Lizzie's voice floated towards her. She didn't want to leave Ryan. Especially since they were still in middle of something, but Ryan clearly heard Lizzie's voice as well, and he stopped moving inside her.
"Don't stop. Please don't stop, Ryan." Hope begged.
"Your friends need you, Sweetheart." Ryan replied with a kiss to her neck.
"They can wait." Hope said as she pulled him back up to press their lips together.
"The longer you stay here, Hope, the longer it'll take for you to find my body and save me." Ryan muttered against her lips.
Hope pouted. Of course he would use that. Now she was torn. Stay here, continuing to make love to the man that she loved, or go back to the real world where she was standing in the ruins of Triad Industries in the very spot that she had forced the man she loved to relive the worst part of his life. Go back to where she was surrounded by dead bodies, all burnt to death, with no idea who killed them all, or where that person or creature was. With a sigh against Ryan's lips, Hope slowly sat up as Ryan moved off of her and pulled his pants back up.
"I'll see you soon, Sweetheart." Ryan said with a kiss to the top of her head.
Hope watched Ryan walk out of the room and up the stairs. She could sense how upset that he was about her constantly having to leave. And it wasn't like she wanted to leave. Grabbing Ryan's shirt off of the floor, Hope pulled it back on and brought her knees to her chest. She desperately wanted to be able to bring him with her into the real world, but she couldn't. He wasn't real, and his body and consciousness were both still missing. With silent tears falling down her cheeks, Hope closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she was back at Triad Industries, her vision blurred from her tears as Lizzie pulled her in for a hug.
"We'll get him back, Hope. I promise. Kaleb and I won't stop helping you get him back." Lizzie whispered.
"Thank you." Hope whispered back before locking eyes with Kaleb over Lizzie's shoulder.
"That's what friends are for, Hope." Lizzie commented and Kaleb nodded in agreement.
Pulling away from the hug, Hope took Lizzie's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze before making her way into the control room where Dr. Saltzman was staring at one of the monitors as the footage rewound to the night that Hope and Ryan had been wiped from the collective conscious. Once her eyes locked on the image of her and Ryan falling, Hope stopped the video and then started playing it again.
"Wait... you used a mimic spell on Ryan?" Lizzie asked.
"I didn't know what he would do if I didn't take him into the pit with me. I didn't trust him at that point. So yeah, I used the mimic spell. I used it on him one more time when we were inside Malivore." Hope replied as she blinked back tears.
"Wait... the recording just skipped. You two went in, and then it cuts to when Landon's waking up." Kaleb commented. "What the hell happened?"
"I don't know..." Hope replied as she rewound the recording again and then hit play.
When the video skipped again, Hope screamed. How was she supposed to find Ryan's body now? Clearly someone from Triad, most likely MG's mom, had to have erased what happened to Malivore. Or maybe...
"Is there anywhere on this thing that we can download the footage onto something else and have someone at school see about retrieving the erased part?" Hope asked.
"Even if there was, we don't have anything to download it onto." Lizzie replied.
"Actually we do. I have a few external hard drives in the jeep." Alaric replied.
"Seriously dad? Why would you have those?" Lizzie asked.
"For instances such as this. Kaleb, will you please go grab them from the car?" Alaric replied.
"Sure thing, Dr. S."
As Kaleb ran out to the car, Hope continued to rewind and play the recording, hoping that she would find something. When Kaleb returned a couple of minutes later, and she still hadn't found anything useful, Hope pushed away from the desk and ran her hands through her hair in frustration. She thought that she would be moving along with the plan to find Ryan's body by now, but this was preventing her from doing that. So now she was back at square one if the one person at the school that was good with this sort of thing ended up not being able to help them. Leaning against the wall by the door, Hope slid down until she was fully sitting, holding her head in her hands as she fought against the tears that were burning her eyes.
"I'm sorry Ryan. I've barely started trying to find your body, and I've already started to fail." Hope muttered under her breath.
"It's okay, Sweetheart. You'll figure it out. I believe in you."
"Hope? Would you like some company? Or at least a shoulder to lean on?" Lizzie asked.
"Yes please." Hope replied with a nod. "Lizzie... I don't know how to ask this without it coming out sounding insensitive... but how would I even know if I was starting to go crazy?" She asked in a low voice once the blonde had sat down.
"I thought you said that you weren't going crazy?" Lizzie inquired.
"I didn't think I was... but I, uh, I think I might be now. I'm hearing Ryan's voice as clear as if he's right next to me." Hope explained. "As clear as your voice is right now." She added.
"Maybe with as much as you've been sleeping over the last few days, and spending time in your dreams with Ryan, the voice in your head that usually sounds like yourself has just switched to sounding like him. For what it's worth, Hope, it doesn't sound like you're going crazy to me." Lizzie said as she wrapped her arm around the older girl's shoulders.
"Thank you Liz."
Lizzie just nodded as she pulled Hope in for a hug. After everything that the Tribrid had already been through in life, starting to go crazy at this point was just too much. Lizzie didn't want her best friend to suffer any more. She deserved the chance to be in a really good relationship for once. Because as far as Lizzie could tell, Hope was much happier in this quasi-relationship she had with Ryan in her dreams than she ever had been with Landon, or even Roman, no matter how short lived the relationship had been with the vampire. As she sat there, silently comforting her friend, Lizzie couldn't help her eyes from continuously drifting over to Kaleb. Unlike two other vampires that she knew, Kaleb had never once led her to believe that she was going crazy... or crazier... so maybe he was worth going on a date with and seeing where things went... if he was interesting in going on a date with her, that was. And only once they helped Hope get Ryan back.
"Okay, everything from the servers that we can gather has been downloaded, let's head back to school." Alaric said. "Kaleb, please get the girls back to the car, and I'll be right behind you." He added.
"What's wrong, Dad?" Lizzie asked as she took Kaleb's offered hand and stood up.
"I'm just going to secure the area. Now go with Kaleb." Alaric replied.
"Dr. Saltzman let's just all go, now. I don't want to know who or what killed these agents, and despite previous actions possibly proving the contrary, you're needed at the school." Hope said as Kaleb and Lizzie helped her up. "Whatever did this could be waiting for us to come back out, and if it is, we'll need your crossbow." She added.
"Really, Hope? Last time Dad tried to use his crossbow, you told him that he was man-spread in front of three powerful witches." Lizzie commented.
"That's because he was. But we're down a witch without Josie, and I'm not really feeling all that great right now, being back here, so I don't think I'll be of much help." Hope replied as wrapped her arms around her middle.
"Kaleb get Hope to the car. I'll be fine with my dad." Lizzie said and Hope allowed the vampire to lift her into his arms. "What aren't you telling us?" She asked once she was sure Kaleb was out of ear shot.
"I don't think we're alone. I think Hope if very much correct that whoever, or whatever, killed those agents is still around, and I can't help this feeling that somehow, Clarke is behind it." Alaric said.
"Ryan is gone, Dad. At least for now. The location of his consciousness is unknown and Hope firmly believes that Malivore has his body. How could he behind this if his body and consciousness aren't together?" Lizzie asked, defensive on her best friend's behalf.
"I've been dealing with the Supernatural goings on since well before you were born; I've learned to trust my gut." Alaric commented.
"Because your gut's never wrong about someone." Lizzie retorted before turned around and followed behind Kaleb and Hope.
Alaric took a deep breath and followed after his daughter. She had a point, but he wasn't going to dwell on that. He wasn't going to dwell on how much he had allowed Damon to get away with doing simply because they became friends.
Legacies – IOIMD – Legacies
When Kaleb placed her feet on the ground by the car, Hope quietly climbed into the backseat and laid down. Her head was spinning, and she felt nauseous. Something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Closing her eyes, she tried to breathe deeply to calm her stomach and her mind but doing so only propelled her forward and out of the car before throwing up. She needed to get away from Triad Industries. As Kaleb gently rubbed her back, Hope caught sight of Lizzie storming out of the building with Dr. Saltzman hurrying after her. When they saw Hope hunched over and Kaleb trying to calm her down, the father and daughter duo rushed to her side.
"What happened?" Lizzie insisted.
"I don't know. She was shaking as I brought her out her and after laying down and closing eyes, she was bolting out of the car and throwing up. We need to get her out of her, Dr. S." Kaleb said.
"Everyone in the car." Alaric said with a nod. "Hope sit forward with your head between your knees. Lizzie keep her calm." He instructed as he tossed the hard drives into the back of the car and then got into the driver's seat.
Once everyone was situated in the car, Dr. Saltzman sped away from the destruction that lay behind them. The only problem was that even though distance was being put between her and Triad Industries, Hope wasn't feeling any better, and she couldn't reach Ryan.