Chapter 15 – Unsteady by X Ambassadors
Within minutes of the announcement, Josie was out the door and running blindly into the woods. She wanted to put as much distance between her and her parents as she could, not caring where she was going as long as it was away. She thought that if she could just run, fast and far then maybe she could outrun her fate.
"Josie! Josie stop!"
The brunette didn't want to stop, she wanted to run until she couldn't run anymore. But what she wanted and what she would get, those were two entirely different things.
Hope speed in front of Josie and pulled her into her in a tight embrace. This both stopped the girl and caused her to nearly collapse. The feel of Hope's arms holding her tight was both exactly what she needed and too much all at the same time.
"Josie, I know that this was a lot to take in. It's your whole world crashing around you. I know, but I promise you, I promise, we will get through this together and we will find a solution. I'm here with you."
The words that should have brought her comfort had the opposite effect. Shaking her head, Josie started to slowly back away from the girl that was holding her trying to protect her from the world. The fear that she was showing on her face was enough to shake Hope. She reached out, but the girl evaded her touch.
Josie couldn't do this to her. It was already too much that she was going to have to loose herself or her twin to The Merge, she refused to let it take Hope's life too.
"No Hope. We can't do this together. You have to stay away from me."
"What! Jo, what are you saying? That makes no sense. Why would I stay away from my fiancé?"
Looking into the beautiful blue eyes that she loved, she knew that she would have to do something that would break both of them, something that they may never recover from, but was for the best in the end.
"Hope, I love you, more than I ever thought that I could love anyone. You are my heart. And because I love you so much, I can't marry you. I can't make you suffer another loss, another death."
Ice ran down the tribrid's back and froze her in her spot. The feeling, like she had just been hit by a truck going a thousand miles an hour and then run over by it, those words killed her. She could feel her heart shattering into a million pieces. This had to be a mistake, this couldn't be real.
"No! You don't get to do this. You don't get to decide my life. You don't get to ruin my life and break my heart and then tell me that it is for me."
Taking a deep breath and trying to calm herself down, Hope looks into Josie's eyes. She knows that her's are glowing and she squeezes them to regain control. Reaching out she genteelly grabs Josie by the shoulders.
"I love you Josie. I love you with every fiber of my being. You are my heart and soul. You can't get rid of me. You don't get to tell me that you love me more than anything and then leave me. This is my life too. We are engaged! I love you!"
Looking at the tears that were streaming down Josie's face as she sobbed, Hope took a calming breath and moved closer to her love. Raising her hands to wipe away the tears, Hope leaned in and gave a soft and sweet kiss. Leaning her forehead onto Josie's, she began to speak again.
"You and me forever. That is the promise that I made when I gave you that ring. You and me against everything and everyone. Now, you can push me away and hurt us both, but I will continue to be right by your side."
Josie didn't know what to say. She knew that she should let Hope go. She didn't want her to have to go through everything that was to come. She had lost so much already in her short life. Too much pain and death.
"Hope, you are my heart, and I love you. I just don't want to cause you any more pain. I know that I won't be able to kill my sister. I just won't. That means…"
"You won't have to. We will find a way to stop this. We can do anything as long as we are together. I can deal with anything, except losing you."
"But don't you understand? The Merge means that you will lose me. If not today, then in four years."
Hope pulled Josie in tighter and hugged her like her life depended on it. How could she make her see?
"I won't lose you to The Merge. We will find a way to cure both you and Lizzie."
"You don't know that. What if I die?"
"Let me put it to you this way. If I lost you to death, it would kill me, but I would know that you loved me. As long as you love me, I can survive anything that is thrown my way. As long as you love me, I can survive death."
Josie couldn't fight her anymore. All that she wanted right now was to let Hope make everything go away. She just needed to fall apart.
"This was supposed to be the happiest day of my life and instead, it's the day that I find out that I have an expiration date and it is much closer than I ever thought. I don't know what I am going to do, it is all just so much."
Pulling Josie close and holding her tight to provide comfort to her love, Hope wasn't sure what they were going to do, but she did know what the next steps were.
"First, we are going to go home, to our bed, and we are going to sleep. Then, first thing tomorrow, I am going to get on the phone with Aunt Frey and Aunt Rebeka. Then we are going to call Uncle Kol. Once I have told all three of them what is happening, we are going to meet them in New Orleans, and we are going to find out exactly what we are going to do next. We will find a solution. I will NOT lose you or Lizzie."
Josie buried her face into Hope's neck and allowed herself to cry. She cried for the life she may never get to have. She cried from the hurt of her parents betrayal and lies.
And she cried for the love that radiated from Hope. The love that filled her heart and warmed her soul. The love that she knew she would never have to live without, no matter how hard she tried to push her away.
"I love you Hope. Thank you for not letting me give in to my fears."
"You can't get rid of me that easy. I made a promise to you, and I plan to keep it for my whole life."
The following couple of weeks were a blur. Hope and the twins were avoiding Alaric and Carolyn. The twins didn't know what to say to their parents after the revelation of The Merge. Hope on the other hand, she knew exactly what she wanted to say. She was not holding everything together well. The thought of losing Josie was too much for her. In her eyes, Alaric and Caroline were at fault. If they had just told them, they may already have the answer to The Merge.
Caroline and Alaric had tried several times to speak with the girls, but each time they were turned away before they even got close. The one time that Alaric attempted to push past Hope and MG, he found himself flung across the hallway. Hope was on him before Caroline could even register what was happening. When she made a move to help, Hope flung her hand back and had her pinned to the wall within seconds.
"You think that you get to talk to them, to see them? After you lied to them for eighteen years, that after you put their lives in danger by not telling them what was happening to them. You always think that you know best, and in the end, you are always wrong."
Hope raised Alaric up by the collar of his shirt, either side of his collar held in a death grip. All those watching could see what Hope wanted to do. Her eyes glowed and the venom from her teeth was starting to drip. A low growl was released as she bared her teeth.
Just then, the tribrid felt a hand on her shoulder. It took the twins and MG to hold her back, and in the end, it was only when Josie had Freya astral project in, that they were able to contain Hope and her rampage. Hope didn't want to do anything to upset Josie further, but the look the night that she ran out and away was burned into Hope's mind.
It had been agreed, after talking to Freya, that Hope, and the twins would come to the compound for the summer so that they could look into The Merge together. With all the knowledge that came from being centuries old, there has to be something that the Mikaelsons know, or have known in the past.
They were scheduled to leave the next day for the airport. MG had wanted to go with them, but he had been excepted to a summer program in the computer science department at USC where he was going to school with Lizzie. The girls told him that he should go and not miss the opportunity. Lizzie also pointed out that she wanted him to set up their apartment so that it was ready in the fall.
Hope pulled MG to the side before he headed to the airport for his own flight.
"I promise that I will let you know if we find anything important. I will take care of them, both of them. I promise."
"I know you will. There isn't anyone I would trust with them more than you."
They stood there a moment and stared at each other, having a silent conversation, and then with a nod, MG reached out and hugged Hope tight.
"You fix this. You be the hero that we all know that you are destined to be."
Hope nodded her head and hugged the boy back tightly. As the boy pulled back, Hope could see that there were tears in his eyes. Rather than point it out or attempt a weak comfort, she turned her head and allowed him to wipe his eyes.
"You have a god trip and make sure that you are ready for the hurricane that is Lizzie Saltzman come this Fall."
The boy laughed at that and headed out to make his flight.
Hope and the twins spent that night together in the twins room. They all piled together in one bed, hold tight to each other for the comfort that they so desperately needed in this moment. Sleep was something that did not come easy for any of them, and they stayed awake until the wee hours talking and planning and trying to comfort each other.
The next morning, after having only gotten a few hours of sleep, the girls were up and grabbing the bags that they had packed, Hope started to load up the car that was set to take them to the airport.
While she was closing the trunk, she heard someone walk up behind her, and judging from the perfume, that she had smelt so many times, she knew it was Caroline.
"What do you want? I'm not in the mood for another fight and we have a flight to catch."
Turning to face the blond vampire, Hope crossed her arms and was giving off a definite, 'don't fuck with me' vibe. She knows that this is the twin's mother, but no one, not even a parent, has the right to do what they have.
"Hope, we don't want to fight with you. I wish that you three could understand what we have been going through for the last eighteen years. Those are our daughters! We had to do what we thought was best for them. When we found out that they were twins and that they would have to face The Merge, they were just babies. We couldn't tell them. By the time that they were old enough that they could handle learning the truth, we didn't want them to have to be burdened with this time clock looming over them. We wanted to give them a normal life for as long as we could."
Hope could understand that in principle, however, she had been on the receiving end of overprotective parents. In the end, her mother sent her to school thousands of mile away from her so that she could find some independence. Her father forced himself and his siblings to leave Hope trying to protect her, and all that did was leave a huge hole in her life.
"I understand a parents love and need to protect their child. Considering that I lost both of my parents to that very fact means that I know the lengths that any parent would go to. However, as the one that is left behind, let me speak for the children in this moment. We are the ones that are left to deal with the decisions that you made for us. WE are the ones that have to live with the decisions that you make! You decide what our lives are going to be and then when it doesn't work out the way that you want, or you realize that you didn't make the right choices, then you just want to be like oops our bad and expect us to forgive you. That doesn't work!"
Caroline took a step forward, and Hope could see that there was an argument on her lips.
Hope held up her hand. She didn't need to hear platitudes in this moment. She was still mad, but she was trying to keep her cool.
"Please save your words. I have heard them all. My point is this, as hard as it is for you as parents, you have no right to make decisions for those of us that will be left behind."
The tribrid was breathing hard. She was trying her best to maintain her composure. She knew that she needed to end this soon. There was a plane to catch, and she knew that she wasn't going to be able to keep her calm much longer. She wasn't able to forgive and forget the traitorous actions.
"Hope, I know that you love my daughter and that you care for Lizzie like she was your own sister."
"Then you understand why this upsets me more than it does them. It isn't so much that you hurt them, which you have. It's that they are hurting because it was you that caused the hurt. But it's even more than that. They hurt because this is hurting the two of you. Especially Josie! She is so upset that you two have had to deal with this, with the thought of losing your daughters. They don't even know how bad this is affecting them. They are going to be dealing with this long after we have found a solution to The Merge and moved on with our lives."
Caroline raised her hand to her forehead and rubbed it. Vampires couldn't get headaches, but she swore it sure as hell felt like she had one.
"Hope, all that we want is to talk to our girls before you leave. This is going to be the last time that we are going to have to see them for a long time."
Hope stopped herself from automatically rejecting the request. She knew that she would be doing the same thing that the twin's parents had done by making this decision. Thinking about what to say next she had questions.
"Before I say anything, I have two questions for you."
"Anything, ask anything."
"First, where is Alaric currently?"
The blond vampire's face fell. She wasn't expecting that question and was nervous about what would happen when she answered.
"He wanted me to distract you and then he was going to go see the girls and force them to talk to us."
Hope was about to bolt when she heard that. He eyes glowed and a growl escaped her lips. Caroline jumped in front of the younger woman before she could move.
"I stopped him. I told him that if he did that, we would never earn their trust back and they would have even more reason to be mad at us. However, the only way to stop him was to, um, knock him out and tie him to a chair in his office."
Looking at Caroline, Hope took a deep breath. She had to admit that the headmistress had done the right thing, and that she was correct. Hope would have kicked both of them out of the school and put up a spell to block them from ever coming near the girls again.
"Second question, and it is has two parts. One, did Alaric ever explain to you exactly what it is that I did to all of those girls that made fun of Josie, or hurt her in anyway? Do you think that I would do any less to the two of you just because you are the twin's parents?"
Caroline couldn't help but to give a little laugh at those particular questions. With a smile on her lips, she looked directly into the eyes that reminded her so much of Klaus.
"Alaric did tell me exactly what you did to those girls. I have to say that as the girls' mother I loved hearing that there was someone that was standing up for Josie. I love my daughters and I tried to teach them to stand up for themselves but also to be nice. It seemed Lizzie and Josie each only listened to half of the lessons."
Hope smirk and rolled her eyes for good measure. That was an understatement if ever she heard one.
"And to answer the second part of the question, and knowing you and how so like your mother, sometimes even more than your father, I would expect you to be worse to us because we hurt them more."
"I have to say Caroline, out of the two of you, you are so much smarter than Alaric. Feel free to tell him I think so."
Hope stopped for a moment and truly looked at Caroline. If her mother were there, she would tell her that you can't stand in the way of a parent and their children. Not if the parent was sincere in their love. And no matter what else, Caroline loved her girls. Alaric, well he did too even though he was no good at showing it.
"I will give you this one chance. I will let the girls know that you want to see them before we leave. I was planning to get us to the airport two hours early, though we only need one. If they want to see you, they will come to Alaric's office. If they don't, you have to respect that and wait for them to contact you."
Caroline couldn't resist, she surged forward, and hug Hope tightly. She held on to her and cried for a moment.
"Thank you Hope. All I ever wanted was to save my girls and to see them happy."
Stepping back and releasing the tribrid, Caroline turned without another word and went to wake up and untie Alaric. She was, no pun intended, hoping that she saw her girls before they left.
After a short discussion with the twins, meaning Lizzie screamed and Josie cried, the girls were standing outside of their father's office.
"Ok, remember that I will be right out here. If you need me, just yell and I will be there. We have thirty minutes until we have to leave for the airport."
Josie leaned over and gave her girlfriend a kiss on the cheek, while her twin squeezed the older girl's hand. They were both taking strength from the tribrid in this moment.
Hope had decided that whatever was said in the room was between the family. They had their issues, but as long as the parents weren't causing more damage, that she would stay out of it. She would be there if asked, but it was not her place to force her way into this fight.
Taking a seat on the chair that was outside of the door, Hope waited, ready however this meeting turned out.
The flight wasn't a long one and it seemed that in the blink of an eye they were landing in New Orleans. For the most part, ever since the twins left their parents, they have been quiet. They only talk when they need to.
Josie walked out of the office and wrapped herself into Hope and allowed herself to be held and comforted. There were no tears, though the red and puff eyes that both girls were sporting showed that had been there.
When she asked if there was anything that she could do, they shook their head started towards the car. It broke Hope a little to know that there was nothing that she could do in this moment to protect them from this heart ache.
Hope really wanted to talk about what had happened with the twins and their parents, but she also knew that when they were ready, they would talk to one another, or if they wanted to, they knew that they could come to her.
The important thing now, was to focus on finding a way to prevent The Merge. If it was not preventable, there had to be a way to ensure that both girls lived through it.
"Josie, Lizzie. I'm going to grab our bags and then we can go to meet the car my Aunt Freya sent for us. She called before we left the school to say that she was sending it so that we wouldn't have to both with a cab. It will only take me a minute. Wait right here."
They nodded their heads and huddled together to wait for the tribrid to come back with their bags.
While waiting for Hope to come back with their luggage, they leaned into each other and held tight. They craved the solace of each other in this moment when they felt that they had lost so much.
It took Hope longer than it should have to collect all of the bags and get back to the girls. When she finally arrived, she was sporting a look that spoke volumes. Her eyes were glowing, and her fangs were barely being held in.
Without saying a word, Josie reached out to her and squeezed her hand asking what had happened.
"There were some vamps making trouble that I had to deal with. Nothing major. We should get going, the family is expecting us soon."
The brunette squeezed Hope's hand one more time, knowing better than to ask for more details at the moment.
"Lets get to the car, I want us to make it to the compound before it gets too late."
Before they were able to get very far, the girls heard someone behind them chuckling. When they turned, they saw Marcel and Rebekah. The three girls smiled at the couple and were rewarded with a broad smile as Marcel opened his arms. He wrapped all three girls up and hugged them tightly.
Hope pulled back slightly and looked up into the eyes of her uncle. Tilting her head, she was wondering what he found so funny.
"And what has you laughing?"
"Oh nothing, just saw a couple of vamps limping out of here looking like they met with one pissed off tribrid."
Josie spun to face Hope, taking in her full appearance. There was nothing obvious out of place, though there was something about her demeanor.
"Well, I guess we should be thankful that she didn't kill them."
"I would never step on Marcel's toes like that. Though, I mean, you would have forgiven me under the circumstances, right?"
Marcel wrapped Hope up in a hug and held her tight. He couldn't imagine the pain that she was feeling. Yet another person that she loved and thinking that there was nothing that you would be able to do to stop it.
"No matter what, we are family, and I swore that I would never lose another member of my family. We will find a way to fix this."
When he released her, she was quickly engulfed in another hug, from Rebekah this time. The blonde held her so tightly that it felt like she was trying to absorb her.
"Freya, Kol, and I have been going over everything that we have learned in the last thousand years. There is something that we know. Alone it is nothing, but Freya is hard at work piecing it all together."
When Rebekah finally let go and allowed Hope to take a step back, it was clear that the tribrid was fighting the tears back. When she turned around, she saw the twins, wrapped up in Marcel's arms. He was whispering something to them, and they nodded back at him.
Hope felt a surge of love for her uncle. She also felt that for the first time since they found out about The Merge, that they had a chance, because there was nothing, nothing that was stronger than her family and the love that they had for each other.
A few hours later, after arriving at the compound, everyone took some time to settle into their rooms and freshen up. They all needed to regroup and get themselves ready for what lied ahead.
When it came to room arraignments, Josie couldn't decide where to go. She wanted to be there for her sister, but also knew that she would need Hope by her side.
"It's fine baby. We will set up the room down the hall that has two queen beds. I'll stay with you. If you need privacy, then we can go to my room."
That was something that both Josie and Lizzie were thankful for. Going through this was hard enough but having to worry about anything else seems impossible and just too much to ask.
Josie was so thankful to have Hope by her side during all this. Someone who could support her without making her feel that she needed to give all their attention to them. Someone who understood that this was happening to her and her sister and that they needed each other.
Josie was thankful for the continued strength that Hope was giving to her and the fact that she just knew what it was that she needed. She wasn't asking anything, and she was just there for her.
"Alright, time to go down and meet with the war party."
Lizzie whipped her head around and stared at Hope with a crazy look in her eyes.
"War party? What are you talking about? We aren't at war."
"Of course, we're at war. Just because it is a curse that we are fighting and not another being doesn't make this any less of a war."
"I don't want to be at war. I don't want to lose Lizzie or you. I don't want to die."
Josie was barely holding it together. She wanted to break down and cry. Part of her knew that she needed to fight but another part of her wanted to just give up. If in eighteen years her parents couldn't find a way to break the curse, what hope did they have of doing it in four years.
"Hey, stop that. I can see your brain over thinking about what our chances are. I want you to listen and hear me. There is nothing that the Mikaelson family won't do for our family, and there has never been a war that this family has lost. Two things this family does better than anyone else on this earth. Protect our family and win wars."
Taking both girls' hands and giving them a squeeze, she gave a reassuring look and then tugged them forward.
Walking down the stairs they headed directly to, Freya's study. Everyone was in there shifting through volumes and discarding them. Freya was writing something in a journal and seemed to have a smile on her face.
"Aunt Freya, we are here and ready to help with the search. Where should we start."
The blonde witch looked up at the three girls that had just entered and gave them a smile. The look in her eyes was a hectic one.
"Girls, you have perfect timing. We have some good news for you, and some not so good news for you."
Hope, still holding the hands of the twins squeezed and steadied them for the news to come.
"What do you know?"
"The good news is that, with some research, and some information from your Aunt Rebekah and your Uncle Kol, we think that we have found the solution for The Merge."
The twins took in a shocked breath and stumbled back at the news. If it weren't for Hope's hold on them, they would have fallen over. Hope took in a breath and stood up straighter, steeling herself for what was to come next. She seemed as if she were bracing for a fight.
"What's the catch? What aren't you telling us?"
"The only way for stop The Merge is…."
T.B.C.