Searching for Always and Forever

Chapter 32

"You always said those people were merely soldiers, someone's pawns and we were always in danger. That's why we kept hiding. So they are actually after you." Grace wondered aloud in the dark room later that night, as the sisters lay awake in their beds. Hope didn't reply. "Do you have any idea who it was?" Grace asked after a long silence.

"No." Hope said quietly, but then she turned to her side to face her sister's bed. "I thought it was Klaus at first, but Freya convinced me it couldn't be him... but after recent events, I'm not so sure anymore." Grace turned to her side as well, facing Hope.

"You think he would kill mom?"

"I mean, I was just an accident from a one night stand... it's not like he had any relationship with her."

"I will kill him if he was behind that attack." Grace said furiously.

"That's not possible. The only way to kill him is some weird white oak stake which allegedly doesn't even exist anymore." Hope replied and Grace sighed loudly.

"I hope it wasn't him though. We'll figure it out and make them pay." Grace said with a loud yawn.

"Yeah, we will...go to sleep now." Hope replied then turned to her other side. She was surely not going to let her sister get involved with murderers... she knew she said the only family she needed was them, but Freya was probably the most powerful witch out there and she promised to help... Hope just wasn't in the position to refuse her help with finding these murderers... of course, if it truly wasn't Klaus. She had no idea who to trust anymore. Hope had difficulty sleeping that night. Klaus's terrifying looks haunted her as soon as she closed her eyes... Then in her dreams Hope's face turned to the monster. She was the evil hybrid everyone feared. Even her own siblings were terrified of her. She jerked up in her bed after one of these nightmares. It was pitch black everywhere, still the middle of the night. Grace slept peacefully in her bed. Hope couldn't take it anymore, she couldn't lay in there with her scary thoughts and didn't want to risk falling asleep again, so she decided to get out of bed. She put on a pair of black leggings and a big, long sweater and exited their room. The hallway was silent. The only noise were her quiet steps on the floor. She walked downstairs in the dim nightlight. She made her way towards the classrooms. Hope was planning to sneak into the art room. Even though it was dark, the art room had great lighting and she needed to get lost in that world now. She didn't know what she was going to paint yet but she was sure as soon as she grabbed a canvas and a brush, the colors and the shapes would come to her. When she turned to a corner in the hallway, the first thing she noticed was the light. Much brighter than the nightlights across the halls. She took a couple silent steps toward the art room and its door was wide open and the light was coming from inside the room. First she was very disappointed. She really wanted this quiet time for herself in the middle of the night, but she was curious which student was thinking like her and needed a creative release in the middle of the night. Hope never really bothered to be friendly with any of her classmates, but perhaps she could try if they have something like this in common. She walked slowly and quietly and when she got to the edge of the open door. She took a peek inside, she didn't want to scare the person. At first, the only thing she saw was the easel and the canvas on it which was a work in progress. So whoever it was, they were a painter just like Hope... and not even a bad painter. Hope watched quietly the brush in their hand working on the canvas. They used dark shades of blues and black. It was a night scape of a city Hope didn't recognise. Nonetheless she liked the picture. She took one silent step closer to the door to see the painter. And as soon as she saw who it was, she wished she didn't come down to the art room that night. He was solely focused on the painting but Hope knew it better than believe that he didn't notice her. He could surely hear her steps earlier closing up to the room, even though she tried to be as silent as she could. He could surely hear her quiet breathing and the rapid beating of her heart. Her heart was pounding in her ear like crazy. She should leave... just leave right now. Even if she would run, he could get to her faster with his speed. He could snap her neck before she could scream for help. Hope was scared. Truly scared of her own biological father. She thought Alaric didn't let this monster inside the school... but she doubted Klaus Mikaelson would care. Hope felt herself shivering but she was unable to take a step and leave. She just stared at him as he was painting peacefully while she was trembling with fear. She finally made her legs move and took a step backwards. She felt like her legs were made of jello, shivering as she was slowly backing up but she accidently tripped on her own foot and ended up falling to the floor very ungracefully. She hissed as she felt like her ankle twisted. He was there in an instant. Looking into her eyes. Hope tried to get up and get the hell out of there, but she had to give herself a moment to let her ankle heal. How could she be so clumsy? Is this how she was going to die?

"Are you okay?" He asked and gave a hand to Hope to help her get up. She didn't take it of course. She just needed a couple minutes and she was going to be healed completely. She was still shaking with fear as they were looking into each other's eyes. Klaus took a step away from Hope. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He said, clearly noticing Hope's terrified state.

"Then you shouldn't have tried to kill me." Hope snapped at him, as she tried to get up, but she quickly grabbed onto her ankle with a quiet whimper as it still wasn't healed fully.

"Do you need me to get the nurse?" He asked in a surprisingly caring tone.

"No. I just need a minute... and don't act like you care anyway." Hope whispered that last part but she knew he could hear her clearly.

"I'm truly sorry. I had no idea who you were." Hope was a little satisfied with the regret she saw in his eyes and it made her fear of him ease.

"It doesn't matter who I am, the fact that you are capable of something like that makes you a horrible monster. I am disgusted by you and feel ashamed that your screwed up genes are a part of me." Hope looked at him with hatred in her eyes. She could feel her ankle getting stronger and she finally made it to a standing position, facing her biological father. "You are no one to me. I don't want to talk to you or see you, ever again!" Hope turned her back at him as she was walking away.

"Hope" Klaus called after her and the gentle way he said her name made her cringe at first, then it made her angry again. Hope stopped walking and turned to look at him, before she could disappear at a corner of the hallway. She stared with anticipation to say whatever it was he wanted to say to her. The fact that he felt guilty made Hope feel better and she felt like she had the upper hand now. She knew he wouldn't attack her now. But he didn't say anything, just stared at her. Hope just rolled her eyes then she walked away from him.