Searching for Always and Forever

Chapter 8

The morning came fast. Riley was the first who woke up. She looked around with confusion on her face.

"Why is Grace sleeping in our bed?" She asked curiously. Hope got up from the floor quickly, where she was sitting. She placed her index finger on her lips, to be quiet. She then helped Riley dress, and led her out to the bathroom. She poured some water in a bowl.

"Wash your face." Hope directed her little sister. "We have a lot to do this morning."

And that's when the blond girl entered the bathroom. The stranger startled Riley and she accidently spilled the water from the bowl to the ground and it ended up soaking Hope's and Riley's socks. A curse word left Hope's lips, but she quickly corrected herself.

"Umm... Riley, this is one of our guests. Her name is Elizabeth.... and umm... this is our little sister, Riley." Hope introduced them awkwardly.

"It's Lizzie. Please call me Lizzie." The blond girl corrected Hope, and Riley immediately had a huge smile on her face. "Umm... where is your toilet?" She asked as she looked around the bathroom but saw only a bathtub and sme bowls.

"Outside." Hope added.

"Are you serious?" The girl asked with shock in her voice but Hope just nodded. "It's freezing outside!" She whined.

"You can hold it in if you want, but if you really have to go, the cold won't bother you, I guarantee." Hope replied with annoyance in her voice.

"I'll go first!" Riley said with a giggle as she ran out from the bathroom towards the front door.

"Riley, take off your wet socks!" Hope yelled after her. The little girl took off her socks, threw them on the floor and put on her boots in her bare feet. Hope just shook her head as she disappeared outside.

"You wolves can live in such filthy surroundings." Lizzie added with a disgusted look on her face. Hope just gave the girl an icy look then she left the bathroom. She decided she didn't like this girl. They weren't filthy, Hope always made sure everyone and everything around them was clean... but she didn't say anything. To be honest, Lizzie's comment did hurt her a little. Hope made a nice home for them out of this cabin and she would miss this when they leave. These thoughts ran through her mind, as she put some water up to boil for some tea.

"Good morning." Alaric greeted Hope from the couch where he slept.

"Morning." She replied. "I'm making some tea... and I'll make some breakfast too. The kids need to eat something before we leave. Just some eggs... I can make some extra if you and your daughter want some." Hope said awkwardly.

"That sounds lovely." The man replied, and Hope started on some eggs. In the meantime Riley returned from outside and Lizzie made a painful expression as she made herself leave for the outer bathroom. Soon Jack and Grace made it out of the bedroom too. Grace took care of the boy, until Hope finished up on the breakfast.

They all ate quietly, only Jack would ask questions from time to time and Hope tried to answer him as vaguely as possible every time. Riley didn't really speak. They never had any visitors, it was weird for her to suddenly have two strangers in their home. Hope knew she had to be the one breaking the news to the kids. After a long silence, Hope cleared her throat. Everyone looked at her.

"So... everyone, listen up!" Hope glanced at the two little kids. They looked Hope in the eye.

"Mr. Saltzman and Lizzie here came to take us to a school." She explained. "It's a school where we could live all together. You could learn many new things and you could have many new friends there." They both looked at Hope with serious eyes, like their little mind was working hard to comprehend everything Hope just told them.

"But we live here." Jack was the first to speak.

"Yes, but that school could be our new home." Hope replied and the little boy was thinking hard.

"No, I'm not going." Riley said firmly, and Hope was very surprised at the little girl's statement.

"And why is that Riley?" Hope asked her.

"Because, people don't like us. We are different. They will kill us like they did it with mom and dad!" Riley continued as she was tearing up.

"Hey hey hey! What did I promise you?" Hope asked firmly.

"That you'd protect us." Riley sniffed as she was at the verge of crying.

"Always!" Hope added. "Now, would I go to this school if it wasn't safe for us?" She asked and Riley shook her head. "That's right. "Mr. Saltzman said that everyone in this school is different, like us. There are even wolves and everything else, like vampires or witches. Lizzie here is a witch. Can you believe that?" Riley looked at Lizzie with wondering eyes.

"Are you really a witch?" Riley asked the blond girl.

"Yeah! You wanna see something cool?" She asked and the little girl nodded eagerly. Everyone was looking at her... Hope was kinda excited too, she never saw magic in her life, but obviously she wouldn't show her excitement. Lizzie grabbed that watch again, from her pocket, but after a few seconds she just put it back... it was very weird. Then she said something in a different language and a ball of light appeared in her right hand from thin air.

"Wow." Riley and Jack said it at the same time.

"That's amazing." Grace added with wonder. Yeah sure, it was pretty cool but Hope wasn't going to show it was that big of a deal. She just looked back at the little kids.

"So, what do you say?" Hope asked them with a confident smile, although she still wasn't so sure about this plan... but it was all too late to back down.

"Yeah, okay." Riley smiled.

"What about you Jack?" Hope asked the little guy. She wanted to make sure everyone's opinion was important.

"But... are we gonna come back home?" He asked unsure.

"If we don't like it there then we can come back." Hope added and that was enough for Jack to smile.

They packed up everything they had and left their home behind. Hope had to force herself not to get emotional in front of everybody. They had a long walk to get to the car. It snowed at night, so their walk was slow. Hope had to carry Jack halfway through because his little legs got cold and tired. Riley complained and wanted to be carried too, but Hope told her she was strong enough for the hike... and she wasn't the only one complaining. Lizzie found a problem with everything in the woods. Luckily after a few hours they reached the car where Alaric and Lizzie parked.

The drive was quiet. Riley and Jack fell asleep. They both got super tired after the walk. Grace and Hope just stared outside the window. It had been a long time since they were on the road... three years ago, when they took buses and trains to go anywhere the road took them. Hope was anxious. She couldn't stop thinking if this was the biggest mistake she ever made.