"Jo!" Hope yelled, nearly running into a tree as she chased the girl in front of her. "Josie slow down!" The tribrid couldn't seem to go fast enough to catch the girl. Hope lost her footing and quickly found herself falling. Down into darkness, never hitting the ground. The darkness reminded her of malivore, the darkness that consumed her as he died at her touch. After what felt like an eternity of falling, she finally reached the ground, her eyes squeezed shut.
When she opened them, she found herself in some sort of box? She felt around, looking for a way out as she started hyperventilating, feeling the top of the box give in as she pushed. She flung it open sucking in a deep breath of fresh air as she sat up, only to realize the box was actually a coffin. What the hell? Something moved to the right of her, catching her eye. It was Josie, she was wearing a beautiful black dress, and she was... crying? "Jo, what's wrong?" No reply. Hope climbed out of the coffin, headed towards the girl who was a tearful mess. "Josie?" the only response being a small sniffle from the girl.
She reached out to grab Josie's hand, but she couldn't grasp it. Hope kept trying, but to her disappointment none of her attempts were successful. She was growing more frustrated after every failure until she noticed Josie had stopped crying and was instead staring at the coffin with a blank expression. Hope followed her eyes, her heart dropping into her ass as her eyes fixated on the coffin, more importantly who was in the coffin. It was herself, Hope stared at the body in the coffin, it looked so real, but it couldn't be, right?
She was standing right there, right in front of the coffin so how could she also be inside of it? It must be a glamour spell, she thought. Still, it chilled her to her core. She continued staring at the lifeless body in front of her as she walked towards it, feeling drawn to it. Her eyes were glued to her clone's eyes. They were no longer closed, they were wide open and staring right back into the tribrid's. Hope sucked in a deep breath, taking a step back as bile rose to her throat. Hope blinked, hoping it would be gone when she opened them. But to her dismay, as her eyes reopened, the clone was standing directly in front of her. Its eyes a golden yellow with dark veins running below them. It looked like a monster. It looked like who she was now, and she felt like a scared child.
"Hope!" Her eyes flung open, revealing Landon Kirby leaning over her, his voice laced with concern. She quickly scanned the room, taking in her surroundings and breathing a loud sigh of relief as she realized it was just a dream. Her eyes landed back on the curly-haired boy, who was still leaning over her. He gives her a lazy smile, one which she returns. She quickly notices the lack of butterflies and joy she had when he gave her the same smile just a few days before. She felt nothing, except pity for the boy before her.
"Landon, what're you doing in here?" she asked, not very kindly. Landon didn't notice, he was too wrapped up in his excitement for the girl waking up to pay attention to her tone.
"MG said you were back, and I came to see you but you were sleeping so I figured I'd wait." He said, blushing as he sunk into his chair.
Hope cringed at the idea of him watching her sleep, though he didn't notice. "Sorry I didn't come by to tell you when we got back, I was so tired."
The boy could tell the apology wasn't completely genuine, but he didn't think too much into it, noting that his girlfriend had just died and come back to life just so she could defeat his father. "It's okay, Hope, I completely understand."
All he got in response was a nod. She looked away, too guilty to meet his eyes. Damn him for being understanding. Rather than leaving the conversation open for him to ask about the trip home and how she felt, she decided to change the subject. "How long have I been sleeping?"
Landon pointed to the window, "All day." Hope glanced towards the window behind her, seeing that it was dark out. Had she really slept from morning until night? She truly hadn't been that tired, how did she sleep that long?
"Oh." Was all she muttered in response. Silence began to consume them once again, and Landon took this opportunity to ask what he'd been wanting to ask ever since she opened her eyes.
"What does this mean?" He blurted, his eyes burning into the side of her skull. Hope looked at him, confused, cocking her head to the side. "You, being a tribrid now. Me, still being vulnerable to you. What does this mean for us?"
She wasn't expecting him to ask her that, especially not so straightforward. She knew what she wanted to say. She wanted to tell him that it meant they weren't going to work. That they could never truly be together. That her feelings for him had evaporated along with his father, that her feelings for someone else had only grown. She knew that would break the pitiful boy's heart, so instead she told him, "I don't know."
"Do you think we can figure something out? Like some sort of loophole or something?" Hope nearly laughed in his face, everything in her body telling her to say no, to just end it right then.
Again, she ignored what she wanted and decided to spare the boy. "We can try." She said, giving him a small smile. He felt his heart flutter with joy, and his face broke into a ridiculous smile. He got up, headed towards her to kiss her like he'd wanted to all night long, but he was interrupted by a knock at the door which made him stop in his tracks. Hope heard muffled whispering through the door, and immediately jumped up. She didn't have to hear what the person on the other side of the door was saying, she knew who it was.
She flung the door open, revealing a tired and stressed-looking Josie. Yet she still looked well rested. And beautiful, she added. Josie's eyes softened on Hope, her shoulders relaxing, until she peered behind her and noticed him. Josie felt jealousy plague her brain, which she knew wasn't fair. Hope wasn't hers. She never would be.
"What's up?" Hope asked, pulling Josie away from her thoughts.
"I-I just wanted to see how you were doing," she stammered. "I haven't seen you all day so I got a little worried." Josie brought her hand to the back of her neck, trying to keep from blushing.
Josie's admission of worrying about Hope tugged at the tribrid's heart, bringing a slight heat to her face. "I'm okay. How are you? Did you get to rest?"
Josie felt confused, why was Hope worried about her, when she was the one experiencing such an insane change? "Yeah, I did actually." She lied, knowing damn well the only rest she'd gotten was when she was in the car, beside Hope. She had tossed and turned for hours that morning, trying everything she could to fall asleep. But without the sound of Hope's humming and warmth of her hand intertwined with her own, she couldn't. She wasn't sure she'd be able to later that night, either.
Hope smiled, feeling accomplished that she'd been able to get the girl back home so she could truly rest. "I-," Hope started, but was cut off by Josie. Hope was always annoyed when people cut her off, but when Josie did it, she didn't seem to mind a bit.
"I should get going, Lizzie's waiting for me. Ice cream and twin cuddles." She said, rolling her eyes playfully, a small smile creeping onto her face.
"Right," Hope said. "Goodnight, then?" She had tried to hide her disappointment, but evidently failed because her statement came out as a question. Behind her, Landon cleared his throat, reminding them both of his presence. Guilt filled hope yet again, a feeling she already knew she'd grow accustomed to, as she wondered if he noticed the disappointment in her voice. He did.
Josie shot Landon a look, her face flashing with an emotion Hope couldn't decipher. "Goodnight, Hope. See you tomorrow." She said, her eyes returning to Hope as she smiled. Hope noticed a glint of sadness in her eyes as she turned away from the girl. Hope watched as she walked away, not caring if Landon noticed, which he did. She didn't close the door until Josie disappeared from eyesight. She turned back towards Landon, his face covered with a jealousy he didn't even attempt to hide.
Hope sighed, preparing for whatever questions he'd ask her. Instead, his eyes shot down to his feet and they both allowed the silence to envelop them yet again.
A/N: thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you think :).
