so if we knew all along . . . why did it take so long?

The Transition

The last thing Hope remembered was black. She was dead. Her transition had begun.

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Hope shot upright and was quickly blinded by an overwhelming wave of senses. Her ears were ringing beyond belief, the lights were glaring, the smells were thicker, the sounds were louder and more distinct. But the worst was that the thirst was . . . overwhelming.

Hope tried to regain her bearings, but the senses overwhelmed her until she caught sight of a familiar face. Landon. No. Malivore.

"Great . . . " Hope spoke before she quickly reached out her hand to mutter a spell that rendered nothing.

"Ah. Remember you are in transition." Malivore spoke. "No magic, no wolf, no vampire. Who would have thought once the famous tribrid transitioned she'd be weaker than ever."

Hope could feel anger clench at her chest.

"Only until I feed." Hope replied, anger present in her voice.

How did she even get here?

"What if you don't feed? What if you stay here? What if I just simply let the overwhelming thirst overtake you until you die, here in this cell, all alone." Malivore replied venomously.

"My friends will come for me. And then I'll finish you." Hope spit back.

"Oh. I'm counting on it." Malivore spoke before he swung his head around as a loud bang was heard from outside. Malivore quickly slammed his fist in frustration against the glass of the enclosure in which Hope was kept and disappeared from sight. It was apparent he didn't like people getting in his way.

Hope winced and clutched at her ears as the sound. It pierced through her like knives. If she made it out of here that would take some getting used to.

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It had been a few minutes since Hope started pounding her hands against the glass. Malivore had cracked it only an inch and Hope was determined to make it bigger and get herself out.

"Come on." Hope groaned as she slammed her fist into the glass which finally cracked, blood spilling from her hand.

"Hope?" rang a familiar voice.

Josie soon came into Hope's line of sight.

Hope quickly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Jo." Hope spoke breathlessly.

Hope must not have realized how much energy she had used. Her transitioning faze couldn't keep up with her and she had neglected to think of this. She felt her vision start to blur and her head begin to feel foggy before she fell onto her knees, weakness taking over her body.

"Hope!" Josie exclaimed and quickly made her way to where Hope was. She was able to create a gap in the wall with a quick spell and knelt down beside Hope.

As Josie knelt down next to Hope, Hope smelt something sweet. Something that she craved. It took a moment for Hope to realize it was blood. Josie's blood. Josie may have been a witch, but human blood still coursed through her veins and Hope wanted it. Badly. She could hear Josie's heartbeat pounding against her ribs, it was like Hope could sense every drop of blood moving through her veins and she was captivated by it.

"Hope. You're dying. You need to feed." Josie spoke softly as she pushed her hair away from one side of her neck.

Hope could feel the urge to drink. She so desperately wanted to, but it was Josie. She couldn't. She wouldn't. Hope caught sight of Josie moving her hair away from her neck through her blurred vision and she quickly grabbed at Josie's wrist to stop her.

"No. No way." Hope replied weakly.

Josie didn't like Hope's hesitation. It was obvious Josie was the only viable option. There was no other supply of human blood close enough to Hope. Malivore made sure of that. It was a miracle Josie even managed to reach Hope. But she supposed her dad had made a good enough distraction to lure Malivore away and allow Josie to slip in to grab Hope. She just hadn't expected it to work.

"I'll be fine." Josie spoke desperately.

"No." Hope spoke sternly.

Josie quickly glanced around the room. A piece of broken glass. That'll do. She quickly grabbed hold of it and held it to her neck to which Hope let out a yelp.

"If you don't draw blood, I will." Josie threatened.

"I swear to god, Jo . . ." Hope spoke.

Hope quickly realized that Josie wasn't bluffing. She watched as Josie pressed the glass harder against her neck and she could see ( and smell ) the smallest trickle of blood glisten against the glass.

Hope could quickly feel her throat begin to burn and she dropped her head to look away from Josie trying to resist the urge.

Josie watched as Hope still tried to resist. They didn't have time for this. Josie hooked her forefinger under Hope's thumb and pushed her chin upwards to look at her.

"Hope. Listen to me. I can't let you die. You've saved me countless times. Please let me save you." Josie spoke, slowly pressing the glass deeper.

Hope pushed Josie's hand away, but she was weak. She had only moved it an inch.

"Stop." Hope spoke weakly.

After a moment's hesitation she took hold of Josie's neck and pulled it towards her to which Josie finally dropped the glass. Hope gently placed her lips against Josie's neck and let the blood flow into her mouth and down her throat. It tasted sweet and flowed soothingly down.

Hope quickly felt her power returning to her. The weakness subsided, her eyes glowed a bright orange, and fangs appeared which dug into Josie's neck without warning to which Josie let out a wince in response to.

Hope quickly took note of this and forced herself away from Josie. She craved more, but she refused to take it.

"How do you feel?" Josie asked as crimson blood trailed down her neck.

"Like I want to kill a monster . . ." Hope spoke as she looked at Josie, her eyes trailing to the wound on her neck.

"I'm --" Hope started before Josie quickly interrupted her.

"No. Don't apologize. It was my choice. Let's go take down that asshole." Josie spoke as she stood up and offered Hope her hand.

Hope took Josie's hand and pulled herself up. Josie stumbled as Hope lifted herself and Hope quickly steadied Josie's shoulders. They may have both forgotten Hope probably wouldn't quite know her own strength once she fully activated her Tribrid side.

"Oops. Sorry." Hope spoke.

"No worries." Josie answered as she glanced down at Hope. Her eyes were still a deep orange. They were actually rather beautiful and she found herself getting lost in them for only a brief moment.

Hope's eyes found Josie's and her heart leapt against her chest for only a second. It was something Hope hadn't felt before with Josie. Why did she all of a sudden feel it now?