World on Fire | J. Saltzman - Legacies [4]

N I N E T E E N

Hope's throat closes up as Stella continues her circle until she stands next to Josie. "You remember Jade, right?" Josie asks as she tilts her head. "Former student. Actually, a lot like you. Headstrong, moody, questionable taste in men. She was so scared of her trauma, she turned off her humanity, but Stella and I—"

"Actually, that was technically Nyx," Stella says.

"Right. Nyx and I, we turned it back on. Just like this."

Both girls snap at the same time, the noise like a screeching bat in Hope's ears. She barely manages not to flinch, a hand crawling up her throat at the idea of her emotions coming back. But...nothing. She feels nothing. "Bad news," Hope says with satisfaction brightening her malicious grin. "Your little trick didn't work."

"Oh, I didn't think it would," Stella replies. "You're practically an Original. That party trick definitely doesn't have that much power. I just really wanted to see what would happen when we snapped. See if I could see fear in your eyes. The same fear you saw in mine when you almost killed me. And I did."

Hope watches as Josie tenses, trying so hard to keep that smile bright. If she didn't know any better, she'd guess the real Josie was trying to climb back up, but Hope can see the rage and resentment. The same thing she saw in Alaric's old office this morning.

"I'm not afraid of anything."

Josie hurls a ball at her, but Hope catches it instantly. It only takes a moment to realize that the red glowing object is the truth ball from before. "Just checking," Josie giggles.

Hope clenches her fist until the ball crumbles to shards. "Oh, I guess it's broken."

"But you know the truth," Stella says. "You're scared of your own humanity coming back. Of feeling what it felt like when you killed Landon. All that sadness and grief. Cling to that defense mechanism all you want, but eventually, it will crumble. And when it does, you'll have a huge mess to fix all because you were scared."

"Lecutio." Lightning flings from her palm, but Josie catches it, the girl's hand glowing silver.

"Even the all-mighty tribrid can't outrun her trauma forever," Josie says.

"Watch me." Hope runs forward, kicking Josie through the gym doors. When she turns to Stella, she finds nothing but air, a tingling sensation spreading through her limbs. She marches up to Josie's body only to be met with her normal face, her regular pouty face without a hint of darkness.

With a scoff, Hope retreats, grabbing her bag and saying, "Smart move. But playing the weak, defenseless Josie card isn't gonna work either."

"Today unfortunately proved to me more than ever that you're still reachable." Josie sounds almost bitter as she speaks. "I haven't figured out how yet, but if I know, they will too. And they'll try."

"I could just kill all of you, and we never have to have this conversation again."

"But you're not going to." Josie steps up to her. "The same reason you didn't actually kill Stella, and the same reason you left a warning not to come after you. You don't want to kill us, and your humanity is in there somewhere."

"You're just never gonna stop trying to reach me, are you?" The bag falls to the floor with a thud.

"The minute you hurt Stella, I gave up," Josie whispers. "Seems Lexi did too. But the squad won't. They're better than me."

Hope nods. "In that case, corporis impetus." Josie freezes in front of her. "I'm just gonna have to figure out what to do with you."

Something cold enough to burn brushes against her back. Therapy box. Keep her safe.

Who is Hope to go against the voice in her mind?

Hehe. I'm evil :)

Are people still enjoying? I'm doing my best to get good chapters out, but I know the quality might be waning a bit. Also, updates are now moved to just Wednesdays for the foreseeable future. Hope you enjoyed!

-L