WHEN TIME FRACTURES || HOPE MIKAELSON x RYAN CLARKE

Chapter One

When she finally got to the library, two bodies lay on the floor.
One of them was facing down but the other had his neck twisted in such an odd angle, it had Hope looking away in disgust.

Her eyes met the newest monster's and he all but snarled as he considered her.
Even though she was both proud and slightly deranged to say that she had faced many odd creatures; most of them horrendous and evil-looking in more ways than one; this one was a new level of freaky.

She barely had time to register when it launched itself at her, baring its sharp yellow teeth in her direction. Her werewolf instincts kicked in and she ducked, barely dodging the powerful wing that swung at her. However, the man -she decided he could be described as such, overall- did not cower. If anything, he spun around in one swift movement and collided his wing with her jaw.
The force of the blow sent her backwards toward a bookshelf but still, he kept advancing toward her; each step he took echoing through her unsteady mind.

When Hope looked up, her gaze focused on a little boy, perched above the balcony to one of the higher shelves. He was watching the scene with pure fright in his eyes and held so hard onto the railing that, had he been any stronger, he would have broken it.

Glancing back down at the monster, Hope brought her hands up and summoned an orb of light. It seemed powerful enough to knock the wind out of any member of the protected species, yet again, every one of Malivore's monsters seemed different.

This one merely smirked at the sight of the magic in her hand, but the view of his sharp teeth, in full display now, had a shriek echoing through the library.
Hope braced herself on a shelf to stand up, but it was too late; the monster was now staring at the little boy up above.
He seemed completely focused on the child but the way his tongue swiped at his lips had Hope scream, efficiently breaking him out of his trance.

''Pedro, run!'' she shouted over the few books still tumbling from the shelves.

The monster looked back at her for a split second before the child made a run for it. He growled and looked back up angrily, lowering himself to ground level as he crouched. His wings unfurled behind his back and, now on full display, Hope couldn't believe her own eyes.
She didn't have much time to spare it a second thought though, because, already, the monster had launched himself upward and jumped on the balcony with such easiness, it had Hope scream again.

''Pedro!''

In one clumsy jump and more effort than it had taken for the winged man, she perched herself up on the railing and slowly brought herself back up with her hands. Once she was on solid ground on the other side, she had no other choice but to jump on the monster's back.

It had cornered Pedro before a door and one look at the boy had him nodding pointedly before he scurried away.
Fortunately for the two, the monster didn't seem to notice his prey slipping away.
Instead, his whole focus was on the girl climbing up his back and digging her nails in his shoulders.
He was beyond mad and voiced his discontentment with growls.
He tried to spin around and shake the creature off his back, but she seemed to have such a firm grip on him, it had him run backward in a shelf.

At last, she let go and he turned around, only to clasp her throat tightly in one fist and lift her off the ground as if she weighed nothing more than the feathers on his back.

Hope reached around herself, moving her hands frantically, but she couldn't utter a word, let alone a spell. Her brain was already fuzzy enough but the lack of air was getting to her quickly too.
She could see one of the books on the shelf across from her start budging toward her outstretched hand, but it wouldn't fly all the way; nothing would.