a world without hope

04

   "Josie, are you even listening?"
Lizzie glared at Josie with a look that could kill. Josie's eyes emerged from staring into her cereal bowl, watching lone cereal puffs gently spin and drift in the milk. Admittedly, Josie learned to partially tune out Lizzie's constant boy talk, but yet hasn't mastered the skill.

"Yes?" Josie half lied.

"Please," Lizzie leaned onto the stainless steel island, placing both hands flat on the cool surface. "I need you to talk to Rafael's friend, Liam, or whatever," Lizzie said, struggling to recall the curly boy's name.

"Landon," Josie corrected her twin sister.

"Landon," Lizzie repeated, with a sarcastic tone, almost teasing Josie. "Landon, Liam, Luke, whatever what you want to call him. Dad thinks he's on vervain so he's in the basement, basically imprisoned down there, and it would make Rafael feel better knowing he's being taken care of."

Josie carefully sat down her glass bowl on the granite counter beside her, somewhat wishing she was eating in peace. "Fine," Josie sighed. "Only for you."

"Thank you!" Lizzie skipped around the island that was blocking her path while reaching her arms towards her twin sister. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," Lizzie exclaimed, pressing her cheek against Josie's.

"What would I do without you?" Lizzie continued, ruffling Josie's bedhead.

Josie sighed. "I am not really sure," she said, half smiling, attempting to hide some concern. It was easier than it should be to mask Josie's emotions and opinions from her twin sister to keep everything at a safe playing field. One incorrect move would be like stepping on a land mine for Lizzie.

Codependency ran deep within the twins. The two being the last members of their coven–excluding their psychotic, imprisoned, Uncle Kai–meant they were the only ones who truly understood and related to one another. That, on top of the unbreakable bonds twins create the moment they share a womb.

No other coven did a ritual similar to the Merge like the Gemini Coven did. In order to continue the lineage and leadership of the coven, twins had to complete the Merge by age 22. This tradition followed as the siblings rivaling against the other; the one who harnessed stronger power would harvest the weaker one's magic, resulting in that twin's death.

Considering such an inescapable and traumatizing event was to happen, Alaric had yet to warn his daughters of what was to come. Throughout the entirety of the boarding school, he had hidden away any pieces of work that even referenced the Merge. The ascendant that secured their very uncle in his prison world was stored in the basement of the school, along with dark objects to not be touched, or even be discovered for that matter.

"I am going to find Rafael before classes start, maybe he needs help finding his homeroom," Lizzie tapped her chin mischievously, then grinned. "Or finding my secret make out spots."

"They are not much of a secret if you take every guy you meet there," Josie sassily remarked, flipping her hair over her shoulder and adjusting her Salvatore Boarding School vest. Promptly, she begun to exit the kitchen, attempting to escape Lizzie's salty comeback.

"You are just jealous!" Lizzie's faint voice stuttered, but Josie's mind had already drifted elsewhere as she entered the busy hallways of the school.

~

The faint sounds of school bells and students chattering among the hallways disturbed a drowsy Hope. Once opening her eyes with deep, slow, blinks, she observed a familiar room, with such an empty feeling.

Hanging upon the walls were complex, beautiful, hand-painted canvases of New Orleans skylines and Louisiana bayou fields, created by Klaus Mikaelson himself. On the left of Hope's large bed were family portraits ranging from her as a baby, up until a few weeks ago. To the right, resided a wolf plush gifted to her many years ago as an infant.