Feelings - A Hosie Story

Chapter 10 - "It's blood"

Hope calls Josie's name out again, but still no response. She thinks Josie's playing some kind of trick on her, about to sneak up behind her. A cold breeze floats through the room, no doubt there's a window left open somewhere. The room is dark. Hope can hardly see what is in front of her. The only light is what is leaking through the few windows. Hope walks along the edges of the room until she reaches the light switch. Hope flicks it on. More light floods in.

Hope swivels her head in search of Josie, but is met with disappointment when she is nowhere to be seen. She wonders if Josie chose against coming, or if she simply forgot, until-

Out of the corner of her eye, she spots the open window. Only, it isn't open at all, rather smashed. She runs over to it, careful of the glass scattered along the floor. Tiny shards reflect the moonlight, giving everything a certain glow.

Her heart pounds loudly. Desperate to solve the mystery, Hope searches harder.

She has no idea what has happened, only prays that Josie hadn't been here to see it.

Her heart stops, skipping several beats when spots the color red dotted on some of the shards.

It's blood.

Someone has been hurt. But is it the person who smashed the window's blood, or someone else's?

The voice in the back of her head is telling her it's Josie's. Josie, Josie, Josie.

Is she okay? Where is she?

Filled with complete panic, Hope pulls out her phone to call Lizzie.

"Ughh...what the hell do you want?" Lizzie answers. Her voice is filled with her kind of snap, the usual bitchiness. Hope rolls her eyes, but needs to get to the point quickly.

"Have you seen Josie?"

"Last I saw her she was going to meet you. Why?"

"Uhhh she-" Hope stops. Her voice catches in her throat. Among the mess on the floor is something Hope didn't originally notice. There, shining with moonlight is the talisman. The one Hope gave Josie on her sixteenth birthday.

The clasp has been snapped as if someone grabbed it. The damage suggests it had been done with force, too much for it to have simply caught on something.

Hope knows Josie's been wearing it a lot recently. The siphoner even said that she's been wearing it daily...

But why is it on the floor? And how is it broken?

Hope leans down, clutching it in her hand. She inspects it, checking for any other signs, or any other clues as to where it has gone.

"Get your dad and get to the library. Now!" Hope shouts through the phone, unable to hide her fear.

"O-okay," Lizzie answers, hanging up a second later.

Hope goes through a list of people to call. MG, Rafael, and a few others. Each of them with the same response - they hadn't seen her but would tell Hope if the second they know anything.

She's too panicked, too scared that something terrible has happened to Josie. The people she cares about always get hurt, whether it be hurt fault or not. All she can do is try and figure things out.

Hope checks the floor for anything else, before trying to focus to do a spell. She takes deep breaths to control her breathing, attempting to also slow her heart rate. Magic mixed with strong emotions is often messy, so she tries not to let her feelings get in the way.

The spell is rather simple. It's one that can identify a species simply with a blood sample. Once the incantation is said, the sample will glow one of three colors: pink for vampire; yellow for witch or blue for wolf.