Back to Me

The Weight of Blood

Josie's legs burned from crouching behind a shelf for so long. Her eyes were pinned on the Mikaelson witch across the room. She forced her lungs to inhale as little air as possible, afraid that even the slightest sound might alert Freya of her presence. Josie had been trying to find where her father stashed the Necromancer's head after leaving her dorm, and despite her best attempts, he'd refused to tell her.

Apparently, it was something she was not to be concerned with and should instead rest.

Hence, she went for plan B: following Freya. Because if she had learned something about the witch, is she's a curious soul. And the Necromancer was a mythical creature up until a year ago. Surely she would pay a visit to him sooner or later. All she had to do was wait.

"It's been a long time since we hung out."

The voice said not-so-discreetly, almost making Josie jump a foot into the air. She whirled her head around with a glare, willing the boy to shut his mouth. She had nearly forgotten he was there.

Upon meeting her eyes, Landon pursed his lips into a thin line.

"Yes, it's been a while," Josie sneaked a glance at Freya, sighing in relief when she noticed their cover hadn't been blown.

Landon seemed to be relentless, however, as he tried to strike up a conversation again, "Though I don't really understand why we have to follow Hope's aunt around."

Although making small talk was not even near Josie's priorities at the moment, she also couldn't just dismiss the boy behind her. She needed him.

"She has something that I need," Hopefully, Josie thought. There is very little possibility of her dad keeping the head's location to himself.

"Why don't we just ask her, then?"

The witch knew he didn't mean ill, but Landon could be very dense at times. She pondered on whether to tell him what he'd gotten himself into, or keep the poor charade up and hope he didn't ditch at the last moment.

In the end she decided the situation was much too delicate-- if the wrong person got word of this, she could be grounded forever and Hope might be shipped off to some faraway Mikaelson property to never see the Salvatore school again-- so Josie settled for a concealed truth, knowing her lying skills were underground.

"I can't. There's someone in the school who's planning something terrible, and as much as I wish I could ask her for help, I'm afraid she'll try to stop me."

Thankfully, Landon nodded in understanding. He settled back into silence, a new, quiet determination lighting his eyes. A small smile pulled at Josie's lips, it had been that same desire to help and support his friends that had attracted her to him in the first place. A long, long time ago.

A few minutes later, consisting of Freya sitting at a desk snacking on cheese crackers while reading a book, Josie huffed and quietly peeled herself away from the shelf. Landon promptly followed her and soon both were standing in an empty hall.

Josie ran a hand down her face, "This is useless. How am I supposed to find it?" She growled, exasperated. She looked everywhere in the school-- from her dad's office to the kitchen cabinets. Hell, she even checked under her bed to make sure it didn't roll under it.

"Find what?"

Josie startled at the distinctive pitch of her sister's voice. Dread trickled down her throat. It's not like she'd been avoiding her all day. And it definitely wasn't because she knew Lizzie would know immediately if she tried to even conceal the truth.