Feelings - A Hosie Story

Chapter 16 - "It could be a trap"

Lizzie wakes up before Hope. She rubs her eyes, a fraction of hope that what she remembers has just been some kind of nightmare. This hope is crushed when she realizes she's not in her own room. She knows, and she knew before, that Josie, her sister, her twin, is no longer with them. And somehow, she's expected to get used to that.

As she moves to use Hope's toilet, Lizzie spots a strange brown envelope sitting on a shelf on the inside of Hope's window. It's exactly like the other ones the tribrid has received. And so Lizzie wakes Hope up rather quickly. She shakes and shakes her until Hope sits up abruptly.

"You okay?" Lizzie's tone is soft.

"Fine. Just not used to being woken up suddenly like that is all." After that, Lizzie doesn't say a word. All she does is point to the envelope. Hope dashes over to it, tearing it open. Her eyes burn in a golden shade as she reads the words.

You didn't think our game was over, did you? Come find me, Mikaelson. Bring your friends if you want. I'm sure you can figure out what the blood is for :)

Blood?

Hope opens the envelope up further, and sure enough there is a vial of blood. The question is, whose blood is it? And why now? What for? What does this person possibly have to gain?

Questions. So many that she can't answer, so many that aren't of use to her. But there's one thing that is - the blood. With this, she has access to more spells, and more methods of finding a location. Sure, it hasn't worked yet, but something tells her that this time it will. The person has left the blood in here for a reason. This seems to be the most obvious one.

Hope asks herself why they would give up their location now. Why make it so easy all of a sudden? She doesn't care too much about the answers. As far as she's concerned, this is a chance to make the person who killed Josie pay. It's the chance for revenge, to hunt them down and make them suffer in the same way that Josie did.

Lizzie is peering over Hope's shoulder, taking her own look at the items and assessing the situation.

"Let's get on with the spell then. You get the map and I'll get everything else." Hope says.

The girls leave the room to collect the items required. It doesn't take long, the most difficult part being to sneak around from teachers who would surely ask questions. When they arrive back in the room, Lizzie sets the map on the floor and Hope opens the grimoire to the required page. Then, she opens the vial, pouring the thick red liquid onto one spot above the location of the school.

Hope and Lizzie lock their hands together and begin chanting the spell in sync, word for word. One small slip-up could completely change the outcome of the spell, or give it a different effect entirely.

"Phasmatos tribum nas ex veras. Sequita saguines. Ementas asten mihab ega petous." They repeat it, over and over, countless times. After the fourth one, the blood begins to move. It slides across the map, until it comes to a stop, circling a particular location.

"That's only like thirty minutes from here," Lizzie states. "Should we tell my parents?"

"Probably."

They walk down to Alaric's office with speed. There's no time to waste. The longer they wait, the more likely it becomes that the person is no longer going to be at the location.

When they open the door, they find Alaric behind his desk. It's covered in papers and books that have been there for days and he hasn't bothered to move. In his hand, he holds a bottle of bourbon. His eyes are glued to it, watching the liquid swirl as he shakes it. His eyes suggest that he's on the verge of drinking the whole thing in one go. On the sofa in a different corner of the room, Caroline is sitting. She's staring up at the ceiling, her hand up at her mouth as she bites away at the nails there.

Normally, they'd have been told off for bursting in by now. He would tell them to go back out and knock, to wait until he tells them to enter. Given recent events, those norms have been thrown out the window.

"Dad we need to show you this," Lizzie says. Her parents finally acknowledge her and Hope, even coming over to see what it is that they have. Hope shows the note first, feeling like it explains the map without her having to say anything.

"Why? Why do this now? Haven't they done enough?" Caroline wonders.

"It could be a trap." Alaric states.

"I don't care. I don't know about you but after the pain we've suffered I think they deserve to have something in return." Hope says, her eyes holding flames of anger. The other three look at her, wanting to say that she's wrong for saying it, but all of them have been swallowed up by their emotions and are letting their grief control their actions.

"Okay. Caroline and I will go, you two stay here and keep an eye on the school." Alaric speaks, moving from behind his desk.

"What? No way. I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not, Hope. You're a child. I can't let you." He tries to explain his reasoning, but Hope is not having any of it.

"But you're happy to let me fight monsters?" She scoffs. For a man running a school to protect kids, he's not really that good at it.

"Fine. We all go, but we take plenty of weapons and you two do exactly as I say. Deal?" Lizzie and Hope nod their heads. Caroline does too, in agreement with what Alaric is saying. Alaric moves to his weapons cupboard and grabs as many things as he can. A few blades, an axe, his crossbow, and some other bits. He shoves them into a bag, while Caroline speeds around the school to inform the teachers of where they are going and what they are doing. She tells each of them to keep an eye on the school and to phone her or Alaric should anything happen.

With weapons in hand, they are ready to go. Alaric has his crossbow, Lizzie is drowning in magic, Caroline has her vampire abilities, and Hope has her wolf. The four of them head out of the building, prepared to get their revenge.