Josie's POV
Summer break. During summer break I usually go to Europe and spend time with my mom. But this year is different. Today's Lizzie's off to Europe while I'm staying behind. I felt like I had to stay and watch over my dad. Because ever since he lost his position as Headmaster he... well he lost a piece of himself. I feel really bad that I voted him out, but this was not the reaction I hoped to get. I wanted him to live his life and not be constantly stuck worrying about the school. And I felt guilty, so I decided to stay and watch over him. But that's not the only reason I'm staying.
Ever since the day Triad came to the school, something felt missing, but I have no idea what. The remaining days of school I felt Hopeless, like a big piece of who I am was gone. But as time went by it got a little better... I guess. But I still feel like something is gone. A part of me feels lonely and I don't know why. That's the other reason why I'm staying. I need to figure out what's missing. I need to find out why I feel empty inside when in reality I should be happy with how my life is right now. I need to figure out what's wrong, by myself.
Lizzie was not pleased when I told her I wanted to stay but she agreed after multiple failed attempts of trying to convince me. Lizzie's been trying to change ever since Triad came to school and the old Lizzie would have forced me to go whether I wanted to or not. So it's a nice change that she now asks me for permission. Mom felt sad that I wanted to stay and thought I didn't want to spend time with her but I quickly reassured her that I also just needed to figure things out by myself, she was supportive after that and told me that she's always there for me. Dad was fine with whatever I wanted.
***
It's been a week since Lizzie left for Europe and things have been okay back here at home, but dad's still working on the Malivore pit, I have just been going to places and having a little bit of fun and relaxation, whilst researching about the merge. Lizzie's also helping me research the merge, well technically by helping I mean she's just bugging mom to get information, while I do the same to dad and also reading up on all the books about my coven. We keep up on our progress by talking using astral projection, we also talk about how our days went after our briefing.
Me and Lizzie are sprawled on my bed staring at the ceiling. With the object, we found inside the red box in between us.
"Mom didn't tell you anything else about this thing?" I ask.
"Only that it's called an Ascendant, and you and I made it with Aunt Bonnie when we were five." Lizzie responds.
"Does it have anything to do with the Merge?" I ask.
"I don't know. She's being cagey about it. I..." Lizzie then disappears. I sigh. The prism glows and she's back again.
"Sorry. Mom almost busted me." she apologizes.
"You know, we can Facechat like normal people." I grab the ascendant and walk to my dresser. "We aren't normal."
"And we need to keep our magic sharp over the summer." She says as sits on the bed. "How is therapy going?" I ask and pull out the red box. "Fine." she groans then her demeanor changes. "There is this sexy Swedish guy whose session is after me on Tuesdays. I think he's Swedish. Maybe Polish. Anyway, it doesn't matter. He is hot and crazy, and the language barrier will make it impossible for us to communicate. Just how I like it." she lays back on the bed.
"You should really work on that." I say as I look at her using the mirror.
"I'll add it to the list of broken pieces to glue together. What about you? Any hot summer dates?" she asks.
"Dad's been, like, my life plus-one ever since he got the headmaster boot. I honestly think he's going through a midlife crisis." I say and put the ascendant in the box.
"Gross. Hair growth?" "Bushy."
"Lady prospects?" "Lacking."
"Are you not having any fun at all?" she asks as she kneels on the bed. "What about Wee Willie Winkle?"
"Landon's been keeping to himself mostly. He's always off with Raf." I say.
"So ditch it all and come to Europe." Lizzie suggests.
"I can't." I state and turn to look at her and slowly walk towards the bed.
"I need to figure things out. And I don't want to leave Dad alone. I'm honestly kind of worried he's gonna go out and buy a tiny red car." I explain and lay back on the bed, on my side facing Lizzie.
"I thought we were taking strides to be less codependent." she says.
"We are. But there's codependent and then there's leaving Dad with his alarming mustache growth." I say.
"Oh, gross." Lizzie states. "Yeah." We both laughed and after the laughter died down we go to talk more about our day and plans for the summer.
Hope's POV
Awake up to someplace dark, I can't even see a single thing. Everything feels cold and lifeless. I walk around in search of something, anything. "Hello?" I call out. I hear faint whooshing sounds all around me, like the wind, but there's not even a gust of air hitting me.
"Post tenebras spero lucem." I cast and a white ball manifests in my hand illuminating the area. I continue to walk around when something from behind me is starting to suck me in. I turn around and see it's a vortex. I try to run away but the pull is too strong. It keeps trying to pull me in and I eventually lose balance and trip. I am lifted from and ground and going up to the wormhole when something suddenly grabs my arm and pulls me back. The vortex is gone.
I turn to see Clarke holding me up bridal style. "Fancy meeting you here." he says. I immediately get out of his grip and move back a little from him.
"Whoa. What the hell are you doing here?" I ask. "Saving your life, obviously."
"No. I'm supposed to be in-in peace. Okay, you are not peace. In fact, you're the opposite of peace." I state.
"So, where are we?" I ask.
"Come on. Do the math."
"It's not that simple. Okay, there are freaky cyclones and blinding lights and you're here..." I trail off. "Oh, my God, we're in hell." I conclude. It's the only possible explanation. I destroyed Malivore but I did some horrible things so I'm not at peace.
"No such thing. I think. Go on. Take your best guess." he suggests. I pause to think and... Oh my god. "No." I state and walk away from him. "Why not?"
"Because I'm not gonna give you the satisfaction of telling me that I failed." I turn back and walk further away.
"You mean you don't want to hear you're in the Blackness? That you've been consumed by Malivore?" he asks. "No." I say my voice breaking. This can't be. I'm supposed to be at peace with my parents and everything was supposed to be okay.
"You don't want me to point out that all your heroics were for nada?" I stop waking turn to look back at him.
"That the big bad lives to see another day and all your friends have forgotten you ever existed?" Josie. She forgot me.
"Stop talking." I state firmly.
"If I were you, I'd make peace with that." I walk past him going the other direction and hit his shoulder on the way.
"Hope. Wait. I can help you." he states. I turn back to look at him and I shrug.
"I don't see how." I say defeated.
"I spent years inside this place, and while you cannonballing into the belly of Malivore didn't seem to destroy him, it has changed things, so stop being a dick to me and maybe I'll elaborate." he says as he walks closer to me.
"Okay. I'm partially listening." I say. I mean it can't hurt to hear what he has to say.
"Every creature consumed by my father used to exist here in total isolation, but here we are, talking to each other." he says coming even closer. Now we're face to face. "Your presence here has somehow opened the cell doors. If it can do that, maybe there's a way for us to escape. So what do you say? Partners?" he asks. Partners with him? No way. His information was useful but I can't trust him. "Pass." I say and walk away.
"You are such a child. No wonder you failed." he says. And I look back at him. "Says the guy whose entire life has been about failing Daddy. I don't trust you, okay? And I never will." I state.
"You're the one who brought me into this mess. If you'd just let me meat-puppet my loser little brother, then we wouldn't even be in..." I turn back and chant a spell. "Imitantor pupulis." "Not again." I cover my mouth to stop him from talking. And let go to speak. "Your old friend, the mimic spell." I walk closer to him and him to me.
"You will do anything I intend you to do, and it is my intention that this is the last conversation we will ever have. If I were you, I'd make peace with that." I say and smile at him bitterly and walk away, him doing the same in the opposite direction.
Josie's POV
A month into summer and still nothing. Nothing on the merge. Nothing on my social life and having summer fun. And nothing on why I feel Hopeless and lonely. It's the fourth of July today and me and dad are walking around the park, everybody here is cheerful and music can be heard Everywhere. Everyone's having fun. While dad is telling me what he found out about the Malivore pit.
"No matter what path I go down, it seems like a dead end. I mean, there were at least two other people with Landon the night Malivore was destroyed. They left fibers, footprints, hair. I just don't know who they were."
"Isn't that the point? If somebody went into the Malivore pit, they'd be erased from our memories." I remind.
"Yeah, well, that's what's haunting me. Who have we forgotten?" he asks.
"It couldn't have been anybody we've known. There'd be keepsakes, photos, an empty bed somewhere." I suggest and he stops walking to look at me.
"Well, whoever they were, they were important to somebody." he states and walks away. I run to catch up with him.
"So, Dad, I was actually hoping we could talk about the Ascendant." he stops walking and looking completely lost.
"What it has to do with the Merge."
"Wait, is that Landon right there?" he asks avoiding the question and going to the mystic grill to join Landon.
I sigh deeply and follow after him. We join Landon at the table covered in books. Dad asks how his search for a cure for Rafael is going.
"I've had my head buried in books for weeks, nothing on how to turn a wolf back into a human. I keep hitting dead end after dead end." he states.
"Join the club." I say looking at dad and he's offended. "Hey." Then I get an idea to corner my dad into answering my questions "Landon, can you ask my dad why he won't give me answers to my very simple questions on how my sister and I can survive past the age of 22?"
"That's because your dad doesn't have any answers he's able to give you. That's why, sweetheart." he explains. I look at him with disbelief. "Able to or willing?"
"Look, there is nothing about the Ascendant you need to know."
"Then why do you flinch every time I bring it up?" I ask.
"Because it has nothing to do with the Merge, Josette, so let's just drop it, okay?" he says firmly. Using my full name meaning there's no room for debate. I sigh and look down at the table. When I glance up I see Landon looking awkward and uncomfortable.
"I'm gonna head back to campus." he starts to grab his books.
"What about the fireworks?" dad asks.
"Oh, I'm worried they might scare Raf. You know, I don't want him to be alone."
"I'll come with you." I say trying to find a way to avoid dad for a couple of hours.
"I'm suddenly not in the mood to celebrate anything, much less independence." Me and Landon walk back to school.
Hope's POV
Me and Clarke are walking away from each other, well technically he's forced to walk in the opposite direction because of the spell. He keeps calling out to me.
"Hope. We can work this out. Don't do this to me." he pleads. Then another vortex appears behind me about where Clarke is, and tries to suck me in again. I'm honestly tempted to just be sucked in and die. To be at peace. Join my parents. Death is better and being stuck here in isolation, with Clarke, a guy I despise for company.
"Listen to me, whatever this is, it's gonna destroy you. It'll rip you apart." Clarke's voice breaks me out of my trance. No. I can't think like that. Clarke said something is wrong with Malivore, I still have a chance to escape. And I'm not giving up. I made a promise to Josie. One that I intend to keep.
"Please break the spell so I can help you.
Hope!" he yells. I break the spell and drop to the floor getting sucked in. But Clarke jumps on top of me before I could lift off the ground. I grunt as the force of Clarke's weight hits me. When he gets a hold of me the vortex disappears again. I push him off of me and sit on the ground my hands behind holding me up. "You're welcome." I look up in front of me and see something glowing, not like the sun but a flame. Then I, see a dragon. "Oh, crap."
"Not exactly what I was expecting..." The dragon roars interrupting Clarke, he turns to see, and his face drops. "Oh, crap." I stand to my feet and he does the same. "Run." I state and we run away as fast as possible.
Josie's POV
After we left the mystic grill, Landon went to go to see Rafael and I went to go find something to do. I ended up just walking around the halls of the school exploring. I have memorized every inch of this school and I know where everyone's room is. Because me and Lizzie are usually the ones showing them around. I ended up stopping in one room in particular. This room is just around the corner of mine. This room has one in there. Weird. I know it's summer and all but even back when we had classes the room was always empty. It always felt off, but whenever I pass it to go to my classes I feel safe. And always tempted to open the door.
So to kill my boredom, I did just that. When I open the door I see the room completely empty. No decorations, pictures, no books on the shelves, the bed even is empty, just the standard comforters and pillows that you come with the room. It's like no one has even been in here. But I know for a fact that all the rooms were occupied so why is his one empty? The room is cold and empty but to me, it feels like home, for some reason. Like I'm safe here. Nothing could hurt me here. I lay on the bed just staring at the ceiling. After a while, I find myself unconsciously fiddling with my necklace. This was one of the many things I needed to figure out.
I don't own a necklace like this. It's also not Lizzie's since it's antique and not her style. I don't even remember who gave this to me. All I know is that Mg 'returned' it to me the night Triad came and said it was mine. I told him it wasn't but he insisted it was. So I just accepted it, since it has magic in it, and it could come in handy one day. But I keep it on because for whatever reason this necklace gives hope to my hopeless life. Whenever I'm sad or alone or even scared I always find myself unconsciously playing with it, that or a bracelet. Once again, a piece of jewelry I do not own, no idea who gave it to me too. But it's just like the necklace. It gives me hope. Makes me feel safe. So don't take it off.
The bracelet has a wolf charm, a green birthstone, that isn't mine and a pendant that reads 'Littlest Wolf'. Maybe a wolf owns this and it just happened to be on my wrist for some reason. I feel like I have to - No. I need to find the owner. This isn't mine, but i have a feeling that I should keep this safe for the time being and that the owner of this will come back to get it. I turn to look at the clock and see that it's almost time for the fireworks. I decided that rather than laying here and doing nothing, I could watch the fireworks and do nothing by the docks, where I can get I clear view of the sky.
I walk to the docks and see the lake on fire, and Landon, getting out of the water and rolling on to the docks. Once he's out of the water the fire disappears. This only means one thing. He killed himself. The fireworks are already starting and Landon is sitting on the docks still yet to notice my presence.
"I changed my mind about the fireworks." He sits up breathing heavily looking at me then the fireworks.
"It's not a big deal." he shrugs off.
"Who do you think you're talking to? My sister is the queen of self-harm. I know it when I see it." I state.
"I'm not harming myself because I can't be harmed. That's the point." he puts his shoes on again.
"Where, in any of your phoenix research, does it say that the number of times that
you can resurrect is infinite?" I ask. "Where does it say it isn't?" he walks away from me, but I follow him.
"Hurting yourself doesn't make anything better. It never does."
"You're right. Maybe I should focus on other people's problems instead of my own" he says turning to face me.
"That's not what I'm doing" I exclaim.
"That's a lie." he states.
"How do you know?" I ask frustrated.
"Because when you lie as often as I used to, you develop a gut feeling. I just know." he explains. "Okay..."
"What are we supposed to do?" I ask
"You tell me. Because, to be honest with you, I'm kind of at a loss." I nod in understanding. Then I remember something that Lizzie told me, about living my life and having fun during break
"Maybe we should both stop worrying so much about dying. Start living a little?" I ask. Landon agrees and we go to the mill where Landon built a wolf den for Rafael and we had a movie night using Landon's makeshift cinema. I had really fun tonight. Something about Landon felt familiar, just like my bracelet and necklace feel. Something about them gives me a sense of Hope.
Author's Note:
Sorry, this is out so late. But I hope you guys enjoy it. Like I said before I may not publish as I used to, but rather when I finish them, since I'm going to be a little busy.
By the way, did you guys watch THE Edit? Made by feuenfeu (Rianna), hosieluv (Sha) and o_rtus (Teri) If you didn't go watch it on YouTube on feuenfeu's channel or Instagram at feuenfeu and o_rtus' account. I ended and started my year with Hosie watching THE Edit. THE Edit is so amazing. So you better watch it. 🔪
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY ❤️❤️❤️