~~Hope's POV~~
"The original witch." Auntie Bex tells me dramatically.
"But if your mother was a witch, then--"
"Am I? No. A witch is nature's servant. Vampire is an abomination of nature. You can either be one or the other, never both." She tells me.
"Than why do I still have my magic?" I question. She looks at me surprised.
"Excuse me?"
"After I activated my vampire side, I'm still able to do my magic." I clarify for her.
"Really?" She asks. I nod, throwing a candle stick backwards.
"Than you, my niece, are a one of a kind. It's probably because your the only one like you. A born vampire." She says, smiling at me which only makes me smile just as wide at her.
"Back to the story?" She asks. I nod.
"My mother did this for us. She did not turn." Auntie Bex says.
"How did you turn?" I ask her. She gets a distant look in her eye before continuing on with the story, and answering my question.
"She called upon the sun for life and the ancient white oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects, for immortality. That night, my father offered us wine laced with blood. And then he drove his sword through our hearts." Auntie Bex explains, tears in her eyes.
"He killed you?"
"And he wasn't delicate about it either." She says, taking a beat before she continued, "We had to drink more blood to complete the ritual. It was euphoric. The feeling of power was indescribable. But the witch Ayana was right about the consequences. The spirits turned on us, and nature fought back. For every strength, there would be a weakness. The sun became our enemy. It kept us indoors for weeks. And then my mother found a solution. There were other problems. Neighbors who had opened their homes to us could now keep us out. The flowers at the base of the white oak burned and prevented compulsion. And the spell decreed that the tree that gave us life could also take it away."
"So we burned it to the ground." Auntie Bex explains.
"But the darkest consequence was something my parents never anticipated... the hunger. Blood had made us reborn, and it was blood that we craved above all else. We could not control it. And with that... the predatory species was born." She finishes. I never heard that version of the story. With all the detail.
I never acted like it was a big deal before, but now I know it isn't.
"Why did Mikael start hunting Dad?" I ask, hopeing for more detail on that too.
"When Nik made his first human kill, it triggered his werewolf gene. With that, he became my father's greatest shame."
"Your mother had had an affair with one of the werewolf villagers, didn't she?" I ask, trying to act like I didn't know this part.
"Your a very smart girl Hope. That's exactly what happened. Mother had tried to make her wrong a right. She put the hybrid curse on Nik to suppress his werewolf side, and then she turned her back on him, but Mikael's greatest weakness as a human was his pride. As a vampire, that was magnified. He went on a rampage and killed half the village. Then he came home and killed her." She explains.
"Mikael killed your mother?" I ask, surprised.
"He said she broke his heart so he would break hers. He tore it from her chest as Nik watched. Afterwards, my father took off in a rage, and the rest of our family scattered. Nik stayed so he could help me bury her. He knew I had to say good-bye to my mother."
"Elijah came back as we burried her. There and then, we made a vow."
"Always and forever." I finish for her.
"Even when he locked us in coffins for 90+ years. I mean, it makes sense. We're vampires, our emotions are heightened. I'm stubborn, Elijah moral, and Nik... Nik had no tolerance for those who disappoint him. Over a thousand years as a family, we've all made that mistake at least once. I've made it several times."
"I would rather spend eternity with my family than alone. No matter how messed up." Auntie Bex tells me, laughing while she wipes away a few tears.
"Welcome to the family Hope." Auntie Bex says before leaving the room. I did not expect the story to be that horrible, I mean, with all the details. Mikael killed his wife?
I walk into Cami's room, seeing Cami sitting down at her desk.
"Hope, whats wrong?" She asks me, looking at my face.
"The scoopy-gang it trying to wake up Mikael." I say, sitting down on her bed.
"Holy shit. Have they?" Cami asks me.
"I don't think they have yet. But, if they have, we're all screwed. And I don't have a trick in my book to fix this. And I feel super helpless. I'm supposed to be wonder woman. Why don't I have a reason solution?" I ask her, freaking out.
"Ok, Hope, calm down." She says, sitting down next to me on her bed. "Tell me what happened, step by step." Cami instructs me.
"Well, they found the cave with all the carvings. Thats when I found out that they woke up Mikael. I warned them, but I'm pretty sure that they'll work with him anyway. So than, me and Elena came here to get the whole story. The story of how they turned into vampires. Elena left half-way through, I stayed until the end. They're trying to kill Dad. He isn't a monster, he jsut needs someone to love him. And, I'm trying, trying so hard, but I..." I explain, sobbing at the end there. Cami pulls me into a hug.
"You don't need all the answers Hope. You just do what you think will help you get there. Small steps. Maybe talk to your dad." Cami suggests.
"You mean, the dad that hasn't talked to me since I told him I was his daughter. That will work." I say sarcastically.
"You make the first step than. You call him, you talk to him. Demand to be heard, so he can't turn away from you." Cami says, looking me in the eyes.
"Will he even pick up?" I ask her.
"He better. Or I'll deal with him myself." Cami tells me, laughing a little. I laugh with her a little.
"You think I could do this?"
"I know you can."
I get a call from Elena while I'm sitting in my room, about to call Dad. Perfect timing Elena.
"Hey, Hope. What did Rebekah tell you about her mothers death?" Elena asks me.
"Uh, Mikeal killed her. Why?" I ask her.
"That's our loophole. Klaus killed Mikael, not the other way around." Elena says, to whoever she's in the room with. Unlucky for her, I have my vamp hearing.
"What?" I ask her.
"Klaus murdered his mother." Elena says again. Before anything else is said, I hang up the phone.
I know he killed her, when she did all that body jumping when I was a baby, but after they were turned into vampires? Oh, my God, Auntie Bex will be heart broken. I can't tell her.
A little while later, debating what to do, I hear Elena come in.
"I told you to leave." Auntie Bex tells her.
"How do you know Mikael killed your mother?" Elena asks her. I start to run downstairs, going as fast as I can. I see Elena and Auntie Bex having what looks like a stand-off, without the guns.
"Nik was there. He told me." Auntie Bex says.
"He lied to you." Elena says.
"And how do you know that?" Auntie Bex asks her. Elena walks closer to her.
"The cave where you carved you family's names is covered in symbols, the story of your family-- how your parents arrived, how they made peace, the spell that turned them into vampires, and this. This is the symbol for hybrid." Elena says, throwing the pictures of the carvings down.
"It's the combination of the werewolf and vampire symbol. And this is the one for your mother."
"Her necklace." Auntie Bex's realizes, looking at the picture.
"And this is the story of her death." Elena says, putting the last picture down.
"The hybrid killed the original witch Not Mikael, Klaus." Elena says rubbing it in.
"No. No, he wouldn't." Auntie Bex says, in denial.
"She put the curse on him, made it so that he would be the only one of his kind, and then she rejected him. With the werewolf gene comes aggression and violence. When he turned, all of that was heightened. He killed her, Rebekah, and then he made up this entire lie about your father so that he wouldn't lose you." Elena tells her.
"These mean nothing! They're just stupid drawings! Done by stupid people who had no idea who my family was!" Auntie Bex says, throwing the pictures into the fire.
"Then why are you so upset?" Elena asks her.
"Elena, shut up." I tell her. She doesn't even look my way, just looks at Auntie Bex.
"Why are you doing this to me? I've done nothing to you!" Auntie Bex yells at her.
"Klaus killed your mother. He has a hold on you, on me, on Hope, on everyone. He has for a thousand years. We have to make it stop." Elena tells her.
"Shut up! Just shut up! Don't talk anymore! Nothing!" Auntie Bex screams at Elena, holding her by her throat on the wall, vamp face showing. Eventually, Auntie Bex drops Elena, backing away slowly. She turns around, walking over and huging me while she sobs. I try my best to comfort her, glaring at Elena.
We just stand there, long after Elena left, Auntie Bex still sobbing.