Hope woke to Landon struggling next to her. He had his eyes closed, still sleeping, but he was sweating and breathing erratically. Hope knew he was having a nightmare and first she tried to wake him gently, caressing his face, but when it didn't work, she placed her hands on his shoulders and shook him awake. Landon's eyes flew open and Hope saw fear in his eyes. His look started to soften as he realized where he was and who he was with. Hope brushed away his curly locks from his sweaty forehead.
"It was just a nightmare, you are okay." Hope tried to comfort him. Landon nodded and hugged Hope tightly, pulling her as close to his body as he could. Hope eased into his body and placed her right hand on his rapidly beating heart. "Was it Malivore again?" Hope asked in a whisper.
"Yeah... it's like all of those memories I had to spend in his prison mind are coming back in my dreams. And not just my memories, but as if I could see all of his thoughts and his memories too." Landon explained.
"You two shared a mind so it's not surprising you are starting to remember all of his thoughts. You wanna tell me about it?" Hope asked and she genuinely wanted to know what he went through.
"My dream starts with the prison world and the way Malivore got to me." Landon sighed and he tightened his hold on Hope. "He sent all his monsters after me... I hid at first. I hid in the school and tried to research about prison worlds and how to escape. But I obviously failed and the monsters eventually found me. God, I wished every moment that you would show up and get me out somehow." Hope found Landon's hand and squeezed it, then she laced her fingers through his.
"I wanted to come get you. The moment I found out you were alive... but the twins didn't want to help me and even after I forced them to help, Cleo deceived me with the stupid fake Landon... but anyway it was already too late. Malivore already took over you at that point." Hope propped herself up on her elbows to look into his eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't save you." She apologized and she could feel her sincerity... Hope grabbed Landon's wrist quickly. She looked away from his eyes and squeezed his wrist, trying to push down those feelings that made her feel this way. When the feeling finally disappeared, she pulled away from Landon's hold and laid next to him, without touching him. Landon didn't say anything to her sudden change, it was like he knew how much she was struggling... but he continued his story anyway.
"I never expected you to come for me... so please don't apologize for something you couldn't have known. Anyway... the monsters kept coming and I tried my best to fight them. For me months passed by and I killed many monsters but so many got the better half of me and I knew that one day I just won't be strong enough to fight back or escape. After a long time I was weak and wounded and I knew my end was close. I knew I couldn't fight another monster. And that's when he came... when I was the weakest. He waited for just a perfect moment when he could take me with ease. I still tried to fight him, I didn't give up... but he was stronger and he consumed me. Then came the darkness and I knew there was no way out."
"What about his thoughts?" Hope asked curiously, turning to her side to look at him.
"His thoughts are insane and terrifying. He wanted to consume everything that was alive... and destroy you in the process. Details about his memories are kinda fuzzy but you were on his mind constantly. He was truly afraid of you."
"Reasonably... I ended him. And you." Hope turned to her back again, avoiding his eyes and her own possible feelings that his eyes full of emotions could trigger.
"It was the right thing to do. The only thing to do. I will never hold you responsible for my death... and I'm back again, thanks to Josie." Landon added with a chuckle.
"Ugh... thanks to Josie who waited a full year to open the Necromancer's grimoire and get you back from the dead." Hope added bitterly.
"What about Josie?" Lizzie spoke with a yawn in a tired voice as she was still half asleep. Hope almost forgot she was in the room with them.
"Your idiot sister can ruin everything even from hundreds of miles away." Hope grunted and Lizzie sat up in her bed, while Landon got up and headed to the bathroom.
"What did she do?" Lizzie asked curiously.
"She brought Landon back... " Hope replied as she started to get angry and Lizzie turned to Hope with a confused expression. "She brought him back as a fail safe. So they could kill me without any guilt. If Landon would fail to bring my humanity back, then nothing would and it would justify their actions. Plus Josie wanted to use Landon to get to me."
"They can't kill you, Hope. It's impossible and even if it was possible Josie would do anything to avoid that. You know her, she is not like me." Lizzie replied rather calmly and Hope looked into her eyes. Was she still in some kind of shock? She was right, she wasn't like Josie, Lizzie was the one who wanted to avenge their father more than anything. What the hell happened to her? Now that her humanity was on again, surely she was even more vengeful towards Hope... but it honestly didn't feel like she was.
"According to Landon they had a weapon which he destroyed." Hope shrugged. "And I'm sure Josie is not fond of me after I kinda destroyed your whole family." Hope had a dry laugh. "Which I was so desperate to be a part of when I was younger."
"I'm sorry." Lizzie said quietly, staring at the wall, not making eye contact with Hope. Hope wasn't sure if Lizzie was even talking to her. Hope should be the one apologizing, if she would feel some kind of remorse... but she did not. Hope stared at Lizzie intensely, she had no idea what to say to that. Why the hell would she apologize? But Lizzie wouldn't look at Hope.
Landon stepped out of the bathroom after he finished with his morning shower and he surely sensed some kind of tension in the bedroom.
"Hey, I can go grab some breakfast for everyone." He said and walked by his bedside table to pick up his wallet. "Any preference?" Landon asked and Lizzie just shook her head, but Hope didn't fail to notice her eyes shining with tears.
"Pancakes." Hope said with half a smile and Landon nodded with a chuckle before he kissed the top of her head. Hope gave him a genuine smile before he left the hotel room. The room was silent, only Lizzie's heavy breathing could be heard as she tried to hold back her tears. Hope laid back on her pillow, and didn't know what to say to her. She knew that turning the humanity switch on could be overwhelming, but she had no idea what went on in Lizzie's mind. It was so much easier to understand her when they only cared about partying and feeding. Eventually Hope got bored of the silence and became impatient about Lizzie. She should be either furious with Hope or she should just leave. Anything else didn't make sense.
"Why did you say that?" Hope asked as she sat up on her bed facing towards Lizzie. She was referring to what Lizzie said before Landon interrupted them. Lizzie turned to Hope with teary eyes and a confused look.
"I didn't say anything."
"You apologized... why?" Hope asked curiously. Lizzie just shrugged at first, then she sighed loudly and wiped her tears with her sleeve.
"We... I never understood you. You know I tried when I was little, I tried to be friends with you and I should've tried harder... but instead I kept bullying you. So, I'm sorry for that." Lizzie explained and Hope just laughed at her.
"What, you think I turned out to be this way because you and your sister bullied me in school?" She kept laughing but Lizzie looked at her dead serious.
"You know how jealous I was? You always had my dad's attention. You were always better in his eyes. The perfect Hope Mikaelson. He never even punished you when you screwed up. I thought he just loved you more than his own daughters. He would always have an eye on you..."
"He was just afraid of this." Hope gestured to herself.
"I know that now." Lizzie said with a whisper. "I never told you this. But before he died he was in a coma. I head dived into his mind to say goodbye to him. He apologized for spending all that time with you instead of us. He didn't even want to enroll a Mikaelson in the school... he wanted nothing with you. But eventually he was convinced that if he would be there to guide you, you might just turn out to be okay... so that's why he spent all that time with you. And the only reason he wanted us to be friends, so you would always be there to protect us."
"Yeah I've always been a great weapon." Hope shrugged.
"I never meant to use you like that. Last night I really thought I was going to die. I never expected you would come for me. I mean I know you didn't care about me and my death would mean nothing to you. I was terrified to die but you saved me anyway."
"You can thank Landon for that. And you were right, you know. As pathetic as it is, he does affect my choices, but they are still my choices."
"That was a little harsh what I said in that diner." Lizzie finally smiled the first time. "But Landon is not making you pathetic. The exact opposite. And I should've seen it earlier. I should've stood by you and helped you get him back as soon as he went missing after you two did the dirty in a freaking crypt... I mean of course you have to choose the most creepy place to lose your v-card." Lizzie laughed and her laugh seemed actually genuine.
"It was super romantic cemetery and all." Hope laughed with her.
"But I'm still sorry..."
"Stop apologizing, Lizzie! I still killed your dad and killed you, then made you turn off your humanity. I'm pretty sure I did more harm to you than you ever did to me, so just stop!" Hope said quite firmly. It really started to bother her.
"Turning off my humanity was a choice. Yeah, you were a huge influence but I could've chosen not to turn off the switch. You on the other hand didn't even get to choose it... you told me it happened involuntarily the moment you stabbed Landon. And sure I am devastated about my dad... but I can't blame you for the things you did without your humanity... because I did all of those awful things as well. It would be the most hypocritical thing to blame you for murder when who knows how many innocent lives I took without a thought." Lizzie said and her eyes started to tear up again.
"I guess our fun murder parties are over then." Hope smiled at her, but all these mixed feelings still bothered her.They did kill a bunch of people there was no returning from that and Lizzie was right that blaming Hope or herself was pointless. Somehow Hope didn't want Lizzie to feel worse about herself. And it probably worked, because Lizzie smiled back at Hope.
"Oh it was over before I turned my humanity back... you wouldn't do that around Landon." Lizzie giggled and Hope rolled her eyes without a reply, because Lizzie was right. They were silent for long seconds before Lizzie would continue. "Do you have feelings for him?" She asked curiously but she had some worry in her eyes... she probably feared Hope's response and Hope wanted to snap at first. She didn't have any humanity. How could she possibly have any kind of feelings? But Hope couldn't lie to herself... she was struggling for days since Landon was back. Why would she lie to Lizzie? So Hope didn't snap, she didn't get angry with Lizzie, she just shrugged causally.
"Is it even possible?" Hope asked because she didn't truly understand herself.
"I mean... technically no. But who knows what's possible for you. You are not only a vampire, but you are a witch and a werewolf too. I mean even before he came back to you, you became frantic just if I mentioned him... god I loved to irritate you with him." Lizzie chuckled and so did Hope. "I don't know Hope... your connection with Landon is pretty special. It's the real soulmate kinda shit."
"I honestly don't know what I feel or if I even feel something for him. But I know that I like to be around him and he makes me smile and I would kill anyone who would hurt him."
"Of course you would. You two are truly meant for each other. And the moment he died you died inside too... pretty romantic. But now that he is back..." Lizzie smirked at Hope.
"I'm not going to turn my humanity back on. It still is the best thing that's ever happened to me. Even if it has some flaws, I don't ever want to feel the agony of loss again in my life. And Landon wouldn't leave me even if I couldn't fully reciprocate his love... and I believe him." Hope said quietly and Lizzie smiled at that.
"You are so lucky to have someone who loves you unconditionally. Maybe you don't need your humanity to live a full life. I just didn't want to die without it."
"That's understandable. And I won't force you to turn it off again. You are free to leave, you know. See your sister or whatever. I'm sure she and MG will be thrilled to have you back." Hope said but she felt really uneasy about her words. She actually liked talking to Lizzie, she liked that she could be honest with her.
"Oh... you want me to leave? I mean if you wanna be alone with Landon I get that." Lizzie tried to speak calmly but she was obviously upset. With her humanity recently turned on, she wasn't too good at hiding her emotions.
"I don't want you to leave. I like having you around... I just assumed you wanted to be with your real friends."
"I consider you my real friend, Hope. I'll be nice to your hipster boyfriend, I promise... he is the reason you saved my ass anyway... and I was pretty excited about going to Florida." Lizzie smiled at Hope.
"Okay" Hope smiled back and that's when Landon arrived with boxes of food in his hand.
After they all finished with their breakfast, they left the room and they were on their way in no time. Landon wasn't even surprised at the fact that Lizzie didn't leave them and he was totally fine continuing their trip with the two girls. They drove all day, barely stopping for quick bathroom breaks. Hope wanted to make it to the beach by next morning, so she was planning to drive all night as well. It had passed midnight and Hope kept driving, with everyone sleeping around her. Lizzie of course occupied the whole back seat, while Landon dozed off on the passenger seat... and that's when the horrible hunger creeped in. Hope didn't feed since that gas station. Now she kinda regretted not feeding on that creepy guy in the motel room she tried to have sex with... What a waste. Lizzie might have it better, she had some of Hope's blood last night. It might have given her some boost... but Hope was at the verge of a break. The only sound she was able to focus on was Landon's pulsing veins on his neck and she obviously would never hurt him, so when it was truly unbearable, Hope hit the brake in the middle of the dark road and jumped out of her car. The road was nearly empty at that hour but luckily Hope passed by a truck a while ago, she just had to wait for it to catch up with her... and very soon it did. Hope stood in the middle of the road and the truck driver honked at her loudly. She was pretty sure it woke Lizzie and Landon but at this time she didn't care. She needed to feed. The truck driver was a middle aged man and he opened his door quickly as Hope walked up to it.
"Are you crazy? Do you wish to die?" The man asked but Hope didn't even care to reply. She jumped up to the truck and dragged the man out to the road. He barely had time to realize what was happening to i'm, before Hope sank her fangs into his flesh.
"Hope!" She heard Landon's voice from behind her.
"Hope, stop!" Now it was Lizzie, grabbing her with force. "Don't kill him." She said, but Hope could hear Lizzie's rapid heartbeat. She was starving too, and wanted this man's blood as much as Hope. So Hope stopped feeding. The man was still alive and conscious, shouting curse words, trying to fight Hope, but she held him firmly, even if she was half the size of the man.
"Sorry, you can have some." Hope said, letting the man go, and pushing him to Lizzie. Lizzie's eyes turned red and black and dark veins appeared around her face. The smell of the oozing fresh blood from the man's neck was too overwhelming for her and she wasn't able to control herself, so she started feeding on the man. But to Hope's surprise, after a couple sips Lizzie pulled away. The man's knees were shaking, he clearly lost a lot of blood but he would be fine and would stay alive if they would leave now. Hope never left anyone alive who she was feeding on... sure she could just walk away but her instinct didn't let her. Hope didn't dare to look at Landon. He stood right behind Hope. She could sense him all around her. He'd be so disappointed in her if she'd finished off this man. Hope didn't want to... she really didn't want to do it in front of Landon, but her instincts and her craving was stronger. Hope looked at the truck driver with her golden wolf eyes. A quiet plea left the man's lips, but Hope attacked his neck again and sucked him completely dry, until his body fell to the empty road lifless.
After she finished him, Hope quickly walked back to the car without taking one look at Landon or Lizzie.
"Did you really have to kill him?" Lizzie complained in a scolding tone as she sat on the back seat, slamming the door loudly. Landon just sat next to Hope without a word. "You could've just compelled him. I thought you weren't going to kill anyone in front of your boyfriend." Lizzie continued after Hope started to drive but somehow Landon's silence bothered Hope even more.
"You two were supposed to sleep." Hope mumbled quietly.
"How does that make it better? He'd still be dead. I know you're Mikaelson and all... but can we please stop killing people on this road trip from now on?" Lizzie just wouldn't shut up and Hope started to regret taking her with them... but she knew Lizzie was right and to be honest she was terrified to look at Landon and see the disappointment in his eyes.
"I'm trying." Hope said with a shaky sigh. Luckily Lizzie didn't elaborate anymore. Landon still kept quiet, but he placed his hand on Hope's thigh and squeezed it gently. This simple gesture made Hope glance at him... and there was no disappointment or disgust in his eyes, only love and understanding. "I'm really trying." Hope said to Landon in a whisper, although she knew he was not kidding when he said he would love her even if she'd kill every single human on earth.
"I know." Landon kept stroking her thigh. He slowly stopped his movements as he dozed off again. Hope kept driving until the morning sun came up. They arrived in Miami and the weather was warm and sunny. She stopped at a beach hotel, shaking Landon to wake up.
"We are here." Hope said as Landon opened his eyes. His eyes were wide, full of fear and he didn't have to tell Hope, she knew exactly what he was dreaming about. "Hey, you're okay?" Hope asked gently as she grabbed his hand.
"Sure." Landon nodded, then he looked out of the window and the sight distracted his dark thoughts immediately. "Wow" All he said at the sight of the bright blue water surrounded with white sand and palm trees.
"Let's settle down, then we can hit the beach." Hope said, smiling as she jumped out of the car, and stretched herself with a huge yawn.
"Maybe you should lay down a bit. You drove all night, Hope. You must be exhausted."
"I'm okay, Landon. Let's get rooms, then I can relax on the beach. You're okay with your own room. Right?" Hope looked at Lizzie as she got out of the car, smiling at her surroundings. Sure, Hope liked the blond heretic's company, but she really wanted to have some alone time with Landon... not for any particular sexual reasons, it's not like they can fully let themselves go like that, anyway... but it would be still nice to be just the two of them.
"Sure." Lizzie replied, and with that they walked to a huge fancy five star hotel. They got two neighboring rooms. There was a huge king sized bed in Hope and Landon's room, and Hope fell on the comfortable bed as soon as they were alone, without Lizzie. She really didn't mean to take a nap or anything, but as soon as she closed her eyes, she felt like she needed a break for just five seconds.
When Hope opened her eyes, she was alone in the room. She checked her phone and it was already noon. That five seconds turned out to be much longer. She quickly went and knocked on Lizzie's room door, but there was no answer and Hope couldn't even hear Lizzie in there. She thought they must have left for the beach. As Hope went downstairs to the lobby to exit the Hotel, she called Lizzie on her phone and cursed herself for not getting a phone for Landon yet. Lizzie didn't pick up and Hope was really mad at them for taking off without her. Hope exited the hotel, starting to look for her companions, but as soon as she was outside, she picked up on Landon's scent, so she followed him. He definitely wasn't near the beach, because Hope walked the exact opposite direction, and very soon she started to hear his voice from the distance but when she recognized the voice Landon was talking to, Hope walked towards them very cautiously. Landon was at the back of the hotel near the service entrance talking to none other than Kaleb. Hope was still far away from them, they didn't notice her, but Hope could hear every word with her vampire hearing.
"You guys gave me two weeks. Not even a week had passed. You need to give me more time to work on her. She is so close to turning back her humanity. I'm getting through her. She'll give in soon." Landon's words were clear and Hope felt something... she felt rage. Was this his game? To let Hope think that he didn't care if she has humanity or not? That he would love her no matter what? The rage was boiling inside her intensely because she knew that it was working. She knew she started to feel things around him she didn't feel before... and she hated him for this.