Here is the first chapter of Never Turning Back. This won't be like the other TVD and TO books. I hope you all are excited for what I have planned.
Hope's POV
I walk up with my brother being on the look-out to our fellow classmate. "Hey, you have the money?" I ask Henry Benoit who reaches into his pocket and pulls out a wad of cash. I quickly take the money from him. "I'm not going to ask where you got this."
"Hurry up before someone comes." My brother calls out.
"Remember, one now, one after." I state showing Henry Benoit the two vials.
"Are you sure about this?" My brother Henry comes up to ask his friend who has been dead set on this idea. "Because it's not too late to back out. I'll give you back the money."
"No, I'm sure." Henry Benoit assures us but I share a look with my brother and we know this might not end well.
"Do us a favor. Be discreet." I instruct as I motion for my brother to follow me. Whatever Henry Benoit is going to do we need to be as far away from it as possible.
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"Do you really think it's going to work?" Henry asks me as he lounges on his bed playing a video game that our mom gave him for getting straight A's last year in school.
"Here's hoping." I've had to be strong for both of us these past seven years. It's been difficult. For most of our lives, our family has been separated and it's usually to protect us. I was brought into this world under horrific circumstances and mom went into labor with Henry after dad was imprisoned so he could save his siblings. Now it's our turn to step up and save our family so we can have always and forever.
"Mom is not going to be happy about this."
"Don't worry about mom. She's going to be out of service for a few days."
"She doesn't need a phone to receive bad news." Henry mumbles. I continue to do some homework as someone knocks on our door.
"Come in." I answer. Henry and I instantly stand up from our positions. "Mr. Williams, what's up?" I ask trying to stay calm. They never visit the students in their rooms.
"Mr. Saltzman wants to see you two. It's about Henry Benoit." Mr. Williams informs us. I share a look with my brother.
"Is um, Mr. Saltzman calling our godmother?" I ask even though I already know the answer.
"That, and he thinks your parents should know what you two have been up to." Henry lets out a chuckle at the thought of getting our dad.
"That's rich Mr. Williams. I didn't think you would be telling jokes in a time like this."
"It's not a joke Henry."
"Well our mom's out of the country as you know and getting in touch with her might take a while but our dad..."
"Good luck finding him." I add with my own smirk.
"Pack your bags Marshall's. You both are going home." Once Mr. Williams leaves Henry comes over to me and we do our handshake.
"How mad do you think Hayley's going to be?" He asks me.
"She's going to be pissed but..." I look up at my brother holding onto his hand.
"We're getting closer to seeing them." He finishes for me and I nod my head.
"We're going to see them both."
"So does being sent home we have to bring our homework because I would like to leave trig here."
"Pack your things Henry it's happening."
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Hayley's POV
"Okay, guys." Poppy is cheerful as she comes to our table with drinks. "If these don't prep your liver for Mardi Gras then nothing will."
"Ah, my liver was probably dead before I became a vampire. Thanks, Poppy." Josh takes his drink with joy.
"Okay, so we should probably get back to Mardi Gras prep." Vincent knows how to ruin the mood.
"Oh, come on Vincent we got this. All right, it's gone without a hitch for what, seven years now."
"Josh that's because we haven't taken it for granted in seven years. Let me remind you. Moments of prosperity are invariably followed by times of great pain unless we remain vigilant."
"Thank you Mr. Buzzkill." Freya tips her drink to Vincent.
"Okay, Freya what you got? Mardi Gras prep."
"The witches will be working on their float in the City of the Dead."
"The werewolves in the bayou." I add my part. Josh is too focused on his phone to say anything.
"Josh?"
"Yeah?"
"This is where you're supposed to say that the vampires are gonna steer clear of both."
"Yeah, uh actually maybe we should offer them some sort of incentive." Josh offers and I give him a look. What is he getting at?
"Seven years of peace and prosperity, not enough?" I ask.
"Well, it is. But we could always use more Daylight Rings." A text comes in on Josh's phone.
"Is this negotiation, Josh?" Vincent asks and Josh's phone keeps beeping. "Marcel." Vincent states seeing the name on the phone.
"You know, first of all, reading that was very rude. And second..."
"Josh, I don't know how many times I've told you that what goes on in this city is no longer any of Marcel Gerard's business okay? And guys this is what I'm always talking about. Marcel means Rebekah. Rebekah means Kol and Elijah. And I don't even want to think about Klaus and Sofia right now. Cause Klaus has apparently lost his mind and Sofia is..."
"Oh, come on we don't know if those rumors are true." Freya comes to the defense of her brother.
"But we do know that multiple villages in Asia burnt up in flames and that Sofia Mikaleson was near those places at that time."
"She apologized for that. She..." I jump in needing to defend my friend. "She never meant to hurt anyone."
"That's the thing, Hayley, she's the most volatile of them all."
"She's more careful now and..."
"Because she stays away from humanity. Sofia Mikaelson has forced herself to stay away from others to the point she only is reachable when she reaches out to someone. No one reaches her." I know this is false but Vincent doesn't need to know that. "Guys this is why we need to keep them as far away from the city as possible. And Freya, I'd be Mr. Buzzkill if it means reminding everybody here that the magic in those five carry inside of them, if we just put two of them in the same place, it's a ticking bomb."
"Relax." I stop Vincent from his rant. "Okay, Marcel's in New York, Elijah's..." I can't get myself to finish.
"In amnesia land." Josh finishes for me.
"Right. And Klaus is...wherever Klaus is these days."
"And Sofia?"
"She's safe and worrying about keeping everyone else safe. You don't have to worry about her." I assure Vincent even if he doesn't believe me.
"Why won't you tell us where Sofia is?"
"Because she's scurrying all over the world trying to find a solution. She's doing everything in her power to find a solution even when she hasn't held her children in seven years." I remind everyone what Sofia has sacrificed. "Yes she messed up a few years ago but...she's better than all of us. She has sacrificed more than any of us could imagine. We're fine." I assure everyone.
"Declan sent these over to tide you over until your date tomorrow." Poppy comes over with Oyster's Rockafeller.
"Oh." Vincent states impressed as we all look over to Declan who is in the kitchen preparing more food. I see him smile at me and I can't help from smiling.
"Oh, my God, I swear if you don't marry that guy, I will." Josh states to me.
"Baby steps. He's human. Life complicated enough." My phone starts ringing. I pick it up and shake my head. "Oh, Hope, and Henry's school. Like I said." I excuse myself to take the call. "Hello?" My smile is replaced with a frown. Shit, how is Sofia supposed to trust her children in my care when this happens?
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Hope's POV
Henry and I wait for our lecture from Mr. Saltzman in our part of Henry Benoit's accident. I see Roman walking out and I quickly look away. Henry is listening to his music to pass the time. "You going somewhere?" Roman asks me. I feel my heart beginning to race.
"Home." I answer. "We...uh we got suspended." I state. Roman chuckles.
"Hope and Henry Marshall got suspended?" He says in disbelief but I work on keeping my face from looking stupid. "Cool." I watch Roman walk away and he looks over his shoulder at me.
"Here." Henry hands me a napkin. I look at him in confusion.
"What's this for?"
"You're drooling." He goes to wipe my mouth and I swat his hand away.
"Shut up." I throw the napkin in his face as Henry Benoit comes to join us. My brother puts his game away.
"What the hell man?" Henry asks his friend.
"Sorry I got you both in trouble." Henry Benoit apologizes.
"I said be discreet. What part of jumping out of a tower is discreet?" I question him.
"I had to make sure it would work. If I only hurt myself, then I would have just healed."
"Right, 'cause no one's ever died peacefully from sleeping pills."
"It didn't work for Uncle Jeremy." Henry reminds me and I shake my head at him.
"Not helping."
"Wasn't trying to." He fires back at me.
"I'm not a person things go right for." Henry Benoit states to us. "You ever seen a werewolf with no pecs who quote E.E. Cummings?"
"I told you years ago to stop quoting that." Henry exclaims to his friend.
"I can already tell I'm getting stronger."
"That's because you actually ate lunch today and did a full lap at gym. Nothing more." My brother states to Henry.
"You know how good it'll be not to have to take crap from anybody?"
"What?" Henry and I both state looking at Henry Benoit like he's insane.
"What makes you think that?" I ask him. "You're a hybrid now. You may be able to defend yourself, but they'll only hate you for being different."
"You didn't think this through." My brother speaks up putting a hand on Henry Benoit's shoulder. He shrugs off my brother's hand.
"You two wouldn't understand."
"Oh, really?" I ask. "Us? We wouldn't understand?" I chuckle.
"It's different." Henry is now whispering to us. "None of the students know that you two are the children of Klaus Mikaelson."
"I don't know why Lisina told you. You and I aren't even friends."
"Hey!" Henry speaks up. "I'm friends with him. We're H squared." My brother puts his arm around Henry's shoulder.
"No one calls us that." Henry Benoit states.
"I call us that so that's all that matters." Henry is beaming with pride and I shake my head at him.
"Your godmother is our Alpha. All the Crescent Wolves know."
"And so will everyone at school when they start asking how you survived a swan dive out of the Memorial Library."
"Your dad's not gonna kill me for getting you suspended is he?" Henry asks and my brother lets out a giant laugh.
"I would be more worried about our mom. When she gets mad whoa. There will be hell to pay."
"Is your mom going to kill me?" Henry Benoit asks me with fear in his voice.
"Henry is joking with you. Our mom is understanding and will scold us but not hold it against you. In regards to our dad...we wouldn't know. He can't bother to be a dad."
"Is it true about what they say?"
"About what?"
"Your mom. Is she really this all-powerful witch?" I look down not feeling that up to talking about my mom. I still have this immense guilt.
"No."
"Really?"
"She's even more powerful."
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Hayley is pissed as we expected when she picked us up. She didn't say one word to us which was surprising. We finally made it to our family home and still nothing. "Can you just yell at me already?" Hayley stops and looks at us. "Seven hours of hostile silence is punishment enough."
"The whole point of sending you both to that school, and calling you Hope and Henry Marshall, was so that you two wouldn't draw attention to yourselves. To keep you both safe. Why? Why did you two do it? What could you have possibly needed the money for?"
"That's our business." I speak up.
"And we're not going to tell you." Henry joins in standing next to me.
"And selling your blood Hope. That is mine. You have no right."
"You're being a hypocrite." Henry states to Hayley which is surprising. He loves Hayley so much. He's always been a mama's boy and since our mom isn't physically with us he clings to Hayley every chance he gets.
"You're the one that taught us my body, my choice. Well, my blood my choice." I exclaim with furry at her.
"You two are not just anyone." Hayley moves closer to us now. "Do either of you even understand what you have done?"
"Henry Benoit came to me." Henry states.
"And you should have said no."
"He's my friend Hayley. He asked for my help."
"I know you wanted to help him sweetie but...Henry Benoit was already a kid who was struggling to fit in, and now...he's gonna be only one of three hybrids in the world? And seen as a threat to everyone in the city." Hayley lectures us. "You two have no idea what you've done. You cannot take something without taking responsibility for it..."
"What are you gonna do?" I cut her off. "Ground us? Lock us up? We'll just whammy ourselves out. We're witches."
"And I'm your godmother. Your parents put me in charge of your wellbeing. Which means tomorrow, I'm gonna have to clean up the mess you two have made before it gets worse."
"Have you told her?" Henry asks. Hayley looks down.
"No, but she'll want to hear from the two of you. She'll be near a cell tower tomorrow. I would call her before she finds out."
"How is she going to find out?" I ask not understanding.
"She's Sofia. She always finds out."
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Hayley's POV
This is exactly the things I've tried to avoid in having to raise Sofia and Klaus' children. I treat and love them like they're my own but they make it hard when they do stupid shit like this. Walking down the street I feel someone grab my arm and I immediately swing my hand back. "Ow!" I gasp as I see Declan on the ground clutching his face.
"Declan, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize it was you." I apologize. He stands up still holding his cheek.
"So, you stand me up, and beat the crap out of me."
"And I forgot about our date. I'm so sorry. Something came up with Hope and Henry."
"Are they okay?"
"Yes. It's just complicated." I explain to him.
"Look I know how you feel about the dreaded B-word. But as your boyfriend and a big fan of your god-children." I smile as he says this. "I'd really like to help.
"I so wish that you could, Declan. It's just right now, I think the kids are gonna need all of my attention, which means maybe you and I should probably..."
"Wait, don't finish that sentence. I deserve better than that. Come on I'm a chef, you're a good eater. You can't break up with me. And your sister video chatted with us loved me. She said I was a good catch." Declan reminds me.
"Well, Sofia loves pretty much everyone. But you can't break up with someone if you're not really a couple." I explain.
"Well, one half of this couple was deeply committed. I'm sorry if you want to break up, you have to do it like a civilized person, at a bar with bourbon. Meet me later."
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Hope's POV
"How's my little ne-er do wells?" Our Uncle Kol asks on video chat.
"We've been better."
"How's Davina?" Henry asks looking over my shoulder.
"My darling wife is gorging a papaya right now. Belize is beautiful this time of year. You two should visit."
"We'd love to but...we're grounded." I inform him.
"Grounded? You can't ground a witch and warlock, let alone my favorite niece and nephew."
"That's what Hope said but Hayley didn't think it was funny."
"Well, I'm sure it'll all blow over by Mardi Gras." Kol assures us but Henry and I share a look.
"I...we didn't think it was such a big deal at the time. But now that it's stirred up so much trouble, I feel kind of bad."
"Honey you two can't get your knickers in a knot every time you have a little kerfuffle. You'll never have a moment of pleasure. And I for one thought you showed real entrepreneurial spirit. And Henry my boy way to be there for a friend. You listened to him and tried to offer a helping hand."
"You'd like Henry."
"Henry?" Kol asks confused.
"Yeah, we're Henry squared." Henry explains and Kol gives me a look.
"I...please don't go by that ever."
"Well, that's me. Your friendly neighborhood blood dealer."
"I'm sure you've noticed by now, the best people are black sheep."
"Like our parents?"
"I was referring to me." Kole explains with a less than pleased face. "Niklaus and Sofia are in a league of their own."
"Have you seen them lately?"
"Thankfully for the two of you no. But your mother does call and have long chats with Davina and I being her brother in law occasionally say hello." Our smiles fall and Kol notices. "Don't worry. Sooner or later, something will blow up in New Orleans. Some crisis or other always brings us back."
"Okay." I hang up the phone.
"What's that look?" Henry asks me and I smile at him.
"I have an idea and I believe it's going to work."
"What are you getting at?"
"You heard Uncle Kol. Something always brings our family back together. Always some crisis."
"What kind of crisis could bring our parents back there's..." Henry stops and sees me smiling.
"I have an idea and I just need to know if you're willing to help?"
"What do you have in mind?"
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. There are more to come and you'll find out what Sofia has been up to all these years when she's been separated from her children and the man she loves. Please stay tuned for more updates to come.