Thank you for the constant support. I appreciate you all so much.
Henry's POV
"Thanks for putting some clothes on." I comment to Hope and she flips me off and I repay the gesture right back.
"Don't touch that." Hope scolds Landon who tries to open one of the display cases in the library.
"Sorry. I didn't...I mean I wasn't...where are we?" Landon asks changing the subject.
"The Stefan Salvatore Memorial Library. All the artifacts in here have a supernatural history." I explain to him.
"What the story on this one?" Landon points to an old looking knife.
"No idea. But in our experience, your safe bet is to not touch it." Hope tells him and I can sense her getting all giddy.
"Noted." Landon mumbles.
"I'm sorry about earlier. You shouldn't have been out there." Hope apologizes to him.
"Yeah. I'll file that under the things that seem really obvious after the fact." Landon and she are doing some hardcore eye flirting and I find it so hard to break out laughing at them. "So...I guess that means you two are werewolves. He said casually."
"We're a lot of things." I close a book I was reading.
"Care to elaborate?"
"They're just gonna make you forget tomorrow." Hope dodges his question.
"Come on. Humor me." Landon begs.
"Oh, this is going to be fun." I levitate the book I was reading back into the shelf and Landon's eyes go wide.
"The blood that runs through our veins isn't human." Hope starts off explaining coming back with a book on our family. "Our dad is one of the earth's Original vampires." Hope flips open the book to the chapter titled Klaus Mikaleson.
"Klaus Mikaelson." Landon reads out loud. "The Great Evil." He mocks.
"He wasn't very popular around here. Still isn't." I explain to him.
"One of my foster dads used to burn us with his cigarettes. I guess evil is relative." Landon shares with us and I nod my head.
"Our dad for fun hunted down a whole family. Torturing them even shoving their hearts down their throats. He hasn't done that in a couple of years." I smile at Landon as he looks terrified.
"I uh...what?" Landon asks confused.
"Our mother is one of the most powerful witches to walk the earth." I make a book appear in my hands and flip to a page showing the prophecized picture of our mom.
"She was prophecized for centuries to either be the savior of the world or the end of it." I explain to Landon.
"Uh...that is...which one is she?"
"Time will tell but right now she's leaning to being a savior." I reply.
"Our godmother was a werewolf alpha."
"Was?" Landon asks. Hope and I look down. Hayley's death still hits us so hard knowing we could have possibly prevented it. We put her in danger and we'll never see her again because of it.
"The people we care about tend to...uh suffer. And leave." Hope elaborates. "I try not to get close to people anymore."
"Yeah, I can see that." Landon and she are again eye flirting.
"Our grandmother was a witch." I add.
"So all of those things passed down making us..."
"A unicorn?" Landon guesses making Hope smile.
"A hybrid of three different creatures. Tribrid. I can control when I turn, which is what I was doing tonight. We're the only one of our kind."
"Yeah. Unicorn like I said."
"Well, I'm going to leave so you two can continue shameless flirting." I bail out on this educating Landon crap.
__________________________________
I play a tune on the school's piano. I need to keep myself busy and music always seems to relax me. "You're missing the party." I jump as Lizzie comes up behind me.
"I went it wasn't that exciting." I reply back to her.
"I beg to differ. " Lizzie argues with me. I watch mesmerized as she flips her hair over her shoulder. "My dad kept me from the party to do some therapy session."
"Did it help?" I ask. Besides Josie and her dad, I am the person Lizzie feels comfortable enough to talk about her breakdowns. I don't judge her or make her feel like she is weak. In fact, I remind her it's one of the things that make her unique and amazing.
"For a bit but...I have bigger issues to worry about." She motions for me to scoot over on the bench and I let her sit next to me.
"And what would Lizzie Saltzman be so worried about?" I ask her and she smirks at me.
"Like you would want to know." She teases me.
"I would like to know a lot about you." I try and flirt but I cringe at myself.
"What are you playing?" She asks me changing the subject.
"Just something I've been working on." I answer trying to hide the redness in my cheeks.
"I liked it. Can you teach me?"
"Yeah uh...here." I lightly take her hands in mine and place them over the keys. "Follow me." I say and Lizzie mimics me on the other end of the keyboard.
"Does this have a name?" She asks me and I hesitate to answer.
"It's still to be decided."
"I didn't know you could play." She comments.
"Hope bonded with our dad on their love for art and I took after my mom's passion for music. I don't always get to practice so..."
"Well, you should play for me more often. I like it. It feels like I have my own private concert." Lizzie says to me and I smile at her.
"I would love to play for you more." I can't stop admiring Lizzie. She's more than beautiful. She's passionate, unapologetic, and above all confident in herself.
"I have to go but thanks for this. It really made my night." Lizzie waves goodbye to me and I smile as she leaves. I go back to playing the tune I made up. If she only knew what she meant to me. If she only knew.
__________________________________
Dr. Saltzman gathered everyone for an emergency assembly and from the way Hope has been acting it tells me she knows what's going on. "For ten years, we've gone undetected. Protecting you, protecting our secrete has been our singular mission. Tonight I need your help to find Landon Kirby..." I look to Hope who keeps facing forward. "Before he exposes us all."
"Are you going to tell me what happened with Landon?" I demand from Hope as we head into our room.
"Henry I just..."
"No, I left the two of you to heavy flirt in the library, and now what he stole some ancient knife. What happened?" I ask again from my sister who is dodging everything that has to do with Landon.
"Henry I..."
"You can tell me anything. I won't judge." She raises her brow at me. "Much." I correct myself.
"I...I was finally starting to trust someone other than..."
"Other than your awesome brother." I joke with her and she smiles.
"I didn't get any feeling off him that he was...that he was a liar or a thief and now all of our lives are in danger because of me.
"Hope this is not because of you."
"I brought Landon here. I...he was here because of me and now our secrets could be exposed." I place a hand on my sister's shoulder.
"You do know that not every bad thing that happens in life is because of your right? Bad things happen and sometimes a Mikaelson is not involved." I try and assure her.
"I need to find him. I have to make this right."
"What will you do when you find him?" Hope doesn't say anything. "Hope." I call out her name but she ignores me. "We don't have to make the same mistakes our parents make. Revenge is not the answer."
"Then why does it feel like it's the only option?" Hope argues with me.
"Because you're not thinking hard enough. Find Landon but to get back the knife and try to erase his memories. But don't go too far. Don't go past the point of no return." I advise her.
"When did you get so smart?" She asks me.
"I've been brilliant forever my dear sister." She throws a pillow at me but I easily block it. "Does this mean you're not going to be at the game tomorrow?" I ask.
"I...I have to find Landon and if I get his location before the game I'm leaving." Hope declares.
"How are you going to get there?" Hope looks to the ground. "You can't...you wouldn't..."
"I'll bring his car back with no problems. I just need to find Landon." Hope explains.
"But you can't drive." I remind her.
"I'm decent."
"Barely." I argue.
"I have a plan I just need..."
"You need me to be on the lookout." I finish for Hope.
"Actually I just need to you to keep mom and dad from knowing what I'm doing."
"Why w..."
"Well, mom and dad are supposed to come to the game tomorrow."
"What?" I yell at Hope.
"It was supposed to be a surprise but...since this happened I won't be there and they will ask questions. I need you to keep them from knowing what I'm up to."
"Uh...why are mom and dad coming to some lame flag football game with Mystic Falls High? We're going to play terribly on purpose." I ask.
"It's your birthday soon and they just wanted to surprise you. Mom is off tour right now and they really want to see us. Take us out for dinner and normal family stuff." Hope explains to me.
"Mom and dad are coming." I repeat and she nods her head. "I'll keep mom and dad from knowing what is going on as best as I can. If they find out I'm sure they won't be mad since they've done a lot worse." I explain to Hope.
"And this is why you're the best brother ever."
"Hey, could you bring me back some Chipotle?" I ask teasing Hope and she shoves my shoulder. "I take that as a maybe?"
"Night Henry." Hope leaves our room.
"Seriously Hope!" I scold my sister as she marches back into our room early in the morning.
"I don't want to hear it, Henry."
"Well, you're gonna." I fire right back at her. "You said you were going to locate Landon."
"I was." Hope isn't backing down.
"Damn it, Hope. You used black magic to locate Landon. Why would you do that?"
"Henry I don't have to explain things to you. I'm your sister but I don't have to run things by you." Hope snaps at me.
"But you'll have me cover for you to mom and dad. Which is it Hope you need me or I'm a bother?"
"Henry that's not what I mean I..."
"Have you ever asked Dr. Saltzman why he never takes me on his special missions? Why is it only you? You're not the only tribrid." I argue with her.
"Henry it's not intentionally we just..."
"What forget that I can help? You may have triggered your werewolf curse Hope but...that doesn't make me useless. I can help but you only see me as your little brother."
"That is not true. I...I'm worried for your safety. You...I don't want you..."
"Hope stop trying to protect me! You've done that all our lives but you have to back off. You can't keep putting your life in danger and expect me to just stand by and watch."
"Henry it's just...you have so much going for you. That if I involved you with the crap I get myself into it could...it could keep you from having a future." Hope explains to me. "You're so smart, Henry. You can do so much for this world in ways that I can't. You're kind, talented, and...you're a better person than me Henry. You don't deserve to..." I throw a pillow at Hope's face pissing her off. "What the hell Henry?" She yells at me.
"That is all bullshit. You're smart, talented and a kind person too, Hope. But that doesn't give you the right to tell me when something is too dangerous. I'm old enough to decide for myself if something is too much."
"Henry I..." I pull Hope into a giant hug.
"I've almost lost you once. I can't lose you again." I mutter into her shoulder.
So Klaus and Sofia will appear in the next chapter. I can't wait for you to see them as normalize parents for their children.