Chapter 4
Hope wished she could carry herself with even a fraction of the grace Caroline did as they rushed through the school on their way to the twin’s room.
The headmistress strided through the hallway with ease and poise, her composure completely unsuspicious.
She had been adamant they didn’t display any signs of panic to any of the student body, who would not fare well to the news that Josie Saltzman was struggling to transition following the great fiasco that was The Merge. Hope meanwhile was fighting desperately against herself to reign back the panic that was rising up inside her like a wildfire and prompting her to break into a run and sprint upstairs to Josie’s side.
A number of students and staff attempted to salute Hope as she passed them by in the hallways. Some of the younger students even called after her, wishing to engage in conversation or ask for her help with their Supernatural History homework.
Although it had been five years since Hope had graduated and left for college, Hope was still well known to pretty much the entire school population considering how often she called to visit - whether to help with Merge research or just to spend time with the people she thought of as her second family.
Alaric had even given her the best graduation gift she could have asked for - to keep her bedroom. He had wanted her to know that the school would always be a home for her and that she was always welcome to come back. He gave the twins the same gift a year later.
Hope had even helped out with teaching lessons from time to time when Caroline and Alaric were in need of a substitute. She even found she had a knack for it - students liked her and wanted to talk to her, and ask her questions. They confided in her with their problems and worries. It made a hell of a difference to when she was there as a student herself.
They seemed to view her as a mentor of sorts, and she appreciated it. In fact, she could even envision herself moving back to the school on a more permanent basis in the near future to teach - if Alaric would allow it. But until then, the students’ questions and concerns would have to wait.
Josie was her only priority right now.
Coming to turn a corner, she ignored yet another voice calling her name expecting it to be Pedro or one of his friends that would have to make a mental note to go visit later when time was on her side. The voice however continued to chase her through the school, becoming instantly recognisable as it turned the corner with her.
She stopped dead in her tracks and turned around to see Landon flouncing towards her, a deep scowl on his face.
“Hope!” He bellowed once more as he came into reaching distance of her. “Where the hell have you been all day? I’ve been looking all over for you!”
His nostrils flared as he miserably failed to maintain a calmness to his tone.
“What could possibly have been so important today that you had to leave me again, huh?”
She knew he was going to be pissed with her, but it had been quite some time since she had seen him this angry.
He crossed his arms and stared down at her expectantly, waiting for an answer or an apology, or both.
“Landon, I - “ she stammered in order to give her time to think up an excusable answer. His stare only intensified.
“Everything okay there Hope?”
Saved by the bell, Hope let out a silent sigh of relief.
With a streak of luck, Caroline had just noticed the tribrid was no longer trailing behind her. With vampire speed she embedded herself between the two of them , creating some space before Landon could jump any further down Hope’s throat. She greeted the phoenix with a fleeting smile.
“Good evening Landon.”
His spine instantly straightened under her gaze.
“I apologize for stealing Hope away from you all day but she’s been helping me with something rather important. I’ll have her back to you as soon as possible, okay?”
Before Landon could respond, Caroline’s hand was on Hope’s back ushering her towards the main staircase. Hope flashed a smile of gratitude. Behind them, she could hear Landon huff and storm off in the opposite direction. She was appreciative when Caroline didn’t pose any questions or comments about what she had just witnessed.
Upstairs, Lizzie was pacing outside the door of her and Josie’s shared bedroom. She rolled her eyes dramatically as she noticed her mother and friend approach.
“Ugh, finally!” She groaned, flailing her arms. “What took so long?”
Caroline’s eyes narrowed. “Lizzie. I told you to stay away from your sister until we have the matter under control.”
“Well maybe if I didn’t have to hear her constantly groan in pain, that would be easier said than done!” Lizzie spitfired back before setting her eyes on Hope. “For some reason Mom is convinced Josie is going to listen to you. So you better convince her to get overself and drink something!”
“I’ll do my best,” Hope promised. Lizze pouted, unconvinced, but nonetheless withdrew when Caroline dismissed her back to her Alaric’s office.
The headmistress proceeded to knock on the bedroom door. She pushed it open, inch by inch revealing a quiet and eerily dark room. The only light source seemed to be coming from one side of the room.
As Hope delved further inside, behind Caroline, she was met with the sight of Josie sitting motionlessly on her bed dressed in pajamas, her pale face illuminated by the dim glow of the candles on her nightstand. Her eyes were staring, unblinking, into a book delicately placed on her lap.
While Caroline didn’t inch much further past the bookshelves just inside the doorway, Hope hesitantly drew closer to the girl. She could now see that Josie looked every bit as awful as Caroline had described to Hope on their walk in from the woods. She looked an entirely different person to the one that stormed out of the library the night before.
As Hope kneeled down beside the bed, she could see how dark Josie’s eyes had become, and the faint yet dark veins that were threatening to protrude from the skin underneath. A full blood bag lay discarded on the folded comforter at the end of the bed.
“Josie,” She whispered as calmly as she could.
The brunette's head snapped up at the sound of her name and her eyes began to illuminate as though she had just been reunited with her favorite teddy bear. The black orbs fading back somewhat to their usual warm chocolate color.
“Hope!” She weakly exclaimed with a smile. “Where have you been?”
Any trace of the younger girl being angry with Hope had dissipated and instead she seemed somewhat elated to have the tribrid at her side. Her hand reached out to grab a hold of Hope's forearm. Hope shivered beneath the cold touch.
“Jo, you look awful,” Hope murmured, ignoring the question she had just been asked. Josie simply pouted at the comment. “You need to feed.”
Her expression had now changed dramatically as she took offence to Hope's suggestion. She immediately began to shake her head. “No, please I can’t.”
Hope flicked her gaze over towards Caroline. The vampire just nodded at her with an encouraging smile.
Hope reached for the blood bag and even went as far as ripping off the plastic corner with her teeth before holding it out in front of Josie. The brunette curled her upper lip in disgust.
“Come on Josie, it can’t be that bad,” she scoffed.
“They’re so nasty Hope!” The brunette whined and tried to push Hope’s outstretched arm away from her face. “You even said so yourself!”
Hope was beginning to grow impatient with this childlike manner. She wasn’t going to let Josie waste herself away like this. By now, she felt prepared to squeeze the contents down Josie’s throat herself if she had to.
“Come on Jo,” she cried out, frustratedly. “You’ll feel so much better if you just do this. Just drink it. For me? Please?”
She edged the bag closer and closer to the brunette’s face.
Josie let out a huff before snatching the bag from Hope’s grasp and reluctantly raising it to her lips. Hope subtly averted her eyes to her knees before she could watch the blood meet Josie’s lips. Her stomach churned as it heard the rapid, yet short lived gulping noises coming from Josie’s throat. Her eyes flicked back up when she heard Josie begin to gag.
The heretic was now recoiled away from her. The bag was barely dented. Josie couldn’t have taken more than two or three sips.
“I can’t!” She protested. “I can’t drink anymore. Please Hope! Please don’t make me drink anymore.”
She was shaking now, tears spilling out from the corner of her eyes as they started desperately into Hope’s. Unable to watch her best friend in such distress, Hope gave in to her pleas.
“Okay, okay Josie.” She placated. “Calm down. You don’t have to drink anymore if you don’t want to!”
Josie gasped with relief and dropped the bag from her grasp. Hope was quick to catch it before the blood could spill all over Josie’s bed sheets.
Hope turned back to look at Caroline. Any trace of hope that had resided on the vampire's face moments ago were now washed over with worry.
“I tried,” Hope offered with a shrug.
“And she listened, honestly that's even more than we could get her to drink." The sympathy in Caroline's voice seemed genuine.
Hope turned back to face her friend who was wrinkling her nose in disgust after her encounter with the blood bag. “Is it really that bad Jo?"
As expected, the tiny volume of blood ingested had done nothing to satiate Josie’s thirst. Her eyes were still just as dark and hollow.
Josie nodded fervently. “The taste is terrible. It tastes old, and stale.”
“Well that could just be to do with the taste of the bag blood right?” Hope pondered. “Maybe we just need to get her a different source. Something a bit more fresh ?”
Caroline pressed her lips together with a slight frown. She seemed to know exactly what idea was running through the tribrid’s mind, but felt the need to pose the question regardless. “Hope, what exactly are you suggesting?”
Hope looked from Josie’s hungry eyes back to the girl's mother with a rather unconvincing and nervous smile. “I think we need to bring Josie hunting.”