Chapter 4
"Jo, wake up"
Josie felt Lizzie annoyingly nudging her, but Josie didn't bother to move other than to wave a dismissing hand towards, what she supposed, her sister was and then nuzzled her pillow contentedly.
"Jo! Come on, get up!" Lizzie kept nudging her. "It's late and I've been needing help finishing my hair for an hour now and you just keep sleeping!"
Josie groaned and buried her face deeper into the pillows, pulling the blankets over her head and sighing, pleased with the safety of being under the covers so early in the morning.
She was ready to go back to sleep when she felt a weight being thrown directly on top of her. She groaned louder and started shuffling.
"Lizzie, get off of me!" She shrieked. Her voice was surprisingly raspy and hoarse, as if she hadn't been drinking water for days.
"Not until you get up and get ready and then help me with my hair!"
"I won't so just get off of me"
Being under Lizzie's weight just served as a reminder of how exhausted she was. Her limbs were numb and trying to move them to get Lizzie off of her, only shot pains throughout her body. She doubted that she would be able to stand today without needing to lean on someone or something the entire day, or if she would be able to stand at all.
"Lizzie please" She whined. "I'm not feeling well today" Her voice was still raspy and her throat felt sore. She really needed a glass of water right now.
Josie thought Lizzie would just ignore her and stubbornly remain on top of her until Josie got up, but she must have noticed Josie's state and finally moved away, sitting cross legged on one side of the bed.
Josie peeked her head from under the covers, watching Lizzie with a frown.
"I think I'll skip classes today"
"Is everything okay?" Lizzie asked, worriedly looking at Josie.
Josie slowly nodded, not wanting to keep using her voice without drowning a glass of water first.
But honestly though, was everything okay? She felt way too exhausted and she was having lots of trouble in keeping herself awake. Her mind too foggy to even function right. Her limbs were absolutely numb, as if the exhaustion was too much that they just gave up functioning.
She yawned and buried her face in the pillows again. "Yeah… I'll…. sleep" She said before drifting back to dreamland.
////
Josie spent quite a few days locked up in her room after that.
Her dad came to the room the first day when she was barely awake, asking what was wrong and why he had been receiving news from her teachers saying that she wasn't in any of her classes. Josie just said she had accidentally siphoned too much and it left her overwhelmed, needing time and space to recover.
Which wasn't so far from the truth.
And her dad, knowing her daughter's abilities when siphoning, couldn't say anything helpful about it. After all, Josie was a rare type of siphoner, the only one they have ever encountered. So he knew better than to put pressure on her when it came to siphoning, if it was up to Alaric, she would wear her inhibitor every day for the rest of her life and never siphon again.
So he gave her his approval (not like she needed it anyway) to remain as much as she needed in her room to "sleep it off" as he had put it.
Only that it took her a ridiculously amount of time to finally start feeling as if she had rested just a bit, instead of feeling like she was hit by a truck everytime she woke up.
Usually, after siphoning too much or for too long from a powerful source, Josie would be left tired. She had never had a hangover, but she was sure this felt just like it. And this time, she siphoned for 3 hours, according to Lizzie, from Hope. The most powerful being Josie had ever siphoned from.
Don't get her wrong though, siphoning from Hope had been intoxicating. She had felt the tribrid's magic throughout her body, giving life to every cell in it, making her feel immensely powerful. Honestly, coming down from that high, Josie was glad she wasn't magically dead or something.
By the third day of sleeping, waking up to eat, going to the bathroom and returning to bed as soon as possible; Josie was starting to feel okay. Her arms and legs didn't hurt as much and she could stand on her own without swaying, she no longer felt the need to go back to sleep every time she was awake and though still tired, she didn't feel completely exhausted to the bone anymore.
So after waking up late in the afternoon and noticing this and also that it was raining outside, Josie decided to finally leave her room and face the world again.
But she noticed that the world remained just the same. Classes had ended for the day and because it was raining, the students were all gathered throughout the whole school, unable to go outside.
She spotted Lizzie excitedly talking with some witches from one of their classes and considered the option to go there and join them, but after realizing that she was too tired still to socialize, she discarded it right away.
Josie didn't know what to do now, students were all around her and some even approached to ask for her well-being, having heard that she missed three full school days; and Josie, being the kind person she is, just smiled and stayed put, casually going along with the small talks and just wishing to be somewhere else.
She was starting to grow even more tired just by listening to others and pretending to be paying attention while her mind was wandering to some other places. Places she inevitably was visiting the last couple of days since the bayou.
One of those said places being what Josie was able to do without even knowing what in the first place she was doing.
She did the opposite of siphoning. If that even existed. She gave her heightened senses and enhanced vision to someone else. Willingly. She did that.
But how? How could she have given them so easily? Josie had just focused on Hope's touch and came to a conclusion: If she was able to siphon from touch, then she should be able to do the opposite as well. It made sense to her at that moment. To give all of her through her touch instead of taking all by it. But now looking at it, why did that make sense? How was she able to do it?
Well, Josie didn't exactly give Hope her magic, if it was magic then Hope wouldn't be able to take it because she wasn't a siphoner. That much was clear. It couldn't be magic per se. Still, Josie most likely gave Hope her abilities to see and sense the gold and white mist surrounding the bonfire and the strong energies that came with them.
Speaking of which, she was having trouble wrapping her head around the fact that Hope had asked her directly for her help with something so… personal and intimate, knowing full well where she was taking Josie and what Josie would be a witness of.
It was obviously special to Hope, a part of her past, a part that involved her mother and indirectly, her death. Hope let herself be vulnerable in front of someone else, so much so as to share this part of her life. That was something Josie was certain that Hope wouldn't just share with anyone. Josie doubted that Hope would ask just anyone to go with her to the bayou.
So what did that mean for Josie? What did that make josie?
Last time she checked, they weren't even friends.
Josie frowned, her eyes had wandered to the window, the rain still pouring outside. She wanted nothing more than to go outside and be cleansed from all these thoughts. Let the rain take it all away.
"...Don't you think? Josie?" She heard the witch she was currently with, ask her. But honestly, Josie had stopped paying attention for a while now.
"Sorry, I'll be right back, I need to… do something"
Josie couldn't take it anymore, even though she had rested for three days in a row, her body and mind felt too tired and all these unanswered questions were just heaving in her mind, giving her a headache.
So, without even waiting a second for the girl's reply, she stood up and went to the kitchen, deciding to go outside from the kitchen's door so she wouldn't be questioned by all the students in the main hall as to why she was willingly stepping under the rain.
It was cold and it caused shivers to run all over her body, but it made her smile anyway. Josie took off her bracelet, put it in her shorts' pocket and immediately closed her eyes when this time, the rain hit her differently.
She was showered with the constantly intense, yet calm energy that the rain provided her with. It felt as if a storm was brewing but it would never arrive. It wasn't exactly still, Josie could feel the trees moving side by side every time the wind caressed them slightly. She also felt how the drops gently hit her skin or the ground beneath her.
It was calming.
In the incessant rhythm of the rain as if it would never end, in the way she was hugged and caressed by the wind, in the way the dark clouds would roar and fill her with an intense amount of energy.
Josie sighed and walked a few steps before sitting cross legged on the grass. She no longer felt exhausted, instead, she was so attuned with nature, with the way the rain had decided to fall upon them, that it completely vitalized her.
She took several deep breaths and brought her hands to her knees, closing her eyes, letting the rain wash over every tight muscle, every part of her body that felt disconnected, exhausted, out of place.
She tried to not think of Hope, of all the questions related to what happened a few days ago, rather than what she was currently feeling.
Calm. Peaceful. Serene.
So much so that she took her hands from her knees and brought them to hover just above her chest, opposite each other, as if she was holding an invisible ball. Then, she started to imagine a green ball right where this invisible ball would be, making it change size according to her breathing.
Inhale, and the ball would expand.
Exhale, and the ball would shrink.
Over and over again, until she could sense herself shining with a green light all around her, expanding and shrinking and completely attuned to her breathing.
Josie smiled and opened her eyes, seeing herself currently shining with shades of green, pink and yellow. Her energy was restored.
But when she looked around, she instantly noticed a pair of piercing blue eyes curiously watching her. Hope was a few feet from her, holding a sparring staff and wearing workout clothes that were absolutely soaked from the rain, her hair looked darker and was sticking to her face. Josie noticed that she looked restless and tired, and she probably was. Her energy was restless too and her aura kept on glimmering but not even close to being shining.
"What are you doing?" She asked, still frowning.
Josie noticed that her chest was unevenly rising and falling, as if she was having trouble breathing properly. She was nervous too, why would Hope be nervous?
"Meditating" Josie arched an eyebrow.
Dammit, now that she was outside her room, she wanted to avoid Hope at all cost.
What a way to go.
"Under the rain?" Hope chuckled.
"You're outside too. What are you doing?" Josie pointedly asked.
"Training" She shrugged.
"Under the rain?" Josie repeated, a smirk on her face when she noticed that Hope narrowed her eyes.
Josie looked away and focused her attention on anything but Hope, still feeling her lingering eyes on her. Josie knew why Hope had approached, of course she knew, and she dreaded it. She didn't want to have that conversation at all.
The Oh yeah I'm not a normal siphoner witch conversation.
"You've been avoiding me" It wasn't a question and Josie swallowed. Hard.
There goes the peace and quiet.
"No, I haven't"
"Yes, you have" Hope insisted, raising an eyebrow. "I haven't seen you these past few days"
Have you been looking for me? Her heart skipped a beat, or maybe two or three.
Josie stood up from the ground. "No, I haven't" She repeated. "I was in my room these last few days recovering from having siphoned too much for a long time. Not all of us heal in a matter of seconds"
Hope carefully studied Josie's face with her eyes before uttering a "Sorry" with a tight smile.
"Yeah, well" Josie shrugged, wanting to go back to the school now and avoid the conversation to progress. She didn't want it to progress, Hope would inevitably ask her what happened in the bayou and Josie was not ready for that conversation either.
"How, uh… How do you feel now?" She hesitantly asked.
"I recharged, I'm good now"
The rain was just increasing in intensity, without a sign of letting up any time soon. Not that Josie minded, now that Josie was attuned to it, she felt like the rain was a part of her and she was a part of the rain. She couldn't care less if she spent the whole day under it… But seeing Hope completely soaked in front of her, was beyond distracting. Josie had to stop her eyes from lingering too much in the way the drops would fall down her skin, from looking directly in her eyes and getting herself lost in blue, from looking at her rosy lips and noticing her chest still unevenly rising and falling.
She swallowed again, yeah, she wanted to get away now.
Hope cleared her throat. Her eyes narrowed and Josie couldn't tell if it was because the rain was hitting them or if she noticed Josie's staring. "I actually have been meaning to ask you how come you-"
Josie's heartbeat picked up erratically at that. Oh no. Oh no. Change it. Redirect it somewhere else.
"I have wanted to ask you something too" She blurted out, interrupting her.
Hope blinked and abruptly closed her mouth and licked her lips. "You have?" She tilted her head.
She actually had though. Josie nodded, not missing Hope's lips during that action.
"Yeah. How come that, out of all the people in the school, I was the one you asked to go with you to… the bayou?"
The meaning was clear: How come you trust me with this? We're not friends.
And Hope understood the subtext just fine, judging by the way her eyes widened.
"I-uh… W-Why you ask?"
"Also, were you just going to astral project all by yourself if I hadn't shown up?"
Josie knew that she should stop with the questions, if the way that Hope's energy had changed and Josie could sense that Hope was starting to close off and lift up her walls; had been waving red flags at her. But also, if she hadn't, Josie was certain of what Hope was about to ask her.
And nope, not today.
Hope looked away, avoiding Josie's eyes when she nodded.
"Why?" Josie insisted.
Don't push her. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.
The other part of her was anxious to hear the reason, though. It didn't make sense to Josie and she wanted to find out why her.
"You know what? You're obviously busy with your meditation." She cleared her throat. "I should probably go back inside the school and let you get back to it"
Hope walked past her but Josie gently grabbed her by the wrist to stop her.
"Just tell me" Josie pleaded with her eyes. Ignoring the red flags and risking Hope to keep on lifting her walls up with her.
She really wanted to know though, she really wanted Hope to tell her, that because she trusted Josie and not because it was consequential. As selfish and senseless as that might sound having in mind they have barely even talked.
But still, Josie had always sensed their "relationship" as if there was an unspoken connection there that they hadn't taken the time to explore. Or was that just her? She couldn't be wrong, she sensed things as part of her normal life, so why did she feel so insecure with that feeling she got from whatever thing she had with the girl in front of her?
She noticed how Hope's eyes lingered on her touch, then her eyes widened a bit for a moment and she slightly shivered before quickly closing her eyes. Josie let go of her wrist, confused, what had just happened?
When Hope opened her eyes again, they were wild and narrowed, focusing solely on Josie. "Yeah? Then you tell me how come I keep on experiencing something so… rare whenever I'm with-"
But she was cut off by Caroline's voice coming from the kitchen's windows. "Girls! What are you doing under the rain?! Come here immediately!"
Hope frustratedly sighed and looked at Josie one more time, narrowing her eyes again as if saying this isn’t over, before turning around and heading for the kitchen's door.
Josie just took her bracelet from her pocket and put it on.
What the hell?!