Chapter 7
"No" Bonnie shook her head. "That's not an option, Care. You know it"
"I don't know Bonnie!" Caroline sighed, burying her head in her hands and closing her eyes, shutting them tight to avoid any frustrated tear to spill out.
It was well into the night and exhaustion was already making itself known once again. She and Bonnie had spent most of the day going back and forth, exchanging possible solutions to Josie's new development on her abilities but nothing seemed right so far.
And what was worst of all, Caroline knew that soon, she would have to leave her daughters again to go back to her endless trip, her endless search around the world looking for a way to stop her daughters' merge. Which was another stress all of its own. But, meanwhile, she had to be home. She had to deal with this.
She knew she couldn’t leave again knowing that Josie’s magic kind of unlocked another level on her abilities.
Caroline sat straighter and grabbed her glass, slowly moving it in circles while deeply staring at it. A frown on her face. "Her magic keeps on growing and it's not going to stop" She softly muttered, hardening her jaw.
Bonnie slowly nodded, taking a sip of her own glass of whiskey. "But another stronger inhibitor is not a choice anymore. It can’t be. You said it yourself, her magic is growing and will keep on growing. By making her another one we will just be creating a time bomb"
Caroline looked away and closed her eyes. "I know" She heavily sighed. "I know… I'm just scared. How much can her magic grow?"
Bonnie pursed her lips "You know how much"
"That's what I'm scared of. I don't want her to become… him" Caroline swallowed, eyes taking a guarded look. Even thinking about him made her insides fire up with a blind rage.
Bonnie stood up from the couch and shook her head, crossing her arms. "No. Josie's not him"
"Her magic is becoming more and more similar to his and I just-"
"Caroline, don't do that thing you do when you're worried out of your mind and can't think straight so you jump on all the possible worst scenarios that your obsessive mind can come up with" Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "I understand where this concern is coming from, I do, but I also know that you can't possibly believe that Josie could be anything that is even remotely similar to him"
"Of course not!" Caroline also stood up and started pacing around her office. "I know my daughter, okay? I know she's the complete opposite. She’s kind and thoughtful, I know that sometimes she cares too much even for her own good. I know she's good. She could never be him"
"So?"
Caroline stopped her pacing and defeatedly threw her arms in the air. "I'm just saying that so much magic, so much power, so much disposition…" She trailed off. "I'm not afraid of Josie, I'm afraid of what this could do to her"
"What do you mean?" Bonnie tilted her head and pursed her lips.
"The only other siphoner we've ever met with these same abilities is him. That's the only reference we have on this" She put a hand on her forehead, trying to soothe the tension in her eyebrow. "So you see why I worry?"
The room stayed in silence for quite a while after that, Caroline’s words sinking in and making themselves heavier the longer the silence lingered.
Bonnie sat down on top of Caroline's desk, looking at a framed selfie of the twins, Caroline and Alaric. Her focus solely on Josie. "The fact that they have the same abilities doesn't mean anything" Bonnie muttered, making Caroline turn around and tilt her head.
"He used his abilities to create chaos and torture because he's a sociopath, Care’’ She added. ‘’He's evil. That's just how he is, so he used his magic that way"
Caroline nodded, letting Bonnie’s words be her reminder of what she already knew and allowing her chest to release some of the tension that was stopping her from breathing properly.
"Josie's kind, thoughtful, caring and she uses her magic that way’’ Bonnie continued. ‘’You know? When she first told me about her abilities, it was past midnight and she woke me up with a phone call. She was so worried about all the colors she could see so she thought she was a freak’’
Caroline furrowed her eyebrows, once again concerned about her daughter.
‘’But I told her she was anything but, that she was amazing and that this was a gift. She grew up with people that loves, supports and accepts her for who she is…’’ Bonnie trailed off and looked at the ground. ‘’He didn’t.’’ She shrugged. ‘’So if Josie’s magic keeps on growing, which it will, it’ll only grow to reflect the person she is’’
Caroline nodded and sadly smiled, coming to a conclusion she was certain that she didn’t like but it had to be necessary. ‘’We won’t make her another inhibitor’’
‘’Thank god’’ Bonnie chuckled.
‘’...But, we’re not doing any good either by-’’ She was interrupted by a knock on the door followed by Alaric poking his head in. ‘’Ah, good. I was looking for you a while ago’’
Alaric fully opened the door then and stepped inside, closing it after him and looking at Caroline with a confused expression. ‘’What’s this about?’’
‘’Josie’’ Caroline explained.
Alaric walked to the sofa and sat straighter, leaning in to fully pay attention now.
‘’-As I was saying to Bonnie, she doesn’t need another inhibitor. It’s already getting worse with the one she currently has on and-’’
‘’Is it?’’ Alaric tilt his head, confused once again.
‘’Yes’’ Caroline stated as if it was the most obvious thing right now. ‘’She’s having panic attacks when she takes it off and is hit by all of it coming to her too strong and too fast to handle’’
‘’How do you know this?’’ Alaric asked, crossing his arms and furrowing his brow.
Caroline rolled her eyes. ‘’She told us. Haven’t you been paying attention?’’ She snapped at him with a faked sweetness before going back to her previous idea. ‘’So I was thinking on maybe making her not wear it at all?’’
Alaric abruptly stood up. ‘’What?’’
Caroline glanced at Bonnie for help, but they both were looking at her as if Caroline had gone mad, maybe she had?
Well then...
‘’It’s something Bonnie said...’’ She glanced at Bonnie again before continuing. ‘’Josie’s surrounded by people that love and support her unconditionally’’ She shot a glare at Alaric, as if wanting to remind him of that fact. ‘’The other day when we went for coffee, Josie thought we were treating her like a problem that needs to be fixed. Like an issue… I don’t want my daughter to ever feel that way again if I can help it. By making her wear the inhibitor we’re just making her believe that she’s a problem, that her magic is unwanted and unaccepted and the inhibitor is how we deal with it...’’
‘’Do you think we need to make her a stronger inhibitor? Block them out?’’ She remembered what she had asked and Josie’s panicked and distrustful eyes when she heard her mom’s question, looking at Caroline with disappointment written on her face.
Then, her solution to all of this couldn’t be any more clear.
Out of the corner of her eyes she could see Alaric furrowing more and more his brow and Bonnie agreeing with her by nodding her head.
‘’-How we block them out… So I don’t want her to keep wearing it anymore’’ She finished, taking her glass of whiskey and emptying it in one sip. God knew she needed it.
‘’I don’t like this idea’’ Alaric shook his head. ‘’The inhibitor is the only thing protecting her from absorbing unwanted energy. Do you remember how much drained and exhausted she was when she inevitably absorbed other people’s energies? Their emotions? She wasn’t herself’’
‘’So by blocking them all out we’re protecting her?’’ Bonnie stepped in. ‘’Every time that Josie gets hit and drowned by energy waves so strong that make her have panic attacks and throw up, we’re protecting her?’’ She somberly chuckled. ‘’I’m sorry, maybe we were protecting her a while ago when she needed it, but that’s not protection anymore’’ She drew her eyes to Caroline. ‘’We’re limiting her’’
‘’You don’t have to agree with it’’ Caroline turned to Alaric. ‘’Not right away at least’’ She added more to herself before searching for Alaric’s eyes’. ‘’But I’m not making my daughter believe she’s a problem and burden to us’’
Alaric huffed and turned around, he poured a glass of whiskey and sat on the sofa before looking at Caroline and Bonnie again, an annoyed expression on his face. ‘’And how do you plan on taking things from now on without her wearing her bracelet?’’
Goddamn, how much Caroline hated that expression but she just shrugged and smiled, her confidence growing back up. ‘’We’ll teach her’’
Alaric raised his eyebrows, amused. ‘’Yeah? Who’s going to teach her? As far as I know, the only other siphoner like this is locked up in a prison world and even if he weren’t, I wouldn’t want him near Josie’’
Caroline glanced at Bonnie, a question on her face but Bonnie just innocently smiled.
‘’I can think of someone who might’’ She shrugged, standing up from the desk and walking towards the coffee table where she had left her phone earlier.
---
‘’So, how do you do it?’’ Hope asked, her blue eyes looking even lighter.
It was well past curfew now but both of them absolutely did not care.
Josie was starting to come to the conclusion that having her parents as headmasters wasn’t as threatening as it seemed when she was younger. Alaric hardly ever paid attention to her anymore and Caroline was almost never home. Even if she had been home for the past weeks, it still didn’t feel like a threat to break curfew now or even get caught.
Josie was sure that she wouldn’t even bat an eye if they got caught past curfew outside of the school.
Besides, how could she even care about something so insignificant as curfew when she was once again sitting at the dock in front of Hope?
After Josie retreated her hands from Hope’s and ending whatever energy that was flowing through them by putting on her bracelet again, Hope decided that she wasn’t done for the night just yet and asked Josie to follow her after standing up and heading to the woods as if she knew exactly her way through it. Maybe she did, considering this was Hope’s chosen woods whenever she wanted to wolf out.
So that’s what got her to the dock, sitting in front of the Mikaelson girl still staring at her with that marveled expression on her face. As if she couldn’t quite believe yet. Their positions resembled the way they were sitting on the sofa a few minutes ago and that made Josie shyly smiled, while back then Hope’s attention was on recalling a memory from the past and being mostly dazed by it... Right now it seemed that the tribrid’s full, undivided attention was on Josie and honestly, Josie would be lying if she said that it wasn’t making her way too nervous to easily handle.
‘’I don’t exactly know’’ She tucked a loose strand of hair behind an ear and then slightly shrugged, looking away. ‘’I just figured it out’’
Josie could see Hope warily eyeing the bracelet before she drew her eyes back to Josie’s. ‘’I want to try something. May I?’’ She signaled to the bracelet with a nod.
Josie extended her wrist in front of Hope, looking straight at her and trying to swallow the lump in her throat. Had she even been this nervous before? She didn’t think so.
Hope carefully took Josie’s hand and lightly wrapped her own around it while the other started to play with her bracelet once again, examining it. ‘’This is nice’’ She admired it, turning it around. ‘’Who gave this to you?’’
‘’My aunt’’ Josie said. ‘’Bonnie’’
Hope bit her lip and looked at Josie again, as if asking for permission to unclip it. Josie slowly nodded and took a deep breath, holding it while Hope unclipped the bracelet and only letting it go as the energy waves were lightly getting to her.
There was something about the dock that was always calming to her, as if she had stumbled upon some secret and sacred place made only for the faithful, for the believers of some unknown force that rules the universe or something like that, Josie didn’t quite know how to put it into words, but she only knew that the dock’s energy was too pure.
Once her vision cleared and she could see the white mist of the dock and forest, her attention shifted to Hope, admiring how her aura was still glimmering. She smiled, her eyes taking every inch of Hope’s colors.
‘’I can’t feel it’’’ Hope said, confused. She adjusted her hold on Josie’s hand but still, her brow furrowed further. ‘’Are you doing something?’’
Josie frowned. ‘’I’m not... ‘’ Then realization hit her. She hadn’t been actively transferring it to Hope even if Hope was still loosely holding her hand. Maybe she needed to want to transfer it? ‘’Hold on, let me try something’’
Josie closed her eyes and did the same thing she did back in the Old Mill: Sensing the dock’s signature energy and focusing on the weight and heat of Hope’s hand on hers, wanting to share it, wanting her to feel it as well.
She opened her eyes, watching how Hope’s eyes widened and she held her breath, her eyes tracing every part of the dock. Josie thought she was probably seeing the white mist.
‘’What about now?’’ Josie muttered.
‘’Everything’s so… delicate’’ She said, sighing, still looking around. ‘’What does the white mist mean? It’s not a normal mist, it’s more like… Angelic?’’ She raised her eyebrows in confusion and Josie couldn’t help but think she looked so cute being so.
‘’It kinda is angelic’’ Josie explained, staring intently at Hope while she was still looking and studying the mist. ‘’It means that this place is directly receiving too much energy from a pure source. That source, of course, is nature. Everything that deeply belongs to nature or is connected to a powerful, divine source, has a white mist all around it’’
Hope turned to look at her, her eyes impossibly lighter. ‘’Like in the bayou?’’ Her voice was small and careful.
Josie squeezed Hope’s hand in reassurance. ‘’Like in the bayou’’ She repeated, nodding. ‘’What exactly did you see or sense that day?’’
‘’Uh…’’ She cleared her throat and weakly smiled. Josie immediately knew that it was a sore subject for her.
‘’I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me anything about it if you don’t want to’’ She was quick to add.
‘’No, no- It’s okay’’ She weakly smiled again, not making eye contact. Hope cleared her throat and licked her lips. ‘’I don’t know, but somehow I’m getting the feeling that you’re silently actually asking me to completely trust you?’’ Her cheeks turned red at the admission.
‘’You are?’’ Now it was Josie’s time to be confused.
Wait, what?
‘’Yeah’’ She narrowed her eyes in concentration. ‘’And now you’re confused… as to why, aren’t you?’’ She said with a full blown smile.
Josie blinked, a lump making itself known in her throat. Oh god, could Hope also be getting people emotions as well? That was bad. Bad.
Her smile turned into giggles. ‘’Now you’re nervous’’ More giggles. ‘’Why are you nervous?’’
Josie pouted and looked away. ‘’Stop. You’re having way too much fun with this’’
‘’Why am I getting these emotions? They’re not mine, how do I know how you’re feeling if I concentrate enough?’’ She narrowed her eyes again, Josie noticed the faint blush in her cheeks.
‘’Because I can do that’’ Josie cleared her throat. ‘’I can sense people’s emotions, feelings, auras if I concentrate on it. So I guess that you can as well if I’m-’’ She squeezed Hope’s hand again. ‘’Transferring it to you’’
Hope nodded and looked at their hands. They weren’t intertwined, they were just softly laying one top of the other. ‘’You’re not siphoning from me’’ She observed, still looking at their hands.
‘’No, I’m-’’ She was cut off when she felt Hope carefully caressing the inside of her palm. Her fingers slowly tracing the lines of her palms. ‘’-not. I figured it was kind of the opposite of siphoning. I don’t want to take from you, I want you to take from me’’ She said, her cheeks reddened at her own statement but Hope only chuckled.
Hope suddenly shot her head up and tilted it, brow furrowing again. ‘’Wait, auras?’’ She asked.
Josie stared blankly at her. Huh?
‘’Huh?’’
‘’You said auras’’ She raised her eyebrows.
‘’Uh, yeah…’’ Josie cleared her throat. ‘’Do you know what those are?’’ Hope stared at her as if saying duh. ‘’Right, well I can see auras too’’
‘’Teach me’’ Hope said, tracing Josie’s face with her eyes, her fingers still caressing her palms.
Josie swallowed. ‘’Right, uh…’’
‘’What?’’
‘’It might seem a little bit difficult the first time. You’ve got to concentrate… on me and only me’’ Her heart was picking up speed and Josie was only hoping for Hope to not be concentrating on emotions right now cause that might be embarrassing. ‘’Then after a while, you’ll probably see some layers of color around me. You should be able to see maybe three or four layers?’’ She frowned. ‘’If you can’t see that many it’s okay, with time you see more layers though so no pressure’’
Hope raised an eyebrow, Josie could sense how her attitude had changed as if letting her know that she accepted the challenge. She didn’t expect less from the tribrid, of course Hope would take this as a challenge.
Hope redirected her eyes to Josie’s, looking straight at them with her brow furrowed. Josie was sure she might have a heart attack any second now with the way that her heart was beating if she kept staring at those impossibly light blue eyes. And while she was at it, Josie took the time to trace Hope’s facial feature with her eyes, from her jawline to rosy lips to her flushed cheeks and finally her eyes again.
‘’Stop’’ Hope whispered, her voice breathy. Josie tilted her head. ‘’I can’t concentrate if you keep doing that’’
‘’Doing what?’’ She innocently asked, feeling her entire face oddly hot.
She pointedly looked at Josie. ‘’Close your eyes. You’re not helping’’ She commanded in a voice that let Josie know that it wasn’t up for discussion.
Josie smirked and closed her eyes, biting her lips after. She knew she was being stared at and it was making her heart go crazy, the fact that Hope was absentmindedly still tracing lazy patterns on her palm didn’t help her case.
‘’I knew what auras were, I never thought I’d be able to actually see them’’ She heard Hope muttering after a few minutes. Josie opened her eyes to see Hope with her own eyes being glazed over. ‘’You shine in yellow, pink and green’’ She added with a dumbfound smile. ‘’I can see three layers’’ She raised an eyebrow.
‘’Nice’’ Josie smiled. ‘’What’s my dominant color?’’ She teased.
‘’Right now? Pink’’ Hope easily answered, tracing Josie with her eyes but Josie knew she was actually looking at the colors. ‘’What does pink mean?’’
‘’Right now?’’ Josie asked, swallowing. Hope just nodded.
Shit.
‘’Um…’’ Ah damn, why did it have to be pink? ‘’Well pink is normally associated with the heart chakra’’ Josie explained.
‘’Uh-huh’’ She motioned for her to continue.
Josie looked around, avoiding eye contact. ‘’It also has positive qualities of a person that’s always kind or gentle, caring and thoughtful, you know, things associated with the heart. So it’s green. And well, Yellow is just bubbly’’
Hope nodded. ‘’Okay and what does it mean right now that that’s the dominant color?’’ Hope insisted, tilting her head.
Ah, shit. How could Josie tell her that pink being her dominant color as of now could possibly mean the other qualities of the color pink: longing, romance or even love could enter that context.
Goddammit. She thought she was keeping her yearning of being too close to the tribrid and holding actual conversations with her, in check. Turns out, she hadn’t and there was little to nothing to cover it up. Maybe she could lie and hope for the best? Or perhaps just avoid it altogether?
‘’Want to try something else?’’ Josie said instead, hoping for Hope not to notice the abrupt change. She stopped playing with Josie’s hand and Josie immediately missed it, even though her hand was still on top of hers’.
Hope frowned but before she could say anything else, Josie pushed them both from the edge of the dock.
Darkness and the pressure of the water immediately surrounded her and she held on tighter to Hope’s hand even after they made it to the surface. Hope’s eyes widened and then narrowed the moment she spotted Josie again.
‘’Hey!’’ She complained.
‘’I’m sorry’’ Josie apologized, not really meaning it, a smile lingering on her lips. ‘’But we’re at the dock. I just couldn’t let it pass’’
‘’Let what pass?’’ Hope asked, frowning.
‘’Don’t you feel it?’’
‘’Feel what?’’ She whined.
She was getting closer to Josie in the water and when she was close enough, Josie intertwined their hands and closed her eyes, actively putting all of her efforts in transferring it to Hope. All of the water’s raw and unfiltered power. All of its force and mighty.
The moment Hope sensed it, she let out a gasp and furrowed her brow in concentration again. ‘’It feels like a rush of magic, a powerful one’’ She muttered. ‘’Is this how you feel when you siphon from a magical source?’’ Josie nodded, her eyes fixing on her lips for a moment before looking away. ‘’How…’’
‘’I think I told you?’’ She whispered. ‘’Everything that’s directly and deeply connected to nature as its source is way too powerful, way too divine’’ Josie added, swimming a little bit closer now. ‘’Though somehow…’’ She swallowed and before she could lose her nerve: ‘’When I siphoned from you, it felt way too much more powerful than all of this. So figure that one out’’ She smiled and swam away to the dock’s edge, a smile lingering on her face.
---
Hope performed a simple spell to dry them off the second they were out of the lake. Josie knew Hope was offended at her for throwing her into the lake in the first place, but she could also tell that Hope was amazed at it and maybe even flustered as well.
It was all making her heart feel way too unstable.
She also noticed Hope’s aura colors glimmering even more, the colors looking alive again. Mostly, the ones that expressed her current emotions. Those were lightly shining and Josie couldn’t stop grinning every time she glanced at them whenever she focused.
‘’Uh, Josie…’’ Hope muttered after a while and Josie glanced at her, biting her lip.
‘’Yeah?’’
They were walking back towards the school, maybe it wasn’t midnight yet but surely it was close enough to be.
‘’About the bayou-’’ Hope continued with a small voice while putting her hands in the back of her jean pockets. ‘’Thank you’’ She sighed.
‘’What for?’’ Josie stopped walking, cocking her head to the side.
She had yet to put her bracelet back on and they were almost at the entrance of the school now. Josie saw some lights on through the glazed windows, which seemed weird to her but her attention was solely on Hope.
Hope also stopped and turned around. ‘’This might sound kind of weird but that night, I think…’’ She trailed off and looked away. ‘’I think I sense my parent’s energies?’’ She shrugged. ‘’I don’t know, you know when you’re so accustomed to someone that you just know they’re behind you or next to you without you having to confirm it by looking at it?’’
Josie nodded and sadly smiled, looking how Hope was starting to nervously fidget with her rings.
‘’Well, that night when the wolves were howling, I saw the same white mist surrounding the bonfire. And everything felt tense and heavier and I could’ve sworn I felt them… hugging me?’’ She slightly shivered. ‘’I don’t know but um, thank you- for that’’ She looked away before focusing her eyes on the floor.
Josie carefully walked up to her and even more carefully put her hands on top of Hope’s fidgeting ones. Trying to convey calmness and tranquility with her touch. Hope looked at her through her eyelashes and Josie’s heart stopped for a moment. So much blue should be illegal.
‘’It’s okay’’ She reassured her, squeezing her hold before letting go.
Hope took a deep breath and then nodded. ‘’Oh and for the record’’ She sighed before smiling adorably. ‘’I don’t know why exactly, we haven’t been really friendly with each other before, but uh-’’ She swallowed, her cheeks flushing. ‘’I do trust you’’
‘’I trust you too’’ Josie smiled, staring intently at Hope. Noticing how flustered and nervous she was.
Interesting.
‘’We should probably-’’ Hope said, awkwardly signaling the entrance of the school with her thumb.
Josie blinked out of her dazed and nodded. ‘’Ah right, yeah. Wouldn’t want to get caught by my parents’’
Hope chuckled and resumed walking, but when she opened the back entrance of the school (the one she knew it wasn’t protected by alarms because it was designated for her only for whenever she was feeling like wolfing out in the middle of the night, or so she had assured Josie a few minutes ago), she immediately stopped, making Josie abruptly collide with her back.
‘’What's wrong?’’ Josie asked.
Hope replied by just nodding to the scene unfolding in front of them.
But Josie felt it more than she saw it actually: Rage, anger, was that betrayal? Disappointment. Wanting to hit her fist over and over again on someone’s nose and don’t stop until her knuckles hurt and they were bleeding. Restlessness. Worry. Excitement.
...Which was what was happening at the moment. Two wolves were fighting, one of them throwing punches mercilessly and the other was a mess of a swollen face and bloody nose. Some people, wolves as well (maybe 5 or 6) were around them, some cheering and others worried out of their minds.
It was all too much, too many emotions, too many different ones hitting all at once and Josie couldn’t take it anymore. Her heart started racing and her chest felt heavier by the second, making it impossible to breathe. Her vision was a blur of dancing colors.
She could faintly hear Hope calling her name but all Josie could register was the rage, the anger, the worry and excitement. All different. All blending together. All too strong and making her feel sick to her stomach.
She tried to move but stumbled upon someone, was that Hope?
‘’Bracelet’’ Josie weakly muttered. Or at least, tried to. She wasn’t quite sure if she did say the words out loud though. ‘’B-Bracelet’’ She repeated just in case.
Then, everything stopped spinning and all the emotions and everything else were gone as if switching off a lightbulb.
---
It took a while before she could come back to herself though, her vision was still blurred and her heart was beating too fast.
Josie took a deep breath, tightly shutting her eyes closed. Wait, was she on a sofa? How did she get there?
‘’...-Obviously not okay’’
‘’... -To take it off for good’’
‘’-Have to learn.... -Not happening again…-’’
Josie could hear muffled voices but her brain was still too foggy to function. Slowly, she opened her eyes and turned her head, spotting her mom pacing back and forth, her dad was around as well and her aunt Bonnie was sitting a few feet from her, watching Josie carefully with concerned eyes.
‘’Hi’’ Josie offered sleepily but then she frowned and scanned her eyes over the place again. They were at her mom’s office. How did she get there, and most importantly, where was Hope? ‘’Where’s Hope?’’
‘’She left a while ago’’ Bonnie said. ‘’We had to send her back to her room, it was getting too late’’
But before she could ask her aunt more questions, she felt herself being suffocated by her mom’s hug and then, she had Caroline looking at her with a scolding expression.
‘’You had us worried!’’ She frowned. ‘’Thank goodness we heard about the fight and came down the moment you and Hope were getting into the school. Also, what were you doing outside the school way past curfew? Josie! You know the rules! No getting out of the school past curfew! You’re my daughter. You have to set the example for the other students so you can’t be the first one out to break them!’’ She sighed and crushed Josie into another hug again.
Caroline let her go after a little while and Josie sighed, still feeling kind of weak and leaning into her mom’s side.
‘’But I’m glad you’re okay now’’ Caroline added. ‘’There’s something we need to talk to you about’’