Chapter 1
She knew that she had to jump. It was the only way to end all of this, to save the people that she loved. Her grip on Clarke’s arm was firm, there was no way for him to escape. She took a deep breath and glanced at Landon’s unconscious figure one last time. He was the love of her life, sure to be the hardest goodbye. But as she threw herself and Clarke into the dark abyss, she had only one thought.
Josie.
*
Hope awakens in a daze. She’s surrounded by an expanse of darkness that stretches on for, as far as she can tell, forever.
She’s inside Malivore.
She feels her throat tighten, and before she can get a handle on herself, she feels hot tears flooding down her cheeks. A small sob escapes her, and soon she’s on the ground again, crumpled in on herself, crying so hard she can barely think, barely breathe.
Everyone had forgotten her. Despite everything that had happened in her short life, all the loss and heartbreak and tragedy, she had always had someone there to comfort her, someone to fall back on. But now, for the first time in her life, she was really and truly alone.
Hope spent the next few weeks (Were they weeks? They felt like weeks. She had no way of knowing for sure.) thinking about her friends and family, trying to find something to fill the gaping hole in her chest.
More often than not, she found her mind wandering to the brunette witch she had recently become so close with. She felt so lucky to have had Josie as a friend, though it ended up being brief.
Hope had always wanted to get closer to Josie, ever since she started at Salvatore when she was seven. She was too shy to do anything but watch the girl from afar, though.
She loved everything about Josie: her kind and caring nature, her stubbornness and bravery, her smile, the way her eyes turned almost gold in the sunlight. Josie had always been so beautiful. She must have been jealous, she could never seem to get the girl out of her head.
She remembered how thrilled she was the day that her and Josie ended up picking up trash together. She was so nervous, she was getting butterflies in her stomach. Her heart leaped every time she made the brunette laugh, even if it had ultimately cost her a trash pick through the foot.
She thought fondly of all of their movie nights, their study sessions, every moment she got to spend with the siphon. Josie was the best friend she’d ever had.
She thought about the night that Josie had confessed to burning down her room, how she couldn’t even be mad, couldn’t really even give it a second thought because Josie had had a crush on her and that was all she could focus on. She didn’t know why that revelation meant so much to her. Her friend had had a crush on her as a kid, so what? Unless…
No. There was no way. Hope did not have a crush on Josie. That was impossible. She didn’t even like girls like that!
Right?
Sure she thought Josie was pretty, but who didn’t? She had the most gorgeous eyes and most amazing lips and her sense of style just suited her perfectly and…oh fuck.
She needed to talk to Freya.
But she couldn’t. Even if she could get to Freya, she didn’t know that the tribrid existed.
Then, it hit her. She reached into her pocket and dug out the prism that the twins had let her borrow to talk to Landon. She had still had it on her when she jumped in the pit. She placed it on the floor and watched as Freya materialized in front of her.
“Aunt Freya!” She nearly yelled. “How did you know you were gay?”
“Well, hello to you too.” Freya replied, clearly caught off-guard.
“How did you know?” Hope demanded again, borderline panicking.
“Hope, honey, I’m not real. I’m a figment of your subconscious, I can’t give you details of Freya’s life that you don’t know.” She explained gently. “But you don’t need me to. It’s okay to have feelings for a girl, sweetie. You know that I love you the same no matter what. Always and forever.”
Hope can’t stop the tears from spilling down her cheeks. She missed her aunt so much, and she so desperately needed to hear that she was loved, even if it wasn’t really from her aunt.
“Just talk to her, Hope. Not even Malivore could contain a Mikaelson, I know you’ll find your way back to her. Tell her how you feel. Any girl would be lucky to have you.” Hope stepped forward to hug her aunt, but was quickly reminded that holograms couldn’t be hugged. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, as if to compensate for Freya’s absence.
“I love you, Aunt Freya.”
“I love you too, Hope.” And with that, the simulation of her aunt vanished, leaving Hope to wonder if that was the last time she might ever hear those words from her. She quickly pushed the thought from her mind.
Instead, she activated the prism once again, this time coming face-to-face with the object of all of this confusion.
“Josie.” The tribrid whispered.
“Hope.” She replied with a sweet smile.
“I miss you.” The older girl confessed. “I miss you more than anyone else.” Josie’s cheeks flushed pink and she smiled at the floor bashfully.
“Josie, I think I have a crush on you.” The redhead admitted weakly, directing her eyes towards the floor.
“Of course you do. You fell in love with me the day you met me. You haven’t stopped thinking about me for a decade.” She stated matter-of-factly.
Hope blushed deeply and stuttered out, “How did you-what…?”
“Hope, I am you.” Josie reminded the flustered tribrid.
“Yeah. Right, sorry. Caught me off guard. Continue.” Hope mumbled.
“Why didn’t you ever say anything? You knew how I felt about you.” The brunette inquired.
“I didn’t know how I felt about you. I mean, I did, I just didn’t know what it meant.” Hope explained.
“And now that you do?” Josie asked, hesitantly.
“Josie, the second I get out of this hell-hole, I’m coming straight to you. And I know you won’t remember me, but I’ll fix that, I’ll find a way to bring it all back. I won’t stop until I do. I want you, Josie. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make you mine.” The tribrid said breathlessly. “I love you, Josette Saltzman. And I’m sorry I was too blind to see it earlier.”
“I love you too.” The brunette replied, her brown eyes wide and sincere. “Oh, and Hope?” The tribrid looked up at her, inviting her to continue.
“You already know the way out of here.” The younger girl remarked. She was met with a confused look.
“Hope, one of the things I admire most about you is how hard you try to trust people, even though I know it’s scary for you. I know trust is so important to you, and I know how much it hurts you to admit to yourself that people are breaking your trust.” Josie began, reluctant to continue.
“But you need to let go of Clarke. I know that deep down, you want to believe that he’s on your side. You like it that he says he’s protecting you. But he’s not. He’s the reason you haven’t been able to leave. Malivore is trying to spit you out. When he grabs onto you, he’s not trying to keep you safe. He’s trying to escape with you.” Josie explained, trying to break the news as gently as possible. “I’m sorry, Hope. I know this hurts a lot more than you’ll ever let on. I’m here for you, though. I always will be.”
“I guess I needed to hear that.” Hope admitted. “I guess, deep down, I knew it. I just didn’t want to believe it.” She took a shaky breath, then got to her feet.
“Goodbye, Josie. I’m gonna go find the real you, now.” Hope said, the corners of her lips being tugged ever so slightly upwards.
“Goodbye, Hope.” She whispered, vanishing without a trace.
Hope slipped the prism back into her pocket, and began to wander around, hoping to find another portal. She turned in a slow circle, ensuring that Clarke was nowhere near her, then yelled into the void, “Hey Malivore! Could you, uh, send me a portal? I wanna leave!”
Absolute silence. She felt ridiculous, trying to convince a sentient prison to spit her out.
“I’m all alone. Just me. No Clarke. Let me out!” She shouted. “Please.” She added through gritted teeth.
Suddenly, she felt the air around her swirling quickly, and saw a rapidly expanding light above her head.
“Huh.” She remarked to herself, surprised at her success. This time, she didn’t try to resist, and she found herself being slowly dragged towards the portal.
“Wait! Hope! Don’t leave me!” She heard called from behind her. She turned to see Clarke, in a dead sprint towards her, and ran as quickly as she could towards the opening. She jumped as high as she could, the winds carrying her the rest of the way and dumping her on the grass in the middle of the twilit town square.
She barely wasted a second trying to get her bearings; She was on her feet in an instant, half-running in the direction of the Salvatore School. She had to get to Josie.
God, it was times like this when she wished she was a full tribrid. Vamp speed would really come in handy right now.
An impossibly long 15 minutes later, a winded Hope reached the gates of the Salvatore School, unabashedly sniffing the air for Josie’s scent. When she caught a whiff of the brunette’s unmistakable vanilla, she took off running once again, weaving in and out of the trees in the back woods that she knew so well, until she came upon the tree line by the Old Mill.
Just in time to see Josie heatedly locking lips with Landon.