Hope is finishing packing up the van Dr. Saltzman got for their trip. Rather than traveling to Fort Valley, Georgia as the Oneiroi insisted to Alaric, they decided to visit an abandoned Triad data facility in a town called Maple Hollows. Dorian was able to find it for them.
"Shotgun!" Kaleb makes his way into the front passenger seat of the car, before anyone can argue.
"Hope, you're sitting by me. I've got this new magazine, and you have to help me pick out something for mine and Jo's birthday party." Lizzie is already flipping through pages.
Josie gives her sister a confused look, "Lizzie, that party isn't for a while. Why are you already looking for a dress?"
"Dear sister, it's very important to have every detail of the night planned far in advance. Not that I would expect you to understand that." Lizzie looks to Josie, slightly judgmental.
Josie opens her mouth to fire back at her, when Hope steps between them, resting a hand on Josie's hip, "Okay, I'll sit in the middle. Where's MG and Cleo?"
"Right here!" MG comes running up to them, a few comic books in his hands. Cleo follows right behind him. The two of them get into the furthest-back seats. Lizzie, Hope, and Josie find their seats in the middle row. Alaric and Kaleb sit in the front.
"Whoop, road trip!"
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"Okay, I give up. We've been at this for 2 hours, and none of these dresses are right."
Hope and Lizzie have been flipping through the pages of her magazine, examining each and every dress, but none of them are as exquisite as Lizzie would like.
Josie stopped trying to help a long time ago. Her head rests on Hope's shoulder, ear plugs in her ears, eyes closed. She gets carsick easily so she's trying to relax as much as possible. It also helps that Hope has been holding her hand the whole time, rubbing circles over its back side with her thumb. She takes her ear plugs out, thinking she is relaxed enough to rejoin the conversation.
"Wait, I have an idea," Hope pulls out her phone, going to her camera roll. She scrolls for a moment before landing on the photo she's looking for. She turns her phone toward Lizzie, "What do you think of this one?"
Josie watches as Lizzie's jaw drops to the floor, she audibly gasps, "Hope, this is literally the most elegant gown I have ever seen. How the hell do you even own something like this?"
Josie looks between them confused, and Lizzie takes Hope's phone, turning it toward Josie for her to see. Josie's eyes pop out of their sockets. It's a beautiful pale blue jeweled dress.
"My aunt used to be kind of obsessed with ball gowns and top tier parties. This dress is at the manor in Mystic Falls. You can wear it to your party if you want."
"This is perfect. Thank you, Hope."
Hope gives her a smile before turning her gaze to Josie, "You feeling better, love?"
Josie nods, "Yeah, how much longer till we're there?"
Hope looks toward the GPS, "Um, like an hour maybe."
Alaric looks in the rear view mirror, "Great, now that you're all up and awake, let's run through some of the material for your exams coming up. Hope, you're first, Capital of Indiana?"
"I learned that in like, 8th grade."
"Great, then you should know it."
"I never said I absorbed the information I was taught." Lizzie chuckles at that.
Alaric gives her a pointed look through the mirror, "If you can't handle grade-school geography, then you're gonna flunk all of your exams."
"Why am I the one receiving a pop quiz, shouldn't you focus on your students' grades instead of mine?"
"If you were my student, I wouldn't have to ask so many questions about your studies. I'm very confident in the way I run my school."
Josie looks over to her girlfriend. She does want Hope to enroll at the Salvatore School, but she also knows that Hope has friends back at Mystic Falls High who she probably wouldn't want to leave behind. Football season just ended, so that's not an obligation anymore. Regardless, she tries not to push Hope too much.
Hope lets out a defeated sigh, "Indianapolis is the capital of Indiana. I'm acing geography, chill." Hope looks at the GPS again, "Take the next left."
Alaric turns, then continues with his little pop quiz, "Alright, Indiana is surrounded by what four states?"
"I thought we just established that I'm dominating geography."
"Fine, then let's move on to science."
Hope rolls her eyes, knowing there's no way of getting out of this since they're all trapped in the car. The rest of the passengers just find this whole conversation amusing.
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Once they are about 5 minutes out, Hope sits up in her seat, suddenly a little more enthusiastic, "So Dr. Saltzman, how are we gonna get in this place, hmm? Fireball? Wind torrent?" Josie finds it adorable how excited Hope is getting about breaking into this place.
"I was thinking we'd knock."
Josie watches Hope deflate back into her seat, before responding sarcastically, "They'll never see that coming."
They park outside of the facility. It's quiet, no sign of people. They exit the car, Hope walking a bit in front of everyone else, leading the way inside through a door on the side of the building.
Lizzie looks around, "I'm surprised there aren't any guards."
Right on cue, another door opens, and a man comes through, rushing towards them. Once he's close, he reaches to pull a gun from his holster. Before he can even get the chance to aim it, Hope grabs his wrist, twisting it until it cracks. The gun falls to the floor and the man hunches over in pain. Hope takes the opportunity to grab his head, bringing her knee up to it with enough force to break his nose. Even through his pain, he reaches up with the arm that isn't broken, trying to grab at Hope. She pulls him into a headlock, holding on until he loses consciousness and falls to the floor.
Alaric walks up to the man, concerned, "You didn't kill him, did you?"
Hope continues walking, leaving the students stunned. They've seen her in action, but each time they feel more impressed with her skill, "No, I set a goal for myself today: Don't kill anyone."
Josie then feels someone grab her shoulder, rather harshly, "Ow!"
Hope turns around, using a spell to blast the new guard against a nearby wall, releasing his grip from Josie and hitting his head pretty hard. She knees him in the stomach, but feels that this guy is a bit stronger than the one before. She looks into his eyes and sees that they're glowing, werewolf.
She sighs at the inconvenience, "Bloody hell."
She kicks him once in the face, then uses the momentum to swing her body up, wrapping her legs around his neck. She stabilizes herself, placing one hand on the wall before twisting her hips, effectively snapping the wolf's neck. She effortlessly removes herself from his neck as he falls to the ground.
She turns back around to see the students and Dr. Saltzman looking her way, stunned and speechless. She lets out a deep breath, "Yeah, no worries. I got it."
As she walks back by them, Alaric pokes fun at her, "What was that about 'not killing anyone today'?"
"Shut up."
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They make their way into a large room, lined with many rows of file cabinets.
MG looks around, "Maybe we should split up."
They all nod, and Lizzie separates everyone into groups, "Okay Cleo, Kaleb, dad start over there. MG and I will go to the other side. Josie, Hope look around here."
Hope agrees, "Okay. And if any of you get into trouble just...scream." It's kind of a natural response to being in danger, but it's also the most effective way for Hope to find them.
They all go toward their respective sections.
Hope takes the opportunity to check on Josie, "Is your shoulder okay, Jo?"
"Yeah, it's fine. Just a little sore."
Hope nods, placing a sweet kiss on Josie's shoulder before heading towards a file cabinet, leaving Josie with a smile plastered on her face.
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Cleo is searching through files, just a few feet from Kaleb and Dr. Saltzman. She finds one from almost 18 years ago, and she opens it up. It looks like Triad thought they found a weapon to kill Malivore at the time. She scans the file quickly, picking out a few words and phrases, "Unnamed Mikaelson baby...Tribrid...killed instantly after birth." The file runs cold after that. Her shoulders sink. She thought for a moment that she actually found a lead.
She snaps a few pictures of the file with her phone before placing it back in the cabinet. She doesn't see the need to tell the others about it, since this possible solution was killed almost 18 years ago.
"Dr. S, I think I found something on Malivore." Kaleb takes his file to Alaric to let him look.
"This is information from 5 centuries ago. Malivore was in a village by the Niger River. Says here that he took a witch, the 7th daughter of a 7th daughter, and used her to satisfy his hunger for monsters when there were none left in the world. Triad found out that Malivore divulged a new plan that went against theirs, and they trapped Malivore's consciousness and the witch in the artifact titled Project Pandora. His physical being was melted, creating a pit of mud in the New World."
Cleo hears Alaric reading over the file, and does a non-verbal spell, causing all of the papers in the files to disintegrate.
"What the hell?" The three of them hear voices from Hope and Josie's section, and make their way back over. When they get there, the rest of the students are gathered, confused about what happened to all the files.
"Did you guys find anything before the files were destroyed?"
Hope and Josie shake their heads. Same with MG and Lizzie.
Kaleb looks bummed, "Well, we found something, but it dissolved before we could read far enough to learn much of anything new. We already knew that Malivore's consciousness was trapped in the artifact, but now we know that the Muse was from the Niger River Valley, 5 centuries ago. And Malivore's body was melted into a mud pit."
Hope looks completely fed up with the situation, "Great, so we're looking for a mud puddle now."
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They all leave the facility after that. It's pretty late in the day, so they stop to eat in town. There's almost no people, due to the time of day. It makes the town pretty peaceful.
Once they're done eating, Cleo, Kaleb, and MG make their way to the van, while Alaric, Josie, Lizzie and Hope run into a shop that Lizzie just had to look around in.
After she's done with her browsing, they walk back out toward Main Street, where the car is parked. Suddenly, Hope hears a buzzing sound. Like, a really loud buzzing sound. "Do you guys hear that?"
They're all looking around, Josie turns to Hope, "Yeah, but I don't see anything." Suddenly, a swarm of flies comes around the corner of a building, headed right toward the four of them in the street.
Hope puts her hands up, casting a spell, "Incendia." Engulfing the insects in a fire.
Lizzie shrugs, "That was easy."
Josie looks ahead, "Guys..."
The three of them turn their heads to look at her, "there's a mummy on Main Street."
They follow her gaze, and sure enough, a mummy is making its way for them. A new monster.
Alaric plants himself in front of the girls, "Dr. Saltzman, get behind us."
"No, I have to protect you girls."
Hope looks at him like he's got 2 heads, "Uh, no offense, but you're kinda man-spread in front of 3 powerful witches."
He turns his head looking at the three of them before nodding, "Good call." He moves behind them, and Hope takes the twins' hands in her own.
"Repeat after me—"
Before Hope gets a chance to say the spell, Lizzie is coughing up bugs. They all three look at her concerned. Josie grows anxious, "Hope, we need to do the spell before—" Hope then starts coughing, producing the same bugs that Lizzie is.
Shit. Josie quickly brings her hands in front of her, thinking back to the non-verbal spell Hope taught her the first week after they met. A fire spell.
"Imagine a flame in front of you. Focus on the feeling of warmth it brings...the waves of light radiating from it..."
She does this just as she had on that night. Suddenly, there's a flame in the palms of her hands. She takes in a sharp breath, before blowing into the flame, sending it towards the mummy, setting him ablaze, reducing him to a pile of ash.
Hope and Lizzie pick themself up from the ground, thankful to Josie.
Hope makes her way over to the mummy's chest piece, and Alaric studies it, "The mummy will come back if it isn't destroyed."
"Here," Josie takes it in her hands before turning to Lizzie, "Let's siphon the magic from it."
Hope and Alaric watch as Josie and Lizzie place their hands on the chest piece, their hands glow as they remove it's magic. Once they are done, it turns to ash, falling through their fingers to the ground.
"All done."
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They all arrive at the hotel they are staying in for the night.
Alaric has gotten their room keys from the front desk, "Girls in one room, boys in the other."
Hope carries Josie's bag and her own up the room, since Josie hurt her shoulder earlier. Lizzie heads to the guys room to take a shower, she said they have warmer water. Hope takes the first shower in the girls' room, Josie getting in second. While Josie is in the shower, Hope takes a seat at the small table by the window in their room. Cleo leaves the room to get more towels from the front desk and to check if there was a vending machine for snacks. Hope receives a text from Lizzie saying she's staying in the other room for a bit before coming to bed.
Josie walks out of the bathroom in a tank top and her pajama shorts, patting her hair dry with the towel. She looks around the room, landing her eyes on Hope, "Where's Lizzie and Cleo?"
"Cleo is getting towels and snacks, Lizzie is in the guys room, reading comic books with MG before coming to bed."
Josie nods, tossing her towel back into the bathroom before walking over to Hope, straddling her lap and wrapping her arms around her neck, "Why are you over here and not in bed?"
Hope places her hands on Josie's hips, "I think I'm going to stay up tonight, just in case another monster decides to show up."
Hope can still sense discomfort in Josie's shoulder, so she slides a hand from her hip to her shoulder, massaging away the tension there. Josie sighs as she feels her muscles relax, "You know, you kind of saved our asses today against the mummy."
Josie smiles, "I just used the spell you taught me the night of our first party together."
"I noticed, you did it perfectly too." She gives Josie a proud look.
Josie sighs, "At least today wasn't a complete bust. I still got to be with you."
Hope looks at her girlfriend lovingly, glancing down at her lips. Josie takes her bottom lip in her mouth for a moment before whispering, "Kiss me."
Hope does just as she's told, leaning in and colliding her lips with Josie's. She rest both of her hands on her hips once again, pulling Josie closer. As the kiss becomes heated, Josie slides her arms from around Hope's neck, allowing her hands to rest on Hope's shoulders. Eager to take advantage of what little alone time they have, Josie slides one hand lower, massaging one of Hope's breasts through her shirt, and grinding her hips further into Hope's.
Hope grips Josie's hips tighter at the sensation, moaning into her mouth. Josie pulls her lips away, only to reattach them to Hope's neck. She can feel Hope tilt her head to give her more access.
It's these details that give Josie more confidence. Hope is such a strong being, always in control, never submissive to anyone. But for Josie, she'll listen to her desires, moan for her, and give her more skin to claim.
Josie brings her lips back up to kiss Hope's lips again, pushing her tongue into her mouth, aching to feel her tongue again. She moans when Hope reciprocates the action, "Fuck, Hope."
Josie's breathing is irregular as Hope places her hands under Josie's ass, guiding the thrusts into her own hips. Josie grabs the hem of Hope's shirt, ready to pull it over her head when there's a knock on the door.
Their lips disconnect. Hope stands to her feet, holding Josie up and around her waist, trying to catch her breath. She slowly lets Josie's legs slide down, her feet hitting the floor. Josie is definitely a mess right now, trying to recover from getting so worked up. Her legs are shaking slightly, but somehow she's still able to stand.
Hope walks over to the door, pulling it open. Lizzie and Cleo make their way inside. "Jo, come on, let's go to sleep." Lizzie drags Josie to their bed, and Cleo makes her way to the shower.
Hope sets herself back down in her chair, feeling Josie's absence from her lap.
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The next day, they're making their way home. They have to drive back down Main Street to get to the highway, but they see the road blocked off.
Hope sits up in her seat, "Dr. Saltzman, it's the Triad logo."
Alaric scans the area, "They're cleaning up the mess from the mummy and the bugs, they're covering it up."
Hope sees a guy looking in the direction of their van. He's tall and slim, with curly dark hair. She pulls out her phone, opening the camera and zooming in on his name tag, Ryan Clarke.
"Looks like we're gonna have to take a detour."
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Note: When I originally wrote the plot to this story, it was not a Hosie story and was supposed to have only 20 parts. However, I quickly realized the story wouldn't make sense without a romantic connection, and Josie being that connection for Hope made the most sense to me. That being said, the extra material I've added about their relationship will probably result in more chapters.
This story is also a combination of many different things. Yes, it has material from Legacies, but it also has infused experiences from my own life. I never disclose what is from my own life, but I hope that the combination of stories and emotions can provide you with something enjoyable and real.
I hope you are enjoying the story so far! Thanks for reading!