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I can barely comprehend Josie’s words. There is just too much. I can hear every heartbeat and I can smell the blood coming from the fresh wounds. All I want to do is tear into everyone here, expect for Josie, and drain them. I have to get out of here. I vamp away from the battlefield to the lake. I’m on the dock, just far enough way from everybody that the bloodlust quiets down. My vampire side has been triggered somehow. I always knew my vampire nature would activate one day. I just always thought my parents would be here to help through this. I need someone. I pull out my phone and dial.
“Hey, kiddo. What’s up?”
“Marcel, I’m…I’m…a hybrid.”
“What! How? Are you ok?” The panic in his voice is clear even with out my enhanced hearing.
“I don’t know. There was a fight, we won and then everything was too loud and I wanted to tear through everyone. I need help or I’m going to kill a lot of people.”
“Ok, I assume you already got away from everybody. So now you need find something to focus on.” I can hear my Aunt Rebekah, she just walked in. Her voice is a clear to me as if she was standing right next to me.
“Don’t tell Aunt Rebekah.”
“Don’t tell me what?” That’s right vamp hearing.
“I got to tell her kiddo.”
“Hope?” That’s Josie, I can’t tell if she is back at battleground or closer. I turn around and there she is.
“Stay back! I don’t want to hurt you.” I can hear her heartbeat, but unlike earlier it doesn’t make me want to drain her dry. It’s calming.
“I’m not going anywhere. I trust you. You won’t hurt me.” Her voice it’s drowning everything else out.
“Kiddo, who’s that. They need to get away if you can’t control the bloodlust.” That’s right I was talking to Marcel.
“It’s Josie. I think she is helping. I feel calm with her here.”
“Ok then just make sure you keep more people from showing up. And if you feel like going for her neck just run away. Josie, that’s your girlfriend right?”
“Yeah she is. And I promise I’ll run the moment the bloodlust comes back.” I won’t hurt Josie. I can’t hurt Josie.
“Hope. Who are you talking to?”
“Josie, you need to stay back I don’t trust myself right now. And you need to keep everyone else back. You might not look like lunch to me, but everyone else does. And I’m talking to my brother, Marcel.”
“You have a brother. I didn’t know that.” Of course she doesn’t I don’t really talk about my family.
“Yeah I figured my crazy family structure was more second date material.” That earns a small laugh.
“Maybe, but I love learning more about you, Hope. I have always known more about you than most. I really liked that growing up. You were Hope Marshall to everyone else, but I knew your real name and what you were. But, as I got older I realized I really didn’t know that much about you. And I realized how lonely you must have been to have to hide everything about yourself. So I sneaked down to the library and read everything I could find on your family.” I didn’t know she cared or paid that much attention to me before. It makes sense caring about people is just who she is.
“None of that really paints my family in a good light.” Before she can say anything M.G. shows up.
“I found y’all.” Josie grabs him and tells him what is going on. It takes a little convincing, but he eventually speeds off to inform the others.
“Hey Kiddo are you still there?” That’s right Marcel is still on the line.
“Yeah. Sorry, I was focusing on Josie.”
“It’s alright. If she helps keep you centered, then great. Listen me and Rebekah are in Paris right now. The soonest we can get to you is tomorrow, but we called everyone else and they are all flying in. Freya, Keelin, and Vincent will be there in a few hours. Davina and Kol will be there sometime tonight. Just hang on until we get there. And try to get a few blood bags, once you feed a little that should help.”
“Ok, and Marcel, I love you.” My family might not have always been the best about expressing our feelings, but after losing half of us we all try to be better about that.
“I love you too, Kiddo. We will be there soon.” I hang up the phone and turn back to Josie.
“Can you send a message to someone to get me some blood bags. And make them human blood. I need to feed.”
“Ok give me a second.” She pulls her phone out and sends a text. “Now where were we?”
“You reading books about my family.”
“Yeah, none of books really make your family out to be the best people. One day my mom caught me. I told her what I was doing and why. And I asked her…I’m sorry I ever said what I said…but, I asked her how she could let someone from that family in our school. And she told me about the good she had seen in your father and the rest of your family. She down played her relationship with your father, but I was eleven so that was probably a good call.”
“I don’t blame you for what you said. My family hasn’t been the heroes exactly.” They haven’t there is no way around that fact.
“Maybe not, but your parents sacrificed themselves for you and from what I have heard your family saved New Orleans more than a few times. So maybe they aren’t the villains exactly either. I would like to learn about them from you.”
“Yeah I would like that too.” M.G. comes back holding an armful of blood bags. Look like ones for the local hospital. I wonder how they got that many. And I wonder how M.G. is doing being around that much human blood. But, can barely focus myself with all that blood. M.G. comes over to me with the blood. He drops it at my feet and vamps away. I guess the blood is too much for him. I rip into the blood bags draining every drop of blood. Marcel was right the blood helped. Everything is still a little much, but it is more bearable without the bloodlust making me crazy.
“Did it help?” Great my girlfriend just saw me destroy at least ten blood bags in seconds. I must have looked like a monster. If I did Josie shows no sign of being revolted by me.
“It did. Sorry you had to see that.”
“It doesn’t bother me. My is a vampire remember and you’re my girlfriend. Seeing you drink blood isn’t going to change anything.” I love this girl. I can’t believe how lucky I got.
“Ok let’s go back to the school we have some stuff to figure out.”
“Before we head back do you want to see if you can still do magic?”
“I hadn’t even thought about that.” I turn to the lake and say the same spell Josie did on our first date. Suddenly thousands of water butterflies start forming. And they keep forming. I cancel the sleep and the water pours back into the lake like rain.
“I think you went overboard a little.”
“I didn’t mean too. That should have only been enough to a hundred, max.”
“Has your magic been amplified like your senses?”
“I don’t know. Maybe my aunt Freya can figure it out. By the way we need if figure how to tell your dad my whole family is coming.”
“That is going to a fun conversation. But, don’t worry I got your back always.” That makes me smile. We walk back to the school hand in hand. Dr. Saltzman ends not putting as much of a fight about my family as we expected. Marcel was spot on with the arrival times. Freya, Keelin, and Vincent show up first, with my baby cousin. Normally I would be picking the little guy up and giving him a big hug, but I’m afraid I will crush him if I do.
Freya and Vincent do some spells to check and make sure I’m fine. Everything checks out. When we told them about my magic. They spent an hour do every spell they could think of to see what was happening. The best they could figure being a vampire enhanced my magic as well as my senses. So what feels like a little bit of magic to me is actually a lot of magic. That is going to take some getting use to. It all is really. Davina and Kol show up around 9 p.m. and Kol ask me a bunch of question to see how bad my bloodlust is. He doesn’t think it is too bad and tells me to get some sleep that will help and he will make sure I have some blood for the morning.
When Marcel and Rebekah arrive in the morning it is much the same as with Kol they ask me a lot questions. Marcel says that latter we will test out my abilities to see what I can do. It’s nice having everyone be here, but I still wish my parents could be here. There not just my parents they were also hybrids so they would understand what I am going though more than anyone. Marcel is the closest I have to a hybrid and even he still isn’t going to fully understand.
The next month is filled with training and test. My strength and speed are on par with an original. Shifting is somehow easier than before, not by much, but still easier. It takes nearly the whole month before I can get any kind of control on my magic. And honesty that still needs a lot of work. One day for fun we tried to see if I could compel vampires. I ended up making M.G. hop on one leg for ten minutes. I tried to see if I could do the same to Kol, but no such luck. The best anyone can figure is since I was born a vampire the original spell didn’t get diluted like with siring. Also because I was born a vampire I didn’t need to die, I just needed blood to turn. And since I didn’t have to die to become a vampire I can still do magic. The fact that I can do everything an original can probably means only a white oak stake can kill me, but we decided not to test that.
The best part about my family being here is watching them interact with Josie. Everybody loves her, how could they not, and she loves learning about their lives. And getting embarrassing stories about me. Kol and Marcel are the worst, telling every story they can think of. Unfortunately, they couldn’t stay forever. The sheriff has been on edge ever since they arrived and they do have lives to get back to. Freya, Keelin, and Vincent head off first with each of them tell me to call if I need anything. I give my cousin hug goodbye and then they are gone. Davina and Kol leave the next day, they tell me they left a grimoire in my room. I thank them and hug them goodbye. Marcel and Rebekah tell me they found a place nearby and they will be staying there for the next few months and that it is only an hour away.
A few days later Josie ask me out for a date this weekend. We had put off our second date so I could deal with everything and I couldn’t be happier to finally get to go on it. We were studying in the library for Josie’s history of magic test on Friday. Everybody was in there with us except for Dr. Saltzman. Suddenly a being shimmered into existence. We all jumped to our feet ready to attack. This creature was tall and pale green. It had yellow eyes like an insect and wings to match. The hair on it’s head was spikey and dark green with random colors in single hairs. It reminds me of spider hair. When it spoke we could clearly see the rows of sharp teeth.
“Fear not. I will do you no harm.”
“Sorry I don’t trust bugs. I squash them.” Penelope says in true Penelope fashion.
“You can believe me. I am a fairy. We do not lie.”
“Ok then why are you here if aren’t here to kill us?” I don’t trust this thing. Everything I know about fairies tell me trusting them is a bad idea.
“Oh I am simple here under orders. I was told to have fun. So from now until you kill me, no one can lie. And must answer any question asked. Also not talking won’t get you out of this. Silence just means you will spill all your secrets. To make things fair I won’t leave the grounds.” With that it shimmers out existence it’s laugh echoing in the room.
“Everyone spilt up. Anyone with secrets they don’t want somebody to know get as far away from them as you can. But, we will still stay in teams of two.” We spilt up in to teams again this time M.G., Penelope, and Rafael go off together and Lizzie and Landon team up. Me and Josie stick together. There is no secret I am keeping from her that I wouldn’t tell her anyway.
“Hope we need to go to my father. He needs to know what is going on. And I want to ask him some questions.” I can tell she didn’t want to say that last part.
“I agree and whatever you want to ask I got your back, always.” She gives me a big smile. And we start running to Dr. Saltzman’s office.
“Dad. There is a fairy in the school. It cast some spell that makes us tell the truth. All we have to do is find it and kill it to end the spell.”
“Ok. You girls need to get out of here then.” He is already starting to sweat and I can hear his heart beating faster. There is something he doesn’t want to tell us.
“We will I just have some questions first.”
“Josie, please don’t.”
“No, you are keeping secrets from us. Like why is mom gone?” I thought she was recruiting, but then again if that was the case she wouldn’t have missed the twin’s birthday.
“Caroline is looking for a way to stop the merge.”
“What is the merge?”
“It’s a Gemini thing. The coven’s leader is chosen by two twins performing the ritual during a celestial event after they turn twenty-two. You and Lizzie would have to merge your magic and then whoever wins gets everything.”
“So one of us will have magic and be the leader and the other will just be human?”
“No, the loser gets absorbed. Their personalities merge and the winner is in control.” Josie drops to her knees with tears spilling out and her hand over her mouth to cove the sobs. I drop down next to her.
“Has she found anything to stop this from happening?” I ask him.
“No, nothing has panned out. She has been chasing every lead for years. And we have found nothing.”
“What happens if they don’t do the merge?”
“The coven needs a leader. Without one the entire coven dies. That’s what happen when their uncle became leader and killed himself to become a vampire.”
“Why would he do that?”
“He was a siphon too. The coven considered him an abomination and deemed him unfit to lead. His parents knew he would bet Jo so they kept having kids until they had another set of twins. Kia went mad and killed everyone, but his father, Jo, and the twins. Everything gets more complicate after that.”
“If he became their leader why did he chose to become a vampire?”
“Because he found out that siphons when they turn can still do magic. Because they siphon magic they don’t have anything to loose when becoming vampires. And they can siphon from themselves. So they are vampires and witches at the same time.”
“Then why not just turn Josie and Lizzie?”
“Because I don’t want my daughter becoming vampires.”
“Hypocrite, you run a school for the supernatural, but you clearly think some of us are better than others. Or at least more human.” Josie has stopped crying.
“Dad, you can’t keep hiding things from us. Especially when our lives are on the line. So no more secrets from now on.”
“Ok, no more secrets. Now we need to go and find that fairy. This school is full of teenage supernaturals and right now they can’t lie. The longer this goes on the more likely fights are going to break out. And students will die.”
“Any plans on how to take down the fairy and stop it’s spell without killing it?”
“Hope, why do you want to keep it alive?”
“Because, it can’t lie. I know we can’t trust it, but if we question it we should be able some useful information out of it.”
“Hope’s right dad. Do you have any ideas?”
“Well from what I know about Fairies iron should do the trick for capturing it. And the anti-magic shackles in dungeon are made of iron. And it should cancel the spell.”
“Ok I will go get them. Josie go with your dad and try to find the fairy.”
“Ok, be careful, I love you.” Did she just say what I think she said?
“You love me?” I hate how small my voice just sounded.
“Yes, I love you, Hope. I have been wanting to say that for awhile now.”
“I love you too. And you be careful too.” I give her a quick kiss and vamp off to the dungeon.
It doesn’t take me long to find the anti-magic shackles. By the time I got back to Josie they had found and cornered the Fairy. I vamp over and attach the shackles. The Fairy screams out in pain. Bright red burns seem form were the iron touches it’s skin. With it captured all that is left is to find out if the spell has worn off or if we need to kill it.
“Dr. Saltzman how do you feel about Emma?”
“Why would you ask me that?”
“Because I knew you wouldn’t want to answer that. And since you didn’t the spell over.” Josie gives me a victory kiss and this time I get to savor it. At least until her dad clears his throat.
“I’ll take this thing down to dungeon. You two go and find the others.” After Dr. Saltzman leaves with the fairy I start to head off to find the others.
“Hope wait.”
“What is it?”
“I want you to turn me into a vampire.”