Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Once upon a time there was a princess, who's life was in danger. Her parent's were planning to send her away, with a trusted family member, to keep the princess safe.

They trusted a witch to do a spell on the child to make her untraceable, so their many enemies could never find her. But that faith was miss trusted, for after the spell, the witch whisked the child away, to where she thought she would be safe.

She gave her to a knight in shining armor and his damsel to keep the child safe, for she was innocent in a cruel world, born into a cruel family, and she viewed nothing would change the family. And so she grew up, not with her biological family, but family none the less.

The deal was to never tell the girl where she came from, not even that they weren't related, so the girl would grow up far away from the monsters that go bump in the night, like her biological family.

And this is where our story begins...

|| Hope Salvatore's POV ||

I feel the sun hitting my face, my eyes slowly blinking open. Did I seriously forget to shut the blinds last night? Too lazy to care, I just pick my pillow up and place it on top of my head so I don't have to face the world. 

I hear my door creak open, quiet footsteps on my floor. So not Mom or Dad, that only means one other person:

"Hopey! Wake up!" Stefanie says, jumping onto my bed, before jumping onto me. How are we related?

"No." I say as quickly as I can, holding my pillow down onto my face. This day is not here yet. This day will never come, I never wanted it to come- so why the hell did it have to come? This is the day we put all of our things (that aren't already) into boxes and then get into the car and never look back. When we get into the car, we turn our back on Mystic Falls, only communicating with out friends by our phones. 

The day we move and leave our childhood home behind.

I feel Stefanie bend down next to me, sneaking her head under the pillow to whisper, "Don't make me get Dad."

"Shut up."

"Hey!" She rips the pillow off of my face, only to throw it back down.

"If that's how you want to play this-" I grab the pillow she used against me and jump onto her, pinning her to the bed. She squirms out from under me like the worm she is and grabs my other pillow, wacking me with it. I use my pillow as defense and offense, before the door creaks open again.

"Hey Dad..." We say, frozen in the act of attacking each other. He shaes his head, letting out a laugh.

"Get your asses ready for school, okay?"

"Yes sir-" Stefanie jumps off of my bed, running out of the door. I quickly stand up myself and walk over to my barren closet, picking out one of the two outfits left in it. I carry it in my arms to the bathroom, turning the shower on and undressing. I do my whole morning routine by pulling what I needed out of boxes or using some of the travel items Mom and Dad got in an attempt to make our lives easier. So, once I've finished drying my hair and putting the hairdryer back in the boxs, I walk down the familiar stairs for one of the last times to the very familiar site of Dad making pancakes and Stefanie already digging into one with the 'hilarious' vampire faces Dad always put on them. Him and Aunt Bonnie always laugh over them when she comes over, so I'm guessing it's an inside joke he just can't seem to let go of. 

"Hey there, Princess #1! Come on, I made your favorite! Blueberry pancakes." Dad says, putting some different pancakes onto a paper plate.

"As delicious as it sounds... I'm almost late for school." Grabbing an apple, I walk up to Dad and kiss him on the cheek, grabbing a piece of the pancakes he made for me, before walking out the door. I get into my magnificent red car, otherwise known as my baby. The thing I would sacrifice Stefanie to get back. Happy 16th birthday to me indeed. 

Arriving at school, I grab my bag from the passanger seat and walk into Mystic Falls High school. Going to my locker, then my first period. And then my second period. Then my third, then my fourth, then to lunch. Where I sit by myself... and then my fifth period, then my sixth, and finally my seventh. I clean my locker completely out and walk towards my car, taking the longest route possible. But, in the end, I still made it. Fuck.

I pull into the driveway next to Dad's Camaro, being careful as to not hurt the car in anyway. Dad and Stefanie stand at the top of the driveway, Dad's eyes focusing on my car and how close it is to his. I seemingly passed his test, as when I got out of the car, I wasn't greeted with any yelling of how I hurt his car. I simply put my hands up, as all three of us walk up towards the door. Dad has a smirk on his face... oh no, what has he planned-

"SURPRISE!" A loud shout comes from in our house, being filled with all of family members. And when I say all, I mean absolutely everyone. There is Mom (who must have gotten off work early), Aunt Caroline, Aunt Bonnie, Ric (I mean, he was Mom and Uncle Jer's guardian for a while, but... well, lets just say we're not allowed to call him grandpa), Uncle Matt, Uncle Jer, Lizzie and Josie, as well as a bunch of people that if I'm honest - I don't reconginze any of their faces. Hanging up behind the group is a banner, reading 'Sorry You're Moving', along with a cake that says the same thing - Elizabeth Saltzman at her best everyone. Everyone stands there, staring at us, before Stefanie makes a sprint towards a group of the unknown faces, everyone letting out a laugh and getting out of their awkwardness from the surprise. I walk across the room, going to hug Lizzie and Josie.

"We're never letting you go." Lizzie whispers in my ear, Josie nodding from the other side. Letting out a tiny laugh, we all sneak up to my room and sit on my air matress.

"Who allowed you to move anyway?" Lizzie whines, pout on her face.

"I'm not sure. Who do my parents need permission from?"

"Us." Lizzie says way to quickly, Josie just rolling her eyes at her sister.

"Then you better let them know before tonight-"

"No- no, no, no- do not even put that idea into Lizzie's head." Jo warns, holding Lizzie by her shirt as Lizzie attempts to stand up. "Let's just focus on something else... Like, how you're going to call us everyday."

"You better, or else I'll hunt you down..." Lizzie says, crossing her legs on the bed as she pouts, before quickly turning to a smile. "Make sure to tell me about every single hot guys and girls you meet at your new school."

Laughing, I nod and agree to the conditions of moving. Two rules aren't that bad.

"That way we can make it like you never left. We can facetimes and do our movie nights like we always do."

"While that sounds amazing - that won't make moving away from the Mystic Grill any better." I force a smile, but I obviously don't hide my feelings (and feelings other then the Mystic Grill) well. Jo immedately hugs me, Lizzie following her not long after. 

Staying up all night, we just talk, and talk, and talk. We try and keep our minds off the time passing by and bringing us closer to the dreaded 6 A.M. Stefanie popped in around 10, and joined us until she fell asleep and we had to carefully carry her back to the room so we can talk as loud as we want to. All three of us fall asleep at certain times, before waking up and continuing our coversation. 4 A.M. comes around, Mom asking for help moving all the boxes into the moving truck. We unfortuantely agree, all standing up and carrying as many boxes as we can at one time, making many trips back and fourth.

And then 5:45 A.M. comes around, and we all stand in front of our empty home, no eyes dry. Mom hugs Aunt Bonnie and Caroline before hugging Uncle Jer, Dad hugs Ric, Stefanie hugging a few of her friends who showed up, and I hug Lizzie and Josie as all three of us try not to cry. 

"I'm going- going to call you every single day, okay?" I take a few break as I try and keep my tears in my eyes, both of them just nodding from either side of me. We don't let go until 6 A.M. on the dot, Mom gently pulling us apart. I get into the backseat of my Dad's Camero, Stefanie sitting right next to me. The wheels slowly start to move, backing us out of the driveway for what seems to be the last time, all of our family and friends standing at the top of it. We wave goodbye for the last time, before we follow the moving truck down the street and onot the highway, leaving Mystic Falls behind.

California here we come.

Chapter Text

"I feel glorious, glorious,
Got a chance to start again,
I was born for this, born for this
It's who I am, how could I forget"

'Glorious' by Macklemore

|| Hope Salvatore's Point of View ||

My eyes slowly open again, my back killing me as I turn onto my side. Boxes surround me, being my barrier from the world... which seemed like a great idea, but now I cannot get out from inside the castle walls. Well, at least this gives me an easy way to find an outfit to wear.

It took me 10 boxes before I finally came accross the one with the outfit Lizzie had picked out for me a few days ago, as well as my backpack. At least I'm making her proud already. I put the ripped jeans on with the maroon shirt, stepping over the maze of boxes to reach my door. My backpack is slung over my shoulder as I walk down the brand new staircase, finding the sight that is what I see every single morning, but today it's... well, it's different. I mean, it makes sense, we're in a brand new house, but I thought that-

"Princess #1! Is today the day you finally sit and eat pancakes with your sister?" Dad cuts off my train of thought.

"Sorry, I want to get to school early and get my schedule." I walk through the kitchen, kissing his cheek, grabbing an apple, before walking out of the door and seeing my beloved waiting for me in the driveway. I really hope she doesn't think I cheated on her with the long drive in Dad's car yesterday. 

After buckling in, Stefanie follows me and opens the passanger side door, "Dad told me to get a ride with you today."

"Dad did, not me-" I try, but she sits down in the passanger seat nonetheless. I roll my eyes, before packing out of the driveway and using google maps to find our way towards the school.

𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋

Pulling into the first open parking spot I see, I use the skills I've learned as to not hit the broken, blue keep that is in the spot next to me. I pity whoever drives that... I wonder how much duct tape went into it. I grab my bag from the backseat, Stefanie grabbing hers too, before we walk into school as a duo. The school is pack, kids at their lockers or just chatting in the middle of the hallway, seemingly 10x worse then Mystic Falls high. Now, to find the office. I have two options: Talk to someone and ask for direction or go it on my own with Stefanie. 

"Don't you have directions on your phone?" Stefanie 'whispers' over to me, but the crowded hallway makes it a hell of a lot louder then a whisper. I slide my phone out of my pocket and immedately start searching for it, but people entering behind us force us forward and force us to continue walking down the hallway. I get pushed into one person inparticular, and instead of just brushing past them, I end up falling down and landing on my ass, my phone having flown out of my hand. The guy catches it, before extending a hand to help me up.

"I'm so sorry-" I slowly take his hand, him pulling me out of the way of the major traffic so he can hand me my phone back in peace. 

"Don't worry about it." He says, his head cocked to the side. "If I were to guess, I'd guess you're new here?"

"That obvious? Wow, I guess I need to get better at covering that up." He lets out a chuckle.

"I'm Scott."

"Hope. And, you wouldn't by chance know where the office is, would you?" 

"Why yes I do, would you by chance need to know where it is?" He jokes with a smile, making ne roll my eyes and let out a tiny laugh.

"I would."

"Well, if you go down the hall and take a left turn, it would be the first door on your left."

"Thank you so much."

"Anytime." He gives me another smile, before walking towards the direction of his next glass (best guess), and I walk accross to the otherside of the hallway where Stefanie was hiding. 

"Come on." I grab her arm and follow Scott's direction, heading down the crowded hallway, taking a left turn, and then walking into the first door on the left side of the hallway. We enter the tiny room to find a single desk, an older lady with the cliche glasses on. "Hi there... I'm Hope Salvatore, and this is my sister Stefanie. We're here for our schedules..." I ask as polietly as I can, giving her a smile. But she barley looks my way as she turns around towards her filling cabnit, causing me to bounce on the balls of my feet.

"Here." She places them down on the desk with a weird aggression.

"Thanks..." I can barley hear my own voice as I take a step forward and grab the paper she gave us. One is my schedule and locker number, and the other is Stefanies. I hand her hers, before we salute each other away and attempt to find our first classroom.

According to my schedule, my first class is English with a Mrs. Blake. At least it's not a name I'll have an issue remembering. I walk into the room after a brunette and a strawberry blonde, being the last person into the classroom. I just keep my head down, trying not to get into anyones business and make someone hate me this early on, before I notice only one seat open. The seat in front of Scott. Well, at least it's someone I know... it could be worse. I give him a smile, before sitting down in the chair and waiting for the class to start. After a minute, my phone goes off. Correction, every single student in the classrooms phone went off. 

"The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed sombre under an overcast sky - seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness." The teacher walks in, reading the words from the text.

"That is the last line of the first book we are going to read. It is also the last text you will recieve in this class. Phone's off everyone." Mrs. Blake instructs, causing me to turn my phone on mute but not quite off. I mean, what she doesn't know won't hurt her...

We start our lesson, but that doesn't last long. The principle walks into the room and tells Mrs. Blake something, causing her to call out Scott McCall's name. He gets up from behind me and walks to the front of the classroom, having a chat with Mrs. Blake, before leaving. And now I know no one in this class. And as we get back into our normal lesson, a murder of crows fly around outside, before heading straight for the classroom and breaking through the window. Everyone hides under their desks, but that doesn't stop the birds from diving towards us. Dead or alive, the birds end up giving me a few cuts, the biggest one being a large cut on my arm. This town is obviously cursed...

On the plus side, at least I don't have to go through the rest of the school day here. I'll ask Dad to pick Stefanie up later - I'll do a face mask or some shit.

𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐑

I press down on the home button, telling Siri to call Lizzie and Josie. It's about 9 here, so it should be about noon there. Hopefully they're at lunch- and all my worried are gone when they pick up.

"Hope? Shouldn't you be at school?" Jo asks, as I hear the crowded Salvatore School cafeteria in the background. 

"Yeah, I definitely should be. But this town decided to have a murder of crows fly through my first period English classroom. So, yay."

"Wow..." Is all Jo manages to get out.

"What happened?" Lizzie comments in the background, the sound of chairs scraping on the ground in the background. Jo fills her in, and she has the same reaction her twin had.

"Yep. So now I get to just go home and relax. Although, luckily - I was able to meet ONE person. And only one person."

"One?" Jo asks me, and at the same time Lizzie says, "Where they cute?"

"Sorry Lizzie, I had other things distracting me from their cuteness."

"Aw damnit."

"Ignore her, are you okay?" Jo asks me, Lizzie saying some protests in the background.

"Yeah, just a few tiny cuts." I lie, before I hear a loud bell ring from their side of the phone.

"We unfortunately have to go... Talk to you later?" 

"Hell yeah." I say, before hanging up and letting them get to their next period.

𝐀 𝐅𝐄𝐖 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑

I start my run through the woods, careful to not trip on anything as I listen to music in my earbuds. After 20 minutes of peace, I see some blood on the forest floor, leading deeper into the woods. I take my headphones out quickly, so I could try and hear if anyone was coming after me. I know this town is cursed and I really don't want to die in it within a few months of arriving here. I hear a whimper from where the blood leads, and against all my better judgement, I walk slowly towards the sound. I see an animal pulling an animal trap along, the animal trap cutting deep into their leg. I take a few small steps towards them, getting a growl in return.

I can't just leave them here... Fuck, I'm going to get eaten alive aren't I?

"I'm not going to hurt you... I promise..." I try and croutch down by the animal, but they just lunge at me and attempt to take a bite out of my skin. Luckily, my reflexs beat the injured animal. Sighing, I slowly stand up and slowly back away, before sprinting back into town as quickly as I can. I head to a petsmart, buying some dog food and dog treats (it's my best guess, okay), and sprint straight back to the animal.

Luckily, the animal is still there, and whimpering in pain. 

"Hey..." I say in the sofest voice I can, crotching down by them again. Meet by growls again, I open up the bag of treats and take a few out, tossing them towards the animal. Suspicous, they sniff them for a few seconds, before taking a bite of one, and then eating them all. Smiling, I toss them a few more. They don't hesistate this time, eating them all.

"That's better, right?" I take a few more steps towards it, stopping when they growl again. Slowly, I take a few more treats from the bag and toss them to them. Rinse and repeat, i get as close as again - if they growl, i stop and give them a few more treats. When I get close enough, I dump more of the treats onto the ground and let them eat as many as they want to, as I focus on the trap... well, trapping them. I grab a stick from the ground next to the two of us and pry the trap open with a grunt from me and a whimper from the animal. The animal is finally free, and I gently pick them, holding them in my arms like a baby. I walk back towards the house, making a plan in my head: I'll hide them in my room, look up how to help fix their leg and feed them. Yep, great plan- totally not a lot of different ways this can go wrong.

I don't even fucking know what animal they are...

𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐄𝐖 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑

A coyote. I saved a coyote from a bear trap and she is now cuddled in the pillows on my bed. That's just peachy. But, I've done this much, I'm not giving up now. If I die, at least I'll be freed from the cruel existance. I ran to Target and Petsmart again as soon as I made sure they were comfy and had a human bandage on their leg to get what I'd need to make a homemade cast for the little girl. Luckily, I found a .gov site to help me, so I wasn't just listening to an insane person on the internet. I also grabbed the cutest food and water bowl for her, along with a few toys. A lot better then the woods, right?

I've named her Baby, because I took a guess and just said she was a baby coyote. I think she's too big, but I'm not changing the name, I am way too emotionally attached. I gave her a bath about an hour ago, and that's how I know that she's indeed a girl.

I am going to be killed in my sleep by her, aren't I?

But, she is my best friend in this town and the only thing I like about it. I mean, I hate the crows and I hate a lot of the teachers, but Baby is... well, my baby. A+ comfort level, and A++ cuddles. 

𝐀 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑

I tuck Baby under my hoodie and sneak out the backdoor, before slowly placing her down onto the ground, sitting down next to her.

"So, I guess this is goodbye, huh? I hate goodbyes..." I whisper, petting her head as she cuddles into my lap for the last time. "I bet your excited to go home, huh?" Baby licks my hand that was petting her, before slowly getting out of my lap and walking onto the path that I found her on, walking until I can't see her anymore.

𝐀 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑

I put in my headphones and put my hair up into a ponytail, before starting my run down the familiar path. I continues my run, slowing down a little when I see the familiar spot. I slowly walk past it, turning my music down incase I hear anything. At least now I know I'm not walking by a serial killers hide out.

Suddenly, something runs against my leg causing me to jump up and then fall down onto my ass.

"Fuck!" I shout, slowly sitting up. I look at an... I think apologetic looking Baby (although she is a coyote, and it's hard to tell). I let out a little laugh, before getting onto my knees and hugging her. "Hi there..."

𝐀 𝐅𝐄𝐖 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑

I toss and turn in my sheets, unable to get comfy at all. No matter what position I lay in, no matter how long I close my eyes, I just can't seem to find sleep. Or, well, I guess sleep can't find me. 

I open my eyes for what felt like the 100th time, rubbing one with my hand as I stare outside my window and up at the stares. I slowly slide out of bed and open my window, taking a few steps out onto the roof. I take a few deep breaths, closing my eyes and just letting the star light shine down onto me.

I hear some footsteps behind me, but I'm not scared. It's probably just Stefanie, or Mom, or Dad. No one to be scared of... No one else would climb onto my roof just to murder me or attack me. It is two stories after all.

I feel a hand slide onto my hip, before I feel their breath on my neck. Stefanie is too short to do this, and I can only hope neither of my parents would do this. I open my eyes, but I can't seem to bring my body to move away from this person.

"So many secrets... So little time..." The voice says right into my ear, his breath making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

"Who are you?"

I gasp awake, finding myself still in my bed. Still cuddled up in my sheets, the curtains on my windows closed.

𝐀 𝐅𝐄𝐖 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑

Life's been as normal as ever. Baby loves to cuddle, inside or outside of the house, I call Lizzie and Josie every day per our deal, or go to school. Granted, going to school isn't my favorite thing in the world, but it's not the worst either.

I especially find History class entertaining. And today, we're getting a brand new teacher. I cross my fingers as I walk to my seat towards the back of the room, hopeing that he's good at what he does and that he's entertaining while doing it.

"I'm Mr. Yukimura. My family and I moved here three weeks ago. I'm sure by now you all know my daughter, Kira. Or you might not, since she's never actually mentioned anyone from school or brought home a friend for that matter." The new teacher, Mr. Yukimura says. The girl next to me head goes down, in embaressment, and all the students in the room heads turn in their direction. And as her dad points her out, she looks up in shame, giving everyone an awkward wave.

"Sorry you haven't made any friends yet." I whisper towards her, her dad begining his lesson.

"It's whatever..."

"Don't worry, my only friend here is... doesn't go to this school."

"Oh. Are you new here too?" I nod, smiling at her.

"I've been at this school for about 2 weeks and I currently have talked to 1 student in total." 

"2 weeks?" Her eyes are wide, and I just give her a smile.

"Yep. How about we help each other?" I suggest with a smile, holding a hand out under our desks to shake and offically make the deal.

"First friend group... Honored to be a fonding member."

"We'll have to change the name if we get more friends." We both let out short laughs.

After class, Kira stays for a little while after class to talk with her Dad. And, as members of the first friend club, we have to stick together, right? So I wait outside and people watch, all of the insane students in these hallways. I notice Puppy, also known as Scott/dude who helped me day 1, standing by his locker with a friend... An oddly familiar friend. I think I might have a few class periods with him. Oh! And I saw him get into the horrid jeep. While I think my very "complicated" thoughts, I accidently stare at the duo. Meaning Puppy looks over my way, and we make eye contact. Luckily, my reflexes are in my favor and I look away from the duo. I just broke the one and only rule of people watching: Don't get caught. Fuck. I really hope he doesn't come over here and... well, talk to me.

I guess luck is in my favor though, as while he walks away from his locker, him and his friend walk into another classroom. So, while I am really thankful that he didn't come and talk to me... why did they go in their? Oh, wait, they're fucking, aren't they?

My thoughts are cut off my the sound of the door next to me opening, and then the door shutting. Kira looks at me with a smile.

"You waited?" She questions.

"Only friend, remember?" I say. She laughs.

"Only friend." She says before we start walking to our next class.

𝐋𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐇

We walk around during lunch, for the perfect table for us to sit at. Meaning, an empty table not by the bathrooms. Kira seems to walk towards a certain table, so I follow her, but instead I find her eavesdropping on Puppy and his friends table. Which, makes sense, I'd want to understand what the hell went on earlier, but instead - Kira decides to make the worst decision possible and talk to him, along with his group of friends. Staring at her, I rush after her and try to subtly pull her away, to no luck.

"Hey, I overheard your conversation and I think I might know what your talking about." Kira says with a smile, as I stare at the ground and try not to make eye contact with any of them, all of which are now looking at us.

"There's a Tibetan word for it. It's called Bardot. It literally means in between state-the state between life and death." Kira explains.

"And who would you be?" One of the popular girls asks us. See, from my few weeks here, I have learned a few things.

"Kira." Puppy says, everyone now looking at him. At least I'm trying to do it without him noticing. "She's in our history class." He clairifys.

"Bardot in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?" The strawberry blonde asks.

"Both I guess." Kira says, sitting down next to jeep boy. I just keep standing awkwardly by her, wishing this day would have never happened.

"Bardot, there are different progressive states where you can have hallucinations. Some you see, some you just hear. And you can be visited by peaceful and wrathful deities-demons." Kira explains excitedly to them. I take a deep breath and pretend I am invisible and no one can see me.

"Hold on. If there are different progressive states, what's the last one?" Cool Girl #2 asks.

"Death. You die." Kira tells her. The whole table goes silent. I would hate to be anyone going through that. And it seems everyone at the table was thinking the same thing.

Chapter Text

"Gonna hit rewind
Chance to do it over
Get it right this time
Life gives you pennies
Turn them into dimes
I'm in the middle of starting over"

"The Middle of Starting Over" by Sabrina Carpenter

|| Hope Salavtore's Point of View ||

Waking up, I did my normal morning routine. A shower, get dressed, head downstairs and don't eat Dad's pancakes, instead grab and apple, and drive towards school. Although, today, we did have one simple change: I kicked Stefanie out of the front seat so I can pick of Kira and bring her to school too. So, I pull up by her house and she gets into the car, all while her mom stares at us from the door. That's fun.

"Hey!" Kira says, buckling up.

"Hey there!"

"Thank you so much for picking me up today."

"Anytime." And with that, we're back on the drive to school. I park in the same spot as I usually do, next to Puppy's friends blue jeep. Stefanie goes her own way, meeting up with her somehow amazingly massive friend group, while Kira and I head towards my locker. As soon as the bell rings, we head towards History - that of which her dad is teaching. 

"Should I go introduce myself? I mean, he's so cute.. and I so not... and I have stupid research for him..." Kira rambles.

"Hell yeah! You're cute as hell, and if he doesn't like you I can beat the crap out of him anyday for you." I look her up and down, causing Kira to laugh.

"Okay... Okay... you're right. I can do this."

"You got this." I watch as Kira slowly walks over to Puppy, introducing herself. Sure, he already knows who she is, but that only makes this cuter. Rambling as she usually does, he smiles sweetly at her, all the way until she finally gives him the research that she did for him. But she digs through her bag and a panicked look crosses her face - did she forget it?

"You forgot your research you did for that boy you like in the house!" Mr. Yukimura exclaims loudly, and I can see the blush that covers Kira's cheeks. What is with Mr. Yukimura and embarassing his daughter? Kira awkwardly hands the research to Puppy, as I sigh out in relief. She quickly walks back towards her seat, her face as red as the tomato. 

"You did amazing." I say as quietly as possible, her dad starting the class. While he talks about Interment Camps from World War 2, I'm focusing on the more important subject matter: Kira and her crush. Oh my god, I am turning into Elizabeth Saltzman.

"No, I really didn't... That went horribly."

"You talked to him! Progress!" Pointing towards Puppy's seat, he's already going through the stuff she printed out for him.  "And I think that he likes it." She turns her head towards him too, and her blush somehow gets worse, but luckily so does her smile.

"Mr. Stilinski, would you like to read?" Mr. Yukimura's voice cuts through our coversataion, everyone looking towards Puppy's friend, as I refuse to call him Mr. Sti- Stb- Bli- whatever Mr. Yukimura said. I can hear him going to protest, but Mr. Yukimura is quick to cut him off. "Everyone must partake in class, Mr. Stilinski." He slowly stands up and walks towards the podium, awkwardly standing and staring at the book in front of him... and that's all he does. He just stands there and stares for a few seconds, before he seems to become pale and blinks rapidly. He doesn't look okay... He never gets the chance to read, Puppy just standing up and helping him towards the door with a remark of "taking him to the nurses office". But, my gut says otherwise. Before I realized what was going on, my hand was up in the air waiting to be called on by Mr. Yukimura.

"Yes, Ms. Salvatore?"

"Can I please use the bathroom?"

"Normally, I would say yes, but as they just left-"

"It's an emergency, sir."

"...how big of one?"

"Let's just say that I am on my period."

"Okay - You can go but please be back as quickly as you can. I mean- Take your time- but also-" He sighs, "just go." I smile and stand up, walking towards the door and into the hallway. Looking back and fourth, I can't see Puppy or his friend anywhere, nor do I know where the nurses office is to check for them. Adventuring it is. I just walk through the hallways, looking around every corner I can for them, until the bell rings and students flood the hallways again. I make my way back towards Mr. Yukimura's classroom and see Kira, struggling with 4 different bags.

"Oh my god- I am so sorry-" 

"It's not your fault. You wouldn't by chance know where the nurses office is, do you?" She asks, handing me my bag of the 4. 

"I do not... But I can find it, so you're not late to class." Smiling, she nods and quickly drops the bags towards her feet.

"That sounds amazing - thank you so much."

"I would say anytime, but I really hope this doesn't happen again." Laughing, Kira and I go our seperate ways, and I go the opposite way I went before in hopes of finding the two boys. 

"Puppy! Puppy's friend! Are you in here? I have your bags!" I take a few steps into the boys locker room, wincing at the smell. The bell rings again, leaving me alone in the locker rooms as I continue to search the place, doing at least one lap around the whole place. I stare to walk out of the locker room, when I spot a familiar animal in the hallway: Baby. Baby runs up to me, as I quickly drop the bags onto the ground to catch her in my arms. 

"Hey cutie! What are you doing here?" I ask, rocking her back and fourth like a baby in my arms. But, a group of guys enter the locker room from the showers or the bathroom, in their gym outfits, causing Baby to jump out of my arms and hide in the hallway. Leaving the bags behind, I walk closer to Baby in an attempt to hide her from prying eyes. As soon as the boys clear out from the locker room, Baby heads straight into the room and towards one of their bags. Do they have food in there or something? I take some quick steps towards the bag Baby is clawing and nawing her way into, but before I can reach her I feel an hand grab onto me and pull me behind some of the lockers. Going to scream, a hand quickly covers my mouth and their face comes into my peripheral, revealing himself to be Puppy. He doesn't take the hand off of my mouth, instead using his other hand and pushing down the lockers that were to the right of us. Baby runs away as soon as it happens, a doll poking out of the bag. ...a teenager has a doll in their bag?

"...How the hell did you do that?!"

"Adrenaline rush." Wasting no time, he replies, almost too quickly.

"...Adrenaline rush caused you to push over lockers?"

"Yep."

"...whatever... you're such a puppy, I swear."

"What?"

"What?"

"Why did you just call me a puppy?" Confusion crosses his face, making him look even more like the Puppy he quite obviously is.

"Have you looked in the mirror recently? Or heard what you've been saying? Wait, wait- not the point at all- how the fuck did you do that?"

"...What were you even doing here?"

"You forgot your bags in Mr. Yukimura's class, I was looking for you. And don't try to change the subject - how the hell did you do that?" He just smiles at me, shaking his head and walking towards the door. "Hey! That isn't an answer! You're scared Baby away for fucks sake!"

"Baby?" He pauses for a moment, not bothering to turn around, but instead glancing back at me.

"Yeah. That..." I probably shouldn't say Coyote. "That animal that you scared away was my friend."

"...so you're friends with a coyote?" Shit.

"Maybe I am." I hear him let out a chuckle, before he walks away again.

"Oh, one last thing- Not a puppy. My name is Scott, call me that." He leaves his bags behind, avoiding the subject to the fullest. He better come back for them, I'm not bringing them to him again.

"Nope! Your name is now Puppy, you'll never change my mind." I get the last word in, flipping him off as he walks out of sight. Rolling my eyes, I pick up my bag and head to my next class, throwing my bag down and sitting on my lab stool.

"You okay?" My lab partner, Danny asks.

"Well I just talked with an asshat, so-"

"Ah. Yeah, we have a lot of those in this school."

Walking onto the roof again, I stare at the backyard of my house instead of the front yard. But instead of catching the person who came up behind me last time, they simply walk up behind me again. The place a familiar hand on my hip, although this time, I turn my head to face them. Instead of seeing a human being, I see someone with bandages for a face and fangs for claws. No eyes, no nose... and a mouth that can swallow me whole.

"We have a lot to do, Littlest Wolf..."

I gasp awake again, back into the saftey of my bed. Except this time, my window is wide open. I rub my eyes and stare at the window, before I look down at my sheets and see some blood on them. I look around and find a large cut on my forearm, still bleeding.

Chapter Text

" Some legends are told
Some turn to dust or to gold
But you will remember me
Remember me, for centuries
Just one mistake
Is all it will take
We'll go down in history "

"Centuries" by Fall Out Boy

|| Hope Salvatore's Point of View ||

Coughing is what woke me up. It's hard to breath as I try reach to my side table and drink some of the water, my coughs slowly disapearing as I keep my head in my hands. Finally gaining the courage, I look towards the window and find it closed, locked shut. In a rush, I did the last night, before going and putting a bandage on my arm. But when I hear a noise and feel movement coming from beside me, I slowly look over incase the man in the white bandages came back... But, nope, it's just Stefanie. Laying there without a fear in the world. What a loser. Putting my hand on her arm, I shake her slighetly. And then I push.

"Shit!" She makes a thud on the ground, glaring up towards me from her spot on the ground. "You jerk!"

"Says the bitch." I step over her body, but her hand snakes around my ankle and pulls me down onto the ground with her. 

"Girls!" Dad yells from the hallway, glancing in through the door. He laughs a little, coming in and helping us both to stand up on the ground. "Breakfast is ready." Stefanie glares at me all the way out of the door, only stopping when she can't physically look at me. Doing my normal routine, Stefanie and I are on our way to school as usual. We stop by Kira's house again and pick her up, her first question being:

"Did you ever really get their bags back to Scott and Stiles?"

"...his name is Stiles? Well, I offically pity him. Anyway, I did- They're back where they belong." She doesn't need to know everything, right? 

"Hey, what did you do to your arm?" Kira asks the million dollar question, her head cocked to the side as she looks at the white bandage. I pause for a moment, trying to think of a reasonable excuse.

"Just hit something in the middle of the night..."  

"What did you hit? The bandage is huge-"

"Oh, it's not actually that big. It was just the only bandage we had." Lying again, I smile at her before I pull into my parking spot at the school. We head straight inside, going to Kira's locker instead of mine today, Kira fumbling with her books as she tries to get out what she needs.

"...Do you need help?"

"I'm fine." At least we know her stubborness is in check. She catches all the books that fell out of her locker, putting them where they belong before shutting it with an exasperated sigh. I see as she struggles to carry everything, so I grab a few of her books before they fell onto the ground again.

"I got these, don't worry."

"Thank you..." Kira says, smiling and side hugging me before we start our walk down the hall. "People are going to think we're dating now." She jokes, causing me to thread my arm through hers.

"Absolutely no idea what you're talking about, cutie." We both let out laughs, walking past Coach's classroom. I had her the books I was carrying back, saying our goodbyes as if I was going off to war, and walk into the classroom. 

"Son of a bitch!" Coach yells from his office, causing everyone in the room to let out a laugh. He eventually comes out with a box in his hands. "Mischief night, Devil's night, I don't care what you call it. You little punks are evil!" Coach continues to yell, the laughter in the class not slowing down at all. "You think it's funny every Halloween my house gets egged? A man's house is supposed to be his castle!" Continuing his rant, he walks closer to the classroom and hits someone in the front's desk. "Mine's a frickin' omelet." Coach turns around and finds a present on his desk, rage crossing his face. "Oh, this? We're gonna do this again?" Picking off the box, the first thing he does is throw it to the ground. "I don't think so." But as soon as it hits the ground, the sound of glass shattering fills the room, the present being torn open by whatever fragile was inside. Coach suspiciously crouches down and picks up the card.

"Happy birthday. Love Greenburg."

𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑

Kira and I hide out in Mr. Yukimura's office for lunch, messing around with her phone as Mr. Yukimura tries to talk us out of hiding.

"All I'm saying is, I don't get why you're both sitting here with me instead of in the cafeteria with the other kids."

"Maybe we want to keep you company." Kira suggests, as I give him my best fake smile I have ever done.

"You two should be embarrassed to be seen with me. Not keeping me company." He says, all while Kira takes a picture of him.

"Oh don't worry, she is. That's why I take her to school. But your classroom is way better then the cafeteria, so... here we are." Sarcasm is dripping in my voice as I talk, all while being completely serious. He laughs, shaking his head at us.

"You two girls must have some friends by now."

"I don't know what's wrong with me. I had a lot of friends back home. But here, it's like every time I open my mouth, I just start rambling like an idiot." She looks down at the desk she's sitting at, not meeting anyones eyes.

"Eh, you could be me who just doesn't like most people. That's the type of person with a lot wrong." I joke. Kira laughs, the frown disappering from her face.

"Try again. Fail again. Fail better."

"Are you quoting Sam Beckett to us?" Kira asks Mr. Yukimura, Mr. Yukimura simply shrugging at her.

"I thought that was Yoda." Kira sighs, rolling her eyes. "Someone will show an interest in you two. You're both beautiful girls. How could they not?" Mr. Yukimura adds on, all while finishing seating up the next lesson.

"The only person in this town, other then Kira, that has shown interest in me is a coyote."

"At least you got interest." Kira mummbles, taking a bite of her food.

"Maybe you could date the coyote." Mr. Yukimura sarcastically comments right back at me. I give him a little clap.

"But the coyote is an animal, and I would rather not be arrested. And, you know, most people - well, they suck." Oh, this fruit roll up is good.

𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑

Kira and I just chill out in the library, spending our free period reading. It's nice to finally have the type of friend where we don't always have to be talking, but instead can just sit back, read, and listen to our music. But, our fun free period is cut short when Coach walks by us and is making... well, angry movements with his face and mouth. We quickly take our headphones out, so we can hear what the hell he's saying.

"How loud are you two playing those things?!" He shouts at us, shouting over the fire alarm. When did the fire alarm start? "Let's go! Get the hell out of here!" Coach yells, causing me and Kira to quckly get up and run out of the library, before out of the school. As soon as we're out of Coach's hearing rang, we start laughing.

𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑

The fan spins over my head, my eyes following it as it moves. Anything to keep my mind away from my internal thoughs.  Sure, the best option for that would have been my phone, but because of my amazing luck, it died 5 minutes into me coming home. So, while it charges, I am left to stare at the very entertaining ceiling fan above me, trying as hard as I can to not think about any of my dreams from the last few nights. Unluckily for me, in my attempts, I didn't hear my mom opening the door. 

"Hey honey... We're going to have someone over for dinner, okay? All I'm asking is that you don't wear sweatpants." Mom asks with a smile on her face, but all I manage to do is look at her confused.

"Who's coming?"

"Get dressed and maybe I'll tell you." She ruffles my hair, before walking back out the door and probably into the kitchen, to help Dad make dinner. Pulling the box of Lizzie's pre-made outfits out of my closet, opening the box and simply taking the first one off the top. A cute, shorter but not too short maroon dress, along with a pair of black flats. If this doesn't meet Mom's "don't wear sweatpants" standard, I don't know what will. Walking down the stairs, I see Mom and Dad hard at work, making the very familiar dish of the Gilbert family chile.

"Can you tell me who's coming for dinner now?" Desperately, I try and puppy eyes mom, but unfortunately she is immune.

"You'll see when they get here." As soon as the words leave her mouth, the door bell rings, my dad and I rushing towards the door. Unluckily, he gets there first, and opens the door, revealing Puppy standing there. I just turn on my heel and walk back towards the kitchen to sit down. Stefanie pulls out the seat next to me and sits down.

"Why are we having this dinner?" She whispers to me, just as Puppy walks into the room.

"He's why. I think it's because he saved me from a Coyote, which gives the best cuddles."  I whisper back, Stefanie letting out a quiet and short laugh. Puppy sits down on the other side of me, trying to give me a smile. Rolling my eyes, I turn towards Mom and Dad, who walk in with the finished chile, placing it down in the middle of the table.

"The famous Gilbert family chile. I hope you enjoy it." Mom says, as sweet as ever, as she sits down next to Dad. 

"Weren't we supposed to have lasagne tonight?" Stefanie asks, but eats her chile happily nonetheless.

"We were, but we wanted to make something... special for tonight." Mom explains.

"I mean, he did save Hope's life." Dad says, a smirk on his face, which can only make me roll my eyes.

"He didn't save me from anything."

"Don't say that, Hope. He saved you from that coyote."

"The coyote wasn't after me."

"You don't know that."

"And if I do?"

"Okay, that's enough." Mom cuts off the coversation between me and Dad. I just grab some chile and stuff my face, no one talking or saying anything. Until Puppy decided to break the silence.

"So, where did you guys move here from?"

"Mystic Falls, Virgina." Stefanie says, smiling.

"We just needed a fresh start." Mom adds onto what Stefanie said. 

"Oh... Did, um, Did something happen? If something did... I am..." Puppy rambles, Mom cutting him off with a laugh.

"No, nothing happened at all. We just needed a fresh start." Dad assures him, taking Mom's hand into his.

"Thank god... Um, so what is Mystic Falls like?"

"Small town. Great grill. A public school and a boarding school." I say as bluntly as I can, glaring at the Puppy next to me. He just slowly nods awkwardly.

"And the boarding school was named after the Salvatores!" Stefanie adds on, smile large on her face.

"...There was a boarding school named after your family?" Puppy asks, surprise on his face.

"Technically, our ancestors. The Salvtores were one of the many founders of the town, along with the Gilberts, which is my side of the family." Mom explains, Dad laughing at what she said for whatever reason. To be fair, Dad has a ton of inside jokes.

"Wow."

"Which could have been really fun if we were allowed to go to the school..." I try my best to say this under my breath, quickly eating a spoonful of chile, but Mom caught onto it anyway.

"Hope, we're talked about this." She scolds, only cut off by the Puppy next to me choking on something.

"Are you okay?" Dad asks him. Puppy just gives him a thumbs up as he tries to regain his... everything.

"What happened?" Stefanie asks him.

"I- I put some of the parmesan on my chile-" Scott says while drinking a bunch of water.

"...You mean the extra chile spices?"

"It wasn't parmesan?"

I try to hold in my laughter as I tell him, "No." But, with Mom's 'don't fucking laugh' look, I quickly stand up and rush into the kitchen to get the choking Puppy some milk.

As Mom and Dad didn't want the Puppy to go home hungry, but also didn't want him to die because of the chile, they order a pizza and send me and him to hang out in my room while they pizza gets here. Meaning we just sit there in silence, until the doorbell rings again. I quickly stand up and rush out of the room, crossing my fingers that he isn't a perv and doesn't go through my underwear draw, to grab the pizza for us to eat. Stupid parents, wanting me to make more friends. Using my other hand to grab soda, I walk back towards my room and knock on the door with my foot so he could open the door for me.

"Oh, thank God. No offense to the chile." Puppy sighs in relief as I place the Pizza down on my bed, a little laugh escaping my lips.

"To be fair, we should have clairfied that it was seasoning. So it's our fault." Opening the box up, I take out a piece and immedately dig into the wonderful food called pizza.

"So... What do you do for fun?" Puppy asks after a few minutes, having already finished a slice of pizza. 

"Uh..." There are two ways I can do this. Be honest, or be extra honest and let him know I don't really want to be too friendly with him. 

"Reading... Listening to music I like... Painting." I name the first 3 things that came to my mind, simply shrugging after.

"You like to paint?" Nodding at his question, he smiles at me. "You don't seem like someone that would like to paint."

"...wow..."

"No! No, no- no- I didn't mean it like that at all." He rushes to fix his mistake, causing me to let out a laugh. "...Can I see a picture?" Again, I'm at an impass. I can either say 'hell no' and not show him anything, or I can show him something and then say 'no one will ever believe you'. So many decisions...

"...How about I make a deal with you?"

"What's the deal?"

"I show you a painting... and you don't tell a soul or else I'll kill you with no remorse." He lets out a chuckle, nodding.

"Deal." As soon as that word leaves his mouth, I stand up and walk towards my closet. While a lot are still in boxes, there is a box that is already open and is full of paintings I've done. The paintings are either drastically different, or repeative. So, instead of worrying about what I had painted on the canvas, instead closing my eyes and simply grabbing one. Perfect. I walk back towards him and turn it towards him, revealing the Disneyesque castle. It's almost monotone in blues, except I had used purples and yellows to highlight it as well as I can. Some planets are in the background of the castle, with a row of stars behind the beautiful castle. Only one big tower, there are many smaller towers making it look fairly similar to Cinderella's castle. I spent a week on this painting, wanting to get it just perfect. His eyes go up and down the painting, his face unreadable as he does. 

"This is..." He doesn't finish his sentence, just staring at the painting. He hates it, doesn't he? Oh god, he hates me... "This looks amazing, Hope..."

"...thanks..." In disbelief, I hand him the painting and sit down next to him. His Puppy smile doesn't leave his face.

"This must have taken forever..."

"It did."

"Well, then I'm going to go ahead and say that it was worth it." His Puppy smile is contagious, and I can't help but smile back at him.

"Thanks for the dinner." Scott says as I walk him out towards his bike.

"For which dinner?"

"...The pizza was good." I laugh as he gets onto his bike, holding his helmet in his hands.

"Oh, um... By the way- I'm sorry for being a bitch earlier... Turns out you actually are really nice. Which, I mean, granted, I should have realized that when you gave me directions, but-"

"It's okay... I get it." He cuts me off, both of us just standing there and smiling at each other for a minute. "Um... So, I guess this is goodnight."

"Oh- Yeah... Goodnight..." Oh shit, Kira's jacket. "Oh- wait- one more thing- I know that this is extremely awkward but um, well, Kira left a jacket in my car this morning and I was planning on going tonight but my parents just 'forgot' to tell me that you were coming over, and now they'll kill me if I go-"

"I can do that for you. Don't worry." I quickly rush into the house and grab the jacket, before coming back out to him. 

"Thank you, so much..."

"Anytime." He smiles at me, "Goodnight, Hope."

"Night, Puppy." Groaning, he backs out of the drive way and starts on his way. Staring down the street that he drove off on, I hear Stefanie walk up behind me. "I'll be inside in a minute, Stef." And then I feel something hit the back of my head, darkness clouding my vision.

My eyes slowly blink open, all I can move in my neck to look around the dark room. My legs are bound, and my wrists are bound over my head. Feeling lighthead, I look around the room and see someone with brunette hair doing something that I can't see. Either she's hanging from the ceiling or I'm upside down... 

"What are you doing awake, silly?" Her familiar face turns around from the table she was at and walks closer to my hanging body. She grabs a needle from the metal table next to me.

"No, no- please-" Is all I manage to breath out, feeling a needle enter my body somewhere as darkness clouds my vision again.

Waking up once again in my bed, I immedately look towards the window and see the window open once again. Rushing to unwrap my bandage, I find another cut there, making it look like an 'X' on my arm. No matter what I do, I can't seem to catch my breath, and as soon as I stand up to shut my window, my legs turn to jelly under me and my knees hit the ground with a thud. Sitting there for a few minutes to make sure my parents didn't hear, I shake my head and try to stand up again, still feeling dizzy as I make my way over to the window. Shutting it as quitely as I can, but also as securly, I lock the door before getting some of the left over packing tape, taping my window shut.

Chapter Text

" Tonight, we go all night long
We party like Post Malone
Don't tell me to go oh oh
Yeah, we are never, ever going home, tonight
Ain't nobody kill my vibe
Don't tell me to go oh oh
Yeah, we are never, ever going home "

 Post Malone (feat. RANI) by Sam Feldt

Luckily for me, my lack of sleep came in handy for once. Well, not so handy for me, more so for Scott. Because I guess they needed me to confirm his location? I'm too tired to care, I'm barley paying attention. I'm not even sure what time it is exactly...

"So when did you get there?" Agent McCall, whom I've learned is Scott's father, interogates us.

"At the same time." Puppy's friend makes sure to tell him.

"At the same time as who?"

"At the same time as me." Scott answers.

"By coincidence?"

"What do you mean coincidence?" PF (Puppy's friend) asks.

"That's what I'm asking you. The two of you arrived at the same time. Was that coincidence?" 

"Are you asking me?" Scott asks the agent.

"I think he's asking me." Stiles counters.

"I think he's asking the both of you." The stawberry blonde girl, whom I've dubbed Strawberry, cuts into their arguing.

"Okay, let me answer the questions." Agent McCall looks around the room, realizing his mistake. "Let me ask the questions." Agent McCall corrects.

"Just so I have this absolutely clear. Barrow was hiding the the chemistry closet at the school. Someone left him a coded message on the blackboard telling him to kill Kira. Than Barrow took Kira to a power substation and tied her up with the intent of electrocuting her, which blacked out the entire town." Agent McCall puts together the timeline.

"Sounds about right." PF's assures him.

"How did you know he'd take her to a power station?" Agent McCall continues to ask.

"Well, 'cause he was an electrical engineer. So where else would he take her?" Stiles says like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's one hell of a deduction there, Stiles." Agent McCall says.

"Yeah, what can I say? I take after my pops. He's in law enforcement." PF's, now known as Stiles, replies all while winking and pointing towards the sheriff making him snort. I'm guessing that's 'Stiles' dad. The sheriff covers up his laugh by coughing.

"Stiles, just, uh... Just answer the man." The sheriff tells him, obviously just as tired as me.

"We made a good guess." 'Stiles' admits.

"What were the two of you doing?" The Agent asks, finally getting to Scott and I.

"Eating chile." "Eating pizza." Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me.

"Eating pizza." "Eating chile."

"Eating chile and pizza." We conclude, making me yawn.

"You believe this?" The Agent as the Sheriff.

"To be honest, I haven't believe a word Stiles has said since he learned to speak. But I think these kids found themselves in the right place at the right time, and that girl sitting there is very lucky for it."

"Kira, is that how you remember it?" Agent McCall asks her. Scott, 'Stiles', and Strawberry all give Kira a look. Oh no, did something else happen? I don't want to be the accomplise to whatever they're doing...

"Yes. Could I get my phone back now?" Kira asks, hope in her voice.

"Sorry, but no." The Agent tells her, opening the door and allowing us to walk out of the room. While walking out, Scott grabs my arm. 

"Hey, look, I'm sorry about all this..."

"It's fine... I mean, you did save Kira's life. Just, um, next time you do it - could you do any attempts not to make it at- 3 in the morning? Or, well, you can, just don't have me be your alibi?" I finally find a clock on the wall, rubbing my eyes. He puts his hands up and nods.

"I can do that."

"Then that is all I can ask for. See you... well, later today." Smiling, before turning around and walking outside of the station, I find a few police officers sitting there. As soon as they see me, one of them stands up and walks towards me.

"Hey! I'm Office Parrish. I'm supposed to drive you home." He introduces, holding his hand out towards me. I slowly shake his hand.

"Hope."

"Well, Hope, we can leave whenever you ready."

"How does right now sound?"

"Perfect." Leading me towards his cop car, he opens the door for me before walking towards his own door. A few minutes of silence pass, just driving down the dark streets of Beacon Hills, before he finally asks the question I'm guessing he wanted to know from the start.

"...What happened in there?"

"Well, from what I heard at least- Kira got kidnapped and was almost murdered, but the other 3 stepped in and saved the day. I was just the unfortunate soul who had to come here at 3 to confirm an alibi."

"At least no one got hurt." Optimism. Great anytime except for 3 A.M. "No offense to you, but I hope I don't see you back at the station anytime soon..."

"Don't worry, I'll do my best not to. Especially at 3 A.M."

"Great idea. Stick to that goal." He says with a smile, pulling into the drive way. He takes a business card from one of the cup holders, passing it to me. "If you need anything, just give me a call." 

"Thanks... Right now though, all I need is sleep so-" Giving him an awkward thumbs up, I get out of the car and back into the house, heading straight upstairs in hopes of getting any amount of sleep that I can.

Except when my eyes finally close and darkness clouds my vision, I'm on the roof again, staring at the skyline as the sun rises. Someone's behind me, but again, I can't move as they walk up behind me and put the familiar hand on her waist, and then a familiar feeling on her shoulder. 

Except it isn't him. He doesn't have bandages wrapped around his face, he doesn't have the seemingly cut open mouth, he looks... human. And... he looks so familiar. Brunette hair, light brown eyes... he looks so familiar... 

"You're going to be so useful, Littlest Wolf..." He brushes a piece of my hair behind my ear, before grabbing a knife from next to him and pushing my head to the side. I let him, and I feel the knife dig into part of my neck, before I feel his mouth on the cut.

"Class starts in 5 minutes. Just because there's no power don't expect there to be no school." Coach shouts through his megaphone, walking up and down the hallway. Coach is amazing - and Kira just rushed by me. Where is she going, isn't her class the other way? Oh wait, her locker is that way- but still! Is she running from something? Turning around, I only notice Scott being held back by his friend. Why would she run away from people that saved her life? I slowly walk towards her, trying to hard the confusion on my face.

"Hey!"

"Hi." She quickly replies, not looking anywhere other then her locker.

"...Are you okay?" Fuck, of course she isn't okay. "I meant, well, I know you're not okay- but-

"I get it it, I'm fine." She just turns on her heel and starts to walk towards class.

Kira wanted to eat alone today. Alone, as in not in her dad's classroom nor in the lunchroom. Which, is fine. She went through something pretty traumatic last night. I'm just worried about her... So, to take my mind off it, I try and call Lizzie and Josie. But they don't pick up, so I guess now I'm offically alone. And when I'm alone, my mind wanders... so lets avoid the obvious dreams I should be curious about. Let's focus on something else... something like- Baby. The coyote that I helped a few months ago, that always came back for cuddles. But she hasn't lately... So, I see two options: She was either hurt again or just... well, just stopped coming back. I at least hope she's happy in the wild. A pat on my shoulder brings me out of my thoughts, causing me to quickly whip towards whoever that is. Thank fuck it's Danny.

"Hey! You looked lonely so I though I'd come and say hi." He says with a smile, stealing a fry from my plate.

"Well, thank you for curing my loneliness."

"Anytime. Actually, how does tonight sound?"

"What do you mean?"

"For Halloween, I'm throwing a black light party. Parties are great ways to cure things like loneliness."

"Wow, a party? I'm not sure, parties aren't-"

"-Aren't really your thing. I get that. But, if you come, I can promise you that you'll have a great time."

"...Fine, but you better have ice cream."

"And what kind do you desire?"

After a few hours of procrastinating and then another of begging, I was finally allowed to go to the party. Puppy eyes work wonders on Damon Salvatore. All I have to do is be home by curfew. Easy enough. I grab out the outfit that I painted myself, me, Jo, and Lizzie having done it for fun about a year ago now. We did dresses and some cute white shoes, which are now covered in black light paint. While my dress is more of a galaxy, my shoes are painted with more... me things. A castle or two, my name on one, etc. I quickly do my hair in the way Lizzie Saltzman had taught me, before getting into the uber I had gotten. Don't want to drunk drive and end up dead. When I walk into the party, everyone and everything is already in full swing. The loudest music I've ever heard is playing, all the teenagers from Beacon Hills high are dancing. It takes me a few minutes to find Danny actually, because of all the people in the room. I slowly walk towards him, him noticing me and smiling at me, before handing me a drink on the spot.

"Welcome! I'll show you where your ice cream is later! First, we get you painted!" He shouts of the music, grabbing my free hand and pulling me through the crowd with a bunch of giggles as we bump into people. 

"Head or body?" The Artist that Danny brought me to asks.

"Head please!" The Artist sits me down and starts to paint on my face with a blue color, going for a more abstract style, and when i look at myself in one of the mirrors around i look almost like a robot. Cool. 

"Come on! We have to dance-" Dragging me onto the dance floor, Danny has me drink and dance with him and other random people that come closer to me, and I am not afraid to admit that there is some grinding between me and an unknown girl. It all seems great until Danny is dragged off by one of the identical twins in the school, I think his name is Aiden? Or was it Ethan? The gay one. So, I just continue to awkwardly dance on the dance floor when some people across the dance floor catch my eyes. Dressed all in black, it's kind of funny to be dressed like that at a party that is full of glowing colors. Thanks to the alcohol, I dance towards them and give them a smile, noticing that they're all wearing masks. Seeing me, they start to slowly walk closer to me, so I take that as my cue.

"Hey! Why did you decide to wear those outfits?" Maybe they wore Halloween costumes to the Halloween party? That's cool, I just want to know what they are- I guess I hadn't seen whatever they're in! They walk closer to me while I stand and stare, one of them raising their hand and bringing them towards me. Standing there, confused, I just stare at the weird people, only brought out of my trance when someone grabs my hand. I whip around to see who was there.

"Puppy!"

"...Are you drunk?" I nod as quickly as I can, giving him a smile.

"Well, the apple jucie is really good!"

"...That's not apple juice, that's alcohol."

"Oh. Well, it still tastes good!" He lets out a laugh, but takes the red solo cup from my hand, placing it down far away from me. Just watching him as he does it, I smile and grab his hand, pulling him towards the dance floor again. "Wanna dance?"

"I- um- sure!" He shouts to me over the music and teenagers, using our connected hands to spin me. Giggling as the crowd of people push us closer and closer together, all the way until I wrap my arms around his neck to take up less space. He takes my arms from around his neck and starts to pull me out of the crowded area, taking me up some stairs and onto a rooftop, my ears almost ringing from how loud the noise was.

"That was so loud..." Messing with my ears, I slur my words slight, Scott just giving me a smile. He takes me over to a seat and passes me a water bottle.

"Here. This'll help."

"You want me sober?" I flash my puppy eyes at him, before I can't help but giggle at the fact that I puppy eyed a puppy.

"Only so I can actually have a conversation with you." He opens the water for me, just smiling his puppy smile at me.

"...I thought we were talking?" He lets out a little laugh as I start to drink small sips of the water, leaning against him for support as I slowly sober up. "Hey, so, what did you and Kira do today?" When he gives me a confused look, I am quick to say: "Kira texted me she spent most of her day with you."

"She needed help with... something, so I helped her." He replies as I look out towards the stary night sky. I'd seen this so many different times, mostly from the view at my house before...

"Good. She needs someone like you." The water seems to be working, as I regain... whatever you loose while drunk.

"What do you mean?"

"Kira really likes you, Scott. She trusts you. You're a good person." I boop his nose, Scott smiling at me.

"I would hope so. She's been hanging around me too much to hate me..."

"You puppy." I manage to say through my laughter, "I'll put it in middle school terms for you, she like-likes you." His eyes go wide, making me let out a few more laughs as I look back up at the stars. "Didn't expect to hear that?" 

"No... Not really. I don't see her like that."

"Than who do you see like that? I'm betting you it's Allison, right? Didn't you two date?"

"No, that wasn't really who I had in mind. I mean, I do love her, I always will. But she isn't who I like-like right now." He replies in a quiet and soft voice, pushing a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Lucky girl." Joking, I smile as he laughs next to me.

"I wouldn't go that far..."

"Oh yeah, of course you wouldn't Mr. Popular." 

"Excuse me?" Laughter fills the air.

"Well, for one, you're the team captain. Therefore, a jock. Two, you're hot. And Three, you look like a dude from a disney channel or hallmark romcom."

"You think I'm hot?"

"That's the part you got stuck on?" The laughter gets louder as we both continue to laugh our asses off, before the laughter gets kind of cut off when he brushes my hair away from the bandaid on my neck.

"...Are you okay? What happened?"

"Oh, I just bumped into something."

"...Seems like an awkward place for a cut to be."

"Well, I didn't notice it until I woke up this morning so." Clearing my throat, I place my hand on top of the bandaid and kind of mess around with it, Scott just staring at me with worry in his eyes, only being cut off by a... a howl? A groan? Something loud from down in the parking lot. "What was that?"

"Um, I don't know- Do you have a curfew?"

"Shit- Fuck- I do-" I immedately glance down at my watch. It's almost fucking sunrise. Oh my god, I am so grounded.

"I can drive you home, just let me check something with my friend quickly than I'll take you home. Just stay here." Scott rushes to get out of his mouth, brushing past me and running down the staircase we came from.

"Ok..." Whispering like an idiot, he obviously can't hear me, so I just sit back down and watch the sky again.

I'm left all alone, watching as oranges and yellows paint the sky in front of me. He's not coming back to drive me home, is he? Whatever, who cares. I'll just get an uber again and he'll never have to see me again. I walk down another staircase, to avoid the place the party was in, and walk out the front of the apartment building and sit on a bench to wait for my uber. I hear footsteps behind me, and immedately I know who it is.

"Hope. I am so, so, so, sorry..."

"It's fine. I've already called an uber so you dodn't have to worry about anything." I don't even bother to look at him, watching as my uber pulls up to the curb.

"Hope..."

"It's fine. My ride is here anyway." Opening the car door, I get in and don't look back. As soon as he redeems himself, he just makes it worse.

Chapter Text

" They tell me think with my head, not that thing in my chest
They got their hands at my neck this time
But you're the one that I want, if that's really so wrong
Then they don't know what this feeling is like "

| Hope Salvatore's Point Of View |

And guess who was right? I was. I am fucking grounded. They only allowed me to keep my phone to call Lizzie and Josie, so at least they were merciful. On the other hand... I have to come right home after school. For 3 weeks. There is a very slim chance at parole, but it's probably going to be too much work. Easier to just wait for the 3 weeks to go by. While they did allow me to pick up Kira in the morning, she didn't want me to pick her up today, as Scott's taking her. All I ask is that he doesn't hurt her. But, that does mean I get an extra 5 minutes before school - and I'm still not going to eat Dad's pancakes. Quickly showering, I head downstairs and grab my daily apple, me and Stefanie on the way to school. After the quietest ride of my life, Stefanie rushes out of the car and towards her friend group, officially leaving me alone. Life could be worse, I guess. 

But of course, my life gets worse when the day is almost over. As soon as I unlock my lock on my locker (wow, that is so much locks), I feel eyes on the back of my head. Not looking back, I simply take what I need from the locker and head towards the exit. But I don't make it in time, the person who was eyeing me easily catches up and slides in front of me, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Look,  Hope, I wanted to say how sorry that I am- again-"

"It's fine." Trying to side step him, he goes the same way I go. When I try to go the other way, he blocks me again.

"Then why does it seem like it's not fine?"

"Absolutely no idea." Going right again, he's quick on his feet again.

"I really am sorry, Hope..."

"I get that. But I'm grounded now, and if I'm home late from school, it'll be worse. Goodbye." Attempting to go left, he steps in front of me. Again.

"Please just- Hear me out?"

"What is there to hear out? Are you going to explain everything to me? Absolutely everything?" His once chance is up when all I hear is silence. He doesn't even try to explain it to me. I go towards the right again, and this time he doesn't stop me, letting me walk out of the doors and towards my car. Granted, I did have time as Stefanie wasn't waiting at my car at all, but if he wasn't going to explain anything to me I didn't want to stick around. What the hell happens in his life that makes him switch between being sweet and kind to a complete ass?

I set up my easel by the window, pulling up some aesthetic pictures on Pinterest for inspiration. Putting my hair up into a ponytail, I grab my paintbrush and stare at the blank canvas in front of me. Starting simple, I do basic shapes, forming the figure of a person. And now, time to make this... more life like. Black seems to be a main color while painting this, using my room as a backdrop. Maybe I'm doing a self portrait? Using grey and whites to add plenty of detail, I end up painting... people in masks. People in masks, dressed in all black, standing in my room. Totally not nightmare fuel at all. I look around the painting, figuring out if there is anything else I can add to it, when I spot another figure hidden in the background of the painting... someone with white bandages for a head, a large and fanged mouth, and a slender body... A chill runs down my back, as the feeling of being watched runs through my body. I look around, finding no one there, but I still don't believe it. Walking towards my closet it, I opening it quickly but... no one is in here. Thankfully, I am all alone in my room. Until I turn around and see the masked men from my painting standing in my room. Making a lunge for the door, one steps in front of me, so I use my other option: screaming. At least until one wraps their arm around my head and over my mouth, muffling my scream into almost nothing. They wrap their other arm around my chest as another comes closer to me and puts a hand on my cheek, more specifically, right by my ear. Their touch burns, but no in the ridiculously hot way, in a... colder way. 

As darkness slowly clouds my vision, I continue to look around the room, seeing the guy with the bandages for the head in the corner of the room. He smiles, right before my vision is fully clouded with black. Immediately, I'm dropped to the ground, feeling as my hand hits my palate, and then my head on the floor, before feeling nothing at all.

Chapter Text

"I, I keep a record of my life
I gotta recognize the weapon in my mine
They talk shit, but I love it every time
And I realize
I'm no sweet dream, but I'm a hell of a night
That I'm no sweet dream, but I'm a hell of a night."

"Nightmare" by Halsey

|| Hope Salvatore's Point of View ||

A bright light clouds my vision, my hand going up and attempting to block my closed eyes, the light still finding a way to get through. Turning my head away is the only way I can get away from the light, but all I can see are different shades of white. Only hearing a loud beeping, I turn my head to the opposite side - finally seeing some other things. A table, something metal, two chairs, and... a pair of legs? Trying my hardest to look up without looking into the light, the whole world seems to finally tone down and the light wasn't as bright as before. Dad's sitting in the chair next to me, his head on the chair next to him, sound asleep. Now with my vision back, I look around the room. An IV, a heart monitor... Great, so I'm in the hospital. Why- Oh, wait, nevermind... It was the people that, well, either broke into the room or just apppeared. I'm not sure anymore. Carefully taking the IV out, the way I've seen mom do a few times, I quietly walk past dad and out the door, spotting a nurses desk. Perfect place to ask exactly what I'm in for.

"Do you need help?" One of the nurses at the desks asks me, typing somethings into her computer, but smiling at me nonetheless.

"Kind of? Not exactly- um- I just wanted to know why exactly I'm in the hospital..."

"Name?" 

"Hope Salvatore." She looks up from her computer.

"The Hope Salvatore?" Nodding, very confused, I just gave her a smile.

"Yeah... That's my name..."

"I work with your mom a lot. She talks about you and your sister a lot. And my son talks about you too." She lets out a little laugh, smiling at me, before noticing the confusion on my face. "My son goes to school with you-" She clarifies, typing more different things into the computer.

"Oh, really? What's your sons name?"

"Mom..." Someone says, catching their breath behind me. Unwillingly, I let out a sigh, immedately knowing exactly who it was. "Hope? What are you- Why are you at the hospital?"

"That's what I'm here to find out." I don't spare him any glance, just giving his mom a smile as she reads the computer screen.

"...She came in for a head injury and hypothermia."

"Hypothermia?!" I roll my eyes when I hear the shock in Scott's voice, before I realized both him and his mom share a... a weird as look. "Can I talk with you, Hope?" Without saying yes or no, Scott grabs my arm and starts to pull me away from the front desk and towards an empty hospital room. "Hope, tell me everything you remember."

"Excuse me?"

"How did you get hypothermia?"

"I have absolutely no idea..."

"Okay, let me rephrase that. Did someone or something do this to you?" Damnit, there goes my loophole.

"No." Let's not get put in Eichen house today.

"That's a lie. What happened?"

"Who are you to say I'm lying?"

"Hope, please, just answer the question-"

"Absolutely nothing happened!"

"Please stop lying! The fast you tell me, the faster we can get you out of this."

"...fine. As long as you promise not to put me in Eichen house."

"Deal."

Letting out a sigh and trying to gain my composier, I focus on our feet on the ground and picking my nails. "...people either broke into my house or appeared out of no where after I had painted them, touched my face with a freezing cold hand, I saw someone else standing in the corner, and then I blacked out and woke up here." Finally looking up, the look in his eyes tell me that he's deep in thought, but not calling me out for 'lying' again, making me scoff. "So, you get mad at me for lying, but not for when I tell you the insane, probably hallucinated truth?" He doesn't say anything, just brushing a piece of my hair behind my ear, some what cupping my check as he does so, feeling around behind my ear. "...what are you doing?"

"Looking for the mark..."

"What mark?"

"Well, um, the same thing happened to me." He takes my hand and brings it towards his face, bringing my finger right behind his ear so I can feel the odd shape on his skin. "It means self or something in Japanesse... But I can't find it on you."

"...What does that mean? That I'm not myself?"

"Well, we already know where he is... So it's probably just because of that. You have nothing to worry about. Just stay out of this and I promise you, you'll be fine."

"Excuse me? Stay out of what? Does it have something to do with the weird ninjas?" He lets out a chuckle, smiling at me. "What's funny?"

"You called them ninjas..." He gently moves my hair back into its place, his hand lingering for a few seconds before he finally moved it away from my face and back to his side.

"Do they have another name?" He doesn't reply. "Can you tell me anything?" He doesn't reply again, causing me to shake my head and scoff, before trying to walk out of the room.

"Hope..." He grabs my arm gently, making me look back at him. "I want to tell you... But I don't want you to be involved in this."

"What the hell are you in? The goddamn mafia?" The joke doesn't go over well with him, Scott just staring me in the eyes. "What are you in, Scott?" He just slowly looks down, his hand becoming even lighter on my arm, until I could barley feel it. "Well, then. Nice knowing you." He doesn't stop me this time as I walk out of the room, heading straight back to the hospital room I woke up in. Dad walks around right outside the hospital room, asking any nurse he can find about me, rushing straight over when he sees me and hugging me.

"Where did you go?"

"Sorry... I just wanted to stretch my legs." He just hugs me tighter, before we head back inside the room to wait for what the doctor says. Mom comes in and says hi a few times, Stefanie probably at school, before the doctor in charge of me lets us know I can go home in a few hours. Although I did have to force Dad to go home and shower, leaving me all alone in my room to flip through TV channels. Do they have vending machines here? I could go for a resses- 

After 10 minutes of walking around the quiet and somehow weirdly loud halls, I found the vending machine I wanted. Giving it my money, I hear someone walking to the right of me, causing me to turn my head and look whos walking. Oh, I go to school with him - what's his name? Stoles?

"Stoles? That's your name, right?" I ask, barley having to raise my voice to get his attention. He slowly turns towards me, his face... looking different... almost like... My feet start moving without I realize, and when he follows me, I turn around and my legs start to pick up the speed. Only looking back when I hear the elevator doors he was standing by open. Was he leaving me alone? Or was someone coming to save me? 

Nope, no, no, absolutely not - Kira's mom and the fucking ninja's from before stand in the elevator. At least they stole his attention from me, giving me a chance to run. I don't know where I'm going, I don't care, all I want is to get away from the man that has been haunting me for months. But unfortunately, I start to hear more footsteps behind me. Footsteps that follow me, getting louder, and louder, and louder...

"Littlest Wolf... Where are you?" He says in a sing-songy tone, causing me to quickly take a right in an attempt to get away, before heading up a staircase. My feet burn, having never run this fast for this long in my life, but as his footsteps get louder, I keep going forward. His voice rings in my ears as I head up the stairwell, hearing him speak again. "No need to be scared, Littlest Wolf... I just want you to reach your full potential..." I've watched too many horror movies to stop, knowing the second I do it's over. Everything was useless, and I'll never go home. But I have to get home - I want to see my parents again, I want to see Stefanie again, I want to see my family and friends back home in Mystic Falls, to drive my car again, to have a shake from the grill, to gossip with Kira over the things everyone says at school, to just fucking paint by myself again without being haunted by anything or anyone. "Hope... What an odd name for a Mikaelson. An oxymoron if you would. A family of killers, probably the things you'll grow up to be, and... your name is Hope. Honestly, it's laughable." Bursting through the door to the roof top, I look for absolutely anywhere to hide - behind anything, under anything, anything that can help me. Deciding to hide behind a watertank, I try to calm down my breathing so he can't hear me at all, holding my breath when the door opened and slammed shut. "Oh, don't hide Littlest Wolf... You have nothing to worry about." Moving my hand up to my mouth so no noise can come out of my mouth, kind of holding my mouth shut with my thumb. 

I just want to go home.

"Hi there, Littlest Wolf."

Chapter Text

"How can I live in the moment,
When my thoughts never feel like my own and
Don't know how to admit that I'm broken
How can I be alright?
'Cause I can't breath,"

-"i can't breath" by Bea Miller

|| 3rd Person Point of View ||

The light shines in from the wide open window, Hope's eyes slowly opening as she sits up. Sliding her legs out from under her comforters, she walks by the window and to her bathroom to take a shower. No emotion crosses her face as she gets ready for the school day, walking down the stairs and grabbing her apple, walking with Stefanie out to the car. The school is a buzz with news about a missing student - Stiles Stilinski. Hope gets out of her car, and walks into the hallway of the school, feeling someones breath on the back of her neck. The little devil on her shoulder, whispering into her ear. A remind of where to go.

She walks slowly down the staircase to the basement of the school, his eyes constantly on her as she walks closer to him. He brushes her hair behind her ear, a smile wide on his face.

"Did you do what I asked you too?" She nods wordlessly, taking her backpack off and unzipping it and taking out silver and blue tool, an emitter, before taking out a piece of paper with words scribbled on it, reading 'phasmatos lacus' in the same exact handwriting as '19, 53, 88'. The handwriting of the man in front of her, who is now tossing the emitter in his hands. "Good girl... You can go now..." Without a word, Hope turns around and walks up the stairs she came down from, her backpack zipped up again, and walks to her class period. Walking down the halls, acting as if nothing has changed at all. She knows it couldn't have - nightmares aren't real. She isn't a little girl anymore, who would dream of a blonde woman and then see her at school the next day. She was just in her head. The man of from her dreams didn't hand her a piece of paper, didn't have her say those words to steal from the Argents, and didn't ask her to bring it down to him in the basement. None of that happened. She's just at school, ready to learn.

Hope walks into the locker room, changing into her running clothes and putting on her running shoes, making sure they're tied tightly. She walks out and joins the cross country team on the bus to go the 5 minutes to the trail, taking her seat next to Danny.

"Since when did you join the cross country team?"

"I don't know. Felt like it would be fun." Hope smiles at him, as the bus starts to move. Normal chatting fills the bus as they reach their location, Coach getting out first and yelling at everyone to get into the group to run, before loudly blowing his whistle and the whole group being off. Danny and Hope run at the front of the group, Hope seemingly easily keeping up with him for someone who doesn't run at full speed a lot. Hope didn't notice Kira while on the bus, nor did she notice her until Kira started to catch up with her and Danny, running as easily as Hope was down the trail. Kira goes even faster, passing the two others, a smile crossing Hope's features before she ran to keep up with her friend - her very supernatural friend. They both keep the same pace, both trying to outrun the other, and both failing. Danny struggles to keep up with the two girls, falling further and further behind them, until he's tackled off the course by Ethan. But as soon as Danny was tackled, Hope slowed down and let Kira take the lead, falling back towards the rest of the crosscountry group and slowing her pace even more, till she was back towards the end of the group of runners. 

And she had slowed down just in time, as when the rest of the cross country team came up, Stiles was standing there, waiting with Scott, Aiden, and Kira. Everyone did as they were told, very confused as to why the missing teen was there. Well, almost everyone. Stiles looked down towards the ground, sifting through the leaves as if looking for something. He picks a chain off of the ground, picking more and more of it off the ground. The chain seems to get longer and longer as he pulls it, until finally, he reaches the other end. But instead of a trap like he assumed they're would be - it was simply a chain. Coach comes out of the forest, the same way the others had come from, clapping.

"Congratulations, Stilinski. You found a length of chain. Can somebody please tell me what the hell's going on?" Coach looks around the group of confused faces, walking towards everyone, before tripping a trip wire that was there - and waiting for him.

"Hey, Coach!" Scott yells, too late, as the arrow pierces through Coach's abdomen. Coach looks down at the arrow, before looking around.

"Oh crap." He falls back onto the ground, leaves cousioning his fall, but not by much. His sweatshirt now has his blood on it, forming a circle around the arrow as his eyes close and his head falls to the side. A bunch of the team members, rush forward to help him, Hope Salvatore being one of them. She sits on her knees by him and just looks around, making no movement to help the man in front of her. All she does is make eye contact with the brown haired, brown eyed, possessed human boy. 

Coach's silence doesn't last long, as soon as his eyes open up, a piercing scream leaves his throat. "Get it out of me! Get it out of me. Get it out of me. Oh my god, I'm gonna die. Oh my, god. I'm gonna die." The rest of the group had backed away, leaving Stiles to try and put pressure on the wound as Aiden and Scott hold him down. Hope stands at the front of the group, no panic or worry on her face. 

"Coach, you're not going to die." Stiles attempts to tell him.

"I'm going to die!" 

"It'll hurt less if you stop moving, Coach." Aiden suggests, still holding the man down. 

"Get that thing out of me!"

"Stay still, Coach! An ambulance is coming!" Aiden keeps reminding him.

"Get it out! I'm gonna die!"

"Get back! Get back! Give him some room! Get back!" Aiden finally lets go of coach, waving at all of the cross country players that were standing in a semi-circle around their fallen coach, everyone but a few listening to him and staying behind. Hope moves back with the group, but not going as far as the rest. Instead, she stands behind a tree and watches the scene in front of her unfold. Scott picks up Coach's hand, being the true alpha he is, and taking some of his pain. Coach stops screaming and grunting, his head rolling to the side. "I think he just passed out." Stiles takes his shaking hands off of Coach's wound, staring at the blood coating his hands. 

"I could have killed him. I could have killed him, right? What if it was his head or his throat?" Stiles says, concern prominate in his voice. 

"But it wasn't. And he's going to be alright."

"I think I just heard an ambulance coming." Aiden cuts off Scott and Stiles conversation, the sirens being heard even by the humans around Coach.

"And my dad." Stiles says, a look of anger crossing his face for a moment, before vanishing - no one noticing it was even there.  

Coach gets put onto a stretcher and then they put the stretcher into the ambulance, Stiles and his Dad reuniting by Sheriff Stilinski's car. The werewolves dig through the blue jeep, looking for anything else that might clue them in on the Nogustine's traps, all while a set of eyes watches them from the cross country group. 

"Scott, you better look at this." Ethan whispers over to him from the trunk of the car, digging through a dufflebag that was in the trunk.

"This is the same wrapping paper we used for Coach's birthday present." Scott picks up a roll of wrapping paper, a confused look on the Puppy's face.

"Wasn't that William Barrow's thing? A bomb made from nails and bolts all wrapped in a birthday present? Where'd it go off?" Ethan suggests, both of the boys figuring out another one of the traps. A bomb, in a gift, on a school bus. Scott looks back towards his friend and his own pseudo-father figure, putting everything together in his head.

"On a school bus."

All the officer's at the cross country scene rush back to the school, leaving all of the Cross Country students to do as they wish. Most headed home, or back to the school themselves to pick up something they left, Hope following the latter crowd. As they reach the school, she makes eye contact with Stiles, before sinking back slightly into the crowd waiting to see if there was actually a bomb in the present, on Jareds lap. But, instead of there being a bomb, all that was inside the present was a name plate, reading Sheriff Stilisnki.

The bomb wasn't on the bus at all.

It's at the station.

And as soon as Sheriff Stilinski realizes that, he calls the station and lets everyone know, the chaos now happening there instead of the school. The group of kids dispurse, the pack of werewolves heading with the officers to the station to help anyone who needs it. Hope heads to her car, Stefanie being long gone and picked up by Damon, so Hope's free to go wherever she please. 

Or, wherever he pleases.

Instead of heading home, or even heading to a coffee shop to calm down and take a few breaths, she heads to a vet clinic and parks around back so no one will see her car. She takes out another piece of paper, putting her hand on the lock and closing her eyes. 

"Dissera portus." The door in front of her flies open, making a loud sound as it hits a wall that was on the left of the door. Walking inside the clinc, no emotions cross her face, no worried about breaking and entering. She grabs one of the stools and rolls it around the room, the stool crashing into a table and knocking over some of the medical equipment on it, before she walks deeper into the vet clinic and hides, waiting for something. Waiting for someone.

A car pulls up to the front of the clinc, rain bouncing off it, as the doors open and 3 teenagers rush out of the car. They head straight to the door, before snarling stops them and cause them to look back at the Oni that are after them. 

"Stiles, get inside!" Scott says this so loudly, even Hope from inside the clinc can hear the alpha yell at his possessed friend, the Onis getting closer to the trio. Stiles is able to open the door, while the alpha begins to fight of the Oni's, the kitsune standing there.

"Hey, Kira, get inside! Kira!" Stiles shouts, Kira instead helping Scott fight off her mother's Oni, by grabbing and throwing whatever she could get her hands on. She continues like this for a while, before instead flipping one of the Oni's onto their backs, continiously using fighting skills that she had never learned to fend their foes off, picking up one of the Oni's own swords to use against them. She distracts a confused Scott, which an Oni takes advantage of. The Oni drives their katana through Scott's abdomen, Scott's eyes glowing in the darkness and the rain. Kira drops her weapon and rushes to help her crush, kicking the Oni that had stabbed him away, Scott falling onto his knees in an attempt to stay up. Stiles rushes to help Scott, having never gone inside in the first place - "All right, come on. Get him inside! Get him inside!" Stiles and Kira help Scott inside the clinc, Scott gasping for air as their feet squeek on the floor beneath them in their rush to get him  to sit down. He leans against one of the examination tables, grunting in pain as Kira looks for ways to help him. Kira wraps her hands around the blade, attempting to pull it out of the wound so Scott could heal, before Stiles stops her. Kira starts to groan, Stiles grip on her wrist being too strong to be human. He throws Kira backwards and into the hallway, Hope walking out of her corner to deal with the kitsune. Kira stands up, holding onto her wrist, and looking at her friend in confusion while the Nogustine deals with Scott.

"What are you doing here?" Hope doesn't answer, she grabs her friend by the hair and slams her head into the wall. Not quite powerful enough to knock her out, but enough to pack a punch. Hope doesn't let go of her hair, throwing her across the floor. Because Kira was soaked from the rain she goes sliding, into the kennel room of the clinic. Hope walks after her and kicks her in the chest, causing Kira to land on her back. "Stop it! What are you doing?!" Kira cries out as Hope picks her up by her shirt again, standing her up on her feet, before grabbing her by the hair again and holding her in place.

"I'm doing what I'm supposed to." Hope slams her head into one of the metal tables in the room, Kira out cold and falling onto the ground. Hope croutches down, knowing he doesn't want her to be known yet, and putting her hands on Kira's head. "Obliviscere." Following the plan, she makes sure Kira doesn't remember that she was there, only that someone was helping the Nogustine. She sees headlights through one of the windows, taking that as her cue to leave. She goes out the door she came in from, getting into her car and driving away as soon as the coast was clear, and heads home to go to sleep.

Because this didn't happen.

She most certainly doesn't know anything about the Nogustine causing chaos in this town.

Chapter Text

"There's no heroes or villians in this place,
Just shadows that dance in my headspace,
Leaving nothing but phantoms in their wake, 

There's part of me I cannot hide,
I've tried and tried a million times,

Cross my heart and hope to die,
Welcome to my darkside."

-"DARKSIDE" by Neoni

|| 3rd Person Point of View ||

They walk in side by side, the Fox wearing the exact same clothes that he wore in Eichen house, unlike Hope who wears all black. Her heels click on the floor of the school hallways, as the Nogustine sets a fly off before them - Ken Yukimura will figure out exactly whos coming. They both take different doors, the Nogustine enterting the one furtherest from the teacher. 

"Coming in on a Saturday. That's dedication." The two walk around the room as the teacher stares at them, the Nogustine with an unreadable expression, but when he sees Hope his face turns to confusion. She starts pulling out random books from one of the book shelfs, no rhyme or reason to what she's doing.

"Now where would she be hiding them?" Hope says, much to Mr. Yukimura's confusion as she tosses more books off the book shelf.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Her little knives. Daggers. I know what they are." He does the same thing Hope's doing, yanking books of the nearest shelf in between his speech, picking up a green book and looking at the cover.

"Physical representation of her tails..." Hope steps away from the book shelf, before holding her hand out to it slightly and twisting. All the books on the shelf immedately fall down, landing in a pile on the floor. With a smirk, Hope walks up to them and starts kicking the books, trying to see if she missed anything at all. Mr. Yukimura just watches as they make a mess of his room, making no movements to stop them. 

"However the hell that works." The Nogustine walks away from the book shelf he was poking at, walking through the rows of desks and closer to Mr. Yukimura.

"Maybe you'd like to do some reading on it. I can direct you to the section on Japanese myth in the library."

"No. No, I think we'd like to talk to you..." The Nogustine holds out his arm, and Hope walks towards him, standing by his side as he places his arm on her shoulders. They both walk forward, both with a hand on the desks their passing.

"The older the tail... The stronger the oni it creates. Are we right?" Hope asks, making eye contact with the teacher in front of her. 

"I know there's one left. I know it's the strongest." The Nogustine says, as they reach the desk at  the front of the room, standing right in front of Mr. Yukimura.

"Unfortunately, I don't know what you're referring to."

"...You'll talk." The Nogustine picks up the book the teacher has used to kill the fly that had been sent into the room, the fly coming back to life and flying straight into the teacher's throat. Choking, he puts a hand on his throat, falling down onto his knees. The two just stand there, watching the struggling man, both knowing they had all the power in the world to stop what was happening in front of them. But neither do. "They always talk."

They wait. Patiently. They'll come, they both know it. He has her hide while they wait, planning on using her. It's about time for them to find out about her, everything falling into place. Ken Yukimura has probably told the alpha and the kitsunes anyway... and this way, if he kills someone, he'll get a wolf on his own side. He stands in the setting sun seeping in through the windows of the loft, both not having to wait long.

The door to the loft slides open, Sheriff Stilinski on the other side of it. He slowly approaches the figure, not knowing if it is his son or the Nogustine possessing him. He stops before he gets to close, the figure starting to glance back at the man standing behind him, before fully turning to face him. 

"Hi, Dad." The sheriff slides handcuffs out from his back pocket, letting the man in front of him know exactly what he was holding. "You want to handcuff me?"

"If my son is still here, if there's still a part of him standing here in front of me, then he'll put these on willingly and he'll come with me, because he knows I'm here to protect him. From himself and from others." The sheriff walks closer and closer, the only fear crossing his face being fear for his son, as the figure just stares at him. His face only changes when he lifts his arms up towards the sheriff, causing the Sheriff to walk closer and put the cuffs around his wrists. He simply stares at the handcuffs, before looking up with mischef in his eyes that are surrounded by bags, the Sheriff backing away slowly. He cocks his head to the side, the Sheriff shaking his head. "You're not my son." The Nogustine breaks the cuffs that were put around his wrists without thinking twice, the Argents and Derek walking into the loft as soon as the handcuffs clatter on the floor.  The all surround the Nogustine, forming a semi-circle around the trickster fox. Hope walks out of her corner and into the light, shutting the door, drawing all eyes towards her, before snapping back to the trickster in front of them. Allison quickly raises her taser and fires at, the Nogustine catching the prongs and holding them out towards her, the electricity rippling through the line. He uses that to pull the taser out of her hands, the taser flying and then sliding across the room and into a corner. Derek growls, his fangs out, as he runs towards the fox and attempts to hit him. But, being ten steps ahead, the Nogustine stops his attack and instead brings his arm back. He pounds his hand onto the wolf's chest, before banging his head onto a table and throwing him the opposite way. Argent takes out his gun and cocks it, aiming it at the Nogustine before him, although it seems everyone in the rooms eyes were on him.

"Argent, listen to me. Don't do this."

"Why not? I've done it before. Werewolves, beserkers. I can easily add a Nogustine to the list." Argent ignores the Sheriff's pleads, Derek getting up off the ground in the background, ready to fight again. Sheriff takes out his gun, cocking it, and aiming it at Argent's head. 

"An eye for an eye..." Hope whispers with a smile, Allison looking back at the girl she'd seen at school in the past with confusion.

"You're not going to shoot my son." The Sheriff completely ignores the unknown girl in the room, focusing on the man holding a gun to his sons head. 

"You said it yourself, Sheriff. That's not your son."

"Put it down. Put it down." The Sheriff keeps insisting, his hands shaking on the trigger.

"Dad, he's going to shoot me. He's going to kill me, Dad." The Nogustine says, adding gasoline to the blazing fire, as he makes his voice quiver and adds fear to the eyes of his host.

"Don't listen."

"Put it down. Now! Do it! Put it down!" The Sheriff demands.

"Pull the trigger. Come on." The fear from the fox's eyes disapears within a second, his focus changing from the Sheriff  to the hunter. His voice steady, he ignores the pleads of the Sheriff, eyes never leaving Argent's.

"Listen to me, you put the gun down now!"

"Shoot me."

"Dad." Allison finally cuts into the conversation, attempting to cut through the yelling of the other two.

"Shoot me!" The Nogustine demands, unphased at everything going on around him.

"Put the gun down!"

"Shoot me!" 

"Argent, you put it down! Put it down! Put it down!"

"Strife." Allison thinks aloud, her eyes not leaving the scene in front of her, along with the yelling Sheriff. Hope starts walking towards the huntress, as the huntress is caught off guard by the dispearing sunlight that was cascading into the room from the windows. "Stop, stop it! This is what he wants! This is exactly what he wants!" Allison says to everyone in the room, before being quickly cut off when a brick collided with her head. Hope stop behind the fallen, and now hurt Allison, throwing up and catching the brick in her hand. 

"Not exactly... This all would have been better if Scott was here." The brick flies through the air as Hope continues to toss it, before letting it collide with the ground. "But, it is great that you all have your guns out... you'll need them."

"You're not here to kill me..." The nogustine says with a smirk, turning towards the window behind him. The Oni appear on the balconey of the loft, traveling through the window as shadows before reforming and standing in a line in front of the different creatures standing in the room. "You're here to protect me." The Nogustine and Hope back away from the group, letting the others take a stand in front of them. The Oni's take their swords out, as the others aim their guns, claws, and other weapons at the spirits in front of them. Argent is the first to attempt and fire at the Oni's, only when he pulled the trigger, nothing happened... His gun was never loaded in the first place. Sheriff takes his turn, walking past Argent, and firing at the Oni in front of him. The bullets go through the Oni's, two of them walking to attack from behind. Allison and Derek quickly block the Nogustine and Hope, both of the people in the middle not being phased by the chaos happening around them. Gun fire could be heard from the bottom of the building, but unless you were in that loft you wouldn't have had any clue the supernatural chaos happening. Having been on their way, Scott and Kira finally pull up to the building, rushing to get their helmets off and get inside. They heard the gun shoots and saw the flashes from the guns, both immedately rushing up the apartment building and to their friends.

Only to find Derek Hale on the ground, hurt, Argent attempting to help him before aiming his gun at the unknown people who entered the room, Sheriff aiming his gun at the doorway, and Allison standing there with her weapon and a bleeding wound on her head. Only lowering their guns when they see who enter the room.

"What happened?"

Chapter Text

"That look at me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me,
Singing from heartache from the pain,
Taking my message from the veins,
Seeing the beauty through the...
Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer"

-"Believer" by Imagine Dragons

|| 3rd Person Point of View ||

Noshiko Yukimura walks through the basement of Eichen house, walking towards the burned body of her dead lover... Rhys. He lays exactly where he was before, having not moved an inch since Stiles Stilinski uncovered his body. The bandages still covering his face, blood stained around his mouth from his screams. Noshiko hadn't seen him in years... not since she took the Nogustine down using her katana. The site of him in this state, almost as if he is eternally in pain, brings tears to her eyes and she croutches down by his body and looks around the broken wall. She spots two pieces of rubble on the ground, slowly picking them up and putting them together like a puzzle piece... Self. The same symbol the Oni had been putting on every supernatural creature in Beacon Hills... And the same symbol she had put there, on that wall, many years ago.

"Why that kanji?" The Nogustine slowly walks up behind his old foe, Hope following him in his tracks as they stare at the scene in front of them. Noshiko doesn't have to turn her head to know who's talking to her, nor does she flinch when she hears his voice. She knew that this was coming... she'd been preparing herself for it for years. "Why 'self'?"

"To signify that he died as himself. Because Rhys wasn't a monster." Noshiko stands up to face her opponites behind her, tail in hand. "Not like you."

"If I'm such a monster, why'd you call off the Oni?" The Nogustine takes careful, precise steps towards Noshiko, who faulters and takes a small step backwards before standing her ground in front of him, tail pointed at her enemy. "What happened to the woman who called out for chaos, strife and pain, to descend upon everyone and everything? What happened?" Hope waits in her position, like a pawn that has yet to be told where to do, with little emotion on her face. But in her eyes... theres fear. In her eyes, theres guilt, and pain, and begging to be let go. Not that anyone else in the room cares enough to look her in the eyes for that long, not when the bigger threat is in front of her. She just stares at the ground, at his feet as they walk further and further away from her and closer to Noshiko, who hasn't wavered an inch.

"I don't want that anymore."

"I do." The Nogustine grabs onto Noshiko's wrist, holding it up towards him. "Did you bring this here thinking you could hide it from me?" His other hand comes up and wraps around her last tail, pulling out of her tight grip, no matter how hard she tries to stop him from taking it. "Bad idea." He aims the tail at her face, before flip it and stabbing his vessel with it, having no care in the world for what it could do to Stiles. All he cared about was reaching his goal, and winning this game. He drags it hard across Stiles' abdomen, grimace crossing his face as Noshiko stares at him in horror. Hope keeps her eyes away from the scene, but hearing his groans paints a vivid picture.

"What have you done?!" He pulls the tail out, regaining his breath, as the tail drops out of his blood covered hands and onto the ground. The Nogustine puts a hand on his abdomen, stumbling backwards, further and further until he bumps into Hope and knocks her down too. While Hope lays there, having no orders to get up, he stands on his knees and looks at the kitsune in front of him with dark eyes. 

"Chaos is coming again." Flies come out in swarms from his wound, the buzzing filling everyone in the rooms ears. They comes out in bigger and bigger swarms, looking almost as if they're simply a line, not a bunch of creatures pilled together. They come out so quickly, his body shakes and his head rocks back and fourth on his neck, Noshiko staring in horror as they begin to surround her. She does everything she can in an attempt to keep them out of her face, covering it with her arms and swatting them away with her hands. But they keep coming. They don't stop, until the Nogustine picks up Hope's limp body by her arm and drags her out of the room, Noshiko being too distracted with the flies to ever notice their absence until it's too late. 

Lydia and Aiden pull into a parking lot, Lydia having made 4 right turns in a row. She though her GPS was on, and knew that if they continued, it would lead her closer and closer towards a dead body. She insisted that they pull over, and they did - only to find Stiles or the Nogustine laying in the parking lot, all alone.

No Hope Salvatore in site.

Chapter Text

" I ride the edge,
My speed goes in the red,
hot blood, these veins,
my pleasure is their pain,
I love to watch the castles burn,
These golden ashes turn to dirt,

I've always liked to play with fire,
Play with fire,
Play with fire,
Fire, fire,
I've always liked to play with fire. "

"Play with Fire" by Sam Tinnesz

|| 3rd Person Point of View ||

Lydia Martin sits in the hallway of the former intermant camp, screams filling her ears. Never ending screams. In front of her lays the auburn haired Hope Salvatore, laying there motionless. Lydia had already checked and made sure she was alive, unaware of the struggle that had been happening in her head. Lydia stands up and follows the screams, finding them coming from within the walls of the long hallways, from the pipes lining the walls, and especially from Hope. The screams keep her from doing anything other then focusing on them, focusing on the different voices and the different deaths, and especially focusing on the deaths to come. She can't keep doing this, she can't be alone through all of these screams, so she croutches down by the only other person in this hallway with her. Her mind flies as she tries to figure out the best way to wake her up, knowing that most of the usual methods she can't get here - so she goes to her last resort. Putting her hand on Hope's check, before bringing it back slowly...

Slap.

Hope groans from where she lays, her eyes slowly blinking away to look at the strawberry blonde in front of her.

"What the fuc-"

"Shhhhh!" Lydia puts her hand over her mouth, keeping her from screaming at the person who slapped her awake. "He's still somewhere here, stay quiet."

"Y-You mean... You mean him?" Hope's eyes go wide as her memories come back. It's all a blur - one minute she was in the hospital and running for her life, just wanting to go home. And the next... well, the next is a blur. There was... a metal stick thing with a blue top, weird words that were written on a paper... and then here and now. In the hallway, with Lydia Martin staring at her as if she's trying to figure out what is wrong with the girl in front of her, and more important why she's here.

"You know about the Nogustine?"

"...T-That's his name?" The strawberry blonde nods at her question, Hope finally sitting up and leaning on the wall to her left, her hands sitting in her lap as they shake. "I- I didn't know... I don't know- I couldn't- He just- I wasn't- I did- But I-"

"Okay, okay. Do me a favor and take 3 deep breaths, okay? In through your nose, out through your mouth..." Lydia grabs onto the girls hands to keep them steady, both of the girls taking their deep breaths as they begin to calm down. "There we go... What happened?"

"...he showed up while I was at the hospital... He chased me down... and then, it's a blur. I don't- I don't remember what happened, at all... But I know I did something bad. A lot of bad things." Hope's voice cracks as she reaches the end of her explination, causing her to look up towards the ceiling as tears fill her eyes.

"...he did that to everyone, don't worry. My friends will figure this out, and they'll beat him, don't worry." Lydia squeezes Hope's hands, before standing up and helping her up. "Now, come on. We don't have long before-"

"Can you hear them?" He appears from the end of the hallway, taking slow steps towards the girls he had taken. Taking slow steps towards his stones in his game of GO, two powerful supernatural creatures. "Louder than usual, isn't it? Well, that's because a lot of bad things happened down here." He directs this message towards the banshee, knowing that the banshee is hearing the screams, the result of those bad things. Lydia grabs Hope's arm and starts to pull her backwards, before both turning away from the Nogustine and moving as fast as they can away from him. "What are the voices telling you, Lydia? Are they saying that Stiles is dying?" Lydia pulls Hope along faster, whimpering each time her feet hit the concrete below her. "He is, you know. He's dying." Lydia grabs onto the pipes on the wall as support, both of the girls occasionally glancing back at the figure following behind them, calmly walking towards them. Lydia pulls Hope around a corner, following the pipes for support. 

"Then what do you need me for? You think I can tell you something?" Lydia yells back at him, never stopping, turning any corner she can in the seemingly endless maze. With their quick turns, they run into a gate keeping them from going any further. Hope walked straight into the gate, hitting her nose on one of the bars, causing blood to drip down. The Nogustine laughs behind them, out of site, but his voice echos through.

"Oh, I know you can."

"I'm not telling you anything!" Lydia yells, both of the girls trying everthing in their power to open the gate ahead of them.

"You won't have to. You'll be screaming." He suddenly appears behind the girls, causing Lydia to scream. Hope winces and covers her ears, blood now on her hands, the Nogustine simply smirking at the two of them. He leans forward and wipes right under Hope's nose, bringing his bloody finger to his mouth and licking it.

He needs her blood. Vampire blood, to be exact. Great at healing him, while he drains all the magic out of it. That's why he had Julia draw them to this town with whatever 'magic' she used. Her blood is the key to allow him to do horrible, terrible things. But he also knows she is a great person to feed off of... her fear is stronger then the banshee's, Lydia knowing exactly whats happening. Hope Salvatore on the other hand... 

He grabs her legs as she tries to crawl away, pulling her backwards, not caring as her face hits the concrete underneath her and drags, creating a blood trail as he pulls her. He keeps a strong grip on both of her legs, making it impossible for her to kick him. Her arms are clawing at the concrete in front of her, trying to find anything to grab onto, but instead her fingernails just start to come up off their fingerbeds. The harder she fights, the harder he holds on her legs and the harder he pulls her down the long hallway. Finally reaching the spot where he'd set up a needle and empty blood bag, he grabs a chain and ties it around her ankles despite her pleads, as well as all of her kicking and scratching. He leaves her on the ground, grabbing the other end of the chain and pulling it, him having rigged it for her to hang from the cieling. She screams and keeps clawing at the ground, hoping that something would come for her to grab on, despite all of her pain from the gone nails and the blood dripping down the right side of her face. But, when she's finally hanging from the cieling, all that is left is blood on her face, the vampire blood working both ways - it'll heal the Nogustine and it heals her. He grabs the needle, before grabbing her arm and jamming it into her.

"My bad... I think I missed the vein." He takes the needle out just as harshly as he'd pushed it in, jamming it into her again and causing her to cry out even more.

Lydia refuses to leave without Hope. They're good guys, they don't leave people behind - so instead of trying to escape, she looks for her. Turning down many different hallways, turning away from the Nogustine, and trying to find her way around this seemingly endless maze. She finally stumbles across the room where Hope is hanging, Hope's eyes closed, feeling faint from hanging upsidedown for about an hour. Lydia looks around the set up, first taking the needle out of her arm and ripping a piece of cloth from her dress to put onto it. Limping her way over to the chain, she picks the heavy thing up and tries to lower Hope gently down onto the ground. Unfortunately, the chain is too heavy, and Hope ends up falling head first onto the concrete. She lets out a sob, Lydia rushing over and helping her up, a wound again on Hope's head causing blood drips down her face. Lydia helps her stand and pulls Hope along, limping herself, just wanting to get the both of them out of there. She takes any turns that get her away from the screams, and yet they always seem to come back. And she always seems to end up at gates, just barley blocking the duo from getting out.

"They'll find us. My friends, they find us." Lydia repeats her thoughs from earlier, but more desperation in her voice this  time around as even she starts to not believe it, trying for what has to be the 100th time to see if this gate will open. If the gate will be different from the others. Finally having gained her thought process and conciousness back, Hope helps as Lydia pushes on the gate, just hoping this one will finally work.

"You think so?" The Nogustine appears behind them, sitting on the staircase they limped down to get to this gate. " I myself, was kind of wondering what they're doing right now. What useless lead they're chasing. I wonder if maybe some if  them have bigger problems right now. Are they really spending every minute looking for the two of you? Or... Are they waiting for night fall? Focused on some hopeless gesture to pass the time..." The Nogustine draws out his words, trying and sucessfully getting under the skin of the banshee. The two girls try their best to ignore him, pushing on the gate with their minimum strength in their bodies. But it doesn't work. Nothing they try works. They're failing again, and again, and again, not able to save themselves from the trickster spirit whos tormenting them. Lydia has to stop. The screams in her head start to get too much, making it hard to think, making it hard to breath - his voice doesn't help, as if his voice aggreviates the screams. She leans on the fence gate, just looking at the other hallway on the otherside, wondering if it could lead to their freedom. Hope does what Lydia told her to do before, taking deep breaths. In through her nose, out through her mouth. In through her nose, and out through her mouth. In through her nose...

"What more could you want from us?!" She demands, biting the bullet and turning to face the fox behind them, the fox simply smirking at her effort. 

"More." 

"...More what?" Lydia whispers from her spot, barley moving, just barley turning her head to look at him. He stands up again, walking down the stairs and closer to the girls.

"The trickster stories are all about food. The Coyote.... The Raven... The Fox. They're all hungry. I'm the same. I just crave something... a little different. I eat what you feel." Tears run down Lydia's face, Hope trying to be strong for once and standing in front of the vulnerable girl who saved her twice already today. Lydia turns away from the Nogustine approaching, Hope completely blocking her view of the Fox. He gets closer to the two, grabbing Hope by the ear first and turning her around, slamming her face into the metal gate and holding her there. Then he grabs Lydia's as well, causing her to whimper as she feels his breath on her neck. "And I am insatiable."

"You're nervous, aren't you? You know they're coming. You know they're going to kill you." Lydia finally turns to face the fox behind her, tears still staining her checks, but instead of focusing on that, she focuses on what she can see. That he's scared... The Nogustine is scared. He boxes Lydia in, pinning her back against the gate. Hope immedately tries to free her, to pull his hand off of the gate and let Lydia out, but he doesn't move. 

"Well, that's exactly why I'm keeping you so close." He says as if Hope isn't clawing at his arm, before he's had enough. He grabs Hope by her hair and slams her head into the gate, again and again, and again, causing Lydia to let out a small scream (small for a banshee that is). He keeps hit her head into the bars until enough blood and spilt down her face, leaning forward and taking a deep breath. He brings his free hand to her face and drags it down, pulling on all the cuts that he made while slamming her head into the wall and pulling. He does everything he can to absolutely cover his hand in blood, despite all of Hope's cries and tears, bringing it up to his face and licking it. The bags fade a little from his eyes, but his body seemingly grows paler. "Thank you so much, Littlest Wolf..." He whispers into Hope's ear before letting go of her hair. She falls onto the concrete, hitting her head again, as Lydia rushes over and tries to help to the best of her abilites, the Nogustine just watching with a smirk.

He picks Hope up by the arm, not caring if she drags on the floor, opening the gate before throwing Hope through. He grabs Lydia's arm and drags her through as well, slamming the gate behind them. Hope looks around the circular room, black dots clouding her vision as she uses her strength to put her hand on the wall to stand up. 

"They're here. And I don't need to scream to know they're going to kill you." Lydia says, eyeing Hope on the side, doing everything in her power to keep the Nogustine from looking back and hurting the girl more.

"Good. Because that's why I brought you. I need to know when they'd be close enough. When my own death is closing in." The Nogustine takes Noshiko's tail out of his pocket, holding it in his hands and turning to Hope. "I'm sure you remember this..." He doesn't care if she doesn't, he just cares about the fear in her eyes from seeing the knife like thing. But then, The Oni's appear from the darkness around them, the night sky having finally risen enough for Noshiko to send them to kill him. Four of them surround the fox and his captives, the two girls look around scared at the Oni. The Oni take out their blades, Lydia grabbing Hopes arm and pulling her against the wall, keeping them both out of the fire. 

"'Cause only when they're close can I do this..." The Nogustine snaps the tail in his hands, releasing control from Noshiko to him. Black veins crawl up Hope's body, from her toes to her knees before she finally realizes from the pain. She looses her balance, Lydia catching her and holding her up as the veins crawl higher and higher up her body. The Nogustine turns and smile at her, running a hand through Hope's hair, before disapearing to fight the pack waiting outside of them.

"L- Let's go..." Hope stutters out, hearing commotion from above. Lydia nods in agreement, helping Hope walk as they head towards the gate and try to open it up. They don't have to wait long, Scott and Stiles seeing them struggling and rushing towards them.

"Are you two alright?!" Scott ask them, Stiles quickly following his friend. Lydia loosens her grip on Hope from shock, Hope using the gate for support.

"No. No, no, no. Why are you here?!" Lydia asks as they manage to open the gate, Hope loosing all balance and falling towards the ground. Scott quickly moves and catches her, putting her arms around his shoulders. 

"Lydia, we're here for you two." Stiles says, staring at the scared strawberry blonde.

"You weren't supposed to be here. You didn't get my message?!" Lydia demands, fear in her eyes. 

"Lydia, what's happening?" Confusion fills Scott's voice as he tries to keep Hope up right.

"Who else is here? Who came with you? Who else is here?!" She continues, fear clouding her... everything.

"Uh, uh- Kira, Isaac, Allison-" Stiles quickly lists of, Lydia's head snapping towards him to look at him.

"No, no! She's going to die-" Lydia tells them, tears falling down her face. They immedately head backtowards where they came, Hope limping as Scott helps her walk. But, she knows if he continues to help her, Allison will die... and she doesn't want to be the cause of someones death. 

"Th-There's a blood bag... Two turns right from here. That- That can heal her..." She breaths out, grabbing onto Lydia. Scott lets the information sink in for a second, before slowly passing her off to Lydia and running to get the blood bag. The three left behind struggle to keep going forward, but they do.

But Stiles collapses not too long after Scott left, Hope sitting down next to him as Lydia tries to wake him up. But he just lays there, looking like he's going to die soon... and Lydia can feel it. She can feel his, but theres one overbearing scream in her head that keeps reminding her - her best friend is going to die.

Scott reaches the surface just in time, seeing Allison's legs give out beneath as she starts to fall to the ground. Lydia's scream echos through the intermante camp, just as Scott catches her and holds her close, tears clouding his eyes as he tries to open the blood bag with his open hand.

"Did you find her? Is she okay? Is Lydia safe?" Allison coughs out, hands holding onto the exact spot where she was stabbed with the Oni's blade, snapping Scott out of his concentration for a moment.

"She's okay. Yeah..." He whispers, still not able to get the bag open. Kira rushes over to help, opening the bag up. Scott instead focuses on Allison, holding her hand as Kira slowly brings the blood up towards Allison.

"What do I do?" She asks, Scott looking at her with a worried look. 

"Um... She didn't say- Put it... Put it in the wound?" He suggest, a single tear dripping down his face. Kira nods and gently moves their hands, and pouring the blood into the stab wound. A few seconds pass before anything happens, but then... she heals. Her body starts healing, cells regenerating and creating more skin to cover the wound and to keep her from bleeding anymore. Her entire body heals, all of the destroyed cells and organs, magically coming back.