I Hate That I Love You

Chapter 20

Stand up.

I can't. It's all my fault.

It's all your fault. So be the one to fix the damn problem.

I can't get up, they dosed me with vervain and wolfsbane.

You're the tribrid, the fucking miracle baby. The laws of nature don't apply to you.

Hope pulled herself to her feet, then nearly collapsed with the effort. Whoever had taken Lizzie had had the means and the resources to render the infamous tribrid unconscious. As hard as it was for her to admit, Hope wouldn't be able to take on Lizzie's captors all on her own. She'd need help. Well, not help, exactly, but more like a couple of pawns she could use as a distraction of some sort. Fortunately for her, she was stuck in the basement of a school full of said pawns.

None of the kids from the Mikaelson Academy would be of any use. They didn't care about Lizzie, and even if Hope could scare them into following her orders, they'd try to make a run for it as soon as they saw an opening. Hope needed people who were easy to manipulate, but weren't prone to regarding Lizzie's safety as unnecessary.

She tore away the lock that was holding her in place and broke past the barrier spells that Freya had put up. She staggered into the dusty corridor, dragged herself up the steps, and emerged in the dormitory halls of the Salvatore School. She pounded on Lizzie's room door, knowing Josie was inside.

"Hope? How did you-"

Hope shoved passed the Gemini witch and slammed the door using magic. "We need to get to Lizzie," she heaved in and out. "You're going to help me, Saltzman. You too, Park." Hope turned to the black haired witch who was laying on Lizzie's bed.

"Excuse you! God, drop the act, Mikaelson," Penelope huffed. "You're supposed to be locked up so you can't cause any more trouble. Leave Lizzie's rescue to the adults."

"The adults who are looking in the complete opposite direction, you mean?" Hope snarled. "They still think I did it. They're not taking into consideration the fact that-"

"Hope? Shut up," Penelope said.

Hope felt her eyes flicker golden. Vampire veins raced up and down her face, causing Penelope to edge away uneasily.

"That kid, MG," Hope began pacing the room. "Bring him too, he'll be of some help. Any other student who actually cares if Lizzie lives or dies."

"Lives or dies?" Josie voiced anxiously. "Hope, please stop. I don't..." Josie began to cry, which was understandable, but Hope didn't have any sympathy for that. They didn't have any time to worry, only time to act.

Seeing her girlfriend cry seemed to give Penelope a totally different persona. "There's a witch named Cleo. And a wolf named Rafael that we found a few months ago. They're both friendly with Lizzie, and they're both stupid enough to risk their lives for this cause."

"And you?" Hope asked. "Are you stupid enough, too?"

"I still think this is all an elaborate trick, a visit to the slaughterhouse wrapped up in sparkles and candy," Penelope rolled her eyes. "But on the chance that it's not... As much as I hate Lizzie, I don't want her dead."
"We'll take my car," Hope said, the beginnings of a plan forming in her mind. "We can use Josie's blood for a locator spell. If whoever has Lizzie put her under a cloaking spell... Lizzie's smart enough to have siphoned it away already."

"What happens when we find the people who took her?" Josie asked hesitantly.

The answer came to her so naturally that it scared her. "We kill them," Hope used the voice of the ruthless murderer she was known to be. "We'll slaughter them all."