Resurfacing

Chapter 4

Josie woke up after having a rare good sleep which she was grateful for. Surprisingly, there was no Freya behind her this time. She made her way back upstairs, heading up to Hope's room. As she made her way there, she passed by Freya who was already dressed and ready. She gave her a slight smile before carrying on walking. 

When she eventually reached her room, or well, Hope's room, Josie changed into a red, sweater that had white at the top along with a yellow line on the bottom and wore a blue plaid skirt.

 After finishing getting ready, she headed back downstairs to the compound. She saw Freya had brought Hope's casket back up. As soon as she saw Hope, a flash of guilt overcame Josie from the memories of what had happened yesterday. She couldn't help but, still feel guilty for not bringing Hope back, after all, she's the reason Hope was stuck. 

Freya must have noticed how Josie was feeling, as she felt a hand comfortingly on her back. At first, it startled her but soon enough she got comfortable, comfortable enough to hug Freya and let a few tears out. 

"I miss her and I, I just feel so guilty for not bringing her back."

"We all miss her and she wouldn't want you to feel guilty, she knows it's not your fault. We all do."

Josie knows Hope wouldn't blame her but it didn't help lessen her guilt. She felt as if she should be angrier at herself to make up for the anger Hope didn't feel towards her, as absurd as that may sound. 

They stayed hugging for a while longer before breaking apart. It honestly surprised Josie how they had gone so quickly from Freya wanting to kill her to wanting to comfort her. 

After giving each other one last smile, they both looked back in the direction of Hope.

Or at least where she should be.

"Uh, where did Hope go?"

"She was just there. She couldn't have just moved."

They both ran over to the coffin, hoping to see some sort of explanation though, they both knew that was unlikely. 

They spent the next hour or so trying to come up with an explanation, even going as far as using a tracking spell. Nothing. It was as if she had been erased off the face of the Earth. But she hadn't been, had she? 

Josie suddenly became light-headed and her chest tight at the mere thought that something had happened to her.

She'd fainted.

When she next woke up, it was in Hope's room. Although she knew how to differentiate reality from dreams, she still hoped that she had dreamed of Hope going missing. 

As she made her way back down the steps, she took her time, not wanting to face the truth. But, she did. Hope wasn't there. Instead, she was faced with Freya, on her knees, crying. 

She quickly ran over to comfort Freya, trying to hold back her own tears. She couldn't. 

Hope was missing, and it was her fault. 

After they had both calmed down, they began to try and figure out what happened. So far, they had managed to conclude that a vampire must have used their speed to grab Hope or a witch, cloaking themselves. Though, the main question grabbing at both of their minds was why. Hope was the sweetest person Josie knew, she was good. So, why would someone want to hurt her?

"Who would want to hurt Hope?" 

"A lot of people. Klaus had a lot of enemies and many will feel threatened by the power Hope has."