The Young and Gifted

31. flaws

Josie ran rapidly to her, resting the head of her sister on her lap and checked her forehead. "I think it's out—"

"Hope?" Mason called from behind Josie and she turned to see the witch standing there. "You're not supposed to be here—"

"Landon found—" She was cut off by the shrieking cry that swept into the room. A large wraith rose. Hope didn't give it a chance to call upon another scream or shreeck. She hurled the jewelled knife with all her might and it found its home inside of the Baku's chest. It began to dissolve away in dust. "—out that it's not completely gone once its victim pushes it out." Hope pushed past their gaping eyes and picked up the jewelled weapon, still intact, from the pile of dust. "And this is the weapon I killed the Genie with. I think it's the only weapon that can directly kill a Legendarium monster."

Kaleb wiped his forehead with exhaustion. "Damn that was a lot of unnecessary work. We need to come up with a squad name because things are far from over. The Super Squad? Legend Slayers? "

"How about Salvatore Saviors?" Landon suggested.

Kaleb and MG only grinned.

*

By the time everything was over, Lizzie had a migraine. She was permitted to take the next school day off so that she could rest.

Hope arrived in Kaura's doorway, remembering the fact that it was broken off. Regardless, she knocked on the frame and peered into the room. It was chaos. Windows were shattered, desks were turned over, chairs were incinerated and shards of broken glass were littered all on the floor. Lizzie--possessed Lizzie had done some work.

And through it all, Kaura was laying on the floor, listening to music. Hope was worried and confused at the same time. How the witch found peace and calm in between the chaos, she wanted to know. She cleared her throat and stepped further into the room.

"What do you want?" Kaura snapped, still not getting up from her laying down position.

"I—uh," Hope swallowed her broken sentences and tried again. "I wanted to tell you that Lizzie is resting. And she sent me to apologize for what happened."

Kaura snorted. "Lizzie does not apologize. You're trying to find an excuse for being here. Just leave."

Hope sighed and turned around. But she didn't walk out. She swivelled back to face Kaura and pinned her determined eyes on her. "Why do you hate me?" Hope demanded.

Kaura exhaled deeply and hoisted herself up. She emptily stared into Hope's eyes from the ground and stated, "You're the reason why I can't see my parents. You're the reason why they died."

Hope scoffed. "I know. I'm the reason why I can't see my parents either. I'm the reason why the compound back at home is so empty. I'm the reason why my mom and Jackson never got to be together. I'm the reason why my Aunt Freya never got a chance to be in a complete family. I'm the reason why monsters are attacking Landon. It's always me. I have to think about it every single day."

Kaura was silent. She seemed deep inside her head and Hope wasn't even sure the witch was paying attention. She reached to wipe the small tears that were forming and was about to leave for good when Kaura held up the left piece of her earplug. Hope stared at her in question and but took slow steps forward. She sat down beside Kaura and took it, placing it in her ear. The soft yet rough melody began to play.

They both laid back down, staring absently at the ceiling. Until Kaura said, "My biggest flaw is how I can easily hide my emotions. It makes it harder to ask for help."

"Josie told me that you don't talk about what happened. I was like that once. My Aunt Freya kept bringing it up and it made me angrier because it was like she was reminding me of much of a burden I was. I shattered every glass in the house that day and it was the first time she taught me how to control my emotions before they destroyed everything else," Hope admitted. "That day I also learned that bottling up feelings like that will only lead to more trouble because eventually, there won't be any more space. Then that bottle explodes."

"Let me guess, she sent you to a shrink and you became all better?" Kaura snorted.

That only reminded Hope of Cami but she kept quiet about it. "Actually, no. She took me to their graves. She let me cry about it for hours. And then we went to the rage yard and she let me smash as many things as I wanted. Every day at 5. No talking involved, before, during or after."

That tugged a small smile on Kaura's face but she didn't register it. "That sounds amazing." She took a moment to form the sentence. "Are they...are they there as well?"

Hope immediately knew what she was referring to. "Right beside. They're in the Mikaelson tomb. Because they are—were Mikaelson's as well, nothing is going to change that." Hope waited for her to respond but she didn't. "Do you want to go see them?"

"No," Kaura answered and another wave of silence washed between them.

*

Josie knocked on her dad's door and took a step in. He had his glasses on and seemed to be hard at work. He glanced up and smiled when he spotted her. "Hey, Josie."

"Am I interrupting?" She asked, seating herself in one of the plush chairs in front of his desk.

"I am actually working on this whole Legendarium dilemma. Apparently, it needs to have a master. Which means there is a person deliberately targeting Landon and Hope," Ric was saying as he sorted through his messy papers.

"That's...cool."

He glanced up and pulled his glasses away. "Josie, what's wrong?"

"I have to tell you something about mo—Caroline."

Ric's eyebrows creased. "I don't know what's up with you. She's your mother, not Caroline."

"She cheated on you," Josie blurted out. Her leg started to bounce frantically and she chewed on the inside of her mouth nervously. Ric blinked rapidly, trying to take in the information. "With that new teacher, Clarke? I...caught them yesterday."

Ric planted his arms on his table. "Look, I don't know what you think you saw but I'm sure it was a mistake. Last night was crazy, you might have seen something that wasn't there—"

"I saw it, dad. I thought it was you at first and I was disgusted and uncomfortable but I realized that you were off-campus. I caught them," she repeated.

Ric didn't know what to say next. "I...uh...I will make sure to talk to her."

Josie nodded. "Are you...going to like, you know?"

Ric sighed. "I'll let you know, Josie. Thanks for informing me."

She nodded and stood up. She rounded the table and hugged him. "I hope you're okay."

~

"Okay, squad. We have a problem."

try to guess who said it and don't forget who to vote ;)