Secrecy (Hosie)

Part 57: Untimely

"Are you sure this is safe?"

Hope finishes locking the magic-muting shackles onto the unconscious Necromancer, looking up to Raf who stands just outside the basement cell, "These are dark magic shackles. He can't perform any new spells as long as he's chained up. Not even necro-magic," Hope walks out of the cell, closing and locking it.

"Where did you even get those?"

Hope and Raf make their way out of the basement, "Well, technically my Uncle Kol designed them, but they ended up being passed down through the O'Connell family, to a woman my father trusted. Her name was Cami, my father's therapist, autobiographer, and lover. Her family kept a ton of dark objects, and she left them all to me."

"So, I'm assuming she passed?"

"Yeah, when I was little."

"How'd she die?"

Hope thinks about it for a moment, "Well, she died first by the hands of Aurora, turned into a vampire. And then she was bitten by Lucien Castle after he took the Beast serum. The bite was fatal."

Raf and Hope enter his room, "That sounds...gruesome."

Hope nods as Raf goes to grab a clean change of clothes, since his are covered in blood, presumably Cassie's.
Hope studies him as he takes a deep breath, "Do you want to talk about...everything?"

He shakes his head, "I'm okay Hope. A little shaken up, but I'll be okay...I just wish I could remember what happened, how I got this blood all over me..."

"Sometimes the brain shuts out traumatic events from memory. It's completely normal. Maybe you'll be able to remember in due time...But there is something you should probably know..."

Raf looks over to her, waiting for her to continue.

"I found your pocket knife out in the woods," Hope pulls it out of her back pocket, holding it out for Raf to take, "Cassie's blood is black, just like Jo's...but the only blood on this blade is—"

"Red." Raf finishes for her as he studies the blade, "It's not her blood..." She nods to him, and he looks to her with a mix of relief and confusion, "So, who's blood is it?"

"I can do a spell to figure that out, but it'll take some time—"

"Do it," He reassures her, "We need to know who else I hurt."

She's hesitant, but ultimately agrees, getting up and laying out a blank piece of paper, saying one spell to cumulate the red blood from the blade and Raf's shirt onto the paper, "Venez sanguis. Venez sanguis, Venez sanguis la force de la bête à moi." She then takes her time with another incantation to initiate the identification spell, "Sanginum fonis pictum cognoscere..."

She repeats the incantation as Raf looks over the paper, watching the blood slowing moving.

"Wait, what's happening?"

After a moment longer of Hope repeating the spell, she finally drops her hands to her sides and reopens her eyes, "The blood will form an image of the person it came from. When the spell is done, we'll know who's blood this is."

"How long will it take?"

"It should be complete tonight. We'll keep checking it for progress."

"Okay...well I'm gonna shower and get all of this," he gestures at his bloody shirt, "off of me."

Hope looks down at her own clothes, seeing the blood that's also rubbed off on her, "Good idea. I'm gonna go check on the Saltzman's. Will you be okay for a bit?"

"Yeah, go ahead. I'm all good here, promise. Just gonna clean up and then maybe go for a walk to clear my head."

Hope nods, turning to exit the room,