Secrecy (Hosie)

Part 68: Collateral

Note: I know I left you all hanging in the last chapter, so I thought I'd go ahead and post half of the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!

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Hope furrows her eyebrows, "Landon, what's that?"

"What's what?"

She gets up from the bed, reaching for his arm, "That mark—"

He pulls his arm away from her, "Oh, that's—It's nothing Hope."

"That's not nothing, Landon, it looks bad,"

She grabs his wrist, pulling his sleeve up and examining the bruises and slashes across his forearm.

And Landon freezes.

Hope is smart. And very skilled in forensics and body language due to her unique background.

That gash was caused by a knife.

And those bruises...They spark memories of Raf on the night he died.

"Hope..."

She stares blankly at the marks,

"You...You killed him."

When he doesn't even respond to her, she finally looks up to meet his gaze, her own vision slightly blurred by tears of anger and betrayal.

But she sees it. The guilt in his eyes.

And that's more than enough confirmation for her.

She grips his shirt tightly before slamming his back into the wall, "How could you?!"

"Hope, please, just let me explain," He tries to hold a hand up to stop her, but she ignores it, landing a punch to his face that sends him to the ground.

"Explain what?! Why you murdered the only person who ever gave a damn about you, or why you lied about it?!"

She's about to step closer to him, more than likely ready to swing at him again, but he scoots backwards, holding a defensive hand up, as he rambles as much information as he can, "I don't remember anything that happened that night! One second I was walking down the street, and the next I was in the middle of the woods with a knife, covered in ash and these marks, with no idea how I got there or what happened! So I dropped the knife somewhere, and I ran! You have to believe me, Hope, please,"

Hope tries to process everything he said, but she's just filled with rage, and it's clouding her judgment.

Suddenly MG and Josie are running into the doorway, "MG heard screaming," Josie notices Landon on the ground, cheek and jaw beet red, and Hope looking troubled, "Hope, what's going on?"

Hope keeps staring at Landon, trying to read his expression. This whole thing just keeps getting more and more complicated.

Landon continues to explain himself, "I was going to talk to you and Raf about everything I could remember... But the next morning, I found out Raf had been killed, and I couldn't talk to you, knowing that it might've been me who hurt him. I didn't know what to do, Hope. I'm so sorry,"

Tears flow down his cheeks as he puts his head in his hands.

Hope takes a deep breath, a couple of tears escaping her own eye before she quickly wipes them away.

Landon wouldn't be able to make up a story like that, and Raf had pieces of memory missing as well.

This can only mean one thing.

The Necromancer got to Landon too.

Hope kneels down, pulling Landon into an embrace to comfort him, "I believe you."

He looks at her, surprised to hear those words.

She turns to MG and Josie, "If I'm right, I think it would be best to keep him here until we can find a way to sever the link between him and the Necromancer."

Landon's eyebrows furrow in confusion.

Josie and MG exchange a look, feeling sympathy for the girl who's already lost so much.

"Do you think severing the link is possible?" Josie asks softly, not wanting to set off the Tribrid.

"There's always a loophole."

Josie tries to remain hopeful as she gives Hope a slow nod, "Okay. I'll talk to dad. We'll keep him here."

"I'm sorry, what the hell are you all talking about?"

Hope turns back to Landon, "Listen, there's a lot you don't know, but to keep it brief, we think a monster is controlling your mind, so we have to find a way to break his spell safely."

"Monster?...Spell?"

MG buts in, "Yes. Monsters and magic are real. All those creatures you've read about in fairytales exist. Vampires. Werewolves. Witches. And everything in between. This school is a home for such creatures. Like Raf."

Landon turns to Hope, who confirms what MG said with a nod, "Raf was a werewolf."

"And I'm a vampire."

"Witch. Siphon witch, actually."

Hope sighs, "And I'm...a mess, but that's beside the point. I'm sure we can find a way to fix whatever's happening to you."

After a second, Landon lets out a nervous laugh, looking between the three of them, who each furrow their eyebrows in confusion.
He freezes, "Oh shit, you're serious."

Hope sighs, standing to her feet before reaching a hand out to help him up, "You can stay in here. Since the Necromancer can't practice magic, he won't be able to control your mind for now."

"Right...And why can't the Necro—that thing not practice magic?"

Hope answers as if it's no big deal, completely normal, "Because I put my magic-muting shackles on him."

"Oh, yeah. Duh. Makes perfect sense."

Hope knows Landon is super overwhelmed and confused, "Listen, Landon, I know this is a lot to take in, but you'll be safe here, okay?"

Landon sighs and nods, "Thanks for believing me."

"Sorry for punching you."

"I don't blame you for that. I probably would've done the same thing."

Hope nods, "Well, you try to make yourself comfortable, and we'll go talk to Dr. Saltzman. We can try a head dive later to see if I can find any memory of what happened that night."

Landon nods, not entirely understanding anything she just said, and the three supernaturals leave the room, letting Landon attempt to process everything that just happened.

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