Henrik Niklaus Mikaelson: Reborn as Hope mikaelsons twin

20)"Time Is Running Out"

It took them three hours to hash out a plan of action. Aunt Freya will still make the dagger that is capable of killing Marcel and keep a close eye on Uncle Kol, who was exposed to the blue light instead of Dad. Vincent will collect the bones and the book, after which both of them will prepare for the sealing ritual. When the ritual is complete, they will focus on Aurora, and when the time is right, they will extract the Hollow from us, transfer it to her, and then kill her.

There was just one problem with that plan. Honestly, Henrik was surprised there was only one problem. He was expecting so many more, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"While the two of you may be tribids, you aren't completely activated. Only 1/3 of your potential is active, the witch side. You both will need to activate at least 2/3 of your potential to be able to harbor the Hollow for the time it will take us to prepare Aurora."

Vincent motioned for Freya to take over while he went to the kitchen to call one of his contacts to get the bones from Mystic Falls and put out feelers for other bones, already working on the plan.

"Obviously, we're going to activate your werewolf side." Aunt Freya hesitated after that. It was understandable, really. She is asking her seven-year-old nephew and niece to kill a human in cold blood. But between the choice of killing or being killed, is it really a choice?

"You'll do it since you know, in graphic detail, what's at stake, but what about Hope? How do we convince her to kill a human?" Vincent asked, putting cups of coffee on the table. He then informed them that two of the bones were on the way, and he knew where to get the others, thanks to Henrik.

Aunt Freya and Vincent looked displeased and uncomfortable, but neither said anything against them activating their wolf side on purpose, simply asking how they would get Hope to activate her wolf side. Henrik's belief that he chose the right people for the task was reinforced.

"Well, we can do it two ways. Plan A: we tell her everything and hope she cooperates, or Plan B: we fake an ambush that forces her to kill a human and traumatise her for life." Henrik finished cheerfully, as if he wasn't discussing his sister committing murder.

"You're her twin, you tell us the best way to do this." Vincent retorted, which, fair.

"We tell her that to save our family, Aunt Freya needs to perform a spell that requires us to become hybrids, and we need to keep it a secret from others because they will try to stop, stating we're 'too young' to help them. She will definitely agree." Henrik finished whatever was left of his coffee in one go, letting them process what he just said.

"Not the complete truth, but not a lie either. Smart." Aunt Freya mumbled. Beside her, Vincent stood up, grabbed his wallet and keys, and headed to the door. When he saw us looking at him in confusion, he rolled his eyes and said, "Well, let's go collect Hope and activate their werewolf side."

"What—now?!" Aunt Freya spluttered, "It's 1 a.m!"

"Yes, now " Vincent practically growled, "We don't have the luxury of time, Freya! Who knows when Inadu will strike? It will take until the end of the week to get the bones and the book, and we also need to study the ritual and the seal needed to capture and trap Inadu. If we don't activate their werewolf side now, we won't have time for it later!" By the end of his mini-rant, Vincent was breathing heavily.

Aunt Freya didn't say anything; she just turned to look at him. Henrik understood what she was asking. After all, they were going to kill a person, not her. They didn't have a choice in whether they wanted to murder someone or not, so they should at least have a choice in when to murder someone, even if there is a time limit of a week.

"You should go ahead and get the humans ready. Send us your location when you have everything ready. I and Aunt Freya will collect Hope and be there as soon as possible." Henrik said with a calm he wasn't feeling Murder wasn't a big deal for Henrik, as he used to be a hitman in his past life, but Hope...

Hope was an actual child. He's going to ask a seven-year-old, his twin sister, to kill a man on purpose. He felt sick at the thought. And no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that this was the correct way, the only way for their entire family to survive....he couldn't.

Shaking his head to clear away his thoughts, he turned to Aunt Freya. (He ignored the pity and worry in her eyes.) "Let's go, Aunt Freya, we need to be quick."

Aunt Freya grabbed his shoulder before he could take a step, the hold not restricting, but also not light. "You don't have to do this right now, Henrik. Despite what Vincent says, I'm sure we would be able to find time to....to activate your werewolf side in the following week."

"There's no need to delay this, Aunt Freya. Today or tomorrow, what does it matter? The end result is the same. And Vincent's right. The two of you need to concentrate on the spell, after all, a single mistake can cause all of our deaths."

"Henrik..." Aunt Freya started but trailed off, not knowing what to say. Henrik took advantage of it and put on his shoes, running to the door. He looked back and saw Aunt Freya following him with a resigned look on her face.

Henrik walked towards the manor, trying to ignore the dull ache in his heart, hoping he had made the right decision.

Hoping he won't regret it.