Secrecy (Hosie)

Part 104: Purgatory pt2

Josie takes a deep breath as she stands by the tub filled with water, where Hope now lays unconscious.

Freya steps forward, placing a reassuring hand on Josie's shoulder, "Are you ready, sweetheart?"

Josie tries to shake off her remaining nerves, though it doesn't exactly work, but she nods anyway, "Ready as I'll ever be."

Freya nods, and Josie unties her robe and places it to the side, leaving her in her pajama shorts and top. Caroline and Rebekah help her into the tub, where she moves to sit opposite to Hope.

Freya explains to her, "The water will create a better conduit for magic and maintain a strong connection between you two."

Josie lowers herself into the water, the water shimmering with an almost otherworldly energy. The rest of the group watch with bated breath as Josie closes her eyes with a deep breath, hoping for a positive outcome.

When Josie reopens her eyes, she's no longer in the tub she and Hope share. Her eyebrows furrow as she turns her head and stands to her feet from the couch in the middle of a large room, trying to piece together where she is, and she figures it out quickly.

The Mikaelson compound in New Orleans.

She hones in on the soft sound of jazz music from the usual lively streets of the city. She rises to her feet, making her way over to the grand foyer, finally tugging on the main entrance to find that the doors are locked, trapping her inside the compound.

She takes a deep breath, trying to steady herself. If she's going to get out of Hope's subconscious, she needs to find Hope first.

Josie turns back around, making her way through the foyer, her footsteps echoing in the emptiness of the Mikaelson compound. Each closed door she passes seems to pulse with an energy that she can feel deep in her bones. She knows behind each door, there must be a memory, a piece of Hope's past that she needs to confront in order to escape her own mind.

"Hope?" Josie calls out, her voice echoing through the halls.

"Hope?" She calls out a little louder as she makes her way up the stairs. Her eyes scan the familiar paintings on the walls and all of the elaborate decor, just as she remembered from her visit to the compound with Hope.

As she reaches the main hall upstairs, she freezes in her tracks. As she looks ahead, she sees a chandelier-like structure floating in the middle of the hallway. It is made entirely of keys, each one glimmering in the dim lighting.

She steps closer as the keys sway gently, and she notices that each one has a name carved into it—all names of people from Hope's life.

"Josie," a soft voice reaches her ears. Josie turns to see Hope appearing from the opposite end of the hall. She steps closer, and when her face is finally illuminated more from the glowing keys, Josie notices that Hope is a bit pale, fearful even.

"Hope." The brunette lets out a breath of relief, wrapping her arms around Hope securely, "I've been trying to find you."

Hope embraces Josie for a prolonged moment before she eventually pulls away, and they both turn toward the keys, "I've tried over half of them. They won't open any of the doors here."

Josie lets out a sigh as a pout finds her lips. She looks over the keys, the names carved into them as she tries to think of why they may not work. But her eyebrows furrow as she continues to search through the names, "None of these have my name on them." Though it's a general observation, it comes out as a question.

Hope sighs frustratedly, threading her fingers through her hair, "I'm just as confused as you. Yours was the first name I looked for."

Josie pauses, turning back toward Hope. She hesitates to ask, not knowing exactly what memory Hope accessed before she lost consciousness. "Hope? What did you remember, back in our bedroom?"