The Princess Without a Crown -- [COMPLETE]

"A challenge she hadn't meant to offer..."

Hope couldn't understand why she still felt so horribly tired when she woke again but rolled onto her side to look at the clock. She realized it was three in the morning. Only three hours of sleep? A sudden thumping sound caught her attention, and she sat up in slow confusion. The thump came again and again. It seemed to be coming from outside.

Quickly adjusting her black cami strap to fit back on her shoulder, Hope slung her bare legs over the side of the bed and stood to her feet. She tip-toed to the window and pulled the curtain to her room open just enough to peer out into the night. Her heart dropped. Outside, piled in the back of a grimy green pickup truck, were the people she'd encountered in the diner miles back. No, that couldn't be possible. How was it they just happened to be here? Unless they had been following her.

A sweat broke out over her brow as she watched them. There were five, three guys and two girls. All were built tall and held a muscular appearance. It was easy to see they were capable. They were all laughing as if they were about to play some game. Hope had a horrible inkling that she knew the game they were playing, and she was the pawn.

The man she had seen before, with the tattooed knuckles, suddenly looked in her direction, and she quickly pulled the curtains shut. "Shit," she muttered. She ran a frantic shaky hand through her hair as she tried to think of what to do. Casting a glance over her phone sitting on the side table, she questioned if she should call someone. Her dad, Elijah. Anyone that might be able to talk her through this. She quickly shook her head, dispelling the idea immediately. It's your turn, remember? "Yeah, it's my turn to get killed..." she muttered under her breath.

There was going to be an ending tonight, and it was up to her if she'd end up on top. Hope made her decision in the silence as she pulled on a pair of jeans and stuffed her feet into her combat boots. She slipped on her black leather jacket and searched through the items she'd decided to take into the motel with her. It was lucky she had as she slid a glinting silver dagger into the side of her boot. If they wanted a fight, they'd get one. She was a Mikaelson, and they soon would learn not to toy with the original bloodline.

Hope inched herself closer to the window again and gazed out into the dark, frowning when she saw the truck had disappeared. "Where did you go?" she whispered to herself. A glitter of something shiny heading straight for her caused her to dive to her knees. The window above shattered, and glass flung in every direction. Hope looked to her right to see an arrow lying on the ruddy carpet. "What the hell-" Another arrow went soaring into the room again, sinking deeply into the wall. Either these people were incredibly dense or had nothing to lose.

It was time to decide, and the decision was to leave her belongings in the room behind and get out the door. She wouldn't be able to fight back if she couldn't see them in the first place. So Hope crawled to the door, reached up for the handle, and turned the knob, hiding behind the door.

Just as she thought, one of the men from outside started to walk in, but before he could get himself in the room, she slammed herself against the door, crushing his arm between the jam. If the shattering glass hadn't woken up the owner, then his scream would have. She'd broken his arm, she'd guess.

She opened the door again, and the man let out another howl of agony from the sudden pressure release. There was no time to make another decision, instincts took her body over, and she sent a hard kick into the abdomen of a woman with a blonde pixie cut and way too much eyeliner. The woman crashed into the wall opposite them, hitting her head hard against a glass picture frame, leaving a stain of crimson behind. Hope didn't stop to check her pulse and instead took off down the narrow hall. Two down, three more dangers to go. Fantastic.

It was almost like the world suddenly slowed down, like the earth all at once stopped in its rotation, and Hope could think a million miles per hour. Her heartbeat was pounding against her eardrums in a slow rhythmic pattern. She came to a halt in the hall, feeling a tickle on her skin that forced her to turn around, eyes catching sight of a silver-tipped arrow gliding smoothly through the air towards her. In the next moment, she reached a hand up and grabbed hold of the sleek black body of the arrow just inches before it could cause any damage to her face.