High school love

The best year of my life

*Hope's pov*
Our week in New Orleans passed so quickly. Soon, it was our last day here before we had to go to Colorado. I wanted to spend the last day of the year with my family and Josie was okay with that. Usually, we don't do anything very special on December 31 but this year we decided that we were going to party. Josie and I are underage but my family can compel people so it's not a problem. We got ready and drove to the club. I decided that I wasn't going to drink too much because I'm the one who's going to drive to Colorado the next day. Before midnight, we all sat down to eat a little bit. I got up to make a toast. "I want to thank every single one of you for being there for me. You guys were always there to support me when I was sad or going through hard times. I wouldn't be there without you. Also, I want to thank my beautiful girlfriend for making this year the best year of my life. " I said before raising my glass overhead. Everyone did the same thing and we drank our champagne. At midnight, everyone hugged everyone even strangers hugged us. Everyone started dancing and I had to leave to go to the bathroom. It took me a while because there was a big lineup. When I got back, I looked everywhere to find Josie. She's not always a responsible drinker so I have to take care of her. I saw her sitting in front of the bar. I was far from her but I saw something strange. When she ordered her drink, the barmaid smiled at her and started to make it. Just before he was done I saw him pulling a little bottle from his pocket and putting some of if in Josie's drink. I started to make my way to the bar but everyone was blocking me. I pushed some people and Rebekah saw me so she followed me. When I got to the bar, Josie wasn't there anymore. I looked around and saw the barmaid leaving the club with Josie in his arms. I rushed outside and Rebekah did too. When I got outside, I saw him putting my girlfriend in a car. When he saw us, he closed the door and tapped on the car. The car started and left with Josie in it but the car suddenly stopped. I saw someone standing in front of him, it was Marcel. He opened the driver's door and pulled the guy outside. I saw a silhouette opening another door and pulling Josie out, it was Kol. She was unconscious. When I turned around, I saw that everyone was outside, Keelin, Freya and Davina. When they saw me running out, they all followed me. I asked the girls if they could take Josie back home. "You don't want to take her home yourself?" they asked me. "I know I can trust you guys and I want to stay to interrogate the barmaid" I replied. They left but Davina stayed. "I can be useful" she said. Rebekah caught the barmaid who was trying to escape when he saw us. We started asking him questions. "Why do you wanted Josie?" Rebekah asked. He didn't answer. Instead, he looked around to see whag happened to the driver. Marcel knocked him down and left to lock him in my family's secret dungeon. Kol kicked the barmaid in the face. "We asked you something, why do you wanted Josie?" he asked. "Wait guys!" I said. They all looked at me with a strange look. "Look on his arm. He has the same mark as the other vampire who attacked Josie earlier this week." I said. They all looked closely and saw the symbol. It was a Viking rune: Hagalaz, symbol of destruction, loss, change and disruption. We all looked at each other. "What does it mean" Davina said. "I think there's a group of people who want or need Josie" Marcel said. "We just need to figure out why" Kol completed. When we realized he wasn't going to give us answers, we knocked him out and brought him in the dungeon as well.
On our way back to the house, I wasn't able to think about why the barmaid wanted Josie because I was so worried about her. When we arrived at the house, I ran upstairs to see Josie. When I opened the door, I saw Freya sitting on a chair. "Hi" she said when she saw me. "Hey" I said relieved to see that someone was with her. "I stayed here to keep an eye on her" she said getting up to leave the room. "Thanks" I told her after I hugged her. "Can you please tell everyone to wait for me before they go to the dungeon?" I asked. "Of course" she replied before leaving the room.
I sat on my bed and watched her. I caressed her cheek and kissed her forehead. "I'm coming back soon" I whispered. I left the room. When I was walking down the stairs, I ran into Keelin. "Hey" she said. "Hi?" I answered "Where are you going?" I asked her. "I'm going to keep an eye on Josie while you guys do your things" she said. "Thanks" I told her. When I walked in the living room, everyone stopped talking and looked at me. "I can interrogate the barmaid alone" I said. "You're definitely not going alone, darling" Kol said. Everyone nodded. "Okay but can we're not all going. It would be too much" I replied. Kol, Marcel and Davina hurried to say that they were coming. Rebekah and Freya decided to stay home in case something bad happen. When we arrived at the dungeon, the barmaid looked at us with an evil smile. I entered in his cell. I walked in his direction and hit him. "Hope, stay calm" Marcel said. "I am very calm" I said.
We tried to get answers from him but he didn't say a thing so we decided to torture him. In normal circumstances I don't like torturing people but he did something to Josie and I won't let that happen anymore. Marcel made him drink concentrated vervaine. After two hours of torturing him, I started to talk. "Okay okay! I'm going to talk just stop" he tried to articulate. "Talk, now!" I said. "We need the two siphoners" he said. "The two siphoners? Who is we?" I asked. "A group of vampire" he replied. "Why do you want them" I said. "They are the keys" he said with a smirk. He stopped talking. "The keys for what?!" Marcel yelled. He stopped talking. "I have to go" I said. "Where are you going?" Davina asked. "Let's talk in the house" I said. We left the dungeon and walked back home. We all sat on the couch. "I have to leave for Colorado" I said. "Why?" Freya asked. "There are vampire looking for Josie and Lizzie" Kol answered for me. "I hope you guys understand" I said sadly. "Of course we do" Rebekah said for everyone. "I'm going to pack our things" I said getting up. They nodded. When I walked in the room, Josie was still unconscious. I packed all of our things and put everything in my new car. Before I left, I hugged everyone on thanked them. "I love you all" I said. They all said it back. I got upstairs one last time to pick up Josie. I picked her up and carried her in my arms. I made her sit in the car and I put her seatbelt on. I put a blanket over her to keep her warm. "Call me if you have any new informations" I told them. "Bye guys" I said before I got in the car.

I drove all the way to Colorado without stopping except for putting gas. When I arrived to Josie's family cottage, I knocked on the door. It was late at night and it took a couple minutes before anyone opened. Lizzie opened the door to face me with Josie in my arms. "I'm going to explain everything later" I said. Lizzie show me our room and I put her in her bed. I kissed her forehead and got downstairs to talk to everyone. Lizzie woke up Alaric and Caroline so they could hear everything. "If it doesn't bother you, Lizzie, I would like to speak to your parents alone" I said. She nodded and left.
"What's happening?" Alaric asked rubbing his eyes. I told him everything that happened. "Thank you Hope. We're lucky you were there." Caroline said. "She's my girlfriend, it's normal" I replied. They both smiled at me. "You should go to sleep." Alaric said. "Are we going to tell the girls what happened?" I asked. "We have to" Alaric told us. "We're going to let you tell Josie and we'll tell Lizzie" Caroline said. "Okay, goodnight" I said as I got up.
When I walked in the room, I got so tired. The only thing I wanted to do is sleep. I drove 18 hours straight without stopping and it's really exhausting. I put a pyjama on and went to bed. I looked at the ceiling asking myself a ton of questions but I quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke and Josie was still unconscious. I thought maybe she was sleeping so I gently poked her shoulder. "Josie" I whispered. Her eyes slowly opened. I was happily surprised to see that she was finally awake. "Hi" I said. After a couple minutes, Josie sat down on her bed. "Wait, we're in Colorado?" she asked confused. "Yes it's a long story. Last night at the club, the barmaid drugged you and tried to kidnap you but we caught him before." I explained. She looked shocked. "We interrogated him but we didn't got much informations except that a group of vampires wants you and your sister. As soon as I heard that, I decided that I would take you back here. I explained everything to your parents who explained it to Lizzie." I continued. "Wait, that means I didn't even got to tell everybody goodbye and I didn't got the chance to thank them?" she said with a sad face. "That's not a problem" I said. I picked up my phone out of my pocket and FaceTimed Davina. My phone rang a couple of times before she answered. "Hi!" Davina said when she saw me and Josie. "Hey" we both said. Soon, everyone was in the frame. "Hello everyone" Josie said waving at the camera. "Hi, we were so worried. We're so glad you're okay" Keelin said. Everyone hummed and nodded. "Thanks everyone for everything you guys did for me. I really appreciate it. I felt so comfortable with you and I felt like I was a part the family" Josie said with sincerity and emotion in her voice. "You are a part of the family, darling" Kol started. "Always and forever" Rebekah added. Everyone nodded. "How was the road?" Marcel asked me. "It was pretty great" I answered. "We're going to let you guys, have a nice day" Freya said. "You too" Josie replied. "Love you" I told everyone. "Love you too" they all answered in sync. Davina hung up. I turned around to see Josie. Her eyes were so watery. "Hey Jo, are you okay?" I said putting my hand on her cheek. "Yes. I just love your family so much. They're all so sweet" she replied putting her hand on top of mine. After half an hour of talking about everything that happened in New Orleans, we decided to go downstairs. I put on Josie's hoodie on and she took mine.

And that's how my week in Colorado with the Saltzman family started. I was pumped to get to know them and super excited to spend more time with Josie.