For Good | Hale- TO/TW [8]

37 | Let Us Help

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Hope sits quietly before her empty canvas. She holds a brush, but her mind is filled with whispers instead of ideas. She rolls her neck as if it would help, but the whispers only grow.

The room around her feels like a cage. The brown walls close in on her, making her body tense. Papers cover the blank spaces on the walls, but the happy pictures cannot calm her. The voices keep whispering, and her body stiffens more.

A knock echoes through her mind.

Hope turns her head to see her Aunt Lexi standing in the doorway. The blonde werewolf leans against the threshold with crossed arms and a soft expression on her face. Her hair is tucked into a braid flowing down her back. "Hello, darling," she says as she approaches the young witch.

Hope smiles through the noise. "Hey, what's up?"

Lexi shrugs with an innocent expression. "Just checking in on you." Hope rolls her eyes as Lexi chuckles. "I know—you're fine. You don't need babysitters. It does not stop my worrying."

"You don't need to worry," Hope replies. She turns back to her painting. "It's my mess. I'll fix it."

Lexi sighs as she sits on Hope's bed. Her hands wander over the soft comforter with a smile on her face. "Do you know that the first time I tried to fix something, I broke it more?" She asks, cautiously glancing at her niece.

Hope lowers the paint brush. "Are you worried I'm gonna mess up?" She asks, her voice cold.

Lexi shakes her head. "I know you're going to mess up." Lexi's soft expression falls away as a cool breeze blows through the room. A shiver runs down Hope's spine, causing her to straighten as Lexi approaches. "It is not your mess to bear alone, Hope."

Hope swallows thickly as she meets Lexi's eyes. "I needed to fix it, Lexi."

"I agree," Lexi says. "Why do you think I didn't stop you?"

Hope turns back to the blank canvas, refusing to even glance at her aunt.

She hears Lexi sigh behind her. The wolf leans over the witch, letting her breath brush against Hope's ear. "We cannot help you if you keep it in, Hope. And if you keep it in..."

"It could destroy me," Hope sighs. The girl dips the brush into the blue paint. "But everyone else would be safe."

Lexi lets a chuckle escape her lips as Hope moves the brush across the painting. "You're too much like me, darling. It'll be the end of you one day."

Hope hums as the brush strokes the canvas. "Seems like you know how this is going to end."

"I don't know," Lexi replies. "Not for sure, anyway. But Mikaelsons tend to fall because of the people they love the most."

"You say that as if you're not a Mikaelson." Hope's gaze turns cold as the whispers in her head return. Her grip on the brush tightens.

Lexi eyes Hope's now white knuckles. "I can never run from the Mikaelson name," she replies. "But it is has been a long time since I called myself a Mikaelson. I like to believe that I have escaped the stigma, but I would be wrong. People still hunt me for who I was because they still see the abomination."

Hope pauses, letting her hand drop from the canvas. She takes a deep breath, the air not able to fill her lungs enough. "Abomination?" She echoes. "Who would have called you that?"

Lexi exhales softly. By the look on her face, Hope can tell she does not want to speak. "Hope, you are not an abomination, do you understand me?" Lexi asks, her voice barely above a whisper. "Who you are, what you are, is beautiful and natural. You would not have been born if the universe thought you were a monster."

"Then how are we different?" Hope's voice breaks. "If people view you as an abomination, how am I not? I am exactly what you were years ago, and people are so paranoid that they are willing to kill me and—"

Lexi takes two large strides across the room like water spreading over sand. She kneels down beside Hope, cupping the younger girl's face. "Calm down," Lexi whispers.

Hope hadn't realized she was crying. Or that the brush in her hand had turned to begun to crack.

With a small gasp, Hope drops the brush. It shatters on the ground, spilling over the carpet and turning the once yellow floor blue. "I didn't mean to do that," Hope looks down at Lexi with wide, scared eyes.

Lexi grips her hands tightly with a grimace. "This magic inside of you...It will make you angry beyond anything you can imagine. Everything you feel will be heightened. I can teach you control if you will let me."

Hope's lip wavers. "I don't want to hurt anyone. I never wanted to hurt anyone, you know that, right?"

"I know," Lexi nods. "but actions have consequences. Us Mikaelsons know that better than anyone." The elder witch reaches up to wipe a tear off of Hope's face. "You may think that you need to shoulder this bourdon alone. You don't. You have your family, and, no matter what, we will always stand by you."

Hesitantly, Hope bobs her head. "Teach me to control it. Please."

Lexi smiles. "Always."

As Hope breathes out a sigh of relief, Lexi's phone rings in her pocket. The moment Lexi lets go of one of Hope's hands, the voices return to her head.

Lexi smiles at the caller ID, never letting go of Hope's other hand. "Hello, darling."

"The kids are going to help the wolves with their float." Hope can barely hear Derek's voice from the receiver. "Sties suggested we go to a bar to calm down."

Lexi laughs. "Calm down? What happened?"

Derek grumbles something so softly, Hope doubts even Lexi can hear it. Another voice comes through the phone. "Sourwolf found a girl in Stella's room."

Lexi tilts her head to the side. "Hello, Stiles. I was talking to my husband. You mind?"

"Jesus, woman," Stiles exclaims.

"Josie Saltzman paid Stella a visit," Derek says. "And she lied about it."

Hope frowns. "I didn't know they knew each other."

Lexi narrows her eyes. "Derek, are you upset that you found her with a girl or that she didn't tell you?"

Derek does not respond.

Lexi shakes her head. "I'll meet you at the bar across from the church. That way we can spy on our children."

"Have I told you how much I love you?"

"I think I remember you telling me that. Once in a full moon," Lexi jokes as she gets to her feet. "See you soon, love."

Hope sighs as Lexi hangs up the phone. "When I come back, we'll start on control, ok?" Lexi presses a soft kiss to Hope's forehead. "Until then, try not to kill your father or uncle."

Hope lets out a laugh as Lexi finally lets go. The moment Lexi's blonde hair leaves the young witch's view, the voices begin to scream.

Wow. I wrote something. 

The next chapter (or the one after that) will be super sad. I'm in the process of writing it. 

Hope you enjoyed!

-L