𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 | Hosie ✔️

Chapter 10

"Are you sure this is a good idea?", Josie whispered as Hope pushed open the door to the Salvatore Boarding School and stepped into the hallway.
"Yes, I am", the Mikaelson replied in a confident tone, looking up and down the school hallway,: "This is the best time to do this."
"I didn't know there was a good moment to break into my father's office", Josie threw in and started moving again with Hope when she seemed sure there was no one around.

"Your dad told me earlier that he uses evenings like this when we leave school to drive into town and have time to himself", Hope told Josie as the girls walked together in the direction of Doctor Saltzman's office. At the ,words of the others, she could not help but sigh with a slight sigh. It was once again clear that he told Hope more than he told his daughters. But this reaction to her words did not seem to have escaped her companion either.

"What?", Hope asked her with raised eyebrows.
"Never mind", Josie immediately dodged her question. She didn't feel like talking about it right now and it wasn't the right time anyway. After all, they were here because of Josie's problem and Hope's possible solution to it and not to settle some things that always seemed to stand between them. At least not at this moment.

Meanwhile, they had arrived at Alaric's office and both of them came to a halt.
"If you say so", Hope replied and Josie was glad that for the time being she just let it rest. The Mikaelson put a hand on the door handle and tried to open the door. However, she was unable to pull on it or even get it open. With a furrowed forehead, she turned back to Josie and looked at her and asked: "Since when has Doctor Saltzman sealed his office with a barrier spell?"
This also surprised Josie, since she hadn't been aware that her father was doing such a thing.
"I don't know", she replied and stepped next to Hope, also trying to open the door: "Do you know if he has any important things in there?"

A thoughtful look appeared on Hope's face as if she was thinking about the things her father kept in the room. Then she shook her head, though: "Not that I know of. But it wouldn't be the first time he didn't tell us something like that."
Josie had to agree with her there. For long enough, Alaric had kept the existence of the artifacts from them.

"Can you lift the barrier spell?", Hope asked, stepping aside to make room for the others. Josie hesitated, though. At the thought that they just broke into her father's office to look for something she didn't even know what it was, everything contracted inside her. But what could she do? But if Hope knew a way to help her find out who was causing her dreams, she had little choice.

"Yes, I can", she nodded, however, and took a step closer to the door. Then she reached out and held her hand against the hard wood. For a moment she looked over her shoulder to make sure that someone wouldn't come and catch her at any moment. Then she turned her gaze forward again and closed her eyes. Her palm began to glow slightly red, while she felt the magic of the barrier spell disappear more and more and instead was absorbed by her body, filling her with a feeling of energy.

After a few seconds, she could feel under her fingers that all magic had disappeared and let her hand sink. Then she opened her eyes again, but couldn't help but risk a look at Hope from the corner of her eye. She looked at Josie with an attentive expression on her face as if she had never seen her use her powers before. However, that might not have been so impossible considering how little time they usually spent together.

"Did it work?", Hope asked after a few seconds when Josie turned to her. Josie didn't answer immediately, but simply pushed the two swing doors open demonstratively: "What does it look like?"
A satisfied smile appeared on Hope's lips and she followed Josie, who had already entered the room. As soon as they both entered the room, the Saltzman twin closed the door behind them again. Not everyone had to see that they had gained access to the room.

"So, why are we here?", she crossed her arms in front of her chest and watched Hope, who immediately started walking through the office, looking for her. She had not yet told her what they were doing here. Only that she should have a little trust in her and would see it soon enough.
"I'm looking for a magical artifact that your father keeps here as far as I know", Hope explained to her and started looking in a drawer.
"And what exactly?", she asked, as she thought it would be more effective if they both searched at the same time, instead of just standing there waiting for Hope to find it.
"A candle", Hope explained as she closed the drawer and opened another.
"A candle?!", Josie replied with a surprised look. It didn't sound like a powerful magical artifact, but more like a nice table light.
"It's better than it sounds", Hope assured her, who still didn't seem to have found it.

Now Josie also began to let her gaze wander through the room. There was no candle on the desk or the windowsill, so she focused instead on the many shelves.
"Hope", she gently pushed the other girl to the side to get her attention before she began to move towards one of the lower shelves next to the door.
"What is - ?", Hope started, but then she saw what Josie saw and stopped.

Josie stopped in front of the shelf and reached out for the candle that was standing there.
"Is that her?", she glanced over her shoulder at Hope, who immediately began to nod in response. A feeling of relief spread through her. This greatly simplified the whole situation. She quickly took the candle from her seat. To her amazement, it was heavier and bigger than she had expected, but she did not let it bother her and went back to Hope.
"Well, can we leave now?", she asked immediately, as she couldn't wait to leave the room again. One last time Hope let her gaze wander, but then nodded: "Yes, we can."

Josie took a deep breath and already took a few steps toward the door when she heard Hope's voice behind her again: "Wait, Josie."
"What - ?", she asked a question while standing still, but felt Hope's hand, which wrapped itself around her arm and pulled her with it.
"Someone's coming", she whispered curtly as she pulled Josie into a corner of the room with her. A surprised expression appeared on Josie's face but she reacted just as quickly as Hope and followed her without hesitation.

Hope's reaction was not exactly late, for barely a few seconds later the doors swung open again and someone entered the room. Fortunately, Hope had dragged them into the exact area where the door and the shadow covered them. But they were not denied the view of the person who had entered the room and so they both saw Alaric. With a surprised look, Josie looked at Hope who was surprisingly close to her at that moment. Their upper bodies pressed slightly together due to the lack of space and their faces were only a few centimeters apart. Josie's expression had to say 'You told me he was gone' as Hope looked at her perplexed and shrugged her shoulders as if to say that she had no idea what he was doing here now.

Both girls remained silent while Alaric began to search around in the pile of paper that was on his desk. Josie didn't move an inch but slowly felt the candle that was holding her getting heavy and the thought was already building up inside her that she shouldn't drop the object under any circumstances. As if Hope knew what she was thinking about, she moved her hands a little bit and held the candle to support Josie. A small, grateful smile appeared on Josie's lips and she looked back at Hope's face. She also smiled slightly as she seemed to look at Josie. She couldn't explain it but for some reason, Hope's presence calmed her and distracted her from the thought that her father might discover her here at any moment.

After a few seconds, which had felt like minutes for Josie though, she heard her father move again - presumably, he had found whatever it was he was looking for - and walk towards the door again. Then the door closed again and Alaric had disappeared. Josie took a deep breath, relieved that her father hadn't discovered her. For a few moments, both girls remained where they stood, barely a few inches apart.

But then Josie handed the candle to Hope and took a step from the other way: "Here, we'd better go. We don't want Dad to come back and find us here after all."
For some reason, she scratched the back of her head in embarrassment and then walked towards the door.
"Um, sure, I guess you're right", Hope agreed with her as she followed her.

As soon as the door behind them fell shut, Josie looked at Hope again: "So, what exactly are you going to do with this thing?"
"It's best if we go up first. Then I'll explain it to you", Hope put her off again, which this time only aroused Josie's curiosity.