𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 | Hosie ✔️

Chapter 17

The pebbles cracked under Josie's shoes as she walked through the gates of Mystic Falls Cemetery. Her gaze wandered slowly, but Hope was nowhere to be seen. Yet it had been she who had asked the Saltzman twin to come here during the break. So what was Josie to do when she didn't show up? Just leave again or just keep standing around here lost? The fact that this was just a prank to leave her standing there stupidly was at least not an explanation for her. If she knew Hope before, she wouldn't do this. She wouldn't be the Hope she knew.

Her stomach started to tingle at the thought of the other girl. It was not the first time she got this feeling when she thought about Hope, but she couldn't explain it. Maybe it just came from the fresh wind that Hope brought into her life and which she admittedly liked. It was once more than Lizzie's drama, Penelope's attempts to apologize and the times when her father seemed to have completely forgotten her.

"Josie", Hope's voice ripped her from her thoughts and made her drive around. In doing so, she discovered the tribrid, which also came through the gates at that moment. There was something apologetic in her gaze, and she felt relief spreading through her.

Hope stopped in front of her, and Josie noticed her chest rising and falling a little faster than usual. Did she run here or at least hurry?
"Sorry, I'm not on time", she said apologetically: "I just had to run an errand for our meeting." "No problem", a little smile appeared on her lips, and she followed Hope as she slowly started to move: "As long as you're here".

But then another thought crossed her mind, and she curiously asked: "So why did you ask me here?"
All day long, she had tried to find an answer to this question herself, but she could not come up with a reasonable reason. After all, they had already made a plan, and there was nothing they could do until the day they would carry it out. Or at least that's what she had thought.

"I just couldn't stop thinking about the Miss Mystic Falls competition and your words", she explained, causing Josie to sigh slightly. She didn't want to talk about it or even discuss it any further. But to her surprise, she was willing to listen to what she had to say.
"And you're right", Hope admitted to Josie's surprise: "I can't understand what it's like to have a sister or no twin at all. And especially not one like Lizzie."

Josie gave her a warning look. She wasn't a fan of Hope and Lizzie speaking ill of each other. Hope had become important to her as well. Even though her sister still came first. She just had to.
"I'm sorry. It wasn't meant that way", Hope apologized immediately when she noticed her look: "Anyway, I was thinking about whether there is someone who knows your situation and might be able to help you. I couldn't find anybody in our class, but I had another idea."

The siphon raised an eyebrow. Hope's words did not make her any smarter either, which is why she waited for her explanation to continue. But instead, Hope remained silent for a few seconds and then suddenly stopped. In front of them was a gravestone, at the foot of which a wreath of flowers and a burnt candle could be seen.
"Please read the name written on the stone", Hope asked them. For a moment, Josie thought about asking why, but then she gave up and simply complied with the request.
"Jo Laughlin", she faltered in her reading. She immediately realized who this name belonged to. Her heart made a slight leap while it felt as if her lungs were constricting. She had known that her mother was buried in Mystic Falls, but she hadn't thought of it when Hope asked her to come. One reason was probably that her father had never brought his daughters here before and avoided talking to them about their mother at all. However, she had always wondered what she must have been like and if she resembled her in any way.

Hope noticed the brunettes' reaction and reached out to Josie's. Gently she interlocked her fingers with the other girl's, hoping to give her some support and show her that she was with her. Of course, she had realized that she might be walking on thin ice, and Josie wouldn't go for it, but it had been worth a try.
"Please listen to me to the end before you reject my idea", she asked and let her other hand disappear into her coat pocket. She pulled out a purple gemstone in the shape of a prism and handed it to Josie.

For a moment, she turned her eyes away from the tombstone and glanced at the object in her hands.
"What is it?", her voice had lost its power and was no more than a whisper.
"This is a magical object I took from your father's office", she answered her question. However, she preferred to keep the fact that her father didn't necessarily know she had taken it. She would bring it back before he even noticed.
"You can use it to talk to people who aren't there right now", she explained to Josie as she wrapped her free hand around the prism: "I don't know exactly how it works, but it not only works with people who are still alive, it also allows you to talk to the dead. So maybe you can use it to talk to Jo and maybe she can give you some advice. After all, your mother was a twin just like you, and she probably went through the same thing as you."

Josie hesitated for a moment while Hope's words resounded in her mind. She had her eyes fixed on the crystal. Could this object be the chance she had always wanted to meet and talk to her mother? If only for a brief moment. Her heart began to beat faster, and she noticed a light film of sweat forming in her palms.

"So if you want to try, just use the prism", Hope tried to encourage her, believing that her mother might be able to help Josie step out of the shadow of her twin sister.
"But Dad ... won't he notice it's missing?", she asked cautiously, and an expression of concern appeared on her face. How would her father react if he knew that she was secretly doing something to talk to her mother, even though he tried to keep her away. However, there was an urge inside her that told her that she had to do it.

"Don't worry. I'll bring the prism back before he notices anything", she reassured her. As she spoke, a dark brown strand had come loose from its place and hung in Josie's face. Hope gently grabbed it and stroked it behind her ear: "I'd better go now and let you make a decision on your own about what you want to do."

Hey guys,
as you might have seen I decided to rename the book from "Love and Lose" to hunted because in my eyes it fits the story way better.