The Tape

Chapter 7

Hope's POV: Easing the door shut behind me, I leaned against the wall with a sigh as Penelope entered the room. "Hey, I got to get going. Something came up, and Mg wants me down at the station", she told me, her police badge shining in the moonlight.

"Yeah, okay", I nodded, pushing myself off the wall. "Be safe", I pleaded, pulling her into a hug.

"I will", she smiled, pulling away before glancing toward the bedroom in concern. "How is she", she asked.

"I finally got her to sleep, but she's taking Lizzie's death pretty badly", I explained, causing her to nod in understanding as I fell silent.

"What's wrong", she questioned, furrowing her eyebrows in concern.

"Nothing. It's just...", I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. "Lizzie never mentioned she had a sister, and now she's just appearing out of nowhere and we're just trusting that she is who she says she is", I tried explaining. "I mean, are we even sure this girl is Lizzie's sister? It could just be another one of Jade's plots to get info", I pointed out.

"I honestly don't know", she sighed, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Hope, look at me", she said. "None of this is your fault. If anything...it's mine", she admitted guiltily.

"No, Penelope-"

"I should've never left her alone that night", she said tearfully, causing me to pull her into a hug.

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Josie's POV: I lay awake, listening to the quiet conversation from the next room as I turned over onto my side, wiping the tears from my eyes before a familiar honeysuckle scent reached my nose. "Jo...", I heard someone whisper as I quickly sat up in bed.

"Lizzie", I questioned, looking around frantically.

"Josie...", my sister's voice echoed, causing tears to quickly fill my eyes.

"Lizzie? Is that you", I whispered before hearing something hit the window.

"Josie", she called, causing me to jump out of bed and race toward the window to see her smiling up at me. "It's about time", she joked. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get your ass down here", she laughed as a watery smile made its way onto my face before a gunshot cut through the air as she collapsed to the ground.

"Lizzie", I screamed, climbing out the window before jumping to the ground and rushing to my sister's side. "I turned her over tearfully, expecting to see Lizzie's eyes staring back up at me, but it wasn't Lizzie at all.

It was mom.

"Josie...", she whispered, blood gushing from the bullet wound in her head. My eyes widened in horror as I felt my body tense up before I felt someone tap me on the back. "Josie...don't...", she warned as a shadow towered over us.

"Jo", Lizzie called before I quickly turned around as another gunshot rang in my ears.

I gasped, sitting up in bed as mind numbing pain shot through my body, causing me to scramble to my feet as I ran toward the bathroom. Dropping to my knees, I emptied my stomach into the toilet as I held my stomach painfully. "Dammit", I cried, curling into myself as the pain subsided slightly. Wiping my mouth, I reached forward and flushed the toilet before sitting against the wall tiredly. "It was only a dream. It wasn't real", I mumbled to myself. "It wasn't real", I repeated, my shoulders relaxing before the faint smell of honeysuckle reached my nose.