The Elites

Who Am I Living For?

"But I still hear the flames calling out my name
I can see the writing on the wall
I can't ignore this war
At the end of it all
Who am I living for?"

"Who Am I Living For?" – Katy Perry

I glance up as somebody knocks on Hunter's door. As soon as Hope walks in and sees Reed, the cat will be out of the bag. Hope isn't stupid, she'd know things must be bad if I'm willing to team up with Reed.

"Hey, Hunter, are you okay?" Hope asks as Hunter opens the door. Hunter didn't mention that I'd be here, so Hope must think that Hunter needs her help. "Is this about Juliet?"

I hold my breath as Hope walks into the kitchen. Her eyes widen as she sees Reed and she glances at me, looking betrayed. "What the hell is going on?"

"There's something you need to know, you won't like it but I can't keep it from you" I say, causing Hope to step back slightly. Every part of her is probably telling her to run out of here and not come back, this would be easier if that happened. A lot of things would have been easier if I never moved California or met Hope, but I love Hope and I wouldn't change this for anything.

"You were kidnapped at birth" Reed says, causing Hunter to groan. That was not how I was planning to go about this, I was going to use a lot more tact and not just throw it out there straight away.

"Why is he here?" Hope asks me, looking annoyed. "Do you have nothing better to do than fuck with my life?" she asks Reed, glaring at him.

"It's true, Hope, you aren't who think you are" I say quietly, wishing I didn't have to destroy Hope's life, I'm going to alter her whole life. "Your real name is Kara Sage."

Hunter shows Hope the news article and we're silent as she reads it. I look away, not wanting to see Hope's expression. Hunter shows Hope her birth certificate and the mistake that was made, and Reed explains his involvement.

The whole time I'm silent, just trying to imagine how Hope must be feeling but I can't, I have no idea how she's feeling or if she'll believe us. The facts are in front of her, but it's easy to ignore facts when something involves the people we trust and love, it's why so many people don't notice red flags until something big has happened. I glance at Hope who looks shocked, she hasn't said anything.

"Hope..." my voice trails off as I walk over to Hope, what can I say? There is nothing that can make this any better for Hope, not unless I lie and say this is a sick joke which I'm not going to do.

"Why?" Hope asks me quietly, causing my heart to ache. I understand at least a little of how she's feeling, I wished I never skipped school so that I could be in the dark about my dad's illegal activities.

"I'm sorry" I say, Hope isn't crying but she looks pretty devastated and her eyes are watery. "You've been through so much pain and you didn't deserve any of it." Reed assaulting her, her abduction, Eleanor's death, finding out she was adopted, and now finding out she was kidnapped rather than adopted, she doesn't deserve any of this pain she's faced.

"You have to be mistaken, Jules, this has to be wrong" Hope says, her tone stronger and more forceful. Hunter pulls Reed out of the room and I'm thankful she understands we need to be alone right now.

"It's not, I think the fact you haven't called me a liar says that you knew all along your parents could be capable of something like this" I say softly, wiping a tear from Hope's face. She's seen the darkness in her parents, just as I have in Melissa. I want to believe Melissa doesn't know but she can be so cold sometimes that I feel like she would ignore this and not report it to the police.