love and war in your teenage years [2]

the past follows you everywhere

I felt a small shake from my shoulder, "Hey," I heard someone whisper, awaking me from my semi-peaceful slumber.

I wake up to see Hope's bright blue eyes staring back at me, a soft smile on her face, "Do you wanna go on a little adventure?"

"What time is it?" I looked out the window to see the sun barely above the horizon.

"Don't worry about that, let's go!" she exclaimed, pulling me out of my bed.

I rubbed my eyes from the tiredness that was forming. I lazily brushed my teeth as Hope waited for me downstairs.

"Coffee, just the way you like it," she says and I send her a tight lipped smile.

"So are you gonna tell me where we're going at 5 o'clock in the morning?" I asked with a shy smile on her face.

"Nope," she threw me a bundle of keys, "C'mon, I'll give you the directions,"

The two of us jumped into the car and I grabbed her phone that was already connected to Kol's bluetooth. I stumbled across a playlist on Spotify to see a playlist just like Josie's, 'songs Bentley loves'.

"That's an interesting playlist name," I told her as I hit shuffle. A shy smile filled her face as she went back to looking at the scenery.

We headed right back into the bayou. The sun slowly rises above the swampy trees. She didn't say anything, all she did was lead me deeper into the bayou.

We stopped in front of a tree, the name 'Hayley Marshall' carved into the tree. She smiled softly, rubbing her hand over the engraving. I smiled sadly as I stood from afar.

"Hi mom, I want you to meet someone," she whispered. My heart stopped at the words, "This is Bentley. She's really important to me,"

I smiled to myself before responding, "Hi Ms. Marshall, I wish I could've met you. Hope is wonderful and from what I've heard, she gets it from you,"

We stood there in silence for a little bit before I spoke up, "Why'd you bring me here?"

She shrugged, "I wanted to see her before I left and the only one I thought I could actually come here with is you," she whispered, "I don't know why, I just feel safe and like I could do anything when I'm with you,"

I sat against a tree staring at her name. I patted the dirt next to me and she sat down next to me. Hope hesitantly rested her head on my shoulder.

"I miss my dad," I whispered to her.

"It killed me seeing you go through that, everything with the Necromancer and your dad coming back. Then going into your memories and thinking about what happened to you and your sister," she told me, "All I wanted to do was hold you and I wish I could've made it stop,"

"It's okay. I'm better now. Everything is better now," I responded, "I just really miss my dad,"

Hope was about to respond when someone came walking by, clearing their throat, "What do you mean? Your dad's right here," I heard a familiar voice say.

Not one of comfort though. Something completely opposite. My head sprung up at the voice. His hair was messy and his beard was still scruffed. I guess Hell didn't change a thing.

"Nate," I whispered.

 "Ding, ding, ding, sweetheart," he told me, "And it lifts up my heart to hear that you miss me,"

"Fuck you, you're not my father. You are not even close to even a percent of who he was," I spat, getting up.

I stood in front of Hope, trying my best to protect them, "Who is this your little girlfriend? I swear that you were dating another girl,"

"How the fuck are you back? I killed you," I told him.

"Well ya see that's my little secret, sweetheart. But let's just say I made a deal with the devil," he told me, "Or well should I say we,"

"We? Who's we?" I whispered. I heard more walking towards the two of us, "No, why are you working with him?"

Dani came and stood next to him. She seemed like she grew from the last time I saw her. She was older? More mature. She still had her beautiful blonde hair and dirty brown eyes.

"Surprise," she waved at the two of us, "And you're right Nate. This isn't the girlfriend. So what is she, B?"

"None of your business, why are you working with him?" I asked her incredulously.

"None of your business," she mocked, "But it's great to see you again,"

She whispered something incoherent and I was sent flying into a tree. The tree broke in half in the process. I looked at Hope and her eyes widened. Then I could feel my throat starting to close.

Hope's eyes flipped a bright yellow. She whispered a spell under her breath causing my throat to stop. Dani and Nate went flying and Hope grabbed my hand, pulling me with her.

Nate caught up with us and threw his fist at my face. My eyes started to water, memories of my previous life came flooding back. I threw my fist back at his face with a grunt. He fell back onto the floor.

"Invisique," Hope mumbled, holding my hand.

We got away without a scratch. She looked at me with worry in her eyes.

"Bentley? Are you okay?" she whispered.

I didn't look at her, I just stared at the swampy scenery ahead of us. I didn't say another word as I backed up the car, the drive back to the quarter was tense.

The both of you enter the Mikaelson Quarter. Everyone was in the kitchen recovering from the hangover and the twins were cooking breakfast. I could feel the bruise surrounding my eye beginning to throb and my nose had dry blood underneath it.

"What in the bloody hell happened?!" Rebekah explained and everyone's head snapped towards us.

"Ben!" Jo exclaimed, rushing over to me, "Are you okay?"

"I asked her that and she didn't respond," Hope pointed out.

And I didn't respond again. Kol came over and handed me a bag of ice. I shot him a grateful look and he purely nodded as I rested it on my eye.

"We think we've found some people who've been terrorizing New Orleans and I think they're coming for Mystic Falls next," Hope told them.

"Of course they are, who is it?" Lizzie asked.

"Nate and Dani," Hope mumbled.

"Wait, Dani as in," Lizzie continued.

"My sister," I whispered.

They all stared at me in shock, "Wait, why is that such a big deal?" Kol asked.

"My sister has been dead for 2 years," I told them.

"And Nate?" Freya asked.

"He was my stepdad who abused me and my sister. He also died 2 years ago, that's how I triggered my werewolf gene. They talked about working for someone higher than them, a boss of sorts," I explained.

"Do you think it's the Necromancer?" Jo asked and I shook my head.

"No, we got rid of that guy a long time ago. It would be stupid if we have dragged him around for this long. It has to be something bigger," I answered.

"And if they're attacking us here, then-" Hope starts.

"We need to go home as quickly as possible," Lizzie finished.