Secrecy: Wish Forever Was Longer

The Clock Tower

So, I decided to post a little prelude to the alternate ending of Secrecy...

The story picks up after the events of Triad's Decade Ball in Part 98: Immortal of Secrecy.

Enjoy;)

~~~~~~~~~~

'Tick Tock'

Hope hurriedly climbs the stairs leading up the clock tower in the center of Mystic Falls. But she only makes it up a few flights before she sees them, Josie and Lizzie, tied up and looking scared and worried. Hope vamps over to Josie, "You're okay, love. I'm gonna get you out of here."

She removes the tape from Josie's mouth, before moving to untie her hands, "No, Hope, you have to get out of here before--"

She gasps as she suddenly sees a blade peeking through Hope's now pierced chest, Aurora having vamped behind her and plunged it through her back. Hope grunts as she falls to the ground in pain, and Aurora smiles wickedly, "Relax, darling. This will only hurt a lot."

Josie's eyes widen as she watches the blade sink further into Hope's chest, the wound closing but the pain still very present, "What the hell did you do to her?!" She tries to tug her hands free, but it's no use.

Aurora walks over to a small table, where two more blades, nearly identical to the first, wait to be plunged into the Tribrid.

She picks up the second before slowly making her way over to Hope, "These blades are made from the same dark magic that created Papa Tunde's blade. They inflict an immeasurable amount of pain. Only, these were specially made for the Tribrid, bound by Beast venom and the blood of the skull fountain. The Beast venom is highly toxic, and the skull fountain mutes all supernatural power. The first blade was also dipped in the blood of the witch of the original Triad bloodline."

Aurora kneels down beside Hope, smirking as Hope grits her teeth at the severe pain. But it isn't enough to quench Aurora's taste for revenge. "This second blade was dipped in the blood of the werewolf of the original Triad bloodline." With that she plunges in into Hope's chest, and Josie and Lizzie both wince harshly as Hope yelps in pain, and the blade sinks further beneath her skin.

Through Lizzie's cries and Josie's pleading for her to stop, Aurora makes her way back over to the table and grabs the final blade. "You thought the Hollow is what made you a monster," Aurora makes her way back over, kneeling over Hope again, who can hardly move at all now, "but darling, you don't require possession to be a monster. You are a product of the devil himself... The punishment meant for your father must fall to you." She twirls the final blade in her hand, "The final Tunde blade, bound by beast venom, blood from the skull fountain, and dipped in the blood of the vampire of the original Triad bloodline..." She smirks as she presses the blade against Hope's chest, "That would be me." She pushes the blade through Hope's chest, letting it sink deep, and Hope is unable to even scream, the pain being so unbearable. She's motionless, aside from the slight trembling of her muscles.

Aurora takes in the sight of the tortured Tribrid, now practically rendered human by the muting of her magic. Helpless.

"You know, they say for the innocent, the past may hold a reward," She runs the backs of her fingers across Hope's cheek tauntingly, "But for the treacherous, it's only a matter of time before the past delivers what they truly deserve."

She pulls her hand away and stands to her feet, "And that's exactly what I intend to do to you, Hope Mikaelson," With that she roughly grabs Josie, who yelps at the force as she's pulled to her feet in an instant. Hope grunts softly, unable to move or speak, and Aurora basks in her victory already as she finishes her sentence, "by letting you watch helplessly as the love of your eternal life falls to her death."

Josie's eyes widen, "What?! No, you can't!"

"No," Hope whispers out brokenly, unable to do anything else. She tries to force her body to move, but she can't, as she watches Aurora roughly drag Josie toward the single ledge, several floors above the ground below.

She pushes Josie's back through the railing, causing it to break as she holds Josie over the ledge. Josie cries out, "Please," She gasps sharply as Aurora's grip on her neck tightens, and she chokes out, "I'm pregnant."

That seems to get Aurora's attention, and her grip loosens around Josie's neck, "What did you just say?"

"I'm pregnant. And our baby is innocent..." Josie pleads. "You can do whatever you need to do with me after the birth, just please, don't do this to our baby."

Aurora suddenly pulls Josie closer, back to the ledge, her gaze burning, "Killing the Tribrid's fiancé and unborn child...Now, that's poetic justice," She smirks evilly.

Josie's eyes widen, "What? No--"

"Goodbye Josette," Aurora says and suddenly pushes Josie backward.

Josie's eyes clench shut as she falls over the edge, but she feels something catch her wrist, hearing loud thud afterwards.

She opens her eyes, looking toward the ground to see Aurora laying across the ground, knocked unconscious from the fall.

She looks up to see who caught her, and she's met with the sight of a very weak-looking Hope, holding onto the bottom of the broken railing while holding Josie's wrist with the other hand.

She'd managed to fight through the pain, to save Josie and their baby.

She looks pale. A cold sweat on her skin. Her breathing is shallow and rugged. Her eyes are fighting to stay open. And the grips of her hands require more strength than she has at the moment.

"Hope, hold on. I'm going to climb up--"

"I can't." Hope grunts as she tries to adjust her grip on the railing, but with it being broken and with Hope's strength being severely drained, she can't keep them both up. She glances down to meet Josie's gaze, "I'm sorry, Jo."

"Hope--" Josie gasps and closes her eyes as she's pulled up and tossed over the ledge to safety in an instant, Hope using the very last bit of strength she could muster up.

Her eyes open, and what happens next seems to be in slow motion. The railing breaking, knocking Hope's grip loose.

Josie springs toward the ledge, leaning over the edge as she reaches for her fiancé's hand, but she's already falling toward the ground below.

Hope loses consciousness before she ever hits the ground. She never hears Josie's scream or cries.

Josie hardly notices when she's pulled a safe distance from the ledge, wrapped in someone's arms.

Lizzie is freed by her parents, Josie pushes past the embrace of Freya and toward the stairs, running to the bottom...

But when she gets there, there's no sign of Hope or Aurora.

All that's there, is small specks of ash, floating through the air as they get carried away by the wind.

And something else, Josie catches a glimpse of something in the grass, and she bends down to see what it is. Hope's necklace. The Mikaelson Crest that always rests against her neck.

"No..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let me know what you think...