She's Mine

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Hope POV-
"Thank you, Aunt Freya. I'll give you a call in a couple of days. Love you." "Love you too, kiddo. Tell Josie hi from all of us." I hang up the call and stand back up. I walk through the front door and see Josie talking to Caroline. Her face is red and puffy. It breaks my heart to see her like this. "Alright, I know what's wrong." Josie and Caroline both turn to me. "Really? What is it?" Josie perks up. I sit across from them in the living room chair.
I fold my hands in front of me trying to will myself to speak. "Hope, what is it?" I lift my head to look at her. I stretch out my hand towards Josie as she grabs it, interlocking our fingers. "We were right. It has something to do with me imprinting on you." I wait for a reaction from Josie or Caroline but both remain silent. "Essentially," I turn to look at Josie. "Your vampire side doesn't understand why you are so drawn to me. So all it wants to do it is attack me, to stop the pull, stop the emotions."
I wait for some type of reaction but Josie just sits there staring at me. "What does this mean, Hope?" I look down to our hands. "It means," I gulp trying to gain the confidence to speak. I know she isn't going to like what I am about to say. "It means you need to turn off your humanity, like a reset button." Josie's face drops. "But, I've read stories of what vampires do when they shut off their humanity, Hope." She trails off.
I stand up dropping Josie's hand and begin to pace a little. "This is all hypothetical though. No one has our bond, Jo. Aunt Freya found a book. A small book. That kind of explained it. And, and Keelin confirmed some of the stuff in it but," I walk over to the kitchen counter and lean forward onto it placing my head in my hands. "Hope, why didn't it happen immediately? We were fine when I first turned and when I was sleeping right next to you." I keep my back to her, thinking. My voice is barely above a whisper. "I don't know, Jo."
Josie POV-
Hope just told me that I have to shut off my humanity to reset my vampire side so I don't want to attack my wife. Uncle Stefan was a ripper even without his humanity turned off. He was even worse without it. I'm pretty sure Mom told me stories too of when her humanity turned off. What if I can't get my humanity back on?
I stand up and slowly walk over to Hope. I try to focus in on the sound of fridge humming to prevent me from hearing Hope's blood. I'm locked on the sound of the fridge so I step behind Hope and lean forward wrapping my arms around her waist from behind. I rest my head forward against her. I know this is hard for me, but this is just as hard for Hope. "We'll figure this out, babe." She nods her head acknowledging me. Mom stands up. "We can do it in the wolf transition spaces at the school. No one is set to go down there for a while since the full moon isn't for another two weeks." I step back from Hope so we can both look at Mom. "Okay, I'm going to go pack a small bag." Hope leaves the room and goes upstairs.
I drive with Mom to the school while Hope trails behind us in her car. It is a pretty silent ride until I break the silence. "Mom, can you promise me that you will help Hope as best you can? I don't know what no humanity will look like on me. She is going to try and shut down. But, if something happens, don't let her humanity shut off. If I'm not here to help her, I don't think she would ever be able to get it back." Mom pulls into the school parking lot. "I promise, honey."
The three of us walk into the school but Mom splits from us when we get in. "I'm going to go talk to your Dad. I'll meet you down there." I nod my head. Hope takes my hand as we walk down to the basement. When we get down there, I stop at one of the empty wolf transition spaces. "Hope," she turns to look at me. "I love you, no matter what happens, okay? No matter what I may say or do." She nods her head. "I love you too, Jo." I pull her into me for a quick kiss. There is too much sadness in it though. Neither of us wants to pull away.
"Okay, are we ready?" Mom walks into the room with Dad. Both of them look at Hope and me, sympathy in their eyes. I nod my head and step into the transition space. Dad locks the door behind me. "Alright honey, I want you to close your eyes. Imagine it like a light switch in your head. You'll know when you find it. Just turn it off." I close my eyes and concentrate trying to focus on finding this switch. All of my emotions right now, they are so overwhelming. Maybe this will be a nice break. A tear escapes my eye and rolls down my cheek.
Hope POV-
Caroline, Alaric, and I are watching Josie intently waiting for her to turn off her humanity. I've never wanted to turn mine off since I turned but I have had Josie that entire time. If I had been a vampire when my parents and uncle died, that might have been a different story. I see the recognition appear in Josie's face. She truly is so beautiful. I can't believe she is my wife. Her scrunched up face drops as a smirk forms on her lips. "Hey babe, miss me?"