Always And Forever /4/ TO

Ch. 8 Bloodline

Hope and Lilly were standing next to the table that the jawbone was on. A ring of salt was around the bone, keeping anyone from taking it. It turned, following the two girls as they walked around the table.

"Girls, what's going on?" Rory asked, walking into the room.

"Mom, do you hear them to?" Hope asked. Rory grabbed both her daughters, pulling them away from the bone.

"What's going on?" Klaus asked, walking towards them.

"Look at me, tell me what you heard," Rory told them.

"Voices," Hope told her.

"They said we're connected to this. All three of us," Lilly said.

Rory looked up at her fiance, the two exchanging a look of concern. "If this thing is whispering lies, I'll gladly throw it in the river," he said.

"No," Lilly said.

"Not the bone. The witches. The Ancestors. They have a message for us. A warning," Hope told them.

"Tell me what you heard," Rory said.

"They want you to go to St. Anne's Church to talk to them. They said you have to do exactly what they say, and you have to do it now. Before the Hollow comes for us," Lilly told them.

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"Relax, kid. I'm on my way to New Orleans right now and I have good news. I went through the remains of the Lockwood estate, and I found you one creepy-ass, ancient finger bone," Alaric said.

Rory was on the phone with him. "Thanks for doing this for me," she said.

"No problem. The bones yours now anyway," he said.

Rory frowned. "It's not mine, it's Lilly's. The number of crazy family legacies that that kid has is reaching a number that I didn't think was possible," she said.

Alaric chuckled. "Yeah, but she's tough. She'll figure it all out eventually," he said.

"Yeah," Rory muttered, sitting down on her bed.

"Can you handle it is the better question," Alaric said.

"I'm offended that you would even ask that," she said.

"You know what I mean. It's fine when it's you, whole other story when it's your kids. If having two siphon daughters has taught me anything, it's that," he said.

"I just worry about them sometimes," Rory said.

"I know. Umm, there's something else. The Lockwoods didn't just safeguard the bone- they kept records with names, dates and locations. Turns out they had knowledge of other families that were charged with guarding the rest of the remains. Now, does the name Labonair mean anything to you?" he asked.

Rory couldn't help but scoff at the question. "Uh, yeah. Did I ever mention that my birth name is Allison Labonair?" she asked.

"Oh, well, you're already ahead. But my days of fighting monsters are over, so please don't ask me to help with this other than delivering bones," he said.

"I would like my nieces to still have a father by tomorrow, so you're safe," she said.

"Great. So I will be at Jack's Bar-BQ Shack off Route 59 at two o'clock. You good to meet me then?" he asked.